Intertwine Fate

Chapter 2

Cassandra Llion

Two days later, Epyon reached Orario during the evening as he walked the dark road in this mysterious city with roaming gods. As he walked with his head down his intentions were clear he didn't want anyone to see his face since he was accustomed to assassinating people from the shadows. Epyon reminisces about the time when he was a child and he used to live a happy life with his mother in Orario. After such a long journey he began to feel hungry he made a small prayer to Zeus hoping to find an open establishment like a tavern or an inn for a chance to have some food and a place to sleep for the night. Epyon was distracted when he heard a commotion near him, wanting to avoid trouble he tried to ignore it by walking away.

Suddenly, Epyon heard a girl scream saying "Not to get near her!" Normally he would never try to interfere in these types of situations. But what was the best way to find information on the dark side of the city? By collecting information from all the criminals he will run into an encounter in the future. Plus, what type of man would he be if he let a girl be violated? Epyon, has a strong despise for this type of individual and won't hesitate to kill them on his moral principles to get rid of this trash from the world. He was no hero since his hands were also dirty with the blood of innocence, and by doing good deeds from time to time he felt it a small source of repentance. And without a second thought, he slowly stepped into the shadows before he vanished.

"Hey, girl I see you're not from around these parts. why don't you come with us? I'm sure we could have a really good time?" A man said sneering at her with eyes full of lust, catching such a beautiful flower at this time of night made all the men laugh in a lewd way.

"No! I'm not going anywhere with you men. And I not trying to have a good time with you either so please stop! Don't get any closer! I'm warning you if you continue this type of act the Apollo Familia will find out and kill you all. But there is something worse will happen to you if you don't run away and leave me alone. I saw it in a vision if you men don't stop most of you will have quick deaths, while the rest of you will have very slow deaths. If you continue this the shadow will come for all of you, and death will be granted t-to y-you all." Cassandra stuttered as she tried to placate these bandits and thieves while feeling terrified of what was to come.

"It doesn't matter what you have to say, I'm going to be tasting your body once we get you to the hideout. And after I'm done enjoying myself with you, you're going to serve the rest of my friends for the rest of the night." The leader of the group said with a lewd sneer as he licked his lips in anticipation.

"Are you out of your mind, you know my Apollo Familia is one of the strongest around. Do you think they're going to let one of their members get violated like that?" Cassandra replied with a quivering voice, as she held her wand to defend herself.

"It doesn't matter because once we have a fill of your body, then we will sell you as a sex slave to the Ishtar Familia." The leader laughed at the girl's naive way of thinking as his men kept getting closer to her to subdue her.

The leader tried to grab Cassandra, but she jumped back out of his reach, tripped on some debris, and fell on her plump rear. The man seeing an opportunity dived on top of her to get better control of her movements to capture her. One of the men became too excited and ripped the front of her outfit, exposing her hidden assets as the rest of the men laughed and whistled. All the while Cassandra was crying and screaming for help while trying to fight this beast off of her. When the man had complete control of her he began to lift her while another man gagged her with the piece that was ripped off her clothes.

Suddenly, a man dressed in all black appeared while holding an all-black sword with a single-edge blade swung it casually, faster than anyone could see, and off went the leader's head. Epyon did a spin kick sending the man holding the girl's legs flying in the opposite direction and the two men who were holding her by the arms, heads flew off showering her full of blood as she was dropped as the men's bodies fell lifeless to the ground. Everyone who was there and witnessed the scene was too shocked to comprehend what happened in front of them, even Cassandra was having a hard time processing what happened as she was trying to compare her vision and what was happening in front of her. Then blood started to spray all over the place making the scene in between the buildings look like a gory mess. Epyon whispered something before he twirled his sword in front of him when all the blood began to rise in the air in front of the sword as it began to absorb all the blood. Then a shadow raced across the ground where the dead body had fallen, it slowly sank into the shadow and disappeared. Then the stranger spoke to them in a very jovial tone, as he looked at everyone in front of him like they were pieces of trash.

"I hope every one of you had a nice meal tonight. Because this evening is more likely going to be the end of the road for all of you. Now go ahead and sacrifice your blood to me tonight." Epyon stated it with a smile on his face, to the group of bandits and thevies that were still alive.

The spectacle was just too absurd for them to comprehend as they felt a shiver run down their spines, they never expected the stranger to outright kill their leader without hesitation. The fact that he was able to kill a high-level 3 adventurer with a single swing of his sword, was a terrifying sight. And it didn't help that the stranger had a magic sword. They understood now they would be extremely lucky if they managed to get out of this situation alive. Now that they think of it they should have listened to the girl that was telling them earlier.

