Danmachi: Westward Cloud [Complete]

[Vol.4] Quest 347- Auberon & Cirrus

The next day, out in the forests near the Demeter Familia farmland.

The father and son were walking through nature, having a nice snack.

"So, do you always come here?" Cirrus said.

"Sometimes when I finish early," Auberon said next to his father.

"I’m surprised you help out the Demeter Familia. Do you do it just to get out into nature?"

"Sometimes, but also for the pocket change!"

"Does your mom know you do this?"

"Hm! She introduced me! She said elves should occasionally go into nature. Plus, the food is really good! Lady Demeter always makes it with love!"

"I’m sure she does. Hm!" Cirrus takes a bite of the food Demeter has prepared. "So," he says, wiping the crumbs from his mouth. "Do you wanna just walk around? It would be a waste to just sit here on a nice day."

"Yeah!" He said, beaming with a smile like moonlight. "Can I get on your shoulders?"

"Sure thing." Cirrus picks his son up onto his shoulders.

‘Come on, lift him up!’

Cirrus got him on his shoulders with some effort.

"Oooh!" he said, impressed by the height. "Dad, do you think I will grow up to be as big as you?"

"Well, since your mother is taller than me, probably. Hm!" Cirrus gets up on his feet.

His strength was enough for him to carry his son on his shoulder.

‘Come on, not today!’ Cirrus said to himself.

They continue to walk through the wilderness, enjoying the greenery and beauty of the woods.

"And what’s this flora?" Cirrus said, pointing at a mushroom.

"That’s a Blue-Ringed Cap, it’s very poisonous."

"Oh? And what of that yellow flower?"

"That’s a Sunny Dahlia!"

"Why is it called that?"

"They only bloom during the summer on sunny days! They were also discovered by Dahlia Summers, so... yeah."

"Do you wanna discover a flower one day?

"Hmm… Maybe. But most of the flora has already been discovered."

"What about the frontier?"

"Hm… Maybe I’ll go there one day like Mom did and just explore. Maybe I’ll find something amazing!"

"I’m sure you would."

They went by the riverside.

"Do you know this fish, Auby?"

"Hmm... no, but do you know?"

"Yes, this one is called—" He swipes his hand into the water, grabbing the fish. "A White-Scale Trout. You can see the single white scale on its forehead." He shows it to his son.

"Wow! Why does it have one white scale?"

Cirrus tosses it back into the river.

"It’s to help discern which is male and which is female. They have special eyes that let them see color more accurately."

"Really!? How do you know that?"

"Lord Poseidon told me."

"Do you think you can teach me?"

"Maybe, but how about I teach you some camping skills? Unless your mother taught you? Has she?"

"No!" he blurted out, not wanting the day to end with his father. "Can you teach me, father?"

"Of course. Now the first thing we need to do is make camp so we can sleep."

"But we have nowhere to sleep?"

"Auby." Auberon looked at his father as a magic circle appeared. "(Theïká Panoplía: Cretan.)" A thick coat covered Cirrus.

"Whoa!" His eyes were starry-eyed. "That looks so warm!"

"It is, so let’s enjoy the day."

"Hm!"

They continued to walk through nature until the stars came out.

"Uuuo!" Auberon looked at the stars, amazed by their splendor.

"Nice out here, huh? No light pollution to stop us from watching the stars."

"Light pollution?" Auberon said, confused by the term.

"Has Artemis or Malion ever said that term?"

"Um, not really. I didn’t even know it had a term. So light pollution is what?"

"Ah well, it’s just an excessive or misdirected amount of artificial light that messes with natural darkness. So all those lights in the city mess with the lights of the stars."

"Uoo! I get it!"

"Say, while we are on the topic of stars and light, do you know that the stars we are looking up at right now could already be dead?"

"… What? H-how!? They are still shining!"

"Well, yeah, but that is because of how light works. Think of a light, like sound in a cave. When you speak, it echoes through it right all the way through until it loses energy."

"Uh-huh."

