The Cursed (Capped)

Trickster

I've been trying to ignore this for far too long. I'd hoped that he already knew but that was just wishful thinking. Of course he had no idea, Angra was not known for being an open guy. I doubt he told his own kid about the details of his adventuring days. So when Viole, the spitting image of a young Angra looked at me and asked me about his status. I clammed up. "Huh? Ah, no reason. Probably a mistake on my end, you know printing while drunk. By the way you should head back to your Pallum girl! Don't want to make her lonely, now do you?"

My newest member sighed at my lame excuse for a joke and just waved his hand as he left my office. "Goodnight. Don't drink yourself into a stupor. Again." With the click of the door closing, I was safe to let out a sigh. This isn't going to last...

"This isn't going to last, Loki." The sudden appearance of my adorable Riviera scared the absolute shit out of me! Stealthy, ain't ya? "It won't be long until Keres realizes something is wrong. He's growing faster than his father. I'd say he surpasses one stat in a month. Most likely his magic stat, as it's already at B." The green haired Elf princess waltzed into my room and sat at the couch opposing me, sipping on a cup of coffee that she brought in with her. "When will you tell him?"

"He'll be fine for now. And why the hell do you know about his stats?! He didn't reach B until today! Have you been stalking him?" Riviera simply sipped her coffee and refused to answer me. "You still aren't over Angra, huh?"

"I am not the one coddling The Fool's son."

"Don't you dare use that name." She sighed and let down her cup of coffee before crossing her legs.

"Loki, there is no need to hide his status' nature to him. If you don't want a repeat of the last time then you must not make the same mistakes again." I really wanted to yell at her and disagree but she had a point. That doesn't mean I have to like this.

"If I don't tell him then he won't go after that goal. Then he won't try to..."

"Loki, you and I know that is a lie. The Nia Khera Village has been wiped off the map. There were only ten survivors and nine of them were out of town at the time. He made contact with him. He remembered it, otherwise he wouldn't be here. You know this. Do not lie to yourself any longer. If you want to stop it then do the exact opposite that you did last time. Understand?" She walked up to my desk during her speech and slammed her hands on my desk.

"You know, I liked you better when you were just a cute little elf." My long lived child glared at me. "Fine, I'll tell him tomorrow. I'm probably gonna have to tell that Pallum girl too..."

"Ais as well." Before I could ask why she glared at me once again. "You know why."

When Riviera was finally out of my office, I let out a long sigh and melted into my chair. "Tch."

SSS

The first thing I did the next morning was order Viole, Lilly, and Ais into my office. Seeing Viole's tired face almost made me want to back down but Riviera, of course, followed the three of them in. "Good Morning Lady Loki. How may we help you today?" The orange haired pallum said with a deep bow. I didn't exactly expect this till I realized that she could be scared that I'd kick her out.

"Relax, I just have something to talk to you three about." Lilly nodded and stood up straight once more, joining the rest of the crew on the couch. Forcing myself to take a few deep breaths I just decided to get this over with. "Viole. You're Capped." Ais and Lily's eyes bulged out of their heads but I didn't expect Viole to be so calm.

"I'm sorry, Loki but I have no idea what that means." He tilted his head to the side and shrugged his shoulders. Dammit Angra!

"S-Sir Viole?! Did-"

"It means that you will never be able to level up." I interrupted the girl before she asked something that I wanted to ask myself.

"I...what? What the hell?!" His composure flew out the window as he began to sweat. "How did this happen?! Capped?! When? Why?"

"Viole... why did you come to Orario?" He froze at my question. Dammit...

"I...just wanted to follow in my dad's footsteps. You know, become a famous adventurer."

"Viole. Who killed Angra?"

"..."

"Are you here to get strong enough to kill him?" Everyone in the room stared at him. Everyone but Riviera had the same look in their eyes. A look of false hope. We knew his answer. We knew why he was here. It's the same answer for every single Capped that has come into this city. With no exceptions. Only people who lie to themselves for as long as they can.

"...I came to Orario to kill the god, Susanoo."

"Dammit..." I was surprised when it wasn't me who whispered it. Even more so when it was my beloved Ais.

SSS

Capped

It was about a year ago. Nia Khera's corn festival was in a week and I was in charge of gathering the fully grown vegetables on my family's farm. It happened in the blink of an eye. One second I was rolling a barrel full of corn to the house, the next the house exploded into a ball of flames. The force was so strong that it threw me straight through the barn. I quickly realized that we were being attacked by something but I didn't know what. There hadn't been any monster sightings near Nia Khera for years and even if it was one, no monster on the surface could do that much damage.

Struggling to get up, I limped my way out of the barn, ignoring the animal's cries. When I got out, I vomited up my lunch. On the front porch was my mother's corpse. Blood seeping from the front of her body, staining her black hair and she was missing an arm. "Abby...Dad..." I swallowed my pain and limped past her body. It hurt, it hurt more than the pain that I was feeling to do that but I had to keep my promise to her to protect my sister. I owed that to mom at the very least. Past the house, the wheat fields were on fire and two figures were standing in the middle of it. One I could recognize was my dad, holding the large broadsword that he said was from his adventuring days. The second, I couldn't even process. The being was covered in an intense aura that didn't let me even tell what he looked like. "Dad..." When I tried to walk to my dad I was pulled to the floor.

