Chapter 86: Ice Cream Lover

Ash was about to return to Paradiso in order to help Sonus who was in charge of the place for now. She has a lot of experience after all, but of course nobody mentions it because she will treat it as a personal attack.

"Huh? Why is Enciades calling me?" Ash thought that the Ursus fuckers were attacking them.

"You okay? What's the problem?" Ash hurried her and Enciades just said hello, which calmed him down.

"It's pretty important, but not dangerous or anything. You see, we found a red haired Sarkaz girl around here." Enciades informed him and he nodded.

"What's special about her then?" He wished to get to the point.

"Ahh, she has a thin great sword. It feels just like yours and the twins." Enciades revealed and he blinked.

"She isn't running wild or something? Those weapons are nasty motherfuckers." Ash was surprised.

"No, but maybe she will. Lappland is annoying her, so get your ass here pronto." Enciades chuckled and he sighed.

"She asking her inappropriate questions? Fine, I'll be right there." Ash rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Why do I even keep Lappland with us? I guess she's a fun gal. Crazy, but fun." He redirected his trajectory to the outskirts of Ursus at the north and flew like the wind.

"Now, now, they won't be camping out in the open when there's blizzards here all the time." Ash tried to get a feel of them and Kjera's energy signature is pretty noticeable.

He locked on to the dragon and he flew towards their location.

Ash wasn't surprised that he saw Lappland being chained by Kjera though. She noticed him arriving and she immediately perked up, crawling towards him like a worm.

She was tied up nicely with chains of ice. And she was gagged by Viviana, Lappland had a perfumed handkerchief on her mouth after all.

"Hngh! Hngh!" Lappland tried to speak, but he ignored her for possibly escalating a dangerous situation.

"Hey, is she the one?" Ash looked at the red head and Enciades nodded.

"Yup, Kjera bound Lappland. I hope you don't mind, she's been pestering her." Enciades sighed.

"Oh, I already know. Don't worry, let her be for a few minutes." Ash shrugged and Lappland blushed, she looked like she was awakening something.

'I don't know what's in her mind, but I don't wanna know.' Ash ignored her facial expression for now.

"Hello, I'm Ash. What's your name?" Ash greeted the girl at a comfortable distance.

"I'm Surtr." She wasn't one for words and he shrugged. He was used to them, being Narcissa and Astaroth's caretaker and all.

"What brought you to this place?" Ash probed for information. She was dressed lightly and he felt a strong and fiery presence in her sword.

"There's a blizzard outside, so I took shelter here. I don't get cold, but I don't like getting snow on my face." Surtr replied and she looked like she was in a daze.

Ash took out his sword and it glowed. Surtr's also started to smolder. Surprising the red head.

"You have one of these too? Did you receive any weird memories or something?" She went up to him immediately, looking a little desperate.

"No, why? Is there something wrong when you picked up yours?" Ash furrowed his brows and was thinking of possible answers as to why.

"I... I don't remember, I don't recall ever getting it. But I did get memories that I don't know. It's confusing." She frowned and he calmed her down.

He ordered his sword to communicate with hers and he only got its name. "So your sword's called Laevateinn?" Ash thought it was a suitable name, with it glowing a fiery red while emitting intense heat.

"Can you help me?" Surtr had a pleading look on her face and he nodded.

"Sure, I'll check your sword out if it has any adverse side effects. Mine absorbs the energy of its wielder." Ash took hold of Laevateinn.

But it went quiet when it went to his hand. "I see, it doesn't respond to me. They are soul bound, I can feel it." Ash remembered his sword connecting with him.

"Is that so?" She got disappointed and Ash patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, we have a specialist back at our city that knows a lot about artifacts." He smiled at her.

Ash remembered Mostima and her staves. The dragon inside might know a thing or two about their weapons.

"Really? Thank you, this has been bothering me for a long time." Surtr was pleased.

"Don't get your hopes up though, nothing is for certain in life." Ash stored back his weapon and Surtr agreed to follow them.

"I'll bring her back, this is a pretty big case." Ash thought it would shine some light on their mysterious weapons or something.

"Okay, we'll contact you if something comes up." Enciades kissed him and he said goodbye to the others as well.

He also checked on Skadi, but she was pretty fine. Which was fortunate.

"We're going to fly okay? Don't panic." Ash warned Surtr and she nodded.

They went back to Paradiso at breakneck speeds in order to learn more about what is happening to her. And what they might learn about the sword.

"See that? That's my city, Paradiso." Ash pointed at their mobile city and she nodded.

"You own one yourself?" She was surprised and he smiled. "Yeah, I'm the leader of the country you know?" Ash landed in front of his personal building and they entered.

"Sonus, can you call for Mostima? We might need some info from her." Ash asked Sonus who was handling her work well, as expected of an 'experienced' person.

The banshee nodded and was actually pleased that she won't do paperwork anymore.

"Do you want anything? Snacks, drinks?" Ash thought it would make her relax before they begin.

"Uhh, do you have any ice cream?" Surtr didn't think much about what she wanted and he nodded.

"And lots of it please, like a gallon for now? Yeah, that's a good starting amount." Surtr nodded at herself and Ash raised a brow.

"A gallon? Do you love it that much?" He was quite surprised by her eating habits.

