Chapter 74: Christina

“I’m looking for a man. He’s around my height and a bit rude. You’ve probably seen him, he came in to buy this sword.” Thadius displayed Serenity hanging on his hip. Without a cloak, it was hard to see the endless breeze the sword caused.

“Oh yeah! He has a wolf-head cloak right? He came around here about a week ago. He...gave you the sword?” Tommy’s eyes lit up at the mention of the man who purchased his master’s greatest work, but as he eyed the sword in question, he frowned.

“My brother showed up and suddenly tossed me this sword. All he said was ‘Take it. It suits you.’, then he walked off. The only time I saw him before that was at our master’s funeral. Since then, it’s damn near impossible to get us in the same room together.” Thadius sighed. “Any clue where he went?”

“He’s your brother? You guys do kinda have the same feel. It’s actually a little weird.” Tommy scrutinized Thadius for a moment before shaking his head. “Forget it. All I know is that he was asking for the price of buying a shop like this. He might be looking to start his own shop soon.”

“Well, that’s like him I suppose. He’s a pretty gifted tailor. No use chasing his shadow, in any case. To business.” Thadius put his shield on the counter and pulled out some of the hydra materials from his pack. “I need this repaired as soon as possible using these materials. I’d also like to bother you to forge a sword that doesn’t have a guard on it. It also needs to fly straight if it’s thrown.”

“Thrown!?” Tommy looked up from inspecting the shield. It was the first time he’d ever heard of such a request. “So you want a sword that’s good for throwing?”

“No. I want a sword that’s made to be thrown. I’d also like it to be a bit durable please. I’ll be doing a lot of tests.”

Tommy nodded. “We can take care of it, no problem. but the shops gonna be closed before we can finish you order. The shield is pretty banged up, and I want to let my master take a crack at that throwing sword. He likes to hog all the uncommon orders.”

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“Then I’ll return tomorrow.” Thadius said. He wasted no time in leaving and hurried to get to the church in order to meet up with Christina and Yuna.

Yet, as Thadius made his way to the Church, he felt that someone was following him. The one following him wasn’t exactly close, but it looked like it was only surveillance for now. If they attacked, he would be ready.

Thadius walked into the church and stood just behind the doors to check on the person tailing him. After a few minutes, the person seemed to run out of patience and left, however, it still left Thadius a bit puzzled. He was wearing the full uniform of the city guard, so it would be hard to recognize him if the stalker was the assassin from a while back. So he was now left with the question of who it could possibly be. In the end, Thadius didn’t dwell on it. Since he didn’t know, he would just have to find out eventually.

He found a priest a lot quicker this time around and quickly asked for Christina. Thankfully, it was one of the priests that was ogling Christina the last time he came. As soon as he saw Thadius take off his helmet, the priest’s jaw dropped.

“Good afternoon, I’ve come to visit my companion. She’s easy to remember, so you should know who I’m talking about, right?” Thadius smiled.

“Yes! I’ll go right now, sir! Excuse me, sir! I’ll be right back, sir!” The priest bowed several times before he finally left. The impression he had toward Thadius, the winner of a Silver Champion’s Belt, was very deep.

Thadius shook his head and smiled at the man’s comical display then silently waited. Only a few minutes had passed before he could suddenly feel someone rushing toward him at a remarkable speed. Shifting his feet, he fully braced himself for the unseen goddess that had the power to knock him to the ground.

Yuna hugged Thadius at full speed and whispered excitedly, “Thadius! You’re finally back!”

“I’m back. So don’t try so hard to tackle me to the ground. You know I’m not comfortable with being sacked.” Thadius smiled. Then he looked up to see Christina running.

“Thadius!” she smiled brightly.

Seeing her so excited, Thadius couldn’t help but smile. “Word has it that you became a Priestess while I was away?”

“And she almost died.” Yuna tossed in.

“What?” Thadius asked, looking directly at the vanished Yuna.

“It was that guy that attacked us when we first came to the city.” Yuna replied.

Thadius sighed heavily. Then, after giving Christina a quick glance, he went over the details with the tiny goddess.

Although it wasn't intentional, that one glance was enough to stop Christina in her tracks. She couldn’t explain it well, but to her, that one glance was more terrifying than being attacked by the assailant the other day.

“And then he said something about the Hall of Shadows or something. So there could be other guys coming too.” Yuna shrugged after she finished narrating her day out with the girls.

“It's enough that no one was hurt.” Thadius made the motion to rub Yuna’s head out of habit, but then he remember his injuries and retracted. It wasn’t until then that the others noticed Thadius’ bandaged hands.

‘You’re injured?” Christina couldn’t suppress the uneasiness from before, but this was her moment to shine. She wanted to be able to offer support in moments like these.

“It’s not as bad as it was, but it would be a lot better after some official healing.” Thadius held out his hands and let Christina unwrap his hands.

Once the injuries were revealed, however, things were not as calm as they were before.

