Chapter IV
"You are a weed in two gardens, both realms will tear you apart"
—Nyx
The Thousand Elf
Are you all right?"
A hand reached out to assist the groaning and flinching Lefiya.
The elf reached up with a trembling hand, grabbed hold, and managed to sit up.
"Ka-khaaa…kahh…aah…?!"
More blood dripped down her chin as she coughed. A female Guild employee offered her shoulder and helped the elf to her feet.
Her stomach and dry throat felt like they were on fire.
Every muscle movement sent a wave of searing pain through her body. It took every ounce of willpower she had to focus her eyes on her surroundings.
It was utter destruction. The stone pavement was in pieces, piles of debris everywhere. Near-skeletons of buildings were all that was left of shops and homes that once stood here. The street stalls were completely gone; only the occasional menu or piece of wood amid the rubble proved they were ever there.
Vision going in and out of focus, Lefiya searched for her friends.
Searched for the adventurers much stronger than herself. The ones who'd so kindly protected her despite existing on a completely different plane.
At last, her vision cleared enough to catch a glimpse of her allies not too far down the street.
"—"
What she saw made her blood run cold.
Inside the wooden remains of a destroyed shop.
One of the monsters had its jaws around a human girl, her blond hair just barely visible beneath its petals.
Only the torrent of powerful storm winds was keeping its mouth from closing all the way. At the same time, two more of the creatures were chomping at her legs. The Amazonian twins were doing their best to pull the monsters back, but to no avail.
Countless fangs were plunging deep into the wind, mere moments away from Aiz's vulnerable skin.
"Please don't move. We need to get you to a doctor!"
The half-elf Guild employee desperately tried to get Lefiya to stop struggling.
Noticing that the injured mage wasn't blinking, the Guild employee followed Lefiya's blue eyes. The half-elf's heart skipped a beat.
"Perseus here will rescue your friend. Leave it to him; you need to get to safety!" It was now that Lefiya noticed the man standing beside the half-elf.
"…!"
Lefiya's pain-ridden body lurched forward.
She struggled to breathe as the Guild employee calmly tried to coax her into retreating. Lefiya's gaze dropped to her left hand.
That man, he have a weapon, and she can tell tgat he is very strong.
Most likely, he could save her friends. There was no doubt in her mind that he would be much more help than she would in her critically injured state.
The pain coursing through her body was telling her to turn her back and run.
Lefiya cleared her throat, shut her eyes—then.
She clenched her left hand into a fist and opened her eyes with vigor.
She stood up by her own power.
"Let her, she needs to do this on her own, Eina!"
"... too injured to..."
"even more...lse sh...ver...grow..."
"but.."
"...come her fear"
"…?!"
Lefiya ignored the snippets of conversation; they seem to be debating about letting her fight.
But—
—she refuse to be useless, she refuse to burden others again, not anymore.
"—I am Lefiya Viridis! An elf of the Wishe Forest!"
The Guild employee watched in silence as Lefiya tried to drive the weakness out of her body with the power of her voice.
"I am bound to the Goddess Loki. A member of the strongest, proudest, noblest familia in all of Orario. I refuse to run away!"
Her words became stronger with each passing syllable.
A new energy flowed into her as willpower took over like the trigger of a magic spell. Lefiya took one step forward, then another before taking off at a full run.
She returned to the battlefield in hopes that she could save her friends from their desperate situation.
—I know, I know all too well!
Lefiya already understood.
I will only get in their way!
She was destined to always live in their shadows. She would never measure up.
She always had been and always would be protected by them.
No matter how hard she tried to help, they would always kindly push her away from danger at the moment of truth. They would say nice things like, "Leave this to us," and refuse to let her fight alongside them.
Just like before.
No matter how strong I try to be, I don't belong!
Any efforts to chase them would be futile. Clinging to their coattails would only widen the gap.
This feeling of inferiority tormented her to the point of submission. They were so far above her it was maddening.
The realization broke her spirit. The others were immensely powerful—the golden aura of that girl was strong; she was weak.
But…!
She wanted to give chase.
She wanted to help. She wanted to be useful.
If possible, she wanted to be part of the group.
She wanted to become someone who the girls who had accepted her, the girls who had saved her over and over again, would allow to stand side by side with them at the most desperate of times.
"!"
She was in range.
Lefiya came close enough to the monsters that there was no chance her Magic would miss.
Dark blue eyes locked onto the monsters ensnaring her friends and she began to cast.
"I beseech the name of Wishe!"
In the end, all she could do was cling.
It was the only way to reach their height.
"Ancestors of the forest, proud brethren. Answer my call and descend upon the plains."
