Disclaimer: I don't own any of the main characters (except for one or two) since the rights to Tales of Zestiria belong to Bandai Namco and NOT me.

Wishes and Malevolence

The raindrops nor snowflakes that fell from the skies never seemed to relent from their downfall from the Gray/black clouds that slowly sailed through the clouds.

Each drop that touched the water seraph's skin didn't bother him much.

The wind of the forest gently whistled in the air with the occasional chilling wind rushing passed the trees, cradling the branches to make a cacophony similar to that of wooden wind chimes. The waterfall was hammering down with a roar and a nice peaceful stream flowed through a small but quaint little river creak where a pack of wolves simply strode through the peaceful and serene settlement. The air was moist and damp, although icicles hung high from the caverns and tree branches and all the animals had pretty much gone into hibernation.

These woods hadn't much changed all these years, only that there were more trees and they were so tall that they towered overhead. They were evenly spaced out so the trunks didn't grow too thickly together as to make it difficult to budge passed them —the trees were almost barren of their leaves.

The snow fell lightly as the little specks of snowflakes fluttered down to touch the earth, only to evaporate into small drops of water when they made contact with the ground.

Mikleo panted breathlessly.

He heaved heavy breaths as he tried to force the oxygen back into his lungs that now felt like deflated balloons inside his chest, sucking air into his lungs. His long ponytail hung like thick weeds as it stuck to his back like glue to the sweat seeping through his pores.

It was really cold here and not even close to winter, why would it be snowing unrelentingly unless malevolence was the cause? More over, how could they hope to purify this much malevolence when Sorey had just been released from an area that drained a lot of his energy and without the ancient sword? Besides, his energy levels right now were tantamount to that of a newborn kitten...there was little to no hope of doing this successfully without putting a lot of strain on Sorey's body.

There was little to no chance this would work out well, but perhaps Lailah could shed some light on this when they found her?

Nevertheless, the water seraph decided to refocus on the matter at hand and started to quickly survey his surroundings in the forest area surrounding Ladylake. He couldn't see anyone here and he felt a small measure of relief at this; it appeared he had lost the townspeople chasing him...

The water seraph breathed a sigh of relief and was about to turn around to get back to Sorey...when his ear twitched.

He heard something, or more like he felt something.

It was if something was calling him.

He pondered on this for a moment. Part of him really didn't think that his adopted brother should be left alone in his weakened state for too long, but he also knew (or at the very least hoped) that Sorey would know not to push himself.

...So maybe he could check out whatever this was and leave the instant he figured out what was calling him?

He nodded to himself.

Yeah, that should work.

Mikleo turned around slowly, towards the direction of a deeper section of the forest and walked towards it with slow steps filled with cautious trepidation. Even though he was confident in his decision, the sensible part of his brain had decided to try and take control for the moment and he decided to let it —it was better to be on guard about this sort of thing.

He made his way over to Lakehaven heights but eventually stopped at the front of the huge waterfall and stared at it for a long moment.

The ear-splitting roar of the crashing waterfall was loud and interminable.

The huge wall of water crashed violently against the craggy rock at the bottom, concealing the hidden pathway that led to a certain temple that also acted as a water trial. They had to rely on Dezel's wind abilities back then to go over the threshold of the waterfall but, as a water seraph, Mikleo had grown stronger than he had been before since the previous time that himself, Sorey and the gang had ventured to this place.

He closed his eyes, focusing, collapsed into a puddle of water, streaked straight through the pummelling waterfall, stopping to pool once over the threshold and in front of the temple entrance before taking his original shape once more.

It had years upon years of travelling, training, exploring ruins and more but the water seraph has eventually come to discover more abilities that he had not even been aware of; he had known that he could breathe underwater for ages but it took so much longer for him to learn how to meld with it, to be able to assimilate with it.

He smirked, satisfied with himself.

Alas his smirk almost vanished instantly when he felt that feeling again, like he was being beckoned further into the temple of water.

He decided to heed the call.

He proceeded further into the temple and entered through the door.

The water temple of Lefay hadn't changed at all during the years.

There were waterfalls all around but these were much less intense than the one by the entrance, the floors and wall were a pale shade of aquamarine along with streaks of turquoise lights that lit up the instant Mikleo entered. Flower petals and candles floated upon the pools of water, creating a rather relaxing and soothing atmosphere.

