Onward to the City of Blossoms
"Prepare to die, Eggbear!"
The voice caught him by surprise as Ragna turned around to look for the source of the noise. What awaited him was a boy jumping out of the bushes holding an oversized sword comparable to his own. No words were spoken, but the boy already began spinning around with the weapon... without any sense of direction whatsoever.
"Poor kid." Ragna said.
"I got this." Yuri replied, stepping forward and holding out his sword, watching as the boy passed by him while continuing to spin. A single slash put a stop to the spinning, part of the boy's weapon being cut away as Yuri swung.
"Oh man, that hurt." The boy said as he fell back on the forest floor.
Ragna watched as Repede approach the boy, observing the frightened reaction as the boy sat up and then fell on his back again.
"I-I'm warning you! I don't taste very good. You'll get the runs." The boy stated nervously without even opening his eyes. Repede barked once and the boy continued, "Oh my gosh, s-s-somebody h-h-help me -! Aah!" he cried out.
"Is this kid for real?" Yuri wondered.
"Seems typical for a kid." Ragna said in response, watching Estelle approach the boy soon afterwards and knelt down beside him.
"It's alright now." Estelle softly said with a smile.
Opening his eyes, the boy looked up and spotted her. "Huh? The monster turned into a girl?"
"This should be interesting." Yuri said.
Moments later, the boy picked himself up, no worse for wear and had seemed to calm down.
"I'm Karol Capel! I'm a member of the Hunting Blades guild. We travel the globe in search of the toughest monsters." he said.
"I'm Yuri. This is Estelle. This is Ragna, and you've met Repede already." Yuri said, motioning his hands towards the rest of the group. "Anyway, nice to meet you."
And with that, Yuri turned around and began to walk away.
"What? Yuri, wait!" Estelle called out, following the man as Ragna gave a quick sigh.
"You'll get used to them running off by themselves. It's not a big deal." He said, looking back at the boy.
"Huh? But you guys are here to enter the woods, right? Or am I mistaken?" Karol asked them.
"Actually, we've just finished coming through the woods, and we're on our way to Halure." Estelle replied as she turned around.
Seemingly a little shocked, Karol shook his head in disbelief. "No way! You guys made it through the cursed woods?" he asked first, before suddenly changing the question. "Did you guys run into any eggbears?"
"A what now?" Ragna wondered.
"Do you know what he's talking about, Yuri?" asked Estelle.
"Nope, I don't think we've seen any." Yuri replied with a shrug, turning his attention back towards the boy.
"Man... wonder if I should head back to town then?" Karol murmured to himself. "They definitely won't like it if I keep them waiting... All right!" he suddenly decided on an idea, looking at the group with a grin. "I'm not sure you three would make it on your own, but never fear. The star member of the Hunting Blades will be your escort." He proclaimed, pointing down at the oversized bag he carried with him. "See that?" Karol gestured at a small orb in the center. "I've even got my own blastia."
Yuri and Estelle exchanged glances quickly, readily apparent that they had blastias of their own.
"I feel left out." Ragna muttered, continuing to watch the boy as he pulled out a book from his back. Supposedly, there was information about monsters that roamed the land... well, that might be an interesting thing to read later.
"Ragna we're leaving."
"Huh?" he replied, snapping out of the daze. "Oh, right." He continued, following Estelle out of the woods.
"Yo! Do you guys even know where you're going?" Karol called out to them. "Halure's to the north once you get out of the woods. Come on guys! Wait for me!" he continued, running towards them in an attempt to catch up.
Extra
The white-haired man from Deidon Hold walked through the woods, with only one destination in mind. Knowing that people passed through here, he was fairly cautious about who might see him in this area. Upon arriving at his destination, the malfunctioning blastia in the heart of the woods themselves, the man stopped in his tracks.
"What... is this?" he asked no one in particular. The blastia core had become inactive, though traces of something could still be sensed. A dark substance trailed all around the core, spreading a type of mist that mixed in freely with the very aer. And somehow, he could sense that there was something... alive about it.
Halure
"Halure... The City of Blossoms." Estelle said as they made their way into the city.
Was this the tree he spotted in the distance? Ragna wasn't too sure, but the sheer size of the tree in the dead centre of the town did give the impression that it was.
