Luana sighed for probably the thousandth time that day.
She hasn't stopped walking for quite a while after visiting her home village, and she didn't stop when she hit the next town. She couldn't stop. Her anxiety was getting to her, forcing her to continue on. She couldn't just stop, knowing that the scientist that were after her could be anywhere. She just prayed that Eleousa and everyone was safe.
Eventually, Luana couldn't take it anymore. She had to stop and rest. Dropping her bag, she sat down right at the trunk of a tree, making sure to be in it's shade. She took in a deep breath before slowly releasing it, feeling herself begin to calm down. She gazed up at the trees around her as she thought back to when she was a child. It was funny, really. She couldn't really remember how she was able to manage all that walking as a kid. It was funny for her to think of how long time had passed since then.
Luana smiled softly at the memories. She closed her eyes and allowed her ears to listen to the surrounding nature. But, that's when she heard flowing water. Her eyes opened and she listened carefully. A nearby stream of water means that she could finally take a much needed bath.
Pushing herself up, Luana grabbed her bag and began searching for the flow of water. It took her a few moments, but she finally found it. She immediately walked over to it, dropping her bag on the bank, and sat down on her knees. Cautiously, she dipped her hand in slowly until she could feel the bottom, which soaked her arm all the way up to her shoulder. She pulled her arm out, shaking her hand while smiling.
'Perfect,' she happily thought.
Just as she unbuttoned the collar of her bodysuit, she suddenly felt something slam into her back. Luana gasped at the sudden sensation, finding herself in the air for a brief moment before becoming submerged into water.
Luana freaked out and stood up, gasping for air as soon as she was on her feet again. Thank the goddesses that it was only a shallow stream. Her hand traveled to her back in confusion as she felt a burning sensation there. It was like she was zapped with some sort of electricity. Turning in the direction she was attacked from, she was shocked to see who was standing before her.
It was Add.
There is no way in hell that she could misinterpret his albino-like looks. It was Add, standing across from her, with his usual insane looking expression. Luana was utterly confused as to why he was standing there before her. Coughing a bit, she tried to speak up.
"Add?" She questioned as her throat hurt while gasping for air still. "Why're you…"
Her question fell short as she saw his weapons face her, causing her expression to fall. She paled at the sight as her eyes were locked onto each of his six weapons. Add could only laugh at her fearful expression.
"Kukuku, you're pretty tough to follow, you know," Add told her. "Do you know how annoying it is to keep following you through days of walking? I'm amazed you haven't passed out from exhaustion."
"You… You were following me?" Muttered Luana in shock. "S-so that… shot was from you, wasn't it…?"
"Finally catching on, I see," Add mocked while his smirk grew. "I'm just disappointed it took you this long to figure it out. You maybe observant, but you're not quite as sharp as everyone makes you out to be."
Luana fumed silently as her face contorted into anger. "What the hell do you want from me? You know I have nothing to give."
"That's where you're wrong," Add said. Luana's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion and she listened to him talk. "You're inhuman strength and ability to go farther than any human is astounding. Don't you find it interesting? You brought down a quarter of the town of Elder in a matter of minutes. Imagine what someone could do with that ability to an entire continent! Kahahaha!"
"Where are you getting at?" Luana asked as she slowly began to fear his answer.
"I want that power," Add said in a soft and calm voice. "I want your powers. Those scientist experimented on you with serums and drugs, correct? If I can figure out exactly what they did to you, I could easily gain power like no other!"
"Do you even realize what you're even asking for?!" Luana shouted at him as she quickly became furious. "The last thing you want is for those damn scientist to get their hands on you! Their experiments are deadly and extreme. They will do anything to get results, whether it means tossing lives away or gaining a new experiment! That serum is that last thing you want on this planet!"
"Do enlighten me," Add said as a new type of craze was apparent in his eyes. "What makes this serum so special? What makes you so special? Because I'm not hearing anything too bad from your mouth."
