"Are you okay?"
Cynthia slowly lifted her head from her arms. She blinked to see Roselyn's pink eyes looking down at her. She stretched the corner of her lips, prompting a small smile.
"Ye-Yeah...ju..st tired.." She winched at the crack of her voice. She can expect her voice to be gone when tomorrow hits.
With a hum, the orange-haired girl sat down beside her. "I'm surprised, you know. I would have thought that you would attack or...explode at...them." Roselyn pursed her lips at this mention.
Cynthia merely leaned her head against her shoulder. "Go-God, I...wanted to." She sighed before letting out an airy laugh. "Da-Dammit, I...I wanted to ba..sh their he-heads...to the fu-fucking ground....So b-bad."
"Why didn't you?" With what had happened, Roselyn would not mind the violence. At least a little bit.
"It...it wouldn't do any...one good." Cynthia sighed as she pulled her knees tighter. "I-I'm sure they...will re..ceive their punishment...and it'll on..ly create a worse sce..ne." She had lightly coughed at the end.
Then a hand patted her head which made her blink. She lifted her head to see Roselyn's soft gaze. "You really have grown up, Thia."
Cynthia's face turned red at the sudden compliment. "S-Shut up..." She turned her face away. Her face grew hotter when Roselyn's giggled at her action.
"It's true. You are becoming more considerate. If you knew your actions wouldn't affect others, you would've unleashed hell as you pleased." Roselyn had noticed that about the blonde girl. She was chaotic, yes but it was all in good fun and never really purposely at the extension of another. She would hold herself back when she noticed her actions would cause others grief.
Though, a frown grew upon her lips as her hand halted. She also had noticed that Cynthia would neglect more about herself more. As she grows, the blonde girl perhaps puts too much effort into others unless she was a troll about it. Yet, she always makes it hard for herself. Especially now...
This blonde girl before her wanted to express her rage upon those who had done them wrong but she knew better. However, it does not ease the rage brewing inside her.
Roselyn realized this. Everyone at their party realized this. That is why she wanted to check on the blonde girl. Kathryn's cynical attitude would not help the girl's anger. Erina's comforts would only smother her. Avelyn's guilt would fuel the negative feelings. Lily's sadness would do the same.
Yumi...she could have helped but Cynthia right now needed more than a quiet company. Not only that, her presence would remind Cynthia of their action. What they could have done? And that only leaves her...
"Hey, there is a nice bakery nearby." Roselyn brought up. She let down her hand and patted her skirt. "How about I buy you a slice of cake?"
"....cho-choco..late?" Cynthia sounded quite meek which would have made her laugh in a different circumstance.
"Of course." Roselyn merely kept a smile as she stood up. She held out a hand which Cynthia accepted and she pulled the blonde girl up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Can I try some?" Yumi hummed as she glanced at the chocolate cake. Cynthia merely nodded her head and passed her own spoon. The two enjoyed the delicious pastry. Them including the rest of their party were in the Guild's cafeteria area, enjoying the calm after the tiresome storm with treats they bought from the bakery.
"Are you sure you're okay now?" Erin nervously brought up to which it made the other blonde girl blink. Swallowing the bits of cake in her mouth, Cynthia responded with a small smile.
"Ye-Yeah...just go..tta get my h-head cool...do-down." She still spoke with a raspy voice.
"Okay, that's good and all but what you did was reckless!" Avelyn was now scolding her. "You ran from the infirmary!" The brunette crossed her arms, looking down at her in disappointment.
"I-I...didn't-"
"And stop talking!" Avelyn immediately shut her up. "You're only making your throat worse!" The brunette furiously scolded.
"B-But..you asked-"
"Not buts!" Avelyn barely let her speak. "You're lucky that you're even allowed to be out of bed! If I was Healer Leigh, I would strap you onto the bed!" The brunette was furiously scolding her which made the blond girl shrink further into her seat.
"Here, have some of this." Kathryn passed her a glass of orange juice.
"Oh, thank you." Avelyn did a 180-degree change as she bubbly drank the drink. Cynthia beaded-eyed stared at the scene, 'It was that easy?!'
Kathryn merely sent her a smug smirk and changed the topic at hand. "You know what I'm satisfied about? Getting those pesky bitches—"
"Kathryn..." Erina warned with a disapproving frown. Kathryn forced a cough, "I mean, those witches suspended and demoted their rank to mere F-Rank adventurers." It was the lowest rank even though most adventures began with D or E Ranks. In most cases, F-Rank are a form of punishment imposed upon unruly members.
