A/N:
RK: This has been a long time in the making, and I seriously apologize for that(especially with that cliff hanger!). Life happened, I got busy, family drama and yada yada, other things that you probably don't care about. But! We finally finished this and I felt like we should post it!
Mara: It might also be because I kicked your butt into gear.
RK: That too. Anyway, I also wanted to say, for those in the U.S.:
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!
Mara: Or what I like to call, Happy Explosive Paradise Day.
RK: We'll hopefully have another chapter ready within the next month (hopefully for my birthday in August)
Mara: One other thing, keep in mind, this story is written by two people and we can't always catch everything when it comes to grammatical errors and tense changes. If you see one, please feel free to PM us about it and we'll be happy to change it.
RK: The reason we're saying this? Our Beta is busy with life, which we totally understand, but we figured you guys might actually want to read the story, so here it is! Enjoy! (and excuse any errors we might not've caught after the twelfth time we stared at the chapter)
He didn't know why, but it hadn't occurred to him to actually check the score.
If he would've actually kept track of it instead of brushing it aside to keep an eye on what Van was up too then he would've known what was going on sooner. So far, according to what Asch had been able to gather, the Commandant had been following the score loosely, mostly to make sure people believed he was still working towards the fulfillment for the world through the score's prophecy.
Yet Asch knew of a number of things that weren't foretold, things that Van definitely had a hand in.
And one thing was for certain…
Van plans to destroy Akzeriuth using hyperresonance.
Closing his eyes for the briefest of moments, Asch built up the connection between him and the dreck. It wouldn't last long, he knew, as he hadn't had many chances to test the connection other than that time in Chesedonia. But even with the connection untested he would be able to say a few things to the idiot to try and get in Van's way.
"Don't take another step!" He tried to say more but because he was moving instead of staying still, the connection snapped easily.
Cursing under his breath, Asch put forth another burst of speed. He'd been running for a while after managing to give the slip to the men who'd been ordered to keep him occupied. It had been even easier after half of the men had gone to fulfill some other task Van had given them, so that only left the other half to give chase to him.
Another connection snapping into place, Asch grit his teeth in annoyance when he ran into a soldier that had been chasing him. Sword striking against sword, the red head quickly focused on the connection before it broke again. "Don't go any further! Stop, before it's too late! Listen to me!"
The connection snapped again the moment Asch finished off the soldier, not even sparing the man a glance. He moved to head down the path to Akzeriuth when something caught his eye.
The soldiers who had disappeared were just around the next bend of rocks, clearly setting up a trap for something.
Or someone...
The only question was, who?
Moments after he mentally asked that question, a soldier came closer leading Van's sister. They both stopped at a hole in the ground that the red head hadn't noticed until just that moment.
Was that a fonstone?
Pausing to catch his breath, Asch watched as Van's sister went over to it, thought right as she touched its surface the rest of the soldiers came out of hiding to surround her.
Mentally calculating, Asch sighed as Tear began arguing with the soldiers. Van had probably told these soldiers to collect the girl so that she would be spared.
But maybe…
Asch jumped into action, running to the nearest soldier and ramming his sword through the man's chest before falling back away from the shocked soldiers to begin casting. Eruption spread out around the other soldiers on the far side of Tear as she took out the ones closest to her.
"Asch?!"
Seeing the shock on her face when she realized just who was helping her would've amused the red head at any other time, yet he had more important things to worry about.
Like the knights he'd left behind arriving to help their comrades in attacking them.
Left without a choice, Asch turned on his heel and made a break for it in the direction of Akzeriuth, leaving it up to Tear if she wanted to follow him or not.
She did, but he could tell she wasn't happy about it.
"What's going on, why did those soldiers attack us?"
"My guess, Van doesn't want you to get involved when he uses that moron to destroy the city."
"What?!"
By then they had run into the city, so Asch chose to ignore her words in favor of moving past the people still doing tasks in the town. Racing down another level, the red head ducked into the tunnel that led down to the Sephiroth, secretly glad he'd snuck around and read some of Van's notes when he'd had the chance.
As they kept moving, Asch made a final attempt to contact the moron in question. "Stop, damn you! Don't go! Are you trying to destroy Akzeriuth!?"
The response he got in return wasn't what he was hoping. Why in the world would using a hyperresonance neutralize the miasma? Surely that idiot had to realize that was wrong, right?
