A very long overdue chapter, but it is finished. I have to apologize for not posting sooner, personal matters and interruptions got in my way of writing.
After struggling to gather my focus in finishing this chapter, I have decided to take a small break. I won't be writing for a little while I figure out exactly what I want for the coming chapters and refining my outlines.
Sunlight began to dim and paint the sky in an orange hue as the sun slowly started to set, small beams of light only barely managing to break through the tree canopy above. Luther, Luka, and Alice relentlessly marched along the path given to them by an unfortunate informant, hoping to find the cave that was clumsily marked on a map. It was somewhat enjoyable, they found each other's silent company to be pleasant despite the short time they spent together on this, or perhaps their brains were simply trying to trick themselves into thinking this ceaseless action was beyond bothersome and boring.
"Do you think the bell exists, it could be some lie that Lamia told us, maybe leading you both into a trap?" A question came up from the Monster part of the group after long intervals of silence. It made Luka stop for a small moment before speeding up to catch up with his fellow travelers, his flabbergasted stare still trained on her. She returned his stare with her inquisitive albeit amused one, which was well hidden underneath a layer of boredom.
"Yes, I mean, it has to be, right?" Luka nervously answered, he was caught in disbelief that only now did she care to question their decision. "Otherwise why are we even going there in the first place?"
"Because the other choice would likely be to swim that way by ourselves." Luther added, slightly surprising both of them as he mostly only had a habit of speaking up if directly prompted to. "No ship will take us to Sentora without the bell, it would be practically suicide facing a storm head-on. It's either that or what we're practically used to, fighting through some Monsters that show up, maybe a couple of traps might be there, but it's worth the trouble."
"Why would Amira even lie to us?" In spite of how unsettled he felt under the unfortunate lamia's presence, he could never quite pin her to be a wickedly untrustworthy individual, someone who tricked innocents into getting trapped or killed. "She doesn't get anything out of it, it looked like she was even scared to enter there herself."
Alice exhaled. "Hmm…yes, the bell does truly exist, I know this." Her confession was another thing that caused the boy confusion, he was about to respond but was stopped as she continued, clarifying her point. "Still, it's rather unbelievable that a treasure like that is hidden neatly in a corner of this damned continent, never took Selene for someone who would like this dump."
Luka sighed at her remark, shaking his head and continuing while she hummed a tune. Another attempt to entertain herself they presumed while considering some other devious plot to get some crumbles of fulfillment out of it.
Luther just stared blankly at the road ahead; observing the passing dirt and grass, his mind jumping around from one thought to the next, worries that were fought against, seeding deep within his thoughts patterns. Whatever was left of his brain that pondered on how he would act. Okay, there are a couple of Monsters that we'll have to get through in that cave, nothing too big. What worries me is Nanabi, that fight is beyond problematic right now, not only is she powerful but she unintentionally forces his angel powers out, making him use Daystar, his mother's signature move. That's even worse than him using angel powers. He couldn't quite help but linger on the worst that could happen, somehow even for a second managing to think of an event where Tamamo would attack Luka, but it was quickly shaken away.
Speaking of Angel powers, isn't this day's training session the time where Luka gets his meditation skill. Luther closed his eyes and silently cursed, he didn't see many ways he could stop that from occurring besides discouraging Luka from meditating but he wagered it'd be a bit too suspicious. Not to mention that skill is very useful, downright required for him to have. If not for battles, then for training, maybe with that he can keep with Alice, but can I let that be revealed? It would be like lighting the fuse, them figuring out his angelic origin will be a guarantee. Is it worth it? What to do….what to do?
"Chu." A soft coo brought him out of his thoughts, yet he wasn't so caught off guard by it, unlike many other times, after all, in a way, it was himself that surprised him. It was a welcoming sensation compared to the sudden albeit unintended shock that Luka and Alice jolted him awake from his daydreaming and thinking. The stand had emerged from his back, invisible to the ordinary eye, it lightly latched itself on his neck relying on its floating capabilities to keep stable.
"Tusk." He whispered, long since the start of the day, feeling the stand lurk inside of his soul, passively observing the transpiring events and fortifying his resolve like it always has. Although seeing little reason for coming out. Tusk was always there with him, whether in physical presence or not.
"Chumimi~in" Tusk was always with him, following along with its juvenile voice.
Am I worried? Luther knew why it came out. Its anxiety was already translated way before it had appeared through their link. He prompted the tiny thing onto his shoulder, making careful work not to make it too obvious and appear delusional. As it comfortably sat, beady blue eyes continuing to bore into its user, it felt a small finger sweetly rub against its chin while another pet his head. Yes, there is no denying that I'm worried, can you blame me?
Tusk shook its head, and Luther looked back to the road once more as he entered back into his ponderings. Two Heavenly Knights, one of them we'll have to fight, Luka potentially using Daystar and definitely discovering his latent healing abilities, what's not to worry!? He paused and sighed as his barely composed rant made the celestial soul shrink away feeling the brunt of its master's nervousness. In response it cooed back weakly, reminding him of his place in the world and what would occur if he were to lose his cool.
Right, you're right, need to calm down and think of something. With fierce guidance, he pushed out all of the problems and made space to think on solutions, first, what he could afford and what needed to change. In hindsight, it seemed obvious when paced through. He couldn't afford for Luka not to learn his mediation skill, its use was simply too valuable to let go. Angel Halo would likely know from that moment the kid has angelic ancestry…hmm…it would be an interesting way to gauge their reaction, build off of that. And Heavenly Knights were going to be there regardless of his actions, fate wasn't going to hand him a freebie and suddenly make them forget what they were doing, he supposedly just had to bear through it.
That leaves one thing, Daystar and all the other shit he pulls off while asleep, I can't let that slide. Melancholy took over, as he was reminded of what the fake hero's powers can do to his own body, it ran through him like a poison, eroding his being yet at the same time empowering him beyond his hybrid limits. For his sake I'll have to stop it, all that's needed is that he doesn't fall asleep while fighting. Doesn't help that some Monsters just have the power to put people to sleep or in some trance…uh…that either means stopping that somehow or taking over in the fight.
"Chu!" Tusk agreed with his assessment and they both knew what it meant, regardless of what choice he had to take it still meant one thing – he had to be stronger. Not only for his own sake but for the sake of the person who was kind enough to aid him, the simple knowledge that this wasn't purely selfish gave him some resolve he hadn't in a while, a resolve to do good, no matter how little it was. Like that, a beam of orange light blared directly into his vision as they passed by some of the forest hiding them from the world's slowly vanishing solar wrath. He groaned in minor frustration and so did his company, what small inconvenience it caused was nothing compared to the realization that this was the perfect opportunity to grow stronger and even try to perfect his skills.
"Great, now the sun is shining directly into my retinas." Alice was the first out of them to vocally voice their complaints. "Let's stop today, don't know how much longer I can handle burning my eyes." She glared at the ball of fire before her, as if threatening to extinguish its light and plunge the entire planet into darkness just to save her eyes some relief.
"Please just endure it, based on the landmarks we have already passed by. It shouldn't be that long until we reach the cave." Luka pleaded. "It's not that bad."
"Not that bad!?" The Monster Lord exclaimed, ripping away the map from the boy's hands. "Says the one using a map for cover. Look at it, suffer like me." Alice commanded, she gently grabbed his head and forcefully turned it so that it would face blinding light ahead. Luka yelped in pain both from the rays suddenly hitting him and from her strong grip, shutting his eyes. The point was made clear. "Besides, isn't all of this walking getting boring, wouldn't you rather strain your muscles on doing something more exciting and actually improving?"
"Doubt your torture will help me much when we go inside the cave." The fake hero pushed his monstrous companion's hand off his head, messaging his neck.
"Ah, so you plan to ignore a perfect opportunity to rest and train beforehand so you can hopelessly waste what remains of your energy stumbling about in a Monster den most likely full of traps a little earlier. Do I need to remind you how horrible your footwork is?" The purple lamia fiercely spat back, questioning the wisdom in his actions.
"For the sake of your sanity and health, I'd suggest you listen to her." Luther desperately suggested, massaging his temple as he felt the faint traces of a headache coming on. "No doubt both of us are getting tired of this endless walking."
"Fine." To the delight of Alice, Luka conceded without much hesitation, he was outvoted after all, and rest seemed like a swell idea to him despite the ruthless training that will come with it. He only hoped that Alice would ease off a bit on punishing his mistakes. "Honestly, Alice, are you sure you are a Lamia? You sound more like a banshee to me with every passing day. "
The only response from the Monster to his completely innocent question was a swift karate chop to the back of the head that made him dizzy and his ears ring for a bit. But it was nothing too powerful for his thick skull, as it subsided he glanced at his assailant who had put on an angry pout at his stare. It would have made him feel somewhat sorry was it not for the lingering sensation of pain still present, and why couldn't he insult her after every single bitter word she said to him? It was fair for him to do so. Yet from that moment of seeing her expression he knew his hopes would not come true, all because he opened his mouth he would suffer her training once more
"Chumimi~in" Tusk watched, cheering its user on as he threw his steel balls in seemingly random directions. It acted as a powerful medium from which Luther's technique flowed masterfully. With the stand's aid, his control and precision over the Spin could far exceed ordinary limits.
One…Chamber caught one ricocheting steel ball that finally bounced from the ground nearby him. Spending countless hours observing his projectile's movement he had gotten a good idea of their speed, his reaction matching its possible acceleration, direction, and trajectory. Obviously, there was still room to improve. He knew this well, but… Two! The second one came rocketing toward his face, it was expected he didn't flinch or blink as his vision shifted to the ball, body following after to catch it.
The spin-infused steel ball landed in his hand, he winced from pain as it dug slightly into the flesh of the palm before stopping. His arm fell limp for a moment, energy coercing through it as a few droplets of blood seeped from his fingers. Worried, Tusk jumped onto his shoulder asking of wellbeing but he silenced its panic, holstering both of the balls. Note to self,counter-rotation doesn't always stop steel balls if it is built with enough force. He wiped his palm on his pants, lightly staining some parts with red.
Might need some tough gloves to handle whatever force is left behind. After looking around his surroundings he tooka deep breath and brought forth his Hamon. Its silver aura gently rippled out his body, roaring to life and floating softly like small waves of water. Pain faded away, replaced by a pleasant feeling of peace and strange calm, the torn skin of his palm healed back slowly. It was as if nothing happened. Luther easily found himself lost in this sensation, his only conscious action was breathing, there was something so mystifying in this unity between matter and soul, it was meant to be.
"Again with that power, despite knowing the consequences you still use it, close to a Monster den no less." The familiar voice of Alice brought him back out of reality. Her presence wasn't much of a surprise, he felt her massive energy beforehand, yet must have underestimated her approach. "Ah, is the little baby hurt, does he need his booboo kissed? Seriously, a simple scratch is nothing, they always happen. You would do better waiting rather than risking your skin by using it."
"Can you not right now? What's so wrong with me using it for a bit, or can you not handle a simple spillage of energy." Luther turned to see the Monster who looked to be analyzing his every movement and fading aura. The stand user heard of their training, Luka's same old yelps, groans of fatigue and pain, perhaps a bit of pleasure as well but he didn't delve far into it. What he could at the very least tell was their quantity was much lesser than last time and only guessed that Alice did manage to show some mercy. Either that or Luka could actually get accustomed to torment, the latter was hard to imagine from the young boy.
"There is a certain peace you wouldn't understand, it can triumph any sense of danger."
"Well, I could certainly try to understand if you showed how to, again an interesting ability given its peculiar capabilities" Alice smirked, he wasn't astonished that she had tried to inquire about the Ripple, anybody would have after being affected by it to such an extreme extent.
"Is that why you're here, to make me teach you it?" Chamber indignantly asked, while he appreciated the small break from practice, the Monster Lord's constant bothering certainly wasn't welcome. "I have no intention of revealing my techniques to you, both are secret and it's clear neither of us trusts each other beyond our basic mutual agreement to not pry." And so he saw fit to remind her of it.
"Oh, you truly wounded me. I'm not so callous and selfish as to resort to harassment." The purple lamia faked offense; of course, there were other means she could resort to. Ones that were either subtle or may even genuine attempts at gaining trust and understanding. "No." She became much more serious as her demeanor changed in a snap of a finger "I gave that idiot the five minutes rest he so desperately pleaded for, now I've come here to repeat my offer, have you considered it?"
Luther Chamber slowly nodded. It was one of the few things running through his head during his training and admittedly accepting her help could potentially accelerate his progress exponentially or at least get some of the fake hero's latent talent to rub off on him somehow. "Yes, but only target practice if you're willing, nothing more, the rest I'll handle by myself."
"So be it." Alice slithered right in front of him, eying the holstered weapons and recalling the several moments where she had seen them travel. While its thrown speed was impressive, it wasn't anything she couldn't match let alone easily outpace, it simply demanded to be ironed out. If the man before her was confident he could improve then let it be true, she will help make it so. "Give it your all and don't hold back. Nothing good will come from it. The goal is simple - just hit me once, even a scratch or scrape will be enough."
Sounds easy but knowing her this will be hell to accomplish.
"Chu…" Tusk cooed out in some gloom, it had agreed with him already guessing how painstaking this process would be, Alice was someone far to be underestimated. Even then whatever image he made of her in his mind was most likely nothing but a pathetic estimation of what she was capable of, he had to see with his own eyes to truly gauge her.
The spin user had upholstered both of his projectiles, a standoff was made, his time limit? At least five minutes was as much as he could deduce. Luther threw his right steel ball directly at her and she vanished to the side in blinding speed surpassing that of weapons', it was as he expected yet speed didn't fail to amaze him. His steel ball bounced from a tree and leaned to catch, thinking on his next course.
"One throw, is that all?" She asked, moving around him, however, his eyes had managed to keep with her speed. The blur wasn't so blurry neither was it too fast for the man, serpentine movement was what amazed the man. It was surreal to witness his target slither with unparalleled haste.
"We're just getting started." Luther blandly replied, unaffected by her taunting. Another projectile was launched right at her, this time at her chest. She simply dived down into the grass, hiding away from any other attempt at hitting her. Two of his weapons ricochet behind her, jumping back into the spin user's hand, it was a curious thing to see for Alice as if both of those imamate projectiles had a mind of their own and always returned to their wieldier, but her perceptive mind knew better – the simple physics behind it happening.
Seeing this it was understandable for Luther that this wouldn't be an easy challenge, something to overcome with wit and determination. And if Alice was like this when training Luka but even tougher and actually hitting back, he could only pray for the boy's lost soul. There was work to be done and he only had so much time left.
Three minutes, that's how much he counted down, defeat was drawing closer bit by bit, and Alice proved her lesson of the advantage of being slippery and fast. Any time he decided to throw one steel ball out it missed by a wide margin with Alice simply twisting her form in an impressive show of flexibility. The closest he ever got to hitting her was throwing two, one following after another to catch her in some small trap. Guide her and make her move into it, but it barely managed to graze her. Problem was, in any real combat situation it left him unarmed, leaving him to rely on his other potentially more lethal abilities, given his company, it was the last thing he wanted to do.
At the very least, her taunting had stopped at the first-minute mark once she realized nothing had gotten through to him, she had no verbal ammunition she could use to break him out of his stoic complete focus. It let him think on his next move and with how comfortable she had gotten in avoiding his attacks his brain cooked up a vile yet simple course of action as his little session neared the end, something he desired to try out a long time ago.
Four minutes passed and like he had done many times before he threw another steel ball at her, its direction was predictable, a little too predictable, yet with how lax the Monster Lord's attention as she hadn't noticed it and swung her entire frame to the right to avoid it, and then another steel ball flew in a wild angle through the air, however, it didn't even look to be aiming for her. Like that, a small smirk of victory found its way home to his lips
"You missed…?" She stated, lacking the mocking tone that was used before. It was more of a question than a statement as in no way, shape, or form would his projectile come close to hitting her, she didn't even have to try to move out, staying still was a perfectly acceptable option. Moreover, the man's expression which spoke of victory had confused her as well.
Wasn't aiming for you. That was all that Luther wanted to respond with. But he forced himself to stay quiet, it wouldn't take long and he didn't want to spoil the surprise. The steel ball in its wide arc rocketed toward a tree behind Alice. Too focused on him she failed to notice the metal sphere bounce changing direction, now speeding directly to her back.
"Right behind you." He warned though he was sure of her durability he did not want to see a hole be torn through her stomach even if it did have a small chance of causing such damage. She snapped her head to look behind and much to her shock one of his throwing weapons was coming to her, far too close for her liking.
While he may have failed to hit her in his warning about it, it was victory enough for Luther to catch her off guard. The man watched calmly and confidently as the purple lamia spun, her large form swinging about, moving faster than she had ever done before in their little bout, too fast for him to even see, only his weapon was visible at this point, which had passed by the mist that his opponent suddenly turned into. Chambers snapped awake from his amazement as the ball began rocketing toward him, having its original target narrowly escape its wrath.
Oh shit! Arms reaching forward he grabbed the steel ball. Tusk jumped up, gave it all to muster up a counter-rotation in his palms to minimize the weapon's crash, its remaining force pushing Luther back. Fuck, fuck, fuck… Luther had his palms be torn before his spin began to match that of the steel balls. His stable feet dragged across the ground, staining his shoes with dirt but keeping him from being launched back, the spin energy meeting its match fizzled out leaving its user breathing out a sigh of relief.
Luther paused and stared at his shaking bleeding palms, blood droplets painted the grass below, there was small silence in which he could hear his thoughts loudly, they told of him of stupid he was as to not prepare for anything like this, the pain he felt further cemented this feeling of failure. Sighing he glanced at Alice, who grasped her side.
"Well, what do you know, that hurt." Alice remarked and moved her away from her waist revealing a sharp gash in her perfect skin. He had done it, he had won this little game of target practice, no doubt at the cost of her gaining some kind of insight. "Should have seen it coming or suspected it before, it's obvious you're not single-minded in your approach to combat."
"Are you alright? Seems like you have taken the brunt of the force there." Alice slithered up closer to the man, staring at his bleeding hands. While her little scratch was annoying it was nothing compared to the trauma that Luther suffered through, from his own weapon no less, it was unlike all the previous times he fought. "Do you need any healing, why did those steel balls only hurt you now?"
"No, everything is good, I can heal myself, thank you very much," Luther replied and she braced herself for the oncoming onslaught that his enhanced scent brought onto her senses. That familiar silver aura covered his body once more and Alice watched with interest as the wounds slowly healed. Through the sweet haze forming in her mind, she analyzed it, strangely there didn't appear to be any magic behind it, just pure accelerated regeneration.
"Here we go, all gone." Chambers said, glancing back at the wound he caused. It was an incredible thing to witness, to think someone that appeared so invincible could be hurt, could be damaged. Combined with his fading pain it was a humbling and relieving experience, reminding him that no matter how strong he got or how powerful his opponent was they were still beaten, killed even. But as his breathing continued and he eyed the gash gears in his mind turned.
What if I? An idea hit him, one that was potentially risky but nonetheless fascinating to see the results of. The stand user's aura flared moving further out from its origin and at his training partner. I do wonder, can it heal others as well? It should since the energy can be transferred onto others. Though most of his memories of it being done so were of a much more violent nature, in the form of barrage and powerful punches. He didn't deny that there was a chance to spread its healing influence if it was given a more gentle touch.
"Alice, can you hold still for a moment? I never tried this before but I think I can heal other people as well." Luther asked and she raised an eyebrow.
"So this is how you treat me? After I volunteered as your target you fashioned me for a test subject, truly every day you prove to me more and more heartless." Alice fake sobbed, her display in acting was something of an exaggerated theater play. Yet try as she might, she couldn't deny her curiosity in seeing the results and feeling this energy. However, caution kept at her bay, as pleasant as being put into trance was she had no desire in losing control, to be a slave to her own instincts.
"Stop with the theatrics already, I caused this and so I will fix it. You help me and I'll help you, a fair deal." The man remained adamant but knew when to quit. Another refusal and he would leave her be." Look if you feel like losing control I'll just stop it and you'll heal what's left. Think of it as adapting to its influence."
"So what's it going to be, yes or no? Because I do believe someone is waiting for us and I don't know much about his patience."
"We shall see, do it." The purple lamia accepted his offer, it was very tempting given his constant insistence in using this power in her presence and it was hard to deny anything that warded off boredom. She raised the arm covering up the wound and vigilantly watched his hand as well as that silver aura near her body. Luther's sweet scent became stronger, thick enough to eat even, it made her mouth water ever so slightly.
Chambers tapped her gash with his finger, Hamon washing over the Monster's waist. Alice felt energy pass into her and jolt her awake, foreign power coursing through her body and soul. Wide-eyed she almost jumped up in surprise at such a stream, whatever traces of it she had felt of it couldn't possibly rival what she was feeling. Its nature was revealed to her, no longer left to guesses. Alice felt peace and warmth as she did in her first encounter with his power, but now it was left a bit superficial. No truth, but a small cover-up to what lurked underneath. The Monster Lord felt faint echoes of cold sorrow, disappointment and loneliness lurk within her mind, like they were her own, it made her feel empty… but she knew better – that wasn't hers.
