Tales of Zestiria: The World Beyond

Chapter 9

"So, where do you guys come from?" Zaveid asked.

"That's still personal Zaveid," Arthur pushed away from the question.

"We travel often, so let's say we don't have a home." Celica was the one to make up an excuse, which, it wasn't wrong.

Where the two came from, they did have a place to sleep, but Arthur preferred the wide outdoors. Celica was the one who liked a nice warm room and fire to sit by when it was cold. Aero Lumera, that was the name of the kingdom they were from. Celica, as a reborn spirit, didn't know where she was from. She didn't have any memories of when she was human. That was just another problem she had on her mind daily.

Zaveid broke the tension when he put his arm over Celica's shoulder. She froze in place unsure of what to do and stared at him. He laughed until Arthur dragged him off her and pulled her aside. Arthur stood between the two as it was obvious Celica was unsure of what to do with the seraph who they were stuck with.

"Zaveid, focus!" Arthur snapped at the seraph.

"Okay okay, don't get your hopes up," Zaveid said then looked at the mountain.

"Did you and Eizen have a connection?"

"Yeah, we were old friends back in the day. I made a promise to him, look at me now, I can't even fulfill it."

"What was the promise?" Celica asked.

"That I'd kill him if he became a dragon."

Sorey, Vanessa, Mikleo, and Lailah walked through the busy streets and tried not to alert the people. Both Vanessa and Sorey had to speak quietly if they addressed Lailah or Mikleo, or pretend they were having the conversation.

"Is it impossible?" Vanessa asked Lailah.

"Purifying a dragon is unheard of," Lailah responded.

"If Arthur thinks we can do it, then we might have a chance," Sorey exclaimed.

"You never change Sorey," Mikleo said.

"What does that mean?!"

"Vanessa, does your book have anything about dragons?" Sorey asked.

"Sorry no, this is more of a diary." Vanessa held her book close.

"Sorry! I didn't think!"

The four entered a library where Rose, Alisha, and Edna were present. Both had the same idea of where to go and instead of leaving, Sorey's team took one side as Rose's team took the other side. They continued to look for anything that they hadn't already read before. Sorey was hopeful that maybe they had missed something last time. That was when Vanessa reached up to grab something off the top of a shelf only for it to drop and break next to her feet. Sorey asked if she was okay and she said was fine while she looked at the broken object.

It was an old compass, one of the ones they used on ships during the first shepherd's time. Next to it, was a broken comb, it looked old as if it was in that state for a long time.

"This brings back memories," a woman said behind the party. She saw what was on the ground and went over to pick it up. She had light skin, green eyes, and reddish hair. And wore a pale gold dress with a blue overcoat.

"Sorry for breaking it!" Vanessa apologized.

"Don't worry about it, we had many breaks during our travels."

"Our?" Sorey asked.

"I was on a journey not too long ago. And an old friend had a fascination with these compasses."

The woman looked right at Rose, they looked so similar. Rose even reminded the woman of another old friend, with her looks and how she acted. The woman brushed it off and picked up the comb, it belonged to an old friend of hers, and if the rumor was right, that friend was back. She dusted it off and looked at it strangely, almost like she was surprised how old it was.

She left the room with not even the mention of her name. Rose was the one who thought about it the most, the woman had looked right at her before leaving. Even Edna was deep in thought. There was something familiar about the woman, like something she had heard from her brother.

Vanessa checked out the compass again, the poor thing was completely out of commission. She looked through the Celestial Records again to see how old it must have been, she found it was used thousands of years ago, which was much older than she thought. From what the woman said, she and her friends had used it a few years ago. And with the old markings and dust buildup, that didn't seem right.

Arthur, Celica, and Zaveid came across the woman they were looking for while she leaned against the railing. Up closer, Arthur saw the bandage she had on her left arm was flowing and the torn jacket she wore was of a pirates uniform. The malevolence got thicker the closer they got, to the point of Celica and Zaveid having to stand back.

"Excuse me." Arthur went up to her and tapped her shoulder.

"Who are you? You've been looking for me." The woman said she didn't look at Arthur as she spoke, only at the distance.

"Right...my name is Arthur-"

"Huh?" That name got her attention. She looked right at him.

"That's my name."

"You don't look like him."

"Arthur!" Celica cried out, worried for him.

"Not now Celica!" Arthur turned to see her.

"Celica?" The woman got even more curious.

She approached Arthur as he was the closest to her. Her golden eyes shone in the daylight and didn't seem to be dangerous until Arthur backed off and drew his weapon. In response, her left arm glowed and the bandages seemed to burn away, revealing a demonic arm.

"Whoever you are, you're not them." The woman was ready for a fight.

"We don't want a fight!" Arthur kept his sword up.

"Arthur! I'll help!" Celica stood by his side.

"What did you get into?" Zaveid got closer and saw who it was.

"Zaveid?" The woman looked straight at him.

"Velvet?" Zaveid was a bit in shock.

"You know her?" Arthur asked.

"From a long time ago."

Velvet was ready for a fight, whether they were. Arthur has provoked her, and she didn't look like she was about to back down. She charged in for an attack, and Arthur raised his sword to defend.

(Another longish one. Like a third of my main series chapter length. That sentence right there. I don't have time to figure out an entire fight scene and my head hurts from being sick, so tomorrow or the next day or whenever I have time. Meeting Velvet and a new girl, who is she? I'm keeping that a secret until she shows up.

As I said, the naming for my character was intentional and it just so happened that I made the fan fiction feature them. There will be some running jokes involving Rose and some more involving Sorey and Vanessa. I've set up clues to what's to come, so maybe read into them, maybe not. Either way, the Berseria arc is going smoothly.)