I was sitting on our bed, holding my projecting mirror in my hands. I was looking at my memories with Ash.
The image that was being projected on the mirror now was of the day I first met Ash. It was in a cave, where I took Ash after I helped him escape his father. I was riding on top of him, introducing him to otherworldly pleasure, cheering him up after the trauma he'd endured. I smiled remembering the look on his face when he actually felt good for the first time in years; it was also the first time he was able to talk in years.
The image wavered and changed into one of me and Ash sitting at a table in a restaurant. It was our first dinner date, a week after we'd met. We were still staying at Hazel's farm and I was finally able to convince Ash to actually go out with me for the first time. Until then, he usually stayed in our room until I came home from work, and then we would fuck until we were satisfied. Since that day, he would happily go out with me whenever we wanted to, we would try out whatever sex technique, potion, or anything else I found at the market, and then we would go back home and fuck all over again.
The image wavered once again and this time, it changed into one of the happiest moments in our lives: our wedding in Dragonia. That day, Hazel helped me find a very revealing wedding dress and Arthur helped Ash get a nice groom's outfit. We had the wedding on Dragon Wing Street, no one other than our friends was there because of Ash's nervousness around strangers. Right after the wedding, Ash found a dragon lamp flower laying on the ground, which he gave to me as a thank you for everything I did for him. I wore that flower in my hair, its red glow went well with my hair's silver color. Speaking of which...
I turned the projecting mirror off so that I could only see my own reflection. The dragon lamp flower hasn't glowed ever since I was turned back; it couldn't without my mana fueling it.
I sighed and put the Projecting mirror on my dresser. Maybe I should just move on, I thought, forget that I even was a monster.
I walked into the kitchen. There was a basket of assorted fruits, both from human realms and monster realms, sitting on the counter. Belfort only allowed monsters and their husbands to eat monster realm food. Since I was a monster when I bought it, I was able to do it without consequence.
I reached in the basket and grabbed a prisoner fruit. Will it still work on me? I bit the fruit. Nothing. Prisoner fruit usually had a very sweet flavor, this time it didn't taste like anything. Prisoner fruit also made anyone who ate it seem more attractive. I certainly didn't feel any more attractive than I was 5 minutes ago. Great. Thanks to that old man, I couldn't even enjoy prisoner fruit anymore.
I sighed, threw away the prisoner fruit, and slumped on the counter. My entire life was ruined because of The Old Man and his yellow orb; everything I ever did for Ash now felt like it was for nothing.
I once took him to a pleasure rune parlor so he could choose whatever pleasure runes would improve our sex life and whatever made me more attractive for him. He chose one that took up my entire right cheek, one that wrapped around my entire left shoulder, one that wrapped around my entire right boob and even went into my cleavage, and one that covered my left hip.
In Ash's opinion, all those runes made me more attractive. I, on the other hand, only wanted those runes so we could have an improved sex life. Those runes are now gone, like everything else that made me a mamono.
And then there was my darling, Ash.
Ever since the day I saved Ash from his father, I tried to get him to put his past behind him, but no matter what I tell him, he never does. He kept stuttering and was always afraid of his father coming back for him, to kidnap him and take him back to his place. I just want Ash to finally forget about it and move on so we could both live a normal life; we could work together at Tricoromille, visit as many places as we want.
Also, when we had sex, I always wanted Ash to be playing with my body, for him to be the one ravishing me, not the other way around. But he never did. No matter how nicely I asked him, he was always afraid that he might do something wrong and end up hurting me even when I told him that my body would handle him no matter how hard he went. On occasion, I was able to convince him to ravish me and play with my body, but he did it so casually like he was handling an old vase that could break at any moment. Sometimes, I would grab his hands and guide them to my boobs or my hips, but that's about it. He might grab them, but not squeeze them at all. Once, I made him eat a raging mushroom which made him actually rape me and ravish my body, just like I always wanted him to. But when the raging mushroom wore off, he ended up shutting himself in the closet and it took me all day to convince him to come out.
But last night, he suddenly talked without stuttering. For once, I actually thought that he was finally putting his past behind him, he even fingered me that night, something that he was always afraid to this morning, when he woke up, he was back to his old, stuttering paranoid self. I have officially lost hope in Ash ever recovering.
