Chapter 7(Interlude)
In the rain, Ryuu Lyon falls alone.

It was cold.

I staggered down the alley, my gloved hands fumbling for support against the wall as I attempted to stay upright. Rainwater mixed in with the blood that stained my green cloak, slowly washing away the only signs of battle that were on my body.

Yet, despite the blood slowly fading away from my cloak, despite the blood that was slowly washing out of my body–

That's right. I was still stained. I would always be stained. This was an unforgivable sin that could not be forgotten.

Instead of continuing on the path of justice, I had cast it aside in favor of pursuing vengeance.

It was all over. Everything was finished. I had made everyone pay with my own hands.

So why? Why did I feel so terribly empty? Why couldn't I remember everyone's smiles anymore?

… Ahh.

That's right.

That's why.

Because I could never return to those days ever again.

Because no matter what I did, they wouldn't come back.

My body gave out, my knees hitting the ground and sending a jolt up my body as I was unable to maintain my stance against the wall. There was a throb of pain, dull and distant, but it was muffled by the rain that battered against my body.

Briefly, I contemplated what someone would see, were they to come upon my body: the sight of an elf awkwardly sprawled across the ground, looking like a bird whose wings had broken and come crashing down to earth.

Astraea-sama… Alise… what would you think of me now?

… I was cold.

There wasn't any warmth left here for me. Not even the rage which had tinted my gaze a fiery crimson in the past could bring me back. The world was dull and gray. Everything felt cold.

This was how I would die. No one left to care about me. No one left to even talk to me. No one around me, alone in Orario, where no one would ever know about me. Forgotten, alone. Cold.

A humorless smile graced my lips. Such an ending would be one Ryuu Lyon deserved.

So I closed my eyes and waited for the end.

Alise… I'll be with you soon.

–"Are you okay?"

A voice floated through the abyss. Silver-blue hair shifted slightly under the hood of a poncho. A hand reached out from the cloak, taking mine in its grasp, encasing it in a gentle embrace. It reminded me of something… no, someone I had lost, a long time ago. Even through the thin layer of fabric separating my skin from hers, I could feel something that I hadn't felt in a long time.

… Ahhh. I felt my vision blur as something spilled from my dry eyes. It's warm.

"Flova, we should go." A different voice this time. Harsher, sharper. Male. It cut through the blackness around us like the silver blade he was carrying. Dull, lifeless pupils peered down at me. "It's not safe."

The voice sounded… oddly familiar, somehow. And yet, I couldn't place it.

The blackness beckoned me, urging me to slip into its soft embrace. Just before it swallowed me, there was a voice.

"It's not time for you to follow me yet."

… Alise… ?

~~This is a Line Break~~

–What is justice?

A question drifted through the recesses of my mind. Someone was talking to me.

–I knew this voice. It was the voice of my best friend.

What is justice? It was a question I had heard a hundred times before. But no matter how many times I heard it, I wouldn't tire of trying to answer it.

The surroundings around me changed, turning into the main room of my home. Around me were my closest friends. My companions. My familia.

Alise, Kaguya, Lyra, Neze, Iska, Maryuu, Noin, Asta, Ryana, Celty, Cecil.

I felt a painful throb in my chest as I saw each and every one of their smiling faces.

"So, what is justice? What do you think, Lyon?" Alise asked me. I opened my mouth to answer, but–

Silence.

No words came out.

Justice? A cold wind swept up from behind me as a voice whispered into my ear, sending shivers crawling down my spine. Alise and the others had frozen, their smiles and faces turning into stony visages.

Around me, fire roared. The halls of Stardust Garden erupted into flames, an inferno swirling to life around me. The unmoving bodies of my familia blackened as they were engulfed by fire before withering into ash.

As Stardust Garden burned to the ground, what replaced the sight of my home was a scene of carnage.