"Don't they have a barrier here?" Yuri asked.
"Yes, there should be." Estelle replied, looking around as if slightly confused.
"You guys haven't been to Halure before, right?" Karol asked them, the trio looking back at him and shook their heads. "So then you haven't heard of the tree barrier."
"Tree barrier?" Yuri and Ragna said in unison.
"Some blastia fuse to plant life, gain organic qualities and evolve. The tree barrier of Halure is one prime example of this. I read that in a book." Estelle nodded.
All this was something he couldn't really understand yet. While Yuri, Estelle, and Karol talked about the tree of Halure, Ragna walked on ahead to see the tree close up. It was a relatively short trek before he reached the base and from where he stood, he could see the size and majesty of the great tree. "To think something like this can actually exist... I wonder how long it's been alive?" he wondered.
Walking around the base of the tree was a start, though the reddish-brown patches on the ground around the tree was a certainly a curiousity. A tree this large would need to have its roots underground stretched out over a really large area. Perhaps a few hundred metres.
So why was this place called the City of Blossoms anyways?
A few more minutes later and he already managed to circle the entire base of the tree. And back at the original starting point stood Yuri and Estelle, looking up at the tree with the same curiousity that he had.
Yuri noticed him approaching person. "You have a habit of disappearing whenever we look for you." He grinned.
"Huh? Oh, sorry about that. I guess curiousity got the better of me." Ragna replied. "So, any of you find what you're looking for here?" he asked them.
The duo shook their heads in response, standing right beside Ragna as they all looked up at the great tree.
"The tree's flowers should blossom any day now." Estelle said almost expectantly.
"Yeah, I wish I could see it in bloom." Yuri replied.
"I know how you feel." Estelle nodded, "There's something about the image of a tall tree vibrant with blossoms and protecting the city that's so... romantic." She sighed.
"Believe it or not, I think I can relate." Ragna replied, thinking back to his meeting with Rachel in a dream just a few hours ago. With both Yuri and Estelle's eyes on him, Ragna stared back at them with a confused expression. "What?"
"Didn't think you'd be the type who would be swayed so easily with flowers." Yuri grinned.
"Pay no attention to him, Ragna. I think it's wonderful that someone like you can appreciate the beauty of these places." She smiled.
"Really?" asked Ragna. "In my case, I think I'm much more used to a field of roses or something like that. Can't say for sure what brought that memory up, but it shouldn't be too different." He continued.
"You two are complete romantics, you know that?" Yuri teased.
"Just trying to lighten the mood." Ragna answered, turning his head and briefly observed Estelle's flustered expression.
"Umm, well... anyways." Estelle started again. "You know, I'm going to stay here and help the injured."
"Or you could heal the barrier instead. When monsters come again, more people are going to get hurt so I think fixing the barrier should be our priority." Yuri explained.
"That's true, but I have no idea how I could heal a barrier..." Estelle said, pausing in her thoughts.
"Wouldn't healing a person and healing a barrier be extremely different anyways?" Ragna asked.
"What really needs to be healed here is the tree." Yuri replied, turning his attention back towards it. "It wouldn't be in this condition just because some monsters attacked it.
"Another reason then?" Ragna wondered.
Just then, a voice interrupted their chain of thoughts.
"What are you three doing here?" the old man's voice asked them.
Although Ragna hadn't met with the townspeople properly, he could see that this man was somewhat important in this place. Presumably, Yuri and Estelle already met him earlier... or not.
"We're trying to figure out why the tree has withered like this." Estelle explained.
"I don't know if you'll make much progress on that one." The old man said. "That knight Flynn couldn't figure out the reason either." He sighed.
Well that was a disappointment. But at least they knew that the Flynn person Estelle was talking about passed by here. He turned his head slightly, seeing recognition from Estelle's face before spotting Karol walking past them.
"Oh, Karol! Karol, we need your help!" Estelle called out.
"What are you talking about?" the boy asked, strangely hesitant.
"It seems these three are trying to figure out the reason the tree's withered up." The old man said, turning to face Karol.
"Oh, is that all?" he replied.