Maybe I should just move on, forget that I ever was a monster. I thought to myself, I mean, I don't even have that disease anymore, so-
Suddenly, I coughed. What the? I coughed again, it felt weird, having not coughed in a long time, not since I was- I coughed, this time it was even harder. I just kept on coughing, eventually, I was forced to cover my mouth with my arm. When the coughing subsided, I uncovered my mouth and breathed a sigh of relief.
But when I looked at my arm, I gasped. Staining my Long handless glove was a large blotch of red; blood, blood that I had coughed out. No.
My disease, which had almost killed me, was back!
Immediately, I tried to get up to run to the door, but suddenly, I began coughing again. I never coughed this much before, there was even more blood being sputtered out of my mouth than before I was monsterized.
I fell to the floor, having just lost so much blood that I couldn't stand up, and I just kept on coughing up even more blood.
There was a knock on the door.
"Julia, it's me, Hazel. Me and Arthur brought a basket of food so you can have something to eat seeing that you can't work anymore now that you're human. Could you-"
"H-Hazel, help!" I managed to stutter before coughing even more.
They must've heard me because the next thing I knew, I heard yelling on the other side, the rattling of the knob, and then the door being forced open, probably because of their increased strength.
I heard Hazel gasp at the sight of me. I heard Arthur say something but I couldn't understand it. My vision went hazy, and everything went black.
(000)
When I came to, I found myself in bed. I looked to my right and saw Hazel sitting on a chair next to me.
"Oh, Julia!" She exclaimed as she got out of her chair and hugged me, her huge holstaur boobs almost squishing me. "We saw you on the floor, you were coughing up blood again!"
"I-I know," I said in a weak voice.
"Y-your disease, it's back isn't it."
I nodded.
"And it looked even worse now! First, you're human again, now this!"
"I kno-!" I began coughing again, Immediately, Hazel grabbed a handkerchief and covered my mouth with it, collecting any blood that flew out. "Thank you," I managed to sputter as soon as the coughing stopped.
"So where's Ash? We didn't see him when we got here."
"He went with Jonathan, he said he had to show him something."
As if on cue, we both hear the front door opening and several voices, belonging to Arthur, Ash, Jonathan, and Xhymza before hearing the sounds of footsteps coming towards us. Then the door burst open.
"Julia!" Ash exclaimed as he rushed to my bed and hugged me. I smiled only for me to start coughing again.
"So your disease really is back!" I heard Jonathan say.
I just nodded.
"N-no." Ash said, "Julia, you can't b-be sick."
"I'm sorry Ash"
"We found her on the floor," Arthur said, "She was coughing up a lot of blood. I'm surprised she didn't die from the blood loss."
It was Xhymza's turn to talk, "But how? I thought that the disease disappeared when she was monsterized."
"J-Jonathan knows what the Y-yellow orb that t-turned Julia back is." Ash exclaimed.
"T-tell them Jonathan."
"I was just about to." Jonathan said as he pulled out a large book. He explained everything about the old man's orb. It was called the "Orb of Absolute Reversion" and it was able to turn me back into a human by "reversing the flow of time around me" and also not only creating a powerful monster mana-proof barrier around me, but also reviving my disease in the process. Also, because I was monsterized using the mana of every single race in existence, I was immune to practically all of them, so turning me into something else wasn't an option either.
He also explained that along with several other artifacts, the orb was created by gods, led by the god of the sun whose name was Ra, that rebelled against the original Chief God. The Artifacts were then locked away when the god's followers were being wiped out by The Order under the orders of the Original Chief God. The reason; because the artifacts they were creating would've made the war against the monsters too easy.
"So The Order really did find a way to win!" Xhymza exclaimed, still not her calm self thanks to her broken phylactery. "You heard him, those artifacts would make them wipe the floor with the mamono." She immediately lunged for Jonathan, grabbing him like her life depended on it. Her eyes shedding tears as she did. "I can't lose you, Johnny, I don't want the Order to win and kill us all."
Arthur stepped up, "I don't think so Xhymza, If it was The Order themselves who found it, I don't think they would've sent some old guy to do their dirty work."
"Yeah," Hazel added, "they probably would've sent an army instead, and they probably would've sent them to Lescatie or something."
"But-" I coughed again, "why me? Why did the old man use the Orb on me of all people."