Bodies were stacked atop one another, forming pile after pile around me, their faces twisted into horrific grimaces. Some had been ripped apart with relentless sword slashes. Others were mangled beyond recognition as they had been ripped apart with traps and explosives alike. Still others were bloated with the symptoms of poison or charred with the power of magic. The ruins of buildings torn apart like children's toys surrounded me.

In the middle of this stood a lone elf. A violent gust swept up around her, setting her cloak aflutter in the wind. Blood was splattered across her entire body–across her clothes, her body, and even her face and hair.

As she looked up, I felt a shiver run down my spine.

–Empty. Even though her eyes were there, there was no emotion behind that gaze, other than a chilling fury that swirled at the bottom of those eyes.

Justice? the voice mockingly repeated to me, its voice honeyed and saccharine. Is this what you call justice?

I wanted to say no. To deny that this wasn't justice. That this wasn't what Astraea-sama or Alise would have wanted for me.

But no words came out.

Of course it is not justice. The voice affirmed my resolution. But it is what you have done.

Around the elf, the bodies dissolved into a swirl of ashes as the elf stepped towards me. Closer and closer she got, until the two of us were face to face.

I knew, without a single doubt in my heart, that this ugly image in front of me–so dirty, so empty, so broken–was what I had become.

But it was with a startle that I realized just who the voice belonged to.

You have no right to carry the burden of justice. Astraea-sama.

Around me once again, the surroundings blurred, fire and brimstone replaced by grass and sunshine.

I seemed to be standing on the banks of a river, the current so powerful and unfathomably wide that I could not hope to cross without being swept away.

My voice caught as I saw my familia members on the other side. Their faces were turned away from me, gazing towards the light beyond the far shore. I felt a surge of warmth in my body as I called out to them.

I wanted to tell them that I was here. That I missed them. That I would join them soon.

But the warmth in my body turned into a terrible coldness as they didn't respond. No matter how many times I cried out their names, they never looked back.

This is your punishment.

No.

Please don't leave me behind.

Please don't leave me here.

Please–

~~This is a Line Break~~

"–!" My eyes flew open. I was staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. Cloth gently enveloped my body. Sheets and blankets. Sunlight shone in through the window.

All of those details fell away as I realized that I was alive. This was no memory, but a real room in the real world.

Disappointment coursed through me. I was still alive.

"You're awake." There was a voice from right next to me, and I turned my head slightly to peer at the boy who had spoken. At first glance, he didn't appear very memorable: he looked no older than me and had a rather plain appearance, coupled with an unkempt head of black hair.

The boy's most striking features were his eyes: gray, idle, and listless, they reminded me of a dead fish. However, despite the emptiness in his eyes, within them I could feel a dangerous sharpness as he peered down at me.

Without a doubt, this was the boy I had met in the alley.

"Where… am–" I tried sitting up, and a wave of pain flooded my body. Every single nerve in my body burned, and my stomach rolled violently. I bit my lip to hold back a cry of pain, swallowing the bile that rose in my throat.

"Take it easy." The boy was at my side in an instant, holding my bandaged shoulders as I coughed violently, my ribcage rattling with every breath I took.

I wanted to tell him not to touch me, but a feeble wheeze was all that came out. I was too weak to resist him, and so I had no choice but to grit my teeth as he slowly helped me ease into a sitting position.

His touch, though gentle, was cold and rough. However, I was too weak to resist his hand, and my only response was a weak groan in protest as he put a hand to his own forehead.

"At least you don't have a fever." Dropping his hand, the boy turned towards the doorway. "Flova! She's awake!" As I watched, he went back to his chair and picked up his book. For a while, there was no other sound than the occasional turning of a page as the boy continued to silently read.

"... How long?" My voice came out as a rasp. I swallowed and tried again. "How long was I… out?"

The boy replied without even looking up from his book. "3 days."

"... Why?"

"How would I know?" He flipped another page in his book. "Maybe you have sleep deprivation." I could only blink, confused by the answer, as the boy continued reading and also talking. "If you were asking why I would help you… well, it wasn't my decision to make. It was hers." He hooked a thumb towards the doorway, where the sound of light footsteps drew closer and closer.