Maybe Asch was hoping that the dreck was smarter than he really was…
While making their way through the tunnel, the two of them realized that they had company. The remaining soldiers had apparently decided to ignore being covert and were actively trying to take them, along with a couple of gryphons that had arrived suddenly. Asch cursed as he had to dodge out of the way of an air blast or be hit by it and possibly taken by the flying creatures.
Darting to the side of the tunnel and leaping off the slight ledge to the lower level, the red head ran into Jade. The Colonel looked at him in surprise even as the former God General side stepped him to continue down the path.
"Hey! Do something about that dreck you call Luke, or we're all going to die!" He called back, not hesitating a moment longer, wanting to stay ahead of the gryphons.
Asch slid to a stop in a cavern, noticing there were two directions in which to head. The notes he'd taken from Van hadn't mentioned that there were two directions and he really didn't have time to waste on going the wrong way.
"Asch?!"
The red head looked at the Fon Master Guardian who had cried out. "Which way did the Fon Master go?"
It only made sense to ask that, since he was the only one able to unlock the door on the Sephiroth. Anise frowned at him but looked around and pointed at a direction. He continued onward, ignoring the girl's cries to come back.
Yet the moment he reached the door to the Sephiroth he felt the ground begin to quake. Cursing under his breath, he continued, even as the ground began to fall under his feet.
"Damn! We didn't make it!"
Right in front of the Sephiroth was Luke, slumping to the ground as his hyperresonance spiraled out of control. Those close to him were blown backward, something, Asch noted, Van was ready for since he was the only one not knocked against the wall.
No… Another figure remained nearby the idiot even after the shock of his hyperresonance pushed all others away. A blue aura was quickly disappearing from where it had surrounded the person and Asch realized that it was Valeria, the girl collapsing to the ground right as the aura faded completely.
What had just happened?
Van looked up in shock, eyes landing on Asch. "Asch! What are you doing here?! I told you not to come!"
"...Too bad." Asch looked away from the two still over by the Sephiroth to lock eyes with his former teacher. "I also brought the sister you tried to save!"
Behind him, the rest of the dreck's group rushed past, intent on getting Ion and the idiot who caused this to happen. He didn't move though, now that the Sephiroth was destroyed, nothing would save those within the city; there would be no outrunning it.
He knew that, after all, he'd had a feeling even as he was rushing here to stop it that he wouldn't make it in time.
When Van whistled, it didn't occur to the red head that he was calling the birds, so when one suddenly dove towards him, Asch didn't have much of a chance to avoid getting taken. The gryphon grabbed him by the air, not dropping him no matter how many times he hit it. "…Let me go! I'm going to die here, too!"
It was only right; why should he, who was supposed to have died here in the first place, be allowed to live while everyone else perished. If Van hadn't taken him all those years ago, he would be where Luke was.
Growling from below caught his attention. Nyla had finally followed the rest of them, likely noticing them all coming this way. What had surprised Asch was that the Arka leapt from the higher group but had attempted to jump upwards not down. It was then that he noticed what had his self-destructive thoughts ceasing to a halt.
Another flying creature had arrived while the gryphon had been collecting him, this one though, had grabbed the one Asch had least suspected Van of going after.
The hresvelgr had grabbed Valeria, grasping the unconscious blonde in its talons as Van ordered it to rise higher into the air.
"I'd intended to save Ion with that gryphon," Van muttered to him as a second gryphon picked him up. "But I have no choice. I can't afford to lose you…"
With those words said, Van waived at the two birds, ordering them to take the two of them away. Immediately the red head stopped fighting his captor, intent on trying to figure out a way to get the blonde away from whatever situation Van might have in store for her.
Why was Van even taking her? As far as Asch knew, the two of them had only met in passing before, since he'd taken great pains to make sure the girl didn't get herself into trouble with Van and wind up in a cell in Daath.
The two birds flew through the collapsing city, making it out of the tunnels right as another major quake happened that shook the entire area. Right as they almost cleared the city though, a large chuck of earth came careening towards them, hitting the gryphon holding Asch.
The bird's wing folded under it as it let out a strangled cry, talons loosening enough to allow Asch to jerk free. Luck was upon him as the hresvelgr managed to get right under him as he fell, allowing him to drop safely onto its back. But whether it was luck or just the creature doing its job, he wasn't sure.
Grasping the feathers right above the hresvelgr's neck, Asch directed it around another piece of earth that flew towards them, even as the gryphon fell into the collapsing ground. Clear from the major collapse, the red head directed the bird towards the east, ignoring it as it attempted to head north.