"So light works in the same way, except it will keep going until something stops it."

‘I think that’s how it works? It’s been a long time since I read up on or thought about physics or astronomy.’

"Wow!" His son’s eye flickered with awe. "So we are looking at a star in the past, right? That is what you mean?"

"… Yeah." Cirrus smiled. He made some connections with the dots to make a line. "Exactly. So if you happen to find a planet out in space, you will be seeing their past and not their present."

Cirrus taught Auberon how to start a fire and even how to hunt. The last thing he taught him was how to properly prepare a hunted prey, from skinning it to deboning fish.

As the food cooked over the campfire, Auberon sat with his father in his armor.

"Hey, Dad, can I ask how you and Mom got together? You two don’t seem to have very much in common?"

"Well, you're right, but we got together through a Dungeon Date. We are surprisingly similar in how we fight."

‘Especially when we get in the heat of the moment in the Volcanic Floors. Oh, how her skin glistened with sweat—‘

"Dad, can you teach me how to fight without any weapons?"

"Hm? Oh, some martial arts? Well, Ai is better at it than me, but sure, I can show you a few tricks before bed."

"Can we do it now?"

"Well, you do have energy... After we eat, we can do it."

Later at night.

"Good! Good! Keep your form up! A moment’s hesitation can end your life. Remember that." Cirrus said shirtless, with not a speck of sweat on him.

"Huff! Huff! Huff! This is fun! But I’m a bit tired and sweaty." Auberon said, also with his shirt off.

"Go and take a bath; I’ll go prepare the camp. Here." He tosses him a dagger. "Just for extra security."

"Got it!" He then runs off.

As Auberon runs off, Cirrus heads back to camp.

"Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!" Cirrus slams into a tree in a coughing fit.

"Sir!" Hecton appeared, grabbing Cirrus. "You know you can’t do any more strenuous exercise! Your body is already nearing its limit."

"Huff! Huff! Huff! If I can’t play around with my kid, then fucking kill me now." Cirrus forcibly gets up, with help from Hecton. "I want my children to have one last good memory of me before the black dragon wakes up."

"Sir…" Hecton says nothing more and takes out several more potions. "You are running out soon."

"How much is left?"

"2, maybe 3 days more if you don’t push it. First, let me see how far the condition has spread."

Cirrus touches his belt buckle to reveal a magic stone. Once he presses it, a very thin sheet of magic wears off, revealing his true body. His body, which was already heavily riddled with scars, was now covered in black veins and bruises from when he played with his son. He was also drenched in sweat.

"It’s progressed a bit more. Fafnir, can you collect herbs?"

Fafnir quickly left his shadow and went through the night to collect herbs, to make more potions, and prologue his condition as much as they could.

A while later after everything was done the father and son are huddled together in the dead of night. Auberon sits on his father's lap, he leans his head on his shoulder as well. Cirrus was using his Cretan armor to keep Auberon warm and secured as he wrapped him.

"Hey dad can I ask you another question?" Auberon asked looking up at his father.

"Of course. What is it?"

"Well I was wondering, you are a hero, right?"

Cirrus rose an eyebrow.

"What brought this out?"

"Well mom mentioned the moment she fell in love with you. She said it was the day you became a hero."

"Hm..." Cirrus nods. He remembers that day as well. "Well... I am. You know your aunt Circe is a Spirit right?"

"Yeah." he nods. "What about it?"

"Well you see more than a thousand years ago before the gods descended to Gekai, the gods sent down Spirits like your aunt Circe to help people. Those spirits would find people and make a contract with them to gain their respected magic from the contracted spirit."

"But none of your magic is like Aunty Circe? You have the armor, the lightning, and... hm? Do you have a third magic?"

"I do. It to let me summon your aunty wherever I am."

"Oh, but Aunty Circe's magic doesn't do that?"

"You are right. You see that is because of the Falna, our status that are on our backs kinda changes stuff around. But that is besides the point I am getting to. You see when a spirit makes a contract they in turn have chosen their hero who they would work for. Your aunties title is the Unique Spirit of Witchcraft, and so as a hero I would be known as the Hero of Witchcraft."

