A/N: It's now Friday! I want to thank all y'all for over 50 follows and 46 favorites! It means a lot to have a following. I put extra work in this chapter for you.
I'll also say if you provide beta services, then if you want you can PM me about working on this fic. It's gained enough of a following for me to not want to trust only Grammarly for grammar checking.
That's it for the author's note! Enjoy!
"That money grabbing dimwit gave you this?" I snorted. Naofumi nodded. "It's genuine. What gems do ya need?" The man closed the paper deed. "The gemstone for making magic thread," Naofumi said. The man sighed. "That's a challenge. We can't mine it, but I do know a place where you could get it." He handed us a map. "We'll have to grab the lady from the magic store. We might need extra firepower and a guide on this mission." I turned my head towards him. "Am I not good enough?" I asked.
"You're not enough on your own." I mimed a knife stabbing me in the chest. "Ah, your words strike me like an arrow through my heart," I mocked. Naofumi rolled his eyes and grinned. Raphtalia took a second longer to catch on, and she suppressed a giggle. "Let's go." Naofumi started walking back to Filo. Raphtalia and I followed him and got on the carriage. Raphtalia pulled the reins and Filo started padding along.
I pulled out the spellbook. I had already read it twice in the previous weeks, but the words were interesting. I knew what would come next, but it still interested me to find some detail I missed before. Naofumi glanced at me. "I've seen you reading that book for two weeks now. Even if you read slow, you should have finished it by now." I closed the book and set it in my lap. "This is my third re-read," I said. I propped the book back open and started feeding the words into my eyes once more. Naofumi quirked an eyebrow in the edge of my vision, then went back to counting coins.
We arrived in Castle Town and proceeded to die. Nope, just kidding, we went to the magic shop. If you fell for that, your loss, my amusement. The lady clapped her hands in excitement at our news. "Ah! I know that place!" She grabbed a bag from underneath her desk. "Let's go!" She started gesturing for us to leave.
Filo started marching out of town. The carriage rattled and squeaked along. I was helping Naofumi with reading his book. The woman smiled at us.
"Naofumi," Raphtalia called. I peered out of the carriage. We were deep into a canyon. A large door stood. "There used to be an alchemist here. They say he went insane and locked himself up inside a tomb. This is it." The woman explained. Naofumi took the harness off Filo. "You're coming with us." We entered. I lit Raphtalia's torch and held a candle-like flame in my hand. The lady seemed satisfied with lingering around our light, as she didn't cast any spells.
We moved into a large open room. A chest was sitting open inside the center of the room. It was empty. The woman stepped forwards. "Ancient text." She ran her fingers on a stone tablet. It was engraved with foreign symbols. "It reads: 'To those who come here: Do not break this seal. The seed within here is our foolish attempts to end the famine.'"
"Someone's already been here, then," Naofumi concluded. He looked around. Let's go down this way. "I wonder if the dungeon monsters are tasty…" I glanced at the gluttonous bird. It was behind us. Filo's eyes seemed to widen and she looked at Naofumi in shock. "Waaah! Don't leave me, Master!" She barrels into Naofumi, burying him in her feathers. The bird got off after a muffled order from Naofumi. He dusted himself off.
"You did it, didn't you?" I froze. "You killed her. You killed my best friend, right?" I snapped my head to the source of the voice. Raphtalia stood with a glint in her eye. "I-It was self-defense!" I shouted. Naofumi turned towards me. "You killed your best friend. You disgust me." He glanced away. I backed away. "I'll deliver payback to you. This is payback, sister." Raphtalia growled. I screamed.
Raphtalia sword made a cut across my shoulder. I didn't react to the pain. I crouched. I could hear the voices. It was your fault. You killed her. I covered my ears as Kiel's voice rang out. She was my friend. You took her away. I shut my eyes. It was your fault. I screamed as the chorus of voices got louder. We're disappointed in you.
My eyes shot open. "Mom? Dad?" I whispered. Yes. We're here. And we're disappointed in you. You killed Raphtalia's friend. You murdered her. I backed myself into the wall and slumped down. I wrapped myself into a ball and screamed.
I heard a shout and felt vibrations under my feet. I felt my throat vibrating. I realized the scream I was hearing was my own. It changed from howls to sobs. I felt a warm object wrap itself around me. I opened my eyes to blurry vision. Tears. I recognized the shape. "No!" I yelled. I keeled onto my side and continued sobbing into my legs. A different object hugged me. I was about to run, but I saw a glimpse of green. I wrapped my arms around the warm figure and cried.
"Shhh. It's okay." Naofumi soothed. I felt his warm hand rubbing my head. I held tight onto him. I babbled into his shoulder.
Naofumi watched as the normally composed, joking and light-hearted girl in front of him sobbed and mumbled into his shoulder. "The voices. The voices. The voices." She whispered. He kept soothing her by rubbing her head. Raphtalia approached him from behind. He felt the girl holding him tight flinched at the sight of her sister.
What could've she heard in the- oh. Oh. That makes sense, He thought. He remembered the emotional Ferris wheel ride he had with Ariete. Naofumi kept rubbing the girl's head and then spoke into one of her ears. "It wasn't your fault," Naofumi said. She sobbed harder into his chest.
Eventually, she drew away from him. His undershirt was now wet with tears, but he had more pressing concerns on his mind. Namely, what the hell did she hear in there?
