Danmachi: Westward Cloud [Complete]

[Vol.4] Quest 348- No Happy Hero

The next day, Cirrus and Auberon make it back home. He then goes to Alise’s room and tells her he is going to spend the day with her now.

"Really!!" Alise said, smiling ear to ear.

"Yeah, I am, so get ready."

"Yay!!!" She jumped up in celebration. "Aunty, can you help me?"

"Of course." Astraea nods. "She will be out in a minute."

Her face is filled with excitement as she goes to get ready.

"Cirrus, it’s nice and all your spending time with the kids, but... don’t you think it’s a bit of a jinx to do it right before fighting…it?" said Ai.

"Nonsense," Cirrus says, turning to her. "Nothing is going to happen! Besides, can’t I spend some days with my kids?"

"Mmm..." she squints her eyes towards Cirrus, examining him up and down before walking up to him. "Sniff! Sniff!" She looks at him again before walking away. "Fine, but make sure you clean off the bandit's blood, or whatever it is you killed. It has a really foul stench like they had some disease that makes their blood spoil when it touches air."

"I’ll do that."

"Say, where is Art?"

"She disappeared somewhere. I am sure she is around!" Ai smirked.

Ai leaves the room, and Cirrus smells himself.

"Don't know what she means about that, but..."

'I can't even smell too...'

"Hecton, make sure to tell me if anyone is coming while I take a quick shower."

"Understood sir."

Cirrus picks the clothes he was going to wear and goes to take a quick shower. He removes his clothes one at a time, and when he removes his belt to reveal his actual body, he hears a gasp.

"Gasp!!"

"!!" He quickly turned to see a cloak of invisibility fall to reveal his goddess.

Wanting to surprise him after a long trip, she found her husband poisoned.

"A-Arte—"

"Cirrus!!" She quickly runs up and grabs him. "What happened!! How did—"

"Sir!!" Hecton swung open the door to see Artemis. "Sir, I have fail—"

"It’s fine, Hecton... If she didn’t find out, I’d be concerned. Go back and make sure no one else comes in."

"Yes, sir." He then closes the door again.

Cirrus then looks back at Artemis to see her full of concern and worry. Her grip was tight.

"Cirrus…why—how?" Her voice was quiet, and tears ran down her face.

"The Corrupted Flame," Cirrus says, removing her grip from his and finishing taking his clothes off. "You mind telling me why you wore that invisibility cloak? You were never fans of it."

"I wanted to surprise you." She said worriedly. "The Corrupted Flame... But why is it doing this to you? Why didn’t you tell me or any—"

"For this reason." He gets in the shower. "The flame is poisoning me from the malice of humanity. Since Vesta is contracted to me, we have a connection that allows that corruption to leak into me as a spare container." He turns on the shower with warm water.

"B-but Vesta should be able to keep it contained!"

"More or less, Hecton and Fafnir are keeping the malice from gnawing away at my mind. Vesta, or more accurately, White Night, is currently full. The weapon I forged is already at capacity to house any more Arcanum, so some of it leaked out. There is no cure. Vesta said that any form of purification or curing would result in my death. It’s an actual poisonous cancer that attached itself to my soul."

Artemis reached out and touched his arm. Her face scrunched up in pain at hearing his words.

"…How much does it hurt?" she said, looking down.

"A lot. I can’t even get up without a struggle; my breath is a lot shorter, and any injury I get leaves a bruise." He touches his abdomen, where Auberon landed a hit. "I have to say Auby has a good left hook."

"Cirrus… You—"

"Do not say another word." Cirrus tone was harsh. "I know what lays before me."

There is only one reason Cirrus did not tell his loved ones of his condition: He was weak. Weak in his will, if any of his wives or children told him to stop for them, he would break down. The time to turn back was long gone. All that keeps Cirrus moving is one thing: to leave behind the last warmest memories before the end.

He must keep going. Through the pain of his condition and guilt, knowing these times will hurt his loved ones after it is all over.

Artemis moves her fingers across his skin.

"Ci—"

"I know." He cuts her off with an even harsh tone.

She stops and looks at him. Anger rose in her, not for his tone towards her but because he knew he was heading toward the edge of death and not stopping.

"You know? Then why are you—"

"Because it is either me or the world." He looked into her eyes. "If you wish to know more, talk to Cassandra of the Miach Familia. I am sorry, but I don’t have the energy to explain it fully to you."

She looked him in the eye, and it held a weariness. He was already exhausted from this talk alone.

"…Fine." She said with a pained, low voice.

‘Even talking for this long is a chore, even for you now…’ She leaves with a pained expression.

"I am sorry, Art."

She leaves in silent contemplation and with a strong drive to find out the full details of this discovery.

Cirrus turns the knob, and warm water trickles down.

"…I… I feel like," He closes his eyes for a second. "Bubble~" And he found himself at the bottom of the sea, slowly being crushed by the pressure. "I’m drowning."

Artemis quickly goes down the tower and makes her way over to Miach’s clinic.

