-21-

Cerberus walked calmly through the crowd, despite their hostile attitude towards him. He had left Piffy in Prontera after their drink at the alehouse, telling him that he was headed to Morroc for seeking reinforcements. The alchemist was doubtful; he had a feeling that his companion travelled to Izlude instead, the journey to Morroc was a lie to keep him from stopping the knight leader.

But he stayed behind nonetheless. Cerberus told him that he would return the next day, which further disturbed him. The journey to Morroc and back would take more than a day! Cerberus is certainly a bad liar, he thought. The sceptical alchemist waited till Cerberus was out of sight from the south gate, then he took it upon himself to investigate.

Before the knight leader left, Piffy reminded him that "those smelly Izludeans treats you as nothing more than a parasite! I strongly advise you to stay away from that place, otherwise that brother of yours, if you even consider him one, screws you up real big!"

Piffy travelled south-east to the swordsman city. He did not even need any means of guide though he usually asked Manald for a teleporting warp. The Prontera plains were too familiar to him; he could walk with his eyes closed on the way to Izlude. There were no threatening dangers either, making the journey smooth and effortless. Stars began to dot the cloudless, purplish sky. The night was going to be a fine one, without any storms or rain.

It was not fine for Cerberus, unfortunately. He planned to visit his parents' grave, then talk things out with his brother, Cranius, regarding the terrorism of the four, and how the cities would unite to battle the four superiors. It was unlikely that Cranius would even welcome his presence, let alone listen to his stories all night. But for the sake of Prontera and Rune-Midgard, he had to give it a try.

The response by the townsmen were usual. He walked away from the murmuring groups of commoners, glaring at him balefully while they held their conversations quietly. The plantations around the fountain of Odin swayed gently with the night breeze, as if dancing for Odin himself. A few merchants who had shouted till their voice became hoarse started home, packing up the paraphernalia displayed in their shops into carts that most merchants pulled, to lighten the load in their bags.

The groups of people jeering at him dispersed back to their homes for it was dinnertime. The swordsmen at the training facilities, most of them on their way to knighthood, were dismissed by their commander back to their barracks for refreshments and ample rest for the next training session.

Izlude quieted down, resuming the peaceful atmosphere. Cerberus was glad that the pandemonium had died down, the knight now receiving very little attention from passer bys. The gravesite became his second destination for the night when he stood gazing at a familiar house. It looked just like any other houses in Izlude, but this house had a staircase leading to a pale blue door. Cerberus found himself taking a few steps towards the house subconsciously, as a nostalgic feeling made him reminisce…

A pupa a few yards from the Prontera entrance intrigued the three novices. It was brown, and it pulsed! The female novice among the group tugged the boy's sleeve beside her.

"Do you think it'll explode if we just poke it?"

An elder boy leading the two began rubbing his chin.

"Hmm… We could give it a try though…"

"No, brother! Something might jab you!"

"Bah! How are you going to become a knight with that puny guts of yours, Cerberus? Even Kera is much more daring then you are!"

"I'll prove you wrong!" the younger boy said defiantly.

The girl pulled him back.

"Don't risk it, Cerb, you know Cranius was just agitating you!"

"Just watch me, Kera!" he replied confidently.

Cerberus gripped the knife hilt tightly, trying to keep a straight face while he confronted the pulsing pupa. It was pulsing even more violently as compared to a moment ago. He yelled as he stabbed the hard shell of the pupa, the knife barely scratching the brown oval shell. It's tough to crack, how am I going to become a knight when I can't even crack it? Cerberus thought bitterly.

His disappointment melted when he heard a noise of something splitting apart. Jagged lines formed on the pupa, it was cracking! Cerberus puffed his chest out proudly, showing his brother and his friend, Kera, that he was capable. But Kera's expression did not look impressed, instead she looked in terror.

"Watch out! Cerb run!" she screamed.

An overgrown, brownish butterfly forced its way out of the pupa, flapping his wings noisily. Cerb froze on the spot when he heard the wings and something prickly touched his neck. He too screamed, asking his brother, who was a swordsman then, for help. The large butterfly, named creamy, managed to steal a blow at the novice before Cranius pushed his brother aside as he struck creamy hard with the flat side of his sword. The butterfly grew angry, swiping a strong wing at him.

Defending himself with a shield, Cranius struck a final blow at creamy, killing it. The three went to Kera's house, the female novice offering to treat Cerberus's wounds with potions she collected. Cranius and Kera started laughing at him, the elder Twinedge imitating his brother's look of horror when the creamy emerged out of the pupa which he thought he had killed. These past memories were full of mirth then…

Cerberus started up the stairs, tiptoeing to peep through the window. But it was very dim inside. Deciding that it would be ungracious of him to do so, he told himself to stay away. He sighed, as he remembered another incident when he assigned to a mission in the payon caves when he was still a swordsman then.

Cerberus stood at the back of the damp cave with a partner working together with him, keeping watch on the passageway leading to level two of it. Severed halves of Familiars and Spores laid over their feet, every hostile demon that appeared were cleared by the two of them.

"Argh… ouch…"

"What now, Zeph?" Cerberus asked his partner.

"No idea, my stomach's hurting like crazy."

"What did you eat again? For your swelling belly's sake, stop binging already. You're going to get kicked out if you're physically unfit."

