Chapter 24: Parting of Ways

" Where has that obnoxious loudmouth gone to now?" Iris mused as she looked around.

Semilia's pet companions were all gathered at the nearby forest near the outskirts of Payon grounds, waiting for their master as per instructed. She has yet to arrive as of yet, and so was Obelisk. He had been missing since morning, probably wandering around as always. It was strange that he had not bugged Peineya as of yet, so Iris deduced that he would do so soon. She only hoped that he would be back before Semilia arrives.

" Indeed, where is he?" Semilia spoke up all of a sudden.

Iris and Crystal jumped up with fright, although Crystal was technically already hovering several inches off the ground at that point in time. Peineya looked unfazed, staring blankly when Semilia spoke up. Patch got up and walked towards his master, stroking his head lovingly on her thigh, and Semilia rewarded him with a scratch behind his left ear.

" Geez, I didn't sense you coming!" Iris exclaimed.

" If you could, that would reflect poorly on me as a hunter, would it not?" Semilia replied, smiling slightly.

" Are we going to leave?" Crystal asked.

" Of course, we are. Our business with these humans are done, and Treiken is done. We have other matters to deal with, so it's best if we part ways from here," Semilia replied.

" Aren't you going to say goodbye to Azaroth at least?" Crystal asked.

Semilia's expression changed all of a sudden, her calm expression turning rather foul as she frowned with contempt. " And why would I want to speak to him of all people?" she replied, her words almost coming out in a snarl.

" Well…he did save you…" Peineya replied robotically.

All of them turned around to look at the Munak as she spoke the few rare words she ever uttered out of her mouth. Semilia looked away with a look of disgust while her pet companions continued to stare at Peineya as if she had done something ridiculous. " None of you shall speak about this event, I forbid it…"

" Forbid what?"

Semilia turned to see who has spoken. It was the female monk, Vermillion, standing right behind them with her arms akimbo, and the young acolyte whom they had rescued, next to her. Vermillion shot a broad grin at them, then walked up to Semilia. Patch growled loudly when Vermillion approached, baring his fangs but doing nothing else.

" Leaving so soon? I thought you'd stay for a little while longer," Vermillion replied, cracking a broad grin.

" There is nothing left of importance or value that would compel me to stay here, Vermillion. Besides, I have other unfinished business that I need to attend to. Treiken wasn't the only problem I have to deal with," Semilia replied, sounding slightly cold towards her.

Meillienne stepped up and bowed at Semilia. " Thank you for rescuing me, Semilia. I will be eternally grateful," Meillienne replied. Vermillion raised her eyebrows when she spotted Semilia almost replying with some retort, but kept her peace, making her wonder what exactly did she have in mind at the tip of her tongue. Meillienne turned to the rest of Semilia's pet companions and said " And all of you as well."

Crystal merely bowed, like some servant taking praise from her master. Iris patted Meillienne's head several times as a sign of thanks. " You too, cute dog…" Meillienne directed her words to Patch, as she reached out her hand towards him.

" Wait, he doesn't…!"

Meillienne started rubbing the underside of Patch's chin, and strangely enough, the fearsome wolf didn't seem to mind. Vermillion and Semilia continued to look in utter amazement as the wolf started making soft cooing noises, as if he liked being rubbed by Meillienne, who was giggling cheerfully, seeing Patch liked her.

" …like strangers…" Semilia finished her now defunct warning.

" Hoh, what's this?" Iris mused.

" How peculiar…" Semilia replied, frowning. " Patch never was sociable with anyone else besides me."

" I guess it's her gift," Vermillion replied.

" Gift?"

" Indeed, a gift," Vermillion repeated herself.

" Oh yeah, are you all waiting for that talkative Bongun?" Meillienne piped up all of a sudden, still keeping her hand under Patch's chin. Vermillion noted that patch now looked like an overgrown cute dog who seemed to be enjoying a nice tickle and not the fearsome animal she had always known it to be.

