Prologue
It was the dead of night. Roselina was seated around a small bonfire with her familiar. The two were exhausted from the third day of being in the world. Around them was the never-ending landscape of greyish-black land. There were no trees, no flowers, no plants whatsoever. The sky was black, both the stars as well as the moon were completely vacant. The only source of light they possessed was the small, pitiful fire they set up.
Roselina wore a light, cotton, red, longsleeved shirt over her upper body, and a pair of long dark tights. Her skin was light, an identical colour to her elder brother's. The girl's hair was black, cut short, and reached up to her shoulders in a 'tight brunette pixie'. There were semi-deep cuts on her arms, cheeks, and upper body from her previous battles. But she didn't mind it in the slightest. They had just succeeded in bringing down the Goblin Lord in the Underworld.
Her familiar was about Azure's height, just past Roselina's torso. Her name was Azrare, with unnaturally white skin, beady, deep red, cold eyes, a tiny mouth, and a slim body. Azrare's hair was long, open, straight, silvery-blonde in colour. She wore a greyish-white and black kimono, with the mid-point being black. She had an oval face, and the aura she emitted was mature, and soft-spoken.
Looking at her, Roselina spoke. The young thirteen year old girl's voice was quiet, and hoarse.
"Azrare." Roselina said.
"Yes, master?" Azrare replied to her, eyes locked onto Roselina.
"How much longer until we reach the entrance to the Underworld?" This was her main worry. From the moment she was reincarnated to the world, she was in the Underworld. After hearing that Christopher was in the Overworld from her familiar, whom was definitely more well informed than Azure in some aspects, she made it her goal to reunite with him.
"Not long. If we continue the pace we have right now, we should be there by tomorrow evening." Azrare replied, her emotionless expression wasn't changed in the slightest. "Rest, master. Today was a tough battle for us."
"No shit...my body's killing me..." Roselina slouched over, then held onto her shoulders. "...This world is hell. Why would Amaterasu bring us here in the first place? Why couldn't he just let us die?"
"Because." Azrare heard Roselina's rant, and spoke sternly to her. "Elder God Amaterasu found the both of you too young just to let perish, and found it fitting to give you a second chance."
"Heh..." Roselina laughed a bit, "...Well, at least Christopher's here to." She obtained a sour smile on her petite lips. "Thanks, Azrare."
"Yes, master." ?
"Christopher..." Roselina started pondering in her head what she'd do once they were reunited. Christopher...I saw him die in front of me. If I told him how I passed away...would he be mad at me? She thought to herself. She didn't want toface her elder brother after what she did to herself only days ago. Once again, she peered over to Azrare.
"Hey...do you think Christopher's searching for me as well?" Roselina asked her. Tears had already formed in her eyes.
"Yes, master. I believe so. He already knows you're here as well. He wouldn't abandon you." Azrare replied. She had unknowingly given Roselina comfort by her words.
"I hope that's true." Roselina shuffled closer to Azrare, then gave her a small twinkle. "Hey, thanks for helping me win against the Goblin Lord. I really wouldn't have survived if you weren't there." She said.
"You don't have to thank me, master. It is my duty to guard and assist you in everything you do." Azrare responded.
"Come on...you don't be so modest..." Roselina smirked even more at her familiar. "...Thanks." Then later, she gave her an embrace, which Azrare returned.
"Ahh...you're so soft..." The young girl stated. She squeezed the familiar even more closely. "...Mmm...at least one good thing came out of this so far..."
"What is it, master?" Azrare replied. Then Roselina quickly giggled, then looked her familiar in the eyes lovingly.
"You, Azrare. I'd be a mess if I didn't have you with me."
"Oh..." Azrare was a little surprised by the response, but didn't think too much of it. "...You're very welcome then, master."
"Well, I'm going to rest a bit more. You sure you don't need to sleep, Azrare?" Roselina peered at her familiar with a relatively concerned expression, but Azrare shrugged it off.
"Yes, master. Familiars are not like you mortals, we're never hungry, nor do we ever need to sleep." Azrare said to her. Roselina took her word, and nodded.
"Alright. Keep watch for me then, and wake me up if you see anything."
"Yes master. Rest well." Roselina laid down, and shut her eyes, with complete reassurance that she and her familiar are completely safe. She looked at her sheathed blade right beside her with a slightly disturbed feeling inside her.
Christopher... She thought. Is it really okay for me to be forced to fight like this..?
