Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

To the knocking of her front door, Helga awoke. Still a bit rattled by last night, she hugged her daughters a bit tighter for a few more minutes before finally letting go. Watching them sleep as she moved out of the room, her gaze never left them until her leg felt something furry by her leg.

"Oh, it's you…" The panting face of a dog was staring right back at her. "I almost forgot that you lived with us, Cerberus."

Even the name made her slightly confused. Was it Chimera or Cerebus? She couldn't be sure, and before she could give it a second thought, another knock on the front door brought her back to her senses.

"Who the hell?" Quickly getting closer to the door, Helga pressed her face against the door and looked through the peephole. To her surprise, it was the same man who'd helped her get her daughters to her home in Elenaris last night.

"Raven?" Grabbing the handle, she opened the door. "What are you doing here? I thought you would've been back to Athenia by now."

Before the hero could give her an answer, the distant sound of rushing feet and chaos made its way to Helga's ears. Squinting, she stuck her head out of the door and watched as the people were rushing all over and being chased by the automatons to remain in their homes. By the time her gaze returned to the warlord, he'd already grabbed her hand and showed her everything that he'd experienced since last night.

Instantly, the valkyrie's mood soured. She had no clue that the monster that they were fighting last night was after one of the soldiers and Shamisha, not to mention the king's guard–a name not too unfamiliar to her.

"What the fuck is happening? In such a short time, how could–" Being quickly pushed into her house, Helga's words were cut short. Looking up at Raven again, she was confused as to what he wanted from her. "You got a letter, I'm assuming everyone's at the castle trying to untangle this mess?"

Having seen absolutely everything, the valkyrie knew about the letter and why Raven was with her at the moment. The chaos of it all had been apparent to the party, and since the only person who could explain the city's condition was Mono, everyone had rushed right to her–everyone but Raven, who wanted to talk about what Helga knew of that monster from last night as well as trying to potentially find out what was happening by talking to some local.

"Well, I would love to untangle it, but everyone's leaving for Athenia for some reason and nobody's willing to talk."

"Just grab their hands then! Get the information that you need!" Helga suggested, her fingers squeezing Raven's arms.

Brushing them off, he stared into Helga's eyes. At first, confusion took hold of the Valkyrie, but then as his lips moved closer, her body leaned in and in a flash, the anxiety was whisked away by a soft, tender kiss. Cerebus, barked of course–a loyal pet to a fault, it felt a strange need to do so.

As their lips parted, Raven looked into the now numbed eyes of the valkyrie and whispered with his hands squeezing hers.

"I wanted to get you and your daughters out of here before something happens, and that's why I didn't do what might seem obvious." Blinking at his response, Helga's throat went heavy, and her heart squeezed tight inside her chest. A blush came over not long after, but with the rushing footsteps echoing through the open door.

Slipping away from his grasp, her head lowered for a spell. Looking around frantically, she quickly rushed towards the bedroom and whistled for the dog to follow her. Closing the door behind him in the meantime, Raven closed his eyes and tried to make contact with Mel. But with their range being too far, the mental link didn't work, and when he tried to get through with the necklace, there was absolutely no response.

'These stupid items…' Squeezing the necklace, he cursed just how much they seemed to fail nowadays. Always gave up when he required them the most, but at least for now, the monster holding the bracelet still worked.

'How about you guys? Hanging in there?' He asked, and Mino responded from within the jewel.

'My back hurts from the construction, and Arche is feeling tired too, only Maine is in any good to do anything to be completely honest.' Her voice was laced with discomfort; it was clear that her back pain had completely broken her at the moment.

'I'll give you guys a massage later, let's try to pull through this first, okay?'

'Mhmm.'

Accepting the offer, the spirit warlord went quiet yet again. At that very moment, a flash of blue appeared in the bedroom and as Raven lifted his head to find out why, he was met with Helga walking out and quickly closing the door behind her.

"I teleported them to Athenia." Her hand still fixed on the doorknob, Helga leaned her head all the way back and heaved a sigh. Hunching over as if her entire body was collapsing under the stress, she slowly glanced sideways at Raven with a weak smile. "Markus has one of the jewels. They'll be with him until we figure out what's going on."

"Why didn't you go?" He asked, furrowing in confusion.

Instead of a response, however, Helga looked to the door once again and closed her eyes. The very next moment, her clothes melted into a glowing light of silver, and what came in their place was an armour made of dark steel and violet gryphon hide. And as her eyes slowly opened and landed on Raven, it was clear from the sharp look in them that she was ready to deal with this mess so that her daughters would be safe again.

There was much Raven could've said, but in that moment, he knew that nothing would convince her, and thus, instead of trying to talk her out of it, he humored, "Looks better than the dress you had on at the party."

With her expression breaking into a smile, the duo readied themselves to head to the dark castle. There lay the answers to their queries, but more importantly, a threat that could no longer be ignored or allowed to live.