IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
The reason (which my other fics will mention as well) is due to family issues, the crisis (Covid-19), and trying to work on this and my other upcoming chapters… Especially to a Certain Fic that has the name, "Beauty", in it.
I would also like to mention this is sorta the "Main Character and Yuri-Based" pairing (of sorts), and it's an M-Fic with hints and not at all showing of "Lemon Content''.
So for those that have read the previous chapters of this story, I am sorry I disappointed you that it isn't a basic "Female x Male" or "Male x Female Pairing", but that's the way I wanted it to be for most of my Fics… Though I am glad it isn't a "Male on Male", however.
Don't get me wrong, there are decent Yaoi Pairing Fics that are good (yes that's what it's called, alongside Lesbian/Yuri for the opposite), but that isn't what I want for my Stories themselves.
So for those that don't like my Story Pairings, then don't read them and simply not foresee an actual and interesting plot in them all that I had to think upon "Solo" with research into what I intend to add to my Fics themselves, and even choose what to add. As you all recall, I have no Co-Author at all to help me… Some ideas from others, and also minor help with ideas and stuff from some Author Friends like Rowena Bensel, and a few others.
To those that do read them, I appreciate your feedback via DM as such and hope that you would continue to read what future chapters will be unleashed, especially my other alternative to contact me as well, here:
Aeonmasteraeroza (not my true actual Email, but mostly an Email for Fanfiction to Contact me in another way)
This is also a small reminder of Soulmates for Helena, at this moment, has: Daphne, Kisara, Albedo, Alana, ? (During the Holiday Arc), ?, ?, and ? (From Contract). The reason is that Her Test is going to be updated soon upon her eventual return with surprises. Surprises that I will not spoil this time, and maybe as time goes one I will maybe add one or two more girls, but that would be it.
I have a "personal" interesting and unexpected pairing person as such, and I may add her into this Fic, alongside letting everyone know that the Soulmate Pairs are complete (which I plan to add one more or a few more (mostly two) down the road when it comes to a certain story point, but I would like an opinion of who you guys would rather have as her "Marriage Person".
Her Soulmate List (AKA, revealed), however, won't increase within some or the next few chapters I have yet to post, yet there are a few girls that were highly requested and would be an interesting change of pace, of sorts, from what is to occur in them. Two new ones that are.
So yes, the current list you have seen here within the Announcements is the current planned list, as I am hoping for at least two to three more girls to finish it, especially since the show will have 4 Seasons as of February 8th of 2022, on Netflix.
The reason why is that she will eventually be sent back to her fifth year of Hogwarts with her girls, kin, and friends, at some point.
However… There will be something unexpected to occur to a few of her girls, and let's leave it at that, in future chapters, and more interesting pairings as well in the future, as mentioned. And her children: Delphi… But that might change in the far future.
So without further aid, enjoy the chapters as I also may be watching over and over both Season 2 to 4 of the show, Disenchantment as well (the entire seasons a few times, alongside the few others I have yet done to continue the story, as mentioned) and after I post this, I hoped I also fixed said errors as well from the previous chapters.
And to remind everyone that Bean and the cast of Disenchantment are somewhere in an alternative timed verse of Helena's own… Not known to them yet, but yes, I wanted to inform you all that as a few select individuals asked, and I delivered said minor spoil.
Some of the plot itself was also looking into some messages I got, and I hope you just enjoy the chapters while, at the same time, enjoying writing it for you all… Especially since I plan for things to occur in unexpected ways, as the Holiday Arcs will take place before the final episodes of Season One.
(Fixed or Adjusted on 9/22/2022)
The Adventures Keep Happening; Swamps, Parties, and Holidays Galore!
A few days later on December 19th, 2014, (within True Time and past):
Helena and the others had things settled between Alana's Kingdom and Dreamland during this time, and her parents alongside Alana planned to come in a few or so days to visit the mentioned girl during the holidays.
Albedo, as it turned out, was truly Delphi's Other Mother by Blood, and it was due to what made her be as the crossbred succubi stood as her mother from those scientists experimenting on Helena's child.
The proof was merely given by Lucifer easily revealing it out with a paternity spell she remembered, and Albedo indeed questioned her about her two siblings yet she was uncertain from realizing the Archangel Demon of Pride, too, didn't know where they were.
Speaking of Lucifer, she agreed on returning to her palace within her section of hell alongside Maria, but also cautioned everyone of the consequences if Helena was truly harmed or worse, there would be "Hell" to pay to the ones that did it while also positioning a guard she trusted as her charges personal protector and weapons trainer, to which said individual was still organizing her wears within the training area the castle has, and that wouldn't be ready until a few or so days or even close to a week at best, from today, and would merely train her within the castle courtyard... When it's available.
She even offered Helena and those that knew her to be welcome to stay, for any reason.
To everyone, Lucina / Lucifer considers Helena her flesh and blood, and privately during the holidays, has an idea of sorts and leave it at that.
Marabelle, to also mention her, was progressing well to the point of Hermione and the girl being eventually found out a day ago in the early morning, accidentally, by Sorcerio himself.
He was reluctant but decided to aid the girl as well alongside wanting to learn more magical secrets from Hermione's Books she carries to said lessons. And as speaking, are currently doing lessons at the moment, and with Daphne also aiding them.
So all in all, things were normal as can be.
At this point, however, it was time for the town's annual "Harvest Blessing", and Helena was inwardly grateful that Albedo was with Kisara for her child's specific magical lesson, at the moment, as she was also compelled to be here alongside Bean and her own two friends to watch as the citizens, oddly, give an offering to her uncle: King Zøg that is, and to them.
She was at least allowed to bring a book and she did since one of them is a book that first caught her attention, and even Lucifer let her have it from her bookshelf after her fetching them from her palace to which she nearly sweatdropped from how many books Helena also took as well from the selection, as it was not only that but other things which intrigued the teen girl… Especially since, in secret to everyone, it was more than it seemed.
So yes to mention it, they were within the castle courtyard and were placed like they were within the throne room, and she eyed the same person she was strangely thinking should have been killed by The Vikings, announced what was coming next to her uncle, "Hey! Next, to present their bountiful harvest for his majesty's blessing and immediate confiscation, he's a farmer with six teeth. She's his wife with none. Ole and Alice!"
"That is wheat, Your Highness." Odval told The King before Helena paused and gave looks to Bean from noticing she appeared slightly amused as she was when they began to repeat said words to each other, "What?" "Wheat." "What?" "Wheat." "What?" "Wheat." "What?" "Wheat." "What? Ah, I'm just screwing with you, liven things up a little. Gimme the thing, will you?"
Odval indeed gave King Zøg a purple scepter with a diamond-shaped amethyst on top and told the couple as they also bowed to him, and waved it around a little, "Blessings to you, from your greasy hair to your filthy, ripped-up shoes."
Helena was perplexed yet was thankful Odval corrected him before she could as she pocketed her book, and saw Bean and the others wordlessly motioned first to her to come with, and sighing but with a hidden smile, she did, "Those are his feet, Your Highness."
Stunned, King Zøg declared to Odval aloud as the crowd heard alongside the couple, but didn't say anything as such, "Those are feet?"
"Well, it's understandable. They are leathery. Plus, laces are holdin' the skin on…" King Zøg stopped him as they bowed quickly, "Next!"
The couple left their offering then as the Yeller states, "Tedrick the shepherd and Daisy, the one sheep you haven't eaten yet." The man bowed and then notified him, "I made you the biggest, itchiest wool sweater I could, but if it's too snug, you can give it to your fat, wimpy son."
"Eh, we'll give it to Bean. She doesn't care at all about her appearance." King Zøg informs the shepherd before claiming to the girl that wasn't here, "Bean, thank this nice creep so he'll move along." Heeding no response, he leaned over to see both her and Helena's chairs were vacant and proclaimed aloud in growing anger, "Where'd she go?"
"She said if I told you, she'd hurt Mr. Bear." Derrick remarked before indeed beholding his toy's head was ripped off before announcing openly aloud, 'What', in shock, "Sit here and stay sober. And she never does either… Gimme my damn scepter." King Zøg stated before ordering Odval, which he reluctantly gave him said scepter before The King tossed it in anger… And it landed within the pub inferred as the Flying Scepter and with hitting a random knight on his head to knock him out, not that anyone noticed that.
"Nice toss, Dad. Next round's on Zøg!" Bean shouts with making the people within cheer at this, as Helena was gradually sipping hers near her cousin and friends in mixed-up thoughts.
Last night, she had a vivid nightmare of something horrible yet didn't want to state to them it, as she was still having a difficult time of her regaining memories, and that was the valid reason why she was reading like that and solo singing to herself in a private place, and even practicing her dagger (Xal'atath) as if an actual sword, at night.
"And give this guy a double." Bean gestured to the knight that expressed to her kindly and with Helena also holding back a wince at beholding the scepter lodged on the man's head and helm, "Oh, well, aren't you sweet?"
It was later on that Helena put her concerns aside as her dream had to be merely that, and decided to enjoy herself while not only partaking with Bean and Co. but also reading the same book as well, "Okay, okay, okay, I got one. Who's this? 'I got killed by a chair'." Bean states with a gesture as if she didn't know, but Luci certainly did, "Oh, oh, oh. One of your fiancés? That guy you murdered? What's-his-name, the Forgettable Guysbert."
They were playing a "Guessing Drink Game", and she was made the counter as to who got so many correct to win, due to her being immune to alcohol.
"Ding, ding, ding!" Bean points at her demon as he cheered at this, "Whoo! Okay, me next, chumps. 'I'm a big, fat king, and I'm married to a salamander, and my daughter has a dangerous drinking problem'." Bean implied to Luci as he nodded by answering her correctly, "Zøg! Drink!" They did.
"Me next. Me next. Guess who this is." Elfo decided to state as they stared at him while Helena lingered at noticing an interesting spell of sorts she was wanting to try, but not now, and was tickled like Bean is by who he was impersonating to be, "'Hi, I'm Elfo'."
Luci snickered as the two girls looked at him, "Ooh, ooh, I know. The guy with the goofy shoes, reeks of flop sweat and licorice... Oh, he's annoying. What's his name? I wanna say Quelfo?" Luci started to fake-guess on purpose in a way Helena was entertained and with Bean in secret, held a stare at Luci for, "Not even close. It's me. I'm Elfo."
"Good try? Let's drink anyway, right?" Bean recommended as they did before she noticed something to puzzle Helena as she looked outside as well, "Hay man." Luci, believing she was calling him, asked her 'What', "No, they've almost finished the hay man." He asked again with Bean getting annoyed, "What? The hay man?" "What the hey, man? I'm talking about the hay man for the harvest bonfire. It's the best night of the year, but Zøg never lets me go. He doesn't trust me 'cause he thinks I'm just a dumb kid." Bean explained to them.
"That's so sad you never get to go." Elfo told Bean in concern as he was holding the pub mug, as Helena thought the same way- "No, no, I go every year. He just never lets me."
Helena shook her head at that while getting to understand her cousin more as she anticipated that, and she did wonder how she can pull most of the things she does effortlessly and get away with it, only slightly. But I might see what this odd ritual is about, later to when I get a chance, as it seems something worth looking into, despite this. She mentally added to herself and not feeling Xal'atath was amused by what it was and kept her sentiments to herself as she, secretly, recognized it.
"Hmm. I can't quite figure out why he doesn't trust you." Luci told Bean to postpone Helena's thoughts while perplexed at the strangest of times, as the pub owner was hauling used bottles and mugs, passed by them.
"All right, we have a big day tomorrow. Let's grab one last drink for the road." Bean notifies them with Helena seeing her cousin easily hefting a barrel of glog, and followed her out of the pub before making the three pause and confused as she placed a leaf she found in the spot for a said spell, and told them and tossing a bag of few gems to the owner with a note in it, "I'll cya later at the castle, as I want to, um… Get things out of the way."
Bean shrugged at this as they left with Luci the only one aware of her goals, and made Helena sigh before heading to the shopping area the kingdom had for what she indeed hoped they celebrate said holiday coming up, as not known to her, she was about to receive a surprise gift from her girls on said day… And Helena hoped they liked what she was going to give them, eventually, in return.
Later on in the middle of the night, Bean and Co. (with Bean being drunk) were sneaking back to her room and she had the drunken impression of using a grappling hook with a rope connected, and swinging it to her open window up within her room, and told her companions, "I'm drunk and I'm late. We better sneak in quietly."
After a bit of time, Bean came drunkenly inside her room as the other two were still climbing up, and declared to no one then while, strangely, rubbing the stone floor, "Oh, floor, you're always there for me. So supportive… Not like walls and staircases, always getting in my way."
"Oh, Beanie, you're a no-good, drunken disgrace… And in this kingdom, that's sayin' something." A voice said to make her freeze before glancing with her eyes to see her father in his robes, staring at her in disappointment.
Outside right now, Elfo questions Luci as they were talking to each other before climbing upwards the rope and didn't notice what was going on within Bean's Room as they were at the top, "So, now you're telling me your tail has a mind of its own? 'Cause before, you said it was prehensile. So, just saying-" "Shh, shh, shh. Shut up. Bean's getting yelled at by her Dad." Luci informs the Elf Hybrid while intentionally poking Elfo to make him say, ow, as they eavesdropped.
"You ran off from your royal duties to get drunk." King Zøg tells her as outside the room, they didn't know Helena couldn't get back to sleep and was not trying to but was, anyway, hearing their discussions with each other. Especially since she recognized her uncle's tone of dissatisfaction and disappointment at Bean.
"Oh, so, you noticed? You weren't too busy with your new family?" Bean tells him off with getting up as he responds to her while trying to keep his voice down, and points things out, "New? I've been remarried for years." He was, secretly, taken aback by a confession from her then while she stumbled and had an arm over her eyes, still drunk, "And since that time, I've become less and less important to you. You barely noticed when I traded places with that pauper for a year."
"What do you want from me?" He proclaimed to her in a way he truly wanted to know, mixed with still being disappointed, angry, and rather hurt with her at the moment before his eyes softened only a little and caving in by her next words, and was gazing right at him to know she was aware yet still obviously drunk, "I'd like to have a role to play in your life, in the kingdom. I'm tired of feeling useless."
"Ah, Beanie, it's so hard to know what to do without yellin'." He confessed back to her as she appeared glum while he left the room… For only Helena to yelp before looking at them sheepishly as he only shook his head and left her on the ground as Bean got up, and helped Helena to her feet, as Luci and Elfo came in at this point and it was awkward for both girls then.
"You… Um, heard all that?" Bean decided to ask with the two males recognizing a topic coming up, decided to just watch on her bed.
Helena now rubbed the back of her head and informed her in honesty, "I kinda did- But I didn't mean to!"
Bean was half-amused and half-concerned and with the two males being more entertained by Helena rambling her excuse too hastily for them to understand, at this point, before she blinked as Bean placed a hand on her mouth and told her then, "Hel?" Said girl nodded before tinting, "Stop and breath."