Mikleo understood the peace and tranquillity that water could bring —him being a water seraph and all—but he also respected how it could go from calm and peaceful to harsh and wild in the blink of an eye. As such, Mikleo was taught from an early age to treat water with all the respect as it deserved and he'd be able to reap the rewards from it such as being able to breathe underwater and being a good and agile swimmer.

All seraphs (and malakim) were taught to respect their elements from an early age.

He continued to observe the ruins within and almost jumped when his eyes fell upon a lone, yet familiar hooded and masked figure.

Mikleo's eyes twinkled with recognition.

"Ah, it is nice to see you again. You are the water seraph whom had accompanied the great shepherd!" Said the figure.

The white-haired seraphim smiled and nodded.

He remembered who this was; Altul was the guardian of this water temple, was a personal servant to the water Empyrean -Amenoch- and was the seraph who had oversaw the trial of water that acted as a stepladder to get Sorey closer to his goal of being strong enough to defeat the lord of calamity whom was known as Heldalf.

"Yeah. Nice to see you again, Altul."

Mikleo gave a curt yet polite bow.

Altul gave a soft smile (although it wasn't easily visible thanks to his golden mask) as he walked up to Mikleo and proceeded to circle him a few times, watching as the pair of lavender pools set themselves upon him and never left for a lengthy and rather intense few seconds. Even though Altul's eyes weren't visible thanks to his hood, his gaze never left Mikleo either. He stopped in front of him and stared intensely at the long-haired sub-Lord of the Shepard, giving him a sense of unease.

"Do you know why I summoned you?" Altul asked.

Mikleo blinked in disbelief.

"W-W-Wait. That was you?!"

The guardian seraphim nodded in response.

"Indeed. There's something I need to show you that I didn't get to show you the last time you and the others were here but that's simply because that it wasn't relevant before now and this is only meant for you and you alone."

Mikleo's mind spun with several questions as he followed Altul, feeling slightly abrupt and uncomfortable. He didn't know why he was summoned, how he was summoned, nor why whatever this was was so relevant all of a sudden until now but he decided to just go along with this for now, but only because he wanted answers to those questions which were buzzing in his mind.

Altul took the lead, helping avoid all the traps with the glowing eyeballs, easily slicing and defeating any of the Hellions that wandered the labyrinth-like hallways, and eventually took the water seraph to a giant pool that wasn't there the last time. They also made sure to elude the shrieking and screaming of the blood crazed spirit of Asura.

The two jumped down into the water and swam through, Mikleo making to stick close to Altul as they weaved through the calm yet torrential currents; the underwater waves shook the two seraphim about as if caught in some sort of wild turbulence. These waves were difficult to tame and bypass but eventually the pair were successful in their efforts and soon found themselves on dry stone once more.

This was a section of the temple never before explored and it made Mikleo's heart pound with excitement and anticipation.

"Wooooooooooah." He called out, glancing skyward as he studied every inch of his surroundings. "The last time we were here, we never explored this part of the temple...! It's so cool, this place looks as if it dates back all the way to the era of Maoterasu —back when Maotelus first ascended! Maybe even before!"

Mikleo's brows knitted together to paint a look of confusion on his face.

"But wait. How come you didn't show this place to us last time we were here?"

Altul chuckled.

"Accurate observation, sublord Mikleo. This place has been tucked away for eons. However, I couldn't show you this location back two decades ago because you were the only person meant to see it —not only that but this place has only recently become relevant."

"What do you mean? How could it just become relevant now?" Mikleo inquired.

Altul responded by gesturing to the wall ahead.

"I shall answer that but I would like you to have a look at the wall first."

Not wanting to pass up on a opportunity to study ancient murals, Mikleo decided to do as asked and he walked closer towards it.

The wall had some strange inscriptions and images of huge dragon-like creatures.

The main one being a huge blue lizard-like creature with a really long neck that had quite an aquatic appearance due to the fin-like frills acting as its ears. The beast also seemed to have a leviathans tail with two fins at the tip of said tail. The supposed image of the empyrean was facing a large structure that looked somewhat aquatic in nature, but said structure appeared kind of rubbed out and rather blurry.

There was also some inscription etched within the marble stone, the ancient runes a tad difficult to decipher but this was where his archeological upbringing became useful.

This mural was most likely really old.

