Here it is another chapter of Spin of Destiny, never thought I get this far but it seems my motivation isn't even close to burning out.
I'm been sort of pushing myself to make this, spent some sleepless nights finishing up the scenes. And now it's finally finished. Please enjoy.
As with most ports; The scent of saltwater was an ever-present sensation within Ilias Port, the endless amount of waves hitting its rocky exterior and carving into the stone, dirt, and sand through the ages. It was what the inhabitants were used to at this point, even the unintended ones. However, to Luther, Luka, and Alice it was a breath of fresh air from the dryness of their previous area, the open port being a welcoming sight when compared to the claustrophobia of stony corridors of a cave. Luka looked onto the multitudes of ships with excitement – he was finally leaving Ilias and going to Sentora. The boy had only heard tales of what the continent was like from pilgrims and wandering adventures and now he had a wondrous opportunity to see it for himself, places like San Ilia or even Grand Noah. Yet, he couldn't quite deny the shock still echoing through his mind, at the identity of his guest, it was hilarious really, a brave hero traveling through the entire world with the Monster Lord herself, now all that was left was for Luther to reveal himself to be some sort of god.
Luther…His friend's secrecy wasn't hurtful, he understood the reasons for it clearly – the things he had said and stated were a cause for concern. But it didn't change the tenseness of the silence they shared when getting there, like their first time together, it was torturous and with the implications of getting to Sentora – a horrifying send-off for a friend, one that he was unlikely to see again.
Luka shook his head and pointed over to a large boat, it looked accommodating enough. "How about that one, it looks quaint." He spoke, hoping his voice was loud enough to be heard amidst the waves crashing into the beach. The skies were clear as day, but the sea told him a different story.
"You're a buffoon if you think we'll go on that piece of junk, look at the nets and openings of the hull, even I can tell that it's a small fishing boat. Not exactly a comfortable ride, or something meant for ocean-faring" Alice noted, refuting his suggestion. Another detail she could spot was the lack of crew to man the vessel. Relief - that was what she was feeling both for being "accepted" by Luka and for finally leaving the damned continent named after her arch enemy. "Look for something bigger, preferably with clear boarding rooms."
And so the fake hero and his apparent nemesis walked along the port gazing at the many transportation ships they could possibly take, all were looking for a way to get out of this place as fast as possible, all except Luther.
The older man stared blankly at the bell in his hand, barely trailing along with his companions, not out of any sense of shame but rather a desire for some isolation, to be left alone to himself and his thoughts just like he regularly does. Those two, keep them close together with you, trust me, it will do you some good. He mused on those parting words, which Tamamo had given him, all the way there to the sea awaiting them, no matter how much he tried he couldn't shake them from out of his head. What did she exactly mean by that? Did he have a lesson to learn from them, or did he just look that lonely?
Something tells me the latter is not very good to have when encountering Monsters… Luther shivered, already predicting how annoying the future encounters could get. He didn't need personal wounds to be made whilst being sexually harassed, it would likely achieve the opposite effect of whatever the Monster decided to make him her mate or food, still, it would hurt to keep being reminded of that. Maybe I should put on a happier act if that's even possible.
Nevertheless…Luther flicked a gold coin in his right hand and caught it effortlessly, having thrown around high-speed projectiles had enhanced his hand-eye coordination that such feats were simple yet there was still much to be improved upon. With a sigh, he pocketed the coin, one of many he and his fellow travelers plundered from the main treasure room. It was only a fair course of action after the trouble they had to deal with so much so that even Luka didn't mind partaking in some good old fashion treasure hunting. I know Tamamo isn't the one to play around with life lessons, especially if given so seriously. Her suggestion is simple - if we are all close we are more likely to protect each other, both literally and methodically. I know she cares about Alice, being her guardian figure, but I and Luka are interesting pleasantries, she'd likely want to pick us apart, see what potential lurks in us.
But she doesn't have the full picture, she doesn't know of the consequences that may occur. He left that trail with that thought and did what perhaps he should have done a long time ago while traveling – find a distraction before his mind sinks any deeper. Luther's eyes went over to the bell he was still holding. The Poseidon Bell, a legendary artifact in his possession, he could just feel the green envy of all past sailors around him, not that he cared or would they recognize it anymore.
Truth be told, being tucked away, hidden for such a long time had done much injustice to its appearance, the bell had lost whatever splendor it may have had been rusted beyond belief. The unique shape it had was all but eaten away, he was surprised to see the handle even hold the strain of its small weight. Chambers wiped whatever he could off it, revealing its true metal and soon, a specter of a bygone era had shone through, if only a little. He first spotted the main anchor symbol, then, what he guessed to be wave and wind patterns flowing into it, creating a simple pattern.
Despite the age, it still gives off this mystical sensation, strangely eerie… Chambers noted, fingertips dragging along its many patterns. Still hard to believe this thing can ward off storms, such a benevolent tool in a cruel world. Out of sheer curiosity, he rang the bell and stopped. His musically inclined mind sparked to life as he noticed something odd about it. No matter at what speed or with what strength he rang it in, it always played the same tune, a set of notes just with different volume and pauses.
The emotions displayed in a musical piece were often left to the listener's interpretation, yet this was different, no matter how much he tried to look at a different angle, a constant sense of peacefulness and serenity came over him when hearing it or thinking about it. It seemed almost unnatural for him to be feeling it to such an extent but he couldn't quite put his finger on it and fully realize it. Always a step away from figuring it out before the sensation fades away. How strange…
"Stop ringing it…"
Luther took a sharp breath and his head immediately jumped up from Alice's order, his vision darted from one corner to the next, his companions and many of the people there were staring at him with passing interest, some taking in the small song that played. The stand user shrunk slightly from the eyeing he was receiving, being in the spotlight was most likely the worst thing that could happen to him in such a world and he already knew why he was getting such attention. They must have heard and felt it as well…welp at least the bell works just fine.
"Are you really that bored that you go play around with whatever you have on hand? It would be endearing if you weren't a grown man and if it wasn't an important treasure." The Monster Lord was quick to chastise him, although keeping the volume to a hushed whisper. She had no need or desire to make a larger scene. "Don't go swinging around such a thing so freely, you don't know whether or not there are bastards with fingers too curious for their own good to be lurking around here. Give me that bell!" With her nearly unrivaled strength she ripped away from the Poseidon bell from his hands, he didn't protest much, simply shoving his empty hands into his pockets.
"I didn't play with it, if you listened close enough you'd notice the bell always plays the same song," Luther explained his observation, if Alice was surprised she'd certainly didn't show it. The disguised Monster simply huffed and kept the bell.
"Really? I guess that proves the bell is special, let's just hope it works on the sea. Still, it's hard to believe such a magical object is tucked away all the way there and not in some underwater palace…oh well, makes it easier for us." Luka idly remarked, continuing to scan the harbor. "But none of that matters anymore, let's just go find ourselves an actual ship, I'm sure we all want to leave as soon as possible after all we've been through.
It was something they could all unanimously agree on, the struggles they faced were not worth time being spent pointlessly arguing about a bell, granted it was a bell with a legendary status, nonetheless still pointless. The older man joined in their search. They had passed along many other fishing boats, a single impressive man-o'-war that was, unfortunately, lacking in crew members. Although a slightly annoying endeavor, they did not give up to find a suitable candidate to give them a ride before Alice finally narrowed her eyes to what appeared to be a speech to both of the males.
"Right there, large enough for transport seems to have nice rooms and it's filled to the brim with sailors doing nothing but wasting away waiting…perfect for us. Let's go give them purpose, shall we?" The Monster Lord walked forward, inviting them to follow.
Both Luka and Luther shared a look at how morbid her tone sounded and before they knew it they found themselves on a bridge between their soon-to-be transport and the harbor itself. In their way sat a man on a crate casually smoking a pipe, someone who was most likely older than fifty, yet he still possessed some impressive physique for a man his age, his hair was barely existent covered up only by a hat that had an obvious anchor symbol, his clothing, though simple and rather free still distinguished itself with the quality compared to that of the men behind him.
Dull green eyes stared with some minor interest at the purple-haired boy approaching him, wondering if the boy held a topic of value to gossip about or perhaps an entertaining performance to display, it wouldn't be the first time some performers came around his ship, he desperately hoped something could interrupt the boredom he was feeling – being trapped on some gods forsaken port didn't do well on his or the sanity of his crew, at the very least he had the company of the locals there.
"Hmm? What do you want, kid? Can't you see that we ar-" The old man paused, looked back at his ship, the cargo was stacked and re-stacked, provision, and supplies were recounted so many times he swore he felt his soul leave a couple times the moment his first mate opened his mouth. The crew was doing nothing but lazing around, waiting for their paycheck. "Actually, we're not that busy, come on, what do you wanna say?"
"Good day." Luka gave his signature smile to the bored captain. It didn't faze him much as he was too entrenched in disappointed apathy of his situation to feel anything. "Excuse me…we'd like to take a ship to the Sentora continent." The fake hero requested.
The captain stared blankly at the boy below him, his teeth gritting the pipe as his lungs pulled in smoke, it took a bit before his body reacted accordingly. He entered a coughing fit, hard tobacco smoke leaving his mouth, albeit slowly he was recovering from the physical shock evident to all of them by the wheezing laughter. "Oh! Are you new here or pulling my leg? Everyone knows what happens to any ship that tries to leave here, something we've grown a little too familiar with I'm afraid."
"I know all too well, but if we hang this Poseidon Bell from the ship's mast, it should be alright, the storm won't hit us," Luka reassured the old wheezing man, ignoring the blatant mockery that came from him. Alice and Luther both wore a frown on their face, though neither seemed all too motivated to demonstrate their frustration at such skepticism.
"A pip-squeak like you has pirate Selene's treasure –the Poseidon Bell? Ha! Right, and I can piss molten gold!" The captain snuffed out the smoke from his pipe, his laughter only becoming stronger and clearer as the last of the smoke left him. He pointed to the artifact in Luka's hands, in a way maybe his wish for entertainment did come true. "If that rust-covered bell could let me avoid storms, I'd be rich…"
Seriously, I'd expected a simple scoff and shooing away, but full-on mockery? Eh, can't exactly blame him, none of us can. But this is too much. The simple request didn't work, so it was time for some intimidation. The stand user wasn't intending on staying around just to see get nothing done and have his benefactor be laughed at. Sorry about this, but we need to get to Sentora some way.
The fake hero attempted to protest but was interrupted by a gentle hand pushing aside and grabbing the bell out of his hands, he looked up to see Luther standing in front and glaring, his height standing over the captain sitting on a crate. "Listen here. " Chambers held up the bell right into the captain's face almost like he was threatening to batter the man with it. "This is the Poseidon Bell, like or not after hundreds of years even treasures like this rust away into metal dust. I did not fight my way through a Monster den just to get rejected and have you laugh your lungs out. Hell, I'll even throw this bell in for you as a reward. All we need is a single one-way trip to the nearest port in Sentora."
"So what will be? A one-way trip for a bell that can propel your career to heights you can only dream of achieving or be subjected to whatever fate me and my companions may decide upon you?" Luther finished, he knew of his outward appearance to people perfectly well, how it caused discomfort, that, and abusing a simple mortal man's greed he reckoned he had formed a decent offer.
Luka and Alice exchanged glances, the fake hero being admittedly disturbed by his older friend's violent outburst and he had no will to follow up on the prospect of potentially harming the most innocent old man. The Monster Lord, however, didn't hide her amused smirk at the classic tactic being used, she was all too willing to follow up on the threat, nothing too much, just a simple punishment to an insolent fool.
The captain froze, a cold shiver went down his spine as he felt his life flash before his eyes. He swallowed a lump that formed in his throat, opening his mouth he found that any noise that came out died quickly, eyes in a panic glancing around before centering on the supposed treasure in his would-be tormentor's fingers. Now that he was looking at it, he could certainly say it wasn't an ordinary old dirty bell, there was clear craftsmanship behind its mystique and as the winds blew the song it played was soothing to the soul.
"Pah!" The old captain straightened himself out and spat at the wooden floor below them just beside Luther's feet like he was challenging the man into fulfilling his dark promise. "I have lived long enough to stare death straight in the eye and not blink, don't try to think that some scary face and tone will be enough to shake me. I'll take whatever you can dish out on me, nothing you can do is worse than facing a storm head-on, it'd be suicide…and unless you're blind I have an entire crew at my beck and call."
"Allow me." Alice stepped forward past the grumbling Luther, making sure to directly stare into the ship captain's eyes. While it was interesting for her to see how the two men approached the situation, both methods showed varying degrees of success, another was needed, this one with no chance of failure. There was no reason to play around anymore, she had her fill with observations.
"Ohh…the fine woman finally shows herself, I can give you a special ride instead if you want?" He winked and before he could begin letting out a lecherous laugh Alice's eyes flashed a powerful light.
"Follow my commands." She simply ordered, her eyes continuing to glow an eerie golden light, iris swirling in hypnotic pattern as the disguised lamia took a step back. The captain shot up and stood at attention, raising a salute to the hidden Monster, any sign of mockery or perverted flirtation vanishing and leaving behind empty duty.
"Your wish is my command!" He reaffirmed her control of him and Luther could only sigh as he watched a man lose his free will in a single blink, it was the last thing he had wanted out of this – threats or coercion were better than overriding a person's sense of self-preservation or resistance, at least then they still had a mind of their own to act even if forced. For Chambers, Alice had perhaps committed the worst imaginable thing upon another human so casually it made him shiver slightly.
"Take us to Sentora and make the necessary preparations." She gave out her orders and turned back to her companions.
"Understood!" The captain replied with foreign discipline and excitement jumping onto the deck of the ship. "Oi, You all, pack your fishing stuff and get ready for departure!" he bellowed to his crew members and all of them stared at him like they had a death wish. "What are you eyeing, make haste!"
Perplexed, the sailors muttered and weakly spoke out their protests, one of them was clear enough for them all to hear. "But captain, the storm is going to tear our ship apart and leave us all drowning."
"No worries men, our guests here possess the Poseidon Bell that will protect us, now move it!" The captain repeated his order and with great hesitance yet surprising haste his crew began to prepare the ship for departure, giving weak rogers and murmurs of disbelief as he watched proudly at how they followed his command with minimal questioning and went on to check the lodger one last time.
Luther, Alice, and Luka watched in silence as they gathered their personal belongings and the many tools left scattered. The fake hero raised an eyebrow at the lack of resistance from anyone on board, the captain especially; it was all happening too fast to be easily explainable. Until it hit him, what Alice had done to that man.
"Alice…did you hypnotize him with your eyes?" Luka inquired out curiosity, a somewhat prevalent theme in some powerful monsters he noted- the power of hypnosis contained within a monster's eyes, he wouldn't be surprised if his monstrous companion was capable of such, if not even more.
