Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 831: Cause For Celebration And Concern

Time passed as it does, and hours flew by. The child’s cries had died down, and with her eyes now heavy, she lay in a cradle beside her mother’s bed. Watching her from a distance, Raven, as well as the other fae–Liliyana, narrowed their gaze for they felt in her what they felt within themselves.

”Finally asleep,” brushing arms against Erika, Linkle bobbed her head in June’s direction. ”How long until she wakes up? Probably time for her to nurse the kid. She isn’t all that strong as of yet, unfortunately.”

”Your guess is as good as mine.” Still struggling to appraise the strange, dark liquid that had coated June’s child, Erika’s mind was miles away–trying to find some reasoning behind this unusual birth. ”Dark water... what is it exactly?”

Turning her head to the witch, she trapped her within her sharp gaze.

”It’s... what fuels the horrors, what else?” Raising an eyebrow, Linkle stared back. ”It has its uses, but in the end, it’s probably not a good idea for us to experiment too much with it. I mean, look at what happened to Aradin and now June with this birth.”

Not entirely convinced, Erika turned to face Raven and asked.

”What about Arche, does she know what it is?”

Lifting his head, Raven took a deep breath before responding.

”It brought her back to life is all that she knows. It evolved her from a minor arachnid to a true monster, but I think it is the extent of her knowledge.”

”Didn’t she say that you or someone like you was the one who saved her?” Speaking up, Amedith got out of his chair. Standing in the middle, he extended his hand towards June while looking at Raven. ”If that girl is born from a father who was affected by the same dark liquid, then, wouldn’t that mean–”

”That the dark liquid has altered her?” Raven interjected, finishing the magus’s thoughts.

”Yes!”

”But that means she’s at least part horror or a monster!” Jumping up on her feet, Mel moved towards the cradle. ”There’s no way that’s true, right? Gods... I hope it isn’t.”

”Either way, something’s wrong with her.” Crossing her legs, Aria leaned back in her chair and audibly exhaled. ”I can feel something strange from her. It’s almost as if she’s not exactly an elf but something more.”

”She’s a half-elf,” Linkle corrected, but Liliyana corrected her further.

”No,” stepping forward, Liliyana stood by the cradle and looked down at the pale girl. ”I can feel it too. She has fae blood in her–much stronger than an elf, much less half elf.”

”What?! What the hell are you talking about?!” The witch exclaimed, having no clue as to what the two could be sensing from such a little girl.

”She’s right,” getting off his chair as well, Raven walked closer to the cradle as well. ”It’s the same feeling that I got the first time, Liliyana, and I met. Hatred, a form of disgust–if I didn’t know better, I would say that it’s the monster inside me that makes me hate her, but I do know better. And it’s clear to me that she likes Liliyana, and I have some form of connection with one of the mother fae.”

Glancing over at Will-O, who’d been riding on top of Liliyana’s head, Raven stared daggers at the little soul until she gathered the courage to look at him.

”O-okay! Yes! She has some pure fae blood in her for some reason, but–” flying into the cradle, the fairy stood beside the little girl’s arms. ”That doesn’t mean you people get to treat her differently! She’s a baby, so let her get some rest, stop crowding her!”

”Come to think of it,” deep in thought, Linkle broke into the conversation once more without even realizing it. ”Every time the King’s men came, they wanted to kidnap June, and they mentioned something about her being a candidate, I’m sure. Does that mean...”

With a deep gulp, she lifted her head.

”They wanted her because she’s special? But why? Even with the dark water corruption, Aradin was left alone, and even you, Raven–you can manipulate corruption now, but they’ve never tried to kidnap you or hurt you directly.”

”A candidate?” The word reminded Erika of the nun in white for a second. Thinking on it with her thumb to her chin, she eventually remembered why exactly. Narrowing her eyes again, she placed a hand on Raven’s shoulder. ”Back when you lost control in the tower of elects, the nun–I swear I heard her calling you a candidate as well.”

Placing his hand on top of hers, he turned with a baffled look.

”Are you sure?”

”Yes, I was busy taking care of Ditsy, but–” Quickly glancing at Garcia, Erika urged her to speak. ”You heard it too, right? That giant demon lady talking?”

Startled by being suddenly called on, Garcia tried to remember, but she couldn’t. The others didn’t remember either, for they were too busy trying to contain Raven.

”I swear I heard it!”

”Come to think of it again,” speaking up once more, Linkle reeled everyone’s attention in. ”The leader of their group was surprised that Aradin could use corruption, and then he said that he wasn’t told that there was a third one. And if you are one, the baby is another, and Aradin is the third, then that means you are the three that he mentioned.”

Too overwhelmed with information to think, Raven simply looked around, trying to make sense of everything. And that’s when Linkle dropped another major piece of information.

”He also said something about Nerva not being able to save Aradin’s daughter.”

”Nerva?” The name echoed through the entire party’s mouth. Their attention was drawn right in, and yet another reminder that they were being watched loomed right over them all.

’Nerva again... How far has she spun this web that everything points back to her?’ Asked Raven to himself, but for now, with the limited information that they had, no answer could emerge–at least not until the party figured out what it even meant to be a candidate and how it was related to the goddess of the end.