Sukia the succubus, all that we knew about her was that she was a being that existed inside of Lissa since we met her in Hyrule; she was our enemy back then and seemed to be in distress during our last few encounters while there. Right now though she had saved us and any hostile moment from before seemed to be insignificant; not so much because of she saved us but because of the guilty look that she had on her face.
"Technically I've saved you twice." Sukia said motioning to Alice.
"When did you save me?" Alice asked backing up slightly untrustworthy her.
"Remember the piranha plant in the pipe?" Alice gave a nod, "…That was me, I couldn't leave you to die there." She couldn't let her die?
"Nina." Alice said suddenly, "It was because I look like Nina…right?"
"Hehe…she paid attention there didn't she? Yes, you looked like a very dear friend of mine. Not in so much how you look but your expression." Expression?
"So…how they emote?" Gareth asked and she shook her head.
"No, honestly they could not be more different but in that moment of panic and worry it reminded me of…a very bad moment." Sukia clutched her arms and trembled before taking a deep breath and going back to normal; something about her seemed different from the first time I met her, it wasn't like when I looked at Lissa though, I could tell it was the Sukia I met before but…her aura was different. Before her aura seemed empty and yet driven but this time around her aura has a hint of guilt and conflicted; there was much more to her than meets the eye…more than I think I could guess. I looked behind me to see Kent, Hana and Pent begin to stir.
"Look I have a lot of questions but right now let's just wait until we get back to town." I said pointing to the group who were currently standing up.
"Very well, what should I do?" Sukia asked.
"Just stay quiet right now." Alice responded.
"They might notice you aren't Lissa if you get in a conversation with them." Gareth added, "Except Pent, he seems a little dim."
"He really isn't different is he?" Alice said.
"What does that mean?"
"Let's not dwell on that right now guys." I said putting a halt to the conversation; the WOLs gathered and recollected ourselves quickly. Hana approached the fire crystal and held out her orb, it shined bright as the crystal met its resonance and the ground under us began to rumble; if the lava had hardened because of the fire crystals deactivation then…oh crap, "We have to go now!" I said and everyone began to worry, "Lava is going to fill this place soon. We have to get out of here!" Another earthquake ran through the volcano and everyone began to run out the way we came in; following behind we dashed up the volcano as quickly as possible. As we ran I heard the sound of something crashing and slushing and swirling of something liquid below us, lava must be pouring back in! Rushing through the second floor I noticed Hana begin to slow down and the ground under us was heating up; time to punch it to full speed! I grabbed Hana's hand and pulled her with me as everyone funneled out of the opening into the sunlight; as the sun touched our face a loud explosion rang through my ears and when I felt we were far enough away I turned around to see the volcano had erupted covering the opening in thick boiling lava.
"That was close." Gareth said breathing heavily.
"Can we have a situation where we aren't panting our lungs out?" Alice said wheezing.
"We have the fire crystal lit now though." Kent said standing up with a large breath, "We are halfway done with our quest now. Let's keep moving."
"One small problem with that." Alice said grabbing his attention, "We have no ship, no strength to keep going and I think we could do with a patch job on our clothing." As she said that she held up her green jacket which was covered in tears and burn marks; my clothes were also in the same state and even my pack had been damaged, a good amount of supplies were gone, I was going to need to get this fixed; good thing I knew an expert seamster…seamstress? Whatever.
"Hey Gareth, you mind?" I asked holding up my cloak.
"That's my specialty, I'm going to need everyone's clothes to get it done quickly though."
"Not happening." Alice said backing up, "I'm not walking around with nothing on!"
"You'd still have your undergarments on." Pent said oblivious to what she meant.
"That doesn't make it better!"
"Here you go." I turned to see Hana had dropped her robe in front of Gareth; suddenly my vision was covered by someone's hands.
"Not happening." That was Alice's voice, "You are not looking at me in that state."
"It's not you, it's Hana."
"Still not happening."
"It's just her in undergarment."
"What undergarments?" That was Hana's voice…!
"I am not letting you look!" As Alice said that I felt her tug at my ear, "At least put something on Hana! For everyone."
"I'm enjoying this."
