Tales of Zestiria: The World Beyond

Chapter 7

Queen Alisha of Hyland and her guard Maltran. Alisha had long blonde hair in a bun and bright green eyes. She wore a blue royal dress with white frills and had a black cloak around her shoulders with white fur by the shoulders. Maltran wore a blue jacket with a white, revealing corset underneath and a black choker. She had protective armor on her forearms and legs. And her faded magenta hair was held back into a curly ponytail, and half of her face was hidden by her long bangs.

The two stood in the hallway of the castle and welcomed the party. To took take some convincing on Sorey and Rose's side to allow Arthur, Celica, and Vanessa inside. After all, the three were newcomers. Alisha concluded that if they were friends of Sorey, they were also friends of her. She had immense trust in Sorey, and it was no wonder why people felt they could trust him, he gave off the feeling of being too pure to lie or deceive someone. A trait Arthur didn't have.

"I'm glad to see you again, Sorey," Alisha said as she continued to look outside.

"You look nice Alisha." Were the only words Sorey had in his mind at the time.

"Is something wrong your majesty?" Arthur asked.

"Oh, sorry, I'm still not used to that." Alisha blushed a bit. "Yes, there has been something bothering me. It's been harder to sleep lately; I think I've been thinking too much."

"It was the same for us last night," Rose said.

"Arthur said it might have to do with a hellion," Sorey mentioned.

"A hellion? Here?" Alisha had a shocked tone.

"Was there anything different that happened recently around here?" Arthur asked.

"Yes actually, there was a red moon a few days ago."

"Oh right, wait, do you think that it's connected?" Rose was almost in shock as well.

"It might be, if it has anything to do with a woman and the energy, I felt from her, then it must," Arthur said.

That strange woman and her question, "why do you think birds fly?" Whoever she was, she seemed to be the cause of the strange energy that they had felt through the night. Even in the day, the energy was present. Her appearance also bothered Arthur, no one else in Lady Lake had torn clothing or messy hair, nor did they wear a large bandage. The way she spoke was different from the happy demeanor the citizens had, and they didn't acknowledge her.

Arthur looked outside to see what Alisha saw, and he knew it when he saw it, strong energy just outside the castle gates. A mix of black and purple waves that flowed from a puddle of negativity. That was malevolence. The energy that turned creatures into hellions. It was the same as the malevolence from his world, and he knew exactly what it meant. The people were in danger if it continued to spread, and could destroy the kingdom.

Vanessa held tightly onto her book, there was something she knew as well. She read the Celestial Records with Sorey, so recognized what that malevolence meant. It was known as "the Lord of Calamity."

"Queen Alisha, are you sure you want to go out?" Maltran asked.

"I'm sure, please, take care of the kingdom for me while I'm gone," Alisha said. She was out of her dress and wore a blue and navy corset with tails, a blue and navy bolero, a white skirt edged with black lace, white boots with gold edges tied with blue ribbons, black thigh-high stockings, and white gloves. She also held a large white hat with golden rims, accented with blue feathers with yellow tips. And had her ponytail tied in a low ponytail.

"Of course, take care of her please."

"She'll be fine, it'll be like old times, right Alisha?" Rose smiles right at Alisha.

"Right." Was the only thing Alisha said.

"Where are we going?" Celica asked.

"Well, we all saw the hellion this morning, right? We're going after it." Rose responded.

"You are all insane." Arthur sighed.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," Mikleo said.

"Doesn't matter." Edna opened her umbrella.

"But I like having the cutie around," Zaveid said as he looked towards Celica.

"It'll be so much fun to have more though!" Lailah was so happy about something like that.

"We'll stay, just for the excitement right Celica?" Arthur patted Celica on her head.

"And can I come too?" Vanessa asked.

"Of course, you can come!" Sorey smiled which made Vanessa blush a bit.

"Well...um...thanks for letting me on board!" That sentence alone made the others laugh. "Oh, what?!"

"She's something isn't she?" Mikleo put his arm over Sorey's shoulder.

"I think it'll be fun," Alisha said with joy in her tone.

She was different from what Arthur thought of a queen, she acted more like Sorey and his friends than someone from a royal linage. Perhaps that was common in that world, for royalty to interact with the people informally. Then again, she only started to speak in such a way after she changed into her new outfit, not when she was in her royal dress. She was laughing with Lailah and appreciated everything Edna did. She also called the seraphim by "lord" or "lady". She recognized Celica as one and started saying "Lady Celica" when the two talked.

Vanessa was also happy to be around, she talked with less anxiety in her tone and treated the group like old friends instead of strangers. She, of course, had her secrets. Arthur saw that when she danced around certain questions or when her book was mentioned. She didn't acknowledge that it changed in appearance when more people were around or how it didn't open for anyone who wasn't her. She would change the subject just like Lailah did when talking about a Shepherd.

Which happened quite often. Whenever Arthur or Celica asked about a Shepherd that wasn't Sorey or Rose, Lailah seemed to turn off that part of her brain and give attention to the first thing that she saw. Sometimes it was a butterfly, other times it was a bee, or how dirty the window was. It was because of her that the others didn't question why Vanessa, Arthur, or Celica danced around questions or ignored them completely.

(This was mainly to introduce Alisha, who is now joining yay! And the Berseria arc. Yes, if you haven't noticed the woman the party is talking about is Velvet Crowe, our lovely Lord of Calamity. She'll be introduced in the next chapter for a fun scene and another fight scene. And if you haven't noticed, Arthur and Celica share the same name as Velvet's brother in law and sister, so it will be pointed out.

I like the Tales series so take inspiration from it, and it just happens I'm using the two who have the same names as those two. This is a pretty self-aware story, pointing out the similarities in the worlds and character names soon. I'm planning to be a fun scene.

I didn't choose Mileena and Shadow because Mysteria X RD was still running when I first created this prompt and I just ended up sticking with Arthur and Celica. Until next time for the Berseria arc.)