Chapter 814 Elise
-----
Elise was fascinated with everyone, not only Luck. She talked with everyone and smiled and laughed. She noticed how Sylphy was Faylen's daughter, and how Aquarina was Nepheline's daughter as well.
"And you must be Nepheline's daughter, right? You're so pretty!" Elise giggled.
"ELISE!!!" Allan, Shade, and Arafunn couldn't contain themselves anymore, as they ran towards her and hugged her together.
"Uwaaah?! H-Hey! Three men hugging a cute girl?! This is a bit embarrassing!" Elise blushed while being hugged by her old friends.
They couldn't contain themselves, as they started crying… Seeing a dear friend that had parted ways from them so tragically broke their hearts very dearly, the tragedy of her lost made them remember all the pain they went through, all the hopelessness, and more.
"I've missed you so much, Elise…" Arafunn sighed. "You don't know how sad we've been since you departed… I miss your cheerful and annoying personality!"
"H-Hey! Rude!" Elise pouted.
"It's really is you…" Allan cried. "I'm sorry, Elise… It is all my fault that you died… I was careless… I shouldn't had lowered my guard… If only… I…"
Sylphy was devastated by seeing her father crying so much. She felt his regret with each of his tears. Sometimes she would think of her overpowered father as someone that had long ago stopped being a mere human…
But when he saw him crying like this, devastated of his mistakes, and regretting his decisions, she remembered that he was still a normal human, a person much like her and everyone else.
And due to her empathy, she felt sad as well, feeling the same pain her father felt as he cried seeing the face of his old friend again.
"Geez, Allan, you're a mess! You're a big man now, stop crying, okay?" She sighed, caressing his head. "What will your daughter think of you?"
"A-Ah… Sorry… I…" Allan sighed.
"And it wasn't your fault either! It was… all my fault, I was the careless one! Hehe, oopsie." Elise giggled.
"T-That's all you've gotta said? At the very least get angrier at us…" Shade cried. "It was all…"
"It wasn't your fault! Stop it already!" Elise reprimanded them. "Stop self-loathing so much! Thinking everything is your fault will only put you even more low! And that's not something we need right now, isn't it?"
Elise smiled back at them, clearing a misunderstanding that had always been within their minds, lifting their hearts with a warm, beautiful smile.
"I've never held a single grudge against any of you. My death was my own fault. I would never hate you guys! You're… my family!" Elise smiled.
"Elise…" Allan was hugged by Sylphy, as she helped clean his tears.
"Dad, it's okay…" Sylphy smiled.
"Sylphy…" Allan felt even more emotional when he saw his daughter trying to cheer him up.
"Dad, stop crying, it's alright!" Aquarina smiled, doing the same with Shade.
"Aquarina…" Shade sighed.
"Geez, you two are sure crybabies!" Arafunn pretended he wasn't crying seconds ago.
"Oh?! There was much more people here than I thought! Luck, are these all your friends?!" Elise asked, looking at Zack and everyone else.
"Y-Yeah, they're all Sylphy's friends…" Luck nodded. "They rescued me and helped me a lot…"
"Wow! So cool! All of you have pretty well-developed Beast Auras too!" Elise presented herself to everyone.
"So you're the Hero of Wild Beasts!" Mist said.
"You're pretty." Celica smiled.
"Are you not bothered of us being demons?" Celeste asked bluntly.
"H-Hey! Why are you just pointing that out?!" Zack sighed.
"Hehehe, why would I?" Elise giggled. "What's wrong with that?"
"Huh… For being someone that went to slay the Demon King, I guess… you're like the others." Celeste assumed.
"I've never hated demons…" Elise sighed. "I only fought to live, and only defeated those that tried to harm us. But… I always fought for a better future where everyone could live together. I don't really know much about your backgrounds but, I have the feeling my fight worked, even if a little bit. You're here with the heroes' daughters as a party, right?"
"R-Right…" Celeste nodded.
"I'm glad! I hope we can get to an understanding, and even convince the next demon king! We should all get along and be good friends!" Elise said. "There's no need to fight, right?"
"Heh, you're so childish." Celeste giggled. "But… you're right, I wish more people just thought like you, dear. Including my own past self."
"Elise… How are you here?" Wondered Arafunn.
"Well, this is thanks to the crystal I found. It is named a Memoir Soul Crystal." Elise smiled. "It was a special devise the ancient gods used to store souls. When I died… A part of my soul, a small one, flew here, alongside my Soul Scape. And that's… What I am. I've been here, waiting for the moment someone would come. Once it is activated twice, the crystal will stop working. So we only have a few more minutes."
"Only a few more minutes?!" Allan asked. "But…"
"I see…" Shade sighed. "Calling us here must have shortened the time a lot."
"Ugh, Elise, did you really had to be so reckless?" Arafunn sighed.
"I just wanted to see everyone again… It's a pity Faylen and Nepheline aren't here, nor the witch.. or Gray, but I bet they're doing alright, right?" Elise smiled. "Is Gray alright?"
It was well known by the heroes that Elise had a crush on the Hero of Gray Soul, and that she was one of the few people he trusted the most, and who pushed him to change for the better.
Perhaps her lost… pushed Gray to the wrong side and had made him done the things he has done until now.
Should they lie to her, or tell her the truth?
"Everyone's alright." Allan smiled. "Don't worry, we're living happily together. Now we're on a small journey to save someone, but things are better than before!"
"…" Shade remained in silence.
"Y-Yeah! No worries. That rascal of Gray is… in the Demon Continent helping out other people." Arafunn smiled. Even though he was the one that fought him, he didn't wanted to admit the truth and break this adorable girl's heart.
"You're lying, right?" Elise sighed. "You can't hide the truth from me here, when you lie, I can tell because your soul glows red… Is Gray… doing bad things?"
-----
Follow current nov𝒆ls on freew(𝒆)bnov𝒆l.(c)om