Moments: Payback

WHAM

"Ow!" Fen hissed and gripped the back of his head in pain. He had been looking up at the moon from a balcony in the castle, minding his own business. The smack had come without any warning, and Fen snarled as he looked for the culprit. He hid his gnashing teeth when he saw Rita glaring at him. "Sheesh Rita, what was that for?"

The flamboyant mage folded her arms and continued to glare, "That's payback for licking me back in Halure you mutt!" Her anger doubled when she felt her face heat up at her own words, and the way Fen was grinning at her. It was wolf-like, and she hated it.

"Well, I guess I did deserve it for Aurnion too. Sorry about getting you guys involved in all that." Fen returned to looking up at the moon, "So you done in the library?"

Rita, now feeling more civil, leaned against the railing of the balcony beside him, "Yeah, I found some interesting information, but nothing too important. Seems that Shepherd's Journal only reveals things we need to know. Stupid thing is still blank though." She growled and looked to Fen. Her harsh expression went mild when she saw how he looked into the night sky. "You like the moon or something?"

The white-haired enigma chuckled and scratched his head. "Spending time as a wolf makes you appreciate the little things." A weak gust of cool air passed by them as silence took over. When Rita suddenly yawned, Fen smirked at how she shamelessly stretched, "Hey Mordio,"

"What?" Rita scratched her tummy as she considered going to sleep.

"Judy overheard what you said to the Hunting Blades." Her surprised gasp made his smirk grow, "Thanks, nobody's really stood up for me like that."

Rita snorted flippantly, "Well someone had to. Senselessly attacking you is disgusting. At least when I do something, there's a good reason for it."

Fen decided to avoid the obvious opportunity for a joke, "All the same, since we're paying back debts and all. I owe you." Her confused look was all the opportunity Fen needed. In a fluid motion, he licked Rita's cheek, making sure to leave a trail on her face. Her face took on severe shock, allowing Fen to escape for the door.

"Y-You worthless dog! Eww," Rita vigorously wiped her face. She turned and started after her latest target... but he was already gone. "Stupid, dogs are so stupid." She fumed and marched to her room.

When the coast was clear, Fen stepped out of a storage closet and chuckled. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a bright red apple. "No Mordio, we're just slick." He tossed it up and caught it before taking a huge bite.

Chapter 11: Hollow Path

"Aw man," Karol stared out at the bright blue sky before him, "this is looking bad, really, really bad." He groaned and asked himself how he got into all this. Just a few days ago, he was the boss of a fine guild. Brave Vepseria was doing well for being a new guild too. Then, like he's come to expect, Yuri crashes in with a brand new batch of trouble. "Man oh man this is bad." The crisp sound of someone biting into an apple identified the person who was suddenly leaning against his head.

Their newest party member, Fen, remained silent for a few moments before finally asking the unspoken question. "What's got you so down boss man? Keep worrying like that and you'll get premature wrinkles." He took another mouthful of the red fruit and waited for Karol to answer.

The young boss groaned once more, "You're the one who said this place is dangerous. How can you ask that so casually?"

"Hmm, I said that?" Fen feigned innocence.

Karol glared up at him from his position against the deck railing. "You have issues." He recalled the events of the day clearly, it was only a few hours ago. According to Judy, the Shepherd's Journal suddenly said to go to the Releweise Hollow. It had thrown everyone off, save for Rita. The mage explained a segment she found in the castle's library concerning the Shepherd's Journal, saying it directed people to where they needed to go. Keyword was 'needed', in place of 'wanted'.

After some discussion, they set their destination for the windy valley in the lifeless continent. At least, they thought it was lifeless. Fen had interjected when the book showed a rather vivid image of some sort of city. He explained that there used to be people living amongst the steep valleys and even worshipped the Entelexia. When pressed on how he knew about it, Fen shrugged and said he saw it in a book.

"Oh yeah, I did say that didn't I?" Fen finished his apple and threw it over the side of the boat. They were above water so it really didn't matter much. "Relax Karol. I know I said the place was packed with monsters, but who cares!?" He slapped the younger teen on the back, "That's what makes it fun." He gave him a wolfish grin and walked away.

Karol sighed heavily, another guy who loves to fight, just what he needed. Deciding to distract himself, Karol stood up and looked for the others. Raven was busy playing Repede in a game of chess... and losing pretty badly. Karol decided he'd tease Raven later and looked for Yuri. He hasn't talked to him one-on-one in awhile. "Hey Yuri." Karol found him reclined against the spare ropes, using them as a pillow.

"Boss, what can I do for you?" Yuri didn't open his eyes, instead enjoying the sun on his face. Flying around with Ba'ul always had a calming affect on him. He looked to the young man when he heard him sit down heavily, "Stressing like usual boss?"

