Chapitre 40: Unholy War - Part 5 - Valkyries
"Yes, we will go to Ethers, but after the war in Basilica." One of the women said, answering Athena's question.
"You all are?"
"We are mercenaries, a legion called the Valkyries. I am Lobana, the leader of this legion arm."
Lobana was a big woman with toned muscles, honey-colored eyes, red hair, and a radiant, gentle smile.
"I am Dria." She introduced herself to the woman with a tribal tattoo covering her entire arm.
Dria had blue-black hair, dark skin, dark blue eyes and reserved features.
"My name is Nijha." The woman who was always smiling said.
Nijha had brown hair pulled back in a Victorian bun, eyes covered by a white blindfold, and a mysterious smile that never left her face.
"Hale here." A woman with an eye patch said as she blows out smoke.
Hale was fierce looking with a serrated grin and black, catlike eyes and his long, tangles of orange curly hair that looked like a mane.
"My name is Sahari." Said the prettiest of the group.
Sahari had long, pale red hair, almost pink, a calm, composed face, serene sparkling purple eyes and delicate thin lips.
She was the one who behaved more like a lady than a mercenary.
Finally, the younger one nervously got to her feet and introduced herself as if she were part of a military barracks.
"I, I, m-my n-name... m-me, K-Kaize, c-call!"
"Huh?" All the women said in one voice and Kaize cringed in her place.
Kaize looked no more than fifteen or sixteen and had long wavy hair pulled back in two ponytails and his large eyes were a unique blue-green.
"My name is Athena." Athena introduced herself with a refreshing laugh.
"And then, Athena, why did you ask her if we're going to Ethers?" Lobana asked and took a sip of her frothed drink.
"I'm on my way to the temple of all the gods and that's in Ethers. At least that's what a certain old man told me."
"Old man? Who?" Dria asked with interest.
"A friend. The desert druid, Gion."
"Heh... Someone who knows the desert saint." Lobana said in awe.
"So can I go with you?"
Athena took the frothed drink offered by Kaize.
"But Athena, we will go to Basilica first." Sahari said.
"I heard you guys say there's a war there. What's going on?"
"Actually, no one really knows." Said Nijha. "Apparently High Priestess Serien was accused of treason on the place of someone using dark magic and she did nothing."
(Ah! It's my fault.) Athena thought the moment she heard what Nijha said. "And what happened to her?"
"Apparently the new high priest tried something stupid and a war broke out, but no one knows what happened to the high priest after that." Hale replied.
"Hm..." Athena crossed her arms and tilted her head with a thoughtful expression. (It was me who used dark magic and I kind of owe her one...)
"I think we've gained another Valkyrie, girls." Lobana said excitedly.
"Thanks for accepting me?" Athena said.
They celebrated for the rest of the day, ending up with more than half of them drunk.
At nightfall, before parting, Sahari arranged a meeting place with Athena and Athena returned to her inn and one more night she was tormented by her thoughts.
***
In a strange shipport, Athena waited, seated on a wooden box, staring at the ships floating in the air like balloons.
The harbor was like a square tower with several ships around it, Athena was on the eighth floor of this tower, from where she could see how big the city was.
However, the size of the city didn't matter a bit to the woman who only stared at the floating ships with a confused and mesmerized expression.
(Another thing I didn't have in the game. Maybe they put it in the game after I stopped playing?
Stopping to think about Gion she told me... The entity that called me, Death blocked her it seems, but why did she bring me here?
I have to know that and how Death got into it, she's the one who will have to answer my questions.)
Athena was thinking deeply when she heard Lobana's voice.
Lobona wasn't a woman Athena would find pretty, but she had her own charm that was her uplifting charisma.
"What are you thinking so deeply about?" Lobana asked with a happy smile.
"These ships... What magic do they use to make them float?"
"I do not know." Lobana said with her chest puffed out.
(Is this something to be proud of?)
"Anyway, we're leaving. Follow me, our ship is on the other side."
Athena followed Lobana to the north side of the harbor, where she found a white wooden ship adorned in silver and with the prow of a silver warrior holding a spear to the top of her head.
The ship had plain and side sails, making it look like the ship had wings and twelve cannons on each side.
A perfect battleship.
"Wow!" Athena said, impressed by the architecture.
"Beautiful is not it?" Lobana said with the same air as Athena. "She is called 'Glory of the Goddess Ertala', the goddess of war."
The two women stood there, admiring the ship for a while as workers loaded boxes onto the ship.
And then Athena and Lobana heard an enraged voice coming from behind them and turned to face this person.
At the same time, Athena's face squirmed at the sight of Klad and his girls.
Klad was still without his hand and a girl was missing from their group, leaving Athena a little disappointed.
