Hello, folks. Sorry that this took so long. Having to be a productive and working member of society is such a drag. Why can't life merely let me ship all day long? D:
Anyway, this one was a bit problematic for me because it involved a lot of rewriting scenes straight from the animation which, obviously, is neither much fun to write nor to read. I struggled a lot with making the unchanged scenes a bit more readable by adding a few things here and there and changing up the dialogue ever so slightly, but in the end, there is still a lot of recycled stuff in here. I played with the idea of merely leaving out everything I had simply copied from the animation but eventually decided against it, thinking "Now that I have already written this stuff down, I might as well post it in case anyone might be interested."
To be fair, I don't think it's a total waste of time to read all of it, as I have at least tried to make it presentable and made cuts to stuff I deemed absolutely unnecessary, but I won't judge you if you decide for yourself that you are just gonna skim through the parts that seem too familiar already. But rest assured, there REALLY ARE original scenes somewhere in here. There are, okay? Trust me.
You will notice there is a lot of Rubilax in this chapter. I think that's justified since Rubilaxia was not only a major thing for Tristeva, but Rubi's development as well. Considering how he will end up living with the Percedal family later on, I figured it wouldn't hurt giving him a bit of spotlight right now. I may or may not do his character justice, but I like my version of him at least.
Identity Crisis
Rubilax frowned as he allowed his head to rest on his left hand, his other hand tapping away on the armrest of the new throne he had created for himself. The walls were adorned with Shushus he had captured and hung up there like trophies on display. The fruits of his labor he had carefully reaped over the last passing months.
A kingdom he had meant to create and so he had built one, gave it a name, even! Glorious Rubilaxia, a kingdom built by Shushus for Shushus. And yet…
…he was still not acknowledged. His brethren, rather than bow before his might and glory…would rather cut his throat the moment he were to free them. And so he wouldn't. He wasn't suicidal, after all.
So it still hadn't been enough, eh? Building a kingdom, gathering various Shushus…to get respected by his brethren, he had to do more. Find something that would make them be really impressed with him. But what…?
He growled angrily, a bitter thought manifesting in his mind. The realization that, to them, it might never be enough. That no matter what he did, he would still never belong. The thought alone was sickening, pissing him off.
And that was far from the only problem he had…
His gaze went upwards to a certain sword prison that currently held his former guardian, hanging right above his throne.
Percedal.
The guy used to sleep away most of the day, but lately he's been awake almost all the time. A sign that he had almost completely recovered. It was time to return his body to him soon. To be completely honest, Rubi wouldn't miss this weak and pathetic meat suit of a body for even just a second. It was soft and needed food, water, sleep…not to mention it kept hurting whenever he hit something, especially when it was his little toes. Those could ache for days on end if they wanted to, as he had made the unfortunate realization.
But you see, even though he wanted nothing more but to get rid of this annoyance of a body, he still couldn't just give it back now, could he? What kind of message would that send to the others? He was a Shushu. Prime evil. He didn't do kindness, much less save the life of a puny human. If he restored Dally, it would mean the end of his relationship with his brothers and sisters. If they hated him now, they surely would never forgive him for doing something as anti-Shushu as saving a human.
His gaze travelled downwards again broodingly. Did he really care whether they hated him or not? Heck no, he didn't. He didn't even like them himself. They were loud, annoying and disrespectful. He wouldn't hesitate to throw half of them into the ocean and watch them slowly sink to the bottom of the sea. He might even add some weights to some of the especially feisty ones so he would never have to see their ugly faces again in his life. The other half he would only bear as long as they would continue to be useful to him. Like Shadofang. She was a bitch, don't get him wrong, but she was a useful bitch.
Otherwise she would have probably been the first to get a free trip to the bottom of the ocean a long time ago…
But still…even though he hated their presence at least as much as they hated his, to cut ties with them was something that could never be undone. As much as he was hated right now, he still technically belonged to the group. The thought of belonging somewhere, even if it was this sorry excuse of a family, was somewhat comforting. He wasn't sure if he was ready to burn that bridge for Dally, even when he felt more comradeship during his travels with that redheaded idiot than he had ever had in his entire lifetime being around his demonic kin.
At the very least he couldn't cut his ties before he had tried everything he could to still hold on to his demonic identity. If he didn't at least try that much, he was sure he would forever wonder if things could not have turned out differently.
He closed his eyes bitterly. But the last thing he could try…involved getting the favor of King Rushu. If Rubilax somehow managed to get his approval, everyone else would approve of him as well. But that was the tricky part…how, exactly, would he gain his king's favor? Last time he had tried gaining it by conquering the human realm in his king's name, only to realize it was impossible due to monsters like Goultard running around out there. Only Rushu himself could ever hope to conquer the human realm…
This made him blink in surprise. Maybe that was it? If he found a way to connect the mortal realm with the Shukrute, the realm of demons, perhaps Rushu would be delighted enough to finally accept him? It was worth a shot, no? And he knew a certain young Eliatrope who could form the portals he needed to do that.
He took one more glance at the currently sleeping Dally above him and frowned. That guy wouldn't like his friends to be used like that. But this wasn't about Dally. This was about Rubilax. His shot at figuring out where he truly belonged.
His final chance.
He would take it.
Eva eyed the throne room warily as the ghouls undid her restraints and left her as well as Remington here by themselves. The action itself seemed more than just fishy. Why capture them only to release them again? It made little sense now, did it?
Still, she wasn't all that upset to have been brought here. After all, this was Rubilaxia, right? The place Dally told her to come to. He had said he was being held prisoner in the throne room, so the various cages hanging from the ceiling were the first things she checked. Unfortunately, though, they were all empty. The only thing this room held were sleeping Shushus hanging on the wall as well as a throne. Wait, was someone sitting on it? She took a few steps forward to have a better look.
Evangelyne!
She froze on the spot. That voice. Dally's voice. The body on the throne rose and although it was a bit hard to see due to the sunlight casting obscuring shadows over the figure, she still managed to make out the all too familiar silhouette of her lovely knight. She could barely believe her eyes.
"Dally…" She whispered softly and in slight disbelief. For months she had been told to let him go. That he had been dead. That it had been time to move on. She had refused to, had chosen to cling to the faint hope that he could still have been alive. She had known it had been unreasonable, had half expected to return empty handed and heartbroken, but now it turned out that she had been right all along. He was alive. She could have him back!
She stormed forward from one moment to the next. She would take him back alright. And let's see someone trying to take him from her again. They would be mighty sorry, let her tell you that. You could say about Cras what you wanted, but they surely learned from their mistakes. She may have allowed her valiant knight to get taken from her once, but to let that happen a second time, you would have to rip him out of her cold, dead hands.
