A/N: READ THIS ON WATTPAD TO SEE EXCLUSIVE VISUALS OF THE CHARACTERS
Ethan used to be scared of heights
_______CHAPTER TWENTY THREE_______
HATHOR
~
"I destroy other people's lives, not your life you are my daughter and I will do anything just to give you a better future than what I had." Raios had a hand placed on Milady's left shoulder "Do you understand Mirror?" He looked at her straight in the eye like he didn't just tell her a complete and utter lie "Yes, Father." Milady felt glad and assured by her father's words "Good." Raios smiled, thinking to himself that those other children have been flicking a bad influence on her from spending too much time studying with them--no spying on them is the much proper and correct term.
~
During the course of Sting and Hibiki's leave from Lireo, Milady took a huge portion of her time training both herself and Ethan, the little ravenette monster she would have adopted if it wasn't for Zero highly objecting "To see these times, Milady you must first breach out of your yores." I levitated in front of her "Answers that are much needed...always so far-fetched." one time when Milady was lifting weights in the gym with Zero, she remembered her past visions regarding a woman clad in black with blood-red hair. Later on that day she rummaged around her belongings looking for the necklace but couldn't find it anywhere, extremely aggravated from her failed search she opted to look through time knowing that she could rely on it to make her life easier "Milady, I advise you have someone be your watcher on this one." I noticed the way her pupils shrink over the thought of that necklace.
"You are enough Hathor."
"I suggest someone who is a real Rhiannon, Milady."
"Will Ethan suffice?" Milady raised a brow "Yes, Milady." I urged, looking away from my glass form "Ethan," she yelled the teen kinou's name all over the library "Milady! you called for me?" Ethan promptly gravitated off the open second floor to Milady's face "How long can you stay awake for?" she inquired "An entire day, but after that Milady, I need my beauty rest." Milady paid close attention to his under eyes, to verify if her prodigy was truly getting enough sleep as it is "Good, now go get my little baby and we shall start." Milady dematerialized me as she pushed herself off her chair walking towards the door's direction, Ethan followed closely "But I'm your little baby," the ravenette teen pouts "Of course you are." Milady humors and kisses him on the cheek "Now get Salt." she fixes his disheveled curly locks "Okay!" he hugged Milady before flying off to find wherever Salt might be strutting around the royal palace.
With the said Meraki in hand, Ethan amazingly stood frozen at the sight of being inside Milady's orb. Looking up before him the little ravenette monster saw that glass observatory was filled with levitating yores that looked like stars from afar "Milady you're magnificent!" Ethan gave his high praises to his beloved mentor "I know." who smirked at such compliments, taking the credit since Ethan dislikes Medea Kyle for obvious reasons "This is phenomenal! YIIIIIEEEEEE! look Salt, look!" Milady's pet Meraki couldn't be bothered to be apathetic hence she's already seen this place multiple times, Ethan took notice of this and began to excitedly shake the catfish in his arms to pay attention.
Everything lives on because of time, people are surrounded by it. A living being's every waking moment has time, the human body equates on because it has a proposed time, choices are made under time, learning a skill takes time, joy and sadness have time, the unending list goes on. Upon rolling the small glass ball in the center Milady explained to Ethan that all he has to do is watch her meditate, while the time around the observatory reverses and profuses, however, if she loses focus the ravenette teen then would shake her as he did with Kalil, not to fret Milady gave him a free pass to such rash actions. "You ready?" an inquiry was placed with a smirk as Milady sat down opposite of her prodigy "Yep!" He replied full of confidence, Salt darted her dilated cat eyes back and forth at them curious as to how would Ethan be able to keep up with Milady.
It didn't take long for Ethan to start vomiting his guts out the moment Milady spun the beads of time, she promptly has to stop and make sure he was going to be okay, no--get used to it rather. "Ethan are you alright?" hearing Milady ask if he was alright confused him since she wasn't the type given her reputation "Are you Milady?" he asked whilst wiping some of the puke off his lips, Milady gave him some wipes "Salt make him comfortable." Milady ignored answering the question and gave an order to her baby who promptly shape shifted to that of a Snow Leopard, nudging her head on Ethan's sides, and alongside it was her purring, such action made nausea in him dissipate much to his utter surprise "Stay close to her like that from on." Milady picked up her little monster to sit by Salt's belly.
"Are you a potion or something?" Ethan poked around the critter's thick fur "Milady?" he opted to target the question to his loved mentor hence the Meraki cannot speak the human language "I'd rather give it in detail later, but for now, focus and here drink this." Ethan gasped in jubilation upon taking the bottle of water in his hands. The next few days consisted of the same events which are, Ethan watching Milady meditate he would have opted to float around but doing so would only make him nauseous "Hey Salt?" he boredly turned his head over the sleeping Meraki "Salt.." he shook Milady's pet to wake up and entertain him somehow but she refused to be bothered and kept her eyes shut hoping that Milady's prodigy would stop.
"Hey Salt...hmmm." he actively patted her tummy but still no response, a pout etched "WAKE UP ALREADY FAT ASS FISH!" that aggravated Salt to immediately stand up leaving Ethan to manically clung onto her fur, she shape-shifted into a victoria crowned pigeon dropping him on the floor "OKAY CATFISH! NOT JUST FISH! HELP!" she squawked at him to take back the other insult or else "You're not fat okay--you're cute! cute! NOW HELP ME--blurrrgghh!" Ethan unwillingly vomited everything he ate this day, Salt took some time watching Ethan regret calling her fat before she finally flew back down to his side calming down his nausea hitherto of Milady peaking her eye over at the distraction Ethan insinuated given that Salt got aggravated it furthered but at the same time stoped faster than it began.
A Meraki's fluff over time adapted the natural ability to heal others through their pure aura, such knowledge cannot be attained unless you have encountered or better yet in Milady's case, has one as her companion. "Time demands you to must only tell the pure truth of clarity Mirror," Milady glanced at the yore of King Loki's last words to her before Aulora's fall "Do you agree to these terms?... Milady?" I asked her, a seething of her vexation could be seen upon her pupils, Milady didn't respond to me and continued to venture out of this memory. Contradictory to King Loki's spouted words he truly did want Milady to inherit Helium's throne, he hoped for a change just like Queen Minea. Four days later Milady invited her beloved spouse to train with them.
