"Uhm…guys? GUYS?! Can you please let me down? This is getting ridiculous…" Ed spoke while rolling his eyes. Yet, even though his eyes completed a full circle, all he could see was the sky and a stick. Rather than a stick, it was a tree.
"Emilia, can't you stop them? And you, Bella, you should be helping your brother dearest…Oy, why are you laughing?!" Ed wanted to move, but his body didn't allow him. He was too helpless in front of the wrath of his comrades.
"You've brought this upon yourself. Plus, you can't move, can you? Consider this your transportation method." Emilia, who was walking at the front, turned back to talk to Ed. But, she couldn't keep a straight face for long, so she turned back to the front. Giggling sounds could be heard from her directions.
"I know I can't move, but this is just ridiculous. You could have put me on Mehen's head…so, why am I tied to a tree and being moved around like a prisoner than was caught by primitive people?!" Ed shouted, as his hands and feet were tied to the tree in his field of vision. "Plus, couldn't you choose people with equal heights? My blood is rushing to my head, and my eyes will pop anytime soon!"
Ed complained as the two carrying the tree were Goburou and Garu. Since Garu was much taller than Goburou, and since he was holding the end with Ed's legs, there was a slight tilt.
"Beggars can't be choosers, hehe." Bella, the one ally Ed thought he would always have by his side, said as she made a shaking motion with her finger. Suika was next to her, mimicking while finishing her sentence with a 'Suu!"
"You guys…" Ed gave up and allowed gravity to make his head fall towards the ground. 'At least they're blocking my mouth with something, I won't be able to spend time without talking to anyone.' Ed thought to himself. And, just as he sucked in a breath of relief, he noticed a figure flying above him. Two wings and a jet-black hair. What people would consider an angel, looked at Ed with a devious smile. To him, it appeared like the highest ranking demon.
"Uhm, don't you guys think that we can use one of these fruits to block his mouth? That way he won't bother us anymore!" As soon as Merry spoke, everyone stopped. They looked at Ed, and then they looked at the fruit-filled trees surrounding them from every direction.
"You can't be serious, right? You don't even know if those fruits are safe to eat…" Ed tried to speak some reasoning into them, but his words fell on deaf ears. It was all set into stone once Emilia said, "It's okay. Even if they are poisonous, an Immortal Establishment super genius such as yourself won't suffer from it…I think?" Emilia put one finger on her chin and closed her eyes.
'Monsters…They're all monsters!' Ed, that day, finally felt like his companions were actual monsters. Then, he turned his head towards his oldest and most trustworthy companions, and said, "Raikou, you should hel…"
Just as Ed tried to ask for help, the sight that greeted him was not what he expected. His trust? Betrayed! His hope? Completely gone? His feelings? What feelings? On his right, Raikou, whose QI began to return, used it to make shadow hands and grabbed one of the fruits high up on the trees. While the others were still deliberating, Raikou decided on his next step.
"RAIKOUUUUUU…" Ed's shout was cut in half as a juicy fruit stopped him from talking.
.
.
.
"I don't have any money!" The group disturbed a sleeping Vortigern again, and he reacted in almost the same manner.
"Mmme! Mmmm!" Ed's muffled words of annoyance failed to reach his companions, and now his only hope was his grandfather.
"Uhm…Welcome back, everyone. Is Ed somewhere else I can't see him?" A lie. Everyone knew that it was a lie. Vortigern actually made eye-contact with Ed prior to looking the other way and speaking. He was ignoring the current situation. He denied the reality that he was put under.
"You can all go to get some rest. Of course, inside the cave. Ed will figure something out for himself," Vortigern said as he lifted the waterfall again.
'They…They don't plan on leaving me here do they?!' Ed started to panic once he noticed Goburou and Garu putting down the tree.
[If it was me, I would find a pack of wild monsters and leave you with them.]
'Thanks for your love…' Ed rolled his eyes at the unwelcomed answer he got.
He felt alone as the night's cold wind brushed past him. The trees swayed around, and the leaves rustled. Only the sounds of nature accompanied Ed, along with his silent system. But, he suddenly heard a crunch coming from behind him. He was, still, bound to the tree, so he couldn't turn around. And he couldn't speak either, as the fruit was replaced by a cloth.
"I'm sorry for taking the joke too far. I hope you're not mad," Ed recognized the sweet voice almost instantly. It was Emilia, and she made quick work of the rope binding Ed. She removed the cloth inside Ed's mouth, causing him to breathe in and out. He was finally free.
"Are you? Mad?" Emilia put her hair behind her ears as the moon's silver rays shone above her. Ed looked at her with a smile and said, "I am…and I should tell you, three hours are up. You've all had your fun, now it's time for me to have mine." He stood up and towered above Emilia. Then, in a swift motion, Emilia was above his shoulder.
"Let me down!" Emilia 'struggled' against the tired Ed as she struck him in the back with he small fists.
"Never!" Ed shouted back as he raised his fist into the sky. Then, he looked towards the waterfall, and said with a powerful voice, "I'm coming for you! All of you!" there was no doubt that those inside heard him, as some of them turned invisible, someone dove into the shadows, while some scurried off into different parts of the cave.
Only one person, who was sleeping, shouted, "I don't have any money!"
Hello everyone! A chapter with a bit of comedy and character reaction. I hope you enjoyed it!
