Tales of Zestiria: The World Beyond

Chapter 10

Velvet stood with her guard up, she had her sword by her side and her claw ready for a fight. Arthur and Zaveid stood at the front while Celica stood in the back. Velvet made the first move, she jumped forward and went to slash her claw right down on Arthur. He barely blocked it, and with his strength, he pushed her away. Celica summoned an arte that acted as a temporary barrier between them and Velvet while Zaveid used his pendulum to grab onto Velvet's right arm once the barrier was down.

Arthur took the opportunity to slam his sword down on the ground to create icicles that shot from below. He jumped back and summoned arrows made of ice to distract Velvet while Zaveid went in. The seraph struck Velvet with melee attacks before she hit him back with her claw, sending him flying and he regained his stance by using the wind to catch himself. Celica summoned a tornado and Arthur created ice which made a storm.

Velvet dug her claw into the ground, holding firm and darting straight for Arthur. Despite the wild tornado, she pushed on. To Arthur's surprise, she broke through and landed on her feet right in front of him. Blades were drawn and flurries of steel blows clashed back to back. Her reflexes were faster and the hammering of her claw made his guard shudder under the strikes. Soon, Arthur was surprised by a clink of her hidden foot blade. Velvet sliced his defense with an upward strike, leaving him shocked and baffled.

He kept his sword raised when he released a power that stunned Velvet. It resembled the silver flame and it made Velvet stand in shock, she backed up a bit then continued. Celica went in to protect Arthur and used an arte to gain some distance between her and Velvet. She created a gust of wind and with Zaveid's help, gained a boost to her shield once Velvet broke through. Velvet went head-on into battle with Celica, while Celica tried to keep her distance, Velvet just broke through again and again to land a few hits. She was fast and strong, her abilities transcended the two, even Zaveid had trouble with her.

Suddenly, a voice came from the distance. It was a woman who yelled Velvet's name, and behind her, the rest of the party. Velvet stopped and looked at the woman, she immediately put her guard down and her arm became bandaged again.

"Eleanor, what are you doing here?" Velvet asked.

"Stopping you from doing something reckless," Eleanor said. Eleanor explained that she met the party while they were doing research, she told Velvet that the two who she fought against were not the same as the ones they knew.

"What about the others? Phi, Magilou, Rokurou, Eizen, where are they?"

"Velvet, it's been years since we went on that journey."

"That's impossible."

"It's not," Arthur chimed in. "We may not have an explanation, but we do need to stop fighting."

"And why is that?" Velvet merely glared at him.

"Because we're all allies here," Vanessa spoke up as well.

"Velvet," that time it was Sorey. "I know it must be confusing, that's why we need to figure it out together. Arthur and Celica have been with us for a while and haven't done anything."

Velvet stood in confusion, how was it that she and Eleanor were there? How was it that they had different recollections of their journey? And where were the others of their group? All those questions Velvet had spinning in her head, and none she knew an answer to. She had heard about Arthur and Celica's journey with Sorey and the others, she heard about Sorey's journey as a Shepherd, and somewhat knew Vanessa's story.

She leaned against the wall and remained in thought while the others spoke with Eleanor. Even she was surprised by what had become of Eizen and worried for the others. She also had her secrets, she kept the fate of Laphicet a secret from Velvet, knowing Velvet would go out immediately to find him. She told Sorey and his friends to also stay quiet until the time was right.

Velvet mentioned an old temple that she entered and when she emerged from it, she found herself in a place she didn't recognize. She kept wandering until she found a church, she thought she recognized, but it wasn't the same. The designs and patterns were the same, the only difference was that it was completed, it was barely started when she first saw it. Eleanor had a similar story; however, her time was different. She said she went exploring after her journey while Velvet was during the journey.

"Eleanor," Arthur began.

"Yes?" Eleanor replied.

"This Artorius you've been mentioning, why is it that Velvet hated him?"

"He was her brother in law until he killed her brother."

"The first Shepherd." Sorey looked at Eleanor with curiosity.

"He killed Velvet's younger brother to gain control of the world and he planned to wipe all emotions from humans to stop malevolence."

"That's why she had such feelings towards Arthur," Celica said. "She saw her brother in law in Arthur."

"Perhaps."

"It still doesn't make sense," Vanessa said. "Arthur and her brother are two different people!"

"That may be the case. But they do have the same feeling." Eleanor then stopped. "Arthur, why did you name your Malak, I mean seraph, 'Celica'?"

"It was the name of an old friend of mine when I was a child," Arthur responded. "I didn't think it had any connection to Velvet's big sister."

"Do you think that you knew Velvet's family when you were young?" Mikleo asked.

"I was too young to even remember." Arthur lied, then he whispered to himself. "Our worlds are indeed so similar, but why is it that even our names are the same?"

The word 'Malak' was also strange, he hadn't heard it before. Eleanor also mentioned 'daemons' and when the group continued to talk, they found the names had changed over the years. From Malak to seraph and daemon to hellion. Lailah said the change happened thousands of years ago, making Velvet and Eleanor look at each other in confusion. It sounded like they were teleported to the future and were from different timelines.

(And that's all for today, it's a shorter chapter with just the fight scene and the aftermath. Introducing Velvet and Eleanor, to those who got that it was Eleanor's last chapter, you get a cookie. I did make it obvious.

We'll be heading into Eizen's part with a dragon fight and after that, a fun scene I have planned with Vanessa. Please do check her out, I'll ask if I can use a dress design for her for that fun scene. Thanks for reading, and yes, I am self-aware that Wonders of Mysteria is like Zestiria and Berseria, I did that because I like the games.)