"I still think that was too light," Roselyn sighed, leaning against her knuckle.
Lily blinked, "eh? But it was either that or....being arrested with actual imprisonment." She fiddled with her fingers, "th-that's still not taking into account the fact they could get worse sentence...i-if any of our families were to find out."
The orange-haired heroine looked at the Prime Minister's daughter with a blank stare. "Exactly. They deserve the harshest punishment they could get. I could care less if they rot away in some cell." Lily squeaked in fright at the dark glint in her pink eyes. "...scary."
That earned a snicker from Kathryn, "dang, who knew our resident Light User is so dark." The green-haired girl laughed at her own pun. Cynthia also let out her own snickers but winced a bit due to her sore throat.
"What?" Roselyn blinked. She did not think that it was that dark, it was a perfectly reasonable punishment. Too bad the Guild Master did not choose it. "We were lucky to escape there without even worse casualties." She frowned and this she shared with Avelyn who nodded to her every word.
"It was fortunate that Callum and his party members managed to catch the guilty parties red-handed." The brunette hummed. "Maybe they aren't so bad..." Roselyn brightened up at that claim, smiling at the brunette.
"Oh!" Erina chirped. "We should get them something as a thank-you gift! They did help us!" She clasped her hands together.
"Um...shouldn't we also get something for Makena?" Lily shyly brought up. Cynthia blinked at the unfamiliar name while everyone seemed to be familiar with it. The white-haired girl smiled, "she was nice." She said, fiddling with her fingers.
Erina's smile grew brighter, "of course! We couldn't have done it without her help?" Kathryn nodded, "she was a great witness and source."
Roselyn also hummed, "it's good for her that she left that group. They don't deserve her."
"She had helped us during the investigation," Avelyn informed Cynthia, catching her confused face. "She's now an ex-member of those women." The brunette clicked her tongue at the mention of those people that harmed their group.
Cynthia made an 'oh' expression in realization before going back to enjoy her cake.
"You know this makes me crave honey." Yumi suddenly spoke up, licking up of the leftover chocolate that stained her lips. "We should continue that last quest."
"Eh?"
"We should go back to that beehive, I wanna try their honey." The pink-haired girl's suggestion stumped everyone. It was completely out of nowhere and Yumi almost lost her life there.
"G-GO BA..CK?!" Cynthia strained her throat which resulted in harsh coughing. Avelyn—bless her soul, kindly grabbed her some water.
"I highly recommend a few days of rest." Leigh sighed which made them all jump.
"When did you get here?!"
The red-haired male merely pushed back his glasses. "I was just passing by and heard you lot. You aren't exactly quiet."
"Do we have to?" Yumi stared back at the healer. She really wanted to taste those honey and the effects of the Berserk Potion should have worn off already. It would be an easy quest.
"Yes. This is healer advice." He pushed up his glasses and stared down at them. "Take it."
The girls knew better as most of them felt fear shiver down their spine. It was a threat. Even the ever-hungry-craving Yumi admitted defeat. "...fine."
"I will inform the client of the delay." They had jumped when Clara suddenly appeared. The older woman gave a reassuring smile. "They will understand. Nice people, they are."
This seemed to appease Yumi as she nodded, "as long as I get my honey." The pinkette was definitely motivated and they were surprised by it. Then again, the usually blunt girl was a foodie so they could understand where it was coming from.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Timeskip: Few Days Later ~
"I can finally talk!!!" Cynthia shouted to the sky as she twirled around. And getting dizzy in the process but she was too happy to care.
"Yeah, ware it out why don't you?" Kathryn groaned, already having enough of it all. The girl had not stopped talking, shouting, and even tone-deaf singing since morning and it was giving her a headache. There is only so much she could handle in one day.
"Hey!" Cynthia pouted at the green-haired girl and crossed her arm. "Can't I be happy that I got my voice back? Plus we finally get to find that delicious honey!" She said that but the blonde girl does not eat honey that much. She was only saying it to keep the foodie of their group happy.
Even though days had passed since the incident and any trace of the Berserk Potion should wear off by now, she could not be cautious about this quest. From their streaks, she could only get paranoid about every quest they would take now. Heck, she made everyone do a check-up before leaving to make that no one was carrying anything that could trigger the monsters this time.
"And we should be close..." Avelyn's comment brought Cynthia out of her thoughts. Oh, she was right. They were getting close to the beehive.
Without wasting any time, Cynthia and Erina created smoke much like they did before. This time they made sure to create enough smoke and await to see the result. Right near the entrance, they found a giant bee unconscious.