"D-Don't leave me..." It was my little sister. She was covered in soot and grease, blood in her blonde hair. Tears rolling down her face. I hugged my sister and closed my eyes. Whispering that everything was going to be fine, that dad would beat him, that I'll treat her to snacks at the festival. But, after not even a minute passed, I was pulled by the head by something and watched in horror as the monster knocked out my sister. I knew that I was going to die. The only thing that I could make out from the monster was the blood dripping off it's face and hands.

"Here I thought that he would have gotten stronger over the years. What a fool!" The monster cackled as my beloved home and world was dyed red. My fathers blood dripped onto my face from the bastard's claw. I saw his mangled corpse just past where it had walked to grab me. Everything was destroyed. My life, my family, my peace. My mind. Everything was shaded red. Red.redredredredredredredredredredredredredredreddredrerdredredredredreredrererererererererererererererererere

I knew what this was. I knew what I had to do as the bastard kicked away my sister. I knew what my future was as he placed his fist into my chest and pressed. "I'm going to kill you!"

I could not see anything when I made my declaration as I was slowly losing consciousness. But I could feel his grin. His smile of pure joy. "Yes! Kill me if you can, son of the Fool. Will you finally be the one to kill the God of Destruction, Susanoo?!"

SSS

After I spilled my story to everyone in the room, it was hard to breath. It was harder retelling the tale than I had thought. My chest felt as if it was on fire and I could feel my tears rolling down my face. Ais and Lily were staring at the floor, Loki's eyes were open and empty. Riviera was the only one who appeared unaffected, but the fact that she was clutching onto her staff as if trying to crack it in two didn't get past me. "So that's what happened...why I'm here. I'm sorry that I never told you guys about this. But..."

"Don't apologize." Loki stood up and walked to her desk, only to grab her chair and throw it out the window.

"Loki!" Riviera stood up in surprise.

"That BASTARD!" Loki slammed her fist onto the desk over and over again. "How many more people does he need to kill?! Why can't he just DIE?!"

"I understand your anger but you must calm down. If you don't-'' as if on cue, Finn had kicked the door open along with the wolfman Bete. "Of course."

"Loki! What the hell happened?!"

"FIND HIM. I'll kill that bastard myself if I have to!"

"STOPPPP!" Lilly yelled at the top of her lungs, stopping the chaos before it got out of hand anymore. "Can we calm down here?! I don't know if you noticed here Lady Loki, but Viole's family was the one that was..." Lily seemed to be unable to finish her sentence but her point remained. Loki took a deep breath and waved off Finn and Bete, who reluctantly left the room. Loki took back her seat on the couch.

"I'm sorry...it's just...Angra was very important to me. Getting confirmation just...ugh." I'd never seen Loki like this and I never thought I would. She always had a devil may care attitude about everything but, she really does care about us.

"Loki...what does this mean for me?" After collecting myself, I had to push forward. I need to know if being a capped will stop me from reaching my goal. "What's happened to me exactly?"

"To put it simply, you will never go above level one. That means you will never learn level skills, gain sub-skills nor magic through leveling or grimoires." Riviera calmly explained to me. "However that does not mean there is a limit to your strength. Being a Capped comes with some advantages. Firstly, your stats will be easier to raise. You will learn magic and skills through personal experience, often appearing during times of stress. And your stats will roll over whenever they are maxed."

"I see...but why did this happen? And how exactly?"

"Susan is an asshole, that's the why." Ais and Riviera glared at Loki when she answered but she just shrugged. "It's the truth. The how is more complicated. When he hurt you...he forced your Falna to awaken without becoming a part of a familia. When he did, he simply said 'nope' to your level. Capping was a way that we gods used to punish adventurers back in the day. When it turned out that it didn't really stop criminals we just stopped using it. Susan does it for his own sick amusement, as a way to mark his victims. As if to say, 'I let you live.' Turns out people don't like it when you do that."

I was satisfied with that answer, mostly. All it did was reinforce my goal. Kill the bastard for what he did. Being capped just means that I have another hurdle. But what's one more? But there was one question still burning in my mind. One that I had intended to ask a while ago, but never got around to it. "Loki...why? Why are you gods allowing one of your own to walk around this world, killing people? Why don't you all stop him?"

"Because...we're scared. Susan is the only god to be banished from heaven The reason is simple. He's the only being to ever truly 'Kill' a god." Her words stuck to my core. He...killed a god? "Have you all ever heard of the god Izanagi?" Everyone shook their heads except for Riviera, undoubtedly already knowing the story. "Susanoo somehow found a way to erase a god's very existence, No mortal has ever heard of that name, even though Izanagi is responsible for the land of the far east."

"Are you telling me that Susanoo erased a god from the world's memory? That to us, it's as if Izanagi never existed?"