Karol shot him a look, "Don't start with me." His expression grew bland, "So how is Estelle doing? She seemed... off when we left." He glanced to Yuri, "Do you think Ioder said something to her?" He suddenly gasped, "What if it was a marriage proposal! You better get a move on Yuri, you might lose her to some old aristocrat!" Karol's panic was silenced by Yuri's hand on his head.

"Keep your shirt on boss, no point in losing your head over something small. She'll tell us when she's ready." He kept an appearance of aloofness, though his heart had pounded when Karol stated his own suspicion. If he ever wanted it pried out of Estelle, he'd send Rita to do it though. Perhaps Judy would be a wiser choice, she has a... gentler touch compared to Rita. No, that's not quite right, she's a bit on the blunt side. The more Yuri thought of it, the more he considered sending Repede to do it. "So what else is bothering you?"

"You Yuri." Karol was now looking to the swordsman with a scolding look. It was the same face he had when Yuri had tried to go rescue Estelle by himself. "Something's wrong with you, we all can tell. Is it Estelle? 'Cause if it is, then just go and get her already."

Yuri managed a smirk, "Kind of like what you did with Nan?"

Karol went red, "H-Hey, don't change the subject!"

"I heard the story Karol. I don't know how you mixed up, 'You need to contact Van' with, 'Go confess to Nan'." Yuri couldn't help but grin when Karol covered his ears and screamed.

"I said stop trying to change the subject!" Karol glared at him, "You need to stop being so slow Yuri, Estelle is pretty sought after you know. It won't be long before every noble will be aiming for her."

Yuri laughed a bit, "Is that an order boss?"

"You bet it is!"

Below deck, Judith and Rita were busy trying to crack the Shepherd's Journal. The message remained visible to this very moment, but it frustrated Rita to have it hold secrets from them. A book should never hold secrets, that's what Rita believes.

"For the love of aer." Rita glared down at the blank pages of the Shepherd's Journal, feeling as if it was mocking her silently. Her green eyes snapped to the amused eyes of Judy, "Are you going to help or just sit there watching me?"

The Krityan smiled and shrugged, "Oh I don't know, it's just so entertaining to see how many faces you make when you concentrate." She ignored Rita's growl of warning and looked to the door leading to the cabins, "I wonder if Estelle is feeling better. She seemed pale when we left."

Anger forgotten at the mention of Estelle, Rita cast an equally concerned look to the door, "I know, I wonder what's bothering her." Her face took on a determined look, "I'll find out when she wakes up."

"Hmm, perhaps that's not the wisest thing to do." Judith seemed to speak to herself, but her smirk said otherwise. She calmly looked upwards innocently when Rita glared at her again.

The mage resigned herself to a sigh, knowing she'd never touch the Krityan with threats. "You're weird."

"I'd hardly say you're normal Mordio." Fen stepped down the stairs and smirked at the light growl that left Rita's lips. "Careful, in dog that's a challenge. Right Repede?" Fen looked over to the silent dog and smirked when Repede barked. "See?"

Judy, thoroughly enjoying how easily Fen got under Rita's skin, decided to change the subject, "Do you need something?"

He shrugged, "Just wanted to see if our favorite princess is awake yet, and," He paused to pick up the book on Zaphian Legends, "I wanted to show you two something." He opened the book and flipped through a few pages. He stopped a certain page and showed it to them. It was an illustration of a strange creature with white wings, entangled in the tails of a fox-like creature.

Rita looked closely at the image, "That's weird, what's it about?"

"That's the strange thing, there's no information." Fen turned the pages to prove his point. Indeed, there was no text on the illustration. Even Judy couldn't see anything. "I say we search the hollow as well as we can and make sure to take the Shepherd's Journal with us. It may tell us something."

"Do you think this might have anything to do with Eaglewood?" Rita tapped her chin, playing with the possibility. She didn't want to worry the others with it until she had solid proof.

Judy nodded slowly, "It's possible, but I can't see how." Her pink eyes focused on Fen, "All we know is that he's after you and it could be because you're getting in the way of those guys in black."

Fen shrugged again, hiding how the subject bothered him, "Or he could want me dead because I turn into a huge wolf. The possibilities are endless." He waved a finger in circles, feigning indifference.

The conversation came to a sudden end when the door to the cabin opened to reveal a tired Estelle. "Hello everyone." She politely greeted them and rubbed her eye as she yawned. Everyone watched as she made her way to the small table at the center of the room and sat down. "What's everyone up to?"

"Forget about that!" Rita suddenly snapped, "We're all worried about you. Is something wrong? Did Ioder say something to you, because if he did." Rita raised her fist in warning, but Judy immediately calmed the conversation.

"Estelle, are you alright?" She gently lowered Rita's fist and patted it to disarm her growing aggression.