It feels wrong like it shouldn't belong there... The Monster Lord frowned before her expression turned neutral. Her greedy and hungry soul certainly hadn't minded it and absorbed what was given. Alice felt small strings, they weren't physical of course, but they were there, at snail pace they were forming. From the very core reaching forth to the man's arm to his strings. They began to entangle with one another. How strange… I think I delve deeper, see a little further into that energy...his soul.
But her desires were left unfilled. Whatever she was feeling was quickly cut. With a sharp breath, she awoke to her surroundings, cheeks filled with crimson red left with foreign life burning in her spirit. Chambers backed away in silent amazement and shock, shaking off that lingering sensation. While she grabbed his energy he managed to siphon off a bit of her own.
"You stopped?" Alice asked, almost whining a little, that this oddity was torn away from her the very moment she could try to grab onto it, yet it did mean she could think it over more rationally. She heard something, there was no denying it, a faint barely audible voice coming from her soul, sensation that was too unclear to describe, she felt sated for a bit... Perhaps she was still dazed, and they were nothing but hallucinations, she didn't know, but did understand that it was important.
"Is this how you feel when you use it?" Alice breathed out in pure fading bliss, feeling stronger than ever. Now it was to understand he used it so liberally, anyone could get addicted to the power. Alice held no doubt that even she would if given the chance.
"Yes, your gash is gone, our little experiment is done." He replied coldly and succinctly, quite uncharacteristic even for him. She looked to where he pointed, and he was right, the wound was gone, nothing even resembling it was left behind, no aching sensation or anything.
"Best be off, our little hero's break has been long over and is probably searching for you." Without much more, Luther turned his back to her and headed towards their camp, his movement automatic if a bit stiff like that of a robot, the only organic motions he did were the slight goosebumps running through him and the twitching in his hands.
I'm sure he can wait a moment longer…The man walked away, not stopping once to wait for her, and she was left alone. Perhaps currently for the best, he left her a lot to process and unpack, starting to even comprehend what exactly she felt with his ability. That power was unlike any other healing ability the Monster Lord had ever used or seen, not any of them could reach into the depth of soul in such a manner in the sense it wasn't their purpose to do so. It led to a single conclusion, that whatever ability her enigmatic companion possessed, its purpose was far more than some healing power.
But then what? At the end of her ponderings, it felt as if she was ripped away from discovering something important, an epiphany about the one who was keeping his cards close to his chest. Which frustrated her to no end, pieces of the puzzle were stripped away from her unfairly. Yet, after delving deeper and seeing a small bit of what was behind those outer layers, maybe she was better off not knowing. They were personal issues after all, not her responsibility.
How can someone live with themselves like that?
"Chu! Chu!" Tusk flew, chasing after its user who had begun frantically speed walking either to clear his mind or get away from Alice, he was quite sure. Luther's stand caught up, using its lack of range to its advantage, being flung to him and landing on his shoulder; it could sense his chill a mile away if it could go far enough.
Alright, pull yourself together Luther, you can't let something like this shake you…He stopped, looking around to see if he was followed. Knowing he was alone if only a little bit, his tensed-up body relaxed and he breathed a sigh of relief that it was all over. Luther felt Tusk's concern, the endless amount of questions it gave, or rather he gave to himself. Relax, nothing bad happened…Chambers thought nothing out of the ordinary would happen, just like he had done with that one lamia girl, whatever wounds or pain she had would fade away, but what stunned him, making him freeze was Alice's sheer overwhelming energy. It was one thing to simply sense the huge mass of energy, and another to touch and step into it.
Her powers grabbed me the moment I touched her wound, refusing to let go. I couldn't move for a time after my Hamon stopped. Luther strangely remarked, despite the precarious situation in the end he was still in control, no one was stopping him from actually letting go. However, it did confirm one theory he had for a long time about this spiritual ability: some strange connection formed between the recipient and beneficiary, at wildly different speeds it seemed and it can be stopped as quickly. Chambers couldn't quite tell what would happen if said connection formed, he didn't desire to know if he was basing his instinctual assumption off the energy that he gave if a bit under forceful circumstances...
At least it didn't take everything, doubt I'd be able to walk or even be awake after that. He hit his head against the bark of the tree; the pain that caused him didn't get rid of the burning sensation of a dark, deep nature in his chest. Strange, don't feel any weaker though, in fact…The man closed his eyes and took a deep breath, no matter how much he tried he couldn't swallow down burning, some of it even escaping, although he noted how peculiar it had felt. Actually I do feel better. It burrowed into his soul, struggling against it as pieces of it were slowly consumed, assimilated into his spirit.
Tusk jumped slightly in a fit of sudden giddiness, like a child who had gotten their first taste of coffee, the slight pain inside of him was fading and he felt more awake than ever. A burst of power flowed through his vein, it was small but this new feeling of strength in every step he took was noticeable. Gears in his head turned and a striking realization dawned on him. I…I, no couldn't have, that's not possible. Something he couldn't imagine doing so with how overwhelming her presence was, doubt crept in without restraint.
"Chu." But then he was reminded that he was in another world wielding mystical powers he didn't quite understand yet. Anything was possible no matter how absurd it may be even in that context
Well, plausible or not, there is no other explanation. This surge couldn't have come from nowhere. Occam's razor demanded the simplest possibility and judging from this source's heavy nature – I siphoned some energy off of Alice just like she did with me. An equal trade, if one could call it that. Each second passed and he found himself accepting it more, quickly moving onto another topic that facilitated him. It was one that partly kept him from cutting the connection, however minor and insignificant. Hints of emotions and thoughts itched at the back of his mind, nothing more than mere pathetic whispers. They didn't belong to him after such hunger and greed were foreign, but he also found something else underneath it all, wonder and curiosity, strength yet uncertainty, focus, that was not his own. Must have been Alice as well, couldn't have been anything else.
Then…did Alice feel some of my thoughts? Luther froze, more goosebumps ran through him that was eased by his stand who snuggled into his neck. That just makes things problematic, yet if she only got as much of a hint of me as I did her, maybe there is nothing to worry about but a little more prying. Looking back to camp and where he left Alice he knew he couldn't stay here for too long. Time, place for everything, time and place for everything Luther. In the end, as he heads off to meet his young companion the man figured it was for the best to leave his ponderings be and refrain from trying any experiments of the like with Alice, lest he risked his identity.
Leave them in the dark and they'll all be fine. They do not need to concern themselves with my problems.
Luther Chambers strolled into the small clearing they all decided to camp in, his stride being slower, more stable, though the slight shake in his leg and arm were unmistakable as the last of the burning sensation faded away. To anyone perceptive that is. He scanned the area, searching for the hyperactive hero only to find none one at all, no speeding blur to suddenly catch him off guard just to ask him about his day, nothing. Figuring Luka had already taken the initiative to look for them, he walked to sit down somewhere and rest.
"Chumimi~in" Just before he could do so Tusk jumped off his shoulder and floated down drawing in his gaze to the ground where it landed atop somebody's leg which he would have tripped over. He was slightly shocked to see the fake hero lying, his back against a tree, his head nodding off to sleep with closed eyes, the faintest sound of snores escaping his mouth.
Damn, nearly trampled him there. Luther moved his foot away, he idly contemplated whether or not to wake him up, but another question concerned him more. How did my senses not pick him, are they that jumbled up? The man groaned, massaging his temple, his headache had not faded quite yet, he glanced at the ring situation on Luka's finger. Right, he's just human, they can just blend into the environment with how ordinary and balanced their spirit is, and Luka is barely noticeably different from the rest of them. His mother's parting gift is certainly doing its work.
Tusk looked back at him. Its simple gaze told him all he needed. Seeing his companion's napping form he decided a more gentle approach was needed. Kneeling he nudged the boy's shoulder with the tips of his fingers. It worked, somewhat, only managing to make the boy stir slightly. "Hey…Luka…everything alright?" He spoke softly as to not immediately disturb his young friend from his sleep.
A sudden yawn, the sound of success rung through Chambers' ears, and blue eyes stared back into his grey ones. Luka still appeared disoriented but most importantly, tired, his gaze unfocused and shifting as his mouth hung slightly open. "Haa…huh? What?"
Yeah, mediation will be needed, otherwise, I don't think his life span is going to be very long. Those types of morbid musings were almost unstoppable once they crept into him, but he could say this one had some merit. Realistically speaking Luka wouldn't last long without some healing ability, first that Harpy fight, Alice having to heal him, and now this just shows he desperately needs it.
Luther stepped away, recalling Tusk back into his body, and gave the fake hero some space, who then jolted awake upon the realization that his friend was right in front of him, movement still sluggish as his lower half of body remained motionless. "Oh, Luther." He nervously chuckled, the same bright smile that always accompanied the boy finding its place.
"You're back." Luka awkwardly stated, rubbing his face. "And when I just started to get some good shut-eye." He threw a complaint, yet it didn't sound wholehearted, more in a joking manner.
"Alice worked you to death again?" Luther asked, sighing in disappointment at the small nod he got in response, at the very least it wasn't as bad as last time. She had been decent enough to give a break, however small it was, it didn't quite turn him into a zombie, but by the looks of it, some harm was still done. He offered a hand to the boy to support himself back up. "Here, let me help."
"No, sorry, I'm comfortable where I am." Luka declined with another nervous laugh which turned into a sigh of exhaustion. "Even if you did pull me up, I doubt that will help me. I don't think I can feel my legs, or move them properly." Figuring a demonstration was in order, he tried with all of his might to lift a single leg up, but all it did was twitch. Stopping his expression twisted into a pain one by the strain.
"Hey, hey! Don't need to show me anything, I'll trust your word on it. Sit tight and relax, you've earned it." Just as he said those words, Luka leaned back against the bark trying to find some comfort in this position, and closed his eyes. Shoulders slumped, Luther sat beside the boy giving him some softer place to sleep on, somewhat regretting his choice of ever waking Luka, yet ultimately he knew if it was his gentle stirring then it would be Alice's bombastic and brutal methods doing their finest.
Speaking of Alice. Chamber grimaced, turning peering into another corner of the forest as he felt the unstoppable encroachment of darkness, said darkness only belonging to one person. He didn't want to meet her quite yet, it was too soon for him after what had happened, and the recent memory of that little experiment was still present in both of their thoughts. Part of him was nervous of facing her once more after walking off like that, another feared what she might say or think. People had a habit of showing what they felt through body and face language. Don't mention it all to her and hope she gets the hint and follows through with it, because otherwise more problems are left for me to handle.
Both of them heard unmistakable loud slithering and already guessed who it belonged to, though Luka remained passive, getting the last stretch of his rest as much as he could, Luther however was tenser.
"We just finished up and you go speed off back to camp, not even bothering to wait for me, honestly both of you lack any type of manners, or am I just that unpleasant to be around?" Alice shot the question to them, yet both of the males knew better. It was rhetorical, their answer didn't matter, her behavior wouldn't change, in fact, it might give her some excuse to be even worse in some attempt of feigning offense. So they refused to answer.
"Not a single yes or no, hmph, so be it." She pouted and in one small moment her and Luther's gaze crossed and her casual demeanor faded, they shared a hard stare, that lasted for a while leaving an awkward pause before she began approaching again, it told them all they needed to know – one that he unexpectedness was mutual, two to bury whatever happened behind or in the very least leave to discuss for later.
A smirk returned to Alice, an ill omen for most of the time, and Luther was glad that Luka wasn't all there to see it. "Aw, just look at you both, huddled up all together." However, her tone turned serious despite the unflinching countenance. "Get up, we're not done yet."
Luka finally opened his eyes, blankly looking at his overbearing mentor, and weakly mumbled something back. "Just a bit longer...too tired." He requested, though appearing a bit more awake, she was having none of that.
"Come on Alice, he was only given five minutes, not much a person can recover in that time." Luther reasoned, indeed even at first it seemed too little of a time to give and while his heroic friend may have been a big bundle of energy compared to most on this and his planet, fleshy human bodies still had their limits regardless if they were powered by a minuscule amount of something divine. "Luka can barely move his legs as it is, how the hell can you expect him to train, let alone to stand up."
"This…is just what I was drilling into the idiot's head, multiple times I've said that he has wasteful movements and that what we were looking at and what the idiot is feeling is a consequence of that." Alice paused, her speech had become a little too heated for her preference, as it was an important lesson that she was forced to learn as well, and given the boy's task she couldn't have anything less than perfect from him even for a human. It was the only way the boy had a chance at even accomplishing such a goal of his. "It kills speed and power and you inefficiently use what little strength you have at your disposal, ultimately wasting your energy and running your body, like your legs."
Luka felt and saw her poke his leg with her snake tail, he frowned, finding some energy to argue back. "Hey! You're the one that practically always sweeps me off my feet every time I take a step. I think it has something more to do with that than what you're saying. And how am I being inefficient when I'm fighting with all the strength that I have, there can't be more of it."
"No, that's a punishment, you're making a mistake in combat and I punish you for it until you learn – a simple concept in training, you either adapt or suffer, and believe me people adapt quickly when they have such motivators as pain." She stated, what sounded simple to grasp wasn't so much to accomplish, it seemed to Luka anything he did was counted as a mistake, her standards were just too high for him to reach, and for good reason. "To fight efficiently they can't just go around swinging their weapon as hard as they can, it's wasteful. One must move like the wind, their body one with the earth and have fire in your sword."
Luka only raised an eyebrow to this sage-like advice, truth be told what she said did seem a bit too rehearsed, like those teachings clearly belonged to somebody else.
"That is the secret of fighting, and the main premise of the Cursed Sword Art and the only way to truly master it." The Monster Lord advised, beginning to finish up her tutoring, her expression turning dark." If you can't get any better, beating the Monster Lord will remain nothing but a dream, you won't even reach her castle."
The fake hero blinked, while he knew the severity of what she had meant her teachings didn't fully reach him. "Sorry, but ah…I have no idea what you're talking about." He confessed. "All you're doing is speaking in some Zen metaphors, which don't mean anything to me. Could you just flat out tell me those secrets, I'm not really in the mood for figuring out some old sage riddles"
She simply snorted, stifling some sort of laughter, and Luther had shaken his head, his expression appearing knowledgeable to the purple-haired boy. "Oh, just give it a little more time and you will see the truth to my words. For now focus your mind, since that's the only thing it seems you can do, try your hand at meditating." Alice then sat down from across them, impatience was evident, obvious to both of them that she simply desired that boy would get up and continue his training.
Wanting some more rest he wasn't opposed to the idea of meditating, it was one of the few parts of her training she had offered that didn't seem to strain or painful. Though admittedly he wasn't good at those kinds of things, he was more likely to fall asleep at this point rather than to focus. Closing his eyes, a small grumble of pain and annoyance couldn't help but escape his mouth.
"And don't complain, it is said that the fallen angel Erigora was able to immediately heal their wounds by mediating." Alice skeptically recalled a minuscule story that was told long ago to her. "Obviously a fake story, but concentrating your mind is important for any fighter."
Oh how Luka wished that could possibly be true right now, all of his fatigue and pain would just melt away and he would be able to get back up on his feet, unfortunately, he's likely to face more punishment, but anything was worth escaping said pain even for a short moment.
Alright, clear your head, it's just like praying except nobody is with you… As his companion stared at him, occasionally exchanging some awkward glances here and there Luka closed himself off from the surrounding world with a deep breath. He recounted some basic principles when it came to meditation, some that adventures told him about – isolating yourself from your surroundings, getting rid of distractions even yourself, something which he had always failed to do before. But now he was tired, his stray, distracting, and unimportant thoughts were sluggish, easy to catch and purge. Breath in. Breath out, focus only on it and nothing else.
There was no one near him. He wasn't leaning against his friend. The boy was all alone in the cool breeze that failed to touch, he didn't feel it, neither did his pain really exist, all just outside distractions that deserved to be thrown out. All alone, all alone. Breath in, breath out, nothing within, nothing outside. Luka didn't think of his success, the fake hero hadn't even managed to this far, yet he knew to feel excitement over it would cause more distracting thoughts running through his progress. He pushed it all out, it will be something to enjoy later.
A deep emptiness washed over his mind and soul, he had never felt this clear-minded in his life and everything appears to be easy to control inside of him. But that emptiness had to be filled, it couldn't remain for too long simply by its nature and so that spring that was his empty being was filled to the brim with an energy unknown to him. Concentration broke, his brain was into overdrive, many thoughts bouncing from one place to next, he couldn't focus at all with the overflow.
I feel something. Luther eyed his purple-haired companion curiously, attempting his best to sense the boy's energy. Wait, there it is. A small spark of light energy escaped from the depths of his soul and like a match hitting gasoline, his very spirit ignited into a roaring flaming overflowing his body with his newly formed energy, actually making him stand out from the environment. For just a small moment, not even a second, his angelic side, light energy appeared interacting with his simple human spirit like some catalyst. The man shook slightly at the sight of all of this. Amazing what a little piece can do, doubt it's enough to create any ill effects. It heals for goodness sake!
Whatever bruises Luka had faded away into perfect complexation. He looked more comfortable, less hurt, and a wide grin found its way onto his face. To both Alice's and Luther's surprise Luka suddenly jumped into the air, landing back down without any issues, there was no sign of exhaustion in his stance. Angel Halo hung from his belt loosely in its sheath, its red-green eyes wide open, flashing, as it tried to look at the boy, sharing much of their surprise with Alice.
"Ha! It worked, my wounds healed." Luka exclaimed with boisterous laughter, adding much to Alice's sheer shock.
"H-I, hu-, what!?" Alice barely managed to stutter out her confusion as she leaped from her sitting position, she sped, circling the boy observing the changes in his body with increasing amazement. "How is this even possible, you should be out for at least a couple of hours?! What the hell is wrong with your body?" Her snake form immediately wrapped around him as she faced him directly.
The fake hero's happy demeanor faded as he weakly struggled in her grasp, ultimately only puzzled at her strange overreaction. "Is it that strange? I thought you said some angel or something was able to heal their wounds."
"Maybe you did something right, accidentally did some step a lot of people were missing." Luther 'cluelessly' offered. The knowledge that there was no going back was from letting Luka discover a piece of his Angel powers, yet at the very least it was possible to implant some ideas straying away from the boy's origin. It was weak, but the best he could do as it stood.
Luka's and Luther's fairly nonchalant attitude only made Alice lashed out more. "What do you think that would make it normal for you to be healed?" She questioned fiercely and he had no proper response to that. "No matter how one looks at it, having your wounds just randomly healed by meditating is strange beyond belief!"
"But…It is believable, I can do it again." His body went limp and he repeated his previous steps, finding it a lot easier than the last attempt and the boy's energy flared out once more, most likely healing whatever damage wasn't visible. "See…?"
All Alice could do is stare at him with some amount of fear, whatever attempts at convincing herself it was a random fluke or she was hallucinating was thrown out of the window once he repeated that phenomenon. She cou- would not- absolutely refused to believe that he was capable of such strange skill, it didn't make any sense why a random farm boy with delusions of grandeur would happen to be able. Why, if he was, then after achieving a proper amount of agility he'd be practically invincible in combat. "What is that? Scary…" She muttered, poking his soft cheeks.
"Hey! Stop poking me." Luka tried to lean away from her endless amount of pokes, his captor's snake half getting loose enough for him to free his hands. The first thing he did with them poked her back, amusingly she flinched and shivered at his every touch. "See how that feels? I can do the same!"
Luther watched in disbelief as the fake hero and Monster Lord repeatedly poked each other, they seemed to get into a game, a competition of sorts to see who lasted the longest before either being annoyed or creeped out by one another. He had no clue of what to do or say, the scene before was too ridiculous to comprehend and it brought his mind to more pressing matters. So he took whatever break he could get and let them continue their little contest sitting back and relaxing. However much to his chagrin, it didn't last long.
"E-enough of this foolishness." Alice conceded, grumbling in annoyance as she let go of Luka, carelessly dropping him down. "Clearly, there is something wrong with you, or the first time, right. I don't know and I don't want to know what. What I am certain of is we can use this to your advantage."
Oh…oh yeah…In one sentence Luka's worst worries were confirmed, indeed his capability to heal would only lead him to more suffering at his mentor's hands and tail. Luka's face fell flat, while he longer felt any exhaustion he wasn't now looking forward to it.
"Draw your sword, the evening is still young and we're not close to even being done." An Ill omen of what was to come, that's what her words sounded to Luka.
"Right, let's get this over with." The fake hero nodded solemnly. What else could he do exactly in his case? While her methods were admittedly brutal, his monstrous companion had a point – with his unending advancement to the north he needed all the training he could acquire, even if it involved a certain Lamia's unadmitted sadism. Just before beginning, he glanced at Luther, who had shown much pity to him.
I don't blame you, friend. The fake hero grimaced. Legs, please don't give out on me too soon.