"H-he wanted to use i-it on me first, r-remember?" Ash said, "and then y-you were hit instead."
Jonathan thought for a second, "It's possible he was there to test the Orb, and you two just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time."
"But there has to be a way to turn me back!" I exclaimed, tears welling up in my eyes, "I'll die if I don't. Then who will take care of Ash?" I coughed and another splatter of blood flew out.
Ash patted my back to calm me down. "D-don't worry Julia, Jonathan t-told me that if w-we had the orb, we c-could use it to t-turn you back. Then y-you would get better."
Jonathan said, "Well that, or we could get the Overlord herself to overload the barrier with a huge amount of monster mana, therefore shattering it. Although..." He looked down, "by the time we get to her, you might already be dead Julia."
Hazel stood up, "So then our only option would be to find the old man and take the orb from him."
"But we don't even know where to look for him!" Xhymza yelled. "He could be anywhere by now! Heck, for all we know, he could be in Order territory; building an army who will use those artifacts and...!" Her voice trailed off.
"You make a good point Xhymza." Arthur stated, "You too Hazel, but as long as he has those artifacts, then there would be no telling what he would do to us if we found him. I say we inform the Overlord and have her army find him instead."
"That's too far away." Jonathan responded, "Lescatie is closer, they have guns, a lot of dark heroes, the 7 princesses and their prince, and the 4th daughter of the Overlord herself. They would certainly stand a chance against him."
"But what about what we have here?" I exclaimed. To everyone's surprise, I had somehow managed to get up, my strength having barely returned. "We have a necromancer," I looked towards Xhymza, "a spellcaster," I looked towards Jonathan, "and 2 really strong people." I looked towards Arthur and Hazel, "We have 4 people who can fight and there's only one of him. Can't we at least try?"
"Sh-shes right," Ash said, "we can t-take him if we all w-worked together."
"But we still don't know where he is Julia," Hazel responded as she looked at me. "We still have to find him and-"
Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door, we heard it from the bedroom.
"Uh, were you expecting somebody Julia?" Xhymza asked as she looked towards the front entrance and back to me.
"No," I answered. "I didn't order anything recently, so it can't be the delivery harpy. I should pro-" I coughed up another splatter of blood, "probably go see who it is."I tried to walk but I only managed nothing short of a limp.
Ash walked up behind me and threw his arm around my shoulder. "I-I think I should h-help you, Julia."
"Oh, thank you A-" I coughed up another splatter.
We hear another knock, this one sounding more impatient
"L-let just see who i-it is
We walked out of our bedroom and towards the front door. Behind us, the others were discussing our next move. As the owner of this apartment, along with Ash, I was usually the one who answered the door since Ash was usually afraid that his father was going to be behind it. The reason why I'm going to open it now and not this morning when Jonothan knocked is that, at the time, we were keeping my encounter with the old man a secret, but now that we're actually considering letting someone else know, then there was no point in keeping it a secret anymore.
"Let me handle this," I said as Ash let go of me when we reached the door. Another knock came rattling through, sounding even more impatient. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" I exclaimed to whoever was standing behind the door.
I opened the door, and what I could only describe as a huge wave of shock that hit me like a brick wall came over me when I saw who was on the other side.
"Hello there!" Said a familiar face in a familiar aged and raspy voice.
As soon as he saw who it was, Ash screamed and in a rush of adrenaline, slammed the door, locked it with his key, and bolt it shut.
"We heard screaming, what happened?" We turned to see Arthur and the others rushing towards us. Behind us, we heard pounding and the same voice yelling from the other side of the door.
"Guys, it's-" I coughed up another splatter as me and Ash ran towards our friends, "It's- it's him!" The pounding became even harder and the yelling louder.
"Who?" Hazel asked.
I was going to answer when suddenly, we heard a loud "BOOM". The front door to our apartment had just exploded in a shower of splinters. When the dust settled, we saw "him", holding what looked like some kind of huge club. The club was entirely black and covered in golden runes that were glowing with gold light.
"It's the old man, the one who attacked me at the floating island!" I yelled.
"Hello girl," the old man sneered as he slowly walked into the apartment. "I believe we have some unfinished business."
Behind me, I heard Xhymza gulp. "Well, at least, we don't have to find him anymore."
