To the Sea

"Iris, damn, your illusions are overpowered," Sora yelled while dodging a fireball that shot towards him, it was an illusion, but the heat from the fireball could be felt. causing the grass under the fireball to dry up.

"So, what's my strength level now?" Iris asked with bright eyes, Sora thought for a moment before nodding, Iris was now at level 80, making her a saint.

"you're a saint. you have been training hard in these past few months." Sora said with a smile, Iris eyes brightened at the good news. With Sora's training and the many stuff the elves had, she was able to increase her strength greatly within the past few years.

the others were also at least in the saint's level of strength. Irene was the most shocking, reaching level 95, and with her enchantment, she had a high chance of fighting those at level 100+, although the chances of winning would be hard, she could still pull off a win.

Anna was the weakest, being at level 75, but she was more around summon. she was capable of summoning up to 3 celestial spirits, and even drawing upon their power to join them in battle. something which even Sora couldn't do.

the strongest among them wasn't Sora, it was Julia who was at level 110, as she had lived thousands of years devouring the souls of others, her strength has reached a scary level. but her magic is based on pulling others into her painting, once she does then she could show her full strength.

meanwhile, outside of the painting, she couldn't show her power to the fullest. So, when Sora entered her painting, she could have given Sora the hardest fight of his life, but she didn't,

"here is some water," Julia said softly as she held a glass of water towards Sora, who finished his little spar with Iris. Sora seeing this smiled at her before taking the water, Julia was able to make an avatar of herself to come outside, the avatar's strength depend on how far it was from Julia, and how much fear it could feed upon. the more scared you are of it, the stronger it would be

"So, it has been 8 months, should we not get going with our journey?" Julia asked as she hugged Sora's arm, Sora's eyebrow raised at her words. was he the leader of the time? she could be asking Irene,

Julia turned towards Irene who was looking at them, Julia's eyes turned cold slightly, but she smiled as she hugged Sora's arm in between her arms, making Irene frown slightly, but she said nothing as she turned her head away.

Ever Since Julia seemed Irene, she hated him. Irene knew the why, she was helping the people Julia hated most.

"Should I go get a bath ready for you?" Julia asked in a soft voice in Sora's eye, making a chill run through Sora's body. their groups take baths together, as Irene said, it's to deepen the bones. only children overreact when they see someone naked.

"I could also use a bath, I'm all sweaty." Iris overheard Julia, joined while removing the sweat from her forehead, Julia wanted to say something, but Sora beat her to it.

"Sure, then let's all take a bath. Irene could tell us our next plans." Sora said with calm down, Julia pouted slightly, why can't she ever get Sora alone with her within the path,

Irene nodded slightly at Sora's words, and the group headed to the path house. Irene, Sora, Iris, Julia, Drole, and the Moon Elf all sat in the steamy bathhouse while waiting and relaxing. the past few months, it was eating, training, sleeping, and a little relaxation in between.

"well, we all trained hard within the past 8 months. so I think we can bring this training to an end and leave. the next place we are going to is the ever-changing Maze, a Maze which entraps the minotaur." Irene said with a smile, making everyone sigh in relief, these past few months were hard although they pushed through it, and now all of them were saints.

"What is a minotaur?" The moon left, called Tsuki asked in confusion, she still had that emotionless look, but if one looks into her eyes, they can tell what she is feeling.

"the story is complex, but it boils down to a king asking the god for a bull so they could sacrifice it to the gods. but the bull was too beautiful, leading the king to sacrifice another bull indeed. but that was not the deal, so the god got angry, and had the bull go on a rampage, while also having the king's wife fall in love with the bull." Sora said calmly, and no more needed to be said as everyone understood what happened next

"the queen gave birth to the Minotaur. a humanoid bull, at first it was like any other child, but as it grew, its animalize instinct kicked it, too powerful to kill in-person it in an ever-changing maze." Sora said calmly,

"This is honestly one of the few times the gods did something reasonable, a deal should be withheld," Sora said softly, making Tsuki and Julia snort slightly, how was that reasonable? a god forced a king to fuck a bull, that's fucked up in so many ways.

"I meant compared to their other stuff. this time at least they had a reason and didn't do it out of rage or jealousy." Sora said softly, Julia pouted slightly, but this was better than other times, the gods were arrogant and childish, with them having so much power, they did as they wish so who could stop them?

"..." Irene lowered her head into the water, she had nothing to say about this subject, she didn't want this subject to come up,

"Then we would be setting off next week. so, get everything in order so we can get out of the elves' hair." Irene said to which everyone nodded slightly, and so, a week passed. the elves and fairies set them off, telling them they were welcome to return.

to humans, 8 months was some time, but to the elf and fairies, that was a small amount of time, and it was a bite lively with the two around. So, they went on to head off toward the sea, which would take them to an island.

they soon arrived at a small village a few days later, after getting some information about the sea from them, they headed off into the sea, while Sora read the legends of monsters which have appeared on this land,

"you shouldn't give stories like that too much attention, they are all just stories told to scare children," Anna said as she sat next to Sora while looking at the book he was ready for.

