Hey guys, here's chapter 10 of Rise of Zeo. In this chapter, we'll see the return of Luz's doppelganger, Luzura. We'll also see the debut of the three dog cards mentioned in the previous chapter. Enjoy
Zeo sat on the couch as he looked at each of his creature cards.
"Thunder Snake, Frost Lizard, Magma Lizard, Razor-dillo, Inferno Fox, Blizzard Wolf, Storm Jackal, Night Howler, Luzura, Knight Owl…" Zeo listed off each of the creatures that he's created so far, placing their card in front of him on the coffee table. He then pulled out the Fusion Vortex card.
"Hey, Zeo" Luz greeted, walking up to him.
"Hey, Luz" Zeo greeted back without taking his eyes off his card.
"What're you doing?" Luz asked as she took a seat beside him.
"Just looking over my cards. I'm trying to see if I could be more fusions between them. So far, the only fusion I have is Frostfire Dragon, the fusion of Frost Lizard and Magma Lizard" Zeo told her.
"Hmm…" Luz rubbed her chin, "Ooh, I've got an idea!"
"Does it involve Luzura?" Zeo guessed.
"Maaaybe" Luz said while taking ahold of her doppelganger's card in her hand, "I mean, fusion between Luzura and one of the others does sound kind of cool"
"Well, you're not wrong" Zeo replied, giving a small smile.
"Hey, can I see those new dog cards you made?" Luz asked.
"Eh, why not?" Zeo shrugged, grabbing the three dog cards, "Inferno Fox, Storm Jackal, Blizzard Wolf, arise!" he tossed the cards.
The first was Inferno Fox. It was an orange and red male fox; his main color being red and his underbelly being orange. It had black legs. Around his neck was a color made of fire.
The second was Storm Jackal. It was a yellow and gold male jackal. Around his neck was a color made of purple lightning.
The final one was Blizzard Wolf. It was an icy blue and white male wolf. Around his neck was a color made of thick, dense ice. He was the leader of the trio; the alpha, so to speak.
"Aww! They're SO cute!" Luz beamed playing with each of the dog's jowls, each of them giving her a few affectionate licks to her cheek.
"Hey kids" Eda said as she walked in, wearing her sleepwear, "Zeo, put the mutts away, I need you to run an errand for me" she told the card wielder.
*Bark* *bark* "Did she just call us mutts?" Storm Jackal asked his brothers.
"Return" Zeo said, each of the dogs returning to his hand in their card forms, much to Luz's dismay, "What kind of errand?" he asked the Owl Lady.
"I need to get me some more apple blood" Eda told him.
Zeo blinked. Was she serious?
"You can't get it yourself?" Zeo asked.
"I would, but I don't want anyone at the night market recognizing me from my wanted poster" Eda pointed her thumb at the giant wanted poster on the wall, "Besides, my curse could act up at any random time" she added.
"Fine. Luz, you coming with me?" Zeo looked at the human girl.
"Sorry, I promised King I'd listen to one of his lectures on demons" Luz replied.
Zeo sighed with a roll of his eyes. He then scooped up the rest of his cards off the coffee table and headed out the door.
"Have fun, Zeo" Hooty told him.
"Yeah, thanks Hooty" Zeo replied.
The Night Market…
Zeo arrived at the night market, his hood up so people wouldn't recognize him. He looked around and quickly found a merchant that was selling the very drink that Eda had sent him to get. He walked up to the merchant's stand where they had their back to him.
"Excuse me, I'd like to buy some of that apple blood" Zeo told the merchant.
"Sure. How many bottles would you—" the merchant turned around, stopping midsentence upon seeing Zeo, "Y-Y-You…" the merchant pointed a shaky, fearful finger at the boy.
"Oh, hey, you're the bear guy that sold me those beds. Great product by the way; my friend says she sleeps like a baby on that thing" Zeo told him.
"The name's Grizz. Glad you liked the beds" Grizz replied, his knees shaking from behind the stand, "Why do you want apple blood?" he asked.
"I'm running an errand for someone" Zeo replied.
"Uh, how old are you?" Grizz asked.
"I'm 14. Why does it matter?" Zeo asked.
"Well, because this apple blood is… alcoholic. You have to be at least 21 to buy it" Grizz told him.
"Damn!" Zeo snapped his fingers in annoyance, "Well, don't you have any non-alcoholic apple blood?" he asked, remembering that Eda said specifically what kind of apple blood she wanted.
"I just sold out a few moments ago" Grizz told him, "But there is a way you can make it" he added.
"Go on" Zeo said, somewhat interested.
