All right, finally finished this one! Once I got past the hard spiteful lover of darkness, it didn't take long. (Though even if he was hard, he was kinda fun)

Anyway, please welcome Tenebrae! I'm so glad he got to show up... and a friend of mine designed the other Centurions (well, deciding how they look was more of a group effort), so hopefully they'll get to make an appearance eventually!

Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: Same as always.

-Chapter 08: Dark Gentleman-

This is the Cave of Darkness... I can't see a thing in here... "Is everyone still here?" I ask.

"I'm here," Nanashi-san pipes up.

"I'm here as well," says Rota-san.

"Hold on a second..." Something suddenly lights up—Victor-san turned his bouncy ball into a fire dagger, giving us some light. "How's that?"

"Thank you, Victor-san!"

"It's not a problem. Well then, shall we continue?" He glances around before he starts walking—the rest of us follow. He leads us on a path leading down... He seems to be able to see the area better than me. Victor-san pauses at a fork, trying to figure out which way to go. "Nanashi," he speaks up after a moment, "you said you can see the flow of mana, correct?"

"Yep, that's right! Go left here!"

"Thank you." We continue to the left in silence. Victor-san and Rota-san aren't nearly as talkative as Ritos-san... Heh, though Suzu-chan and Dhaos-san aren't that talkative, either.

"Ugghh... I hate not being able to see a thing," Nanashi-san complains as we walk. "Can't you use some sort of lighting move to just light the whole thing up?"

Victor-san glances back with a smile. "I'm afraid it wouldn't work that way. If I used a lighting spell, it'd vanish much quicker than a fire spell. Not to mention that all of the sudden flashing would make it harder to discern our whereabouts."

"You have a point there... Oh, I know! What if Rota gets a glowing demon summon of some kind?"

"Isn't it a little late for that now?"

"Maybe, but it'd still be pretty neat!"

"A glowing demon...? How would it look?" I ask.

"Hm... like a giant firefly!"

"A giant... firefly?"

"Fireflies are pretty... But if it was just one giant firefly, it wouldn't be the same..." Rota-san says.

"What about a demonic firefly swarm, then?" Nanashi-san suggests.

"How interesting... But to make them flash, you'd need female fireflies, wouldn't you?" the demon points out. "That would be harder, since female fireflies don't fly."

"Oh right..."

"If I ever find a glowing demon, I'll try my best to make a pact with it for you, Nanashi-san," Rota-san offers.

"Thank you! Oh, take a right here!" Nanashi-san instructs, and we head that way. We keep walking, taking a few more turns. I hope we're able to find our way back...

And after this, we'll have to take a boat out of Arlee... There's no way I'm going to catch up with Onii-chan in Heimdall... He's probably already gone... On top of that, the Rheairds are probably broken... I'm going to have to apologize to Cless-san.

Ugh... My head hurts a little...

"Ami? Are you okay?" Nanashi-san asks.

"I'm fine..."

Victor-san stops. "It's probably the power of the Centurion Core... They emit an immense amount of energy," he explains. "Rota, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine... I can feel it, but I'm used to strong power."

"As am I. Ami, perhaps it'd be best if you waited here."

"No... I'm fine. Let's keep going." I keep walking past them. I can't give up! Besides, I kinda want to see this Centurion.

We reach an alter. On top of it is a large black... "What is that exactly? A flower bud?"

"Hm... It does resemble a flower bud, doesn't it..." Victor-san states with a smile.

"Wow, it really does have a lot of power!" Nanashi-san speaks up.

"Really...?" I take him out of my pocket and put him on. Wow... The mana gathered around it is pure black, so it's impossible to tell exactly how much there is...

"That must be the core... I'll see if I can awaken the Centurion," Rota-san says as she walks over to it; I take the glasses off so I can watch. She gently picks the core up and closes her eyes, concentrating. A soft glow comes from the core... It unravels, revealing a glowing black orb with a strange symbol in it. It then floats up, away from Rota-san, and turns into a large black... dog... thing... Ah, this is the one Nanashi-san mentioned! It has yellow eyes, blue markings around its eyes, neck, and feet, and a tail that looks kind of like a hand with long fingers. "Ah... Good morning..." the valkyrie greets, sounding at a loss for words.