"you say you don't believe in mermaids?" Sora asked with a smile, Anna rolled her eyes, of course, she believed in mermaids, she had one as a celestial spirit, but it couldn't really be called a mermaid as it took on the appearance of the person summoning them wishes.

as for mermaids living within the sea, a whole race has never been seen before, and a race that was the decedent of the god Poseidon was a hard pill to swallow.

everyone hearing the two talking turned their head to look, but their eyebrow raised seeing how oddly close the two were. none of them knew that Irene and Sora were a thing, both of them didn't want to tell others, so they kept it to themselves.

"Mermaids... they just can't exist. the fairies want to hide from the outside world, but even they failed, the sea is boundless, but if sea dragons and the many creatures of the sea search and can't find it, it's hard to believe." Anna said with a shake of her head.

"I understand that, but there is still a chance they exist, it would be a shame not to try and find out," Sora said with a smile, Anna nodded slightly as she reached out to flip the book, and the next page talked about a woman in the sea crying.

It said when you are on a ship and head to the middle of the sea, you would hear the singing of a beauty. those who hear it will be filled with the courage to go and see just who had a lovely voice, but as they get closer, they would take their life and their souls would fly to the monster known as the Sirens.

"Well, I will like to hear this," Sora said softly, Anna's lips twitched slightly, it would be a few days since they reach land, and this guy was hoping monsters would target them.

"Hear what?" Julia said the look Irene had smiled as she flew out of Tsuki. the two have become friends, so Tsuki always holds the painting. which Julia didn't mind much,

Julia flew once and hugged Sora slightly as she rested her head on Sora's shoulder while looking at the book. As Sora calmly went to explain, Irene took a deep breath before she looked up head, and closed her eyes. like a sword, she stood there, unmoving by the waves

So, as everyone came over to look at Sora's book, Irene shut them all out. She didn't know why she cared so much about so many females around Sora. they were a thing... but at the same time, they were not. they two have their reasons for not taking that last step.

in the past, she pushed for Sora to move on... no, she was still doing so. but that didn't mean it didn't hurt her every time she saw something like this, she didn't want to be selfish.

She didn't was to say something stupid like, if she can't have it, no one could. it would just take time for her to get over this if only she knew the best way to get over this.

Her not knowing, it was nighttime. as she stood there, she jumped slightly when someone suddenly hugged her from behind.

"w-what is it?" Irene asked in a low voice, Sora didn't say anything and simply rested his head on her shoulder. Irene sighed softly as she rested her head on his while looking at the completely black sea. no hint of light could be seen,

"something is on your mind, what is it?" Sora asked softly, Irene shook her head slightly as she rested her hands on top of Sora's hands,

"it's all gone, only this moment matters." She said softly as she kissed Sora's cheek slightly, Sora smiled slightly as he went on to close his eyes.

"I'm I your first love?" Irene asked softly, stunning Sora slightly, and made him speechless. Irene was still trying to push him away. but Irene believed she would die soon at the hands of the demon lord, this is one of the reasons she wanted Sora to stay away. she even plans on kicking him off the team soon,

"I did..." Sora said ruthlessly, stunning Irene, there was someone she loved, and knowing Sora she found that hard to believe.

"she was my first love, first friend... she was my first warmth, my life, and you... she was my mom. no one can replace a mother's love. but there can be a close second," Sora said softly, Irene was stunned for a moment, but she didn't say anything and simply turned to huge Sora... of course, this would only make it harder for her.

"I feel like there's something you're not telling. what's the matter?" Sora said as he pulled her away slightly, so he could see her eyes.

"I'm a the..." Irene's words were cut off by the heavy waves, forcing her to stop, confusing Sora with what she wanted to say.

"My life is short. don't waste your life on me... I..." Irene wanted to speak more, but Sora held her chin and looked her dead serious in the eyes

"What do you fear with me around? if it's the gods, I will slaughter the Gods. It's the Devils, I will slaughter even them. If it's the Demons, I will rush back into the demon realm and start a slaughter. You will become my wife. so long as you accept me." Sora said softly, Irene was moved, and with a kiss, she hugged Sora tightly.

"Don't go around being so reckless, if the gods were not injured and they heard you..." Irene said in a soft voice, Sora just shrugged as he hugged her.

",,, if everything turns out for the better then maybe this could work," Irene said in a soft voice, Sora shook his head speechless at her. just what had her like this? If she had Sora, who could touch her? be it, gods or Devils, they were nothing Sora feared. he had healed all the demons within the demon realm, so tell me, what did Sora have to fear?

In due time, the gods would be slaughtered, and heaven shall be taken over by Sora, and he had his queen right here.