We finally left Leaf village and drove through a path that stretched way too long, we were still days away from reaching the capital, so our journey consisted of short talks about the capital.
It was nighttime, still inside the horse drawn carriage, Diana decided to sleep for the night while Reid and me were awake the entire time, l was getting pretty tired. It was my first time being around new people for a long time, l wasn't antisocial in my previous life so this type of situation didn't bother me much. "For a snort nose, you know quite too much for someone your age. Just what level of education did you receive?" Reid let out a question with a curious expression, l was taken by surprise and placed my finger on my chin.
I couldn't tell him that l was reincarnated with my previous knowledge or it will sound suspicious or straight up weird, so l thought of an escape route, "l was actually taught by my teacher, he was pretty intelligent with high level of experience." Bingo! Can't go wrong with that, although Ken didn't teach me how to read and write, man only thought about getting stronger. Reid nodded at my response, "that's much better! Didn't want you arriving at the household uneducated. For Ken's age, he really did act like an adult!" Odd, l don't remember telling Reid that Ken was my teacher, how'd he know? Mother probably told him. It's true, Ken was a kid-adult with ten years of experience mentally.
The first thing he said bugged, didn't want uneducated people, meaning the place where are going has so much royalty. Come on man, my clothing looks like one a homeless man would wear, l'm getting humiliated. I was trembling having that thought, Reid immediately set his gaze at me seeing as l was trembling uncontrollably. He let out a grin and whacked my head knocking me to my senses. He saw through my fear, but come on!
The night sky was peaceful, hearing the sounds of crickets, wolves howling, and other animals. Wolves can't be that bad in this world, right? I thought. Those years spending time in Leaf village, it opened up my mind on how beautiful nature is, the smell of fresh grass and sound of flowing water. It was heaven. Back in my old life, it was all factories, now l understand why the folks complained about damaging nature.
"Sorry," l whispered weakly. Reid noticed my quiet rumbling and smiled, what's he plotting? I thought.
"The night sky is beautiful," thanks for stating the obvious genius. You must be wondering how we are witnessing the night sky inside the carriage? Apparently the roof was opened for a better view, what a beautiful full moon. "Whawhawha!" My ears caught on a terrifying sound, it was a sound of a baby laughing but distorted. My legs were shivering as if in the cold, what was that strange noise?
"Bait beasts." Reid stated folding his arms.
Bait beasts were a type of monsters that lured people into their trap, they were very common especially in forest area. They were also capable of attacking you even if you avoided the bait. I heard multiple baby cries, it sounded as if they surrounded the horse drawn carriage, we were cooked.
"Creepy sound," l didn't like the sound, it was just disturbing to hear, l even wanted to cry. Reid still smiling calmed my nerves grabbing my hands tight. Weird, l thought.
"Don't worry, if you look closely outside there's a faint green light," l turned my head to where Reid pointed, it was a lantern. "We call that the holy light, it repels evil spirits. They can't get any closer, if they somehow do, it will instantly purify their souls."
"Impressive!" They were other cools things this world had, repellents that were super effective, it sounded like a gift but Reid said it was called 'Miracles' you could also call it affinity. They existed three types of affinity: Light, Dark, and neutral. People generally needed to learn how to activate their miracles, it was much harder than practising how to use your gifts according to Reid.
"I can't wait to receive my gift!" I chuckled while saying that, l mean can't a man be happy that he will use actual power? Oh please.
But l couldn't just sit tight, l needed to confirm something.
"Reid, can l really trust you about the plan with my mother? What are the possibility you told a lie?"
Reid raised an eyebrow and shot back, "like l previously said, Aisha will be heading to a different place, a place where Adam's at. We don't want the father of the household sending Knights to your village and searching for her do you?"
Reid was still a suspicious man to, l couldn't simply believe that my father requested my mother to stay with him somewhere else. He left home for a very long time and randomly chose to start caring, that was nonsense. I wasn't stupid, can't easily trick me, l have got to finish whatever the father of the household wants me to do then bolt my way to mother.