"Sorry… Whenever something nervous comes up at times, I tend to ramble and well, few other things." Helena confessed to them as they nodded while she gazed at Luci as he expressed curiously to her and made Bean and Elfo wonder the same thing, "So whatcha doin' in Beanie's Room then?"
Helena sighed while awkwardly rubbing her head this time before she confessed to her cousin and friends then as they also glanced at each other Bean was aware at least while drunk, and was rather surprised by this, like they were, "I couldn't sleep again and decided to wander the castle to maybe soothe my nerves."
"Wait… How long have you been doing this?" Bean asked in a drunken mix of concern and worry, and Helena shrugged as they sat on her bed with the other two before she sighed and looked away, when she confessed, "For a few months when I became a First Year. I tend to have minor insomnia when I have things on my mind and tend to roam around before I eventually get back to sleep, Tia. It's just… My mind is on the fritz from my memories coming back and, well, the bizarre dreams."
"Dreams like cheese and candy dancing together at a play?" Elfo asked innocently to have stares from the three as he expressed a 'What' to them before she said then with a shake of her head, "No… More like vivid dreams about things, and some being to the point I can't bloody explain about them, as they feel like I've known the way they were viewed before… But not to what I understand."
The three glanced at each other before noticing Helena yawn and with Bean and Elfo appearing rather surprised by the male demon's unexpected offer, which made Helena stare at him suspiciously for, "Since Hel-Drake is tired and all, I'll escort her to her room and back as I need a snack of sorts… Want anything?"
Elfo shook his head before passing out on Bean's bed and amused them before Bean noted to Luci then, "I could go for some of those things we had last night."
He nodded with easily dragging Helena with him by his tail of her left arm as Bean watched onwards with concern still on her face before she stretched, and laid on her bed to pass out.
Meanwhile, in The King's Bedroom, they were in the buff while on the covers as Queen Oona informed her husband then, "I don't see problem. Your daughter feels useless because she is useless."
"But she's hurtin'." He tells her as the two tiny servants named Vip and Vap (same as in the show), took his slippers before getting back into bed while Oona pointed things out to him then, "Her purpose is to be married off to unite kingdoms as we do. Make offspring, like Derek."
At odd timing, Derrick came into their room while gesturing to his ruined toy, " I can't sleep with Mr. Bear like this."
In response to that, King Zøg sighed before ordering his two small servants then, "Vip, Vap, escort Derek back to his room," he sighed before telling his wife, "I don't know. I don't want Bean to be unhappy. Can't we throw her a bone?"
With Odval being here while cooling them off with a large Egyptian feathered fan and listening to them this entire time, decided to propose to them both, then, "Well, Sire, we do have the upcoming trip to Dankmire, but it's a rather delicate diplomatic mission."
"Perfect. Give her some phony-baloney job with a fancy title and a sash." King Zøg orders to him at the advisors idea as Odval nodded before leaving, and with Helena right now, she shivered to make Luci while eating some leftover crab exoskeleton scraps he saved as they were in the kitchen, gave her a glance as she expressed to him in a way he was perplexed about, "For some reason… I have the willies, Luci."
"About what?" He asked her then within easily swallowing the crab skin and, at the same time, giving her the meat to snack on and she shrugged before explaining to him, in honesty, "Not sure… It's an unusual feeling of sorts. Sorta like I got when specific issues came up back at Hogwarts."
That made the demon think about this yet didn't say anything before he smirked, and without warning, Helena yelped before glaring at feeling her behind being pinched when Albedo appeared.
"Alby! I warned you to stop that, especially when I'm with a friend." Helena quietly exclaimed to her as she was thankful to not choke on the raw crab meat she was eating, and was then perplexed by her checking her over as she declared then, "What?"
"You're ok at least." She only acknowledged while appearing relieved to perplex her as Helena asserted to the demoness hybrid then, "Of course, I'm ok…" noting her gaze made Helena sigh as Luci wordlessly ate on since he sensed a conversation was coming up, "Ok, I'm not. Lately," Helena began while grabbing some of the raw meat, "I have been having very vivid dreams each time I go to sleep, and some are the same, and others… Confuses me over in a way, my bloody insomnia kicks in." She then ate a few pieces while still taking the meat offered by Luci.
Albedo sighed inwardly to herself with being puzzled and worried over this, but placed this aside when she placed a hand on her Mate's right shoulder to get her to stare at her directly in the eyes, and indeed saw how tired and everything else Helena showed within them and simply tells her to try and relieve her, accordingly, "Well. Whenever you're ready, My Love, you will tell us… But for now, I think I shall personally escort you back to our bedroom we share with The Others, and cuddle until you're back to sleep."
Helena was about to object before she yawned while having a mocking betrayed glance at Luci as he wordlessly waved her off as he looked around the kitchen, and got snacks for Bean.
December 20th, 2014, the next day in the late morning:
It turned out Helena was right as while Odval was made in charge, and she was informed to go with them to see Dankmire or otherwise understood as Queen Oona's Homeland, itself.
She told Albedo to watch Delphi with having Hermione and the others resume her lessons, and also to be kept safe as her bodyguard went with her, and since she was older, to the dismay of the others, she was in charge until she came back.
As mentioned, they were all on a fancy boat heading to said location with Luci on the tip of the ship along with Bean wearing a red sash that indeed expressed the word in bold yellow letters, Ambassador, on it as Elfo was also sitting on a pillow nearby, and the King was watching as Derrick was playing a game with Queen Oona. Helena, however, convinced them to be teammates as she also brought her Wizard Chess Set, as she was teammates with her bodyguard.
Speaking of the said guard, she was brought to this realm by Lucifer herself while, in secret, giving her another chance of life as her sister was back at her palace and recovering, and didn't realize what happened as to mention, they all faced a tough enemy they never faced before, before everything they knew was gone.
Letting you all know, this girl was made as a strong PM by random readers who viewed it, and I liked the idea.
She is a young woman around twenty-one years old with wavy rose pink hair and pale aqua eyes with green aspects around the pupil. She is around 5'7 in height while having a slim yet slender figure, and wore a black chest piece with a high collar with a bareback strapped on belts. From the lower parts of the chest piece, there are two symmetrical white capes with pockets. At the top sides of the chest piece, there are silver pauldrons, and the upper part of her arms is covered with red straps adorned with silver pieces. From the pauldrons hang two symmetrical white capes. The inside color of the capes on both the upper and lower pauldrons, however, is red. She also wears red and black boots that reach half of her thigh, and black gloves.
She was known by the names of Claire Farron, Light, and even known as Sergeant Farron. But her nickname she always went by was otherwise remembered as Lightning, and from her chance, she remembered everything and even her time as a former l'Cie or an appointed agent to a random god.
"Checkmate." Helena informs the two royals as they blinked at watching their king piece giving up in surrender and with her own queen piece dancing in victory, "Game is interesting… Should teach more about it." Was all Queen Oona noted and made Helena place this notion to the back of her mind setting up the game again, and she was also listening to Luci and the others speak amongst themselves.
"Aren't ambassadorships usually just given to rich chumps to make them feel important?" Luci questions Bean then as she exclaimed back to him, "Yeah, and it's working. Express boat to Dankmire." And it was a single straight line to what Helena was told by Oona herself, was to her swampland of a homeland.
They indeed passed the long grass and into swamp territory while ignoring the hillbilly locals that asserted something as moments later, Elfo told them with scratching himself, "I'm so excited, my skin is breaking out in sprinkles."
Luci, however, pointed it out while he saw Elfo scratched still, "Those're mosquito bites." He shrugged before he leaned back as Bean and the others were watching the scenery, and Lightning explained what they would be practicing to Helena quietly over when they came back, "I'm scratching with excitement."
"Hey, hey, peewee, no bleeding. Your blood belongs to me." King Zøg warned the Elf Hybrid who stopped at that before picking up his book he brought and opening up to a random page before informing them something, mostly Bean that is m, as Helena gazed at the two mentioned people in small surprise while observing them glance at her with a mere shrug. "Oh, this is so interesting. Did you know Dreamland forced Dankmire to build this canal? Then, they fought a 100-year war over who owned the canal, and the war only ended when a certain King Zøg of Dreamland, your Dad, married Princess Oona of Dankmire. That's your weird step-mom."
Bean oddly enough, appearing pleased with that with the two royals hiding a wince as if it was a bad experience, "Yeah, I remember their wedding. I got jealous and put a dead owl in their cake." She paused with noticing Helena appearing pale at this before shrugging as back then, The Princess of Dreamland was only starting to do things, "People, like, ate the whole thing."
"Hey! That's in here, too." Elfo exclaimed to make Bean roll her orbs and Luci chuckle with Helena being perplexed by Lightning giving her an unusual gem and a look of 'I'll explain later' when those that never been here before (AKA, Elfo, Helena, and even Lightning) saw the area when they went into the opened yet large, double gate doors into Dankmire.
"Wow! Beautiful." Elfo expressed as they saw they were at a tower for treating water, oddly enough, before beholding the land itself was fancy and thriving… Before Bean turned to Oona while glimpsing her cross her arms and asked her, "Oona, you grew up here. Can you just tell me about this place, and I'll try to decipher your accent?"
Queen Oona only notifies her then, trying to relieve her and them, "Don't worry. Every visitor to Dankmire receives a famously warm welcome."
Waiting for them, where the Royals of Dankmire and the middle one told them all firmly while tapping his cane only once, "You are two minutes late." They turned to Queen Oona as she only glanced at them after Bean stated from reading from Elfo's Book, "'Warm refers to the sweltering temperature, not the notoriously grim locals'."
"Hmm… This is where Oona gets her sense of humor." Luci noted before Queen Oona nodded as they were getting off the boat, "Is true. I was a class clown. Is joke. Or is?"
While they followed the Royals of Dankmire, then, they came to the true entrance while they then bowed to the true two rulers of the land: Their King and Queen, and Bean explained to them then to amuse Luci over, "Dankmirians love protocol. They consider it rude to bow without bowing first."
Helena thought that was strange before they all turned to Luci as he proceeded to state, "I can tell this place already sucks-" "-ceeds at blowing away our expectations. Your Highness, on behalf of all of Dreamland, may I just say thank you for this charming reception." Bean stopped Luci before trying to be diplomatic to the royals.
The King of Dankmire gently expressed back in kindness, "And we thank you for your thank you." They then bowed before Luci, to secretly amuse a few others, bowed as they bowed back again… Until Bean punted him into the water.
"Hey, hey, now that's diplomacy. Show us what else you got." Helena heard her uncle state to her cousin in an impressive tone while allowing her to go ahead of him as Bean did just that, "Mr. Chancellor, we are at your disposal and keen to experience more of your local culture." As she spoke, they bowed at each other before she asked the one Royal Chancellor then, "What's next?"
"A play, in sixteen acts." He informed her while crossing his arms behind him as a guard holds onto his cane, "Ah." Bean nodded towards him as he added to his words then, "Performed by children."
"Yay!" Bean then states while they started following the Dankmirians into their homeland, and at this moment, Luci coughed out some water before getting back on the dock, and declaring to the fish attached to his tail, "Hey, fish, that peanut butter on my tail was mine." He tossed it before he complained to himself and soon tried to catch up, "Stupid fish, always takin' my precious body butters."
Helena was oddly enough, astounded by the way the village itself was set up with Lightning also wordlessly approving since she was sitting next to her, and Bean, Elfo, and even Luci were impressed.
The area itself was sorta like a large swamp landed, yet a fancy version of Venice, Italy, itself, mixed with Older Japan. Also seeing people going about their everyday lives as well while their boat was also being dragged along by two Dankmirians hired to do so, there were lit torches, however, instead of light poles (for lighting), the buildings were all made of materials available to this land itself.
"It's taken centuries, but our civilization has risen out of the muck to have one of the finest community playhouses around." The Chancellor informs them as they docked near it, and being puzzled by King Zøg's groan at that, Bean fixed the situation as in secretive truth, impressing Helena as well, "Oh, uh, that's our way of saying 'Hmm' in a way we will enjoy it."
"You will love this play about our glorious canal." The Chancellor then informs them with King Zøg crosses his arms and amusing The Chancellor, "This thing better not be a musical."
The Chancellor heard this although, "No, but it is one of those plays where the actors come out into the audience and bother people." He notifies them without a lie before giving them all pamphlets, and Luci was oddly enough, excited by this, "Ooh-hoo-hoo! That's the only kinda play we have in the one part of hell I grew up in."
Lightning, however, hid her look of disdain at this as she was not looking forward to that while Helena, on the other hand, thought differently. Maybe it won't be so bad.
It was three and a half hours later that she was rather impressed yet kept glancing at her uncle a few times as this was more like a historical and unorthodox play of sorts than what the Chancellor told them, and Lightning excused herself as she decided to guard outside, and it was also better to intrigue the Dankmirians by Helena, earlier, suggesting snacks and drinks as well for this… They did as she was also loving the roasted fish and changing the offered drink, secretly, into her favorite cherry brand of soda.
Especially right now, near the end.
"Who's that fat kid with the crown supposed to be?" King Zøg questions to himself aloud as the kids bowed and stuff before he began to complain while worrying Bean over this, and also Helena as well, "What the hell was that? They're acting like we didn't contribute to that canal."
Bean decided to tell him off while not only irritating her father but inwardly impressing him, once again, "As ambassador, I have to remind you to not act like a caveman…. Say something nice." He shook his head to make Oona roll her orbs as he was acting childish, "No."
"On behalf of Dreamland, I'd like to say that it was a fine show." She advised to The Chancellor who was pleased by that and continued, as Helena was perplexed when the servants of this place, awkwardly, cleaned around her before she stunned them by using her small traces of magic to clean the area up for them. "That husky kid's a real tour de force." The Chancellor bowed to her as he then left with Queen Oona and her Step-Brother.
"All right, you did good." King Zøg proceeded to notify his eldest child to make her be surprised on that, confidentially, "Covering up the indiscretions of those in power is an important part of the job." He grinned at her then before making a few gestures and startled Bean, and making Helena gaze at her proudly at this while, at the same time, having an unusual yet gut-like dreadful sensation of his next set of words, "Why don't you give the big speech at tonight's banquet?"
"What? Me? Speech? I've never written a speech before…. I guess I could try." Bean tells herself before to her father as he only patted her shoulder while expressing to her then, "You'll do great, as long as you remember our entire flimsy alliance depends on it going perfect." She deflated from that with Helena soon looking at her worriedly, "Oh."
"You're a great writer. I've read your diary." Elfo began to encourage her as she nodded until that, and glanced at Luci as he confided in her then, "Uh, I showed him where you hid it."
As they were about to leave, Helena paused to make them alongside Lightning raise an eyebrow as it seems The Chancellor took off with her uncle and step-aunt and saw the shopping place with informing them then, and also dragging her bodyguard alongside her, "I think I plan to shop a bit before meeting you guys back at the palace this land has, ok?"
While they went their separate ways, they didn't see a cloaked figure that was part of the audience glance at mostly Helena before chuckling to themself, and left within the crowd.