"That thing he's holding," Jonathan exclaimed, pointing to the old man's black club, "that's the Mudgar of Shiva!"
The old man stopped and looked at Jonathan "Wait, you know about this thing?" He held up the mudgar for us all to see.
"Yes! The Mudgar of Shiva is one of the artifacts created by Ra's Rebellion. It's capable of destroying absolutely anything it hits. Inanimate objects like that door are completely obliterated. Living things, on the other hand..." He gulped, "have all the flesh explode from their bodies, leaving their bare skeletons behind.
The old man chuckled. "It appears you know a lot about the mudgar. Tell me, boy, do you know anything about... this?" He reached into his satchel and pulled something out. It took me a hot second to realize what it was: an eye. Not an actual eye, it was too big to belong to any creature I've ever seen and it didn't even look like a real eye. It looked as if it was carved from some rock before being decorated to look like an eye.
"That's the All-Seeing Eye," Jonathan said when he recognized it, "it's another one of Ra's artifacts, created by a god whose name was lost to time. It can-"
"Show its user the location of any living creature." The old man interrupted, "it guides them to anyone or anything they are looking for. That way, the Ra's Rebellion would've known where every last monster in existence was hiding to make sure they are all dead."
"I'm guessing that's how you found us then?" Jonathan asked.
The old man chuckled, "Exactly!"
"What do you want?!" I yelled as I stepped forward.
The old man chuckled again. "What do I want? Well, let's just say I figured out why you weren't completely normal when I cured you. Because I only cured your body! I just have to cure your mind as well."
I was in shock, "Are you saying you're going to erase my memories?"
"It appears so. But if it means you'll be normal again, then I guess it's necessary."
I took a step back, "N-no, first my body, and now my memories? My memories of being a monster, of being with Ash? I'll lose all of it!"
"The old man took a step forward, "Yes you will! I will make you normal again for the glory of-"
"No, you won't!" Arthur yelled as he stepped in front of me, behind him, Jonathan and Xhymza followed. "You want to do ANYTHING to our friend, you're going to have to go through us first!"
"Very well then." The old man said.
As Arthur readied his fists and Jonathan and Xhymza took out their small booklets of spells that they carried in case of emergencies, Hazel ushered me and Ash back into our bedroom. "Come on, let them handle it." She said as she did. Hazel wasn't really a fighter; she prefers to live a peaceful life on her farm with Arthur.
That's when the fight began. As Me, Ash, and Hazel watched from the bedroom, Arthur lunged at the old man; his fists ready to give a beating. But just before he reached him, the old man suddenly... just dodged. He was so fast; I barely even saw him move. That's when I noticed the yellow glow underneath his cloak. The glow was coming from his feet, where I saw... sandals with wings?
"The Sandals of Hermes!" Jonathan yelled when he appeared to recognize them. "They're making him move fast!"
The old man chuckled, "Glad you noticed."
Suddenly, a burst of green light shot toward the old man. He narrowly dodged it just in time.
Jonathan, the source of the green light, which happened to be his attack spell, was holding his hand up, preparing to discharge another spell. Behind him, Xhymza was trying to use her own magic against the old man. But she was only able to make a few sparks. I knew that magic required heavy concentration, and Xhymza could hardly concentrate with her phylactery broken
"Let's see how you like this!" The old man yelled as he unsheathed a short sword that was hidden underneath his cloak. The sword had gold runes carved on its blade much like the mudgar. The old man chuckled again, "I'm sure you know that this artifact has a blade so sharp, it can cut through even the strongest armor it. Heck, it can even cut through magic!"
"Oh yeah," Jonathan responded, a ball of green magic having formed above his hand, "Let's see you slice this then!"
As soon as he said that, Jonathan cast his spell at the old man, which he promptly sliced in half with his sword. The two halves then dissipated into nothingness. This was followed by several other balls of green magic, all of which were sliced by the old man's sword. But as he was slicing each individual spell, he didn't notice Arthur slowly creeping up behind him. By the time he did, it was already too late.
Arthur lunged and grabbed the old man from behind, at the same time, Jonathan stopped spellcasting. The old man dropped his sword and was flailing his arms and legs, but it was no use, Arthur was too strong. But then, as he was flailing his legs, the old man quickly rolled his sleeve, revealing a gold band around his arm.