"Where is your child, Cassandra?" Artemis asked Miach.

"Hm? Did she do something wrong, Artemis?"

"No, I just want to talk to her."

"Hm, well, that is going to be a problem. She’s been in her room for weeks now. She’s eaten here and there, but... I really don’t know what got into her. Daphne has talked with her, and she says she is fine, just that she is working through some stuff."

"I see well." She gets close to him. "I. Want. To. Talk. To. Her."

Artemis arrives at the Familia home, which is behind the clinic, and knocks on Cassandra’s door.

"Cassandra! It’s Artemis!! Open up! I know already! I want to—" She could hear quick footsteps running to the door, and the door quickly opened up.

"L-lady Artemis!!" Cassandra spoke with tear-stained eyes and dirty clothes. Her long hair was completely messy.

Artemis could see and smell. She was in horrible condition.

"Cassandra… Can I come in?"

"U-um, it’s a bit messy, but if you wish."

She enters to find the room a complete mess. She could see bottles of sleeping pills everywhere, with a circlet right next to her bed.

"So, Cassandra… I know about Cirrus’s condition."

"C-condition?" she said, a bit surprised. "W-what condition!? DID HE CONTRACT SOMETHING?!"

With her surprised look, one didn’t need to be a god to know she was telling the truth.

"He... it is the Corrupted Flame; it’s... poisoning him."

Cassandra’s face grew pale.

"O-o-o-oh… So his end is nearing." Her face grew more worried.

"Tell me, Cassandra, why is he doing this?"

The room was silent. Cassandra looked away from Artemis, and tears came down her face.

"B-because… I told him my vision."

"Eh?"

"I-I have said before that I have visions of the future, but no one believed me but him." She gets up and walks to a circlet, putting her hand on it. "He was the only one who always believed in me. Bell would occasionally listen, but he too would... he would mostly not believe me but Cirrus. He was the only one who I felt understood this…curse."

"Curse? What do you mean, Cassandra?"

"I have a skill that Lord Miach named Five Dimension Troia. Its name is unknown. Even in the Status, it is encrypted. No one within the Familia truly understood what it did before Cirrus determined it was linked to my visions, and he gave it a name. Do you know what he called it?" She looked towards Artemis, and she shook her head. "He named it Unbelievable Truths. The first Cursed skill in the world of Gekai I can see the future, but the curse makes it so no one would believe me—such a cruel skill gained by a person. You know the future, but you can’t change it, for no one believes it to be true."

"Then... what you saw is Cirrus dying to the—"

"Lady Artemis." She turned her head toward her once more. "I have begged him not to go through with it. He is a precious existence to the world. His actions have influenced the world beyond anything any mortal or even god has done. I see him as my best friend, even if that feeling is one-sided. Now…he is trading his life for the world."

"Was that what your visions showed you!" Artemis gets up.

"…It showed me two outcomes and two constants. One, should he not go and fight the Black Dragon, the world will once again return to the Age of Heroes, with monsters returning to the surface and him dying pitifully around his family."

"And…the other?"

"He shall go alone to face the calamity, fighting it off with his whole existence on the line. In the end, he would not be able to kill it, but his efforts would be enough for the other to arrive and finally kill it."

"So… He is only a stopgap for the others to arrive and finish the job!?" Anger seeped into her words.

"I’m…afraid so." Her face grimaces. She walks to the bed and takes the circlet. "Cirrus made this for me. They made it to help me sort out my vision and make it cleaner. Lady Artemis I have gone over and over and over and over it, but... nothing. He only has two choices laid before him: One he dooms the world, or two—"

"He dies a hero." Artemis clenches her fists tightly. "There is no hero who was happy." She clenches her fists tighter; her fingernails dig into her palm in anger and sadness at the gravity of her selfless promise that night. "But… what if he changes it? He has the strength to change his fate!"

"…If he does, I do not know. Fate, as Cirrus puts it, will always get what they want, one way or another."

"…Dammit."

As she walks back home, Artemis spots Cirrus with Alise on his shoulders. She could see the smile on her face, and as she looked below her, she could see a smile on Cirrus’s face. She couldn’t help but see his poisoned, weakened body and bruises. The pain and fatigue he is hiding just to bring a smile to his daughter's face.

Artemis didn’t go up to them; she simply saw them and then returned home.

She went to the archery range and fired arrow after arrow to clear her burdened mind.

‘Fuck, just like with the Heavenly Flame.’

She did not even consider telling the others. For one, how would she even bring it up? She knows all three would vehemently wish for him to stay and gather all of Orario to kill the Black Dragon, but they are not strong enough. Malion, especially, would not want him to go alone.

To this day, the only time anyone has seen him at full strength was during Olympia. Even then, Artemis and the rest who saw the fight had no doubts that Cirrus was holding back somewhat for their sake.

"Fuck." Artemis lowers her bow and arrow. "…Fuck." She crumbles to the ground as tears drip from her face.