Lian's Peculiar Journey: Starlight Paladins
Chapter 27
THE CHILD OF NIGHTMARES, SERICA
"Who are you?!" Sarah pointed at the woman, who kept reading her book and completely ignored the question.
"Is that another zombie?" Lian asked.
"No, zombies are brutes, they can't speak much less read." Sarah told her, "Plus, I see she has a soul."
"Good, now I get to do this then!" Lian ran to the woman, "Power Khan!"
"Lian!" Lex yelled.
The woman on the recliner slightly lowered her book and shook her head.
"I see I have to get dirty." She smirked and stood up.
Her body started to glow as a figure formed behind her, something that shocked all of them.
"She's a stand user! Lian, get back!" Sarah yelled at her.
"Nothing can withstand Power Khan!" Lian responded as she kept her stand in action.
"RAH!" Power Khan yelled and raised its fist, however, before it could raise its fist it suddenly disappeared.
Lian collapsed without a single warning.
"Lian!" Sarah ran to her side, "L- She's still alive!" she announced, "She's… asleep." She saw that her soul was a cool blue.
"Of course she is." The woman revealed herself in the light of a light.
She had light skin, red lips, and purple eyes, her facial structure was similar to Seris' but it was narrower with thicker eyebrows from what Sarah could recollect.
Her face had a distant and prideful demeanor, and the intent of her stride amplified it. She was wearing a tight purple tunic dress covered by a leather vest. Her legs had purple stockings and on her feet were black sharp-point boots that reached up to her knees
"Pardon me." She said nonchalantly, "I seem to have forgotten to introduce myself, how rude of me." She gave a taunting bow.
"My Name is Serica, daughter of Seris."
Sarah gasped.
Lex stepped back.
Zhin shook his head.
Moji hid behind Lian.
"Daughter?" Sarah did a double-take, "By the Pyre, you're telling me she had a child?" she growled and looked at the stranger.
"Child?" Serica scoffed, "As in just one?"
"OH MY PYRE!" Sarah screamed in horror, "No no no no! This can't be happening."
"Oh but it is…" Serica smirked and strutted towards them, "And I have been assigned by my dear old mother and angry father to take all of you, dead or alive." She ran her hands through her hair, "And as you have seen, I have the means to do it!"
She took out her stand, which had a feminine shape and had a purple mask over its glowing white eyes. It was covered in silver studs all across its shoulders and the head and the shoulders were a dark blue. The stand's body was metallic, but a dull metallic without sheen or shine. On its hands however, were white balls that sat upon its knuckles. The stand had a black belt around its slender waist with a large silver buckle that went up to where a bellybutton would be. Finally, its legs were slender and covered with black boots with silver spikes and the heel.
"Your familiar!" Moji pointed at it, "Sarah! Look!"
"Yes… It must have some secret power that makes people fall asleep." Sarah postulated.
"A wise observation, Auntie Sarah." Serica chuckled, "I know you all felt its power when you woke up from your nap by the window! Oh I love it when I get the one up." She moaned, "It was such fun watching all of you asleep while my siblings and I moved all the furniture! Oh how pathetic!"
"You miserable wench!" Zhin yelled and called out Thousand Hands, but before he could do anything he immediately fell to the ground and fell asleep.
"Ah… how sad." Serica mumbled, "But yes, that is the power of my stand:
EVERYBODY DIES IN THEIR NIGHTMARES!"
She proclaimed and pointed at them, "Are you ready for me?" she said in a sensual tone.
"Uh…." Moji's eyes became heavy and she fell on her back.
Sarah sat down on shook her head.
Lex himself was starting to get drowsy, but maintained enough focus to stay awake, "I will…" he called out his stand.
Serica noticed this and looked at him.
"Oh what a naughty boy…" she sighed and pointed at him, "Go to sleep, mama will take real good care of you…" she giggled.
"The…. Law…." Lex murmured as his eyes opened and shut, "Will…. Win!" he gained a sudden boost of energy.
The Law aimed its arm cannon at her.
