女神归来的夏天

~~~(Location: Campsite near the river, Elven Kingdom)~~~

~~~(Time: 5:35 PM)~~~

The sun is getting closer to disappearing behind the mountains, and it\'s getting colder as it does. The river is still incredibly warm, almost hot, and while I\'d love to take another dip. Drying off in freezing weather isn\'t something that I want to try. "You got any food?" Jasmine\'s sudden question causes me to chuckle and embarrass her slightly.

Before I can give her an answer, the sounds of soft footsteps approaching the campfire behind us take\'s our attention away. We both turn and see Cera and Sally walking towards us. Hand in hand and having satisfied looks on their faces. It\'s hard getting used to the way Cera looks, and I prefer his human features over his elven ones.

There is something strange about seeing the brother I grew up with look any different than how I know him. Sally is pleased with the way he looks like an elf, but she sees Cera differently than I do. She sees him as a man and lover, and I see him as my annoying brother. "You should ask Cera. He\'s bound to have food." Cera lifts his head at us as they finish their approach.

Hearing his name being used, he\'s curious as to why he\'s the subject of a conversation. "Cera, Hailey said that if I wanted food, I needed to ask you." That\'s not at all what I said. Cera looks at me and already knows that\'s not true, but he sighs and opens his Inventory, and tosses Jasmine a Food Ration. While it won\'t taste great, she\'ll be full after finishing it.

Sally takes a seat next to me, and Cera sits on a log getting close to the fire. Sally isn\'t affected by the cold, thanks to her class, but that doesn\'t mean the rest of us aren\'t. "What took you guys so long anyway?" My question has its intended effect and Sally\'s face flushes red, and she looks away while messing with her fingers.

Cera rolls his eyes and ignores me, knowing that I\'m just trying to mess with either him or Sally. "Well... We spent some quality time together... It\'s not like that\'s illegal..." Sally\'s cute timid voice causes me to smile, and Cera lays his hand on her head. She covers her face with her hands and tries to seem as small as possible.

Jasmine has a knowing embarrassment on her face, finding the subject awkward to talk about. Cera and I are different not because we\'re brother and sister, but because we\'re from Earth. Talking about relationships and physical intimacy is normal on Earth. Be it with your family or friends. Here, it\'s not something to talk about so openly.

Many consider it something that should only be discussed in private with the two in a relationship. It\'s a social norm that I\'m not used to yet, and I know Cera isn\'t either. "Oh, c\'mon, Jasmine. I get Sally being embarrassed about this topic, but I don\'t know what\'s got your checks to red." The tease in my voice causes Jasmine to turn her head away from all of us.

Sally and Jasmine are very innocent, and I love that about them. Despite their pasts as slaves, they have excellent moral standing and decency that I admire. "Don\'t make fun of me, Hailey... It\'s weird hearing this... It should only be between them..." My sudden laughter causes her to sigh in disapproval and start ignoring me.

My attention turns to Cera, and he\'s looking into the fire, and I can see how relaxed he is. It helps that we\'re all clean now. "When are we leaving for Wessix\'s in the morning?" Cera shrugs his shoulders and tilts his head over to where Helda is. "So you\'re just gonna let her plan everything?" That\'s out of character for him...

He smiles and nods his head a single time, further annoying me with his lack of responses. He can see that it\'s getting to me, and he takes a breath. "I don\'t know much about the Elven Kingdom, Hailey. Helda and Melimore guiding us are saving us weeks of time... Besides, I needed the break..." I get that... He does take charge the majority of the time.

I have no problems with Helda and Melimora leading us around. I\'ve come to trust them, seeing how much they want the Elven Kingdom to change. "What are we gonna do after we\'re done here?" Jasmine asks us a question that I haven\'t given much thought to, and Cera raises his head from looking into the fire and grins.