A shadowy figure stalked through the darkness of night, cautiously tip-toeing across the camp and continuously staring at Alice and Luka, who after long painstaking hours one was knocked out cold from long overdrawn fatigue, even Alice was left slightly tuckered out. All but one in their group was asleep. The coast is clear. The figure nodded at the sight of sleeping forms, they wouldn't be waking up any time soon and so he was free to enact his plan.
Angel Halo was taken from its resting spot, it being propped up beside Luka's tent cover. When Luther held it in his hands he made sure to make the least amount of noise as possible, if it wasn't Luka waking up because of his proximity and hyper activeness then it would be Alice with her much more superior senses and so he turned away from the camp and strolled somewhere far from them. Better to cause suspicion through a random disappearance rather than them directly seeing him interact with the blade.
Chamber found a small spot that was particularly dense in its fauna, a perfect cover for anyone that would come looking for him and knowing the side effects of Hamon that was very much needed, the trees would hopefully cover his scent and light. Time for some 'damage control' or just seeing their reaction, no way they were going to let his little trick slip by them, especially with how shocked this damn prison looked during the entirety of his training.
The man sat down, crossing his legs and putting the sheathed prison blade on his thighs, from his position he could see they were still awake, waiting for him. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as called out to his powers.
"Chumimi~in" Tusk emerged alongside him, sitting atop its user's shoulder and giving more confidence to him in facing those divine beings, those same beings he had left waiting for an entire day and who were no doubt preoccupied with the events that transpired. They were both ready…almost…
Alright, let's hope they're in a good mood.
Silver light surrounded both of them and from the dense forest, they walked into the void that was Lucifina's created prison. Opening his eyes he found the same eerie emptiness that had unsettled him before, except a friendly face was there to greet him and Tusk… or rather faces. Immediately he and his stand were welcomed and enveloped by the golden mist that was the Angels' broken bodies. That very same pressure returned and in all honesty, a part of him found himself somewhat missing this full-body hug, they took Tusk away from his place, some angels seized it in their hold, making sure it was comfortable, playing with it. Luther couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.
Whispers, voices, and even some yelling came into his head, surrounding him just as he was surrounded by their golden mist. All of them spoke of their welcomes but then devolved into different discussions, some had the patience or decency to hold up the conversation and ask him about his days, and how he felt. The rest went on straight ahead and immediately brought up Luka's meditation along with other whispers of curiosity about Micaela's appearance, whether it was out of enthusiasm or shock he couldn't tell with all of the different messages that he was getting.
Tusk whimpered at the overflow of information, neither was his stand spared from the onslaught.
Very few were angry, some were neutral, most patient, waiting to see what would happen further before fully assessing their opinion. That's as much as he could gather and already the information was getting muddled, constantly changing. Something needed to be done, he felt like his head would pop, he needed t-
JUST SHUT UP FOR A SECOND! Luther's booming, commanding inner voice stopped them from speaking, bringing in eerie silence, only a small minority dared to get a word or two in but it was nothing compared to the ruthless assault of words that his brain had received. Many were surprised that a human had the gall to command them like this, moreover their willingness to listen, but then remembered he held the advantage in their relationship, no matter what they might try he could leave them all alone again…
…It couldn't even be a possibility, not on their watch.
"S-sorry, please…one at or some at a time, I can't listen to you all like this, when all of you are yelling one thing or another." The man spoke, this time in a much more pleading, pained tone as he grasped his head, Tusk had also used its charm to aid its master in his endeavor. For a moment the mist stopped flowing, all of the divine figures froze and the gold condensed a small bit before moving once more, and with that came fewer voices and thoughts, but they were more focused. In this relative silence, he finally asked them to continue
Ah, right…Luka's strange power…This was their first topic, with Micaela's presence he could play dumb and pretend to not know a thing about her heritage and it wouldn't cost him or Luka anything, as sad as it was he was stuck in a world where manipulation and deceit were key to his survival. Chambers would have grimaced but he couldn't show his displeasure to them, internally and externally. Besides, it was rather pointless, after all, it would be the prominent topic on all of their minds.
"What exactly is strange about it, I know he is…abnormal as all things go, but that is too vague of a definition to my liking." He asked, probing for their opinion and perhaps intent so could make his next move. Much to his chagrin, they described the same thing he felt happening with the boy. This was it, they felt Light energy inside of him, that small brief window was enough to feel. It was as disappointing as it was expected, for him the match was now struck and all he could do was play along.
"So, he has some light energy in him, don't see why you're all so uppity about it, given his self-imposed task and devotion he could have been just blessed." He offered the most likely possibility besides the actual truth of the matter, despite their probing touch on his mind they couldn't sense the deep deceit within as it instinctively hid far within him. Yet unfortunately, this deceit went nowhere, they refused to believe it, puzzling the man.
Why not? The Goddess of Light has done such things to humans, it's recorded, and I'm not talking about the regular one she hands out to beginner heroes. He questioned them, attempting to sow some doubts into them, but the answer he got silenced him. Ilias rarely gifted mortal men and women higher blessings after several events that he only heard hushed whispers about, the other and most obvious reason which he should have seen coming was the very nature of his energy.
How ironic…He remarked in silence, the very thing that kept him hidden is what exposed him. Too little light energy for there to be an actual blessing present in the fake hero, the other most incriminating detail is the source.
"I see, if a person is blessed, the light energy inside of their system still traces back to Ilias and there is no possible way you wouldn't mistake her power for anyone different." Chambers clicked with his tongue, it sounded logical, no one else but her very creations would be able to tell her very presence down to the last energy participle. After all, they were shaped and made by it. "Then, what else?"
Luther closed his eyes and shuffled, the golden mist around him shifted as their mood did as well, at this point he knew. This was practically inevitable in hindsight, if not now then later, but it was worth trying nonetheless, anything to ward off a threat that he made, all he cared about now was their reaction. He felt the same giddiness as he did before, such a strange deep-rooted excitement seemingly shared by most of them, it was like a divine choir singing as they took the steps to heaven.
In that choir, he heard one word, a single word that sunk deep into his soul, and he and Tusk stopped completely.
Family. That word resounded throughout the caverns of his brain, his head felt lighter, and his heartbeat slowed down. He understood the feelings of excitement, to know you were so close to another bound by similar origin, those very same he felt with his younger brother. A smile came to his face as he embraced those foreign emotions, he would have become drunk of their bliss were it not for the further possible discoveries they could make with such a conclusion. More questions appeared, only natural for curious beings like them, especially for such a topic.
They flooded his mind. Why hadn't they felt it sooner? Have much can he use it? Why is there so little and why did it vanish as fast as it had appeared? Then another came, one that he wasn't so keen on hearing. Who are his parents?
That answer was a human and an angel, no other way a human with natural light energy reserves could be born, but who exactly? Not many could have been responsible for his birth, unless something had changed, by Ilias' very decree of isolation Angels couldn't leave Heaven unless ordered for a mission, much less unauthorized interaction with humans, especially in such intimate manner that would end in the birth of a child.
"So the Angel parent could have had some relations with a human during a mission, that or…wait for no." He paused, slapping his own cheek at his stupidity, his given possibility was impossible, the baby surely had to form and they very much doubted any Angel could hide another life form from the other even less from their very own creator. That left one probable parent. "A fallen angel, they disobeyed and likely managed to avoid punishment long enough for him to be born. "
It was one of their kind that defected from their creator, a vile crime, betrayal of their mother, which always called on a direct sentence. Any Fallen Angels' that hadn't managed to hide somehow had its days numbered, left to be judged by Ilias and based on the boy's apparent dead mother that had occurred. Lingering bliss was pushed away by melancholy and sympathy, though their disagreement of falling was heard by Luther, they certainly pitied the implications. If the boy was born and kept by her then the Fallen truly did love her child and they couldn't blame her.
She was a fallen angel...they don't care? Inadvertently his question was televised to the Angels, they jumped from the inquiry, giving him an honest answer. They cared not for his tainted origin, merely the fact he was related to them, a family member that was such a ray of hope on this world, very much different compared to their brethren.
Another series of questions were brought up, one that dreaded to even hear leave their thoughts, Micaela's very presence on this green earth, her aura was unmistakable in this short distance. It was confusing, no doubt about it for Luther, if ordinary Angels had no business on the material plane then certainly the Seraphim's, the very generals of Heaven had no reason either.
Haa…wait, Micaela is an Angel? A Seraphim even…? He feignedsurprise, the man's only choice in this matter, either that or face potential interrogation of a more aggressive kind. The angelic figure he faced in front of him placed her hands on his chest, as she directly into his eyes while the other ones flanked him on all sides, their message was clear – an inquiry on his fabricated past with her, of how they came to know each other.
Oh! Right, nothing much I haven't said. Met her when we wandered into the village, I told the locals about my story, she took pity and helped me, and now I owe her a debt. No idea she was a Seraphim. Chamber shrugged and awkwardly chuckled in response, he felt some of their amusement at a Human owing a debt to a divine being of light such as Micaela, but the question of what she was doing in Enrika, a Monster sanctuary of all places. She couldn't have fallen, one of their very greatest couldn't have betrayed her mother, could she? They felt other light energy sources, others of their kind were there, but why? It had some infiltration, couldn't be any different, those did occur at times.
Luther sighed as he felt some of the Angels' despair and desperation in an attempt to reason it, there was nothing to blame for him. In their shoes he too would be incomplete disbelief that one of his best and brightest family members had betrayed them and so would likely delude himself in desperation, before he could linger any longer on that more thoughts popped up.
They recalled another detail, one that he wished they had forgotten, an undeniable axiom – Micaela knew of Luka's mother. It had practically confirmed his heritage in their eyes along with the other pieces put together, but then would his mother have been a fallen angel? If she was, then Micaela would have struck her down and be done with, the boy wouldn't have the chance to be born, yet that wasn't the case. Even if the mother was an infiltrator, breeding with a live human would still be a violation and grounds for falling. Answers suddenly inter-tangled with one another, leading to a looping maze that had to be navigated.
Luther blankly stared into the abyss above him as they pondered, while he wasn't completely certain what will happen with their newfound knowledge there was one thing he did know – their desire to meet him had only increased, the only action he could take now is keeping them from finding of his mother's complete identity.
That, he will try his hardest to accomplish. No matter what I cannot let that happen, I know of their distaste for Lucifina, it can't be spread to Luka otherwise this journey will be more problematic than it already is.
Luther, Alice, and Luka stood at the mossy entrance of a simply inconspicuous cave, staring into the shadows that painted its interior with darkness, their given direction led them here, despite its ordinary location and appearance. Thick masses of leaves from nearby trees graced the cave with green and the inside of it seemed never-ending. Mourning birdsong surrounded them as they took this small break, trekking the last stretch of their journey right after waking up was a bit tiring.
"Are you sure we're in the right place, this doesn't look like a treasure cave at all," Luka remarked, burying his face in his map and glancing around for any easily recognizable landmarks but he found nothing, just endless acres of forest surrounding this lonely cave in front of the hero.
Alice only sighed. "Idiot, that's the very point of it, it's not supposed to look obvious, how else would one hide treasure?" Luka opened his mouth in response but then closed it, having nothing to retort and Luther remained silent as ever if a bit more nervous than usual.
No matter what happens, I can't let Luka use his Angel powers. Chamber's finger tapped against the hard stone of the cave, he looked back to his travel companions only to find them still staring, appearing somewhat lost.
"Chu." Tusk sat on his shoulder, as it did for the rest of the journey here and the only presence of comforting thoughts within him. The little stand reinforced his assessment, wanting nothing ill to occur to their young purple-haired friend.
"I don't know, I just expected a little more flair, that's all," Luka said and his monstrous friend didn't disagree with his disappointment. "Well, guess you are right, not a place where someone would suspect an artifact of such power to be tucked away in some long-forgotten corner of the world – perfect to hide it away…I hope."
"Then what are you waiting for exactly, see for yourself if what that Lamia told us was true." All of them couldn't agree more on this, the more they delayed the more time was wasted, time that could be spent searching and then returning to the port. Without much more hassle they headed into the cave.
The group was met with darkness in the cavern, nothing that a simple torch and Alice's eyesight couldn't fix, they looked around observing the cave's structure, some uncertainty of what awaits them gripping the heart of Luka all while Luther and Alice remained neutral. It was a lot drier than their last venture into one, no muskiness to elude their scent. Carefully stepping through the strangely narrow corridors of this place they noted its peculiarities.
"Look at the walls, they're too smooth to be natural, corners that wouldn't normally develop," Luka observed, letting his soft hand brush against the surrounding rock, as it turned out the cave wasn't so ordinary on the inside, very little of it appeared natural, very little was left for nature to make. Luka turned left, the only direction they could take, nothing was left to explore, just a straight path ahead to take.
"A lot of this treasure cave has been chiseled out and made by hard-working hands." Despite his circumstances, Luther looked on with wonder, even though it might have been created a long time ago it was still nonetheless impressive to a man-made cave stretched across for such a long distance.
"Then we have found the right place, see, we found this out in just a matter of minutes of looking, there is bound to be something hidden here, look." She pointed to some makeshift pressure plate a bit further away, spikes protruding out from it and impaling a skeleton of a human, a treasure hunter that hadn't made it through, as she guessed both of the men shook from the morbid sight. "If pirates hid away their treasure here, there are sure to be a lot of traps, this just confirms it. We are right where we need to be."
Yet her amusement didn't last long, as a scent quite familiar hit her nose. She sniffed again in disbelief and disgust of what it meant and grumbled in smoldering hatred. "Grrh…this place smells of foxes."
"Eh? What does a fox even smell like?" Luka asked, he was sure no animal could be living there, besides whatever Monster they might encounter perchance, a little fox had no chance of survival if this place was as traitorous as it seemed.
"Thin fried tofu," Alice answered in a deadpan manner. Luka and Luther shared a look, doubting that a wild animal would smell like some food and the fake hero being puzzled at the amount of venom that the purple lamia spat before when she uttered the word 'fox', unpleasant to hear it be stated in such a hateful tone.
Regardless they pressed on, encountering some minor traps – more spikes, swinging blades, and some small vents that would have spewed flames at them based on the smell of oil coming from them, thankfully all of them were either triggered or broken in some way. "That's strange, apparently a lot of people did come here looking for treasure but never returned, the traps are sure triggered, but where are the corpses or bones? There has to be something left behind."
"And I can't shake this feeling that a ghost might just come out at any second." Luka told them, shuddering slightly from the noticeably low drop in temperature, although it was a lot more pleasing on the skin than the relentless heat of the sun, a small break from it if he could call it that.
"Possible, who knows what's in this damned place." Luther idly wondered, carelessly kicking a rock as he walked further ahead, it knocked into a wall, the sound generated resounded across the entire cavern.
"G-g-gh-ghosts!" Alice shook in fear at the mere utterance of the word, the mere possibility of their existence here horrifying her. Luther stared in disbelief as this being, all-encompassing in her power, someone that far eclipsed his capabilities be reduced to what was a scared little child, it felt unreal to witness such a change as if he was still dreaming. People regardless of what power they held had fears, it just so happened to be her fear was of ghosts, a curiously strong one as well.
"What's wrong?" Luka asked out of genuine concern, already having a hunch of what could have caused such an unbelievable reaction in her, a strange phobia.
"Nothing…" The Monster Lord flushed in embarrassment at her sudden outburst of fear, looking away from them to hide it, though that endless shivering and lightly pale skin could not be hidden.
"You sure?" The fake hero inquired further at the sight of her shivering, she only nodded, and at this Luka continued further seeing no point in seeking to aid someone who was too full of themselves to refuse it. However that wasn't the end of it, whilst walking he felt someone's breath blow against his hair, his skin touch against somebody else. In the peripheral he spotted his monstrous companion huddled up close to him, practically holding onto him for dear life.
Luka stopped and was now faced with her abdomen, his nose suddenly poking into the chest, the fake hero would have moved away were it not for her tail holding onto him although admittedly weakly. He looked up to meet her dignified look. "Why are you so close to me?"
"Close to you? Yo…you're the one who's close to me." Alice huffed, avoiding his constant attentive gaze and putting up a stoic front that was easily seen through by Luka who felt every single twitch in her body, she was undeniably frightened. The fake hero didn't care, If he was approached in a more friendly and honest manner maybe he would have, but now all he could is roll his eyes and continue forward
"Chumimi~in."
You got that right…what I'm seeing here is downright ridiculous. First is the size difference, second is identity- she is the Monster Lord and he is the hero that is meant to defeat her. He held himself together as to not laugh or at least chuckle at the sight of the Monster Lord holding onto the pint-sized hero like a child would an oversized teddy bear, at this point, it wouldn't surprise him if she flat out picked him up like one and her denial was just icing on the cake. Gone was the previous Monster who relentlessly questioned and teased them, in her place was a scared little girl holding onto a dear friend for safety. It only made him curious as to what was the cause of this peculiar trait. A bit adorable if I may add, not something I thought I would use for Alice, but whatever. Honestly, this is much more preferable than her constant questioning and teasing. Luther glanced at Luka, who seemed uncomfortable at his unending proximity with his tormentor. Bear this a little while longer my friend, trust me it's worth it.
"Besides…I wouldn't be afraid of something as unscientific as ghosts. Honestly, how could either of you believe in something like that?" She scoffed in false bravado, much to Luka's further chagrin. "Luka I could understand."
"Hey!" The fake hero voiced his discontent, but it fell on deaf ears and he was forced to grumble underneath his breath as he practically dragged the Monster Lord with every step.
"But you, how? I thought you were more rational than this." On earth, he would have agreed with Alice's assessment on the matter of spirits after the initial shock of meeting her. But the circumstances were very much different now and his answer was much the same, and that only deepened his desire to go back home, where everything at the very least was normal and he wasn't at any risk of dying.
"Why not? It's possible." Luther answered nonchalantly in his usual manner, which only frustrated her further, or freighted her…he couldn't quite tell at this point.
"P-possible!?It's stupid, not possible."
"Well, if you want to argue about the existence of ghosts, first we have to define what a ghost is exactly." While the answer was already clear to him, he had seen ghosts in this world through a computer screen, nonetheless, it was nice enough to go into an argument with someone as irrational as Alice was currently being, bringing his mind off of stressful matters.
"Superstitious nonsense!" Alice hollered at him, no doubt her booming voice reaching into the deeper parts of the cave and probably scaring off any inhabitants or other trespasser from coming near.
"Wandering lonely spirits?" Luka hesitantly decided to get into the conversation, giving his answer. "I mean that's what most stories describe them as – dead spirits that have suffered a tragic fate and wander the living world instead of passing on because of that." He recited from the numerous stories told to him.
"There we have it - spirits of dead people that wander the living world, who's to say they don't exist? Souls, magic, and energy exist, don't they? It wouldn't be so far-fetched to claim a soul can be outside the body, granted, they wouldn't be much stronger than their living counterpart besides the little clever tricks spirits can usually pull off" Luther argued and Alice listened intently, her purple skin growing paler by the second, looking as if she was about to faint and despite the amount torment she had inflicted this pleased nether of the men present. "Though I doubt someone of your strength would worry about them, you'd probably just be able to cough on them and they vanish."
"Alright, Alice, just breathe, it will all be fine, they're no ghosts here." Luka muttered to his uncomfortably close companion, who was weakly spouting off insults and going on endless tangents, her voice box, fortunately, lacking the strength to fully voice anything other than a squeak.
Luther turned to face the darkened path ahead, peering into the corridors that were utterly enveloped by shadow. His eyesight was starting to get used to the darkness thankfully, enough to spot two glimmering auburn lights staring back at him and then barely make out the faint form of a figure, somebody was watching them. His suspicions were confirmed when the said figure dashed away once it noticed it got his attention. Hmm…now what Monster was that? Don't remember, though those were definitely that of an animal's, some kitsune perhaps…
"Somebody just moved there." Luther pointed directly into the darkness, Luka froze in anticipation and Alice's senses just barely managed to catch a shadowy glimpse of their stalker, her face paled further.
"Eeep ghost!" Alice shrieked in terror, the bravado dropped and she held onto Luka, her tail now completely wrapping around the protesting fake hero. Out of sheer force, both fell forward to the ground, the Monster's tail softening the landing. Luka was staring at the rocky ceiling above with a flat face as he was squeezed by her. He was regretting ever mentioning anything about ghosts and made a mental note not to do so again until the pain kicked in.
"H-hey! Don't squeeze me like that, you'll make my head pop." The fake hero commanded, writhing in her shaky grasp that had mercilessly taken hold of him. Although after some time his forceful request was headed after a bit of scuffle and in his relative freedom he found that he could freely turn his body from the unexpected jailor without any issues. She was shivering, no longer did his fearsome and cruel mentor resemble her usual self, instead, she was as pale as the ghost she was afraid of, holding onto him for safety…
A large part of him felt awful for yelling at her like that, or not even feeling some amount of sympathy, it was what a hero should do….and doing what he felt was the right thing, he found his arms wrapping around the scared Monster, brushing against her hair. "There, there, everything is fine, I'm here." Luka rubbed her back slowly, comforting the Monster as the faded memories of his mother dictated. She seemed to relax ever so slightly and surprisingly accept his embrace, but it was a bit too slow for his liking, he only hoped that there would be some miracle that would befall him and free him from this duty.