No matter how much blood she coughed up, how many steps she had to take, how many tears she had to wipe off her cheeks.
The only option for clingers was to pursue their dreams.
"Connecting bonds, the pledge of paradise. Turn the wheel and dance."
Spirits break, over and over. Willpower had a limit; nothing was immune.
Only those who didn't know when to give up could mend a broken spirit.
Only the most stubborn of souls could get up time and again, no matter how hard they fell.
"Come, ring of fairies."
Lefiya sang.
Swallowing the blood that still flowed up her throat, she continued her enchantment to validate her worth despite always being protected. She continued her song to reach that next plateau, closer to where they resided.
"Please—give me strength."
Her song must reach that girl.
If her feet were too slow, then let her song accompany her into battle.
Even if she didn't turn to listen, as long as Aiz heard her, was put at ease, was protected, she would be satisfied. She'd be part of the battle to slay the enemy threatening her.
Just like a fairy dancing in the forest. Just like a fairy fighting for the one she loved.
A song that was truly her own, reaching out.
This song, this Magic must reach her.
"Elf Ring."
Her golden magic circle turned to jade the moment those words left her lips.
"Lefiya?!"
"?!"
Tiona noticed a sudden influx of magical energy. Of course, the monsters trying to sink their fangs into Aiz noticed it as well and were instantly attracted to the stronger magic source.
Aiz's eyes widened in surprise as all three creatures turned away from her.
"—Harbinger of the end, white snow. Gust before the twilight."
Lefiya's incantation continued.
Her already completed spell was warping into something new, a different type of Magic.
—There was a limit to the amount of spells someone could learn.
Each Status had exactly three spell slots. That meant that even the most skilled mages could learn a maximum of only three types of Magic.
The same was true for Lefiya—but her final spell was special: Summon Burst.
It allowed her to duplicate any elvish magic that she could either recite the incantation for or fully understand the effects of. This incredibly rare spell gave her access to a library of magical attacks. In exchange for the extended summoning time and an incredible amount of Mind energy, she could make any other elf's magic her own, after witnessing it at least once.
For that reason, the gods and goddesses of Orario had given her the title of "Thousand Elf."
"Fading light, freezing land."
She chose to summon the attack magic of the elvish queen, Riveria Ljos Alf.
Lefiya was calling forth a blizzard cold enough not only to keep an enemy from moving but to freeze time itself.
The jade magic circle began to pulse. A second elegant voice joined Lefiya's song.
The two voices harmonized as the magic circle blazed brightly beneath her feet.
"—!!"
The three carnivorous plant monsters picked up speed.
Terrifying roars resonating like a broken bell, they launched their fanged blossoms toward the growing source of magical energy.
"Ah-ah-ah, I don't think so!"
"Stay down!!"
"!"
"?!"
However, Tiona, Tione, and Aiz were faster. Getting between the monsters and their friend, the three girls unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks to slow them down.
The elf saw her allies come to defend her, but she knew what was coming her way. She leaned forward and crossed her arms to protect her stomach.
No sooner had she braced herself than more spear-like tendrils burst out of the ground in front of her.
Lefiya closed her eyes to brace for the pain.
It never cames.
The tendril that was about to interrupt her incantation is frozen mid swing, encased in ice.
Her dark blue eyes widened as and she finished casting her spell.
"Blow with the power of the third harsh winter—My name is Alf!"
The magic circle rapidly expanded.
Her lips were illuminated by blinding jade light as she said:
"Wynn Fimbulvetr."
An arctic blast filled the street.
Aiz and the twins jumped out of the way at the last possible second as chilling white winds overtook the monsters. Their skin, their petals, even the sound escaping from their fanged jaws froze in place. A layer of frost overtook all three of the monsters.
Three overgrown flowers were frozen in time. They stood like statues caged in ice that would never melt. The spell turned the surrounding area into a winter wonderland, the streets a skating rink surrounded by buildings and debris that were frozen solid.
Wind whipped fractals of ice through the air, making the area sparkle like the inside of a snow globe under the bright midday sun.
Her magic has turned the street into a miniature tundra.
"That was very powerful magic, Sparkles! Impressive."
Sparkles?
"..."
It was the strangers, the smartly dressed lady employee and the young man with her.
Lefiya's already red face became even hotter. She was rarely complimented on her magic, by strangers no less.
"Nice, Lefiya!"
"Never had much of a green thumb anyway. See? It's black and blue thanks to these weeds."
Tiona came bounding toward the elf, all smiles, while her sister vented frustration. Both walked past Lefiya and up to two of the frozen monsters.
Neither of them hesitated the moment they arrived in front of the deep-blue beasts. They even took the same pose.