"Dally!" She exclaimed happily, rapidly approaching him in her eagerness to hold him in her arms again. "I knew you weren't dead! I was sure of it!"
No, Eva! Don't come any closer! Stay back!
This caught her by surprise. His voice…didn't come from his body, but…above? Looking up she saw Rubilax' sword prison hanging not far above the throne. Did the voice come from it? But how…?
Meanwhile, Dally had finally opened his eyes, but those were not the pale brown eyes she once knew, but demonic ones. And once he finally spoke, she finally realized who it was that currently occupied Dally's body.
"Hello, Evangelyne."
"Rubilax! How? That's…that's impossible!"
Nothing is impossible for a Shushu like me." He boasted grandly, invoking her anger.
"What have you done, you…!"
"Don't be too mad with him, Eva." Dally tried to calm her down. He really was in Rubi's former prison now. "He did save me, after all. If it weren't for him, I…"
"How about you shut that trap of yours before I make you, huh?" Rubilax quickly interrupted him angrily. "Telling such lies, who do you think you are? I am a Shushu, I save nothing. I just erase." He approached Eva with an evil smirk. "Should I start with you, perhaps?"
He raised his hand against her, ready to bring it down on her. She braced for an impact that never came, for his hand stopped a hair's length before actually touching her. She eyed Rubilax with equally as much confusion as he was apparently in right now.
"What? What is the meaning of this?" He asked nobody in particular, trying again and again to hit her…to no avail. Dally laughed at the demon's vain attempt to harm Eva.
"I would never hurt Eva, so my body simply refuses to obey your command in that regard."
"Impossible…!" While Rubi tried his hardest to prove his former guardian wrong, Dally made use of the opportunity to talk with Eva again.
"You probably can't imagine how happy I am to see you again, Eva. You look even more stunning than I remember."
"You are happy?" She smiled at him with sparkling eyes. "That's my line. I thought I would never see you again, until you started calling out to me. I was worried I was going crazy! I am so glad I am not and you are still alive!" Sure, he was currently in a bit of a weird situation, being stuck in a sword, but details, details. Having him back was good enough for now, in his correct body or not.
"All's well that ends well, beautiful adventurer." He said, she found truer words had never been said before.
"All's well that ends well, you big lump."
"Are you kidding me? Who do you think you are, ignoring me? I will be the one to destroy you!" Rubilax tried to object but only ended up facing Eva who had already gotten out her bow and was drawing back an arrow at him, missing him by a hair as he ducked last second.
"You can consider yourself lucky you missed me, blondie. For someone who thinks herself to be oh-so-clever, you seem to have overlooked the fact that disfiguring me means you disfigure your sweetheart as well." Rubi was quick to point out angrily to which Eva didn't seem impressed in any way. Rubi apparently never realized he hadn't been the target from the start as Eva had merely sought to summon her friends so she got to share the good news of Dally's return with them as well as rub a well-deserved portion of "I told you so" into their faces. In Amalia's face particularly. Who was chasing ghosts now, huh?
A sudden assault of Remington drew her attention back to the scene in front of her as he had knocked out Rubi in one swift strike. She would have been grateful for the support if she hadn't been absolutely sure he had done so out of ulterior motives. Still, as a woman who knew her manners, she decided to give him an obligatory "Thank you" regardless.
"Don't thank me, Evangelyne, as I will be taking every weapon in this room with me to claim the world as mine."
She narrowed her eyes on him. What did she say? So predictable. Well, it was not like she cared much. If he wanted the weapons, he was free to get them as far as she was concerned. She was just here for Dally, after all.
"Surely you mean ours, brother." The bow meow behind them said with an evil smirk as it fused with one of the Shushus it had acquired to become a sizeable monster with razor sharp teeth and claws. It then approached Eva with an evil grin, claiming: "And there is no room for you in our world, little Cra."
Said Cra took a step back, cursing internally. Of course, why would it ever be easy…
"Hey furball, you better back off there if you know what's good for you." Dally suddenly yelled at them while staring the monster down angrily before directing his attention to Remington. "Same goes for you, smugface. You harm but a single blonde hair of Eva and I will make you regret it, got it?"
This made the possessed bow meow chuckle derisively. "A protective Shushu, how grand."
"Hmm, from all the Shushus in this room, that one is on display the most. It must be the strongest of them all." Remington deduced, stroking his chin before a greedy smirk was formed on his lips. "I want it."
Using their moment of inattentiveness, Eva quickly drew another arrow in her bow and shot it at the face of the demonified feline, making it cry out in pain and hold its aching face. Remington's attention was immediately back on her once he noticed that, but it was only in time to see a fist flying at his face. Receiving it, he grunted in pain but was quick enough to regain his stance and catch the follow up strike of Eva in his right hand.
Angry eyes locking on each other, the blonde Cra hissed: "Don't you dare. He's mine."
This caused Remington's smirk to grow even wider. "I love your angry look, Evangelyne. And knowing how desperately you want that thing will make taking it from you all the more enjoyable."
"Lowly scum!" She growled at him as she tried kicking him in the side to free herself from the grip he still had on her fist. He groaned in mild pain but didn't seem very impressed otherwise.
"You are a feisty one, aren't you? Just the way I like them. Let's play rough, then." He told her as he proceeded to throw her over his shoulder and unholstered one of his gun-shaped Shushu pistols to aim it down at her as she lied on the ground. She barely managed to roll off to her side in time to avoid getting riddled with bullet holes. Damn, this dude was not fucking around. But neither was she.
She quickly swept away his feet to make him fall to the ground, then used the opportunity to get back on her own feet before he could. This was a very unfavorable fight for her so she was better off fulfilling her objective and then get the hell out of Dodge which meant getting Dally into her possession and running away as fast as he feet could carry her. Luckily for her, she was not bound to some code of honor forbidding her from retreating unlike a certain knight she knew.
She quickly ran to the throne while dodging further shots of Remington who had not wasted a single second to take aim once more the moment he had recovered from his fall. Using the unconscious Rubilax as a foothold, she quickly climbed the stony structure to boost her way up. But just as she was about to jump up into the air, a hand took hold of her ankle and pulled her back down.
"The hell do you think you are stepping on, girlie? Do I look like a doormat to you?" Rubilax growled at her. He about had it with this girl and her insolence.
Eva groaned in frustration. Just what she had needed. More problems. Speaking of which…where had that oversized bow meow gone?
"Oh, what the hell…?" Rubi suddenly exclaimed as he saw the huge feline running straight at them, lunging directly at the throne with crazed eyes, eager to devour two tasty looking humans. Rubi let Eva go to brace for the attack properly while the blonde Cra used the chance to leap into the air high enough to grab and free Dally from his chain.