“What the heck!?” Yuna screamed as she looked at the melted flesh with her face warped in terror. She didn’t even bother to remain concealed.

Christina’s reaction wasn’t much better. She stood frozen in place, the only movement being the trembling hands that held Thadius’.

“Who did this!?” Yuna questioned.

“It was a hydra. But it’s dead now so-”

“A monster did this!? Thadius, we were practically trained to kill monsters! What the heck were you doing out there!” Yuna’s eyes watered as she shook Thadius’ arm. By now, Christina had recovered and was wholeheartedly trying to heal the grotesque wounds.

Under Yuna’s scolding, Thadius truthfully replied, “I was trying to do too much instead of focusing on killing the monster as quickly as possible. I was careless.”

“Careless?” Yuna’s voice caught in her throat as she tearfully glared at him. The worst injury she’d ever seen him with was a bruise, and at that time, she had been the culprit. Now, he came back from some random trip with his hands in this shape. How could she ever be at ease letting him go off by himself if a single moment of carelessness could result in such injuries?

’Good thing she didn’t come to the coliseum that day.’ Thadius thought.

He looked down at the tiny goddess and said, “I learned a valuable lesson when I went out this time. I won’t let myself get hurt like this again if I can help it.”

Yuna remained unconvinced. Her dark silver eyes were resolute. “You won’t be leaving me behind next time. I’m going with you.”

“Christina isn’t ready for something like that, and we can’t just leave her behind.” Thadius made a wry smile. He knew coming back injured would have Yuna anxious to let him leave. Even if he was a Traveler, no one wanted a loved one to die.

Yuna sent a glance to Christina full of frustration and impatience. “I’ll make sure she’s ready!”

Seeing Yuna give her such a look, Christina suddenly knew why that one glance from Thadius had given her such a feeling of unease. Ever since she left home, she had seen with her own eyes just how strong Yuna and Thadius were. In an act of selfishness, she chose to follow them. No matter what, she didn’t want Thadius to leave her behind. However, instead of being left behind, something much worse was happening; she was holding them back. And that look from Thadius, it was a look of uncertainty. Whether it was uncertainty toward her future or her place with them, it was impossible for her to be sure. In the end, she could just be imagining things as well, but it made her feel so small.

’Who knows where they would be right now if I hadn’t come with them! Christina thought as she bowed her head and cast another heal.

“Christina…” Thadius said softly. Her dejected appearance gave him a deep feeling of guilt. He didn’t want to make it sound like she was a burden, but she had to know how dangerous it would be traveling with them from now on.

“Yes.” she replied meekly, not daring to meet his eyes.

“When we fought the hydra, only one person died. His name was Marcus. He was our Priest.” Thadius said.

Hearing that the only one that died was the priest, Christina flinched.

Thadius continued, “The monster targeted him Christina. It saw how he would heal us and it killed him first to give us a harder time. I don’t want to scare you, but there will be times where Yuna and I cannot protect you in time. There will also be enemies of ours that will come after you first because you’re a Priestess. So before we go anywhere, it’s extremely important that you learn to defend yourself. Even more so because of how important your role is to the people around you.”

Christina nodded with the edge of her eyes glistening. Her thoughts immediately pictured a young woman fighting by Thadius’ side, protecting his blind spots, and healing him when he’s injured. The young woman in that vision of hers wasn’t herself, but the Red Hand, Rosemary.

Thadius pulled her into a hug, hoping to lift her spirits, and she welcomed it wholeheartedly, leaning her head against his chest.

’Even if she’s perfect for him. She’s not here!’ Christina closed her eyes and immersed herself in the embrace. Although she felt inferior to the woman she’s never seen. She was never one to give up when things get tough. All she needed was time, and she could gain the ability needed to stand beside Thadius in his adventures.

“You two won’t have to worry about me going anywhere for now. I have plenty of things I want to work on while we’re in Todos. Christina, what’s the name of the High Priest here? Or is it a Priestess?” Thadius asked while releasing Christina from his arms. When she looked into his eyes, he saw a stubbornness within the heavenly glow.

“The High Priest’s name is Nigel. If you’re looking for him, he’s usually in his office in the afternoon.” she replied.

Thadius shook his head. “I won’t be meeting him today, I want to get some tailoring done. Now, tell me what else has happened this week.”

Thadius listened to all their various stories and shared a little about his trip to the Mists of Croaka. In the end, he didn’t stay too long since he needed to prepare a few things for tomorrow.

Once he walked outside again, he scanned the surroundings with his Holy Fighting Aura to make sure he wasn’t followed, then he set off to a nearby inn for a place to sit down and weave in peace. Out of all the things he was the most anxious about while he was in the mists, the first was his companions, and the second was his earnings from the tailoring shop.

’I really hope nothing went wrong. Thadius sighed heavily. Tonight was going to be a busy night for him, and tomorrow was going to be a another full day. Slowly but surely, he had to set his plans into motion.