Alright, what the hell could have caused such fear, this isn't funny anymore, just concerning. Luther grimaced, hopeless asking his stand the question, but as he expected there was no answer. As he knew nothing. Tusk could only offer some weak support, landing atop Alice's head.
"Relax, judging from what I saw that wasn't a ghost, it had the eyes of an animal and judging from a humanoid shape…probably a Monster lurking about, if you don't trust what I have to say you can smell them yourself with that nose of yours," Luther noted coming to his rescue as he squatted beside the pair to face them. He and his younger companion exchanged looks, one told of subtle sympathy the other of some discomfort, relief, and worry.
Alice sniffed the air, her face twisting into a scowl, and then didn't move much after freezing, color had immediately begun returning, turning into a shade of red. Whether it was out of anger or embarrassment from seeing such weakness none truly knew, but both collectively had a hunch that this was the makings of an outburst, a particularly violent one if uncontrolled. Luther's stand immediately jumped, flying away from the Monster mimicking its master's movements.
"Uhh...Luka, I suggest yo-"
"Those damn ruddy foxes, they're always like this!" But it was far too late. Alice violently lifted herself carelessly dropping the young hero to the cold tough surface. She slammed her fist into the wall, a large crack formed sinking the arm deeper into stone, the entire cave shook and nearly seemed like it would all collapse, but as if under some form of will it held together. "When I get my hands on of them, I-"
"No..." In a drop of hat her demeanor changed, she recomposed herself after several seconds of silence. "That would be unbecoming of me, can't let them win." She turned her gaze to Luka and Luther, her cheeks still red from shame. They now have regarded in some amount of fear or maybe worry that she might have accidentally killed them all. "Now, nothing happened here, can we agree on that?" She spoke in a sickly sweet voice that promised terrible things to the ones that opposed her, both males held enough wisdom to just nod and agree to never discuss such a happening.
"The Monster in question is a kitsune." The Purple Lamia sniffed the air. "A young at that, easy prey." She yanked Luka by the arm and dragged him up, making sure to prop him up straight. "I'll be watching, deal with her however you wish, but please be a dear if you can and destroy her."
With her farewell, she left them be, vanishing and leaving behind only a single trace of her existence – the crater in the wall just beside a shocked young hero fruitlessly grasping at the air where she previously was and his frozen older companion. They stared blankly at the only exit, processing the fast-paced progression of events that nearly led to their untimely demise, quietly singing praises to whatever force or fate kept that from happening.
"She is dangerous." Luka breathed out, breaking the silence and realizing that he was holding his breath.
"Hmm...you say so as if that wasn't established since day one." Luther dryly recounted the experience he would describe as dangerous, no matter how much time had passed or how tolerable she became of him that subtle feeling of danger never disappeared. It had made itself most clear at this moment.
"And crazy." Luka then added, his left hand touching the massive crack in the cave wall.
"Right, I'll give you that one, but I guess that's what happens when someone is scared and angry, irrationality always follows…" Chamber sighed and turned to continue forward. "Well then, now that we are through with that. Shall we proceed? By the looks of it, we have some kitsune to take care of, think you can handle it?"
"Oh yeah! Maybe…depends on how many tails they might have, but I'm sure it will be fine." The fake hero nervously laughed, still looking on to the exit of the cave where Alice had likely gone to cool off, before finally following after his friend.
I surely hope so…
Through the narrow corridors, Luka and Luther entered another section of the cave, convinced they were getting closer to its treasure; It was a large room, torchlight barely being able to illuminate its corners. A small fox-eared girl with silver hair ran around it in a fit of panic, even with the shadows covering them all she was easy enough to spot for both of them. She stopped immediately, her ears twitching as they picked up on the loud sound of footsteps and rocks being kicked. The Monster turned around and was illuminated by the torchlight, she looked nervously at them, lip quivering slightly. Their unhinged companion's observation was true despite her enraged state, said Monster was kitsune based on her appearance – from the small girl's silver hair two fox ears emerged, twitching in anticipation, her auburn eyes were like that of an animal's, glimmering in the dark and reflecting any light that hit them, two tails swung around behind her and she wore red eastern style clothing, skin-tight short pants.
"Aaha…is the scary lady with you?" She asked them both in such a fearful manner that made them hesitate in approaching her. Luther's cold gaze softened, becoming more sympathetic all while Luka's moral code ordered him to reassure the frightened being despite her being a potential enemy.
"No, she just left to calm her nerves, something happened, not sure what." Luka spoke with utmost honesty, he had no real clue of how to properly describe Alice's recent antics, it was hard to even comprehend her losing her cool like this. "Guess, everyone has their buttons…" He whispered to himself.
"Uuh, w…what should I do…?" The two-tailed fox Monster visibly relaxed, yet nonetheless lamenting to herself, not bothering to control her volume. "First I got separated from Tamamo, then that scary lady shakes the cave and now these two humans show up."
"Look I don't really get what you have going on here, but we have a bell to get to and I'm not afraid of fighting my way to get it." The fake hero stated immediately getting the fox girls attention and snapping her out of her panic, his fingers tapping against the hilt of Angel Halo
"The bell?" She turned her head, a few seconds passed as the realization of her duties finally hit her. "Oh, the Poseidon's Bell! No, you can't take it, she told me to not let any humans get their hands on it. No matter who they are or what scary ladies they might have with them, I cannot disappoint her." The kitsune rushed in front of the only way forward for them, stopping and readying a battle stance, daring them to come and fight. "I won't let you by me."
"Who ordered such a thing?" Luka could already hazard a guess as to how this encounter will end, he had already begun to slowly draw his sword out its sheath, but he reasoned that he might as well know what he would be facing later.
"That's a secret." She smirked, winking and putting a finger up against her lips as she leaned forward.
"The name you said…Tamamo was it?" Luka guessed, The Monster's happy-go-lucky demeanor faded away at his accurate question, from that moment he knew he hit the bull's-eye. It was his turn to smirk.
"Tamamo - the Heavenly Knight of Earth, that is your master…troublesome, what exactly is she doing here of all places, I thought Heavenly Knights all had important business and not wander around dry caves searching for some long-forgotten treasures." Luther looked on as the Monster shrunk even further while the younger companion sweated at the prospect of facing another elite Monster like Granberia.
"Auu…How do you know?" Her ears fell, all of the attempts to keep things secret were thwarted, by something none other than her mouth.
"Almost every human knows about the Heavenly Knights, well…not maybe not by name but still, their existence and identity is practically common knowledge." Luther informed the small fox girl in a comforting tone, in he found the strange urge to pet the crestfallen kitsune that was quickly silenced. "Surmise to say based on what you have said previously and that fact someone as important as her is here, the likelihood of the bell being here is one-hundred percent."
"Perfect, Amira didn't lie to us then." Luka's posture became more confident, his goal proved to be closer than ever before, all that was needed was to forge ahead and beat anyone that stood in his way, nothing he wasn't already used to doing. "Look, stand aside please and let us get the bell, there is no need for us to fight if you don't." He drew out Angel Halo as fast as he could, lightly swinging it her way. The Monster stepped back a little in surprise, watching as his weapon's eyes glared at her with contempt. "I'm not afraid of fighting my way through you."
The kitsune swallowed the lump in her throat that formed, watching the older human take several steps back to give them both space. She presumed he already knew of what was to come and had no visible weapon of his own - he wasn't a threat, someone to take care of later. Speaking of weapons, the Monster looked at the blade in the purple-haired boy's hand. Her master had spoken about something like it, an ancient weapon made from Angels capable of eating away the energy of anything that dares to touch it, and so it was unthinkable for someone like the plain boy before her to have it in his possession. The kitsune powered through her uncertainty, flashing back a daring smile at Luka, she had duties to fulfill for her great master.
"Then let the match begin." As she uttered those words the kitsune jumped toward the fake hero, knowing the utmost speed was necessary to win this bout. Her tails swung around, messaging his body with its soft fluff as she dashed by Luka.
"Gah." Luka stifled a moan and swung his blade in defense, he was not caught off guard, having fought and trained with faster opponents such as the likes of his monstrous mentor and Granberia's, constantly giving his all to keep up with them. Yet the kitsune was much smaller than anyone he had ever fought, that was made clear to him when she had simply dove underneath his wide swing.
Soon enough it was revealed to him how his opponent had felt when fighting him, someone else was abusing their small size. That just means I have to go faster. Luka gritted his teeth, enduring the fading sense of pleasure that her tails had brought him and fighting off the desire to feel them once more.
"This won't be that easy." The fake hero recovered quickly from his whiffed attack and jumped back a slight bit away from his similar-sized adversary before lunging forward at her, using all the speed he could muster. In the end, he managed to pull off a decent Thunder Thrust for his standards, if a bit lacking in its usual haste, though he could wager it would take much more time to balance properly to pull it off fully.
Nevertheless, his minor mimicry of the technique worked, Angel Halo stabbing into the small fox girl's abdomen as she attempted to sidestep his full force dash. Luka saw her shudder in the sudden feeling of the cold and its numbness and took the opportunity to continue his aggressive advance, sending forward a multitude of blinding slashes. Yet unlike most of his other opponents, no surprise came along with Angel Halo's effects, she recuperated quickly, giving a playful smile to the boy, however, her eyes became focused and fierce as she avoided his rapid attacks.
Damn, she's fast and small, no hulking frame you can easily hit Luka! I can't do anything but simple scrapes and bruises besides that large impalement. The only way to win this it seems is either through a surprise attack or attrition. Despite his instincts warning against this seeing how risky it was since he knew nothing of her capabilities, Luka continued his aggressive attack, forcing her to be on the defensive and pushing her into a corner. It was necessary, he told himself – to buy some time for his battle intelligence to think of a plan. As tempting as a surprise sounds, I doubt it could even work, if she wasn't at all surprised by Angel Halo then I doubt any technique would do more, though it may be with enough speed, perhaps Demon Decapitation if I'm far enough.
They started near several pillars alongside the wall of the room, time was running short for both of them, if it continued as it did now Luka could win if he gave his all, although such might prove costly if failed. And so he considered his other option. On the other hand, I can dwindle her down with what little damage I deal, if she manages to attack me then U may recover by meditating. While continuing to strike, he attempted to clear his mind and let his body move on its own, if for a short time he felt his soul be still, being able to reach forth into the depth where powers unknown lay dormant. Wait…
The spark was lit, his soul turning into a blazing pyre of energy. What little exhaustion he had piled on faded, the minuscule treasonous desires to submit that formed in his little bout – snuffed out without a trace. There was only him and his opponent that needed to be dealt with so that they could continue, so they couldn't harm or attack anyone else. Each battle he has to win, for his own and the sake of others. His smile turned into a confident grin – victory had to be assured, there was simply another way. I don't have to choose, both tactics can certainly be tried, any consequence can be negated.
"Ugh…what a nasty sword!" The kitsune complained, stifling a shiver as the unholy blade's glare on her intensified, Luka may have even called her tone drowsy coming from his hope that he was already getting to her. "Hey, how can you even swing around such a thing so carelessly." She asked, her back near the wall.
The fake hero refused to answer, instead of pushing on even further beyond what he had done before, body and weapon turning into a vague blur of attacks that she was forced to dodge or let her be hit by, showing no sign of potential respite. Come on, come on!
Once it looked like she had nowhere to go the boy decided to end this bout and charged at her as fast as possible, but her expression was unchanging, a part of him had feeling something was coming, the consequence his cautiousness was searching for. Without warning the Monster dashed to the side, attempting to squeeze through the little space he wasn't suppressing, likewise, Luka was hot pursuit.
Pillars…it had to be pillars… He hesitated ever so slightly once faced with the thick supports of the room seeing his two-tailed adversary dash along with them, in a zig-zag fashion, cutting off many forms of attack, daring to even turn around and blow a raspberry. My tactic…she is using my tactic, I just have to be faster than her.
And faster he became, darting around the tight corners almost like he was phasing through the stone. More seconds passed, he was getting closer, all that was needed was a clean jab or slash into her back and she would fall.
Huh? In an instant she was nowhere to be seen, leaving to consciously search for her until the horrible realization of what she just did hit him when he felt her seize his arm – she stopped just in time, turning another corner and seeing him run ahead. Whether of sheer monstrous strength or cunning through use of the boy's momentum the kitsune threw him forward, flipping him over.
Holy shit, that is a long throw, just a little more force behind it and he would splat against the wall. Come on, hang in there little guy…you've been through worse. Luther watched in some amount of awe as Luka flew across the room. Tusk desired intervention; he knew this well, who wouldn't? But his more sensible side told him the boy would have his pride hurt if he were to do so without help, the last thing he wanted when gaining his trust. While pride is often folly, it is also a powerful motivator.
Luka landed on his back, a sharp sting of pain running through his bones, he heard the sigh of relief coming from the fox girl as she caught her breath. It left him with enough time to stare up into the ceiling and lament his decision to pursue. That little- of course, she would do that! How can you have been so blind? She has already shown her you're faster, not fast enough to make the gap unreachable and she perfectly used it. A better alternative would have been to just stop and wait, let her run aimlessly.
Frustration, disappointment, and rage welled up inside of him, a lot directed at himself for the incompetence he displayed, the rest at the kitsune that forced him to display it. Nothing was left for but to still his mind once more, conclusions and answers flooded into him, his answers. His short-term pain was a blessing in disguise, with her indirect aid part of his plan was already achieved –distance, enough to likely pull off one good technique.
A cough, a shudder, and Luka rolled forward and jumped back up, it wasn't anything he hadn't faced before, the pain dealt with him wasn't even close to paralyzing him, neither was the fatigue. Having been put through Alice's torment of constantly being knocked down, grabbed, squeezed, and slapped around it was an easy task to find footing again when unrestrained. Main hand tightly wrapped around Angel Halo he focused all of his attention on his opponent.
Her tails swayed, inviting him to come closer while she stuck out her tongue. "You lose! You lose! Don't be so cocky, some scary sword isn't going to stop you from getting thrown like a doll. Come again if you want to, that was fun!" She giggled and saw right what he wanted – the fierce look in her eyes was no longer present. "I do know some other things we can do that might be more fun…" Her mocking expression turned into a lewd grin, one that he had seen many times on different Monsters to understand what it meant. Nothing he would have enjoyed that's for sure…
The fake hero stepped on the balms of feet, bouncing from one side to the other, finding the perfect balance to jump, he estimated there was enough space both vertically and horizontally for him to perform Demon Decapitation without any issues such as banging his head against the ceiling or slamming head-first into a wall. He leaped.
The two-tailed Monsters face fell into despair once she recognized that the speeding projectile in front of her wasn't a projectile, but the very young boy she was fighting against, her Monster instincts acted up and in a last-ditch effort to avoid this potential killing blow, she attempted to drop down, twisting her body to leave herself untouched by the prison sword.
Demon Decapitation just about connected, slicing at her neck a small bit before she managed to get away, leaving Luka with renewed vigor and his opponent lamenting her mistake of ever underestimating the boy and a strong sense of sleepiness overtaking her. "Really should heed your advice if you want to win." He spoke earnestly, foreseeing that she will be slowing at this point.
"Damn you!" It was her turn to glower, not that she had much to keep frowning seeing as how another strong and fast attack was coming from the boy and searched in her mind for whatever skill she had in her repertoire to even the odds. One came idea came, a freakishly simple one, using a Jutsu she had just learned will surely turn the tide. "Take this, Clone Jutsu!" The two-tailed kitsune grinned, making sure to perform the right-hand seals to channel her power correctly and a large puff of some exploded out of her body.
Hold on, what is this? Luka's further assault was paused, vision completely obscured by the thick clouds of smoke. They dissipated, revealing three look-alikes of the kitsune, which appeared the same – from their clothes, body language, and size. His gaze shifted from one figure to the next, continuously for any plausible differences. One of them is real. I can feel it in my soul, but which one?
"Fufufu, Amazing, right? Now, do you see that I'm the real deal?" The kitsune boasted loudly while standing proud, letting out a snicker. It was three against one now, no way she would lose if only he struggled against a single one.
Did she jus-? Really…Luka stood, frozen in sheer disbelief of how his enemy had ousted her location so easily, besides basic stance her clones remained static, not laughing, speaking, or emitting any sound, the boy even noticed how they didn't even breathe at the same pace. Breaking out of his daze he walked forward as she was laughing, getting close enough to take her out in a single swing.
…the laughing slowed down, fading away into dry disappointed crying once she realized how her clones had completely failed to copy her, or exist as anything more than a bare illusion. Just standing there, in reality all alone, no Tamamo to save her from the cruel fate that purple-haired boy's weapon offered.
"Ha,ha…ha…uhhh…p-pretty good." She opened her eyes, and a pained smile crossed her lips. Luka was close up front, slashing her down with some amount of pity for the child trickster.
With the last of her energy reserves used up and what little remained devoured by Angel Halo, the two-tailed kitsune was forced into a lesser form, in a flash she disappeared, replaced by a fluffy silver fox, a two-tailed kit, and nothing more. She seemed lost and puzzled, glancing from side to side, up and down around the room, getting accustomed to her even smaller size, before uncomfortably gazing at Luka, hissing at him.
"Well, now you can't do anything bad anymore." The fake hero remarked as he knelt down, his adversary's new adorable appearance drawing on his affectionate side, it was only natural for a hero to protect the weak. "Ten out of ten for effort I guess." He reached out to pet the small fox. "Gah!" Only to be bitten by this Monster, she hissed at him once more running deeper into the cave, where her brethren likely waited for her.
"Hey, you alright? That bite looks serious." Luther was right behind squatting beside, fitting for the man at his side, and beckoned for the journey. A groan escaped Luka's lips as blood dripped out the deep bite marks on his hand, he steadily nodded. The older man watched as his young friend's wound vanished in an instant after a moment of silence, feeling his energy surge once more, the astonishment of feeling it happen never leaving him.
"Man, what a sore loser, kind of funny that the only damage she ever managed to do was in her sealed form." Luka stood up and brushed off whatever rock dust his clothes were covered in, a casual smile appearing on his face while the tenseness in his stance disappeared, it was as if nothing had happened. "Honestly I wasn't even trying to do anything bad to her."
Luther gave him a long stare. "Except you fought her, committing something that is not just a simple inconvenience – you sealed her into a lesser defenseless state and she is likely to remain that way for long, and now she is left frustrated because of that and justifies her actions with the harm you have caused her. Simple." It was a shame to see said Monster run off so carelessly, both in terms of the young one's safety and
"Good." A familiar voice immediately interjected, both already recognizing who it belonged to. "Damned foxes like her deserve such a fate and more." Alice made her opinion on the issue clear. "Don't listen to him, you did the right thing sealing such an insolent buffoon, could have done more to her but the result is acceptable."
"Right…" Luka said, avoiding to meet Alice's eyes uncomfortably exchanged gazes with Luther, both feeling unsure of how to even continue speaking with Alice after her tantrum, only supposing that completely ignoring what occurred. "We should move on, no doubt there is more already searching for that bell."
"Hmm…yes, no way are the kitsune here natural inhabitants, those damned foxes don't live in these caves." The purple lamia sniffed the stale air of the cave, her anger intensifying, yet both of the males were glad she was at least in a tolerable mood. "They're infesting this place. Sheesh, those things are annoying, one continent is not enough apparently."
The group passed through what seemed as endless corridors, winding paths and finding some dead-ends, pacing through more activated traps than ever before with the thought that whoever made this cave didn't want anyone finding the treasure buried. Luka stopped in amazement, staring at a large well-chiseled spiked boulder that had long slammed into a wall judging by the crater nearby. He placed his hand on it as if checking whether or not such a large rock was real, while Luther and Alice noted the pitfalls nearby as well.
"Looks like they have triggered all of the traps here, how fortunate, still for your own sake I recommend you watch your step. " Alice remarked, easily jumping across the large gap separating her from the further path ahead. She was quickly followed by her companions who agreed with her notion.
Another large room, this one also lacking any tricks or traps but did seem to be ransacked long ago. They stopped to glance around, looking for anything out of the ordinary that could possibly surprise them, there was nothing that was found. "Strange, why would these rooms exist? There is nothing here, no traps, no secret passages, it's just there." Luka asked, hoping to get a concise answer.
"Could be some kind of living quarters somebody had either carved out or made." Chambers explained, becoming unusually alert. Tusk peered into the darkness as it searched for the foreign energy signatures that it had sensed, however, its beady eyes could not hope to see anything properly. "Would explain the lack of danger here, you wouldn't want to booby trap your place unless you're extremely careful."
"I do smell something here, it's faint, hidden."
"Is it one of those kitsune?" Luka inquired, drawing out Angel Halo to face the potential threat all while Luther swung around the torch attempting to light any corner previously unlit.
"No, the scent is far from the stench that those foxes exude, it is more natural to this environment." Alice hummed slithering forward, her vision far surpassing that of her fellow travelers she didn't need light to see. Sighing, she stilled Luka's approach, harshly grabbing his arm and yanking him away from his path. "Nothing here, move on."