They'd flown the rest of the night and well into the early hours of the morning before land came into sight.
It wasn't as close as he'd like, but with Valeria still clutched in the hresvelgr's talons there wasn't much he could do, as the thought of trying to get her onto the its back with him wasn't appealing. If he told it to drop her, there was no guarantee that they'd be able to catch her before she went under water.
They reached the land quickly, flying over the town that rested near the water until they were just on the outskirts of the port.
After having the bird lower itself to the ground, he had it carefully lay Valeria on the ground, actually relieved when it followed his orders of letting her go. Jumping off, Asch thought about killing the creature then realized that the fight to do so wouldn't be easy for him at the moment with how tired he was, especially when he had to worry about an unconscious party member.
Waiving the bird away, he turned back to the blonde and heaved a sigh as he lifted her onto his back. Once he got her situated, he glanced back at her as her check rested against his shoulder. She was still underweight, which still appalled him. He'd thought her brother was working on feeding her more, but then again, since she ran away all the time he shouldn't be too surprised at it.
Sighing once more, he slowly made his way into port, the fatigue he had from staying awake for more than twenty four hours letting itself be known to him. As he gazed around the port town, he was surprised by the amount of people running about at this time of morning, with the sun barely peaking out over the horizon.
But Asch supposed that they must've felt the destruction of Akzeriuth the night before and were still trying to figure out what the tremors were from…
"Hey mister!"
Startled, Asch glanced up to scowl at the raven haired boy who had begun walking backwards ahead of him. "What?"
In all honesty, he hadn't noticed the kid. He should have, having been trained to be alert even while exhausted, yet he hadn't noticed the kid until he'd spoken…
"Is she okay? The girl on your back?"
Asch stopped to ponder that. It had been almost twelve hours since he'd seen her collapse and yet she still remained unconscious. She should've woken up by now, right?
Spotting a bench to the side of the path, he went over to it, leaving the boy behind, and placing the blonde down carefully. Once she was on the bench, the red head knelt down and ran a scan arte over her, one of the first artes the healers had taught him when he began learning from them.
Energy loss?
It wasn't that much of a stretch to believe that, and it definitely shouldn't surprise him after seeing the conditions in Akzeriuth. The amount of miasma within that town had to have made the ready amount of fourth fonons in the town deplete exponentially.
Yet he knew he was right, she should've woken up by now even if she was unconscious due to energy loss. They'd been flying for a long time on the hresvelgr before finally landing nearby, more than enough time for her to wake up. Not to mention they'd been flying over the ocean, where the fourth fonons were abundant.
Blinking, he realized that the boy was peering at them closely, something that bothered him. Standing quickly, Asch made to get Valeria on his back once more when suddenly the boy grabbed her instead. He half thought that Valeria would topple the brunette over but it seemed the boy was stronger than he thought since he managed just fine.
"What do you think—"
"You're going to the ships right? I know a shortcut!" Turning on his heel, the teen ran off, taking the blonde with him.
Asch cursed as he rushed after them, annoyed that he'd allowed the strange teen to take Valeria. He led the way through a number of different side paths, never once going out on the main street or encountering people who might ask questions about how Asch, an Oracle Knight, was following a grinning teen who carried an unconscious girl on his back.
"Why are you helping us?"
"It gets boring, and you're new! Where are you going anyway? It makes no sense to go to the ships until it's time to leave."
"…Daath Bay…"
"Oh! That ship leaves soon, if you would've gone the normal way you would've missed it! C'mon, hurry!"
Asch almost stumbled when the boy sped up but followed nonetheless, not that he had a choice, seeing as Valeria was in this kid's possession.
As they neared the port, the boy looked around. He seemed to find what he was looking for since he turned and meandered over to one of the ships in the harbor. "Hey old man!"
A port worker looked up when they came over, halting whatever he'd been doing. "Nico! Ya brat! I thought ya were supposed to be with yer cousins today!"
"Nah, I'm heading there later. Just wanted to make sure my friends made it to the ship on time!"
The older man looked at Nico with a look. "Uh huh, sure, yer friends… Why are ya carrying the girl?"
"She refused to wake up, and since they couldn't be late I picked her up before he could and ran out the door." The boy, Nico, grinned. "Are ya gonna let them on or are you going to just leave them here? She's getting heavy…"
Asch knew that was a lie, even with how small the kid was, he had handled Valeria no problem until now and since the girl weighed practically nothing; he had to just be saying that just to get the worker to hurry it along.