"Are you stupid?!" Luana yelled out, climbing out of the water, and continued to glare at him. "You'll die the moment that serum is injected into you! Even if somehow you managed to survive, IF, you won't be able to control your body properly. You'll go on rampages, unable to stop yourself from harming anything and everything in sight. The more experiments they test on you, the more you'll be begging for sweet death to come and release you of that misery. Oh! But they're not even done just yet!"
Luana began frantically using her hands to talk as she was utterly fuming. "They'll even experiment on your corpse if it gives them answers! But with the serum in your body, hey refuse to let you die. They have ways of bringing you back, even if it means killing an entire village! If it means that they get to keep their little experiment, they'll do anything to do it! The whole reason why they're after me is because they can't recreate the damn experiment! You wouldn't last an hour in their hands."
"So… You're saying you're the perfect subject?" Add muttered, trying so hard to not to lash at her insults.
"No," Luana growled, "I'm saying that you're a fucking idiot to even want that serum in the first place!"
"Idiot you say…" Add growled as his eye began twitching again. He suddenly shouted out as his weapons sparked. "I DARE YOU TO SAY THAT AGAIN, YOU PISSANT!"
"Gaah!" Luana shouted out as she got shot at by his Dynamos.
Add fired electricity at her again as he shouted in anger. Luana felt it collide into her, knocking her right off of her feet. She felt herself flew and felt her back slam into the ground. Sensing his murderous intent, she tried getting up as fast as she could, seeing that he had blasted her right over the stream and onto the other bank. She also notice that Add began marching over to where she was, his eyes flaring in fury.
"If I'm considered an idiot," Add hissed with venom, "then you're no smarter than a fucking worm!"
'He's strong…' Luana realized as she got to her feet finally. 'Strong and pissed off. I have to be careful now, or he could seriously do some damage…'
"I still don't get it…" Luana muttered before yelling at him again. "Just what do you want with me?! I can't give you the serum! I can't give you my abilities! Just what do you want from em!?"
"Data." Add stated simply as he used his dynamos to cross the stream lazily. "You're a lab rat, aren't you? Well, lab rats are supposed to give data. Therefore…" He held his hand out as his Dynamos began sparking again. "I want all the data you can give to me, kehehehe...!"
Luana's face paled even more at what he said. She stepped back as she slowly began to fear for her life. He was acting too much like those scientist that it was really starting to scare her.
"Y-you're psychotic…" Luana muttered as she backed away.
"Thank you," Add said grinning. "Now, be a good experiment, and listen to what I have to say…"
"Grrr…" Luana growled and glared hard at him. "I rather die than be another lab rat!"
"Suit yourself…" Add chuckled darkly at her.
He shot at her again, but Luana was able to evade it by rolling to the ground. Continuing the momentum, she got to her feet and jumped across the stream. Add, seeing her try to escape, began firing at her rapidly. Luana snatched her bag up and began running, narrowly avoiding his electric shocks. She quickly booked it into the woods while Add gave chase.
Luana was not enjoying this game of cat and mouse. Add was chasing after her, shooting at her whenever he could, and laughing no doubt. Luana kept taking risky maneuvers to dodge his attacks and try to throw him off, but Add was one step ahead of her.
Luana, weaving through the trees as much as she could, spotted a knocked over tree. Seeing it, she quickly went to it and began running up it. She was quick to run up and it and jumped to the next tree, now jumping from branch to branch. Add, seeing this in action, chuckled at her foolishness of going up. He followed right after her with his own dynamos and continued his hunt.
But, much to his frustration, Luana kept continuously dodging. It didn't help that she was jumping from tree to tree like a frog, either. His Dynamos could only handle holding so much weight at once, so he was on a bit of a time limit with this girl.