"Shut up Gareth!"
"Here you are."
"Woah! Pent you need something to cover…that, just all that." And now I'm glad I can't see anything.
"Maybe we should get back to town before we start this." Kent said trying to stop this beyond awkward situation.
"I second that." I added.
"That might be better." Alice agreed.
"Can you uncover my eyes now?"
"Not until Hana is dressed."
Once we were back at Crescent Lake Town we picked up some simple clothing to wear while Gareth worked on our clothes; we decided to take a stay at the inn as it was becoming night, Alice, Sukia and I hung out with Gareth as he sewed and the WOLs trained outside. I would have liked to join them but right now with Sukia here I had something much more important on my plate right now; we sat there in silence as Sukia looked away while Alice looked at her and then me and then Gareth with a sense of tension in her eyes.
"So…where should we start?" I asked and Sukia cleared her throat catching our attention.
"Well…what do you want to know?"
"Who's Nina?"
"Nina was a girl I knew and she was a traveler just like the four of you. She was a very good friend of mine and an amazing mage. Her magic reached the omega level of power and yet she was one of the nicest girls I've ever met. She had this optimistic personality and always approached every situation with a certain level of calm that mad people feel safe."
"She was a traveler?"
"Yep, the first time I met her was in my world. When she first appeared she was timid and scared…but that was to be expected; I am a succubus after all." So she's not from earth.
"Where are you from?"
"I'm from the underworld…or should I say one of the various underworlds. Have any of you heard of Overlord Laharl?" Laharl…Disgaea!?
"So you're from another game world?"
"In your world I guess you could call it that. For me it is home…or…it was home." What does that mean?
"What happened to your world?"
"…It was destroyed."
"Destroyed!?" Alice said in shock.
"How can you just destroy a world!?" Gareth said stopping his work to comment at the surprising news.
"Travelers…they hold a lot more power than normal."
"Did Nina destroy it?"
"No, Owen did." Owen?
"Who's Owen?"
"You actually know him quiet well; he's tried to get you more than once."
"The cloaked man!?" Alice asked surprised.
"…So he was there to?"
"Yes, he was another traveler and an amazing fighter. He, Nina and I were very close; we all worked under Laharl helping him, Etna and Flonne as they fought through the underworld. We became stronger together and met friends along the way…even the shapeshifter and a pair of Gemini creatures."
"Damien?"
"No…he didn't have a name. We didn't mind though, Nina even made the best of the situation, she called him Shifty and it didn't irritate him but it made him feel better. She had a talent for making other people feel better and making them trust her. I think that's what made Owen fall for her; she in turn fell for him." So they were in love.
"What was the cloaked guy like?" Alice asked.
"He was courageous and protective, always putting others before himself and acting heroic, but he had a certain hint of intelligence that was never present in public. He was also very sweet and maybe a little stupid at times; we didn't mind though…he was one of our best friends. He cared for Nina more than anyone else though and that was apparent anytime they were together. It was sweet, I was honestly a little jealous."
"So what happened?" As I asked that her face became sullen.
"She died." Somehow, I had a feeling it was that, "We came so close to the end of our quest and in the final battle with the seraph to avenge Flonne…but it didn't go as planned. As the seraph was about to strike down Nina there was a look of panic and worry plastered on her face…like Alice had; Owen tried to reach her but he was too late and…and she died." There was silence as she took a moment to collect herself, "As she lay there dead there was something rippling off of Owen; it was malicious and made me scared to move or breath. He shouted and the world went white after that; when I woke up the world was dust and ash. Everyone was gone except for Owen, Shifty and Nina's body; where Owen was standing was a portal and he trembled for a minute before steeling himself and beckoning us into the portal."
"So why are you recruiting travelers?" Gareth asked finishing Hana's robe.
"I don't know the details but…Owen said he knew how we could get Nina back, all we had to do was follow him into the portal. Since then we've been following his plans and recruiting travelers; honestly I had no problem with it if it meant we would bring Nina back but I started to lose myself…and the promise I made to Nina."
"What promise?"