A girl stepped through the doorway, carrying with her a bundle of bandages as well as a washcloth. She was wearing a green dress with a white apron, which was evidently some kind of shop uniform, and her hair was silver-blue. It was the person who had taken my hand in the alley.

As she walked towards me, she passed off the things in her hands to the boy, who nodded and began stacking them in the cabinet on the other side of the room.

"Elf-san, how are you feeling? You've been asleep for–"

"3 days. I already told her, Flova." The boy had finished his chore, and walking up next to the side of my bed again, he fixed me with a stare that had… something behind it. However, the glimmer of emotion in his eyes disappeared just as quickly, leaving nothing but a blank gaze.

"Mou… Hikigaya-san, don't steal my lines!" The girl–Flova–puffed out her cheeks in a pout as she slapped the boy's arm. Then, she turned towards me. "Hi, I'm Syr Flova. Right now, you're at the Hostess of Fertility, where both of us work. After we found you–"

"Why did you… save me?" The words came out of my mouth in an unnatural burst.

I no longer had anything left. I had lost everyone I had ever loved and I had revenged myself upon their killers. The only thing that was left within me was a terrible emptiness that had already consumed me.

"Well…" Syr hummed lightly. "I couldn't leave someone like you in the rain like that." Her answer was straightforward and honest–an answer that, had our positions been reversed, I would have given as well.

However, she did not know who I really was. If she found out, would she be able to say the same thing?

"Were you not… suspicious of someone who collapsed in a place like that?"

To my surprise, it was the boy who answered. "No need to be so roundabout, Gale Wind." Ignoring how I stiffened at that remark, he continued talking. "Besides, Mia's taken in girls with special circumstances before. To her, you're just another mouth to feed."

"So… you know?"

"I had 3 days to do my research." His voice was flat, but I easily understood the message in his words. "Your name's Ryuu Lyon. Formerly part of the Astraea Familia, which encountered an accident in the Dungeon. You were the only member who survived." I felt a pang of sorrow in my chest as he mentioned the past. I didn't want to remember what had happened.

"You knew Elf-san's name all along, Hikigaya-san? Why didn't you tell me?" Syr pouted again, but Hikigaya ignored her, his gaze still firmly fixed on me.

"If you know…" My voice had started out as a whisper, but slowly grew to a shout. "... then why… why?!"

Why would you help me?
Why would you take my bloodstained hand?
Why would you keep me in this world devoid of everything I had ever loved?

"I have nothing left! I have no home to go back to. No friends that care about me." My voice faded to a quiet whisper. "I should have died. There's nothing left for me to live for."

Grrrrrrrrowll. There was a sound in the room. It took a while before I realized that the sound had appeared from my stomach.

" " "..." " "

My ears burned and I flushed a deep scarlet.

The boy–Hikigaya–said nothing, but his quirked eyebrow indicated his amusement at the irony of my situation. "Mia's got food waiting downstairs, Lyon..." He paused for a moment as he stared at me, before turning around as he made his way towards the doorway. What had he seen? "On second thought, I'll just call her up. Mia, Lyon's awake!"

Syr had turned back to me in the meanwhile. "You shouldn't say that, Elf-san–no, Ryuu-san." Syr had grabbed my hand again, but this time her touch carried a fierce, motherly warmth with it. "Your life is worth living for."

No. I wanted to reject her hand. You're wrong. It wasn't worth living for. You don't know what I–

Please… promise me. Lyon... are you there? You will live!

Alise's last words to me filled my head, and even though my mouth opened, no words came out. Even though they were probably meant for me to enjoy life, without them, I had nothing left. It was an act of cruelty that kept me from the sweet mercy of nothingness.

So here I was. With nothing left and no will to go on, yet still living, nonetheless.

Syr's face carried a sunny smile, and I couldn't do anything except look away.

There was a long silence between the two of us, which was only broken by Hikigaya when he finally moved.

