Chapter 36: Bonds of Friendship

As they leave the city, they pause at the gates and Lily climbs out of the wagon. She walks over to Saiba and pulls her map out. She shows it to Saiba while pointing at the northwestern part of the island. Lily says,

"This is where we're going."

Saiba takes a look and sees that the area is labelled, [Witheron]. Saiba asks,

"Witheron? That's one of the five regions, right? Why do we need to go there?"

His tone becomes whiny as Saiba adds,

"I wanna go to the Underworld already!"

Lily bonks Saiba on the head and says,

"That's where the entrance to the Underworld is, you dummy!"

She quietly mumbles,

"Or at least that's what I heard..."

Saiba rubs the place where he was hit and says,

"Oh... I knew that!"

Very disappointed, Lily facepalms. Next, she points at a route that leads from Riveria City to Witheron while saying,

"We'll be taking this trail, got it?"

Saiba gives her a thumbs up. Lily climbs back in the wagon and says,

"I'll be resting in the wagon now, so make sure we don't get off track."

As Lily gets on, Saiba pats Uma on the head as a signal to get moving. Uma starts trotting along the path and Lazaro trails behind on his scaled horse.

Shortly after, Lazaro pulls up beside Saiba and says,

"Hey, I never really got to thank you for helping me back there, so thanks for everything!"

Saiba replies,

"Oh that? Don't worry about it! It's my duty as your friend to help you out!"

Lazaro says,

"If there's anything I can do to pay you back, just say the word!"

Saiba thinks for a bit and makes a decision. He holds his hand out in a fist and points it towards Lazaro. Confused, Lazaro asks,

"You want to punch me? I mean that's fine with me, I guess..."

Frantically, Saiba answers,

"No, no! I guess you guys don't do it here, but back where I'm from, we call this a fistbump! Here, just do what I'm doing!"

Lazaro follows Saiba and holds his hand out in a fist as well. Saiba bumps Lazaro's fist while saying,

"It's a sign of friendship!"

Lazaro's eyes light up as he punches Saiba's fist. Saiba lets out a shout of pain and says,

"You're not supposed to do it that hard! Think of it like a high-five, but with your fist!"

Lazaro get confused and replies,

"Oh, a high-five! I know that one! King Gladius taught the Kingdom that!"

Saiba thinks,

"Mr. Gladius knows what a high-five is? Well, he is the one that summoned me, so he must be pretty smart..."

Saiba holds his fist out again while saying,

"Try again, but please do it lightly this time!"

Lazaro gets determined and fistbumps Saiba. With a big smile, Saiba calls out,

"Here's to the bonds of our friendship!"

Lazaro repeats him and says,

"To the bonds of our friendship!"

Right after, they let out a good chuckle. Next, Lazaro says,

"You know, I wasn't really expecting you to be that strong, but you beat Aldrich, so you must have a lot of power!"

Saiba starts pouting and says,

"I'm strong! I'm the hero, so I have to be strong! Well, the guy that beat Aldrich wasn't really me, so maybe I'm not strong..."

Confused once again, Lazaro asks,

"What do you mean?"

Saiba answers,

"It kinda felt like I got possessed by something when I was fighting Aldrich, but I don't really know what it was."

Lazaro rubs his chin while saying,

"Hm... That's strange... Well, I still think you're strong, possessed or not!"

Saiba laughs as they continue on the path.

As it turns to night, the group arrives at a fork in the road. Saiba does not know which way to go as he thinks hard and rubs his chin.

He decides to ask Lily, but when he looks inside, Lily is fast asleep. Saiba tries nudging Lily to wake her up, but it doesn't work.

Instead, Saiba turns to ask Lazaro. He asks,

"Hey Lazaro, do you know where to go?"

Lazaro simply shrugs and nods his head no.

Saiba scans the three ways and notices a sign. The sign has three labelled arrows that point to each path. From left to right they read, [To Estrelia City] , [To Cambross Town], and [To Soulless Graveyard]. Saiba thinks and decides to take the rightmost path. He mutters,

"Soulless Graveyard sounds the most Underworld-like... I guess I'll go here!"

They enter the trail as their surroundings seem to get eerier. A thick fog fills the air and it's dead silent. Saiba feels a chill run down his spine as Uma suddenly stops.

He pats Uma while nervously saying,

"H-Hey buddy... Why'd you stop?"

In front of them, a large iron gate stands, looming very conspicuously.

Suddenly, the creepy silence is broken by an ear-shattering scream.