Blue: Hey everyone, this is yet another tales of fic that will be a sequel to its game. This is also part of my attempt to connect all the games into one crazy timeline. And lastly this fic is also a collaboration with my good friend Mirianetta, the same person working with me on the Tales of Danganronpa. The basic concept of this story was her idea and a few ocs Her ideas and characters intrigued me that I just had to write a story about them. So I created a few ocs of my own and we worked on the story together.

Mirianetta: So I hope you enjoy Blue's writing and our collaboration with the story!

Blue: Obviously, this has no tie in with Tales of Danganronpa. That's its own thing.

Read, review, enjoy.


Tales of Zestiria: This Is Our World

Chapter 1: New World

Sorey stepped out of the ruins into the sunlight and took a deep breath of the fresh air. He stretched his arms like he'd been stuck in the same position for a long time. In reality he had been, although he wasn't sure just how long exactly.

Although he had lost so much time, he couldn't help but feel a bit of excitement at the thought of seeing how different everything was. His friend Mikleo was already different. He was even taller than Sorey now.

"You're acting like you're just seeing sunlight for the first time in ages?" The voice of his friend Mikleo said in a light tone.

Sorey turned around and looked at his lifelong friend. "Well it kind of has," Sorey admitted. "This is the first time since I woke up."

That startled Mikleo a bit. "Then how did you end up here? This isn't even close to Camlann."

"Easy," Sorey answered. "Maolelus sent me through an earthpulse point. He was nice enough to send me close to seraphim I knew." Of course Sorey had no idea that it was going to be Mikleo. He'd been so excited when he was dropped off in the ruins and of course stumbled upon Mikleo. Other than Mikleo's appearance, nothing seemed to have changed between them. Sorey was so relieved. Not much was said between them after Sorey caught him from falling.

"Well that was nice of him, I'd hate to see what you would have done on your own. The world is a lot different," Mikleo said.

"Oh come on, I could have managed," Sorey playfully argued.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that," Mikleo joked.

Sorey just shook his head. "Anyway, how long has it been?"

Mikleo seemed to have to think about it. "About six hundred years."

It didn't quite hit Sorey that he'd missed that much. The human friends he'd made were long gone and the seraphim he knew had done so much in that time. "That long huh?" Sorey muttered. Right now, that only seemed like a number and not his new reality.

Suddenly there was large rumbling noise. The two of them were silent for a moment before both of the friends started to laugh. Mikleo started to chuckle. "You should probably eat something since it's been six hundred years since your last meal," he joked. "Come on, there's a village nearby." The seraphim then started leading the way down the steps of the ruins.

Sorey quickly followed. His curiosity started to overcome his hunger though. As he looked back at the ruins, Sorey asked, "So these ruins, did you find anything interesting?"

"Well I didn't get too far until I ran into you," the seraphim told him.

"You mean before I saved you?" Sorey said with a bit of a mocking jap.

"For the record, the fall wouldn't have hurt me," he answered matter of factly. But the seraphim softened a bit when he added, "But thanks. I'm glad you're back."

"It's good to be back even though it honestly hasn't felt that long," Sorey admitted. "And I can't wait to see how different things are."

He was expecting his friend to start telling him. But he didn't. Mikleo just stayed quiet as they walked through the forest path.

Their path was lined with stone pillars, all of which either partially destroyed, or worn away. Sorey kept trying to figure out where they were, but didn't recognize the area or even the ruins behind them. Of course, it had been six hundred years. Everything would be different. For all he knew, places he did know were probably now ruins.

Eventually the silence between them grew unbearable for Sorey. He couldn't believe that his friend wasn't saying more. So he decided to talk about something he knew Mikleo would want to talk about. "So the ruins we were at, do you have anything about them from the little you looked at them?"

"Not sure yet, I only looked into this one because a friend of mine asked me to," Mikleo answered simply. "I've been looking into a lot of ruins lately."

His response startled Sorey. A friend asked him to look at the ruins and not because of his own desire? Sorey waited for Mikleo to go on, but the seraphim didn't add anything more. Surely his friend hadn't lost his passion for ruin exploration? "Well what does the architecture tell you? Are there any giveaways that tell you that it could have happened after the era of Asgard?"