I shook my head as Reid asked that question, this man would go to that length to even send Knights? Talk about desperation. What's the obsession? Whatever it is, l need to get to the bottom of it. I sighed asking another question, "where is my father?
"At promise land." Reid instantly replied. It was a place two countries away from the capital.
"Thank you," still not trusting you man, sounds suspicious.
"Your instincts are sharp as a knife, around these parts you shouldn't trust anyone you first met, that's how fools get tricked. I remember tricking a kid into helping him destroy, "
Reid kept talking for ten minutes straight, my ears were growing sore. My eyes were even weak, l looked away from him. Atleast stop your yapping, l want to sleep!
"Stay in position idiot!"
"I-l'm try—you hurt my leg!"
Thud. The wooden floor made a sound as bag dropped on the ground. Uh-oh.
This might get me in trouble, l have got to make up an excuse fast, like, uh... come on brain, think!
The bag magically unravelled itself, tongue slip. And what emerged inside were two kids, a girl and a boy. As they got out they begun breathing heavily as if losing air, the girl quickly stood up in anger heading towards me. It's over, l thought.
"Arty! Blakey's breath stink, how could you keep me there for so long?!" Iris burst with teary eyes, the breath couldn't be that bad!
"I-l'm sorry..." Blake muttered with an anxious expression.
I slowly turned my head towards Reid who then burst out laughing, does he think it's a joke? Him laughing probably means he has no problem with them tagging along. Phew, can't be sure just yet.
"Mind telling me who these lads are?" Reid asked with a light tone.
It wasn't charming man, matter of fact it only works on females,"they are my students, so where l go, they move along. Any problems?" I responded with a serious expression, deeply staring at Reid.
He scratched his head and leaned forward, "l don't have a problem, that's unless the father of the household doesn't say otherwise."
"Gosh, you causally saying this makes me anxious, what are the possibility?"
"Close to zero..." Reid concluded leaning backwards.
I couldn't just leave these two while l'm away, l wasn't sure how long it will take me, but these two alone didn't make up a good team. Ken left me in charge of watching these two, they were still too fragile to walk on this world... including me of course. Nonetheless, their growth mattered the most.
Three days had gone by and we finally reached the capital, l was growing bored during this long and painful journey, luckily it came to an end.
"Here we are kids, Grassy moss."
***
We arrived at a station where horse drawn carriages were being scanned by officers, our search was complete and we finally entered the capital. At first glance, it was an all green place, over the horizon l saw more raws of greenery.
The area we stumbled upon was a market zone, from the left side you can see stores that sell weapons like swords and axes. On the left side were food stalls, meanly of vegetables. It was also a busy area packed with people in Amor, and lizard people.
"So cool!"
The sight was fascinating, this area seemed to have more horse drawn carriages, the capital must be a popular place. But this looked like something out of a fantasy book, they were taller buildings as well probably might've been hotels. My eyes caught a glimpse of a lady in a wizard black hat carrying glass bottles. Is that a real life potion? Soo cool. I thought.
Our horse carriage stopped as we reached our destination, we disembarked from the long hours of sitting in one position that could kill you. But that meant l could view the capital much easier, each turn l took felt unreal. I was pumping in joy, l walked by a weaponry shop to glance at variations of weapons.
"Is that a large sword? No no, that's a mega axe, infect that tiny shield!" The Legend of Zelda in real life, but that weapon was an uncool choice.
Mother gave me pocket cash, around 600 Gil. As a responsible adult, money should be spent wisely or you'll regret later on. Reid called out to me so l joined up with the others.
"Isn't this place just fascinating? Believe me when l say this, but compared to other places, the capital ranks at number twenty."
"That's impressive," l replied excitingly, the capital being this beautiful and ranking that low? Gosh l want to see more, my eyes lust for more.