"Try draining me of all my pulse." Milady's words sounded ludicrous "Mirror are sure? I don't want to hurt you," Zero asked softly upon turning Milady's face in his hands inspecting, the worry heavily evident "You won't Zero, trust me." He softly kissed her forehead lovingly indicating his vacillation "...alright," the bluette kinou was hesitant of doing what Milady wanted, placing his hand above her erratic heart Zero traced up his frosted colored eyes back at Milady scared of doing what she asked of him "Mirror I can't do this," Ethan who was watching from the sides was irritated that Zero is hesitating multiple times "Just doooo iiit." the teen kinou complained whilst glaring at Zero from his comfy spot on Salt's white Bengal form. "Stay out of our conversation Ethan." Zero looked Ethan over with open disapproval at how the teen ravenette monster was popping his voice into Zero and Milady's matter.
"I'm in charge here." said teen ravenette taking a bite from his kimchi burrito "Zero, it's going to be alright." Milady guaranteed "Yeah Zero, listen to Milady~" Ethan singsonged with a wide grin "The last time you said that somebody died kid." Zero dashed to the teen with an annoyed gaze within his frosted orbs, grabbing Ethan by the collar of his shirt "Such audacity! Milady your husband is bullying me!" bits of the food mixed with Ethan's saliva flew at Zero's face as he spouted words "No, no he's not Ethan, because he's right." Milady sided with Zero "Milady!" the raven teen whined like a baby "Ethan chill okay?" Milady sternly commanded her prodigy. "Okay," the ravenette monster's mood quickly changed to a jolly one.
"Zero," Milady took his hand into hers "I wouldn't be asking you this if I haven't perfected the technique, so please you have to trust me on this one," Milady caressed the left side of his face, Zero held Milady's that was over his features "Mirror, I'm just scared of losing you--I can't lose another person I love." Zero's emotions shivered into brittle snowflakes when Riona was mutilated before his eyes, he doesn't want to bite through that kind of pain again "You won't lose me Zero, never. I promise you that." she could see little bits of tears collecting at his lower eyelids "Mi, Mirror..." the bluette promptly embraced Milady as if it was the last, Ethan just rolled his eyes at Zero thinking to himself that Lireo's heir was being too dramatic over this "It's going to be alright," she returned the gesture back, alongside it was another assurance of her promise "Okay," he finally agreed.
And began to drain Milady's pulse, Ethan stopped munching on his kimchi burrito paying attention to how Milady's eyes glowed in contrast to Zero's talent doing the made request, it took a few more minutes for the bluette kinou to realize that none was being taken away from Milady "I didn't feel a single pulse," he pulled away from Milady "I told you." the breath of Rhiannon and Meraki mingled floating around the breezy observatory air, Ethan felt a sudden burn on his throat and opted to slide a bit down from Salt to grab his packed bottle of milk "What did you do?" Zero muttered, low enough so Ethan did not hear "Let's just say that I gained perfect immortality." a small smirk etched at the edge of Milady's lips, those who fathomly fear being deceased are greedy enough to seek true eternal life hence it walks farther from them, but those who are willing to accept death as a natural occurrence will get blessed by it.
Ethan tiredly played with Salt whilst Milady was busy practicing her talent on arms grasp "Milady," my voice resonated within this place "Is it done?" she stood up from her seat looking at her left wrist to see if there was any sign, but still none "Yes, Milady." she paused her practicing for later "Good." she dismissed the yore levitating in front of her "What is done Milady?" Ethan looked up from his spot on Salt's belly "You'll see soon~" Milady ruffled Ethan's head, who would have protested to be told what it is but given that he has a low amount of energy he just ignored it for now. "And Milady," I called out to her "What is it Hathor?" side facing as she acknowledged "You did great today Milady," I praised her "Hmmn." was all she said.
~
Those who have been gifted the talent Antiquity Yore can and are able to give birth to a life in just a span of nine days max if desired, but Milady chose the latter/safer option of nine months because of her father's vile perspective when it comes to influencing and she wants to protect her child with Zero from that said instance "Zero," Milady levitated my glass form above her "Yeah?" he acknowledges despite being tired "Marvelous news," Milady began, a small smirk tugging her lips "I'm going to give birth." she side faced the sleepy bluette "In a few days? that's great." Zero mumbled as he snuggled his face down the soft pillow "No, right now." Milady calmly played with his soft hair "⊙^⊙!!" the drowsiness was vastly forgotten as Zero grabbed his thrown undergarments and pants from the floor.
~
Rhiannon's never imparted nor ever celebrated the day of their birth hence it is a big part of their galva number while the rest of the numbers are classified and not everyone is allowed to know it for obvious reasons, a galva gadget will only stop working once its designated owner dies from this life. Supposedly it is buried alongside the owner but Hibiki kept Arcana's as a form of memento since her necklace wasn't an option to be taken away from her since it was the only thing she had left of her parents. Said orangette fathomly had Arcana's galva in his hand whilst keeping watch from upfront of the motorboat whereas Sting was at back with Fuzuki staying extremely still in the middle of the boat. "Papa, I'm hungry." Fuzuki called "Quickly take two pieces of bread from the refrigerator sweetie." the blonde kinou didn't take his eyes off the river trails they've passed by, hence he could swear he saw one Sikota earlier peak from the water.
"Ah it's cold," Fuzuki fiddled her fingers off the chilly air upon picking out the store of food they have. It was getting extremely dark that Sting had to light up his talent a lot brighter than earlier, he knew that such huge amounts of light being in one place could attract the attention of the Sikota's sleeping underneath the river but he had no choice in the matter hence if he were to tone it down then more prominent danger might blindly strike then proofless. "Sting." Hibiki sensed something was off "I know." Sting darted his eyes left and right--it's not just the Sikota's that are here the two original members of Arhianna could feel a presence they once crossed paths with during their youth a valtorian Rhiannon was present in the cold fog.
The motorboat that was steadily floating through dangerous waters promptly tipped to the left side startling Fuzuki "Papa?" she snuggled the blanket closer to her out of fear "It's alright sweetie, I'm here don't be scared." Sting slowly drew one of his daggers as a precaution "Teuk, teuk, tuk, tuk, tuuukk!" the sound was echoing around like a playing soundtrack "One hungry flora lower left of the depth." Sting pinpointed which direction the sound was coming off "Any backup?" Hibiki chuckled upon pocketing the no-longer working gadget back into the safety of his keeping "Please no." Sting dreaded the idea--therefore the original team almost got killed by a bunch of starving sikotas during the year of his leadership term.
"Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop!"
"Tielk, tielk, tek, tek, tielk!"
Three starving adult Sikota's peaked their heads above the water over on Hibiki's side halting the motorboat to a stop "Stiiing!" Hibiki was somewhat excited for this "I know Hibiki stop hyping it up." the blonde spouted with gritted teeth hence another two was staring dead eye straight at him, Fuzuki, on the other hand, was mesmerized by their beauty and couldn't help but snap a couple of photos, the floras took flashing effect of Sting's gadget in Fuzuki's hand as an extremely sign of a threat, out of pure angered spite two immediately jumped straight to intently tear Hibiki down to shreds of flesh whilst the other vastly sneaked past to devour Fuzuki for offending them. Sting opted to run over the side of his daughter but the two Sikota's that were previously staring at him vastly climbed aboard and pulled him back, one even skinks down its uneven sharp fangs down his shoulder and the other opted to chomp his neck but he stopped it with his dagger.
"PAPA!" Fuzuki opted to run over but the Sikota aggressively grabbed her by the neck leaving a shriek to loudly escape out of her mouth "AAAHHHH!" the aquatic flora's long tongue licked Fuzuki's face for a taste test before devouring half of her being the flora began to laugh in joy and opened its mouth wide scaring Fuzuki beyond eternal repose. Hearing the deadly distress of his daughter Sting instinctively sliced the belly of the sikota bitting him making it fall on its knees vastly collecting its organs back up and caged the other's head in an endless light bubble then kicked it back into the water "Hiiiissss!!" the flora dodged it's head to the side upon the thrown dagger which was intentional to hit the one holding to occupy Hibiki, giving him a chance to draw out his chains and throw the Sikota's overboard "Back to the water!" the orangette swung his chains over the middle of the boat cleaving the Sikota holding Fuzuki in three.
Sting removed the floras still attached handoff Fuzuki's neck, she tightly hugged Sting as if her life depended on it, he genuinely returned the gesture "We need to treat that," Hibiki motioned at Sting's bleeding shoulder "Sure--" but before he could answer completely a howling shriek emitted around the river making it vibrate "Fuzuki turn your entire being into the water and stay inside that bottle," Sting sternly commanded for her own safety, pointing at the one-liter clear water bottle by the side of Sting's backpack "But Papa--" Fuzuki opted to reason hence she cannot yet transform her entire body at will "Do as I say now Fuzuki." he growled annoyed of their current predicament "I...I..." she stuttered. "NOW FUZUKI!" Sting placed her back down upon taking hold of his daggers to tear down the new Sikotas that emerged as back up whereas Hibiki rushed over the wheel cranking it up.
Fuzuki tumbled down off her feet as Hibiki drove like a madman to escape, Sting deflected flora by flora attacked them upon the vast chase none of sikota's relenting this golden opportunity to eat go to utter waste, if only killing Jaromirs/Sikotas wasn't deemed illegal the two kinou's would have already discontinued them "GET IN THE BOTTLE NOW FUZUKI!" Sting's scape was clouded of any solid idea by the constant Sikota's attacking them with the added bonus that he too had to shield his daughter hence the reason why he had a bit of trouble maximizing his movements with Hibiki "I ca, can't." the current demeanor of her father made her cry. Sting vastly threw his talent at the new Sikota that jumped aboard behind the teen ravenette girl.
"Hibiki!"
"On it!"
He made the boat swerve violently shaking off the floras that clung underneath "Relax your nerves Fuzuki and think all about turning into pure water." the blonde kinou kneeled in front of his daughter wiping her tears away "Now breath steadily...that's it good keep it up," Hibiki took initiative whilst Sting was occupied helping the teen ravenette girl. "STING IT'S A CACTI MIX FLORA!!!" seeing up ahead was a thorn trap similar to a spider's web "Stay here Zuzu," the blonde kinou gave a chaste kiss on Fuzuki's forehead before dashing up the front deck creating two huge loops from his talent making them dance to create a free path for them. Whilst that was insinuating, another unknown Rhiannon with neon blue hair silently jumped on the motorboat covering Fuzuki's mouth before she could even try to scream out for help. The said stranger then liquefied the ravenette girl and placed her inside the bottle her father owned.
Upon making their way nearly out of the flora infested waters the blonde kinou came up suspicious regarding the flora's attacking them--they weren't hostile enough, hence real floras will immediately pounce to kill and eat, not pounce just keep on playing with their food, weighing his analysis he vastly grabbed one young flora that was peaking down up above a tree they passed by. Seeing by how easily he caught it his suspicion raised higher to the point of a possibility, the blonde kinou shunned his talent at the flora's face and it freaked out beyond repose--these are fakes, jaromirs and sikotas love the sunlight to death he thought to himself. Deflating his free hand up he shot a nuclear-like beam above the entire river to scare off all the fake floras hunting after them as a front. Hibiki struck the brakes to prevent them from crashing over anything. Once on a settled halt, the orangette kinou saw Sting had put down one young flora up on the front deck looking extremely ill-tempered "RAAAAHHH!" the flora hissed at Sting "How did you even manage to catch that thing?" Hibiki eyed around the angry flora, stepping back carefully for his life.
"Sting?...what are you doing?" Hibiki inquired worried hence his blonde comrade pulled out his sharpest dagger, taunting the angry flora with it "Sti--WHAT THE FUCK!!!" the blonde vastly sliced the young flora without mercy into bits "Dude! WHY?!" Hibiki exclaimed, hence he cannot believe that Sting just sliced up that sikota down to smithereens "Why did you do that?!?" the orangette vastly looked back and forth at Sting and now deceased hungry stricken flora "They're not real Sikota's." Sting cleaned his sap-drenched dagger with a silk cloth "Not real? Huh? what are you talking about? those floras wanted to eat us fresh and alive!" Hibiki grabbed fist fulls of his locks "I'm telling you they're not real Hibiki, because if those were legit Sikota's we would have lost a few parts of our being by now--or worse dead." Jaromirs/Sikotas can be compared to a double-bladed sword, said weapon will be able to protect its user from harm but the downside of it is that one or a few will be taken just to produce a beautiful perfection that will benefit the greater good "Hey, hey, don't say that I wanna live a long life!" Hibiki comically snatched Sting's dagger who was about to say something but an authoritative presence came in the air.
