The 5th Hero

A Royal Encounter

The demon axe has been used, and like the curse shield, it brings some awesome but uncontrollable powers. Having that last chapter be told from Neela's perspective made the most sense seeing as it gave the best option for describing what was happening to Ayu and her battle with the dragon and Naofumi. And now, like Raphtalia, she is down and out. We'll be switching pov's again for this chapter, back to Ayu. This chapter will also bring a special surprise for all of you. In case you can't tell by the image above, we meet a certain special character. And there just might be more to meeting her than what you already know. We'll see though. Enjoy!

-PoV: Ayuma-

I can't remember much of what happened during our battle with the zombie dragon. All I know is that what me and Naofumi did to defeat it came with dire consequences. 

When I saw Filo get swallowed by the dragon, I have no idea what came over me. It was like all emotions other than hate were removed from my body. A strange force appeared before me in a vision and asked me if I wanted to use "that" power. I felt like I had no control as I agreed to the offer. Everything after that, it was all black to me. 

Whatever occurred, the dragon was dealt with but some of our friends were heavily injured. Raphtali and Neela most of all. They lied unconscious when I snapped out of it and we rushed them back to the village where their injuries were treated. Raphtalia woke up first and explained what she saw happen to us. She says me and Naofumi unleashed weapons she didn't know we had. 

She was attacked by Naofumi and I attacked Neela, but she says we were both out of control. It's just horrifying to think about what we did. I almost took the life of someone I care so much for. And even now, Neela hasn't awoken. The nurse from the village treated them and told us the news of what's going to happen. Raphtalia was inflicted with a type of curse magic. If it's not treated with holy water, then she'll slowly wither away and die. And, as for Neela, she was inflicted with death magic. Now, that doesn't mean she's dead now but if she isn't treated with holy light, then she'll die within 3 days, staying in this sleep forever. 

It breaks my heart to know I did such a horrible thing to my closest companion. I tried removing the demon axe from my inventory and upgrade tree but every time I did, it would just appear again. It was here to stay, whether I liked it or not. I guess all I could do was not be swayed to use it ever again.

When Raphtalia was healed enough, we set out again for our next destination. We were headed back to Melromarc to see if we could get Raphtalia and Neela what they needed to be cured. The village doctor offered us a payment for destroying the dragon but Naofumi refused it like before when the other village was overrun by vines. It was his way of helping them out. 

We were currently descending down the mountains, with only a few monsters getting in our way. Me and Naofumi took care of them but Raphtalia insisted she helped us. She ran out of stamina quickly though so Naofumi ordered Filo to get her out and back to the carriage. Raphtalia would have to stay in the carriage most of the time and look after Neela. But it's what was best so she didn't get in any worse condition. 

And after making it down the mountain, we entered a forest that didn't have a lot of monsters, to our surprise. We took a quick break because we were all tired from traveling and we were running low on water. Me, Naofumi, Filo, and Raphtalia went to find a river while Seamus stayed behind to look after Neela. 

However, on our way, we passed by a rather large field with something strange in it. There were a bunch of Filolial's, the same species as Filo, but they were in their long-necked stage. But they weren't what was strange. There were two people in the mix of Filolial's. One was a little girl with cobalt blue hair, and wearing a blue and white dress. She was feeding the filolial's. The other was a boy, definitely older than the girl. He was standing a little outside the crowd of Filolial's and he wore a green suit with black pants, and he had medium length blonde hair and glasses on.