Jonathan gasped. "That's the band of overpowering! Arthur, it'll boost his strength to the point where he'll be able to overpower any being no matter how strong they are, don't let him activa-"
But it was too late, the band glowed and the old man grabbed Arthur from behind, and in a flash, threw him over his head and onto the floor.
Jonathan tried to cast another spell, but the old man was already upon him, shoving him so hard, he fell to the floor and his book slid away from him."
Ash began whimpering.
"Don't worry," I assured him, "our friends will find a way."
Suddenly, something started happening with Xhymza. At first, purple sparks began flying out of her hands. The sparks became purple lightning. Then her body started glowing with a purple aura before slowly lifting itself off the floor until she was hovering about a foot in the air. When I looked at her face, It looked extremely angry; her eyes were also glowing a blinding purple light. Seeing her husband get hurt must've made her so mad, she was able to stop thinking about sex and focus more on stopping the old man. Now it seemed like her broken phylactery was only a minor setback.
"YOU DARE HARM THE HUSBAND OF THE GREAT LICH, XHYMZA!" Xhymza yelled as whatever magical force made her voice louder than ever, "YOU WILL NOW SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU MESS WITH FOLLOWERS OF THE GODDESS OF LIFE AND DEATH: HEL!
Immediately after saying that, Xhymza attacked, releasing bolts of purple lightning at the old man. He dodged all of them, thanks to the Sandals of Hermès on his feet. I could only watch as Xhymza's bolts kept missing their mark and only left burn marks on the floor.
Eventually, Xhymza stopped shooting her magic bolts, panting as much of her mana was exhausted. At the same time, the old man stopped too.
"Did you really think you could hit me?" The old man said mockingly.
"Wh-what now?" Ash asked me, but I didn't have an answer. That's when I noticed something happening with Hazel as well. She was on all fours, stanced like a bull ready to attack.
"Uh, Hazel?" But she didn't answer. Seeing her husband also getting hurt had made her so angry, her former peaceful demeanor was replaced with one of a raging bull. She was just waiting for the right moment to attack, and that moment was now.
At full speed, she charged straight out of our bedroom and, using her huge holstaur boobs, rammed the old man head-on. He didn't even have time to react as he was knocked over and pinned to the floor by an angry-looking cowgirl.
"That's for my husband!" She yelled as she grabbed the "band of overpowering", slid it right off his arm, and threw it across the room.
"Nice job, both of you!" Said a recovering Jonathan.
Then, using a telekinesis spell, Xhymza slid the old man out from under Hazel and onto the wall. One of his arms was pinned to the wall and the other was flailing around. "Now give us the orb so we can turn our friend back!"
The old man struggled, but it was no use. He seemed to give up, until he smirked, reached into his satchel with his free hand, and pulled out another artifact. This one looked like a rod with a gold ball on one end and a sharp point on the other.
Jonathan recognized it, "Xhymza, Hazel, stop him, that thing he's holding can-!" But it was too late, the old man slammed the pointy end of the rod into the wall so hard, it actually stuck. At that very moment, a yellow ball of light engulfed the entire room. I had to shield my eyes just to not get blind. When I unshielded them, Xhymza was on the ground, she no longer had her purple aura, and her eyes were back to normal. The old man was no longer pinned to the wall, instead, he was now standing.
"Are you enjoying the anti-magic field girl?" He said mockingly, "As long as that ward is up, nobody within range can use any form of magic. Except for the ward's owner, which happens to be me."
Hazel got ready to charge again, but the old man was ready this time. He pulled out another artifact, this one was a blue rod with what looked like an ice crystal at one end. White runes were carved all over it.
He struck the floor and all of a sudden, Hazel looked to be stuck to her spot. When I looked down, I was in shock, Ice crystals were growing and covering her cow-like hooves, and they continued to grow up her legs. Then I realized that it wasn't just her who had ice crystals covering her body, both Jonathan and Xhymza also have crystals growing and covering their bodies. Only Arthur didn't have them growing, probably because he was the furthest away from all of them.
"Shit, no!" Jonathan exclaimed as he saw what was happening to them. Hazel tried to break out of her ever-growing ice prison but it didn't seem to even crack.