Sighing, and giving Nico the stink eye, the worker waived them past. Nico smiled at Asch as they walked onto the ship. The kid then turned and held Valeria out for Asch, his eyes staying on the girl. "Hopefully she wakes up soon, huh? Anyway! Good luck with whatever you're doing! It was fun."
"Why did you help us?" Asch asked the kid before he could run off. He still didn't buy it, it was clear the kid didn't know them. "Plus, you managed to get us onto the ship for free."
Nico's smile faltered a bit, though before he was able to say anything, the ship's horn blew and the teen's eyes widened. "Crap! I gotta go! Or else I'll be heading to Daath Bay with ya, see ya around!"
Asch tried to grab him but with Valeria in his arms he wasn't able to make a real effort. Soft groaning reached his ears, making him look down at the blonde. Silver eyes were blinking at him in confusion. "Asch?"
"Who else?" Asch retorted as he walked towards the front deck away from prying eyes. Once there, he set her down and decided to speak before he got bombarded with questions. "I forced Van's hand. I got down to the Sephiroth right after the Van had that dreck use his hyperresonance, and when that was over Van called in some birds to collect the three of us. Though he hadn't originally planned on me being there, he wanted Ion."
Why would he save me…?" She questioned, then her silver eyes widened. "Wait! What happened to Akzeriuth? The others? Are they alright?!"
He would've loved to know the answer to that first question himself. And he planned to find out, if only just to spite Van later on. "Luke's–"
"Come on, it's just the two of us…"
He smirked, realizing that the blonde apparently didn't seem to like his replica either. "Alright, the replica used his hyperresonance without thinking, as I mentioned. It… it destroyed the passage ring belonging to the Sephiroth, which caused the land of Akzeriuth to begin to collapse."
He hesitated, seeing the hurt look on the girl's face. Why would that bother her? Did she know more than he did?
"Anyway, the last I saw of that group of yours, they were yelling at Van. If Van's sister knows the same hymns that her brother does, there's a chance they survived. But I haven't been able to contact my replica via his fon slots, so either he's dead or unconscious."
"Kinda hoping for the dead option…" Valeria muttered coldly, though it had been said so softly Asch wasn't sure if he heard her right or even if he was supposed to hear what she'd said.
Asch looked at her in shock though, when he came to the conclusion that she had indeed said what he'd thought. While it wasn't a tone he'd ever heard from her before, he guessed he shouldn't be surprised that she was more annoyed with his replica than he was. After all, she hadn't been entirely happy with the situation in the past…
He didn't know why it bugged him, after all, it wasn't the first time nor was it the second.
It was the fourth time.
How Asch managed to get around being scheduled for any duty or responsibility for the day was beyond him, but he was happy for it. It meant that the whole day was for him, even if no one else really seemed to remember.
A few of the other Order members shot him funny looks when he walked out of the Cathedral, apparently used to him always doing some form of work at this time of day, usually in the training fields below the Cathedral.
Never thought he'd think the same as half of these idiots around here.
"Asch!"
Turning to look over, he got a face full of blonde hair as a small figured suddenly launched at him. Something swept under his feet, knocking the both of them off balance right as he felt the impact on his chest. Asch fell back and landed with a thud, the light weight landing atop him.
"Ow…"
"Crap! Sorry!" The pressure was removed and that allowed the red head to stare up at the silver eyes that still unnerved him to this day.
Asch scowled at the girl, pushing up from the ground and moved past her and the small and still growing Arka that was always trailing behind her since the day her uncle had given her the pet.
"What's got you in a tizzy? And for that matter, shouldn't Van be here or something?"
The red head turned to glare at her. "Why should he be here huh? Why be here when he could be all the way in Batical with Luke!"
The moment it slipped out, he instantly regretted it. Silver eyes widened before narrowing thoughtfully. "And Luke is…?"
"No one!" He stalked past, even as footsteps followed behind him.
This one time, why couldn't she just leave him alone?! He was already feeling like crap, Van was gone, in Batical because of a letter from Fa— the Duke. Everyone else he knew was busy with training and actually probably didn't know anyway, so he really shouldn't be upset about it.
But why did he always get special treatment?
"Is Luke your replica?"
Her question stopped him dead in his tracks, whirling around to throw a punch at her. She had anticipated this and sidestepped away from him. Which reminded him, he still didn't know where she had received her training and he really wanted to find out…
In any case though…
How did she know? "None of your business!"