"Mia's here," He announced.

Heavier footsteps sounded out as a tall dwarf with a hearty disposition appeared in the doorway. "You heard Hikigaya, elf. Come on, let's go and eat."

"Wait a minute–" my protest was cut short as all of a sudden, a vise-like grip clamped down onto my head. She was fast. Unbelievably fast. Not just that, either. Even if I had been at my best, I still would not have been able to escape the grip on my head.

"What part of 'let's go and eat' did you not understand? Get changed and head downstairs." Mia's growl sent a shiver down my spine. Releasing my head with an abrupt jerk, she turned and lumbered out of the room, Hikigaya following after her.

My breath came out in short gasps as I struggled to wipe away the sweat covering my face. How strong was she?

"Mama Mia is really, really scary, Ryuu. I think it's better to come~" Syr gave me a gentle smile before leaving the room herself, leaving me alone with nothing other than my thoughts.

I stared out the empty doorway in silence.

~~This is a Line Break~~

–Surreal.

That was the sensation I was currently experiencing as I stood in the kitchen, dressed in an unfamiliar uniform, forced to 'pay back' 50 million Valis for a single bowl of food.

–Ridiculous.

It was ludicrous! Outrageous! It was a scam! A fraud! A racket!

And yet, despite that outrageous claim, I was unable to resist. Mia was simply too powerful.

So here I was, faced with the first task that every employee took: peeling.

"Ever peel vegetables before, nya?" In front of me, an excitable cat person with brown hair puffed out her chest in some displaced sense of pride.

"No." I had never had cause to cook before. It was always Maryuu who was cooking.

"It's easy, nya!" Anya shuffled around next to me before offering me a knife. "All you have to do is–"

"Don't touch me!" Her hand met mine, and I instantly recoiled from her touch, my other hand slamming into her stomach and sending her flying across the room.

"FUNYA?!" Anya released a loud cry as she was hurled into the shelves of produce, the foodstuffs landing on top of her and burying her in a miniature pile.

"What are you doing, you idiot?!" My entire body locked into place as I realized what I had done. I had rejected someone else's hand again.

"But she–" My plea died on my lips as I saw Mia's furious glare.

"No excuses," she snarled, and a shudder ran through my body. And then she turned towards a small corner of the kitchen. "Hikigaya, teach our new girl how to peel vegetables properly. And Ryuu, if you throw another one of my employees into the wall, I'm adding his medical bills to your debt."

"Kuh…!" I could only glance downwards in embarrassment.

"Knife and potato, Lyon." Hikigaya approached me, gazing at the potato I handed him with the same blank, listless look he always had before looking back up. "Lyon, we're running a tavern, not a butcher's shop."

I felt my ears burn at his words, but I had no retort.

Hikigaya began giving out instructions. "Focus on making your peels as thin as possible. Speed isn't the issue here." Deftly, he picked up a potato, and with a slow, drawn-out motion of the wrist, I watched as a thin strip of skin curled up around the blade. "Shouldn't be hard to copy."

I nodded as he handed the potato and knife back to me, attempting to replicate his actions. But, no matter how I tried, what instead greeted me was a chunk of potato falling to the table, skin and all.

"... Evidently not." Hikigaya frowned as I bit back a retort. "You're not gripping the knife right, Lyon. You look like you're out for a pound of flesh. Hold it like this–" he curled his hand into a position, which I copied. "No, that's not it." A minute ticked by as Hikigaya corrected my attempts again and again, until finally, he sighed. "Give me your hand."

I glared at him. Did he even understand what he had just asked for?

He stared back, that same, empty gaze betraying nothing.

Reluctantly, I held out my hand as Hikigaya took a hold of it, manually adjusting my grip and walking me through the peeling process.

His grip was… cold. It was cold and rough, and it took every part of my willpower not to pull away then and there. However, despite how unpleasant the experience was, eventually my hand was guided and a thin layer curled away on the potato.

With Hikigaya's guidance, I repeated the action again, another strip of skin curling away.