" We are…why?" Semilia asked.

" I think I last saw him entering the forest area with Peineya a couple of hours ago, but I only saw Peineya return a while later. Perhaps he got lost?" Meillienne replied. The rest of them turned to look at the silent Munak, who had turned her back towards them, hopping up and down, seemingly oblivious to whatever they were saying.

--

Present Time

Azaroth looked passively at the grave they had dug for Caris, a small mould of earth protruding out from the ground under the shade of a large tree. Grimjaw, Sapphire, Meillienne and Tryzen stood behind him as he took some time to contemplate on things. He knelt down next to the grave and ran his index and middle finger along where Caris was buried, rubbing the dirt and soil within his fingers.

" What is he doing?" Meillienne and Sapphire asked Tryzen at almost the same time. Grimjaw didn't seem to be bothered at whatever Azaroth was doing, or the question his sister and Tryzen's wife posed, merely drawing a deep breath from the cigarette he was smoking.

" Something symbolic, I think…" Tryzen answered.

" Just giving my respects to the dead, that's all," Azaroth replied. " What do you all plan on doing now anyway?"

" There is nothing much to do in Geffen anyway, and most of my research has come to a standstill, so I guess I supposed I'm actually taking a break now," Tryzen answered. " Meillienne has been sticking around because she wanted to take care of you."

" What?!" Meillienne exclaimed loudly, turning a shade of red. " D-don't put it so tactly!"

" What's wrong?" Grimjaw replied, smirking. " I thought you said…"

To everyone's surprise, Meillienne suddenly raised her foot instantly, and her limb connected hard on Grimjaw's groin, which made him wince in pain. It certainly was an effective way of shutting him up instantly, albeit it was also a very painful method.

" Shut up, I said you are not allowed to say that!" Meillienne exclaimed, pouting angrily and looking totally flustered.

" Geez, you sure do know how to pick out 'good' habits from me, don't you?" Grimjaw groaned, still managing to stand despite the kick.

Azaroth raised his eyebrows, and he was about to ask what was all the fuss about when he spotted Melanie walking towards him from the distance. She was, as per usual, clad in her full-plate armour, as if she was ready to go to war. The look on her face told him that he was dealing with some serious business now, and the way she was walking towards him told him that she needed him immediately.

" Yo," Azaroth replied cheerfully, giving her a very lax salute.

" I see that you are no longer invalid," Melanie replied, nodding to the rest of them to acknowledge their presence. " If so, then all the better. I'm here on business, and you are on duty. Get your stuff ready, I need you in the Payon caves."

" What's this? I've just recovered, and now I'm on active duty?" Azaroth asked.

" Was that a complaint?" Melanie asked, frowning. " Besides, you look fine. You've probably been skipping work by pretending to be sick and sleeping in bed."

Azaroth sighed slightly. Melanie sure wasn't in the mood for idle chat today. Either she was having her period, or Vermillion cheesed her off, or whatever she was currently doing was not going well enough.

" No, no…I wouldn't want to complain..." Azaroth replied, raising his hands in defense. " Sorry, people, looks like I'm needed. Catch you all later, alright?" With a wave of his hand he followed Melanie, who had spun around and walked off. The rest of his companions looked on at him as he walked. As soon as he was out of earshot from them, he asked " Well, what are we dealing with this time?"

" Before we deal with my mission at hand, would you mind telling me about that 'latent' power of yours?" Melanie asked.

" 'Latent' power? What, you mean..."

" Exactly..." Melanie replied. " I tried to heal you when you were seriously wounded when we found you on the roof. Could have killed you with what I did."

" Yes…" Azaroth replied in a dead-pan manner, wondering how to really explain it. " It was…a side-effect…Tyranus brought me back to life using her Dark Arts. There was bound to be some side-effects."

" Do side-effects include accelerated healing?" Melanie asked.

" I wouldn't call it accelerated healing, but more of increased rejouvenation rate," Azaroth replied, trying to be cheeky.