Alice chuckled at his simple-minded question, the answer being obvious enough from her demonstration. "These are the magic eyes that high-ranking monsters have." She pointed to her eyes, traces of power oozing out of them as they glowed. "With them, I can charm, confuse, petrify, or cause someone to faint at my will."
"Sounds awfully convenient." The purple-haired boy commented as he processed the information given, it meant that fighting her was a more suicidal decision than he originally thought, something that not even he could stomach in attempting if he held any hostility toward her. "Anyway, thanks for helping, don't think either I or Luther could have convinced that man to give us a ride…"
"Don't get the wrong idea here, it would be boring to be stuck here after everything we've been through, it would be beyond a simple annoyance." She sharply responded, crossing her arms and huffing.
A lack of noteworthy time had passed and they were called on board by the captain, everything was prepared – many of the knots keeping the sails tied undone, any unneeded equipment thrown away into storage and the crew manning their jobs. After tying the bell to the main mast Luka and Alice retreated into the guest room in the lower deck and Luther looked around for a small moment.
Awfully convenient…it's something even more than that. Luther groaned and rubbed his face, as Alice gave her explanation on her powers, which he already knew, and looked at the affected target… All of it made him make the discomforting realization of the terrifying amount of power that Alice held over the mind and how easy she could manipulate it. No being should have this much power over another, he lectured to himself, and major consequences arise because of that.
And consequences did arise - it was an easy matter for Luther to spot the fear and anxiety within the sailors, like an open day sky it was plain to see. Their shaking body language, silent praying, or mutterings about the captain's insanity didn't go unnoticed by Chambers. Those sailors were convinced they were going to die or get stranded. He knew of such fear and dread in his life.
Don't worry it will all turn out well, you'll survive, all of you…Yet all he could do now was offer a silent apology and promise, not that it meant anything to them or would they really have cared for the words of the man they never met leading to their supposed death. I wish I could do more… Luther followed after his only companions and closed the hatch.
The light of a lantern flickered in the dark guest room, its oils calmly burning and doing their best to keep the little flame alive amongst cold and darkness around it. Luther Chambers absent-mindedly stared at it, fingers wrapped around the edges of the crate he was sitting on. The room was silent except for the constant tapping of his foot against the hardwood floor, only drowned out by the storm wreaking havoc on the sea –the thundering of clouds and pouring of rain. Curiously enough despite the chaos near them, the ride was smooth. He sighed, try as he might, he couldn't restrain the limb from stimming aside just flat out grabbing hold of it and he had yet to hear the protest of either of his equally quiet companions.
With a small tilt of his head, he looked to his friends. Much to the minor envy of both of him and Alice, Luka had made himself home by taking the only actual seat present. The boy simply stared out the window and watched the chaos unfold, eyes wide out of both wonder and some amount of uncertainty. Alice, now in her true form, found comfort in her own snake coils, closing her eyes as she sat there. Neither of the males knew what her elusive mind was thinking about, maybe new ways to torment her student, pondering on the progress made so far? None dared to ask.
"Sentora…after all this time and preparation…I only heard stories of the content." Luka mused. The somewhat melancholic nostalgia in his voice wasn't missed by either of his companions. "Can't wait to finally see it for myself."
"We are the same in that regard. It would be the first time I'd set foot in Sentora as well" Alice said, waking up from her contemplation.
"Eh? But I thought if you were visiting the entire world, wouldn't the first places you visit be in Sentora based on where your castle is?" Luka raised an eyebrow. To him, it was strangely convenient that she crashed where she did, given her goals. And if those haven't changed since her reveal then it didn't make any sense why she would be in Ilias first – a continent for which hatred she didn't hide for.
"I merely flew over Sentora, my first location was the Ilias temple. Let's just say… I had some business to attend to here…" She let out a small mischievous chuckle that didn't fail to make her student shiver slightly and his face fall in dejection. He opened his mouth and then closed it, having no will to inquire what she did in Ilias temple, merely hoping she had something genuinely important to do other than childish pranking. "Nevertheless it would be fascinating to see some of the landmarks and towns, oh…the delicacies they could offer."
"Have your pilgrims told much about Port Natalia, I'd figure a naïve boy like you would certainly appreciate its interesting existence, given it being a reflection of your dream." Alice remarked, though her composed countenance couldn't mask the interest hidden in her tone.
The purple-haired perked up, nearly jumping out of his comfortable chair with stars in his eyes. "Yep! It's a port town where humans and mermaids live in peace, at first when passing adventurers spoke of it was hard to believe, but then more and more people spoke of the same thing. I can't wait to see it, that place only proves what I believe in!" He raised his fist high in resolve prompting a scoff from his monstrous mentor, but then relaxed his hand slowly lowering back down and gave a sad gaze at Luther.
"It's also the last place where we'll see each other again Luther, I'm sure you've got your own things to do after being stuck on the Ilias continent, so many places to see and people to meet. " Luka said, there was no denying that he felt saddened at the thought of him and Luther going their own separate ways. But in all accounts both of them had fulfilled their obligations in this relationship, Luka by helping him in getting back to Sentora and Luther by saving and training him, offering pieces of advice, and fighting alongside him.
Wait….shit! Luther sat frozen, it took a full second for him to process and realize what Luka meant with his words and another to remember his given role in this world - masquerading as a stranded adventurer hoping for someone to aid him in returning home. And heading to port Natalia meant the end for the excuse of traveling with the fake hero that his fake role gave him. Great, just fucking great, how did I not think of that? Of course, I'd give off the impression that I'm only tagging along to Sentora. Now I can't just follow him around, not without any reason, that would certainly raise a lot of questions, especially in a certain curious Lamia. Need to think of something and quick, some excuse I can use to follow him...if I can't…well guess I'll have to bear their suspicion. But that is the worst outcome!
"Yeah…quite a surprise I'll be back to my homeland so fast in all honesty. These past few days have been quite eventful and I'm not sure how I'll go back to living a more tame life, you people just attract trouble like a flame to a moth." Luther sat up, shuffling nervously as he gave a contemplative look at Luka. Nothing came to his mind that could justify his current role in abandoning his "goals" to go on the fake hero's crazed journey, nothing that didn't make him more suspicious.
"Indeed, perhaps that is true. Don't think I can recall any historical figure that fought a queen and faced two Heavenly Knights in such a short time. Congratulations to us then, we managed to achieve what many heroes sacrifice and put aside their lives to accomplish, I would say that is impressive if not for the average skill displayed by these so-called 'heroes'." The Monster Lord remarked and then turned to Luther, her usual soul-piercing gaze was ever-present, a thing he had most hated, as it always felt like he was being studied like she was making a psychological profile out of every action he took. Worst of all, for the most part, his assumption was true. "Though I must admit you as well have made yourself out to be most certainly an intriguing individual, never have I seen a human wielding such peculiar powers."
"If you were to allow a Monster Lord to sate her curiosity, maybe as a parting gift, would you be willing to tell me what you intend to do once you return? You know our goals, it's only fair if you tell us your own.." Alice inquired and her little student wasn't far off from showing his curiosity, listening intently to what Luther had to say.
Luther swallowed his saliva that had gathered up, it felt as if time had frozen and he was stuck with two motionless statues staring at him, judging him despite their inability to move. While he was not so far removed from being the center of attention as to be constantly avoiding it, this interrogation he hated, from the very earliest points of childhood. It was as if he was put on trial for a crime he did not commit and forced to play along . "I don't really know, what I said to you before isn't a lie, I am just a wanderer."
"What about your family? They must be worried sick about you!" Luka exclaimed in response, he knew the importance of family and how much one person could mean to the world to another.
"Well, I suppose getting in contact with them again would be my first "goal", though it's rather mundane compared to your quest. The only problem is that I have no clue as to where they are, and likely much the same with them." Luther said pushing himself off the crate, another half-truth spoken – it was his goal and admittedly a lot more than just a mundane task. He'd even argue crossing over into another universe was likely a much more arduous task than his little friend's big mission, granted if it wasn't as if he would even get the chance to accomplish his own goal.
"Ah, but it is a more realistic goal." Alice took the opportunity to jape at Luka. "A man forcibly separated from his family by forces beyond his control must now look and find them once again. It could work as a plot for some cheesy overly dramatic romance novel." Yet she was just as quick to salt in the older man's wound too, not sparing him from any mockery.
"Haha, funny…" He deadpanned and found himself desiring a breath of fresh ocean air, and slowly started to move to the door. "Any more questions or jokes that you can make at my expense, I have all day here so might as well dish what you can."
"Where do you come from? You look too pale to be from the scorching lands of Safina and too open-minded for places like San Ilia." Another inquiry came from Alice, and this one he all the more dreaded.
"Uhh…would you believe I was actually born on the road? Funny story really, my mom and dad got lucky- take that statement as you will in both ways - and ended up traveling with a doctor who helped ease their burden." Chambers did what he understood best and lied through his teeth, he knew that being vague could be his downfall if questioned further.
But knew nothing more than the towns and villages that visited Luka and if he were to go that route of deceit then he would be in an unforeseeable amount of trouble when none of the inhabitants recognize him. Step by step he got closer to the door and it seemed like they hadn't noticed it yet, too closely watching his facial expression as his leg moved.
"Why did you even go to I-"
"I have always been meaning to ask this, where did you get that scar on your face?" Luka quickly voiced his inquiry, loudly interrupting Alice with his enthusiasm. His eyes sparkled in wonder as the boy's mind went through a multitude of scenarios explaining where Luther acquired it –a battle with a dangerous Monster, perhaps a large pack of bandits. "Looks rough, it must be a proud battle scar, there has to be a good story behind it!"
Just as soon as it came his awe was snuffed out by the loud sound of Luther's raised foot hitting the ground, both Alice and he jumped up in surprise before finally noticing how close to the door Chambers was. The fake hero crossed eyes with his older companion and found bitter resentment staring into…nothing – an empty space, it was the coldest glare that he had seen them give. "It's not a battle scar." He hissed out, opening the door leading to the lower deck.
"And nothing to be proud of..." Before he or Alice could ask him to clarify they were met by a loud slam followed by the empty sight of the closed door.
Silence joined them once again…
Luther leaned against the ship's taffrail, just at near its helm; no one had paid their mind to his presence, either opting to leave him alone in his moping and focus on their work or too cautious to disturb the chilling adventurer. He looked onward, onto the sea, the evening was drawing closer with each passing minute yet the storm around refused to subside. An extraordinary sight formed: thunder and lightning cracked across the sky, striking close to the ship but never at it, waves crashed against each other, swallowing themselves whole as winds picked up speed yet the water near them was still and clear. The only other comprehensible constant in this ship was the constant ringing of the Poseidon Bell which warded off this natural destruction, indeed, its calming tunes might have been the only thing that kept the crew sane and not having them commit a mutiny.
The sight was strange, and that was beating around the bush. So weird, it's like the bell is generating some protective bubble around the ship based on the movement of the water, preventing any part of the storm from crossing in and destroying this ship. And given the lack of clouds directly above the ship, the barrier is quite large.
In spite of the artificial sense of peace instilled upon him and the distant turmoil of nature that threatened to tear them all apart, he saw a reflection within the waters, just within hand's reach but always too far to grasp. Perhaps, it was the chaos itself that helped the still image form, an image of him. His talk with the only people he could begin to call friends had left wanting some time alone, to compose himself but he only found a mirror and another thing…
An image of longing, but what? The storm that's raging before reminded him of something, rather the danger of it made him remember his past. A better time he would say, for there was an adventurous period in his lifetime, born both out of a passion for his projects and a desire to travel. It was the first storm he had seen with such severity, there were many like it in his expeditions with his friends. Those blizzards of cold, unending pouring of rain, the hot sun in desert's day, it all served to temper the bonds he made like a hammer to a hot iron through the harsh struggle. All good that did for us…
"Chu…" Its high-pitched coo was unmistakable for him, though the sadness of tone shook him. Tusk crept up from behind him, floating over his shoulder. Its large head was tilted forward but its beady blue eyes stared at the sea like him. Chambers could feel its unusual melancholy, his melancholy, it seemed wherever he was his stand wasn't so far off.
Luther sighed feeling the soft embrace of Tusk on his neck and reached to his bag, the one he had refused to rummage through any longer, and opened it. I can't count how many times I've clutched it close to me, and I don't doubt Luka or Alice hadn't noticed it. Only some common decency is keeping them from asking about my belongings or just flat-out taking a look. It doesn't matter. I'm not letting the only thing tying me to my world out of my sight. In it, his hand navigated to one of its many compartments and pulled out a photo.
The things we saw and did together. A sad smile came to him as he gazed at the photo depicting a large group gathered, all mostly in lab coats inside the interior of a laboratory. He saw himself there, standing proud with a toothy wide grin, life oozing out of the still image…it didn't feel like he was staring at the same person, he could not recall the last time when his smile had ever been that wide. Shaking his head, eyes quickly darted across the other people standing alongside him – James, Peter or as he preferred to be called P, Marshall, and many others came to mind – all with long-forgotten life within them.
Ohh, Carl, man I remember finding you. I hope Jess is treating you well. Luther chuckled at the spider inside a massive box habitat. A specimen of the Caerostris darwini species – a Darwin bark spider collected from the last expedition meant to replicate its particular trait of strong webs in another spider- a part of his magnum opus. What was a small smile fell as he looked back to the center, his finger and eyes lingering on the face of the woman leaning into him.
"Where did it all go so wrong?"
The hold on the photo tightened, almost crumpling it, and Luther's countenance became his usual empty frown. He stashed it back into his bag, wagering it'd be best to leave the past where it belonged, if only for now. This was one of many times where he recalled the happier moments of life – a period of adventure and brotherhood, passion and hope, pure love. Why did you have to leave me so soon? All of you…and the worst part I was given a chance – to see them again, only to be stripped away from it.
Luther glanced back to the sea, the constant roaring of winds and crashing of waves were second to the calamity and regret in his heart, but he heard the bell's tune and Tusk followed after, singing along. It all started with humming but he didn't know when or why he started to sing a song but sung it regardless with whatever words that came to mind closing his eyes. He sang of longing for a life he previously had, of the friendships he made and lost, of the passion he lost and desperately wanted back.
"Chu! Chu!" The alerting cries of his stand interrupted his song and it was forced to abruptly end, much to both of their displeasure, but what he felt through his link told this was important to see.
He opened them back staring into the chaotic sea, Tusk had floated in front of him, pointing with its horn at part of the sea. He didn't think much of it, just more endless chaos of the storm but he clamped his mouth shut, noticing a discrepancy in the sight before him. "What the hell?"
Just on tip of forming a wave a figure stood watching the ship pass along him, it was too hard to make out its features, much of which was hidden by the large cloak it was wearing. Another obvious detail was its deep blue translucent form. It was like a specter of a person that was once there, their form - unstable, almost appearing like mist, but the stand user could still clearly see the figure not standing but floating.