Moments later as Helena didn't know Bean was at this land's bar-like area with Elfo and Luci, she was shopping within Dankmire's specific area as she managed to get a few more gifts for some people (her girls and sister), and she even got gifts for Lucifer and her lover as well… But there were a few she had left to get for: Her child as she didn't understand what to give her, Bean and her family, Elfo, and lastly Luci.
"Let's see…" Helena commenced as Lighting kept silent yet was thinking about her sister and gazing at her list she has, "Maybe I should go with Bean and both Elfo and Luci, firstly."
She looked and gently peered at Lightning before making her blink at her concerned question, to make them stop as the shopping Dankmirians hardly noticed them, "You ok?"
"Yes. Yes, I am, My Lady." Lightning confided in her to have Helena sigh at this before responding to hide an amused smile at reminding her of some of her friends, "You know, you don't have to call me by title as my full name or simply, Hel, is ok. I know I'm royalty of sorts, but it's bloody annoying at times."
Lightning only nodded at her as they walked still within the large district, and made Helena blink at her in surprise by what she confessed then, "My sister… Hel is what I'm thinking about while knowing the holiday shopping you're doing is approaching."
Helena glanced at a specific shop before perplexing Lightning, at first, before dragging her into it as it was a jewelry shop and she went wide-eyed by what she told her then with gesturing to what she soon guessed, was rare jewelry brought here, and not homemade, "Go ahead and pick something out your sister would like, as I plan to find something for Bean and Oona, mainly, while in here and I'll also pay for it."
Lightning was hesitant but nodded as she glanced at the nearby wears Helena paused and then blinked at glimpsing a strange, minted bronze-like slave collar that had on a small ring in the front, an attached and very rare, Corundum Beryl-type of Gemstone: A Focus Corberyl or a perfectly swirly mixture of the three known gems of ruby, sapphire, and emerald, and were always slowly moving, randomly, and the gemstone itself was shaped to be a large pearl around the size of a basic golf ball… Particularly since she saw it was within a case of sorts.
She liked the design and everything else but jumped when the owner of said shop, a female, touched her on her arm with having a pleasant smile on her face, and wore a lavender robe as such for her race within Dankmire, "Ah… I see that you have an interest in my favorite artifact that no one could ever afford."
"Why can't they afford it?" Helena curiously inquired as Lightning managed to find a pendant based on her little sister's birthstone and was looking for something else as the shopkeeper secretly glinted within her orbs and she gestured to the plaque it had while Helena was perplexed, mixed with being interested evermore by what she read quietly to herself. "'For those that were giveth to this time and realm be forewarned, as this object holds more than fortune beholds. Those that touch it will suffer from a curse of unfortunate news for years to come, or be shocked senselessly to the point thy views are undone… Unless you're true wearing for whoever touches the object, the stone will glow and attach to thy host evermore without harming thyself and more.' Is that why it's close to a large sum of coins?"
"Yes. In honesty," the shopkeeper proceeded while noticing Helena's eyes kept gazing at the stone, generally, "It was given to my family for almost three hundred or so years, and besides the mentioned, only my bloodline could touch the Sacred Neck Object. So most of the past kin would let others touch the object for either revenge or amusement."
Seeing Helena's glance while oddly enough, feeling this would be different from the tales of her king, perplexed the teen as she opened the case and reluctantly grabbed it before offering it to her, and once Helena indeed touched the gem… It glowed before she gasped in small shock like the shopkeeper as it unlatched itself before leaping and automatically attaching around her neck, and specific gemstones that were oddly heart-shaped appeared on the sides as not known to her, it would be revealed later on what they were.
"It seems you were worthy as that is the first time in a long time that has happened." The shopkeeper confided her while stunned as Lightning saw this as she was about to tell Helena what she got but was then inspecting her as Helena felt Xal'atath chuckle to herself, as they tried yet failed to get it off her since it then adjusted to be more like a choker for her neck size, perfectly.
Strangely enough, she felt her ring vibrate in equality as if unseemly greeting the collar as if like old friends, to what Helena unusually felt as it was oddly relaxing slightly for a few moments of the gentle warmth the collar gave around her neck.
"You get gems half off and keep collar for free charge," the shopkeeper informs them to astound the two, and she only holds up a hand to stop them before she could object, "Consider it a gift for allowing me to see collar finally leaving my kin as agreed long ago."
After that, they left with Helena purchasing both Bean and Oona's birthstone rings with their names engraved, an hour later, and continued shopping with Helena oddly sufficient, touching the collar and realizing it was like a second skin, then that and weirdly heard a purring sound within her head from doing that as if it was pleased.
Lightning didn't say anything as they came into another store where she managed to find all but Lucy and Elfo's gifts and eventually came to a shady-looking shop within an alleyway to make Lightning keep her guard up as the owner of the said shop appeared shady as well, as the person was fully cloaked except his red eyes that looked reptilian, of sorts. "Hello, and welcome to my wears… Do you perhaps see anything that you would like?"
Helena's eyes were on the strange gems that were in different yet singular colors alongside being the size of a tennis ball, as the strange male displayed them more out of everything, saw her eyeballing them with a glint before he chuckled and claiming to her in a way that Lightning was suspicious of, "These lovely objects were obtained by an acquaintance of mine only a mere day or so ago. If you desire them, I can negotiate these specialized seven gems for you… For a small price."
Helena was shortly pulled to the side as Lightning warned her to which Helena merely raised an eyebrow, as she kept glancing at those gems in the shape of a diamond and being around the size of a baseball, "Something seems off My La- I mean, Hel." She saw the teen staring at her, "This man is feeling off to me as if he is not what he seems."
"My Fair Ladies," he abruptly began to barter with them as they glanced at each other briefly while he was motioning to several more gems in an unusual shape to hearts, "If you do buy these gems, I will personally permit you to have this complete set of Heart Gems, unrestricted of course, and anything else you will fancy as after all, by what I can see…" he gestured to her list, "Could be a gift for anyone for what holidays are coming." Secretly, the man was inwardly frowning at Lightning at trying to talk out the young teen before him on an opportunity- "I'll take them and maybe… Do you have books?"
Lightning hid the urge to facepalm while under his hood, the man himself only grinned as he indeed showed her books too which she was truly impressed by, and Lightning hid the urge to facepalm once again as Helena easily paid the full amount of, in American Currency, of a true total or close to 5,000 to the man in gems, and she held the one that strangely felt there was more to it than ever in her left hand as the man secretly chuckled when they left him before his so-called store and everything else, alongside him, unexpectedly vanished, and hoped she liked the specialized Materia and Heart Gems… As he was indeed more than he seemed.
The Heart Gem, to mention it, was oddly enough dark blue with a misty black-like yet silvery sparkled mist within it that felt both warm yet also cold, and she placed that into her pocket while she resumed shopping, to Lightning's ire at this.
Unseen by the duo, several glints of light was shown within it before they dimmed.
Hours later, within the Dankmire Palace:
Helena was sighing as she glanced at the one gem she previously had in her pocket and gently touched the gemstone on her unfortunate collar around her neck, like a worry stone with being slightly soothing from it sending gentle bodily waves of comforting warmth, as she hadn't heard from Bean in a while.
Helena had a suspicion of Xal'atath knowing what the collar was and the ring, but she refused to answer and said she wasn't at all ready to know.
Lightning was also told by Helena to wait outside her guest room door as inside, it was mostly ocean themed with satin-based bedsheets.
The Potter Heiress sighed to herself as Xal'atath then elected to speak up as her voice was showing concern, alongside the eye glancing at her as she gently made it clear that the dagger was looking directly at her while leaning against the mirror she was placed at, "Are you alright? As you have been deep in thought for some time?"
"I'm just worried about what they would think about my gifts, as this is truly the first honest time I have managed to do so, mainly for Dee, Xal." Helena explained with her speaking of her holiday gifts then her worries over her cousin, knowing Bean could take care of herself with ease while watching the dagger's eye closed for a brief moment in thought before opening as she conceded gently back, as secretly, she was slowly beginning to respect this teenage mortal from what she has been through and other things she is recollecting from diving into her memories, privately, "It is what it is as my former owner indeed celebrated a similar yet particular holiday as such to what you're planning… They were all hectic in my own opinion. But if the mortals care about you, they will indeed love what you have gotten for them."
Helena only nodded to this before the object herself and the teen was puzzled from noticing that gem give off a few glints of dark-like light of sorts while picking it up before pocketing it as Lightning expressed calmly and quite clearly on the other side of the door, to her, "Hel. Your King is here to see you… Do you want him inside?"
Helena told her bodyguard a 'Yes' as her uncle came into the room while appearing troubled, and asked her before sighing at recognizing her face faulting at this, "Do you know where Bean is? The banquet is gonna start soon."
"It's been hours, Uncle Z? She hasn't arrived at all?" Helena tells him in a worried tone as it was his turn to sigh before he gave her a glance to be surprised over, "Listen. If she hasn't shown up by the time the banquet comes around, you're gonna have to be the Substitute Ambassador unless something happens."
"You want me to replace Bean? But I thought…" Helena then questioned when he raised his hand up and simply confided in her plainly to soon feel sorry for her cousin, "She may have done an impressive job earlier, but at some point, she tends to screw up. I figured I mostly gave her a position for this type of thing." He finished his words by being honest with her.
Helena sighed before she wordlessly nodded, and before he left he was perplexed by her quickly stating the word 'Wait', and went into her pocket and stunned him as she brought out a small chest with the Potter Crest on it, tapped the sigil once with her left finger as it expanded to a large one on the bed, and opened it up before getting him something from the inside, and placed it into his hands.
"Uh… What the heck is it?" He states while perplexed as Helena merely told him as she wanted to give him a gift, yes, but figured it would be better if it was early.
It was a brooch of sorts that oddly resembled the designs within the LOTR Franchise, but it was mostly red and blue, in colors, and had a silver lining.
"It's an early gift… Back in my time, there was a holiday I'm not sure you're aware of or not, called Christmas or Yule-" he stopped her as he knew that she was still attempting to look into their holidays and told her with a smile as he was pleased by the gift, "Helena. We have that holiday you're thinking about for a while, and at least you got me something more interesting than some wheat."
Here he heard her try to stifle a laugh as he too, was amused before he attached it to his green cape, and left her to prepare for dinner.
It was later on as Helena was notified to sit close to The Chancellor while making things awkward for everyone, and at the same time, almost everyone but him was stunned at beholding her true image as the servants were serving appetizers and gave her raw fish, as requested, and was perplexed from seeing Luci and Elfo finally show up with him snagging, in a strange irony of moments, the very same fish that was attached to his tail and ate it before sitting on her lap as if it was a seat.
The dining hall, to mention, was immense as it also served semi to the truly rich Dankmire Folk. They had it lit with large square ceiling lanterns attached by chains, and even side-long lanterns as well.
The chairs and tables and especially the long one Helena and the other royals were at, were made out of burnt oak mixed with some other wood, with etchings on them. The floor was so polished the wood itself would also be considered as wood-like marble instead, and the sides were made of plywood mixed with a special stone, of sorts, all in the same Japan-like vibe as their village.
"Where the hell is Bean? I got a lot riding on that girl." King Zøg declared to them as Elfo sat a seat away from Derek and who sat next to his mother as Zøg sat next to her and The King of Dankmire, from the comment, Helena was perplexed by observing Elfo looking oddly enough skittish, and also Luci was like that mixed with being shady, as the Halfa responded to her uncle, "She... No. She's Who?"
"She's here." Luci acknowledged and also gestured to what Helena was worried about by noticing her cousin's state that Bean happened to be in, "Take it away, Bean."
Bean was fully drunk, and some of the servants or royals hushedly acknowledged a few things: Her ceremonial robe was backward, she burped a few times, and looked dazed and drunk (as mentioned).
"Whoops-a-daisies." Bean drunkenly declared as Helena, earlier before her arrival, had that gut-like feeling again and packed everything away as they didn't even question her collar since they thought it was a mere accessory, as Bean didn't see her panicked father coming over with Helena, at the same time, looked to a nervously laughing Luci, proclaiming to herself again while trying yet only spun around, "Let me give it a spinneroo. Whoo! How do you like me now?"
"Aw, jeez. What are you doing- What happened to you?" He expressed before quietly speaking to her and paused as Helena detected deceit from Luci as well when Elfo glared at the demon, "It's not her fault…" "That's right. It's your fault. You didn't stop me."
Dang, Luci, of all the times to act up… Helena worriedly thought to herself at this point as Lightning, too, felt something was going to go wrong as she was on the other side to the wall of the table she was at and had her hand close to her sides of her weapon.
"You should be proud of me, Dad. I finished my speech and all the nachos." Bean drunkenly moved and noted to her father with trying to gesture to the cards yet almost tripped over her robe, and he informed her then as she only grinned in reply, "You're in no shape to deliver any speech… Sit down and shut up." He moved her to sit next to Derek as she blinked dazedly while looking at her cousin, especially both the Elf Hybrid and demon themselves, secretly relieving Derek, and mixed feelings from Queen Oona, by his words, "I'll get Helena to give the speech."
Seeing she had no choice, Helena reluctantly stood up to get everyone's attention shifted to her, and declared in a clear yet can-tell nervous voice, "Hello… I, um. I'm Princess Helena Potter: Niece to Ex-Queen Dagmar, and Step-Niece to King Zøg."
At that, they heard small muttering with Helena hiding her slight gulp and with Luci amused when Bean nearly toppled over herself yet paid attention, at the same time, to Helena. "I would like to excuse my cousin as she isn't feeling well, as you can see, and would still be part of the feast you provided. So, yes, I will be taking her place as Ambassador. But for only this evening."
She gave a stare to her uncle while not glimpsing Bean's flabbergasted gaze as well to King Zøg, and saw The King of Dankmire nod in approval at this.
But this wasn't meant to last, as Helena looked hurt by Bean's drunken words, then, in slight anger while pointing as well to the mentioned teen, "What?! Dad! I thought you- (Hiccup!) I thought you wanted me as… Whatever Hel states to everyone!"
The Dankmirians felt awkward once again before King Zøg gave her a mixed look of 'Shut up' and anger while wordlessly gesturing her to sit down, and she pointedly did so with her anger as she crossed her arms looking betrayed, and the true dinner was served.
"We'll begin with the traditional Dankmirian Dish, Lamprey Vivant." The Chancellor notified them all as he was truly interested more in Helena than the drunken idiot Bean was being, as the mere sight of food made her chow down as if she was starving, and made The King not be freaked out like the others at this from Helena's words, and told them with an impresses tone as it was her first time trying it, "This is good, your Highness."
At that, The King only smiled while eating his, and once they ate, they came to the desert… Which Helena was then worried about her cousin to the point that Luci and Elfo also gave her 'WTH Looks' when she got up and from what Lightning briefly taught her while shopping earlier, applied pressure on the specific part of her neck to make Bean pass out and informed to them, apologizing, "I'm going to take her to her room… Uncle Z, could you maybe continue the banquet without me?"
Seeing him nod as she left with Lightning, Elfo, and Luci, they should have stayed, otherwise a surprise would have been waiting for them.