Fortunately, any residues of the Berserk Potion had been cleaned up from their previous visit here. Now, it should be an easier quest than it is supposed to be. There they quickly venture deeper into the ruins.
"Giant Honey Bee would store their honey near the center of the hive," Avelyn informed them. "But be careful 'cause it is near the Queen's chamber and hatchling's area."
"How would we know which was to go? We wouldn't want to disturb the Queen..." Erina asked as she was too concerned about causing the monsters to go ballistic.
Yumi tapped on the wax that enclosed the ruins' wall. "We could tell by this. The thicker and larger it gets, the closer we are to the place the bees store honey." Avelyn nodded to the pinkette's words in agreement. The two had conducted a more thorough research before going on this quest. The last thing they want is to repeat the same mistake of letting the element of surprise get the best of them.
"Alright, then let's venture carefully into the hive." Cynthia hummed. "But be careful, remember this ruin is not very stable." She grimaced as she recalled the time they were split up.
Kathryn suggested, "I should stay in front and create a solid pathway." She muttered the spell beneath her breath as the crumbling and cracked pathway began to merge and became a more solid pathway.
"Heh, we should have done that last time." Roselyn could not help but comment. It would have saved them a lot of trouble. Cynthia merely let out a nervous laugh, "we really did not think it through last time. The crazy bees did not help."
The orange-haired girl only hummed in agreement. "True." And now she hoped that they are no more surprises.
With that thought in mind, the girls ventured deeper into the ruins that these giant creatures made as their home. After going past numerous unconscious bodies of bees as quietly and carefully as they could, they found themselves surrounded by walls casketed with a thick wax.
Avelyn had shared a whisper that they were close as the soft aroma of flowers lingered in the air. With a few more turns, the girls entered a large chamber and were greeted by the liquid treasure they seek.
"It's.....beautiful." Absolute awe could be heard in Yumi's usually monotone voice. The whole chamber was encased from ceiling to floor in the wax shaped of hexagons with pure honey hiding inside.
It was a rare sight from the pinkette and Cynthia could not help but feel giddy for her friend. She pulled out clear jars from her satchel with the biggest grin.
"What are we waiting for!" Cynthia pulled Yumi along by the arm. "Let's load these babies up!" She even let out an excited squeal as child-like joy filled her. Right, she is a child.
The rest shared her excitement as joyful giggles also filled that honey chamber.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Don't you look excited to try that honey?" Cynthia grinned over Yumi's shoulder. The pinkette was hugging a jar in her arms.
Yumi merely ignored the teasing as she could not wait to try the honey out. They had collected so much! There are so many dishes they could try with it.
"And actually fulfill the quest's request." Kathryn brought out, knowing that the pinkette had already wandered off thinking about fulfilling her gluttonous desire than the quest.
"...right." Yumi refused to look her in the eyes. The rest could only find amusement at her reaction. Perhaps it was not that bad they retook this quest...
"Oh, what's this?"
Everyone stopped to see Roselyn lingering in the back, peeking into a different chamber of the ruins.
"This is a strange-looking room..." Roselyn commented as she looked around. "There isn't any wax here." She was right, unlike the area just outside of it that was riddled with cracks and waxes, it was left alone.
"Huh...it looks like those bees didn't touch this place." Avelyn furrowed her brows. "How odd."
"But this room or chamber...whatever it is, feels strange." Kathryn pursed her lips. "Don't you guys feel it? There's definitely still some magic still lingering here." Her amber eyes narrowed in caution.
"And these carvings...I think these are runes." Erina peered over the stone hedges. She hummed as she wanted to brush off some of the dirt to see it better.
"Don't touch that!" Kathryn shouted in warning but it was too late. As Erina's hand touched the stone hedges, its ruins began to glow in golden light.
"Ah! It wasn't me this time!" Cynthia exclaimed, wanting to point it out for once.
Golden light enclosed within the stone hedges as they slowly felt them being sucked toward it.
"Ahhhhhhhh!"
"What is this?!"
"I'm sorry!!
"Dammit, why is it so difficult to get this quest fucking done?!" Cynthia yelled in rage as they all were quickly pulled into the bright unknown vortex.
Only their jars of golden honey were left behind...
Bzzzz.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author Note:
Hey...I'm back. So sorry for the late update. I am so grateful to those who are still willing to read this!
Sniff...sniff...sniff thank you.
Please do comment and vote for this chapter! I wanna know what you think of it!
Bye!