"Well I don't like him." Asch had begun to walk away but her words had him looking back at her. "I mean, I went through all this trouble of bribing people into getting you the day off so we can run around, possibly bother Van, get into a bit of trouble then have some yummy food; and yet the Commandant is gone and you're in a funk."
Asch blinked. "You're the one who got me a free day?"
Hands on hips, those silver eyes stared at him incredulously. "Well duh! Otherwise I wouldn't get to treat you to a day of fun; I even stole money from my brother to do it!"
Before he could say anything a box was thrown his way, hitting him in the face. Catching it, he looked at her, then the box, then back at her. She nodded towards it and he opened it to reveal a brand new foldable combat knife, black in color with red engravings on it.
He looked at her in shock but her grin was all that met him.
"Happy Birthday Asch!" Valeria cheered, Nyla growling in agreement.
She was the only one since then who normally remembered his birthday, though how she'd found out in the first place was still a mystery. That day was also the day that he actually came clean about a lot of stuff with her. It had felt good to vent, to share with her after having known her for a long time.
And she'd expressed her annoyance in agreement with him, that it wasn't fair that Asch had lost his life to his replica. Yet he'd never expect Valeria to wish that the dreck was dead.
Shaking his head to clear thoughts, he realized she was looking around trying to figure out where they were.
"What are we doing here? Where are we going?"
"If I'm right, then the survivors of the fall would try and head to Yulia City. There's a way to get there through Aramis Spring near Daath Bay. This ship is going to be taking us there and we'll have to walk to the spring. So we're going to head down and see if we can find anyone."
"And if we can't?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
The odd looks were beginning to get annoying…
You'd think these Yulia City citizens had never seen an outsider before!
As it is, Valeria and Asch had been hanging around Yulia city for the better part of two days. The red head had told the blonde that they were going to be staying for a total of three days, and that was it. If the others hadn't turned up by then then there was nothing to be done.
Asch had mentioned that the link between him and his replica was available again, but that didn't mean the others had survived as well and the temperamental God General had refused to contact the idiot for fear of gaining some of his stupidity.
Not that the blonde blamed him.
But the fonist was worried about her furry companion. She knew that if she had the chance, she would stay in the city longer just in case Nyla somehow turned up without any of the others. But unless there was a way to transport the Arka from wherever Akzeriuth collapsed to this city down here, there wasn't a lot she could do.
After all, Valeria had begun to understand a lot more about the miasma after having spent some time talking with a couple of the people in Yulia City.
But, as luck would have it, she'd been saved from having to leave without her companion, since not too long ago, the fur-butt had barreled through a couple of people in order to run up to Valeria. The citizens had been surprised but once Valeria explained things, they turned a blind eye to the Arka who was now sticking to Valeria's side, almost forcing the blonde to trip over her own two feet.
Valeria then made her way back towards the main path of the city, figuring that since Nyla was here, some of the others should be as well.
"—la go? She ran off pretty fast."
"I wouldn't worry about it too much; she'll come back in a bit, probably just found something that smelled interesting." Jade responded to Natalia's question. "She might catch up with us when we find the mayor."
Sure enough, the group of people she'd been a part of for a while were heading her way, Jade leading them.
"But she'd been so subdued during the whole trip here…"
The others looked up as Valeria and Nyla came into their view and the shocked expressions on their faces amused Valeria, even if Jade's face didn't show any such emotion.
"Valeria?! How are you here? The last we saw of you Van had taken you!"
"Asch." Valeria told the Princess.
The silence that came from the group suddenly was more unnerving than Valeria thought it would be, especially when it was broken by Anise. "Asch?! Why would he help you?!"
Guy nodded. "Especially since this is the second time, too."
"Then the two of you came here." Valeria's eyes fell on Jade, who didn't look to be that surprised by the news. "That is something I find surprising since I seem to recall you normally run the other way when it comes to me."
Scowling, Valeria crossed her arms. "There is no way I wouldn't come down here to find Nyla!"
"Valeria! I'm so hurt that you didn't care about the rest of us!"
The blonde sighed, it was either that or she'd punch him. "I never said I wasn't worried about you all…"
The others kept glancing between the two of them and it was beginning to annoy her. Rolling her eyes, Valeria pointed towards the town hall. "The mayor tends to stay there until the end of the day, second floor, large conference room. Asch should be around here somewhere, I'm tired, so I'm going to find somewhere to lie down."
And she stalked off to find an alcove where no one would bother her.
Once she'd found one, she curled up on Nyla, who had decided to rest as well and was already out like a light.