"...This must be a mural about the great water empyrean, Amenoch; It was apparently said that humans had believed that by going through such hardships to make these temples then it would show their devotion. Apparently the southern temple was built by a sea coast once upon a time...hmm, this mural looks really old and, I'm guessing that it probably dates all the way back to the Temperance of Avarost —just like the temple itself."

Mikleo scratched his chin thoughtfully.

Then he looked closer at the structure (or maybe even ruins) in the image.

"If I'm translating the inscriptions right then it looks like we'd need to go to the beaches of Palamides if we wanna investigate this further." A smile swept across the water seraph's lips "Heh. I gotta make a mental note to tell Sorey all this, he'd be excited like a child on Christmas..."

Mikleo resumed reading, utilising all the years of diving in the ruins near his and Sorey's home of Elysia; he was very well-read when it came to the ancient languages and he remembered all he had learnt. As he read, however, he felt this strange stirring sensation from deep within him —he had heard about the great Empyreans but he didn't know what they had to do with the current situation.

Could it be that they could help fight back against the Hellions?

But why?

How?

What was all this supposed to mean?

He didn't have an answer for any of those questions, and he sensed that there was a point to all of this and he turned back to Altul. He didn't know why but he could sense a small buildup of dread emanating from the robbed, golden-mask-donned water seraph and sensing that made his spine crawl for reasons he didn't know as of yet.

"What does this all mean? Is something going on with Amenoch? Or is it something to do with all four of the empyreans?"

Altul gave a solemn nod as he answered Mikleo's questions.

"There is a great evil brewing and it could endanger the world if it's not stopped."

Mikleo stared.

A new danger?

B-But that shouldn't be possible, should it?!

Heldalf, the lord of calamity was gone so how could something (or someone) threaten the world once more? Sorey was still too weak to battle anyone yet, especially without his sword and without Lailah and the others!

What were they going to do?!

Mikleo shook his head, deciding that now was not the time to dwell nor ponder about those inquiries.

He was determined to discover the answers to those questions but there were more pressing matters that made this sink to the bottom of his list of priorities, he needed to find his adopted brother and check to see how his little excursion to meet the new royal family went and, more importantly, he needed to warn him about this impending danger.

The water seraphim just gave a nod of confidence and muttered incoherently to himself.

He knew that he needed to leave.

Now.

He glanced over to Altul and thanked him for showing him. He made a running start towards the water but was jerked back when he felt as the servant of Amenoch snapped his hand over his shoulder and seized him to prevent him from running too quick.

"Wait!" Altul exclaimed "Before you go, allow me to hand you a special weapon to lend you aid in your fight ahead."

Altul rushed off somewhere and, after a few moments, he came back with a cool looking staff which was glowing with this bright blue essence with some azure-coloured mythical power oozing from the mystical conch-shell-shaped orb that was attached to said staff.

Mikleo stared at his new staff in wonderment, mesmerised by how cool it looked. He felt it's power surge though his body as he gripped it tight in his hands. He hadn't been able to wield such a powerful weapon in ages and he marvelled it. This staff...he didn't know where it came from or how old it was but he didn't care much, but he loved it.

"Thanks, Altul. Now I better find and rejoin-"

All of a sudden Mikleo felt something shoot through him.

A breath hitched in his throat and he felt his back arch and seize up as though some invisible force immobilised him, rendering him motionless with the exception of some tremors from his knees, hands and fingertips. It felt as though something behind his eyes snapped or disconnected, as well as a sharp jab of air pierced right through his body.

Altul noticed of course.

"Mikleo! What is the matter?"

All of a sudden a sickening dread overcame the long-haired seraph.

The sub-Lord pact was still active, he knew that, but didn't know what happened but he knew at the very least that something had to be wrong but, as far as he knew. He didn't know what could make him feel this way...unless...

Mikleo's eyes widened with horror.

"Sorey...somethings wrong with Sorey...!"

Sorey and Zenrey ran through the now-empty streets of Ladylake.

After breaking free from Sorey's over-enthused death grip, Zen had managed to break off into his private chambers and had packed a bag filled with several clothes accessories and had decided to change into a different attire as to make himself appear not as "royal.

He had picked out a regular pair of trousers with a blue shirt with several straps buckling over his torso and chest and an extra belt around his hips to keep his trousers up. He also wore a pair of leather boots. His bag was heavy and kind of like something a mule or camel could carry, it appeared to be stuffed to the brim with items that the material looked just about ready to burst on the spot.

