Aw shit… I nearly forgot about the dog in the last chapter, didn't I?

Chapter 4
Dwelling for Ruins in Brightwall

Day 2, 8:12 am

"I can't believe we only had enough for a full outfit for royal high ass and a bunch of coats," Anthony stated through chattering teeth while he wore the thin fur coat over his attire. He still wore the thin simple clothes for a commoner as the cold wind brushed through the threads and against the skin beneath it. He wasn't the only one as Elias was hugging himself and literally had nose drip-sicles coming out. Lee was wearing the coat over her clothes, her cat ears pressed flat on her head as she let out a small sneeze. Near the stall, Ichigo reappeared out of nowhere in the Dweller outfit, his brown hair hidden by the red handkerchief.

"So?" Ichigo asked as he did a small spin to show all sides of his outfit. "What do you guys think?" All he got back were dark glares and Anthony muttering about killing him in his sleep tonight. Laughing nervously, he looked to Elias and said, "Jasper says we can let Anthony and Lee stay in the Sanctuary, though I'm mostly thinking it's because he wishes some company and help on cleaning the place up." Lee let out a small laugh as Anthony gave out a groan before a bright light consumed the four.

They soon returned to the Sanctuary as most of the books that were laid across the floor were mostly gone as well as some of the cobwebs. Only three of the four doors were open as the one that looked to hold weapons was still covered with cobwebs and was locked. Out of curiosity, Anthony walked towards the door that had what looked like a trophy as a sign for it. As he entered, he saw that it seemed to be one for Ichigo's personal gold which was just only a bag or two lay in the far end of the room. Out of nowhere, he heard Elias say, "Man, we need to get jobs."

Anthony groaned once again, frustrated that he is having nearly the same problems he was having back in their own time. Money seems to be the main thing even in these days as they turned to see Lee and Ichigo enter with Jasper. However, the Heroes didn't stay long as Ichigo said, "Okay! We'll see you guys in a bit." At that moment, the two disappeared in a flash of light, leaving a shocked Anthony and Lee just sighing. She then said, "Looks like he won't need our help yet, Anthony." Placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, she stated, "Let's go clean up the next room."

相続権

"You know he won't forgive us for leaving him there to just clean," Elias stated as they headed back up the hill to enter where Walter had went. Ichigo just waved it off and said, "He sure does act the way Lee described about him. Though, I really kind of doubt that he is even related to the Great Shared that she would talk about."

Hearing the name of the Bandit Leader from all those years ago, Elias became curious. "So, what did Lee tell you about Shared and Anthony?" he asked. Ichigo stopped to look at him as he then said, "She said that the two were brothers, well not Anthony and him, but the guy he is possessing right now. Apparently, Anthony took over his body because the guy tried to drown himself. Mother saved him and basically the guy followed after her on her quest to defeat Lucien. I guess it was during when they were recruiting the Hero of Strength when they first did their combination spell attack. Lee called it the Kunbo Kogeki. Anyways, after that they basically had an adventure just like anyone great person would. Mother found love which brought me and Logan into this world and then one day… Anthony just left."

Elias remembered that one night when they thought it was all over, when that bastard Lucien shot nearly everyone on that hill and Theresa pulling him away from it all just to be brought into Limbo to rescue them from the crazy man, Enstranz. He cringed at the memory of being saved by the man's homosexual side.

They soon reached the doors and saw that Walter was waiting for them. The old man smiled as he said, "That's more like it. The scruffy look suits you." Ichigo nodded while Elias said, "Well, the scruffy look looks good on you too, Scruffy." Both the Prince and Walter looked at him in shock as Ichigo spouted out, "What? WHAT? What the hell was that supposed to mean?" The red haired teenager just shrugged and said, "I don't know, okay! That just came out of my mouth for no reason. But now that I think about it, I'm going to call you Scruffy, Scruffy." Walter looked rather peeved by this but Ichigo was trying his best not to laugh. Taking in a deep breath, Walter calmed and said, "I've spoken to Sabine, explained everything and he's… well, I told you he'd take some convincing."

