Tales of Zestiria: The World Beyond

Chapter 16

Arthur stood on top of a ladder and hung up the ribbon on the curtains. Celica was right beneath him holding the ladder still, so he didn't fall if he took the wrong step. Velvet and Eleanor worked on decorations on the table while Lailah, Rose, and Alisha worked with the food. Everything was set in place, even Zaveid had his own job with the rest to keep both Sorey and Vanessa separated. Zaveid and Eizen had Sorey down at some temples while Mikleo and Edna took Vanessa down to a nice waterfall where Mikleo showed off some of his artes and Edna made fun of him. It was a typical day for those two, they were completely unaware of what Arthur had planned, and that was perfect.

Arthur then got down from the ladder carefully and helped Celica move it to its next position and worked from there. Soon enough, Celica and Velvet met eyes with one another. Celica, not paying attention, didn't notice when Arthur tried to get down and the ladder fell. Velvet was quick to catch him before he got hurt and Celica signed in relief. Velvet put Arthur down and got right back to work. She had noticed one thing though, behind her back, she felt Celica's cold stare go right through her. Celica wasn't happy that she was the one to help Arthur and didn't stop staring at her.

The two had it hard going forward. Whenever Arthur needed something, Celica went right to him while Velvet only got irritated. It wasn't until Celica was called into the kitchen to help with the baking as Alisha burned some of the cookies, that she had to leave. To her dismay, Velvet took that chance to talk to him.

"Your malakim, seraphim I mean, seems pretty upset." Velvet pointed out.

"She's always been like that, ever since we met, she's always been clingy," Arthur explained with a sigh on his face. "She gets all fussy when she sees other girls with me."

"You don't think she likes you? Do you?"

"It may be that...she's hard to read." Then Arthur spoke to himself. "A spirit like her is just so strange. I wish I had the answer to her behavior."

"Arthur?"

"Don't take it personally, Vel."

"Vel?"

"I thought it would be cute."

"Arthur," Eleanor spoke up. "You're not seriously considering a relationship with her, are you?"

"With Velvet? We're just friends." Arthur staggered.

"Good."

"What's going on?" Celica asked.

"She doesn't think a daemon and a human can be together." Velvet said a bit too calmly. "Not that it matters what she thinks."

"You're right about that."

The same happened in Lumina, daemons, and humans were just as separated as humans and spirits were, but instead of having a good relationship, there was only hatred between the two. Humans hunted down daemons while daemons hunted down humans. There was no winning between the two; even if it started a war, there would be no winners. However, Velvet wasn't like the daemons of Lumina. She had a sense of justice and didn't just kill for sport or food; she even fought her own kind. Perhaps it was because she was a therion that she kept her humanity, or maybe it was personality.

Although some in Lumina had their humanity intact, they eventually lost it as time went on. They forgot who they were, and who their friends and family were. That was the sad part of becoming a daemon, there was no happy ending. That was where Velvet was different, according to Eleanor and Eizen, she didn't have to die at the end of her journey. She continued to live and made peace with herself. Arthur liked that about her, she was able to move forward after she got her revenge, something he wasn't sure if he could do if he was in her situation.

When the sun began to set, the group realized they hadn't finished everything and couldn't allow Sorey or Vanessa to return to see unfinished party decorations on the walls. They had contacted the others, when they sent Velvet and Eleanor, to ask them to stay in a different inn. Eizen pointed out the nearest one to the temple, while Mikleo and Edna fought over where to go. Vanessa was fine with staying outside, she was used to camping whenever she was on her own. To which Edna and Mikleo were fine, it was better than spending the entire night trying to decide what inn to stay. Edna set up a rock barrier with her power to prevent sneak attacks from hellions.

Arthur was the last one to finish his part, he had dragged in the pillars of ice from the day before and set them up in the four corners. He had a tired look on his face and when he used his ice to decorate the tables, it looked more like snowflakes and melted quickly.

"Aren't you tired?" Velvet asked Arthur.

"A bit," he responded.

"You should rest."

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow, okay Vel?"

"I'll see you tomorrow...what?" Velvet asked when she saw Celica was staring her down.

"I'm watching you, Velvet Crowe, don't be getting close to him," Celica said.

"We're friends."

"Better stay that way."

"What is wrong with you?"

"Is that normal?" Eleanor asked.

"I think so," Velvet sighed.

(More Arthur X Velvet; I need to get that dress design done before the next chapter. That'll be the last of this section, first the dressing scene then the party itself. Next, a Berseria team member will be joining and Arthur's birthday is coming up. I don't have dates; the characters of my series celebrate whenever it's their birthday and whenever I want to have a fun scene. Please don't get the wrong idea, Wonders of Mysteria is only influenced by inspiration and is not fan fiction itself. The story and characters are not related to Berseria in any way beyond references.

I love you, Vanessa. Don't kill me, there's not much going on with most of the party members in this chapter since I felt guilty for not working on it for a while and wanted to get something out. Back to KH drawings.)