"Evangelyne!" Dally uttered her name in gratitude as she held him in her hands as if he were a sacred artifact. Her eyes sparkled from the relief of merely holding him once more. Like she had just managed to acquire a relic that was thought to be lost forever yet had magically resurfaced. The greatest treasure of them all, truly priceless and finally back where it belonged. With her.
"Hey there, my handsome redhead." She greeted him happily. "This time, I will be saving you."
He laughed. "I am in quite some capable hands, then."
"Thanks for getting that thing down for me, Evangelyne. You can hand it over now." They could hear Remington's voice behind Eva as he aimed his Shushu twin pistols at her cockily. With nothing but annoyance in her face, the blonde Cra spun around, Sword-Dally in hand and ready to fight.
"You want him? Come and get him." She told him with a confident smirk, beckoning him with her free hand. She had seen Dally use this blade with great effect. A sword may not have been her weapon of choice, but she at least knew how to wield one. If she could use Dally even just half as effectively as he had used Rubilax, Remington would be toast. Hah, would serve him right after all the shit he had put her through.
"Just try me, loser! I will teach you what happens when someone tries to mess with my Cra!" Dally quickly joined in on her taunt, never hesitant on joining a fight. Especially if it concerned Eva.
Remington frowned as he considered his chances of success. He knew he could take Eva on if he played his cards right, but that Shushu blade she had just procured was an unknown variable. He knew it must be powerful, but by how much? Was he willing to risk finding out? Still, he hadn't come all the way to this place to leave empty handed…
Perhaps if Grany were to finally help him out a bit instead of messing around like an idiot, he could attempt to take them on…
Speaking of which…
"Who do you think you are, you filthy fleabag? I will teach you some goddamn respect!" He could hear that weirdo with red hair shout as he ripped out the Shushu his brother had gotten for himself forcefully with his bare hands, followed by throwing the heavy beast at him effortlessly. "There, return to sender."
Grany came crashing at him with enough force to knock him over right before he could have had enough time to shrink back into his normal size. Simply unbelievable, who was that weirdo to throw a heavy demonified war beast around like that? These punks made him look like a damn amateur which pissed him off.
While Remington was getting back on his feet, Rubilax faced Eva and Dally, pointing a finger at them angrily.
"And now to you, Dumb and Dumber. You clearly came to the wrong neighborhood." He told them as he hit his own palm with his fist eagerly. "Let me introduce you to a whole new world of pain."
"Big talk from someone who can't even touch Eva!" Dally responded with an implied grin.
"Who needs to touch her when you can just crush her with things like this!" He eagerly lifted his own throne up and smirked as he threw it right at her, causing Dally's eye to open up wide in surprise.
"Eva, you gotta move!"
She did just that, rolling off at the last possible moment to avoid harm.
"Quick, Dally. Tell me how to transform you." She asked of him as she kept dodging Rubilax' onslaught of stony projectiles.
"Uh, well, you see…" He stuttered nervously before lowering his gaze in shame. "I don't really know how to do that."
"Are you kidding me?" She asked him in shock. "Come on, this is your weapon. You've got to know how it works."
"Give me a break, Eva. I was the one on the outside, never the guy stuck inside." He tried to defend himself.
"Well, then tell me what I need to do on the outside."
"Welp, I usually just told Rubi to get going. Sometimes hitting him against the ground did the trick."
"That's all?" Eva asked suspiciously as she smacked him against the floor.
"Ouch! You didn't have to do it so damn hard!"
"Ah, sorry." She quickly apologized. "Well, figured something out from that?"
Exerted groans could be heard coming from the sword as Dally seemed to force himself to change into one of his prison's combat forms, but even though it seemed to work partially, he still reverted back into his usual form in the end, breathing heavily.
"Man, that's really hard." He had to admit as he looked at her with a regretful expression. He really wanted to help her out but didn't know how. "Sorry, Eva."
"Don't worry about it, Dally. We will figure something out." She told him reassuringly and tried to cheer him up with a kind smile.
Rubilax, on the other hand, couldn't help but laugh at him vehemently.
"What's the matter, Dally-boy? Having some trouble getting big? Don't worry, pal. Happens to the best of us. Doesn't make you any bit less of a man, right Eva?"
"Ah, well…" Eva averted her gaze, trying to mask her amusement over that joke. She had to admit, it was kinda funny.
"Hey, hey! Put a sock in it, Rubi! And you!" He looked at Eva angrily. "Don't laugh at his jokes, damnit! Not cool!"
She forced herself to gulp down the rest of her chuckle. "S-sorry."
The short moment of inattentiveness was all it took for a certain rogue to skillfully shoot Dally out of Eva's hands, making him fly through the air. While Eva was still busy comprehending what had just happened, Remington had already been on the move, running quickly to catch Dally in midair, followed by heading to the nearest window.
"You better be worth the trouble, Shushu." He grumbled as he looked down on Dally before putting him away on his belt. "I will be taking this. Wish I could claim it was nice spending time with you all, but it wasn't. Smell you later." He then felt the need to say back at Evangelyne and Rubilax before he bailed on them by jumping straight out of the window, Grany sitting on his shoulders.
"Dally!" Eva yelled after them, holding out a hand in vain hope of making them stop somehow. Her shock was soon to make room for anger, though. Who did that good for nothing rouge think he was, taking Dally from her? He had quite some nerve stealing from a Cra and thinking he could get away with it. Hell would sooner be freezing over than her losing a trail. This Remington fella might have thought he had struck gold by robbing her when in reality, all he had managed to do was put a target on his back. He would soon come to regret that. She never missed her mark.
"You really gotta stop ignoring me, Blondie. Me, the great, terrifying Rubilax!"
"And you gotta stop going on my nerves!" Eva told him with an annoyed growl as she turned around to kick him in the nuts, ironically sending him into the world of pain he had originally sought to put her in.
"Why must…humanity suck…so much…!" He groaned as he fell to his knees, forcing himself not to cry. Was there any place on this pathetic body that didn't hurt like a bitch when hit? And why would you place such a critical weak spot into such an easily accessible area? Human evolution sure as hell was flawed beyond belief! He wanted his demon body back…
"That's right. You just sit there and think about what you have done!" She scolded him angrily before turning around to check the walls for a suitable weapon to chase the heavily armed Remington with. Last time he had given her a hard time because she hadn't been prepared for a fight against someone carrying Shushus around like jewelry. This time, she could arm herself with just as many as she needed herself. However, there were quite a lot of them around and she didn't have the luxury of taking her time to pick the most suitable one…
She would love to claim that her trusty bow was all she needed to take on any foe, but when it came down to getting Dally back, she would rather make absolutely sure she would not fail. There was no room for pride and errors. Her heart screamed at her to not waste time, to give chase before Remington could cover his tracks, but she forced herself to remain calm, could not allow her emotions to run wild. She needed to be the professional she had been trained to be.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, she no longer had the look of a worried woman on her face but the look of a predator stalking her prey. The sheer number of weapons lying at her disposal no longer overwhelmed her, the majority of them instinctually getting appraised by her and quickly disregarded as inferior goods, not suitable for her needs. Instead, the strongest of them all instantly caught her eye. A sword that radiated the killing intent of a ferocious beast, a demon that would not surrender its prey until it lied defeated before its master's feet. This would do, she thought as she took the blade into her possession, strapping it on her back.
