Child from the Dungeon

Chapter 230: Spin-Off Vol.2 'Clarent Star ': Shadow And Star Part 3

< Dungeon: Nightcave Dungeon (Rare) >

< Deepest depth of the very Dungeon. >

* Ground descends. *

Donovan still hold Charlotte tight from her back, still afraid of falling as he come to this Dungeon with the same kind of thing, something he wishes not to be again.

"( His hold is so tight. )" Charlotte feels as Donovan's hand grips her so hard, she could feel it holding hard her waists due to their height difference.

"( It seems my height does serve me a purpose after all... )"

"( If his height or hands a bit longer, he could've touched the wrong parts of my body. )" Charlotte flustered as Donovan did it to her.

"( Mother, what should I do...? )" she asks herself, as she reflect on her actions in just recent times, revealing her name despite its a fake, revealing her intentions here, revealing about her Mother, and perhaps some bits of her secrets.

As she feels discomfort, the descending floating ground descends as slow as possible, making her so annoyed as she wonders how long would it take.

"( Will this happened in hours? )" Charlotte wonders to herself that, still flustered over Donovan's tight hold.

"( Gah, mother..., I'm sorry... )"

"( I'm sorry if I were taken hold by a man this early, I mean boy... )" Carlos cries within her heart, feeling guilty as it happened.

She wonders if her mother is alright, wondering as she descends towards the depth of the Dungeon.

* Charlotte looks around, while thinking for a while. *

" Umm... "

" Donovan... " Charlotte opens it.

" Yeah! " Donovan replied.

" Can I ask you what are you doing here? " Charlotte asks him.

" Me? " Donovan replied.

" Oh about that... "

" My intentions, about that... "

" My intentions are simply killing monsters, the monsters in this Dungeon. "

" In hopes for me to build my power. " Donovan adds.

" Building your power? " Charlotte asks Donovan as he replied.

" Increasing my Magic's proficiency... "

" I hope with Experience (EXP), I could attain greater Levels of power, perhaps more than my father... " Donovan tells Charlotte.

" I see, he's seems great. " Charlotte tells.

" Yeah, he's Elysium Haven's S-Rank Hunter, one of it's greatest. "

" Despite he could be the greatest of them all, but the Hunter Association decided to make the S-Ranks equal in their position. "

" Why? " Charlotte asks as she listens to it.

" Shouldn't Hunters had their number rankings within the designated ranks itself, my mother is a Hunter too you know, way back when... "

"( Crap, why I mentioned that? )" Charlotte angers at herself.

" Oh really, your mother... "

" Yes, but she left the Association to escape the 'debt'... " Charlotte tells.

" Please don't mention her again, my Mother wouldn't like it if her name told to anyone, she wants full secrecy. " Charlotte requests.

" Of course, then don't spill it then... " Donovan tells her back.

" Okay, where were we..., yes. "

" My Father should've been the strongest if it weren't for the Association's rules. "

" A rule that made the S-Ranks equal in power, hence why they had no numerical rankings. "

" That's why, there were no such thing as the Number One or Two, or Three S Rank Hunters, they are all equal in their seats. "

" I heard this from father itself, for the reason the Association did that is to make the S-Ranks worked together while the people speculates who are the strongest amongst them. "

" The Association believes that with that rule, it would keep the S-Ranks together, since the S-Ranks are needed by the Nation itself. " Donovan explains.

" But what do you think, Donovan? " Charlotte asks him.

" Based on your opinion, is your Father the strongest Hunter in the Association? " Charlotte asks him out of the sudden.

" I believe so... " Donovan says with uncertainty.

" I rarely see him in action, but I believe he's the strongest since he gets the most jobs out of the others while they're busy maintaining their career through the help of the media and Guilds. "

" Out from the statistics, even after asking 'Sharp Eye' Guild's Master Mercy Aquilla... "

" She whose father was one of the Association's Re-founder, the Ex-Sergeant Knight, Maurice Aquilla*... " Donovan adds.

" They said that based on the poll posted on the Maginet, the people are currently rooting for my Father as the strongest out of the S-Ranks. " Donovan tells.

" I see, so it's based on the people's opinions...,hmm... " Charlotte listens and try to understand.

"( I wonder what my mother's Rank back then. )" Charlotte wonders about it.

" Yes. " Donovan suddenly replies, making Charlotte frightened.

" What's wrong? " Donovan asks while holding her harder, fearing she would fall during her frightened moment.

" Oh, it's nothing, nothing. " Charlotte fright slowly withers.

" Please continue... " Charlotte allows Donovan to continue himself speaking.

Donovan looked her for a while, he sighs as he doesn't want her to fall, for him, Charlotte is his key on understanding all of this place.

" Well, just like I said earlier, yes... "

" The position of the most powerful Hunter depends on the people's point of view. "

" Unlike the knights. "

" Who loved to boast over their strength than anyone... "

" Even I was sometime insulted by them, despite being the Grandson of a Royal. "

" *Sigh* Adopted..., Grandson... " Donovan tells while feeling saddened.

" Are you alright? " Charlotte asks Donovan as she could tell Donovan is not in the mood.

" Nothing, it's just... "

" Perhaps, Status, doesn't mean freedom... "

" Freedom of problems, I mean... " Donovan says this while holding soft over Charlotte.

Charlotte feels the softness of the touch, hearing Donovan's problems made her feel sorry for him.

* Charlotte holds Donovan's hugging hand. *

"( Is that really your burden? )" Charlotte asks herself about Donovan within her mind.

"( Is that the troubles within the world of Royalties? )"

"( The world I once born and should've been... )" Charlotte begins to wonder about herself, who were taken away by her mother to escape her father, a father whose family rivals that of her mother and had the tendencies to kill her alongside Charlotte herself if he knew she was his daughter instead of his son.

"( What a cruel world... )"

"( A world I once thought filled with glamour and prosperity... )"

"( Behind it, it was filled nothing but blood and rivalries... )" Charlotte thinks to herself while Donovan feels tired as he leans over her back, Charlotte stays silent when it happened as the ground descends so slow.

* Charlotte turns her body around. *

Now, hugging Donovan from her front, Charlotte hold him to make sure he stays with her and didn't fall. As her feeling of similarities begin to resonated with Donovan, knowing that both of them are different sides but from the same kind of coin, a coin that symbolizes their Royal Status.

In the first side, exists one who was born with it but had to keep it secret in order to survive and on the contrary, exists one who was accepted by it but had to face many challenges.

Both of them are privileged in other people's eyes, but unknown to them, those privilege, those given status comes with many tests.

" We're almost there... " Charlotte sensed.

" The item I've been searching for... " she says while holding Donovan to her.

( Deep down below. )

( In a place filled with gold and bones. )

* Gem shining. *

________________

Extra:

Charlotte is so straightforward, isn't she?

-- Author, KJVZeanso.