Leni Loud: Heart of a Demon Queller!
Chapter 2: Leni's new 'Mentor'
"What exactly are you wearing?" Was all Lori said as she picked up her sister from the dog pound, Leni looked at herself, almost as if she was just as baffled as her older sister.
"Ummm…Just new fashion get-up I came up with, does it look nice?" She asked as she flicked her newly-acquired hat's whiskers, the silver-lined strings waving in a flurry once the Ditzy blonde flicked it, Lori rolled her eyes, not really particularly finding Leni's new outfit appealing.
"Red isn't that good of a color on you." She said in a blunt manner, Leni took the critique to heart, but brushed it aside, not wanting to argue with her older and smarter sister.
"Well, I guess you got to get used to it, since I'm going to wearing a lot more red than usual." Leni stated, her older sister ignored her words, more focused on getting several questions answered besides Leni's newly found fashion taste.
"Why were you at the Dog pound Leni?" Lori suddenly questioned as she glanced at Leni, the Ditzy Blonde inwardly giggled in glee, knowing that her sister will certainly be impressed of why she was at the pound.
"Because, like, I saved a puppy from getting ran over by a car, I then took the poor thing to the pound, isn't that cool?" She responded to Lori, looking for some approval from her more level-headed sister.
"Well…That was actually kind of sweet of you to risk your well-being to save an innocent pup, how'd you do it?" Lori asked with a curved eyebrow, this time out of curiosity rather than interrogative, Leni eyes widened as she tried to come up with a lie.
"Like…I ran straight to the middle of the drive-way, to get, the like, Driver attention so he'll stop." Leni lied through her teeth, trying her best to sound like the truth instead of a white lie; Lori took the lie, expecting the Ditzy blonde to have such an impractical solution to such a problem.
"You could've grabbed the dog instead of standing in front of the road, but good job Leni, I'm proud of you." Lori mused with a fake and dishonest smile on her face, Leni took her façade-coated grin as impression.
"Thanks sis!" Leni said in joy, her Sister only smiled back in a polite tone, before her smile was quickly shifted back into a annoyed and heavily disgruntled frown.
"Also, why do you have that massive paintbrush?" Lori asked all of the sudden, her tone being noticeably more harsh than it was before, somewhat causing the newly-appointed Demon Queller to come up with an excuse.
"Well, it's a calligraphy brush and I'm going to use it to start painting!" Leni said with a wide smile on her face, while she wasn't really sure why she was given a big calligraphy brush by Yen-lo-Wang, she knew for sure it would be come of use later on when she's actually doing the duties of being the Demon Queller.
"Really? You can paint?" Lori retorted, never really expecting her sister to be a painter, Leni nodded as she touched the tip of the calligraphy brush, feeling the cold and oily dark green ink on the head of the calligraphy brush.
"I don't think you need a brush as big as that Leni." Was all Lori said as she resumed her silence, still annoyed at her sister for not being able to come back home on her own, Leni could sense something from Lori, wanting to know what's wrong, the Newly-Appointed Demon Queller spoke.
"Something wrong Lori? I feel like there's something wrong…" Leni said, a tinge of guilt creeping up to the Ditzy Blonde girl, Lori sighed as she refused to answer her younger sister's question, wanting to keep the rest of the ride home a quiet one.
"There isn't anything wrong Leni, just be quiet okay? I kind of have a headache…And hearing your voice…Isn't helping…" She said in a venomously tone, not even bothering to even glance at her sister, Leni was taken aback, even a bit hurt by her sister's nasty words but then…She felt something radiating around Lori.
'Something is wrong…As if you're being like this, but not on purpose…' Leni concluded internally, she felt an essence coming from Lori; she suddenly started to smell a disgusting odor of rotten fish and eggs, it almost made Leni gag, but she stood her ground, knowing that if she'll do something like that out randomly, Lori would give her another tongue lashing.
The Newly-Appointed Demon Queller shook her head to clear her thoughts and just like that, the smells were gone, she blamed herself for such a random smell surge of awful scents occurring, most likely it was just her newly-resurrected mind playing tricks on her, fooling her like the Ditzy Blonde that she is, as a result, Leni Loud stayed quiet for the rest of the time in the car, not wanting to get her sister even more upset than she already was.