"That wasn't why I was looking into it," Mikleo replied. "So I didn't really look too closely at the ruins for something like that."

And the seraphim didn't add anymore. Sorey couldn't believe what he was hearing from Mikleo. He ran in front of the seraph. "Seriously Mikleo, what is going on?"

It was Mikleo's turn to look startled. But he quickly composed himself. Mikleo patted Sorey on the shoulder. "It's nothing," he told him. "There's just a lot to tell you. It would be better for you to hear it all with a full stomach."

The seraph started leading again. The response annoyed Sorey a bit. But he followed Mikleo and said, "It better be a long discussion."

Mikleo chuckled a bit at that. "Of course, we have six hundred years' worth of catching up to do."

/~/~/

Hunger really started to affect Sorey after walking for about an hour. But to his relief, Mikleo announced, "Here we are, Salutem Village."

Sorey perked up a bit. They had been walking deep through the forest and came upon a clearing. The title of village might have been too luxurious since there were really only about five building made of stone. Of course Sorey was filled with a sense of nostalgia walking into the village. He did, however, find it strange that there were small stones that lined the clearing and a stone archway. It wasn't until Sorey got closer that he could feel a domain. Then he figured that was what the stones were for, to visually mark where the domain ended. But this only led Sorey to more questions.

Especially when a bunch of kids started running up to them and a couple of them even shouted, "Mikleo's back."

About seven kids ran up to them and all of them gathered around Mikleo, asking things like, "What ruins did you find?", "Did you bring anything back for us?", or even "Can you make us some ice cream?"

Sorey was so startled that he looked closer at the children. Boys and girls of varying ages, but all younger than Sorey by several years. They were definitely human children. "Mikleo, they can see you?" Sorey asked in complete disbelief. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Well a few of them can see me," Mikleo corrected as he patted one kid on the head. "Most of them can only hear me."

"But that's amazing," Sorey said. He couldn't believe that there were this many in one place with high enough resonance. He never thought he'd see the day.

"That's enough kids," a new voice said. It was another kid, but he looked like he was close to Sorey's age. He was dressed in plain clothes like the rest of them and had short blonde hair. But what startled Sorey was that his eyes were white. "Leave Mikleo alone. You all still have plenty of chores to do before supper."

Most of the kids pouted, but they left to go finish what they had been doing. However one little girl paused and looked at Sorey. "So are you in hiding like the rest of us?" She asked.

Sorey just looked at the little girl in utter confusion? "What?" Was all Sorey could say to that.

"Emmy that's a bit rude to just ask that," the boy that was close to Sorey's age told her. He had a walking stick in his hand and gently nudged the girl with it. "Go on, you can talk with the new guy later."

Emmy just pouted, but she ran back to the task she had been performing before Sorey and Mikleo got there. The boy smiled at Sorey. "Sorry, she means well. She just asks that to all the new people, even the seraphim."

Wait, humans and seraphim live here? Sorey wondered. But another thing was still bothering him. "But why did she ask if I was in hiding?" He tried asking.

But he was ignored. Mikleo looked at the boy and said, "Isaiah, will you go get Shaun?"

The boy named Isaiah dropped his smile. "Must be serious. Does it have to do with those ruins?" He asked.

"Not really, just tell him I have Sorey, he'll understand," Mikleo answered. "We'll be in the kitchen."

Isaiah nodded and started walking with his walking stick before him.

"Shaun? You don't mean-" Sorey quickly started to ask.

"Yeah, same guy," Mikleo answered as he motioned for Sorey to follow him.

"But why's he here?" Sorey quickly asked. "Did something happen to Elysia?" The Shaun Sorey knew never wanted to leave the village and had said on multiple occasions that nothing good was out in the outside world.

"Elysia's fine," Mikleo reassured. "It's just a lot has happened while you were gone."

Sorey froze for a bit. But he quickly shook his head. He would have to get used to this. Things were different. This was basically a new world to him.

So he quickly followed Mikleo to the larger of the stone buildings. Some smoke was coming out of the top of it and Sorey could smell food. They entered to find a few benches and tables. At the end of the room was the kitchen where the food was being prepared by two human kids and two seraphim, an earth and a wind.