"To be frank, I'd never assumed two carbon copies will be able to beat my imitation puppets, good job on guessing I sort of commend you for that." a nine-foot-tall amazon walked mid-air holding the bottle Fuzuki is in "And to think that this girl is your daughter with the amazon we want to kill the most is just exquisite...don't you think?" she raised an amused brow at the two "Give that bottle back before you lose a hand." Sting threatened "Shut up." the valtorian with a scar on her left cheek told Sting off, such repugnance just by looking at them annoyed her "What do you want, Artemis?" Hibiki evoked the valtorian amazon's name making her smirk that he remembered "Nothing really," the amazon known as Artemis dangerously twirled the water bottle in her hands "Just happened to pass by and thought I'd do some stretching." she yawned upon dangling the bottle by her fingertips leaving Sting to be extremely anxious hence a bunch of Sikota's were swimming in circles underneath, ready to devour Fuzuki in case she drops.
"Give me that bottle Artemis, now."
"Learn to wait buffoon."
Artemis scanned her eyes all over the said bottle "Huh," she scoffed turning away from them, Hibiki vastly shackled Artemis's left hand to stop her from leaving "The bottle Artemis." Hibiki grinned "Help yourselves." she threw the bottle in their direction, and Sting safely caught his teen daughter back "Hey." the blonde called making Artemis halt, vexed "What?" she cocked her head to the side "You following Raios's bidding?" Sting inquired verbally whilst Hibiki tried to breach through her scape but to no avail at all, no words came out of the valtorian amazon's lip instead she continued her steps and disappeared back into the dark fog leaving them alone...for now. "Find anything?" Sting turned the bottle to open and let Fuzuki out back up "No, she kept a wall up as always." Sting was puzzled upon why did Hibiki said always when it was supposed to be before. The blonde kinou choose not to question it despite being suspicious.
By the time they made it out of Candle river by sunset the next day, least to say the motorboat won't last long to get them back to Lireo--they need to hijack another vehicle to make a safer trip than this one. Sting had them hold off by the coast to rest for the night hence Sikota's living within Xeris's vast open waters are to not be enticed if one cannot swim with vast haste of prolonged safety "You ready?" the orangette left the wheel in the grasps of his talent "Ready for what?" Sting took his eyes off the glimmering waters "Seeing them again duh," Hibiki chuckles upon putting his feet up the railings "I missed them you know given that we have been stuck at Lireo for too long, so this is nice." the two took a glance over a Fuzuki before going back to their conversation at hand. "I mean who wouldn't?" Sting smiles at the memory of his niece and nephew upon looking at his reflection on the water "Right?! And to be fair Cana and Cade had the best sibling dynamic." the snapping of the galva's camera could be heard in the background.
"Sweetie be careful!" Sting reminded his daughter "Correction, the weirdest sibling dynamic." the blonde kinou was quick to point out giggling "By the gods," Hibiki cursed "...I love that woman." a tint of both regret and coping could be seen through Hibiki's eyes as he declared his intentions for Arcana Diaz "Can't move on?" The latter sarcastically laughs upon roasting himself "Of course, I would be a fool to ever replace Arcana with someone whose not in the caliber of her sophisticated beauty." Hibiki neither went out and dated anyone after the highest beauty of Xeris passed away, going far to be chaste because of it "You are whipped." Ignatius's teasing to Hibiki back then was once again given rise by Sting, the orangette took it as a compliment this time "I'm proud of it." the latter could feel tears of joy welling in his eyes upon the thought of finally seeing Arcana again.
"By the way Sting, why do you have sanity pads on your bag?" the blonde in question froze "It's for Fuzuki." he admitted flustered "She got her period already?" Hibiki never looked so betrayed that Sting didn't tell him "Not yet, but Milady gave me a heads up before we left Lireo saying that she got hers when she was Fuzuki's age." Sting was beyond perplexed when Milady shoved an entire pack of pads out of nowhere at his face before the context was given "Did she say when?" the orangette glanced at Fuzuki, who was too engrossed in watching the flying fishes play within the vast ocean "Milady said it'll come once Fuzuki demands to have her hair braided into twin tails." a soft memory of Arcana wearing braids whilst on her period elapsed Hibiki's scape "Zuzu has that on right now though," he points out, "I know." Sting practically asked Venus to teach him how to put on a sanity pad, deal with the cramps in case it comes and what he should do if Fuzuki panics from the uncontrollable bleeding.
~
"Don't you just hate it when boys make promises?" Princess rambled out when Minerva entered her tent to put back the scrolls of paper she collected to be placed here "Are you okay Athy?" Calix's former champion and monarch inquired concerned "Do I look okay to you Cyrene?" Princess lifted her face for Minerva to see, such heavy eye bags and relentlessness could be seen without the cover-up of Princess's talent "That's why I'm asking," Minerva pulled up a chair in front of Princess after she was done arranging the papers "It's just...never mind." Princess buried her head back down into the maps and plans induced desk "Go on I'll listen to your rant," Minerva cleared up some of the papers hence those contain confidential information for the coming days "It's not a rant okay?!" Princess balled up fists of her red hair "Uhuh." Minerva teasingly patted her head leaving Princess to pout.
"-^-" Princess was well aware of what will happen to her future if she chooses to be with Cullen, and despite declaring to herself that she hates him--she still agreed to be in an understanding with him hence the premonition foretold her being happy and she is, but instances like this annoyed her "What did Cullen do?" Minerva finally interrogates "He came home earlier at 5:23 am extremely reeking like liquor and was ready to pass out." They were in the middle of a war but Cullen and his friends still found ways to call it out like a bluff in the deep dive of their intoxication, Princess was furious beyond repose. "Did the kids know?" Minerva asked upon pouring Princess a glass of water to drink hence she looked quite dehydrated from stress "Yeah, they saw him." Princess raked her red wavy hair back reminiscent of the earlier scenario.