Story:
Christopher and Azure were both on a horse-drawn carriage, both of them were deep in thought about what happens next. Around them was a seemingly infinite landscape of grasslands. They ensured they carried enough food, potions and other supplies for them to survive in the Underworld when they get there inside of a medium sized, leather bag Azure carried around her shoulders. It wasn't heavy, since Christopher was doing all the physical fighting, Azure thought she'd carry it.
Looking over to his familiar, who was seated beside him, Christopher signaled her.
"Azure." He said. Azure immediately acknowledged him.
"Yes master?" Her tone was serious, and her entire demeanour showed how firm she was.
"So, uhh, do you know why the world was split into two like this?" Christopher asked, "Well, if it was my previous life's world I'd say it was because of religion and stuff, but...you know."
"Religion?" Azure tilted her head, "Ohh, well it is kind of because of that, you know!"
"R-Really?" Christopher was somewhat shocked at her response. He didn't even give a thought to there being religion in that world to. But taking into account the statue they prayed to, it finally dawned onto him. "Ohh, you mean like the statue we prayed to?" Christopher continued, "Erm...which God was that again..?" The young boy chuckled nonchalantly. Though as soon as Azure heard his words, she gave him an unsurprised look.
"You really are forgetful, master." She stated. Letting out a sigh, she spoke up, "Back in Aznos, we prayed to the Goddess of Human Wishes and Pleas, Avathara." Next, Azure chuckled a little, "Though being a Goddess of Humans in particular, I'm really not sure why she responded to you like that, master. Ahahahaha!"
"Yeah, I'm a demi-human." Christopher remarked. He leaned back in the carriage, and stretched out his arms above his head. "Haaahhh..."
"Hmm...And as for why the world was split into two...it's sort of a long story, master." Azure's gaze fell onto Christopher's. "Would you still like to hear it?"
"Yes please, Azure. Tell me." He replied.
Following, Azure started telling Christopher about the history of the world.
Long ago, before any of the major kingdoms were founded, the world was united.
All races of the world lived peacefully together in complete harmony. There was
no war, no hardships, not even a spec of evil was visible to anybody. However,
this was all changed. The deity whom is known throughout the world as Einherjar,
frowned grew furious at the humans and beasthumans. He believed the other races
to be far inferior to humans, and were more suited to being their slaves. So he
descended into the mortal world, and commanded them to do his bidding, which
they did. All races but the humans of the world became the humans' main target.
For thousands of years, they were and tormented by the humans. Elves, beast-
humans, demon-humans, dark elves, fairies, and many more were hunted. Nearly
the entire population of the other races were enslaved. The Gods who ruled over
them saw this, and grew furious. They waged war against Einherjar, and forced
him to surrender, but he didn't give up. Soon, the mortal world became involved
in the war.
The war lasted for centuries, and the human population was driven close to
extinction as the other races began overpowering them with the help of their
deities. Einherjar was backed into a corner, and forced to surrender. When he
was finally taken down, the Gods had him executed, and to prevent something
such as that from ever happening again, they separated the various races.
Beasthumans, humans, elves, fairies and pixies now reside in the Overworld,
whereas demons, demonhumans, dark elves, angel, angel-humans, and certain
species of beasthumans reside in the Underworld. Ever since then, the world
was never the same.
Upon finishing, Christopher was speechless. He wasn't sure of what to make of what make of it. Looking Azure in the face, he spoke,
"Wow...now that's a mouthful." His arms were folded, and he snickered, "Man, that Einherjar guy sounds like a jerk..."
"Yes master." Azure nodded to him, "Do you understand it now?"
"Mhm." Christopher happily smiled at her, "Surprisingly, anyway." The story behind the world he was reincarnated to shocked him. I really am in another world, aren't I?
Soon, they reached to a roadside inn. The sun was setting, so they decided to stop there for the night along with the driver they hired. They had paid their driver quite a bit of money for the long drive, so Christopher was worried about their finances. However, they seemed to have more than enough money to get by.
Entering the room they rented, Christopher and Azure looked around. The area seemed to be nearly identical to the inn back at Aznos.
"Hrm, guess inns here don't really change much, do they?"
"No, master. Unless it's one of the more expensive ones, they don't really change." Azure replied. She walked forward, and laid on the single sided bed. "Ahh, looks like we'll be sleeping close up again." She said in a humorous tone. Christopher approached her, and sat with her.