The earth seraphim didn't look up from her work and just said, "You little rascals it's not dinner time, and no I'm not give you all any snacks."

But the wind seraph looked over at them and her face lit up. "Mikleo," she called out and was running enthusiastically toward the water seraph with her hands up. However Mikleo just kept walking toward the other seraphim who had confused them for someone else.

The wind seraph that had noticed Mikleo first had disappointment clear on her face and even hung her head low. Sorey wasn't sure what to do and was about to follow after Mikleo but the girl seraph's face brightened a bit as she looked at Sorey. He scratched the back of his head and started to introduce himself. "Um, I'm So-"

"Wait, don't tell me," she suddenly declared and clapped her hands together. She had short green hair and a pretty muscular body for a slim young woman. She had on a white sleeveless crop top and black capris. "You're Sorey, right?"

Now Sorey was really uncomfortable. How in the world did she know him? "I'm sorry, but have we meet before?" Sorey asked. He was pretty sure he'd never seen her before now.

But she shook her head. "Oh no, but Mikleo always talks about you. So I feel like all of us here have known you for just as long. I'm so happy I get to meet you finally. I'm Rime by the way."

"Oh, uh...nice to meet you," Sorey told as he tried to get over how forward she was. She at least seemed friendly enough.

Just then she grabbed both of his hand and started to shake them. "I can't wait to become good friends with you."

"Um, same," Sorey told her. He quickly glanced over at Mikleo for help. But it was the seraph Mikleo had been talking to that helped him out. "Rime, leave the boy alone and get back to cooking," she told Rime.

Rime looked a bit annoyed, but dropped Sorey's hand to go back to work. But not before saying to him, "Let's talk more later, 'kay?"

Sorey wasn't sure how to respond to her. But he didn't have to because Mikleo returned with a plate full of food and Sorey's attention changed. He sat down at the nearest table, but didn't dig in before asking Mikleo, "So, tell me what's been going on?"

His friend still didn't look like he wanted to talk. But he sat across from Sorey and began. "Well it's been awhile since I've spoken with the others, but last I heard was that Lailah and Edna are working with the church and Zavied's just traveling around."

Sorey was relieved to hear the others were okay. After eating a mouthful, Sorey then asked, "What do you mean they're working with the church?"

"Oh, shepherds are now synonymous with the church," Mikleo started to explain. "In fact the Pope is a shepherd too."

Sorey couldn't believe what he was hearing. "So are there that many shepherds working in the church?" It was no wonder why there were so many more people with high enough resonance.

"Well not that many have the power of purification. There are only seven known seraphim that have that power and all of them are currently being used by the church," Mikleo clarified. "But there are still plenty of people in the church with high resonance who made pacts with seraphim just to combat hellions and defend people. Basically the church is almost completely run by people with high resonance and are tethered to seraphim."

Technically there were only seven shepherds. But still. It was such an improvement. And there were that many people with high enough resonance. Sorey couldn't help but smile. A world where humans and seraphim could live together was coming closer.

"Sorey, you really are back," a familiar voice said.

Sorey turned around and saw Shaun. Nothing much has changed about the earth seraph. "Shaun," Sorey called out.

The earth seraph walked over to them and sat down next to him. The boy named Isaiah also joined them. "I'm so happy to see you back," Shaun started to say. "When Mikleo told us what happened," the seraph paused and Sorey knew he was remembering all that happened after their fight with Heldolf. And what happened with Gramps. Sorey felt his heart ache as he thought about him. Then Shaun forced a smile and continued, "All the seraphim from Elysia will be so happy to see you again."

"So what made you leave Elysia?" Sorey asked him. "You never really had any desire to leave before."

"I wasn't the only seraph to leave Elysia," Shaun told him. "It just wasn't the same there without you or Lord Zenrus. When Mikleo told us what you did, a few of us just didn't feel right staying in one place. So we left to try and do something. And here I am practically guarding a discounted Elysia."

Now that he mentioned it, Sorey could tell the the domain belonged to Shaun. It was nothing like Gramps', but it was still impressive. Sorey had no idea that the other seraphim in Elysia had this much power. "So what exactly is this village?" Sorey asked. "I've only seen kids here."

Everyone grew still and Shaun looked at Mikleo. "You didn't tell him?"