Luana kept looking for a way of escape. It was becoming harder and harder to dodge Add's accurate aim, which was becoming hard for her to manage. She quickly thought of something, but knew she would have to do it fast. Jumping one last time, she crouched down on the branch before jumping backwards off of it. Add could only gape as he watched her in action. Instead of jumping forwards, Luana jumped backwards, gaining air, and literally flipping right over him.
As she flew over him, she knew she was going to have a rough landing. When she got close to a branch she knew she couldn't land on it, even if she wanted to. So, she tried grabbing it as she flew by. Wrong choice. Instead, she grabbed it, but it broke as soon as she did. She actually saw that coming and prepared for a rough collision with the ground. But, of course, she had to slam into multiple branches like a ping pong ball, breaking almost all of them, which actually slowed her fall down. When she got close to the ground, she grabbed onto the last branch. Thankfully, the branch didn't snap on her.
But there were plenty of branches flying down at her. Releasing the branch, Luana's feet hit the ground and she turned in her direction of running. She rushed away from the large branched, luckily able to miss each one entirely. But, she knew she couldn't stop just yet.
Add now spotting her bouncy brown hair, turned directions and continued on with the chase, this time on the ground. He sent kicks and punches her way, which caused his dynamos to create a type of electric wave to fly at her and hopefully hit. But, he missed thanks to Luana's sharp turning through the woods. As she kept running, Luana began to remember just how exactly she was able to escape the scientist so many times.
'I hate to do this,' Luana thought as she dodged another shot, '...But you leave me no choice!'
Luana dug her feet into the ground, her body turning and facing at as it came to a stand still. Add seeing this, took this as a chance to continue fire. He jumped into the air and threw more shocks at her. Luana skillfully dodged his attacks, only to turn towards him, feet wide apart, and bent towards the ground with her fist into the air. Luana punched the ground, causing it to break, just like it had in the storage house.
Add skidded to a stop as his eyes widened at this attack. He dived towards the ground and rolled, just barely missing the large pieces of rock flying at him. When he looked back at Luana, he spotted her running again. He growled and climbed back onto his feet.
"You're really getting on my nerves…!" Add yelled at her.
Luana, not quite hearing what he said, didn't stop to find out. She glanced over her shoulder, only for her eyes to widen as multiple purple spheres came her way. She forced herself to run faster as she saw a few go by and slam into the ground or trees.
She covered her head and dove behind a tree, feeling them hit the gigantic plant. She suddenly heard cracking, causing her eyes to widen in horror. She gazed up and saw the tree beginning to tip towards her. Luana crawled to get up fast, kicking herself onto her feet and dodged the crashing tree. When it slammed down the ground shook, causing Luana to stumble for a moment before continuing to run.
But, she had no idea how close Add had gotten to her. She suddenly felt something hit her wrist, causing her to spin back. As she spun, something hit her other wrist, causing her to fall to the ground. When she lifted her head up, she instantly spotted some type of metal cuffs on her hands, looking like thick, long bracelets that covered her entire wrist.
"What the hell…?" She muttered before sitting up.
She gazed back at Add, only to feel something slam into her neck, knocking her back. "Geh!"
Luana fell onto her back. She coughed, and frantically tried to stand up. Once on her feet she touched her neck, feeling a type of metal on it as well. She was utterly confused on how they got on her body so easily. But, when she lifted her head up to see a smirking Add, she realized it was his doing.
"The hell did you do?!" She instantly yelled at him.
"I knew you wouldn't come easily," Add said casually. "So I've created those to help me out. I'm sure you'll enjoy them~"
Luana clicked her tongue and glared harshly at him. She instantly grabbed the one on her neck and began to pull on it.
"Like hell I'll—" A sudden shock ran through her body, causing her to yell out. "AAAAH!"
It shocked her for a whole minute before stopping. It hurt so much that it brought Luana to her hands and knees. Her breathing suddenly began much heavier as she tried understanding what just happened. Add laughed at her pitiful state with a victorious smirk on his face.
"You lose, lab rat!" He sang. "You're now my experiment!"
