"Hey you two! How did it go?" Allen asked the duo as they sat down at a table. Many hours have passed since everything happened.
"We were able to get some information." Yuuji responded with a smile. "How did it go for you two?"
"We were able to get some important information." Allen shrugged.
"How important?" Amilia popped up.
"Well, people were getting kidnapped and we figured out who was behind it." Allen replied. "It's the organization." He said after a moment of silence.
A wave of silence washed over the table.
"Here you go, Mr Allen!" A waitress exclaimed as she brought over a cup of alcohol.
"Oh, thank you." Allen thanked the waitress and took the cup.
"Don't you drink that yet." Kazuma said while moving the cup away. "We need everyone sober for this."
"Alright, alright." Allen replied while sighing.
"So why are they kidnapping people?" Amilia asked with a confused expression.
"To weaken the defenses of Suijin. Once they weakened the defense enough they were going to raid it." Kazuma explained. "They also confitmed that Athena is infiltrating."
"She's acting as Sakura." Amilia said while looking at Allen. "Athena has green eyes right?"
Allen nodded his head. "And brown hair." He added.
"Wait, Sakura is Athena? What do you mean?" Yuuji asked with a shocked expression. "How do you know if she is or not?"
"Well, first when you answered her about why we are here, she froze up." Amilia said while putting her chin on her palm.
Allen and Kazuma looked at the two with wide eyes. "Did you talk with her?" Kazuma asked with a serious voice.
"Yes?" Amilia responded. "She wasn't going to do something."
"And would you know that?"
"I used a spell on her thatd detect her emotions, she didn't send any hostile emotions." Amilia explained. "She was mostly calm throughout the chess matches we played."
"Wait, you guys played chess?" Allen asked with a confused voice.
"Yes, but that's not important." Amilia looked at Yuuji. "Do you remember the story she told?"
"Ah, the story about her friend?" Yuuji replied while scratching his chin.
"Yes, well she had a wide range of emotions, mainly sorrow and rage." Amilia explained. "And at the end of some matches she was feeling worried."
"Hold on." Kazuma said. "What story?"
Amilia recounted a short version of Athena's story.
Both Allen and Kazuma fell silent for a short bit. "What do you think?" Allen asked while looking at Kazuma.
'With the information we got from that person..." kazuma thought to himself. "The story she told wasn't her friend's. It's hers." He deduced.
"Hers?" Yuuji and Amilia asked.
"Yes, we were able to gather information from some of the organization's members. One told us they were planning on having Athena's parents killed right in front of her. Since she isn't totally loyal to the organization." Kazuma explained.
Yuuji's hands formed into fists after hearing that. "But, why would they do that? Wouldn't that make her less loyal?" He asked with a serious expression.
"... I think if they did that, it would make her entirely loyal." Amilia said with a concerned voice.
"What?" Yuuji asked in a confused voice.
"It would work, with how they do it. It would break her and they can force her to be loyal." Amilia explained.
Yuuji tightened his fists even harder after hearing that.
"We can stop them though." Allen said. "We know where the base is and how many people there is."
"We ca-" Yuuji was about to ask before getting cut off.
"We need support from Suijin though. The adventurer's guild won't have enough people to help." Kazuma explained. "Therefore, we need to meet with the leader here."
"How will we convince them to help us though?" Yuuji asked a moment later.
"We brought some prisoners to the guards, it'll help convince them." Kazuma explained. "In 2 days we'll talk to the shrine Priestess."
"Why in 2 days? Why can't we talk to her tomorrow?" Yuuji asked with his eyebrows furrowed.
"We were only told we can have a meeting in 2 days. They know it's urgent, but she'll only be free in 2 days.
The group stayed silent for a bit. Not much later a waitress came to their table.
"Hello everyone! Is there anything I can get for you?"
"Oh! Can I get one of what he has?" Amilia popped up while pointing at the drink Allen has.
"Yes, of course!" The waitress exclaimed before looking at the others. "What about you three?"
"I'll pass." Yuuji declined the offer while looking down.
Allen shrugged before ordering some food. Meanwhile Kazuma also passed on the offer.
"Alright, I'll get your drink for you Miss and I'll get your food Sir." The waitress said before leaving the table.
Eventually, the orders came to the table. Allen immediately began to dig into his food.
Amilia was told not to drink what she ordered yet since the group was not done discussing the plan.
Many minutes passed with ideas quickly going by but were shot down.
"Alright, how about this, kazuma me and you will be the vanguard. Allen and Amilia will be the backline."
"Wouldn't it be better if Allen and I were the vanguard? He has experience with Athena." Kazuma responded while tapping the table.
"That's true bu-"
"Yuuji, I have to agree with Kazuma on this. We'll fight Athena together and you can jump in when there's an opening okay?" Allen smiled while giving him a thumbs up.
"Besides, if push comes to shove we have Amilia with her super secret that can win the fight right?"
"It's not a guarantee win but I'll try my best! I just need time to use it."
The rest nodded their heads before ending the plan there.
--------------------
A few hours later, Yuuji reached his and Amilia's room with Amilia on his back seemingly asleep.
'Although we discussed everything I still feel like something bad will happen.' Yuuji thought as he set Amilia on her bed.
Shaking his head, he sat down on his bed. Pondering a bit, he began to feel tired.
"Guess I should call it a day." Yuuji stretched his arm out before getting in bed
Yuuji woke up in a familiar place. A white foggy room. The strong fog was enough to make it hard to see where your hands were even if put in front of you. This was Gojo's domain
"Well, look who is back." Gojo said whilst juggling a peach
Yuuji seemingly unsurprised by the sight of Gojo eating began to speak "I've a question, Gojo."
Gojo smirked upon hearing those words "Straightforward With no room for idle-chat.. How can i help?"
"What do you know about the message?"
Gojo was stunned after hearing that. He definitely wasn't expecting Yuuji to know about it and his reaction was very complex
"The answer may hurt your relationship with someone. Are you sure?" Gojo's tone got serious for the first time ever since they formed the contract.
Gojo wasn't playing around this time, the answer truly would be devastating to Yuuji's mental state. On realizing that, Gojo came up with an answer best suited for the current situation.
"The sender is someone you know. Not someone from your party but someone you met at the start of your journey. That's all i can say the contract is forbidding me from giving a direct answer."
In truth, Gojo lied about being unable to answer directly but he had no other choice if he wanted to protect Yuuji he had to hide the answer as much ss possible
"I see. Thank you, Gojo." Yuuji said putting his hand on his chin in a thinking position
A few moments later and Yuuji was back into normal dreams leaving the spirit domain.
"Someone I know, but not from my party?" Yuuji mumbled as he looked at the ceiling. "But someone I met at the beginning..."
Finding a pen and paper nearby, he began to write certain names that fit the description that gojo explained. After noting every name, he folded the paper and hid it before falling asleep.
Written by: shehablasheen
Published at: 05-04-2024