"I was getting to that," Mikleo answered.

"Tell me what?" Sorey asked. Was this what they were hiding from him?

There was a pause and it was Isaiah who gave Sorey his answer. "This village only has children because they were either abandoned by their parents due to their high resonance, or they're hiding from the church."

Now Sorey understood why Mikleo wanted him to eat before he told him because he completely lost his appetite. "What?" Was all Sorey could get out.

"In a lot of small and backwoods villages, people don't fully understand the differences between seraphim and hellions," Mikleo started to explain. "So when a child suddenly starts acting different because they see or hear things others can't, they just assume they've turned into a hellion. So they'll just throw the child away to save the village or worse."

Sorey stood up and slammed his hands on the table. "But why? The church has the power of purification. They can save the child if that was the case," Sorey spat. He really felt sick now.

"Here's where it gets a bit complicated," Shaun began. "There are maybe only three shepherds that actually travel around purifying. They generally stay in large cities with large shrines. So most of the time people have to travel to one of the shrines to have loved ones saved or they have to spend an absurd amount of gald to call a shepherd to their village. Most people don't have the money to get help so they think putting their child out of their misery is the best."

"Not to mention that there are countless rumors that the church will just massacre whole families because they think they're more likely to become hellions again," Mikleo said bitterly. "Although I've not seen any proof of this." He was quick to add that last part.

"But humans don't need proof to fear or have doubt," Shaun said.

And that could even make them turn into hellions themselves, Sorey thought bitterly. He shook his head. "But why would they hide from the church, they'd be able to see that they aren't hellions."

"And that's the other part of the problem," Shaun began. "Though the church practically has presence everywhere, they're still desperate for numbers of people who can actually see hellions and seraphim."

"Sometimes the church raids small cities and captures anyone with high resonance," Mikleo continued. "Then they make them fight really strong hellions. The casualty rate is really high for new members."

"So a lot of families have their children run off with the seraphim so they'll at least be safe from the church," Isaiah summed up.

"We do the best we can to save as many of the young ones as we can, but obviously we can't reach all of them in time," Shaun finished.

Sorey didn't want to believe any of this. How could this happen? How could the shepherds become so corrupted? "But what about Lailah and Edna? Surely they're not a part of all this?"

"I'm sure they're not," Mikleo tried to reassure. "If I had to guess they're probably trying to change things from the inside. You know the two of them wouldn't put up with any of that."

Sorey didn't say anything. All of this was just so hard to swallow. He wanted to get sick.

"But with you back, that means the land is pure again," Shaun started to say. "Things can only get better now."

"Yeah Sorey," Mikleo chimed in. "Nature will flourish and that will at least decrease in the amount of hellions created from the corrupted land. So then the church won't need the numbers as much. Maotelus' blessing has returned."

They were trying to cheer him up and give him hope. Maybe they were right. The land did just fully get purified. Give it a couple of years and things were bound to get better. But that didn't help Sorey's unease. He couldn't stand by and do nothing.

/~/~/

It hadn't been long before the rest of the children came in for dinner and Sorey didn't get a chance to ask more questions. There were over thirty kids and five other seraphim living here. About fourteen of the kids could only hear the seraphs in the room, as Mikleo told him earlier. Seeing this many people eating and talking with the seraphim like friends and family did bring joy to Sorey. This was his proof that his dream was possible and within reach.

But something had to be done with the system the church had in place.

Eventually Isaiah led Sorey to the boys sleeping quarters because the younger kids kept asking Sorey where he came from. It was hard to come up with something to tell them since they probably wouldn't be able to comprehend that Sorey had basically been asleep for the last six hundred years to purify Maotelus. That was when Isaiah suggested that Sorey was tired from his long journey and needed to get some rest. Sorey took that opportunity.

The boys house had several pallets and hammocks along the walls. Isaiah said that the pallet near the door wasn't taken and that Sorey was free to use it. "Also I suggest pretending to sleep when the other kids get here," he warned. "But no guarantee they won't make sure to see if you really asleep."

"Thanks," Sorey said as he took his shepherd's mantel off.

He strangely did feel tired despite basically being asleep for six hundred years. Sorey was about to settle down when Isaiah suddenly said, "It's just so strange that the Sorey that Shaun and Mikleo always talked about is actually here now."