"Eh…?Gah, okay stop I get it." Luka wanted to protest but her grip on his arm only got tighter as she forced him to walk away, the pain was becoming unbearable and all he now wanted was to be freed from this cruel hold. "Please let me go, you'll tear my arm off if you don't stop." He pleaded with her, enough distance was crossed and she complied, coldly letting go of him before telling him to continue.
"Chu." Tusk looked on in some amount of pity and confusion, finally turning its small body back into hidden corners of the room.
Now, what was that about? Luther raised an eyebrow, but knew better to keep his lips shut else he'd suffer as well. There was something or someone hidden within those shadows, who Alice had no desire for either of them to witness. That much he could gather from her actions and what he felt – another origin point of dark energy, minuscule in comparison to all others here but still nonetheless present. Curiosity overwhelmed him, he had at least wanted to get a glimpse of what the Monster Lord was hiding, he couldn't be blamed for doing so, could he? Chambers stepped closer, letting Tusk be his guide making sure as to not make too much noise. His torch illuminated all he desired to see. Oh…Oh! Now I just feel like an asshole.
Luther frowned, the sight before him was stark… a Meda Girl, he remembered the game called the Monster, was curled up in a ball, quivering in fear at whatever fearsome force had come to take her life. She didn't react to him or the light shining on her, perhaps pretending he didn't exist for the sole reason of making whatever bothered her disinterested and leave. He had no words left to say, except a single quiet apology and excusing himself, only a small hunch as to what had caused this present in his mind. Alice shook the whole cave with a single punch, possibly even collapsing it in an instant, if she is a natural inhabitant then no wonder she is beyond scared, her home was nearly destroyed.
"Everything will be alright, sorry for bothering you…"Chambers turned away. He hastily walked back to his companions who had continued without him, rushing past the many more triggered traps and pitfalls, acting as if he had never left their side, almost…
"Found what you were looking for?" Alice coldly queried as he caught up to them as Luka looked at him, curiosity ever-present on his face.
"Well, I found nothing of interest at all if that's what you're wondering, just someone that wanted to be left alone." He succinctly responded, wanting to not draw any further ire from a being that could obliterate him on the spot, they exchanged long stares that told them all they needed to know. Luka wanted to say something, but feeling such a tense atmosphere decided against it in fear of making it worse.
"Right, as it should be, those are matters you shouldn't concern yourself with." The Monster Lord made the last simple jump ahead, however, once Luka made it to her location she latched onto his shoulder and gave him a deadly glare that hadn't failed to send shivers down his spine. It was different, more serious, and far removed from all the sadistic whimsicalness that she usually possessed. "And you should stop swinging your sword around like some brutish barbarian. You say you want to create a world where Monsters and Humans live in peace. Yet here you are, going in and expecting a fight everywhere you go, attacking and sealing Monsters one after another."
"I'm only fighting Monsters that are attacking travelers, and can't get along with humans, if it isn't me then it is somebody else. "The fake hero answered and took some time before admitting another detail. "As unfortunate as it is, we don't have the time to spend talking before inevitably getting attacked, do we? I doubt anyone here is in a friendly mood today, considering we are after the same treasure."
"Understandable, but in all honesty, you shouldn't expect a fight with every Monster you come across, that would serve to only create more problems where there are none." She advised. "You're being selfish by undermining their goals for survival."
"Selfish? Oh certainly the Monster we have fought before didn't have their own selfish goals in mind." Luther spat, a large part of him wanted to bite his tongue upon receiving the death glare, but since he already started if he figured he might as well finish his trail of thought. "We have tried to peacefully solve a lot of encounters and issues, but it seems they value their desires over mine and Luka's livelihood, most negotiations are fruitless and lead to the same result ."
"Accepting certain requests and conditions may be the change of that, or do you seriously expect them to let you off the hook without any compensation." Alice questioned, she was disappointed to hear such naiveté, as it was with most negotiations something had to be offered up to be even worth participating in them ignoring external factors like intimidation.
"And what would you have us comply with? Luka can't because of his religious beliefs, I certainly don't want to because suffering through Critical Ecstasy, as it is a waste of time and pointless, and who's to say they won't get greedy and take advantage of our weakness. It certainly seems to be that way, at that point Luka or I am in a position where we could do nothing." Luther finished his argument, deciding to leave no further room for further discussion, his younger friend naturally found himself agreeing with this assessment while Alice remained skeptical, she opened her mouth to speak but someone else spoke before her.
"Can we leave this up for later, please… there is something quite important to be taken care of right and I doubt any of us wants to waste precious time." Luka suggested both of his companions couldn't help but agree with such an assessment and continued unimpeded by any obstacles. No other signs of life accompanied them, curiously no one else was there to stop them and it brought cautiousness that slowly built up within them, surely there was someone else there besides a couple of stragglers and some inhabitants.
"Why would they want the Poseidon's Bell anyway? If the storm is still there and the kitsune aren't native to the Ilias Continent, then how the hell did they get here in the first place?" The fake hero saw fit to break this self-imposed silence to inquire on some details that puzzled him, he knew perfectly that someone else was after the bell and it was only natural to not allow anyone else to get, but for what reason would one need it if they could cross the storm already by themselves.
"Teleportation, flight, there are methods that most of you humans could only dream of using and as for why they're here. Clean out your ears and use your head if you want to get that answer, idiot." To no one's surprise, Alice sharply replied. "The little one said it before, they don't want humans using it, why go through all the trouble to create a storm if a human can get this bell and sail past it."
"But why take it now of all times, when we are the ones searching for it? The storm started quite a while ago, somebody was bound to be searching for it way before I even started my journey." Luka pondered.
"Yes, the timing is what is most bothersome, and a bit unnecessary considering most normal humans wouldn't even try to venture here, let alone survive such an endeavor judging from all the traps set in place. Either it took that long to locate it, which is doubtful, or someone grew paranoid enough to grab it, thinking this place wasn't safe enough." Alice hummed, staring into the empty darkness further up ahead. If it's her playful and annoying mentor that was searching for the bell then surely she must have known about its location for a long time
"Normal Humans? What does that supposed to mean?" The fake hero blinked, the thought that he was abnormal piercing its way through its skull and into his brain.
"Neither you nor Luther could be considered normal by most standards, what Humans can miraculously heal from wounds just by sitting still for a couple of seconds or throw projectiles with an unknown energy and paralyze people just from touch alone." As she said her piece Luther and Luka exchanged looks, noting down their skills.
"And then have a lamia of unknown origins that is both skilled magic and swordsmanship, possesses artifacts and weapons of legendary quality and possibly destroy entire buildings with just her fists whose only goal in mind is food...we are an unlikely bunch." Luther dryly remarked, knowing it was far more ridiculous than they all put it like it was the start of some bad joke - a Nephilim, a Monster Lord, and an interdimensional alien walk into a bar. Though he wasn't quite arrogant enough to believe his existence was the most bizarre one of his little group just from his mere origin.
"Indeed, it doesn't seem like a mere coincidence that we were drawn together, fate is strange, no?" Alice's soft chuckling echoed throughout the cave, all while Luka had stars in his eyes at the prospect.
Fate is cruel, no? Luther sighed at the notion, if fate really was there then it had it out for him, no other way would some poor feller be dragged from his own world and into some other more terrifying one if it wasn't to get some sick kicks. He wasn't here for some grand purpose, just to survive and return or die trying, that was all he was to fate.
Muffled noises brought them out of their musings and their attention to the path leading into the main treasure room, they saw that same sealed kitsune standing in their way, no...on the closer look she was appeared to be caught inside a cobweb, struggling, even in the dark they could see clearly. Another arachnoid-like figure cautiously crawled down the web, Luka and Luther couldn't quite hear what she was saying but Alice frowned, it was still evident to all of them what was happening - a Monster had caught its prey and was going to feast on it.
"That web looks way too large to be made by a regular spider and that other one over there, is it a Monster's trap?" Luka squinted at the sight before him, at his current pace he was sure to meet whatever was holding the sealed kitsune hostage. "Why would someone catch a fellow Monster?"
"Not all Monsters consider each other allies, like Humans they may tend to fight amongst each other for different reasons. Especially the insect-type Monsters, they'll make almost anything their feed and I do mean anything, even they're very own kind."The Monster Lord explained with some dissatisfaction in her tone, yet didn't seem to mind much about the prospect of this particular fox getting eaten. "That kitsune was stupid for running off like that and not expecting anything will catch her in such a weak state."
Spitting her last insult she vanished, leaving them both to decide for their next course of action, the captured silver fox's muffled cries and their race toward the Poseidon's Bell adding on the pressure. Both of them wanted this to be dealt with and move on. Luther looked onward with pity at the idea of such a probably young being caught in such a miserable situation, having her life be snuffed out. Knuckles becoming white as his fists tightened.
"We have no time to play around here or talk." Luka said, his left foot erratically tapping against the stone floor, the rest appeared rather eager to take on this large spider creature, feeling a bit responsible for the situation he had indirectly the Kitsune in.
"Then let me help with this one, together we'll finish this quickly, I'll grab her and then you go seal with Angel Halo if that's fine with you?" Luther told him his idea, a simple plan really but it was this fiend before him that needed to be taken down, no one would have to suffer through the torment of being eaten alive if he could help it.
"Grab and seal?"
"Grab and seal on three." WIth that they nodded to each other paced closer to both of the Monsters struggling, making their presence known.
"Stop right there!" Luka shouted out, his voice easily reaching and catching the attention of the owner of the cobwebs, a spider Monster that looked to be a small arachne who sneered at them.
"One." Luther uttered putting his carried into a nearby sconce, his words quiet enough for only Luka's ears to pick up on, the fake hero hand tightened on the cursed blade ready to draw it out and vanquish this vile foe.
"Oh...thought this day was going to be horrible with that random earthquake but I have already found three stupid catches." She mocked licking her lips, from what they saw she looked to be rather small compared to most other Monsters they have met, her lower body was that of a relatively large spider body compared to the humanoid upper half. Her skin much like her chitin was a sickly green tint, amber eyes ominously glowing in the dark, a bikini the only thing keeping her barely-existent breasts.
"Two." He whispered, Tusk's power running through his legs, begging to be released. Luka took a deep breath, nervously tapping his fingers on his sword's guard.
"Two delicious looking humans nonetheless, which one should I eat and which one should I keep, hmm…" The Spider Girl dropped down from the cobwebs, her legs expertly traversing through the uneven ground of the cave, that hungry look on her face never vanishing.
"Let that kitsune go." Luka commanded, unintimidated by her musings, appearance, or her steady approach, the closer she approached the easier it would be to enact their plan. All that was left was for him to wait for the order to move.
"Sure... if I can get a human boy and man then I don't need such a tiny Monster." Each word that came out of her mouth only agitated them further, neither was her prey or they were taken as anything other than food, their identity as people only likely was present in her mind as a sadistic pleasure of some kind. The purple-haired wanted nothing more than to seal this threat.
"Three." Luther wasted no time after he finished his countdown. He leaped, Spin energy escaping his limbs and propelling forward like a rocket, seemingly at a speed no living being had ever moved, Luka blinked, and in but an instant the man was a hand's reach from their opponent ready to grab and apprehend her in whatever manner possible. Confident in the spider girl's sturdiness he talked her unto the sturdy ground.
"H-huh?" It took a while for the Monster to become aware of what had happened, haughtiness fleeing in the very moment of realization as pain flooded in. "Hey! Let me go you cur!" She lashed out but found her body refused to move even under the most desperate command, tense arms already held together by glimmering starlight. The very same she witnessed once she laid eyes on her face, she shrunk once she noticed there was no hint of mercy on his expression, it promised a grim fate to her, likely delivered by his armed partner.
"We can talk about this, let me go now! Please…" Her pleas were unheard and suddenly she was picked up, the man's arms wrapped around her abdomen. The only thing that could even begin to move was the multitude of her legs, which only swung around in pure futility, doing nothing but delaying the inevitable and being a general annoyance to her captor.
"For goodness sake, hurry up and seal her already! I don't know how long I can hold her." He shouted at Luka who's speed walk turned into a full sprint as they both flinched from the sheer volume of her shrieking. "Shut the fuck up, you'll be fine!"
"Right, just hold her steady for a second and it will all be over with," Luka replied, admittedly he didn't need orders, silencing the ear-piercing screaming was motivation enough. Without any hesitation he drew out Angel Halo stabbed her chest, spider legs failing to shield her from the weapon's advance, her voice fading away as her energy and form dissipated piece by piece.
A small green spider took her place, dropping onto the ground it looked around in confusion, first to Luther, then to Luka, and the sealed kitsune before finally realizing what had happened. The same fate that befell her prey occurred to her, distraught and enraged the spider released whatever sounds it could at them, hitting Luka's shoes with her pedipalps.
"Shoo, go away, before I step on you." Luther nonchalantly threatened and the tiny arachnid jumped back in fear, running away and finding refuge in a crack in the wall. A collective sigh of relief was shared amongst the two as peaceful silence graced their ears with its merciful presence. Luka sheathing his sword leaned against the wall and grasped his head to soothe the headache that formed all while Luther took the time to begin undoing the still struggling fox's trap, web frustratingly clinging onto his fingers.
"Stay still please, I'll get you out, don't worry." The man soothed her, his hands digging into the webbing cursing how slippery and thick the material was, though no doubt seeing why it was effective. After some time had passed he finally got her out, hasting the process through the subtle use of Spin to peel away most of the fabric.
Chambers steeled himself, waiting for the silver fox to lash out at him just as it had done with his young hero, but it didn't come, instead, she jumped out of the cocoon and ran a short distance before turning back, as if begrudgingly thanking them. No problem buddy, not biting me was thanks enough. Having not encountered any foxes in his adventures with friends, he used the opportunity to admire such an animal from afar, its silver fur contrasting greatly with the great boring grey of the wall surrounding them. In all honesty, she looks more adorable when sealed, though she does seem scared.
The fake hero appeared to have wanted to approach the small critter, possibly to make peace but was halted by his older companion's arm acting as a barrier. Luka heard a small "don't" and it only took a brief moment of remembering what occurred previously for caution to return, he had no desire in disturbing her any further, not her weakened, scared state.
They stood there, all refusing to make the first move. Luther noted how the small animal shivered and looked onward further into the cave with uncertainty, whining a little, expecting to be nabbed by some other predator. "Hey...if you're scared, you could just stay with us until we reach your master, I'm sure we can work it all out." Despite his warning to Luka he slowly approached the scared kitsune, reaching out with a hand of peace, however, his efforts were fruitless. Like some statue she remained still, her only movement
She is scared of me when I haven't done anything...Luther's shoulders fell and his stoic expression broke into displaying disappointment, he could either continue forward as they should, leaving her alone and likely losing whatever favor they could gain by directly bringing her to her master. The mind raced to find a solution quickly to this conundrum, he knew there wasn't much time left, Alice would likely shoo the fox away once she got there if her presence alone wasn't enough to scare her. I could try...His more experimentive side was woken from its slumber and given free reign to think, coming up with an admittedly reckless approach.
Nonetheless, interesting to see how a sealed Monster reacts to Hamon, would it be like the others? Luther shook, bestiality was an even worse prospect than the ordinary threat of being raped by a rampaging horny mass of Harpies. Or would she be like the children, enamored and curious yet not completely overwhelmed. You can always stop it if things go south like you have done before.
With his last bit of reassurement and the massive signature of dark energy behind him only getting closer, he took what remained of his focus and began to channel his Hamon, welcoming the healthy feeling of power and vitality back into his body. Gleaming silver mist covered his body, bringing light to the dark cave and he reached out to the kitsune once more. This has to work, come on before that food-obsessed snake goes in and ruins everything. He mentally pleaded with the sealed creature.
"I'm not going to hurt you."
The silver fox stepped forward at snail's pace with intrigue, sniffing the air and savoring the new scent that emerged from the friendly face before her. She then yipped, amble turning into full charge head forward into him. The fluffy comet hitting him in the chest and nearly knocking him over if not for his steadily practiced reaction speed catching her they would both be toppling over onto the ground.
Luther's arms around the fox tightened, fingers brushing against her fur that far surpassed that one any animal he had ever interacted with and he was forced into a battle to not just flat out shove his face into it. Feeling safe she took the embrace calmly. The kitsune nested her small frame onto his chest and jumped up to nuzzle into his face, her tongue gracing his cheeks. "Hey, hey settle down there a bit..."
Luka smiled at the sight of his companion comforting, although undeniably intrigued by the silver covering him, he had seen before when confronting the bandit children, he never quite noticed how it looked so serene... but what purpose did it have? Was it important in easing those Monsters? Those questions would be reserved for later, in more private time, the boy was sure his friend wouldn't appreciate a random interrogation, especially in a time-sensitive manner, nevertheless, he did have a grumpy mentor to deal with, how unfair life was.
"You two are finished…? You really like doing pointless things." Alice reappeared, her sigh was heard by all. "At least this time you were quick about it." The Monster Lord went past Luka and glared at her older companion, particularly the fox in his arms
Chambers shook as he felt the silver fox dive further into his arms, curling up into a ball. "Don't worry, she won't hurt you, I won't let her." He whispered to the scared fox while he stepped away from the scoffing lamia, he stroked the kitsune's fluffy tails, his hands sinking into fur and his mind delving into pure heaven that their unrivaled softness and smoothness brought. Continuing his Hamon breath didn't seem as hard as it was before, and perhaps he thought its powers were fit to calm the nerves of the little thing in his arms
"Pointless…? Saving another life is never pointless, that's the core of being a hero." He argued against, stepping in between her and Luther.
"Then you're a bigger idiot than I thought if you think what you're doing is purely good. If the spider girl doesn't eat, she'll die, simple as that." Alice had certainly made sure to voice her complaints loud enough for both of them to pick up. "You should have just let "survival of the fittest" take its course and went on ahead. Thinking an act like that is evil is thinking all of nature is evil."
"I know that but…" Luka glanced back to Luther who had his back turned, still guarding her and maybe trying to keep Alice's words from reaching her. Nevertheless that fear, that innocence, sure, she did fight and bite him, but she was an innocent victim of someone more powerful than her because of his actions. It was his responsibility to fix it.
"If you save all of the predators' prey, the predators will all starve to death...is that a better outcome?" She questioned him, bringing the fake hero into the hopeless depths that were philosophy debates. "If that's so, does that mean herbivores are good and carnivores are evil? And if someone declared that, would he be a good guy or a bad guy? " Her point was driven home, anyone with such a narrow-minded view would surely commit actions that bring ruin, destabilize the world.
"Except by insinuating what he did was narrow-minded, you yourself commit the same sin, by bringing in good and evil into this discussion." Luther turned to retort, one of his hands slowly messaging the fox's ears and head while the other held her with confidence. "Nature isn't evil because it all happens on instinct for survival, that's what your argument is, no? Yet the same can't apply for Humans and Monsters, they have intelligence and sentience, something separate from instinct, something that forced it to take a backseat. An actual understanding of the concepts of good and evil, who regularly do complex thought processes and not just simple reactions. Furthermore, the predator and prey in this said situation are both intelligent creatures, with their thoughts, feelings, and emotions, capable of suffering more than any animal through their awareness."
"If you want to bring morality in this discussion then fine, but let me ask you this one question: if one intelligent creature causes another to suffer just to feed themselves when the alternative is available then what are they other than evil?" Luther finished, taking a deep breath once he realized he spoke without breathing after a while. He looked up and down, noticing that everyone around him including the cute little kitsune he got so used to petting was staring at him.
"Then what are the alternatives you suggest?" Alice raised an eyebrow, clearly amused by this challenge. "Time passes by and people get desperate, it is true to you humans as is with Monsters."
"First of all, the capabilities of Monsters certainly allow them to catch simpler prey. Have you seen how strong this spider girl's webbing is? Most animals aren't able to break through that." Chambers, with much hesitation, decided to continue with his discussion, but he spoke quickly to ensure he wasted as little time as possible. "Besides that, the Monsters that eat Human males are being extremely inefficient when they can just drink their semen. Why eat something that can feed off daily? It's like the old folktales of the farmer cutting open a goose that lays golden eggs."
"Because that would be another mouth to feed for a Monster." Alice retorted. "You also assume that a Monster would want to keep around whatever schmuck they find, the quality of their semen may not even be worth it."
"Is it that much better if a Monster keeps someone as a semen slave for their entire life?" Luka questioned the morality of his friend's argument, the thought of someone being forced on constantly for the remainder of their lifespan gave a bad taste in his mouth.
"It is better than them eating one after another." Luther was quick to respond, his companions stared into his eyes and noticed a certain fierce spark in them, he looked more alive than he ever appeared since the start of their travels with him. "On the topic of keeping the Human alive, that isn't much of an issue either considering most should be fully capable of hunting down meals and if said man isn't worthy of such hospitality, just let him go...considering the effects of Critical Ecstasy there is a very high chance they would return to the Monster after taking care of themselves. More so if humans were to be released and return alive to their settlements, spreading their tales of their experience people wouldn't be so fearful or hateful of Monsters except for the overzealous types, but practically nothing short of a miracle would change their stance."
