A Hell Called Serestral - Chapter 77

Aries woke up with a smile on his face. He felt relaxed and rejuvenated.

“You are finally awake, sleepyhead,” Pieffer was carrying a tray. It had soup, rice, grilled fish, and milk.

When they returned to the house last night, only one bed was left unoccupied. Aries told Pieffer that she could sleep on the bed but she was against the idea. According to the princess, he should have a comfortable sleep before they set off towards the House of Goat.

Aries was too drowsy to argue. He only nodded and lay down on the bed right next to the princess. He quickly closed his eyes and repeatedly told himself not to move from his spot. After five minutes or so, Sunrei hopped on the bed and settled between him and Pieffer.

“Good Night,” the prince sleepily muttered and in the next second, he was already snoring.

The bed should only be enough to accommodate two people hence, the three of them had to sleep while lying on their side. It was a good thing that Aries was already drowsy. He quickly fell into a deep slumber despite the tiny space he had in the bed.

“Aries, are you alright?”

That question of Pieffer pulled him out of his memories from last night. He sat up and looked around the house. It was not as crowded as yesterday. Gale and the Scorpio House Leader were the only ones left sleeping on the double-deck.

“Siorre just returned,” Pieffer placed the tray in front of Aries. “Leon left an hour ago. Gust and Jodien were sparring outside the house. Sunrei and Cari were helping Mr. and Mrs. Cole prepare our packed lunch. They don’t want to wake you up so they decided to cook outside. We will head out to the House of Goat in a few hours. You should eat first.”

“Thanks,” Aries shyly spooned some grilled fish then asked Pieffer, “Have you eaten breakfast?”

“Yes,” the princess sat on the bed and watched him eat.

Her gaze made him uneasy but only for a few seconds. The juiciness of the grilled fish, the perfectly cooked rice, the warm soup, and the delicious milk helped him forget the awkwardness he was feeling.

It only took him half an hour to finish his breakfast in bed.

“I’ll take this outside,” Pieffer grabbed the tray but Aries seized it from her.

“Let me,” he said.

“Are you already feeling well?” the princess was still worrying about his recently resurrected body.

“I am feeling better than ever,” Aries hopped out of the bed while balancing the tray in his hands. “Let’s go.”

Pieffer only smiled and followed him outside the house.

As soon as Aries stepped out of the main door, water splattered in his face. Fortunately for Pieffer, she was right behind him.

“I thought your brother is helping out with Mr. and Mrs. Cole?” Aries asked as he noticed the prince playing joyfully with Gust and Jodien by the river. “And I can’t see anyone sparring.”

The three men were merrily splashing water at each other using their blades.

“Earlier they were,” Pieffer answered while stifling a smile.

“Why are you only standing here?” Gust appeared in front of Aries using his wind vortex. “Let’s spar!” He pulled Aries through the wind vortex and in the next second, they were dropping on the river.

Aries plunged on the water while Gust gracefully sank on it.

“Tag team!” Jodien roared. “Sunrei and I against Aries and Gust!”

Aries glared at the childishness of the Celestial Knight. What made him frown even more were Gust and Sunrei riding with such silliness.

The three of them began slashing the water, making it splatter all over the place and at Aries.

“Hey, I thought we are in the same team?” he glowered at Gust.

“I don’t want a team mate that will make things hard for me,” his sworn brother laughed and splattered water at his face. “Come on, Aries! Help me win against our opponents.”

Aries sighed then straightened up. The water was only three feet deep and the current was not that strong. He called forth Vermillion in the shape of a claymore and smashed it against the water. The force created a wave that splashed against the opposing team.

Sunrei and Jodien raised their swords and avoided getting swept away by slashing the wave. Though they evaded the first wave, the approaching second wave had caught them off guard. It hit them and they drifted a few feet away.

Jodien dived and held on to a sturdy rock underneath. He quickly regained his footing, jumped out of the water, and attacked Aries but Gust swiftly dashed in between them and caught the longsword of Jodien with his jade blade.

