[Rocky Highway]
Even though time has passed since the eventful day wherein both lily and Mia had separated from each other, it was still lingering in the former's thoughts of what happened
Sometimes she would ask herself "if she ever had chose the opposite, would the ending end differently?"
At times Luke would comfort her and always reminded her that its not her fault, but at times she always question herself if she really wasn't the reason for their death
She was the one who instigated everything, from leaving the empire to going on a journey, everything was done with her knowledge that everything has a price
One night as she suddenly woke up somewhere quite familiar, the ceiling, the door, the bed, and the room
At that lily was pretty sure that she was back in her old chambers back in the empire
"How... . . Why am I here?... . . Why am I back?" Panicked Lily as she rose up from her bed and started to walk off towards the door
As she started to move about, she also was quite panicking in her mind
"Why? Why is this happening? I should've been out there!!! Why am I back? Aren't I'm at the Beastman Country? Why am I here?"
Soon as she trudge around a corner, she herself started to call out names
"Luke! Anna! Ingrid! Rebecca!... . . "
But nevertheless not one even responded to her call
"Nononono! This can't be happening"
As soon she turned a corner, a bright light suddenly illuminated her eyesight which made her late to react and notice that she herself had arrived at her once prided garden
In shock she herself started to back away when suddenly a voice so familiar shock her from behind
When she turned around however, she stared eye to eye at Hibiki prior to all the changes
"Lily? What happened? Are you okay?" Asked Hibiki
Still somewhat remembering that eventful day, Lily jerself syarted to back away as her eyes quivered in fear
"No... . . Please no! Stay back! Don't come near me!" Muttered Lily
Maybe out of concern Hibiki asked again
"Lily? What's wrong?"
But as he asked that question, Lily herself shouted back as if she's rejecting him
"I said stay back!!!"
In shock and dismay Hibiki heeded her shout and took a step back, soon he saw her crying face with an emotion of sorrow, pain, regret, and anger
"Its not my fault... . . I didn't know... . . I only wanted answers... . . You! You killed them!"
"Killed them? Who?" Asked Hibiki
"Mia and Alda! You killed them!!!" Shouted Lily
"Mia? Alda? Who are they?"
Finally snapping Lily was about to do something horrible that she hasn't done before when suddenly another voice resounded behind her
"Its your fault"
As if she was triggered, she immediately turned around and saw both Alda and Mia's corpses laying down unto the ground, with the former hugging the head of the latter close to his chest
"Its your fault that we died"
Looking everywhere for the source of the voice, she soon deducted that the voices actually came from the corpses herself
"You killed us"
"No... . . No it wasn't supposed to end this way... . . I'm sorry... . . I'm sorry" pleaded Lily as she curled up and started to cry harder
"Its your fault"
With that as a trigger she suddenly grasp her hand upwards as if she trying to catch something, and relatively woke up from her dream with beads of sweat all over her
When she glanced around the room, she found out that she was still inside the carriage together with the other's whom she's traveling with
Noticing that she was awake Ingrid immediately called out to her
"Hey! What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost"
Glad that she was awake, Lily immediately wipes off her sweat and sits next to ingrid herself
Realizing that she was some quite unusual, Ingrid proceeded to ask
"Bad dream?"
"Horrible one" confirmed Lily
"Ah! I see... . . Nightmares, I've one too back when I was a child" said Ingrid
"I wish I was a child back then, in the past I don't have to worry about anything" replied Lily
"But life isn't complete without adventure like in the tales" stated Ingrid
With this words even lily herself was speechless, but afyer a few moments of silence she spoke up again
"But... . . Do you feel like sometimes, people blame you for the choices you've made? And often because of you're choices, they have to due instead?" Asks Lily in a gloomy tone
As if understanding her train of thought, Ingrid replied
"Sometimes... . . I've seen a lot of death's already in my life... . . Since you know, not only am I a capable beautiful princess but also I am a fighter princess that knows how to do swordmanship... . . So death is not new to me"
"...."
After that Ingrid carrased her head as she said
"I know you blame yourself from the death of your friends... . . But let me ask you... . . Did you see them disgust you when they left? Or did you see their determination when they left?"
At this question Lily soon remembered how both Alda and Mia said their pieces of goodbyes to her, she didn't saw regret or hatred towards her at all, she in turn only saw the pure determination to bring her out of the empire as soon as possible even if they have to sacrifice their lives in exchange for hers
Using her ability to see through people, Ingrid immediately understood that somehow Lily is feeling better and have come into a realization
"Fear is something we can't escape from, it is always there but the only way to conquer fear is to face it"
After that she pointed at both Melfina and Rebecca
"You see them? I know they fear death with my ability but why do you think they stick through with Kaido even though they know that they'll probably die if they did?"
