Cursed Soul: Ch.24

“Here's your stop. You didn't tell you were like the son of Mayor Matteo Adonna,” The Magi-Cab driver spoke with a raised eyebrow and a chuckle escaped my lips as I shook my head.

“I'm not his son. I'm simply a kid his wife used to look after.”

“Ooh~ Wait, you're that kid that saved her, right? Uh, Eric Crud or something like that?”

“Something like that. Anyway, here you go. Thanks for the lift,” I spoke with a smile as I handed the jewels over to him, to which the man gave a thumbs-up as he took the cash before driving off.

As I stood in front of the Adonna manor, I took a deep breath before walking towards the gate, watching as the guards at the front gate looked up at me with a frown.

“Name?”

“Eric Creed. Hey, Kaleb,” I greeted with a smile, watching as the burly man's eyes widened while his lanky partner looked just as shocked to see me.

“E-Eric? Damn, you've grown.”

“That's what a year in the military does to you. Are they in?”, I asked and the man chuckled as he patted my shoulder while nodding as his grinning partner opened the gate.

“Of course! They were busy with stuff earlier this morning, but I'ms ure they'd be glad to have you back!”

“I hope so. It was nice to see you and you too, Kyle.”

“Same to you, Eric!”, Kyle waved with a grin and I nodded as I continued walking, making my way across the large front yard of the manor while waving and smiling at the three gardeners busy in Lisa's rose gardens.

“Coming~!”, Lisa's voice called out as I rang the doorbell, waiting patiently for a bit before the door opened and I smiled as Lisa looked to be listening to someone inside.

“Uh, pork. He really likes pork instead of beef in his pie. Ah, apologies for tha-”

“Hey, Lisa,” I waved with a smile, amused at the sight of the older woman standing frozen in the doorway while another hand fully opened the door and Alexa, her maid, looked just as shocked as she did to see me.

“…Uh, did you malfu-!”, Lisa lunged forward and wrapped my in a tight hug, making me laugh as she swayed from side to side while peppering my face with kisses.

“Oh! Mwah! It's so good! Mwah! To see you! How have you! Mwah! Been?!”

“I've been as good as I can be,” I spoke through chuckles as I hugged her back, the woman pulling back with an excited smile before I looked up at the stairway inside to see the muscular form of Matteo walking down the stairs.

“Lisa, what's with the commotion? Is someone back?”, He asked before looking surprised and ecstatic when Lisa moved to the side and I waved with a smile.

“Hey, Mr. Adonna.”

“Eric! We knew you were coming home today, but I never expected it to be this early! I thought the Nine Battalions liked to waste time with ceremonies and stuff like that.”

“Usually, but since I'm on border patrol, I got to go away early,” I spoke with a smile as he hugged me, the man pulling back with a slightly confused look before a look of recognition appeared in his eyes as he saw the look in mine.

“Ah, well, that's good. Come in, come in. Wait, where are your bags?”

“Don't worry. They're in my Requip dimension.”

“Look at you. A year ago, you just had your jutsushiki and now you're using high-level storage magic. It's almost enough to make me proud,” Lisa said as she ruffled my hair and I rolled my eyes as we walked towards the living room.

“Don't let her fool you. When we read the letter from the General, she couldn't stop talking about you and nearly cried when she read it.”

“A certain someone is going to be crying on the couch if he keeps spilling my secret,” Lisa spoke with a thin smile and Matteo gave a sheepish smile at her words before Alexa chimed in.

“The master speaks the truth. Mrs. Lisa didn't even allow us to make any changes to your room as she wanted it to stay the same.”

“Really? Thanks. It means a lot,” I said as I gave Lisa a sidehug, chuckling as she smiled and hugged me back before looking at Matteo as he clapped his hands together.

“Well, now that you're home, let's get some food in you.”

“I'll go tell the chefs about the pork pie,” Alexa said with a smile and Lisa nodded as she walked towards the kitchen while the couple and I sat down, the two of them looking at me as I looked back.

“So, how was your time in the army? Learned anything new?”

“A couple of stuff, actually. I found out my magic for one,” I said while bringing up my Archive screens, Lisa looking impressed at them while Matteo hummed as he saw them.

