Chapter 3 – Threat.
Sturdily bound logs creaked loudly underneath the repetitive steps of travelers crossing the bridge. The wooden groaning meshed amicably with the chuckling of the shallow creek glistening in the midday heat. Rusted chains maintaining the structural integrity of the weathered trade bridge clinked and clanked; disturbed by both the soft breeze and the weight of the travelers.
Velvet travelled alone in front of the group, her steel boots digging harshly into the wood surface of the bridge. The Shepherd's group trailed behind her, keeping up with her pace yet still maintaining a conspicuous distance between themselves and the stranger ahead of them.
It had been like this ever since the battle yesterday.
The therion let out a sigh under her breath as she walked, idly listening in on the conversations happening behind her back with her enhanced hearing.
"…not a hellion." Sorey was muttering to Mikleo, his voice low and argumentative.
At his side, the water seraph responded under his breath, "And neither were those Scattered Bones assassins. Neither were those greaseballs in the council who tried to get you under their thumbs. I don't think it's right to say that any given human who's not a hellion is necessarily a good person."
The sound of clothing shifting filled the brief pause in his words. Velvet didn't need to turn around to know that the seraph was gesturing at her.
"You saw how she reacted to my question yesterday! How aloof and callous she was! I don't care if she expels malevolence or not, Sorey, there's no denying it. She's a murderer. Killing is of second nature to her!" He hissed.
"That… does seem to be the only reasonable explanation." Sorey's admission was reluctant.
"As much as I hate to admit it," Alisha added seriously, "I must agree with Mikleo on this." She let out a sigh. "Objectively speaking, at the end of the day, we must remember the dangers of the world we travel." Her armor clanked as she held a hand up to her chest. "…It may be that Velvet simply isn't the sort of person we want to have travelling with us."
"What about your master, Alisha?" Sorey asked curiously. "You said she fought in wars before, right? Wouldn't that make her a murder as well?"
"W-well…" Alisha began.
"Most would agree that there is a difference between a soldier and a criminal, Sorey." Lailah interjected softly. "But not everyone agrees with such sentiment. There is no single standard to uphold amongst humanity. You, and only you yourself, must decide what you believe is right and wrong. That, in of itself, is part of your duty."
"…My duty as the Shepherd, huh?" Sorey mumbled.
"Well, here's your first hurdle, I suppose." Mikleo mumbled. "Ultimately, it's up to you what you decide what to do with Velvet. You are the Shepherd, after all."
Sorey let out a grunt in response, clearly deep in thought.
Silence fell once more, leaving the group travelling in silence. At the front of the group, Velvet kept on walking at a steady pace, regardless of her companions behind her. A light breeze blew across the fields surrounding them, rustling the sparse foliage and trees dotting the region. High above, the midday sun continued to shine, heedless of what occurred in the land below.
Suddenly, Alisha cried out, "Enemies! Behind us!"
Immediately, the group whipped around, weapons flying out of sheaths as they faced hellions charging up the path from behind.
"Damn!" Mikleo cursed, raising his club. "An ambush!"
"We must adapt to the situation!" Lailah urged, drawing her casting cards artfully through the air. "Fighters, to the front!" She called.
"On it!" Sorey and Alisha both yelled, running forward with weapons drawn against their adversaries; a pack of three skunk accompanied by a single hawk hellion.
Abruptly remembering something, Sorey glanced over his shoulder, finding the fifth member of the group running in to help. "Velvet!" He called, sprinting forward with his sword high in the air. "Stay back!"
Velvet's eyes narrowed at the command, her boots skidding in the dirt as she came to a sudden halt outside of the area of battle. Her lips twisted into a scowl.
"Take this!" Sorey demanded, slashing his sword down upon a skunk hellion and driving it away from the seraphim casters.
"Hah!" Alisha yelled, dashing forward and performing a short, defensive stab against a charging sunk.
Mikleo's arte completed with a flash and hum of mana. "Watch out, guys! Above!" His hand shot up into the air, palm facing towards the diving hawk hellion.
With a blinding flash, a burst of high-pressure water materialized from his palm and shot up into the sky, slamming right onto the center mass of the hawk and knocking it clean out of the sky to fall into an uncontrolled tumble onto the ground. With a yell, Sorey leapt back away from the skunk hellion and slashed the fallen hawk with a blazing blue sword, purifying it.