Loki nodded at my question and my stomach sank. How am I supposed to kill someone who can erase gods?! "We never figured out how he did it or why. He refused to speak. So, when this world was in the midst of being born, we banished him here and took away his godhood. But...he somehow regained it, well it'd be more accurate to say that he gained new godhood. Susan used to be known as the God of Storms, now he's the God of Destruction. So of course the man who's a god of destruction in this world who has his godhood. Add that to his ability to erase us, no one dared screw with him. It's only because of the effects of his punishment that the world isn't a hell scape. He is not allowed near or in Orario, he is not allowed to harm any gods, he must always tell the truth and he must not bring considerable harm to this world."

"Considerable harm?! That bastard goes around burning down entire villages and that doesn't count as considerable harm?!"

"Not in the long run." I had to stop myself from punching Loki in the face. "It's not like I agree but logically, burning down a village or two a year doesn't count as considerable. Villages usually only have around a hundred people...so it counts. One or two a year going poof isn't...ugh" She was cringing hard as she went through her explanation. "We screwed up and have no idea how to deal with him. Us gods are the reason why the Capped still exist and the deaths that lead to them."

I stood up, done with everything. I couldn't take it anymore, all this shit was making me feel horrible. "I'm going to go take a walk." Everyone stared at me with open mouths as I silently closed Loki's door.

SSS

I somehow found myself near the dungeon. Right outside the tower, blindly walking around the town square. My mind was completely blank, not really wanting to think of anything.

"Sir? Are you going to order something?" A short, black haired woman in a white dress asked me when I stood in front of her croquette stand. Ah, I guess I can use some comfort food.

"Ten potato croquettes please." The woman nodded as she got to work after taking my payment. After about five minutes, she handed me a small basket of food and I took a seat on one of the nearby tables. I began to slowly eat my food, trying my best to not think too hard about my situation but I couldn't stop my mind from racing. A god capable of killing other gods...my abilities are affected...my sister...I didn't talk about it with everyone but I feel like there is a possibility that my little sister could be alive. Susanoo didn't kill her before I fell unconscious and her body was nowhere to be found when I was rescued. I came to Orario for two reasons. To kill Susanoo, and save Abigail. If I can find her.

"Viole." I looked up, the voice saving me from my pessimistic train of thought. It was Ais, with a basket of croquets for herself. "May I sit here?"

"Yeah..." I half expected her to sit down and begin to lecture me, but no. Ais sat down and began to chow down. Eating her food at a reasonable rate, though from the look of her basket she had double the amount of food as I had. "Ais, I'm-"

"I will not lecture you about your revenge, or whether it's realistic or not." She dropped the croquette that was in her mouth back into her hand. "All I will say is that if you need my help. I will always be there for you."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because..." Ais looked at me for a second before taking the croquets back in her hands. . "Just because."

"...Thank you Ais."

The blond haired woman, the strongest adventurer that I had ever met, gave me a swift nod before stuffing her face once more. But for some reason, her presence took some weight off of my chest. Weirdo.

SSS

?

At the top of a large clock tower, a man in a black suit looked down at the town, his eyes glued on a certain table that hosted two people, eating food with apprehension. The man grinned as she looked down at the two. "My my. Aren't the two of you getting along. They make a cute couple, wouldn't you say?"

A short figure in a black cloak was sitting behind the man, leaning on the wall for support. "..." The figure seemed to not care for what the man was saying, not even glancing at him as he spoke.

"How harsh! And here I took the time to bring you along. I thought you'd enjoy the view." The man ruffled his grey hair and went back to staring at the two adventurers. "Hm. I really can't wait to play with you..."

"Lucifer will get mad." The voice was monotone and had little to no emotion, but was stern and harsh. The man shrugged his shoulders in an exaggerated fashion and laughed.

"I know, I know. I'll just have to wait" Taking one last look, the man walked down the clock tower, the short figure following behind him. "How fun, how fun! I'm on the edge of my seat watching this play! Oh please don't disappoint, Son of the Fool."

"..." When the two left the building that housed the tower, the small figure took out an apple out of their cloak, attempting to polish it before noticing that their finger sunk into a part of the apple's flesh. "Ah, it's rotten."

AN: Hello everyone, happy new year and thank you for your patience. It's honestly amazing to me that there really are people enjoying my story and it truly fills me with motivation to continue on. I'm sorry for the slight delay, I had planned on getting these chapters out earlier in the month, but I had some IRL issues to take care of and I hope you'll forgive me.

Also, I've noticed that my chapters are a bit on the shorter side, so I have decided to try and remedy that. I plan on making them slightly longer and longer as the updates go on so I hope you'll enjoy the extra content! As a reminder, as I never truly stated this in this story, but I will update this story once a month with multiple chapters. I feel like this schedule lets me work at a better pace and lets me put my all into it.

Next update should be the end of Arc 1 as well as a few interludes before the beginning of Arc 2, so I hope you look forward to it! Thank you again for reading and I hope you'll enjoy it!