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The Mighty King of the Underworld, Yen-Lo-Wang growled sparks of green-dyed flares, he sat upon his throne, a grand throne that was just as shadowed as the King of the Underworld himself, the plotting King of the underworld placed a hand under his chin as he began to contemplate about early events happening an hour ago.
"Such a naïve girl, now, the Successor of my former Advisor…Such a twist of fate…" He summed up his whole meeting with the Ditzy but kind Leni Loud, she was like a bell pepper, delicious, healthy and not to spicy, but lacks the core to grow in something greater…
"Perhaps, this will be the first time…My Demon Queller will have a mentor…" Yen-lo-Wang said to himself, quickly coming up with a brilliant idea, and the best mentor that a naïve girl like Leni could ever have.
"Xing Tian! I demand your presence now!" Yen-lo-Wang suddenly shouted as he then raised his hands up in the air, instantly, one specific patch of burning earth in front of the Chinese god of Death started to shift and crack, it rumbled and turned, then all of a sudden, a green hand, wielding an massive one-sided axe rose through the ground, with another hand wielding a massive spike-covered kite shield rising soon after.
"Indomitable Warrior of the age of the Three Kingdoms…The Relentless Spirit of Battle…The Iron will of China…I command you to rise up from your slumber!" Yen-lo-Wang continued to chant as the rest of the Indomitable Warrior rose up from the fire-scorched ground.
The rest of Xing Tian came out of the ground, revealing himself to the Emperor of the Underworld, Xing Tian was massive and muscular, green-skinned and big-handed, while he was still small compared to Yen-lo-Wang, it was comparable to that of a human to a house cat.
Xing Tian's armor was consisted of heavily-riveted bracers, red wool greaves and black-metal-plated boots covered by a heavy thick-plated tasset, the tasset tying onto the Green warrior by a thick iron chain, his shoulders was adorned with two large shoulder-pads, both pads having a trio of horn-like spikes protruding out of the metal.
Xing Tian's chest was uncovered, for that where his face was, his stomach was a demonic-looking mouth, sporting a lipless and noseless face with a set of crooked and long teeth, his pecs had a pair of wisp green irisless eyes, Xing Tian used to have a normal human head, but it was cut off when Xing was still alive, to compensate, the Indomitable Warrior wore a black helmet on top of where his true head should be, it blazed with a demonic-like green fire.
"What is it Lord Yen-lo-Wang?" He said, his voice was monstrous-sounding and vile, he stood his ground against the King of the Underworld, refusing to bow down to the God but willing to address him with respect.
"Xing Tian…I am willing to let you go back to the living world…" Yen-lo-Wang offered, instantly getting the Indomitable Warrior's attention.
"Hah! A trip back to impose my strength!? Then I'll gladly be turn back to life if it means brandishing my Iron Will!" He said in a cruel tone, the thirst for battle smoldering within the Indomitable Warrior, his stomach mouth roaring and spitting out green-colored sparks, Yen-lo-Wang was quick to silence the Indomitable Warrior.
"But on one condition…" The King of the underworld said as he raised a finger up, this got Xing Tian to growl in annoyed fury.
"What are your terms Lord?" He said, trying to contain his impatience, due to his face being on his chest, it was incredibly hard to not conceal his smoldering anger.
"You must serve as a Mentor…To the newest Demon Queller…" Xing Tian was surprised, never before he was given such a task from Yen-lo-Wang…
"You usually give me tasks to cleave down wicked men and demons, that's what I'm good at! Unleashing my Strength! Unleashing my Relentless Power! I may have been a poet when I had my human head, but I'm no teacher!" Xing Tian argued back, pointing a green finger at the God.
"Yes…That is true…But then again, you always helped my Demon Quellers before, always did, sometimes voluntarily…"
"That's because I was able to show off my Strength! And destroy those who oppose me!" Xing Tian argued back, Yen-lo-Wang sighed but continued on his plans.
"Well, this new Demon Queller isn't the smartest…But she is the kindest…And potentially the strongest…And like I said, if you want to go back to the living world to 'Unleash your Relentless Power' I suggest you agree to my terms…" Yen-lo-Wang finished with a crooked smile, causing Xing Tian to growl, he greatly desired to rise back to the living world, to cleave the wicked, to crush the opposition, he desired it greatly ever since fighting with the last Demon Queller, which was several decades ago if Xing Tian could remember.