"That's it! That's the Centurion I was telling you about!" Nanashi-san hisses, trying not to interrupt them as he tells me.

"Good morning," the creature says. "And just who is it that woke me up?"

"I...I'm sorry. My name is Rota Gunnr... I'm looking to make a pact with your master, Ratatosk."

"A pact with Lord Ratatosk? Now that's a new one. Are you aware that he was attacked recently?"

"Attacked? By who?" I know that some summon spirits fight before making a pact, but... this sounds different...

"A demon known as Hades."

"Hades... I've heard that he's been causing some trouble recently," Victor-san speaks up. "We have no association with him."

"You're a demon yourself, are you not?"

"I am. My name is Victor. And these two are Ami and Nanashi."

"Hm? Two?"

"Hello!" Nanashi-san greets.

"Is that a pair of glasses?"

"Yep, that's me!"

"How interesting. The artifacts in this world never cease to amaze me."

"Tenebrae, we're trying to find Ratatosk... I want to use his power to help people. Will you help me?" Rota-san speaks up.

"If you plan on doing that, you'll need to awaken all of the Centurions. Lord Ratatosk won't be at full power without them."

"There's one for each element, right?"

One for each element... So that'd mean that there are eight Centurions.

"That's right. Though I must say, none of the other elements are quite as refined as darkness."

"I agree," Victor-san says with a smile. "Darkness has a certain elegance to it that you can't find anywhere else."

"Really...?" I ask. "But it's so hard to see in the darkness... I much prefer the light."

"You obviously don't understand the magnificence of darkness," Tenebrae-san tells me. "When you need to hide something, darkness is what will mask it."

"Darkness also allows you to make sneak attacks," the demon adds. "It's a useful battle tactic, especially when you're outnumbered."

"Oh, I guess that's true... Come to think of it, Suzu-chan's good at hiding in the darkness."

"Speaking about hiding, darkness can also help when you're playing things like hide-and-go-seek," Rota-chan points out.

"Oh, you're right!"

"See there? Darkness is truly intoxicating," Tenebrae-san says happily.

"Yeah, but darkness is also... lonely," Nanashi-san speaks up.

"But of course. Darkness is what allows your heart to plummet to despair in the middle of the night. It is truly fascinating."

"That's... not so good..." I mutter.

"Perhaps we should return to the topic at hand," Victor-san suggests.

"Yes... We need to help Ratatosk," the valkyrie agrees.

"Agreed. I will work with you to awaken Lord Ratatosk."

"Thank you, Tenebrae. Would you mind seeing if you can find him or any of the other Centurions?" Rota-san asks. "We have some ideas for where the Centurions might be, but..."

"You need not say another word. Finding people is one of my many specialties."

"Then we'll leave it to you. We're headed to Heimdall next, though I'm not sure where we're going after that..."

"If finding people is one of his many specialties, then I'm sure he can find us wherever we go," Victor-san points out.

"Oh yeah, you're right!"

"We're counting on you then, Tenebrae!" Nanashi-san says.

"Just leave it to me. It should take me no time at all. Look for me in the darkness once you reach your destination." With that, he disappears into the shadows.

"Heh heh, Centurions are really interesting!" I say to the others.

"Indeed they are. Shall we head back now?" Victor-san asks. "My mana's getting a little low."

"Oh right! We should hurry, then!"

The demon leads the way out. He seems to remember which way we came from, which is good... I definitely don't remember it.

"So there are eight Centurions, one for each element," Nanashi-san speaks up as we walk. "What do you think they look like?"

"Maybe the light one glows," I suggest, half-jokingly.

"Perhaps," the valkyrie agrees. "And the water one must be aquatic."

"I wonder if they all look like animals. If so, I hope there's a wolf!"

"You like wolves, don't you?"

"Yep! Oh, you should see my brother as a wolf! He's really cute!"

"I bet... I like wolves myself. Loki-chan's fur is especially soft..."

"So is Onii-chan's. He also really enjoys it when you scratch him behind the ears, but he refuses to admit it."

