Rocky friendships

It's the dawn of a new day and following his everyday routine Ariel goes to Lucy's room to bring her breakfast. It's been a few weeks since Bel in his own words "made a small boo boo" but she has slowly started to recover. At least now she can eat on her own but she still can barely say a word, she spends almost all day watching through the window of her room and her belly has started to show signs of her pregnancy.

"You poor girl, I wish I could do more for you, I guess we're both stuck with that idiot for now." Ariel starts talking to Lucy even though he is not sure if she can even understand what he is saying. At least she looks at him and appears to be listening although she doesn't respond. "Don't worry I promise I'll-" Before he can finish what he was saying a loud explosion shocks the entire castle and makes him almost fall to the floor. "What the heck was that!?" After making sure Lucy was fine Ariel leaves her room and goes to investigate and he quickly finds the cause of the explosion.

"Hahaha! This is amazing! So, you're telling me I can build and test as many bombs as I want without danger of destroying the castle!? This is like a dream come true!" Steel jumps up and down excited thinking of all the possibilities that are open now that she doesn't have to worry about cave-ins or annoying siblings telling her that she accidentally killed someone from the tribe.

"That's right, just keep in mind I might ask you to go out and gather some info for me every now and then, and you'll also have to use those bombs of yours to help me defend the castle whenever someone tries to invade it." I say to the blissful goblin girl.

"Pshh that's easy peasy, we goblins are good hiding ourselves, big sisters taught me everything about how to sneak around!" Steel says prideful of her skills. Goblins being sneaky is something that I expected but I am curious about how she learned to make bombs but before I can ask her my Guardian Angel barges into the courtyard to interrupt our conversation

"Hey little green menace! Can you keep it down!" Ariel says extremely annoyed to Steel who hides behind me as soon as she sees Ariel.

"Shut it scary bird woman! What is a bomb without a big boom!? A big disappointment that's what it is!" Steel says while peeking from my back but as soon as she sees Ariel glaring at her she lets out a small meep and hides again.

"Hey you shouldn't bully our new companion Ariel, try to get along with her." I try to calm down the furious little angel but it seems I only make him angrier.

"C-companion!? I am the Lion of Heaven! Lord of Air! And now I'm companion of a weak little goblin...How is this my life..."

Meanwhile in a small village nearby.

"Amber! Amber where are you!? Urgh! Every time I take my eyes off her she just leaves and does whatever she wants!" A young girl with long red hair is exasperatingly looking for one of her companions.

"Ah Ingrid it's so good to see you again!" A priestess carrying a basket with food greets the irritated red-haired swordswoman "Are you perhaps looking for Amber?"

"Yes! Do you know where she is Sister?" Ingrid eyes open up when she hears that the priestess seems to know the whereabouts of her missing companion.

"I asked her to keep an eye on the children while I went to the market. So, she should be near the church. Why don't we walk there together." The priestess warmly extends an invitation to Ingrid.

"Sure! Oh, and please allow me to help you with that basket Sister." Ingrid answers immediately without hesitation.

"Oh! thank you Ingrid but there's no need I can carry it myself..." The priestess responds feeling a little overwhelmed by Ingrid's attitude.

"Please Sister I insist" Ingrid pretty much yanks the basket off the priestess hands and starts walking with her towards a small church located near the town center. Next to the church there was an orphanage that sheltered children who lost their parents to the war against the forces of the Dark.

"Yay Sister Cecile is back! Let's go Amber!" Behind the orphanage was a meadow where a bunch of children were playing with a lightly dressed, cheerful girl with short brown hair and cat ears.

"Ok! Ok! You don't need to pull me. Oh! Hey Ingrid!" The roguish cat girl addresses her friend as she is dragged by her hands by a pair of little kids.

"Don't you 'Hey Ingrid' me Amber! Eirina told us to stay put while she was talking to the mayor! What were you doing!" Ingrid answers angrily to the nonchalant cat girl.

"Well, I couldn't visit the village without stopping by and say hi to the kids. And Cecile looks like she could use a hand and lucky for her both of my hands were available at the time. It's not my fault that when Eirina told us to stay put you took it way too literally." Amber answers casually while Ingrid seems to be getting more upset with each passing second.

"Please don't fight in front of the children!" Cecile scolds the two young women, her voice exuding such **** that it instantly makes the two girls calm down.

"My apologies Sister." Ingrid says bowing her head towards the priestess.

"Yeah, sorry Cecile, teasing Ingrid is fun but the children don't deserve to see her fuming face." Amber adds with a mischievous grin on her face.