"My my, wanting to play rough, are we?" Serica said as she strutted towards the stand, "No matter, I like it rough. Everybody Dies in Their Nightmares!" she called out her stand.
The stand appeared and walked up Zhin.
Lex tried to focus his vision to shoot at Serica, but he was getting far too sleepy to even act. Unfortunately for him, his hesitation led to a most peculiar event.
Serica's stand grabbed Zhin by the back of the head with its left arm and swiped its right hand over the man's forehead.
A glowing orb appeared in its hand which in turn it put in its belt buckle.
The stand walked over to Lian and did the same thing, but when it put her glowing orb in its buckle it took out Zhin's orb and put it into her. It in turn did the same to Zhin.
Once everyone was asleep Serica took the opportunity to direct her stand to the others. She swapped out Sarah's orb with Moji's but put Lex's orb in Sarah.
"Now the fun begins…" Serica laughed and walked over to the other end of the room, where an assortment of weapons lay.
It was during this walk that everyone's tiredness left them and they started to wake up.
"Uh… Dammit… she got us again…" Sarah growled and pounded her fists on the floor, "Sh-" she stopped when she felt a rather peculiar feeling.
Fur.
"What the-" she saw red fur on her hands, scratch that, paws, "Hey-"
"AHHHHHHHHH!" Lian shrieked, causing all of them to turn, but it was not Lian's body who made the noise.
It was Zhin's.
"What the hell!?" Lian screamed as she saw that she was in Zhin's body, "What's going on!?"
"I'm wondering that myself…" Lex murmured as he saw the he was now in Sarah's body, "Sarah, I assume you must be in Moji, that means Moji-"
"What's going on, Mr. Zhin?" Moji's child-like voice came out of Lex's tough body.
"I couldn't be damned…" Zhin responded as he looked at his new slender legs compliment of Lian's body, "Or maybe I could…" he murmured and opened up the neck opening of his dress.
"ZHIN!" Lian erupted.
"Ooh nice…" Zhin nodded and closed it, "I think I could be damned." He patted his hindquarters.
"Enough Zhin!" Sarah yelled at him, "We need to find Serica!"
"I'm over here!" Serica called out from the other end of the room as she pulled out an assault rifle, "Ready to have fun with all my new toys…" she smirked.
"I'll handle this! Power Khan!" Lian yelled.
But Power Khan didn't appear.
"I can't take out my stand either!" Lex responded as he tried his hardest to take out The Law.
"It must appear that her stand also has the power to move souls around!" Sarah informed, "That means, none of us could use our stands since she may have disabled them… or maybe these new bodies are not meant for them!"
"That means we're just regular people!" Lian said.
"More fun for all of us." Serica called out as she chambered a round into the rifle, "Now let's get this started!" she aimed and started to fire.
"Watch out!" Zhin yelled and they all bolted.
"Oh… am I too rough for you all?" Serica sighed as she aimed at Lex, "Come out a play with me, it's no fun being left all alone." She stopped firing and rubbed her left thigh.
"This wench is crazy!" Zhin yelled as he ran to another column, "Damnit!" he tripped.
"Zhin!" Lian called out.
"Your stupid high heels!" Zhin picked himself up before Serica started firing at him, "Can't you wear anything normal!"
"Lex, you carry concealed magnums!" Sarah told Lex as they hid behind a column together, "We're not unarmed!"
"You're right." Lex responded, "But Moji has my body right now." He pointed to Moji, who was a column behind Lian.
"Moji!"
Moji turned.
"Check the holsters!" Lex told her.
Moji looked down at Lex's body and saw two leather holsters at her hips, but then saw that they were empty.
"There's nothing here!" she informed but jerked her head back when bullets came her way.
"She must have taken them out when she put us to sleep." Lex grumbled and looked back at Serica.
She was reloading.
"Now's our chance! Everyone! Go back downstairs!" Lex yelled to his friends as he bolted.
"Oh come on!" Zhin growled as he followed behind, but his heels were making this much more difficult than anticipated, "I'm going to get you back for this, Lian!"