" So, why did Commander Aesis asked you to keep this from us, or from me, for that matter?" Melanie asked.

" Beats me…why don't you ask him?" Azaroth asked. " Are you…angry at me…because of this?"

" What?!" Melanie asked suddenly in a rather high-pitched and alarmed voice. " No, Azy, I'm just curious about the circumstances. My anger is stemming from other things and not because you didn't tell me about this, and I apologise if you seen to be getting the wrong idea."

Azaroth raised an eyebrow in surprise.

" It's not like I don't know Commander Aesis wants to keep this quiet, but really, you could tell at least some of us besides Selene on how to treat you if you end up in such a bad shape. Letting Selene be the only person available to treat you isn't going to be very effective if she isn't around," Melanie continued.

Azaroth wasn't sure whether to breath a sigh of relief, or to chuckle with glee, especially since Melanie used the name 'Azy', as if she was trying to coax him to calm down by using a more intimate name to address him by.

" For one, I'm in Payon with a mission at hand. After the aftermath at Lutie, I was called here to investigate a series of disappearances in the Payon caves. As you know, a number of explorers and adventurers love to explore the dark and dangerous caves of Payon, with untold treasure and things to find within the darkness. People getting lost or killed by the monsters that reside within the dark walls is common, but recently, they have been disappearing at an alarming rate."

" Disappearing?" Azaroth asked.

" Disappearing may be a wrong word though. The missing people do come back, as skeletons we found in the caves though," Melanie answered.

" Are you sure they were from the people who disappeared?" Azaroth inquired.

" Some of the people in Payon gave us detailed descriptions of the people who went missing, and whoever who is doing this was nice enough to leave the victim's clothes behind, so yes, the skeletal remains are from the people who went missing all of a sudden. I'll fill you in on what I know…"

" A total of 124 people went missing inside the Payon caves over the span of 3 days. Once the army was alerted to the matter, they decided to dispatch us from the 3rd Division to settle the matter. Our priests found that there was an exponential increase in dark energy resonating from within the caves itself, although they cannot pinpoint exactly where this dark energy seems to be coming from. Payon caves originally has some set amount of dark energy, channeled out like radiation of sorts somewhere in the deepest parts of the accursed place, but this new energy seems foreign."

" We've been checking the caves for some time now, but our search and investigation has proved to be useless. Despite setting up guards at the entrance, still a couple of people went missing from the village somehow, not to mention two people from my squadron went missing, their remains later discovered in the caves."

" I can somehow see why you are pissed…" Azaroth replied quietly. " So, why drag me along?"

" This matter is way beyond my capabilities to deal with, so Reinne is coming down personally to deal with this matter," Melanie replied.

" What? The Princess?!" Azaroth exclaimed.

" Exactly. I was against the idea somehow, but Reinne said that she would see to this personally, and being my Division Commander, I could not say no. Thus, I need all my best men I can get to ensure her safety on this mission, and you will be one of them. Your platoon is prepped and ready as well, and they await your command. Only problem is your second-in-command has gone missing."

" Missing?" Azaroth asked. " What do you mean by that?"

" Semilia left after we were done with our mission, since she said that she had some other business to deal with. However, Vermillion somehow came up with an excuse to follow her somehow, and ended up going on some merry trip with the elf. I have no idea what she is up to, but she is going to get hell from me when she gets back," Melanie snarled.

"She..left with Semilia?" Azaroth mused, not too sure what Vermillion was up to with this kind of action. " Why? I mean, what was Semilia going to do after this?"

" Well..." Melanie pondered for a while, before composing herself quickly and continued. " You know that Kain was finished off after we arrived at the roof, correct?"

" So I heard..."

" He was shot by an arrow fired over a range that was humanly impossible. Semilia has reason to believe that this was done by an elf, her own kind. I'm not sure why, but she was adamant in hunting this person down. She didn't say it openly, stating that she had unfinished business to settle with, and left. Vermillion decided to tag along," Melanie answered.