"Yeah, Ice cream is the food of the gods. And it helps me cool down you know?" She pointed at her sword.

"Ahhh, so it also harms you? You're not immune to its effects?" Ash was learning a lot about how a normal person reacts to the demonic weapons.

Alastor and Astaroth didn't quite count, due to him subjugating the weapons by saturating it with his energy before handing it to them. And they are actually attuned to it well.

"Yeah, I receive massive burns when I use it. Though it doesn't last long, I heal quickly." Surtr winced, remembering her usage of the sword.

"So, tell me more about these memories?" Ash was interested in that.

"Ahh, yes. Suddenly, one day. I started remembering things that were in my point of view... That's actually why I'm in Ursus, I've been travelling to places that look similar to what's in my memories." Surtr was feeling antsy.

"It's certainly disturbing. Every place I have been, there's no connection. I was talking to other people, it's spotty at best." Surtr frowned.

"You actually suffer something that is similar to one of ours..." Ash remembered Liz and her implanted memories.

"Really? Then you can fix it?" Surtr got hopeful. "No, her memory confusion came from arts. In your case, I can't sense oripathy in your brain." Ash did a check on her.

She certainly has oripathy, like the majority of Sarkaz due to their compatibility with originium. But there's something weird about her.

"You are infected, but the originium is inactive." Ash looked at the sword and thought it was the thing that was doing that.

While they were talking, her ice cream arrived and she lit up. Surtr was a bit depressed earlier, but the Sarkaz perked up as she started eating her cold treat.

"I actually write down the memories I see. I don't know, they just appear. Endless forests, rivers, castles, schools, cities that weren't mobile, balloons, amusement parks, radio towers, wastelands. There are a lot of them." Surtr showed her notebook.

Ash couldn't make sense of it. Especially the entry of the ocean, sea monsters, and fishing boats.

Nobody is brave enough to fish in the open waters of the ocean. Everybody knows you will go missing, never to be seen again.

'Wait... Cities, radio towers, ocean... Is she seeing the past?' Ash suddenly went wide eyed.

"What kinds of people did you see? Do they have discernible traits?" Ash stood up and Surtr thought about it.

"Not really, they're unlike the races here on Terra." Surtr recalled, sometimes they did have discernible traits like the ancients. But most of the time, they don't.

Ash slumped to his seat and was stunned. "You were seeing memories of a long time past Surtr..." He was simply shocked.

She might have seen humans in her spotty memories. And not the ancients too, homo sapiens or another type that has evolved on Terra.

"I see Sarkaz too, it's weird. Those two were basically the only two races that I saw." Surtr tilted her head and was wondering why he was so quiet.

"This is history that could harbor the secrets of Terra." Ash informed her and Surtr blinked dumbly. But she continued eating her ice cream.

"This, are you sure?" Surtr wondered. "I'm not, but it's highly likely. But we can't be sure." Ash shrugged.

"Then, what do we do now? Investigate it more?" Surtr wanted to make some progress.

"That would actually be useless, the people, the things you are seeing aren't here anymore. It's most likely lost to time." Ash poured cold water on her enthusiasm.

"Ahh, is that so? Then did I forget the majority of my identity? And it will be like this until I die?" Surtr's thoughts went morbid.

"We just have to wait and see. Maybe if we increase your control of the sword?" Ash was speculating at best.

"Hah, I guess I did probably learn something. What you said is true. I haven't been able to see a place that is like in my memories." Surtr started shoveling more ice cream in her mouth due to stress.

"Yo, you needed me boss?" Mostima entered the room and she saw that he had company.

"What? Are you going to abuse your power and do us in a threesome!?" Mostima tried to tease him, but they ignored her.

"Mostima, can you ask your staves if they know something about these?" Ash pointed at Surtr's sword.

"Those... Those are cursed weapons that have been here far longer than us. They demand a terrible price for power." The dragon talked in her mind.

"We got nothing boss, it said that those are super old. Older than the ancient Feranmuts even. And that they're super dangerous." Mostima shrugged.

"I see, then thanks. You can laze around or something." Ash tossed her a wad of cash.

"Wow! Emperor's got nothing on you boss! Thanks!" Mostima ran away before he decided to take it back.

"So we're back to square one." Surtr sighed and she noticed that there was nothing left on her tub of ice cream.

"Can I get another one please? This time, strawberry flavored." She requested and he obliged.

"How about you stay here for now? It must be tiring, always being on the move?" Ash offered her sanctuary and Surtr nodded.

"You wield a sword like this too right? Maybe you can teach me? Perhaps, if I master the sword's powers. Then we'll be able to learn more about my mysterious memories?" Surtr hypothesized.

She's got nothing to lose anyway, it was actually much more beneficial to her even if she doesn't solve her mystery.

With Ash's help, she would be able to master the powers of her sword and she won't hurt herself while using it. That was already a big plus in her books.

"Then welcome to Paradiso Surtr, don't worry. It might take some time, but mastering those powers will make progress." Ash shook her hand.

"Ohh, can I also have a pass to get ice cream?" She has never tasted such good ice cream before.

"Okay." Ash shrugged and didn't question her desires. He then checked her blood sugar, but it was fine.

'Huh, maybe she burns it all up due to her sword? Or she's just built different.' Ash didn't question it anymore.

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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.