The Forest…
Zeo made his way to the forest, riding on the back of Night Howler, who had tracked the scent of apples in the air. The card wielder then hopped the dire wolf's back, feeding her a rope of sausages that he had purchased.
"Let me know if there's any danger coming along, alright?" Zeo told Night Howler, to which the wolf replied with a nod as he petted his head, "Hm. I might need a little help with this…" Zeo said as he pulled out a card, "Luzura, arise!"
Zeo tossed the card and, in a quick flash of yellow light, out came Luz's doppelganger. Luzura opened her eyes, greeting her creator with the same friendly smile that Luz often had.
"Hey, could you help me pick some of these apples? I'm making fresh apple blood for Mom" Zeo told Luzura.
Luzura thought it over. Luz was Eda's apprentice, a witch in training; and Luzura herself was more or less an extension of Luz, albeit more powerful. She knew how much Eda meant to both Luz and Zeo. Luzura nodded to Zeo's request.
"Thank you" Zeo told his human friend's witchy double as he handed her an extra sac.
The duo then took their time plucking apples from the trees. Zeo climbed the trees, picking them by hand, while Luzura used her staff to knock them down. Once done, they had two and a half dozen apples between them. They then regrouped with Night Howler.
"Ok, that was quicker than I thought. Thanks for keeping lookout, Night Howler" Zeo told the dire wolf.
*Bark* "Anytime" Night Howler replied with a small wag of her tail.
"Night Howler, return!" Zeo called, Night Howler returning to his hand in card form. He then turned to Luzura, "I would do the same with you, but I'm going to need some help getting these into the house" he told her, Luzura giving an understanding nod, "Knight Owl, arise!"
When the card was tossed, out came the armored bird. Knight Owl bowed his head, Zeo petting his beak before proceeding to climb onto his back. Zeo then held out his hand to Luzura, the doppelganger hesitating for a second before taking it. Zeo placed her on Knight Owl's back behind him.
"Hold on tight" Zeo told her.
Luzura wrapped her arms around Zeo's waist, blushing at the feel of his abdomen. With a screech, Knight Owl took off into the sky, heading straight for the Owl House.
Unknown to them, a beast had been watching them.
The Owl House…
Knight Owl descended from the sky, releasing a screech as he landed. Zeo then hopped off the armored bird, Luzura following soon afterward. Zeo retreated Knight Owl into his card form.
"Alright, let's go in and make some apple blood" Zeo told Luzura. However, as they were making their way to the door, Luzura had tripped and landed in a mud puddle, "Whoops" Zeo turned around, "You ok?" he asked her.
Zeo helped her up. Luzura spat out some mud that had gotten into her mouth before giving him a reassuring nod. Luzura's entire front had been covered in mud. From her pointy hat to most of her robe, to her boots. She was caught off guard when Zeo gently took her face into his hands. Zeo then used a finger to wipe off a patch of mud from her cheekbone.
"There we go. We don't want to ruin that pretty face, do we?" Zeo asked rhetorically as he smiled at her, not noticing the blush that formed on her face when he said that, "Don't worry, you'll be all clean once you go back into card form" he told her, "Luzura—"
"Wait!" Luzura held up a finger.
"What the?" Zeo looked at her with confusion.
Zeo had heard her voice when she did that; her voice sounding exactly like Luz's. Which makes sense since she's her doppelganger. The strange part was, Luzura's lips never even moved. It was almost if he had heard it in his head.
"Did… Did you just speak?" Zeo asked cautiously.
"I didn't really say anything. More like I thought it" Luzura told him. Again, he heard the voice in his head.
"Interesting" Zeo rubbed his chin, "When you aren't merged with Luz, you're mute. Yet now, for some reason, you're able to speak to me mentally. It's as if we have a psychic connection or something" he analyzed, "It must be another side effect of the Wailing Star"
"Maybe you have a psychic link with the other creatures too" Luzura suggested.
"It's possible" Zeo replied, "Now, what were you about to say?" he asked.
"Could I maybe take a shower instead?" Luzura asked.
"Sure, I don't see why not" Zeo shrugged, "Come on"
"Hoot-hoot! Password please!" Hooty said, only to be punched in the cheek by Zeo, "Ow!"
"Let us in before I rip you off your hinges!" Zeo threatened.
"Alright, alright! Geez! You're just like Eda! Ow! Hoot!" Hooty said before opening himself, allowing Zeo and Luzura into the house.
"Hey, Luz" Zeo greeted, seeing the human girl with King asleep in her lap.
