女神归来的夏天

~~~(Location: Campsite near The Road to The Capital, Elven Kingdom)~~~

~~~(Time: 6:02 AM)~~~

Everyone is starting to wake up and join the growing ring around the campfire. Jasmine and Melimora have taken a seat, and we\'re waiting for the rest to wake up. Jasmine is looking at me, and I recognize the look. "Hungry?" She nods her head and has a rise in positivity. I open my Inventory and toss her some dried meat. Making my supply of fried meat go from 4 to 3.

She chows down on the food, and every present takes this opportunity to get their own food and start eating. Sally gets some Food Rations from me, making my supply go from 3 to 2. "When everyone is awake and has eaten something, we\'ll start moving." That was implied, but nothing wrong with clearing it up. We still have some people sleeping.

Ashburn, Leila, Freskra, Terox, and Helda are still in their tents. Doubt it\'ll be much longer given the noise we\'re all making. "Melimore... Mind if I ask what Greshina is like..." Sally speaks between her bites and swallows. I\'m curious to know more about Greshina too. I know very little about it from my old life. Even during that time, people didn\'t get into The Elven Kingdom.

Only a few lucky players ever got across the Border for a quest, and they\'d be kicked out as soon as they were done. "It\'s the oldest city in The Elven Kingdom and the heart of our people. The most important and influential people work and live in Greshina." That\'s information I could\'ve deduced myself. I\'d like to hear something I couldn\'t figure out.

Melimora senses the disappointment at the lack of information, and she sighs as she leans back against the log she\'s resting against. "The history of our prejudice and racism starts in Greshina, and it\'s where all pure-blood elves stay. You\'re not allowed inside without proof of who you are. It\'s why we need Terox." The elven society is split between pure-blood and half-breeds.

Melimora probably doesn\'t know as much as we\'d hope she\'d know. Helda and Terox would know far more, given that they\'re pure-blooded elves and have been to Greshina before. "Do you know anything about the Orvello family..." Sally is treading a dangerous path... Asking about her family could cause more pain than she might imagine.

I know nothing about the Orvello family... The things I\'ve learned from Sally telling me about them are all I know. Apparently, they\'re one of the most powerful pure-blood elven families. "The Orvello family keeps to themselves, but they\'re obsessed with blood purity. They\'re also the richest noble family in The Elven Kingdom." Wow... That\'s not good...

Sally stays quiet and lowers her head towards the ground. My arm finds its way around her shoulder, and I pull her closer to me. Bringing her body in closer to mine. "You\'re stronger than you know, Sally... Remember that..." She leans her head against my chest as the words exit my mouth. Her mother was condemned by their family, and she was too.

Everyone seeing her reaction stays quiet. It\'s no secret who Sally really is... Saliandra Orvello... She must hate sharing her name with the family that cursed her mother and her... "They stay on a property on The Elven Kingdom. It\'s massive and constantly guarded. Not unbeatable, though. Their own arrogance blinds them from danger." Melimora is right about that.

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

~~~(Location: The Road to The Capital, Elven Kingdom)~~~

~~~(Time: 6:45 AM)~~~

The carriage slowly moves, and Cera is resting on the top of the carriage with me. We decided that it\'s more comfortable to be out here than in that cramped carriage. Terox and Helda haven\'t been a problem, and I think they\'ll hold it together until after we\'re finished. My mind is being pulled back to the Orvello family... My family...

Cera has been an incredible support for me, and so has everyone else... Sometimes I feel like I\'m using him... "Do you ever feel like I\'m using you, Cera..." It\'s not something I\'d usually do, but ripping the band-aid off fast is the best option. He doesn\'t respond, and instead, I feel his hand run up my back and rest with his fingers on the cusp of going into my hair.

His lack of response worries me, but his affectionate touch is helping that. His chest slowly rises and falls as we look at the morning clouds lit by the rising sun. "No, I don\'t. Everyone needs help... Some more than others, and some less than others... It\'s only using them if you don\'t help in return, and you\'ve helped me, Sally." Oh... My stomach feels light now that I know his answer.

He makes me feel funny but good funny... I know that I love him, and I know he loves me... But moments like this reaffirm all that I feel for him... Do I do the same for him? Do I make his stomach flutter? "When we make it into Greshina, we\'ll be close to finishing why we came. I have a plan in mind, but we\'ll wait until we\'re in the city to talk about that..." He\'s always got a plan...

Hailey is also worrying me... She\'s changed since last night when she and Cera talked... "Mind if I ask what happened to Hailey? She\'s not looking so good..." The clouds are fluffy, and the sun shines brighter every minute that passes. Cera does say anything, and I understand why. It\'s between him and Hailey. Business between siblings...

It does suck that it\'s affecting her so much, and Cera didn\'t sleep at all. He doesn\'t look as rough as Hailey, though. "I revealed a terrible truth to her... The same truth I\'ll reveal to you when we\'re done with everything here..." I know I should feel worried about that... But I don\'t... When I hear Cera talk about some terrible truth, all I feel is trust in him... Am I gullible? More than I thought I was?

~~~(POV: Hailey Adamo)~~~

~~~(Location: The Road to The Capital, Elven Kingdom)~~~

~~~(Time: 7:00 AM)~~~

I can tell how worried Jasmine is by the way she\'s glancing at me from time to time... I\'m adding to the already tense and awkward atmosphere in the carriage. Cera and Sally have the right idea in riding on top of the carriage. Terox and Helda aren\'t speaking, but it\'s not so bad since they have a better understanding now.

The things that Cera told me are repeating in my head over and over... I try to imagine what he tells me, and when I do, I feel a hollow numbness and a loss of will to live... Thinking that I could become something so... It\'s torturing knowing that I ended up like that... The truth about him changing the future... It makes me question everything...

What if I never existed... Most of my family problems wouldn\'t have happened... Mom wouldn\'t have died... The future wouldn\'t have been so horrible that Cera made a desperate action as going back in time to fix everything... "We\'ll arrive at the wall of Greshina by noon tomorrow. Is there anything anyone would like to ask me for information?" Terox\'s words barely register for me...

No one asks anything, and the awkward silence returns, and I decide that I\'m going to walk outside next to the magically moving carriage. As I leave, Jasmine joins me. Everyone else decides to stay inside. My eyes unconsciously look towards the top of the carriage, and Cera and Sally are resting at the top of the carriage, looking at the sky as they lay down... He\'s lived with this truth...

He\'s better adjusted to it than I am...

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

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 3x] [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]