The hero's final destination before the coming war…a vault full of surprises with arms reaching outwards. One wrong step and you'd be lost forever in the maze of their hug. But it wasn't his burden to carry for the woman who'd almost cost the lives of many; was being forced to step forward.
Her hands trembled as they reached for the blackened arms of the curses. Of course, she didn't want to accept this punishment again. But as she looked around at her tormenter, she was reminded that if it weren't for him, an ocean of bodies would've been consumed by the corrupted queen of Asteradia, the very same city that was corrupted by Batimos, the god of rot.
To a degree, she felt the weight of her wrongdoings crushing her as guilt, but another part of her wondered; for how long will this treatment continue, and will she ever be free from this exploitative treatment?
"Go on, we don't have much time…" Tapping his feet against the dark tiles, Raven snapped the merchant out of her head.
Jolted awake, she flinched on the spot before casting him a glance. Her lips trembled and her body refused to move at first, but with borrowed courage from her new patron, she quickly turned around and charged headfirst into the vault. Keeping her eyes closed, she only felt her environment changing but didn't see it happen.
Counting each step in the rancid plane, heavy with curses and odd smells, Mercedes moved against the flow of darkness that was constantly trying to push her back and even pin her down. Feeling a sudden pressure filling up her lungs, she kept her mouth closed and refused to breathe and instead relied on her patron once again.
The demon filled her chest with air and allowed her to move forward, but its blessing won't last for long–at least not without needing something in exchange. Thus, feeling her way around the darkness while also avoiding the whispering voices trying to lead her astray, the warlock kept moving with only one thought in her head.
'I need to get something good and leave!' Like a phantom, the curses bleed in through her pores. Their fingers caressed her organs raw, and even touched her very soul. To the merchant, however, their loving caress felt like maggots eating away at a rotting corpse.
And the critters crawled their way through her body, from up and down her throat to every inch of her veins. The pulsing of her nerves and the throbbing of her brain, she could feel the curses amalgamating her into one amongst themselves. Too long and she would join the ranks of arms beckoning the foolish prospectors, but thankfully for her, something warm touched her hands.
'That's it, let's get out now!' Steeling her heart, she grabbed the Mantle and turned around. Cutting through the curses, she made her way back towards the entrance, and although the curses had a pull on her, that demonic patron of hers had, after all, saved her from the worst.
Falling out of the vault, she hit the ground, and the memory of the same thing happening last year returned to her head. However, with her mind and body at the brink of collapse, she bruised those memories aside and instead brought the mantle to her face and covered her mouth while coughing up coarsely.
To her surprise, the moment she gripped the mantle tight, the effect of the curse quickly began lifting. Her throat felt the first of the effects, and then her body recovered not just from the curses but also from the drunken state that she'd been brought here in. Feeling elated in mind for some odd reason, she placed a hand on the tiles and tried to pick herself up. Astounding her further, the moment her hand lifted off the ground, a golden print of her palm was left behind on the tile.
"Gold?" Getting back on her knees, the greedy heart of the merchant reached forward and sure enough, the familiar touch of gold put a smile on her face. "I'd be fucking damned…"
Turning her head to the mantle in her hand, a crescent smile crept up her face. Her joy, however, was short-lived as Raven quickly snatched the item out of her grip.
"G-give it back!" She protested, but her courage extinguished the moment her eyes landed on Raven.
Holding the mantle, dark mantle with stripes of gold in hand, the hero's eyes studied the object. The symbol in the middle of the fabric, he'd seen it before. Hells, every adventurer in Athenia had seen it at least once or twice.
"Nightsilver Hawthorn…" Inscribed in archaic–a language lost to the times, were the initials of the man, the legend who'd slaughtered the demon lord the last time he'd arisen. With a puzzled look, Raven ran his fingers through the dark Mantle and in return, something rumbled deep within his soul.
Placing a hand on his chest, the hero could feel the hollow part of Nightsilver's soul resonating to the mantle from within him. At first, Raven was cautious about this strange sensation, but then feeling strangely elated, he decided to give in to the sensation. After all, that same dead part of his soul has helped him become a successful general. What choice did he have but to trust its instincts?
"This belonged to Nightsilver…" As his eyes opened to the girls, Raven noticed a look of surprise taking over them with the exception of Gallaria. And it was this lack of surprise that drew him towards her instead of the other two. "Did you know that this was in there?"
Shrugging her shoulders, the dragoness whistled and twirled her head.
"You really think I remember every treasure Aran stuffed in there? Come on, I'm an old dragon, not an elephant, ahaha~" She responded with a playful smirk.
"Either way," throwing the mantle onto his shoulders, Raven turned to the Twin and Mercedes. "Change of plans. Mercedes, you're gonna inform Hilma and the soldiers in Asteradia to gather at the city limits. Then you're gonna start procuring rations and keep an eye on everything else that needs to be hauled through the desert."
"Why me again?!" Still upset that she couldn't have the mantle, the merchant finally turned true to her greed again. However, quickly realizing that this wasn't a request but rather a command, she let off a scoff and agreed with a nod. "Fine, whatever–I'm happy to serve, I guess."
"What about me?" The twin asked, unsure where she fitted in this mess.
Grabbing her hand, Raven wasted no time in explaining and instead teleported back to Athenia with the Enchanted wand. However, his unexpected visit was met with an unexpected–or rather embarrassing sight, at least for Darius and Aelin, who'd only now managed to get rid of Reina for the day and were barely getting started with lovemaking.
"EKKK!! HOW DID YOU GET IN!?"
"Ughhh…more visitors."
Needless to say, the couple weren't that thrilled.