Right now we were in the outer part of the capital also known as the entrance on the south, the outer part of the capital has an exit on the north. Then residing inside the outer part had the inner city, it was a place where nobles were commonly found for business reasons. The inner city had limits, not everyone could exit and enter, one is required to have a special crystal which acted as a pass, without one you could not do anything in the inner city. Even this world has problems for documents! Sheesh. Finally, we had the central part. That was a highly restricted zone compared to the inner city, to enter the central part required you to belong in the same lineage. That was our destination.
I would like to explore the capital even more, right now l have got to deal with some crazy father of the household avoiding any death situation.
Reid quickly turned towards our direction with a smile and opened his mouth, "getting from the outer part to the central part would take us a week using horse drawn carriages, the capital is a big place compared to what you're seeing right now, imagine going by foot!" Reid continued, "as one that are special people at our destination, we have an alternative way of arriving to our destination within a span of ten minutes."
I was wondering what our alternative choice was as l went to deep thinking, are we using dragon's? Riding on an enchanted snake? Going under water? Come on spill it out! I thought.
Reid didn't say anything but walk forward raising a small crystal, the crystal shone bright l could see a string of light traveling over the horizon, what's going on? Reid placed the crystal on his fancy pocket as he kept on giggling.
"What are you doing playful old man?" I asked with an annoyance on my voice.
Reid smirked, "any moment now."
In the Sky above, l saw a flying object—no, it was a creature descending. The creature gently landed infront of us, the sight was beautiful l felt a tear drop rendering myself speechless. The creature that descended was a beautiful white horse with large wings and a carriage behind it. A mystical creature, l thought. It was like one of those Greek mythology back in my old world, what was it called again,
"Pegasus, travelling from the outer part to the central part we will use a Pegasus drawn carriage."
"A-amzing!" I sounded like a little kid, which l was, physically, but mentally... l felt my childish side awaken. This feels like a dream come true, an actual flying horse, heck yeah!
The crowd in the market place stared in awe, it was like a royalty descended. Their reaction was priceless that they stopped work for a moment just to glance at the beautiful creature infront of them. I'm feeling anxious walking towards the carriage, you didn't have to make it so flashy! I thought.
"Wow, a dragon!" Blake spoke out loud."
No Blake, that isn't a dragon, keep your mind straight. Iris on the other hand acted like she has seen them before, not a single expression of shock were made. Even the folks were amused, odd. Reid inside the carriage waved a gesture for us to get in, we all hurried to his direction, l begun hearing whispers.
"It's them..."
"Why am l not surprised."
"When are they leaving?"
"They also bring more devils everyday."
Now those weren't positive whispers, what the heck did we do Calling us devils? I have a hunch it might be connected to Diana and Reid, l wonder why.
SKRREEE-NEIGHH! Oh well, it was time for us to leave the market place and aim for our destination, the Pegasus made a loud neigh as it flapped open its wings preparing to take off. Back in the days man wished to touch the skies, and we created a plane, now l'm touching the skies with a Pegasus. I thought.
The Pegasus flapped it's wings hard and took to the sky, l was watching excitingly as the ground below me grew smaller, we stopped at a certain height due to limitations. The Pegasus sprinted forward as it walked on air, how cool was that? I'm way too happy for this.
"Isn't this great, Blake... what the..."
"Uh... blah!" Apparently, Blake had motion sickness, way to miss the fun.
As l've been observing the wonders of the sky and cherishing its beauty, l remembered a certain somebody. "Storm!" It's been days since this cat hadn't said a word which was weird because of his negative attitude, he was sleeping on my head, as usual. Does his kind go through hibernation? Well it's frightening me, better wake up now or never.
We finally landed at the central part of the capital, this area was quiet compared to the outer part because of the smaller numbers in population. And this part of the capital, looked too advanced.
Upon arrival.
We didn't waste any time and went straight to a huge Castle like structure, the structure had a large Bell at the very top, the area was quiet while the wind whispered on my ear. It was nighttime, but the number of light sources made it seem like it's daytime. Suddenly, Reid tightly gripped on my shirt as his face drew closer to mines.
"Once we enter the household, never utter that you belong to the 'Zephyros' from this point on, your name will be changed to 'Arthur Rivers' got it!"