Estelle honestly considered her answer before smiling, "Yeah, I am. I just didn't get much sleep, silly me." She lightly knocked her hand on her head, hoping to get away with the half-baked answer. She honestly didn't know how to deal with this situation. The more she thought about it, the less she wished Ioder had revealed such a shocking secret to her.

Fen sniffed the air gently, "You've been crying."

The sudden statement made Estelle's heart stop for a slight second as Rita and Judy looked at her in concern. She laughed lightly and scratched her cheek with a thin finger, "Well," She lowered her vision, "the pressure just got to me, that's all. I mean, I thought we had saved the world for good and now here we are again. The last adventure just seems... pointless a little."

If her voice hadn't expressed her shame in her thinking, Judy would've been tempted to strike her. However, she smiled warmly at the tired girl, "I understand, I suppose it's easy to think that. Do you still feel that way?"

Estelle felt slightly relieved that her half-truth succeeded, "N-NO!" She almost jumped out of her seat, "I could never bring myself to believe Belius and the others' sacrifices were for nothing. I just lost faith for a bit, that's all."

"Well, don't lose it again." Rita turned away, uncomfortable with her comforting techniques. She smiled a bit when Estelle giggled, knowing Rita was trying her best.

Honestly, the three females of the party had grown close over the course of their travels. Between Judith's wisdom, Rita's passion, and Estelle's pure heart, they made a stunning trio. Fen was impressed by how three different people could act like sisters when one was in distress. However, he knew Estelle had partially lied about what troubled her. It wasn't his place to call her out on it yet, but he won't forget.

"Woof!" Repede's sudden bark was followed by Yuri descending the stairs to the lower quarters.

With his sword over his shoulder, Yuri pointed his thumb behind him, "We're here, get ready to head out." He saw everyone nod and start up the stairs. Rita was sure to scoop up the Shepherd's Journal and Judy packed a portion of their Gel Stash into a sack. His dark eyes found Estelle's, hoping to see if she was alright. When she quickly looked away uneasily, he knew something was off.

Gently, he caught her arm as she passed, "You alright?"

"Yes, just tired that's all." Estelle removed her arm from his grasp and followed the others up at a quicker pace.

He hated to admit it, but Yuri was a bit hurt by her evasive attitude. Something was off and he could clearly see how puffy her eyes had been. It was a while ago, but she had been crying, definitely. A sudden slap to his back brought him out of his thoughts.

"Chin up Lowell, no need discouraging the others with that face of yours." Fen stopped at the top of the stairs and leaned against the railing.

Yuri made eye contact after staring at the scar under Fen's eye, "So should I apologize for that?" He pointed to the dark mark.

Fen let out a quick laugh, "Hah, should I apologize for almost making you piss yourself?"

"I'll take that as a 'no'." Yuri passed him with a smirk.

Before he could open the door, Fen had one more thing to say, "Lowell," His tone was vastly more serious, "both of us have done some things we regret. If I ask you to apologize... then that would make me a hypocrite."

Slightly shocked by his words, Yuri nodded, "Likewise then." He extended his hand, "Even?"

"More than so." Fen shook his hand and grinned. "Now let's go see why that book brought us here."

The sight of the Weccean continent never ceased to amaze. Its dry appearance and strong winds seemed to whistle through the deep valleys that led to small rivers of water. Fen told Judith to direct Ba'ul towards the southern part of the continent, just past Relewiese Hollow.

"The winds are too strong for Ba'ul to navigate through." Judith looked to Estelle, hoping Sylph will offer them some aid.

Right on cue, the small Spirit of Wind appeared a small vortex of swift air. She greeted her friends and immediately got to work on weakening the winds to a tolerable level. "It should be safe now, please, hurry."

"Sylph," Estelle stopped the small spirit, "do you know anything about the place we're looking for?"

Having seen everything through Estelle, the spirit hummed briefly. "I can't remember much, but I keep thinking of the place where you gave me life. Start there, perhaps something will happen."

"Thank you Sylph." Judith bowed slightly.

Sylph shook her head, "I'm only sorry that I can't help anymore."

"Have the spirits been talking about what's going on?" Yuri hoped Efreet and Undine might be able to help them. It sometimes proved troubling to have the memories of the spirits missing, but little could be done.

Sylph nodded sadly, "Yes, Undine and Efreet are trying to remember anything from their times as Phaeroh and Belius, but their not coming up with much. All we can say is that this location holds many answers on how to defeat this Adephagos."

Karol's shoulders drooped, "Aw man, that sucks."

"Yeah, this is looking pretty messy." Raven stroked his chin, "Do you think we'll just be able to use you spirits again?"

"I doubt it." Sylph's expression grew grim, "I remember something from my past life, and it isn't good. This Adephagos is great in power, it had to be sealed within an alternate space within a floating fortress."

Raven whistled, "Needed a double-lock huh, that's not good."