"That's it, Lyon." Hikigaya nodded at me as he returned to the pot in the corner. "Mia expects those to be finished when she comes back, so get to it."

The first task of any new employee in the Hostess of Fertility, peeling–success.

~~This is a Line Break~~

But that was the only task I was able to successfully complete. Everywhere else served only as a reminder of my own incompetence.

Obtaining groceries - failure. My attempt at haggling was met with fear and the vendor fled the scene, rendering me unable to complete the task.

Serving as a waitress - failure. Though many of the customers appreciated my beauty, they found my bluntness and lack of emotion… unacceptable.

Brewing coffee - failure. When it was served, the powder inside the pot was apparently not meant to be placed inside the customer's cup, and I had forgotten to add milk and sugar before serving it.

Failure, failure, failure. Every single task yielded nothing more than disappointment.

"You're more useless than I thought…" Behind me, Mia let out a heavy sigh. "Well, at least you can't mess up washing dishes. You're on kitchen duty for now, Ryuu."

I desperately wanted to protest. Mia was wrong. I wasn't useless. It was only because I just started. It was a new experience. Even the best adventurers wouldn't be able to react to something they had never encountered before.

You're not useless, I told myself.

But another voice arose from the depths of my mind. Wasn't it like this when you were with Alise?

… That's right. it was.

When I wasn't used to anything, I could only make mistakes.

I sighed as I continued to wash the dishes.

Why was I still here? It had been a day since I had woken up. Had I really tried, I could've left this tavern already. I could've left my old life behind. Though Mia gave me work, she never kept a constant eye on me. And though Hikigaya and Syr both checked on me when Mia wasn't around, neither of them were strong enough to stop me if I wanted to escape.

But I didn't. Why?

… that's right. I didn't have anywhere else to go.

All of my companions were gone. Astraea-sama wasn't in Orario anymore. I was the one who had made her leave.

I had forsaken the ideals that Alise and the others had followed and instead let myself be consumed by the flames of revenge.

What right did I have to live with her again?

I was only using this place to run away.

I was spending easy days working at an unfamiliar job so I could forget the painful emptiness, even if it was only a temporary soothing. Instead of facing reality, I decided to call this idle life unavoidable so I could continue to stay here.

Not thinking about the future or the present, but instead, still lost in the past. That was what I was doing. All I was doing was running away from reality. It was the only thing I could do.

Lost in my thoughts, I continued to wash the dishes, my concentration only broken as I noticed a black cloak flutter through the courtyard.

A black cloak that brought to mind a scene from mere days ago. A member of Evilus that had escaped from me and never been found again. A member dressed in a black cloak, backed by over 30 of his compatriots that had tried to draw me into an ambush.

When I had broken the trap, he had fled, but not unscathed. I had definitely pierced through his hand and rendered it useless.

And now, he had returned.

... There was one other thing I could do, then.

Make them pay, a voice whispered. A familiar coldness slid over me as I reached for the kitchen knives.

Make them pay. The low thrumming in my ears grew to a loud roar.

Make them pay. He would not escape this time.

Hey peeps, it's the new Interlude, told from the eyes of our beloved elf. Woohoo~

Remember to leave a like and drop constructive criticisms if you want or if you have problems with the story. They help greatly with my writing.

Someone asked me about if I was going to deviate from the plot majorly at any point in the fanfiction. For now, in terms of canonical divergence, there're only small places where the series of events deviates slightly off Oomori's track, but they aren't going to have much effect on the main storyline in the future, at least from my knowledge of the Danmachi canon.

One last thing before I close: The spelling of Ryuu's name. The LN translates it as Lyu Leon, Lyuu Lion, Ryuu Lyon, and then the wiki says it's Ryuu Lion. Honestly though, being the regular English-speaking guy I am, I'm putting it as Lyon since I'll just read 'Lion' as the animal.

As always, see you next week. Hope you enjoy, and thank you for reading.

Oreo the Cookie