endless path, infinite cosmos

chapter 101

Vahn felt something poking at his cheek, and he was slowly awakened from his unconscious state. While he was worrying about the future, he had finally managed to fall asleep and get some rest. Opening his eyes, Vahn froze up a bit as he saw Tiona smiling at him while poking his cheek. "Wake up sleepy head. It's time for us to go~" Tiona no longer had her amorous, and mad appearance, from earlier. Instead, she had returned to her normal and cheerful state which allowed Vahn's body to relax a bit.

Accepting the hand she had offered, Vahn was raised to his feet and noticed that all the tents that were previously in the area had vanished. Now there was a large group of people being briefed and split into groups as they made their way toward the stairs. "Were you able to rest any?" Tiona, who was standing to his right, seemed to be overly concerned about the state of his body. Since she was unable to control herself earlier, she worried she may have injured Vahn.

Vahn stretched his body before smiling toward her. "I feel great. Turns out I just needed a bit of rest after being high-strung for so long." Tiona nodded and showed a cheerful smile, and just as she was about to say something, Vahn placed his hand on her head. "Don't worry about it Tiona, I don't blame you for anything. I'd rather we put everything behind us and look toward the future from now on." Vahn had noticed she was acting down, and he wanted to cheer her up a bit.

Tiona rubbed her hair against his palm and let out a satisfied laugh as she nestled herself closer toward him. Vahn didn't shy away from her affection, but he could see people giving them stares from the distance. Amongst the group of onlookers, Vahn saw Finn sighing with his hand on his forehead. Next to Finn, Riveria and Ais both looked over with their blank expressions, while Lefiya seemed to have calmed down a lot as she looked toward him with a small smile on her face.

Though everyone had different reactions, there was one person who seemed to be genuinely upset by the show of affection. Bete, who was standing amongst the elite members of the Loki Familia, looked at Vahn with a glare and a grimace. "You two gonna keep acting like idiots, or are you ready to do some actual work?" Tiona, who had been enjoying the moment, looked at Bete with a fierce expression. Ais also seemed offended as she muttered in a low and cold voice. "Jerk."

Bete's hair seemed to rise a bit as his expression turned very sour. It looked like he had just swallowed a bug, but instead of saying anything, he just glared toward Vahn with a dark expression in his eyes. "Really, a manly man. Hiding behind women suits you..." He spoke the words in a cruel and condescending manner which caused Vahn to frown deeply. Vahn didn't know what Bete had against him; there hadn't been anything between them, but Bete seemed adamant about trying to pick a fight with him.

Looking directly into Bete's face, Vahn asked, "What do you have against me? I have never done anything to you." Even if it was his 'normal' personality, Vahn was dissatisfied with the common poor treatment he received from Bete. Hearing Vahn's question, Bete smiled and said snidely, "It is because you're weak, yet you have people building expectations for you. Without strength, what can you do!? How can you protect anyone!?" Bete's voice cracked a bit as he shouted out.

Vahn hadn't known at the time, but Bete had lost most of the people he cared about due to his own selfishness and weakness. Nearly three years prior, Bete had been the Captain of the Vidar Familia. After he had obtained level 3 and became confident in his strength, he left the City to seek revenge against a fierce monster that had wiped out his clan. Unfortunately, when he should have returned back to the City in glory, he was instead met with tragedy. The majority of his Familia had been killed or injured while on an expedition, and to make matters worse, his Vice-Captain and lover had also died. Devastated, Bete spent the next few months squandering away all of his money while wasting away in pubs. It wasn't until he had picked a fight with Finn and Gareth in a drunken stupor that he was torn away from his cycle of self-destruction.