Silence gripped his vocal cords and thoughts, refusing to let go. He couldn't utter a single word or make any observation, just be frozen still. The ghostly figure returned his shock stare, turning his right toward him, he couldn't discern the emotion displayed, yet upon closer inspection, he noticed the masculinity of the figure, most apparent was the flowing beard draping down from his face.
A twitch of a finger, a shudder of the body, shock began to dissipate but as he regained control and his brain raced to explain what he was seeing, the figure disappeared into smoke before any trace of him was gone. The man was left alone again, this time with new topics in his mind, the chain that transpired to process.
"Now that's one hell of a morbid sea song, lad." Luther heard a voice of an old man call out to him, bringing him out of what remained of his paralysis. The voice behind him let out a nervous laugh which ended in a raspy cough, revealing the concern in his tone. "You alright there? Seem like a statue more than a man."
The man in question startled, almost jumped. Coming back to life, he shook slightly before turning to the origin of the voice. Tusk jumped in front, hiding in his coat, only poking its head. As he guessed it was the captain, who was curiously gazing at him. Behind him was his helmsman nervously steering the ship steady. "Oh, nothing…just seeing things that aren't there, must have not gotten enough sleep."
"Do not try to hide it, we all see specters, fallen souls amidst the sea from time to time, especially in these conditions." The captain spoke with confidence of what he knew, he couldn't count with his fingers how many times either he or his crew had spoken of spirits stalking the many ship graveyards left behind. "Your ghastly shanty must have drawn it here, I do sincerely hope you're not singing of our fate."
"Ah, no…" Luther started. the realization that he wasn't so alone and that many could have heard hitting him like a bat to the face. Blinking, Chambers straightened himself out, he had no use in remaining startled for too long, although admittedly speaking casually to the one had previously threatened wasn't a comfortable prospect. "I mean it's evening already and nothing has happened to us, and look all around. Aren't we safe, haven't we gotten close to Natalia's port?"
"Aye, a wonderful thing that bell, it's a wonder that it came to your possession, where did you find it? A Monster den in the Ilias continent? Not a surprise no one ever emerged with it for so long, pirate Selene is one clever one to hide it there." The older man noted, but both of them knew that wasn't the point of the conversation. "It doesn't change the fact that we are still in the middle of a storm and in spite of the progress my men can't help but fear for their own lives, their anxiety. Their sentiment is shared with me, I cannot help but be concerned for their lives and my own.
He continued the nervousness and uncertainty in his tone unmistakable. "Many of them have families of their own and are working as means to an end. As their captain, the last thing I'd want to do is return and present their dead bodies to their families. It'd be a shame on my honor."
"I understand that we have put you and your crew in harm's way and are terribly sorry it has to be this way. But we can assure you the bell works and you'll soon be on your merry way wherever you want to go." Luther paused, noticing the doubt in the captain. "Though I fear my words will not convince you, only getting through this will. So, unfortunately, all we can do is wait." And he turned back to the chaotic waters behind them.
"Hmm…the way you look at the sea, you see something in them…" The captain stepped beside him to gaze at the calamitous storm. "You're not prone to sea-sickness either and you know a sea song or two. I'd wager my left toe that you're a former sailor."
Chambers huffed at the mere idea but remembered both his role in the world and past, recalling on it felt sailing some of the oceans with his team, an arduous task but one that got all of their blood pumping. "Best start cutting off your toe then. I'm no man of the sea, just some adventure that perhaps had gotten too big for his shoes, although it is certainly not the first or last I've been at sea."
"Ha, you've got some wit in you! Still, better than being a rooted green leg." His older company chuckled. "Say…do you know any more shanties, particularly something of a jolly variety, goddess knows my crew some morale boost in this dark time. Of course, only if you are up for it?"
Luther's shoulders relaxed as if a small bit of his weight had been lifted off him as he stretched and yawned. The suggestion didn't sound awful to him while being constantly interrogated was one thing, it was a whole other thing to be the life of a party and he couldn't deny that a young part of him missed that particular piece of his old life, besides it has been a long time since he has sung a shanty with someone else or any piece of music for that matter.
Tusk took the opportunity to jump out, floating around carelessly in its regrettably small range. If it could, it would fly to the highest peaks, reach every little corner of the world and see every single wonder there was to offer, of course not without its user, never without its user. Just a little more range was it all asked. So it twirled, jumped, and danced instead, if he couldn't have long range then it would make use of what it had.
"Captain, that doesn't sound that bad of an idea."
Alice's ears twitched and her eyes narrowed at the ceiling of their room hearing the thundering footsteps and muffled voices. If she knew any better she'd say it was rhythmic. For now, all she could note was how opposite that was from the current atmosphere of their temporary abode and how surprisingly soundproof the ship was. "My…it seems our friends there up above are hard at work." She spoke, in some vain attempt at getting a conversation started. Luther left them both with utter silence and demoralized them from speaking
"Alice…I…I think I messed up." Luka ignored her passing observation, he couldn't bring himself to look up from the floor out of shame for making his friend storm out and to think that was one of the few last interactions with him – absolutely disgraceful.
"Messed up? That's an understatement. You've touched a very sour point for him. There is a reason why he never mentioned that scar…" Alice remarked, though admitting inwardly that he wouldn't mention anything about his scars unless prompted, it never even looked to be a point of pride in terms of body language to her - that tendency of his to hide that particular cheek in his coat's collar.
"Yes, I know and I shouldn't have done that!" The fake hero exclaimed, weakly slamming his left fist onto the table and mustering up some resolve to glare at the only person present. He had no need of her teasing or mockery in this situation.
"There is nothing for you to be ashamed of doing, walking on eggshells you're not aware of just to not disturb him isn't an obligation. Simply accept that it happened and move on, it will be better for all of us."
"I…" Luka stopped, clenching his teeth as he ran his own through his bright purple hair. A damnable trait that made him stick out, a trait he inherited from his father, which is at least what his mother told him. "Just don't want that to be my last send-off to him, we shouldn't have pried him as much there."
"Hmm, Port Natalia will be the last we may potentially see of him. A shame really, he proved to be a fascinating sort underneath that constant frowning, if only he didn't keep his mouth shut all the time then maybe this journey would have been more interesting." Alice sighed, despite her complaints the constant secrecy was the entertaining part of their game, it was part of his mystique. Though nonetheless there was no denying the disappointment and melancholy of her curious little puzzle leaving her grasp, perhaps what she can learn from what was better off for the imagination and wishful thinking.
"Luther is a good person, if a bit troubled…I don't know why, but it always feels like he is constantly worrying about something I don't know about or something is eating at him during those times where he isn't mute." Luka confessed his thoughts, although the time he spent with him was short by most standards yet during those handfuls of days he had grown fond of the support his friend brought – the stoic pillar of subtle encouragement being antithetical to the mockery and teasing of Alice.
"He is jaded, for your own sake see to it that you don't become like him." Alice advised. There was no wit in her tone, nothing that showed the beginnings of insult or a joke at his expense, her tone was completely serious.
"What do you mean by th-"
"Alright!" The Monster Lord loudly clapped her hands together interrupting him, she unrolled herself and stood up, her form quickly changing to that of a human's as she dusted herself off. "It's getting too boring here, let's see what the resident grump is up to." Unimpeded, she walked to the separating guest room from the rest of the lower deck before turning back to the boy. "And I think it's time for you to learn a new technique."
"Really? Yes!"
Those last few magic words were all that was needed for Luka to jump out of his seat, rushing towards her with stars in his eyes. While his constant idealism and excitement were annoying at times, the enthusiasm of learning something new never failed to amuse her, it was so easy to rile that part of him up and all the more made keeping his focus when teaching a less difficult task. That, and his apparent talent for the art of swordsmanship, it was as if the young boy had it in his blood.
"Then come along, the sooner we start the sooner you can learn." Alice opened the door and went through, with her energetic student closely following along. Sounds slowly become clearer. She noted that there was definitely some rhythmic pattern resounding upstairs, even her non-musically inclined self could tell at this point. Curiosity and a desperate desire to find reprieve from dullness guiding her steps she opened the hatch leading to the main deck
Come all you young sailor men, listen to me.
I'll sing you a song of the fish in the sea!
Luther's voice rang out throughout the ship, reaching high volumes with confidence. They looked around, neither dared to utter a word at the sight in front of them – all of the sailors were gathered, thumping their feet against the floor, those that were still busy didn't refuse to participate letting their work make a rhythm, the helmsmen being the only one content to stay back with a smile. All of them looked too reenergized and at the center of it all, hanging and swinging from sails' ropes was none other than Luther Chambers.
And it's windy weather, boys, stormy weather, boys!
When the wind blows, we're all together, boys!
Blow ye winds westerly, blow ye winds, blow!
Jolly sou'wester, boys, steady she goes!
The man was soon joined by an entire chorus that was the ship's crew, while they weren't perfect their confidence and unison made up for it. When they fell in some part Luther or the captain picked them right back up.
Up jumps the eel with his slippery tail.
Climbs up aloft and reefs the topsail.
Luther swung his hand down and then up again, his improvised chorus quieted down at the gesture and some basic musical intuition. Luka stared with a soft smile while Alice gawked at the emotionless brick wall of their group with a wide genuine grin, his eyes showing life never seen before.
And it's windy weather, boys, stormy weather, boys!
When the wind blows, we're all together, boys!
Blow ye winds westerly, blow ye winds, blow!
Jolly sou'wester, boys, steady she goes!
They sang again, quickly picking up the given lyrics and their voices encompassing the entire vessel and out singing the blowing of winds around them that carried their sails. Hands clapping with the rhythm, the fact of them being inside of a storm no longer registered to them.
And then up jumps the shark with his nine rows of teeth
Saying, "You eat the dough, boys, and I'll eat the beef!"
Chambers leaped forward, landing loudly with a great timed thud. Fitting to the great fish he was singing about, his stance became wide and tall, as ridiculously intimidating as he could grasp at the air near his mouth in some attempt to imitate shark mouth devouring its prey.
And it's windy weather, boys, stormy weather, boys!
When the wind blows, we're all together, boys!
Blow ye winds westerly, blow ye winds, blow!
Jolly sou'wester, boys, steady she goes!
His signal was not needed; the mere pause was enough to get them going. Boots hit against the floor, their drumming becoming louder and faster as they began to reach the climax of their sea song. Luka had joined in with his clapping and soft stomping against the stairs.
Up jumps the whale, the largest of all
"If you want any wind, well, I'll blow ye a squall"
The stand user swung his body toward the direction of the sails, Tusk jumping from his shoulder to glide along atop a sail's broom and against its worn fabric. Its user had to restrain itself from jumping alongside it. Luther took a deep breath for the last chorus, taking in the atmosphere that reminded so much of the time with his friend, nostalgia flooded but his smile didn't waver.
And it's windy weather, boys, stormy weather, boys!
When the wind blows, we're all together, boys!
Blow ye winds westerly, blow ye winds, blow!
Jolly sou'wester, boys, steady she goes!
In a last stomp on the ground the shanty was concluded, many hurrahed in renewed vigor while some exclaimed surprise at the floor below them not collapsing in momentary realization before joining the rest. It took a minute for the excitement to die down and for the ambiance of the storm to take over. A lightning strike brought them all back to reality, but as the Poseidon Bell continued to ring they were left more courageous.
"Jolly show lads, now onto your work. I don't pay you for nothing." The captain ordered his men to head back to their stations, with some hesitation and dissatisfaction they complied, hushed whispers being their only complaints. "Oh come on! Cheer up, last time I checked we were that far off Natalia, just a little more to go."
Chambers recalled Tusk back into him, relaxing as he let his shoulders drop. Luka and Alice watched in anticipation at him turning around and were pleasantly surprised at him not dropping his enthused expression even in their presence. Relief filled the fake hero, knowing he didn't cause any deep-rooted bad blood between him and his friend. The old man that was captain went over to the stand user, clapping him on the back.
"You did well there lad, sure you're just a simple adventurer?" He asked, musing on the man's capabilities to organize his crew properly for a couple of shanties.
"No, this isn't my first time performing with a crowd, though I'd wish for some actual instruments." Luther replied, life rippling in his tone.
"We made do with what we had." The captain huffed, while it might have been a pleasant thing to think about, how their little fun could have gone with something a bit more proper, he and his crew didn't do anything fancy to enjoy themselves. Some booze and hearty tone were fine on rainy days. "Now if you can excuse me, I have some business to attend to myself."
Luther watched the captain walk up back to the helm, seeing him approach his trusted helmsman – a man at most half his age, then diverted his gaze to his only companions on this peculiar journey. Given the stimulation, his mind went on a brainstorming spree while he faced them, smiled, and he had no reason to hide some of his joy. They stood, waiting for one or the other to say the word, Luka was still too surprised to say anything of note, and Alice…
"Now this is certainly the last thing I expected from you of all people, are you really Luther? What did you do to him?" Alice commented, being quick to jab at his uncharacteristic behavior. But that was only what he presented to them. It would take them more time to get to know who is if he wanted to show them.
"Seriously?" Luther crossed his arms, scoffing at her disbelief. He heard a long-delayed awkward chuckle come from Luka. "I'm not some one-dimensional character that's grumpiness incarnate, am I not allowed to have my fun?"
"Could have fooled me…" The Monster Lord grumbled underneath her breath.
"So, what's up with you Luka, look more excited than I was singing that song." Luther nudged the boy who appeared to be in some sort of trance of jolliness. Although he had a smidge of an idea of what it might have been.
"That was amazing! Are you really a performer?" Luka exclaimed, firing back with his question, which the only response he got was a casual shrug before he realized he skipped past the man's question. "Oh, R-right! Sorry…Alice is teaching a new skill."
Luther simply nodded, his barely formed guess being confirmed. Guess that falls in line with what happens with the story, if all went well in this instance he should be learning Demon…ah…Demon something doesn't matter. It all just means one thing as well. He took the ship's taffrail once more and stared out to the sky, no matter how much time had passed the storm hadn't ceased. No matter how much fun they had, the clouds were still dark, all because of a single person.
"Good. Do be careful Alice. Don't go too hard on him." It was all he could say to them while fully he processed his current conundrum
"I'll try not to, don't think this vessel can handle either of us sparing so intensely, not much space to work around with." Alice noted, yet there was enough space to teach this particular technique and the surroundings were just perfect.
Situational awareness – that was what Alice was training him in, it took about a couple of minutes for Luka to finally catch on to it, at first he thought it was simply an ordinary session of training with a vague promise of another technique. If only a bit easier on him in this instance within the eyes of sailors. Luka huffed as he looked at the tall ship mast in front of him. Alice pushed his maneuverability to its limits, moving into corners, forcing him to dangerously climb on the rails, ropes, and walls to even avoid her nasty love taps. They might have appeared to be simple pokes to any onlookers, but the burning sensation left behind that could only be healed by his meditation said otherwise. What's worse is that his friend, Luther, had paid no mind to it, seemingly intent on staring at the sky for some reason. No amount of probing could get him to speak on why. "Just some simple sky watching." He said, it didn't explain the nervous expression on his face.