At the same time, Lailah's arte completed. "Sorey! Alisha! Here goes!" She cried.
"Go for it!" "We're clear!"
With a yell, her long hair billowing behind her, Lailah let her casting cards loose upon the world.
BANG!
A formidable explosion of flame and magma erupted from the ground directly in the middle of the group of three skunk hellions, sending their burnt and bruised bodies tumbling back every which way. A burnt, acidic smell hung in the air as the arte dissipated. Sorey and Alisha regrouped by the seraphim, their weapons held defensively at the ready.
And from out of the smoke charged a single enraged skunk hellion, foaming from the mouth. Various burn wounds patterned its malevolence-soaked hide, glistening in an angry red hue.
"It's gone berserk!" Mikleo warned urgently. "It won't stop until it's physically unable to attack. Careful!"
"Lailah!" Sorey shouted over his shoulder. The fire seraph nodded sharply in response.
"Fethmus Mioma!"
A brilliant flash of red-hued light shot outwards from Sorey's body, imitating the sun high above as the Shepherd armatized with the Prime Lord. From out of the bright furnace charged an angel, wreathed in white and red.
"Let's do it Lailah!" Sorey yelled, hefting the massive great sword in his hands.
"This one's weak against fire! Don't hold back!" Came the armatized seraph's response.
"You got it!" Sorey agreed, charging once more towards the enraged hellion.
Sorey and Lailah let out a joint yell as they swung the great sword towards the charging hellion. A brilliant trail of blazing hot fire billowed out in the wake of the sword's swing. In response, the enraged skunk hellion leapt up and forwards, boldly meeting the blade's edge with its fangs and claws.
BANG!
A detonation exploded between the Shepherd and his adversary, sending both sliding backwards in the dirt away from each other, deflected by each other's attacks.
"Is it down?!" Mikleo asked urgently, taking a step forward alongside Sorey's armatized form.
"I don't know!" Sorey responded, his glowing yellow eyes raking through the smoky and hazy air, searching for the form of the hellion. "Stay alert." He warned. "It could come from anywhere."
The group glanced around the trail and the surrounding trees, watching for the infernal beast to show itself and subject itself to its judgement. The smell of burnt flesh hung in the air, irritating their noses. Silence fell upon the tense group, deceivingly tranquil in its essence.
SHING!
Sorey froze at the sound of a gauntlet blade erupting from its sheath behind him. He whirled around, bringing his sword around to bear. At his side, Mikleo and Alisha had similar horrified reactions, whipping their bodies around to face the source of the sound.
Behind them, Velvet's blade fell in slow motion, poised to rend the berserk hellion charging them in half. Sorey brought up a hand helplessly to stop the murder about to happen before his eyes.
"NO!" He yelled.
The flat side of Velvet's sword slammed against the side of the skunk, sending it stumbling off to the side, off-balanced.
Without pause, the traveler stomped her left boot down into the ground beneath her and used it as leverage to pivot around, swinging her entire body in a single, powerful revolution. As she completed her spin, her other boot crashed into the flank of the stunned hellion with a loud crunch, sending it tumbling off to the side of the road. Its squeals of agony filled the air as it writhed around in the dirt, finally feeling the pain of its combined wounds.
Velvet's sword sank back into its sheath with a loud click in the aftermath of the battle. She let out a frustrated sigh.
"I'm done with this." She snarled, turning to face the group fully with fire in her eyes.
She ignored the guarded tensing of their bodies and the tightening of grips on weapons as she advanced towards them with impatient steps. "If you all have a problem, then tell it to me right here, right now." She demanded hotly, stopping short in front of them with crossed arms and an index finger repeatedly tapping her left bicep. "If you don't then it's a waste of your time and a waste of mine."
Her narrowed eyes jumped between the eyes of each group member; between Mikleo, Alisha, and Sorey's armatized eyes.
"I kill." She admitted, waving a careless hand in the air. "That much is obvious." Her eyes burrowed into Sorey's. "My question is, why the hell do you all care so much about that?" She demanded.
"W-why?!" Mikleo was aghast at the very question. "Why the hell would we not?!" He yelled back. "People shouldn't kill! It's just not right!" He shot back.
"Oh, grow up." She scoffed back.
"W-what did you say?!" Mikleo challenged lividly.