"Hey, Zeo" Luz greeted back before noticing her doppelganger, "You summoned Luzura? If I had known you were going to do that, I would've gone with you in a heartbeat"
"Well, it's not like it was entirely planned" Zeo rolled his eyes, knowing how much the girl liked becoming Luzura. He turned to the mute witch, "If you want to take that shower, the bathroom's upstairs" he told her.
Luzura nodded, handed him her sack full of apples, and approached the stairs. She looked over her shoulder at Zeo with a small smile before continuing to head to the bathroom. They then heard the flush of a toilet.
"There you are" Eda said as she walked in from the downstairs bathroom, "Where's my apple blood?" she asked Zeo.
"They were out" Zeo replied, "But don't worry, I'm going to make some for you" he told her.
"You're going to make apple blood?" Eda raised a skeptical eyebrow, her hands on her hips.
"Yeah" Zeo nodded.
There was a brief pause.
"Alright then. Good luck with that, kid" Eda said, ruffling his hair before heading into the kitchen. Zeo gave a small chuckle as he fixed his hair.
"So, what's going on with Luzura?" Luz asked.
"She tripped and fell in the mud" Zeo replied, "I could've just retreated her back into her card, but she insisted on taking a shower. Which is kind of weird, isn't it?" he asked.
"Compared to some of the other stuff I've seen here, not really" Luz shrugged, "Besides, a girl likes to have that freshly cleaned feeling, you know?" she added.
That's when they heard Hooty's voice rang out, "OWW!" he cried.
Curious, Luz and Zeo ran up to the bathroom and saw Luzura whacking Hooty with her staff.
Zeo chuckled, "What's going on?" he asked.
"I was starting to get undressed when he slithered in!" Luzura telepathically said to Luz and Zeo.
"Whoa, she's telepathic?!" Luz said in surprise as Luzura continued to beat up the poor house demon.
"I know I'm just as surprised as you are" Zeo said, "Hooty, get out of here and let Luzura get undressed" he told the house demon.
"Alright, yeesh. No need to get cranky!" Hooty said, slithering out the window.
"I feel your pain girl, if I had a dollar for every time Hooty interrupted me in the bathroom" Luz said, resting a hand on her doppelganger's shoulder.
Luzura removed her hat and began to unzip her robe.
"I'll leave you two alone" Zeo said, respectively leaving the bathroom.
"At least someone around here's a gentleman" Luz said, "I'll just go put these in the wash" she told her doppelganger as she held her clothes and boots in her arms.
"Thank you" Luzura said telepathically.
Moments later, Luzura stepped into the living room, wearing nothing but a towel, her hair all wet. Surprisingly, her eyeshadow hadn't washed off.
"Hey Luzura, you enjoy your shower" Zeo asked, sitting on the couch. Luzura replied with a nod, "That's good. You know, your hair's kind of cute all wet like that" he commented.
Luzura made a silent giggle as Luz brought in a basket with Luzura's clothes and boots.
"Oh, just in time!" Luz said, "Your clothes just came out of the dryer… and they smell like lavender and lemon!" she smiled.
"Thank you" Luzura said telepathically, taking the basket.
She placed the basket down and began to undo her towel.
"Whoa there, big girl!" Luz said, stopping her, "Not in front of him" she said, pointing to Zeo, who was doing his best to resist the urge to look.
Luzura hung her head with a bit of a blush, "Where then?" she asked Luz telepathically.
"Come with me, I'll let you change in my room" Luz said, leading her upstairs.
As the girls went upstairs, Eda walked in holding a mug. She took a sip of the drink that was within it.
"Mm. This homemade apple blood is actually pretty good. I especially like the touch of cinnamon" she commented, "Not bad, Zeo" Eda told him, taking another sip.
"Thanks. Sorry if I couldn't get the alcoholic kind" Zeo replied.
"Eh, don't sweat it, kid" Eda reassured, shrugging a shoulder.
Meanwhile, Luz and Luzura were in Luz's room. Luzura set down the basket of her clothes.
"Thanks, Luz. Although would it really have been that bad if I undressed in front of Zeo?" Luzura asked telepathically, raising an eyebrow as she placed her hands on her hips.
"You should really only undress in front of the person you have feelings for" Luz told her.
"What do you mean?" Luzura asked.
"I mean you should only do that in front of the person that makes your heart soar, the one you enjoy spending time with" Luz told her, "In other words, you should only undress in front of the person you're in love with" she said.
"Love?" Luzura tilted her head with an interested tone.
"Yeah. It's that magical feeling you get in your heart when you're with that one person you enjoy being around more than anyone else. They're the one person that you fantasize about, the one that makes your heart soar" Luz explained.