No matter, if he doesn't want to talk about it he doesn't have to. Luka saw what happened when he pressed for more on the same day, he didn't want to repeat that mishap ever again. The fake hero had other things to worry about, particularly his reward for having to deal with Alice, who happened to deem fit the amount of suffering she dealt to him that day. It began when he was told he will have to climb onto something as a start.
"Wait, wait…so all of this simple training as you called it was a warm-up for this." Luka inquired, he saw the correlation – if the technique required him to jump off somewhere high, then awareness of your surroundings played a key factor in the availability of this skill.
"You finally caught on, it was the very reason I asked you what you see around yourself." Alice clarified." On a battlefield, if you can it is important to note down what you can use to your advantage, perhaps a loose plank you can use as a distraction or a light piece of furniture you can throw at your opponent, anything is possible if you have the eyes and wit to do it. More importantly for this particular technique, you have to look for something to climb on."
"And why is that?"
Alice sighed, pointing to his short frame and legs. If he had wings, like that of a harpy's or better yet something that still kept his arms free then she would have skipped past this part, however, to her misfortune the one she was training happened to be a human. An unfortunate issue of training a human in Monster techniques that made itself apparent to her – a monster simply jumped high enough or flew, a monster would simply move fast enough for it to work, but he had to work with an alternative. The only redeeming factor was his weird talent for those techniques, perhaps even matching that of her Heavenly Knight's Granberia's.
"Because those measly little limbs aren't going to carry you far, you need height to pull this off. Listen carefully. "Alice sharply responded, starting her explanation and recalling the simple basics of any melee combat encounter. "Now in most cases jumping in a fight is practically suicide, it becomes so obvious to predict where you'll land that old blind senile man could do it. But this Demon Skull Beheading is different, by purposefully increasing your failing speed you'll crush the enemies' skull before they have time to react."
Luka nodded and looked up to the ship mast, he jumped up to it, pushing his legs to their physical limit, like many times before when he was forced to do so, he grabbed onto the nearest part that could support him. Given his light weight and own strength, it was easy to pull himself up quickly with a single hand, the other still holding onto his weapon. It would be a shame to drop in the middle of combat. Once on relatively stable ground, he remembered today's teaching and the details of his previous techniques – the way to muster up as much speed as possible for him and beyond, and he dropped down pretending to slam Angel Halo down on his imaginary opponent near his mentor.
"Like this?" Luka asked, hoping his improvised version created from what Alice had told him was a successful recreation.
"Not quite, repeat the steps you took, I'll iron out some of your mistakes." Alice said, taking him by the shoulder and nearly throwing the boy back onto the mast.
With her guidance he repeated the movements, again and again, there was no end to it, as if every single time he had attempted the Beheading technique there were new mistakes that popped up. Whether something vague such as not failing fast enough to another seemingly minor mistake like misplaced foot, too late, or early sword strike. He knew deep down that all of her pointers and advice were important, a single error could cost him dearly against those that can capitalize on them, nonetheless, they were tiresome to hear and made him breathe a sigh of relief and say a prayer of thanks to his goddess.
"Hmm…still immature and formless of the technique, but you learned the basics quickly. You need some practical experience in using that, or more training, the extent of which I'm…" She paused, yawning a little. "Am not willing to provide – the space is too small here and there are too many onlookers."
Luka doubted her given reasons, it simply sounded like she was too tired or rather lazy when it came to training him, but he didn't necessarily blame her either. Neither did he have much desire to continue this any further, that was simply the effect that his mentor had on him, being able to drain his large will to become stronger to the point of it being minuscule and his only desire is left to be to simply retreat and rest the constant gazing.
"All that's left for you is to master it and you'll beat anyone that comes across." The Monster Lord boasted proudly of the combat art created by her people. "This one was a favorite of Desureia the Harpy, who was known as the Death on Wings. Smashing the skull of three hundred enemies, their brains covering the field in mess."
"Eh…how did she die then? Imagine that was a long time ago, I have never heard of a fearsome Monster like her" Luka shuddered at the story, his vivid imagination that had helped to create so many amazing stories in his head not doing him any favors by perfectly painting the picture that Alice depicted. So he chose to change the subject. "In 'glorious' combat or peacefully passed away?"
Alice frowned in some form of frustration at his curiosity, it wasn't the first time he had managed to annoy her. Goddess knows she made her annoyance known to everybody around her, but that countenance felt like it wasn't directed at him. "Died in combat from her mistakes, now you see the importance of having your techniques be perfect…" She grumbled.
"What mistakes, how did she die?"
"Impaled herself on a Monster hunter's spear, a clever little man he was but he lived long enough to see his name forgotten." She said bitterly. "Which brings me to its weakness, do not use it against someone who has a longer weapon than you. Remember. That."
"Why does everything you have to teach me always have something morbid about, why can't it be something heroic for once?" Luka crossed his arms complaining, while the imagery was certainly better than a grass plain being covered in brain matter with only a single victim involved. Yet it was just another skill in his repertoire that had a brutal past.
"We have been over this before, you'll shut your mouth and use your strange talent for the Cursed Sword Art, it's been working well so far, nothing needs to be changed." Alice shot back. "Seriously, do you not recognize that your progress is fast, faster than most Monsters. I'm half tempted to say you have Monster ancestry."
"Uh…" Luka hummed, genuinely thinking about the possibility and the consequence of that – if it was true it meant a part of him was made from the breaking Ilias commandments, born of sin, but he shook that thought off. As far as he knew neither side of his family had any connection to Monsters, they were just all human on both sides of the family tree. "No I don't think so, and if it was that important it'd say it would have been told this."
"You're right, that is what I would say, but I don't smell a whiff of Monster blood in you and that ring…it was your mother's, correct?" With a slow nod from Luka, she continued. "From what I can gather from the residual energy and thoughts coming from it – what is left behind is purely human. Perhaps the world decided to smile upon you and decided you needed talent in Monster techniques for whatever reason."
"You said residual thoughts, like what was left over, my mother's final wishes?" Luka asked, voice and eyes brimming with a desperation that was all too easy to see for Alice. Her shoulders slumped and ceased hold of his hand, staring at the ring from a distance. The boy tried to push her away but she refused to yield until she was done.
"Just some thoughts about a mother worried for her child, asking the ring to protect him. It's probably your mother." Alice simply stated, giving a confused shrug. "Although I don't why there is so much desperation hidden in it, the ring is plain – it doesn't have any enchantments."
"Protect me…?" Luka's gaze shifted to ring in on his finger, the last parting gift that his mother gave him with her final breath. From that moment onward it became an eternal memento to remember her and bring some small comfort and peace to his soul when he was all alone, just as he promised he would never take it off. His eyes teared up a bit remembering her last spent minute with him before her slow demise. "Even in death, she still cares for me…she died from a disease you know? Back then no one wanted to talk or help us in the village, everyone there was too close-minded to outsiders, even more after she got sick. No one wanted to treat her…and she was left to die…"
Alice's neutral expression fell into a frown, for her, every detail of the individual was easy to see, despite that she did not need her enhanced senses to see the distraught in the boy. The small tears he shed, his melancholic expression that rival that of Luther, it was all unlike the hopeful fake hero. In her heart, a voice called to amend her transgression for crossing over to such a painful topic "I'm sorry for having you recall that painful experience."
"You're not at fault, it was my own choice to bring that up." Luka shook his head, wiping away the tears that formed. He had coped with it a long time ago, and what was once great a storm of despair was now an occasional drizzle of emptiness and sadness. It still hurts…but less, perhaps he simply got used to the pain. "What about your family?"
"My family…" Alice sighed and her frown hadn't lifted, despite the topic change it wasn't something easy to talk about, there was not much she remembered from her childhood while her mother was still alive, most of what she knew simply came from Tamamo's guardianship. "Well to start with I don't know who my father is, our race is only about the mother. Perhaps it was some man my mother attacked…"
She knew it was far from the truth. Maybe for ordinary lamia that might have been but her mother was the Monster Lord, someone who could only realistically mate with someone equal or more powerful than her without them dying in the process along with other issues that came for such powerful Monster mating with a random person. However, that didn't mean Alice knew of her father. Tamamo never spoke of him and neither did she ever see him in her childhood.
"I don't care if she ate him or not." Alice huffed, deciding to continue with what she knew. At times stray thoughts did come to her, which was that her mother was a rule breaker and with some miracle managed to produce offspring with someone weaker than her, but those thoughts often lead to no real conclusion. Now, she genuinely thought about it and maybe it was time to survive Tamamo's antics and directly ask her former guardian. It would be a personal reward after her journey was over. "But with my mother's character, she probably didn't kill him."
"Somehow that's…" Several words came to Luka, the usual "morbid" and "weird" were always there to use, but it didn't seem to fit. "Sad", would be the closest word defining his internal observation.
"My mother was the fifteenth head of our family…but now she is no more." She left it at that and continued to look for a more approachable topic, diverting her eyes toward the sky. „It's a gloomy night, isn't it?"
"Hmm…the storm doesn't look to be going away any time soon." Luka remarked taking Alice side by the ship's taffrail and thumbed the wood, emptiness becoming exasperation at the hard weather that refused to even a single instant. Was it never-ending? Did they have to ride it out until the end? When will he- !
Lightning crackled across the sky and the sound of thunder encompassed them all. Luka jumped in shock, for just a split second he saw light arcing and crashing into the water and some of the large boulders. Winds picked up strength and speed, blowing at a speed that seemed to be able to pick up an entire person, it howled like a wolf and shrieked like a banshee and the water around the ship responded in kind to the rage. The ocean is angry…very angry like it has only come alive to swallow the entire ship and me in it…The fake hero grimaced, watching the waves reach unprecedented sizes, taking on unnatural sharp angles before collapsing into another as if massive jaws formed to bite whatever had gotten in its reach. He turned to Alice and saw the dark expression on her face that held a hint of mysterious annoyance.
For a moment their fear began to reach the depths of his heart, fear that he was about to be just another casualty at sea, dooming the ones he forced to take him through this vile storm. What sort of hero would do that? Luka wondered. But before he could take a darker path with his thoughts, he heard a bell ring drowning out all the commotion around them and noise inside his head.
Peace…Was the song's message, throughout this sea-faring journey it had been just that. Now, however, it sounded more like a direct command to his and the sea's ailing heart. Whatever despair he had, either lingering long-term or current was banished. Of course, like many others on the vessel, he was compelled to stare at the Poseidon Bell – their saving grace and bard of the ocean's waves. It glowed with ancient power, fully awakened, sang louder than ever before, and didn't take long for crew members to resume their work.
All of the howling and tearing winds ceased, tamed by the bell's tune, it turned into a pleasant breeze that blew their sails. Water was appeased, becoming still, and as if those watery jaws were fed and closed for good. Those whips of light flashing, they've grown familiar with seeing were now left to be a long-forgotten occurrence, clouds dissipated into the starry night sky they all hoped to witness once more. With each ringing of the bell, they knew the ocean's rage died out without a struggle.
Luka was now left with a large-spanning quiet that he wasn't feeling anymore, he could hear his own heart beating and him breathing or the humming of Alice, the coughing of the captain at the helm, and footsteps of his men from how silent their travel was. Huh…it's so silent I can almost fall asleep standing. Yet before he could even close his eyes another disturbance brought him out of the peace he so desperately desired.
"Look! Up there! A Monster! A Monster! Save your souls and run!" A bellowing voice of a crewmember made him shudder and he immediately went into alert, thinking this was the one responsible for these storms. The fake hero took the lessons he learned from his mentor and glanced around his environment, being to spot the sailor warning them all, he was pointing at the sky before breaking into a full sprint into the lower deck.
Many more left their position in hurry and followed, either finding a spot to lurk below deck or going inside the captain's quarters, cursing their fate along the way. Their boots slamming against the floor were audible amongst the freighted and panicked shouts, some of them stumbled amongst each other, tripping over their own and coworkers' legs. Nature's chaos was replaced with a different type of chaos, and Luka steeled himself to look at the origin of this commotion.
Uncertainty and worry filled his soul as he felt his throat becoming dry. The intruder flew there just above the ship staring them all down, the first thing he saw was her amused smile as she slowly descended.
"Oh heavens no, that's a…that's a Heavenly Knight!" The helmsmen shouted. Before he wondered what the mess below him was but now he understood. His captain's crew was rightly afraid for their lives, for the alluring Monster above them was no ordinary Monster but a Heavenly Knight, the mysterious Monster Lord's fearsome elite. Everyone knew them, no matter which land or sea they hailed from, whether human or other they made their names known across the world.
In an impressive show of sudden acrobatics, the young helmsman abandoned the wheel and jumped to the deck. Luther bit his lip and watched the chaos unfold before him, even the closest sailors to his position paid no mind to the captain's objections and ran, and he couldn't blame them. Here we go…the third heavenly Knight we meet and the second we have to "fight", let's hope it's just that a simple "fight"…as loath as I am to admit it this was unavoidable, nothing I can say or do can change a stranger's decisions, especially someone's so casually careless and playful like Alma.
"Chu…." Tusk floated behind him, keeping itself close to him it shuddered. He could feel every twitch and shake coming from the spiritual being, the fear exuding from it was nearly overwhelming.
Shh…don't complain, there is nothing we can do. Luther comforted his stand. These crew members have got to be the smartest humans we've seen so far…to think they could have ended up like many others who were stranded on that continent.
The captain rushed from Chambers' side and onto the helm's observational rail where he could view his crew from above. Luther saw him glare at his helmsman. "Oi! Where do you think you're going? There is a ship for you to steer, you coward!"
"Sure, I'll come out when we aren't being invaded by Heavenly Knight. I'm nowhere near paid enough for this shit!" The helmsmen shouted back, slamming shut and locking the hatch to the lower deck. His captain stared at the closed trap door, snarling at the cowardice of his subordinate.
The old man ran back to the spinning wheel of the ship, steadily grabbing hold of it. "Damn it all, why has my week been so awful as of late? Did I anger you, oh lady fortune?
I...we pulled them all into this mess, but I do wonder what would happen if we weren't here, perhaps she would not be here at all. Perhaps they would not be here at all. Luther huffed, walking to the wheel, his ship's host's fear was evident, his shaking wasn't hard to miss and it was easy to tell that the old man. He watched silently as the one he knew to be Alma landed on the deck, letting out a few giggles to herself. He put a firm yet supportive hand onto the captain's shoulder
"Go and hide, captain, I'll handle and hold the wheel steady while my friends here take care of the mess." Luther advised and he saw the older man's fearful gaze soften a bit, but there was determination hidden.
