Dreams Into Nightmares

For the next couple days Xilo and his group spent time hunting Astral Beasts and practicing while they thought about things. A small bit of space also grew between Relia and Xilo during that time. Xilo left it be though as he focused on what they were doing next. Xelfia and Tearia on the other hand hyper focused on it and tried to help when they could. With no other news from Felain or even Aeon they were left to their own will as the Royal Family moved on their own. Continuing with their plan as one man finally arrived back at the Ukel City after traveling forever.

"That took way longer than I thought it would to heal."

Holding his stomach he walked inside the Ukel's residence which held its Royal Family. Swarmed instantly by people, Zelfin tried to put up an appearance as he was barraged by them. Slowly making his way inside he walked through a couple halls until he eventually made it to the throne room where a woman sat on top of a throne staring blankly across the room. Clearing his throat he announced his presence as the Queen snapped to attention. Looking down at the boy covered in wounds she had some questions but ignored them. Only one mattered to her right now.

"I see you're finally back after your little trip, Did things go okay?"

"I met more difficulty than expected but it was a good test."

"That's good then, what about your master, where has he been lately?"

Freezing after being asked so suddenly Zelfin fell into a slight panic. The old spirit inside of him was tired after he had healed him so he was currently asleep. Without him Zelfin was forced to come up with an excuse of his own. Trying to think of a suitable excuse Zelfin gave up as he told a slight variation of the truth instead. Having some truth in it would at least sound believable and hopefully let him escape her questioning gaze sooner. Her face was all smiles but her eyes threatened to rip into pieces if he did anything stupid, even if his master was helping them out.

"For now he is taking a rest, after my little trip as you put it I was pretty badly injured unfortunately. He felt bad and healed me but that made him pretty tired so he is currently on his own, resting. I don't have the heart to even bother trying to disturb him after what he has done for me but if you want to give it a try, then go ahead. For now I'll be going to rest as well to make sure his hard work didn't go to waste."

Raising a questioning eye the Queen looked at the man in front of her.

"Did you of all people really get injured that badly? Hard to believe, especially knowing your skill."

"We all make miscalculations sometimes. That....monster had also made a lot more improvements then I ever could have guessed. Along with fighting off a group of people, it wasn't an easy fight even for me. Does that answer satisfy you?"

"For now, though you can lose the sass when talking to me, you might be allowed to stay here for now but that doesn't mean I won't kick you out even with him around."

"I'll try my best to keep that in mind, now if you'll excuse me."

With a slight bow of his head Zelfin hid his smile as he turned around and left the room leaving the Queen all alone. He would deal with her later, for now he really meant it when he said he wanted some rest. He had a long road ahead of him. "He got a lot stronger...and I didn't see Yilel." Thinking back to his fight with that monster, Zelfin felt his blood burning in rage as he walked down the hallways to his room. Not paying attention to his surroundings he felt himself bump into something as he walked. Looking up he saw a girl with long black hair that covered most of her face. "It's her." Recognizing her briefly, he knew this was the Queen's daughter.

"Felli, sorry. I didn't see you there."

"It's alright, It was my fault anyway."

Looking at the man in front of her Felli felt no emotion at all. He was responsible for the changes that were happening all too fast for her to keep up with. "besides, I'm too tired right now." For nights on end she could never get a proper rest. Every night she saw the same dream as before with Althea in each one. Never leaving her alone or giving her a moment's rest, Felli was forced to suffer every night. She was getting extremely frustrated at what was happening but there was nothing she could do. She had thought about just not sleeping but it had gotten her nowhere, only made her feel worse.

"Did your plan go alright?"

Trying to keep up formalities Felli did her best to not break and shout at him.

"Ehhh...that thing was a lot tougher to beat then I thought so I'm going to rest now."

"You getting beat by something is rare, though what do you mean by something? What exactly is it you were trying to fight, an Astral Beast or...?"

Hearing that question Zelfin flinched as he tried to hold his emotions in. Thinking about what he wanted to say for a moment he remembered back to that monster's appearance. Figuring there was no point in hiding it, Zelfin told her in detail about the monster and what it was capable of. At first Felli just thought she would be ignored but as she listened to his story more she felt her heart beating faster as she remembered something. "A...Bladed human..." Remembering back to the moment she met Xilo, she remembered seeing a certain form that was quite similar to Zelfin's description.

"Uhh Zelfin, out of curiosity does this Beast have a name?"