Velvet's hard eyes turned to Sorey. "Just what exactly did you expect of a person living in such a world with resonance?" She asked in disbelief. "In a world where hellions are attracted to those who can see them? In a world where monsters that nobody else can see will happily kill and consume the resonant in the blink of an eye?"
The low whimpering of the fallen hellion at her side filled the pause as she caught her breath. The group exchanged wide-eyed looks in response to the woman's words.
"…I do what I need to do." Velvet growled lowly.
"And if I have to kill to do what I need to do, then so be it. If you thought a surviving resonant human would be any other way, you'd be plain delusional." She swiped a hand through the air decisively.
"And if you can't see it that way, tell me, so that I can leave now. There's all that's to it." She demanded.
Silence fell following her ultimatum. She studied the faces of the group. Mikleo looked both furious and disturbed by her words. Alisha had a deeply contemplative expression as she stared at her. And Sorey…
The armatized Shepherd shook his head slowly.
"…I don't agree." Sorey mumbled softly. "I don't accept that. I believe that there should never be a reason to kill, ever, no matter what. No matter the circumstances."
Velvet turned on her heel immediately, starting to walk away. "Alright." She muttered. "That's your choice."
"But…"
Velvet's steps slowed. She glanced over her shoulder. "…But?" She prompted with a raised eyebrow.
Sorey's eyes were filled with mixed emotions as he met her eyes. "But… I'm willing to accept the presence of people who think differently to me." He stated softly.
With a flash of bright light, Sorey dispelled the armatization, returning his eyes to his normal hue and reinstating him of his Shepherd garb. With slow, determined steps, he made his way up to Velvet.
He let out a small smile. "…After all, there is no single standard to uphold amongst humanity. All we can do is do what each of us feel is right, in our own hearts." He finished softly, genuinely, while holding out a hand in front of him.
Velvet stared.
Slowly, ever so slowly, the therion turned around fully, keenly examining Sorey's eyes and searching for any hint of duplicity. She found none.
After a pause, her human right hand lifted to meet his hand in a mutual handshake.
Velvet let out a soft huff under her breath as they shook hands. "…Color me impressed." She muttered quietly. "I thought you were just a naïve idiot who wouldn't accept anybody different to him."
Mikleo let out a scoff as he trotted up to them. "Then you haven't been paying enough attention." He pointed out, giving Velvet a hard look. "In case you've forgotten, I'm a seraph who's lived with him his entire life."
"Ahaha." Sorey scratched the back of his neck shyly. "Right, yeah. There's that, I suppose."
"Yes." Alisha agreed, stepping up as well. "Sorey does have the tendency to surprise with his inclusiveness. I know I myself was astonished that such a person could honestly be so kind and open when I first met him."
She shook her head and gave Velvet a slow bow. "In any case, I believe I owe you an apology, Velvet." She met her eyes. "I admit that I had not fully considered the possible rationale behind your actions and the history that had led you to become what you are today. I apologize for judging without asking for your side of the story."
Velvet stared. "…It's fine." She muttered after a pause, waving a hand in the air. "I understand the sentiment, if anything."
"Still," Mikleo interjected firmly, "you know what you have to do to stay with us, right?" He prompted.
Sorey nodded. "Right." He met Velvet's gaze firmly. "That is, if you travel with us, you can't kill." His words were final. "That is the only requirement I have for you."
Velvet remarked dryly, "And here I was hoping you'd let me kill at one hellion a day." At their collectively aghast looks, she rolled her eyes. "I'm kidding." She drawled, waving a hand in the air. "I wasn't planning on it anyways, now that I know how much you care about the hellions you fight."
"…Right." Sorey grinned sheepishly. "I suppose it does sound a little weird, wanting to save the lives of attacking monsters trying to kill you."
"Such is the lot of the Shepherd." Mikleo shrugged helplessly. "And Sorey's hell-bent on doing just that, regardless of how dangerous it is." He glared at the man in question. "Because he's a stupid idiot."
"Hey!" Sorey grumbled good-naturedly.
"If that's the case," Velvet rested her bandaged arm on her hip, "We'd better get going… after we purify these hellions."
Alisha blinked. "Oh! That's right! Sorey!" She prompted.