Luzura thought about it as she undid her towel, the item pooling around her bare feet. Her heart was definitely racing when she was holding onto Zeo when they rode on Knight Owl. It also raced when he called her pretty. Was that what Luz meant? She did like it when Zeo summoned her, even if most of those times were for combat situations. She'd have to think about this love thing a bit more.
"Damn, we have a nice body for someone our age" Luz said, admiring the body of her now half naked doppelganger, "Kind of wished we had a slightly bigger chest and rump though…" she added under her breath, "Still, we look good"
"Uh… thanks?" Luzura said awkwardly with a blush to match.
Luzura proceeded to put on her freshly cleaned clothes and boots, finishing when she put on her witch hat. No soon than she did though, they heard a roaring sound coming from outside. The girls looked out the bedroom window and saw a large beast. It was a green ogre, carrying a spiked club in his right hand. He also had a hoop ring hanging between his nostrils. The girls were about to head downstairs, when Luzura held her staff out in front of Luz and shook her head, silently telling her to stay there. Luzura then ran out.
"What do you want, ogre?" Zeo asked, narrowing his eyes at the creature.
"You stole my apples!" the ogre pointed accusingly at Zeo.
"Uh, Zeo? When you got those apples, did you get them from the east side of the isles or the west?" Eda asked cautiously.
"East" Zeo answered.
"Yeah, this is the ogre that claims the east orchid for himself. That explains why the apple blood you made was so sweet" Eda said.
"Return the apple you stole!" the ogre demanded.
"Didn't you hear her? I used it to make apple blood. The remains were used to make cinnamon applesauce" Zeo told him.
"Then I'll have to break your legs" the ogre said, smacking his club into the palm of his hand.
"Uh-huh…" Zeo said flatly.
He then tossed three cards. Out came Inferno Fox, Storm Jackal, and Blizzard Wolf. He was about to command them to attack when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to see Luzura, fully dressed in her outfit. Knowing what she was going to do, Zeo gave a nod of approval.
"Luz?" Eda raised an eyebrow at what her apprentice was up to.
Luzura charged at the green beast. Leaping into the air, the young witch spun her staff around and swung it down at the ogre's head. The ogre, however, was quick to counter by blocking the attack with his club. Seeing an opening, the ogre threw his other fist into Luzura's stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She was then smacked across the face with the blunt weapon. The human-based witch was sent flying and skidding face-first across the ground.
"Ooh…" everyone winced upon seeing that.
"Luzura? Are you ok?" Zeo asked with concern.
Luzura lifted her head and spat out the chunk of dirt that was in her mouth. There was a trickle of blood running down the side of her face. Luzura soon felt her hand crushed underneath the ogre's foot, looking up to see him towering over her. The monster raised his club, about to strike her. He brought the weapon down, Luzura clenching her eyes shut as she embraced for the final blow. That's when she heard a clanking sound.
Opening her eyes, Luzura saw Zeo standing in front of her, blocking the ogre's club with the Eagle Axe.
"I'm not going to let you kill her, you ugly toad!" Zeo told him.
"Then I'll kill you instead!" the ogre countered.
The two warriors swung their weapons, blocking and dodging each other's attacks. Luzura couldn't believe it as she watched Zeo and the ogre move around. Her creator put himself in harm's way in order to protect her when it was supposed to be the other way around. The human witchling was touched by this as she felt her cheeks heat up. Not only that, but her heart rate gradually started to increase.
Meanwhile, the dog brothers had been watching their creator battle against the ogre.
*Bark* *Bark* "What's the situation, Fox?" Blizzard Wolf asked.
*Bark* *Bark* "The ogre has strength, capable of delivering powerful blows. However, all that muscle slows him down, leaving him open for an attack" Inferno Fox informed his brother.
*Bark* *Bark* "Then it'll be easy to pound this guy into the ground!" Storm Jackal growled, seemingly excited to fight.
"Gahh!" Zeo yelled as he landed on the ground after being punched in the face by the ogre. The card wielder growled as he stood back up, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.
"Zeo" He heard Inferno Fox call to him telepathically. He turned to the dog brothers.
"Huh, Luzura was right…" Zeo muttered.
"We have a plan to take this guy down" Storm Jackal told him.
"Inferno Fox will keep him distracted while Storm Jackal attacks him head-on. When he's down I'll deliver the final blow" Blizzard Wolf informed their creator.
"Got it" Zeo nodded, "If that's the plan then get ready boys" he held the dog brothers' cards as they got into a battle stance, "Command Card: Fox Fire Mirage!" he tossed the card into Inferno Fox's back.