"What? You don't like it?" He questioned, grinning from ear to ear.
"Mmm, not that I don't like it, master." Azure sat up, then continued, "Heehee, are you hungry?"
"Not really. But I could go for something to eat." He replied. "We've got a long journey ahead of us."
"Mhm." Azure met Christopher's gaze with an innocent, cheerful expression, "When we get there, make sure you're prepared for battle. The Underworld is much more dangerous than the Overworld, and well, b-beasthumans like you aren't really allowed there. Ahaha..." Azure laughed nervously. "...B-But don't worry!! R-Roselina's definitely fine since she has a familiar with her to!!" She ended up raising her tone much higher than it usually is coming closer to the end of her statement, which ultimately made Christopher more than amused.
"Hahahahaha! Azure...silly..." He remarked. Placing a hand onto the little familiar's head, he let out a relaxed sigh,
"Master...uuuuuu...." The action made Azure avert her gaze with a flushed expression, which Christopher found to be nothing short of adorable.
The duo went to sleep shortly after having their meal. They slept closely together on the mattress, Christopher used Azure's sweet-smelling hair to help him sleep.
"Mmm..."
"Mas...ter..?" When Azure noticed Christopher's face so close to hers, she was startled-but thinking back to what happened on the first night they spent together, she only twinkled.
"You never change, do you master? Haha." With that, she shut her eyes, and slowly drifted off to slumber.
"Come on, we don't have all night. Hurry up!"
"N-No! I-I don't want to go! L-Leave me alone!"
"Shut up, woman!"
"N-No! AAAHHHHH! SOMEBODY HELP-MMMPMPMHHMMHMMH-!"
"Grr...you bastards never make my job easy for me..." Suddenly, voices were heard from outside the duo's door. It sounded like someone was being dragged. The loud voices made Christopher awaken.
"Huh..? Elo...ise..?"
"Master?" Azure was already awake. Sensing that her master was up, she peered at him.
"Azure..." Without even a notion of hesitation, Christopher obtained a serious look. "...Did you hear that?" Azure promptly nodded to him.
"Yes. It sounded like a kidnapper. Should we go kill him?" She inquired. Christopher shook his head.
"No. Not yet." The boy mouthed. He motioned to the door, and footsteps were heard from outside. Christopher instantly knew that the man was about to enter their room as well.
"He's coming, let's hide!"
"Okay, master. I shall obey your command."
The two hid themselves in the back of the room's door. Just as Christopher predicted, the man whose voice they heard slowly opened the door.
"...!" The moment this happened, a chill went down his spine. Never in his life had he imagined he'd be in that situation. But there he was. He was terrified-but he knew he didn't have to be. He knew he was stronger than him. Though he waited, and watched.
"Hehhehheh...come out, come out wherever you are...you little twerps...you'll make some fine additions to my collection..." The kidnapper stared around the place-but not a soul was seen.
Christopher had his weapon drawn. He wanted to pounce on him as quickly as possible, yet he didn't. Azure took note of his body language. In a small whisper, she said to him,
"Master? You...i-if you'd like to attack him, go ahead."
"I know, but not right now, Azure." Christopher murmured back to her. They both continued staring at him.
"Grr...what the hell..? Did I enter the wrong room or something?" The kidnapper spoke. His irritation was clearly shown on his face. His sword was still sheathed as he inspected the blankets, mattress, and around it.
"Damn it!" Unexpectedly, he pounded his fist into the wall. The noise was more than enough to shake Azure, who yelped at the sound.
"Mmph!"
"Aha!" That was a mistake. The blare alerted the man, whose gaze immediately fell upon the door the duo hid behind.
"Woops! Sorry master!!" Azure blurted out. Christopher gave her a slightly annoyed look, but shrugged it off.
"That's alright, Azure." He replied. "Come on, quickly!"
Next, with as much force as his small body could muster, Christopher kicked the door closed, revealing both him and Azure to the intruder.
"Aha! I finally found you, twerps!" He yelled out at the top of his lungs. Drawing his sword, he gave the duo a lustful, mischievous gaze. "Now...surrender quietly, and I won't be rough with you...hehehehehhh..." Man said. His tone of voice didn't fail to thoroughly disgust the young boy.
"Ew...do you say that to all your victims?" Said boy questioned. "Cause that's not really a good pick up line."
"Y-Yeah!!" Azure followed with another yell, "I-I agree with master!!"