Alice paused, from the very start it was clear to her that Luther wasn't as unarmed in terms of knowledge or intellect as Luka, in fact, he had a suspicious abundance of it for some traveler. In part she found herself agreeing with his arguments, a change in that troublesome behavior would certainly lead to a change in the current relationship, but another problem stuck with her. "Then how you propose we go on changing this inefficiency, do you go immediately force every Monster to act with cold rationality and forgo their desires, not even Humans are capable of doing that and I say they have a much easier time dealing with instincts."
"That is the unfortunate side of this, without a massive cultural change, the outlook on such practices within Monsterkind would remain the same, thus prompting no encouragement for such a change."
"Then I'll have to make sure such evils do not happen until that change occurs." Luka showed the strength of his resolve with every word he spoke, but it wasn't taken seriously by the monstrous mentor, nor did he think she would even after a couple of years in all honesty. As his friends had explained, there was much work to be done.
"Besides." Luther flashed a wicked smirk right in front of them, it was hardly believable to them that their brick wall of a companion was being this emotive, and what bare witness didn't promise them anything good. "I don't think you believe in the whole "survival of the fittest" shtick, you're just using it as an excuse to let this fox die and are mad we saved her." To infuriate and mock her further he raised up the sealed kitsune, who had stuck out her tongue right to her face, before going on to cradle it. "Now, what terrible person would want such a cute little thing to be hurt?
Luka subtly started to back off in some form of self-preservation, each second that passed Alice's face grew redder by the moment from rage, it looked to be she was going to blow up at any moment and he just about heard her repeatedly counting down from ten under her breath. As she opened her mouth a flash of light blinded all of them. At that moment Luther lost concentration on his Hamon, lighted faded revealing a thick fog that was slowly dissipating. His arms felt heavier, more full as if the fox he was carrying had grown twice the size. The man and his friends took a long stare at the origin point of this disturbance.
"...Hello…?" The soft voice of the kitsune broke through suddenly imposed silence, her auburn eyes shifting from one person to another, furry silver ears twitching. She blinked, her face showing surprise and some exhaustion.
"Huh?/What!?/…" Luka, Alice, and Luther either exclaimed their delayed shock or simply stared in quiet disbelief at the sight before them, the kitsune that had returned to original form, no longer sapped of energy.
"Ow!" The small fox girl squeaked out, grabbing her fox ears and pushing them down. "You're being too loud."
"And you're unsealed!" Luka stated, pointing and gawking at the shaking Monster. His arms remained motionless, too filled with shock to move in accordance to his alert instincts and draw out Angel Halo, not that his consciousness would have let him, by the looks of it she didn't seem like much of a threat in his friend's arms.
"As if that wasn't obvious enough already," Alice exclaimed as she stared wide-eyed at drowsy Kitsune, she couldn't quite hide her astonishment and confusion from them. After all none of this made sense despite how upfront it was, The two-tailed kitsune shouldn't have been unsealed so quickly. "But how?"
The fake hero paled ever so slightly, parts of mind wandering into the dark conclusions. "Wait, don't tell me...if they unseal that quickly, then…?"
"No, no, that doesn't make any sense. Angel Halo practically takes all the power the target has, leaving nearly nothing behind - she should have been out for a couple of months, maybe even a year." The purple lamia explained, easing Luka's worries. Nevertheless, both continued to stare at Luther and his unforeseen captive, wondering as to how this had occurred all while the man had not moved an inch, but still held on to the girl as if he was a parent with a child.
Alright, scratch what I said before, she is somehow even more adorable now. Chambers felt his unfeeling heart quiver when the kitsune stared up at him, seeking protection from her loud assailants. He silently cursed as his heartstrings were easily tugged, all he could do was keep Tusk from jumping. The stand user didn't wonder. Judging from Alice's natural disposition toward her kind and being bitter about losing to Luka it would be wise to keep her away from them for now.
Alice attentively watched the girl shrink and forcefully bury her face into the man's chest, he nodded after a pause and backed away from both the Monster Lord and the Fake Hero, keeping her just out of hand's reach from both of them. Yet the lamia needed no touch, her astute mind worked brilliantly to connect the obvious dots laid out before her.
"I get it now." She smirked, crossing her arms in victory.
"What is it?" Luka perked, hoping to get an alternative to his unsettling assumption.
"Simple, remember when I gave Angel Halo to you I mentioned a bit on its sealing power and how one could break out of it." Alice started, words coming naturally true to her, part of the answer was already at her disposal.
"Right, only two ways if I remember correctly.."
"Either they gather the energy themselves to reform, which we have already touched upon is an arduous task that most have to resort to or the much faster way which is to get it from someone else." She eyed Luther carefully, Luka's attention immediately shifted from the fox girl to him as well. "Our little friend here has done just that with his strange powers, the energy he gave was just enough to restore her, though if I can give a guess you already figured it out, didn't you Luther?"
"Yes, I likely gave a little too much of my energy." Chambers forced out a chuckle, finding it easy enough to do at the sensation of two fluffy ears rubbing against the chest. He silently noted his lack of control of Hamon's direction and flow, like a water stream of a river it flowed whenever it had carved its path in. A worrying telling of his control or rather the lack of it, however, he had no worries. His soul generated more than it gave, overflowing his body with life force that was always welcome.
"What do we do with her?" Luka inquired, fingers slowly wrapping around the prison blade's hilt. He figured that this was nothing more than an accident, capable of being solved in a simple single-minded manner.
"Whatever you will, she is at your mercy," Alice said, the sheer coldness of her tone making the vixen burry further into Luther, undoing his coat and hiding inside of it. If she had been any smaller she'd likely have shoved herself into his pockets, her apparent fear and cautiousness of them only making the fake hero feel guilty for considering sealing to what was basically a scared child.
"You won't hurt me, not you or that scary lady." It was more a statement than a plea for mercy from her, confident that the gentle giant of a man that she had found refuge in, she was supported by said man's chilling glare that told the fake hero and Monster Lord to stay away from the girl.
"Is that so?" Alice amusingly questioned her safety.
"Hmm, look we already have fought her and, likely, she doesn't want a rematch." Luther said, feeling her subtle shivers in his hands just confirmed her lack of will to do so. "Besides, aren't just an observer. I thought you didn't want to harm any Monsters."
They stared at each other, Luka could swear he saw sparks of tension between their eyes before Alice's smirk widened even further. "Ha, ease up a little there, can't handle a simple joke." She then turned away, peering into the different corridors ahead.
"Not when it involves threatening a scared kid." Chambers stressed every single word, then attended to the fox girl in his coat currently trying to hide inside of his shirt. "No one will hurt you while I'm here, don't you worry." He patted her head, rubbing the sweet spots of her ears, easing her and earning what sounded to his ears as barely audible purrs.
"Why did you unseal me? Aren't you racing for the same treasure as my master?" The fox girl inquired, feeling the man holding her shrug in response, she could hear no change in a heartbeat with her ears.
"That was by complete accident, I wanted to show you can trust me, none of us expect for me to give the right amount of power for you to reform. I didn't even know I could do that, although in hindsight it should be obvious a passive transfer of energy would unseal you." Luther spoke and she nodded, every minuscule action she did only served to worm its way into his heart.
"Chumimi~in" He felt his stand stance atop his shoulder in some form of excitement and fulfillment, and in some part, he could understand it, he only bitterly hoped that wasn't forced to promise to adopt this one as well. Deceit he spoke to his companion was enough of a burden for his good consciousness to bear.
"We are only after the bell to get through the storms to Sentora and that's it, you just happened to be in our way, we don't want to do any harm, honest." Luka reassured, salvaging pieces of his image to the small kit. "Actually, I do want one thing if you're able to answer." She steadily nodded, yet he could see how guarded she was, the only one keeping her calm was Luther's coat which she fashioned into a home. Alice had also turned around and waited patiently for the answer and question, desperately wanting to know why her mentor had disrupted her journey like this. "Why is your Master even here, or rather why now of all
"Oh!" The two-tailed kitsune gave the widest smile to them she could as she recalled her elder's exact words. "She knew about the cave for a long time and said it looked fun to explore there and trigger all of the traps." Her ears lowered, tone shifting to a shameful one. "Then she rushed ahead, I couldn't keep up and got lost."
"Eh, t-that's it?" Luka blinked as she nodded, self-importance diminishing. He had originally thought that someone decided to stop him, take away his only means of living in his homeland. "I'd imagined it was something more serious."
"Seriously, that's the reason? Tamamo, you're either a wise sage or a child and always when it's inconvenient." Alice muttered to herself before turning to them. "Right, enough of this, if she simply came here for fun then that's fine by me. We'll go and find your master and get that bell, no doubt she has no use for the damned thing."
"Nothing I can disagree with, let's go find your friends." Luka followed after his monstrous companion, inviting Luther and the kitsune to follow along.
"Really? Yay!" The vixen perked up, raising a fist forward. "Onwards!"
With renewed vigor, they marched deeper into the seemingly impossibly large cave, its corridors stretching far beyond what any normal mind would consider carving into the earth. The triggered traps were plentiful and the group could at the very least thank the Heavenly Knight for recklessly charging through them, her underling, who stubbornly insisted Luther continued to carry her, being able to recall how she had done so - Nine-tailed kitsune's body being impervious to any damage much to Luka's chagrin.
Luther turned a corner, following after Alice, and sighed. Another dead-end blocked their path, like many others before, it seemed both the Monster Lord's and the kitsune's senses weren't as precise as they liked to believe. Makes enough sense, if the apparent scent of fried tofu is flooding the cave you won't exactly be able to trace it back, especially if said origin dashed through the stony halls with reckless abandon. Smell isn't exactly a reliable indicator of someone's location, it can be inaccurate, masked by other scents and so we hit another dead-end. Yet it wasn't just one of the regular dead-ends that they came across, it had something different about it.
"A chest! Finally something different, think we can find something good inside?" The fake hero smiled, he was beginning to get tired of the endless monotone corridors, hoping for anything to break that monotony. Anything, a fight with a Monster even, but the idea of acquiring treasure sounded more appealing to him with the lack of effort needed and his that he could replenish his diminished coffers
As Luka approached to open the inconspicuous chest, he was stopped by a rough hand on his shoulder holding him back. "Stop, wait a minute, and think. We have passed through a dozen dead-ends just like this, not one had any treasure or any other object in it, in fact, the entire of the cave is empty bearing the few Monsters and main treasure room at the end."
"Oi, what are you trying to say?"
"He's trying to say you're walking right into a trap, you idiot." Alice's voice rang out behind them, like a dull blade her insult stung into his heart and felt flat. The more she verbally wailed on him, the less he felt, but it still annoyed him nonetheless.
"Hmm...why would there suddenly be a chest here, in pristine condition no less. Look at it." Chamber pointed at the peculiar details that stuck out to him. "Practically no dust or rust on it, the wood looks brand new and hasn't rotted a bit. Correct me if I'm wrong but this cave is probably older than all of us. Unless somebody decided to stash their treasure so deep inside of it, which is unlikely given how dangerous it is, there shouldn't be anything new here."
"Your friend is right." The two-tailed kitsune yawned, comfortably resting on Luther's hand inside of his warm coat, only occasionally peeking out of her shelter. She had been somewhat of a helpful guide in n. "That there is a mimic Monster, judging from the smell, she'll likely grab you as soon as you open her outer shell."
"Huh? Well thanks for telling me that...then we should leave it be, I doubt she wants anyone disturbing her." Luka turned back for the other corridors left to venture forward in, while he was itching for some form of stimulation he would certainly not be disturbing.
"Oh no, she'd definitely want that, staying still for days on end must work up an appetite." kitsune casually said. It stopped Luka dead in his tracks, face becoming pale at the implication and the realization of the danger he was in - one more step closer and he wouldn't have been eaten.
"You might get very a couple of days, but given the sedentary lifestyle most mimics seem to possess they probably have a slow metabolism meaning they could probably last for a long while without a meal to keep them going:
"Thank Ilias…" Luka muttered to himself.
"Congratulations, you made an exercise of basic caution. I'd say it is rather impressive for someone like you if not for all of us pointing out how rushing to open an abandoned chest in a completely trapped area is a bad idea." Alice was quick to voice her usual insults, slithering right behind the fake hero. It was followed by Luka's groan and his refusal to put up any resistance to her words, thinking a pointless effort that would likely end in more mockery that he had no desire in participating in.
"Why are you bullying him?" The silver fox girl put into the question, despite holding some spite to the boy she lost she couldn't help but notice the occasional remarks and insults that the purple lamia dished were mostly if not always levied against him, with neither her carrier nor Luka reacting as if happened constantly.
"Because I can and it passes the time. Now shush you." Alice answered, sharply commanding her underling to be silent. The two-tailed kitsune frowned and hid back inside, grumbling out of their way out of the dead-end, her frustration only matched by Luka's own.
The chest creaked slightly open and the head of a very pale black-haired woman poked out, watching in futility as her potential prey left. Her large frame could not hope to keep up with all of them at full speed and she did want to possibly tangle with such a large group of people, she may have been strong but she wasn't strong enough to tango with that Lamia. Dejected, the Monster sunk back into her chest shell.
"It's just not fair..."
Luther's eyes lazily danced along with its surroundings, noting the details and sheer quality of the stonework put into the chamber before him. It was massive compared to the places of the treasure cave, with chiseled out actual pillars supporting the carved structure, proper stone brick was in the walls, ceiling, and paved floor and finally, an actual door leading to what he presumed was the main treasure room. He didn't need to put much effort to see, courtesy of the long-forgotten torches of this cave being reignited in this particular section. Truth to say he couldn't put much mental effort after the endless slog that was traversing the cavern, brain being taxed beyond by constantly remaining alert while marching through an uneventful corridor.
He found something funny, that it wasn't the training or fighting that mentally drained him, but rather simple monotonous walking, the only thing that kept him from sleeping out of boredom, was the constant anxiety of everything going wrong. Luka using his Angel powers or just flat out losing, somehow having to fight Tamamo, anything that could happen – Murphy was always watching intently, ready to laugh at unsuspecting fools.
Here we go, how the hell do I stop this? Stop the fight entirely? Intervene if things get bad? Fight her myself? Luther's soul stirred in anxiety and he felt Tusk shake in anticipation, while it was ready for anything, even combat, it was still nerve-wracking, to say the least.
"At ease, dear soul…we'll make it through this…I'm sure…
His pint-sized friend would agree about the brain-rotting blandness of the treasure cave, each minute he seemed to get more agitated and desperate to get this issue sorted out. It had managed to unnerve their temporary guest and Alice, who vanished just about when they entered the room.
Another detail that kept the fake hero and the Stand user awake was the unmistakable sight of another beast…or more accurately a Monster lying in waiting and blocking their path. A seven-tailed kitsune, whose bottom half was that of a fox all for legs keeping up her massive stature that trumped all of theirs. She stood tall returning her own alerted gaze, showing some similar daze like them.
"Is that one of your friends here?" Luka adjusted his stance, becoming ready for any sudden attack, and looked at the nerve-wracking sight before him. "Are you Tamamo?" Being impatient he didn't wait for an answer from their tiny two-tailed friend and flat out asked the hulking giant of a fox girl.
"No…my master is currently plundering the treasury." She answered in a monotone tone, watching them dutifully as all her yellow black-tipped tails swung around and guarded her body with caution. "But then I assume you're here to do the same, two travelers and…" She sniffed the air, a familiar scent entering her nose, yet it was mostly masked by the older man's scent." Someone I know. I answered your question, now answer mine. Why is there someone in your coat, who are they?"
"It's me Nanabi!" The two-tailed kitsune head popped out of Luther's coat with a big smile on her face as she greeted the friendly face, her infectious joy had spread, Nanabi adopting a small smile right after the initial surprise wore off.
"Ah, little one, what were you doing in that man's coat, have you been captured?" Nanabi happily greeted the small kitsune, grateful to see her alive and well even in her supposed circumstance, though it certainly did seem like the girl was enjoying her cozy-looking prison.
The massive fox lifted herself, prepared to rescue her fellow kin, however to her further surprise Luther unbuttoned his coat and let her friend down. Her ears had managed to pick up some fairly muted complaints before the two-tailed kitsune ran up to her.
"Nope, I was nearly eaten after I got caught in a spider girl's web after I got sealed by that boy, but they found and saved me. They're not bad people, some are a bit scary but not bad." She clarified to the giant fox girl and hugged one of her large paws, the last shreds of her fear and uncertainty about this cave vanishing once she embarrassed the soft fur of kin. She felt fully secure once she grabbed onto her massive kin's tail, much like before with that man's strange powers. "Why did you leave me alone? "
"Apologies, you know of our master's occasional propensity for recklessness I could not just let her side, we both have orders to guard this place." One of her tails picked up the small girl, Nanabi's lip falling flat, and suspicion roused in her at the mention of being sealed. "But it seemed we have underestimated the danger of this place." She gave a leveled gaze to the fake hero and his seemingly older companion. One was easy to read, his impatience was everywhere –his constant tapping of the foot, him frantically glancing around, it was clear to her they were after something, or at least the boy was. The other one was quite opposite, reserved and guarded, he made no sudden or sporadic movement, like a blank wall he stared plainly at them, only displaying a brief soft smile at the sight of them reuniting. Nanabi couldn't help but describe as cold and distant, but the fact he most likely willingly carried her kin to her said there was much more to him.
"You adventurers, I'm thankful for rescuing the little one, part of my responsibilities lied in protecting this one…I, unfortunately, failed in that regard." She shamefully bowed her head, ears dropping down.
"A-ah, no problem." Luka blushed from the gratitude, partly from surprise but mostly from embarrassment given his hand in making the one he rescued weak enough to be caught and eaten.
"It was only right to do so." Luther concurred and stood at Luka's side to the boy, speaking with what sounded like absolute conviction through that bland tone of his.
"Speaking of which, what are two humans doing in this long-forsaken cave? Looking for treasure, are you not?" Nanabi guessed and from what she could gather from the purple-haired boy's reaction, she hit the bullseye, yet she couldn't quite enjoy the minor victory she made as the problem lingered in her mind. What did they seek, simple treasures such as gold or something else of more magical origin?
"Yes." Chambers was quick to answer, cutting off Luka from speaking if only for a little while and Nanabi looked on with interest, he saw no reason to lie or sideline the issue, escape from this type of confrontation was impossible. The only thing he could potentially do is minimize the tension, or perhaps even stall until Tamamo decides she is done scrounging around in the treasure room. "I'm sure you know of the storms that have been present in the sea between Port Natalia and Ilias Port for a suspicious amount of time."
"Hmm." The two-tailed kitsune nodded in faux focus and her larger kin sighed in disappointment already knowing what those two sought. "Yep, someone who has been really adamant to stop any ships from the sea. She must really hate those Ilias loving pilgrims and heroes."
"Right, we simply desire to get to Sentora, nothing more and nothing less. It just happens to be that our only way through is using the Poseidon Bell. Given the fact that your master also seeks the bells is troubling, could come to some agreement perhaps, maybe returning it once we are done? We did save one of your own." The man suggested, stressing the last part quite strongly.
"While I appreciate the offer that is not for me to decide, I do not have the bell nor do I need it." Nanabi coolly answered. "If you wish to negotiate, then it will be done with my master, who is currently searching for that said bell."
"Fine by me, so can we go through that door to meet her then?" Luka walked forward confidently, a smile of relief ever-present on his face and it only made it more painful for her to refuse his request.
"That cannot be done, I'm to protect this entrance from anyone and are about by duty of my given orders. While you have certainly done us a great favor by saving this little one, I have failed one task. I will not do so again." Nanabi gestured to her smaller kin, whose expression became neutral, unreadable as she closed her eyes and sighed.
"Why not? Your master is Tamamo, a Heavenly Knight, we pose no real threat to her in any capacity
"No…" Chamber's heard Luka whisper to himself and his face fell. The boy's tone held frustration, impatience and some amount of agony, he watched in horror as Luka's sword hand twitches. Two of his fingers wrapped around while he stopped dead in his tracks and gazed onward appearing tired. "Can…can you just please let us through, for a bit, I only want to get the bell, that's all?"
"No." Nanabi's answer was clear cut and dry and Luka's eyes twitched, shoulders slumping down before he fixed his stance into something more battle-ready.
"Sorry, but I'm going through regardless, not letting you stop me like this." He offered an apologetic smile to hulking Monster, but his body twitched in anticipation and desire of getting this over with.
"Well, aren't you so quick to battle when things don't go your way?" The large kitsune noted, moving to stand directly between the boy and the door. Her massive heavy tails swung around and it appeared like they were just about to knock down some of the pillars.
Luka remained unintimidated, standing tall and hand fully wrapping around the hilt of his blade. While he knew the correlation between a kitsune's power and the number of tails Nanabi's seven didn't make him panic, it was the last thing he wanted to do in a situation. "Maybe I am to you, but desperation leads to the worst of us, there is more to it for why I fight."