"It's no use," the old man said as he watched, "The ice from this wand is unbreakable. It'll keep growing until it encompasses your entire bodies. At that point, it will instantly assimilate your bodies until they also become ice. Then all that ice shatters, killing you.
My mouth gaped and I couldn't help but stare as the others couldn't help but watch the ice creep up their bodies, especially considering what the old man just said. "Ash," I whispered as I turned to him, "We need to get out of here, now!" But Ash didn't respond, he was on the floor in a fetal position. "Come on!" I hissed, but Ash still didn't move.
That's when I heard Xhymza shout, "Why are you doing this?!" I stopped what I was doing and looked out the door again. "What do you hope to gain from using these artifacts?! Is The Order offering you a reward for finding a way to help them win?!"
The old man glared at her, "Why?" He walked over and grabbed her, lifting her from the ground as the ice continued growing on her body, "WHY?! I'll tell you why." He dropped Xhymza to the floor and went back to where he was, "It's all for my daughter."
We all gasp. He has a daughter?
"Yes, I have a daughter. Or at least, she was adopted. Never less, cared for her with all my heart, UNTIL ONE DAY, YOU MONSTERS TOOK HER AWAY FROM ME!"
"What are you talking about?" Jonathan asked, "We never kidnapped anyone."
"I never said YOU did," The old man sneered, "but that other monster, that damn purple blob woman, did."
A dark slime? Is he saying that one of those things attacked his daughter and monsterized her? I've heard that sometimes, monsters that attacked human settlements to take men as husbands would also monsterize women as well. This usually only happens in Order settlements though. Women were almost never forcefully in monster-friendly territories, not unless they wanted to get monsterized. Unless they outlawed it like Belford did.
"It began as a normal day," the old man continued, "my daughter, Angie, was just taking a stroll in our garden. Then out of nowhere, that purple blob thing, I believe it's called a dark slime, attacked her and made her one of you. I was inside at the time, and when I heard her screaming and then moaning. I rushed outside, but it was already too late, her body had been melted until it became a small ball. I chased that dark slime out and when I came back, that small ball was making a purple sludge that then took the shape of my daughter. But when called me 'father', it made me think that while her body was transformed, her mind was still the same. But of course, she couldn't live in our home nation like that, so we had to leave in order to keep her safe."
"But what about the artifacts?" Jonathan asked as the ice reached his and everyone else's waist
The old man chuckled, "I had known about those artifacts for a long time boy. The Order kept a record of them too you know. Did I ever tell you I was actually a high-ranking Order member at the time?" We all stared at him in shock. "That's how I was able to access them. Anyways, from those records, I learned about 'Ra's Rebellion' and their artifacts. So when me and my now-monster daughter ran away, I remembered the artifacts and was going to look for them. I was specifically going for the Orb of Absolute Reversion so I could turn Angie back. But when I told her about it," He began shaking his head in anger, "It's just wasn't right! I thought her mind was normal at first, but then she was telling me that she liked her new body better and that she didn't want to be human again! She was also rejecting the teachings of the Order! She even referred to the monster that transformed her as 'mother' and 'big sister', she didn't even have a grudge against her I should've known I was wrong about her mind being the same when she was having an obsession with boys and when she looked to be playing with that core thing of hers and making moaning sounds! Just, why?!"
"She's still her you know," Hazel said, the ice had almost reached her huge breasts. "You should just accept her for who she is now and-"
"No!" The old man yelled, "Angie will only be herself when she's human again!" He calmed down, "She left me that day, and I was forced to look for the artifacts on my own; first I lose my rank when I ran away, then my daughter when I told her my plan. For many years I searched. I was lucky enough to avoid getting attacked by one of your kind but not to find the vault the artifacts were in. Then one day, I was at an inn to get some food and drink and I overheard some treasure hunters talking about this 'ancient vault' they have found. They had opened it and inside were many strange objects, whose descriptions matched that of the artifacts I was looking for. They were planning on bringing a wagon to bring them all and sell them someplace. Except I was going to take them myself, thanks to this." He held up his satchel. "This is no ordinary satchel, it's a magical satchel passed down my family for generations; capable of storing infinite objects on the inside. How did you think I was able to store so many objects at once? Anyways, after I took the orb along with the other artifacts, I needed to test it to make sure it worked. For a long time, I looked for someone to test the orb on, but I had no way to tell who was a former human and who wasn't. Then one day, I saw your friends, and I was able to tell that the boy was an incubus."
