Note: This took too long. I had hellish writer's block on it, and had no clue as to how to continue this chapter. I shouldn't have too much issue. Pendrago's chapter is complete, as is the chapter after it, but I just need to write the trials now. This one will somewhat cover the Earth Trial. Next chapter should be Water + Ladylake and the one after that should be the Wind trial. I might add in a fluff chapter to space out how many trials happen, we'll see.

Sorry it nearly took five months for another chapter. I'm doing my best. I did test out trying to write fights in this chapter, though!

"It shouldn't have any averse effects. Your resonance is high enough to offset any potential problems Sorey may have by taking you on as a second Squire. It is... unheard of for a Shepherd to have two Squires, but it isn't uncommon."

We'd travelled back to Goddodin to check up on the former Pope and make sure he was doing okay. Well, Sorey and the others did, but I had decided to talk to Kain. He was knowledgeable about many things, and he seemed to know more than Lailah would ever tell us. His advice was... something I needed, especially now that I wasn't able to be the Oracle.

"It's not too uncommon...?" I asked, concern in my voice. I'm sure that I also had a concerned look on my face, because he laughed and patted my head.

"It isn't. There's no need to worry, Rani. Sorey can handle you and Rose due to your resonances being higher than Alisha's." Kain ruffled my hair and I fixed it as best as I could. "So, where are you off to after this?"

"We're going to the..." I thought for a moment. "The closest place is Morgause, the Earth Trial shrine. It's within Aifread's Hunting Grounds, so.."

"Alright. I'll be staying in Goddodin for a while and then moving on afterwards. If you need me at any point..." He pulled out a small bell and handed it to me. "Ring this, and I'll come as fast as I can."

I put it in my bag after accepting it. "...Thank you, Kain. Though, could I ask something?"

"Certainly."

It was a question I'd had for a while. Why was he moving about so much? What was he looking for? Was his search along the lines of Zaveid's? A way to...

"Why are you travelling so much? Doesn't that put you at risk?" At that, he looked a little somber and looked away. And, for once, I saw something different. A speck of regret, and concern. "...I'm sorry, did I upset you...?"

"No.. There is a reason..." Kain stepped forward a little, before looking back at me. "I have a younger sister, but she's been gone for centuries. I've been looking for her. I had followed her trail here, but it's gone cold. I'll pick up clues and move on until I find her."

His sister, huh...?

"I hope you can find her someday, Kain." I offered. He chuckled, before giving me a soft pat on my head.

"Thanks. I hope you can find what you're looking for, too."

After reconvening with Sorey, Rose and the seraphim, we headed off to Aifread's Hunting Grounds. It was strange that they were called that, though perhaps Van Aifread had actually hunted there prior to- I shook my head, clearing my mind of the train of thought I was about to go down. That wasn't something I wanted to think about right now. We would have to do the trial, and get the power of Earth for Sorey. It was Edna's turn to shine, and she didn't seem too enthusiastic as we walked through the stone doors. As we did, the feeling of malevolence made us turn to what had caused it. A big, bull-like man with an axe in his hand.

"That must be the Minotauros!" Lailah exclaimed, stepping back. "Be careful, it's very powerful."

"And it's put us in such a mess..." Another voice said. My attention turned to the source, which was a man garbed in white with nothing but the lower half of his face and hands showing him to be a human... It was another Seraph. "With it standing guard there, what will we do? Such a bind it's put us in..."

He was weird.

"Shepherd Pawan?" Lailah seemed confused as to why he was here.

"Lady Lailah!" Aaand Pawan wasn't paying much attention to her eyes, as his head dipped down a little. "You're looking as lovely as ever!"

"And you're as creepy as ever." She turned away, possibly regretting her outfit choice. I let them talk amongst themselves, tuning out for a minute, as I looked over to the Minotauros. How would we make it move? It seemed impossible from our position but... Wind beat Earth, after all, so perhaps armatizing with Dezel would work in this situation.

