The Kingdom of Amanthus

Hey guys!! This chapter is quite a long one. Enjoy!!

.. One day after chapter 14 (Still 2 days before ch 15).

"So....This is the place..?" The cream haired girl mumbled with twitched eyes,that were lock on the Decorated front gate of the pub,which appeared to be recently  renovated.

*Welcome to the Castlesand!* The front board was decorated with colourful flags and lights that were already on as it was way past evening.

No,this isn't the Kingdom of Liones. After finalising her change of plans Serah set out for her new journey,the next day after the incident with Elizabeth.

After traveling the whole day that too nonstop,she finally reached her destination.

This was... The kingdom of Amenthus. World known for its redeeming glory and prosperity,this kingdom had equal shares of both Light and dark.

But,well...that's the story of another time. Serah quietly gazed at the board while a crowd of people was entering and going.

.....Story of a little while ago....

Serah finally departed from the Liones Kingdom (only to return back soon though)with a remorseful look plastered on her face. She kept stomping on the ground step by step taking out a little of her frustration, making numerous small cracks as she walked ahead.

With just a small pouch tied to her waist she didn't had much money on her anymore. The mission to bring back 'The Secret Mage' was a 'COMPLETE FAILURE!!'

Not only that she failed to obtain the ancient book,the fact was that she 'couldn't' have it anymore even if she wanted to...The book was no more....'The Secret Mage'.

Unknown to the Sins, Serah already successfully  sneaked up in Bartra's room yesterday night but found out that the book was 'BLANK'.

It didn't gave off the magical vibe anymore, using which Serah's master taught her to locate it in the first place.

She was burning with anger and frustration. All bottled up inside her,that she could explode any time.

But she has to keep it in. She can't rampage now when the mission was in all tatters.

If anything in this world mattered to her then it was her Master's trust and his blinding Faith on her.

And now... She feared that she might loose it all with just one failure.!!

All the hardwork she did for years to gain her status among the others,all the nights she madly trained when everyone else was sleeping soundly, all the pain she endured without complaigning to harden herself.

Everything will be RUINED because she failed such an important mission.

"no....." Serah whispered,her bangs covering her face and she kept going on.

"I...." She hissed again as she gazed the path ahead of her,blurry under the rays of the scorching sun.

"I CAN'T LET THIS HAPPEN!!!!" Serah yelled in her 'chibbi' form,tears of failure flowing down like rivers.

"There's no other.way.... I need to ask for his advice." she whispered,even thinking of the man made her loose her temper.

[Why am I so hopeless?] she thought.

...(present time again)....

Most of the customers were common drinkers and gamblers while a few of them also belonged to the 'category' Serah hated the most.The most disgusting species of Human race... the 'perverts'!..

Serah made her way to an empty table after waiting for almost an hour.

"This place so damn crowded... Why did he invited me here of all places..?"She argued stealing a glance at the menu board. Since,the person she was waiting for hasn't yet arived,she preferred to fill her empty stomach after not eating anything for the whole day.

"Welcome to the castlesand.May I take ur order miss..?" The waitress didn't took too long to come after spotting a new customer.

"Mmm.. Uhh..Bring me a plate of your specials and... A glass of Alle."She ordered not looking up holding her forehead to ease her tension.

"Sure thing.. Coming right up miss." The waitress answered earning a nod from Serah who was now face palming and pondering over her actions over the last few days.

Serah was now getting frustrated all over again,she failed such an important mission, personally assigned to her by her Master. This has never happened before, not even once. She has faced numerous powerful enemies up untill now but no matter how dire the situation was..never even once she failed to get what her Master asked for,even if it meant endangering her life.

At first she was constantly cursing the Sins ,specially Meliodas for her failure.But as she cooled down,she realised that the fact that her mission was now a mess,was because of her own mistakes.

She was ashamed of 'herself', she was angry,she was... Sad. Nothing in this world mattered more than her master but now she couldn't return.

No way she could even think of  facing him with empty hands,she would rather die or dissapear than having to see her Master's dissapointed face. She just can't..

Sinked into her deep thoughts Serah came back to senses upon feeling a sudden 'unwanted' grip on her waist.

[What..?] She thought not realising what just happened,she just snapped out of her daze. But before she could react,she felt another grip holding her shoulder all the way to her collar bone.