Once in her room and giving Bean an altered version of the Pepper Up Potion, looked apologetic at Helena when she accidentally socketed her face and amused her friends as she rubbed her chin, "Damn Hel, sorry about that… Wait, I was plastered, wasn't I?"
Seeing their nods while Elfo pointed a thumb to an unexpectedly whistling Luci, Bean sighed to herself as they all looked awkward when she then asked them, "I didn't do anything crazy, did I?"
She blanched while shortly getting out of her robe and, at the same time, was not only thankful she wore her outfit under it except her shirt in which Elfo secretly pouts as Lucy covered his eyes to change into it, but was rather glad her cousin managed to handle the situation and wincing at her neck hurting a bit.
"Sorry about your neck as Lightning did tell me it would hurt for a while." Helena quietly informed her to make Bean's jaw drop to this, yet before she could the door, without warning, was pounded.
Lightning was prepared for this when a random servant declared they were under attack, before seeing a dagger on his back, soon escorted Helena and Co. in quiet steps, into the halls of the palace, and they saw, in shock as they glanced into the dining hall, very familiar snake men.
"Bloody Hell, it's those lizard men again." Helena quietly warns them while watching all but The Chancellor with the hostages, which also included Bean's family.
"What do we do?" Elfo warily asked with him abruptly being shushed by Luci when he wordlessly pointed upwards to make them perplexed and what froze them in place, from discovering a strange, very large yet rideable, dark magenta reptilian-like wasp of sorts zoomed past them with one of those men on it.
"Helena, you need to grab the hostages while I combat the snakes." Lightning instructed her pupil to make the girl blink in small alarm at this, "But… I hardly trained-" Lightning gave her a look alongside one to Bean and her friends, "I know. But it seems you will have to, as a few old friends I knew would say, 'Wing it'."
Bean thought this was bizarre irony at that, as at the bar, her notes indeed said that for her speech.
"So what do we do after that?" Bean decided to add with Luci glimpsing behind them and went wide-eyed (or in his demon's case, eye) at noticing something rapidly approaching. "If I suggest anything, it would be to get away from that!"
What he pointed to force them into the hall itself as it was a Furred Python.
If I can pause to briefly mention the creature, it was the size of a large horse, but twice the length of them combined. It also was black-furred on the top of its back, all the way to its tail to which also had a rattle at the end to know it was related to rattlesnakes as well, and the head was still mostly a snake, but it also had extended fangs and dark orange cat-like eyes in design of a panther.
Anyway, back to the story.
The snake men moved while in strange coincidences, the beast was fighting the snake-men, and allowed them to untie everyone as they were then escaping until they encountered The Chancellor once again, and with a displeased look on his face. "I was hoping that The Princess of Dreamland would be the one to mess things up… But I had to arrange my backup plan."
Helena narrowed her orbs while beholding they were surrounded and heard him order to The Sethrak and traitors firmly, "It is over, as this is personal war! Again. Guards! Busboys! Seize them!"
"No! No, no, no, no." Bean states as they were dodging left and right of some flying daggers and Helena not feeling it, winced as something lodged in her side before using her left leg to kick the snake man in the balls, and they blanched at watching Elfo jumping upwards to a random lamp post on the wall as it lowered down and revealed a passageway, "Come on. This way."
"How did you know that was there?" Bean soon asked while Lightning managed to grab Helena and drag her after the others as she sneezed a fireball on a random snake man, "Uh, unlike some people, I read the guidebook." Elfo answered back quickly as they were running downwards a spiral outdoor staircase with the snake men after them alongside The Chancellor, and Bean declares while briefly ducking from a dagger almost cutting her cheek yet some locks were trimmed of her hair instead and blown into the unexpected wind that briefly passed by, "Just once could we go on a family vacation without having to run away screaming?" Luci complained to them.
"Hold them off while I untie the barge, everyone gets on board!" Bean commanded her two friends as Elfo and Luci glanced at each other while beholding the Chancellor, bribed guardsmen, and snake men approached, "I'll stop those jerks dead in their tracks… Here goes nothing."
Luci soon bowed alongside Elfo as the others by mere confusion and culture, bowed back, repeatedly.
"Okay, let's go. Let's go. Come on!" Bean declared while grabbing oars for everyone and with long enough arms after cutting the ties rope with a dagger she managed to catch and tossed into the river, and Lightning gave worried looks at Helena as from her wincing after taking a dagger out from the side of her back as it was made of the weakening metal she couldn't heal from, and didn't hear The Chancellor curse.
"I'll see you at home!" Oona declared loudly with hinted worry in her tone at her family as she and the lucky servants and others were on said boat half via the gateman itself splitting the large boat in two, and everyone else on the other, "Mommy, I'm afraid!"
"Just stay close to your father!" Oona shouted back as Derek replied, "That's why I'm afraid."
Helena soon passed out from feeling her body was on fire and in pain as all but Lightning did a brief scream as a harpoon was lodged quickly into their boat, and was then being yanked back to the dock by the guards and snake-men, and her weapon, ring, and collar was silent but in an unusual sense, observing things.
"Great job, Bean. I hope you can sense my sarcasm through your drunken haze." Zøg declared sarcastically to his eldest child as she rolled her eyes at him while still partially drunk yet sobered up enough thanks to Helena, and retorted back along with trying to slow down the boat, "Yeah, yeah, I stink."
She then got an idea to which Lightning was already planning as she broke her oars into stilts and managed to have Helena in a secured hold, "Derek, get on Dad's back."
They were soon taking off and using the quickly fashioned stilt sticks to go away from The Chancellor and Co. "I'll get you! You won't get away so easily next time!"
"Shall we jump in after them?" One guard asked warily to The Chancellor as one was begging in a way not to, and The Chancellor smirked as he motioned to the snake men as one nodded and went on ahead back to the base camp to inform their commander, "No need. They're heading deep into muskrat territory. The swamp monster will take care of them… If not, then my acquaintance will."
"And as we trudged through the swamp, I began to realize my clothes had grown muddy." Derek commenced to talk to himself as if he was a narrator and King Zøg having enough, warned him as they moved onwards as it's been at least twelve minutes later on within the water, as they had to use the stilts to avoid getting captured by wild piranha-like vines, and Lightning easily carrying Helena as she was out cold, "Hey! I told you to stop narrating your memoirs."
"Man, I blew it. I was crazy to think I could be an ambassador… Especially as to what happened," Bean quietly tells herself, yet her friends heard her as they stopped and Lightning checked over her charge and pupil, "This is why I always tell you not to try things." Luci advised her with glancing at Elfo when he said that.
"Stop it. You're too discouraging." Elfo told the demon to which Luci responded, "You're too encouraging." "Oh, yeah? Why don't you do something about it? Come on. I'm encouraging you." Lightning shook her head while she saw her cuts healing up, and watched like Bean was by the argument and stabbing of Luci's tail on Elfo, occurring, "Ow! Oh! Ah! Ah! Stop it! You're not even a little nice. You know what you are? You're bad through and through, from the tip of your pointy tail to the tips of your pointy ears." "Ho, ho! You wanna come at me about some pointy ears? Have you ever seen your reflection?"
"Oh, my God. I'm a freak." Elfo told himself as he saw his reflection to make Bean sigh as they didn't see her father and brother were going on without them and paused at a couple of fallen logs to watch things unfold as they were fighting again, "Stop it. Stop. You both have super weird ears." Bean told them both firmly while separating them.
"Oh, this log is hard. I miss my tuffet." Derek complained to his father to which he sarcastically told him with his hands on his hips in annoyance, "You miss your tuffet, do you?"
"Oh, ever so much." Derek agrees while hugging his fixed toy, "And your pet swans? And your little sled for your toy bear? Do you miss those?" Derek quickly nodded his head innocently, "Uh-huh." "Aw…" Zøg expressed in a fake cute tone before ordering him then, "Get down there and dig a pit for us to sleep in." Derek nodded at that.
Without warning, they were taken by two red-necked versions of the Dankmirians, "Keep quiet, if y'all know what's good for y'all." The first one said as the other chuckled before agreeing with his partner, "You boys waltzed into the wrong swamp. You are our property now."
After a while, Bean groans in anger as Lightning was looking into her wears, as in truth, Bean was mixed with anger at her friends and also worried about her cousin from whatever ointment Lightning was covering her large cut with, "I've had it. The next one of you who lays a hand on the other one gets left behind, okay?"
"Ow!" Elfo yelped out while rubbing his left eye from Luci's tail stabbing it as Bean was holding them both up in the air, "Congratulations, guys. You're the first people in history to make me say, 'I'd rather be with my Dad.'" It was at this moment they realized that her father and brother were missing. "Dad?"
"Bean." Lightning firmly states to get her attention while dropping her two friends, "Go ahead and save your father and sibling, as I can easily find you and the others, as I have to see to My Lady, here."
Bean was about to object before sighing and nodding as they took off without glimpsing on Bean's back there was a sigil of sorts that Lightning placed to track the girl down for later while she tended to her charge.
After some time, Lightning managed to get Helena healed up while recognizing she was waking up and heard Helena soon groan before holding her head with a wince, and ignoring her bodyguard's gaze as she softly asserted, "I hate that metal… How in the Seven Hells did they get it?"
"Not sure, Hel. But we must get moving as it's been a while since your family and company left us to ourselves," Lightning told her to make Helena gap at her before narrowing her eyes with a look for later, and then wincing as she was helped up from the log she was on, and unexpectedly clutched her heart in small pain, to get Lightning to hold her.
It felt like thousands of tiny pin-like needles stabbing her heart when that occurred, and felt worry vibes from her weapon, and both ring and the collar.
"I'm fine, Claire. But I might need you to advise me where they went as I saw you reading my one book when I wasn't looking." Helena told Lightning to make the girl tint and firmly nodded in agreement as they soon began tracking where Bean mainly was… If they waited long enough, however, there would have been someone after Helena that scowled before vanishing in a puff of blackened smoke.
Meanwhile with Bean and Co., alongside both her half-brother and father, they were tied up to posts as Bean and her two friends were winging it… Yet failed to free her family, and ended up as a prisoner as well.
"Since y'all was screamin' like babies in the frying pan, we went to plan B: Feed you to the monster raw." One red neck aired to them with a grin, before frowning as they screamed and told his partner, "Okay, Plan C: Stuff 'em with breadcrumbs."
"No! No!" Zøg states in panic as they begin stuffing him by force, and also his clothing and gives Bean a bewildered look like her brother and her friends were doing as she gained an idea, and states in a way she hoped they get the hint, "Don't be rude, Dad. Let's respect the customs of our colorful hosts." She turns to the two men then while signaling to her back-left pocket, "May I propose a toast? I got some low-grade pocket hooch in my booty flask. Please accept it as a gift from my kingdom to yours."
"Well, thank you, Miss, uh…" the first male began before Zøg told him in exaggeration, and was understanding what Bean had in mind, "This is the Honorable Ambassador Tiabeanie…" "Shh. I'm Bean, okay?" She quietly yet hushedly notified her father before telling the two males, "Help yourself."
"Oh. That's right kindly of you. I guess maybe there's a world where I could let y'all go, and we could be friends." The first states in honesty before chugging some of the hooch down and Zøg nodded and told them as everyone figured it out then, "Yeah. Hey, both you hicks, drink up."
"What'd he just call us?" The other male states in a questionable tone with narrowed eyes at King Zøg, "I believe he called us hicks, Slim." The first states as the other agreed firmly to his partner, "Oh, he should not have done that. I should've known it. All you royals are the same. You think we're all just a bunch of unsophisticated, backwoods, know-nothin' yokels who don't know nothin'! Well, I'll tell you what we do know." "What do we know?" The one male states while scratching his sides as something seems to be churning within the water, "We know we about to feed them to the swamp monster. 'Cause, you know that swamp monster don't take no for an answer. He comes at you when you least ex-" both men were soon killed and eaten by the so-called monster itself as it was a large and mutated, white with faded tiger stripes lamprey of sorts with five eyes, two ivory yet clearly showing fangs, and with the face being shaped like a star of sorts.
"Oh, no! / Yikes." Both Bean and Luci exclaimed at the same time by what they witnessed as she was soon untied by sheer luck, and began to undo her father as the monster soon spotted them, and was about to eat them before Bean impressed them all and with Helena and Lightning about to come over and aid her, and yet it was unneeded: She used her sash as a rope to tie the face of the monster, and punched its eyes to make it whimper as it fled from pain.
"You know, I realized that you do encourage Bean to do lots of things: Drink, sneak out, fib," Elfo noted as they were after an hour or so, thanks to Lighting pointing the way out from her time learning how to track back then, out of the swamp woods, and were soon near Dreamland.
"Yeah, you get it, man. Steal, cheat, toy with your feelings." Luci admitted with Elfo narrowing his eyes at him as they walked, "Yes, exactly." He then stopped to make Luci be impressed as he had his hand out as if to shake, "Put 'er there, pal."
"Wow. Gotta admit I'm impressed." Luci told him as he was soon shaking Elfo's hand before he grabbed Luci's tail, and hit him with it several times before letting the demon speak some more, "Really, really impressed. Ow! Okay. Hey, stop. Elfo. Elfo, knock it off. Gimme my tail back. Give it back. Give it back to me." Luci consoled as Elfo kept hitting Luci with his tail.
"That was some great diplomacy back there. You talked to those hillbillies like you were from the next swamp over. Hey, no language barrier, nothin'." Zøg began to compliment his daughter to not see her hide a smile at this as he chuckled before waving his hand and continued, "Like I always say, I'm proud of you, Bean."
Helena was merely silent while watching things as Lightning was thankful her ointment she was given by Lucifer herself was indeed working miracles, as it seems that her student's injury was healed up, and watched her uncle and cousin talk.
"You've never said, 'I'm proud of you.'" Bean tells him in honest shock to make him hide a grin at her with clarifying his words, "Well, today I got dangerously close."
In an unusual coincidence, they were at the hangman festival and Bean looked at it before turning to him then as he crossed his arms with a raised eyebrow from seeing the festival at work, "Hey, Dad, is it cool if I go?"
"Oh, sometimes, I could swear I'm looking at your mother." He tells her in remembrance, "Go on, but sneak home by sunup, or…" "You'll cut off all my toes." She finished for him to humor her father and with him remarking back in equal humor, "I'll leave you one for good luck."
Been gave him a rare true smile he was discreetly touched by as she thanked him, and took off with her two friends to the festival.
Helena watched and ignored her uncle and other cousin's conversation as she was rather perplexed by Lightning sighing, and made her get hugged by the teen after, "Bean seems to know where to go. Go have some fun as in a few days from now: We will train hard."
After a while, Lightning was in her chambers the castle provided and froze at seeing Lucifer casually sitting on her basic bed while clapping loudly once, and with an impressive gaze at her, before she stood up with a pleased smile, after her words, "So far you are the right choice for my child. Although the holidays will be coming up soon, there are many things she would have to face and be prepared for… I looked into things and she has yet to tap into parts of her power and let's hope she doesn't go berserk, as that would attract attention I don't want her to find… The powerful entity of destruction he is, and the two trinkets that are bounded to her until their true selves are freed."