"Aillard told me last night that Yugen and Cullen did invite him." Minerva pushed the glass of water encouraging Princess to drink it. "At least Aillard kept his promise to you." Princess mumbled upon putting the now empty glass down "Promise? What promise?" Minerva asks puzzled "That he'd stay true to his words." Princess bluntly spouted turning her head to the side "Which is?" Minerva insisted to know hence guessing would take a lot of time "His promise duh." Princess vexatiously closed her organ of sight at the thought of Cullen idiotically (handsomely is the true wording) smiling at her "You lost me there, what is with your point--"
"My point here is that Cullen broke his promise to me Cyrene!" Princess began as she disappointingly tapped the surface of the desk five times "He promised to me back then that he'd never drink any sort of liquor and even said that he was disgusted by the people who drink them, and now look at him? Such a hypocrite!" Princess angrily stood up from her seat knocking it down in the process "Athy," a sigh escaped Minerva's lips "You know my mom always used to tell back then, that boys will make some promises that would highly appeal to the girls they like whilst in the stage of courting them because they know that if they say something like that the girl would likely start to have a few romantic feelings towards them." Minerva was completely right about every single word she spouted.
"I will never forget the way he promised it."
"I know."
~
"All the books Milady gave me said that the architecture here in Xeris plasters representational art, right Papa?" Fuzuki was jumping up and down overly excited "It's the best." Sting said whilst busy tying up the motorboat in case they need it for a quick escape from a few soldiers up ahead of them "Are we gonna be taking another long walk Hibiki?" Fuzuki jumped peaked over the map Hibiki is looking at, he crouched down to her level "See this part?" he pointed at the city named Lorelei "Uhuh." Fuzuki nodded "This is where we are right now, and the place we want to visit is over here." he pointed next to the top of the capital city, Amara, which was below the city named Calla "How long are we going to walk Hibiki?" Fuzuki pondered "Two days." just by hearing it had Fuzuki whined a pout "Or we could just fly," Hibiki gave out another suggestion to make Fuzuki feel better. "What do you say, Sting?" he glanced over at Sting for approval "No, we're not doing that." the blonde kinou immediately shot down the idea of flying over Xeris for less leg work, he finished tying up the motorboat and urged Fuzuki to follow after him.
"Oh come on it's going to be fun!" Hibiki argued with a grin "Really?" Fuzuki beamed curious and excited at the same time "No Hibiki, for the second time were not doing that." past memories of them flying gave Sting shivers "Are you scared?~" the orangette teased his friend "What? no, no!" Sting defended himself from the claim "Then why are you against it? hmm?" Hibiki and Fuzuki caught up with Sting as he walked on the sandy beach, Fuzuki was in awe of the tall coconut trees they passed by, tugging Hibiki's jacket to pick three for them which he agreed. "Because it is highly dangerous--" Sting almost fell off the last time, he doesn't want Fuzuki to experience the same. "Dangerous for you?~" Aulora's royal noble singsonged whilst poking holes out of the coconut he picked from one of the trees. "Hibiki listen. okay." Sting faced the orangette upon calming down his nerves "We're gonna take this long walk with full careful peace, without any mention of that flying shenanigan okay? end of story."
The blonde made his decision clear, pulling out the umbrella he brought to fight against the sunlight above "Okay then! want a coconut instead?" Hibiki agreed, proceeding to offer Sting the coconut which he annoyedly took "Hey, Zuzu want me to carry you?" he offered to Fuzuki "Sure--" in the midst of agreeing Sting hollered from far away "No, Fuzuki come here!" Hibiki gave Fuzuki the coconut "Okay Papa!" the young girl replied "Sorry Hibiki," whispering her apologies to the older kinou before following after her father "We'll bug him about it later," the orangette winked at her "Hehehe okay," the young girl agreed "Fuzuki!" Sting called more sternly this time "Coming!" Hibiki caught up with them after picking at a few more coconuts. Sad to say they didn't manage to convince Sting to fly over Xeris, along is the fact that they encountered a bunch of soldiers from Helium.
(A/N: This is a map of Xeris that I drew myself for this chapter.)
Two days later upon their arrival at Xeris's inner grounds, Sting and Fuzuki took a round route around the place as the teen raven girl wanted to see the hidden glorious falls every history book has hyped about, least to say whilst on the detour said blonde kinou was totally disappointed by the debris of pillars and walls of concrete that littered around Xeris like graffiti, Hibiki went on ahead hence said crystal clear freshwater was only near on where his deceased betrothed is buried. "Hey Cana it's me again, sorry that I haven't visited you for a while hehe," the orangette kinou carefully removed the heavy boulders that he, himself placed ever since he first visited her way back then, so that no one may disrupt the only remaining peace Arcana Diaz has in this current era of ours "Things just got out of hand after Milady's daughter, Riona passed away and we needed to take shelter at Lireo. But hey I managed to bring Sting and Fuzuki with me this time around, oh Fuzuki is Sting's illegitimate daughter with Milady--it's uhmm..ya know--forced hehe don't ask. We also visited my Mom in Aulora on our way here, and all I can say is--both of your resting places need more maintenance than the one I provide--Oh! I have an idea next time, when I come back I'm gonna bring Milady and Zero here to clean up all these off just for you."
By the time Sting and Fuzuki regrouped with Hibiki, it has been thirty minutes to lunch and the said orangette has already set up a picnic-esk set up. "Papa who is buried here?" the ravenette girl scanned her eyes around the place which was surrounded by massive boulders of debris "My betrothed," the orangette proudly declared, Fuzuki looked back at her father "She's my one and only favorite niece, her name is Arcana," the tone of his voice upon introducing Arcana to Fuzuki was so full of joy from remembering all the great memories they've shared together "She's your cousin, sweetie, say hi to her." Sting urged his daughter to greet Arcana's resting place upon getting down from the five steps high of a fallen down tree "She's not really there anymore, but hey! it is the thought that counts. You're a great parent Sting." Hibiki chuckled as he playfully punched Sting by the arm who just went with the banter of praise. Fuzuki carefully crouched down in front of Arcana's gravestone.
"Hello, cousin Arcana! I'm Fuzuki Diaz. Me, Papa, and Hibiki came all the way from Lireo to visit you, Papa just told me that you're his favorite niece so that must mean that you're a really nice person to be one of his favorite relatives!" Hibiki and Sting watched Fuzuki carefully as she spoke to the grave but the orangette kinou was taken aback upon hearing Fuzuki call Arcana a nice person even if she didn't know Arcana personally the thought of his was bittersweet, to say the least, "This is my first time here at Xeris, and from all the books I've been pushed to read by Milady who also happens to be my Mama, I've learned that our tribe was really pretty and splendid back in the day, the books also said that our tribe had the most beautiful bodies of water in all of RHEA," Sting was unsure where Fuzuki inherited this blusterous personality from.
