tbate - Confrontation

Permission

Grey POV

I gazed at the familiar landscape as I walked towards the the front entrance of the Central Academy. I spent the last few weeks teaching here and it was refreshing to cool off after all the fighting in the Relictombs but the time for rest has expired and I found myself itching to do something productive.

'I'll tell you what, I miss our busty female companion. It pains me to be so far away from my love!' Regis claimed in a melodramatic tone. 'I'm so excited to go to her house O great lord of women, do you think she finally gave in to her primordial instincts? Or perhaps something even better...'

At this point Regis's thoughts were invading my mental space. I gave him a mental slap, 'We are only getting permission to take her with us, so keep those thoughts to yourself. It's not like you have a chance anyway.'
'A dog can dream.' he sighed

I made it to the front gate where a carriage driver was waiting.
"Please take me to the Denoir estate."
"As you wish" the driver replied.

The carriage ride was followed by silence as I pondered the possibilities of the meeting of Caera's blood.
'Worse case scenario her family would try and have you work for them as their personal relic gatherer, or did you forget the trial situation?' Regis commented.
'Theoretically I'm doing them a favor by personally escorting their daughter through the Relictombs, in which she is going in, with it without me.' I said.
'What happened to the last people that you 'personally escorted' through the Relictombs dingus?' Regis asked.
Regis made a really good point. I mentally sighed in defeat. Not much could be done if they simply said no, it would be that much of a problem to go through the Relictombs by myself, but...
I was awoken from my thoughts due to the sudden stop.
"We've arrived."

The Driver escorted us to the gate before going back to the carriage. I knocked on the door. Feint steps could be heard through the door.
The door is opened by a women wearing an apron, "You must be Grey, We've been waiting for you. Please come in."
I take a step inside and notice the odd figure drinking tea on the sofa, raising an eyebrow at my presence.

"You are dismissed." The lady with horns waved away the maid.
"Long time no see, Grey." Scythe Seris says.
"It's great to finally see a familiar face around here." I gave her a smile. "I take it you know why I'm here?"
"Naturally, but why not stay and talk for a bit?" Seris asked. I took a seat and quickly sorted my thoughts and questions from most important to added bonus.

"Is there anything in particular you'd like to discuss?" I asked.
"You have quite the presence now, entirely different than before. When Caera was describing some of your abilities to me I was quite surprised, but after I figured it was you I became very interested. Care to share?" What could I share? There wasn't much of a point of hiding my situation from my only ally. The more she knows the more she can help with.

"What exactly are you interested in?" I asked.
"We'll how did you end up in the Relictombs in the first place?"
"During my fight with Scythe Nico I should've died, my bond sacrificed her life to save mine and I was teleported there."
"I'm sorry I had to make you remember something so painful," she paused as she pondered for a bit, "I have a pretty good understanding of your situation now, but do you? You know the asuras aren't your allies, right?"
"I understand, I simply need more time before I make too many moves."

She gave me a nod, "Okay, but we don't have too much, I'm sure you are aware but your princess isn't herself at the moment." My suspicions were confirmed with this one statement, too many questions were on my mind so I stayed quiet. "She is incomplete, there is still a lot of time until she will be able to make full use of the body, when she can we will strike. The princess's soul is still inside but is dormant. When you confront your past you have to either destroy or convince her."

The reality of the future weighed in her words. The past I escaped from when coming to this world caught up with me and will soon take away everything if I don't do something.

"I know." I steeled my resolve with those words.
"This artifact will allow me to contact you if anything happens, both in the Relictombs and out." She handed me a spherical artifact with small holes on one side. "Now that that's settled you have my permission to take my student to the Relictombs with you."
"Thank you. Do you have any information about the refugees in Dicathen." I asked.
"They are safe, for now. Not much has happened since the death of Bilal, the retainer the princess fought. There also aren't any plans to stop or scout for their base. As I said before I'll tell you if any major moments that I can't deal with."
"Again, thank you for what you've done here."
"No, thank you. My student seems to have a soft spot for you. I must say you are quite the heartbreaker." She gave me a grin. She wouldn't know how right she was.

'Don't develop too big of an ego, the amount of people that like you couldn't compare to those that hate you, but for the first time ever we have a good plan. We get to go on some crazy adventures with this hot girl with horns, and when we are done we save some hot elf girl with pointed ears.' Regis fantasied in his head for a bit while Seris got Caera.

Caera walked into the room with Seris close behind her.
"We meet again O' Great ascender Grey." she gave me a small smile and an exaggerated bow.
"Nice to see you too, I assume you're ready?"
"Yes, I have enough food and water for 2 weeks in the Relictombs."
"Great, we should leave right away." I turned towards Seris, "I'm counting on you."
"Likewise" Seris replied. Caera turned her head between the two of us before she decided she'll ask me in private. We left the estate.

As soon as we stepped into the carriage Caera turned towards me and asked, "How do you know Scythe Seris?" I pondered for a bit before answering.
"She's an old friend that saved my life a while back."
"Why are you counting on her then, can you not stand on your own two feet?"
"She helping me save...a friend." Caera was silent for a bit before letting it go. If I was "friends" with a Scythe then my strength would make sense, but this probably wasn't going to be the end of it.

(A/N) Hi, this is my first story so I'm open to any criticism you give in the comments. This is meant to be a prologue to the main event and I was thinking of doing side stories in between of Grey's and Caera's adventures through the Relictombs. Let me know what you think.