"I'll keep that in mind for when I meet him," she says, sounding happier now. She seems to be relaxing some... That's good.

"It seems we made it back to the entrance," Victor-san speaks up. Oh, he's right! I didn't even notice since it's so dark outside... We walk out into the snow, and his fire dagger disappears. "Shall we catch a boat now? We can rest on there."

"Yeah, good idea. Are you all right...? You had that out for a long time..."

"I ate an orange gel on the way back up, so I'll be fine."

He did? I completely missed it... Well, I was having fun talking to Rota-san about the wolves we know. "All right. Let's go, then," I say, and we head towards the port.

Come to think of it, Nanashi-san's gotten quiet all of the sudden... "Nanashi-san? Are you okay?"

He's not answering...

"Is something wrong?" Rota-san asks.

"He's probably looking at something in his database. He completely zones out when he's in there," I explain.

"How interesting..." Victor-san says. "I hope he tells us if he finds anything useful."

"I'm sure he will! Nanashi-san's quite reliable."

"Oh? How long have you two known each other?"

"Um... only two days..."

"But he warped you to try and safe your life, right?" Rota-san speaks up. "He really cares about you..."

"Hm? Who cares about who?" Nanashi-san asks.

"Welcome back! Did you find anything in your database?" I ask.

"How did you know I was looking?" Heh, he sounds surprised.

"Because you weren't answering us."

"Ah... Sorry. Well, there's still a lot I have to piece together... so I'm not really sure if it's useful or not. I'll let you know if it is, though!"

"That's fine. Thank you, Nanashi-san!" Ah, we've reached the port! Victor-san steps forward and pays for a boat ride; we get on the boat.

Come to think of it, I'm pretty hungry... I don't even know what time it is, since it's always night here... Ack, my stomach growled... That's embarrassing...

"Hm... I suppose it's about time to eat, isn't it?" Victor-san says with a smile, acting as if he heard nothing... "I'll treat you both to dinner."

"Ah... Thank you." Wow... Victor-san seems like a real gentleman. He leads us down to the pub, where we sit at a table. I was in a similar place just last night... I guess I should get used to boat trips though, with what happened to the Rheairds and all... Heh, I guess it's a good thing I don't get seasick.

This one seems to be more of an open bar... "What would you like to eat?" the demon asks.

"Hm... What about some curry?" I suggest. Suzu-chan hates curry, but... I like it.

"I think curry sounds like a good idea," Rota-san says.

"Agreed. I'll order three bowls of curry and three glasses of water, then?"

"Okay!"

"Yes, please."

Victor-san heads over to the counter to do that; I set Nanashi-san down on the table.

"Curry... How does that taste?" Nanashi-san asks.

"Well, it's spicy... Most people put chicken in it."

"Chicken... I wonder how that tastes..."

"Um..."

"One of the valkyries once said that everything tastes like chicken..." Rota-san says.

"R-really? Chicken must taste really weird..."

"Chicken tastes good, actually... It's my favorite meat."

Victor-san returns with our food on a tray. He sets it down and passes it out... He really is a gentleman. We thank him and start eating in silence for a moment.

"Is it good?" Nanashi-san asks after we've all had a minute to eat.

"Yep! Really good!"

"I wish I could eat... I wanna know how it tastes..." Nanashi-san...

"Do you ever get hungry?" Victor-san asks.

"Of course not! I can't even eat, so there's no reason to get hungry! Doesn't stop me from being curious, though!"

"How interesting... Be careful about that curiosity, though—they say curiosity killed the cat."

"I think that'd be a little harder in my case," the glasses argue. "But I think it's better to be curious and learn new things than to not know anything about this world!"

"Yes, I'd have to agree."

"Yes... There's a lot to learn when you explore for yourself," Rota-san agrees.

"Yeah, definitely!" Everyone falls silent as we continue eating. Rota-san and Victor-san are really good people... I'm glad they were the ones that found me!

I'm really glad for all of my friends... Heh, if Ritos-san hadn't been following me and Suzu-chan, I don't know how we would've gotten away from those guards. And Dhaos-san... he saved us when we were supposed to save him...