"No, I can't ab-"
"You can and will, this isn't your issue to handle anymore, please get yourself to safety and don't worry. Go!" Luther assured the captain, who desperately nodded after sharing a look of respect to one another and hastily let his fear be known to him by barging through the doors of his quarters. His words had worked, evident by the audible sound of a door locking, but they didn't sound convincing to himself, there was always something that could go wrong. And with the Heavenly Knights, he didn't doubt for a moment that it was a possibility.
Great…just great, can't help Luka now, can you? Unless you want to leave this speeding ship all uncontrolled…I'm sure the crew would just love to end their day by crashing into some rocks.
Did she really have to attack now…? As if I don't have any other problems on my hands, now there is Alma to worry about. The stand user took hold of the steering wheel, he stumbled, being somewhat surprised by the weight of the thing. Oh… don't act like you didn't know this was going to happen, Luther, from the very beginning you knew she was going to show up, what else was that sky watching for? Resigning himself for the role of observer and the only one keeping the ship stable he glared at the succubus below them.
I'm sorry, you're going to have to take care of this yourself Luka…
Alma Elma, the Heavenly Knight and Succubus Queen, true to her title her appearance wasn't lacking a single bit, outshining all of her peers in terms of features. The Succubus wore tall boots that reached up to her thighs, a skin-tight leathery bra that threatened to burst open at any moment under the weight of her breast, and undergarments that looked to be easily disposable with a single push. Only a single article of her clothing didn't look indecent and that was the large open cloak that hugged her frame, connected by the silver collar encrusted with emeralds on her neck. A fleshy tail swished behind her, hiding under her cloak. She brushed aside her long lavender hair that went down way below her waist, her crimson eyes staring deep into whoever's soul she looked, calling out on their desires.
"You!"
Luka swallowed the lump in his throat, he couldn't help but let his eyes wander at the admittedly beautiful Monster. He spotted and noted a detail – the tattoo on her left cheek that connected to the rest of the marking on her body, starting from her leg and going up to her left breast. The rest seemed to be covered up. Despite her rather passive stance, she oozed power much like Granberia or Tamamo. There was no denying to the boy, this was Alma, another Heavenly Knight, one who was responsible for these storms and found that his fear wasn't misplaced.
"Well, well, what do we have? A mass of stragglers that dispelled my little spell." Alma strolled to the purple-haired hero, her stare becoming hungry. Each step she took toward, he took one back, which made her grin, the distance remaining the same until she decided to give him some breathing room by stopping and glancing to Alice and back to him. "Ah…I see…you're that human. The boy that caught Alice's eyes…you look delicious." She smacked her luscious lips, sending shivers down Luka's spine.
The fake hero hadn't enjoyed the viewing he'd been getting from her, while her form was pleasing to his eye, the hunger emanating from her snapped him back to reality. It felt demeaning, after all, his current accomplishments of getting into another continent, after making it so far and gaining strength, he was now being perceived as perhaps nothing more than a freshly cooked, sliced pork. And so he saw fit to avert his vision somewhere else, first to Alice, who remained with closed eyes, letting out an exasperated sigh at the appearance of her subordinate, and then to Luther, who took hold of the ship's controls, it almost appeared like he was shrinking and hiding behind a wheel. His stoic friend gave a nod and a single message was given, he couldn't help, not now, they had their responsibilities to take care of. Luka could only hope a fight didn't break out.
Much to his chagrin, this Heavenly Knight followed his gaze to the helm above them to where Luther was, her grin widened as she caught on to the identity of the one who held the wheel steady.
"And that has to be your husky buddy, huh? No one can just stop Granberia's blade with their hand…" Alma casually pointed over to him, humming along to her own tune as the winds picked up around her body. "Wouldn't mind tasting him either." She blew a kiss that was completely ignored by the glaring man.
"Now, Lord Alice." The Succubus Queen stood straight at attention, speaking with discipline that everyone could tell wasn't all that genuine, but it had managed to make Alice willfully aware of her subordinate's presence. "According to your orders, my mission is to exterminate any heroes who are attacking Monsters."
Luka's danger senses screamed at him, louder than ever before and what's worse was that they were right. He was undoubtedly in much danger at the mercy of Alma, someone who had used the words "exterminate" and "hero" in the same sentence. While he was no coward, he knew perfectly well the feeling of being outmatched and it came just from the very presence, he glanced at Alice with pleading eyes, begging her not to let this woman have her way with him but he got no response.
He drew out Angel Halo right in front of them all, cautiously pointing it at Alma, who took in his nervousness in stride, eyeing his sealing blade with interest. "Attacking monsters? You say like I've gone around and done that unprovoked, never have I done that unless they directly threatened the livelihoods of Humans, if anything they've been attacking me when I was just passing through."
Alma took his challenge, her smirk never leaving her countenance. "And yet your first instinct is to draw your blade at me, granted, many ordinary people have done that yet I found that their true desire was quite different, is that the same with you? Huh?" She leaned forward, pulling lightly on her bra and winking at him before regaining some of her seriousness. "Your defense is flimsy, did you not trespass into their territory, those most likely poor Monsters just wanted to feed themselves and you just struck them down. And you are a hero heading closer to my Lord's castle along with your companion here, how should I not see that as a threat?"
Complete asinine bullshit, he is nowhere near a threat to you or your lord and he has the full right to defend himself after being attacked because he refused their requests. Luther seethed in anger; he clenched his teeth and kept silent, not wanting to make himself more of a target than needed. Nothing he could say could stave off the arbitrary Heavenly Knight from her attack. If anything, he was more of a threat, with his lack of access to effective non-lethal options of combat. Nothing you can do now…just hold her steady and hope for the best, maybe an opportunity will arise but not now.
She bowed to Alice once more, it appeared all too exaggerated. "Shall I execute your order of defense and deal with these two troublemakers or does your favor extend more than I thought?" Once more she eyed Angel Halo with amusement.
Alice hummed, gazing at both Luther and Luka, she had no doubt they both knew this moment was coming from the very time she spoke of Alma causing said storms, yet neither seemed willing to face such a powerful foe, at least this early in the journey. Luka was too weak to face her lousy subordinate…and all Luther wanted was to head back home, simply tagging along with them…She found herself, hesitating, it was true that her mentor needs more tests and Alma was one to play around with her prey so he might learn something before she got bored, and she recalled Luther's desire to 'kick them in the teeth' of whoever got him stranded. But besides reckless revenge, there was no reason why he should be involved at all.
However, what was the cost of denying her request, showing weakness and potential attachment to her subordinate…one who would take advantage of it just to annoy her whenever possible. Was the Monster Lord willing to deal with her antics along with what else a misunderstanding her actions could bring?
Alma scooted over to her Lord, nudging her with a shoulder. With a whisper, she spoke "Oh, come on. I can leave them alive if you want to, though, in all honesty. I can't guarantee they'll reach Natalia in one piece."
"I don't give exceptions; I'm just observing this boy and whoever decides to go along with him." Alice huffed, taking the neutral option and deciding neither to intervene or give direct permission. She felt a pang of guilt seeing the betrayal in Luka's countenance, but the choice was already made. While her words were cold and apathetic, her body language warned Alma to not go too far. "I'm not protecting and certainly won't start doing it now, nor have I given him special treatment beyond satiating my curiosity. Got it."
"Loud and clear, My Lord. Not the response I was hoping for but it will do." Alma gave an okay sign to her leader before sighing and focusing her attention on Luka. "It's like that Luka boy, I am not letting you through this area. Your friend seems all too preoccupied right now, so what do you have to say to that?"
"Luka boy?" Luka raised an eyebrow at the disrespect shown to him, the word left his mouth with a bitter aftertaste, yet in hindsight, he wasn't all too surprised. It was clear to him she wasn't going to take him seriously from the very start. "If you're not letting me go then I'll beat you and pass through force!" The fake hero readied into a combat-ready stance.
"A little hero, yet so full of courage." Alma let out an entertained laugh, she idly wondered how long he'd last against her or would he simply give in now. "Tell me, how do you want me to violate you right in front of your companions, Luka boy?"
"Do you want me to use my hands or mouth?" The Heavenly Knight quickly took a step forward to him and opened her mouth letting her long tongue out as she did suggestive motions with her hands. "Maybe you want to be smothered by my breasts." Alma held her ample breasts to him. "Or…do you want to try anal?" She presented her ass to him, playfully swinging it around to the dismay of everyone. With each move she made, Luka's face only grew redder and hotter, if he still had a daring bone in his body he would be willing to admit something was growing in him as well.
"Oh, I know…how about trying like this." Alma naturally twirled, stepping closer to him, and moved her hands down, grabbing hold of her long tail. "Doesn't this tail look good, too?" Right as she asked him that the hole in the tail opened up revealing there to be a mouth-type orifice leaking questionable liquids next to his face.
"Gah!" Luka jumped back in surprise at the tail that was swung at him, only now noticing the distance between them that Alma crossed unnoticed.
"Alright I'll do it with my tail~" She concluded in a sing-song voice, grabbing onto her tail, she stretched it out, showing its full length for all to see, that looked to be about his own height. "The conditions are simple for this little game of ours, without my hands or feet I'll play with you. Struggle as much as you can and let me enjoy myself. Maybe after I'm done playing I'll go after your friend? It depends on whether you can keep me around long enough, Luka-boy."
The fake hero stood undaunted by the challenge ahead of him. Grr…even something as small as her gaze, it feels like she can physically push me back, but now's not the time for hesitation. He gritted his teeth and let out a small, barely audible growl before glancing at Angel Halo, the only companion or rather companions fighting alongside him. The sword was wide awake and ready to seal the menace fighting him. He smiled and then glanced at Luther whose mere stare was enough to tell him to be careful. Any arousal he felt from her teasing had faded away into righteous anger. She failed the moment he threatened his friend, a man who should have nothing to do with this encounter, instead, she gave him more drive to fight, to not give in to her meaningless promises of pleasure.
"I'll take you down!" And that determination to him was like a match to gasoline…
Luka took no more time than needed, only stepping back a few times to plan his course of action. A skip, a step from his predatory stance, the gasoline ignited into a roaring flame that hungered for combat and he launched himself right at her like a rocket, lunging forward with his sword for quick and unexpected Thunder Thrust. Pushing his body, he reached a speed previously impossible for him.
So, what Granberia told me was right, Alice really is training the boy…Alma stared intently at his approach, still holding her tail out, having fought a much faster opponent it was a breeze to track his movement as if he was a snail hilarious charging at her. She didn't move a single inch and let the unholy blade pass through her just to get the sensation; oddly she didn't feel anything else other than small goosebumps. Alma sent her tail to his crouch, rubbing against the confines of his pants, almost grabbing onto his waist, she heard how Luka stifled his moans.
Out of sheer reflex, Luka jumped far enough where he was confident the tail couldn't reach him, never letting his opponent escape his sight, it almost felt like he only managed to leave her reach because of her permission and that constant lewdly playful smile coming from her didn't help ease his nerves. She…she didn't even flinch and she let me hit her… He stared in disbelief, a Cursed Sword technique had failed to make her look even remotely tired, let alone stun her for a moment. How much power does she have?
"Come on now, rushing headfirst into battle? Tsk tsk." Alma waved her finger at him, her voice slow and straining every syllable out as if she was lecturing a small child before turning to normal. Her tail thrust forward towards him, opening it up and revealing its slimy hole "If you're even a little careless, my tail will suck your penis. Gently wrapped around you, I'll suck all of your semen and you wouldn't want that to happen, right?"
To her surprise the response she got wasn't' a flustered face of the young boy but instead another strike and his retreat jumping from a taffrail before she finally decided to retaliate, he was more careful than the last thrust into her body. Luka's movements were still terribly slow for her, though enough to see that there was more determination… uneasiness… than arousal in his face as he constantly glanced around. She had to admit, he was doing more than most humans in the regard of lasting against her, most would either be caught or give up to attain her promised pleasure. Alma didn't mind it all, anything to prolong this game of hers, a little foreplay never hurt anyone, even her.
There is truth to her words, I can't be careless here, if I get caught I'm for sure a goner…The lingering sense of pleasure and tightness in his crotch dissipated as he closed his eyes and breathed a meditative sigh. Unrivaled serenity took hold of his mind and purged whatever parts were still unfocused. But there is also a problem, attrition is impossible – she has much more energy than I do and is bound to get bored eventually with all delay. I need to win this game somehow…how do I win? Did she say she'd only use her tail? Maybe I can force her to "cheat" and break that
He scanned his area once more, looking for objects and obstacles he could use for cover or as a way of evasion: The railing of the ship he could use for a boost, the ship mast he can dance around, he could climb the ropes up to sails for higher ground advantage, and there was also… Luka smiled at the last idea, who would have thought a hero like him would resort to such a dirty tactic? But that was the advantage of it.
No other way about it…
Luka looked onward to see the ever-present grin on Alma's face, she was looking down at him, and in all honesty, he knew of no way to change it, neither did he desire it, the more she underestimated him the better. He quickly stepped forward to her, fully knowing she let him get closer without any complications, and sliced at her chest making sure to keep distance between his weapon, her and himself. Angel Halo passed through her body and tail and she took the hit in strides, watching hungrily as he backed away.
So he wants to play that way, huh? I don't mind playing the cat to his itty bitty wittle mouse. She giggled lightly. For a moment it looked like the succubus' tail sucked itself in as she strutted to him, it made Luka shiver ever so slightly at the anticipation. Suddenly something that appeared to be a large amount of mucus leaked off the tip of the tail.
"Covered in tails mucus, I'll make you cum." The Succubus gloated and Luka's danger sense was proved true, the tail opened and spat a fist full of sticky fluid but he was too slow to dodge or block the incoming projectile. The tail's fluid splattered directly on his groin, staining his pants perhaps irreparably. "Don't you want to feel the pleasure my tail can bring? This is only a small sample of what I can do with it." Her tail opened, revealing its small hole to be larger than the first observed it to be, it looked like he could put his entire head in it.
Uhggg…disgusting…Luka's hand wiped some of it away, the mucus was uncomfortably hot and pulsed so lightly that if he wasn't paying attention he wouldn't have noticed. In some regards, it felt like pleasure but he was more worried about his opponent and the fact that one of his few pairs of pants was likely irreparably stained. I hope Alice doesn't have to power wash me again.
"Just drop for a second…if you do that, I'll show you the best pleasure that will make you go to heaven. Wouldn't that be the greatest desire for a hero like you?" Its entire insides were filled to the brim with liquid, a multitude of lines of it forming spider-web-like connections, he would say the offer was tempting were it not for the origin of it.
And so, he decided to not think much of it and kept his thoughts empty, if he succumbed to her words and pleasure attacks after him would come to Luther, and if he allowed a bystander to be assaulted under his watch then he wasn't worthy of being a true hero. "Nah."
