43 Ruins of Elsos

It was the middle of the night. The moon was at its highest peak, basking everything in its blue light.

Enki had a tough time sleeping, so he rested on the top of the trees. He needed some time to think, and he still has questions.

Antares was a chimaera, and it grew by consuming everything around it, adapting and evolving. Then answered what they were going to face.

But the alchemist who made the philosopher stone he's still alive somewhere. It was his action that set the chains for Antares to be freed. And that mystery that surrounded him made Enki uneasy.

The fact he knew nothing upset him greatly, especially related to this, and the mention of truth again made him ponder about his alchemy, and how he could use alchemy without a circle.

He never met the truth in his time here and encountered nothing similar. Hestia couldn't peer into his past and tell his origins, which only made the feeling worse.

Enki had one thought that made his core churn as if he was about to vomit, but he didn't want to accept it as a possibility.

His skill was the way it talked about him being a king and how he adapted and grew to his fights, a body fit for a king, a vessel, a creation.

"No, come on, that's a load of shit," he said to himself, erasing the thought.

"Just focus, I'll see Ryuu again soon and she won't have fallen for my trap card," he mused as the happy thought before replacing his doubt and closing his eyes.

...

Hestia and Artemis, both under a cover in their tent, were talking with the lights on.

"And Enki punched him in the face, it hurt to hear that they were fighting, I wasn't sure if it was right to step in or stand back because of my inexperience, but Bell matured and promised to do better his actions have proved it," Hestia said looking up at the light in the tent.

"It seems like you have a hard time with your familia," Artemis said.

"Did you resent Enki for his action?" She asked.

"No, I don't. He was right and besides, it's all in the past now, but you have to try his pizza. It is amazing!" Hestia said, drooling at the thought.

"Mn, it seems you care a lot for him. What do you feel for Orion?"

"Eh? W-well I used to. I mean, he's a sweet flower and although some things changed, I still want him around me. The three of them are precious to me, even Lilly though we but heads sometimes." She let out a small sigh, looking at Artemis.

"Why are you asking?"

"I see, when I'm with him my heart beats hard, I wonder why that is," Artemis said with a small smile, looking up.

Hestia took a moment before she got up, "what the hell is wrong with you!? The Artemis I know never cared for romance or any form of affection. Where is the Artemis that was the bane of love?"

Hestia said, pausing as a thought crossed her mind.

"Hestia?" Artemis asked.

"Artemis where is your familia?" Hestia asked, 'something is strange about her.'

"They're not here but I'll be joining them soon," Artemis said closing her eyes flashes of dead bodies appeared in her mind.

Hestia's unease grew more than she went to hug her best friend.

"Artemis, you've changed. Do you know that? We're supposed to be eternal, but you've changed."

Outside the tent, tight to a tree, was Hermes. He watched as their tent's light dimmed. He sighed and looked over to Enki was sweating in his sleep.

"Life is always full of complexities," Hermes commented, looking up at the moon.

...

As the night passed, the morning rays tickled Enki's face. He groaned, his eyes fluttering open out a small yawn, and slowly descended from the trees.

"A bit of time before everyone wakes up, I can get some light training in and make breakfast," he said and began stretching himself.

He followed a dull routine of exercise and, as everyone woke up, made breakfast. Nothing changed much, but the atmosphere was a little thicker and yesterday knowing what they were going to face.

But it was still joyful because they had the weapon to finish Antares off. It seemed like an easy victory.

They hopped on their dragons and flew. As they flew, the tree's lush green turned brown, the skies were a dull mix between grey and orange.

Hestia gasped as they crossed past the orange trees. Every tree ahead of them was now purple.

"How is this possible?" Lilly said, looking down.

"The forest is dead, poisoned," Enki commented.

"This is the work of Antares. The ruins of Elsos are ahead of us," Artemis said, looking forward. Everyone followed her gaze, seeing a destroyed city in the distance.

"So Antares is in there," Bell said.

"Uh," Artemis groaned, grasping her chest in pain.

"Artemis!"

Enki saw her groan as a low pitch entered his ears. He looked up and saw it. "Lilly, grab hold."

He quickly gave her the leash. Everyone looked up, "What?" Bell said, seeing spears of light hailing from the sky.

"Is that?" Hestia said, her eyes widening, "Artemis!" She shouted to her friend, who was grunting.

"Move!" Enki shouted, jumping off the dragon, "Now!" He roared everyone took action and pulled on their dragons to dodge.

-Poof! -Poof!

Enki blasted upwards towards the incoming attack. He wanted to test a theory, "Torrent!" He roared and kicked the air water, expanding like an umbrella!

-Clap!

He clapped his hands, freezing turning them into an ice shield, which he kept up. The light spears smashed the barrier and broke it in seconds.

