Dante watched the group slowly trail off to the village after waving goodbye. His many thoughts cycled through his head, rummaging for what he thought he wanted. He felt conflicted as all of the risks and wants began to collide. He looked at the book again, reading over the line stuck in his head again.
"the perpetrators of the sacred treaty would be executed alongside the creation instantaneously."
He sat the book down and considered that he didn't know much about his origin or where he came from. From not knowing of his own parents as Rita has always been there to take care of him, so the thought never really festered, to only knowing things about the outside world through the small lens of the books he'd read growing up and word of mouth from villagers and adventurers in secret along with the kids. So after his talk with Terra, his interest had exploded, even knowing the circumstances didn't stop him from hoping for a chance.
"Maybe…maybe if I try to convince her one more time…"
The vision of Terra and Xavien leaving the gates and them closing behind them while he was stuck in the same spot as he'd always been. The idea of that happening burned as he suddenly dashed off behind them. He knew in his heart that he needed to know more, and the only way would be to get over the hurdle of getting Rita's approval. So he'd figure out a way to convince her one way or another.
He paced along the pathway to the village, slowly beginning to make way. The motivation was building with each step, pushing him forward. There was so much to explore in the world, and those two were the answer. He continued moving until he was suddenly pulled into a nearby bush. Terra and the others seemed to be hiding behind a pair of bushes close to Rita's Tavern. The shock of the pull almost caused him to yelp, followed by Terra shushing. They peered through the bushes and saw the commotion in front of the building; many villagers surrounded the Tavern with wary faces. Two men were facing each direction with wands drawn, firing spells at the feet of the villagers. They were forcing them to stand back from the center, keeping them at bay if they tried to jump in.
The kids hid alongside them, frightened, seeing that these adventurers decided to do something so drastic.
One of the children tugged slightly on Dante's jacket, his hands trembling with hesitation. Words would try to escape his mouth, but he couldn't get together.
"D-Dante…Miss- Miss Rita is fending them off!"
His eyes widened as he peered closely to the center of the commotion, seeing a man firing off fire spells in the woman's direction. She sliced the spells with her trusted silver sword, deflecting the force of the spells with each swing. He laughed as each fireball was shot off from his wand, firing in multiple directions to throw her off. Her technique was sharp, deflecting each one with precision and skill from years of training. Her role as Riverant's protector wasn't for fashion; it was the real deal.
The man knocked to the ground. He had previously ordered one of the others to care for Rita as he dealt with the bystanders. He dusted himself off as he grabbed his silver wand. Anger filled his eyes, but he faced the crowd with a smile.
"Gordon, we can't hold her off forever; we gotta get things done here!" Henry said as he fired more beams of fire her way. Truman looked over to Gordon and sighed at the thought of any more trouble coming along.
"Plus, who knows when the next batch of adventurers might show up to ruin everything."
"Just do as I say, and all will be fine, Truman with me. Keep firing Henry!"
His face began to shrivel at the thought, as his big score could be ruined if he didn't deal with this quickly. Rita pointed her sword at the man as she was preparing to attack. Her brow was furrowed at the sight of him, and she spoke to him discerningly.
"You troublemakers came to my village to cause this much of a panic over two kids. You lot are nothing but pathetic in my eyes."
Her words resounded within the men as their emotions began to run high. Being mocked in front of the crowd hurt their pride, but knowing that Rita was holding off their strongest fighter made a less-than-worthy impression of being a threat.
"Watch your mouth before things get much worse for the people here! Truman, with me! Henry doesn't need any more intrusion in his affair with the kind bar lady."
Truman nodded in agreement as Gordon's wand began to charge a spell; the color of the beam started to glow orange before large craters began to sprout out of the ground. The townspeople started to run as the jagged rocks separated some of the people in the crowd from each other, leaving many defenseless civilians stuck within the confines and away from the others.
Rita's eyes widened at the decision and reprimanded them.
"Hey, they've done no wrong! Leave the villagers out of this quarrel!"
"Tsk, tsk. We're just making the numbers more favorable, is all!" Henry spouted.
His grin turned devilish, and he fired more spells at her while she seemed distracted. The blazes of his attacks seemed to begin moving errantly, straining Rita to fend off more of them. She looked past the man attacking her to see the other two closing in on the defenseless group gathered within the self-made barricade.