Sorry about this…Luka gave an apologetic look to Angel Halo for what he was about to do with, a weapon forged for the greater good relegated to a lesser task. He wrenched a nearby box with the blade, jamming it between the openings and lightly lifting it.
"Oh, but you are im-!" Alma didn't finish her sentence, her opponent didn't advance with an attack or was flustered and tempted by her suggestion, something else entirely happened - instead of seeing her Luka boy, the little hero in pretend, there was a box… heading toward her face…
Natural instinct took control and her entire body moved out the way, the improvised projectile flew past, making her ears ring. It slammed into a mast behind her, shattering into a dozen pieces. She looked back to where the box was thrown only to find the hero running away. Alma blinked in surprise, she heard the faint sound of laughter coming from her Lord. Clever move… It took a lot from me to not just grab that box and lose. The Succubus Queen tightened her hand into a fist before relaxing it, she wasn't so arrogant as to have the idea of him winning her game be not even an outcome, but it was too soon. She wasn't done playing. Quick on his feet and has some wits hidden within him, for someone his age and size, I can see why she is interested in you beyond just looking deliciously adorable.
"Oh, Luka boy, tell me. Is this any way to treat a lady?" Alma cooed in fake sadness whose façade was immediately shattered by the playful grin that made its way back as she decided to chase after him.
Please don't be angry, please don't be angry. Luka ran as fast as his little legs could carry him, jumping from the taffrail to get more acceleration, anything to make more space between him and his great adversary. Despite how much his good consciousness screamed in objection, he turned around and saw no one persuading him.
"Eyes right here, Luka boy~" The voice of his adversary called out to him, his head whipped back to front and he was met with Alma casually flying with her wings before landing. "Making a woman run after you, what kind of hero ignores the cries of an innocent maiden…"
"You're anything but innocent." Luka instinctively shot back and took several steps away with Alma following suit after, his back hitting against the mainmast. He gave a nervous smile to the Heavenly Knight, another idea came to him.
"Ooh~ Let me show you how much I truly am!" Alma said and her tail shot forward, faster than it ever had before, if it hit him now it would no doubt grab hold and such him dry. However he was prepared for this and rolled behind the mast, her tail lazily retreating after going past him.
"Hyaa!" In great haste, Luka took the opening and jumped for her neck, lashing out and slicing it. Yet… she continued to smirk, her face not failing for a single moment. In a split instant, his reaction was fast enough to catch her moving her head out of the way then back to its original position. Demon Decapitation landed perfectly on her neck.
Luka's feet hit the ground, he didn't stumble, he couldn't afford to stumble against someone like her if he even had a shred of a chance at winning. Turning to face Alma, the boy knew winning her game wasn't possible as finding a needle in a haystack. He was starting to wear himself out while she showed no signs of being tired, it was clear as the night sky above him – he was out of his league. I need to do something quick, something to make her use her hands or whatever else…The fake hero glanced at the mast he used to avoid her mighty tail. Demon Beheading…I can use that, maybe, just maybe it has enough force to make her take me a slight bit seriously. Come on, don't fail me now body.
"Where will you be going now?"
Luka didn't answer and pushed his legs to their very limit. He dashed past her and leaped up to the sail's broom, both of his arms wrapping around the smooth remnants of a giant log and pulled himself up. Alright, step one - find and climb onto high ground, nearly done. Step two – pray to Ilias she doesn't fly. The purple haired hero growled, being just above chest level from the broom.
"Wha? Haa!" That was until he felt a rope-like thing grab onto his leg. Luka fell onto something soft, his head bouncing from two soft particularly round objects. He had only realized what had happened when he looked up, being greeted by a familiar teasing smile, and felt the rest of his body be wrapped around by the tail he had tried so hard to avoid.
"And so the cat has caught its mouse, I'll eat you whole~" She teased out the last part, and the end of her tail began to inch closer to his crotch. He panicked, eyes wandering out and looking for anyone to aid him – Luther was still holding the ship steady and he didn't want to force him into this, Alice held no interest in interfering. Alma giggled, as her long appendage began to masterfully undo his pants, that's when Luka's mind finally went back into place and he noted down every detail about his surroundings.
Arms were bound to his sides tight, her hold on him was merciless with strength enough to lift him off the ground. It was harder to break than any opponents he fought before, yet one key thing remained to his advantage. His main hand still had Angel Halo, perhaps he could pry himself out, but that wasn't enough he needed a method to escape completely and his vision crossed. Goddess give me strength
"Moan for me…" She commanded, stimulating his lower half even if it wasn't fully undressed, forcing her opponent to stop and fight back a few moans. This was only the beginning of what she could give. When she was done the only assurance that he would get was that in the end, his death was that of bliss and euphoria instead of pain and burnt-out life, the greatest gift of all.
Luka writhed in her grasp, attempting to leverage his hands up so that he could at least cut into her with his only weapon. He closed his eyes trying to fall back into a sedative trance, ignoring the sensation of pleasure and called on everything he had – his genuine desires to become a hero, the promise he made to his mother, duty to protect his friends and bring coexistence in the world, his trust in Angel Halo, his remaining power and more…his ever-increasing anger from being toyed around and feelings of inadequacy. The match was lit, the burning pyre inside of him roaring into life, answering his enraged call stronger than ever.
Emerald green took the place of sky blue in his iris; its life filled with light shining out of them. However she teased or pleasured him, it didn't matter. He didn't feel it now, having important matters to deal with. Luka pulled on his sword hand with his shoulder putting his entire back into it. The hand along with the sword slid up, he ignored the pain that came with it and pressed the very few sharp edges of it against the soft flesh of Alma's tail. "I trust you, please, help free me…" He whispered to the Angel trapped in Angel Halo.
Angel Halo reacted immediately, its many crimson eyes opening up, holy light sputtering out of them in small flashes of electricity or flames. Luka could feel the blade physically suck anything in it as they drained Alma's energy like a vacuum.
"Who are you talki-" The Succubus Queen yawned before she finished her sentence, a sudden sense of exhaustion taking over her. She shook her head in befuddlement, wondering how the little boy had managed to tucker her out so badly. Alma got her answer from finally feeling the cold metal being pressed against her tail, practically ripping away at the energy she had gathered over the years.
And before she could react the fake hero broke out of her tail's disgustingly pleasurable grasp. Nearly falling flat on the ground, he recovered with a roll, his hands frantically rushing forth to a barrel not far from them. Luka grabbed onto it greedily like a gremlin that found itself a treasure chest and threw it at his adversary. The entire chain of events happened all too quickly for Alma to follow and process. It didn't help that she was still confused and tired, but her mind was forced back into reality once her face met the hardwood of the barrel.
The barrel shattered by slamming into her through Monster's body, she felt no pain from it, having punched and charged through stone walls in her youth, yet it was nonetheless a first-time experience to be had. Never before had a human managed to throw something ridiculous like a barrel and hit her, a human who had now appeared to have recovered, having all of his clothes perfectly on.
She let out a laugh, how couldn't she? This situation in itself was ludicrous by itself – a one-time type of deal. Alma wasn't angry, she rarely if ever was but there was something to admit, this was perhaps the first someone else was getting under her skin. Usually, it was the other way around, but this was new…new, and exciting. This game is going to be more fun than I thought.
"Tell me, why do you resist so much? Is it some sense of dignity – I know you don't have much of it left, giving your intent on using someone else's property as a weapon. Let me tell you that you don't know what you're missing out here, oh Luka boy, I can do so many things with my tail. Can you imagine it? Being stroked inside my soft tail, you won't even last ten seconds."
The emerald green in Luka's pupils was ever-present. "Just shut up already!? I have no reason to answer you nor do I have any interest in whatever you can offer me. Do you know much destruction you have caused with your storm? Do you know that my friend over there got stranded because of you? He just wants to go back to his homeland. I don't care who you are or what powers you hold, your first mistake was threatening him."
Luther watched with a scowl as the fight unfolded, now looking more like an actual battle instead of mocking bout. His hands tightened around the steering wheel, foot-tapping without pause or end. That was at least what it would look like to someone less perceptive than him. While his heart was warmed by his friend's do right and protect him, it was a passing feeling once his friend clashed with the Succubus. Luka's resolve was true, and he moved and struck with righteous anger at this invader, powering through any pleasure attack she gave seemingly unaffected by the. Yet Luther saw the desperation in his determination; What seemed to be an awakening of wit in the boy, grabbing Alma's tail and slicing it, using the nearby rails and sails to maneuver around his opponent, it was all desperation. Both Luka and Luther knew he didn't have much time until his body either gave or Alma grew bored of the hero's newfound strength.
Chambers saw in dismay as Luka attempted to climb up to anything that could give the high ground necessary to perform possibly the last trump card he had – Demon Beheading. It might have been the only thing that could have surprised Alma enough for her to break the rules and lose, but the process had been frustrating with the succubus stopping the boy at every turn. He was half tempted to throw one of his steel balls, but he had no desire to draw Alma's attention nor her potential ire just yet.
"Chumimi~in" Tusk sung behind him, its worry unprecedented and its user regrettably had to agree. Despite the effort, Luka was putting in, Alma was treating him as nothing more than an entertaining toy if only putting just a slither more effort into winning. She danced around the ship, drawing out his attacks
It's always like this, you're either some toy or food to these types of Monsters. Luther put his head against the wood of the wheel. Alma perhaps was one of the first peaks into the casual sadism of the world that never left anyone alone, he hated just the thought of it. If you're weak, they'll throw you around and play with you like it's nothing, your life meaningless compared to a worm. Alma's not even the worst the world has to offer, but the idea of being randomly eaten or drained by her mere whim.
Alma stopped, her wings spreading out once more, as she clapped her hands together a single time. She flew just a foot above the floor, the tips of her boots barely touching it. "A thought of a very wonderful idea…let's spice up our game a little more, shall we?" The playful Heavenly Knight didn't wait for an answer before she began to slowly fly over to the helm of the ship.
"Where are you going? You're fighting me here!" Luka called out, it took a full second to realize what she was doing and nearly charged after, even jumping before she ascended. He halted, stifling a growl as she got closer to Luther, but his tactical mind realized the opportunity presented to him. A rather cynical tactic, unfitting for a hero to use a bystander as a distraction, but this enemy was way beyond him and it required desperate measures. If he was going to save his friend he might as well give it all he has got.
Wait…why the hell is she going for me? Luther took a labored breath, Tusk hiding behind him. The Succubus Queen landed atop the wheel's railing, tip-toeing across to him and acting as if she had poor balance and almost falling atop of him. Inwardly he panicked, that mischievous smile and glint in her eyes didn't help calm his nerves one bit. The sight before him was like poison to his soul, that lust-filled smile suffocating in its promise to violate him in whatever way possible.
"You…you're the one that stopped Granberia's sword with his bare hand and wrestled Nanabi, Luther right?" She gracefully landed nearby, standing a little too close for his comfort, in fact, her entire presence was uncomforting to the man. It made him nearly choke when she said his name. Chambers was taller than her and had to resort to looking down to properly meet her, see her large breasts and nipples poking through the thin fabric of her bra but remaining expressionless. One more step and their chests would meet. "How about you use some of those tricks of yours one day? Or perhaps do you want to do it now? I'll show you some of my own."
Luther only answered her flirtations with a hard glare, body motionless as she reached for him like prey would freeze up when caught by a predator. And that wasn't far from the truth, she was a being that could have most likely snapped his spine with just her fingers, the worst part was he'd never see it coming. Luther knew damn well what she insinuated, having dealt with many of her types before, though admittedly those women had a much more of a subtle approach. Granted, Alma was an entirely different beast compared to them.
"Oh, how heartless, can't you entertain me with a little small talk?" Alma put a hand on her chest, feigning offense before grabbing onto one of the handles of the steering wheel, lightly turning it to her side. "Truth is, and don't tell your friend I said it, but he's a bit boring for me – thinking of spicing this game up, testing his balancing…I'm in a mood to play some captain, would you be my first mate?"
No…It immediately clicked to him what she was trying to do –destabilize the ship so she would have more fun, disregarding the lives of the sailors that brought them out here to the sea. All of this just makes her fight more interesting…more fun…if she had her way the entire vessel might get capsized, if not the crew members could get hurt...He couldn't allow it to happen, even if he was ultimately at her mercy, his spirit called for him to oppose her recklessness with his own.
"Chu!" Chambers heard a determined cry behind him, calling on him to protect the people that aided in his travels, the ones he had sung songs with.
"No." A single word left Luther's mouth as he dauntlessly stood straight against her, pulling the wheel back in the opposite direction of where she was pulling. His fierce monotone voice and height worked in his favor, albeit as best as they could against an all-powerful Monster. "I'm not playing your games. Leave this place, and never return."
The response he got froze him, utterly bathing him in the tension gathering around as they danced around the wheel of the ship. Alma took hold of one of his hands holding onto one of its handles, her touch felt like it sizzled his skin, she leaned into him, breast resting neatly on his chest as he leaned back.
"That look in your eyes, hmm…so serious…you can't blame a girl for being interested in some tough guy like you, oh… I bet you have a heart of gold hidden underneath."
Shut up…
It was the first thing she spotted when she saw him, and the first thing that fascinated was its permanence, that cold unflinching look of utter disgust of her very existence. Admittedly it was part of the reason why she came to him, to see it closer and wiped it off his face as she teased and pleasured him, but his coldness remained. All of the opponents she fought: From the most bigoted of heroes and serious ones like her friend, Granberia, to determined upstarts like Luka-boy all had their hatred or composure burned out of them at her actual presence replaced with awe or arousal. They were all enchanted by her beauty and skill. Even his friend had maintained it in his renewed figure, but in him, there was none to speak of.
"Anything I can do to ease it, trade for letting me play around with the wheel perhaps? I can show a whole different world…" Alma moved away only to put his finger on his body, dragging it along its coat and slowly unbuttoning it, that disgust something she had to fix. "Or maybe as an apology for the trouble my duties might have caused you, hmm?"
Shut up!
"Chu…" Tusk grabbed onto one of his hands, refusing to let it move. It twitched, spin gathering and sputtering out, nails spinning and stopping. His link warmed to not give in to either her seduction or her provocation, it was what she wanted after all and he took that advice to heart from his spiritual companion. And so, Luther took small deep breaths, in a pattern that helped calm him –Hamon, though lacking the proper focus needed to fall into its trance and call out his soul. It helped not be overly enraged by this being of depravity violating his personal space.
Let go of me.
"Don't…touch…me…" Suddenly, Luther grabbed the arm on his chest, starlight mirroring the midnight sky shining from his own. This was the time Alma truly showed her surprise as her hands refused to move under her commands, instead of being easily forced away from him, the entire arm from its shoulder to the tip of fingers refused to move. She could recognize her muscles being strained, ordered by pressure foreign to her, but the effect was plain to see.