Lightning was confused before blinking at glimpsing a bag materializing right into her hands and was about to say something before seeing Lucifer left already and sighed before checking the contents and almost dropped it with hidden joy bubbling forth as to what it was, as she heard the rumor about her friends and others, as she was the only lucky one to not be transformed into a sigil, as she was holding one that held a familiar name on it.
A few days later on December 22nd, 2014 (in true time):
Helena woke up while trying to not move since her daughter, Delphi, slept with her after having a nightmare to which her recalling nightmare woke her up as well with her having those pinprick heart sensations during that, and soothingly yet quietly rubbed her child's back before noticing the others were awake, and gone- "Morning, My Love." A female voice expressed to her.
Helena saw it was Daphne holding a mug of tea to which they were grateful for bringing some of their modern house items with them, and said a quiet 'Thanks' before gently sipping her minted earl grey tea she loved, and asked her then as Delphi shifted yet remained asleep next to her, "Where is everyone?"
"They're currently out and about doing their tasks, and from what I know at least from the guards, your cousin left with the other two somewhere." Daphne gently told her as Helena sighed at this by Daphne being cryptic once again, and the Greengrass Heiress herself inwardly hoping that what Albedo was planning to have as a shared gift, would be worth the wait on Yuletide, and quietly helped her out of bed, got around, and eventually woke up Delphi to head their way onto breakfast.
Someone managed to save The King and Queen, and the other hostages that the Ex-Chancellor took and was going to use to rule the Kingdom of Dankmire, and left an unusual letter to Helena in the terms of an 'I.O.U.' Version, and resting in the other parts of the castle or the royals, with her Uncle Zøg, and Lightning herself was indeed preparing for their training session later today.
"So… Have you heard when the New Girl and her family are coming?" Daphne decided to question Helena as they were passing by servants who were, secretly, not what they seemed to make Helena herself pause misstep to make her child giggle as she was riding her shoulders, and resumed walking as she unsurely replied to intrigue the two servants before performing fake tasks to not draw suspicions, "Truly before Yuletide at some point like she told me, as she managed to finally convince her parents to finally meet me and maybe celebrate the holiday with us, and get to know my uncle for a possible alliance."
Helena paused mid-step once again, and blinked as Helena did at seeing another demon other than Luci, appear right before them in a small flash with a note attached and was looking nervous, and saw the sigil on it to realize it was from her non-blooded mother: Lucifer.
Helena awkwardly took it before reading the contents, blinked twice dumbly, and glanced at the female demon with yellow eyes before gazing at her soulmate to make her blink as Delphi popped off her shoulders and appeared easily next to the startled demon female and also gently irked her by poking her head, curiously, "Seems my mother managed to overthrow a demon dubbed as the Yellow Eyes in our true-time a while back and let him live, and took his daughter as an eventual bargain price, before us, as a surprise to be my servant for a gift on this upcoming Yuletide, early… Along with telling me that she managed to track down who my actual mother was and indeed supplied my biological mom, Lily, that is, the ovary eggs from a deal she struck back then to give birth to me from fusing them, and is coming with her on the very day."
That made the female demon herself then drop her jaw in disbelief at that, before sighing and making them blink once more as she changed into a woman who crossed her arms in a way she wasn't happy with said Demon Lord of Pride for Hell Sector 77 out of 666.
To describe her as such, she was 5′4 feet tall, short, and naturally blonde hair while resembling largely Nicki Aycox around her early twenties, and wore mainly a black leather outfit consisting of a jacket, a plain sleeveless t-shirt, and black leather jeans with low-heeled black combat shoes, and lastly wore a collar around her neck to refer to her status as a servant to Helena, aka, her House Sigil.
"Guess I have no choice in the matter, especially since I hold a human soul with me." The female sighed before telling them her name, and awkwardly shook Helena's hands to seal the deal as the sigil glowed dimly on top of her left hand to confirm she was her House Demon Servant, "I truly don't have a name, but I went by Meg Masters… Oddly enough, your mother plucked me before a demon named Crowley could truly end my life."
Daphne seeing things, gently grabbed Delphi's confused hand and gave a knowing glance as Helena nodded before gazing at Meg, and saw she pulled a gem the size of a large marble out of her clothing that was a dimly lit sapphire before placing it back, "That's the true Meg, from what I was told by the man who pilfered her from the In-Between… I am glad that I managed to get out of the situation I was in, but not the outcome." Meg honestly expressed with hinted words to Helena to realize she hated her new position.
"I understand, Meg," Helena decided to start a conversation with her new servant as she surprised the demoness when she gently touched her shoulder with a small hesitation of a smile on her face, "No one wants to be a servant by any means, but from some books I read only recently, I think you had no choice in the matter. I won't be like a tyrant or anything bad to you, but if you want… We could be friends instead of a Master and Servant?"
Before Meg could respond, they turned as they were coming to the Hallway and blinked at seeing Luci and Bean walking together, and were rather perplexed by what they were talking about.
"Can't believe Elfo stuck to his story last night, no matter how hard I laughed." Luci admitted as they didn't see they were approaching the females ahead of them, "Did you ever stop to think that's because it's true?" Bean questioned her demon to which he shrugged before replying to her, "Nah, I was busy with laughter."
"I don't know, man. There's something to that vision I had. That girl is real, and he's in love with her." Bean tells him then before getting an idea, "We gotta do something special for him."
"Let him sit on your lap at dinner." Luci tells her as an idea to which she shook her head, "No, he gets crumbs everywhere. I meant we should go find his girlfriend." Bean states before bumping into Helena and looks awkward and makes the two blink as Luci recognizes the demoness before him yet Bean asks curiously, and with a hinted tone of suspicion, "Hel, whose this?"
"My gift from My Mater (Latin for Mother), Bean. Meet Meg Masters," Helena trying to introduce Meg without awkwardly offending the demoness to which she simply shrugged it off and glanced at Luci with hidden interest before Helena was soon told by her cousin and her demon, with Meg following, what went on last night as she thought they were at the Flying Scepter drinking as usual.
Eventually, they concluded as they neared the Knight Quarters as Helena mostly stated then questioned them, at this point, "And by we, you mean the knights? To fetch his girlfriend?"
"Ya, they should be able to track her down easily." Bean agreed with her with the four entering into the quarters, and awkwardly saw the three main Knights of Zøg having fun in their undies and hitting each other's with towels before stopping and turning to Bean, by her words, "Hey, hey, sorry to interrupt, but are you guys available for a quest?"
"Just a moment." The Head Knight, Sir Pendergast that is, tells her before whacking the fat blonde knight, and he grunted before replying to her, "You were saying?"
"Remember, tall, red hair, and again, just the one eye." Bean reminded the three knights later on as Meg was oddly enough, offering to watch Delphi as the other girls were still busy and Hermione still doing plans with her pupil, after breakfast, and Helena and Luci were next to her as the knights mounted on their horses, "And she lives beyond the Unpassable Mountains?" The skinny knight questions her to be certain.
"You're gonna send these knights to die on a quest for a made-up girlfriend? Cool." Luci tells Bean in being impressed before she disagreed with her demon and told him off, and with Helena simply shrugging yet perplexed as to where this happened, still, "This wasn't a stupid drug trip. This was a vision of the truth. I crawled through a door and saw a rainbow, and I'd risk their lives on it."
"Is this quest optional?" The fat blonde knight asked his leader to which he got a response, "Silence, Turbish. We'll have her for you in a fortnight." The Head Knight soon tells Bean in assurance.
"Don't know how long that is, but you have until the Holiday. You gotta get her here before the Royal Ball at least. Elfo will need someone to dance with, and I am not letting him stand on my feet again from the last party we had a while back." Bean tells the knights as the Head Knight nodded before asking her then, "And if we succeed, how shall I be rewarded?"
"With the goddamn salary, I pay you. Now, will you shut up down there? I'm trying to sleep." King Zøg yells at his knights as he wanted to take a nap before anything important later today for meetings came up, and Helena hid a laugh at how serious the knights appeared, and Luci agreed wordlessly with her, "Yes, Sir!"
"I didn't know there was a Yuletide Ball coming up," Helena tells the two then as she was tired from her training only slightly, later on in the night within the throne chamber as Elfo was currently eating candy they bought earlier, and they were all eating some leftovers of a bull shark provided for their dinner last night alongside other food, and partially watching Delphi with Meg and was, secretly, rather impressed by how easily her connectedness to the demoness and maybe was thinking of her being Delphi's Nanny, and inwardly, wondered why the others were still busy.
"Ya… I forgot to mention it. It's usually before the upcoming holiday we host a royal ball based on it slightly for the kingdom. It isn't anything worth being interested in except for dancing." Bean admits to her sheepishly as King Zøg drank some wine and her step-aunt soon complained to her husband, "Can we have one dinner where we're not watching Jester?"
"Hmm, I'll hit mute." King Zøg tells her to which Helena winces as she hears the 'Oh no' by the Jester as he is sent plummeting to the cliffs.
"I prefer to watch the news." Derrick tells his father to which King Zøg clapped a few times to get The Announcer's attention, "Hey! News!"
The Announcer (AKA, The Shouter) then tells them loudly and amused Bean by Helena placing a finger to her ear and listening then, "Is your dinner poisoned? The answer may surprise you. But, first, we go live to the courtyard for the return of the knights. Come along."
Helena amused them as she stuffed her cheeks and swallowed in a way a certain Saiyan would be proud of in said verse, and soon followed them all, and met up with Hermione and Daphne as Albedo went with Meg to discuss something with her alongside her daughter, as Bean informed Elfo then and with seeing the returned knights using a carriage or close to a container wooden box led by their horses, and most was perplexed by what she meant, "Elfo, have I got a surprise for you. I knew that you were longing for something, so I had the knights get it."
"What is it?" Elfo curiously asked his friend as she only responded when the knights jabbed whoever was inside to realize it was a woman of sorts, by the grunts, "Does this voice sound familiar?"
Elfo gasped before making Bean give him a weird look by his answer, "Is it my grandpa trying to open a jar?"
Bean shook her head and told him to have him wide-eyed and Luci hid a chuckle at the Half-Elf's reaction, "No, stupid, it's your girlfriend!"
The knights at this precise time, lowered the cage walls to reveal it was a female giant.
She has a disheveled appearance and wears an olive green tunic, an eye patch over her right eye socket, and no shoes. The female giant has red hair filled with woodland creatures (squirrels, bats, and birds), and was well proportioned and muscular from her twelve-foot height… Despite the shackles and chains on her neck and wrists/ankles.
The female giant soon growled at them and with Luci whistling and admitting to the Half-Elf then to make him wary, inwardly at this conclusion while also not revealing it, "Elfo, you mofo. I thought you were a liar, but it turns out you're a stud."
Helena was secretly curious mixed with wary at this situation, as she watched the Half-Elf go up to the giant with an awkward chuckle firstly, "How was your trip, sweetie?"
The female giant only growled before making Elfo grunt as she kicked him off her right leg from hugging it as he landed on a nearby wall, and made him chuckle before fake-admitting to his friends aloud to hear him, "Traveling makes her cranky."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Oh, no, you don't. We ain't having no giant rampage in here. Send her back up whatever beanstalk she rode in on." King Zøg tells Bean off to understand her idea and ignores the wince of the female giant at the terms he used, and curious about Helena as she growled at that as well in offense, of recalling Hagrid was a Half-Giant.
"Come on, Dad. You can't stand in the way of true love." Bean tried to contend with her father as he had his hands on his hips and disagreed, and pointed things out to her via size, aka, motioned to Elfo, "He's an Elf."
"She's a Giant. It's gotta be so hard for them already." Bean paused before telling him then as he did think about it, "I mean, think about it."
"Mmm. I never wanna think that thought again…" he tells his daughter before instructing his knights then in order, "Put her somewhere where I can't see her… What's under the dungeon?"
Helena was appalled they didn't want the giant in the castle as a random knight answered him as she was especially baffled they even had that, "The cheese cave, Sire."
"All right. Stick her down there, and bring me a nice chunk of gorgonzola." King Zøg orders them before thinking out what cheese he wants, and sooner than later, Helena was with her cousin and two friends as the two knights led the female giant into the cave where the so-called cheese was.
"Why am I the only one defending your girlfriend? What kind of boyfriend are you?" Bean tells off Elfo at this point to which he then tells her off as well, and admits a few things, "Uh, a supportive one. She can fight her own battles. She's twelve feet tall."
After Elfo's words, the Head Knight: Sir Pendergast, admitted then to make Elfo wary even more and also made Bean and Helena glance at the female giant then in surprise, "She did throw Turbish off a cliff and eat his horse."
The female giant growled as she struggled in her chains as Bean whispered to the Head Knight, "Think you can make a bed outta one of these cheeses?" The Head Knight answered then as he led with a few knights into the large enough cave of actual cheese, "Anything but the pepper jack."
"Okay, it's all set." Bean began to tell the nervous Elfo, "Pendergast is gonna take her chains off so you can get in there if you know what I'm sayin'." Seeing his perplexed stare, "I'm talking about the cave. Just go. I'm rooting for you."
Elfo whimpered as they closed the entrance off for the moment, and turned nervously from seeing the female giant growl at him and told her quietly, "You know if you think about it, we're both imprisoned. You, like a wild animal. Me, in a complex web of lies. Let's just take a minute and talk about what we have in common-" outside, Helena winced and figured Elfo wasn't telling the truth about the giant being his girlfriend but decided to let the Half-Elf handle things out his way as she went with Bean to show her something as Luci, to his location at this time, was smoking one of the special cigarettes Helena gave him a while back before tossing the unused one and heard an oink-like squeal of pain, and saw it was that prince-turned-pig.
"Oh, sorry. Didn't see you down there. What's shakin', bacon?" Luci shouts where he was on the balcony, "Not my loins, I'm afraid." Prince Merkimer replied to the demon in which Luci was secretly irked by the pig-like 'Wait there' gesture of the prince, "Stay where you are. I'll come to tell you."
"Ugh. Why has no one eaten him yet?" Luci tells himself as eventually, they were in a room that had a small self-serve bar and seats to understand that it was a relaxing chamber as Merkimer soon spoke to the demon male then, "Cat-thing, I've always been my own man, never needed others for advice. But now I'm a pig, and my life's a mess."
"Well, glad we had this talk. See ya." Luci tried to dismiss the cursed prince while drinking a martini, but was irked as Prince Merkimer kept speaking his worries, "Thing is, having been handsome, powerful, and rich, I never had to stoop to kindness or charm. But now those things are gone and so are the ladies. So, tell me why the damsels flock to you, someone far more repulsive than yours porkly."
"I would love to give you some great advice, but it will come at a great cost!" Luci tells him with a minor red aura around his frame to look menacing, and dismisses it by his demand then, "I get to ride you like a horse."
