231 Conflic

[Anything...?]

[I'm sorry sir... We searched everywhere and got no traces of it no matter how much we looked...]

Gustav sighed in disappointment, [I see... Just come back for now... We can try again later... If you stay in this world for too long, your magic energy will start to vanish and you will be defenseless...]

[Understood sir!]

Gustav finished his telepathic conversation and sent a message to the south god to open a portal for his allies so they could return to this world.

After that, he just returned to the party and gazed at how everyone was doing.

Marcus and Leona were viewing the sky on the balcony, the three girls were chatting on the chairs, Daren was with his family, and all of the mages and warriors seemed to finally be ready to leave.

"Things seem to be rather calm for now..." he whispered.

"Ah! Gustav!" Ashley shouted followed by approaching him with Detra right behind her, "how did it go?"

Gustav glanced at the former goddess for a moment, trying his best not to glare too much at her, and looked at Ashley again, "no luck..."

"Tch!" Detra gestured, "I knew it..."

"They didn't find anything?" Ashley asked.

"Nothing... It's almost like the stones were never there to begin with... Whoever took them did its job very well..." he replied.

"Well... I wish you luck with that..." Detra stated while taking a sip from her coffee mug and trying to move away.

"Wait!! Hold on!!" Ashley shouted while pulling her shirt and almost making the woman drop her drink, "don't you have any clues on who might be behind this?"

"Oh! So NOW you wanna listen to me!"

"Come on, East..."

"Stop calling me East!! I'm not a goddess anymore..."

"Sorry, sorry..." Ashley said while trying to calm her down, "you were right... our problems aren't over yet... Can you help us?"

"Even if I wanted to, I have no idea who would want to steal six demon stones... just ask West or something... I'm retired..."

"But..."

"Just let it go, Ashley..." Gustav stated while holding her shoulder, "we don't need her help..."

"Your friend is right..." Detra commented while noticing him glaring at her, "This is no longer my problem to deal with so try to figure it out on your own..."

Detra then moved away from them and exited the room, feeling like she didn't want to stay there for too long afraid that another situation like the one with Mia would show up and force her to take part in it one more time.

Ashley glared at Gustav, "what the hell was that for??"

"She's not our friend, Ash! You can't trust her!"

"Have you forgotten that she turned me and my friends into stone for two-hundred years!!?"

"I know... But-"

"She's going to betray us the first chance she gets, Ashley... We need to stay as far away from her as possible..."

Ashley tried to say something else but Gustav just continued to ignore her words, showing he still was holding a lot of resentment towards the former goddess.

The three young girls kept watching Gustav and Ashley. They were looking like they were starting to get angry with each other.

"What's going on over there...?" Dia wondered.

"Not sure... I think Ashley is mad that he yelled at Detra or something..." Ellie assumed.

Claire didn't say anything. The sight of those two reminded her of when her parents used to start fights with each other. This thought made her think more about her mother and reminded her of how much she wanted to see her again.

"Hey, Blue... When are we going home...?" she asked with her head down.

"Oh... I think we can all go back tomorrow with West's portal..."

"I see... Good..."

Dia then gazed at the two, "You guys are leaving...?"

"Ah... Yeah... We are kinda from another world..." Ellie explained.

"We just came here to help in the battle, but the battle is over now, so we need to go home..." Claire added.

Dia understood that the two were probably missing their families right now, "I see..."

Ellie saw the ponytailed girl was now looking down as well, "something wrong, Dia?"

"... ... ... Where... Where is my home...?" Dia asked.

Ellie and Claire looked at each other, once again not sure how to answer that.

"I think... You will probably go live with Ria..." Ellie assumed.

"Ria...?" Dia tilted her head, "Who's Ria...?"

"She's your sister... Another member of my aunt's old team!"

"I have a sister!!!??" Dia shouted while jumping out of her chair with sparkles in her eyes.

"Yeah... She and her husband are the champions of the west. She can open portals in the middle of the air and create barriers of blessed energy and she has long dazzling hair..." Ellie added, boasting about the details of her aunt's stories that she proudly memorized.

"Aahh!! That's so cool!! I really have such a cool sister!!??"

"Yeah!! And when she sees you again she will be so- Agh!" Ellie was about to go on but then remembered that Ria probably didn't want to see her sister again anytime soon considering their history together.

"... Ellie...? What's wrong...?"

"... ... ... I... I... I'm getting a bit hungry as well... Could you grab us something to bite, Dia?"

