Danmachi: Westward Cloud [Complete]

[Vol.4] Quest 350- Labor

The next morning, Cirrus is wide awake with a tear-stained face. He looks at his shaking hands and clutches them as tightly as he can.

"… (Vesta) Are you ready for the final fight?"

Bwoosh!

"Yes." She said it behind him while looking at a sleeping Alise. "This will be the last. Have you gathered as much strength as you can?"

"I have. I am strong enough to get those last embers from that fucking lizard. Circe, can you take Alise back home?"

Circe appears from his shadow, and she picks Alise up gently.

"I will, but… Cirrus, are you really—"

"Circe, don’t question my resolve. It’s already brittle as is." He didn’t look at her; he only looked forward. "We have been over this multiple times."

"…I’m sorry." She then took her leave with a sorrowful expression.

The house was quiet. The only sounds were Circe’s footsteps and the squeaks of the boards of the floor, but even that was now gone.

"____________"

Squeak!

Cirrus gets out of bed.

"Hecton. Fafnir."

As he walks through the home, Hecton and Fafnir put Cirrus’ armor on.

It has been years since Cirrus has worn metal armor.

Clack!

Clack!

He  used Fels, Magic Eaters, some metal on his joints, and special woven clothes imbued with the powers of modern-day spirits: Salamander, Undine, Gnome, Shade, Tonitrus, Lux, and Sylphs. He had it made during his seven years away from Orario. It was only possible to find and get their help in making such a fabric due to Nox's status and a massive amount of money in whatever village or city they call home. The name that was given was Spirit Blessing; of course, Nox herself added to it.

"I never thought I would use this." He looked at his clothing. "It pains me."

In short, the fabric is highly resistant to just about anything, shy of overwhelming physical attacks.

"Nox is watching you back," Vesta said.

"Long have these clothes lingered within your mindscape," Hecton said. "They will get you through this ordeal."

"I wanted to ask why these clothes were placed deep within the island," Fafnir said, adjusting Cirrus's clothes.

"Nox always had my back. Today should be no different." He reached into a shadow and pulled out a red cape. "Today the Hero of the White Night goes off to war."

He walks outside and closes the door.

Removing his clam earring, he placed it by the window of the home.

"…" He hesitates leaving it there, but he walks away from it.

Walking into the garden and looks at its condition.

"The Njord Familia has done a good job of maintaining the garden." He walks over and picks some fruit. He grabs an apple and bites it. "Chew~ Chew~ Chew~ Swallow!" He could barely taste the taste of the apple; its light sweetness was dull on the tongue. "I wonder what that apple tasted like? The one that Eve bit into, the one Adam also tasted?"

"You're not going to say some philosophical-esque thing now, are you?" Vesta spoke.

"*Did you know?" He spoke in English, walking over and plucking a pomegranate from its deciduous shrubs. "*That in the Bible they did not specify that the fruit that Adam and Eve ate was an apple? It was simply referred to as the fruit of the tree. Oranges, lemons, grapefruits, bananas, mangoes, avocados, peaches, plums, and pineapples. Any of them could have been the fruit that they ate."

"*Pineapples would be a bit hard to eat, no?" Fafnir said. "*Oh, how is my English, Master!" She said, taking a pomegranate and eating it whole.

"*It’s good. Have you been practicing it?"

"*With me, of course," Hecton said, plucking some watercress and avocado and eating them. "*But it is hard to get the tone down. I would have liked it if we could speak more in this tongue."

"*You can say it’s a weird language."

"*Weird? It makes no sense at times, the whole (I) before (E) except after (C). Examples like neighbor, foreign, sleighs, weight, height, even weird!"

"*… Look, dude, I was not an English major, alright." He splits open the pomegranate and puts it in his shadow as he walks to the backyard.

"*I forgot you majored in history," Vesta said. "*Can you tell me an interesting fact?"

"*I thought you guys could look into my memories."

"*We can master, but looking through so many years of memories is laborious," Fafnir said.

Vesta could feel her blight. Going through Nox’s memories was a pain in the ass. Her time sealed had jumbled her memories, which bled into one another.

"*And we would like to hear it from you," Hecton added.

"*Fine." He walks through the backyard and into the woods. "*Let's see, uhh…. uhh..."

"*Come on, put that degree to work!" Vesta smirked.

"*It’s been a long time! I forget—Oh I got one! Did you know the sport Lacrosse originated from Native Americans?"

"*What the hell is lacrosse?" Fafnir said. "*Is it like volleyball or football! Did they have moves like the Devil Bat Ghost!"

"*I'm afraid not." As he walks, he looks up at the sky. "*Haaaa...." He had nothing; he couldn't think of one fact on the spot. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "*Farewell, everyone. Fafnir."

She struck through his shadow, getting him on her back, and with a flap of her wings, she flew north at high speeds.

Down in the Room of Prayer, Ouranos sheds a tear.

"?" He touches his face in confusion.

‘Why am I crying?

Fafnir soars through the skies, going just under the speed of sound. They travel far away from Orario almost immediately.

Cirrus holds his hands, and he equips his armor onto her, and she then surpasses the speed of lightning itself.

CRACK-BOOOOOM!!!!

The sound barriers broke one after the other and could be heard by nearby towns, villages, and even cities.

Back at Orario an hour later.

"Here you go. Sorry to give you more work," Circe said, handing Alise to Bree.

"Not at all, but—"

"Circe!!!" shouted Artemis. "Where is Cirrus?" she said angrily.

"He, um..." She looked away from her. "I need to go." Circe quickly walked away.