"I'll welcome the touch. Now we must get started at once. I need a date for the ball this Sunday." Prince Merkimer tells Luci to make the demon grunt before hopping off his stool, and followed him to the round table, "Okay, let's fire up the magic crystal and see if there're any attractive singles in our area waiting to talk to you."
Discreetly while scouting the castle a while back, he came to this room and found out about the crystal orb itself and was rather impressed by it, and began doing what fortune-tellers do by waving his hands at the top of it.
Luci soon asked the question to which a misty worded 'Him?' followed by the word 'No' was shown inside the orb to make Luci hum briefly to himself, "Hmm. Want me to ask if you're gonna die alone, or are we good?"
Meanwhile, with Helena, she was sighing with a relieved smile as she decided to give Bean's gift early to which she liked it, and was by herself and relieved as well that Meg didn't mind becoming her daughter's nanny, and was gazing up at the clear night sky on the roof of the castle that truly gave a magnificent view of the starry sky itself.
I just hope that whatever happens this coming holiday won't go wrong. Helena thought to herself and then not jumped but recognized the energy of her mother: Lucifer, appearing right behind her as she glanced to indeed see it was exactly her, and smiled in greeting, "Hi Mater. What brings you tonight?"
Lucifer, while moving to a comfortable spot to lay next to her child, which she was lucky to have while yet related as such, was soon staring at the night sky at their beauty… Despite the long-forgotten longing of some past's the sight was, and told her gently than to make Helena stare at her for, "I merely took a small needed break to check up with you, My Filia (Daughter), and see how the demon I sent is working, among other things."
"She's fine so far, and I decided to have Meg as a friend and caretaker to Delphi, since as of late, my girls and sister are going about their business more than usual lately, and I think they're hiding something from me in that regard," Helena admits as she saw a shooting star in the sky.
Lucifer blinked at that with hidden knowledge as Albedo managed to confess some things and pledged her loyalty to her child in an everlasting agreement or vow to prove her ties a mere night ago, and told her their plans for the upcoming holiday, before making her daughter show surprised by the change of topic then, "I still plan to arrive with not only I but the other Seven Sins as they have learned of you and indeed wanted to meet their new niece, during The Holiday, My Filia. I wanted to appear beforehand to check up and notify you that your Mother by True, might show up as well during the mid-day with her gift, which I swore to not tell."
"The other 'Sins'? I thought you don't see eye-to-eye with them at times, Mater?" Helena decided to question curiously to which Lucifer sighed yet admits alongside noticing several shooting stars pass within the night sky itself to realize it was a star shower, "True, yet we are close to the point we easily settle our arguments, and still be considered Non-Blooded Kin to each other. Even though they were truly startled that I even have a child… To which I have news for you."
Puzzled by what her Archangel of Demonic Pride of a Mother and Guardian was telling her, she was soon showing a joyous gleam in her eyes by her words then, "It seems that Maria is expecting with your new Unborn Half-Sibling, via the previous actions a few weeks ago by a vial slipped into my wine from the Sin of Lust, bestowing to me to further my relationship in a different view, with your Step-Mater."
"That's lovely to hear Mater… But are you sure you can't stay a while longer?" Helena told her before asking in a way Lucifer raised an eyebrow in hidden concern, and recognized the obvious signs of nightmares and torment on her charge, but didn't say anything but admitted to her then, "Truthfully, I do desire to stay longer than intended. But as a ruler for my sectional land of my section of Hell itself as only you and your cousin's familier know the truth of 'The Sectors', I have to make sure things are settled before doing so in a timed venture. I managed to at least settle a few things for maybe a few moments before I do have to return, however."
Helena nodded before they began chatting to each other for a few hours, and Lucifer sighed while currently holding her passed-out and decently sleeping teenaged child in her arms on the roof, and soon was irked in moments as a familiar presence made itself known.
"So it's true then, Sin Angel of Pride, you are taking care of her child?" A male voice questioned her as it was none other than Hades (Highschool DxD Version) to which Lucifer glared at him in warning as he looked sheepish at speaking a little loud to make Helena move only slightly, and then resumed sleeping.
"Yes, and soon all the other Gods or Goddesses that 'The Almighty' agreed to rule side-by-side of the Earth Realms, will know as well, as she is obvious to the world itself…. And she will be considered mine soon enough." Lucifer informed the Godly Greek Lord of the Underworld to which he nodded with hidden intrigue at her last words, and it was soon mere silence for a few moments before she sharply looked at him from his next set of words, "Thanos already knows about her existence within her true time, and even in the very past as well. Even the God of Destruction linked to this universe and one other, secretly, is intrigued by her power she has hidden and easily sensed."
"She isn't up to par to face any further challenge." Lucifer firmly warns the Greek God to which he simply shrugged and answered back, as he ogled at the surrounding land with hidden interest, "I can effortlessly see this. And I comprehend that she is under the Ancient Prophecy, but she will need to be assessed now and again by particular Regional Gods, still."
Lucifer thought about this in inward worry yet kept a passive face still as he raised his boney hands, and informed her to half-relieve her about the upcoming stress he caused, "Some have yet to come up with a test for her as she already passed mine and a select few others already, as she is descended from my and the other's blood that's diluted enough to count me as her grandfather, in terms."
That made Lucifer for once, amuse the Greek God, to jaw drop slightly from that before he left her hanging, and making Lucifer sigh as she took her child effortlessly into a hold and carried her to her chambers.
The next day in the morning:
Helena hid a relieved sigh from once having a natural dreamless sleep before she was with Bean and Co... She was grateful for Lucifer to tuck her in last night while knowing she took the gifts for not only Maria, but the other Sins as well.
As she ate and stuff, she was wondering what the others were doing as she traveled to the caverns to check on Elfo with her cousin, and Luci making a wager with her, secretly, if he was alive or not.
Albedo came with her soulmate out of concern as when she woke up, she was rather weakened and lethargic to secretly understand these nightmares, if not confronted eventually, would cause health problems for her Mate, especially since Helena felt her heart thudding harshly a few moments when she woke up and didn't tell anyone, and the prickly sensations as well.
As mentioned, however, Bean came with Helena, Luci, and Albedo to the location of the cheese caves and heard Elfo screaming still with the female giant growling at him, before the Head Knight and his fellow knights eventually opened the door.
"Oh! Oh, thank God I got away." Elfo tells himself with Helena the only one to raise an eyebrow at him, and Bean only gazing smugly with crossed arms along with Luci, and shortly corrects his words while still on the ground and sat up, "With so many things last night."
"Wow, looks like it got pretty rough." Bean tells the Half-Elf to which he appears ragged in truth, and he agreed by wordlessly nodding and notifying them then, "Yeah, I don't want to brag, but, at one point, I got my head stuck in her eye socket."
"I'm glad you're enjoying your time together because I had a great idea." Bean immediately informed him with a grin, and inwardly made Elfo deflate at this yet kept a smile on his face, and Luci thinking he saw an unusual shadow observing them within the caves before hastily leaving, "Oh, goody. Another one."
Later on, as Elfo was slurping and munching on some food, Helena felt awkward yet agreed to accompany her cousin in supporting her goal as she was next to them at her very own table with a small co-op date with Daphne at the restaurant called the 'Blue Lion Cafe', alongside catching a glimpse of other couples eating as well, and simply watched like Daphne was, of current events and with the two munching their ordered food.
Thankfully, Albedo agreed to watch Delphi with Meg, as Helena was rather perplexed by her urgency to go out and enjoy herself, and Hermione was with Mop Girl to shop for some supplies the market had.
Elfo was drinking his water as he was at a table with Bean, Sir Pendergast was munching loudly on some bread, and the female giant in chains still, was growling to herself.
"Pardon my curiosity, but when you two are making love, is she aware?" Sir Pendergast asked Elfo, to which the female giant firmly growled at him, "Don't listen to him. You're a great couple." Bean confides in her to make the female giant annoyed by that.
Soon the waiter that served their food came back, and to make Bean and Elfo blink at finally recognizing him, introduced himself once more, "Hi, I'm Chazz. Pretty rose for the pretty lady?" He did have roses in his hand like a bouquet, and the Head Knight got a pouch to pay for those and said something before telling Chazz off, "No, thanks. I'm good."
"Pretty rose for the pretty-" one look at the female giant and he screams before running off, "No flower could have a stench as beautiful as yours, honey." Elfo tells her with Helena and Daphne watching him forcefully placing the rose bouquet around her nose as she instantly sneezes, "Was that Turbish's horse?" Sir Pendergast, bewildered, asked himself as the giant sneezed again, "Looks like it." Bean tells him.
"Ugh! That was stuck in my throat for days! Oh, my mouth tastes like a barn." The female giant spoke after downing some water and hacking up the saddle to startle them and even make Elfo wary at this outcome, and Helena and Daphne were indifferent as they guessed something was lodged in the female giant's throat but weren't expecting a horse of all things.
"She can talk?" Bean, bewildered by the female giant talking, declares in surprise as Elfo laughs hesitantly and tells her, "Yes, of course, she can."
"The hell is wrong with you people? Get these things off me. I am not a monster. I'm a person, with thoughts and feelings. For God's sake, I'm a grad student." The female giant tells them and then motioned to the chains on her, while she spoke, the Head Knight and with the assistance of Elfo, did so.
"That's why I love her. She's so darn smart." Elfo quickly tells them to annoy the female giant once again, and she now tells them all off with Helena's suspicions confirmed by the truth in her words, "I can't believe you all put me through this 'cause I'm his 'Girlfriend'." She quoted the word before continuing, "Well, have I got news for you. This guy is a filthy-" "Lover! I'm a filthy lover. So nasty." Elfo interrupts the giant hastily as she disagreed, "That's not-" she tried to clarify them before grossing Helena out to amuse her soulmate at Elfo purposely popping himself, head first, into the female giant's mouth to silence her as she mumbled continuously.
"This just raises more questions." Sir Pendergast tells Bean as the female giant got up and went to a close-by alley to deal with the Half-Elf, as Bean nods.
Helena silently continued eating with Daphne and with the Greengrass Heiress giving her lover a knowing gaze as in said alleyway, the female giant spat out Elfo onto her large hands and placed him on a tree, and told him then in annoyance, "What is your problem?"
"I just need to talk to you. Please. I'm sorry. Really. I know I'm a jerk and a liar, Miss Giant Lady." Elfo began to apologize with reason to which she stopped him there and told him firmly her name, "My name is Tess. Tess Evans. Ugh, I'm outta here." She began to leave then.
"No, please. Tess, if you don't stay until the Royal Ball tomorrow, they'll know I'm lying." Elfo begged to halt her in place as she swerved to confront him then, "Why would I do you any favors?" She questioned as she was still annoyed and angry by the Half-Elf's deceit.
"'Cause I'll do anything. I can get you money. There's a ton of money in the castle. I can steal." He began to offer her to which Tess shrugged that off and told him in admittance, "Money means nothing to me." Elfo disagreed as he told her then to make the female giant thoughtful, "Oh, come on. Everybody needs something. Don't you need something?"
As Tess was about to leave the begging Half-Elf, she stopped mid-step and turned to him by his unexpected words, "An eye. Your eye is missing!" Tess stammers to herself before questioning Elfo in skeptical suspicions about his words, "What did you say?"
"You're missing an eye. I can get you one. Easy." Elfo tells her after realizing he got her attention, and she firmly questions him then one word, "How?"
"Uh, because I'm an Elf. And elves are magic, duh! We can make eyes. We can make anything." Hope secretly swelled within Tess, as the reason she lost her eye was due to debt she was tricked into in her past and asked doubtlessly mixed with secretive longing, "You can?"
"Yes! Absolutely. You help me keep up the charade a bit longer. We dance a little. We head to a party. Eh? A big gal like you like parties?" "I guess." "Then we will have you walking out of here with 20/20, my friend." Elfo informs her of his deal, to make Tess gasp as he seemed convincing, "I'll be able to see out of it? I thought you were just gonna give me a hunk of glass." She admits in utter shock.
"That would've been the easy way out, huh? But, no. No, not for this guy." Elfo brags to himself aloud in a convincing tone as honestly, he didn't want her to still leave at all.
"Wow… All right, yeah, you have a deal." He shook her fingertip to seal the deal, and she told him then as she tried to hold back a blush from hearing her stomach rumble, "But I'm going back to dinner. I'm so hungry." Elfo decided to joke to the female giant's ire, "You could eat a horse?"
"Don't try to be my friend." She notified the Half-Elf as to her, she thought he was a full-blooded elf as such and he shrugged before telling her then as she headed back to the table, "You betcha." Elfo then slumped in stress for himself.
After getting to know her, Helena impressed Tess with sorts of her tales of Hagrid and was rather curious about the future of sorts, and how the giants like herself, survived, and Daphne secretly interrogated the Half-Elf about some ways to impress a particular someone in the true time, at the moment was observing things, and Bean and the others doing their own thing.
At the moment, Helena was with her alone in her chambers after trying to think of what to wear and making things awkward between the giant and herself as her child was with them and was gently resting on her large lap, as Tess sat on the ground.
"So what school did you go to? As I thought all giants didn't go to schools unless, well… Like Hagrid." Helena decided to question Tess, with her puzzled by how easily her child trusted the female giant.
"I come from a recent college for my surviving kind as I sailed to come to this land, from the Floating Land of Monsters. It was what my parents wanted me to learn and stuff." Tess confessed as Helena nodded as she held up an emerald green sultry dress that revealed her legs, and frowned upon Daphne's choice as she would rather not show her healing scars she hidden via a spell, as she was shocked they returned from the incident from the candy house and was subjugated in a vote against her to reveal them tonight, after her mates found out that is about them, and didn't want her to fear herself once again.
"I heard about that place. Unlike the Non-Maj terms, it's supposed to be more advanced than human civilization, only slightly, and is rumored to be its mass of land twice the size of Australia in a dimension of sorts." Helena admits to making Tess nod in agreement as it was secretly true of sorts, and held back a smile as Tess confessed with her head-rubbing the back of her wild hair, "I forgot to bring my actual things during that except currency, and ended up roughing it for a long time until I graduated… In truth, I was looking for a place in the mountains to stay until those knights found me and stuff."
Helena simply nodded before making the giant blink and sighed with her words then, "You're not his girlfriend, right?"
"No, but I agreed to at least wait it out before I leave the kingdom and find out a place to live," Tess agreed before the door opened and Daphne seeing the situation, made Helena raise an eyebrow at a facepalming giant for, "Ya and a deal for a new eyeball for her."
Tess was rather startled and irked by what Helena confessed to her then and irked by Daphne making sure that dress she picked out would be the only one as she sent the others to her sealed chest she has with her, "Elfo is Half-Elf, and we're not at all bloody sure as to what his other race is. So he probably lied to you to get you to stay…" Here, Helena was thinking of making both her soulmate and the female giant blink at the unexpected idea, "But perhaps whatever object he uses, we could adjust it."