"As a succubus I have the power to overpower the minds of the weak and manipulate others to do my bidding. Before I met Owen and Nina I was controlling everyone I came across and becoming more powerful as a result…but then Nina became my friend and I didn't want to lose that feeling, so I made her a promise not to control anyone ever again… but as I worked under Owen to bring her back I forgot that promise and controlled Lissa like I would have before. Even when I lost control I still tried to convince her to give me control and I didn't think twice about it…but remembering that look on her face made me remember the promise I made to her. Then I stopped, I let Lissa have her body back and went silent, but once I saw all of you were in trouble I had to come in and save you; after everything I did to you I couldn't let you die."
"So you're going to fight with us against him?" I asked, after everything we've been through it sounds like she has some reservations about what she has done.
"No." She stated giving me a confident look, "I made a promise that I would not control others to do my bidding and I mean that. I owed Lissa for what I did and had to save you…but I still want Nina back and I won't give up on that. As long as I reside within Lissa I will not attack but I will not help you, as long as I can bring her back I will follow Owen to the end."
"Then why did you tell us all this?" Alice asked.
"After everything you've seen and everything I did to Lissa I owed at least this much. This is all I shall give though, let it be known that I am still your enemy, and to trust me is to sentence yourself to death now." With those words she collapsed to the floor and we all looked over as she rose back up and rubbed her eyes.
"What…what happened?" That's Lissa, "Did we activate the fire crystal?"
"Yes, we're safe now." I answered calming her down, "And we have Sukia to thank." Lissa gave me a confused look as her cheeks turned red; seemed like Sukia had some influence inside her body.
"So the boss- I mean Owen wants to bring Nina back?" Gareth said tossing a pair of pants into the completed pile.
"It seems so." Alice said thinking, "But why would he need an army of travelers? It doesn't make any sense." She was right, the only reason I could see to gather an army is to invade someplace but where could he invade to get Nina back from the dead?
"Done!" We turned our head to see Gareth had finished sewing our clothes back together, "Now our clothes are patched back together. Now we can keep moving!"
"No we can't." Alice said grabbing her clothes from the pile, "We have no boat and a canoe won't get us past the shores."
"We have a Levistone." I said pulling out the strange rock, "But what it does is still in question." Lissa grabbed the stone from my hand and pulled out a small book flipping through it.
"…no…no…no…there it is!" She showed us the page she had flipped to and it had a detailed picture of the stone, "The Levistone is said to have the ability to activate the airship that lies in the desert near Crescent Lake. Unfortunately no one has found the Levistone so these claims are only speculation and theory."
"Let me see that book." Alice said grabbing the book she was reading from, "…Myths and Legends of the world? Where did you get this?"
"The sage gave it to me before we left for the fire crystal. He said it might come in handy…also I thought it would be a good read." Lissa answered slipping the book back into her bag.
"What desert is it talking about?" Gareth asked.
"At the south end of the land there's a small area of sand." We turned to see Kent had answered his question while Hana and Pent followed behind into the inn, "It wasn't always there but it showed up about a hundred fifty years ago it just showed up in the mountain crevice. No one could figure out why but there were rumors that an airship had landed there and disappeared when people went o investigate…maybe there was some merit to that idea."
"Sounds like something is there." Pent added in.
"We could use the ship." Hana said, "Especially an airship! It sounds kind of cool."
"I prefer the ground." Gareth said with a chuckle, "I have a bit of motion sickness."
"That one time we took the bus to Alice you vomited after fifteen seconds." I said laughing.
"Hey! Don't make me sling mud!" Gareth said smirking, "Or do heights no longer make you tumble backwards?"
"Touché Gareth touché." We chuckled as Kent and the other WOLs stood there confused, "Anyway I think we should check it out. What about you guys?"
"Sounds good to me." Alice replied, Lissa gave a meek nod and the others were already headed to the door.
"Looks like they're on board to." Lissa said with a small giggle, "Hey…mind if I…never mind."
"Go ahead, you can ask your question." I said trying to give her confidence.
"Well…I don't mean to be rude but…did Sukia say anything about me?" Her?
"She didn't say anything personal about you if that's what you mean." Alice said reassuring her; she gave a sigh of relief.