"They really talked about me that much, huh?" Sorey asked.

"You could say you were almost like a bedtime story to us," Isaiah started. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around that you're not some fictional character."

"I would imagine that it would be hard to believe," Sorey admitted. Even he was having a hard time coming to terms that he was even here and that Maotelus was purified. "If you don't mind me asking, do you know how long this village has been around?"

"I can't give you an exact number," Isaiah answered. "But from what Shaun told me, it's been around since church started taking in children for their ranks. All of us here learn some skills and when we're ready, we'll leave to rejoin society and try to hide if we still wish."

"So how did you end up here?" Sorey asked next. He wanted to know more about what was going on.

"I'm actually from the capital of Rolance," Isaiah began in a normal tone. Then he pointed to his eyes. "As you've probably guessed, I'm blind and I was born like this. My mother never let me out of her sight because of this. I was five when she took me to the market for the first time. All the smells and sounds overwhelmed me and I ended up lost and in a deserted part of the city. That's when I met Mikleo. I heard him talking to himself and I went up to him crying saying I was lost. It took almost all day to find my mother."

It didn't hit Sorey till now that this might be a painful memory for him. But Isaiah kept going with no problem.

"My mother freaked out when she saw me holding a hand of someone she couldn't see. I had no idea there was anything different about him then. There was also no telling how many people saw me too. Apparently the church was really desperate for numbers then. I do remember the knight and orderlies marching through the city a lot. They made so much noise and had a lot of people with them each time. My mother threw herself on the ground and begged Mikleo to take me away. She was a very religious woman who prayed to seraphim every day. But she didn't want the risk of me being taken away by the church. So Mikleo brought me here."

It was so bad that people who probably sided with the church believed the rumors of people being forced to fight hellions. So bad a mother feared they would even use her blind child. It only made Sorey want to find the truth even more. "So do the seraphim just go out looking for people with high resonance?" Sorey asked.

"Basically," Isaiah answered. "Except for Shaun he has to stay so we can be safe in his domain. Mikleo doesn't go into human cities much though. He mainly does a lot of small jobs for Shaun, like looking into those nearby ruins."

"The Shaun I know never seemed to care for ruins before," Sorey commented.

"I think it has more to with just a weird feeling everyone gets when they're near it."

"What do you mean weird feeling?" Sorey tried to think back when he was in the ruins with Mikleo, but of course both of them were just so excited he was back that Sorey noticed little else.

"I've only been near them twice," Isaiah admitted. "But each time I've gotten this chill down my spine. There also aren't as many hellions near the ruins."

"Well I can certainly see why Shaun would be concerned," Sorey muttered. Sorey had thought it was just luck that they hadn't run into any hellions. But could the ruins be connected?

Before Sorey could think further on that, Isaiah then said, "Sounds like the kids are coming. Better play possum unless you want to be asked a million questions."

"Ah right," Sorey said as he quickly got underneath the covers before the other kids came in.

/~/~/

Sorey didn't get much sleep because his mind kept racing with everything he learned about this new world he was in. When morning came, his mind was set. He was going to the church and figure out what exactly was happening. Maybe even hear from Lailah and Edna.

He picked up his shepherd's cloak but paused before putting it on.

Technically he wasn't a shepherd anymore. But this was a job that only a shepherd could do. And Sorey needed to do this. So he put it back on.

Now he just needed to ask if he could take some supplies. It was when he opened the door that he saw Mikleo standing right outside with a travel bag in hand.

Sorey just blinked at his friend in confusion. "Are you going somewhere?" Sorey asked.

"Come on, I know you well enough. Even Shaun figured you wouldn't sit still after hearing all of that," Mikleo told him with a knowing smirk.

"But can you really leave?" Sorey asked. "It seems like you have a lot of responsibilities here."

"Part of my so called "responsibilities" is just to see what's going on in the world and make an occasional report back. Letters can work fine." Mikleo told him plainly. "Besides, Shaun and I agree that we couldn't let you go off on your own. You're likely to get into all kinds of trouble if you go back into human society by yourself."

"Come on, I could so handle myself," Sorey claimed jokingly.