I moved away from Naofumi. His shirt was stained with tears. "I'm sorry." I apologized. Naofumi wiped a tear from my eye. "What did you hear in there? Are you okay with sharing?" I glanced up and saw Raphtalia standing behind him. She seemed shaken too but also concerned for me. I shook my head and wiped my face with my sleeve. "Let's go," I said. Naofumi was going to say something, but I glared at him and shut him up with a finger.
We traveled further into the base. I avoided Raphtalia. If I got within conversation distance, questions would be asked. Questions leading to truths. Truths leading to distrust and so forth. Raphtalia walked up to try and talk to me, and I moved to the right towards Naofumi. She shot me a pleading look. I ignored it. The walls started to get less uniform and we ended up walking into a cave. Complete with a pointy ceiling, water drips and giant man-eating half lion, half snake creatures. Wait, something seems wrong with that last one.
"Hyaah!" Filo jumped over us and charged. "No, wait! That's a nue!" The woman yelled. The creature turned towards the sound and lunged. "Filo!" Raphtalia yelled. She ran in to support. "Oh, what the hell." I sighed and rushed in. Naofumi followed me.
Filo pecked the lion in the side. It moved away. Seriously Filo? You could do so much better.
The nue's entire side exploded into gore and it roared. Okay, Filo, I take that back. Naofumi rushed in to block a slash from the nue's claws. The snake wrapped around and bit him in the shoulder. "Naofumi!" I yelled. I rushed in and sliced the snake's head off. I eased it out of Naofumi's shoulder, and then I had an idea.
"Naofumi! Step to the side!" Filo had already retreated, so Naofumi slid left. The Lion landed on its front paws. It struck at Naofumi again. Naofumi blocked with his shield. I leapt forwards and stepped on the back of the nue. Its hind legs were forced down. I twisted and stabbed the fangs of the snakehead in my hand into the neck of the nue.
It howled and I saw the veins in its neck go green. My idea worked.
"Get back, It'll get more aggressive!" I yelled. I retreated back. Filo dragged Naofumi away. Sparks traveled outward as the nue howled in pain. I saw a splotch of brown disappear behind the nue. Raphtalia! I ran in. The nue was writhing in pain. I saw it go still for a moment, then lash out with its claws. I heard the blade of my dagger make a tink sound as it met claws. Raphtalia reappeared next to me. She sliced up and severed a paw aimed at her. Raphtalia spun around and made another slash at the nue's belly, then jumped. The nue was falling from the roar position. She thrust and her blade passed through like it was jelly. She landed and wiped her blade off.
"These materials will make nice money," Naofumi said. He had already absorbed a claw and some fur into his shield. His new shield had a lion's head on it roaring. It slashed its claws out. Intimidating.
We explored for a few more minutes, then found the stone. It was a deep red, like my bracelet. I spun the accessory around my wrist. "Let's go back now. We got what we came for." Naofumi said. "No objections here." I joined Filo in staring at the back of Naofumi's head.
We headed back to the woman's shop in Castle Town. Naofumi cut the stone into the right shape. He said that he learned it from the trader. Filo sat there spinning the thread. "This is making me tired." She complained. I leaned against the wall. It was boring waiting here. I need to go murder something or train on a dummy. It'd calm my mind a little.
"You'll get a snack after you're done." The woman said. Filo's eyes lit up. "Yay! A yummy snack!" I rolled my eyes at the gluttony of our youngest member. She was only a few weeks old, so she probably is the youngest being to murder multiple beings ruthlessly under the guise of being hungry.
We took the thread to the dress weaver from the festival. She took Filo's measurements. The fact that Filo was naked didn't seem to bother her. I wonder how often she does naked measurements.
We came later to see the dress. The dress was white with blue trim. Frills lined the bottom of the dress, and a blue ribbon was attached to the front. It had small slits for the wings Filo had in her human form. "It's adorable!" The weaver and Raphtalia cooed at the same time. Filo spun around. "Does this make Master see me as a woman?" I had to stifle a laugh. "No. You're my slave." He said coldly. I frowned. Naofumi not playing along? "What about Raphtalia and Ariete?" I raised an eyebrow. "They're like my daughters." I chortled as Raphtalia started protesting. "No, I'm not! That'd be weird because then my-" I stopped trying to hide my laughter as she realized what she was saying. "Please, go on!" I said between laughs. She flushed and hid behind me.
I pulled her in front of me and shoved her. "That's for the changing room incident." She found herself hugging Naofumi. After almost confessing to him. I started to laugh again as she backed away and started mumbling a collection of apologies and denials. I must say, I am satisfied with my care. And by care, I mean endless laughing to the point of choking.
Yes, that is a Big Hero 6 reference at the end. This chapter finally gives Filo clothing (Yay!) and also sets up a small conflict. I don't know if you spotted it, but it's there. It's not too subtle. I've decided I might divide this fic into two, as my plans include 6 arcs. I'll be dividing them into two, three arcs in this one and three arcs in the next. At least that's the plan.
Azentra: Ah, sorry about the mistake with the dragon. I'm not a person who remembers details well. Probably something I should work on. I did feel like Raphtalia should be the better sword fighter. After all, Ariete's dagger skills are just for backup. I do think despite that, Ariete prefers the dagger and likes being up close. She may be good at magic, but her heart tells her to be a brawler. I might be encouraging that in the future. You'll see what I mean about the unfriendliness. You are however completely correct. Raphtalia does want to protect Ariete too.
Next time, join us for apple picking, dragon slaying, and flaming shields!