TBATE - The Help of a Certain Being

Travels for Travelers

"And with a new face?" I turned to the pair, gaze halting on the unknown man.

"Quick on the uptake, K-man! Name's Akan, here to assist however Ren orders!" He shot me a finger gun with a click of his tongue.

Ah. so he's that kind of person.

"And... who might... you be..?" Virion managed, covered in cold sweat.

"Well, I guess you can call them my partners in crime. They're not from around."

Dawsid picked his hand up weakly, pointing accusingly at me.

"Y-you... So you are the one bringing the enemy here! That makes you responsible for all this! You're a traitor to your nation!!"

My brows furrowed, and not just in confusion.

"I don't think you have a right to say those words, Dwarf." Nico spat. "Especially considering what you've got going on."

The other members glanced nervously at the two in confusion.

"You, like all men who think themselves great, have an all-too common habit of ratting yourselves out."

I continued in agreement. "You also have an impressive level of ignorance. Your water-brain made you forget that a White core mage has some pretty good senses."

Dawsid's face contorted in confusion. "What... are you talking about..?"

Shaking my head, I attached a string of mana to the artifact wrapped by lace around his fourth chin and pulled it away.

Before Olfred could react, I trapped him in chains of ice, forcing him to the ground on his knees, struggling futilely to escape as his magma tried to melt my ice(heavy on tried).

"Of course, we're talking about this, you dumb trog. There's no surprise you don't know, but conveniently, this artifact has a lingering mana attached to it that resembles our enemies."

I handed it to Ren, gesturing to give the artifact a look. Taking it from my hand, my hair stood on end for some reason I couldn't figure in those few seconds he spared to look.

Akan glanced for a moment, snickering. "Oh yeah, this guy's porked."

"It is true. I can feel the detestable mana of Vritra. This... man. He speaks of defection, yet corroborates with the enemy. Your kind is... amusing."

With a wave of his hand, the strands of mana tethered to the artifact dissolved into the air, a thin smoke leaving Olfred's body as his unconscious head fell.

"No more of that filth. Kuro. We will depart once night falls. Ready yourself as needed."

Ren handed the artifact back to me, to which I tossed in front of Virion. "Take care of that. Think carefully."

**

"Nico. Although I'd love for you to tag along, I need eyes here. Can I trust you to deal with it?"

With a cheeky smirk, he looked at me confidently. "Sure. I'll babysit for you. Pretty sure I'm not too far behind Varay anyway so I'll have a training dummy to play with for a while."

I smiled, patting his shoulder before looking at Arthur mischievously. "Three years, man. That's a long time away from Tess. Sure you'll be okay?"

He embarrassingly punched my arm, eliciting a snicker between me and Nico.

"Ass!"

"He does have a point though," Nico included after gathering a moment of sincerity. "You sure you'll be alright?"

With a deep sigh, Arthur visibly deflated.

"I have no clue. I wasn't even sure when I did the whole adventuring gig. And now I'll be god knows how far away for literal years. It's... Unnerving."

There wasn't much I could say, considering this whole thing was my fault(lol oopsie). I wasn't that bad of a guy, though.

"I wouldn't be so quick to assume."

Suspiciously, he spared a glance. "What does that-"

A wave of mana hit the three of us, a flash of light tearing through the sky as three shadows hid within.

Ren and akan appeared by my side at the same time the shadows revealed themselves.

"Indrath." If I didn't know any better, I would've thought Ren sounded almost on edge.

"My, my. Rensol Moran. It has been a very long time."

Uh oh.

**

Cyrus Vigo

"When do you think they'll return?" Castor asked blankly, drawing me out of meditation.

"Knowing the Young Lord's antics, any minute now." Lingering motes of mana sunk into my body as I opened my eyes.

"Rather, how are Lord Reynolds and Lady Alice doing? You see it as I do, brother. They hide it so well. Their distress is justified yet they mask it with unease."

We shared a moment of silence before Castor spoke again. "We should split up for this one, Cy."

That actually threw me off. We were together for everything and I expected that to be a fact for as long as we lived. It just wasn't a thought that occurred to me–to be away from my brother. But...

"Travels for travelers, I suppose?"

A smirk seeped through Castor's lips as he stood. I couldn't tell what expression I was seeing–I'd never seen it before.

"We'll be back together in no time, Cy. Promise."

I held back a smirk myself as I rose. "The stars have heard. Now it's law."

**

A/N

Boy. It has been FOREVER.  Yes, believe it or not I'm still alive. Quite the miracle.

Anyways, hope my survival made you half optimistic. I'm amazed enough this chapter even came out, honestly.

We'll be ending soon, people. Soon.

Later.