"Good, I mean…I didn't expect her to but I just wanted to make sure." She replied with a nervous chuckle.
"You don't want us to know something?" Gareth said equipping himself.
"No no no no no! It's just…I'm not ready yet." So that's it.
"It's okay; it took a while for us to so you take your time." I said giving her a gentle pat on the head, "We all have reasons to hide something. I'm sure we still have secrets we're keeping from each other. I trust that there reasons are good and if you need time then I'll give that to you."
"I don't mind waiting." Alice added.
"Same!" Gareth said giving her a wide smile.
"Thanks…I promise I'll tell you soon." She said clutching her journal; I'm sure she would.
As we sat out near the small dessert we surveyed the area around the sand; the mountains around the sand pit seemed cracked and broken while the area underneath the sand was grassy and moist. This sand was unnatural and seemed weirdly placed with how the mountains were broken apart.
"It looks like the mountain broke apart to make this opening and then grass layered the area. After that sand was…dumped onto it." Lissa said taking notes.
"Wouldn't the grass have died then?" Gareth asked.
"It would if any of this was real." Hana added running her hands through the grass under the sand.
"Are you saying that this isn't real?" Alice asked.
"It's an illusion spell, simple spell to divert attention of prying eyes. It looks really strong though, not something you can dispel." As she contemplated out loud Alice tapped my shoulder and whispered into my ear.
"Is she actually intelligent?"
"She might just be an expert at magic spells and after all she is you, you aren't completely stupid."
"What does that mean?"
"Nothing misses trade Virginia Avenue for B & O Railroad."
"Hey, those railroads got me over $1000."
"And then you landed on Gareth's space and lost it all."
"…Still." I chuckled at her defensiveness and she gave a small giggle.
"That's it!" We turned to see Hana had dusted away some of the sand and pulled up the grass around to reveal a small groove in the ground, "Kent can you hand me the Levistone?" Kent pulled out the stone from his bag and handed it to Hana who placed it into the small opening, as we stood there the ground began to shake and we were suddenly pulled back by Pent as the ground opened up into a dark whole. I watched as the Levistone fell into the abyss and then I heard the sound of something hitting wood; as we looked into the hole something began to rise into the opening and I was amazed to see a giant airship rise to us as we stood there. When it stopped rising we stood there in awe at the giant ship in front of us; it had sails with helicopter blades at the top and smaller ones coming out the base. It also had sails on the pole to give us mobility instead of just floating capabilities; upon closer inspection some of the blades were movable making it possible to channel air directly into the sail. It gave the feeling that this was meant to work without the help of natural wind; were there other heroes who tried to save the crystals? We all climbed onto the ship and as we examined the interior my foot collided with the Levistone catching my attention, picking it up I looked around to see a small dais in the cockpit. Putting reason to execution I placed the Levistone in the dais and another bout of shaking took place as the sound of rapidly moving blades filled the air and the sound of a jet engine plane; I looked out the front window to see we were rising off the ground into the sky.
"We're airborne!" Pent shouted excited.
"We're so high up!" Hana said bending over the edge.
"Let's be careful." Kent said pulling her back. As everyone looked over the edged excited I saw Gareth back up clutching his stomach; guess he still has a motion sickness problem, I looked down to see that where we had risen from was small enough for me to cover with my fist and felt my eyes start to freak out. I think that's enough of that; I backed up and sat down on the deck trying to calm myself.
"Vertigo?" Lissa asked helping me up.
"A little bit. Heights aren't one of my favorites." I answered with a nervous chuckle.
"So where are we headed next?" Alice asked; that was a good question, we had an airship now but I don't know how to get to the last two crystals, the water crystal is below the ocean and the air crystal is above the clouds…but how we're getting there is another question entirely. As I thought about it Gareth rushed past me heading for the edge of the ship and, I'm pretty sure, puked over the side with all his might.
"He didn't get motion sick on the boat but he does on a bus and airship?" Lissa asked confused.
"Even I think it's weird, maybe he has selective motion sickness?"
"That's not a thing." Alice said as Gareth continued to hurl.
"Apparently now it is…ew."