Not wasting any more time, Eva jumped up to the window Remington had bailed from, her jade eyes shining in the light of a sun that was about to vanish below the horizon. It didn't take her long to spot the figure of a thieving scoundrel jumping from one rooftop to the next. He was fast, Eva gave him that much, but not fast enough. With her prey now in her sights, there was no longer any hope of him escaping her. She jumped down, beginning her chase.
The hunt was on.
As expected, the hunt hadn't turned out to be a particularly long nor hard one. Sure, that scoundrel had made her chase him all around town, trying to make her fall into his dirty traps and using every trick at his disposal to fool her into making a mistake that would have cost her greatly, but in the end, she still managed to pin him down, point her weapon at him and make him surrender the treasure he had stolen from her. But even with a blade held close to his throat he still had had the nerve to try and outwit her, throwing Dally into the abyss below the moment he had learnt of his lack of demonic strength.
Naturally she had leapt after him, catching him midfall to avoid losing him to the mist below. She had yet to make out a ground he could have landed onto and she somewhat doubted even Rubilax knew what actually lied down there. Either way, she hadn't been particularly eager to find out, much less let Dally be the guinea pig in that regard. Remington might have found out by now, however, now that he had ended up falling into the depths he had originally tried to push Dally into. Served him right, Eva thought. That's what he got for trying to harm her Iop.
Now that the hunt was over, her priceless Iop was back in her possession and her prey had finally been dealt with, the sharpness in her eyes finally dispersed in favor of relief as she held Dally close, apparently not even caring in the slightest that she was hugging a sword rather than an actual person.
"My hero, still looking out for me even in your current situation." She praised him thankfully as it had been him that had warned her from Remington's final ruse.
"But of course. A knight always protects his princess." He responded proudly, but then laughed sheepishly. "Although this time it was mostly the other way around. I am so glad you came for me, Eva."
She chuckled amusedly. "Not even Ogrest's chaos could have stopped me from coming to save you, you big dummy."
He seemed to be blushing at those words, averting his gaze ever so slightly. "So, uh, does that mean you like me, perhaps a little?"
She narrowed her eyes on him in disbelief, albeit blushing ever so slightly herself. "You Iop brain, do I have to spell it out for you?"
His eye began sparkling in happiness. "You do, don't you? Please say yes." She blushed even more. Cra, why was this guy so adorable? He was like a puppy asking for cuddles. Damnit, he wasn't even fully back yet and already managed to make her heart race, filling her mind with these sugar-sweet thoughts that made her feel all fuzzy and warm inside.
Ah, how she had missed this feeling…
"How about we delay this for when we get your body back? I would much rather tell you what I think of you face to face." She told him while looking away nervously, afraid she might say quite some…embarrassing things if she were to speak her mind to him right now. And, well, if she had to be all girly and weird about it, she would much rather do it in front of the real him where she could just hug him afterwards so she wouldn't have to make him see her flustered face so much.
"Oh, I am not entirely sure that's even possible…" Dally told her sadly, catching her by surprise.
"What makes you say that?"
"I asked Rubi about it before. He said it had been a one-time thing and could not be undone…"
She narrowed her eyes on him. "And you believed him?"
"Why would he lie to me?"
"Dally, he is a demon. They are all about lies and deception. Rubilax in particular would rather lie than admit he did something nice…" She told him, then blinked at her own words, realizing something. If Rubi would rather mask his kindness with cruel lies, then perhaps he had told Dally that lie to hide the fact that he could be saved after all. Perhaps he was even planning to give him his body back from the start. That little rascal, why was he always such a handful? Couldn't he simply be a good guy and be done with it? Why did everything always have to be so roundabout with him?
"Well, it's not like it matters to me. Even if I won't get my body back, I will still protect you." He told her dutifully.
"While these words certainly do make me happy, I would rather have all of you back, you know?" She told him with a slight pout.
"You think I can't protect you properly as I am now?" He asked her with a frown. "All I need is to figure out how to transform and then I can-"
"Dally, this isn't just about protection, you big oaf!" She told him in frustration as she took hold of her forehead in disbelief. The air-headedness of this man, seriously.
"It is not?" He looked at her confusedly.
"No, I need far more from you than just your protection. There are things we can only do when you are there with me." She tried to explain.
"Like what?" He would have raised a brow if only he could have.
This made her blush again, averting her gaze as she fumbled around with her hands. "W-well, for example, holding hands, hugging, k-kissing…" She grew more and more silent the further she got on her list. Didn't matter, though, for Dally had heard her just fine, given how his eye started sparkling at her again.
He gasped. "So you do like me. This has to absolutely be the happiest day in my life." He sounded as excited as a kid about to go to the Trool Fair. This made Eva smirk at him.
"Really now? You would think the day you were revived would have been the best day of your life."
"Ah, that was also very good, true. But this moment right now is better." He told her happily, making sure to burn this memory right into his mind so he would never forget it. He had a particularly forgetful brain, unfortunately, so he always made extra sure to never lose his important memories, like the day Master Goultard accepted him as his student. Or the day he had slain his first monster. Or the day he had met Yugo and the others. And now, this day, too.
Eva smiled at the sweetness of his words. Had anyone else told her the same thing, she would have simply disregarded it as shallow flattery, but with Dally she could always be sure that he was telling the truth. He never lied. He would probably be too bad at it to even try. Such was the fate of someone with as pure a heart as his one was.
"Sometimes you say the sweetest of things, you know?" She told him with a short giggle.
"You think so? I just speak what's on my mind…"
"That's what makes it so sweet. Well, most of the time, anyway." Sometimes there was a whole lot of stupid nonsense, too, but she was able to disregard that. That was just the way he was, after all.
He laughed shyly as he noticed her giving him that cute smile of hers. From one moment to the next, he transformed into the sword prison's bigger form, catching Eva by surprise.
"H-huh? What's wrong? Did I do something bad?" Dally eyed her in a panic once he realized how shocked she looked.
"N-no, Dally. Look, you transformed." She pointed out to him, making him look at himself.
"Woah! You are right! Told ya I would figure it out somehow." He boasted proudly.
"Well, how did you do it?"
