Tales of Zestiria: The World Beyond

Chapter 4

"Well if it isn't the young Shepherd." A voice called out from above.

"Zaveid!" Sorey said recognizing the voice.

"Nice to see you again, and who's your cute friend here?" Zaveid said as he put his arm around Celica. He had long white hair that changed to green at the tips, orange eyes, and a tanned complexion. He had a muscular build and didn't wear a shirt, revealing white tattoos across his arms and torso, as well as a necklace made of beads, silver rings, and what appeared to be strips of leather. Wore black pants decorated with simple stripes similar to his tattoos, two silver gun holsters on his belt, and a hat that belonged to an old friend.

"My name is Arthur, and that's Celica." Arthur merely sighed as Celica slowly backed away from Zaveid.

Zaveid, a seraph who aided in Sorey's journey and was more or less annoying than he was helpful. He stayed close to Celica as she stood frozen not completely sure what to do with the new addition to the group. When he said was around for the time since he was done playing with the new Shepherd Rose, both Sorey and Mikleo looked like they were about to jump and the mention of her title. They didn't know she was calling herself the new shepherd.

Zaveid tried to put his hand over Celica's shoulder again, but she ran behind Arthur, not sure how to deal with the stranger. Sorey said it was normal for Zaveid to act that way and Mikleo mentioned he constantly tried to get attention from the girls during their journey. His expression dropped when Arthur asked about the hat he wore since it was mentioned that it belonged to a friend of his.

Dezel was his name, a seraph who Zaveid knew from a long time ago, and who died when he used up his power to stop a horde of dragons. He was a friend of Rose's as well, he guided her when her first guild fell apart and helped rebuild it into an assassins guild. There wasn't much known about him before he met Rose, he was a loner like Zaveid, and did he pleased.

"Sorey," Rose said as she saw the group enter the inn.

"Rose!" Sorey waved to her.

"I have something you might like," Rose brought Arthur back into focus when she gave Sorey a book. It was the same one Edna found in ruins.

"What is this?"

"Dunno thought you might like to check it out."

"It doesn't look too old," Mikleo took a closer look at the book. The cover had changed to have a sky like pattern in the middle with blue gems on the sides and a golden border.

"That's weird," Rose said. "It had a purple Phoenix on it last time."

"Woah, changing book covers?" Zaveid had a sarcastic and serious tone in his voice, which Arthur thought wasn't possible.

"I've never seen anything like it," Arthur tried to open the book only for it to close back quickly.

"Maybe it needs a key," Lailah said enthusiastically.

"Or it doesn't want to be read," Edna said in her usual monotone way of speaking.

"Well," Rose then looked to Sorey. "Are you going to introduce us?"

"Oh right," Sorey put the book away for the time being. "This is Arthur and Celica."

"How interesting!" Of course, it was Lailah who took the most interest.

The seraph went straight to Celica and circled the girl. She then went to Arthur and checked him out. According to her, Arthur was extremely similar to Sorey in terms of power and Celica was similar to an old friend she knew. She took interest in who the two were and didn't stop asking questions until Rose pulled her back. Rose said they had other things to focus on and made it known she was talking about the book.

Edna had found the book in the Galahad ruins and brought it back while Rose was in Lady Lake, perhaps if they went there, they would find out more about it. And if they were lucky, they would find the owner open the book. Rose mentioned that before she met up with Sorey, the book didn't have a seal on it, and when they opened it, it was blank. To Arthur, that sounded like the book was trying to keep them from learning the secrets of the owners. Also meaning they shouldn't dig into it.

Rose looked at him and hit on the head, he didn't know their style, which was to investigate everything they could get their hands on. Speaking of investing. Rose, Edna, Lailah, and Zaveid had questions for Arthur and Celica. How they met Sorey, what they were doing in Lady Lake, and what they planned to do from then on.

Edna was the least interested in Arthur and Celica, she kept to herself and didn't talk unless she needed to. It didn't feel like she was shy, more that she didn't want to talk to strangers. She immediately went over to Mikleo and poked him with her orange umbrella. They had a strange relationship as he ran from her and she chased him down.

Rose was interested as well for about a minute before and Sorey investigated the book Edna found. Its form changing was most likely a response to the new people around it, when it was Rose, Edna, and Lailah, it didn't mind being open. With Arthur, Celica, Sorey, Mikleo, and Zaveid joining, it felt threatened. Arthur picked it up and scanned it with his ability that could read the presence of anything he touched.

He concluded that it was alive, not the same as humans or a seraph, it was more like a plant. It automatically responded to the environment, he explained it as if it was a flower that closed at night and opened at sunrise. If they wanted to know more, they needed to find the owner, a subject he wasn't too happy about since he knew they would question the owner like they did to him and Celica.

(We're heading into the "Phoenix" arc with Vanessa's character. I am getting help from her who I've given credit to in the description of this story. Go ahead and check her out, she does more art than writing but she's really good. We're working together on the introduction of her character, so it'll be a while before the chapter is out.)