"... . . Benefits?" Answered Lily unsurely
"No your wrong... . . Its the bond, trust, and most of all loyalty" corrected Ingrid
"If they weren't here then maybe Kaido would've have loosen his mind early on... . . Based on his actions, I know that what he's doing is wrong, in fact whenever he did his plan, he instead would fall into darkness even more" stated Ingrid
"Since his already on the brink of madness, all he needed now was a slight push... . . When that happens everything he cared about would be lost" she added
"I know that he wasn't like this in the past, but I know too that when he's ready... . . He would talk it out... . . In turn that what made me got so interested in him in the very first place" said Ingrid as she show off a smile that could charm others
Seeing that Lily soon gave a sigh as she said
"He's really lucky... . . I hope both of you could realize each others feelings" encouraged Lily
"Huh? What feelings?" Asks Ingrid in confusion
Seeing that Lily soon held out her hand as she shook her head in dejection after she realized that Ingrid wasn't even aware of her feelings at all
But shrugging that thought aside Ingrid stated
"So you understand now that they didn't blame you?"
"Yes thank you" replied Lily
Right at that moment however Anna adruptly woken up from her stupor and glanced at the distance through the window of the carriage
As she glanced outside, both Lily and Ingrid noticed that Anna however was shaking violently as she soon passed herself on the spot and tears pouring out her eyes
Apparently after using her ability, Ingrid only saw one emotion that Anna was currently feeling and that was fear
"Anna? You okay?" Asks Lily
"Anna! Talk to us! What did you saw?" Asked Ingrid
As if realizing that something was wrong, the other guys that were taking a rest suddenly woke up from their sleep and immediately entered their alert stance
"What happened?" Asks Melfina
"Is it an enemy attack?" Asks Luke
"No its Anna!" Answered Lily
"She's scared! She perhaps saw of felt something" added Ingrid
With that in mind everyone soon focuses their attention towards the sorceress as they probed her for answers
"Anna? What's wrong?" Asks Rebecca as she inches closer to Anna
As they asks her, what she asnwerwd to them, left them all in shock as fear started to crept over
"World... . . Class... . . Magic"
"!!!"
"!!!"
"!!!"
.....
....
"What did you say?" Asks Lily in quiye a distraught
"Someone used a world class magic, enough to destroy the whole terrein if they wanted" replied Anna as tears started to swell up
"Tell us what did you see?" Asks Luke as the situation turned grim
"Darkness... . . Pure darkness... . . The whole world was engulfed by darkness for a moment"
Hearing this they soom realized that the only creatures that can use dark elements were people in the demon tribe
Fearing that they would get attack, they immediately went into their role as Luke Asked
"Where? What direction?"
But instead of Anna would answer, Kaido himself intrude as he said
"Far from us... . . About 854 km to the west, I felt a tremor coming from that direction... . .it must be the place where the spell erupted, someone is fighting"
"Are you sure?" Asks Luke
"I'm sure"
With that notion, everyone soon calmed themselves as they went back to their post
As for Kaido he have already given Cara the sigil
***************
Name: Cara
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Race: Catwoman
Job: Traveller
Title: None
Skill: Basic Sorcery
Blessing: None
****************
Not long after as the sun shone about in the horizon indicating a new day, Cara immediately called out
"Were here! We've arrived"
With that call everyone soon saw the huge Human Empire Encampment not far from them that is also belonging to the Queen Empress that doesn't know what happened back at the empire
*************************************
[Holvart Port Town]
Back towards Holvart Port Town, the soldiers that were sent out for provisions by the the Beastman hero Alduin, accidentally have saw Selery's beauty, the same woman that is the mother of Sui
When they saw her, they were immediately mesmerized and planned to force her to come with them and have some fun, but suddenly they have made a bold Idea
If they presented such beautiful siren towards the Hero, they might get a raise and would be promoted high enough that they could afford brothels everyday
With that in mind they visited Selery's house after learning about her location
As they knocked, it was obvious to know that Selery opened the door and asked
"Yes?"
"Miss Selery correct?" Ask the soldier
"Yes I am Selery... . . What do you want?"
"We are hearby ordered by the king of the Grand kingdom to present miss Selery in accordance to his will and request of the Hero who requested your presence" they said
Since an audience to the king was an honor, Selery didn't even notice that she was being led through
"What can I do for the king and Hero-sama?" She ask
"You need to come with us... . . Only you alone" stuttered the soldier as they noticed Sui peeking out behind her
This time Sui cried out
"Mama?"
"Its alright! I'll be leaving you with Zia so please behave yourself, ill come back" assured Selery
Feeling that something wasn't right, Sui tried to persuade her to stay but her mother instead assured her even more that she will be safe and left her to Zia
When they saw Selery left with the soldiers, Pablo himself otherwise thought elsewhere as he obviously know about the Beastman hero
If his deduction is right then Selery would perhaps never to return as she will charmed and forever service the hero
Quickly deciding what to do, he pulled Zia, Okou, and Sui aside as he said
"This is bad! Really really bad! Pack up your things... . . We need to tell this to Kaido-sama... . . He's the only one that can counter that horn dog hero"
After that he muttered
"I'm afraid that the Grand kingdom has signed their death sentence the moment they took her"
He muttered as he was sure that Kaido would do anything as long as his so called daughter requested, especially when someone else touch his things