The arm was forced into a standstill, much to Luther's surprise she had managed to gain back some control and push it back, possibly through her beyond monstrous strength. She looked onto his side in arm hold, and couldn't hide the wonder as she gazed upon the peculiar star pattern layered atop his flesh and clothes.
"Ah…Star boy, there is no need for this, I can turn that frown upside down real quick, swear on my pride as a Succubus. It'll be quick fun between the two of us." Alma lewdly smiled, teasingly giggling at his attempts of holding her off.
Quick fun huh? Luther glanced at the rest of the ship with an empty look, It was an empty deck safe for Luka atop one of the masts, but he paid no mind to it after turning back to her. You call this quick fun…fun…He thought of crew members, their lives being risked for the sole purpose of entertainment.
Alma shivered. It was almost as if the temperature suddenly dropped all around them. She saw Luther breathed out cold fog from his mouth, feeling it impact her face.
Fun…? How many lives were taken by her? Chambers thought about the possible number despite good reason telling him not to, how many of his kind were killed to serve as entertainers or simply as nothing more than a morsel. Tusk desperately clung onto its user's hand, frost slowly spreading out from it and covering a handle of the steering wheel he was holding. Alma flinched from what felt like the beginnings of frostbite on the arm under her opponent's custody.
Fun…? How many hearts were broken, families torn apart as they were drained away or eaten…? Mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, brothers, and sisters awaiting their beloved close ones to return only to get nothing, lucky to even hear news of their death. Frost began to cover the hardwood floor beneath Luther, turning whatever water was there into ice. There was everything wrong with this world, cruel mutated creatures, preying on other conscious beings, even on their own kind.
How can the world allow someone like you to exist?
Winds picked up, Alma heard their voice and felt them, but there was no sense of playfulness in them, nothing that resembled anything natural as if it was forced into such a state – pure unrelenting cold that appeared to cut into her being. All…centered around him.
"Get away from him!" Luka's boyish yell broke Alma out of her stupor and she ripped her body away from Luther, looking up to where the voice came from. Here the fake hero was, falling through the air and using another Monster technique – Demon Beheading.
The Heavenly Knight nearly jumped in surprise, it wasn't a move she could let herself be hit so freely and her previous enemy seemed all too willing to stay there, glaring at her as frost covered his clothing. She quickly stopped the attack by grabbing Luka's blade with both of her hands, the last of his will to fight to fade out and along with his body's strength. Luka dropped right next to her, nearly stumbling.
In sharp contrast to his companion, he was absolutely jumping with joy. "Yes, I won! I made you use your hands!" Luka pointed out the obvious, but it did help her register the fact in her mind. Slowly she regained her teasing lewd smirk as she handed Angel Halo to him.
"Not quite."
"What!? But you had to use your hands to stop me and you only said you'd use your tail." The fake hero shouted, screaming bloody murder at her foul deceit
"You only won because you used a dirty trick –attacking while my back was turned to you, is that really what a hero would do? They really are a menace then." Alma said and Luka couldn't believe the words that came out of her mouth. He didn't know if he could even last another round, his legs were already threatening to give in as vigor and adrenaline faded, the strain his body incurred was catching up to him. "Besides, one contestant is missing in our game…isn't that right Star Boy?"
Silence, his face didn't move and neither did his body…for a split second, there was a phantom of a frown on her face. "Alright, it seems our friend needs some 'encouragement to participate, something to get his frozen heart going." He didn't move and she took full advantage of that. Alma's tail raced forward in speed fitting for a Heavenly Knight. It was a blur, neither Luka nor Luther saw where it moved, but there was one sensation Luther did feel – something being ripped away from his shoulders. His blood froze.
"What are yo-" Luka tried to ask but was shushed.
Luther stared on ahead, breathing becoming heavier as he tried his best to contain himself, a dead look in his eye as he saw Alma carrying his bag on her tail. It bounced up and down as she stepped back and forth before finally jumping back to the railing, his bag just above the watery abyss below. At any moment it seemed like it could be dropped with just a single careless movement, a twitch and it would fall into the blue deep never to be seen again.
"Here is your stipulation; I have already named my own if you refuse or lose this game of mine." Alma forced out a yawn and his prized possession slipped further down from her base to the tip. "It'll end up losing somewhere. Unless you might have something more entertaining to offer?"
Chambers couldn't bring himself to look at her or his possessions dangling from her tail and reserved himself to stare at the floor that was freezing below his feet. The man knew his friend spoke, but he couldn't hear him. Each second felt like a long and painful hour as if he could hear a clock slowly ticking in his brain warning of the consequences of his hesitation, his pause. He gritted his teeth, Tusk had long let go of his arm which nails were spinning, fading away into his soul where a part was missing, longing for its return – his bag. Luther Chambers was a man truly stranded, but not on a different continent, a whole other universe with nothing but his bag, which held the only things proving his origins, the only physical sign he had left of his world, of his life and struggles there. He wasn't going to let it slip from his hands and be destroyed by someone who knew nothing of its importance to it, someone who wouldn't care.
"Cry if you want, you'll get your chance to see the dawn."
Luther whispered, only to himself, and shifted his head to meet Alma's gaze, he didn't feel anger at his harassing adversary, just emptiness and a clear goal and purpose to accomplish. An aura of azure blue together with a cloak of stars enveloped his body, they were still and peaceful in contrast to the winds around him. Dark blue flames lit from his dull grey eyes, burning like small candles and giving them life...
Alma Elma waited for the inevitable response that would come from him, playing around with his bag as she dodged around Luka's attempts at retaking it. The boy screamed bloody murder at her apparent cruelness, had it been cruel? Perhaps…but she knew best this method served to create an undeniable stake. In the end, his bag was just a bag, likely carrying a few books and gold but nothing more, it was replaceable. Yet he carried it so close to him, was he so attached to this piece of leather?
She found her answers in the form of a blizzard practically hitting her, small chunks of ice and winds of white pushing her to the edge as Luther slammed his foot down onto the ground. Through strength as a Succubus Queen, she rooted herself into position, though Luka boy hadn't been so lucky, being thrown down onto the deck aside by the ravenous frost. And before she could fully process the cold around her, Luther launched himself at her with speed far surpassing his friends. It was as if something powerful like her Lord had thrown him at her, fingers forward into her.
The Heavenly Knight had to rely on instinct to dodge to the side, her eyes wide as she witnessed the man's hand cleaning slice the helm's railings behind her, some horror dawning on her as she thought of an outcome where she hadn't moved. Those pieces of wood fell to deep blue and Alma firmly grabbed hold of his bag, she didn't know why but she had a feeling that something worse could be drawn out if she did end up losing it.
Chambers quickly turned and attempted to strike her once more multiple times, his movements holding deadly unnatural precision even when forced himself to move faster. Yet she proved to be faster, retreating by repeatedly taking steps back-peddling from the stairs leading up to the helm, each missed swing of his covering their battlefield in ice. A faint buzzing sound emanated from his hands, her ears just about being able to pick them up amidst the howling winds that froze everything around him. His fingernails had been spinning…just what kind of powers did he possess?
Alma spread her wings and flew back as her adversary chased after her, he moved almost like a wild beast chasing after its prey but she knew that he was no simple animal, his steps and attacks were too calculative attempting to put her into a corner where she had nowhere to fall back or evade, nothing about it was wild. His form wasn't unbothered by the unstable ground swaying. She thanked the Founder for the fact she was born with the ability to fly…
That was until Luther pointed his fingers at her flying frame and fired out a massive barrage of projectiles at her out of his fingertips. They were infused with an unknown energy and were too small or fast for her to truly see what they were, not like she had any time nor the desire to analyze them. Elma folded her wings and fell back to the deck, doing her best to avoid them but like his slashes, they were meant to corner, leaning or stepping away from one meant getting into the path of another. She was forced to call on her magic and wind, creating a barrier around her body that blew most of them away as Luther jumped down to the deck.
Alma shivered and flinched, feeling a sharp stinging pain on her cheek and some in her wings before she retracted them. Her soul was now open to the song and dance of the winds, a song and dance she was accustomed to moving along, and only now did she fully realize how different the winds around him were. Screeching and screaming they were forcibly fashioned into blades that struck a deep cold into her body as he lashed out at her. There was nothing natural about them, no playfulness that was ever-present in this element, it was enslaved to do his bidding by the frost with one command – to end her.
Luther lunged at her, nails regrown and ready to butcher her in the fast way possible. She sidestepped with greater speed and saw an opportunity, the teasing smile she had before was nothing more than a distant memory, pacifying him would require some of her more serious techniques. The Succubus Queen grabbed his chest, her hand moving down to his crotch while the other apprehended his arms being careful as to not touch his hands, switching her grasp on the bag back to her tail.
"Ahh!" Alma yelped at the sudden sting of pain, jumping far from him. She grasped the pained parts of her body, frostbite had formed on them. The Heavenly Knight groaned, provoking him was a mistake, she knew this all too well, he even told her to stay away, perhaps the worst part now was he didn't speak. He hadn't uttered a single word to her from the moment he charged…
"Damn it boy, that witch just had to get to you." The captain grimaced as his ship swung from side to side, many of the things in the personal quarter fell over and the room was filled with his crew's exclamation of despair and panic. They had at least had the decency to not let any of his items break, granted, only with his given command, but it was a start. Now if only they weren't so cowardly as to stabilize the ship.
He sighed, knowing that his hopes were far from being true, while they were good men he couldn't blame them for being scared of such a hazardous work environment. Neither he nor they were trained to handle a battlefield happening in front of them and the ruinous collateral damage that came with it. Oh… the collateral damage… He hit his chest and gathered what remained of his courage to might as well prevent what little damage he could to the ship. But after he put a single hand on the ladder leading up to his precious vessel's wheel the sway stopped his stabilization. The captain along with his crewmates were glad for this miracle, either the seas have been eased completely or something had taken control, but he had to wonder who? All of them couldn't deny what was happening above to be utter insanity, much more to go out in that insanity to perform such a saintly task. Ilias may forgive an old man like him, but he had curiosity too. He opened up the hatch and what he witnessed shocked him to the core and made him check his eyesight.
He looked on in awe at the entity taking the wheel. It was no man or woman, no one part of his crew or his esteemed guests, but a spectral figure steering his ship away from danger and keeping her under control. They were blue as the ocean's depths and nearly see-through, a large cloak obscured most of their features and the only other article of clothing he saw were his boots, but he. Water continuously dripped from him, its ethereal light fading away once it hit the floor.
"At ease." He calmly spoke, not even bothering to turn his head. The ghost didn't look too bothered at the waves of frost being unleashed. It told the captain all he needed to know, he solemnly nodded and slunk back into his cabin closing the hatch.
Pleasure attacks didn't work, couldn't work against him… Not unless she desired to risk herself being cut into ribbons or frozen solid. An easy conclusion to make after all the fruitless attempts she made to give her opponent pleasure or apprehending him, her frostbitten body could attest to that only managing to rip away his coat, but it was hard to accept that she, the Succubus Queen could not make her enemy orgasm. At the very least it was only because she couldn't touch him, it aided to shield her pride somewhat.
Not that she could even enjoy anything about this encounter, his aura and energy pressured her everywhere on the ship, while she wasn't good as her friend at this she could sense the almost killing intent coming from him. The frozen ground she had to be careful not to slip on as Chambers happened to freely move in. As unenjoyable as it was it got her blood pumping and kept him predictable enough where she could nearly comfortably avoid. Alma weighed on her last decisions and grimaced, she couldn't leave with this failure and he was too volatile and dangerous to not be stopped even temporally. He was not someone who could be reasoned with right now. She sighed...
Luther threw a straight jab at her, practically turning his body into a spear. The Heavenly Knight sprang into action, leaping toward him as well in desperation to end this bout. She grabbed his forearm and grit her teeth, enduring the frostbite spreading from her palm to her shoulder, and threw him onto the ground, cracking it. Immediately she channeled her energy through the damaged limb, healing it back to its original condition.
Dark determination, Hamon and Spin flowing through his body he quickly recovered and jumped out of his prone position where he nearly fell into the hole he made, there were screams of panic that were heard in the lower deck, but it was nothing he needed to pay attention to. He charged, like had relentlessly done so many times and the Succubus returned in kind.
Luther slashed with his nails but hit nothing except air, he was expecting it to happen, for her to step to the side…and predicted her move. His second hand tightened into a starlight-covered fist and hooked Alma in the face. The Heavenly Knight shuddered in shock, instincts demanding she'd retaliate, her head refused to move a single inch under his force and without hesitation, she slammed her fist into his chest. The fist sunk in…and Alma's eyes widened in horror as they both heard cracking noises.
Alma backed away from him slowly, her body and soul felt numb all while she watched Luther stumble forward and back. Their eyes crossed, gone was the image of the cold ruthless killer that had plagued her visit of her Lord and Luka boy, in its stead was a terrified and lost man in agonizing pain. There were no more deep breaths followed by bursts of his life force, his energy was fading away…the tormented howling winds vanished, his starlight sputtered out and dimmed into nothing, the frost coming from him was gone. The only thing that remained was a silver aura, even that was flashing and fading away.
Luther was suffocating, his ears were ringing… he couldn't take any air in, his lungs refused to do so. Any time he tried they responded with racing blood going up to his throat, his gag reflex doing its best to hold off the onslaught. The stand user felt immense pain, his chest was flatter than ever before, his lungs were punctured by his own collapsed rib cage. He tried to speak, call for help from Tusk, Luka, Alice, anyone that could answer him but only gurgling came out before he spat a stream of blood. Chambers knelt, legs began to give in, the only things left holding were his arms and he knew they were going next as he coughed up more of his insides.
"You-! How could you?" Luka's broken voice called to her, demanding to have an answer for the act she had just committed against her friend.
Alma was utterly frozen, watching the man suffer as his body slowly shut down, she couldn't move even her finger to help. Perhaps in a fruitless endeavor at distracting herself, she glanced around and spotted her lord along with her human of interest. They were both gawking in shock, still in disbelief at the battle that occurred and its end. Alice looked sternly and gave her one command she could understand non-verbally – leave.
The Succubus Queen let out a chuckle and swung Luther's bag around, her mischievous smile coming back for all to see along with the black eye and cut on her cheek that her suffering opponent gave her. "Ha, now was that really so hard? It barely even took a second for you to win." She threw the bag at him as he fell. He recognized what it was despite his quickly fading consciousness and grabbed it, clutching it close to his body and crying.
"I got to go...it's been a pleasure meeting you." Alma said her parting words to Luka and Alice, winking at the boy who looked in rage, gripping tightly the hilt of Angel Halo as he stood up prepared to avenge his friend, and then she vanished, teleporting away.