“Archive, huh? Fitting for a tactical fighter such as yourself, but I have to admit that the screens themselves being a different colour intrigues me,” Matteo spoke as he touched one before pulling a finger back as it sparked, making me chuckle as I nodded and dismissed the screens.

“That's because it's actually a combination of Archive Magic and my Jutsushiki, allowing me to instantaneously cast the effect without needing to create a domain first. I call it Hymn Magic.”

“Hmm, impressive.”

“While I am glad that you boys are having so much fun, I on the other hand have absolutely no clue what's going on here,” Lisa chimed in with an amused smile and I chuckled as Matteo rolled his eyes.

“Fine, we'll talk about something else. How was life at the military?”

“A lot more fun than I was expecting. I made some friends, some of them close friends, and I did meet a woman, but uh…”

“Things didn't work out?”, Lisa asked and I gave a soft smile as I shook my head.

“Something along those lines. She, uh, died in action. That's actually the reason why I wanted to be transferred to the border posts.”

“Oh, sweetie,” Lisa cooed as she stood up and sat beside me, her hug giving off this comforting warmth while Matteo gave me a sympathetic smile.

“The passing of a partner on the field is always something that can affect even the strongest man. I saw it many times during my tenure as a Captain in the Rune Knights.”

“Yeah, I thought I was stronger and I didn't think it would hit me that hard, but it did.”

“Being strong doesn't mean you can't feel pain, Eric. It just means you keep going despite it,” Lisa spoke softly as she rubbed my back and I nodded with a smile as Matteo leaned forward.

“Take it forward one step at a time just like I taught you. The Nine Battalions didn't just train you in combat, but also forged your character. You've just need to temper your heart.”

“Thank you, Matteo.”

“Hey, Lisa sees you as a son so we thought we'd propose it to you. How does Dad sound?”, He asked as paperwork appeared in his hands and my eyes widened slightly as I looked to Lisa who had a hopeful smile.

“…Wait, you're being serious?”

“As serious as we can be. What do you say?”, Lisa asked and I smiled as I picked up the pen on the table and went to sign it before stopping just before I could.

“Uh, I can keep my last name right?”

“Eric Adonna-Creed sounds pretty cool if you ask me,” Matteo said with a shrug and I looked at him before looking to Lisa who sighed.

“You can keep your last name or you can mix them like that.”

“I think I'll mix them,” I answered while signing the documents, making Mtteo grin excitedly as he nodded while sending the documents away.

“And just like that, you're our son, which means…”, He trailed off and I jumped in my seat as party poppers exploded behind me, turning to see Alexa and the chef walking out with a cake that was nearly as tall as I was.

It appeared to be a triple-layered chocolate cake with vanilla icing and caramel sauce, the name Eric Adonna Creed written in caramel sauce on top while Alexa also carried a steaming pork pie in her hands.

“…You know what? I missed this?”

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“So, you're not staying long?”, Matteo asked as the two of us sat on the balcony and I nodded as we looked out at the bustling city of Lavender below the hill that the Adonna manor was on.

“No, I feel like if I stay in one place right now, I might feel like I need to start unpacking everything I've been holding in and I don't think I'm ready for that yet.”

“I understand. Sometimes, the worst part of coming home is having the freedom to think,” He said as he nodded slowly and I chuckled as I heard that.

“Yeah, border patrol was gruelling, but it kept my mind off of everything.”

“…When I lost Lisa all those years ago, I volunteered for every little mission I could after that. I even went halfway across Ishgar just to avoid coming back to the empty house until Alexa forced me to stay home. After that, I threw myself into paperwork like it was nothing.”

“Am I interrupting something?” I turned my head as the door behind us opened, Lisa walking out with a smile as I shrugged.

“Not really. We're jut talking.”

“Eric is thinking of leaving.”

“Hmm, you can't sit still either?”, She asked and I looked at her before smiling as I saw the look in her eyes.

“Still nightmares about that place?”

“Eh, the housework keeps me busy, but sometimes, yeah, there are…there are the odd nightmare now and then.”

“I see. Well, you did suffer for longer than I did in that Zeref cultist camp.”