They were both dressed in heavy coats to combat the frigid cold temperatures of the snow falling from the darkened skies above.

Their breaths were heavy and foggy as their teeth chattered and their jaws tightened due to how their mouthes clenched. After not being able to appear for the coronation, everyone who had come for the celebration had decided that it was too cold to stay outside and went inside their homes (or the castle) to huddle up and warm out.

The roads were slippery due to the ice and snow but the two men tried to avoid slipping or skidding.

The pair kept a steady paced hasten through the streets yet they also kept themselves low so as to appear as non-conspicuous as humanly possible. They couldn't risk getting themselves spotted nor could they risk not paying attention to their surroundings —the Prince of Hyland and the shepherd both kept running and eventually made it out and exited the town.

The two started to make their way out of Ladylake and made their way to Marlind.

As the pair walked through Lakehaven heights, trying to find the pathway that led to Marlind, they started to converse.

Zen had spoke up and asked Sorey about the life he had led before he had vanished for two decades. Sorey explained about Elysia (being careful not to tell him where it was, though) and how both himself and Mikleo had lived there since they were just babies and then explained how Alisha had wound up in Elysia and then having to leave to become the shepherd and all the adventures afterwards.

"...Did you know that it was your mother who had convinced me to leave Elysia in the first place?"

"N-No...No, I didn't..."

"It's true. What happened was that a friend of mine and myself were exploring some ruins and we found her unconscious in its depths, I got the lecture of a lifetime from Gramps..."

"Gramps?"

"The seraph who raised me and my friend. Anyway we both bonded as she recovered and had to leave after three days. I taught her about my life and she taught me about the world outside of the mountains..."

"Woooooah...but hey, what made you leave?"

Sorey looked at Zen in confusion.

"Huh?"

Zen clarified what he had meant to say.

"Did something happen that made you leave home?"

Sorey remained silent for several moments. He didn't like discussing the tragic circumstances that led to him leaving Elysia but, at the same time, Zen sort of had a right to the answer of that question. This was his mother that he was asking about and, again, while he didn't exactly like talking about this he also didn't feel it was right to deny him an answer.

"I...I lfttfyrmthr..." He mumbled, his words incoherent.

"Huh? I didn't hear that."

Sorey closed his eyes, hung his head and reluctantly repeated himself —except louder yet firmer.

"I said that I left to find your mother..."

"But why?"

"Because a fox-like-hellion came tracking her and then attacked and killed one of my friends, I couldn't let that happen to her..."

"Huh...a fox-like hellion?"

Sorey almost grinned at the incredulous look he was receiving from the Prince, he knew that the sound of a fox-like-hellion must have sounded ridiculous but he also knew more about the Hellions and what they looked like. But there was a strange note that he heard in Zenrey's voice that he couldn't place a finger on and it bothered him slightly, but he decided to let it go for the time being.

All of a sudden, the two heard a low growl of a noise.

They stopped.

They looked slowly around for the source of the sounds but couldn't find anything until there was a trio of beastly-looking men dressed in suits of armour. One wielded a giant axe, the second was tightly gripping the hilt of a sword and the third was holding some sort of club or hammer. They scowled darkly at Sorey and Zenrey.

The shepherd and the prince were surrounded!

"Grrrr...!" One of the beastly knights snarled.

"Wh-Wh-Why're they looking like beasts, Sorey...?"

Sorey sharply turned to face Zen with pure disbelief written all over his face, his mouth agape and sweat beginning to dribble down his face as a thunderstruck look surged through his eyes. His stomach dropped as it took a supreme dive, those words hitting him with the same force as a ton of bricks or even a bolt of lightning. They would probably look like regular guards to anyone else, not to mention they were probably guards before malevolence took over...

If Zen could see these men as monsters...then that could only mean one thing...!

"You...You can see them!?"

"Yes? They are circling us right now...why wouldn't I see them?"

Sorey couldn't believe this:

Zenrey has the power of resonance...!

Sorey unsheathed a fairly large blade from the scabbard around attached to his belt and whirled it in his fingers, spinning it through the air, before holding it still and aiming it at one of the people. But he flinched when he remembered the fact that he can't purify them —not without Lailah! His body became a bit less tense and he inadvertently took a step back with Zenrey staring at Sorey in discomfort and fright.

