Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Note: As some of you may know, I was in the hospital for the entire last week. I got released yesterday, and I am feeling much better now. But since I'm still somewhat disoriented, I'm starting things off a little slow. One chapter today and from tomorrow we'll get back into the regular schedule if possible, if not it'll be one chapter again.

During the week after which the party was to expect great change, Helga and Markus were sparring on the dark sand beach while the daughters of the valkyrie watched from a distance. Taking in every detail, they held tightly onto their dog–for seeing their mother's destructive capabilities was scary, to say the least.

Keeping their distance by flapping their dragon wings, the girls avoided the hot sand being hurled in every direction as burning shards of glass. The clash of a spear and a greatsword had disoriented the bay's habitat as the heat emerging from the scuffle was melting the sand under their feet into a clear coating of dark glass. As for the forest that led back to Elenaris, its trees were now all inclining away from the water.

Like a flash, it would happen, and in the next, things would become normal. Neither Tatiyana nor Stella could see their fight in its entirety. But what little they could grasp in the afterimage of the warriors, they saw flashes of great exertion on the warriors' faces right before they disengaged from one another to try yet again. Sometimes, Helga deflected Markus' greatsword with her spear, using one hand while the other tried to strike him in the chest. A project of astral hands, however, would block every single attempt. Other times, it was Markus on the offense–but his attacks were more strung with magic and aura than anything as physical as the Valkyrie.

Relying mostly on their weapons, the two fought neither to show off nor to reach those distant heights of their talents again. Instead, it was a mere warm up–one in preparation for a war the two could sniff from the present yet laid much further in the future.

In the end, as the night came to break, however, the two sat on the glass under their rumps and stared at each other. Only then were the girls allowed to approach their mother and start setting up a camp by the beach. It had already been a few days since they'd gone through this routine, thus, the girls were already accustomed to setting the tents, starting the campfire, and even bringing water to boil for a stew that they would soon eat.

But today was different, for they had finally gathered the courage to ask Helga every burning question. Being children of age thirteen, their curiosity was more prosperous than their caution, and thus, the moment the first bubble burst into the stew pot, Tatiyana looked at her mother and asked the first question.

"Mom…How did you get so strong?" Holding onto her mother's tired arm, she stared up into her gaze curiously.

Glancing down sideways with her face burning an orange glow in the flame, Helga pondered between lying and telling the truth after all. Her mother had warned her not to shelter her children, so much so that they couldn't stand on their own two legs, and now that promise came into question.

'Should I tell them everything? The gods, the war, what I did…' In the end, Helga concluded that it was too soon for them to know such things. Shaking her head, she wore a gentle smile and began brushing her angel's head.

"You'll be stronger, sweetheart. I said I'll start training you soon, didn't I?"

"Really?! But there's no way we can be as fast as you!" Stella protested, a bit more timid about the proposition of being trained than her sister.

"Nonsense!" With a laugh, the valkyrie reached for Stella and drew her into her side. "Those wings aren't just for show. Your father could easily beat me while using them, and you're his daughters, so why won't you be able to do the same?"

As if giving it assent, Cerberus barked as soon as Helga was finished with her sentence. It drew everyone's attention to him, but the attention didn't last long as Markus decided to speak up as well.

"We ruined this beach with the constant sparring." As eyes turned to the man, his gaze lingered on the dancing figures of the flame. Through the visor, he would peer at the campfire, wondering just how things have changed since the last war. "When we last fought in that war, the land was–well, a mess everywhere. Poison at every step, magma brimming on the surface, no beaches, no meadows and no orchids…I'm no longer sure if this feeble soil can even sustain the scars of such wars again."

Lifting his head, he finally looked into Helga's eyes. Her daughters were both confused beyond reason and had not the slightest clue what the dark knight was blabbing about. But to Helga, it made sense–and what she'd drawn from his words was concerning, to say the least. For was the land before the war as flourishing as this? Or was it the result of the war that the soil turned to dust and rubble? She couldn't tell, for her memories failed to see a time before the war, if it even existed for her.

"Markus, we can discuss this some other time…" Shying away from the discussion, she turned back to her daughters. "As for you two, go to sleep once you've had dinner. I think I've had enough warm up for now, so your training starts tomorrow."

"From tomorrow?!" Stella squealed with a hint of shock.

"YES! FINALLY!" Tatiyana exclaimed, excitedly.

The contrast in their reaction put a smile on Helga's face. It was almost as if she was looking in the mirror with Tatiyana being her and Stella her cautious husband. The little moment, however, did not last long as a sudden pillar of blue light emerged beside their camp. Alarmed at first, the Valkyrie moved in front of her daughters, but upon noticing Raven appearing as soon as the light died down, she allowed her shoulders to settle.

"So this is where you've been, huh?" Said the mage before heaving a tired sigh.

"And what are you doing here?" Helga asked, slowly making her way towards him.

Looking around the ruined beach, Raven tried to figure out what had happened there, but when nothing made sense, he turned his attention back to the Valkyrie.

"Just doing a headcount, making sure everyone's still alive…" Although it started as just that, a headcount, that whole week Raven went on gathering everyone he possibly could to bring them back to the mansion 'Phordite. Why exactly? To discuss everything that has happened and assess the physical and mental state of those close to him. Even the Djinn twins were given a rest, so was Mercedes, even the dragoness–as once the assessment was over, a year-long plan was about to be put into effect.