"You ten over there surround that bastard on my signal, and attack him at the same time. While the rest of us will cover you with magic spells, he'll wish he never messed with us and our Familia. He won't be able to attack all of us, we should be able to kill him with our large numbers." A tall lean man while wearing a cloak and holding a staff said to the rest of the group.

The rest of the adventures nodded in understanding as they prepared themselves to attack the stranger. Every single one of them had a foreboding feeling but they had no choice in the matter. If they couldn't take vengeance against a lone individual who killed their leader then why are they even here? Once they gained their resolve, they were able to set up their positions and waited for their orders. Suddenly Epyon got in a fighting stance and another sword appeared out of thin air.

At the same time, Cassandra was terrified at the whole situation she found herself in. She could only watch from the ground and she covered herself as best she could and watched the "shadow reaper" from her premonition kill the scum of the world. She could only lament that her Familia's god Apollo had picked her to get the errands, and not someone else. She went to ask her best friend to go with her, but unfortunately, she was sent out on a different mission. Cassandra is a mage and just became level 3 not too long ago.

She is a support type of mage with the healing ability, one of many in the Familia. One of the reasons she is looked down upon is because of her personality and her gentle demeanor. And the second reason no one tries taking her to the dungeon is because of her pessimism, it tends to bring the morale down of the Familia members. That is why most of the Apollo Familia look down on her and think she is weak and a waste of resources. And has never gained enough confidence to fight on the front lines, even if she is one of the best healers in the Apollo Familia.

Cassandra nervously made her way to the Blue pharmacy, not realizing that she was being followed by some evil god's Familia members. All of a sudden she was ambushed by some lowlife adventurers, and this was the outcome she found herself in not knowing what to do. She couldn't run because she was scared and was being attacked by a larger man ripping her clothes leaving her chest exposed. But thanks to the stranger who stopped the attack they were surrounded. She could only hope that they manage to get out of this situation alive, she could only wish her savior good luck.

"Get him!" The magician leading the adventurers shouted it as he sent 10 of them to attack at the same time.

While the rest of the mages stood back to find an opportunity to fire off their spells. The next moment the Epyon vanished before reappearing this time in the middle of two adventurers stabbing one through the face. The other guy had a look of surprise as his face slowly morphed to horror when he saw the black sword being raised. And faster than anyone could perceive Epyon swung his sword diagonally bisecting the man in half. Nobody was able to move because their bodies were paralyzed with fear.

The adventurers watched as this demon slowly began to vanish once again when they heard another pair of screams. What they saw next was a black sword stabbed right through the adventurer's mouth going through the back of his head while the other got his head decapitated. Then the same thing repeated once more as the man slowly vanished and reappeared behind two other adventurers and stabbed them through the back of the head. Immediately after that the magicians began to fire off magic spells, hoping to be able to hit the shadowy stranger. But their wish never came true because the next moment.

Epyon whispered something else then swung his sword at the last moment the mages thought that they had him right where they wanted him. They chose to sacrifice their remaining comrade's lives for a chance to kill the stranger. But they never anticipated the fact that the man's second sword, he pulled out, was able to nullify magic. He then quickly killed off the remaining adventurers, before focusing his attention on the rest of the mages. All they saw was a smile from underneath the hood and all of them knew that they were prey and were about to die.

"I see, if I were any other weak adventurer your plan might have worked, but unfortunately for you fellows, I stumbled into you guys. So don't have to worry since you will embrace the everlasting sleep of eternity by tasting my blades soon enough. Now prepare yourself and try not to die so quickly either, I like for my prey to think they have a chance to live before they die." Epyon said as he summoned 4 shadow clones stealthily behind him.

"Now the 4 of you run and see if you can survive till morning. I'll give you 30 seconds to run before my clones hunt you down and kill you. " Epyon said as the group of men scattered like ants trying to survive.

"As for you my sword Kyūketsu is hungry for blood so make sure to feed it well ok, I will thank you from the bottom of my heart," Epyon said as he slowly walked over to the nearby person and stabbed him in the gut.