"And the coconuts Hibiki picked for us earlier and two days ago were totally sweet! It's my new favorite drink now! And it's all thanks to you, cousin Arcana oyu veloi! " the last part caught Hibiki off guard...it also served as a reminder that Milady had given him a letter to read for Arcana and Arcade. "Papa, Hibiki, what did cousin Arcana looked like?" the teen ravenette girl turns her head to the two "Like a goddess." Hibiki had a tint of color on his cheeks upon describing Arcana's beauty "I wanna see the picture!" Fuzuki's eyes glimmered, rushing up to the orangette who promptly pulled out his galva showing a significantly old but memorable photo "PRETTY!--Woah! is that Papa? he looks so young! Papa, you look so young and fresh here!" Sting had a cold sweat on his temple bonus an awkward smile "Heard that Sting? you look young here~" Hibiki titled his head back wiggling his eyebrows at the blonde. "-_-"
"Show me more photos Hibiki!" he read Fuzuki's mind and she wanted to see old photos of Milay and Sting together, the orangette couldn't blame her though--she truly shipped her parents even if fate doesn't allow it. "Okay, okay, I will," whilst the two were busy going through old photos, Sting took the opportunity to say his own stuff to Arcana "It's been a while since I last returned to our tribe..." the blonde kinou created a small ball of light in his palm leaving it on top of Arcana's gravestone, Sting doesn't really know why he was given a second chance at life but he's grateful for it nonetheless "...and I gotta say Cana, you would be hella disappointed if you could see Xeris right now. I can already imagine you throwing a tantrum just to make our tribe beautiful again, just like that one time during our shopping trips together hahaha. A lot of things happened since we last saw each other."
He took a breather hence tears began to swell on his lower eyelids "The teenage girl who talked to you a minute ago, is Fuzuki, she is my daughter with Milady which is Mirror...and uhh, I committed a sin just to have my daughter. You're probably going to pull on my hair if you were here," Sting chuckled upon running his hand on his forehead "Better yet complaining at my dumb actions. I'll be honest with you...regret doing that now, but at the same time that sin I committed gave me a blessing that I will forever cherish." Sting felt sorry for how poorly his niece was buried and assumed that his nephew was buried in a similar state. Thanks to the boulders surrounding Arcana's grave no soldiers from Helium managed to find nor spot them for a good hour and a half.
"Sting you two should go on ahead, Arcade is resting just north from here once you see a huge lemon tree and another bunch of debris around that's it." the two kinou's discussed earlier via telepathy that Hibiki still needs to read Milady's letter to Arcana before they leave and that Fuzuki can't hear the words written down on it for reasons that it contains something explicit/Milady doesn't want Fuzuki to know, the orangette did promise Sting to keep their telepathic connection whilst he delivers said letter. "Contact me immediately if someone tries to attack you." the blonde kinou reminds Hibiki as he places back the second to last boulder of debris near Arcana's resting place "Awww you're worried for me~" he teases "Just hurry it up." the latter dismisses, walking off to Arcade's resting place. "Whatever you say~" Hibiki waves at them"See you later Hibiki!" Fuzuki waved back, once the father and daughter were gone Hibiki opened the envelope Milady gave and began to read its contents.
"Dearest Arcana, I am sorry for the tactful truth that I was blind not to accept your kindness and friendship back when we first met but despite that, I was being a fake comrade to you through all those years we spent studying at Ephedia, you still showed me this word called "love" at the time I couldn't understand it to the point that--I was sort of pathetic in my perspective. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't my intention to hurt you and the entire team, but it was and I hate myself for it. Simply because I don't visit you anymore doesn't mean I've forgotten about you. You were hurt by reason of my lies about who I am to everyone, now you're gone, and the worst part of it all... it's my fault. Forgive me Cana. -Mirror."
They both know that Milady wasn't one to say any type of apologies or forgiveness and the words she wrote down in that letter baffled them. Sting was glad that Milady owned up to her mistakes and is reflecting on its lasting consequences but Hibiki...he gripped the paper in his hands as soon as he finished reading tears kept falling each time he blinked and wiped them to be non-existent. "Took you long enough." an unwanted visitor welcomed Sting and Fuzuki to Arcade's resting place "What the." he immediately activated his talent within such an ominous presence.
~
Milady was grouped up with the blonde twins last week and she was irked by the way Arcade kept on flirting with Arcana every time their eyes meet to the point that she had to do most of their assigned task by herself rather than with the twins "What's up with Arcade constantly displaying his tongue out?" Milady ponders a question to Hibiki who was glad that he was brought out of doing his unwanted extra assignment "Oh that? Yeah, Arcade has a habit of licking his lips whenever Arcana is being cute, it's normal at this point." Milady became bafflingly disturbed by Hibiki's words "Normal? how is that normal?" she raised a brow at it "Because they're siblings--no wait twins." the blonde twins of Xeris do not fully understand the concept of incest hence the reason why most of the elites along their stature compare them to cats. Those two kids learned the wrong version of what kinds of circumstance loves variates.
~
"How the hell are you alive?" Hibiki gritted his teeth upon seeing Hiraeath still living and breathing after all this time "Heh." was all that came out of her lips upon showing them what has kept her going to chase them for straight weeks now--lifting her tattered shirt four fist-sized diamond fangs were embedded on her stomach, the corruption of it spreading on her flesh like fresh violence. Sting immediately covered Fuzuki's eyes from the horror that is emancipating on Hiraeath's already tainted being "What the...how are even moving with that thing on you?!" the corrupted amazon smirked wickedly at the flabbergasted question "And of all things using a talent?!" Hiraeath couldn't help but laugh at Hibiki's frantic reaction "Simple sacrifices." the corrupted amazon opted to jump the teen ravenette in Sting's arms but Hibiki was quick to act on his feet and entangled the corrupted amazon crushing her being like a ripe fruit.
"Did you manage to see through her scape?" the teen girl cowardly hid behind Sting "No, the diamond fangs embedded on her abdomen countered my talent beyond repose." the latter collected his weapon "Madeline caused a ruckus at Cobalt before melancholia's descent, is it plausible that she too is under the corruption of a fang?" Sting speculated "Maybe since our recent deceased here came out of the same place she did." Hibiki told him solemnly "If this is what my Aunt Venus is talking about, we're in deep trouble." upon seeing a crime against nature with his own eyes, Sting began to believe Venus's words regarding what it is about to befall once again on RHEA "No shit--oops sorry." the orangette kinou covers his mouth realizing Fuzuki heard him spout a curse word aloud "At least you said sorry," Sting patted him on the shoulder.