"Please… you don't have to fight." The two-tailed kitsune pleaded, running in between them both, wildly swinging her arms around in panic. But no matter how much she weakly protested, the fake hero approached.
"I'm inclined to agree, this is pointless." However the nervous fox girl was soon joined by Luther who gave a hard stare to Luka supporting the girl, his tone was unmistakably stern as he chided his young companion. "All we have to do is wait, I'm sure Tamamo will be open to negotiate for the bell, attacking her underlings is just going to poison the well even if you do win against a seven-tailed kitsune."
"Wait? You wait!" Luka snapped back, pointing a commanding finger at his friend. "I have been walking through this empty cave for probably hours constantly looking over my shoulders while being nagged on by a Lamia whose only interest in this journey is to torment and mock me. And what if she refuses to give the bell? We didn't go and fought our way through this journey just to be forced to turn back just because someone decided to summon up some storms, people died traveling through them."
"I won't stop, not now, nor later, I'll even fight your master just to get to Sentora." The fake hero was already in his battle stance, a fierce fire burning though he had yet to draw his weapons on Nanabi.
"Last time you tried to fight a Heavenly Knight, you nearly got your head chopped off and I had to tear my legs to save you, both of us could have died or worse." Luther harshly remembered, sweet starting to pour down his forehead.
"And I would do it again if it meant I was saving another one's life. I made a promise to become a hero, strike down evil and save the innocent wherever it may be. To not let any injustice continue and forge a world where Monsters and Humans can exist peacefully. I won't compromise this promise." Luka stated fiercely. "Which means I have to get the Poseidon bell. So please, stand aside or I'll have to make you."
Nanabi sighed, but solemnly nodded, for someone so juvenile looking he displayed a strong spirit and ideas quite unseen in most humans, it remained to see if was able to back that all up through strength. A part of her heart hoped so, for his sake. "A noble goal, although it seems our duties here clash, so be it. Stand aside little one, this one wants about and he'll get one."
The two-tailed kitsune ears dropped and she complied, slowly stepping away from both of them as wearily kept distance and Luther could only stare in belief at this madness. "You got to be fucking kidding me." He grumbled, burying his face in his hands.
"Let me fight Luther, trust me on this." Luka requested, tugging on the man's unbuttoned coat to get his attention. "We'll get you to Sentora soon, my friend."
"Chu! Chu! Chumimi~in!" Tusk stood atop his shoulder, jumping in panic as the man's soul felt the distress in his link, a desperate message came to him – to stop Luka before he went off and managed to ruin his journey.
Apprehend him? What!? Chamber's shot up at the suggestion and glared at his stand, feeling disappointed at his stand and himself for even thinking such a thing. How can I even do that? Sure, his martyr attitude needs some tempering, and can't just let those Angel discover his true identity, it'd be a disaster for his journey, to have your weapon hate you. But at what cost? His pride - shamed and his trust - shattered. I said I'd help him even with his complex and he is also rushing for me, for my lies…Tusk slumped down for a second before pointing to Nanabi, Luther's right hand became covered in starlight as power ran through him. Her? Actually…that's not a bad idea, yes. I can stop her and stall until Tamamo comes back if Luka is put to sleep. Doubt he starts using his powers if he isn't provoked in that state.
"Fine." The older man flashed a strained smile. "But next time don't be so hasty and let me do the talking."
"I will, promise." Luka nodded.
With that the battlefield was cleared up, they were both free to fight in this spacious room; it had enough cover for them both to maneuver – run, jump and duck. It was perfect for him, yet he had to admit it also favored his adversaries size, she too could move freely and perhaps that was more disadvantageous to him, but he longed for less claustrophobic space.
"Understand this young hero, if you cannot beat me then you have no hope against my master, her strength far surpasses my own. But before we fight, I would like to know your name." Nanabi asked attentively, gazing at him as she stretched.
"Luka." The fake hero bounced at the balms of his feet, ready to strike at any moment. He knew of the perfect technique to use, thinking there was enough distance between them
"Luka." Nanabi repeated as the name ingrained itself into her mind, if there was one thing she could say it was the name matched its owner appearance, simple and innocent-sounding. Her tails moved right in front of her, covering up parts of her bare body. "Well then Luka, out of respect for what you have done I'll offer you mercy from the pleasure my tails will give you if it's too much only if you cease, that much I can give."
"Show me what you can do, hero."
Luka immediately vanished, no trace of the tired boy was left behind from his original position. Drawing out Angel Halo he had leaped in upmost speed, blade forward in piercing motion – Thunder Thrust, stunning both kitsune at the sight of movement. It was uncanny seeing such monstrous power and technique performed by a human, someone who looked to be rather young no less. And recognized and used that surprise, pushing his body as far as it could go for a good first hit.
However it didn't take long for Nanabi to snap out of her stupor, she moved fast, faster than her Monster kin, both to avoid or block it with her giant tails. Yet her large frame was more of a target than the little vixen's and one could only do so much when your opponent got a head-start. The fake hero pierced dead center, his sword sending numbing cold to the fox woman's body.
W-wait…she didn't even f-flinch. And that was one of my strongest attacks, how much energy does she have!?
Nanabi narrowed her eyes at the sensation then sent several of her tails to both grab and pleasure. They went forward, some grabbing his arms and legs, others already messaging his body by either offering sweet comfort in her fur to his face or lewd temptation by touching his crotch and attempting to undo his pants. No matter how powerful a human may be, they will always succumb to ecstasy a Monster can offer them, she did not need to fight barbarically by tearing into his flesh or smashing into the stone. A kind or pleasurable touch could wear down one's will to fight.
For such large things Luka noted how precise they were in their movement and didn't deny how nice they felt for that was their very purpose, but the bindings on his limbs were made sudden and so were rather loose and weak. He trashed around and gritted his teeth from the pleasure. Hands still clinging on to his weapon, upon freeing it he swung down onto her tails, weakening them enough for him to escape. Luka fell and rolled backward, quickly recovering.
"That was a Monster's technique and that blade, you possess Angel Halo…" Nanabi remarked, scanning the unholy prison blade whose eyes were glaring at her. The kitsune previous notions stood corrected, her young opponent wasn't some ordinary human too hyped on their own arrogance and self-righteousness to not see the difference in power. He held strength, just how much remained to be seen. "Tell me how you acquired that thing in your hands? it is an important artifact and weapon."
Luka's eyes widened in surprise before he mentally slapped himself, of course, a powerful underling of a Heavenly Knight knew of the blade. Another realization came to him, his battle-ready mind told him of how to capitalize on this small pause. The boy took a deep breath and composed himself, legs shuffling uncomfortably against the raging traitorous boner that deeply desired to escape his pants. "Both Angel Halo and my swordsmanship are gifts from someone who travels with me for reasons I'm not completely sure about, but I am grateful for what she gave me." He spoke quietly because he knew her senses were able to hear him and to keep his focus.
"Ah…a gift." The seven-tailed kitsune carefully eyed him. Of course, she knew as well to whom the boy could refer to, last she heard from Tamamo, Angel Halo belonged in the Monster Lord's possession. "You're a lot more interesting than some ordinary hero, to have someone like her train you and give you such a gift," Nanabi said no further, but this amount of trust in him from the Monster Lord spoke volumes of potential within him. She felt her instincts become giddy just thinking about it, thinking of how strong his seed was.
"Maybe I am, but I'll use these gifts rightly." The pint-sized hero stood up and she nodded. Moments passed and a surge of energy emerged from him, his body was under his full control again and any trace of his adversaries given sweet pleasure was gone. Angel Halos eyes opened, fully reveling in the small mote light that came from the boy, its iris beginning to glow and give off the sensation of it slowly sucking up air. While its sealing power was mainly tied to the wielder's strength it did not mean they could not nudge the scales to help their little sibling along.
Luka rushed forward to cross the distance, being careful to not be caught by her fluffy embrace again. Many of her tails came at him. He dodged the only way he understood how - sidestepping, ducking, lunging across gaps while giving the occasional hit whenever an opening showed up, which appeared to do little. From the small damage he could make, constant avoidance and endurance of her pleasure attacks before finally restoring himself he knew perfectly well...
This is a battle of attrition, no special attack will win this…I'll outlast her. Luka admitted, becoming slightly pale at the implications. Not just a battle of attrition but a pain in the ass as well, I'll fight on regardless!
Luka kept on a steady breath despite his precarious state as sweat poured down his neck, most of his clothes, pants, and shirt were left thrown about on the ground courtesy of his opponent. The only thing that kept him from being completely bare was his boot and underwear, which was dutifully clinging to his lower region. He cursed, having no chance of putting them back on without stupidly risking himself. It was a long hard-fought battle, where dozen's seconds felt like minutes, and being slowly stripped he had to make every hit count.
"Grr…" He struggled against her grasp, it had been much tougher than before yet still nonetheless soft and tempting to give in.
"Quite enduring, aren't you, something I could work with. I wonder how it will last while mating." Nanabi huffed out, a sweet lewd smile present on her face. She was beginning to show signs of exhaustion, he was at a snail's pace, wearing her down, but this was a battle she was enjoying. The boy held just enough of a challenge for her Monster instincts to start rising, she reveled in every single moan and groan of pleasure she made him do.
The brown leaf on her disappeared having expended its power on her most vile technique –Seven Moons to grant him ultimate pleasure. Since the very start, he had been wary of it, managing to avoid some of them and unfortunately endure some others. He thanked Ilias for being able to restore his stamina, if not for it he would have long succumbed to her pleasure.
"Damn! I won't lose here!" Luka defiantly declared to her, groaning, he pushed his body to his limits to tear himself away from the powerful foxes hold and pushed her tails away, dropping to the ground. He reached to where Angel Halo was disarmed from him, it responded immediately and flew back into his hand.
"Take this!" The fake hero turned and swung multiple slashes, the first two hitting her chest and all others halting her body's advance before jumping back with the same speed as his Demon Decapitations, drawing out a strained breath by the end it. Tension in the air increased as they cautiously watched each other, he held onto Angel Halo like his life depended on it and focused on his meditation. He had no choice but to rely on it, if he doesn't use it now then he might as well surrender now.
"It can't go on like this, why do they have to fight?" The two-tailed kitsune murmured. She was sitting beside Luther holding onto his arm for comfort while they watched the fight unfold. "I don't want them to hurt each other or anything bad."
"Stupidly stubborn, they're both stupidly stubborn, it is as much of a strength as it is a weakness." Having met many people and his very friends having such traits, he knew well of the qualities and follies of stubbornness, admittedly being prey to himself. Disappointedly enough he had noticed this and what was once madness before was now more maddening to watch, of the anger variety particularly. "Why do you suddenly care? I thought you didn't like him that much"
"His promises and dream, he was very determined to see it true, never seen a human with such strong ideals before." She confessed, although if she were to say more he was too idealistic, but perhaps the world needed more people with such ideals like him if it was to change for the better. "Tamamo said the people here on this continent don't like Monster that much, how are they different from the rest of the people here?
"I don't come from Sentora, I'm a…traveler." Luther clarified before his voice went as quiet as a whisper. "Now about Luka, what I'm about to say, keep it to yourself. Don't tell anyone not even your master got it? Although frankly, I doubt she asked you about this."
"Yep, if she wanted to know something she'd go straight to the source, you got nothing to worry about me, I won't tell a soul." The small fox girl smiled and casually saluted him. He found the gesture endearing but he was afraid of what he might say may break that moment.
"The promise he made was to his mother as she was lying on her deathbed." Chambers stated, there was no hint of emotion in his voice, but his flat downer face told the fox girl everything she needed to know as if what he said wasn't already enough. "She wanted him to become a hero like his father who had passed away a lot earlier in their life.
"Oh, I, huh? That explains a lot..." She grimaced, her fluffy ears dropping down and her hold on his hand also loosened. "Now I just feel bad for trying to stop him. And why are you here if you mind me asking?"
"Stranded because of the storm, I decided it would be best to tag alongside them on my journey and it led to a promise of helping him. Admittedly it has been a rather stressful matter given the fact the boy is pretty much a beacon to Monsters and trouble in general, you've already heard much of our escapades." Luther said in a humoring way and he chuckled slightly.
"Ah, sorry." She apologized but he waved it off. "Surely you don't find it a little bit fun; I mean life has to have some excitement in it even if it comes from danger, that's why many treasure hunters adventure you know! They love the danger."
"I suppose you're right, but it might just be a little too much for me to handle. Sometimes you need breaks as well, too few and too much can break a person."
"I know of your clever tricks young hero, how you restore your will and stamina, how your energy surges through some sort of means when we're not fighting," Nanabi called him to face her. "I will not let you heal this time, there are tricks up my sleeve as well, do not forget us kitsune are tricksters." She declared and Luther felt a sudden spike of energy concentrating becoming denser, he clicked his tongue in frustration standing up after gently letting go of his two-tailed acquaintance.
"My help is necessary now. I'll only stop her, nothing more." The older man said before the kitsune could begin to question his decision, neither Luka nor Nanabi noticed his rise. She paused for a short second glancing at her older kin and in an instant she understood what magic Nanabi was using, rather cheap to use against someone who wasn't aware.
A dim light manifested at her head before her eyes flashed with power. Luther blocked his vision with his hand along with looking away from it as a precaution. It faded away and he looked freely at the battle. He heard his friend mumble in a futile attempt at resisting her magic and slump down, form becoming loose and undisciplined, his sword-hand barely holding onto Angel Halo which had panic mode flashing their light on him in hope of waking him or calling Luther' aid. Surprisingly Luka's legs were still left standing, but he looked like he would topple over at any moment. The unmissable sound of loud snoring came from him.
Here it is, doesn't look like he'll be fighting any time soon, though I doubt that won't change if she attacks. Just don't let his natural defense instincts kick in and we'll be fine. Luther's limbs began to glow with starlight, energy surging back and forth, the two-tailed kitsune starred in some amount of wonder at the beauty of the moon and star patterns on his clothes and skin. He couldn't shake his deep-seated sense of anxiety about failing this. But he heard Tusk's battle cries just by his ears, his fierce juvenile stand reinforcing his steps. My time to shine.
"Now we're finished this farce, I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I took a reward for winning this, hmm?" Proud in her victory, Nanabi approached the boy, tails already heading their way to fully undress him. Oh, how long had she waited at the entrance with nothing happening. Until a human strong in blood and seed showed up giving a fight, something to entertain herself with and her desires grew.
"I think he'll be calling on some of that mercy you spoke off. You're not touching a single inch of him." Nanabi stopped, her lewd smile disappearing upon hearing the man's bitter assertive voice. Sense of smell reminded her of another human present, his friend. How had she forgotten? Just how much did the boy make her lose herself? The seven-tailed kitsune turned to face this challenger, but it was far too late.
What she was met with was not the sight of a man, but a celestial comet racing toward her, unrelenting and blinding in its approach and soon she felt herself knocked off the ground, her lust crashing down just like her footing. She felt hands grab her upper body and despite their position, his touch was neither kind nor pleasurable, just pure cold restraint instilled on the kitsune. Her vision cleared up from the sudden assault and she finally saw him. He was right on top of her, covered in starlight and power, a wonderful sight to behold in any other circumstance.
"Chumimi~in~"
Nanabi cursed the ambush and moved to push this human away, the one who tore her away from mating with someone possibly worthy but found her body resisting her orders. The vixen's muscles were tense, foreign energy constantly running through it, barely capable of moving. However, she still trashed in what strength she could muster, tails moving to throw him away. Luther growled like a beast in strain, the signs on his body glowing brighter by the movement. He forced her to roll, closer to a nearby wall. Damn, she is tough, it's going to take all I have to successfully hold her back, the advantage of surprise and shock diminishes with every passing second.
"Hrgg! You're not moving, I'm not letting him get hurt." Luther pushed his powers to the very limits, ultimately he was unsure how long he could hold her back, but he'd be damned if didn't try his hardest. Spin jumped around in his muscles as he pinned against the polished rock, nearly slamming her into it if not for the tails softening the blow.
The silver kitsune stood up suddenly, eyes shooting wide open once she fully processed what happened. She was still stunned by the ridiculous sight of the human picking her giant kin and throwing her against a wall and holding her back. Her ears twitched, not out of fear but out of sheer disbelief. "When you said you'll stop her, I didn't think you meant like this!" But she was largely ignored.
"What are you even talking about? I would not hurt him." Puzzled, she questioned her captor, attempting to gain any ground in their struggle against the human whose physical strength seemingly even her own, enough to throw and hold her down. Was this how Humans felt when caught by Monsters, did they feel this helpless or was there still hope to escape and fight for their survival? She pondered in struggle, if the latter was true then it wasn't a completely awful feeling, in fact, a bit invigorating especially if she'd win.
In response, the man released a laugh-filled with venom. "Ha! You truly have no clue of damage you could do." He spoke in both accounts of the boy's willpower, drive, and on the subject of his identity. No hint could be given, not on his watch. "See, Luka told you of his promises and I'll tell you of mine. As long as I'm here, neither of you are getting hurt. It's a promise both to him and your little friend. Give up and this madness will stop."
His hulking adversary gave no response, neither did she surrender. Instead of withstanding his capture, they swung from side to side, moving to whatever position was more advantageous. A door creaked open loudly from behind them and both Nanabi and Luther froze in their positions and slowly turned their heads to the main treasure room door.
"I'm back!~ And I finally found the bell, the lousy thing was hiding inside some roc-oh!" Inside the doorway stood another familiar kitsune, small in size but sported the entire set of nine tails. Luther could feel the immense power emanating just from her presence, being comparable to that of Alice's all in the hands of what looked to be a small blond vixen.
"Oh, my…am I interrupting something here?" She pointed to them and gave an innocent smirk before hiding it underneath a folding fan she pulled from her regal-looking yukata "Guess you had to do something when I was gone.".
"M-m-master Tamamo, this isn't what i-"What was left of Nanabi's composure broke as she flushed the deepest of reds from embarrassment, stuttering out incoherent protests and sentences as she covered her face, worst of all she was all alone in this as her "partner" simply gave a long blank stare to her.
"No, no it's all fine. I do not blame you for seeking to mate after the many years you have dutifully served as my aid one would desire some relief." Tamamo teased her straight-laced subordinate as she carefully eyed the man who had managed to get atop of her. "Though I must say the one you picked is certainly quite eager and daring, mounting you in such a manner, usually the opposite."
With every word she spoke Luther felt a part of his soul die, to have his actions be diminished to nothing but an attempt of wooing Luka's potential rapist only made Tusk cry out in pain. The man moved, mind still trying to believe she had said that to him. But he knew all too well the game that this Heavenly Knight played, having been traveling with one like albeit someone a bit more devious. And so he refused to indulge in her and give her the satisfaction of embarrassing him.
Tamamo exchanged gazes with the man, pure whimsicalness meeting stern coldness, he felt as though eyes could pierce through the soul and define his very spirit in front of her like she was already reading and from the briefest of flashes her face turned into a frown before moving on to greet her other servant.
Chambers gave his adversary an apologetic look that was reciprocated before quickly burying her red face in her hands again, grumbling to herself. He thought to himself what could have caused another reaction such as this, but before he could ponder she pointed to his left hand. He followed her direction and it suddenly explained the softness he felt in his hand, which was clutching one of her ample breasts. O-oh fuck…
Must have accidentally grabbed on to hit while struggling…no other way, I couldn't feel it The man immediately threw himself back, letting the large Monster get up. He raised his arms in a show of peace and accepted it after gathering resolve to look at him and her master again, there many other matters they had attended to before they could address their fight. They agreed to never speak of this with anyone.
"Tamamo!" Two-tailed kitsune ran up to her leader and clung on to her Yukata without warning. "You left us alone, it was dark and scary..." She pouted, her master froze up for a moment and shrugged before pulling her close into a hug and warmly patting her on the head.
"Ah, sorry, perhaps it was best to not take you with me," Tamamo remarked on the mistake, the silver fox's lingering fear was unmistakable for her, she could feel it easily. "We'll go somewhere else nicer, promise." Her subordinate nodded and with the last pet on the head was let off.
"And who is this barely clothed boy, don't tell me that Nanabi or you have taken your fill of him? Although that is a rather unnatural position for anyone to sleep in, he could have been left like that normally." The heavenly noted it wasn't first nor the last thing that was peculiar about him, for this barely clothed adorable kid weakly held Angel Halo. It was the real thing, she recognized clearly. "Where could someone like him get such a weapon?"
"He's a hero, master, and that man is his friend" She pointed over to an older man who had begun gathering the boy's clothes in automaton-like fashion, maneuvering away from Nanabi like she was the plague. "Apparently, the one who gave him the weapon also taught him how to fight." The two-tailed kitsune recalled
"Hmm, is that so?" She hummed to herself and skipped along as if dancing to her rhythm. "I wonder who that could be?" Tamamo then turned to the only exit out the room, her movement making it seem like natural collusion. "You can come out now, I know you're there."
A sigh was heard by all in the room as Alice appeared inside, she glared at all of the kitsune and frowned at the half-naked Luka still snoring. "Tamamo." She coldly greeted her mentor and the silver kitsune eped at her presence, hiding behind her master. Nanabi had also taken her side, bowing her head lightly at the Monster Lord.