(The girl called Killa isn't here... Too bad, she was the only sensible one in this group besides the beast-man girl.)
"Do you have any idea what you caused us?" Klad asked in a voice laced with anger and regret.
Not only Klad, but the entire group had red and puffy eyes and dark circles under their eyes like they hadn't slept an hour even last night.
"Hm….I have no idea." Athena said innocently.
"Athena, do you know these brats?" Lobana asked with mild interest in what was going on.
Athena looked at Lobana with a clean expression and in a monotone voice she denied.
"I have no idea who they are."
"How dare you say that after causing Killa that?" Klad asked.
"What are you..."
"Yesterday afternoon Killa killed herself because of what your friend did to her!" Klad yelled angrily.
"Huh?"
"If it wasn't enough my hand you took, after you left, your friend took Killa's arm and..." Klad cried, followed by the girls.
After the incident at the restaurant, Klad and his group were taken by the city guards for a kind of deposition, but nothing more was accomplished thanks to the empire's law system where a person had three chances to do something bad without being penalized.
After that the group looked for healers and clerics to reattach Killa's arm in place and they all said something about a kindred curse placed on the severed arm and that it would be impossible to reattach the arm to the body.
They had sought help from the Tower of Magic, but through Klad's fault, they had been evicted from the place two days before they met Athena.
Finally, late in the afternoon of the day before, Killa had left a letter on her bed and hanged herself in the inn room.
In the letter, Killa blamed Klad and cursed her fate of having known and loved him and she blasted her hatred against all kindreds.
However, it said nothing about Athena. But Klad wanted, no, he needed someone to blame, not just him, the whole group did.
That someone was Athena, who was oblivious to most of the story.
"It does not matter anymore." Klad said as he drew his sword. "I will get revenge by killing you and show your head to your friend."
"Huh? Athena, what did your friend do to him?" Lobana asked not understanding anything.
"I also want to know..." Athena said, unconcerned. "Boy, if you don't want to die get out of here. I really wouldn't want to kill someone that young."
Despite Athena's warning, Klad moved forward, but alone. The girls hated and blamed Athena, but they knew and accepted that they were weak.
Athena sighed and looked at Lobana who simply gave space to the duel with an analytical expression on her face towards the girls.
"Don't ignore me!!!" Klad screamed and made a common attack.
"Heh! Aren't you going to use skill?" Athena scoffed as she dodged, causing Klad to stumble and nearly fall into the space between the tower and the ship. "Lobana, there's something I've always wanted to do in situations like this."
"Mmm... And what would it be?"
"Fight someone weak with a proper weapon. Lend me that dagger from your waist." Athena said with an amused smile. (I'm going to be Miha** and he's going to be Zo**. I'm so excited.)
Lobana threw the dagger to Athena not understanding what Athena wanted with such a useless weapon in a sword duel and started to watch Athena fight with the foolish boy.
Well, if you can call something like that a fight.
Athena brandished the dagger like a sword and dodged and blocked all of Klad's attacks with ease.
"H-how dare you underestimate me!" Klad complained.
"Ah! Sorry, I don't have anything smaller than that." Athena said mockingly, making Lobana laugh out loud. (Yay! I managed to say that sentence!)
Klad gritted his teeth as anger choked in his throat and without saying a word made his sword glow brightly with the flow of mana.
As soon as they saw what Klad was about to wear, the girls started to protest.
"No, Klad, you're going to destroy the harbor if you put so much mana into it!" They said that and other things that were omitted by a sharp metallic sound coming from Klad's sword.
"Die!!!!!" Klad yelled as he thrust his sword at Athena who waited.
"[Erase], [Hew]" Athena said, the light and sound faded and Athena walked by Kled calmly and handed the dagger to Lobana with a smile. "Thanks."
"What? It's over?"
"Yes."
"But the boy is still- Ah! Forget it."
As Lobana said, Klad dismantled in pieces of meat while high-pitched screams rang out all over the place along with crying and Athena felt that flow of energy, which she hated, in her body.
***
It hadn't even been half the day since Athena could see Sigma's desert in the distance and felt like going to see Anemus, Fotiá, Lunnia, Eun, Neu and maybe even Gion, but she pushed that thought away.
(I'll come back when I'm whole.)
Athena thought as she listened to Lobana yell at the late Klad's old companions, asking them to clean the deck properly.
"Is this how the Valkyries gain new members?" Athena asked Sahari that she was at the wheel.
"Sometimes yes, sometimes we adopt and sometimes they are like you."
"How do I? How do you mean?" Athena asked while tilting her head.
"Lost, Athena." Sahari said, leaving Athena speechless. "I was like you and I met the Valkyries."
"Hmph..." Athena looked back to the distant desert and prayed her girls would do well without her.
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
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All_J R.I.P Klad
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