Chase woke up with a heft sigh.
He was in a bed, which was strange and came with quite the unfamiliarity to the boy.
He sat up, feeling his body ache in protest.
The window near his bed was wide open, letting the sun bathe his room in light.
On the other side of the room, was a small sofa with Lithica sitting patiently on its cushion with his legs crossed, as if he had just been meditating or something along those lines.
"My lord..."
He muttered quietly with a nod.
"Lithica? What happened?"
Chase groaned, rubbing the wet bandages on his head.
Lithica shook his head.
"Nothing... Do not worry about it, everyone is fine... You were the only one with injuries that could have been fatal..."
Chase pushed himself up, standing with his feet on the soft carpet.
"Where are we?"
He asked, gazing out of the window with a distant expression on his face.
"We are in Mellowhaven, it is a humble town that lies south of both Phoenix Academy and Rider's Kingdom..."
Chase glanced down at his body, terrible scars running down both his bare chest and left arm.
He was wearing the same leather pants as before, but they were torn and looked more like poorly cut shorts.
"Where is Zephyr?"
He asked with a whisper.
Lithica looked hesitant to answer, as if Chase needed to prepare himself for a terrible truth, but then Lithica chuckled.
"He went to the underworld... Something about gathering reinforcements and consulting with the council of devils..."
Chase walked over to the wooden dresser, where a pair of casual clothing sat on top of its hard surface.
He picked it up, and looked at Lithica.
"Go downstairs, find everyone and have them sit at one table, I will be down shortly..."
Lithica nodded and stood up.
"As you wish."
He left with no complaints, and Chase could only really look around in silence.
The world at times seemed far too surreal, and he could only watch as things either chose to build themselves up or completely destroy themselves.
'It's astonishing sometimes... The way that the world keeps reminding me that I have no real influence... No real power...'
He put his white t-shirt on and black leather pants, with a pair of work boots.
Then he made his way down the stairs, and for it being so early in the morning, the bards sure were going all out with the music...
When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he glanced around, looking for his comrades, which eventually he found them in the far corner of the tavern, all at their own seat at a large round table.
Two empty seats were waiting at the table as well, one for Chase and the other probably for Luke who was supposed to be with them, but he just couldn't spot him.
He walked over, making sure not to bump into any of the dancing adventurers or angered thieves that liked to instigate fights within taverns like this one.
He finally made his way over, and sat down next to Equan and Onyx.
Lithica moved over to stand behind Chase's seat, like some sort of knightly honor had compelled him to eternally protect him.
"You can sit Lithica..."
He said quietly.
"Alright..."
He said pulling up a chair in between Chase and Equan.
There was silence, awkward silence...
He glanced around at everyone who was sitting at the table.
Michael had several bandages hidden underneath his long sleeved shirt, and was sitting in between Equan and Gabriel with a somber expression on his face.
Equan looked fine for the most part, but Chase could tell there was some anger hidden behind his sharp gaze that was aimed toward one of the mugs on the table.
Gabriel was wearing his broken armor, as if he had refused to take it off last night.
His eyes had dark bags underneath them, and looked like he hadn't gotten rest in several days.
Neveah sat in between Gabriel and Leo, who was wearing a lot of bandages over where her right eye had once been, blood spots soaked into the bandages.
Her other eye was glistening with tears, as she clutched a mug of juice tightly close to her chest.
Leo was quiet, and clearly exhausted. He had the side of his head resting in his palm, with his elbow lazily pushed against the surface of the table.
Reinhart was sitting next to Leo, and had taken his heavy armor off, his face was covered in terrible cuts and bruises, but the worst part was the large metal container resting around his chest like a cage.
He no doubt needed it to stay alive, as once born with a catalyst, it was basically essential to survival, so Chase was naturally impressed already by the fact that he was still alive.
Yet, he felt sorrowful for the guy, as his ranking and heritage had been stripped from him once his catalyst was destroyed. He had once been a child of a branch family of the Orions, and even though he had no claim to the throne, he had been ripped free of that name.