"A-ah! I forgot!" The Shepherd yelped, whirling around and glancing around for the scattered unconscious bodies of the beaten hellions that had yet to be purified. "I'm sorry!" He apologized as he jogged over to them, pulling out his sword and channeling the blue flames from within his body. Mikleo and Alisha followed quick on his heels to help provide first aid to the purified hellions.
Velvet rolled her eyes. "…He's a strange one, that's for sure." She mumbled to herself.
Suddenly, she blinked, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. She turned to her right and found Lailah staring directly at her, an uncharacteristically solemn expression on her face. The fire seraph had been silent the entire exchange, standing away from the others and watching the exchange with a terse expression.
Velvet looked away, her eyes narrowing.
She'd been found out.
A night breeze blew through the sparse forest, rustling the leaves above in a symphony of chatting twigs and murmuring leaves. A branch cracked loudly as it was crushed under Velvet's steel boots; the therion was making her way through the forest with a single-minded drive, her eyes easily making out her surroundings despite the lack of a moon in the sky. Quietly, the raven-haired woman trotted uphill, pushing her way through the foliage hiding underneath the trees with steady, measured steps.
Eventually, she managed to climb her way up to the top of a tall hill overlooking the rest of the forest. A chilly breeze blew once more, causing her hair and black coat to billow behind her like a cape. In the distance, her enhanced eyesight could discern the group's campsite in the forest down below. They would be far enough away for what was about to happen and not realize anything was amiss.
Good.
And then, she stood there, waiting with her arms hanging at her side and with her eyes idly scanning the moonless night sky.
It wasn't long before Lailah arrived behind her, her steps soft and cautious.
"…All that talk of trying to find your 'cousin.'" The fire seraph's voice was deceptively soft. "Was it… all just a lie?"
Velvet shook her head softly. "…Not all of it." She muttered into the cold night air, her eyes distant.
Her steel boots crunching on gravel echoed deafeningly loud in the quiet as she turned around to face the seraph, a cold, impassive expression carved on her face. Her amber eyes seemed to glow in the surrounding darkness.
"It's just not why I'm here." She stated, coldly meeting Lailah's gaze.
SQUELCH!
Lailah's eyes widened in horror as an untold amount of malevolence erupted from the hellion before her, bursting out in waves of pure miasma. A vortex of unnatural wind blew out from the woman's form, violently disturbing the surrounding forest for miles around. An unnatural thrum ran through the ground under the seraph's feet, causing her to stumble in shock and disbelief.
"A domain?!" Lailah gasped, recovering her footing and snapping her head up in disbelief towards the source of all the dense malevolence.
The former Lord of Calamity stood calmly before the seraph, her true self bared to the world. Her figure was framed by the moonless night sky while her hair and coat billowed behind her in the gusts of her own domain. At her side, held with the familiarity of something inherently part of herself, hung a sickeningly familiar pulsating claw.
Lailah held a hand up to her mouth in horror. "It was you!" She gasped. "That night in the meadow!" Shaking her head, the seraph took an impassioned step forward. "Why?! Why did you attack us?"
Velvet idly examined the back of her claw. The three wounds that had been inflicted by Mikleo were healing well, she was pleased to see. She glanced over at Lailah and shrugged lightly. "I had to make sure this one wasn't a tyrant." She explained.
"You mean… Sorey?!" Lailah's eyes were wide as she registered the meaning behind her words.
Velvet let her daemon claw lower to her side as she faced the seraph fully. She waved her human hand idly over her shoulder. "I had to ensure that the tool I was planning on using would be easy to wield, didn't I?"
"T-tool…!" Lailah seemed lost for words. "Just what are you planning, Velvet Crowe?!" She demanded over the roaring winds.
Velvet raised an intrigued eyebrow.
"…Out of curiosity, what gave me away?" She asked lightly. "Took you quite a while to connect the dots."
Lailah shook her head heatedly. "I..." Her aghast eyes seemed fixated on Velvet's claw. "Your words today… they reminded me of something... He told me once…" She mumbled under her breath.
Velvet looked away, off into the tainted air. "…I'm assuming you mean Maotelus." She muttered. The name tasted wrong on her tongue.
"…" Lailah's silence didn't surprise the therion.
She let out a huff. "…Right, your oath." Velvet sighed, waving a hand in the air. "I'm still piecing together the pieces, but from what it looks like, things have really gone sideways around here since I've been gone." She let out a huff of disbelief.
