Moving Forward

"ALRIGHT ALICE WHAT was that all about back there?"

"It's nothing, I'm fine."

"You think it's fine to scream like a banshee and rip your own hair out?"

"I said I'm fine."

"Liar."

"I'm not lying."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yup."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Alice."

"What!"

"Spill it."

"Fuck…" (Smack!)

Kino slaps Alice hard in the face. Alice puts a hand to her cheek. Tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Start talking. Now!"

"It's…my…fault." Alice says in a quiet voice.

"You need to speak up, Alice."

"It's my fault Scarlett is dead. If I was stronger I could have cast a healing spell from much farther away."

"Alice, there's something you're forgetting."

"What's that?"

"Scarlett was already dying. You couldn't do anything for her."

"You don't know that!"

"Why do you think she wanted us to fight her in the first place?"

"I…I…I…"

It's at that moment Alice realizes Kino is right.

"Do you remember when we talked about ourselves to help us get to know each other better?"

"I do."

"Well I lied a bit back then."

"Go on."

"It's true that I have a need to help others, but my need to do so causes me to go overboard. By that I mean I've almost died more than once. That's why I freaked out on everyone about Scarlett. My need to always save or help others is what drives me, but when I fail to do so, it fucks with my head. I lash out at anybody who tries to help me. Then I just shutdown. I don't eat, I don't sleep, I just obsess about my failure. It repeats in my head over and over again and again."

"So why confess now?"

"Because I need help. I don't want to be like this anymore. P-Please help me, Kino."

"Of course I'll help and so will the others. Let's tell everyone what's going on so they understand as well. That way we all can help you when you need it."

"Thank you."

Upon returning to everyone Alice apologizes to the group, and explains to them what she has been going through.

"Oh Alice." Luna says, embracing her in a hug.

"How did you handle it before?" Asked Abby.

"The nuns at the orphanage helped me whenever I had an outburst."

"Hmm, this sounds like you might have a savior complex, but I could be wrong."

"Savior complex, what's that Kiyo?" Asks Alice.

"The short answer is you feel like you have to help someone, and you put aside your own well-being to do so."

"So what do we do about it?" Asks Leo.

"Look, I'm not sure if she even has a savior complex. This is way beyond me. I think the best thing to do is handle each situation one by one as they appear." Said Kiyo.

"Um, so about the par…" Corym trails off, looking at Alice a bit concerned.

"It's alright Corym. I'm fine."

"So who wants what?"

"What do you have?" Kino asked

"One eye, three fangs, eight claws, some of the undamaged scales, a couple liters of her blood, and both of her wings. Those have some damage, but still can be used. Also per Kiyo's suggestion we let the Templars and Reigget have their pick as well."

"Can I have the wings?"

"Sure Kino, here you go. Anyone else?"

"Yeah, let me have one of the fangs and some of the scales."

"Here you go Leo. Who else?"

No one else speaks up.

"I'll hang on to the rest then."

"Now that everything has settled down let's go get breakfast." Kiyo announces.

"Breakfast?" Abby asks.

Kiyo just points. Everyone turns to were he's point, as the sun begins to peak out over the horizon.

*

Archbishop Judas has been working in his office even before the sun came up. Trying to figure out how he was deceived for so long by that abomination pretending to be human. When a voice speaks to him.

"𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑜 𝑚𝑦 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑"

"𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑚𝑦 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑. 𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝐼 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢."

"𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐼 𝑔𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ?"

"𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛."

"𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑?"

"𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑡ℎ. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑛 𝑢𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝐵𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑. 𝑆𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑."

"𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑?"

"𝑇𝐻𝐴𝑇 𝑇𝐻𝐼𝑁𝐺 𝐼𝑆 𝑁𝑂𝑇 𝑀𝑌 𝐶𝐻𝐼𝐿𝐷!!" Roars the Archbishop. "𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒."

"𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑦 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑."

A white scroll drops down onto the Archbishops desk.

"𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝐷𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑆𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙. 𝐹𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑦."

"𝐼𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒."

Two hours later the Archbishop leaves his office and runs right into Beth.

"Papa!"

"Beth, my sweet girl, what are you doing here?"

"It's lunch time and because it's a nice day Sister Ann made us a picnic basket filled with sandwiches, fruit, and cookies."

"I also have a couple different teas as well." Said Sister Ann.

"Well that sounds wonderful, let us be off then."

Beth reaches out and takes his hand. The Archbishop flinches ever so slightly Beth doesn't even notice. But Sister Ann does.

*

Two days have passed. The Rising Sun Party is seated at a table in the far back corner of the restaurant planning their return trip home.

"Good morning everyone." Lieutenant Arsenio calls out as he walks up to the group. Sergeant Chris beside him.

A chorus of good morning goes up.

"Sergeant Chris, I have a question for you?"

"Ask me anything Abby."

"Who are you really?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"What's your full name?"

"Why?"

"Abby, care to let the rest of us know what's going on?" Kiyo asked her.

"Answer my question Chris. I won't ask you nicely again." Abby threatens as she tightens her grip on her ax.