" So, Vermillion decided to tag along with Semila to go elf hunting,amazing...does she know that it might take her almost an eternity to find an elf? What's she thinking?!" Azaroth asked.

" Beats me, if she comes back, maybe you can ask," Melanie replied.

Azaroth looked around him as they walked along. They were passing by small dirt roads littered with pebbles and massive green trees around them. A few soldiers were around, and they saluted when Melanie walked by. Azaroth recognised them from people from his division, and they seem to be keeping guard around the place. They finally arrive at the large massive entrance of the Payon caves.

Just a short walk away, Payon caves is an underground complex of mazes of multiple levels. The upper levels were fairly simple and straightforward, but it later spirals into a complex labyrinth where one could easily get lost. It is also home to a multitude of creatures and monsters, like the undead Munaks, and the Sohee demons, among other things. Still, there is always a lure of treasure and adventure in the caves, like capturing Sohee demons, or to find unknown treasures left behind or collected by the caves citizens over time. However, recently, it just became dangerous.

" Hmm?" Melanie mused all of a sudden.

Azaroth looked ahead of him to see what had caused Melanie to react as such. He spotted several army personal at the entrance of the Payon caves, probably preventing people from entering. However, there was this lone man who was standing by the entrance, speaking to two of the knights. He turned around when he spotted them. He was sporting a long, brown coat and a long walking staff that was about his height.

Is this guy some middle-aged, wizard hermit of sorts? Azaroth thought.

" Mayor Payron, what are you doing out here?" Melanie asked when they were in speaking range.

" Oh, Commander Melanie. I was here to check on how things were progressing," the man spoke as he bowed.

" I'm afraid it's not to well, Mayor. My commander, Princess Reinne Malkenthos will arrive shortly to see to the matter," Melanie replied.

" What? The Princess herself? Personally?" Mayor Payron replied. " I'm ashamed, to even allow the Princess herself to come all the way personally."

" Do not fret about it too much, Mayor. Commander Reinne will think little of it, and it's not your fault anyway. There was little we can do but enlist her help," Melanie replied passively.

" I'm really grateful," Mayor Payron replied. " I've prepared some refreshments for your men, whom I'm sure are quite tired from all this. Some food and drinks will do a lot of good. I have them stocked by the cart on the southern dirt road. Please help yourselves."

" I'm grateful, and I'm sure my men would appreciate that. But this is now a dangerous place, so I would like to advice you to leave this place at once. I'm sure you have other things to organise back in Payon," Melanie replied.

Mayor Payron bowed at Melanie, before taking his leave. Azaroth glanced around to see him walk away, not before shooting him one last glance before heading off.

" Hey, Captain!"

Azaroth turned around to face a young boyish swordsman who ran up eagerly to him, followed along by a small troop of people behind him. Azaroth recognized them all as members of his platoon Melanie placed him in charge of. It consisted of 2 swordsmen, a knight, a crusader, a wizard, an archer and 2 acolytes, and with Vermillion and him combined, it was an extra monk and knight. It was a relatively young group, with him and Vermillion being at least 2 years older than the rest of them.

" Oh, Harken, how have you been?" Azaroth asked.

" Don't mind me! I heard that you had been seriously hurt in your last mission to deal with something that nobody back at headquarters could disclose. I think I should be the one asking how are you now?" Harken asked in a slightly frantic and excited tone, especially from the speed of the words that was flying out of his mouth.

" I'm fine…really…although you know how much our Squadron Commander likes to push us all, so that's why I'm up here as well," Azaroth answered calmly.

" Urm, captain, I think you are supposed to say those words when she's not…two feet next to you…" one of the acolytes replied, while her other companion giggled.

" That was the point of the comment exactly…" Azaroth replied, grinning while turning around to look at Melanie. She merely huffed, before walking away.

" Geez, you always like to say weird stuff, Captain," the archer replied.

" And I've asked you bumbling idiots to stop calling me Captain!"