"No idea."
She sighed and shook her head. Classic Dally, ladies and gentlemen.
"It's got to be something you just did, so let's try to figure it out real quick, alright?"
"Sure. I was just happy about your praise right now, so maybe it was that?"
She frowned in disdain, getting an unpleasant déjà vu from Skribble. Please no.
"Will you tell me the way as well if I call you the strongest, most handsome knight?"
This made him remember the annoying Shushu map as well and with an expression that told volumes of his disgust, he immediately shrunk back to his original size.
"You shrank again." Eva noted.
"Yeah, and I hate that map."
This caused a certain map's voice to be heard coming from Eva's bag where she had hastily stuffed Skribble into back when Remington had tried to steal him from her, too.
"I hate you, too, dingus! And for the record, I didn't want to come here for you. I was map-napped by your witch of a girlfriend."
Dally narrowed down his eye at that remark and said: "Hey Eva, do you mind taking that guy out for a sec? I would love to cut him to pieces."
Eva shared his expression. "I know where you are coming from, but unfortunately, I promised Yugo I would bring him back."
"We could always blame it on that honorless douche with the cat, you know?"
"H-hey, surely there is no need for that? Aren't we all friends?" Skribble nervously asked them, causing them both to laugh at his predictability.
"Thinking of Skribble turned you back, but what made you transform in the first place…?" Eva decided to get back to the topic at hand. Could it have been…
"Dally,…" She blushed slightly but eventually asked him: "What happens when you think of me?"
"Well before you came here my mind would just end up wandering through the world until I found you, but now that you are already here, I am not sure what-oh." He had changed into his big form again, causing Eva to smirk as it confirmed her theory.
"Now try thinking about Ruel's feet." Eva told him, he immediately shrunk back, making a sound as if he was shuddering.
"Now Yugo." Nothing happened.
"Me." He grew big again, eye sparkling.
"Armand." Shrunk back down. Annoyance.
"Amalia." Nothing.
"Me." Big as ever and eager to strike.
This made it obvious. Disgust, hatred and annoyance made him shrink and the opposite made him grow. Everything in between had no effect. Now it didn't take a genius to figure out what kind of feelings could be found on the opposite spectrum of disgust, hatred and annoyance and realizing he only managed to feel that when thinking about her caused a weird sense of pride to well up inside her. A stupefied grin crawled up her face as well.
It was not like Dally had made a big secret out of his affection for her but having such a visual confirmation was still always nice to have.
"You seem happy for some reason." Dally noted, sounding quite happy about that as well.
"Yep, and it's all your fault." She sighed, unable to wipe that smile off her face.
"If that's the case, then sorry, not sorry." He told her with a content laugh. "So, now that we figured out how to make me transform, ready for a revanche against Rubi?"
She offered him an eager smirk. "You bet. Let's get your body back for good. With luck, our friends will have gotten my recall arrow and have already dealt with Rubi for us."
"Right. I am sure they will immediately figure out it is Rubi and not me." Dally said with confidence, not seeming to see how plausible the opposite of his scenario actually was. Eva's eyes opened up wide in shock as she realized he made a valid point.
"Oh crap, we gotta hurry!"
And like that, she had already darted into the direction she had come from, hoping it was not yet too late.
"We are too late." Dally noticed as he and Eva saw Rubi and his army of ghouls taking Yugo and the ghoulified versions of Ruel and Amalia with him into an elevator that seemed to take them somewhere below. Eva let her head sink in shame, knowing it was partially her fault her friends had been captured. She had to fix that somehow.
"We gotta go after them!" Dally decided quickly, sporting a determined expression. Naturally, Eva shared his vigor but couldn't help but be worried. They didn't know what would await them on the other side and might find themselves in an unfavorable situation.
"What if it's a trap?" She tried to object.
"Who cares? You've got me. I am stronger than any trap."
This made the blonde smirk at him knowingly. "Said the guy trapped in his own sword."
"Well, that is…uh…" Not knowing how to get himself out of that one, Dally visibly struggled to find a response, but Eva merely smiled at him and nodded.
"But you are right regardless. We simply have to go and if it's trapped, we just need to overcome it. There is no other choice. Our friends depend on us."
"Well said, Eva!" Her redheaded knight seemed to approve of her resolve. That was the spirit!
The elevator eventually returned, allowing them to board it as well.
"Well, there is no going back after entering this thing. Ready, my valiant knight?" She asked him confidently to which he responded:
"My sword is yours! …Literally." The last bit was added with a bit of delay, as if he had only realized that after he had already said it.
She chuckled at that. "Let's get the rest of you back so it's no longer literally."
"Right!"
They entered the elevator and began their descent. Seeing as to how the trip took a bit longer than she initially assumed it would, Eva decided to ask: "So, am I right to assume we are just going smack Rubi until he gives up? That would be your usual plan, no?"
"I'll admit, that does sound like a lot of fun and last time we had our differences, that's exactly how we solved them, but this time it's even easier. See, Rubi is actually quite the nice guy which is probably the reason his demon friends don't like him…"
"So that's the reason he behaves like a prick." Eva concluded. "He wants to fit into the gang of pricks."
"Yep, but since he is a good guy at heart, we technically just have to talk some sense into him and this whole mess will get resolved by itself. We could still beat his ass if you want to, though. I won't oppose."
"I would rather not. That guy seems to be stuck in his own personal crisis as it is." That would make her feel like she was bullying him…
"Ah, it will be fine. He still has me and the rest of the gang. We will be his friends." Dally decided cheerfully to which Eva could only smile in defeat.
"Well, he did bring you back from death, so I suppose I owe him at least that much."
The elevator eventually reached its destination and opened up its doors to reveal an army of ghouls waiting for them. Eva flinched nervously, having half expected to run into this kind of trouble, but Dally had been right. There was nothing to fear with him at her side. Together they would overcome this.
"Let's go, Dally." She swung the blade around flashily but ended up eying him worriedly when he hadn't changed his form even after several seconds of waiting. "Come on, Dally, that's not funny." She whispered to him nervously.
"I know. I am trying here…" He told her under what seemed to be heavy strain. He appeared to really try to change his shape, but, like before, it always ended up being an incomplete transformation that would revert into the normal dagger shape.
"Need me to hit you against the ground again?" She asked him worriedly as the ghouls started approaching them.
"No need, I got this."
"Come on, you can do this, Dally. Just think of me like you did earlier."
"I am trying to, Eva, but all I can currently think about is how I need to change shape now or these things will attack you. How disappointed you will be if I can't perform now after talking so big earlier. How it would all be my fault…"
Yikes, he was totally going at this from the wrong direction. She saw how it was, she had to help him out, get him back on the right track. Bringing him close to her lips, she closed her eyes and placed a small kiss on his blade. A simple action alone that immediately blew all the stressful thoughts away, making room for the ones he really needed to focus on. He transformed into his bigger form the very next second, his eye looking so eager for battle it almost seemed as if it was on fire. A battle cry echoed through the chamber as he got hyped up.