"Oooooh... Look what we have here~" A certain messy green haired man showed up from no where gripping her like she was all his property.

"Youn lady... You shouldn't wander out alone like this~*hiccup*" He came closer tightening his grip but Serah remained silent.

Soon the man's group also joined in the fun cheering and whisteling. Getting the wrong idea from Serah's silence and no response.

"Way to go Boss!!"  "You have her!"  "Get her!" They all cheered pumping up the man with overconfidence as he gave a grin before turning back to Serah.

" See..its getting late and this place is full of such disgusting bastards..A beautiful lady like you shouldn't have come here all alone~" He added leaning close to her face,Serah could now feel his breath on her ears as he whispered while Serah crossed her fingers folding them into the inside and changing them into a clap.

"Why not come with me..? I will make sure to drop you home... tomo-" Before he could even complete his sentence someone grabbed his neck from behind and threw him to the other side.

*Thud* *Crack**Thrudder* The sound was so loud that it echoed throughout the street causing people to stop in their tracks. The man cracked through three thick walls of the pub before finally stopping at the fourth.

Everyone gasped at the person who did this, the man's companions who were just now cheering turned blue and froze at their places.

While the grey haired boy kept his cool ,gently cleaning the tiny blood spots on his armer with a hankerchief.

"I-Isn't that the son of the Golden Knight Hermanthus Amistrus?" One of the man asked gulping in his own saliva.

"No way...Herald Amistrus? " Another man gasped earning a surprised nod from everyone around.

"Herald Amistras...?. But how did he showed up at such a place?"

"Oh my god.. He looks even more handsome in real life!"

"T-To think the son of the Golden Knight was actually hiding within commoners.."

"Is this an emergency arrest?.. What's happening..?"

"Shh* keep it down!"

The whispering of the people kept increasing but it all quitened down in a bit as a  sudden pair of peircing cold 'blue' eyes glared at the people.They all returned to their work like nothing happened.

"Who else..?" He asked in the coldest tone possible, now realising that the whole pub was already empty.

All the men already left as soon as they witnessed a hint of the Amistrus's strength.

"Hmph.. They all are just cowards bastards.You didn't need to waste your time..." Serah commented still looking down. While they grey haired boy just gazed at her.

"Besides... I didn't asked you to help." she added making a poker face.

"I have the responsibility to save my people..."Herald replied noticing Serah's sudden change of eyes which went back in a flick second as he smirked the slightest ever possible.

"Even if some of them could be disgusting than shit." He added sitting on the chair next to her signaling the waitress to continue her work.To which she hesitantly noded and ran to the kitchen.

Herald made some hand signs and a sudden blue light glowed from his hands and spread all accross the pub. Suddenly,the broken furniture and walls started shifting back to their original places.

Serah didn't even showed the least bit of surprise or any other emotion. She kept silent for a while before finally speaking.

"You're just overthinking." Serah replied.

"Don't give me that.. You clearly planned on killing him."

"Actually,you just wanted to blow up your cover. I must say the ladies looked quite surprised." She added in a monotone.

"You can't fool me..I already noticed the hand signs you were about to make." He replied calmly as the waitress came and poured some Alle for the two and quickly went back.

" The one who was about to blow up the cover.... was you.." He added simply sipping through his glass of Alle. Serah finally turned up to meet his gaze,her eyes as silvery as ever.

"...."

"So what ? he deserved it...Although I must say killing him would've really wasted my energy."

"Especially when you have the least left."

"Hey!I have reasons for that."

"Whatever... Why did you called me here? To keep my mouth shut or what?" he asked not minding his cold tone.

"What do you take me for huh?! I called you because—"

"You shouldn't have accepted 3 consecutive missions at once. Acting without thinking..." Herald maintained his monotone.

"I must say that's not like you." He added not wanting to admit that he just indirectly complimented her.

"That's...." Serah clearly took it as an insult ,firing back bluntly "None of your damn business." she kept her cool.

This sure has turned into a competition.

There was a sudden pause,Herald simply put in the cold reply as a slight smirk made its way on his face... He was ready to make a comeback.

"Of course it is. Not listening to anyone is the whole reason you failed the mission."

*—You failed the mission... *

*—Not listening to anyone..*

*—the reason you failed the mission..*

*—listening to anyone....*

*—You are useless!...* (Hey! He didn't even said that!)