"Circe, come here!!" She sounded far stricter than she had ever sounded before, and many of the members were a bit shocked.

"I need to—"

"Circe!! Cirrus—"

"I-I’m sorry!!" Circe then runs away, covering her face.

"Come back here!!" she chased after her.

Circe ran and ran and ran and ran.

Huff!!

Huff!!

Huff!!

She knew if she turned into a hawk, Artemis could easily shoot her down, so she relied on her knowledge of the streets. Unfortunately, Artemis was the Goddess of the Hunt for a reason.

Thud!!

Artemis jumps down from above and lands before an exhausted Circe.

"No more running!!" Artemis walks up to Circe. "Circe! Where is he? I need to talk to him now—"

"He’s gone alright!!" she shouted from the depths of her soul.

"!!" Artemis felt a hole grow in her heart.

"Is that what you wanted me to say? He’s gone!" Tears fall from her face.

Thud!

"What’s going on? Who is gone?" said Ai, jumping down. "They said you were chasing Circe. Did something happen?"

Circe looks at Ai and then quickly runs away in tears.

Ai walks towards Artemis, who fell to her knees while gripping her heart.

Thump-Thump!! Thump-Thump!! Thump-Thump!! Thump-Thump!! Thump-Thump!! Thump-Thump!!

Her heart felt as if it would beat out of her chest. It stings terribly.

"A-Art, what’s going on?" Ai was getting worried. "Did you and Circe get into a fight or something?"

"A-Ai…" Artemis looks into her eyes. Ai could see the despair in her. "G-go and find Cirrus!!" she shouted out in desperation. "He has to be either in Orario or-or Melen!!"

"Wait, what’s going—"

"Ai, please go! Now!!"

"O-okay!" Ai then quickly left to find Cirrus.

"Huff! Huff! Huff! Huff!" Artemis shakenly gets up and heads back home. She touches the clam earring to see if he will pick up, but nothing. "Dammit." She stops and clenches her fists. "Dammit!" She reeled her arm back. "Dammit!!" She punched the nearby brick wall.

When Artemis arrived, she ordered her whole Familia to go and find Cirrus. She returned to her room, clutching her heart.

"Cirrus…please no…please." She cries; her thoughts are a mess of the worst possibilities.

Callisto and Auberon peeked in to see her crying.

"What do you think Dad did?" Auberon spoke softly.

"Maybe we should ask Alise. She was last with him?"

They go to Alise’s room to find her still sleeping despite all the hustle and bustle of the home.

"Hey, Alise! Wake up!" Auberon moved her.

"Mmmm… mm? I’m still sleepy." She said groggily.

"Get up! Where is Dad!" Callisto shouted.

"Hm? Dad he—!!" Her eyes shot open, and she looked around desperately. "Dad… Dad!! Where are you!!" She gets up and looks around.

When she didn’t see her father, she got up and left her room to run up the tower, calling out for him.

"Wait! Alise!!" her siblings shouted.

They chased after her.

"Dad!! Are you in here!" She opened the door to her parent's room to find Artemis crying. "Mom, do you know where Dad went? Last night he screamed, and his bald assistant came to help him."

Artemis looked at her and wiped away her tears.

"Come here, sweetie," Artemis said with a tear-stained face.

Alise walks up to Artemis while her siblings come right after her. Artemis picks her up onto her lap.

"Mom, why are you crying?"

"Oh um, it’s nothing. Tell me what happened last night?"

"Well… Dad took me to the beach, and I ran ahead for a bit when he shouted, saying ‘Shut up.’."

Artemis’s expression remained the same, but underneath that hole in her chest, it grew.

"Okay, and then what?"

"Well then, Dad’s assistant came out. He wore a really nice suit, and he was bald and... grey?"

"Go on."

"Well, he took Dad to his house in Melen—"

"Dad has a house in Melen!" the kids shouted.

"Not now," Artemis said in a stern voice that silenced them. "Go on."

"And then he left. After a while, Dad woke up, and then he sang a song in this different language."

"I… see."

Artemis's expression faltered a bit.

‘He sang… He hasn’t done that in years.’

"Dad can sing?" said Callisto. "I never heard him sing?"

"That is because he made himself a promise, Calli. A promise to his old friend and older sister Nox that he will never sing until she has returned."

"Nox—!!" A sudden feeling in the heart rose in Callisto, along with a headache. "Hm." The headache quickly left, like a pinch.

"Calli, are you fine?" Artemis asked with concern.

"Y-yeah! Um… I’m just going to go to my room."

Callisto then left, heading to the locked room.

When she entered, she found Vesta already formed.

"Child, I am sorry, but we will need to speed up the pro—"

"Who is Nox actually, Vesta?"

"Callisto, we do not—"

"Answer me!" Her hair faintly glowed.

‘The arduous process is almost done. I need to speed it up.’

"…Your question will be answered when the process is finished, but you must do it now or your father will truly lose a precious person who was family to him."

Callisto looked full of emotions, but she didn’t want to make her father sad or cause any more problems than what had just occurred.

"Fine." She walked over and grabbed White Night’s handle.

"I must warn you that this will—"

"Just get it over with."

"…Very well."

The weapon glowed, and the memories of Nox began to forcibly flood in. Days become weeks, weeks turn into months, and months become years. Her head got headaches, but she could bear the pain until a memory of a young boy in a dark room with emerald eyes and broken arms reached her.

"Dad…" she muttered softly.

‘So you finally reached their first meeting; please, Cirrus, do not reach it before I am finished.’

Vesta helped Callisto along now that she had sped up to where Nox finally met Cirrus.