"!!"
"Take thisss—!!"
Both spun into the air and slammed their heels into the monsters.
Their wheat-colored skin was a blur on impact. Cracks raced across the surface of the ice before the carnivorous plants collapsed into a pile of shards.
"Aizuu."
"…Loki?"
Aiz turned away from the frigid massacre unfolding at the hands of the Amazons to search for the voice that called out to her.
She found two human figures standing on top of the remains of an item shop. One of them was a little animal-person girl who looked familiar; the other was Loki. Her goddess was holding the young girl in a reassuring one-armed hug at her side.
Loki had a sword in her other arm. A moment later, she tossed it to Aiz.
"This is…"
"Hnn, kinda borrowed it from that shop over yonder."
She pointed to the remains of a street stand that had been destroyed by the monsters.
Strips of steel sparkled beneath the wood debris. It used to sell weapons.
That morning, the two of them had visited a street stand just like it.
"'Kay, have at it."
One look at Loki's smile made Aiz forget to ask her when she'd found the little girl. Instead, she returned her goddess's smile with a grin of her own.
"…"
Chilled air rose from the sheet of ice covering the ground.
Aiz carefully walked to the base of the last frozen monster.
It stood like a silent reminder of what the carnivorous plants could have done.
Now it was frozen solid, unable to defend itself or run away from Aiz as she drew the new sword from its sheath.
One slash became hundreds in the blink of an eye as lines crisscrossed its body.
Aiz jumped over the monster's head to deliver one final blow. "Hyuun!" The blade whistled as it sliced through air and beast.
Sheets of ice crumbled to the ground.
Off-balance, the remaining pieces of the monster collapsed in on themselves.
More ice fractals danced in the sunlight, the air shimmering like the human girl's blond hair.
The last monster nothing more than ice fragments, Lefiya turned to thank the strangers whom saved her, but—
—they are nowhere to be seen.
"...Loki?"
Percy's vision tunnelled on the person called Loki. It was the tomboyish girl from earlier— red hair tied in a bun, a clownish grin on her face, about 5'5; average of height—
—it wasn't what he expected from deities. But then again, he knows very little of the Aesir.
From the little he knows, Loki is a trickster god— err, goddes— no one was ever clear about Loki's gender. Sometimes male and at times female. But whichever gender, they all have something in common—Loki is a trouble maker, even worse than Hermes—sometimes evil even.
The deity he can now see fussing over the children looks and feels relatively human, even more than the girls she's fussing over—
—he can sense red ichor flowing in her veins, not gold, mortal red.
Save for the thin layer of divine glamour surrounding her, Percy wouldn't have been able to tell her apart from a group of teenage mortals.
It was like that time when Apollo was turned mortal—
—gods can never truly be rid of their divinity, no matter how much Zeus may try—
—sure, he can use the authority given to him by his position as king, but he can never truly turn other deities mortal—he can seal their divinity to some degree, but that is until they manage to break through the seals—the barriers limiting them.
Demigods are also like that—
—when a demigod grows too powerful and gained a domain—when they start developing powers out of the range of their godly parents, it burns away their mortality, and they ascend to join the ranks of gods—
—that was what happened to Dionysus, and that was what was happening to him after the scuffle with Akhlys—that is what should've happened but for Nyx's interference.
What the mistress of night did stopped him from becoming a full fledged god—it turned him into an abomination whose body rejects both mortal and divine remedies.
"...come on, it looks like things are under control here."
Eina's voice brought Percy back from his observation.
Shaking his head, he followed the woman as she made her way through the wrecked streets, searching for any who may be in need of help.
As they moved through the wrecked streets, he can't help but feel that something is off about the flower monsters—
—they were not part of the monsters reported to have escaped from the coliseum, and considering they came from underground...
Perhaps his little earthquake summoned them from the dungeon beneath the city—or maybe the sewer system, if there is any...
But those girls seem to have no experience fighting them—and they look powerful enough to go deep in the dungeon, based on the information he gathered—from Ena's entensive lecture the day before, and from watching the girls fight, he gathered they should be at a similar level to the demigods back home.
Nothing high tier, not like children of Poseidon, Zeus and Hades at least—but something similar to a long serving legionnaire, or children of war deities—
—so for someone with that much power and clear experience to know nothing about a breed of monsters living right under their nose is a case for concen.
The two of them moved through the ruins of broken stands, destroyed buildings, splinters from destroyed carts and kiosks—the damage is extensive.
It rook Eina several hours to finish the impromptu patrol, and naturally, he tagged along.
She was...meticulous.
Searching through every nook and cranny, every side street, every alley— she searched them all.