"Learn how to walk, you idiot!" Lian responded as she picked up Sarah (in Moji's body) and sprinted behind Lex.
"Don't leave just yet, the fun has just begun…" Serica said as she quickly grabbed another preloaded weapon, a bolt action.
"CRAP!" Zhin yelled as a round whizzed past him, "HWAK!" another struck his lower back.
"Zhin!" Sarah called out from the stairs.
"Good…" Serica aimed down on the rifle straight and Zhin's head, "Oh… this is going to hurt." She pulled the trigger.
Zhin closed his eyes, then remembered all the people he stood for.
"No!" he flipped himself over and faced the incoming round, "ZYAHHHH!" he focused as hard as he could.
A translucent figure appeared before him holding a sword and cut the bullet in two, but disappeared quickly after.
"Was that-"
"Thousand Hands!" Zhin gasped when he noticed what happened, "How?"
"Hrrmmm…" Serica snarled, "They must be getting to used to their new bodies. No matter… They won't escape." She saw Lex help Zhin up and walk towards the stairs.
"Everybody Dies in their Nightmares!" she set down the rifle and called out her stand, "Give them the big sleep for me, darling!"
The stand put its arms to its chest and then spread them out.
"We need…." Lian yawned as she started to stumble on the stairs, "To…"
"Get out of here! She's using her stand!" Sarah cried out as they tried to go down the stairs but she was now succumbing to its effects, "She's…. going…"
"Hrrrr…" Zhin groaned as he leaned on the staircase rails and slid down, "I will…"
Serica saw that the last of them had fallen to the ground and picked up two magnums, "Let's take one out for good measure while we swap them again." She told her stand as they strutted their way towards their downed foes.
She reached the Paladins and looked at them, then pointed the magnums.
"Oh… which one to do away with." She said and scanned her foes with her weapons, "I could take out Sarah's body right now for mother, but really, I want to have some fun with her." She bit her bottom lip and turned to Lian's body, "Her? Oh she looks like she can be such a sadist, the thought of it excites me! Oh, I'll just go with the law man here… He's going to be too uptight." She aimed the magnums and Lex's body.
"Swap them out for me, darling." She told her stand.
Everybody Dies in their Nightmares picked up Lex's body and swapped its soul out with Sarah's, then took Moji's body and swapped it with Zhin's.
A/N: This would put Lex's soul back in his body, Moji's soul in Sarah's body, Lian's soul in Moji's body, and Sarah's Soul in Zhin's body.
Serica and the stand stopped when they noticed Zhin was going to either be in his original body or have to stay in the new body he had been becoming accustomed to.
"Hmmmm. Oh I'll decide after I kill him." She shrugged her shoulders and aimed Lex's magnums at the owner's legs and fired.
Lex woke up in and yelled in pain.
"Oh the ecstasy!" Serica moaned as she fired another round into the man's arm.
"ARGH!" Lex continued yelling, and although he was awake his friends were still under the spell of the enemy stand.
"Does this hurt?" Serica taunted as she fired another round into his other leg, "Oh! Beg for me to stop!" she pouted sensuously.
Lex panted.
I can't call out The Law fast enough to survive that encounter. He thought to himself and looked at his assailant.
"Do it!" Serica caused her stand to punch him in the face, "Plead! Plead!"
Lex covered his face from the assault, but then noticed something.
Serica's stand wasn't particularly strong.
Even though it was punching him with prepared and wound up fists, it felt as if a regular person was strongly slapping him.
It must overcome this with its sleep ability. Lex thought to himself, A weak stand cannot fight directly.
"I SAID BEG!" Serica screamed and caused her stand to put its boot to his head and pin him to the ground.
"Never!" Lex growled.
Serica fired a round into his chest.
"HNGH!" Lex's eyes widened.
My chestplate took the most of it…. But my ribs felt like they snapped into my heart. He groaned in agony.
"I will make you cry out my name!" Serica yelled.