Luther's vision faded in and out, his thoughts starting and being ended, he hanged just by the thread holding him back from eternal sleep. His soul cried out dismay, shouted for his resolve to awaken and force his body to put itself back together, anything…but there was no answer. Tusk was naught but a small spark not strong enough to manifest let alone speak in its comforting coos, that was left of him, as he died so did it and that was his biggest regret. To drag along another being, someone that had promised to stay by his side till the end to its early grave, barely even a week old.
However, he got what he wanted, the last connection he still had to his world, and if he was going to die holding it then so be it, it was worth every lost breath his lungs couldn't take in to save his life, every drop of blood leaving his mouth. Early death was worth more than living out the rest of his life in this world with everything he had brought with him gone and destroyed as that was a fate worse than death. He'd lose what remained of his will to fight and live.
Chambers was forced to open his eyes, vision is blurry as he decided to give one last look to the world around him, first was the helm as that was where his head was positioned, and felt cumbersome to turn it. He spotted the same figure he saw gliding the vicious waves that threatened to swallow the ship just on the railing above, the ghostly apparition vanished quickly after Luther looked at him.
He could just about make out the shapes of his unlikely travel partners frantically rushing toward his lying body, both Alice and Luka held worry and shock in their expressions. Oh, how he hated it, to leave them like this as his last impression – seeing their newly found friend…acquaintance die, but there was nothing more that could be done, he had barely any control over his body. A sad thought came over him, the aftermath, how Luka would likely hate and distrust Alma for this forevermore leading to dire consequences, how Alice would potentially blame herself for his demise.
I'm sorry, so sorry…
Luther gave a sad smile as more blood was coughed out, somehow he knew he was going to end like this. Sooner or later he was going to kick the bucket eventually either being food for something or thrown aside like a broken doll after he was beaten, he couldn't keep on believing wholly that he would make it. With one final thought, the last of his consciousness left him
I don't want to go.
I killed him…I killed him… Alma landed on the cliffside, her Lord's castle just on the horizon where she knew her fellow Heavenly Knights awaited her arrival. She fell forward, stumbling as her legs hit the earth and arms instinctively halting her further descent into the dirt below. Wings covered her body like a cloak. She took deep and hectic breaths in some futile attempt of calming herself, steeling her mind for the calamitous ruin of despair that slowly encroached with her realization.
The Succubus Queen's body healed, the holes that her wings were riddled with were now sealed shut, the stray cuts and bruising faded away into nothingness together with that shameful black eye. It was as if nothing had happened, but she knew so well that it was far from the truth, the damage was done already and it couldn't be changed. She gazed at her shanking palms that were once covered by his frostbite, their lingering pain still present in her thoughts and the memory of Luther's killing intent.
His aura was ingrained into her mind, how could it not be when it threatened to swallow her whole? It covered the entire ship and surrounded her, pressing against all sides, and she recalled how her body had a hard time moving under it, even as her wind attempted to ease it. In a single instant the agitated man turned into a cold-hearted creature bent on her destruction and causing her fear, it was not anything she could even predict would happen at least to that extent. He was relentless, yet all of that ceased to be a single punch.
Mother was right all along...I am a brute. In a single punch, she had done the worst sin her species could ever commit, resigning someone, a man to a death filled with pain and suffering. While she cared not much for the responsibility of her title it still meant something and for someone that was held in high regard like her it was beyond shameful. Sure, she had taken a life before but all those instances ended in absolute bliss, many thanking her for the gift she had given them, but this life was ceased through bloodshed. Now her soul was forever stained with cries of a suffering soul.
I could have stopped at any point before, you heard the wind around him.
Slowly the Succubus Queen stood back up and looked on to the tall fortress that was home to Alice's as it had been to her predecessor. Sensing the presence of Tamamo and Granberia with the obvious absence of Erubiete, she clutched her body and stilled her shaking. Sooner or later she had to return to them, else she'd cause needless worry that would simply complicate this matter, and perhaps they could ease her soul if only temporarily.
Alma was downtrodden and didn't hide it, while she had done so with Alice and Luka she couldn't continue, it felt wrong. She teleported her way into one of the castle's halls where the other Heavenly Knights waited and walked forward and flinched as Granberia turned to see her.
"I'm back…." Alma announced her return; the usual teasing enthusiasm in her voice was gone, refusing to force under the inquisitive senses of Tamamo and Granberia not desiring to insult their intelligence and perception.
"Ah, where did yo-"Granberia stopped once fully noticing state her friend was in: the tired and shaken stare that constantly she had as she averted her eyes to the floor, unkempt hair that nearly covered her face, her walk that lacked its usual bounciness, instead, being clumsy and mostly motionless. "What happened to you?" Immediate concern took hold and the fierce dragonkin rushed her friend to console her as she grabbed hold of her shoulders straightening her form out. Alma accepted the "embrace" putting her horned head on her fellow monster's armored chest.
"He's dead…I killed him…" Was the only thing she uttered, the only answer she provided to her questions, which only brought more confusion. Who was dead, and why did his death affect her friend so greatly?
"Who-"
Granberia's next question was cut off short by Tamamo who slowly walked to them, intently gazing at the Succubus Queen. "Perhaps we should go somewhere more comfortable to discuss this, I sense that this will not be easy for her."
They all sat down in a lounge that failed to bring any comfort to them. Alma sat on a couch inside a thick blanket leaning against Granberia. The dam inside of her broke and she told them everything, how she decided to go on a small adventure to visit Alice and her human company having heard interesting tales about them, how she had played a little game with the one called Luka and ended up teasing his friend who eventually snapped and went after her. Lastly, she spoke of his power and attitude before finishing. Alma saw no point in hiding it, they'd find out eventually through their Lord or the self-proclaimed hero that was his friend if he didn't also parish. "I killed him, the man who stopped your Ares with his bare hands, Luther…"
"I felt my hand collapse his chest and puncture his lung, before my very eyes I saw his life slowly leave him." The Succubus clarified, gripping the hand that she had used to commit such a heinous act of violence. For a moment Granberia and Tamamo held a look of surprise, they'd had never heard of Alma use her strength against another being unless it involved grappling, a full-on assault was unthought-of. She shrunk further into her blanket, before feeling an embrace that came from her draconic friend.
"In an instant he proved himself to be a threat." Her voice started neutral, becoming softer the more she spoke. Given the aforementioned man's talents, this was as much as she could predict from him, a potential threat that had to be taken care of eventually like his hero friend but worse. Granberia's heart couldn't deny the disappointment at the news of his abrupt demise, before finding some desire to fight the man who had what appeared to be impossible for a human- stopped her sword swing with his bare hand and yet still showed to hold more potential forcing her friend to fight seriously. It was the end of a potential worthy foe but her selfish desires didn't matter much in the face of her friend's suffering. "You dealt with him in whatever way possible for you. That you should not be ashamed of. You're not just a Succubus, but a Heavenly Knight as well and it was simply performing your duty – defeating dangerous humans.
"But I'm the one who provoked him! He told me to stay away from him and I didn't listen, wanting to whisk that stress away from him…only managing to make it worse…" Though feeling a little lighter, she still heatedly refuted her friend's cold reasoning before feeling regret at lashing out as she felt Granberia flinch from the volume.
"As unfortunate as it is, perhaps this was for the best if a bit too gruesome for my liking," Tamamo remarked, portraying no particular emotion as she spoke and Alma could hear the glass in her mind break but didn't find the resolve to question the fox sage's morbid conclusion.
"Now that is something I would never expect from you, his death is for the best you say?" Granberia was the one comment on it instead, while a warrior she wasn't completely blind to how certain people normally acted and what changed, especially with her cohorts. Wishing death upon someone else wasn't Tamamo's way. She was more merciful than that.
Tamamo sighed, lightly fidgeting around in the chair she sat in as her tails stopped swaying, her shoulders dropped as she recalled some of the long-forgotten faces in her life. "In my long life I only met a few people like Luther, but they were all so similar you could tell from a single glance they shared the same struggle, no matter whether they were a Monster or a Human. For lack of a better word they are broken, not in the sense, we are usually familiar with, no… Lost, empty, always searching for something but ultimately never finding it, in the end, they become bitter husks of their former selves, that is what kind of man Luther was. Done to his mannerisms, all behind a vague layer of apathy hid sorrow and empty longing."
"They weren't all so lifeless, some showed a surprising willpower to live for one reason or another, others offered a small reflection of what they were in small instances." The nine-tailed Kitsune remembered as her subordinate described how he protected her from the scary lamia that was Alice. She let her own hands sink into the fluff of her tails, squeezing them. "Forgive my pragmatism, but they are troublesome, at times unpredictable of what they could do. The longer he lived the more he would torment himself for reasons none of us will find out, whether he was alive or dead. To fix these types was something even I couldn't do, only ease their pain, that is why I say it was for the best. He'll suffer no matter what happens to him."
As for the bag, that was probably his only personal attachment left. Tamamo frowned, keeping that piece of information to herself seeing how Alma shrunk further into her blanket. Admittedly a small part of her was disheartened not only by his end but by his entire existence, it reminded her of so many others she had met now long dead, and his potential was undeniable – not just any human could hold down a seven-tailed beast that was Nanabi and the shifting star pattern through his was undeniably intriguing.
Granberia coughed, shaking away the shiver that went down her spine. "What about the other one? The last time I fought him he was green as grass, barely able to properly swing his sword. From what you said he has improved a lot in just a span of a few days…I might just decide to test him again."
"Ah, him. He is a pretty open book compared to his friend and has his heart in the right place, cute too." Tamamo chuckled, noting how her lord had possibly found the best candidate to travel alongside her, someone who shared her dreams of coexistence, it might help bring her out of her guard. "If he continues improving we might just see the birth of another great hero. Any of the other Human Cursed Sword users looked so similar, short, purple hair, how curious...it might just be fate."
The nine-tailed kitsune observed as Alma added nothing more to their discussion about and stood up from her chair. "I'll go get some tea for all of us."
Luther's Notes: Dark Determination
Dark Determination is a phenomenon in which an individual casts aside their humanity to achieve a certain goal, whether it be protection, killing, or desire to obtain an object of importance to the subject using entering such a state. It is a side effect of the heightened supernatural willpower that Stand users possess and some non-Stand users can achieve...it is killing intent itself taking a nearly physical form through the user. Most users, regardless of their goal, act in very similar ways: Possible selective muteness, a propensity to violence, increased ruthlessness, and general cold-blooded behavior. People under the effects of Dark Determination no longer see their opponents and allies as individuals, but simple obstacles to overcome or adversaries to eliminate without mercy, with a single exception being if the intention is to protect another person, and that is the reason why it is a great advantage in a battle as it enhances an individual's combat capabilities beyond what they're normally capable along with removing a person's desire to limit themselves.
Usually, such a state is either achieved through intense desire or heavy amounts of stress, a combination of both practically guarantees such an awakening to occur. Though in some instances the state of Dark Determination can be willingly entered by the subject. Drawn-out and enhanced by Hamon's soul synchronizing properties, the feelings or rather lack of empowering it as well, resulting in a dramatic increase of power.
Perhaps the worst aspect of it is the feeling of absolute control that it gives, at least through my own experience and analysis that is the case. A person subject to Dark Determination isn't enraged, instead, a deadly calm is imposed upon them, they are aware of everything they're doing for what reasons and how they perceive their surroundings, but can't bring themselves to care before achieving their goal or suffering a mortal wound.
It has become an unfortunate aspect of my existence, given the troubles I have faced, but it is a permanent part of me nonetheless and I must accept it. Else others will suffer because of my negligence of controlling myself.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter, this is the last one of act one of this story. I have also gotten a new cover art from a kind person that decided to give a new commission, honestly, it looks better in my files than it does in the FF image format.
Now I'm going to address several things beforehand that I feel should be said in regards to this chapter's plot and some other things.
- The frequency of chapters might slow down this year and next for personal reasons, it isn't a lack of motivation that will do this but rather a lack of time. Simply put I will have less free time leading to me writing less. That's is all I want to say for this topic.
- I don't desire this story to be some depressive angst fic, that was never my intention and it never will be. Most of the characters here will have some happy conclusion to their lives, even those like the Tiny Lamia, I haven't forgotten about her. Act two should start to break from some of the depressive moments, granted, the aftermath of this isn't going to be pretty but it would be a small piece of act 2 that's necessary to through. Some must struggle to grow and all...
-Regarding Alma...I have planned the fight between Luther and her for a while even in my previous iterations of the story, simply because their personalities would no doubt clash. This chapter's intention isn't to bash this character, frankly, my outlook is rather neutral and I don't share the same thoughts as Luther. Her race's entire goal is pleasure, to give pleasure, to receive pleasure, the rest is up to the individual's personality - by virtue of this causing suffering intentionally isn't an easy thing to do for them, even Alma, her goal wasn't to harm Luther, just for him to loosen up through her skills. However, Alma and many other Monsters are provocateurs, simple because of the way they act they're bound to eventually cross a line they didn't mean to cross with certain people like Luther and cause themselves and both their target to suffer, that is the nature of their encounter, what thought process I had when making it.
-Luther's strength, this was his very peak in act 1, as much as he was able to do with the tools he has - Dark Determination, Hamon and Spin. This power spike isn't permanent exactly, the conditions set for it I think are pretty clear. He has to be pushed to the very limit, to the point where what he thought previously completely awful, using his spinning nails against someone, was just a simple strategy for wining. In spite of it all, Alma was still stronger just horribly caught off guard and even still managed to kick his ass quite easily with a single punch. Just like Luka it will take awhile for him to reach a level where he can comfortably fight someone like the Heavenly Knights through experimentation and ordinary mastery of his skills.
-As for why Alice didn't do anything...we'll leave that up to the next chapter.
Reviews:
-Ayman El Kadouri: Everything and more, dear reader.
-TheBeginnerLibrarian: She was a likely candidate when I was planning the story, but no simply because of the several complications that comes with this. She becomes an important in my plans a bit too late, I'm afraid. Along with the nature of Luther's travel, going from place to place, which wouldn't really involve Tamamo being there unless she was heavily infatuated with him that she simply appeared there to speak to him, but I'm not the type of writer to make characters smitten with each other instantly or progress relationship in that fast pace. Another way is making them run into each other unintentionally which could work as a bases to built their interactions from, but I made my choice regarding my plans.
- Guest: Funnily enough I'd probably be a much more healthier interaction than what happened here. They're both rather stoic individual and would of course involve them accepting that their enemies and fighting for their own life. Of course Luther would no doubt point out some stupidity or inaction on her part of preventing her people from being pushed out which would no doubt escalate the conflict, but it would still be a regular fight.
-lilbigstoryteller: I don't know, the results of the main goal of a character the story focuses on being spoiler? Honestly, its seems rather obvious at this point whether or not this is a spoiler given the complications involving the end. I would have to spoil the story to explain what happens or rather that's what I would be tempted to do if did answer this directly. And for that reason I'm keeping my mouth shut.
Thank you for the support and I'll see you next Chapter.