"Milady needs to know this." Hibiki took a deep breath "I bet you she already knows about this." the ravenette girl peaked over at what was left of Hiraeath's seeing nothing but mashed up internal organs and its corrupted blood being eagerly drunk by the little snow left, Fuzuki wished she hadn't done it "Arcade won't appreciate this kind of stain near his grave." the orangette frowned at the blood that splattered everywhere "I'll throw it out quickly." Fuzuki's shoulder's immediately tensed up when she heard Hibiki's tone, subconsciously grabbing the sleeves of Sting's shirt, she couldn't help the fear that was taunting her. "It's okay Fuzuki she's gone," Sting whispered upon diverting her attention by rubbing her back.
"Who left this here?" Hibiki tilted his head to the side confused, hence upon removing the boulder there was some sort of flowers that had been pressed due to the said debris "Left what?" Sting looked over Hibiki's shoulder "That, what is that?" aulora's prince squinted his eyes at the said item left atop the grave "Who else knows that Arcade is buried here?" placing aside the heavy boulder made the lemon tree shake a bit "Me, You, Fuzuki, Milady, Zero, and Ocean, we are the only ones whose supposed to know." the orangette was highly sure that he didn't tell anybody else aside from those he mentioned, so who could have possibly left this bouquet let alone managed to lift the barricades atop of it, such questions filled his scape "I'm pretty sure Hiraeath has been eavesdropping on us earlier."
"Probably." Hibiki walks up to the flower carefully moving it a bit with his foot to make sure that it wasn't a sikota's hair that got caught "Papa, Arcade is Arcana's twin brother, right? Hibiki told me earlier." the teen girl finally speaks with a crack in her tone "Yeah and did you know that he was the most handsome and hottest kinou of our era?" Sting shifts the topic to take away the lingering fear in Fuzuki's system "He's got a ton of girls swooning on him every single day." Hibiki telepathically showed Fuzuki a memory of Arcade entertaining a bunch of his fans "Eh?! really?" she gasped "Arcade inherited his father's way of picking the right person to be his--which is by either dating or courting someone new by the end of each week." of course that goes without saying that the gorgeous blonde doesn't let his lovers go until he got a taste of them and how does Arcade do that? by licking them titties.
"Don't follow that kind of example Fuzuki it is bad." a reminder was plastered by the blonde kinou "Understood Papa," she nodded her head in agreement "Your father here instantly courted Milady after finding out that Arcade was interested in her." Hibiki jutted in the best opportunity to yet again expose his longtime comrade "Hey I didn't--" the latter opted to clarify himself "Did you really Papa?" Fuzuki, on the other hand, was overly happy about such a revelation "Well I umm, I--" the two ganged up on him "He did Zuzu," the way Hibiki relayed his words was like guilt that crept up around a person's skin. For good measure on their way back to Lireo, they stole a jet, in which Hibiki and Sting argued over if either of them could drive it. Knowing that her father always gives chances when it comes right learning new things Fuzuki searched around the jet for a manual instruction of sorts and was about to give it to Sting but a tall amazon blocked her way.
"Awwwee you're quite cute aren't you? I could squish you to death~" an unfamiliar voice resounded within the jet, Hibiki and Sting looked at each other rushing out to the back "The heck...Who on RHEA are you?" they saw a blue-haired amazon wrapping her arms around Fuzuki alongside it nuzzling her face on the teen girl's cheek "Eh? rude, greet me first~" she glanced at the two kinous "Papa she's with--!" Fuzuki was already acquainted with who this amazon was, she was the one that helped or rather forcibly turned her to water back when they were trying to escape out of Candle river "Ah, ah, shush cutie baby~" the older woman covered Fuzuki's mouth with her other hand "I don't move blondie or the baby gets it." her voice turned cold upon warning Sting to not make a hitch "Good boy~" she complimented him as if he was an obedient pet. "Who are you and how did you get here? I'm pretty sure I kicked everyone out." Sting was getting real vexed by the fact that everyone keeps on holding his daughter hostage like it's a planned theme.
"Greet me first~" she placed a finger on her lips "Who are you? now." he growled annoyed at her spunky attitude and high-pitched voice "Hmph. And you're a Diaz even, it's sad I expected more manners what bummer," she pretended to be upset "Anyway good day! I'm a valtorian~" she cheeky smiled leaving the part about her name dismissed, that made Sting and Hibiki vastly grasp their weapons "Ooh relax, I'm completely harmless hehe~" her childlike tone was bothering their ears beyond repose "Unless you two give me a reason to." her eyes gleamed hints of corruption in them, "You're with Artemis." Hibiki voiced out what he found. "Aww orangey read the baby's thoughts~" the valtorian amazon lifted Fuzuki's chin to look at her "To answer your speculation, I am with Arty in fact she sent me to see how you've been doing considering that Raios's little weaklings kept on pestering you~"
Hibiki wanted to whack himself on the head for first not noticing Hiraeth's presence following them and now this sky haired valtorian "You're doing the same." Sting bluntly spouted "Am not~" she pouted from being called a pest, getting from her seat with Fuzuki in her arms "Anyway I'll be leaving now seeing that all of you are fine hehe~" the blue-haired valtorian opened the door of the jet violent waves of wind came in, forcing the kinou's on a defensive stance against it all "Babye little cutie~ mwah!" she kissed Fuzuki on the cheek lovingly before letting her go and jumping off to the skies like a maniac "WOOOOHAHAHAHA!" Hibiki closed off the door with his talent, Sting vastly tumbled over to his daughter's side checking heavily if that crazed valtorian left any kind of scratch on her. The parting kiss that valtorian left made Fuzuki age thrice in her father's arms...16 years old "Papa I'm fine," Fuzuki reasoned upon pushing Sting off her to promptly stand up back facing the two "Fuzuki--" he hopefully reached out his hand "Papa I swear I'm fine," pausing on her steps Fuzuki raised her voice a bit declaring what she wanted clearly to the blonde "Just leave me alone for a while." a heavy sigh escaped her lips as she retreated to temporarily stow away in one of the seats.