I would rather die attempting to save them than on the ground like a dog! Lex glared at Serica, "Very well, Serica!" he responded.
The Law appeared.
"Ah ha!" Serica aimed her magnum at the man's head, "I won't let you get away with that!"
The Law did not aim at the woman, but pistol-whipped her stand with its arm cannon on its right arm, which in turn translated to its user and made her magnum jerk to the left a little.
While the round still struck him in the shoulder, Lex used this distraction to turn The Law towards Zhin and fire a round into his stomach.
"Hurting your friends?" Serica recovered and shot the man in the chest again, "You're as sick as I, lawman." She giggled, "Aww… your friend didn't want to join us?" she observed that The Law was recalled.
"What a shame, I always love new toys…" she smirked, "But you're no fun anymore m-" she saw that a blade was sticking through her gun hand.
Nearby, Zhin was wide awake and smiling at her as a weak projection of Thousand Hands was there with its sword drawn.
"Hey there, sister."
"I'm not a fool to give up so quickly!" Lex suddenly called out The Law again and used his opportunity to shoot Serica in the stomach.
"AHHHHH!" Serica screamed as she was sent flying back.
"Nice one." Lex turned to Zhin, "The good part is I have my body back, so I can use my stand to defeat her."
"I would destroy her weapons first." Zhin responded and pointed to the cache of firearms at the other end of the room.
"Right." Lex nodded and called out two copies of the law, "Fire!" he ordered them.
The stands fired upon the weapons, causing their ordinance to explode and destroy themselves. They then turned to fire at Serica's magnums, destroying them as well.
"I still haven't quite mastered Thousand Hands in this body." Zhin informed, "Though I won't say it isn't a fine body." He looked at Lian's backside again, "I think I could stay like this forever."
Lex rolled his eyes.
"Quickly!" he turned back to Serica, who was starting to sit up, "We must eliminate her or disable her-"
"My stand?" Serica giggled, "You mean the one right there?" she pointed next to Lex.
Lex turned and saw Everybody Dies in their Nightmares appear next to him.
"What the- AGH!" he was punched in the face and pushed towards Zhin.
"Oof!" the two collided and fell to the ground.
Lex was atop of Zhin and holding his….
Chest?
"What the hell!?" Zhin snarled and shoved him, then covered his chest.
"At least blink, you weirdo!"
Lex shook his head, then saw Serica's stand over him.
"Take it away!" Serica ordered and Everybody Dies in their Nightmares swiped its hand across Lex's chest, taking out his soul.
"Hrrr! Thousand Hands!" Zhin concentrated, but his stand was taking long to manifest.
And by the point a sword even formed it was too late.
Serica's stand swiped across his chest and took its his soul, then swapped the two.
"Wah!" Lex yelled and felt his head spin, but it was not his head.
"I'm… a woman!" he called out.
"Not just any woman…" Lian's voice called out, and Zhin and Lex saw that the others had woken up, "I- Not again." She groaned and felt fur around her skin.
"Owie…" Moji groaned and rubbed her brunette hair, "Oh… I'm Ms. Sarah now!" she looked at herself.
"No time to talk! We need to finish off Serica!" Zhin said as he stood up, "Wow, I feel taller." He felt the height of Lex's body, but was then overcome with a huge shock of pain and agony.
"Damn it!"
"My body is still injured." Lex commented as he shuffled to Zhin's side, "Sarah, I would ask you to heal him, but your stand is gone."
Sarah walked over to Zhin as she flicked back his body's long black hair, "It doesn't matter." She said and breathed in deeply.
Her allies and Serica saw as a fiery energy overcame Zhin's body.
"No way…" Lian mumbled as the Pyre surrounded Sarah.
"Hah!" Sarah slapped Zhin on the back, causing a surge of Pyre energy to surge throughout his borrowed body.
Zhin exhaled the remaining Pyre energy and felt a surge of relief fill his bones and flesh.
"I am healed." He stood up firm and noted the wounds from the magnums were gone, but there were still scars.
