This is a Tales of Zestiria fan fiction and that game is exactly where the cover art is from. This is the result of a role play with me and my best friend, Robin Logan! I played Sorey, Lailah and Edna while she played Mikleo and Alisha.

Normally, the idea of traversing a ruin-like area with his best friend Mikleo was enough to get Sorey elated, but not like this. Not when they were separated from their companions: Lailah, Edna and Alisha. Too bad Alisha couldn't teleport like his Seraph companions; if she could there wouldn't be a problem...

Oh well, worrying about it wouldn't help anything. They needed to focus, in case any Hellions attack them.

"Hmm...I wonder how big these ruins even are." Mikleo mumbled after a bit of walking in silence with Sorey, glancing around cautiously.

"Me too, it definitely seems bigger than your average ruin." Sorey commented.

"Yeah...I hope the others will be okay. Though, with Lailah, Edna, and Alisha all together, I guess they should be." Mikleo, said, crossing his arms.

"I'm sure you're right." Sorey tried to push away the worries lingering. After a bit more traveling, they came to a fork in the path. "Should we go right or left?"

"Hmm, maybe we should go right, if it's fine with you?" Mikleo asked, staring at his friend.

"Fine with me." Sorey nodded to Mikleo, starting down that path.

Mikleo followed him, glancing around wearily as they walked. Sorey's senses grew alert as he felt the prickle of malevolence; a hellion had to be nearby. "Ready, Mikleo?"

"Of course," Mikleo said with a nod, tightening his grip on his staff. "Though we should definitely be more careful now."

Four wolf-like creatures surfaced themselves, ready to attack. Sorey charged in on the offensive, giving some space for Mikleo to cast.

Mikleo began casting arts then, attacking the wolves from a safe distance. Unfortunately for them, one of the wolf creatures howled, signaling several more to come assault them. The sheer amount was becoming overwhelming for just the two of them. It would have been fine if their three companions were present...

Mikleo groaned slightly as he continued to cast his arts. "Honestly, I'm not sure if we can handle much more of this!"

Nodding, Sorey retreated a bit closer to Mikleo. "C'mon Mikleo, let's transform!" Sorey called.

Mikleo nodded, "Right."

"Luzrov Rulay!" After the words left Sorey's mouth, the rush of power came over him as he and Mikleo combined their powers, letting out several rounds with the bow and water attacks. Easily, the rest of the wolf hellions were purified and the battle was over. Letting out a tired sigh, Sorey released the transformation and his muscles slacked.

Mikleo let out a sigh of relief. "That was tough..."

"Guess I kinda forgot how easy it is to fight when we have the others with us." Sorey admitted, just about to sheath his sword.

Just then, Mikleo widened his eyes, looking past Sorey. "Sorey, another one!"

Surprised and caught off guard, Sorey raised his sword to block the oncoming attack. However, he was a bit too slow and a claw grazed his shoulder. He winced but held his ground.

Mikleo quickly attacked the wolf with his staff, making it back off from Sorey a bit. In no time at all, Mikleo felled the last one that must have been a straggler from the previous onslaught. Sorey cringed once he eyed the fresh wound on his shoulder and grasped it with his hand.

"Here, let me see it." Mikleo said, grabbing his hand and taking it away from the wound to observe it. Then he backed up a little to heal it.

"Thanks, Mikleo. I should have been more careful..." Sorey spoke sheepishly.

"It's not really your fault. I was sure there were no more hellions around too." Mikleo assured him, putting his staff away.

Sorey let out a soft sigh. "I hope the others are nearby..." I'm not sure if it's too smart to be moving too much more...

"Yeah, me too. I'm not sure how many more battles we can handle like that by ourselves either. Still, we should probably continue forward..." Mikleo said, crossing his arms.

"Right, we won't find them just sitting here." Sorey replied optimistically, leading the way forward. Mikleo followed Sorey, glancing at him wearily as they walked. The brown haired young man's energy was beginning to wane as the pain in his shoulder still lingered. There still was no sign of the others either...

After a bit, Mikleo sighed. "Honestly, I'm starting wonder if we should've gone the other way. Hey, do you need to take a break? There's no need to push yourself."

"Yeah, probably a good idea to take a break." Sorey said, not wanting to push himself too hard and pass out.

Mikleo nodded, stopping. "Alright then, we should probably be able to stay here for a little bit." Letting out a small sigh, Sorey plopped down on the ground to rest. Mikleo sits down next to him, sighing a bit. "So, how much further do you think this place even goes?"

"No idea." Sorey shook his head. In his and Mikleo's ventures, they had come across all different sizes of ruins, which made it difficult to ascertain which type of ruin this was.

"Yeah..." Mikleo muttered, going quiet now as he sighed a bit. Soon, after the quick break, the duo continued on their way, hoping to find their friends soon and get out of this ruin. Eventually Mikleo stops in his steps. "Hey, do you hear that?"

"Yeah, it sounds like a battle!" Sorey realized.

"Yeah, it does. Come on, we should go and check it out." Mikleo told him. Sorey nodded and the two of them hurried over to the source of the noise. What they found was indeed a battle. To be specific, it was their friends fighting a battle. So, Sorey rushed over to assist them. Mikleo followed suit, beginning to cast his arts. With all of them working together, it was not long before all the Hellions were purified.

Once they were finished, Lailah clapped her hands together happily. "It's good that we finally found the two of you!" She smiled.

"Definitely, things were pretty rough without you guys." Mikleo told her, smiling a bit as well.

"Right, I'm glad that we're all together again as well! And it's good to see your both alright!" Alisha said happily, nodding a little.

"Yep, you can only last so long by yourself." Edna spoke, opening up her parasol. Sorey decided to not speak of how he was hurt a little to avoid them from worrying about him. If something went wrong, Mikleo could always help him.

"Yeah, anyways, I say we try to get out of here now." Mikleo suggested. So, that is what they did. They were able to find a town with an inn that they were able to seek refuge. Sorey sighed as he rubbed his tender shoulder. Mikleo walked over to him, staring down at him shoulder. "Still hurts a lot, huh? You should probably try to take it easy for a bit and try not to hurt it too much more..."

"That's what I'm trying to do..." Sorey agreed.

"Right...so if you need help with anything, I'm here." Mikleo told him.

"Thank you Mikleo, I could use some water." Sorey smiled.

Mikleo nodded. "Alright then, I'll be right back." Then he left, and soon returned with a cup of water, offering it to Sorey.

Sorey smiled and accepted it, grateful that Mikleo was willing to help him. "You know... It's kinda nice."

Mikleo raised an eyebrow, confused. "What's nice, having an injured shoulder?"

"No. It's just that usually you would have said something snarky by now." Sorey couldn't help but admit.

"Well, right now I'm just trying to make sure you won't hurt yourself too much...which I wouldn't have to do if you were being more careful and didn't get hurt to begin with." Mikleo told him, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, I should have been." Sorey admitted sheepishly.

Mikleo sighed, shaking his head a bit. "Yeah, just be more careful next time."

"Alright I will." Sorey promised, nodding. "I'll be fine now, you should go rest too."

"Are you sure?" Mikleo asked him, giving him a weary look.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Sorey assured.

After a moment, Mikleo nodded. "If you need anything though, just ask." With that, he left the room.

Thankfully, Sorey's wound had not been too serious and after a bit of rest, he was fine to continue their journey, thanks to a bit of help from Mikleo. As they continued on their journey, Sorey realized how grateful he was to have each and every one of his friends by his side.

Fin