"What's wrong? Why are you backing down?" Zen asked in alarm as he recognised this as a bad sign.

"I...l can't purify them! If I attack them now then I could kill them!" Sorey exclaimed.

"What do you mean!?"

"I need to have a friend of mine with me so I can properly purify them as the shepherd, we've gotta retreat!"

Zenrey opened his mouth to say something in response, whether to object or agree not even he knew, but his entire face broke into a wide-eyed grimace as he felt a sharp pain thrust into his left shoulder. He let out a loud screech of pain as his gaze flew to his shoulder and he was mortified to discover that he now had a sword sticking out of it and a fresh pool of crimson was beginning to ooze out from the entry site.

"GAAAAH!"

The young man let out a soft moan of discomfort, his body becoming immobilised due to the pain.

His knees buckled and he almost doubled over.

Sorey gasped in a mix of horror and shock as he watched as one of the enemies then grabbed hold of the sword's hilt, the blade stuffed inside of Zen's shoulder and withdrew it violently; the prince cried out in agony as he instinctively grabbed his bleeding shoulder, wincing and cringing as the blood seeped through his shirt and the gaps in between his fingers.

"ZEN!"

Sorey grabbed Zenrey in his arms, his breath hitched in his throat, and he pulled him down so he could ease and relax in his embrace.

The shepherd noticed how the prince had gone pale and he had become floppy in his arms; he could do nothing but hold him in his arms whilst staring up disbelievingly at the beast trio of Hellions which snarled and snapped at the pair. The wounded prince coughed gently, holding his wounded shoulder in pain as he stared up into Sorey's face with the edges of his vision blackening. His sight was beginning to distort and hot tears began to gather and accumulate in the corners of his weakening eyes.

Sorey shook his head in refusal.

This kid had just gotten out and he refused to allow him to die this early in the adventure!

He needed to get Zen out of here, but how!?

He bent down standing over the Prince of Hyland's unconscious body, right before sliding Zen's non-injured arm over his neck before grabbing one leg and then the other one so he could successfully carry the Prince on his back —effectively giving him a piggyback ride. Of course he couldn't purify them yet but that also meant he couldn't defeat them effectively either...he looked down in deep thought; he wracked his brain for a solution. Maybe just disorienting two of them would be enough to slip off?

Sorey's eyes darkened and he turned to face the hellion who had stabbed Zen and, in turn, the creature stared at him with a look of rage painting itself upon his face. Without saying a word, he stood back up and made his way over to the enemy. He made slow strides towards all three of them. Before even he himself could fully register any more of what he was doing, with Zen still being carried on his back, he leapt up into the air and straight up delivered a two-pronged attack on two of the Hellions with a strong high-jump-kick to the face, hoping to give himself enough of a wide berth so he could actually make a run for it.

Seeing an opening, he decided to seize the moment.

Sorey never liked killing, he was determined that Heldalf would be his last kill and he was adamant that he could rescue these people...if only he had Lailah with him...the realisation made him feel as though he was wrapped in a bundle of snow.

He made it his personal mission to find her first but, before that, he needed to get the Prince to safety.

In the back of his mind, though, he was seriously regretting saying "yes" to taking him out of Ladylake. If only he'd been more adamant for him to stay then he wouldn't have gotten hurt...alas some strange and foreign instinct told him that he needed to take the Prince with him and he'd listened to it.

Anyways, the Hellions gave individual howls of pain as they instinctively grabbed their own faces and Sorey turned and ran with the Prince still very much secured but still unconscious. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him even though he could hear the Hellions give chase. He just kept running as fast as his own two legs would allow...although he knew that he didn't have much energy to spare given how much energy he'd lost purifying Mao.

Upon glancing back at the Prince draped over his back, he felt a sense of panic and alarm when he noticed how pale he was beginning to look. He could hear Zen making in distinct mumbling sounds in his ear while in his unconscious state and, what was a bit more alarming, he could feel his blood begin to seep into his back as well.

Hold on a little longer, kid. Just need to get these three Hellions off my back!

He thought desperately.

That was when he had an idea as he saw something up ahead.

He kept running, his entire body pounding with adrenaline as he hastily made his way towards a certain burnt down village which seemed to have somehow looked waaaaay better than it had done two decades ago, actually, it looked as though someone had tried to restore it but gave up quarter-way-through. At the very least, one of the buildings looked inhabitable.