But Teaching a newly-appointed Demon Queller the ways of Zhong Kui's craft? Xing Tian would fight alongside various Demon Quellers in the past even the first ever Demon Queller, but never before would he have to be like a mentor to one.
Xing-Tian was a warrior-poet above all else, he could understand the meaning of Taoism and what kind of formation is needed for battle, but personally mentoring? Completely foreign to the Indomitable Warrior, with a deep moment of silence, Xing Tian finally accepted the deal.
"If it means…Unleashing my will against the Demons once again…Then so be it…" Xing Tian finally agreed, causing Yen-lo-Wang to laugh at Xing Tian's agreement.
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Leni loud looked at her new outfit in her dresser mirror, she had to admit, Red really wasn't her color, it was more like Lynn's color if the ditzy blonde was being honest with herself, she couldn't complain though, it did look more…Fancy-looking, instead of the normal cotton that her formerly green dress was made of, her new red and yellow dress looked as lustrous as silk.
The Ditzy Blonde Girl took off her newly-gained metal hat, the long whiskers drooping by the sides of her head as she placed it on her dresser, she then noticed that Lori was just, lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, Leni looked at the ceiling too for a moment, not really seeing anything interesting or different about it.
Leni didn't want to bother her older sister so Leni kept quiet, keeping to herself as Leni started to change from her Demon Queller outfit to her normal everyday spare light green dress and white-rimmed shades.
She didn't know where exactly where she would put her Calligraphy brush, she thought the closet but the ink that the brush was dripping in would most likely make the whole closet an ink-stained mess, she kept thinking, but then all of a sudden, the five-foot calligraphy brush started to shift and twist, reducing its size to that of a normal calligraphy brush, Leni was definitely confused but she didn't question it, she stuffed the brush in her dress pocket.
"Despite being the Demon…Queller…" She was slow to pronounce the Queller part of the title
"I can still be myself." She said to herself with a whisper, smiling lightly, she realized just now, that she wouldn't be here if it weren't for the fact that she became a Demon Queller…She would've been on a hospital bed, with her parents looking upon at her broken corpse, she began to feel down from the thought of such a scenario but was quick to think about something else to not make her contemplate stuff like that.
Leni then noticed that the brown pocket bag was now attached to the waist part of her green dress, she knew that it was the same bag that Yen-lo-Wang gave her, it looks like its sticking with Leni no matter what she'll change to.
Suddenly, her room door started to knock, Lori was disrepondent, not even batting an eye away from the ceiling that she was still gazing on, Leni instinctively answered it, to Leni's surprise, It was one of her younger sister's Lucy.
"Hey Lucy, how are you?" Leni said in a kind and polite tone, the mellow frown on Lucy's face did not deter as she answered.
"Empty…As per usual…" She said with a deep huff, Leni curved an eyebrow, not really knowing how to react to such a response.
"But…I've sensing the spirits lately…" She said in a cryptic tone, now this got the Ditzy Blondes attention, before her encounter with the King of the Underworld, Leni was akin to the rest of her siblings when it came to Lucy's ramblings, they didn't believe in her sprouts of superstitions about ghosts and spirits and the whole supernatural matter, they didn't berate her for it, but rather just, innocently accept it or brush it off politely.
But now…Lucy may be on to something, something that even Leni can see in its appetency, so instead of brushing it off, Leni decided to let Lucy elaborate.
"What do you mean by that Lucy?" Leni said as she suddenly grabbed the Goth Loud girls hand, taking her to the bathroom which was thankfully unoccupied at the moment, the Goth girl was surprised to hear that it was Leni of all people who wanted to talk more about spirits.
"Well…Besides Grandmother Nora…There's also another spirit lurking about…But not a ghostly spirit at all…" Lucy continued as she glanced at Leni's pocket bag for a second before the Ditzy Blonde girl could take notice.
"A…Demon?" Leni suddenly said, earning a head tilt from Lucy, the Goth Loud girl didn't expect her Ditzy older sister to know something about otherworldly matters.