"Oooooooh! I did it, Eva! Let me at them! I will mow them down for you!"
"I never doubted you!" She offered him a gentle smile before assuming a battle posture. "Now, shall we?"
"Right on! En garde, you ruffians! Here we come!"
Rubi folded his arms in front of his chest and waited in front of a giant Shushu mirror for the connection with his king to be formed. This was the moment of truth. He didn't know why, but out of nowhere, Yugo and his friends had shown up in his throne room shortly after Evangelyne had ran off. If that hadn't been a fateful sign for the young brat to be presented before his king, he didn't know what was! How ironic it truly was that a boy with a heart pure as freshly fallen snow would serve as the key to regain his status as a vicious and foul demon in the eyes of his peers. Granted, he was a bit worried that he had lost Percedal to some clown dressed in black but Eva was already on it, so it was probably fine. Percedal was in good hands with her and Rubi had bigger fish to fry right now. Namely convincing the big boss that he, the mighty and terrifying Rubilax was worthy of being one of his foul and evil Shushus. If this didn't work, nothing ever would.
The image of his mighty king was finally formed in the giant mirror before him. Signaling for Rubilax that it was time for him to start speaking. And so he offered his king a humble bow as he addressed him:
"Rushu, King of Kings, your loyal and unworthy Rubilax desires to speak with you."
The king of Shushus threw a glance at him and began smirking at him derisively.
"Ah, if it isn't Rubi the moron. To what do I owe this displeasure?"
His eye twitched in annoyance upon hearing that stupid title once more but he quickly pressed his eyes shut and bowed to hide it from his superior. He was doing all this to get rid of it, after all.
"King of the evildoers and the smelly, I have some delightful news for you." He proudly informed his king who instead seemed to be more interested in the ring Rubi currently wore.
"Is that so, but before you tell me about that, isn't that Shadofang I spot on your horrible human finger?"
He flinched. Crap, maybe he should have hidden her from sight. Now that Rushu had seen her, he would always just want to speak with her instead. That wouldn't do, though…this was his moment to shine, not hers. Before that wench could try hogging all of his king's attention to herself, he quickly put his hand over her and took charge of the conversation again.
"Yes, my king, but that's not important right now, for I believe I have found a way to invade the human world at last!"
This made Rushu raise a brow in curiosity. "Have you finally come to make yourself useful, my feeblest of all Shushus?"
He stood up and presented Yugo to his king proudly. "I've captured this boy, an Eliatrope. I've seen him at work and he is capable of creating portals."
This seemed to finally have gained Rushu's undivided attention as he leaned forward with quite some interest. "Portals? Like the ones that originally allowed us to enter this vile world in the first place?"
"The very same, just smaller." Rubi added the last bit nervously.
"Very interesting, my little Rubi, but tell me, why are your brothers and sisters still inside their prisons?"
Rubi had barely even opened his mouth to explain when his king was already yelling at him to shut up, asking for Shadofang's opinion instead. Rubi growled internally. Shadofang here, Shadofang there. Had he come up with that portal plan or had she? That dumb sister of his would still be at Count Wagnar's finger, serving at his beck and call if it hadn't been for him, bloody hell!
Oooooooh!
Rubi blinked in surprise and turned around. Sounded like Dally was back here which meant Evangelyne had successfully gotten him back. That was good, but this was quite the bad time. He hastily waved his hand at the ghouls standing further back to go and deal with them while he tried getting this over quickly.
"What was that noise?" King Rushu asked them with a raised brow.
"Nothing, my king. Just some fools I keep torturing in the background. No need to concern your royal self with such small fries." Rubi tried playing the matter down with a nervous smile, only to have Shadofang fall into his back like the bitch she was.
"That, my king, is just Rubilax' doomed to fail plan. He isn't torturing anyone. In fact, he is keeping us all prisoners while he had gone out of his way to save a human's life." She told her king with a smug grin to which Rubi could only glare at her angrily.
"She is lying, king of kings! The only reason I haven't freed them is because they would have ruined the whole plan by usurping me!"
"Don't listen to him, my lord. Rubilax has always been a disgrace to our kind and will never amount to anything more than a traitor, selling out his brethren to appease his human friends. He has never been worthy of our trust!"
"How about you can it, you old hag?" Rubi yelled at her angrily.
That was the moment he saw ghouls getting tossed around left and right as Eva effortlessly flung them to the side with each swing of Dally's awakened form. Rubi narrowed his eyes at them but nodded a somewhat impressed fashion at Dally finally having figured out how to transform the blade. Took him long enough, but still…not bad.
"Excellently done, Eva!" Dally commended her for her skill with the sword, eying her proudly. "Are you sure you wanna stick to the bow? You would make a fantastic swordwoman."
"Oh stop it, you. It was mostly your doing anyway." She waved his praise off with a shy grin.
"No, I mean it! I think I fell in love all over again seeing you fight." He looked at her with nothing but admiration. The strength, the elegance, the execution, all perfect in his eye. What was better than a beautiful princess? A beautiful princess who could fight!
"It sure is fun, I'll admit, but also quite exhausting. I don't know how you can keep doing this all day long." She told him as she wiped off the sweat that had formed on her forehead. She could have easily dealt with all of those foes from a safe distance, wasting not even half the energy she had been using to get here by sword. Well, assuming she had someone to push the frontline and create some space for her, of course.
Dally was about to respond when an angry and ghoulified Amalia threw herself at them, her claws getting parried by Eva who raised Dally protectively before her.
"I am happy to see you, too, Amalia, but no need to be so clingy. Don't worry, I am not going away anytime soon." Dally told her happily, followed by Eva gasping exaggeratedly as she stared at the younger girl's long claws.
"Oh no, Amie! Look at those nails! How unbefitting of a princess!" Eva smirked when she saw Amalia letting go in shock to look at her nails in horror, only to have Eva ram Dally into the ground quickly to take out and wrap a rope around Amalia' wrists hastily, binding them together before the green-haired ghoul could even realize what was going on. Not that she seemed to care much either way, now sitting down and despairing at the sight of her horrifying nails. Oh, the humanity!
Ruel was the next to approach her, but before he could even think about attacking, Eva took out a Kama from her purse and smirked as she waved it around in front of him, talking to him like with a dog. "Look, Ruel. Shiny! Does Ruel want the shiny? Sure he wants the shiny! Fetch!"
Ironically enough, Ruel did just that, running after the coin she had just thrown away on all fours with his tongue out and drooling all over the floor.