"What do you mean, 'is that all?'" Estelle asked him.
"I know the reason. It's why I was in the forest looking for the eggbear..." Karol sighed. "Look closely at the ground. See the strange colour?"
The trio looked down and sure enough, they could see the brown and red streaks that seemed to litter the ground all around the tree.
"That color is where the ground absorbed the blood of monsters who attacked the town. That blood has been poisoning Halure's tree." Karol explained.
"That's the first time I've ever heard of blood poisoning something." Ragna said, "Is there anything we can do to get rid of it?"
"I know a way, but..." Karol paused, "Well, no one believes me."
"Come on, try us." Yuri replied, walking over as he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder
Karol paused briefly again before continuing, "I think we'd be able to do it if we had a Panacea bottle."
"Maybe we can get one in the General Store." Yuri said.
"Let's go, Yuri!" Estelle called out energetically, leading the way towards the store with Yuri and Repede following closely.
Halure: Nighttime
He didn't really need to stay behind, but he did so even with Estelle pleading for him to come with them back to the woods where ingredients for the Panacea bottle would be found. At least that way, he didn't have to deal with whatever spirits that may be lurking there.
Passing the time in this place was oddly soothing, or perhaps it was just the title of the city itself. A quiet place for sure, and one that he got used to pretty quickly.
What he did to pass the time felt strange, however. He wasn't much of an avid reader, that much he knew but Ragna wanted to know more about just where he was exactly. He hadn't encountered anything familiar at all and the books he read right now aren't getting him anywhere. The books were readable at least, which means the language here was the same as the language he knew subconsciously in his memories. Certain symbols however, were a complete mystery.
The mayor was kind enough to lend him a hand with the symbols that he didn't know about. Unfinished maps and the history of the world were beginning to convince him that this world was a completely different one from the one he was used to. There was no mention of the Black Beast in the histories, nothing about the use of Ars Magus. Even as his memories slowly returned to him, he knew that something was definitely wrong here.
By the time his three companions plus the dog got back, Ragna was beginning to feel a little depressed. Although they seemed cheerful about having their little antidote to the tree's poison, his mind wandered to different things.
"You alright?" Yuri asked him.
"Huh?" Ragna looked at him and nodded his head. "Yeah, I just had something on my mind. It's not very important right now." He said as they made their way up the little hill, leading to the tree.
By now, word had spread around the small town and a collection of people had gathered at the base.
"Oh! Have you made the antidote to cleanse the tree of poison?" one of them asked.
Yuri turned towards Karol in response. "Karol, it's up to you. I'm no good at this sort of thing." Said Yuri.
"Who me?" the boy replied, pointing at himself. "Okay then. Here goes!" he nodded before readying the bottle.
Ragna watched as Karol poured a bit of the liquid at the ground around the tree, before burying the rest of the bottle. They waited a few moments before a bright glow began to appear from the tree.
"The tree is..." Estelle murmured.
"Please, great tree of Halure. Restore the fallen barrier." An old man pleaded before the glow began to fade, before vanishing entirely. "Please..." he continued, distraught at the turn of events.
"No way..." Karol said in disappointment. "Was the dosage to small? Or maybe this isn't the right way..."
"We'll have to get another panacea bottle!" Estelle suggested.
"Oh, I'm afraid that's impossible." The old man said dejectedly. "All the luluria petals were used up for that bottle."
Estelle ran ever closer to the tree, looking up at the enormous figure. "But... we tried so hard..." she said, crossing her hands as if in prayer. "Please, great tree." She pleaded.
What happened next wasn't something Ragna had been expecting. Estelle began to glow and small orbs of light began to appear around her.
"Estelle...?" Yuri and Ragna said in unison.
"Bloom..." the girl murmured before a streak of light shot up from her towards the top of the tree.
White light filled Ragna's vision and for a moment, he felt another entity in his right arm. Although he had control over it now, he had to use his left hand to keep it down from whatever it was reacting to. He had to look at what was causing it to act that way eventually.
He couldn't see what was going to happen. That familiar feeling back at the Quoi Woods had returned and already, he felt faint. "Damn..." Ragna murmured, before falling to the ground.
He opened his eyes to a thunderous downpour of rain. This time, he couldn't even feel his limbs.