"How? Xhymza asked, "How did you know he was an incubus."
"Well he didn't appear to mind a monster ravishing his face for one thing, so he had to have been a human made into a mindless sex slave."
"Incubi are not mindless sex slaves!" Jonathan yelled, "They are-"
"Silence!" The old man interrupted, "I wasn't going to turn the girl back, she just got caught in the crossfire. I'm just going to reverse her mind to see if the orb is truly capable of reverting former humans back to their original bodies and minds! And then I'll get my daughter back so our lives would go back to the way they were!"
"But then why did you take the rest of the artifacts?" Hazel asked, "Wouldn't you only need the Orb for-"
"Enough!" The old man yelled, "I've had had it with you monsters, we've all had it with you monsters! Since the fall of Lescatie, you have been taking over more nations than ever before! It is now time to change that with the help of these artifacts!" He reached into his satchel and we all gasped when we saw what he pulled out: the Mudgar of Shiva, the same thing he used to obliterate my door. "And you will all be the first to witness what we will have in store for your kind."
He raised the mudgar high as it charged with magical energy. He then looked down at who he was going to hit first: Hazel.
Oh no. Hazel is my friend, and now he was going to kill her, along with everyone else I knew, and there was nothing I could do but watch.
But just as he was about to swing the mudgar, something unexpected happened. Out of nowhere, Arthur, having just recovered from being thrown to the floor, tackled the old man.
"You leave my wife alone!" He yelled
At the same time, the mudgar flew right into our room. I had to duck in order to not get hit by it. And then it happened: the mudgar hit our bed.
Before my eyes, the bed exploded into a million pieces, sending the mudgar, now empty of magical energy, flying back into the living room. I looked at Ash, he was staring right at the bed in shock.
"Ash?" I tried talking to him
"Th-the bed..." He murmured.
I then remembered that the bed was a recall bed and realized that Ash was looking at it because he knew that now that it was destroyed, if he got kidnapped, then he couldn't escape by falling asleep anymore.
I heard a crash and went back to the doorway; Arthur and the old man were still fighting. Arthur had the old man pinned down. He was trying to reach for the satchel, probably to take it so the old man couldn't use the artifacts in it. The old man, however, kept batting him away. Eventually, the old man took something out of his satchel, it looked like a collar, except it had gold runes carved all over it, much like some of the other artifacts I saw. Arthur was too busy trying to get the satchel to notice, and by the time he did, it was already too late. The old man put the collar on Arthur's neck and before my eyes, it shrunk until it fit perfectly around the neck.
Arthur immediately backed away, "Wh-what is this?"
"The Collar of Weakening," the old man answered, "it takes away all the strength of anything it is put on, so much that they couldn't even move."
"What?" Arthur tried to take it off, but it was already too late. The runes on the collar glowed and Arthur, who I always knew to be a really strong man, slumped to the floor like a doll. Now it was just me and Ash who are left.
"Ash, come on, we have to go!" I whispered as I pulled his arm. This got him to get out of whatever trance he was in. He got up and followed me through the doorway. We couldn't leave through the window as our apartment was on the 3rd floor and there was nothing to break our fall. I also didn't want to leave our friends, but what choice did we have? There was no way we could take on the old man considering that he took down 4 of our friends.
We silently tiptoed towards the front entrance, going around our trapped friends and the old man himself.
"Did you truly think you could beat me," I heard the old man say to my friends, 3 of them having ice growing up to their shoulders, "all I want is for my daughter to be with me again. I want her to lead a pure life without any 'pleasure' or anything like that. At the same time, you're trying to stop me."
"We're just helping our friend!" Hazel said weakly, "She was enjoying her life as a succubus until you took it from her."
"I was just testing the orb, and she shouldn't have even been a succubus in the first place."
I stopped when I heard that. Shouldn't have been a succubus in the first place? Just who does this guy think he is, trying to-
Suddenly, Ash bumped into me from behind, having been too focused on the scene in the middle of the room to notice that I've stopped. We both tumbled to the floor and the old man turned to see what made the noise.