"Been… gone?" Lailah mumbled.
Velvet shook her head, declining to elaborate.
Instead, she addressed the seraph's earlier words. "As to what I'm planning…" She shifted on her feet, easily resting her human hand on her right hip.
"…I'm here to save Maotelus." Velvet stated simply.
The howling of the untamed winds and the thrumming of the disturbed earth filled the shocked silence after Velvet's declaration.
Ignoring Lailah's wide-eyed expression, Velvet let out a huff, idly extending her gauntlet blade and examining her reflection in the polished steel. "…Strange, huh? A Lord of Calamity trying to save the life of one of the Five Lords?" She muttered, a peculiar pensiveness flitting through her expression.
"I… I don't understand." Lailah shook her head helplessly. "Why would you want to save Him?"
The woman let out a light sigh. "Why indeed?" She muttered.
With a click, Velvet's gauntlet blade collapsed back into its sheath as she let her arm fall back against her side. She abruptly turned to face Lailah fully with narrowed eyes. All of a sudden, that horrifying claw seemed even more intimidating.
"That's not what you need to worry about, Lailah." Velvet mumbled, taking a measured step forwards through the gravel towards the seraph. All around her, the domain shifted, following the source of the malevolence with her every move. Her expression didn't change as she held the nervous seraph's gaze as she approached.
She stopped directly in front of the seraph, her daemon claw slowly raising up to fill the space between them. "What you need to worry about…"
With a violent crash, the massive fingers clenched in an explosion of malevolence. Lailah instinctively flinched away from the unnatural corruption.
Velvet's expression as grim. "Is what will happen to Soreyif you say a word to him about me."
Visibly forcing herself not to recoil from the hellion in front of her, Lailah gathered herself and met the monster's eyes forcibly, her spine stiffening. "…I will do whatever I want when it comes to the Shepherd's wellbeing." She declared firmly, heedless of the danger staring her back in the face.
"Then we should have nothing to worry about." Velvet gave a humorless smile, letting her daemon claw fall back against her side and waving her other hand in the air. "After all," she reasoned, "the only way I can save Maotelus is by making sure the Shepherd becomes strong enough to do so for me."
Her eyes narrowed. "But don't worry. If the Shepherd turns out to be a waste of time for me, well." She shrugged callously. "I'm a daemon. I can just devour him and wait for the next one to appear in the next few centuries and try again. It's no problem for me." She assured.
"You…" Lailah shook her head shakily.
"…You're just like He said you were like." She muttered.
Raising an eyebrow, Velvet shifted on her feet. "I'm sure He was right." She agreed, a strange expression on her face. Her eyes shifted to Lailah's. "…Then you know how much I'm willing to go when it comes to getting what I want." She prompted.
"…I do." Lailah's jaw was set.
"We're on the same page, then." Velvet seemed satisfied. Her eyes narrowed. "In that case, I have a question for you."
"…What?"
The therion's expression had gone dead serious. "Is the Armatus safe?" She asked lowly.
Lailah blinked. "The… Armatus? It's been safe for almost a millennium now. Why…?" She mumbled in confusion.
"Good." Velvet nodded sharply. With precise movements, the therion pivoted on her left foot and began to walk past Lailah.
"…And one more thing." She added, halting in her tracks behind the seraph. "Sorey may disappear from time to time during the night. You're to keep the group from finding out about these times, understood?" She ordered into the air.
"Disappearing?" Lailah turned around to face the therion in surprise. "What will you be doing to him?!" She implored.
Velvet gave her a look. "My tools need to be honed if I'm ever to use them." She said in means of explanation. "And right now, Sorey's pretty damn miserable of a tool. Just keep the others from finding out, would you?" She smirked. "You'll do fine. You're pretty good at keeping secrets from them already, aren't you?"
Lailah didn't have anything to say to that.
"I've already tried to train him once a few nights ago, but he's proving annoyingly resistant to putting up any sort of fight." Velvet grumbled as an aside. She raised an eyebrow at Lailah. "I take it he hasn't mentioned anything to any of you about the incident?"
"N-no." Lailah admitted, horrified to be hearing all of this for the first time. "He hasn't said anything out of the ordinary."
Velvet let out a huff, shaking his head. "He really is a moron." She muttered under his breath. "He's way too sure of himself sometimes."