"Am I... alive?" he asked himself, though the words coming out of his mouth sounded foreign. Mostly due to the fact that it sounded so different.
He tried lifting his body up, but it felt as if he was nailed down to the ground. So much for that.
And then the sensation of his shoulder being on fire was there. When did that happen?
Looking to his right...he noticed a body part already missing. Again, was this supposed to tell him something?
"That's right... I lost my arm before." He murmured. He still couldn't stand up and the only thing he could see was the image of a church in ruins, and a music box in the rubble.
He couldn't remember whether that was supposed to be something important, but he felt himself crying without knowing the reason.
"Shit..." he cursed silently. "Shit... SHIIIIIIIIIIT!" he cried out.
His body was useless, all he could do was curse and scream. So that's what he did until he passed out again.
He gasped for air, waking up with a start only to find himself alone on a bed. "What... happened?" he asked himself quietly. That dream he just had... it was very important, that much he knew. But why couldn't he remember its exact details?
He lifted his right hand up and looked at it, staring at its seemingly normal activity. All he knew was that the arm itself was a replacement. But it wasn't one of those blastia that Estelle thought it might be. No, it had to be something different.
"Ah, you're awake now." A voice said from the doorway, an old man stepping into the room. "Your friends were worried about you when you collapsed. They had a message for you as soon as you woke up, they said." He nodded, holding a little envelope.
"Message...?" Ragna wondered, slowly making his way off the bed and took the paper from the old man.
"Hey, Ragna. We're probably heading to Aspio, the city of scholars right now by the time you wake up. We couldn't wait for you, but we made sure to lure some people away from Halure. If you ever see some people with red-eyes, stay low. Oh, and Estelle said that if a knight named Flynn passes by that place, tell him where we're headed. We'll probably head back there anyways so if it's possible, we'd like you to stay there.
Signed, Karol."
"Tch, guess I'm alone for a little while." Ragna said. "Thanks for taking care of me while I passed out." He nodded at the old man, before beginning to step out of the room.
"Ah, don't forget your sword!" the man said.
"Oh, right. Thanks." Ragna replied, watching the old man half drag his weapon towards him.
Huffing, the old man seemed glad as Ragna took back his weapon. "There are some knights outside talking with the townsfolk. They sound a little curious about what happened to the tree from last night. Maybe you can go talk to them?"
"Well, it's not like I'll have much to do." Ragna shrugged, stepping out of the inn. Again, there was a collection of people at the base of the tree but unlike from last night, many of them wore armor similar to the knights at the castle.
One of them stood out without his helmet on. A blonde-haired youth accompanied by a girl with a single-braid to the right of her face. He approached the group slowly, trying to listen in to the conversation happening there.
"...In addition, there was also a report regarding Lady Estellise being abducted by two men who broke out from jail. This is their wanted poster." The girl said, handing the blonde-knight the sketches.
Wait, two men who broke out from jail who abducted Estelle? They can't seriously mean...
"Lieutenant Flynn, that guy looks an awful lot like one of them." One of the knights pointed Ragna out.
"That's Flynn?" Ragna wondered, stepping forward and tried to act as non-threatening as possible. Well, he did have a little message for him. That should probably clear things up.
Flynn stepped forward to meet him, eyes narrowed. At first Ragna thought that he wanted to talk, but already things immediately began to fall apart. Flynn drew his sword and pointed it straight at Ragna, forcing him to adopt a defensive stance with his own weapon.
"By the order of the Imperial Knights of the Empire, you are under arrest for kidnapping Princess Estellise. Men, arrest him." Flynn ordered, his knights immediately began to surround Ragna, wary of his weapon.
"You've got to be joking." Ragna mumbled, glaring back at Flynn.
"Resistance is futile. If you value your life, you will come with us quietly." The young knight said.
"Last warning, I'm really not in the mood." Ragna replied, his eyes looking around to see just how many people here he'd have to take down. "If you don't want a beating, then I'd suggest you lower those weapons... now."
"Your words will not deter us." Flynn said.
"No, but it was worth a shot." Ragna responded, just as the knights around him surged forwards.
Author's Notes:
Yay, an update?