It was as if she's a detective, not a receptionist—or something.
After the extensive search and cleanup, Percy is feeling impatient—
—he still hadn't seen Nora, and he can tell that Eina herself have lots of questions, which he isn't exactly ready to answer—but he knows he'd eventually need to give her something. She did help get him settled afterall, even going out of her way to lend him some money for food and lodging.
"Now, as you may already know, I have loads of questions. Where to start..." She finally finished writing a report about the activities of the day. The arrived at the guild headquarters—Pantheon— a few hours earlier, and Eina took proceeded to write a lengthy report—it was something that Percy can never imagine himself doing.
Looking over to the other people still present in the building, some are already giving them weird looks.
"Maybe somewhere a little more private! And no report or record or whatever, can I trust you to keep whatever you learn to yourself?" Percy isn't about to let any information about himself reach the public, or even a governing body like the guild.
"You know I can't do that, not if something related to you affects the citizens of Orario, or clashes with the interests of the guild"
"Then am afraid no information, am trying to find a way back to my world anyways, and figure out why I spawn in the dungeon"
"Your world? Wait, what do you mean spawn in the dungeon? I thought Nora found you outside the city walls?"
"As I said, no information on me, sorry!" Let it not be said that Percy don't know how to treat with nerds. He dated a daughter of Athena after all.
Eina gained a constipated look on her face for several moments as she mull over her thoughts before suddenly perking up.
"Aside from what I will want to know about you, you will not leave without letting me know. First dibs on any and all information you may obtain about the dungeon. You will register with the guild before prowling the dungeon. Agree to these terms and you have a deal. And don't die"
Percy blinked, and blinked again—
It's not like any of her terms will cause him issues, especially if he's not planning on staying. But—
"You need to find a place to stay, and food to eat. You need money for that. I saw you fight. You are...you are something else, the dungeon will be the easiest way for you to get money for that." It's as if she can read his mind, knows he is about to object to the registration.
"Registering kind of kill the purpose of staying anonymous, you know"
"We can keep it vague— Solo adventurer, no familia...I will make it myself, no one needs to see it—for now. You will be as inconspicuous as a shadow"
"Sure," he readily agreed. So long as his page remains blank, he isn't one for drawing attention to himself, unless if it's to annoy or delay his enemies.
Eina smiled at his agreement—her smile is pretty.
"Let me submit these reports and we should be off."
"You're a living cataclysm."
They are in one corner of a bar, or was it a cafe? an eatery?
There are many people in this particular cafe, but most of them are too entranced by the female attendants to pay their little party any mind.
"That's not how I'll put it—" Percy tried to argue.
"Your name means the destroyer, literally"
"Wait...you know greek?"
"I can read hieroglyphs, to some extent. But that's beside the point. Am adding that to your file."
"That's not part of our agreement."
"The fact you're basically immortal, more so than our gods here— a conflagration of pantheons as you called them— weird choice of words by the way, totally disavows that."
"Look, with that much power, it's not that they can do much to you anyway. The worst that can happen is exile, or execution, in which case you'll just regenerate back to life somewhere out in the sea—if a bit cranky, which I'd totally pay to see." Eina isn't giving him any choice.
Was it arrogant of him to believe himself capable of outsmarting her?
It sure seems like it.
Now she's grinning, she's totally milked him for all his worth, maybe he did make a bad deal afterall.
"Now that that's out of the way, I'd like to see that weapon of yours again. Wasn't it a trident earlier? How did it change to a sword? And how are you making it disappear? And..." Her earlier wariness towards Triaina all gone.
Percy rubbed his brow, suddenly reminded of his first meeting with Rachel all those years ago.
AN:
Name: Perseus Jackson
Race: The First Born
Familia: Solo adventurer
Level: No Falna
Alias: Monarch's end/Nature's wrath (this one is open for suggestions)
Threat—level: Cataclysm Class Entity (災害級存在, Saigai-kyū Sonzai)
One of our characters will definitely be the one to give him an alias, not the gods. Maybe Eina, or Lefiya(little sister vibe, like a more innocent Hazel), or Aisha, or even Asfi (she did bear his name after all), heck even Loki (she'd be a great partner for banter)
As was usual these past few weeks, this chapter also arrived a week early.
Forgive the grammar errors and inconsistencies, I have no beta reader atm.
You may have noticed, or maybe not. But I changed the name of Percy's weapon. Initially, it was Torrent, but I've changed it to Triaina.
Your thoughts and suggestions for Alias in the comments section. I read everything.
Comment, follow, aaand favorite.
Next chapter: Saturday 19/04/2025, or earlier
DarkWraith out...