"So that is what you are called? The Hero of Witchcraft?"

"No." He shook his head and his lips curled into a warm and affectionate smile as he remembers Nox. "I made another contract with a Spirit by the name of Nox."

"Nox? I haven't heard of her? Where is she?"

"She died saving me."

"... Oh." A gloomy expression stains him. It explained why he never brought her up. "I-I'm sorry."

"Don't be. She died with a smile on her face. It was her title that I took on. I became Cirrus Zephyr, Hero of the White Night."

"Ooh!" Auberon liked the title, it sounded so grand, so impressive, so unique. "S-so would I also be able to be a hero if I make a contract with a Spirit?" He said with a big smile.

"Who knows." He shrugged his shoulder. "Spirits like Nox and Circe are pretty much extinct, hunted down or died over the years."

"O-oh..." His smile left him just as quickly as it came.

"Don't be sad, you can still be a hero like your uncle Bell."

"Yeah but..." He looked his father in the eyes. "But I wanna be a hero like you, dad."

Cirrus' heart grew ten sizes, a warmth ran through his body as joy quickly showed itself on Cirrus' face.

"Thank you, Auberon."

Cirrus had the biggest smile he ever had. Auberon seeing his smile also smiled.

"S-so um what do I need to do to be a hero like you dad?"

"Ah well..." Cirrus gives it some thought and figured he could at least see how Auberon views being a hero. "Auby, tell me, what is a hero to you?"

"Well a hero should be able to save a lot of people, kill monsters and be a beacon of justice."

"Then let me ask you a question. What's the difference between a hero and a coward?"

"... Uh..." Auberon messed with his hair thinking on the question. "I don't know, what?"

"There is no difference, inside they're both exactly alike. Both are scared of dying or getting hurt. But it's what the hero does that makes him a hero, its what the other guy doesn't do what makes them a coward."

Auberon thoroughly chewed and digested this. To him this was a clear difference of knowledge and experience.

"Auberon." His father spoke up. "If you wish to be a hero that is fine, perfectly. But I don't want you to be like me."

"Why not? You are the best hero I know! You are the strongest adventurer in the whole world! Why?"

"Because as a father I want you to be better than me. I asked you this question because I wished to know what your headspace was on being a hero. Their are many kinds of heroes Auberon, I am a hero that has only one thing reason to be kept around."

Auberon didn't want to ask but his curiosity begged to be satiated. He was learning so much about his father that he must keep pushing.

"What's the reason?"

"To kill the Black Dragon." Cirrus said it with such boldness, such assuredness and just everything Cirrus had came out of those words of how serious he was.

"!!!" Auberon shuttered at how firm his father was on this. No words could deter him from his answer. "I-is that really all?"

"Yes." He nods. "I am but a relic of a long, long bygone era that has already come and gone long before I was even born, yet I find myself a product of it. So as a father I say this, I do mean with this complete sincerity but to be a hero like me is to know that your end will be that of a tragedy."

"A... tragedy? Why do you say that?"

"..." Cirrus takes a deep breathe and holds his son close. "It's getting late, Auby. I am getting up in years, I don't have the energy I use to." He puts on a big smile.

"... Okay, dad."

"Good night, Auberon." Cirrus kisses his son on the forehead.

"Night dad."

Auberon slowly goes to sleep in his father's hold. He felt a foreboding feeling from his fathers last words. He does not wish for his father to have a tragedy, he doesn't want anything bad to happen to him period. Yet his words hold weight in his mind, weight that no matter how much he tries he can't lighten.

Back in Orario.

"Hmm…" Artemis is looking through the closet.

"Are you looking for something?" Ai asked.

"I am looking for the invisibility cloak. I wanna surprise Cirrus when he gets back."

"I thought you said using it lessens your skills in hiding?"

"Well, I wanna surprise him. Is it that so bad?"

"No… Fine, I’ll help look. It should be in here." Ai looked around.