The large doors opened as Walter urged the Prince to enter. Elias was about to follow when he was stopped by the two men who were guarding the door. Looking confused, Elias heard one of them say, "Sorry, but only the princely boy can come in here." He tried to plead his case as Kiba walked past them to join his master but stopped himself. Even though he was a Hero, he was no more than a co-op character in this adventure. Relenting to this, he walked far enough before taking out his Guild Seal and returning to the Sanctuary. There, he saw that it was just almost done being clean, but saw that the door on the far left was still locked. Heading towards to the one on the far right, he noticed that it looked like a simple lounge room. Entering it, he saw that Anthony was sitting on a chair, drinking what looked like tea while Lee was reading a book.

Jasper was dusting the room as he noticed his arrival, greeting him, "Ah, Mister Elias. It's good to see you well and not in the near depths of pneumonia. How did the meeting with Sabine go?" The boy just sighed sadly as he sat in the chair. That was all they needed for an answer as Lee said, "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll be going to join him soon." Elias just made a sound of confirmation before he felt a small heat on his cheek. Turning he saw a warm cup of tea just near his face. Trailing the hand up to the one who was giving it, he saw Anthony still drinking his own tea while handing him one. Smiling, he took the cup and gave his thanks. As he began to take a sip from it, he nearly scalded his throat when he heard a yelp from his friend. Turning his head, he saw Anthony being dragged out of the room by Ichigo as the Prince said, "Come on, guys! We're heading off to Brightwall!"

Hearing Lee sigh, she stood up as she gestured to him and said, "Lead the way, Hero."

相続権

"Are you sure your seeking spell worked?" Seir Eden asked as he sat on a rock as Harion kept on walking back and forth between the snow and grass. In her hands was a simple glowing jewel which she had received from her teacher, claiming that all she has to do was think of a person and she will find them easily. However she forgot to add that it will have a hard time tracking Heroes, only giving the vicinity of their current location but not the exact spot where they are. Harion glared over her shoulder as she returned to having the jewel hum slightly, swishing back and forth whenever it gave different noise of tune in a direction.

Suddenly, it began to shake violently, causing Harion to exclaim happily, "Yay! They are almost at this spot!" Seir Eden looked at her confused and felt awkward when she had this weird face, like she had a colon and a capital D on her face as it would appear on a book. He was suddenly jerked out of sight and peeked behind the ruined stone pillar just as they saw four people walking down the wooden bridge. The one leading was the Prince, dressed like a Dweller, waved his hands as what looked like flames were combusting over them. The two guests that had arrived a few days ago accompanied the man as well as Lee. Walter and Jasper were nowhere in sight as he turned to tell Harion about the plan. However, the woman was gone from her side and was standing on top of the ruin, shouting, "Prince Ichigo! By order of the Great King Logan, we are here to bring you back home and kill your kidnappers."

Slapping his forehead, Seir Eden just watched as she jumped from the pillar, doing a flip before landing and causing a great burst of ice blades flying towards them. He watched them split into groups of two, the Prince with the blonde teenager and the red haired male with Lee. The only one who had weapons on their person was the blonde as he pulled out the katana and readied to fight Harion. He watched him charge at the girl, swinging the sword sideways. The girl easily avoided it by doing a flip and landing on the boy's shoulders. Pushing off of them, the boy fell forward and dropped his katana on the floor. Seir Eden watched her pick up the sword when she black flipped from a fire ball and twirled it in her hands. She had a rather triumphant smirk as she then stuck the sword into the hard ground and bent it until it shattered. The boy shouted in dismay as he clearly heard the red haired boy say, "Wow, if only we weren't being killed right now, I would have that that was totally hot."