As the therion began to walk off down the hill, Lailah remembered herself. "Wait!" She called. "Just how are you doing this?!"
Velvet stopped and turned back to her inquisitively. "Doing what?"
Lailah's arm shot outwards to gesture around them. "Your domain! Just how have you been hiding it to the point where none of the seraphim can feel it?!" She yelled over the howling winds.
In response, Velvet simply closed her eyes and concentrated.
To the fire seraph's astonishment, the domain began to dissipate as quickly as it had appeared. The winds began to die down, while the floating particles of malevolence began to naturally break down in the air.
"I… Impossible…!" Lailah breathed.
Opening her eyes, the now undetectable hellion put a hand on her hip. "Not really." She waved a hand in the air. "I was pretty much forced to develop the technique over the years…"
"…Considering how my domain increases the resonance of nearby humans."
Lailah's eyes were wide.
"Call it a figment of a forgotten god." Velvet elaborated vaguely. "A god that once upon a time caused the whole world to see seraphim and hellions alike." Her eyes were distant.
"And now…" She clenched her right fist. "…I'm the only remaining proof of his existence." She mumbled.
"…But that's beside the point." She shrugged, waving her still-pulsating daemon claw. "The point is that I can suppress my domain to the point where it's undetectable, but at a price." She met Lailah's eyes. "It's one of the reasons why I'll be disappearing to teach Sorey as well. To expel built-up malevolence in the process."
Lailah's mind was a whirl with the implications of such an ability. "You mean to say… the malevolence… collects inside of you as you suppress it?" She asked, aghast.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Velvet shrugged.
"But then what if you hit your body's limit?! Surely even you have one?" Lailah breathed. "Then, if that were to happen, all of the malevolence-!"
"-Would overflow and would most likely turn any nearby seraphim into dragons in moments." Velvet's words were callous, her expression unchanged. "I'd imagine that doesn't sound very appealing to you."
Horror was in Lailah's eyes. "Y-you know this, yet you still…?" She stammered.
Velvet's jaw was set.
"Like I said." With a precise spin on her heel, the therion turned around and resumed her downhill walk back towards camp. "I'll do anything to get what I want."
"That's just the sort of hellion I am."
Just like that, the therion left, leaving Lailah alone on the lonely hilltop, surrounded by moonless sky, windless air, and silence.
Shakily, the fire seraph fisted her left hand and brought it up to her chest, willing her racing heart to stop beating. "…Velvet Crowe." Lailah breathed under her breath.
Her expression fell into sorrow. "…Oh, Sorey." She mumbled hopelessly. "Just what have I gotten you into…?"
All around her, the silence continued.
"Ahahaha!" Sorey's face was nearly red from laughter at the sight.
"Sh-shut the hell up!" Mikleo sputtered back, clumsily fumbling around and trying not to get himself even more wet.
He abruptly blinked, having found a bandaged hand offering him aid out of the creek.
Velvet raised an eyebrow, humor evident in her eyes. "Is this some sort of training for water seraphim or something?" She asked dryly, gesturing with her proffered hand at Mikleo's form.
By her side, Alisha muffled her giggle with both hands.
The water seraph had accidentally tripped and fallen into a creek by the side of the trading road to the amusement of the entire group, travelling for yet another day down the countryside towards Marlind.
The sun was high in the sky and a soft breeze was blowing, rustling the sparse trees dotting the land alongside the babbling creek. Insects buzzed and chirped from their nooks and crannies hidden among the waterside plants. In the distance, a flock of ducks swam idly in the waters, fishing in the clear waters. High in the sky, pure white fluffy clouds drifted alongside the bright sun, occasionally blocking the sunlight for brief periods of times.
It was just another peaceful day of travelling.
Face completely red in humiliation, Mikleo haughtily turned his nose up and accepted Velvet's hand with as much dignity as he could muster, pulling himself out of the creek, soaking wet from head to toe.
"Th-thanks." He muttered under his breath.
Sorey trotted up to the two of them with a wide grin on his face. "I didn't know you could make such high-pitched noises, Mikleo." He remarked wryly, stopping before them with his hands on his hips. "I guess you learn something new every day." He supposed thoughtfully.
Mikleo's glare was murderous. "…Oh, I can teach you something else right now." His hand twitched.