Mikleo threw the bag at Sorey who nearly dropped it. "You coming, or not," his friend said and started walking to the entrance.

Sorey let out a small laugh before following him. "So, uh, what cities are nearby?" Sorey asked as he again realized that he had no idea where he was.

Mikleo smirked at him again. "Could handle yourself, huh?"

"I would have figured it out."

The water seraph just sighed. "There's a port town about a day away. If you're wanting to meet with the church, going by boat would be quickest."

"Alright then, led the way," Sorey said.

"Before we do," Mikleo interrupted. "Would you mind being my vessel?"

Sorey looked at his friend and said, "Well you don't even have to ask that. But are you that worried everything should be good now, right?"

But Mikleo shook his head. "Better safer than sorry. In all my travels, I've used Gramps' pipe as my vessel. It does the job. But when I've gone to bigger cities I've felt malevolence if I stay long."

"Man, when we first left Elysia we didn't even worry about you having a vessel," Sorey recalled. Of course it had been very reckless of them. They had gone to Ladylake that had a lot of malevolence that did affect Mikleo. In hindsight, Mikleo should have made Sorey his vessel at the very least.

"Things are different now," Mikleo started. "With all this paranoia over the church, it's bound to erupt and swallow up everything."

"A volcano of malevolence," Sorey muttered as he pictured the scene. If a seraphim got caught in that, it wouldn't be much different than if they were in a war zone. They wouldn't be able to escape in time.

Sorey shook his head of the image. "Well I said I'd be your vessel, Luzrov Rulay," Sorey said with a grin. He held up his fist to Mikleo.

Mikleo cracked a smile and bumped his fist with Sorey. "Well, what are we waiting for. We need to get a move on if we're going to make it to the port town before nightfall."

They hadn't taken five steps before the wind suddenly picked up. Sorey didn't really think much about it until a girl seemed to fall from the sky right in front of them. Both of them had to shield their eyes from the rising dust and when everything settled, they saw that it was Rime standing in front of them with a hand on her hip. "What the hell? You two are leaving without even saying goodbye?" She said in disbelief.

"You're right, I should probably thank everyone for their hospitality," Sorey started to say.

But it fell on deaf ears because Mikleo immediately asked Rime, "Wait, how did you know we were leaving?"

"Details," Rime said as she just quickly dismissed the comment. "Anyway, I'm coming with you two," She just suddenly declared.

Both of them just looked at her in disbelief. "Not that I'm saying I don't appreciate it," Sorey started to ask, "but why do you want to come?"

"Well there's lots of reasons," she answered. "But I guess the main reason is that I just want to help. And what better way than to help out my friend Mikleo and new friend Sorey."

Sorey couldn't believe that she just wanted to help them. Did she even understand what they might be doing? But of course she probably wanted to stop what the church was doing.

Before Sorey had a chance to say anything, Mikleo had a tired look as he asked, "So where's your vessel?"

Rime looked a little lost at that. "My vessel?" She repeated.

"Rime, how many times have we told you not to leave the village without a vessel?" Mikleo suddenly snapped. He rubbed his brow like he had a headache.

The wind seraph was scratching the side of her head. "Sorry, I forgot."

"How can you forget?" Mikleo continued with his scolding. He really looked like his old self. He was reacting the same way as when Edna and Zavied would pick on him. "You're highly susceptible to malevolence."

"Well I'll just go get one," she told him. "If the land's pure there shouldn't be too much to worry about."

"That doesn't mean anything. It'll just take one bad thing and you'll get corrupted. Even with a vessel, malevolence still affects you," Mikleo kept arguing like a mother hen.

"Listen," Sorey then intervened. "Rime, if you still want to come, you could can just use me as a vessel. Mikleo's already going to use me."

"You would be better than the items we normally use," Mikleo seemed to agree.

However Rime seemed to hesitant about it. Her eyes were wide and her face was flushed. She really looked like she got punched in the gut. "S-sharing a vessel…w-with Mikleo..." Sorey heard Rime muttered. She sounded like she was so uncomfortable with the idea

"If it makes you that uncomfortable we can figure something-"

But Sorey didn't get to finish because Rime quickly grabbed his hands. Her eyes were practically sparkling as she said, "Yes. Definitely. That is the best idea ever."