"Sure!" Dia claimed, followed by hopping towards the food table while singing to herself "I have a sister! I have a sister!!"

Claire just gazed at Ellie's worried expression, "Blue...? What's going on...?"

Ellie began to shiver and sweat, "Ria hates her sister..."

"Well... Yeah... Everyone did... But that's not her anymore... Right?"

"... ... R- Right... Everything will be ok... Right?"

"Of course! Dia will be fine... Don't worry!" Claire reassured while patting Ellie in the back. Ellie herself, on the other hand, was still really concerned.

"I'M BACK!!" someone shouted while opening the doors of the room with so much force that almost made them crash against the wall. It was a young boy about as tall as the three girls and wearing a white robe.

"Joseph...?" Ellie commented wondering why the boy was outside.

"Oh, man... He lived..." Claire whispered.

"So, what did I miss?" Joseph asked while walking towards Ellie and Claire as if the two were waiting for him.

"We were talking about the best way to kill you in your sleep..." Claire joked, "I suggested the good old pillow technique but Ellie felt poison would be more original..."

Joseph glared at her, "You know... This is why you don't have many friends..."

"I rather have no friends than to have friends like you..."

"You say that after anyone offers to want to be our friend first!"

"Oh, like you can talk!"

"Guys! Guys! Guys!" Ellie tried to intervene, "can we please not do this now? And by now, I mean, during a time where I can't move away from you two..."

"Sorry..." the two replied.

"By the way, Jo, where is Xadi?"

"Sensei? Oh, he's still hiding from his sister... Something about how letting her see him as a doll would hurt his pride as an older brother..."

"What's gonna happen to him by the way...? Are they just gonna let him stay as a frog doll?" Claire wondered.

"Clearly he will continue to mentor me until I become the greatest wizard who ever lived!" Joseph answered, "Then! We both will embark on an epic journey where he will tragically lose his life, which will fuel my character development and turn me into the greatest hero of all in his memory!"

"What's character development...?" a voice asked behind Joseph.

"Ah!! You see, in shounen mangas-" Joseph was about to explain, but once he turned around, he was left with his mouth wide open once he saw the one making the question.

It was Dia, holding a plate filled with food and looking straight at him with her eyes wide open. Only this time, for some reason, she looked much more bright than before. Her eyes were full of sparkles and her face had an angelical smile stamped in it.

"What's a shounen manga...?" Dia asked, still smiling at Joseph.

"Ah- Ah- Ah- " Joseph tried to speak, but being unable to form words.

"What's happening...?" Ellie whispered to Claire.

"I think she broke him... Let's see how long it lasts!"

"Oh! By the way! Did you hear? Ellie just told me that I have a sister!! A cool, awesome, beautiful sister!! Isn't that great!!" Dia commented.

"Yes... Beautiful... Very beautiful..." Joseph repeated, still having trouble forming words, "excuse me for a moment..."

The three watched as the boy exited the room once again with his face completely red.

"Did... Did I say something wrong...?" Dia wondered.

"You kidding?? You just managed to make him stop talking and stay away from you!! You need to teach me that!!" Claire shouted.

Ellie asked for help to grab one of the snacks that Dia had brought over, still feeling a litte too weak to move, and while she was about to take a bite and wonder why her aunt was taking so long, the doors suddenly opened once again.

She assumed that Joseph had returned after calming down but instead, it was Evlin herself, walking with her face completely frozen as if she was a robot.

"Aunt Evie...?"

The whole room just stared at her. Some of the mages were whispering about how they couldn't believe they were finally seeing the crossbow mage herself right in front of them.

Evlin noticed them and decided to come closer, which made them shiver a little bit like a group of fans meeting their idol.

The woman took a glance at the staff one of them was holding and pointed at it while trying to make a smile.

"Can I... Borrow this for a moment?"

"S- Sure!" the mage mumbled while lending her his staff.

"Thanks!" Evlin replied while placing her palm on top of the piece of wood and sliding her hand over it to change it into a crossbow with her modeling magic, "Be right back!"

She exited the room and the mages started to whisper to each other, "Did you see that!!?? The crossbow mage just turned my staff into a crossbow!!!"

"I know!! You think she would turn mine into gauntlets if we asked her??"

The girls, however, were paying attention to something else.

"Blue, is your aunt ok...? She looked a little strange..." Claire asked.

Ellie was about to say the same thing, but before she could, a huge sound could be heard coming from outside the room and the ground started to shake a little as if a huge explosion had taken place at the entrance of the mansion.

"AUNT EVIE!!!"