"Why you little...!"

"I said no fighting." The fair nun once again silences both young adventurers with just her voice and stops their quarreling from escalating more.

"Impressive, maybe you should join our party Cecile, not even I can keep this two from butting heads with each other as well as you." An incredibly beautiful young-looking woman with long blonde hair, bright blue eyes and thin long ears arrives and joins the group of girls.

"I'm afraid my adventuring days are over. I couldn't possibly keep the pace with young girls like them." The priestess voice returns to her usual serene tone as she greets the beautiful elven girl.

"I don't know you still look pretty young to me. I bet you could teach them a thing or two. And you two, can you explain why are you here bothering Cecile and causing a scene in front of the children!" The authoritative elf asks her companions even though the children actually seem excited to see the two adventurers fight and now are a little disappointed that the grownups put a stop to them.

"Eirina! I'm sorry I know you asked us to wait for you but then Amber disappeared and...!" Ingrid starts trying to find a good excuse.

"Eiri please tell Ingrid that you didn't actually expect us to stay standing there like statues while you were talking to the mayor." Amber interrupts Ingrid's blabber looking for the approval of the group's leader.

"Both of you misjudged the situation. Amber, couldn't you have just told Ingrid where you were heading instead of disappearing on her." Eirina scolds the cat girl who now has her gaze on the floor.

"I guess..." Amber answers while Ingrid has a triumphant smirk on her face.

"And you Ingrid, your discipline is commendable but you need to learn how to be more flexible or you will end up limiting yourself." The elf comments erasing Ingrid's smile from her face.

"I understand ma'am."

"Well, that was a wonderful teaching moment, as expected of an adventurer as experienced as you Eirina." Cecile claps trying to cheer up the admonished girls. "Are you three going to be staying in the village for a while? You could join me and the children for dinner."

"Sorry Cecile but I'm afraid we'll need to leave immediately. The mayor told me how those annoying imps had started growing bolder these last few days. Last night they even attacked one of the farmers who was part of the night watch. According to the mayor the imps seem to have set up some sort of base in the abandoned castle near the Ancient Forest." Eirina pulls out a map from her pocket and puts it on a table nearby.

"I see, if we leave now, we'll be able to reach it before nightfall and prevent any more attacks." Ingrid comments as she analyses the map and the route they are going to take.

"Abandoned castle? Isn't that...!" Cecile lets out a gasp when she sees the location where the group of adventurers is heading to.

"Uh? What is it Cecile you know that place?" Amber asks the shocked priestess.

"Kids go play outside for a moment. I need to have an adult talk with the ladies." Trying her best to keep her voice calm Cecile asks the children to leave and they obediently listen to her unable to detect the subtle changes in the priestess mood.

"Remember the two older orphans that used to live here? A boy and a girl that were inseparable."

"You mean young Edmund and Lucy, yeah I remember them. I taught Edmund a little bit of swordplay and Lucy some magic. They said they wanted to become adventurers to help you and the other orphans." Eirina recalls the two younglings who used to cling to her begging her to tell them stories of her various trips and to teach them all sorts of stuff.

"Yeah, and since then they trained diligently and were able to join the Adventurer's Guild. They started with easy quests here and there and they were slowly improving and gaining more confidence. Lucy used to send me a letter almost every day telling me all about the quests they would take and the adventures they were having. But around one month ago the letters stopped. On her last one she mentioned how excited Edmund was for receiving their first dungeon quest. And since the Hero defeated the Demon King most of the Dark forces have abandoned this area and almost all of the dungeons are abandoned or are inhabited by low level monsters so I didn't worry too much about them...but... but..." Tears start to form on Cecile's eyes and Eirina warmly holds her hand.

"I see. You don't need to continue Cecile." Eirina consoles the sobbing priestess.

"I... I know that it would be a miracle but if somehow, they are still alive..." Cecile manages to say between her sobbing.

"Don't worry Sister we'll be sure to bring them back here safe and sound!" Ingrid declares bravely with a heroic smile in her face.

"We'll do our best Cecile, just take a moment to calm yourself down, you can't let the other children see you like this, you need to be strong for them." Instructs Eirina.

"Yeah...yeah you're right. Thank you Eirina!" Cecile says drying her tears while Eirina smiles and gives her a reassuring nod.

"Ingrid, Amber, gather your stuff we leave immediately." Eirina looks at her companions, who, after hearing the priestess story, now show the same determination in their eyes as her.

"Yes ma'am!"

"You got it Eiri!"