...Why do I keep getting saved so much...? I need to get stronger, so I can help people... People like Mark-san...

"Care for your people." Ritos-san answered that... when Cless-san asked...

"Victor-san, Rota-san... What do you think it takes to be a king?"

"A king...?"

"Hm... Perhaps a king should help his people, even at the cost of his life," Victor-san suggests with a smile.

"Eh?"

"Or perhaps not. Either way, I doubt it's easy to be a king. Everyone must trust you, yet you can trust no one..."

"I'm not sure that's true... If you trusted no one, then there wouldn't be alliances." I'm an ambassador, after all...

"Are you sure about that?"

"Um..."

"I think trust is important," Rota-san speaks up, "and the ability to lead, no matter what situation. A king can never give up on those under him."

"Yeah, you're right... Still, that makes me worry about Cless-san..."

"You mentioned Cless earlier... That's the human king, correct?" the demon questions. "You sound like you know him..."

"Yep! He's my brother's best friend! We grew up together in Miguel. He was also one of my companions on my previous journey!"

"When you fought the gods of Aselia?"

"Yep!"

"I thought he looked like a hero type. I saw him when I was in Alvanista once... He was wearing a sword, cape, and headband."

"Heh heh, that's Cless-san all right. Sometimes I wonder if he ever takes that headband off," I joke.

"I suppose it's his signature item. Much like the winged accessories the valkyries wear."

"My circlet is a signature item...?"

"And the large hat that Dad wears! I bet he's wearing it now," I add.

"So then... I guess I'm becoming a signature item for Ami!" Nanashi-san says.

"Eh?"

"Yes... I've yet to see you two apart," Rota-san says.

"A talking signature item... Quite a rarity indeed. I would've guessed such a thing would be a weapon, not a pair of glasses."

"Why a weapon...?" I ask the demon.

"Hm... Well, there's a tales in Niflheim about a bloodthirsty spear. He and his brother—a sword—were forged by a powerful blacksmith... The sword eventually found himself in the hands of a worthy owner, and together, they destroyed the spear."

"Wow..."

"The valkyries have a similar tale... but the moral is bonding with your weapon to better succeed in battle," Rota-san says.

"We're arriving at South Morlia Port," the captain of the ship announces. "Those headed for Olive, please stay on, as we'll be leaving again shortly."

"We better not miss our stop," Victor-san suggests as he stands. I put Nanashi-san back in my pocket, and we head up to the deck. This port looks kinda deserted, actually... The ship docks, and we get off. Morlia's northeast of here, right? And Heimdall's to the west... I wonder if the others are there yet... We start walking through the field, away from the port. It's pretty late... I guess we'll probably be spending the night at either the elf or ninja village.

Victor-san and Rota-san pull out their weapons—I make my hammer appear and look—there's the monsters... Two bird demons. Victor-san and I rush forward to each take one.

"Pow Hammer!" I stun mine before whacking it with my hammer. It yelps out in pain—ack, it hit me with a gust of wind...!

"Loki-chan!" The wolf appears, tackling my bird and biting it—he then disappears. The bird's still alive, but it looks a lot weaker now. I hit it again—and it falls, dead now. All right! I turn to see how Victor-san's doing.

"Frigid Blade!" His bouncy ball turns into an ice sword, and he swiftly slashes through the bird—wow... The sword disappears, and he smiles at us. "That wasn't too bad."

"Good job, everyone!" Nanashi-san says.

"Thank you!"

"Shall we move on?" the demon asks.

"Yeah!" We continue walking—Heimdall's just a little farther, past these mountains. And who knows, maybe Onii-chan's still there! I start running forward, excited. "Let's hurry, so we get there before nightfall!" I call back. The others exchange glances before running after me. Heh heh, I hope everyone's there!

Victor received the title of Dark Gentleman. A demonic gentleman who enjoys the darkness... There's a certain elegance to such a man.

Nanashi received the title of Lonely Darkness. Darkness is quite lonely... I much prefer the light.

Ami and Rota received the title of Wolf Lover. The way they look, their soft fur, that howl in the night... What is there not to love?