Tales of Zestiria: The World Beyond

Chapter 11

Arthur leaned against the wall and thought about his next move. They were to head to Rayfalke Spiritcrest the next day and see what they could do about Eizen. Velvet and Eleanor sat at the table with Sorey and Mikleo to catch up on what they had missed the past few days while Vanessa read through her book with Lailah trying to catch a peek at the inside before the girl closed the book every time she saw Lailah there.

It was an interesting group, to say the least, even the time since Sorey's first adventure, and then seemed like eons to those who were involved. Alisha and Rose joked about their past and seemed to have fun all the way. Arthur just looked off to the distance, alone and away from the others. The malevolence levels were increasing with every day, even with Velvet around, a being who could absorb malevolence, it was too much.

She explained that she was called a therion, a type of daemon, or hellion, that ate malevolence to keep it from spreading too much and affecting the people. She recalled the times when she killed one and caused an entire town to be consumed and turn into daemons. That was before they knew what therions did. She was also the first to be created and her brother-in-law threw her in a cage to test her powers.

She broke out with her sister's help and started her journey to get revenge for her family and kill her brother in law, who was the source of her problems.

"What's on your mind Arthur?" Sorey approached him.

"The malevolence is growing, what should we do about it?" Arthur kept his eyes to the ground.

"Cheer up, we'll find a way to stop it."

"You're always so enthusiastic Sorey, I like that about you."

"Mikleo does say it gets me trouble."

"It can so stay aware of that."

Arthur stood up straight and headed to the table to join the others once he had a plan. Since it was too risky to take a big group out, they planned on six of them to go. Arthur, Celica, Sorey, and Lailah were a must, and since Velvet had the power to absorb malevolence, she offered to go as well. Vanessa also volunteered to go, she had abilities of her own that would be helpful. The six agreed to head out in the morning and see what they could together. Sorey was hopeful that their plan was going to work, it didn't hurt to try after all.

Edna didn't want to go in case they had to kill her brother, and Zaveid didn't want to think about too much. Rose was told to stay behind in case any other hellions showed up and Alisha was told to help if needed. Mikleo was fine with the plan, but he told Sorey to be careful, no matter what happened. Eleanor didn't have a problem either, she spent her time cleaning a comb that was covered in dirt. Velvet finally took it from her and recognized it as the one her brother gave her.

Eleanor tried to get it back to finish cleaning it, but Velvet kept her back. She could damage it if she kept rubbing it hard with a wet cloth and Velvet didn't want it to break further.

Vanessa sat outside the inn and stared at the moon and stars in the night sky. She held tightly onto her book as a small purple feather fell out of it when she was startled by something. It was Sorey, he was worried about her being alone and thought she could use some company. He sat next to her and stared at the same stars she did. It was a clear sky, not a cloud in sight. Vanessa then looked at Sorey, he looked back at her and the two laughed.

For Vanessa, it had been a while since she went on a journey of her own, she almost forgot how it felt to travel with others and fight monsters. She laid down on the grass with her book on her stomach and closed her eyes a bit. The small breeze felt nice and refreshing. Sorey picked up the little feather that came from Vanessa's book, it shone in the moonlight and he looked at Vanessa. She seemed so calm at that moment like there was nothing wrong in the world.

"Velvet," Arthur approached her. "Do you think I'm like your brother in law?"

"You share the same name," she said. "But that's it, now that I have a good look at you, you're nothing like him."

"I see."

"You're too naive, you jump into situations without thinking, you have no idea if your plans will go the way you want to, and you're dumb."

"Well, thanks for that."

"I will tell you this, that outfit you're wearing, it's similar to the Abbey."

"The..."

"A group my brother made to hunt down daemons. Look at Eleanor."

"Just a little more! It's almost clean!" Eleanor jumped to reach the comb that Velvet held over her head.

"Leave it alone, it doesn't need any more cleaning." Velvet pushed Eleanor away. "Arthur, I don't like my brother in law, and I don't like you either. The only person I can trust is Eleanor. You, Sorey, Lailah, even Zaveid, I don't know you, and I won't trust you until you give me a reason."

"What happened to you?" Arthur asked.

"I don't know, my brother in law betrays, my little brother and my sister are dead, I have no idea where my other teammates are, I'm in a different time, and this one," she pointed to Eleanor. "Is strangely fascinated with an old comb."

"You have way more problems than I thought you did."

"Can't we get it fixed?" Eleanor asked.

"Quit it! I'll fix it myself; how did this thing even break? Did someone cut it with a knife to make this crack?" Velvet walked away with the comb in her hand.

"I'm not going to tell her."

"What?" Arthur looked at Eleanor.

(It's another preparation chapter, this time, Vanessa will be in the party fighting. I'm talking to nee-san about her skills and artes to get the character perfectly done. Some planning and catching up on the characters part with a bit of romance. Until next time.)