Chapter 234 - Vol. 4 - 33

"... Ash?" 

What the...? 

She heard a sigh. 

Her eyes half-opened. 

Who...? 

She opened her eyes fully and swore for a second that she could see a woman with short golden hair looking down at her. However, as she blinked a few times, what she ended up seeing was a strange deer-like creature licking her face. Behind the animal's head, she could see the sky had taken a dark, purple-orange tone. As she blinked a few times, the deer proceeded to lick her again. 

"... What?" She said in a low voice as she tried to lift herself up. The animal that had been next to her started walking away, as Ash looked around.  Yeah, it's almost nighttime. 

Without the city in the distance to guide her, like when she was coming down from the mountain with Sinneah, Ash didn't want to be out here for much longer. 

A few meters away, the massive body of the reaver remained. Some sand had blown over it, and the creature's blood had long since dried on its corpse and the sand. First, Ash checked her person to make sure that she still had everything. Her map was tucked in a small pocket, and her  Lust was just a short distance away, on the ground, nearly covered in the sand but still glinting as the sun reflected off of it, and sticking out as it had still been in its bow form when Ash dropped it. 

She grabbed it, transformed it into a sword, and then walked over to the reaver. 

"One sand reaver claw," she told herself. "Just grab the thing and head back." 

The monster's arms were thick and grand, but its hands split into multiple long fingers that ended in claws that were each just as big as her head. Seeing it, now she understood why that kid was stirring such a huge pot back at the shop if ingredients were all of this size. She cut it off with only a little effort and reverted her  Lust into a cube, so she could tie it around herself. Then, she took out her map, unfolded it with a flick of one hand, and looked down at it. 

Hm...  Looking around, she saw a dot-like structure in the distance. Is that the church I had been to? If so, then, yeah. I came from that direction. 

Without wasting another second, she started her short journey back. 

---

A Few Hours Later

She'd half-noticed it before when she walked through here with Sinneah, but at night Amber truly felt empty. There was no one outside their homes, even less so than in the other cities. There were fewer lights and torches illuminating the streets, which allowed some guards on the rooftops to remain largely in the darkness. 

Ash felt their eyes on her every step of the way as she paced through the street, and she made sure to glare back at anyone she noticed. One lone civilian walked by her, his eyes lowering to the sand reaver's claw that Ash was carrying and she stopped in her tracks, keeping her eyes on him as he walked away. 

... I am not in the fucking mood, she thought. 

Eventually, Ash made it back to the Manor where a couple of guards standing outside by the gate let her in. The half-demon went into the Manor and found no one there. 

No one. At all. No servants, no guards outside of the two she had just seen. Her boots, covered in dirt and sand, thudded against the ground, producing an echo as she raised a brow. 

Hm? Where is everyone? She asked herself. Normally, at least, from what she'd seen during her short stay here, there would be at least a couple of servants cleaning things up. 

A couple of guards then passed by the stairs leading to the second floor. They looked over at her and bowed, before continuing on their patrol. At that moment, Ash heard something from the north. 

It sounded like small explosions. 

... What?

A little bit concerned, she jogged in the direction of the sounds as a couple more of those explosions rang out. She walked past the halls where she and her group were staying, past a few others she hadn't been to yet, and then came out through another door that led out to that garden area she usually trained at. 

And, here, she stopped. What she saw made her lips part and she blinked a few times, wondering what this all was. 

Ahead, she saw almost all of the servants and guards who had been missing from inside the Manor, out here and her own group standing behind them, by the door she'd just walked out of. A few mages were standing at the corners of the area, shooting up Fire spells into the air that exploded, casting strange lights above them, before falling harmlessly afterward. 

Keiko, conveniently, was right next to her and Ash went up to her. 

Keiko's eyes bulged out of their sockets as they landed on the reaver's claw in Ash's hands. 

"Is that...?" 

"Yeah," Ash replied, making an effort to push all of her earlier thoughts out of her head. Keiko needed this and that was all that mattered. "This is the reaver's claw." 

"... I see..." 

The smile that appeared on Keiko's face when she heard that, so naturally, made Ash's heart both melt and hurt a little. 

"One down," Ash muttered. "So, what's all this?" She asked, gesturing at the people ahead. 

"Oh," Keiko turned toward them, and as she did, Ash saw Zafir standing ahead. "It's a ceremony of some kind." 

"A ceremony? For what?" 

"... To mark the passing of the Arcane," Keiko replied. 

... Wait, wait, the guy died?  Ash asked herself as she saw Zafir walking forward. 

Everyone was positioned in a kind of circle, surrounding a coffin that was laid out in the middle of the garden. Here, there was a body, covered head to toe in a black sheet. Standing a little bit behind Zafir, was that one strange girl that Ash had encountered before, crying. Standing behind her, were the other Senate members, looking on solemnly. 

Ash looked to her right, and, beside Keiko, she saw Satsuhiro with his eyes narrowed and inquisitive, aimed directly at Zafir. She didn't need to ask him what he felt about this. Considering his expression, he was just as weirded out as she was. 

Ash herself noticed something off. 

When I first arrived here, I heard about some people called "Arcane Knights". The Arcane's personal guard. I haven't seen anyone who fits that sorta description here, though. 

Still, as strange as everything felt, no one of them walked up and interrupted. Instead, Zafir held his hands together as he approached the crowd, with a sorrowful expression. 

"Friends," he stated, "we are gathered here to commemorate the memory of a great leader. The Arcane, Oryn Sylphia. The most powerful mage in the world, leader of Amber for almost two decades, and a doting father. When I first joined the Senate, two years ago, I spoke to him briefly, and within minutes, I could see why he was such an important figure for Amber, as it was." 

He paused, letting his words sink in. 

"However, now, we must carry his teachings, and his values with us, as we look toward what Amber will be. The world is changing, everyone," his volume grew, "the demon army grows stronger, even now. And, although, thanks to the efforts of some..." He gestured at Ash, drawing eyes toward her, "our burdens have been lessened, we still need to adapt. Amber needs to come together, now, more than ever. Both the surface and the deeper city must unite as the Arcane would have wanted. Only then, will we be able to take the next steps." 

With that said, Zafir turned toward the other members of the Senate, nodded to them, and walked back over to them, standing next to that strange girl. The Senators extended their hands toward the Arcane's body, and flame shot out from their palms, engulfing the corpse of Oryn Sylphia. 

As she saw this, she noticed someone else standing off to the side. She hadn't seen him because he was wearing a completely black outfit and blended into the darkness, somewhat. Alys, the sorcerer, watched on from a distance, looking conflicted for some reason. 

Whatever was happening here though, was of no concern to Ash. As long as she grew in strength, the people of this city could do whatever they wanted. So, all she did then was turn around and walk back in, so she could hopefully wash the sand and dirt off of herself. 

Sometime later, she was sitting at the edge of her bed, with Kaori, of course, sleeping behind her. Ash was shirtless, wearing soft black pants, holding her head in her hands. 

Okay...  She thought.  So, I got the reaver's claw, though, it literally took my entire day. So, tomorrow, maybe... 

However, her planning was interrupted by more visions of that family, laughing as she watched. She sighed, laying down and putting her hands behind her head, as she stared up at the ceiling. 

Images of every other half-demon she'd encountered in Amber then followed, and Ash felt some anger bubbling up inside of her, though she had little idea why.