The Galahad ruins...!

Anyways, he dashed straight through the threshold of the entrance to the old abandoned village and hid himself behind one of the buildings. The village smelt musty, sooty and was filled with ash; he hoped that the overpowering scent of death and destruction would be able to drown out the scent of two humans, not to mention that because a lot of death had been here already the scent of blood should have been present also, making it much harder for those three Hellions to track them if they were relying on the scent of Zen's blood.

Sorey ducked behind a dilapidated building, keeping a hand clamped over Zenrey's mouth to keep him quiet, and listened out for the footsteps of those Hellions...he listened to them sniffing the air and making wolffish yips and howls as they kept searching for their prey.

The shepherd breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the three Hellions vacate the premises.

They were safe...for now...

"Huuuh..." He breathed "...Okay. C'mon, Zen, let's go into one of the houses and see if we can heal that wound to your shoulder."

All Zen did was mumble as Sorey rose to his feet and carried him into one of the abandoned homes where there was a bed that was somehow intact. The shepherd lay the injured prince down on the bed, pulled some blankets over him and started to go and retrieve some medicinal items.

He ran over to Mikleo's travel satchel and proceeded to pull a pot of temperature-inducing tablets, some herbs, some cold compression cloths, some painkillers and some bandages into his arms. Thankfully, Mikleo had a habit of over-packing lots of items encase someone got injured or something and so, after obtaining the items he needed, Sorey ran back over to the injured Zen and started to treat his wounds —the wounded prince snuggled beneath the multitude of blankets.

Zen's face contorted with pain and his face was soaking with sweat. His heart was visibly pounding in his chest and he clenched his teeth, shuddering as Sorey placed a soaking wet cloth over his blazing hot head.

Sorey kept watch over the stricken prince.

The shepherd looked worriedly at Zenrey as he firmly dabbed his head with the cloth and his concern raised when he saw Zen struggle in his sleep, squirming and letting out groans of pain as he started to shiver. His breaths came out in thin pants and wheezes as the sweat continued to gather atop his brow and then dribble down. The pain on his face was obvious and it was becoming clearer and clearer that Zen didn't have much experience with the outside world, did this boy even know his way around a sword?

Sorey sighed and shook his head.

He'd put these thoughts on the back burner for now but he hoped that Mikleo would return soon because he knew that his adopted brother would probably be able to help. He wasn't as experienced with helping with the wounded but he knew a bit after reading some medical books and learning alongside Mikleo —Mikleo especially because he felt that he needed to help with Sorey just encase he got injured since he was a human.

Not to mention that Sorey knew he needed to keep his guard up since those Hellions were probably still stalking the area in search of their runaway prey...

After checking Zen's temperature once more, checking to see how he was fairing, he decided to just try and dress that wound; the shepherd slid both of his hands behind Zen and propped him up, sitting him up in bed while he still remained motionless and sleepy. He removed the prince's shirt and started to examine that knife wound and cringed at how deep it looked.

He felt a measure of relief, though, after seeing that none of Zen's vital organs looked to have been damaged.

He grabbed some of the herbs and applied them to the wound, earning a low groan from the Prince of Hyland. He internally apologised for that but pressed forward by then procuring the bandages and wrapping them tightly (but not too tightly) around his shoulder and torso, positioning it like a strap that wrapped around both his shoulder and then his torso. Sorey gave Zen some of those pain tablets once he had accomplished his task of wrapping up the wound and that seemed to ease his pain a bit.

Sorey leaned back for a moment to admire his handiwork but made a mental note to go over it with Mikleo just encase he missed anything.

All of a sudden, he started to get a slow blink as drowsiness took hold of him. He still didn't have his full energy back yet and this probably meant that his body needed the rest to be able to recover all the reserves it had lost. He yawned and started to lay down on the bed with his top half while the rest of him remained seated in his chair.

He felt exhausted since he hadn't gotten much sleep in decades, technically.

As he finally succumbed to the exhaustion

dowsed off to sleep, Sorey didn't even realise that more trouble was starting to arise elsewhere...

Meanwhile...

Years upon years of wondering had taken its toll upon a certain foxy-eyed Hellion.