"Classic Ruel." Dally chuckled as he was pulled out of the ground by the blonde Cra once more. He spotted Yugo next to Rubilax and cheerfully greeted him.
"Hi, Yugo. Long time no see. How's it going, old pal?"
"Dally? You are…inside of the sword?" The young Eliatrope was equally as confused as he was happy to hear his friend was not as dead as previously assumed.
"Yep, Rubilax saved me."
Rushu roared once he heard this, causing Rubilax to flinch.
"So it's true, after all? You really did fall as low as to save a human life?"
"But my king, if I hadn't, I would still be stuck in my prison and couldn't have-" Rubilax tried to explain himself, but got interrupted by Dally.
"So what if he did, fartface? That's what buds do for one another. Not like someone like you would understand, I suppose, yelling at your subordinates from the safety of the other side of a mirror. You wouldn't talk so big if we were meeting face to face to beat your sorry tyrannical ass, right Rubi?"
"Shut up, you fool!" Rubilax yelled at him, slightly panicked, before turning around to his king once more. "Don't listen to him, my king. He is an Iop, the most retarded version of humans you could possibly ever encounter. They are literally too stupid to even feel fear."
"You seem to be getting along quite nicely, though? From one moron to another." Rushu argued grumpily.
"Of course we are getting along nicely. After all we two have been through, it's quite natural to be friends now." Dally butted in again, resting on Eva's shoulder. "Come on, Rubi. Let's ditch that loser and go on some more adventures together again. That was way more fun than getting talked down by some wanna-be-king, wasn't it?"
"My king, I…" Rubi tried salvaging this horrible situation somehow but could already see Rushu would have none of that. Yelling at him in fury, he said:
"Silence, you degenerate! You bring shame on your people! Free Shadofang now and let her take control."
He frowned in anger, hearing that cursed name again. He stepped in front of the mirror with some newfound determination.
"It was me who captured the Eliatrope. Me who came up with the plan to use him to free you and it is also me who is about to present this world to you on a silver platter. Me, the great Rubilax! So why, my king, is it that I always only keep hearing the name of Shadofang, some worthless hag that would not even be here today if it hadn't been for me bringing her here? You accuse me of mingling with humans, but what else am I supposed to do when my own kind refuses to work with me instead? There is not a single one of my brothers and sisters trying even remotely as hard to gain your favor and yet I am still the most scorned, am the one who has to surrender the fruits of his labor to someone else just so she can reap your approval in the end. I ask you, King of Kings, is that fair?" He looked up to his king bravely, not caving in under his furious expression.
"You dare talk back to your king? Do I look like I give a damn what you consider fair or not? If you dislike my rule, you are free to come back home and challenge me for the throne. Until then, you do as I say. Now, I believe I gave you an order. Free Shadofang right this instant!"
Rubilax was seen gritting his teeth as well as clenching his fist so strongly they started trembling.
"Rubi, no offense, but your boss is a huge jerk." Dally noted with a narrowed down eye.
"And I thought Prince Armand could be a handful…" Eva agreed with him.
"Even I would be a better king. And I am still underage!" Yugo could only shake his head with a heavy sigh.
"Would the peanut gallery shut up already?" Rubilax yelled at them angrily before turning around to face Rushu with a malicious snarl, something inside him having finally snapped. "And you! Why don't you take your royal authority and shove it up your ass, king of assholes! Free Shadofang? Sure thing, lemme free her real quick." He smirked and took her ring-prison off his finger to place it on his left palm, only to flick it away with his other hand's middle finger, effectively tossing that annoying wench right into the nearest furnace.
"Rubilax, you son of a bitch! Just you wait! Once I get out of here, I'll-" He could hear her cry out between curses and groans.
"You'll what, Shadofang? Talk shit like you always do? Try something new for once."
"Now you've done it, Rubilax, I will have your head to serve me as a paperweight, you insignificant fool!" King Rushu roared at him, but Rubilax only waved him off, far too angry to let such a threat faze him. With his left eyelid twitching in fury, he yelled back:
"Be my guest, idiot king! You know where to find me. Too bad you don't have the Eliatrope I would have given you. Who is the moron now, huh? Should have acknowledged me while you still had your chance. You know what's really funny?" He pointed at Dally and the rest. "I've been a pain in the ass for these losers from day one, but they accepted me. And yet I have wasted eons trying to please you and still got shit for it. Even humans treat me better than you do, fart face! Guess I will just stay with them then! But have fun on your side, Rushu, king of absolutely nothing. Go to hell!" He smacked the mirror, causing it to shatter into pieces and the image of quite the furious Rushu to get distorted. Then Rubi smirked. "Well, I suppose that's where you already are."
But his smirk was soon to fade, his momentary rush of anger already dissipating, leaving a weird sense of emptiness inside. Now he had really done it. He had burned the last bridge connecting him to demonhood, become a true outcast among his people. A renegade. Now he truly belonged absolutely nowhere.
Well, not that it really changed anything. He hadn't really belonged there before, either. He had just made it official now, that was all. A heavy sigh escaped his lips.
However, he looked up in surprise when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around in wonder, he was a little shocked to see Eva (still carrying Dally), Amalia, Ruel and Yugo standing there, offering him looks of approval.
"What do you guys want? Leave me be." He told them off.
"You seemed like you could need a hug." Yugo told him with a grin, head leaning back against his arms.
"A hug?" Rubilax stepped back in disgust. "Never! I am a de-" He stopped taking midsentence, blinking in confusion, followed by looking down uncertainly.
"Heck if I know what I even am at this point." He sighed.
"A pal." Dally said proudly.
"An interpreter for whenever Dally tries to speak." Ruel suggested with a determined nod, earning him an angry "Hey!" from said redhead.
"A mean mannered pet…?" Amalia offered with folded arms and a shrug. Rubi pinched her cheek and pulled on it, asking: "Who are you calling a pet, moss-head?"
"Some kind of weird uncle I never had, maybe?" Yugo tried to think of something, tapping away on his lip. Well, Ruel was kind of like a weird uncle, too, albeit weird in a different way.
"You are clearly a nice guy pretending to be bad." Evangelyne decided with a kind smile, causing everyone else to smirk approvingly. That seemed to fit the bill the best.
He only stared at her with wide open eyes before eventually admitting that she was probably right. "Maybe that's why I never belonged anywhere." He thought out aloud.
"Well, that's not true now is it?" Dally objected. "You belong with us, right fellas?"
"Sure, why not." Yugo agreed with a shrug. "The more, the merrier."
"Whatever. You could be nicer from now on, though, now that this whole demon business is done and dealt with." Amalia told Rubi with a glare, rubbing her aching cheek.