But that would be a pickle if it was just a one-on-one...

"Huh?!" I heard Rose's shock and looked over as Pawan advanced on her. With a sigh, I put myself in front of her, pushing him back a little. He was excited because of there being women around, and was giving off a creepy vibe.

"We're here to get the Shepherd's power. No more, no less. So please stop creeping on my girlfriend." The words were out of my mouth before I realized it, and I groaned audibly. I just gave this creep more ammo. Terrific.

It seemed to stun everyone, even Pawan.

"Wait- Rani, what? Did you just call Rose your-" Sorey started, but Rose cut him off to finish his sentence.

"-girlfriend?"

"I-I mean, you're my friend! Who's also a girl. And someone who's helped me! So... uh- friend... girl... who is friend, yeah. Something like that." I tried, but failed miserably, to explain it away. I hadn't meant to use the term, but...

That was when Edna walked up to Pawan while I was trying to explain away what I actually meant and failing. It caught all of our attention, so we stopped and watched.

"Hey, mister?" Edna put on a really cutesy voice. "Edna's so lonely... She could use a big hug." She was even acting cutesy! This wasn't the Edna we knew- Perhaps it was just that, an act?

"Well! Aren't you a precious little thing! Your name is Edna?" Pawan's attention was turned from Rose and I to Edna, which was terrific. Now he'd stop being a creep- hopefully.

"Aw, please, mister! Edna's so cold!" Edna was trying her hardest.

"Oh! But... but there's a trial, you see? And we need to get to the altar and-"

And the act was dropped immediately, as Edna let out a huff of air. "Useless. Is that all you can think about? The trial?"

"I mean- the Shepherd is here for the trial, and-"

He wasn't going to get a word in edgewise acting like that. Edna seemed truly fed up with him as she walked over to the Minotauros after closing her parasol. Sorey and Lailah protested, and the Minotauros turned to face her as she stopped behind him. Oh boy, this was going to be-

"Scram."

The Minotauros looked taken aback by what Edna had said. I stared. Was this the proper course of action?

"Get. Outta. My. Face!"

With that, the Minotauros fled, and Edna seemed satisfied with herself. However, that hadn't been the proper course of action, as Pawan soon told us. The trial had been to quell the Minotauros, which had been my first thought but I hadn't really said it aloud. I'd thought it, sure, but it was obvious that, if there was a hellion...

Well, it needed to be quelled. No ifs, ands or buts... Except for the Cardinal. That was for her own good, after all... Or so I hoped it had been. Rose had done the killing, but I still wondered how it was affecting Sorey to see her killed in front of him when he wanted to quell the malevolence and turn her back to a human form.

Though, it wasn't hard to track down the Minotaurus. It'd taken a few simple steps, but we found it standing inside of one of the buildings. The bull hellion had decided to stop running, and so we would have to fight and quell it. Immediately, Sorey called for Dezel and Rose called for Mikleo. I, however, chose Edna. This was her trial, dammit, and she would need to fight too.

"Just terrific. I get you this time. Don't mess up." Edna said, her deadpan tone sounding less disappointed than earlier. "Watch the Minotauros and let me aim the punch."

"Okay." I gave a small nod in understanding, curling my hands into fists and taking a fighting stance. The rock fists to my sides did the same, following my arms. It was Edna who guided my fighting. Minotauros roared loudly, and rushed at me first. I crossed my arms in front of me, bringing the rock gauntlets in front and blocking the heavy axe swinging at me. It caused Edna to give a little grunt of pain, and I remembered she was the armour covering me.

"Sorry."

"Don't worry, just fight!" Edna said.

After he went after Rose, who had caught his attention with a perfectly-timed arrow, I ran at him and pulled my fist back, thrusting it forward. The gauntlet caught the side of the Minotauros, sending it skidding sideways before it gave a guttural roar and charged, head down. We jumped over, with Rose shooting off another arrow and Sorey sweeping his arm, sending the wind-aspected swords raining towards the Minotauros. Landing, I headed in for another punch but it got me in the side with its axe. There was no blood, just pain. Edna was getting the worst of it, but she was sturdier than I'd given her credit for. Both of us had cried out in pain when that had hit, though the pain had been temporary at best.