Lunarre found his face growing wrinkled, his long bushy fox-tail-like hair now had several silver and gray hints and his youthful agility seemed to have worn away. He hadn't changed much appearance-wise, only that his hair had grown in length and now had streaks of silver as well as he looked painfully thin and his arms and legs had been rendered to stick-thin ligaments.

The snow covering his body made him feel like gravity itself was trying its very best to crush him.

His fangs chattered and his eyelids slammed shut as he heaved deep yet shallow breaths in and out, his breaths hissing through his fangs.

Due to the fact that he was ageing and his poor constitution, Lunarre had become malnourished and vulnerable. He had been reduced to hunting down rabbits and other wildlife instead of the meat that his stomach yearned for, not to mention he had been injured after he got ambushed by a prickle boar of all things. His stomach felt like an empty chasm and gave a low, lengthy growl that practically rocked the inside of his body.

He exhumed a deep sigh born from exhaustion and fatigue, his breath a thick fog as it rose up into the frosty, wintry, icy air.

He couldn't keep going like this...

The vulpine-like hellion staggered and stumbled as he lumbered along, his hand tightly clutching his wounded side as blood slowly oozed from the wound that he tried desperately to stem the bleeding from. He started to wonder whether or not if this was what it felt like to be a gnawed carrion —his favourite thing to munch on?

Lunarre's eyesight was foggy and his sense of perception had dulled over the years, like an overused swords blade.

He eventually collapsed to the ground, the soft luscious grass acting as a cushion to break his fall. He smirked to himself and he couldn't help but try and curl himself into a ball to try and keep himself warm despite the chill in the atmosphere; he didn't recall the world being so cold before...he shuddered and felt his hair/fur bristle in the cold. He shivered and shuddered due to how cold it was and his hair/fur was soaking wet and his skin felt cold to the touch.

C-C-Cold...so cold...I wish I had some carrion to gnaw on right about now...

Lunarre coughed in a sickly manner, smirking oh-so-slightly to himself.

Huh so this is how I die? I've crossed the line between life and death many times and this is how I perish? Peh...I'm not going down without a fight, even if I waste away to a skeleton.

All of a sudden he felt as his consciousness fade away.

Was this it for him?

He could have sworn that he was beginning to drown in this sort of everlasting black void, feeling as though he was being crushed by this frigid cold embrace. His ears felt as though they were stuffed with cotton so anything he heard was considerably muffled, actually it sounded as though he were in a Black Sea that was actively trying to drown him. The only sounds he could make out were the soft cacophony of his own heartbeat pounding away and some sort of odd bubbling noise.

Then, all of a sudden, he felt his consciousness shatter apart.

It was as though the very force of Lunarre being pulled from his near-death-like slumber ripped the surrealism right out of the bad dream-like experience. He stared up and found that there was someone standing over him, a hood covering their face as they appeared to stare at him with an unreadable expression.

The hellion was shocked but didn't have the energy nor the ability to care to give a stronger reaction right now.

"...Who...are you...?" Lunarre coughed and sputtered weakly, actually sounding like a failing Ferrari car engine as his strength waned second by second. His eyes were heavily lidded and his chest made an extraordinary effort to force his breaths in and out as it rose up and down in an irregular manner.

He hardly cared, though.

The stranger said nothing for a few moments, before grinning.

"Hush now, friend. Just rest." He soothed, like a parent would to a child. "I shall answer your question but for now you can just say that I am a wanderer."

"Until you regain your strength, together we shall take the life of that new shepherd."

Lunarre couldn't stop himself from grinning a grin that spread from ear-to-ear. The mere idea of him being able to strangle the life out of Sorey the shepherd was gratifying —not to mention being able to devour all of his seraph friends! The thought thrilled him more than anything in his entire existence and that just made his fanged smirk grow even bigger.

He gave a nod of agreement to the mysterious figure.

"Very well. After we find another friend of mine, we can go about getting rid of our little problem...together."

A/N: Here's a new chapter for Wishes and malevolence, everyone. I made sure to put a lot of work into this chapter and we see 3 things such as Mikleo getting a new weapon, Sorey and Zenrey getting out of Ladylake and a brand new villain we get to meet...or is it? Not to mention we find out that Zenrey has resonance. Next up we see what happens when Mikleo and Sorey reunite...I plan for slight humour ahead!

Btw, I made a poll for the future of this fic.

Please look at it.

Stay tuned to find out everyone.

-Chloemcg