"That's enough Abby! Stop it right now! You are still a Templar under my command." The Lieutenant reminds her.

"It's fine sir. I think she already figured it out." Chris pauses for a bit then proceeds. "My full name is Felix Christianson the fourth."

"I knew it. You're the bastards who attacked Corym's home ten years ago."

"Wait a second Abby isn't Christianson a common last name ?" Asked Kino.

"No. It's not. Felix answers for her. "The house Christianson has roots going all the way back to the founding of the Marijuana Empire. They are the third largest and wealthiest of the noble families. They have very strict rules that every member of the family follows without fail."

"And you, what just gave that all up?"

"Yes. I've never agreed with their belief of killing all non-humans."

"I don't believe you. I think you're a spy sent by Marijuana Empire." Declared Abby. "You're really here gathering as much information as you can before you launch another attack."

"Corym, did you find a ring and note on your person when you awoke outside your home?" Asked Felix.

"H-How do you know about that? I've never told anybody."

"Because I'm the one who freed you."

"Did you heal me as well?"

"No. That was Ajax."

"Ajax?"

"Ajax is the foremost expert in the torture and killing of non-humans. He's spent most of his life devoted to it."

"I see... Abby, I believe him. So can you leave him be"

"Fine."

"Thank you Corym."

"Abby. Don't you have something to say?" Prods Alice.

"Nope."

"You really should apologize."

"Nope."

"Can we move on? I have a favor to ask of you guys."

"What's that sir?" Kino asks.

"I received a report last night that there's a massive goblin nest inside the Black Rose Mountains. Which is located near the city of Fuchsia. So far the Templars stationed there have sent two squads to handle it. Unfortunately none have returned."

"Who sent the report?"

"The guild master Jay and Templar Captain Brodi"

"Quest difficulty?" Asks Luna.

"As of right now it's A ranked. But that could change." Said the Lieutenant.

"Why us?" Asked Leo.

"It was a request from Fiora Elyra."

"..."

"Elyria. Isn't that your last name Corym?"

"It is. Fiora is my mother."

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"...Maybe a century ago. I don't remember exactly."

"How is Corym's mother involved? Is she stationed there as well?" Kiyo asked.

"No. She was sent by His Majesty. Fiora is more than capable of dealing with this on her own. But she knows Corym is nearby and wishes to see him."

"Why not send more Templars or adventures to help her?"

"The city of Fuchsia has a population of over ten thousand. Sending more Templars could cause the crime rate to rise. As for sending adventurers. They tried that as well. No one came back. Which is why it's at least an A ranked quest. Some of the adventurers that went were B ranked."

"Kino, I want you and Corym to head out and do some recon. Don't engage unless necessary."

"You got it Kiyo. Come on Corym your mommy is waiting for you."

"How are you guys getting there? It's at least fifteen days' ride from here by horse" Asked Chris.

"I have a scroll that contains a phantom drawn carriage." Said Abby. "And I've been there before."

"Do you know how to get there Kino?"

"I have a map." Responds Kino. "Is there anything else you want to ask us or can we get going?"

With nothing else to add. Everyone gets ready to leave.

*

The city of Fuchsia. Population ten thousand three hundred. A popular destination for adventurers who wish to improve their skill. The adventurers guild has one of the best training grounds around. Built by the current guild master Jay prior to becoming guild master. It's now run by his wife and two sons.

Nearby are the Black Rose Mountains. Home to a variety of low level monsters no stronger than C ranked, unique plant life that only can grow at high altitudes, or dark and damp places inside the labyrinth.

The city itself is protected by a massive stonewall that encompasses the city, four gates with two watchtowers at each gate that are manned by the Templars. There are two guilds in the city. An adventurer's guild and merchants guild. Both are housed in the same building near the center of the city.

"Guild master sir, your guests have arrived."

"Please show them in Coco."

"Right away."

Guild Master Jay is fifty-five years old. One hundred eighty five centimeters, one hundred eighty pounds with a lean body build. Short salt and pepper hair, brown eyes. He's a retired A ranked warrior class adventurer.

After introductions are given and everyone is seated. Coco places a cup of tea in front of everyone then departs.

"I thought there were seven of you?" Said Jay.

"There are. Kino and Corym are doing some recon. They'll find us later on." Explained Kiyo.

"Very well you can bring them up to speed later. As of right now I have a total of eighty civilians missing. All are female, with ages ranging from as young as seven to as old as fifty. Now whether or not it's due to the goblins I can not say for sure, but the possibility is there."

"Have the residents been informed of this nest?"

"No. That could start a panic. Only the Templars know of this situation and a handful of trusted guild employees."

"Can we speak with Captain Brodi?" Asked Kiyo.

"He is currently unavailable, but I have a report from him indicating everything he has learned about this matter."

Jay gets up and hands out copies of the report he was given. As everyone begins reading Corym bursts in.

"Kiyo, we have a problem!"

*

Earlier.