Harion gave a rather annoying laugh as she declared, "Oh, you weak mortals and demon. Your fates have been sealed by me, the great Harion the Mage. For once we have brought Binky Boy back to his castle; I shall find my love and bring him back home into my loving arms." It disturbed him that she was a quite bi-polar woman, and the fact that he could literally see the hearts flying off her. He twitched and scooted away when one of them got a little too close before using his power to blow it just slightly away from him. Suddenly, a feeling of the area getting warmer returned his attention back to the battle. There, he saw the Prince begin to glow red and his brown hair flowing with his aura. Knowing full well when anger is mixed with magic, he began to scoot away from the bushes and ran as fast as he could towards the lake. Thankfully, the wind carried his feet fast enough before a large explosion occurred behind him, sending him flying over a small cliff and into a large bush. As he scrambled out of the leaf and branches of the shrub, he saw Harion flying into the lake, causing a splash that rose just a bit higher than it should. Brushing off any leaves that got onto his attire, he walked over to the lake to see that Harion was already on the shore, breathing deeply in order to catch her breath.

相続権

The three watched as Ichigo let out hard and long breathes as the red aura around him soon vanished and only surrounded his right hand. It soon returned to the small emblem on the gauntlet before he stood up and looked at his work. Around him was a rather large crater that was smoking as a few bushes were burning. Luckily, the three had hidden behind a large pillar that nearly collapsed on them but protected them from the fire wave. Elias looked in shock while Anthony whistled and said, "Remind me not to call you 'binky boy'… aw hell, how about giving me a list of names I shouldn't call you so I don't end up like her?"

Ichigo let out one more hard and deep breath before resuming normal breathing patterns. Just before he could speak, they heard the woman's voice echo through the valley.

"You son of a bitch! Just you wait until the next time we meet! I'm going to give you trouble, hell, make that double!"

However, the rest of the ranting was ignored as Elias began to lead the group while saying, "Okay! Let's go before this becomes a remake of a Pokemon episode." He ignored the question about the series of animals that speak out their names from Lee as they headed through the large archway that headed towards the view of a town surrounded by bright walls.

相続権

Day 2, 10:30 am

It was the tenth pint he had since he had arrived here, and that was just ten minutes ago as Brandon took another swig. At first, he was confused on where he was but when the bartender said he could have free beer, he couldn't complain. He gave out a small hiccup as he muttered, "Thish shitsss kinda sshtrongah, write buddeh?" The bartender nodded his head, even though the man was staring at the mirror of his own reflection. Since his arrival, his appearance had changed; his hair wasn't short anymore but in dreadlocks. He was shirtless as some sort of tattoo was one his left side of his chest and he wore purple pants that were like cargo pants except it looked more renaissance-wise. Asking the bartender for a break, he stumbled outside, nearly falling over the steps when he saw the gates of the town open, letting in four travelers into the urban area.

The first one to enter was a brown haired teenager, probably somewhere in his late teens as he led the other three in. He seemed to stare around, as if he had never been here. His attire looked a bit too warm for something of this area. He began to focus on the other two males, seeing something familiar in them. Stumbling towards them, he muttered, "Hey! You asshing for a febah? Get in shum leshhh inconspishable clodas."

"Brandon?"

Hearing his name, the man became slightly offensive as he tried his best to get in a fighting stance. However, his fists were not closed right while it looked more like he was trying to do a mock version of the Tiger style. It was then at that small moment that his vision cleared just slightly enough to recognize the faces of his two friends. "Holy shit!" he exclaimed loudly as he staggered towards them, placing his hands on their shoulders for both support and confirmation that they were real. "What the fuck are you guys doing here?" The two boys stared at each other before staring at him as Anthony said, "We were going to ask you the same thing. How'd you get here?" The still drunk but now dreadlock-haired man showed a sad attempt of pondering before he said, "Look, all I remember clearly is that I was in a haunted house then opened a fucking door, and then I was here." He knew his friends were staring at him as he then excused himself, wishing to go back to drinking.

相続権

"Another friend of yours?" Lee asked as they watched the staggering man enter the tavern and clumsily sit on the stool at the bar. Anthony sighed while Elias said, "Yeah, I'm just surprised that all he had to do to get to this world was just go through a door. I mean, we went through shit on the way here last time and all he did was just open a door!" The demon girl just let out a small laugh while Anthony tried her Hero down before she felt Ichigo's presence beside her. "Might as well head on ahead before we cause more of a scene here," he suggested as the two walked over the bridge and headed towards the largest building in the town. Luckily, their comrades stopped their bickering and easily caught up with them.