"Scary…" She muttered to herself, barely being able to look at the Monster Lord who had scared her.
"Nice to see you too, how are you feeling right now? I felt this entire cave shake and I can hazard a guess of who caused it." The heavenly knight smiled back and said to the lamia which made her grit her teeth.
"Who? It wasn't me who did it." Alice denied her claim. "Must have been someone else."
Luther, seeing that everyone was gathering around took the opportunity to wake Luka up, he walked slowly toward him hearing his soft muttering about food and Alice's mercilessly gorging down on his cooking. It seemed his imagination was quite active to have made up a dream in such a short time. The stand user put a rough hand on his shoulder and hesitantly shook him out of his dreams. While it might have been awful to do so, the alternative was leaving him practically naked in the middle of man-raping Monsters. He wasn't taking the risk.
"AH!" Immediately from the rough hand, Luka awoke from his hypnosis-induced sleep with a sharp intake of breath, everyone's attention in the room turned to the awake boy. His body was shaking as his fight or flight instincts took temporary hold from this disturbance. He stumbled slightly forward, being a bit dazed after his impromptu rest, standing up straight only with his support. Luther, his brain recognized quickly, the man who promised to be by his side in their journey.
"Where am I?" The boy asked, grasping his head as he felt the pain of a minor headache. Yawning he glanced around the cave environment, recognizing it for the room he had fought in, he meet many faces had seen before and one he was very familiar with with, but there was someone new there with them
"Who are you? Luka pointed his finger and asked the previously unseen kitsune, in return, she pointed a finger at him and winked. A sudden cold chill went through his body, not out of discomfort, but out of a simple cold and he questioned why he felt so…bare. He got his answer
"WHY AM I NAKED !?"
Luka tugged on the scarf, securing it in place, after his short and sporadic tantrum which caught everyone's attention he had to awkwardly put all of his clothes back on much to the disappointment of many of the Monsters there he was sure. But the tightness of his clothes, fabric, and cloth wrapping around his body made him feel safer compared to having nothing to cover him. From the very moment, he awoke, tension filled the room between them. Alice had continuously glared at the foxes, scaring the littlest one who constantly hid behind her master robes. Nanabi watched them in some amount of distrust or maybe out of duty, waiting for him or his friend to suddenly attack. And Luther…was Luther, unless he wanted to he didn't ease tensions.
Once his mind could run at full capacity he paled in the realization of who this new kitsune was when he counted her tails, starting to slow down at number five and completely halt at number nine…it was hard to believe a girl like her could be stronger than the giant fox that was Nanabi, but there was something about her presence that spoke power and endurance beyond what any of her underlings possessed. And considering she was their master. She is a Heavenly Knight, Tamamo.
At first, goosebumps ran through his body remembering the last time he met a Heavenly Knight and of Luther reminding him of what happened, yet he found Tamamo to be more approachable and friendly than he first thought. In fact, she had taken the liberty to ease the tension by telling her underlings to stand now and suggesting he and Luther should ease up the same.
"So you fought my sweet subordinates, didn't you?" Tamamo clapped her hands inquiring further.
"Yes, they were able to beat me in battle, together," Nanabi admitted, she knew perfectly from the moment she was pinned against the wall that she was at that man's mercy, he was holding back from actually hurting her. To think that someone held back against you, a human no less, was shameful. "Forgive master, I have failed you."
"Nonsense, success isn't always guaranteed in life, but do not let that bring you down, you of all people should know that after spending too much time around me. " Tamamo huffed and scolded her subordinate, she whispered to herself, quiet enough for only her to hear. "Honestly, I feel like my lessons are wasted sometimes."
"Nevertheless, to have fought and defeated Nanabi does show a promise of skill." She turned to face both of the males, approaching the smaller boy. "You're Luka, right?" The kitsune asked to confirm it to her mind as she walked around him, sniffing his scent, it was potent. The fake hero raised an eyebrow and nodded, giving a nervous smile to the Monster.
"So cute~ You'd be a good mate" Tamamo suddenly gushed, poking and pinching his soft cheeks in but an instant that smiles of his faded away, he felt a small storm of anger begin brewing behind him, he couldn't point to who was responsible for this worrying feeling but it was there.
"No way!" Luka refused her supposed offer, lightly stepping back from the Heavenly Knight. The discomfort within was evident by all.
"Come on, you're a good guy, I can see it. I want to play with someone cute like you on my bed~" The kitsune declared and everyone stared, it was somewhat hilarious in a strange kind of manner to see the small fox sage gush about someone else's cuteness. Her subordinates didn't speak or question her, well aware of Tamayo's occasional antics.
"I…ah" Luka couldn't say anything, part of him wasn't sure of how this one would react to his full defiance, given his last encounter he had no desire to push any buttons, willfully or not. As he stepped back Luther found himself stepping forward in front of Alice and Luka against the Heavenly knight and her underlings, to act as a shield to the nervous hero.
"Leave him be please, can't you see what you say isn't convincing, it's just making him more uncomfortable. "Luther spoke and his ordinary expression of a frown and glare found its way onto his face comfortably. He didn't even feel it happen.
Tamamo looked up to his icy grey eyes, which seemingly betrayed no motion in them or perhaps didn't even hold any emotion in them other than ordinary frustration. The nine-tailed kitsune covered her face with her folding fan, not breaking eye contact as she spoke. The way she was watching he couldn't help but feel as if her wisdom was piercing through and seeing into his core. "And you're Luther, quick to defend are you? You know I don't mind the handsome stoic types either. We could put that strength of yours to good use." She gave a lewd smile and winked, one of her tails lightly brushing against his leg. He only moved his leg back away from her touch
"Chu." Tusk nervously cooed, hiding behind its user's shoulder.
"No." Chambers shot her down, answering succinctly narrowing his eyes at her but unlike his younger companion, he stayed put and guarded him. Tamamo had simply hummed and then shrugged; at its barest, she could at least call him the complete opposite of the hero.
"Ah, stuffy." Tamamo pouted at his lack of reaction, even Luka's nervous rejection was more entertaining, but at least she'd gotten some good insight into both of them. She turned to Alice, who looked at her with shouldering frustration, likely for messing with her playthings. "You've certainly found yourself some interesting humans to travel with, I can see why they caught your interest Monster Lord. A bit jealous myself actually"
Silence followed, enough to hear a pin drop. Luka's boots hit the ground hard as he stopped moving, his face was frozen before turning into shock and surprise at such a revelation "H-huh!? A-Alice –yo-" He stuttered out while weakly pointing to her. The Monster Lord, true to her name, the leader of all Monsters, and his assumed cause of all the conflict between his species and her own, was so close to him. Alice taught him and improved his skill along with giving him a Heindrich weapon.
"Did you finally realize it, you idiot? I am the Monster Lord, Alipheese the sixteenth." Alice reaffirmed her subordinate's revelation, bracing herself for the judgment the boy no doubt bestowed upon her and hoping his dogmatic teachings have poisoned his brain enough for him to disregard all the things she had done for him. Luther and all the kitsune quietly watched his small breakdown, some feeling unease, others surprised.
"No, th-that's just, what!?" Luka stumbled, he felt dizzy trying to comprehend it, his apparent villain was no right in front of him, not as a terrifying enemy that had to be defeated, but his travel companion and if a little sadistic teacher. To the boy it was she was no normal Monster as apparent by things she had done and knows, but to think she was the Monster Lord was mind-boggling, a "friendly" face no less, it went against everything Ilias' teaching had requested of him.
A deep breath later to compose what he could of himself he glanced around him, Tamamo and her kitsune weren't in the very least surprised, that much he expected…and Luther's bland and apologetic look made him stop. Either Luther was hiding or he too knew well of what she was. "Did you know, why wasn't I told?" He squeaked out.
"Oops, I get the feeling I said something I wasn't supposed to, sorry." Tamamo said, giving a casual apology while shrugging.
"I thought you knew that since you were traveling with her." The two-tailed kitsune chimed in. "There are not a lot of scary lamia's like her out there." She remarked much to Alice's chagrin.
"Yes, I did know, for quite a long time actually," Luther responded, his frown intensifying upon seeing his friend's betrayed expression, he needed to amend it and fast. "Had a hunch she was since the first time we all met, that was practically confirmed when she commanded Granberia's, a Heavenly Knight, to stop her invasion of Iliasburg. It was fairly obvious that Alice was the Monster Lord from what she did and say."
"Then why didn't you or Alice tell me anything?"
"I had no obligation to tell you anything, besides I want to see how long it would take to figure it out. Turns out you were too much of an idiot that it took somebody flat out telling you to do so." Alice crossed her arms and gave a rather disappointed stare that made the boy flush with embarrassment.
"Y-yeah, maybe I should have figured out sooner...maybe I am a bit stupid in that regard" The fake hero admitted, in hindsight, everything was pointed to that one conclusion, her words from before only making more sense with such a revelation. He turned to Luther, awaiting his reason for keeping this information to himself, lying to him directly.
"I didn't say anything because I promised not to, she quite easily figured out that I knew and confronted me about it, we were both waiting for you to come to the natural conclusion so you wouldn't freak out. Forgive me if my lie hurt you, but given the things you said about the Monster Lord I thought it'd be best for both of us that you don't know, at least for a while " Luther apologized, bowing his head a little. As the fake hero looked back to Alice he remembered all the things he had said about the Monster Lord that was now in front of him, guilt started to creep into his heart.
"My, what an interesting development." Tamamo watched and listened intently at the boy's words and movements, from what she had gathered it seemed the boy was having his worldview broken. How would he react to it would be a good telling of his character, she wagered.
"If you're the Monster Lord, Alice. Then why travel with me, what do you want exactly." Luka inquired, he thought if her previously given identity was fabrication then some must have her reasons for adventuring. He wanted to know the truth, all of it.
"My reason isn't different from the one given to you before – you're an interesting human, more so after I have seen what you can do. I found that it is quite a time to leave my castle and explore the world, see what is and eat some delicacies along the way. Traveling with you fulfills both of those goals." Alice answered, there was an unreadable expression on her face but it didn't seem like she was lying to him.
"What about the conflict between Humans? Didn't you order an all-out war?"
"That's what your teaching would like you to believe but no as Luther once pointed out there is very little conflict compared to what a full-scale war would be, if I did, we wouldn't have ever met." Alice sharply stated. The sheer conviction of her statement sent a shiver down the fake hero's spine. "My only order was to exercise power in self-defense."
"Exercise power in self-defense? Then what the hell happened in Remina or why did Granberia attack Iliasburg?" Luka blurted out as he waved his arms around, her words didn't align with reality – many Monsters were attacking human settlements, in fact, that's what they were most known for, there was a reason why many Humans stayed clear of them. It was her orders, at least that's what many of his community believed it to be.
"Luka, she is only 21, the massacre happened thirty years ago, way before she was even born.." Luther defended her, standing in between the two of his traveling companions. "And correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Granberia disobeying Alice's orders and was quite literally shooed away."
"Correct, violence was only approved for self-defense purposes, it was necessary. After the Slaughter of Remina, the Humans were left with a burning hatred for nearby Monsters and a dangerous situation was left brewing and still is. I did not want conflict, but neither did my subordinates to be killed. But a lot of Monsters have taken a very liberal interpretation of what I mean it seems." Alice had looked onto the exit to the outside world with some disdain. "An excusable act."
"Which leads me to this." She slithered past Luther to directly face Luka once more, this time closer than before, forcefully grabbing her shoulder. "Now that you know who I am, tell me. Is the Monster Lord evil, would someone like her order the Remina massacre if it was even possible? Your opponent is right in front of you, what are you going to do?"
"Alice you don't have t-"Luther said, but was silenced by a finger, an order to be quiet.
"Chu…" Luther heard his stand weakly protest, neither of them wanted to see the two fight and Luka be killed, but he was almost sure that Luka had formed some positive opinion on her to not think of her as an evil creature, or at least one that only tormented him.
Everyone in the room remained silent, all eyes watching Luka awaiting his answer and for his sake hoped he refused to fight. They knew of the potential fate that was waiting for the boy. He stood still, swallowing the lump in his throat as he forced himself to stare at her face – the very purpose of his journey was to beat the Monster Lord and now she was in front of him. She looked pained at even the thought of him thinking she was evil, but he knew his true answer, after venturing on this journey with her even with the little amount of time that had passed while she was in his company. He already made an image of her and what she asked was not even close.
"No, you're not evil, maybe mean and a bit too sadistic for my liking but not evil, I think I know you wouldn't do such things." He answered honestly, Alice was someone who had gifted him Angel Halo and trained him. There was no way she was a completely horrible person, in fact, from the way she spoke she was trying to stop constant skirmishes between his and her people with questionable success admittedly, that just meant he had to try harder to change this world.
"Besides, what am I going to do, fight you of all people?" Luka awkwardly and painfully chuckled, he would be destroyed in a matter of seconds if that were the case and that fact made him feel insignificant. With that Alice let him go giving a soft smile.
"Aw~ what a cute conclusion, but am I afraid we'll have to leave you to it" Tamamo said, already starting to leave as she called on her servants. Luka jumped slightly, remembering the entire reason he came to this place, he spotted the bell that she was holding. It was very rusted and old, somewhat mundane if weren't for the strange sigils on it and the strange sensation he got while looking at it.
"Wait, the bell! " He called to Tamamo who turned back, an inquisitive expression was present. "It's the very reason we came here and had to fight your subordinates, is it really it, is i-."
"Indeed, this is the Poseidon's Bell, crossing over to Sentora is so annoying so I'm taking it" Tamamo said, and as she predicted his face fell flat in disappointment and frustration. "Honestly, it doesn't matter to me. But Alma Elma is so annoying."
"Alma Elma?
"She is another one of the Heavenly Knights, it explains how she can channel a storm for so long." Alice explained, her smile winded upon remembering what Luther said he would do to the one who caused the storms, something she wouldn't mind seeing it happen to her lousy subordinate. "And before I say, just like Granberia I didn't order to do that."
"Saying that, if you want this bell, what are you going to do?" The Heavenly Knight smirked, holding the bell just overhead, ringing it.
"We were originally hoping to negotiate for it." Taking the fake hero side Luther spoke as glanced at the silver-haired fox girl with a pleading look. He wanted nothing more than to get this over with, having to battle Tamamo for the bell would be disastrous or perhaps the kitsune's refusal would make Alice just desperate enough to transport him and Luka without it.
"Since you don't need it, could you perhaps give it to us instead, I have no way of getting across without it" Luka added, seeing no reason other than to avoid annoyance as to why couldn't give it to them. She had no real use for the bell and only came here to traverse a traitorous landscape.
"And what are we going to be off-wait, hold on." Tamamo stopped as she felt her littlest kitsune tug at her sleeve. She glanced back at her subordinates, particularly her two-tailed kitsune who went over to whisper something to her.
"Oh, is that true?" Tamamo blinked upon hearing it, despite not showing it she felt some shame for allowing her cute little subordinate to be left alone and nearly being eaten by whatever crawled around here just because of her recklessness. Another detail struck out to her, it became apparent how her little subordinate was sealed by Luka and then returned to her original form with Luther's help, who had managed to directly give her energy. Fascination was a word that describes what she felt, his actions meant he possessed some form of energy manipulation
"Yes lady Tamamo, those two saved the little one." Nanabi confirmed it. She sneakily winked at Luka, her previous main opponent, who she had much pleasure fighting against before saying her piece. "Perhaps a reward is in order for such a deed."
"Hmm...perhaps." She closed her folding fan, pleasantly humming a tune to herself.
"As the leader of the kitsune, I must thank you for saving and unsealing one of my own." Softly laughing she approached Luther. "How do you want me to thank you? Delicious thin fried tofu or do you want to touch my fluffy tail?" Tamamo offered, her tails moved ever so slowly to touch his crotch.
Wait, she is rewarding me. Chamber however was a bit stunned to notice her enticement immediately. He shook his head, there was a good reason he was a likely candidate for a reward, that and the sly smile that the silver-haired kitsune was giving him told him everything he needs to know Well that just makes this a lot easier, not that I don't trust Luka, I'd rather not take any chances.
"Neither, I want the Poseidon Bell, the very thing we came for." Luther pointed to the bell in her hand, an absolute conviction in his voice, there wasn't even a single hint that he considered the two options given. Food? He could eat and that would be it. Fluffy tail? Well, he had already touched one or rather two, those desires were satisfied. But the bell? That was the only thing that let him continue forward.
"That's what I expected." kitsune simply smiled. "Here you go."
As Luther went to grab the ancient bell he felt his arm be suddenly grabbed and he was pulled down. His ear was just about touching her cheek and then he heard her whisper. "Those two, keep them close together with you, trust me, it will do you good.." It was weak and barely audible even with his proximity, but the volume didn't matter, rather it was the meaning behind those words, which had struck to the core.
Luther was let go and the bell was in hands, fingers wrapping around the metal, not that he felt its weight much or that he was holding it all. He was too busy staring at Tamamo to notice.
"Eh? Is it really okay? Handing it over so quickly? I expected to be a bit more resistant, to be honest." Luka meanwhile was staring at the bell in Luther's hands, he had no qualms with his being the one rewarded. It made sense to him, she would be more grateful to the person who didn't seal her subordinate.
"I don't really…the traps in this cave looked like fun so I wandered in." Tamamo playfully shrugged.
"See, I told you so!" The two-tailed kitsune said and despite hearing it from the source he still found it hard to believe it, there had to be a deeper meaning for anyone to venture into these long-forgotten stony halls.
"Really now? Whatever, thank you for the bell." Luka thanked her, her reason didn't matter anymore, they had a bell and that was that. He was just happy he got the bells safe.
"And now what are you going to do, Luka? You're a hero, and I'm a Monster. Aren't you going to fight and try to defeat me as you did with my subordinates?" She questioned while her tails swung around inviting him to come closer, but then noticed a peculiar thing, Luther had broken out of his daze looking a bit befuddled and stayed by Luka's side.
"There is no reason to fight, despite what you say…I'm not that type of hero. I only fight those who want to oppress the weak and those who try to stop Monsters from coexisting." Luka refused, but not for no reason – he got what he wanted and for the simple fact that she was fully capable of beating him. He fought Granberia, an awful experience by all accounts; he wasn't going to uneasily fight someone as strong as her.
"An admirable endeavor, however, we will have to fight eventually." Tamamo was pleased by his answer, although did give him a warning, so he could prepare, grow stronger so that it would be a fun fight if not for a clash of ideals then as a test to see if he was worthy. "After all, I am one of the Monster Lord's Heavenly Knights."
"If it happens, it will happen." Luka solemnly replied and nodded.
"Well then, farewell." Tamamo and the other kitsune said their farewells and vanished leaving them alone in the cave, the giant mess that was venturing into it was now over. There was a noticeable lack of whimsicalness now with her absences, some had considered it a blessing, instead, it was filled by a sense of victory with a boyish shout that echoed across the empty rocky corridors declaring they'd done it.
Luther stayed frozen staring into the spot where Tamamo left all while his friends chatted about events that transpired and further their topic about the tension of Monster and Humans, the Heavenly Knights creating problems. His ears listened, but his mind was deaf and blind to everything around it, too preoccupied with the words repeating in his head, Tamamo's apparent wisdom
Those two, keep them close together with you, trust me, it will do you good.
Sorry…Chambers looked at the bell in his hands and clutched it tightly.
I can't, it's for their sake and my own I can't get attached.
AN: Oh but you already are, Luther you soft-hearted bastard.
And as promised Tamamo finally appears...and then leaves, to be honest, there isn't much she could do at this point in time and I feel she doesn't have to do much yet.
In regards to her behavior: It is as Alice describes her, she is both a child and a sage in the way she acts, along with being a troll as well. However, I did go at her character with a general idea that her whimsical nature and actions have a deeper meaning to them, such as when she purposely embarrassed Nanabi and Luther. The reason she did that was to both gauge his reactions and to stop the violent tension between both of them. Much of what else she does and says is also a test of character for many people. That's how I personally interpret Tamamo.
Reviews:
-lilbigstoryteller: I have answered in this in a PM, but I'll also mention it here. Yes, Tusk will evolve as the story goes on.
-mario986: Welp, you're going to wait a bit for that fight. Regarding that whole topic, life has obviously made Luther extremely jaded to the point where here in this chapter he mocks fate, calling it cruel. He also despite trusting Luka a little bit doesn't allow him even a chance to make the wrong choice or at least tries wherever he can to stray him off that path, that just how cynical he is.
-lytsadboi: Isn't she always entertaining?
-Guest: I do agree with you, there is a lot left of MGQ and I intend to finish this story to the end. It might take me a long time, but at this point, it's just self-obligation to do so.
-doomqwer: Funnily enough I almost forgot the religion quest popped up so early before I checked my outlines. And yeah, given the fact that Alma is the second Heavenly Knight battle of the game and basically the opposite of Luther I was bound to hype it up a little up. So now I have to live up to...neat...
Thank you for the support and I'll see you next Chapter.