But Chase still felt inspired knowing that Reinhart had still chosen to fight alongside his friends.
Next to Orion, sat the Kaylynn girl, who wore a set of chainmail armor, it was light and only covered vital spots, with a loose brown shirt underneath her Chestplate.
Onyx sat next to her, sipping slowly from a mug of ale.
He could never read the dragon's expression, he was quite a hard man to get a read on anyway, so he didn't really try.
The faceless man and Zelenna had gone missing after the incident, but were not confirmed dead either. Chase had no doubt that they were still alive, as did the entirety of his group.
The empty seat rested between Kaylynn and Onyx, where Professor Luke was supposed to be seated; however, the man was nowhere to be seen.
Lithica wore that same stoic expression on his face, but he had seemed quite angry to be required to wear a shirt in the establishment they were staying at.
He had once said that his muscles interfered with the silk of the shirts he wore, and would rip at the most random of times.
Chase assumed he was lying, but noticing the small tears on his leather shirt, he started to doubt his own trust in his friends.
'Perhaps I shouldn't be so suspicious of my own allies...'
He thought.
"What's the plan?"
Onyx asked, spinning the tip of a dagger on the table like it was a toy.
Chase was drawn back to reality, and had to shake his head to get back to himself.
"I uh... Don't know..."
Leo scoffed.
"You don't know? Do any of us know? What happened to the speech during Aetherball halftime? Was that rehearsed or you have someone else write you the script?!"
The lion yelled, slamming his fist on the table, causing Neveah to flinch and start breathing heavily.
"Lower your tone..."
Lithica demanded in a quiet but scary manner.
Leo frowned.
"Sorry... I-"
Chase put his hands on the table, pressing down on it for no real reason.
"I want to kill Rider..."
Leo whispered, looking down at his knees.
A loud crash was heard on the stairs, as the bards stopped playing music and everyone quickly looked in that direction.
Luke was kneeling next to one of the bartenders, who was helping him stand back up.
"Forgive me... I seem to have much worst balance than before my injuries..."
He said loud enough for the entire tavern to hear.
"Lithica help him over here."
Chase told the angel, who stood quickly and walked over to the bandit.
Eventually Luke was seated next to Onyx and Kaylynn, and leaning into the table for extra support.
His left hand had been replaced with a lot of bandages, covering a two rigid nubs on the end of his wrist.
He reached in his pocket with his only hand, and pulled out a shiny necklace with the moon carved into the diamonds on the end.
"Chase... I came to send you a message... I- I contacted a Lesser God... And they would like to offer a deal... They want to make you their champion..."
Everyone grew eerily silent, and Luke held the necklace out weakly for Chase to grab; however, Chase couldn't just accept it.
"How can I trust you?"
He asked, narrowing his eyes at the crippled man who had once been his teacher.
"Forgive me for the mimic... I was foolish and arrogant, I could have been the reason you, Neo, and Poppy died... I just wanted to see-"
"Enough..."
Chase demanded, not out of anger, but out of pity. He couldn't stand seeing the man in such a state looking so pathetic.
"How does it work?"
He asked, looking at the necklace held out above the center of the table.
Onyx shook his head.
"Chase... A champion is basically a slave of the god who offers the vow... You do not break the contract... It is eternal, even if it has its perks, you are strong enough to not need a godly vow..."
Equan shook his head right back at Onyx.
"I disagree... Not that you aren't strong Chase... But I have met the goddess who chose you, she is... Strange... Different from what you would call a goddess..."
Chase grinned.
"So you find her attractive?"
Leo let out a holler of laughter, slamming his fist into the table.
"STOP THAT!"
Neveah yelled, smacking Leo in the face.
"I agree with the bald boy..."
Lithic said quietly, as Equan frowned at the name he had been given.
Everyone went quiet and looked at Lithica for reasoning, as he was no doubt the strongest in the room.
"I- I think that you should accept it Chase..."
Lithica said with a sad expression in his eyes.