"Hey Kino, I can see multiple sets of footprints over there. About the size of a human child. There's also signs of something being dragged along the ground."

After searching and observing multiple entrances into the mountain side. This is the first one that showed signs of activity.

"Shit. That means there's a good chance someone has been abducted by these little bastards. Do they all head for the mouth of the cave?"

"Someone help me please!" A cry for help is heard off to the right of where Kino and Corym are lying.

"I'll go watch my back." Kino says as she takes off.

"On it."

"No stop! Stop it!"

Six goblins cackle at the young girl's pleas for help. As they begin ripping off her clothes. Each one wanting to have their turn with her. The leader is a hobgoblin and he can't wait any longer to have his fun.

"GAUGARRR!" This command can only be interpreted as I'm ready. He lines himself up behind the girl as the others hold her in place.

"Close Combat: Armament Dragon Strike!" Kino unleashes on the hobgoblin. Every strike hits home right on the hobgoblins member. And when she's done it's nothing but a bloody mangled mess of flesh and obliterated testicles.

"GAAA!!!" The hobgoblin lets out a roar of pain like he's never felt before as rolls around on the ground, his hands covering what once was his member.

"GRUUU?" The goblin's are surprised by the sudden appearance of a different female who took down their leader. The shock doesn't last long before each one drops dead with an arrow sticking out of their head. Kino then walks over to the hobgoblin and stomps down on his head, splattering blood, brains and skull fragments everywhere.

"Are you alright?" Kino asks the girl.

"…Where's…mommy?"

"Corym, take her back to the city and have her checked out by a healer." The tone in Kino's voice is serious. She's beyond pissed.

"Want me to take her to Alice?"

"No. This might set her off. Can't risk it. After she's safe, find the others and tell them what happened."

"You got it. Stay safe." Corym tells her as he removes his cloak and wraps it around the girl. He then picks her up and departs. Kino takes off into the mountain.

It doesn't take her long until she hears the sounds of goblins cackling, women screaming and even some men. She follows the sounds until at last she stops at the entrance of a massivecavern. She immediately turns around and makes it about fifty some meters before vomiting.

This was due to the smell of rotting meat, the smell of blood, the smell of burning flesh, and the smell of feces. Then there's what she saw. Bodies hanging with hooks in different body parts while they're still alive, some have been mounted on stakes, others are nailed to the wall and used as target practice, some are nailed to crosses and set on fire or gutted. That was what became of the men.

The women were used to satisfy the goblins lust, their need to breed and have goblin children to grow the nest. The women would be abused repeatedly until they died and even then the goblins would still use their corpses however they wanted nothing was off limits.

"Huegh…eurghhh." Kino vomits again but the contents of her stomach is empty. She places her hand on the wall for support while hunched over and ends up touching something that makes a popping sound like bubble wrap. It covers her palm in with a wet sticky fluid.

"Here child, rinse your mouth out with my canteen."

"Tha…wait what the hell! Where did you come from?!" Kino asks in surprise, taking up a fighting stance.

"I've been here for a while now. You ran right past me."

"Who are you?"

"You may call me Fiora Elyra."

Fiora steps out from the shadows. She's just over one eighty hundred centimeters with a slender build. Long light green hair tied in a ponytail and gray eyes. Her armor is all blackened consisting of a padded steel chest plate, steel gauntlets and greaves, black pants and of course black boots. A katana on her left hip. On the ground by her feet is a backpack.

"Are you Corym's mother?"

"You know my son?"

"Yeah he's one of my party members. Names Kino. He was with me until we saw a little girl in trouble. He took her back to the city."

"Well this is a surprise. I wasn't expecting to see him for a while yet."

"I'm surprised you have a katana instead of a bow. I thought the elves' main class was hunter."

"Normally yes that's the case. But every once in a few centuries an elf is born to a different main class. In my case it's the warrior class." Explains Fiora.

"Does your katana have a name?"

"This is Masamune. He's been with me for quite a long time."

"Can I use your canteen now?"

"Here you go." Fiora hands Kino the canteen and then asks. "Do you have a plan?"

"Kill them all." Kino responds after rinsing out her mouth.

"Do you know what you're up against?"

"Doesn't matter. I'll kill 'em all. But if you know what's in there I'll hear you out."

"Two hundred goblins, thirty hobgoblins, fifteen goblin shamans, ten goblin champions, and one Goblin King. That's two hundred and fifty six total."

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

"Thanks for the info. I'm still going in but I could use your help if you don't mind."

"Why?"

"Because I've got a new technique I want to use. And I need someone to come get me when it's over."

"It drains all your stamina doesn't it?"

"Big time. So will you be my backup when the dust settles?"

"Sure. I'd love to see the kind of person my son is working with. You can count on me."

"Thank you Fiora."

"You're most welcome Kino."

Kino takes a deep breath then makes her way back to the cavern once again. As she stands there taking in the horror before her. Her blood begins to boil. Her anger surges. Her adrenaline spikes. 𝐻𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑔𝑜.

"RAMPAGE!!!"