“You don’t have to do that,” Aries said even though he jumped away from the two knights that began slashing ferociously against each other. The water was forcing them to move a little slower.

“You still have an opponent,” Gust told him after swirling against the water and sending a whirlwind against Jodien.

His sworn brother was right. He still had to spar against Sunrei.

The prince was cautiously moving forward while repeatedly waving his silver sword at the river and rapidly sending splashes of water towards Aries.

The Ram House Leader swiftly replaced the claymore with dual swords and slashed at the splashes of water coming at him. He was moving his blades faster than Sunrei. With such swift movements,  he had quickly turned the tide around and rained water attacks at the prince.

Sunrei dived to evade the splashes and emerged in front of Aries. He quickly waved his silver sword but Aries still caught it with one of the scarlet blades and slashed the other one at the prince.

Sunrei evaded the blade then jumped away from his opponent. Aries attacked more aggressively but Sunrei was successfully parrying and dodging his violent blows.

“You’re getting better,” Aries was impressed.

“I need to,” the prince smiled and pointed his silver blade at the neck of Aries. “I should protect this body. That is the only way I can protect all of you.”

“Why do you have to be so dramatic?” Aries rolled his eyes and willed Vermillion to vanish.

“I’m just stating a fact,” Sunrei smiled and put his blade back to its sheath. “Jodien is a great sparring partner.”

The way Gust and Jodien were exchanging swift and powerful blows, Aries could only agree.

“Gust, Jodien, you should stop sparring and get some rest. We will be leaving after our lunch,” Aries advised.

The two instantly stopped attacking each other and hopped out of the river.

“I’ll eat on the way,” Jodien waved a hand and headed inside the house.

“That knight values sleep more than food,” Gust sat around the bonfire and grabbed one grilled fish.

“I will also take a nap,” Sunrei followed Jodien inside the house.

“I will eat a lot of grilled fish,” Aries sat next to Gust and took two grilled fish.

“Rice,” Pieffer gave him and Gust four bowls of rice.

“Eat with us,” Aries said while carefully placing the bowls on the ground in front of him and his sworn brother.

“I’m still full,” the princess kindly declined.

“How about you, Cari?” Aries glanced at the Goat House Leader. She was busy helping the couple prepare their packed lunch.

“Same,” she curtly replied. “Just eat. Don’t mind us here.”

“Okay,” Aries shrugged his shoulders and focused on the food in front of him.

^##############^

It was nearly sundown before everyone became ready for their trip towards the House of Goat.

Entering one of its borders had been easy because Pieffer already placed a transport crystal in there. She did it a few weeks ago. When she was desperately searching for Aries.

“You are truly commendable when it comes to searching for Aries,” Cari remarked. “My place is only a kilometer away from here. But you will probably not see it because of the enchantments I cast around the area. Only my dolls can see it.”

“We should be careful,” Aries felt terribly uneasy. It was probably because he had recalled his memories regarding that place but there could also be a possibility of impending danger.

“Come out!” Cari yelled out of nowhere.

From the shadows of the trees around their group, dolls with the same size as the previous vessel of Aries had stepped out. All of them had an ominous look in their eyes and daggers in their hands.

Aries and the rest of the group held on to their weapon, except for Cari.

“I know,” the Goat House Leader had spoken to the dolls and instead of calling her weapon, she closed her eyes. “I made you suffer,” she lifted both her hands that were covered by a faint white light. “It is time for you to be free.”

Cari opened her eyes and revealed her glowing pupils, “I hope that you can still find peace.”

She gracefully waved her hands upwards then downwards before powerfully slashing the air sideways. It released a shockwave of mist that hit all the dolls around them.

Aries was somehow expecting the dolls to drop lifeless on the ground after being blasted by the shockwave of mist but they only swayed a little and remained standing.

“They seemed unaffected, right?” Gale anxiously asked.

“It didn’t work,” Gust affirmed.

“It worked,” a voice that did not come from any of the dolls had contradicted Gust.

“Who are you?!” Cari yelled in frustration. “What did you do to my precious dolls?!”