Tales of Berseria The X: Beyond Calamity

Chapter XV: Oaths of Duels Under the Moon

The portal stretched open, and Avernus dropped down on the cold ground below. He opened his eyes immediately to check on Velvet, glancing down.

The soft sensation of all that soft silky hair and the smell of Rose was gone, and so was Velvet. He dropped his arms, worried and quiet. "Never trust portals."

Avernus checked the area that he was in.; rocky blue islands floating around. A deadly silence and gloom thickened the air. The sensation was the same as ten years ago when he ventured into an earthpulse to find the Hyland's solution to the daemon infestation. His exaltation from squire to Shepherd coincided with despair and hopelessness. He was prideful, but he wasn't selfish. That night, he found the hidden malak Tia, slumbering in the depths of the earthpulse and ready for a pact holder to come.

During his years as the Shepherd, he lived in a world of death. Parts of his souls got lost along the journey, but his heart was still with his loving mother-figure, Rosa.

He sighed as the memories fast-forwarded through his mind. Avernus felt whispers flowing through the air, coming to him. He couldn't make out the phrases except for a name that repeated over and over: Eumacia. He struggled to focus as he spent most of his strengths fighting Artorius. Avernus' head became heavy, and the world started to circle him. He stumbled forward and blacked out.

Avernus opened his eyes with a sharp gasp and rose on his feet, noticing he was back at his room before he became a squire. He spotted a woman sitting on the same chair that Rosa used always to sit on. He stood up and strolled towards the figure. His mouth flattened. "Mother?"

She turned to him and smiled, "Avernus! My son!"

Avernus dropped on his knees, the same smell and same soothing aura. He instinctively placed his head on her thighs as he did when he was a child. Avernus wept as Rosa caressed his long hair.

He was again that little, pure-hearted boy in her mother's embrace. "I thought I lost you, Mother, I thought I would never see you again."

Rosa paused as she continued to smile, "Avernus, life is full of unexpected instances. Some make you cheerful, and some break your heart."

His eyes shed some tears, "I wasn't there when you needed me. I left you to die."

"All deprivations and miseries are temporary, do you know that? And most of it was inevitable. I had to leave so you can grow and have a life. Do not worry about me. My problems are long gone, my son."

Avernus grabbed her hand and put it under his cheek, "I don't want to go back out there. I can't do this anymore."

"You're strong, Avernus. You are a survivor. You always kept fighting."

Avernus raised his head to look at her eyes. They shined with hope and power, like always.

"You just have one more hardship to go through. Follow your heart and spread your wings." Rosa said and brushed a hand over his cheek for one last time. "I believe in you and your heart, Avernus."

With her last smile, everything went white, and he woke up from his dream. He clenched his fist and stood up. Avernus knew what he had to do. "Time to find Velvet."

In another place of the earthpulse, Velvet was asleep. She was tired of all fighting, of all those sleepless nights. The nights that the only thing on her mind was vengeance. But for the second time, after last night that Avernus gave her his pendant, it was her best rest she got. It seemed Velvet was back at their house in Aball, and she heard the serene voice of her beloved sister,

"Velvet. Wake up."

Velvet groaned and rolled in her bed away from the voice. "Please. Just let me sleep a little more, Celica."