"Hrmph, master, huh?" Their assialant was partially dumbstruck. Not a single part of him expected anyone of the inn's occupants to have a familiar. Except that didn't concern him. He was wholly focused on capturing them for himself. Snickering, he had his eyes on Azure.
"Hehehehheehh...that's a good looking girl you've got there, boy..." He mouthed to them. "...You don't look very rich...care for a little trade?"
"Trade?" Christopher tilted his head in confusion. Still, what happened back in Babalonia hadn't gone past him just yet. He already knew what the man wanted, and there wasn't any way he'd give up Azure.
In the end, Christopher only cackled at him, both in amusement, and pity. When the kidnapper saw this, his gaze turned sour.
"Bwhahahahahahahhahaha! In your dreams, idiot. You adults are so stupid, all after the same thing..." Then, Christopher's face twisted into fury, "...Enslaving my own race for your own selfish needs...if only there was someone to stop you."
"Eh..?"
"Well, you're looking at him." Slowly, the boy started approaching the kidnapper, his knife aimed directly toward him. His eyes were locked onto him, and he knew what he wanted to do. "You're going to regret ever coming here." He declared.
"Oooh, so you're that cocky, eh? Well then, take this! Haaahh!" Christopher's assialent swung at him, though he already knew how he would move. In a flash, Christopher dodged the swing, and at once, countered with a stab in the back. The blade punctured through his flesh, and cut into his skin.
"GAH-!" Before he had the chance to react, Christopher took his knife away, and kicked onto the floor.
"Arrgh...nnrng...but...but how..." Viewing whom he lost to, he couldn't believe it. "...How could just one kid...be...argh..."
"Never underestimate us beasthumans, human." Christopher confidently remarked. He peered over to Azure, who watched the entire thing unfold.
"Azure. I'll take care of things here. Go rescue the others, and if there are any more kidnappers, incinerate them."
"I-Incinerate?!" Right then, the human knew he made a terrible choice. "B-But-!"
"Yes master. I will be back as soon as I can." Azure replied. After, she left the room, leaving the man alone with her master.
"Now..." Christopher's blade was aimed directly at the abductor laying on the ground. With a menacing grin, he stared daggers at the man. "...Tell me everything you know about the demi-humans being sold as slaves...or else."
"No...no...NOOOOOOOOOO!!"
Azure hovered at her top speed out of her master's room in search of the other possible victims of the kidnappers. Suddenly, her ears twitched.
"Oh? Are those voices I'm hearing?" Further down the wooden, dimly lit hallway, there were voices. Not the most friendly ones either.
"Yes! I've found them!" Void of any form of reluctance, Azure hurried in the direction.
Upon reaching there, she was met with six others-two children, and four young adults, all tied up. They were only beasthumans.
"Finally, I found you!" Azure was elated she finally located them, but that didn't last for too long. Behind her, about three more of the men arrived. The tied up beasthumans all panicked upon sight of them. Azure didn't notice until the men spoke.
"Hey, hey, who the hell are you?!" One of them said. Azure wasn't frightened in the slightest. She turned around, and faced them with great calm.
"So you're the kidnappers!" She exclaimed curiously. "You don't look like much to me..." She examined them closely, but found nothing off about their physical or magical capacity.
"What did you say?!" A second one shouted, "Hmph! Get her!" All four of them lunged at Azure, though that was a mistake. Azure quickly chanted her fire element, and two of them burst into flames, leaving not even a single trace of their existance. The remaining two saw this, and shrieked. They stumbled to the ground in fear for their lives. They at last knew they made a drastic mistake in choosing the inn.
Azure proceeded toward the other two, who were frozen with fear on the ground.
"Now, master's probably already taking care of this in his room with the other one, but tell me, who sent you to the inn, misters?" She inquired in an innocent voice.
"U-U-Um...w-w-w-w-we-AAHH-!"
"Come on, I haven't gotten all night, master's waiting on me." Azure shot a ball of fire just to the side of one of their faces. "You know, I could just kill you right now and get the information from master." She said to them.
"N-No! P-Please, I-I'll do anything! Yeah! I'll do anything! Just please, spare us!" The second one yelled.
"Mmmm..." Azure pondered around this. Christopher told her that if she found anymore of the kidnappers, to kill them. So there wasn't any chance that the two would make it out of there alive. However, she decided to lie to them.
"Alright. I'll spare you!" She happily blurted out. "Now, tell me who sent you!"