"It's not as effective." Sarah commented, "In fact, I didn't know I could even use it effectively, but that's the beauty of the Pyre… We are all living conduits of it." She looked at her fists and built up some Pyre energy in them.
"I knew that would be a set back." Serica snarled, "I should have killed you first!" she screamed and pulled out a small crystal pistol from her cleavage.
"Watch Out!" Sarah said and protected Lian with her new body.
She took in a deep breath and maintained focus despite the thundering of the firing gun.
"HAH!" she brought out her hands and swatted the bullets away while using the Pyre to heal the wounds from the rounds.
"Take this!" Serica continued to fire.
Sarah could barely keep up with the incoming fire and was now having to expend more Pyre energy into healing herself than maintaining the superhuman strength and reflexes to deflect the bullets.
"Hrrrrrr." She muttered as the pain started to get to her, "If only I had my original body. I haven't quite mastered how to conduct the Pyre in this one. DWAK!" she was finally hit in center mass and sent crashing to the ground.
"Sarah!" her allies yelled.
"Mother is going to love this." Serica giggled and cooled off the pistol's crystal magazine, "All she need is your blood to play with, Auntie."
"Disgusting creature!" Lex called out.
"My my." Serica sighed, "I wasn't that mean to you…" she smirked and looked at Sarah rising from the ground, "Auntie, I'm afraid I can't let you live."
"Like mother like daughter." Sarah dusted off her shoulders, "Tell me, Serica, was it? Are you truly my sister's daughter?"
"Yes, you can check for yourself." Serica responded and brought out her stand, then made it scratch her on the right cheek.
"Oh…" she moaned as blood came out, then put some on her hand and swiped it towards them.
The Paladins groaned in disgust as drops of blood landed around them, but Sarah raised her hand and caught some droplets in it.
"Sarah, what are you-" Zhin stopped when Sarah lowered her hand and caused the Pyre to surround it.
Sarah received a vision through the Pyre via the blood.
It was…
Her. Seris was looking at her face-to-face, but even then her face was still clouded in shadows.
There was a nice break with the appearance of a man standing next to Seris. He had light skin, green eyes, and dark hair like charcoal. He was of shapely build and was wearing light armor that covered dark blue tunic and pants.
"Impossible." Sarah snapped out of the vision and glared at Serica, "You are the daughter of Seris."
"Are you serious?" Lian shook her head.
"I did not think she could have children." Sarah spoke, "As a creature of the Abyss, she is straddling on the line between living and dead… It should be impossible-"
"Yet here I stand. And not only me, but others." Serica chuckled, "Oh Auntie, are you jealous? Though knowing what mother has told me, you may not be, considering you ha-"
"Enough!" Sarah growled and walked towards her, "Before I defeat you, I will ask you one thing, rotten child, what is the secret of Seris' stand! You surely know seeing she raised you."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Serica lied as strutted away from them, "You should know my mother is secret-keeper."
"She wasn't always that way, Serica." Sarah walked towards her.
"Ah yes, the Golden Years." Serica chuckled and turned to face her, "What wonderful times were those."
"Yes they were." Sarah clenched her fists, "It surprises me that you are not a creature of the Abyss. I would have thought being a child of such scum would cause you to be that as well."
"Mother needed for someone to be outdoors aside from daddy."
"How about your siblings-"
"Getting too far ahead of yourself, auntie." Serica pointed at her, "Why should I share my family with someone like you? Even if you are related to us, there's nothing more scornful than someone who actively tries to ruin family fun."
Sarah breathed in deeply and built up Pyre Energy in her hands.
"Sarah, don't…" Lian whispered when she noticed Serica start to recharge her pistol.
"Give me a few more minutes, I feel like I can remaster Thousand Hands." Zhin added.
"I can't risk it." Sarah responded while looking at Lian, " I'm the only one here with a consistent power to protect us. Stands are useless against her… this will require my baser power." She took another deep breath.
"And thanks to your young, healthy body, Zhin, I feel much stronger than in my frail woman body." She joked.