Valeria smiled as she ran her fingers through the Arka's fur, the smile dimming when she noticed that the canine was shedding more than usual. Nyla was stressing a lot more than usual, most likely due to the blonde. Sighing, Valeria rubbed Nyla's ear, she murmured her apologies, as she dug out a treat from her bag and laid it out in front of the Arka, leaving it there until the canine woke from her nap.
Lying on her side against Nyla, Valeria began thinking of reasons that Dorian General Grants might've had for wanting to collect her from Akzeriuth.
There was also the fact that she actually had no clue about what happened down there… She'd somehow blacked out somewhere between going through that strange passageway and waking up with Asch.
The only thing that came to mind was Aeron.
He had mentioned that they'd joined the Oracle Knights, though what exactly they did was a mystery to her, since she recalled that their group did not like listening to orders. But if they had joined with a couple of conditions, such as access to her if she was found, that might be the reason Dorian General Grants had taken her.
After all, the Commandant probably didn't want to lose the connection that partnering with them gave him.
For one thing, the extensive network in the Underworld trumped a lot of information networks that the two main countries, the Order and even the merchants guild had.
If the Oracle Knight's Commandant had access to the information network in the Underworld…
That thought had chills spreading down Valeria's spine that she didn't even want to complete it.
Yawning, the blonde laid her head down on Nyla, following the Arka into the realm of sleep.
She woke up a couple hours later when she heard talking below. Looking over the top of the alcove and down, she noticed that Asch had found Jade and were talking about something. Nyla grumbled softly until Valeria shushed the Arka and began actually listening to what was going on.
"I understand you're the reason Luke has become unconscious."
"You don't sound too upset about that, Colonel." Asch retorted.
Jade adjusted his glassed. "In any case, you wanted to ask me about something?"
Valeria rolled her eyes at Jade's attempt at changing the conversation. Asch seemed to share her opinions since he stared at Jade for a moment before continuing.
"I've been trying to keep track of Van's plans, but my information hasn't been what I would've liked. I need to be able to move around without it getting back to Van for a while, and after speaking with some of the people in this city I believe it's possible for the Tartarus to get back to the outer lands."
"So you're asking my permission to borrow the Tartarus?" Jade clarified.
"Only for a short amount of time, until I can get another form of transportation set up. Besides, it would be beneficial of you to have the Tartarus up there, wouldn't it?"
"I suppose that's true, I am rather curious about Van myself, so as long as we share information I believe something could be done about this."
"Good, I'll go talk to Teodoro." The red head turned and began walking away.
"Hold on a moment, Asch." Stopping, Asch look back at Jade, eyebrows raised. "I've been wondering this for a while, what is your relationship with Valeria?"
The blonde in question's eyes widened and she bit her lip. She had a feeling that Jade was putting the clues together and it was probably only a matter of time before he realized how often she'd run off to Daath.
"She stole one of my tabards, which should be answer enough for you." Asch grumbled before walking off.
Jade watched him go before he sighed and glanced up. "Did you enjoy listening in Valeria?"
"Shit…" the blonde mumbled. "Sorry?"
Jade chuckled and walked towards a set of stairs, coming up to her level before sitting down next to her and leveling his gaze at her. "Give me a straight answer, how long have you known Asch?"
"A couple of years," the girl thought about it. "Probably right around the time I first went to go see Dist, I think. Not sure, just know that it's been awhile."
The four eyed jerk's face went blank for a moment as he was lost in thought. "I suppose that considering the events that have happened, it's a rather good thing you knew him. Otherwise, he might not have helped you when Van attempted to take you."
"Before you ask, I seriously don't know why he wanted to take me."
Luckily he let that subject drop, turning instead to another topic he probably wanted to get out in the open. "You do realize that the chances of survival for any of the soldiers from Akzeriuth are very slim."
"Yeah, I know. But I can still hope that Grey survived. He was supposed to have left early and take a group of people through the pass. I know that we don't know how far the earth split and collapsed, but until I know for certain, I'm gonna hope that jerk survived."
"Well, I'm going to follow Asch and talk with the mayor. You should probably hunt down a decent place to sleep; we're likely going to leave in the morning as soon as everything is ready."
Valeria waived him away and turned back to Nyla, realizing the Arka had kept one eye open and on her the entire time she'd been awake. "You're going to be really protective now, aren't you?"
The huff the Arka gave was answer enough.
If you see any errors that jump out at you, feel free to tell us. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and the little snippet into Asch's memories when it comes to Valeria!