It was Sorey's turn to feel a bit uncomfortable by her sudden mood change. "Okay then," Sorey started to say. "Then we just need to make a pact then."

Rime jumped back and cheered. "Sweet. I finally get to see the world, help my friends, and might even be able to save some kidos to boot. That's like a lot of birds with one stone."

"Glad to hear you've got your priorities straight," Mikleo muttered.

"So, what's your true name?" Sorey asked her so they could be on their way.

"Huh, why do need to know that?" Rime asked that disrupted her sudden cheerful mood.

"Well if you're going to use me as a vessel we're basically making a pact and I'm going to need your true name," Sorey explained.

Her face turned red again. "Do you really need to know it?" She asked.

"Come on Rime, it's either that or you find something else to be your vessel," Mikleo told her plainly. There didn't seem to be many things that would be suitable for her to use as a vessel in this village, at least not for a long-term journey. Especially not if Mikleo wasn't confident in Gramps' pipe.

"Fine, but Mikleo you have to cover your ears," Rime told him and he complied just so they could get going. Her face was still red when she looked at Sorey. "And you have to promise not to tell anyone, got it?"

Sorey knew seraphim didn't just go around telling their true names. It was like asking a very personal and intimate question to someone. But Rime seemed like she was embarrassed about her name. "Okay I promise," Sorey told her.

She glanced around before coming right next to Sorey to whisper her name in his ear. "Hyan Exem," she said just barely loud enough for Sorey to hear.

Copy of Wind, Sorey thought as he realized what her name meant. No wonder she was embarrassed by it. It wasn't a flattering name. But Sorey just smile and said, "Welcome to the team Rime."

"Glad to join," she said in her usual tone just as they start to make a pact.

/~/~/

Skit: Names

Rime: (I can't believe it. Mikleo and I are sharing a vessel! This is like a dream come true. This can only go one way. With Mikleo and I-)

Sorey: Rime?

Rime trying to act normal: Ah Sorey...need something?

Sorey: Well it's about your true name...

Rime: There's nothing to talk about. It is just a name.

Sorey: But-

Rime: No buts. I'm Rime, a free-spirited wind seraph who wants to go and do whatever she wants. Names mean jack.

Sorey: Alright then.

Rime: And don't you dare tell anyone my name, especially Mikleo. *Disappears*

Sorey: For someone who says she doesn't care about her name, she sure does seem to care about people knowing it.

/~/~/

He was in a void. That was the first thing Sorey realized once he had sealed Maotelus inside him. There were no colors, no sound, and he couldn't feel anything. Of course that was how it was. All of his sense were shut off. He was in suspended animation.

This would be his world until Maotelus was purified. Just surrounded in nothingness.

Just as Sorey began to wonder if he could possibly go mad if he would be living this in real time, he heard someone crying. It started him so bad because he shouldn't be hearing anything. All of his senses were cut off.

But Sorey turned around to find the source. Sorey briefly began wondering if the madness had already set in because what he saw was the faint outline of a child. The child was curled up and trying to contain their cries. "I failed, it's all my fault," the small voice said as he choked back his tears.

Sorey walked closer to child who didn't see him because his back was to him. Even when Sorey got closer to the child, he couldn't make out any more details other than the realization that he was able to see through the child. Was he an apparition?

Without any answer, Sorey still called out to him. "Are you okay?" He asked.

The cries stopped for a moment. Then he slowly turned around. Sorey tried to keep his face as neutral as possible because the child had no face. But a voice came from him. "W-what are you doing here?" The boy asked simply.

Sorey sat down across from him. He knew he wasn't dealing with an actual child. But he couldn't help but address him like one. Sorey scratched the side of his face. "It's a bit complicated. But how did you get here?"

At that the child pulled his knees to his chest and Sorey could hear his nose sniffling. "I've been here ever since I failed," the boy said.

"Since you failed? What did you do?" Sorey asked.

"It's all my fault," the boy cried. "The land was my vessel, and I became corrupted. It's all my fault, how many people have I caused suffering to?"

"The land was your vessel?" Sorey repeated. Then it dawned on him. "Are you Maotelus?"

There was a pause before the boy answered. "Yes."