Sally and him probably already have plans, and that\'s something Jasmine and I weren\'t here for. "Sally and I were planning on some quests, but that might change... Depending on how this quest goes... We might decide to do something else." His explanation is in typical Cera fashion, and the best thing to do is ignore him.

~~~(POV: Cera Adamo)~~~

~~~(Location: Campsite near the river, Elven Kingdom)~~~

~~~(Time: 5:54 PM)~~~

I haven\'t gotten to spend many nights like this... I don\'t know what to really call it, and some would consider that sad... Seeing the smiling faces of my friends and loved ones was something I used to take for granted. Before, I made my wish to come back, but so much has changed since then, and life is better even if it\'s not on Earth.

Hailey\'s question about what we\'re going to do after this has my mind distracted. There are many things I want to do, and one of them is figuring out more about these Old Gods and what they\'re doing. They\'ve come back thanks to me and my actions, my disregard for the timeline. Everything is messed up, and probably on a path to destruction.

I can\'t be sure, but many things concern me, and that\'s the truth. "What\'s with the serious look on your face?" Sally\'s voice breaks my concentration. Telling her might cause her to be in the same mental state I\'m in right now, and I don\'t want that burden for her. The knowledge I have will cause her turmoil she\'s not ready for.

There is something else I\'ve come to realize, and that\'s I can\'t take Sally with me when the time comes to take on things around my level and life rating. She\'s be annihilated, and those are probably coming up. "Nothing bad, just going over some thoughts that I\'ve ignored to this point." She moves closer and wraps her arms around me.

We\'ll have to split up for a time, and that sucks. That\'s going to be a bad conversation, but it won\'t be forever, only until I handle whatever\'s coming for me. Cause I know something is, and if Sally is with me. I won\'t be able to protect her. "Maybe if you share with me, I could help you." She doesn\'t understand, and she won\'t for quite some time.

~~~(POV: Saliandra Orvello)~~~

~~~: Campsite near the river, Elven Kingdom)~~~

~~~(Time: 6:01 PM)~~~

I don\'t try and pry answers from Cera... He does make me worry when he looks like this. It means that he\'s thinking about some really serious things, and while I feel a little hurt that he won\'t share them with me. I understand there is a massive power gap between us, and he only wants to protect me. I\'m not stupid enough to think I can help him...

Not with his responsibilities and destiny... I know that there are great dangers in his future, and being next to him in all those moments won\'t be possible... I hate the thought of being useless... Some things can\'t be helped, no matter how hard you try. "These aren\'t the type of things you share, Sally..." Instead of saying anything in response to him, I kiss the side of his head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Below this line, I\'ll be keeping Cera\'s player information. That way, I won\'t have to place it into the story above anymore. It takes about 180 words up.

[Slayer (Zern) Lvl.196]

[Exp: 40/100%]

[Title: The Son of Arch-Angel Michael (Hidden)]

[Stats] [Strength - 7095][Endurance - 7045][Dexterity - 7215][Speed - 8240][Focus - 19,660]

[Mana aura control: 6/100%]

[Health: 76,560,000,000/76,560,000,000] [Mana: 216,600,000,000/216,600,000,000]

[Stat Points: 50] [Armor rating: 500]

[Inventory] [Dice of Wayland (Divine)] [Hardened Tree sap Armor (Very Rare)] [The Witness (Legendary Sword)] [Fenrir\'s Whistle (Divine)] [Sally\'s Dresses 5x] [Camping gear] [Food Rations 3x] [Dried meat 4x] [Fishing poles 2x] [Fish 8x] [Festival Garbs 2x]

[Passive Perks]

[Inheritor of the Sword] [Son of Heaven] [Slayer of Evil] [Holy Willow Trees Savior] [Finder of Legends] [The Divine who has Legend] [Destined for Greatness] [Dungeon Diver] [An Overachiever]

[Active Skills]

[Heavens light Lvl.59 325/5900] [Protected by Heaven Lvl.59 225/5900] [Slash Lvl..77 4600/130000] [Parry Lvl.53 80/5300] [Double Strike N/A] [Kingslayer N/A] [Raging Machine N/A] [Winged Glory] [Angelic Flight] [Divine Pressure Exertion] [Divinity Pulse] [Controled Fun]