"Yeah that's right…A demon…That embraces the darkness and possesses the limbering and limping souls…Changes them for the worse…" She continued in a strange and almost mystical tone, Leni was quick to ask Lucy for some confirmation.
"Is that demon, like, why Lori is being so…Weird?" She asked, Lucy nodded in response, as she glanced at Leni's calligraphy brush, looking at the brush in a curious manner.
"Yeah…You noticed that too? I thought I was the only who can notice spirits and demons…" She suddenly realized, Leni only sheepishly giggled as she covered her knowledge up.
"…Lucky guess?" She said with a light shrug, trying to use her ditzy reputation as a way to mask the fact that she knew about the existence of Demons due to her fateful encounter with Yen-lo-Wang
"…Alright…I'll believe it…Demon possession also gives off bad odors and smells, but only people inclined with the occult like me can smell it…" Lucy continued nonchalantly, taking the Ditzy Blonde Girl's excuse to heart.
"Was that why Lori smelled like rotten fish for like, a split five seconds when she picked me up from the dog pound?" Leni exclaimed, this finally got Lucy's suspicion, she looked at her older sister and said in a serious demanding tone.
"Lisa scientifically proved that there's no such thing as Lucky guesses…But here you're telling me about things that only I can sense and recognize…Tell me what you know Leni…" Leni eyes widened as she began to sweat in anxiousness, she should've kept her mouth shut, she doesn't know what would Yen-lo-Wang's reaction would be if her younger sister knew of her new identity.
"Ummm…" Leni said sheepishly as she then twiddled her fingers; Lucy folded her arms and waited for Leni to answer, the Newly-Appointed Demon Queller was about to spill the beans about her new role in the Underworld, that was until she saw something in the bathroom mirror.
It wasn't just her reflection, but she also saw…A muscular green hand coming out of the mirror! She gasped as the hand was also holding an axe, ready to swing down right on Lucy.
"Lucy watch out!" Leni shouted as she suddenly grabbed her little sister, pulling her away as the axe came down and easily cleaved through the bathroom floor, the hand noticed that the axe went through the floor so the hand kept ahold of the war hatchet, both girls screamed in terror at the sight of the hand.
"…I never had seen a demon…That can interact with the living world…" Was all Lucy said as the 'Demon' growled, the two loud kids watched in horror as the rest of the 'Demon' went out of the mirror, his stomach mouth silently grinned as he pulled out the axe, he gazed the two cowering girls with his upper chest eyes and said with a booming and boastful voice.
"Hahahaha! I am no Demon…I am Xing Tian…The Indomitable Warrior…But now…I serve as the Mentor…" Xing Tian suddenly bowed towards Leni loud, not like a servant to a king, but rather, a show of mutual respect, the Indomitable Warrior towered over Leni and Lucy, being about four more feet taller than Leni, if it weren't for him crouching, the ceiling would've been broken by Xing Tian.
"Towards you…Leni Loud…Or should I say…Demon Queller…Yen-lo-Wang appointed me to be your mentor…I apologize…For scaring you and your sister, my Iron Will is so strong, it can instill fear to even my allies!" He said as his stomach mouth roared, the two loud kids were absolutely flabbergasted, to see Xing Tian standing in front of them.
From Lucy almost getting cleaved, to being horrified by the appearance of Xing Tian, to the realization that Xing Tian was actually being Leni's Mentor to Lucy now finding out that Leni was practically a part of all the supernatural myths.
"…So it wasn't a lucky guess then…" Was all Lucy said, folding her arms to Leni as she gave her older sister a frown, Leni only sheepishly shrugged in return.
"What's with all the racket? Seriously you guys must be havin-" Luna said as she opened the Bathroom door, the rest of the loud kids and even their parents were there with her as she barged in barring Lori, Luna stopped speaking once herself and the rest of the Loud family saw the sight of Xing Tian, their eyes were widened and their jaws was dropped.
There was a split second of silence as Xing Tian stared back at the Loud family, their reactions were rather understandable, the whole loud family that barged in screamed and ran away from the bathroom, the sight of Xing Tian inducing panic, shock and fear into them.
"…Big family you got here." Was all Xing Tian said to Leni and Lucy Loud, resting his axe upon her armored shoulder.
"Yeah…We get that a lot…" Leni admitted as she shrugged once again.