"Please, you all must hurry. Duke can't do much on his own and things are beginning to grow darker." Sylph disappeared in a gust of wind, leaving the gang to think upon her words.

"What do you think she meant?" Fen scratched his ear as Ba'ul started down into the Relewiese Hollow.

"Well we haven't seen those guys in black for awhile, perhaps she meant them." Judy looked to the Shepherd's Journal and thought deeply, "I wonder, how would it work if they had gotten it?"

Rita nodded, "It would've done the same that it did for us. A book is impartial, so it would lead them to where they needed to go."

The conversation grew lighter after that. The trip down to the sacred aer krene was made mostly in silence, some reminiscing on their last trip down. Their mission hadn't been too different from now, only the Adephagos was in the sky, not hidden somewhere nobody could see it.

Like Fen had said, monsters still roamed the steep landscape, but were vastly weaker and docile. Even without blastia, the group's teamwork proved strong enough to fend off whatever built the guts to try and attack them. It took them at least an hour of walking before they got near the bottom, the entrance to the aer krene. It still looked the same, save for a bit of erosion, but not much.

"This brings back some memories." Karol's dry sarcasm simply received nods of agreement. It wasn't exactly pleasant to remember how hard Kroma had fought them, and how difficult it was to defeat her. The trip back up wasn't too easy either, considering how they ran out of supplies and Estelle was too tired to heal everyone completely. If Sylph hadn't helped, they may not have made it all the way.

"Repede, you smell anything?" Yuri looked down as the hound began sniffing the ground for anything strange. "It'd probably be faster if we split up and search." Unfortunately, the sun was setting and Yuri didn't want to be here at night.

"Cool, I'll se if anything is further along the here." Fen pointed forward and took a deep breath. Everyone watched in a mix of curiosity and amazement as light enveloped his body, the giant white wolf replacing him. He shook his body and stretched before dashing over the large boulders. Without any enemies around, he seemed less frightening than before.

Everyone else, soon over their astonishment, picked a spot and began searching. Yuri stuck with Repede as he continued to sniff around. The dog growled in frustration when he smelled nothing but dust, flowers, and aer. He had ended up inside the cave, amongst the white lilies that grew near the pool of dense aer.

"Nothing huh?" Yuri rubbed Repede's head and sighed, "Man, all we need is a clue, anything."

"Yuri!"

"W-Wow!"

"Yuri?"

Said swordsman turned to the entrance of the krene when he heard everyone say his name. Estelle was looking past him with wide eyes and a pale complexion. Rita, trying her hardest to hide it, was gawking like a frightened little girl, and Judith simply pointed with a blank face. Raven, the goof, was shivering behind the Krityan and stared past him as well. However, it was Karol, poor kid, who seemed the most out of sorts. He was on his butt, pointing and muttering like a scared child himself.

"What?" Yuri asked them, "What is it?" He followed their gaze and turned around. His blood ran cold at the sight before him.

Levitating in mid-air was a man draped in a black cloak. It appeared old and torn in various places, but it was his face that made Yuri jump. His eyes were wide and glowing blue, his pale face raised as he looked down his nose at Lowell. His mouth was slightly agape and his arms were slowly raising into the air. Without a word, he began to make clicking sounds with his tongue before muttering in a foreign tongue.

The dead lay here,

the living lay here,

the cursed lay here.

Oh key to the lost island of Hod, hide yourself in our darkness

Grant us the power to guard this world,

Grant us the power to protect this world

Make us sentinels, make us warriors, make us judges, make us servants.

Open the gate, so they may see the truth to this dark existence.

"Huh," Fen walked in, still as a wolf, and peered at the ghostly figure, "did I miss something?"

"Not yet." Judy replied. Just as those words left her mouth, the entire aer krene shook as a wave of blue light washed over their sight. When it finally faded, like a smokeless fire, the entire environment had changed.

The flowers remained the same, but the pool of aer was now covered by several bridges that led to the other side of the cavern. At the opposite end, there was a large door way made of finely carved arches. Two stands holding incense were placed at either side of the arch, casting a calming scent through the cavern.

The strange man raised his hand to Yuri and the others and spoke in a raspy voice, "I warn you now, this place has been eaten by darkness. Do not defile the ones buried here, or you shall join them yourselves." He did not allow them to answer before throwing his head back and screeching deep within his throat. Once more, the krene rumbled and the door across the bridge opened heavily. Finished, he threw his head forward, doubling over so the cloak could envelope him completely. He raised his hand once more, now pointing to the door.

"Gooooo," His raspy voice echoed coldly.

A/N: Ooo, spooky, Rita's going to have tons of fun in this place. Expect some answers next chapter, as well as a look into what's going on elsewhere. So many questions, so many enemies, and so little answers. Can the situation grow anymore dire? Yes, yes it can. Thank you for reading, and please review!