Tales of Berseria The X: Beyond Calamity

Chapter II: An Unexpected Encounter

Two months before the departure - Hyland Imperium Palace

The castle halls were empty, save for the echoes of two men speaking to each other. One sounded older, cold, but powerful. The other, young, brimming with emotion and hope but uncertain.

"I've ordered preparations for the Sanguine to start the first expedition to Midgand."

"Thank you, father."

"... Are you still certain? Do you really want to leave your brother and sister behind? You know how much I need your help. Forget about what happened. Your place is still here, with us, and what about your duties?"

"No, I don't want to leave any of you... but I am certain. The longer I stay here, the more problems I'll cause. I will not deny what I've done, but there's no place for me here. I've already failed a lot of people, but I will not fail my family. They must have a future, and I will not deny them that chance."

Aball, The Village of Longing - Crowe's residence

"He is still unconscious.", Avernus heard the voice of an unknown girl, faintly. "You were supposed to stay in bed, Laphi! I told you a thousand times that you need to rest!"

Avernus barely managed to open his eyes. The pain was gone, and he hardly saw the two figures responsible for those voices; a young boy, probably ten or eleven years old, with blond hair that reached to his shoulders, and an older girl, in her late teens, with long, black braided hair.

Avernus gasped as he laid eyes on the girl. She was the same one that he saw in the jungle and the one who was whispering to him.

"I know, but I'm bored. I can't stand staying in bed all day doing nothing!", the young boy revolted.

The young girl frowned. "Don't argue with me. You won't get any better if you move around, and I'm always worried that..."

At that moment, the boy noticed that the injured man had already been awake, watching them squabbling for some time. "Velvet..."

The girl turned, and their eyes clung into one another—golden blazing eyes that burned with passion, love, and will to live.

"Oh... hi! Morning!", the girl said.

Avernus slowly turned his head to look around the room. "Where am I?... What is this place?"

"Umm... it is our home. You were found injured in the Morgana Woods after fighting with the daemon. I'm sorry, I tried to be quick and come back with help, but you already took care of the beast."

"The Morgana Woods?... Oh... the daemon. Now I remember..."

He tried to move, but was interrupted by the excruciating pain of his chest. The girl moved closer, trying to dissuade him from moving.

"Your injuries, they looked serious. I tried different medicines to ease your pain, at least. Still, unfortunately, the village doctor is in Taliesin right now, and we have only an apprentice animal doctor available to treat the sick and wounded. So we had to ask for his help...", the girl clarified, but her face immediately turned red upon realizing that she had disclosed too much information.

He smirked and wondered, "An animal doctor, you say? So this mess of a bandage is his work and not yours?"

The wound dressing was awful. Like it had been done by a blind man.

The girl blushed. "No! Of course not! I just helped with your clothes, and they were bloodied and dirty. They needed cleaning, so I took... um, we took those off."