"Oh, you two!" He said when he saw us. He pulled the Orb of Absolute Reversion from his satchel as he began walking toward us. Behind him, our friends were still struggling to free themselves from the ice, "It's about time I was able to finally cure you properly. Shall we begin, hmmm?"
"Don't let him, Julia!" Jonathan yelled, my other friends also yelling similar things.
I scurried away from him, "No, I'm not going to let you erase my memories!"
"You certainly will, girl!" The old man commanded. "I will restore you to before the day some monster assaulted you and turned you into her own kind."
"I wasn't assaulted by a monster, old man!" I yelled as tears began welling up in my eyes, "I chose to be monsterized!"
The old man looked puzzled, "What?"
"You heard me; I chose to be monsterized because-!" I coughed up another huge splatter of blood, "Because of that! One day, I just began coughing up blood. My parents couldn't get me a doctor because your Order was too focused on some war instead of helping its citizens! My sickness kept getting worse and worse until eventually, the only way to save me was to get monsterized! I got myself monsterized to save my own life you idiot!"
The old man just looked at me. "Really, you betrayed the Chief God just to save your own life?! You should be ashamed of yourself!"
I gasped at the old man's words.
"So what if your kingdom sent all the doctors to help in a war, be it with monsters or heretics, it's the will of the Chief God!"
"You don't care that I could've died or-" I coughed up even more blood, "or that I could even die right now!"
"If staying alive meant betraying the Chief God, then you should've died!" The old man growled and stomped forward but then stopped, "Or..." He turned towards Ash, "I should just cure your little 'boyfriend' over here instead!" Ash tried to scurry away, but the old man was too quick. He grabbed him by the collar and brought him up on his feet. Ash was already shaking as his face was inches from the old man's grimace. "I'm going to erase every ounce of that unholy energy she poured into you and every damn memory of you even being with her just so you become normal again!" Ash kicked and screamed but it was no use, the old man was too strong, and the orb was already pulsating with magical energy as it began to charge.
"No!" I yelled, "You don't even know what he's been through!" Ash was on the verge of suicide before I met him, if his memories were erased to that point, there's no doubt he was going to try to end his own life again.
"Silence girl!" The old man snapped, "My decision has already been made! It is time I got my daughter back, and I'll do whatever it takes for her to be normal again!'
I knew that there was no convincing this old man, he was going to reverse or "cure" somebody, anybody no matter what I told him, and all for some girl of his. And as I watched Ash panic and the Orb pulsate faster, I did the unthinkable.
"I'll let you erase my memories!"
At that moment, everything seemed to stop, except for the ice which has almost reached my friend's heads.
"What did you say?" The old man asked as the orb stopped pulsating.
"I'll let you erase my memories," I repeated, "But only if you let my friends go first, all of them."
"Julia no, don-!" Xhymza yelled, but I cut her off.
"I've made my decision Xhymza, and I'm doing it for all of you."
The old man nodded in agreement. "Very well then." He dropped Ash to the floor and walked over to my friends where he pulled out the ice wand again and hit the floor with it. Instantly, the all the ice growing on my friends shattered. My friends dropped to the floor, all of them free from their ice prisons that would've become their coffins too. Next, he walked over to Arthur and removed the magical collar from his neck. As soon as he did that, Arthur immediately shot up and was about to attack when I stopped him.
"No!" Arthur stopped what he was about to do, "A deal's a deal Arthur." It wouldn't have even made any difference if he or anybody else tried to attack, the old man would've just used some other artifact in his possesion to stop them
Finally, the old man came to me and lifted me by the arm. "It's about time you were cured properly girl." He raised the orb to my head, where it once again began to pulsate with magical energy. "I should reverse your mind to before you were monsterized, before you even met a monster, before you even had any doubts about the Order and the Chief God!"
As the orb started to pulsate faster, I looked towards Ash one last time."
"J-Julia, no... please d-don't!" Tears welled up in his eyes, "please don't leave me!"
"I'm sorry Ash, " tears welled up in my own eyes, "I wish it didn't have to be this way. But just so you know, even if I don't remember you anymore I'll..." I sniffed and closed my eyes as I felt a tear roll down my cheak, "I'LL ALWAYS LOVE YO-!" But before I could finish, the orb already finished charging and it fired it's beam into my brain. My last thought was of this moment, when Ash was looking at me, crying.
Then everything went blank.