"Y-Yes! I-It was the Dark Elf Enarvyne! H-He told us to kidnap as many beasthumans as we could a-a-as slaves!" The first one desperately answered. The second one followed in the same tone,
"Y-yeah!! He's i-in the Underworld at the area called Elysium. Y-You know, the place with lots of security and stuff. Y-You're going there, r-right?!"
Azure, as soon as she heard this, freaked out.
"Huhhhhh?? A dark elf?? Oooohhh!! How could you two work with them?! They're soooo sketchy! Why would you ever want to be involved with dark elves?!" The girl yelled. The kidnappers both were taken aback, and even more petrified.
"I-I'm sorry!! W-We had no choice!! The dark elf forced us to do this! J-Just don't kill us, we're begging you!" The first one pleaded. Azure heaved a sigh, and shook her head.
"Gosh, you humans are so stupid..." She said under her breath. "...Anyway. Master said to kill any other kidnappers so, I'm going to kill you now."
"K-Kill us?! B-But you said you weren't!"
"Sorry, I lied." Azure replied to them. Smirking, she raised her right arm up high, then brought it down in front of her, as if aiming where she wanted her fire element to hit. "Goodbye, misters."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO-!AAAAAHH-!" In a blink of an eye, the two remaining men were burned to ash.
"Ahh! Now that that's over..." Azure faced the tied up individuals once more. "...Time to set you free." The girl proceed to untie the six beasthumans, who were both in terror and relief of what just occurred.
"Are you alright?" Upon finishing, she helped them all up. The children there were shaking, but due to her small, fluffy-like appearance, they seemed to warm up to her.
"Y-Yes...thank you so much for resucing us...I thought we were goners back there..." One of the six spoke. Then, both children strutted to her.
"Thank you for saving us, miss!" The first one said, "Are you a beasthuman to?"
"You're welcome!" Azure cheerfully spoke back to them, "No, I'm not a beasthuman. I'm a familiar in service to my master, Christopher Hallowswift. You can find him in his room interrogating another one of the kidnappers." Next, she peered over in the direction of their room, a little intrigued, "Hmmm...though master might've already killed him by now..."
The six were stunned. They knew the person rescuing them was no normal person, but they least expected to heard that name.
"E-Excuse me, d-did you say Christopher...Hallowswift?"
"Oh, mhm." Azure nodded to the man who said that.
"It can't be..." The adults there were speechless. "...But he's the one who took down Babalonia with his familiar...You...he can't be..."
"Yo, Azure."
"Hm?"
Christopher finally returned to Azure, his blade was drawn, and covered with blood. Upon catching sight of him, Azure twinkled.
"Master! You're back!" Azure exclaimed, she hovered over to him, and they exchanged grins.
"Did you take care of the kidnappers like I told you to?" He questioned.
"Yes master, the kidnappers are all dead." She responded. "And luckily, there weren't any casualties for the victims."
"Great." Christopher gave her a soft gaze, "You did a good job, Azure." Noticing his look, Azure found herself timid.
"Mmm...master..."
"Anyway..." The boy's gaze fell upon the six beasthumans Azure and him rescued. His expression serious, yet relieved, he spoke, "...Don't worry, you're safe now, everyone. The kidnappers have all been killed."
"..." They were at a loss for words. The two standing before them, the adults all knew they really were the ones who took down Babalonia. Before anything else was said, he signalled Azure, and they started to walk away.
From in the hallway, three knights appeared, and hurriedly made their way over.
"I-Is everyone alright?!" They shouted out.
"Huh?! B-But I was told that..."
"Don't worry about it." Christopher went to the knights, and stared at them with a passive aggressive gaze. He was mad at them for being too slow.
"Huh? And who are you?"
"No one important." Christopher replied. "Don't worry about the kidnappers. They're all dead. There were six of them, but my familiar and I killed them all."
"S-Six..." The knights couldn't believe it. Seeing how young Christopher was, they couldn't believe he and Azure were the ones. Though after seeing his bloodied hands, face, and blade, they knew it was true.
"...But you're just a kid...you couldn't..." Then suddenly, it dawned onto him. "...Y-You can't be..."
"Christopher Hallowswift..."
"Hmph." Christopher wasn't surprised at the recognition. News about the fall of Babalonia to two seemingly kids had already spread around the Overworld. Without even responding, he and his familiar left the hallway, and went back into their room.