Entering into the large library, Ichigo looked at the bookcases that were placed just in the entrance hall. It was, however, cluttered and messy as many books were laid across the floor and open. Some were even nearly ripped apart as pages from different genres laid far from their owners. She picked up a book as the spine of it was already breaking, letting many of its pages float and flutter to the ground. There were also candles placed across the sides of the floor, giving light to anyone who had a chance to read these books. She was ignoring the conversation between the Prince and the librarian as she placed the book back in where she thought its place was.

"I can't believe I feel kinda sad that this kind of thing has happened."

She turned to see Elias standing nearby with his back turned, staring at the opposite bookcase. She just smiled and said, "Well, I'm sure we can get this place back to it was before." Elias simply nodded before hearing their names being called from afar. They saw Anthony for them to follow them. They quickly jogged to the teenage male as they were lead to the Repository.

Several hours later

"Who… the hell… creates a fucking basement… that goes so down into hell… and then… back up… with the fucking artifact… on top of some god damn stairs?" Ichigo breathed out heavily as he tried his best to maneuvering in his already sweat-filled Dweller's outfit. He didn't even want to look up as the others were easily walking up the stairs with ease. Lee let out a small laugh while Anthony said, "Damn, I guess being a pampered prince does have its disadvantages. Sparrow was able to scour up and down the Spire and you can't even go up stairs that you dived from just an hour ago."

"Fuck… you!" Ichigo shouted as he climbed up that last few steps while Elias said. "Maybe the artifact is made out of chocolate." He then received a dark glare from the Prince as he pushed past him and into the large room where the sound of a music box was playing. It was similar to that which was the music box from the first game, except it was playing a rendition of the song. Walking towards it, Elias was suddenly forced away from the artifact as it gave out a pulse. It nearly sent him over the edge but he was able to gain his balance with the help of Lee. They then watched as Ichigo walked towards the artifact with Anthony close by.

Back at the Tavern

Note: Sorry, not really in the mood to go into the whole crazy cutscene of Logan being all "This is my land!" speech…

"And… and… and the bitch just fucking blew me off, like I was some sort of… I don't know," Brandon slurred as he was talking with an unconscious man wearing some sort of bird insignia on his back and a scruffy looking man. "You know what I mean, Scruffy?" He ignored or didn't see the glare from the man as he huddled with the drunk-stupor man and said, "You know, you remind me of this fat ass that used to hang with us… Name doesn't come to mind, but man, could he drink. He would have drunk you under the table just like now!"

As he let out a drunken laughter, he hears footsteps coming up the stairs from the outside and sees his friends along with the two other people. "Holy shit, you guys are really here!" he exclaimed in pure shock. Of course he wouldn't believe the sight he saw earlier, blaming it on the alcohol, but even though he was probably twice as drunk as before, he knew his friends when he sees them. "What the fuck happen to you guys?" he asked, noting at the many cobwebs that were sticking to their clothes and signs of near death slashes to their sleeves and pants. The one dressed in layers of clothing just groaned out a reply, took a seat next to him, and laid his head on the table, shaking it slightly since he literally just dropped his head on it. He then lifted his head and said, "Are you going to finish that?"

Before Brandon could answer, the only female in the room quickly stated that he shouldn't be drinking so late in the evening, being that it would be best to rest his already aching body. He then heard his friends comment about how the Prince seemed to lack the strength to be a real adventurer when the kid quickly stood up and shouted, "Shut up! I just never really walked around this much before! I'm usually stuck in the palace walls because my brother wouldn't let me walk around the town." His two friends sighed while Anthony added, "We gotta teach you free running." Just then, the one he called Scruffy cleared his throat and said, "Alright. Let's continue all this hogwash tomorrow. I'm sure you need your rest after venturing through the undergrounds of the library." Ichigo muttered something about not needing a reminder as he went over to the nearest room, all hearing a loud spring squeak from a sudden weight on the bed. Brandon took another swig from his cup before he placed on a serious face, staring at his friends and asked, "So, seriously, what the fuck is going on here? Is this the shit you guys were talking about a couple years ago true?"