“Yeah, but I do understand that staying still for too long does mess with your mind. I was the same and then you came along, the chubby monster that caused trouble for the guards and wasn't too scared to make trouble for the others. No matter where you go or how long you run, you have to remember that you'll always have a place to return to. Whenever you're ready, just come home and we'll help you heal together. Do you understand?”

“…I understand,” I spoke with a smile and she nodded as she hugged me softly, Matteo nodding in agreement as he patted my hand with a smile.

“Rest for tonight, knowing that you are finally free to do whatever you please.”

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“Hah, yep. It's as hot as I was expecting,” I muttered as I walked out of the train, nodding to the conductor while staring at the desert town in front of me.

The sun was beaming down on the sandy town while its occupants were dressed in coats and cloaks that hid their bodies from view, a sigh escaping my lips as I continued walking away from the train.

'Okay, I don't know exactly where it is, but if I use the information I got from Matteo,' I thought as I created a small Archive screen on the back of my hand, the screen turning holographic as a similar keyboard appeared below the screen.

Typing away at it as I left the town, I hummed as I managed to create a waypoint of where exactly the village I was looking for was, uploading the information and path to my brain before smirking as a highlighted path formed in front of me.

“I'm so happy I started looking at this like a system,” I murmured with a smile as I crouched slightly, a dozen smaller screens forming around my body with the symbols of winged boots at its centre.

“Hymn of Hermes: Maximum Output,” I muttered and felt the rush of energy as my body was covered in a light blue glow, my eyes sparking before I grunted and shot across the desert.

Each step shot up dust as I followed the waypoint, thankful for the past month of training that I did with Matteo to help me master my Hymns more and with it, go back to my regular and intense physical training.

Was it painful? Oh, most definitely, but the results were most definitely worth it considering that the desert town was a speck behind me while I found myself slowly approaching a dense forest.

'Okay, now I should just be able to…whoa,' I thought as I began to slow down, staring at the mountain peeking out from the top of the forest in front of me.

It was not the mountain itself but the blazing flames on top of it, the heat of it even affecting me from here despite the fact that I was so far away, slowly coming to a stop right at the edge of the forest.

“Hmm, that's pretty good so far,” I muttered as I walked into the forest, stretching my arms while making my way to where I could feel the large concentration of ethernano in the flames.

'Yeah, that's most definitely a flame worthy of a place called Sun Village. Now, last I checked, there should be giants here,' I thought as I continued walking before stumbling slightly as I heard the ground, rumble.

It was not long before I heard another and another, each making the earth tremble beneath my feet as dust trickled from the leaves above before I finally saw it.

Walking through the forest like it was grass was a figure easily ten meters tall, his skin tanneda nd his muscles as thick as tree trunks while a massive axe was strapped to his back.

Right beside him walked a red-coloured dog that was the same height as the trees, its nose sniffing low to the ground while its beady eyes looked at everything that it saw.

“Urgh~ Looks like we're not going to find the one we saw heading here, Betsy. Maybe we should have waited at the village like the chief said,” I heard the giant murmur and frowned at that, slowly taking a deep breath before doing a foolish move and walking towards them.

As soon as I walked out into the clearing that their footsteps had made, both instantly looked at me while I smiled and raised my hands.

“Hey, you guys from the Sun Village?”

“…Attack!”, The giant shouted as he took off his axe, making me jump in surprise as the dog lunged at me before I rolled through its neck, slamming my palm on the ground and creating a giant green-coloured screen with a golden wheat at its centre.

“Hymn of Demeter!”, The ground erupted outwards as numerous wooden tendrils grew upwards, wrapping around the limbs of the dog and pinning it down while I frowned as the giant swiftly swung his axe and cut through the roots with ease.

“Hey! I'm not trying to fight, okay?! I simply want to talk!”

“Oh, okay,” Once again, I was surprised as the giant calmed down just as quickly as he was enraged, watching the figure put his axe away and sitting down on the floor with a calm smile while I slowly pulled away the vines on his dog.

'…This shit is so confusing.'

A/N: And we're finally kicking off the story as we get to the Sun Village~!!

Next chapter: A Red Flare and a Crimson Flame.

As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…

Ba-Bye~!!