Velvet gave Sorey an idle glance. "I'd start running, if I were you." She advised lightly.
Sorey blinked in confusion. "Huh?"
He abruptly registered the casting staff in Mikleo's hands.
The man's eyes instantly widened, his open hands coming up defensively. "O-oh! W-wait! Mikleo!" He backpedaled hastily. "Hold on a sec! We can talk this through!"
"Oh yeah?" Mikleo growled vengefully, advancing upon the hapless Shepherd. "I don't think so." With an ominous hum, the seraph began charging a low-power arte at the tip of his staff.
Sorey balked.
"G-GYAAAAH!" He screamed, breaking into a full retreat.
"STAND STILL!" Mikleo demanded, charging after his friend.
Alisha and Velvet exchanged fond eye-rolls as the two idiots began their chase down the road, both running at full tilt.
"…I guess we'd better chase after them." Velvet shook her head wryly.
"Hah, I suppose so." Alisha let out a huff of amusement, resuming to walk in the direction the two men had ran off in. "It never ceases to amaze how brotherly those two are." She remarked.
Velvet shrugged as she walked. "Those two never cease to amaze, period." She let out a breath, waving a hand in the air. "I'll never understand how Sorey came to be a Shepherd."
Alisha hummed thoughtfully. "Perhaps…" she supposed, "It's because of how unique Sorey is that he was able to become the one to take on the mantle of the world's savior."
"The world's savior… huh?" Velvet breathed.
"…Well." Velvet gave Alisha a shrug. "Good luck to him, I suppose."
The princess nodded firmly, looking forward. "I myself have upmost faith in Sorey." She affirmed. "I know from the bottom of my heart that he is exactly what this world needs right now. Someone different."
"…Right." Velvet muttered.
Right on cue, Sorey and Mikleo turned the corner of the trail up ahead, both utterly soaking wet from head to toe, wide grins on their faces as they tried their best to squeeze the water out of their clothing.
Sorey raised a hand. "Come on guys!" He yelled excitedly. "We found a lake up a head! It looks like a perfect spot for lunch!"
"…Well, 'different' is one way to put it, I suppose." Velvet smirked.
Alisha laughed, covering her mouth.
"Hey, what's so funny?!"
"Nothing of note!" Alisha called back easily, grinning.
Mikleo and Sorey exchanged looks. "Girls." Mikleo sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Haha, yeah." Sorey responded easily.
Velvet and Alisha eventually made their way up to Sorey and Mikleo, whom were still trying their best to dry their soaking wet hair in the hot summer sun.
Sorey blinked. "Say, where's Lailah?"
Velvet gestured over her shoulder with her head down the path. "She's back there." She pointed out, referring to the fire seraph trailing far behind the group in the path.
Alisha nodded deeply, her brow furrowing. "Now that you mention it… Lailah has been awful quiet lately. I hope she's alright."
"Really?" Sorey asked worriedly.
Velvet shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe she didn't get enough sleep last night." She suggested.
"…You're probably right." Sorey nodded seriously. "If that's the case, then we have to go make sure she has good food to eat for lunch then!" He turned to Mikleo. "Come on! Let's go make some snacks for her!"
"I'll try to be as much of a help as I can." Alisha promised.
"That would be great if you could." Mikleo nodded appreciatively. "Let's go."
As the three of them walked off, Velvet trailed behind, her steps slow and meandering as she let distance grow between her and the others. All around her, the buzzing of insects and the chirping of birds continued, meshing with the babbling of the creek and the rustling of leaves. The bright summer day continued all around the disguised hellion, as if there was nothing wrong in the world.
Velvet turned her head over her shoulder and made eye contact with Lailah. She clenched her bandaged hand violently.
Visibly shaken, Lailah nodded her head deeply, reaffirming her intentions to the hellion. She would not tell the group anything. She would not tell them of the fake in their group.
For the only way to ascertain Sorey's relative safety was to give in to the monster's demands.
Grimly satisfied, Velvet resumed her steps and moved to catch up with the group, intending to help Mikleo with lunch before the idiot seraph burnt the damn thing again. She knew she had nothing to fear from Lailah. The fire seraph already had so many secrets that a few more would not bother her. A small, satisfied smirk grew on her face as she walked on, feeling Lailah's eyes on her back.
Things were going to plan.
End of Part 1 – Means to an End.