Rose swapped with Lailah, holding the claymore tight in her hands as she swept it in an arc towards the Minotauros. It deflected her attack and went to cleave her with the axe when I caught it in its ribs, sending it flying into the nearby wall. The sound of the wall breaking as the impact caused a Minotauros-shaped hole in it reverberated in the chamber. It roared again, and came charging out of the hole towards us. Sorey blocked its path with wind-aspected blades, and swooped in to deliver a kick. The blade cut its side and it roared again. It really liked roaring.

"It's not working!" Sorey exclaimed as we jumped over its charge yet again, trying to avoid getting hit and hurting the Seraphim. "What do we do?!"

That was when the sound hit our ears. The sound of children crying. And I stopped, remembering my own cries when I was that young. We were... fighting children... They had been bullied, hurt and damaged just like I had been, and it felt awful to know what I was doing. I stayed put, hearing the yells and screams of the people who had been meant to care for me while my mother wasn't able to. I understood too well what this meant.

"...They're crying." I said, voice low. "It's... no wonder the Minotauros ran away when Edna told them to. They're... children."

"...It's not impossible for children to become hellions. You know this, Rani. You quelled Margaret and her dog when they were hellions themselves." Lailah said. I nodded, and looked at the Minotauros before releasing the armatization. I had wanted to save them, and I had done it... but this seemed impossible. Though...

I turned to Edna. "Hey, I think you... may have something to say to them." I said. Edna looked over to me, and I saw her bright blue eyes filled with tears. She covered her face with her parasol, as if hiding that fact. She didn't like to show emotion, and I didn't blame her. But I watched, along with the others, as Edna walked up to the Minotaros.

She stared up at it.

"Sorry for scaring you." Her voice was thick with emotion, and it was obvious she was trying hard to keep herself together. "Goodbye. Rest in peace."

The hellion was purified, and several orbs of light spun in the sky before disappearing from view. Edna then turned away, to head down the path to the altar by herself. I caught up to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

We were out of view of the others, in another chamber. The altar wasn't far, maybe two or three chambers ahead of this one. Edna looked over to me, but her parasol blocked the view of her face. I knelt down and hugged her, knowing she probably wouldn't like it. But it felt right, at that moment, to let her know everything was okay.

Or maybe it was for myself, to let myself know that things were going to be okay.

I heard Edna's parasol clatter to the ground and she gripped me tight. Not pushing me away, but hugging back. Tightly, as if she needed to keep herself centered and I was the only way to do so. I held her for as long as she wanted me to, until I felt the gentle shove of her hands and broke away from her. She sniffed, wiping her face and picking up her parasol like nothing happened. I stood up and looked to where the altar was as the others came walking around the corner.

"...Thanks." Edna muttered, loud enough for only me to hear. She looked back at the others, though they couldn't really tell. Her parasol was open again, hiding her head from view. "Finally done talking? Let's get going."

Ignorance is unforgivable. I finally understand. Even if it's a pain, I'll never take the easy way out again. Though it totally is a pain.

End Note: When you say the wrong thing and try to explain yourself. Oh, Rani... But, Earth Trial complete! Though Rani did say Rose was her girlfriend, it was her trying to keep Pawan from creeping on her (when he'd probably do it anyway- I don't really like Pawan but his voice is funny) and nothing official. I don't want to rush any romances, but there might be some ship hints here and there.

Edna crying wasn't really something I thought of, but as I continued to write... it just happened. The fight scene is rough, and I had to watch the Minotaros fight to figure out how to end it without accidentally breaking canon too much. But, anyway, this has been a chapter! I should have the Water Trial up next, but who knows really?

Until next time!