Beyond the Stars - Etrian Odyssey V Fanfiction

Chapter 13

"When did...?"

It had felt like an eternity since they had been running from the Toxipede, only to have to run from another that was between the sole road ahead and a nearby river. Ion's question of why the recent Toxipede felt no need to chase after them after losing sight of them felt more of a relief than a question of simply asking one.

"Seems like we've chased it off our trail," Amare noted, "Those Toxipedes don't tend to stray from their usual hunting grounds. We should be safe from having one of them chase us throughout the floor."

With the looming threat of the F.O.Es long behind them, the group advances as Bortos continued to map the floor as they went. "Why Byron so persistent in causing trouble?" Ion inquired to Hilda, seeing as she was the only source of information about Byron's trouble making attitude.

"I'll be honest, that's just how he's been for all that I've known him," Hilda remarked, "Perhaps it's odd to find such a difference in lifestyle interesting, but when I originally began to date him, it was a struggle to get him to change for the better."

"He definitely reeks of those typical adventurers who claim they'd reach the top of the Yggdrasil Labyrinth in a day." Korey commented, his tone coming across like someone who hated to talk about some rival from years ago, despite having only met the guy under terrible circumstances.

Understanding well what he meant, she continues, "Part of me hoped he would have grown upon having someone to express his hopes and dreams. But some people like that don't change easily, no matter how hard one tries." She finishes with a disappointed sigh, and gazes at the approaching signs of the stairs to the next floor.

Hilda takes a moment to gaze around the scenery as the sunlight continues to cast its gaze upon the open area. She then looks towards a collapsed pillar that she had once accidentally activated with her former guild, before approaching the crystal besides the stairs, reactivating it upon her touch as the light within it stirred from slumber.

"Hard to believe that I'm back here so soon, but the third floor is ahead of us." Hilda remarked with a more determined tone than the anguished worries of a former lover she had before. "It won't be long before we'll surpass what my previous journey in the labyrinth got me to..." A smile formed on her face as she began to think of what might lie ahead for her and her friends journeying with her.

"Now that I'm thinking about it," Bortos declared, "Something doesn't sit right with me about that eye-patched woman who was struggling against Lili."

Amare nodded in agreement, adding, "She also seemed to have recognized me from appearance alone. I can't shrug this off as her simply being a bandit who just happens to know who I am..."

 "She also didn't have any form of guild identification on her luggage or armor, so Ion not sure if eye-patched woman is a bandit or a mercenary..." Ion mentioned, from what he briefly saw of the Dragoon woman from earlier that day. Hilda looks to Korey, as if silently asking him for his thoughts on the matter.

"For all we know, she simply could be a bandit," He commented, "Though what she said about the... Eternal Treasures, was it? That definitely doesn't seem like your average bandit talk."

"Something definitely doesn't add up to her know-how of the treasures. But it's not like finding her and getting answers will be easy..." Bortos remarked, putting the map away after noting down a possible shortcut to this part of the floor.

Korey leaned back against a tree as if to rest a little and pondered to himself for a moment. "We've got little information about that woman to determine if she's a bandit or a mercenary," he noted, "But if we're going to find more of these treasures she mentioned, we may need to ask Ramus if there's anything related to the Eternal Treasures that we can get some lead on. We all good on that?"