Anthony took a seat near his friend while Elias took a seat on the other side of the unconscious man. Lee excused herself as she left through the way they came, wanting to get some fresh air from the smell of beer and loss of self-pride. The blonde then said, "Yeah, it's true. But… what do you have as a weapon?" Brandon went quiet for a second before he bent under the table, struggling to bring out whatever was laying on the ground. He then pulled out what looked like a large bamboo tube and a blood-covered katana. They all gawked at it as Brandon then noticed what their eyes were focused on. "Oh yeah," he laughed nervously. "Funny story after you guys ran off." Everyone all agreed that they didn't want to know as they conversed until sleep overcame them.

Brightwall Armory

Bringing down the stone hammer on the steel, the blacksmith kept on pounding it to its right shape, ignoring the new comer that entered into her shop. She wore black goggles that kept any sparks or flames to hit or irritate her eyes. A young boy was also inside, watching the woman forge the blade, but his head perked up to see the new comer. Face that was filled with amazement for the forging turned into delight once he saw Lee standing in the doorway. "Auntie Lee!" he shouted gleefully as he jumped from the counter. Black wings sprouted from his back as he flew towards the woman and hugged her. Lee laughed joyfully as she returned the embrace and walked towards the blacksmith who finally noticed her.

"Ah, cousin!" the woman said as she took off the goggles, revealing large brown eyes. She threw the blade into a barrel of cold water, letting steam crawl out of it and merging with the air. Walking towards the cat demon, she took off the handkerchief that held her hair back, revealing two long batches of white hair coming fro beneath her black strands. Lee bowed to her and said, "It's good to see that Brightwall has been good to you, Ellizia." The woman scratched her nose as she smirked while speaking. "Well, it's not like they haven't seen a demon before."

"It's only because you keep insisting that those are just dyed hair, not your actual ears," Lee stated dully, getting a giggle from the young boy in her arms. Ellizia made a pout, the white patchs of hair straitening backwards. "It's not my fault that any hat I wear can't cover these!" she nearly shouted as she jabbed at her rabbit ears. Lee laughed as she then turned her attention to the boy and said, "Kuro, you should put that away." The boy pouted as he then closed his eyes, making the wings disappear into thin air, only leaving a lone black feather to fall to the ground. "And don't you know how late it is? You have to get some sleep now, or you will be too tired for tomorrow." The boy made a disappointed groan as he then was placed the ground and ushered to the upper floor. His wings reemerged as he flew to the second floor and fell onto the bed, closing his eyes so that sleep would take him quickly.

Lee shook her head at this as she then turned to Ellizia and asked, "Has he come by here since…?"

Ellizia shook her head as Lee let out a thankful sigh. "I still don't get why you won't let him see him, Lee," the rabbit demon spoke. "I mean, he is part of the family. Shouldn't he be able to meet him at least once?" The cat eared female shook her head and said, "I rather not have him receive another burden. You know how much trouble it was when we found you… the way you were." Her cousin nearly looked uncomfortable at the mention on how she was able to meet up with her, being that she was currently being sold as a slave. It nearly took out a fortune just to get her bought and a few more to give her a history that was believable. Ellizia then just waved it off and said, "Anyways, don't worry. I doubt that he even knows about the little tyke. If he does, I already know a bunch of other towns who would like 'this' blacksmith for her awesome skills." The cat demon girl gave out a small laugh, her thoughts falling towards the friends from another time. She then heard Ellizia say, "So, it looks Princey is finally going to stand up against his brother. Though, I think he should at least find a new wardrobe. It gets kind of hot around this time of year."

"Well, he is going to be infiltrating a mercenary camp soon," Lee stated. "Got any ideas?" She didn't really need to wait for an answer as she saw the smirk crawling on her cousin's face.

To Be Continued…