"Damn, those condor wings must've been contaminated," his partner called Zeph recalled.

"You can't be eating those without cleaning their toxic interiors!"

"Oh god… spare me a fly wing will ya? Ow! It's coming out! I need the toilet!"

Cerberus sighed, handing his partner a couple of fly wings.

"Hurry back. I might not be able to hold off these decomposed dolts alone."

His partner Zeph teleported away, leaving him alone in the cave. The cave grew oppressive, and he knew the arrival of a new batch of demons was the cause of it. He readied his sword and shield, adjusting his helm so he could see through the slit clearly. Demons were indeed coming, but not his way. A scream around a corner spurred him into action. Cerberus sliced a snake blocking his path, then turn around a bend to see a group of seven zombies cornering a heavily wounded swordswoman.

An acolyte was unable to offer her trapped friend sufficient help to kill the zombies, for she was drained from casting healing spells on her friend to keep her alive. Cerberus provoked the group of seven zombies, bashing one in the face with his shield and stabbed another simultaneously. The two he killed did not help much. The other five lunged at him, overwhelming him with punches and backhands. Desperate to keep his mission from failing, the aspiring swordsman sliced through the five with his recently mastered sword art, Magnum Break.

The group of seven zombies was defeated. Cerberus, feeling rather humid from the fight, removed his helm and went to inspect the cornered swordswoman who was out cold. She looked somewhat familiar… especially her beautiful locks of honey coloured hair. He brushed aside her hair, revealing his friend Kera's face. The slightly injured swordsman administered Kera a bottle of white potion, and colours started returning to her cheeks while she sobered.

"Cerb!" she cried out in relieve, the traumatized swordswoman throwing a hug at him. Cerberus flushed with embarrassment when Kera's acolyte friend started giggling.

A slight wind fluttered his brownish cape, while he stood outside his childhood friend's house, staring at the rows of flowers planted outside. He suddenly heard a click of a lock, then the door opened. He wanted to run away or hide, but either way it was too late to do anything as he would definitely be seen.

A woman about his age emerged, holding a bottle of water. Even in the night, he made out of honey coloured hair of this lady. Her face was smooth beyond measure, her fringe covering past her eyebrows. Her lips always reminded Cerberus of the mischievous grins she used to flash him. How matured she had become, he thought. This was a stark contrast to the childish girl she used to be.

A little while after the zombie incident, when she was just promoted to become a crusader, Kera began to develop a crush on Cerberus. During that day itself, he was immediately appointed an official knight when his commander was told of his deed of valour. He was well aware of her feelings, yet he always pretended to be completely oblivious to it, either that or he would excuse himself. He wanted to devote his time to develop his career as a knight, so as not to disappoint his superiors' excellent impression of him.

"Cerberus? Is that you?"

He snapped out of his thoughts, looking at the casually dressed female crusader in the eye.

"I… I should leave," he stammered.

He turned to leave, but a soft hand held his arm back. He wanted to hide his face in his helm, for he felt his face heating up. Kera sniggered at him.

"You know, you're just as shy as before. Do come on in, unless you want to be bombarded with insults by those people," she offered with a mischievous grin.

"Fine, you win. But I'm telling you beforehand that I won't be staying for long," the knight submitted.

"That's better than nothing! Come in," she gestured to him.

The knight put away his helm and sword as he entered the same house he always visited many years ago. It was still as pleasant as ever; the fireplace by the corner providing just enough warmth and light. 'What am I thinking accepting her offer? Snap out of it, she's already engaged to Cranius!' he scolded himself.

"It has been half a year since we met! Sit down, while I get you something," she said, pointing to a couch. Kera returned a while later with a bottle of orange juice.

"A fine knight leader you've been… I envy the Avenger for having such a man to lead them."

Cerberus mustered a smile at her flattery.

"Don't speak so well of me so soon."

Kera put the bottle of orange juice down, her brows raised.

"Eh? What's wrong?"

"Skull's a wanted man now, and all of us had split to look for ways to stop the four. You've heard of them already, did you?"

"Well, yes. Prontera had to undergo a re-construction following their attack, right? How can I not know a matter of such importance? That aside, how'd Skull become wanted?"

"I didn't see it for myself, but everyone except Pay have been saying that he killed Galor during the battle with the four," he explained sourly, swallowing a mouthful of orange juice.

"And? He's… executed?"

"Nope, he escaped the prison. He even killed a guard in the process."

"He sure knows how to cross the king time and time again. What brings you here to Izlude today? The usual?" she asked, guessing that he came to visit his parents' grave again.

"That's one, I want to talk to Cranius about joining forces with Prontera. Unless the cities fight together, the chance to stop the four is very slim," he said, frowning deeply.

"I see, I know he detests your presence, let alone talking to him. I should talk to him –"

Cerberus held up a hand to stop her.

"Please do not trouble yourself, Kera. I can handle this."

"Have you forgotten about the pupa incident? Things might not turn out the way you expect," she replied, laughing softly as she pictured what happened.

"So… everything's going well for the two of you?" he inquired, even though he knew fully well that he was asking the obvious. Cranius did not love her at all, she was just a tool used to spite him, ever since the senior knight official found out her feelings towards Cerberus.

But before Kera answered, the door burst open forcefully, and in step Cranius with four heavily armed men standing behind him.