"You bastard…!" Luana growled at him in hatred. "What did you do?!"
"The cuffs on your neck and wrist aren't exactly something to mess with." Add said and began circling her like a hawk. "And I have my own control to it if you were to ever try and attack me."
As if to prove his point, he pressed something in his hand. Instantly, Luana was shocked once again. She released a shout of pain from the cuffs as it ran through her entire body. Once it stopped she fell onto her stomach, trying to recover from the harsh attack. Add could only chuckle at her once more.
"You're my experiment from now," Add stated as he stood in front of her. "Once I collect my information on you, I won't have use of you anymore. So, until then, you'll be following me and will be doing every order I give you… like a dog."
"I'm really debating on killing you right now…" Luana threatened as she forced her body to sit up. "How did you make these things so damn powerful…?"
"That's for me to know and you to never find out." Add said and brought a finger to his lips while smirking still. "Now, I suggest that you be good from now on and do as I say. If not, well…" He pressed the button again. "You get the jist."
Luana released another shout, but forced herself to stay sitting. Once it stopped shocking her, she could feel her anger rising rather quickly. She yelled out in anger and punched the ground. Add, startled by her sudden action, became cautious of what she might do. Without even hesitating she threw a giant piece of rock at him. Add, unable to dodge, felt it collide right into him, causing him to slam down onto the ground. His head felt like he was spinning around in circles as his ears rung. Realizing what she did, Add pressed the button and held it in anger. Luana didn't release another shout, which was oddly unsettling. Once he recollected himself, he forced his body up until he was sitting.
With a sharp glare on his face, he looked over his shoulder to Luana. To his surprise, she was lying face first in the ground as purple electricity sparked around her body. Add released the button and stared at her for a bit. Her body twitched from the electricity, but she made no attempts to move or get up.
Add climbed up onto his feet and suddenly felt woozy. He felt something warm drip down the side of his head. Touching it, he realized it was his own blood. The girl had actually caused him to bleed. Normally, he would've growled in anger and probably would've kicked her knocked out body. But, his felt so light headed that thinking straight wasn't quite an option.
Staggering slightly, Add grunted softly as his body fell to the ground as well. He laid there, staring at Luana's unconscious figure. He glared at her as everything was slowly becoming fuzzy.
"Damn… you…" He murmured before passing out.
.
Add woke suddenly with a jolt.
He shot up, his breathing being heavy as he could tell he was covered in sweat. He was disgusted by this realization, but allowed it to slide for now. He had a very unwanted dream that he had just woke from. It was actually one of the main reasons for why he tried to avoid sleep. The lucid dreams keep reminding him of the past, which was a very touchy subject for him.
Sighing deeply, he wipe his forehead with the back of his hand, only to feel something that wasn't skin. Touching it carefully, he realized it was a type of wrapping. He was confused to why that was until his senses came back to him, causing him to be alert of his surroundings. He heard a crackling and popping sound, causing him to look to his right in the dark area.
Add realized that he was in a cave. And, sitting a good amount away from him by a fire was Luana, who was staring right at him. Add, at first, was actually spooked to see her illuminated features by the fire light.
Her honey colored eyes looked just as orange as the fire, but they radiated anything but warmth. Her bangs and long strands of hair casted shadows on her skin, which actually gave her an almost sinister look. Her lips were slightly apart as she seemed slightly surprised by him as well. But what kind of freaked him out the most was the large strand of hair that stood up on the top of her head and dropped forwards (the famous ahoge!). He felt foolish for actually being startled by her.
Recomposing himself, he glared at her as he remembered what happened. That's right… She had thrown a gigantic piece of the earth at him and gave him a concussion. In returned he shocked her, but they had both passed out in the end. Which now questions the lateness of the day and the crave…
"Well hello to you, too." Luana mumbled sarcastically. She gazed back at the fire and continued to do… whatever she was doing. "I honestly thought you wouldn't wake until morning. I did clobber you in the head with a rock, after all. Guess you have more muscle than I thought…"
"...Just, what are you doing?" Add questioned as it was rather distracting to watch.