"O-okay... I Will address myself as Arthur Rivers." I replied with a weak voice. I turned down my expression and glanced at Reid immediately, "what about Iris and Blake?"
"Don't worry about that." Reid concluded without adding anything, just tell me what might happen if the father of the household finds out they don't belong to the same family. Reid was acting arrogant, but his face was dead serious.
Diana gripped on both Iris and Blake, as l blinked, l found myself inside a hallway.
"Wh-what?!"
The place was so bright and empty, l was puzzled finding myself in an unknown place, looking around and searching for Iris and Blake who weren't with me anymore, what has Reid done?
The hallway was narrow and seemed to stretch on forever, an infinite loop? Whatever it is l have got to find my friends.
There wasn't a time to think which way to use, relied on my instincts and went forward, l released a bit of my divine energy to sense my surroundings but detected nothing.
"Stupid!"
I kept Sprinting and the hallway didn't change, growing exhausted my tiny legs couldn't keep going anymore. Should have taken more exercises than practice swordplay, it was becoming hard to breathe, l don't know how long l've been running. If l had to guess then l ran for approximately ten minutes without stop, just how long is this Castle. I kept moving hoping for something to change, hoping to find someone, hoping to find an exit, but there was nothing. I was beginning to lose hope until l felt an overwhelming amount of divine energy ahead. The flow was violent, terrifying, and almost cold.
I don't think it's a good idea to press forward, l mean my legs couldn't stop trembling, logical choice would be to step back and avoid witnessing whatever's ahead.
But...
"Ahh come on!" I turned behind the overwhelming pressure and saw a red figure sprinting towards me. Yeah, that sums up everything.
I ran away from it, running as fast as my tiny legs could manage, l was genuinely about to burst out crying. I turned back and saw the figure catch-up, the sight forced my body to awaken and run even faster. My eyes caught a glimpse of a path, seems this hallway didn't narrow endlessly, l ran towards the path that led to a staircase.
I think l reached another floor, l thought.
As l reached the other floor, l kept running forward, the red figure seemed to have stopped but as l kept running, an overwhelming power stopped my tracks.
"What the hell is this nightmare l'm experiencing?!" My body felt a downward energy that sank my body on the ground, felt like gravitational force.
"Welcome!" A mysterious voice echoed throughout the hallway.
My body felt stabbed at the back, sweats were dropping down my body.
What the hell is happening in this stupid hallway? I'm like a protagonist trapped in a horror game, infect, why was l in this type of genre? First l was being chased by a ghost now some random voice, l won't get rest.
"Welcome!" The mysterious voice repeated.
"Ahhhh!" I made a weak scream.
I heard you the first time, there isn't a reason to repeat yourself.
"Welcome!" I think this might be rage bait because what other words does he know?!
"Shu—" shut up, is what l was going to say until the hallway engulfed in a powerful light.
Everything feels like a fever dream, l thought.
Suddenly, as l blinked once, l found myself in a different room. "Now what?" This room was different, it had seven large supporting pillars three on each side and one in the middle which was destroyed.
On both sides resided an army of steel armors holding up a sword, whoah, l smell madival period, l thought.
Infront of me was a gold throne with spikey structure, sitting on the throne was an armored man with long brown beard, he also wore a gold crown like a king and having a serious expression as he sat up straight. His right hand held a skull and his other hand pointing a sword directly at me. This man looked like a final boss in a game.
"State your name, mortal." The man asked, his voice echoing.
I nearly passed out, such ominous pressure, l fixed up my posture and bowed before him, "it's a pleasure being at your presence," l hate doing this but," standing infront of you is Arthur Zep... I mean Arthur Rivers!" That was close.
"The Demon Slayer, Vladimir Rivers."
****
I found myself in the presence of an unknown King, his predator eyes wouldn't stop meeting my gaze, l swallowed my saliva and opened my mouth first.
"Sorry if it's none concerning, but where am l?"