"Well, Dally was always one of us, so I always considered Rubilax to be as well, to be honest. You can't get one without the other, after all." Ruel reasoned as he scratched the back of his head, thinking.
"He brought Dally back from death. Not even his annoying remarks could make me hate this guy after that anymore." Eva admitted with a slight grin.
Rubi kept staring at them dumbfoundedly. Well, this was certainly weird. But not in a bad way. It didn't quite help him with finding out what he now was, if not a demon, but at least he knew he still belonged somewhere. In a way, this weird spot he was in right now was more than he ever had before. So what if he would stand on the side of humans? If it worked, it worked. That's all that mattered. For now, that was good enough.
"Speaking of Percedal…" He eventually said, directing his attention to the sword resting on Eva's shoulder. "Think you are ready to get this trash bag of a body bag at last? I've grown quite tired of it by now."
"Whose body are you calling a trash bag, you walking heap of rocks?" Dally yelled at him angrily while Eva eyed him with sparkling eyes.
"So you really can give it back?"
"Of course. I only took it because Dally kept sleeping for ages and would have ironically starved to death if I had given him his body back from the start." Rubi pointed out as he massaged the back of his neck.
"You were sleeping?" Eva asked Dally in disbelief. "All this time?"
"Hey, you come back from the dead. Let's see you running a marathon straight off the bat." Dally eyed her angrily, sounding offended. Eva could do little but take hold of her forehead and shake her head with a heavy sigh in response.
"Unbelievable."
"Well, you want it back or not?" Rubi asked him again with annoyance now audible in his voice.
"Sheesh, you gotta ask? Of course I do."
"Well, then I suppose you all should take a step back, this is gonna be unpleasant." For him at least. He took a deep breath before he attempted to forcefully shove his soul back into his prison, allowing Dally to return back where he belonged as well.
Before Dally knew what happened, he felt as if he was forcefully pushed out of the prison, then roughly grabbed by an invisible force and shoved back into his original body. When the mysterious force finally let go of him, he felt quite dizzy and had a bit of trouble readjusting to the feeling of having muscles he could move once again. Luckily for him, Eva was there to catch him before he could fall over like a felled tree. Thanks to her support, he eventually managed to regain his senses and was able to stand on his own legs once more.
When he finally opened his eyes and Eva was able to see, not Rubi's, but her lovely knight's eyes again, she, at last, allowed herself to utter a sigh of relief, letting out the air she hadn't even realized she had held in due to all the tension.
A feeling her redheaded Iop seemed to share, for he offered her a relieved smile as well and gave her his sincere gratitude for having come for him, saving him:
"Thank you so much, Eva."
Hearing his voice coming from his own body once more was the final proof her mind had needed to accept that he was really back again. Truly restored. Her long-lost knight, her heroic warrior…
He had come back to her at last.
The blonde Cra's arms had found their way around her beloved Iop's neck as soon as that realization had sunk in, taking in all of the things she had previously assumed she would never get to experience and feel again. His warmth, his smell, the soothing sound he made as he breathed. It may not have seemed to be much to others, but to her, it had been the world. Not even a single week ago, she would have given anything for just a second of this. It felt quite surreal to believe she could keep this from now on. A scary thought entered her mind, making her silently wonder if she wasn't merely dreaming. She subconsciously held him even closer once the possibility had infected her thoughts. Oh Cra, don't let her be dreaming, please. And if you did, just never make her wake again. That's all she asked of you. When she felt Dally's strong arms wrapping themselves around her in turn, she could no longer hold in the tears of happiness that now freely flowed down her cheeks. She had just been a bit stupid, she realized. This couldn't have been a simple dream. It felt too real to be one, after all.
Percedal himself knew better than to assume this to be a mere dream for he had already seen things nobody could possibly even dream of. He had been on the other side, albeit briefly, and seen what awaited heroes once their time had come. He lacked the vocabulary to ever express the sheer beauty of it all, would forever be awestruck with what he had seen and felt there and yet it all dwarfed in comparison to this very moment he experienced right now. For this moment included Evangelyne as to where the afterlife hadn't. That's right, heaven seemed wonderful only as long as he didn't realize it lacked his lovely angel at which point it just became bleak. Paradise was quick to become stale without his most precious Cra at his side to experience it together with him. Rather than being stuck in a utopia that would become a dystopia without her, he would instead just want to enjoy the heaven she created for him simply by being with him. True paradise was wherever she went and nowhere else. That, he was certain of.
Besides, he still had plenty of time to be a legend after he had lived a long and fulfilled life with Evangelyne. And whoever was in charge of handing out legend-statuses would better be handing it out to Eva afterwards as well or he would find the guy and beat him up until he declared her a legend, that's for sure.
Rubi for his part could only roll his eye at them. He may no longer know what he was, but if there was one thing he knew then that he was still repulsed by all this romance stuff. Urgh, he felt like throwing up. But oh well, guess he shouldn't complain all that much. This was about to become his life now, after all. The weird interpreting uncle/pet/pal/good guy that would stick around a lovey-dovey couple that just couldn't keep their hands off each other.
…
Heh, could be worse, he supposed.
Alright, let's make a cut here.
"Whaaaat? No dramatic drowning scene?" You will ask. Don't worry. Will reference that next chapter, which will also be entirely made up of non-animation scenes, so no recycling to be afraid of for next time, don't worry.
Next chapter might also include mature content, depending on whether I feel up to it and end up liking what I write enough to deem it presentable. Would not be my first lemon but it's been a while that I have written one. I might have gotten rusty.
Anyway, despite my struggles with this chapter, I still had a lot of fun writing the original parts of it. I loved the Rubilaxia arc in the show and adored how Eva didn't even gave a single fuck that Dally was stuck in his sword. She was just happy as hell to have him back in whatever form possible. He could have stayed a sword for the rest of the show and I feel like she would have loved the guy no less for it. While that, obviously, never happened, the thought alone always manages to warm my heart.
There were quite a few jokes in this chapter. So many, in fact, I ended up removing some of them again to make it less of a comedy sketch. There were a lot more sexual jokes about Dally struggling to "get big" as well as him and Eva figuring out his trigger to "awaken" in a more...inappropriate way. In the end I decided against it, thinking that less can be more sometimes.
Before I end this A/N, Rubi asked me to let him have some closing words.
Rubi: "Indeed, so now that I have your attention, listen well!"
Dally&Eva: ...?
Rubi: *ahem* "My name spelled backwards is actually: X-(C)alibur! You may be amazed now."
Eva: *unimpressed frown* "You are missing a C somewhere in there."
Rubi: *defensive* "But that would make the name sound dumb...!"
Dally: "I don't get it. Is this Escapone thing some kind of big deal or something?"
Rubi: "...I hate you all."