'Fuck!' Enki thought, crossing his arms. Three pillars of light slammed into his water aura and he went crashing into the dead trees.

He blocked a decent sum of the attacks; the rest struck the dragons and everyone fell.

-Thud! -Thud! -Thud!

Everyone fell with their dragons. "Artemis, are you okay?" Bell coughed, opening his eyes.

"Yes," she huffed, getting off the dragon.

"You guys!?" Bell shouted, going to check on everyone.

"Ah, fuck me," Lilly coughed and opened her eyes, "I'm alright but," she looked at the dragon, seeing a massive hole where its eye used to be.

"This dragon is dead," Lilly said.

"Goddess Hestia!?" Bell shouted, looking around.

"Were here Bell! We're okay," Hestia waved through the settling dust, with Hermes passed out behind her, "our dragon is fine too, but its wings are injured."

"Where's Enki!?" Hestia shouted back.

"Uuuh!" A loud groan echoed from the small pit, "I'm alive, cough! Ah, I can taste my pain or blood. Nope, I'm feeling both," he spoke claiming out of the pit.

"Is everyone alright?" Enki asked.

"We're okay, but two of our dragons die," Artemis said, giving a sad look to Bell. "It was shot through the heart."

"Fuck, and I'm to blame," Enki groaned, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.

"You reacted in time. If not, then we would've been worse off," Artemis said.

"Guys were surrounded," Lilly said, looking around.

Everyone snapped up, seeing the monster scorpions and the red eerie glow in the darkness. Bell drew his sword, Enki his glaive and Lilly her bow.

"How are there so many? These are different from before," Hestia said, stepping back.

"I'm using my alchemy, so stand back," Enki twirled and stabbed his glaive into the ground. Lightning sparked and the ground beneath the monsters shifted.

-Thump!

Earth spikes shot up, striking them from beneath, but only some died. Their exoskeletons were stronger.

"It's not working. Are they stronger than before?" Lilly said, observing them.

Near to them as the monsters got closer. A green blur passed from tree to tree, muttering an incantation that the others picked up on.

"Come, wandering wind, the wandering traveller. Cross the sky and run through the wilderness, run faster than anything else. Imbue the light of stardust and destroy the enemy!"

'Finally,' Enki smiled as the figure jumped out of the trees, revealing herself.

"Luminous wind!" Ryuu shouted, opening her cape the wind shifted to her, and several orbs of green light released from her, covering the wide area and killing every scorpion monster.

The smoke cleared and Ryuu stood up, turning back.

"Hey, Ryuu, fancy meeting you here," Enki said, chucking, which grew into painful coughs.

"Enki, are you hurt? Is anyone else?" Ryuu asked, walking up to them.

"Wait, what are you doing here?" Lilly asked.

"Hermes familia contacted me, contacted me. They asked to come and help them with a tough mission." She answered, moving to the side, revealing the Hermes familia.

At the front was a blue-haired woman growling, "Hermes!" Asfi said.

Hermes froze as the group turned to look at him. "Hello, Asfi."

"You moron!" She walked up to him enraged, "you left us guarding the ruins alone!"

"Calm down, Asfi, I went and found someone who drew the spear." Hermes tried to justify himself.

But Asfi was too mad to listen, "Even so, you shouldn't have left!"

Artemis walked up to them, apologising for Hermes Asfi, looked past her and saw Hestia and her familiar her eyes zeroed in on Bell, who carried the spear.

"Of course, sigh, alright follow us to our camp, I'll explain the situation along the way," Asfi said, leading the way.

She explained how bad things had gotten for them. All the villages near have been destroyed, and they still can't get past the barrier separating them from Antares.

At the back, though, Hestia pulled Artemis away, going to talk in private after what she saw. She knew something was wrong and questioned Artemis about who she was.

Also separated from the group were Enki and Ryuu. Enki had a cheeky grin the entire time, and Ryuu sighed.

"You knew we were going to meet, didn't you?" She asked him.

"Nope, we came across Artemis and Hermes right after you left," he said, his smile brightening.

"You must be stressed, no? Fighting monsters for days and what a great time too, as I remember our little wager," he said, wrapping his arms around her.

Ryuu didn't resist and wrapped her arms around him too, her face a little red. She was stressed and wanted some relief.

"I don't think we can find the time to be intimate," Ryuu said with a hint of disappointment.

"Maybe," he said cupping her face and going in for a kiss, he added his tongue and Ryuu followed by jumping on his wrapping her legs.

Enki hummed and walked to a tree. Touching it, he made a hole inside and placed her in.

"But I think we can make time~" He cooed, breathing in her ear.

Ryuu shivered at his breath. "N-not here. I have a tent we can use for the night." She said in a thirsty tone.