*—YOU FAILED THE MISSION!*

[Noooooooooo!!!  Stop!!!!] Serah internally yelled but her body didn't flinched the least bit on the outside.

Seeing her sudden silence,Herald knew he perfectly hit the spot. He surely won't  ever miss this golden chance.

"And now..The whole crew will pay for that." he added.

"..."

"....."

"That's —" Serah couldn't put out her words,just now two piercing arrows hit her poor heart. She couldn't contain it.

"Especially 'Master'-" Herald paused this time. Waiting for her comeback but instead he heard something his ears won't believe.

"That's why..." Serah shuttered trying get the words out of her mouth. Clenching her skirt ,her cheeks became red as she spoke.

"That's why.... I..."She took a deep breath.

"I need...     ..... your help." That was it! She finally said it!

"...."

"...."

"Eh ?.." For a moment Herald didn't quite believe what he was hearing.

[I must have heard wrong.There's no way she would say that. ] He thought, his eyes closed and temper as calm as ever.

"What was that again?" He asked not hiding his evil smirk.

[You..!!] Serah internally screamed shuttering again. "I...." a sudden pause filled in with awkward silence made her hurt sink deeper. But then shrugged it off,it was for her 'Master'. She can do it.

"I said..." She looked straight into his eyes not averting her gaze anymore.

"That I've tremendously messed up the mission. And I need... I need... Your help to get it back,alright!!?" she turned away,her cheeks flustered red in embarrasment. She has just now given her 'rival' ,a whole life mocking subject.

For a person like her to kick away her pride and asking for help from a rival was indeed uncalled for. But Herald didn't let his face reflect his thoughts.

[She's acting strange..] His eyes went wide for a millisecond as he dropped the competition of insults.

"Now that's unusual.." He sipped through his glass again.

"Hmph!You can say that again.."

"Tell me everything... About how you failed." He added as coldly as ever. He intended to take full advantage of such 'once in a decade' situation.

[Oh god... just how much I want to kick him in the ass!]Serah thought finally taking her first sip of the Alle.

"Well... You see. " She ran a hand through her hair making an embarrased smile as she continued with her full trip story to Liones..

...

"Well...that's it!" She ended panting. She wanted to end as soon as she can. Even remembering that day makes her blood boil.

There was a little silence before Herald pondered over every bit of the new information.

"Now say something at least..!" Serah yelled. She was now getting drunk but it was still far before her breaking point.

"Shut up and listen." Herald said looking into her eyes.

"The fact that you failed the mission isn't something simple. And the way it seems,I don't think you would be getting anywhere soon."He stated bluntly.

"Ow... " Serah wishpered but Herald heard it clear enough. He sighed,loosening his stiff attitude.

"We don't know much about the 'Secret Mage'..Even you,who has to carry out the mission was only told about its location and the precaution of keeping it away from moonlight....nothing else."

"I know... but I can't complaign if its something top secret."

"You are even stupid enough to come here right after encountering 'The seven deadly sins'.. You're just lucky that they didn't chased after you."

"I know..I know.."

"*sigh* Anyways, I'll help you out with the condition of getting one as a payback someday. Do we have a deal?" He asked plainly and Serah just nodded in agreement.

"Well then..I'll help you out. Meet me at the civil library tomorrow at 9." he got up and went to the counter to pay for the drink. After a little argument with the waitress she finally agreed to accept the pay. While Serah joined them up next.

"You don't have to pay for me. I've already asked for enough help." She stated.

"I wouldn't mind clearing up your misunderstanding again.... " Herald leaned closer to her as he whispered. "I would never help you without getting something in return.. You better remember our deal." He replied writing a note on the bill and went straight outside handing it over to Serah.

Serah couldn't believe what she saw in the bill.

.....

2 Apple pies - 130 bronze.

7 Cups (Vanya Alle) - 560 bronze.

Total.           -   690

Paid money - 145 bronze

'Note :- The stupid lady will pay the rest.'

....

"YOU ASSHOLE!!!" She yelled tearing up the bill in pieces and jumping like crazy.

She didn't had much money after paying for the bill.As a result she had to spent her night on the streets.

And that's how her day ended in the kingdom of Amanthus.