Rio looked down at Lisa's figure, hugging him tightly, his hands still frozen midway as the memories of that time came back to his mind.
Lisa, who was too happy after seeing him alive and back, had directly ran towards him earlier. She had heard rumors and read all reports of his return too, but no one confirmed anything and she doubted the validity of the stories too.
She had seen herself how badly wounded he was back then, just surviving with those injuries alone would've been a hard feat, let alone adding along surviving a dungeon crash and then having to live in a failed world of immortal enemies for 2 whole years.
But seeing him here, walking alive, she couldn't hold back herself as she just held him and poured out all the guilt and pain she had kept hidden. She had even forgotten about the people surrounding them or the fact that the whole world was probably watching everything, as she was too lost in her emotions and excitement.
Rio, on the other hand, was swept away by memories that were far from the rosy sentiment of the moment.
He shared no similar feelings for her now. The anger and disappointment he felt towards her, coupled with all the things that incident led to, and all that he suffered in the past 2 years -only fueled his fury. The warmth of Lisa's hug clashed with the cold recollections of his pain and suffering.
The slight bloodlust oozing out from his body only grew more potent over time.
His body was itching all over as the memories of having his skin pierced all over by that damn radiation came back, the feeling of having his body crushed and blasted for a dozen time in a matter of milliseconds, the memories of fighting and getting drowned by all those monsters - it all only fueled his bloodlust, as it kept leaking out from his body.
The atmosphere around him simply turned silent and deathly cold, feeling the heaviness of air and having trouble in breathing - Lisa looked up at Rio's face, only to see 2 black orbs of darkness staring down at her face.
"Rio _ I.." Lisa stutteried as she her face failed to form proper words. Their eyes kept locked with each other. Showing the opposite reactions they had after seeing the other.
Lisa wanted to say something when she felt lost, her heart was simply too lost in its thoughts to pump up the blood necessary to function her body. She simply stood frozen, as she bore the brunt of his bloodlust, her eyes were getting dull and she was tattering on the verge of losing her consciousness, when someone grabbed her hand and pulled her back some steps.
The sudden jolt awoken mind and body, as she started taking deep breaths to calm herself. Elena looked at Rio whose eyes were staring at her now. One glance at those black orbs was enough to tell her that gone was the light and cheering personality of the friend they used to know, and what stood before them was simply the remnant.
Rio, who was still lost in his thoughts, felt someone pull his hands and called him.
"Brother"
Hearing Amelia's shout and looking at her trembling hands, her sweat-dampened forehead, Rio snapped back to reality.
As the bloodlust permeating his body disappeared. It all only lasted for a few moments and then ended like it was never really real. If not for the shocked faces of Elena, Lisa and Amelia - no one would even know what happened.
The barrier around them had stopped his bloodlust from leaking out, and aside from the guards who walked near him, and these 3 girls no one probably even felt a difference.
The sudden turn of events that happened didn't only surprise Leon and his God, but it was actually a shock for everyone. Rio's return confirmed the rumors and every media or guest at the function was curious about it. But before they could get any answer from him, the scene of the present unfolded in front of the whole world.
Many people identified the girl who suddenly appeared near them, those who didn't started guessing after seeing the uniform she wore - they were surprised by that, when suddenly a new girl came and pulled her away. Even to the reporters it was all so confusing to guess what was happening.
Those with high ranks or relative blessings might've sensed his bloodlust, but no one with that kind of power or useful ability would choose to work as a useless reporter. That was a job mostly fixed for duds(unawakened) and those who have no other option.
Unlike Earth, where journalism was a respected profession, in Arcadia, it was relegated to information guilds and select publications. The dissemination of news and information was far less democratic, and the power dynamics that governed society shaped every aspect of life, including how stories were told and shared.
Here reporters can't just shove their mikes in celebrities' faces and ask them weird questions. This was a world governed with power, where your survival depended on your own. So this kind of work was simply looked down upon and left for duds or weak awakened.
Rio closed his eyes, reeling back all his memories and emotions. After some moments, when he felt he could face them without losing his control, he opened his eyes again. His eyes were devoid of any emotion, his face turned expressionless, no one could tell what he was thinking anymore.
The abrupt switch from overwhelming anger to complete neutrality was almost unsettling.
He turned towards Amelia, who calmed down herself after suppressing the effects his sudden outburst caused. Though she, Lisa, Elena everyone could protect themselves against something like this, by channeling their mana. But it was simply because Lisa was too lost in her emotions and Amelia simply didn't expect something like this.
Though her mother had warned her that something like this might happen considering what he might've been through in the dungeon. Even though they didn't know what exactly happened inside the dungeon, as the world association was the one who issued all reports, and Artemis didn't trust a single word they or their students said to cover their sorry asses.
So Artemis had told Amelia to stop Rio if he does something in anger or loses his cool.
Unlike Amelia around whom Rio always maintained his peaceful personality, and behaved like the calm and collected big brother. Artemis knew him better. In all these years she had seen him do many things that even gave her a shock sometimes. She had summarized Rio's personality as best she could, and that's why she could guess that him acting normal all this time was simply a charade. .
She had no problem in helping Rio punish everyone who hurt him, but since he didn't say anything to her himself, she could only hold herself back from pressuring him.
Rio ignored Lisa and Elena or the other students who gathered around them, as he turned towards Amelia - "Sorry."
"It's okay." Amelia smiled and nodded her head, showing she was fine and he shouldn't worry.
Gathering her courage Lisa came forward to speak with him again. "What happened back then.I know it was all our fault and if you want,_"
"It was, wasn't it? Rio said, cutting her off.
"Rio , I'm _ " Lisa stood dazed, unable to utter a word, her emotions scattered like autumn leaves in the wind.
"If you're looking for my forgiveness, then you can forget it. You did what you did to survive. I can't blame you guys for that, right Elena?" Rio said, glancing at the red haired girl.
"You're right." Elena said, showing no change of expression on her face at the sudden mention.
"See, she always gets the point." Rio said, while pointing at Elena. "It's only right to leave someone behind, so others can survive. A wise choice."
"I'll be sure to remember it next time." Rio said coldly. His words reminded every student that if not for him, none of them would've walked out of that dungeon alive.
Lisa stood silent through this conversation as his dismissal of blame was like a double-edged sword, both absolving her from guilt and marking the scars of their past and cutting it off now.
Ignoring them, Rio started walking forward "let's go Ames, principal's waiting."
Hearing his voice, Amelia followed behind him too and so did the guards of Blake and Raven family.
They all left, leaving the group of students from the council to deal with the questions, rumors, and implications that his presence had stirred, enmassed crowds and guests and a function which simply lost all its value - all with his arrival.
While Leon just kept staring at his sister, still perplexed by the sudden changes. Apollo on the other hand, was cursing the primordial goddess Nyx in his heart, seeing the aura of darkness surrounding Rio.
(What did you do, Nyx?)
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A/N - I know it was a filler too. Wrote it in a hurry. I'll compensate u all with a nice chapter tomorrow. Also join my discord for any questions and suggestions. Adios
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m