"Carving." Luana stated. She showed Add the wooden object that she kept digging a knife into. "I was planning on spear fishing by the stream for a meal. Let's just say that half of the supplies in my bag survived our earlier battle."
She looked away from him and continued to carve the piece of wood. Add fixed his sitting position, only to feel something flop into his lap. It was his jacket. He picked it up and inspected it.
"By the way," Luana spoke up again, "I took the liberty of washing your jacket along with the rest of my belongings. I'm amazed that I was even able to save it from all that blood, to be honest…"
"Why did you drag me here?" Add asked, eyeing her suspiciously. "You threatened to kill me, didn't you? Why'd you take me here instead of leaving me out to die?"
Luana stopped her movement. Her lips pressured firmly together as her expression was unrecognizable. She then continued to carve the stick.
"...Let's just say," she spoke softly, "that I have enough blood on my hands as it is. I didn't feel like adding you to the counter…"
Add stared at her for a moment. What did she mean by that? As curious as he was, he figured he shouldn't ask. After all, the girl that knocked him into a coma was wielding a knife. Like she said, he would rather stay away from that counter. But, it was still bugging him…
"I don't get it…" Add said as he wanted an answer from her. "After all I did to you, you still didn't allow me to die?"
"Just because you put me through a lot of shit doesn't mean I haven't forgotten the times you saved my life." Luana said as she held an aggravated undertone. "I repaid the favor. I couldn't just sit back and watch you die, even though you've pissed me off into oblivion. With your mentally illed mind, you just wouldn't get it… I might be a freak, but I'm still human… I at least have that right."
Add's eyes narrowed at her. It sounded like there was another meaning to what she said. But, he decided to let that rest for now. Add carefully pulled his jacket back on before facing the fire, but eyed Luana from the corner of his eye. She was… unreasonably calm about this. It was becoming really unnerving, which actually annoyed Add.
He was supposed to be the one giving her the chills, not the other way around. Just what the hell happened there? His infamous smirk crawled its way back onto his lips. He thought of something that she creep her out enough, or would at least give him some sort of response.
"You know," Add spoke up to her, "I forgot to mention just exactly would happen if you continuously got shocked by the cuffs."
Luana stopped carving, but didn't look at Add. It was clear that she was listening.
"...The interior would burn out, therefore burning and melting the metal." Add said in a casual manner. "It would burn your wrist and neck, probably killing you. So, I suggest that you stay in line so that doesn't happen."
"...Death would be a sweeter release than allowing myself to be your pathetic dog." Luana stated coldly and stood up.
Add froze and stared at her. He watched her close the knife before slipping it into her high boots. She turned with two sharp pointed sticks in hand and exited the cave. Once she was out of sight in the dark night, Add could only stare at where she had been. To hear her say such cold things was surprising, honestly.
Puzzled, he placed a hand on his chin in thought. It was so strange. She hadn't shown any sort of signs of morbid thinking from before. It never occurred to the boy that she might be possibly suicidal. When he thought about it longer, it actually made a bit of sense.
From what he understood, it was that she was an experiment from the black market scientist that not even the Vender Guards know about. She escaped and was hidden in that village for quite some times. The scientist want her back because she is, supposedly, the only proof of success of their experiments. From what she mentioned, the scientist have tormented her through the years, which most likely is the main source of her morbid thoughts.
'The thought of being a lab rat sickens her so much that she would rather die,' Add thought before smirking again. 'Interesting… I guess I have to be more careful with her, then. I don't want her dying on me…'
Slowly, Add's infamous laughter began echoing through the cave, getting louder by the second. Little did he realize that, even with Luana at the stream, could she still hear him. A tic mark appeared on her head as she concealed the chills going through her body.
"Psychotic bastard…" She mumbled before thrusting her makeshift spear into the water.
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