Vladimir swung his left hand as l felt the wind whisper, a bit of my hair was cut and l found a sword thrusted on the ground. I don't remember seeing this sword... don't tell me,
"I never ordered you to speak, mortal!"
I realised one thing, Vladimir tossed his sword so fast my eyes couldn't catch on, if he wanted too he would have aimed and killed me, such precision and speed. And what's with the King talk, his voice sounds like he's yelling in an empty room. I breathed and stood silent.
"I'm not familiar with your name," of course you can't remember everyone in the world, "but your face reminds me of a certain somebody... what's your mother's name?"
"Eck!" Should l answer that question honestly or the other way around? Being honest might save my butt, "Aisha... her name is Aisha Rivers."
"What?!" Vladimir's eyes engulfed in rage as he stood up from his throne and stomped the floor with a powerful force, bang! l felt the ground rumble and my body reacted with the powerful force.
I was shaking uncontrollably as dust blinded my vision, as the dust subsided l saw the path between Vladimir and l crack open. What mighty strength! That isn't human! What did l do to make him rage like this? Is it cause l said my mother's Aisha? The hell's he concerned about my precious, beautiful mo— hold on, could this guy be...
"There's only one person with that name in the household, my daughter..." Vladimir lowered his tone while walking closer to me.
Hold on big guy, just stay where you are. "If l may describe, does she have long blonde hair, brown eyes, and a dazzling smile."
"And a dazzling smile."
Vladimir and me said the last line in unison, then we immediately set our gaze at each other in shock then Vladimir slowly marched back to his throne while l sighed in relief.
"Impressive, beautiful, and mouth catching." What's he saying now?
"That means, you must be the father of the household am l right?"
"That also means you're my grandson?"
Huh? This guy is mother's father, and my grandpa? Holy bloodline.
Vladimir and me nodded at the same time answering both our questions, "l remember instructing Reid to bring Aisha, what happened?!"
"Well, uh, Aisha wasn't around l guess."
"If she wasn't, why did you come?"
"I won't allow you to kill my mother just because she left the household, l came to replace her!" I stepped closer while yelling those words. Vladimir was unfazed and waved his right hand.
"I do not indulge in loud noises, keep your cool." Is this guy for real? If l remember correctly, he has been yelling more than l did. That's absurd!
But enough with that, l need to find a way to stop this guy from trying to execute my mother, l shouldn't allow him to take her away from me, what would l become without her?
My eyes were brimming with determination, clenching my fist tightly, l added. "I want mother to live longer, l need her in my life, l don't want to lose her." Like before, l couldn't fight my fears, "please don't take her away! I'm begging you," l was a coward, weak and pathetic. "If you want me to do something then I'll do it if that menas mother continues to live without harm, please!"
"I heard you the first time crybaby! Stop with the unnecessary details already my head hurts!" Vladimir interrupted covering both his ears with his hands. Load of disrespect this guy has.
"Unless you change your mind, then I won't stop whining!"
"You're annoying kid, your bubbling is bursting my ear drums... I see now," Vladimir placed his hand on his chin as his expression soften.
"So tell me, your decision, what will it be? Just know, l don't take no for an answer. I'll keep talking until those pathetic ear drums of yours burst for all l care!"
If l keep adding more suggestions then he might revert and give me an alternative, just change your mind...
"Since you'll do anything, I'll take your request." Vladimir concluded as he walked away.
"I won't sto— hold on, you agreed that quick?"
"Yes, that's because you're my grandson, and because you have the same spirit as me."
Being his grandson and having the same spirit, this is like those cliche moments in cartoons, atleast he agreed which mattered more.
Vladimir raised his finger and moved it back and forth, gesture of one to follow him. I immediately ran after him in a panic.
"My conditions will be strict, are you ready for it?"
"I'll do anything, but please stop asking that, makes me doubt what l said earlier."
I entered a hallway, this one was different, the place was well decorated with luxurious theme, Vladimir turned around and gripped on my shirt.
"From this point on, you belong to me!"
"Ack!"
From that point on, l was invited inside the household to fulfill my duty.
"Meow!"