The man began to scream from the pain, what truly horrified the man was that he could feel the blood being drained out of him by the sword. Epyon started his torture and interrogation session with the man who spilled everything source of information he knew. Before he started to scream once again it didn't take long for the man to fall over and die and a few minutes later the body's flesh and bones were all that remained. It was a sight that would haunt anyone's dreams for the rest of their lives and during this time this was being conducted in a dark alley in the open, but no one heard a single noise and that was because of Epyon's special amulet. When he was all over he used his skill shadow clones to erase the evidence of foul play that occurred. Epyon then turned his attention to the traumatized girl who looked pale after watching such a brutal way to kill a person.

"Miss, are you ok? Are you hurt in any way? Did these pieces of trash violate you? Epyon asked in a gentle voice as he pulled back his hood, only for Cassandra to see such a handsome man.

Epyon noticed that her clothes were torn, exposing an impressive size of her breast, while trying to keep her modesty. He quickly pulled out one of his white shirts and a winter coat from his storage ring. Epyon wanted to make sure she was all covered up before they were able to have a conversation. He then got her attention and handed over the clothes and told her to put them on. Nodding in a daze she obediently listened to his command, still in shock at what happened. Knowing that a lady needs her privacy, Epyon guided her near some crates and told her to quickly change as he turned around to keep watch no one tried to see her change.

Cassandra was eternally grateful to the man since he provided her with some clothes to wear she soon realized that the man had seen her bare breast hence the reason for handing over these clothes to her. Cassandra's face turned red knowing that he had been the only man to bear witness to her assets while silly thoughts ran through her mind. She took off her ripped mage's dress and grabbed the long white shirt that happened to belong to the stranger who saved her. Before she put it on she brought it close to her face and took a deep sniff of it, her cheeks turning pink when she caught herself doing such a scandalous act. She couldn't believe that she had some perverted thoughts crossed her mind since she was at the age where young women get embraced. A few minutes later She came out from behind the crates wearing the stranger's underclothes to keep her modesty.

"I-I-I'm so-sorry for n-not answering you r-right away, I-I'm alright n-now. I-I was in total s-shock this happen t-to me. T-to answer your other qu-question, I-I-I was able t-to f-f-fight him off. Long enough t-t-till you step-in t-to h-help me." Cassandra said while feeling shy talking to the man since she didn't know how to feel about him.

Once Epyon saw that she was feeling better he noticed that she was a beautiful young woman. From what he could tell she has a shy but calm personality which would make her a decent person. He was about to ask her for some information but when he looked at her again. He chose to wait because he didn't want to look so insensitive towards her after what happened. So he decided to introduce himself since it was the right thing to do at least that is what he thought.

"OK then let me introduce myself, my name is Epyon Cranel and I just arrived in Orario this evening. So who might you be?" He said as he gave her a gentle smile, putting her heart at ease, as he gave her a hand to stand.

"T-t-thank you ma-ma-my name is Ca-Cassandra Llion it's a pleasure to meet you Epyon Cranel," Cassandra replied as her cheeks turned pink once again as she felt embarrassed as her imagination was running wild.

"No, my dear Cassandra, the honor is all mine," Epyon said as he lifted her hand and kissed the back of the hand.

At that very moment, Cassandra's mind went blank when the handsome man kissed her hand, and it didn't help matters when he kept calling her "Beautiful" making her heart skip a few beats. Then her imagination put her in different scenarios with him from dates to battles and marriage. Having kids with him and happily growing old. She was snapped out of her thoughts when she felt something in her chest.

Bud-dump, bud-dump, bud-dump,

She didn't know what this feeling was since this was the first time this had ever happened. This whole scene felt like something she read in a romance story she used to read when she was a little girl. The sign of love at first sight could be seen almost immediately in the girl's eyes.

Bud-dump, bud-dump, bud-dump,

"Hey Cassandra are you sure you are feeling alright? By the looks of it, you seem really out of it." Epyon told her his concerns tone since she was in a daze in her fantasy world.

While Cassandra was stuck in her dilution, Epyon took a closer look at the young woman. He was surprisingly happy that he was able to save such a beautiful girl. She has dark navy-blue hair that goes down to her waist, while a part of her hair covers the left side of her face. She has beautiful light green eyes. To him she looked like she could be a future wife material when she got older, she would be a bombshell.

Cassandra snapped out of her deep thoughts and took a minute to get herself composed. But she wanted to get to know the man since it was not every day a handsome mysterious man rescued a clumsy, awkward girl from a fate worse than death. After a long while Cassandra regained her consciousness, and started to think out loud since she thought she was in a dream.

