Growth of a Hero

We were in a huge forest, full of green and creatures making noises all around. Deep Green was in the heart of the jungle and we were getting close.

The town itself looked like it came straight from a fairy tale. Some houses were inside big trees and shining bugs flew between the giant mushrooms. Not that we wanted chaos, but that town appeared too peaceful to be hosting Elvira.

Soon we saw Markus Terracota along with Reikokuna Takai and Helia Vivarium. For a second, I saw the swordsman with a huge smile when he noticed Agnes Stein, but soon he returned to his serious look. No one was more excited than Markus Terracota and Ember to see each other. They hugged as if they were in love, but we knew better.

“Markus Terracota, as my new dad I feel I need to tell that this woman is cheating on you! We saw her with another man in Venati!” I said and Agnes Stein was by my side, serving as another witness.

The two adults looked at each other and then started to laugh.

“Thank you so much for telling me this, but I know about that,” Markus Terracota said to my surprise.

“What?” Agnes Stein asked.

“The flames of passion around Ember are unending, and that is okay to me. While she is with me, we love each other, but when we are separated, she can be with other people.”

Ember laughed more at our confused faces.

“Of course, Markus is my number one, but that’s not the reason to try new things,” she stated.

“Actually, the fact that she is so passionate about everything is one of the reasons I love her so much!”

“That is all very nice, but what about Elvira?” asked Hiyoko without patience for the two lovers.

“She is not here anymore… a boy named Worth saw her with some companions, no sign of the Demons. He noticed that they were evil and tried to do something about it, but he couldn’t win. Still, they left him alive”

“So, she is gone?” I asked.

Markus nodded.

“We were trying to see if anyone knew where they went, but no one knew anything. But we were going to the Oasis Trial. Takai and Helia were going to do it together, but since you are all here, we can make new pairs.”

“Oasis Trial?” There was a lot about the world of Heroes I didn’t know.

“Oh, that brings back some memories,” Ember Lascander spoke. “We can’t give much away, but there is a secret oasis in Deep Green. Stanza users can enter in pairs and, if they complete the challenge, they can get stronger.”

I hadn’t thought about getting stronger, but that was a great idea. Since my Stanza was useless, I could at least be as strong as Agnes Stein or skilled with a weapon like Reikokuna Takai.

“But what about you, did you stop the Yellow Demon?” new dad asked and we told everything that had happened. They gave words of encouragement to Agnes Stein after learning about her brother and were so surprised that we defeated another Elemental Demon on the way.

“I also came along, I hope this isn’t a problem,” said Rita Fiori making an effort to look at his face even being so shy.

“No problem at all! The more, the marrier… I just don’t know if there is space in the chariot, but I might be able to make it bigger now that the family is growing. Oh, by the way, come with me, Nina.”

He was excited and guided me to the chariot. It was weird to see the rock vehicle in the middle of such lush forest. Inside were some canvases and painting materials.

“Yours were destroyed in the attack of the Red Demon, so I bought this for you.”

I couldn’t hold my excitement and a jumped on the man.

“You truly are the best, new dad!”

“I still don’t know if this is healthy… but you can count on me.”

I went outside and started to paint. I had a bunch of colors to try, but I still didn’t know what to paint, so I just started with anything. I didn’t even notice Helia Vivarium approaching me from behind.

“Wow, I thought you were a good painter.”

My painting was just black spots, something very abstract and even I didn’t know how to explain it.

“Sister! Do you want to paint with me?”

“Not really.” She was more serious than usual.

“What happened?”

“Takai was supposed to be my partner going to the Oasis Trial, but now that Agnes is here, he will go with her…”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Do you want to go with me?”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, why not?”

“Well, I guess I just assumed you were going to do it with Rita.”

“I just did a couple of missions with her, we can go together now.”

She didn’t know how to respond, and we saw something strange. A boy my age, but tall and strong, without a shirt and pulling an entire log behind his back.

“That is Worth, the boy who saw Elvira and her group. He also has the Nature Stanza, although I don’t think we are very similar.”

“Really? Let’s call him. WORTH!” I screamed and he looked at us, confused.

He dropped the ropes tied to the log and came to us.

“Let me guess, you are the famous Nina Nune,” he said making me smile.

“Yes! Nice to meet you! Any friend of Helia Vivarium is my friend.”

“We are not exactly…” but my sister talked so quietly we kept our conversation over it.

“So, you saw the bad guys?”

The boy was serious and for me he looked a lot like Helia Vivarium.

“They were four. The weird woman and her three companions. A bulky guy, a fancy one and one with a gray mask. This final one was the creepiest.”

“And you fought them?”

“I couldn’t even touch them… I was too weak, but that is why I train, I must grow stronger.”

“Like a true Hero,” I said starting to think more about training.

“A Hero? We can’t rely on Heros. I do what I do to protect my town. People here need help; I can’t travel around thinking I’m doing good while leaving my people behind.”

I had never seen someone talking so badly about Heroes.

“Well, I’m sorry for that, but we can grow stronger together. We are going to do the Oasis Trial.”

He didn’t like that subject.

“I would need a partner to take the Oasis Trial… wait, more of you have arrived, right?”

“Yes, five more apprentices,” Helia Vivarium answered.

The boy became thoughtful and turned his back to us.

“I have to go!”

And he just disappeared between the houses.