Meanwhile in the hall, as it was decorated with signs of a Royal Ball for tonight, aka, King Zøg's insistence on doing so early, Luci and Prince Merkimer were observing things before Luci sighs and tells the cursed prince then, "If you're gonna dance with someone tonight, we'll work with what you got. And what you have are serious problems in the face and body areas." At that, Lucy pointed out the cursed prince's muzzle and body.
"Fine." Merkimer tells him in ire, "You need an attitude that matches you. You're sad and hideous. Play it up. Chicks love pathetic things." Luci informs him as Merkimer was unsure, "I don't know. I'm not good at anything." He fake-sulked before questioning Luci then, "Like that?"
Seeing some maidens, Luci only gave him a thumbs-up as the cursed prince walked over to them, and mentioned aloud to get their attention, "Sad…" "Ew. Look at that gross, crying pig." "I have no interest in it." "Me neither. Twinsies." "Get outta here!" The two girls conversed before the blonde made the cursed prince squeal as he ran from getting hit.
Luci grunts with a smirk as he is on the table, and casually tell them then, "'Sup, ladies?" "Oh, my God." "Cute cat." "I know." "So much swagger, right? He's, like, ugly-sexy." "Oh, yeah. Totes. Like your dad." The two females conversed before the blonde questioned the brunette, "What?"
"Hello, there." Merkimer says in greeting to what he didn't realize was a roasted pig, as a servant grabbed and moved it away as he soon told himself then, "Perhaps I'll see you in the dining room, then?"
"I can't make an eye. I can't even find one. I've looked all over this stupid castle. There's nothing. I need help." Elfo tells Luci later on with Helena knowing things now, was with them as to perplex her even more, her cousin and her Mates were doing something at the moment with Tess aiding them, and Luci admits to the Half-Elf then as the three walked onwards still, "What are you coming to me for? We don't have that kind of relationship."
"Oh, I'm desperate. Please, I'll do anything." Elfo begged desperately to perk Luci's interest with thanking Meg earlier for taking Delphi to Sorcerio's study to learn to write, by the Half-Elf's words, "Anything?"
"My knees are full of splinters." Elfo complained as Luci led the two to the same room he was with Merkimer earlier and firmly kicked Elfo's sides to let a small discreet snort come from Helena, as Luci told Elfo off, "Did I say I wanted a talking horse?"
Luci grunted as he got off Elfo, and both the Half-Elf and Helena came over to the crystal orb as he admitted to them, "I've been messing with this for a couple of days. Might point you in the right direction."
After clearing his throat with Helena realizing what the object was, and even wondering how her Uncle got one without realizing it, introduced it and asked, "Hi, I'm Elfo. Is there anything around here I can use to replace a giant's eye?"
The crystal orb buzzed before showing a misty 'X' in a wordless answer as Luci informs Elfo after he hopped off, and left the room, "Eh, we gave it a shot."
Elfo got an idea and before he could act it, Helena stopped him with a look before being perplexed by her unexpected actions as she got a vial out and gently poured it on the ball itself, saw it shake and rattle, and made him gap as it duplicated exactly as a twin of sorts, and caught it before handing it to him.
"Why did you do that?" Elfo asked to which Helena simply shrugged and was discreetly amused when she saw a misty sweatdrop emoji somehow that the Half-Elf didn't see from the true crystal ball (and elder of the two) and admitted to making him touched, "Despite knowing you lied to my cousin, no one should suffer from a false deal… Even to a gentle giant like Tess for something to have hope for, and here." Elfo was perplexed by the paper she handed him and only nodded, "Get her to say those words once the ball is in the socket, and it should adjust itself to suit her easily."
Elfo made Helena's eyes soften only slightly before he quickly thanked her, and took off.
Helena, on the other hand, gazed at the crystal orb in curiosity as she asked it to which the wordless response was a misty emoji of the object being surprised before showing an emoji of it being perplexed by her, "So your an Enchanted Aware Ball with a True Soul... How in the Seven Hells did you come to this castle?"
At another place within the castle, Bean was with Tess as the princess led her to a chamber to which she saw things from the servants, and told Bean then in a way she wasn't happy, "Weapons? You people have got to stop. I'm not dangerous."
Tess then relaxed in moments as Bean clarified her then with the leader of said team, examining the giantess up and down, "This is your hair and makeup team."
"You're already beautiful. We're just gonna highlight a few things." The leader informs Tess gently before ordering things around, "Bring in the hot tar!"
After a moment or two, Tess was presentable and outfitted in a way she was decent looking, and gave looks sheepishly to the designers as some animals bonded with them to be considered as pets, before heading out with the team as Elfo came into the room holding a small black box at this point along with Helena wearing the dress, and with her gapping at how decent looking the giantess was.
She wore a decent purple tunic that did little to hide her muscular yet fit body as a female giant, and a pair of lighter tan trousers with a feminine touch, hence the giantess' words of being a tomboy, and light makeup with her empty socket exposed.
Tess took the offered orb from him and the strange note from within the box for her to state it once alone and placed the crystal orb into her socket to make things awkward for everyone as it was large compared to her true eye, as Elfo grabbed a ladder from what the design team used a broom. He then climbed up before adjusting the eye to make it move perfectly with her true one, in moments, as Tess smiled.
Once they left the room, Tess indeed said the words written on the note before gasping and blinked a few turns to adjust as the crystal orb itself shrunk and made it from being a crystal orb to a true eyeball for her, aka, a crystal eye with it matching the other, and glanced at the note and saw with the eyeball who truly wrote this within hidden ink: Helena, and to enjoy the deal from helping Elfo find the object for her.
Later on within the hall, everyone that was invited to the Royal Ball was dancing and having a decently good time as even Derrick was enjoying himself, well… Eating is more like it as he has a sweet tooth, before a bugle blows to get the crowd's attention as the Shouter, well, shouted enough to be heard, and motioned to them, "Now let's greet our hosts. She oozes grace and a shiny trail wherever she goes. He ate all the shrimp before you got here. It's Queen Oona and King Zøg."
The guests and Royals clapped at this as expected with King Zøg soon telling them loudly, "Make room on the dance floor, 'cause I'm full of shrimp and I need to lay down."
In a far part of the room, Bean dressed in a fancy yet tomboyish navy-blue feminine tunic and gear was drinking some wine and eyed Helena who nodded at her wordlessly as she was taking turns dancing with her soulmates and with Hermione half-smiling as she was dancing with Delphi, and Meg overseeing things around the room and also sipping the same wine as Bean, was irked then as The Head Knight came over and dressed fancy as well, and tells her then, "Princess, now that we're courting-" "Don't say courting." Beans stop him before lashing and tell him, "No one's courting. But you can bring me a drink."
"But you're already-" seeing her stare he sighed before nodding as he took off when he passed a table, it was Luci with not only two of those maidens, but with a few random others before noticing the cursed prince approach and accused him then, "You scoundrel. You said to act pathetic to these women. Then you swept in and stole them."
"I know. Some of my best work." Luci admits to Merkimer as he complained to the demon male then, "I thought we were friends. The Adventures of Cat and Pig. That's what I've been calling us."
"To who?" Luci asked in a way he was perplexed about, and Merkimer admitted then to the demon, "All I wanted to do was a dance in the arms of someone beautiful, and you took that away. This has been our last adventure." The cursed prince then toddled away.
"Oh, man, I feel kind of bad." Luci states with one of the girls asking him in concern, "Do you need to be alone?" He shook his head and hid a grin, "Oh, no, I need to be comforted. Maybe a little behind the ears."
"And now, our guests of honor." Began The Announcer to get everyone's attention and with Helena at not seeing the concerned glances of her girls as she had that dreadful feeling once again, "Brace yourselves for the inevitable visualizations. Elfo and Tess!"
"So, one quick dance, then you can go back home." Elfo informed Tess awkwardly as she was holding his bottom while dancing slowly to not trip over people as he had a hand on her right shoulder and her gripping his right hand, and told him then as not known to her, the magic spell she cast takes a bit to work, "But the eye's not working yet."
"Huh, weird." Elfo noted with a blink as he continued and decided to adjust it a little more, "May not be seeing well, but it is looking good. Just gotta straighten it out here… What the hell?" Elfo saw the crystal eye begin glowing with Tess soon exclaims to him in surprise, "Wait, something's happening. I can see better out of it. I can see everything. More than everything…. I see the truth."
Everyone stopped what they were doing as she pointed at two random people in the crowd, "He's sleeping with the chambermaid. And she's sleeping with the chambermaid." The woman admits to the crowd without trying to not show how embarrassed she was at being found out, "What can I say? I'm attracted to people who are good at their job."
"And you, you're so kind, but you have a hidden rage inside you that no one else can see." She then gently told Bunty to which she confessed to making things awkward to a select few others that knew her, as she went off to offer food for the guests still, "It's why I can't keep a dog alive."
"You only keep Elfo around for his blood." She then tells The King to which he laughs hesitantly and says to her then, "You have got to be... Oh, you know what? I think I already knew that."
"And you. You're not at all what you seem. You're a prince." Tess told the cursed prince who nodded with a smile of remembrance, "Yes, I was the most handsome prince in all the land." And Tess then told the crowd in truth, "He's not lying. He believes that…. And now for Elfo... Here's the truth."
She gazed at the Half-Elf and before he can stop her, Helena was in front of the giantess and asked her to write it down to perplex them, as she had a secretive bet about what half-race he was, and discreetly placed it into her pocket as by sheer guess, her new eye was admitting to others own personal secrets or futures.
Helena though was glad she shrunk her clothes and brought them, and went into the crowd to change as they were distracted by what was going on, from a Clothing Swap Spell.
Elfo then shook his head as it looked like she was still going to talk about him, "No, no, no, wait, please. Let me do it." He told Tess as she nodded, but his confession wasn't what she expected and neither did Bean by face alone, "Bean, I should've confessed this a long time ago, but I was too ashamed. Tess was never my girlfriend. I've been lying to you about that."
"Oh, um, well, I wasn't gonna say that at all." Tess told him to make Elfo blink as the giantess let out an awkward chuckle, "I mean, a deal's a deal. Yikes."
"You were lying? But my mystical vision. I crawled through the hole, the giant lady popped out of the flower, and you were there and... Oh, drugs are bad." Bean began to rant before she blinked in realizing what she was saying, and inwardly, facepalmed to herself at her stupidity.
"Oh, alright. Hey, everybody calm down. We don't want to upset the nice big lady, huh?" King Zøg tells the crowd at that point.
"You don't think I'm nice. None of you do. You all think I'm a big scary monster who's gonna go on a rampage…. Well, news flash. Giants haven't been on a rampage since the '80s. And even then, it was one guy. It was just Bob. Maybe if you got to know us, you'd find out that we're all about peace and love, and goddamn body positivity! But I guess we'll just always be ugly beasts to you." Tess tells everyone to which Helena gave looks to her girls as Meg nodded before teleporting Albedo away with her daughter, and Hermione escorts her pupil out of the room as it looks like the giantess is going to do something stupid or something, by her feelings, "Well, fine. Think I'm ugly all you want. At least I'm not ugly on the inside."
"I've come to slay the mean lady who threw me off a cliff and ate my horse." Turbish tells everyone as he looked ragged as his leader tells him then after he shot a flaming arrow at the giantess, "Turbish, no! Your horse is still alive!" "What?"
"Ow! Seriously?" Tess complained as she got the arrow out of her forehead as things went from bad to worse until eventually, things escalated to the point she was chased out by the crowd and pursued by Bean, Helena and Daphne alongside Luci and Elfo.
Tess soon grunted as she was panting on a castle wall near the gate before beholding Bean and the others approaching her as Bean told the giantess then, "Tess, follow us."
"Why should I trust you?" Tess firmly told the princess and eyeing everyone else disdainfully in not believing her as the crystal eye was at the moment, off, "Because sometimes I feel like a freak, too." Bean confessed to making Tess blink and told her then to make the princess sheepish and with Helena and Co. hearing the crowd that turned into an angry mob, going to be heading their way as soon as Hermione lowered the bridge, "Never said I was a freak."
It was at this awkward moment that Tess' new eye glowed briefly at Bean before she admitted with Bean only nodding her head to confuse everyone, "Wow, you're trapped in a pretty sad life. Want me to go back and step on your dad?" Tess, at the end of her words, motioned a thumb as they soon heard the mob even close and saw lights going on from the entryway to the castle courtyard, "No, we don't have time. Quick! This way."
As the group fled the castle ground and ran oddly in sync with each other and with Tess eventually picking up Bean, Luci, and Elfo, they were soon enclosed at a familiar location for Bean, Elfo, and Luci.
"We're trapped," Tess exclaimed worriedly to them, and with Helena separated from the others as secretly, someone hidden was trying to keep her away from everyone by scattering them into separate groups to seclude her and didn't realize it.
"No, we're not…" Bean tells her after she placed them down, "Now, Tess, I know you're not a monster. But I'm gonna need you to jump up and down. Like a monster. That was implied, right?" Tess, hearing the mob, did as she was told and shattered into the bottom of the pink misty area of the one place itself and turned to a random guy that said to them, "Whoa. Are you on the 9:30 bus to Twinkletown?"
"Take a deep breath and fire on the count of three." Sir Pendergast told the mob with arrows aiming into the gap at the small group, "One two-" he paused as they began to hallucinate from Bean causing the misty smoke to come forth from a pit nearby her via water, and responded in a dull yet hazed tone to the crowd, "Wait, I'm sorry, man. What were we just talking about?"
After the crowd left in a hazed state of mind, Elfo began to apologize after Tess got them out of the underground area and knew what kind of smoke it was via her college days and was, thankfully, immune, "Tess, I'm so sorry about everything."
"Well, you helped me out of here, so I guess it's cool." Tess kneeled and told him before being irked by his question, "It is?"
"No! You're a dick. None of this would've happened if you'd just told the truth. God!" Tess told off in exclamation at the Half-Elf as she then began to stomp off in an angered mood.
She soon encountered the Cursed Prince Merkimer as he told her beggingly, "Take me with you. These savages don't deserve us."
Tess smiled at that and thought he was kind, "Come on cutie." Disbelief showed on his face as he told her then as he was locked up and carried, "Really? You and I are two of a kind. I was a gorgeous nobleman before I became a pig. What were you before you turned hideous?"
While still in the market place as she didn't know her way around the landscape, Tess easily made the cursed prince squeal by tossing him away and into a barrel, thankfully, and trying to find her way out of the area and to the mountains.
"I should have known she wasn't your girlfriend." Bean tells Elfo as they were still in the smoke as he equally admits to the Princess as well, "I should have just told you the truth. I lied because I was too insecure to admit I tried to kiss you. But you don't have to worry. I won't try anything like that again."
"Good. Let me do it next time." Bean told him as Elfo chuckled to her not believing that, "Yeah, right." Bean then unexpectedly kissed him to have him look at her in shock, "Bean, did you just kiss me?"
"I don't know. I don't think I'm Bean." Bean tells him in gazed confusion as she and he were soon under the effects of the smoke, as he then told her unsurely then, "I don't think I'm Elfo."