"Wow, I had the weirdest dream ever. I was sent by Apollo our Familia's god to go pick up an errand from the Blue Pharmacy. On the way, I was grabbed and assaulted to the point of almost getting raped by some adventures. Then a very scary stranger saved me and killed those men. Hahaha serves them right they could go to hell. But a stranger pulled down his hood I think I fell in love with that man from my dream. He was so handsome and brave he made my heart skip a few beats a few times. And to top it off I never had a man tell me that I'm beautiful except for my father. I can't believe my dream had so much chaos and blood that it was scary." Cassandra said leaving Epyon at a loss for words not knowing how to feel about a woman confessing her love to him.

"Huh, excuse me my dear but that was not a dream, you have been in a daze for the longest time now. And thank you for all the compliments it really means a lot having such a beautiful girl to show me so much praise." Epyon said with a smile knowing very well that she was an innocent young woman.

"Why-why-why it can't be. D-did I-I-I say all of t-that out loud." Cassandra yelled out in embarrassment, she now wishes to dig a hole and die.

"Cassandra please calm down and take a deep breath and when you are ready can you answer a few questions if you wouldn't mind," Epyon said to calm her down and focus on him and the questions he was about to ask.

"Yes, I could do that, that's the least I could do for you," Cassandra said in a shy voice but had the eagerness to do as he requested.

"I hope you don't take this the wrong way but why is such a beautiful young lady walking all alone in the late night hours?" Epyon asked calmly and gently, she nodded in response to his query.

Once Cassandra calmed down she began to explain to him everything that led to their current time. Satisfied with her explanation Epyon understood that she still had a mission to complete, otherwise, she wouldn't get paid and might get punished. Charmed by her personality and wanting to get to know her better he decided to go with her as a guard. After witnessing what happened he was not going to give anyone a chance to harm her, so many unsavory people could be roaming in the night. Cassandra accepted his offer then they both went off together to finish up her mission and it gave her a chance to get to know him as well.

Cassandra began to tell Epyon about herself and how her family was wealthy, so she got the best education many could buy. But while at school she was forced to join the Apollo Familia, while threatening her family and blackmailing them. Cassandra told him that she had just turned 18 years old and she is at level 3, and is a healer mage making her a support type. She is not treated very well by her familia because of her constant pessimism and is constantly overlooked for other members to go into the dungeon. Cassandra has minimum battle experience only when her best friend Daphne takes her to the dungeon by force.

She fears that it could be her last days alive since no one except for her best friend will try to help her. Cassandra kept talking about herself about her real family like her mother and father and how she missed them. She wishes to become a little bit stronger so she can be useful to her Familia. Epyon right away could tell that she was just a pawn for the god Apollo and didn't care about her life. He continued to listen to her speak about her goals and dreams when she stopped talking and told Epyon they arrived at the shop.

"So what are you picking up from here?" Epyon asked as he saw the little shop's name.

"I assume that I'm picking up potions as in which ones I have no clue. Epyon, can you wait here for me while I get our order." Cassandra requested as he nodded his agreement she went inside leaving him on his own.

Epyon scans the whole area just to make sure no other criminals are around. Once he was satisfied that no one was lurking or acting suspicious he just waited patiently for Cassandra to return. He had a feeling that he was going to enjoy living in this city since there was so much crime going around behind the scenes. He could surely make enough currency to bring more people from the Far East and give them a better life. Ten minutes later Cassandra came out of the little shop holding two bags and wearing a different outfit from when she entered.

"Epyon let me thank you again for saving me and lending your clothes to protect my modesty, so here is your winter coat back. I am truly grateful for your kindness." Cassandra commented as she bowed in thanks, getting a nod from the man.

"Don't worry about it, let's get you back home before your best friend begins to worry about you," Epyon replied as he smiled at her, not realizing that she ended up keeping his white shirt as a prize treasure to smell his scent whenever she would be alone for comfort time.k

Epyon began to ask her if there was an inn or a tavern where he could find a place to sleep and get some food before bed. She began to explain everything to him that he needed to know about Orario, the marketplace to buy food and weapons. She told him that some Familia have businesses on the side to make either extra income or to just survive everyday living expenses. Then you have the Babal dungeon where you could make a lot of currency, become famous, or be very unlucky to die there. Once she was done explaining everything she asked about himself, knowing that this was about to happen even though it took longer than he expected he began to tell her.