"Well then, grandpa, we'll see you again, soon, I hope." Ed, Bella, and the others hugged Vortigern as they wished him well. He made a clear statement concerning his involvement in the war with Blood sect, and he wasn't ready to go back to Avalon just yet. Thus, he decided to continue traveling for a bit more. According to his words, it was 'more interesting' that way.
"I'm sure you'll be okay. You're much stronger than I could have ever imagined at such an age. And all of your friends as well…" Vortigern took a look at the close to a dozen, companions of Ed with red bumps on their heads. It was as if 'someone' struck them hard on the hard.
"Anyway, I've told you all I know about the Blood sect master. It's up to you now. Good luck, and say hello to the others for me." Vortigern waved goodbye to the group as Ed started to teleport them away.
"We're in Sword sect city," Ed told the others as they noticed that it wasn't Avalon where they teleported. "I still need to discuss things some things with Asem and the others here."
Ed and the others started to walk inside the city. Immediately, the city's people recognized them.
"It's the sect master!"
"The sect master is back!"
Children and young adults were the happiest to see Ed. Of course, the older people were as well, but what they felt wasn't happiness, but a sense of security instead. Ed, on the other hand, felt neither happiness nor sadness. He felt the weight of responsibility that the word 'Master' carried.
'So this is what my father feels all the time, huh?' Ed thought to himself as he continued to walk and greet the citizens. Then, before long, he reached the sect grounds.
"Is Asem or Barsine around?" Ed asked one of the guards before he went any further. It would be a waste of time if he kept going around the sect looking for people, and they weren't inside.
"Yes, sir! They're in the main hall along with the Elders!" The guard said as he stood straight. He didn't dare to look Ed in the eyes for some reason.
"I see…" Ed was taken aback by the weird reaction of the guard, but he quickly dismissed it and walked ahead.
Due to Ed's stay in the city before, he was already familiar with the sect grounds. It didn't take him a long time to reach the city hall. There, Asem, Barsine, Helena, the seven Elders, and the two twins were sitting and discussing stuff.
*Knock Knock*
Ed knocked on the door in order to attract the attention of the twelve of them. The noise stopped abruptly as everyone turned around to look at the one who dared to interrupt their meeting. Some of them had an angry look on their face, Helena included. But, the faces turned into ones of respect as they realized it was Ed, Helena excluded, as her face remained angry. She was still angry at Ed for not dueling her.
"Sect master, you have returned!" The Elders were quick to bend the knee, while Asem and Barsine, who spent more time around Ed, knew that he didn't enjoy such antics. They simply bowed down a little in order to show their respect. He was the sect master, after all.
"Oh, exalted sect master, for you to grace them with your presence. Such insight! Such joy! Such-"
*BAM*
Goburou, who was running his mouth in order to embarrass Ed, was stopped by a punch to the head. However, this time, he protected himself with his 'Bloody Drive' Hatsu.
"I had enough of your fist of love," He said as he retreated back and stopped talking.
"Please, don't bow to me. I'm a human like you, and I don't really like it. So, PLEASE, just a normal greeting is enough for me." Ed told the group of people in front of him. Of course, his words were ignored by some people, while some others didn't even bother to show him any respect. For example, Helena and the twins.
"For now, I'll get straight to the point. Did the Poison sect make any movements?" Ed's face turned serious as he squinted his eyes and walked over to sit at the long table.
"I'd like to say 'no', but there was," Asem answered Ed with a serious face as well. Everyone joined Ed to sit at the table.
However, other than Sieg, Emilia and Raikou, the others decided to take a stroll around the sect. They knew that their abilities lied somewhere other than smarts, so they removed themselves willingly.
Ed didn't say a word and instead waited for Asem to continue talking.
"They are recruiting people by the thousands. We've also found out that they're buying high-quality weapons and pills. It seems that they are preparing for war…" Asem's voice contained a hint of alertness. And Ed knew exactly why.
"So, Blood sect found out." Ed's mind started to study the current situation and their possibilities. If Blood sect realized that they were going to be attacked in a week's time, they would be prepared. Which meant that Ed and the others lost the element of surprise.
"It's fine…they would have found out once we started to move anyway. This simply means that it'll be harder to fool them, but it doesn't jeopardize our mission. Still, this is a good thing to know!" Ed didn't lose any hope and instead decided to start working on a separate plan. One that would work best with their current situation.
'I'm still worried about how they found out, but I was able to find out about the survival of their master. Us preparing for war isn't that hard to figure out, I guess?' Ed talked to himself at the same time as he discussed stuff with Sword sect.
"By the way, Sir Ed. Why did you return so quickly? I thought that it would be a long time before you could return to us again. Or even if you finished, with your teleportation ability, I was sure that you would return to Avalon first. Is there something that you need to do here first?" One of the Elders, a middle-aged man with a fat belly and a nearly bald head, asked Ed.
"There is something indeed," Ed said as he tapped on the table with his fingers. "I thought about something concerning the sect and this city. People are still afraid of the attacks from Poison sect, and they have some bad memories. Same for you, I believe. So, I wanted to propose something. Our continent is much safer than this one. And, since I need to keep coming over to the sect, it would be inconvenient. Thus, I wanted to ask you." Ed stood up and put both of his hands on the table.
"Would you like to become part of Avalon?"
Enjoy!
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