After standing for a moment or two, they froze at hearing a startled scream of sorts belonging to one girl that thankfully, despite wanting to see them as they are, half-snapped the two out of it via Luci, and began leading them where Helena was as the other girls were doing the same… Except they were also trying to avoid the strange shadowy beasts that represented rhino-sized saber-tooth cats that were after the powerful girls, as Daphne was with Albedo, and Hermione was currently being protected by Kisara from her returning at last with a suitable gift for her soulmate, in her free hand that was shattered into pieces by the beasts.
Also out of the city limits, Tess froze as she luckily hid nearby a largely broken stagecoach, as she witnessed Helena was forcibly drugged and carried by two burgundy cloaked individuals with strange sigils, as they carried her into the forest.
What the hell are they? I thought I saw a lizard's tail. Tess thought as she began to pursue them before she blinked as a vortex appeared made of purplish flames soon materialized to block her path, and an armored dulled gray knight with a black jagged sword in the shape of a crescent moon, appeared, and was around eight feet tall, stopped her.
"Get out of my way!" Tess growled out as she thought she saw a glint within the eyeholes of the armor itself before she hastily maneuvered herself and was instantly wide-eyed by seeing how the person's blade easily sliced half of a random large rock before pursuing her.
It was at this point that Bean and the others came to Tess' location and saw her struggling against a strange knight before shadowy swirls appeared and a small group of strange amber-eyed imps with navy-blue skin, arrived, to halt them, and they each held a strange sigil, 汚染, on the dulled bronze slavery collars around their neck, and to Tess, the same kanji-based sigil that was on the cloaks of who took Helena.
"What the hell are they?!" Hermione shouted with Bean and a select few girls wordlessly agreeing as they used whatever they knew to deal with the strange entities, and was soon facing the armored foe Tess was pinned onto the ground in time, as whoever it was, was going to kill her.
"Not bloody sure Mia, but it seems whatever is going on is his doing." Daphne panted out with them all getting into a wary stance as he brandished his weapon before snapping his armored fingers to make them all warily back up as from a larger vortex, a skeletal yet armored drake revealed itself with glowing red eyes, and a strange symbol on its skull in the shape of a pentagram with the infinity symbol in the center, and roared in a loud echoey tone, at them.
"You, Princess and The Magi, go find Helena… Kisara and I will handle the undead dark beast." Albedo tells them firmly, and before Bean could say no, saw the armored man flee into the woods to where Tess saw those strange cloaked lizards take the girl they were after.
"Better there than here by that thing!" Luci exclaimed to them as they took off in time to not get roasted by a shadow-like ice breath the beast emitted to try and prevent them from entering the woods.
Bean sweatdropped alongside Elfo and the other's at seeing the way out of the woods, to their knowledge, was sealed by unexpected purplish-colored permafrost, and Luci began sniffing the ground and they began to follow him up to a select point to a hidden cove within the very enchanted woods themselves, and Tess following out of reluctance as she was still angered by her treatment at Dreamland Castle.
Bean made a shushing motion at their shared hiding spot within the thick foliage at seeing the armored man was talking to a black-cloaked stranger as such, and the armored male had an echoey-deep yet raspy voice, and with the cloaked person being a male had a rich yet slightly deep voice, "We have secured the girl once again, as the last we had her was when she was six years of age, My Lord."
The cloaked male nodded with Bean shivering at the slitted amber eyes she briefly saw under the hood, "Indeed… Despite being considered a child to that foolish woman and to that clan, and more. That child will lead us to what my secretive group desires the most."
Intrigued by what the cloaked male meant, the knight questioned with no hint of at all being curious, but digging for information as everyone saw Helena was comically being carried by her hands and feet, four of those racial imps they faced earlier and onto a strange open coffin of sorts that was made of black metal, "So it is true then? She is the key?"
"Indeed and more, as we merely need to bide our time and yet… We will need her as well to come to what she wishes not, and ruin our enemies to ash and shadow. She just needs to be harnessed by either of our wills… Or by forced compliance as Younglings like her, are rare to come by." The cloaked man told the knight as he discreetly frowned at noticing the control collars they designed kept disintegrating upon close contact yet he added then, "But by harder methods, if this keeps up."
The two soon turned to a random soldier that ran over and he bowed before telling them then, as the group began to try and sneak as quietly as they could to where Helena was, "Sir! It seems like the hidden trove was true. A seal was placed that matches the signature of our hostage."
"Hurry up!" Bean yelled-whispered at Luci as he recognized the runes used to prevent them from getting to her, and responded in a multi-tasking manner around the coffin, quietly, "Runes like these take time. Although I could use fire but would possibly burn the Hel-Drake."
"I thought dragons can't get burnt?" Elfo asked them in equal quietness while they were inwardly thankful for being cloaked in what the two other girls dubbed as a Notice-Me-Not Barrier, and Hermione answered the Half-Elf in a way that made Daphne hide a groan to herself, and Bean only shaking her head, "Depends on what kind of dragon. Some can even devour any type of flame with ease yet specific ones for long exposure, would indeed at least leave a second or third-degree burn as they would have to gradually recover naturally from."
The information went right through mostly everyone's heads as this made Hermione tint in slight embarrassment before telling them to get wordless brief nods, in reply, "What I mean is that only some types of drakes or dragons will end up getting burned."
The cloaked man narrowed his eyes at the soldier before telling him then, and Tess from her hiding spot decided to come out for maybe a distraction or something, "See to it that we have it unsealed, as that is one of the several keystones possibly."
Once the soldier left, both the armored male and the cloaked individual discreetly hid being jump scared by Tess using a fallen log she could pick up as a polearm, and whacked several imps that were playing cards before doing so to other imps that were gathering materials of the forest itself.
"Seems that she lives," the armored male notified his comrade as the cloaked male did a single nod and made a vortex, and firmly states to him, "Have some fun with whoever is trying to take back the girl, and if overwhelmed… You know what to do to cause a distraction."
Once he left, Bean and the others saw he noticed them, and without a word, snapped his fingers as materializing out of nowhere, where those very same lizard men they have constantly seen before, but they were dark purplish-scaled with glowing amber-slitted eyes.
"Stop the interlopers from interfering with the ritual! The Chosen Child must be within the Keystone Coffin!" The armored male orders the minions as they begin to attack… For only a select few to be sent into the sky by Tess, and with Daphne and Hermione trying to aid the giantess by their wanded spells.
"Anytime now Luci!" Bean warned quickly to the personal demon of hers, as she managed to find a large enough stick she could grab and bonked several of those strange lizard men on their heads, "I can't rush things, as I almost got it!" He responded to her as he was on the very last difficult one that oddly enough, resembles a cobra of sorts, and both ducked their heads from a large arrow almost hitting them as nearby, Elfo was on top of one of the lizardmen and banging his head, repeatedly, with a cooking spoon he found to make the somewhat innocent lizard man, to run in circles to try and get him off.
After almost a few minutes, the plated male narrowed his orbs at the chaos the others were doing, shouted to scatter the lizardmen and imps, and made them wary just as Luci was about to unlock the rune, "ENOUGH! I grow weary of your pitiful rescue attempts and harming the Minions of Shadow!"
He began emitting a dark aura before snapping his fingers as the ground began to shake and quiver and the forest oddly enough, went into pure silence to increase their wariness as a ground-based vortex appeared behind him… And what came out made them all back up with wide eyes, and the knight himself, secretly smirk before leaving into a vortex of his own.
Once out and the vortex closed hence the thing leaping out of it, was a shadowy, eight feet tall, slightly knight armored, corrupted-skinned skeleton of a giant that looked draconian, and wielded two jagged broadswords with dark runes on the metal itself in neon-green colors, four glowing reddish-amber eyes, and torn-webbed demonic yet draconian wings.
"That cat better hurry up!" Tess declared as she began assaulting the strange monster with the log, and in turn, retaliated by trying to attack her with its blades and roared in anger from a small Bombarda by Hermione, and a Fiery Spell from Daphne when its back was turned, Elfo hiding on the other side of the coffin alongside Bean, and Luci huffed at being called a cat yet groaned as three more runes in the shape of a star, moon, and sun revealed themselves, "I'm not a cat! And it seems whoever designed this thing was rather complex." When Luci spoke, although, it was mainly to himself.
The monster roared at them all before emitting a shadowy wave that took over the comatose bodies of the lizardmen and leftover remains of the imps… And all of them unexpectedly turned into a black orb that went right into the beast itself, and it grew twice as big with another set of arms and blades to combat Tess further.
"Well, make it fast, Luci, as this thing got more powerful somehow!" Daphne said with her wincing at feeling her heart hurt somehow as not known to them, Helena's placement in the coffin itself gave her a dark aura that briefly vanished into her as the Greengrass Heiress herself sent several small blasts of the same spell again to try and knock the weapons this monster had.
Tess herself was struggling against the currently sixteen-foot tall monster as it rattled a hissing laugh right at her as if it somehow knew she was overwhelmed by forcing her gradually in place and making her bend backward, kicked, and tripped her with one of its wings before she side-rolled to the left as two blades were jabbed at the spot she previously was on the earthy soil and covered her eyes as Hermione used some type of flashing spell to temporarily blind the monstrosity as it let go of the now floating blades, and covered its face.
"Just about got it... There!" Luci mumbled to himself before shouting the last word in finally as they were all unexpectedly blown slightly back away from the coffin itself as it made Helena rise slightly, and sent her right at Bean who caught her before making her, Elfo (who she sat on by accident), and Luci gap at seeing a glowing neon-blue orb of sorts float out of the coffin as it disintegrated, and took off hastily away from them as a mist.
The monster realizing this growled in a rattle before getting an awful idea at sensing civilians outside the forest, and took off to perplex them at first as it kept slicing trees easily to make a new pathway, before making Daphne pale alongside Hermione at sensing the brooch-like gift Helena earlier told them to enchant for her Uncle's Presence, was active outside the borders of this forest.
"We need to move, now! Zøg and everyone are possibly outside the permafrost barrier!" Hermione shouts as she takes off with Daphne in pursuit of the beast, and makes Bean pale before giving a hasty, thankful glance at Tess carrying her unconscious cousin as the remaining four followed the two girls.
Meanwhile, outside the mentioned barrier, King Zøg was indeed outside it as some healers were tending to both Albedo and Kisara, out of reluctance, as he was with several knights and the formerly angry mob to be utterly baffled by the structure.
"What the hell is this?! It's not ice at all!" King Zøg complained to himself after he kicked it and was briefly holding his foot in minor pain, and a few random knights tapped it with their weapons to only give their king a shrug to wordlessly state, I don't know, before they hastily backed up as it was shattered and shortly revealed the summoned beast itself roaring at them all and with it still brandishing its blades.
"Scratch the barrier. Whoever slays that- That thing! Slay it, gets one hundred Zøg Coins!" King Zøg tells everyone as he began to retreat which got the monster's attention as it rattled and roared at the knights, and easily flung most of them away by the gust of its tattered wings, and began to pursue the fat king himself.
Just in perfect timing to that, the others with Helena, came back to see chaos forming from the skeletal-like monster as the mob scattered away from its rampaging path of hacking and slashing as its main focus was on the king himself, who in comedic terms, was screaming like a scared girly person and also running in a large circle around the open area, and Albedo and Kisara were being forced down by the ignorant healers to better heal their wounds that were inflicted by the entity they defeated.
"Tess, you place Helena by the other two girls and aid us better. The rest of us… Well, we need to think of something to stop that thing!" Bean ordered them all with Elfo looking, for once, doubtful at this before Luci got an idea to get them all to look at the Personal Demon of Bean, "Maybe we can lure it somehow… And I got the best idea."
With King Zøg, he was still running and getting tired, so he hid behind several nearby large boulders to make the monster stop in its tracks before it began to hunt for him by smelling the air, and he took a whiff of himself before cringing at how stinky he was from all his running, and was inwardly cursing his luck while trying to play 'Hide and Killing Seek' with the skeletal beast.
He soon yelped, however, when it found him and was going to attack with all four of its blades… For only to make it blink and sharply turn its head around to see Tess as she was holding large rocks with one nearby it, and rubbing its head with an instant snarl, "Hey ugly! What's the matter? I'm not worthy enough to face?"
It roared at her as Zøg slumped in minor relief at watching the monster chase after Tess and easily making him soon gulp hard and fainting from watching those blades perfectly slice most of the rocks in half or quarters, and didn't see further ahead was the plague pit that was, currently, still on fire with Hermione, Daphne, and Luci on one side of a bush around the outer rim, and the other was Elfo and Bean and on the ground was a thick piece of rope.
"You sure this is going to work, Luci?" Bean asked loudly to her demon as he nodded and told them all hastily at hearing loud stomps in moments, "Ya. That dumb skeleton won't know what hit it, as it looks to have been made of bone-like ice when I saw it."
Soon they saw Tess as she was running in panic at almost getting cut, and turned sharply to Bean's side just as they pulled the ropes and made the monster let out a rattled yelp of being surprised as it tripped over the rope and fell into the fiery pit, and began emitting roars of utter pain as they peered into the pit, and held back the urge to cringe at witnessing it easily melting alongside its weapons and armor, into a metallic-like black puddle that covered the corpses that soon, instantly burned further away.
"Well, that's taken care of," Bean tells everyone as the crowd, King Zøg that was getting hosed down by Hermione to amuse her with a water spell in apology, and bandaged Albedo and with seeing Kisara easily carrying their Mate within her arms, arrived to witness it fully melt away and the bodies fully gone as black and shadowy smoke filled with, oddly enough, white-like hearts floated and vanished.
Bean and the others soon sighed as the crowd made Tess tense up at pointing the weapons they had, still, at her before King Zøg settled the crowd then and glanced at her knowing she owed him one, "Calm your high horses down folks. This giant saved me. So in terms, is under my protection as King of Dreamland… Especially since it seems she was truthful earlier."
The crowd murmured to themselves at this before quickly heading to the bar after Bean's sudden words, and The King's immediate groan to amuse the small group and with Helena being placed onto a small rock to prep her, "Ya, and he plans to have free drinks to celebrate!"
"So what's with my step-niece anyways?" King Zøg questions as they were now back at the castle and with Helena in a bed, deeply sleeping, as she was being checked over via a Diagnosis Spell by Daphne and Hermione, and Tess was reluctantly talking with both Albedo and Kisara over something in the castle courtyard, and even Bean, Luci, and Elfo were in the room as Meg was still watching over Helena's daughter.
"She's merely passed out by the drugs in her system… Although if she wakes up, she might be lethargic and needs help to move around for the next several days." Hermione informs him mainly while also informing the others to make them, blink, as Daphne managed to use her wand to use a spell her father taught her to extract chemical drugs or others, via the mouth, and grimaced at the lime-green tar-like substance that came out of the dragon girl's open maw, and jars it quickly to study it later with Hermione as to what it was.
"At least it can't be worse than what we just endured, right?" Elfo warily asked to make everyone gaze at him and back at Helena before Bean groaned at what her father then started to tell her, in mirth-like sternness, "The Civilians will get their free drinks, but you will be the one having to clean the tubs for it."
