Tales of Zestiria: The World Beyond

Chapter 15

"I've really been thinking," Arthur said as he sat at the table.

"About?" Mikleo asked while leaning on the wall.

"Sorey and Vanessa seem to be getting along pretty well."

"Are you jealous of Sorey?"

"Eh?! You think I like Vanessa?!"

"From that reaction right there, I'd say you do." Rose laughed as she watched Sorey and Vanessa play outside.

"No way! I have a girl I like back home. I just mean maybe we should do something to help them." Arthur sounded defensive.

"Like a date?" Celica asked.

"Like that, a secret date between the two to really get this relationship going."

"It sounds like a wonderful idea." Alisha clapped.

"Of course, you'd say that." Edna sat down across Arthur at the table.

"What are we talking about?" Velvet asked as she walked into the room with Eleanor.

"Arthur wants to get Sorey and Vanessa together for a date!" Celica said in excitement.

"On a date Celica." Arthur corrected her. "We're trying to get them together. Beyond the ruin nerd thing they have."

"I can help." Velvet suggested.

"Like you know anything about romance," Eleanor commented, to which Velvet responded by slapping her on the back.

They had a plan, a surprise party. Mikleo, Zaveid, Eizen, and Arthur would get Sorey ready while Rose, Alisha, Edna, Lailah, Celica, Velvet, and Eleanor would get Vanessa ready. They'd make this a normal party until the time came to surprise them. Arthur then brought out two friendship bracelets he made to surprise Vanessa and Sorey with, in which Rose placed her hand on her forehead and sighed.

Velvet dragged Eleanor outside to find something, anything, better than what Arthur had in mind. The others then got prepared, they made plans for the outfits and the entire set up of the room, with the inn's permission of course. Eizen didn't care much, he wasn't a party type of person and spent his time talking to Zaveid about what he missed over the years.

Arthur stood by the window and sighed; he wasn't sure about what he was doing. He went over to a small stream and waved his hand over it to create a small ball of ice and let it drift away. Velvet walked by and saw he was in thought, she sat down a distance away from him to watch what he was doing. He created pillars of ice near him and unsheathed his sword, in seconds, he cut the pillars to be in the form of spirals. He put his sword away and used his artes to permafrost them for decoration.

Velvet stood up and approached him, which startled him. She bent down to see the detail on the pillars, it was incredible that he made them in seconds and with such grand detail. She asked him where he learned how to do that, and he answered that he had plenty of free time growing up to learn how to use his power. All he had to do was imagine the form he wanted and his sword did the rest of the work.

"Arthur," Velvet asked.

"Something wrong Velvet?" Arthur asked.

"Your name, why is it 'Arthur'?"

"It's what my adoptive father named me when he found me."

"You're adopted?"

"That's right."

Arthur hadn't told anyone before. Besides Celica, the group didn't know about his personal life. He wasn't closed off from the subject either, he just waited until he was asked, he didn't like the idea of forcing his story onto other people or putting too much attention on him that possibly made him annoying. He was raised to serve the people and that they mattered more than he did. A lesson his adoptive father taught him.

His father, Stan Maxwell, was the governor of Aero Lumera, a kingdom within the world of Lumina. Stan found him when he was just a baby and raised him ever since then. Arthur told Velvet that he never knew his real mother or father and was ultimately fine with that. Only once did he ever consider looking for them or clues to what happened to them. In the end, he found nothing.

When he went to the village he was born in, all he found were broken down buildings and burnt books. There was little left to tell the story of what happened or what used to be there. It was common in Lumina after the world headed for an era of despair, everything was uncertain and it destroyed everything in its way. The daemons of the world were vicious, they killed everything in sight and didn't care if they hurt their own kind in the battle.

Velvet knew how Arthur felt. She was raised by her older sister, Celica, with her younger brother at her side. When Celica died, she was left with her brother and Artorius, until Artorius killed her brother. The anger on Velvet's face was clear, and the malevolence surrounding her only grew stronger. Arthur then placed his hand on her left hand, shocking her.

Arthur was surprisingly calm around her, even though he knew what she was, and what her arm was, he didn't seem to mind at all. That made her think of the boy who she was with. His name was Laphicet, he was a Malak that she grew close to because he reminded her of her brother. She hadn't seen throughout the entire journey so far. Not even the mention of his name from Eleanor or Eizen. Then again, it wasn't like they spoke about their other teammates either.

Velvet moved her arm away and went inside. She had enough for one day and wanted to check on the others. Arthur was just too nice of a person for her, and she knew since he was part of that time, that she'd probably never have anything close to a relationship with him.

"What's with her?" Celica asked.

"I think she has a lot on her mind," Arthur said. "Leave her be, I don't think she wants to talk."

(Welcome to a slice of life, episode one. This will go on for another chapter or two before getting onto the real story. This is a character development chapter set, mostly for Vanessa so her OC and Sorey can have screen time together.)