Epyon told her that he was born in Orario but then his father vanished not knowing if he was dead or alive. While his mother, saddened by the turn of events, moved back to the Far East and took him with her, his older brother and sister-in-law died but not before giving birth to a child. Some years later his mother passed away, at that time he was still too young to make the trip to Orario to find his missing nephew. He wanted to raise him to become a warrior to at least be able to protect himself, and also to be around family. At this moment he doesn't belong to a Familia and is looking to find a small one for him and his cousin to grow and bring more people in. Epyon told her enough to sedate her curiosity, he hoped that she wouldn't ask him any question he didn't want to answer.

"Epyon I notice you haven't mentioned your level or maybe the former Familia you were in in the past?" Cassandra asked out of curiosity because in her eyes she was extremely powerful to be a weak adventure.

"I'm strong enough, that is all you need to know, it will be safer this way. I would really hate to see something unfortunate happen to you. Cassandra, I'm glad I was able to meet such an honest kind girl, someone I could definitely see myself with in the future. In my opinion, you are very beautiful and I would hate to put you in danger because of me. I could never forgive myself if that were to happen to you." Epyon said as he walked staring forward with a serious look on his face.

Cassandra was about to say something when she noticed she was finally home by the guard house. She was a little sad that her time with Epyon was ending and she didn't know when she would be able to see him again. Cassandra hopes she will be able to get lucky and maybe go out on a date with him and catch up on things.

"Epyon we are here, this is where the Apollo Familia residents. Thank you for escorting me to the shop and back to my living place. I really appreciated it." Cassandra said as she heard Daphne calling for her not knowing how her friend knew she was home already.

"No worries when I get settled in the city I hope to run into you once again, maybe you would like to go out for dinner with me?" Epyon commented, surprising her that he would want to see her again and on a date.

He then walked up to her then lifted her chin to look into her beautiful eye before Epyon brushed her hair that covered the left side of her ear then said "Much better" I could not see your true beauty and your lovely eyes Cassandra." Then he gave a kiss on the cheek in front of everyone, then he spoke for the final time. "Have a good night and sweet dreams." Epyon turned around and left like nothing ever happened leaving everyone who witnessed the scene dumbfounded.

Once Epyon was out of sight a big uproar broke out, with what they just witnessed, they couldn't believe that one of the girls of their Familia was swept off her feet with just a few words and a kiss on the cheeks. The whole surrounding was left speechless, seeing such an unbelievable sight. Daphne froze just like everyone else who saw what happened but she was able to recover and rushed to her best friend to find out "What the hell was that" she thought to herself. When she reached Cassandra's side she noticed that her friend lost consciousness, while her face was red like a tomato and her eyes were glazed over. Daphne tried to shake her friend to make her respond the only thing it did was make her faint in Daphne's arms only to get a sigh from the tomboyish friend.

She vowed to get some answer from Cassandra if it was the last thing she could do. Daphne threw her friend over her shoulder and took Cassandra back to her room. Since it was already late into the evening Daphne left Cassandra to get some good rest. She wondered why she was wearing an adventurer outfit instead of her mage robes. Many questions were popping into her head, but not enough answers she was able to come up with for now all she could do was wait till Cassandra woke up.

Epyon was able to get a lot of good information from Cassandra. From what he noticed she was an innocent girl who got caught up in a troublesome god's, line of sight. He would have to wait to see how to free her and her friend and get them to join his future party.

Epyon was able to get to the tavern without a problem, the tavern sounded lively inside. He was able to get his dinner and room for the night since he had a long day tomorrow. When he finished eating he went back to his room, he began to wipe himself off with the warm water that was left in his room after a long day. He had to go to a certain Familia place and ask to join them. He had to give that man a certain letter from Zeus explaining the whole situation and once that was cleared up he would be able to hunt monsters once again. Not long after Epyon passed out from the long day of endless troubles.

A/N: Just to be clear Cassandra Llion is going to still be a pessimistic person she was just caught off guard. I'm sure there are girls and women out there that would feel the same as she did. The OC harem will be Haruhime/Mikoto/Cassandra/Kaguya/maybe Aisha? As for Bell, to be honest I'm not even sure I would like your ideas in a review and will give a person a shout-out for it. Also the incident with the Astraea Familia 5 years before the story. I'm changing it to one of the major events to introduce my OC's true power. This is just a heads up so I won't hear anyone complaining. I'm looking for a beta reader if anyone is interested in PM. Just to let the people follow this story I have a chapter 3 rough draft going to start typing it tonight. Leave a review