"Alright! Enough chatter and let's get straight into the action!" Serica turned and pointed her pistol at them.
"It's now or never! It is the time for action, as someone special to me used to say." Sarah told her allies and turned.
"Serica! It's over!"
Serica was shocked when her enemy gained a sudden surge of superhuman speed and was already in front of her before she even put her finger on the trigger.
"AH! EVERYONE DIES IN THE-"
Sarah interrupted Serica's calling forth of her stand with a crippling Pyre-filled punch to her gut.
"EYAHHH!" Serica screamed as she was knocked a meter into the air.
"Haaaaa…." Sarah took a deep breath and focused on the firm hands of Zhin's body, "Kindling… Ember… PYREDRIVE!" she sent out her fist in a blaze of Pyre energy.
Serica felt the foreign Pyre energy surge through her body and heat her insides before it expelled itself with an ethereal explosion that destroyed her pistol and the hand holding it.
Lian gasped in shock as their foe crashed into the far away wall with a powerful crash.
"Ha… Ha…" Sarah panted and expelled the last of the Pyre energy from her body, "It helps I have this body, but she is not dead." She turned to Zhin, "Zhin, have you mastered your stand again?"
"No, give me more time." Zhin responded as he made his stand's head, chest, and left arm appear for a brief moment.
"It's really difficult to kill a normal person with the Pyre." Sarah told them, "As the Pyre is not a taker of life, but a giver of it. This is why it kills the undead, as they cannot tolerate the fiery living power."
"I am also trying to regain my stand." Lex added, "Zhin, can you perhaps enlighten us on how you do it?"
"I concentrate on myself, as a fighting spirit is the projection of my soul… not my body." Zhin responded, "As Sarah told us."
"A wise woman she is." Sarah smiled, but turned alertly when she heard shuffling.
"You Bastards!" Serica screamed and called out her stand.
"I will cast you all into an endless sleep!"
"We need to get out of here!" Moji cried out when she saw the sheer hatred coming out of Serica's voice.
Her allies heard her voice and they sprinted towards the stairs again.
"It's too late! Serica cried out and pointed at them. Her stand then brought all its limbs into its center mass, hovering in a fetal position, and built up a purple and white mist around it.
"We need to get out of here!" Zhin yelled as they ran down the hall they fought the armored zombies in.
"Gods know what she will do next!" Lian added as they made their way down to the stairs that led to the entrance.
"Too late…" Serica murmured and coldly smirked.
"EVERYONE DIES IN THEIR NIGHTMARES! MOONLIGHT!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.
Her stand gave out an equally massive shout as it explosively stretched out all its limbs.
A soft wind raced across the empty fortress.
The Paladins were nearly at the gates, but saw that the main gate had been blocked off with the wreckage of their wagon and other wooden and stone objects.
"Damn it!" Lian snarled, "Zhin! Cut out a path!"
"Alright!" Zhin called out a newly revitalized Thousand Hands, "Thousand Ha-" he paused when he felt a soft gust of wind pass by him.
A thud sounded behind them.
Lex turned to see an owl had collapsed behind them.
"Huh?" Sarah mumbled.
"What!?" Lian saw a nearby pedestrian had suddenly collapsed as he tried to open his home's door.
"Uh…" Moji saw a merchant suddenly fall over on his cabbage stand.
"AH!" a night watchguard screamed as his horse suddenly fell face first, "What… The…" he murmured before he went silent.
Lex saw that more and more people around them fell to the ground.
"What is going-" he heard a thud.
The Paladins turned to see Moji had fallen to the ground.
"Mo…." Lian murmured and she fell to her knees.
"Not again!" Sarah gasped, then yawned.
The Paladins fell asleep one by one.
But not only them…
Throughout the town a silent breeze was the only sound that was heard.
Hello Everyone, is SuperMastour here. I thank you for reading this story and for the feedback! I hope you can also check out a story completely related to this called Furia's Peculiar Journey: Dragon Blood coming real soon! It should be up today!
Thank you so much for everything, my readers!