Going back to the jet's cockpit the two kinous sat by quietly for a while, until Hibiki couldn't keep his mouth shut anymore and began a small talk "I read Fuzuki's mind, and apparently that valtorian earlier forcibly turned Fuzuki to water and gave the bottle to Artemis." Sting was a bit guilty on that end hence he too demanded the teen ravenette girl "Sting are you okay?" he checked in "No..." a shadow was cast on his eyes, his beloved daughter was nearing death and the first thing she wanted was to distance herself away from him "How did she even know that Fuzuki is a baby?" Hibiki shifted to an objective topic "According to what your father had taught us back then, Valtorians are forced to learn three talents at once by their ruler. So far Artemis only displayed one of her talents to us back during our team's initiation and a few days ago at Candle river." that made Sting temporarily forget about the fleeting life span of his daughter.
"One talent? excuse me what about the way she walked mid-air??"
"Artemis was standing on a string--"
"So her second talent is Halyarding?" he raised a brow along with the guess "No, because if it was she would have her hand deflated to the side, or better yet her fingers would have been twitching or moving but no. During the first time, we met Artemis I could tell that she had touched the blazing snow to make those imitation sikotas from how pinkish her fingertips were upon wearing her gloves back on and I saw the same thing when we saw her again at Candle river but in the form of sand and cactus thorns." little did Sting know that all his speculation regarding Artemis is completely true "Soo her talent is what exactly?" all the explanation Sting has been spouting bored Hibiki "Marionette Act deals with puppetry of living beings. Any user of that talent not only can puppet anyone but also creates puppets of their own out of anything." this is why Zero often teased Sting of being a teacher's pet due to his intellect. "Uhmm, that is dangerous...wha, wha? w-why? what? uuhhahahahaa wha--what the fuck?! that's illegal!" a terrified expression plastered on the orangette's face
"I'm only guessing here but if that amazon we met earlier was indeed sent by Artemis, it could also be highly possible that she was with Artemis during our little encounter at Candle river and could probably be the one manipulating those strings behind the shadows. That amazon's mistake is that's she exposed all of her talents to us." Sting was too engrossed in analyzing the talents of their enemies that he missed to react to Hibiki's recoil "Elaborate in simple words please," the latter slumped in his seat "First turning Fuzuki to water, it is Elemental Aqua. The second is Halyarding and the last is Skin Amorphous given that she managed to hide easily and jump off this jet without any care whatsoever. Anymore questions Hibiki?" The last part caught him off guard "Nope no more, just talk to me," he faked yawned "By the gods..."
Later that day Hibiki called Zero to inform him that they will be arriving at Lireo aboard a stolen jet, hence an aircraft from Helium might cause a huge kerfuffle amongst the citizens of Lireo, especially to its monarch "Zuzu have you taken your vitamins already?" Sting ruffled the hair of his daughter upon giving her a plate of lunch "Papa I'm not a baby anymore stop calling me that." her eyelids have been quite heavy for a day now but insomnia wasn't the reason behind it "Young lady, I am your father so whether you like it or not you'll always be my little girl. And do drink your vitamins after this okay?" he glanced at Fuzuki in between bites "Yes, Papa," she leaned back on her seat whilst chewing her red cabbage "Sting! could you get me a soda?" Hibiki called from the cockpit "Okay!" the blonde paused from eating getting said soda for their "pilot"
Fuzuki contemplated her eyes out the window, ignoring the chilling cold that was resonating within her fingertips each time she moved them, her aching period wasn't helping either. Sting knew of her afflictions hence the reason why her plate is filled with slices of beets, pumpkin, red cabbage, peppers, apples, and garnished with turmeric sauce. Glancing at the small vitamin bottle for a full second before stiffly taking it to drink, "Yeah, yeah I'll be back don't worry." she heard the voice of her father and the door closing down the hall "Sweetie is something the matter?" the worry evident upon sitting back down "No, nothing I'm good, just tired." she smiled "Do I need to blame Hibiki for not being a good pilot?" he distracted Fuzuki, secretly noticing how uneven her breath had become "Hahaha maybe," Sting engraved this memory to scape hence it can never be repeated again...once she leaves.
~
"Learn to measure the strength of your adversary, do not underestimate them in spite of your ego telling you to do so. As that would be your downfall." the then General Loki lectured the young royal blood Rhiannon sitting in front of him, one of them raised a hand to which case he acknowledged "Does that count even if that Rhiannon is the strongest of them all?" she asked making her fellow teammates/classmates stare back at the orangette kinou "Yes the logic applies, hence don't get me wrong here but pure confidence in yourself to be able to do something is not bad, but if you allow that confidence to pucker you up too much for your own good then that is already arrogance and that is when your drawback will drag you down." they were in awe watching him talk that it convinced them he has a wide array of experience out in the field of battle. "Sir!" another young girl eagerly raised her hand "Yes!" he accepted another question.
"Are you married?"
"Eh?"
~
Making landfall on Lireo's royal palace, Sting didn't like that Milady has been preparing Fuzuki's entire funeral and burial while she was still alive. He took it as a direct insult to Fuzuki so the following day he intentionally woke up early to put a halt to everything Milady has been preparing for weeks "Mirror! Mirror!" Sting's yelling echoed down the entire hall "Here he comes," Milady could hardly care about the blonde's tantrums and continued to check Ethan's exam, Odette prepared herself not to flinch "Mirror! what is the meaning of all this?" he slammed the newly installed door to Milady's newly furbished study "--get out of the way!" he was unable to contain his anger over the entire matter, shooing Ethan out of his way "Not trying to deny the inevitable." Milady spouted ignoring Sting, so as an exchange he pulled the paper out from the desk ripping it.
"She's still alive Mirror! at least have some decency for the life of our daughter!" Ethan closed the doors shut therefore those who passed by took a peek at what was going on "Our? didn't you've claimed before that she was only yours? and now that Fuzuki's nearing death you're telling me she belongs to the both of us? how amusing Sting." Odette tried to stop Milady from looming over the blonde kinou "Milady please remember what His Royal Highness said," the greenette pleaded with her served master, luckily enough Milady listened she turned away calming her nerves down. The blonde however was confused as to what Odette was even talking about "Do you really want to pause all of it?" she side faced Sting upon the question, Odette mouthed to Sting to respond kindly "By all means...Milady." he responded with gritted teeth.
"Preparations for Fuzuki's funeral and burial shall be ceased until further notice. Make my words known to everyone working here Odette."
"Yes, Milady."
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