Inferno Fox's pupils lit with flames. The ogre approached, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. The monster turned around to see a female ogre with blonde hair. Immediately, the ogre's eyes turned into hearts. The female ogre affectionately scratched him under the chin, making him thump his foot. In actuality though, this was just an illusion brought on by Inferno Fox.
"Command Card: Berserk Thunder Jackal!" Zeo tossed the card into Storm Jackal's back.
The female ogre was kissing the ogre's face, only to be hit hard in the back, right in the spine. The ogre screamed as he was electrocuted. He turned around to see Storm Jackal, purple lightning surrounding the dog's body. The ogre swung his club at Storm Jackal which the lightning dog dodged by jumping backward. Storm Jackal countered by lunging himself at the ogre, hitting him square in the stomach, electrocuting him for the second time.
Storm Jackal leapt into the air over the ogre, doing a corkscrew and flip-kicking him in the back of his head. The ogre almost fell to a knee but caught himself. Storm Jackal landed, the lightning surge wearing off. The ogre watched as the female ogre vanished into nothing.
"What? An illusion?" Ogre growled.
"Command Card: Incinerator Howl!" Zeo tossed the card into Inferno Fox's back.
Flames filled the fire elemental's mouth before releasing it as a powerful blast. The ogre screamed as his back was hit by fire, leaving scorch marks, smoke emanating from the second-degree burns.
"Command Card: Voltage Howl!" Zeo tossed the card at Storm Jackal.
Purple lightning filled the electric elemental's mouth before releasing it as a powerful blast. This time the ogre was blasted from the front, screaming as he was electrocuted for the third time. The monster turned to Zeo growling with narrowed eyes, this time collapsing to one knee.
"This'll finish it. Command Card—"
Zeo was cut off by the ogre releasing a war cry, tossing his club which spun around like a boomerang. The weapon was coming at him at high speed. The was blocked, Zeo having felt a pair of arms around his neck. He gasped as he saw who it was that took the blow for him. Luzura.
"Luz!" Eda said with shock and worry.
Meanwhile, the real Luz had been watching from her bedroom window. She had hands covering her mouth as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Luzura…" Zeo muttered the doppelganger's name under his breath.
Luzura pulled away, looking into the eyes of his creator, smiling as blood ran down the corners of her mouth. Within seconds, the young witch's body glowed with a yellow light before flashing. The ogre's weapon had fallen to the ground, Luzura having vanished and returned to card form.
"At first I was going to spare you. But now…" Zeo clenched his fists in anger, "I'm going to destroy you!" he glared at the beast, "Command Card: Ice Wolf Pack!" he tossed the card into Blizzard Wolf's back.
The ice elemental howled, creating six wolf clones made entirely of ice. The wolf clones charged at the ogre. The monster was able to get back up, albeit weakly. His eyes widened as he was the ice wolves ran up to him. Two of them bit his legs; two of them bit his arms; and two of them bit both of his sides. The wolves then vanished, the ogre growling as he felt his bones literally freeze.
"This will finish it…" Zeo muttered, holding the final card between his fingers, "Command Card: Arctic Howl!" he tossed the card into Blizzard Wolf's back.
The ice wolf's mouth filled with icy energy. He then shot a powerful beam of ice at the ogre, turning his body into an ice statue that fell face-first to the ground. Zeo then held the Eagle Axe in his hands once more.
"Looks like you're about to—"
Zeo was cut off by Eda screaming, grabbing the ogre's club as she ran past him. Zeo watched as the older witch leapt into the and landed in front of the downed ogre. He brought down the club and shattered the ice statue, effectively killing the monster with his own weapon.
"Oh, thanks for stealing my thunder!" Zeo said, mildly annoyed.
"That guy killed Luz. If anyone was going to destroy him, it might as well be her mentor" Eda told him.
"Actually, I'm right here!" Luz called from her room. Eda looked at her with shock, "It's sweet to know you care about me though" Luz said.
"What the?" Eda questioned, and then looked at Zeo, "I saw her die"
"Sort of, but not really" Zeo held up Luzura's card, "It was a doppelganger; a creature card I made based off Luz… or her made-up character at least" he informed her.
"Oh… thank goodness" Eda placed a hand over her chest, sighing in relief, "I'm keeping this" she said, holding the spiked club over her shoulder as she walked back into the house.
"Blizzard Wolf, Inferno Fox, Storm Jackal, return!" Zeo said, calling back the dog brothers as they retreated to their creator's hand in card form.
Zeo turned to Luz, who was looking out the window, the girl replying with a shrug. Zeo looked at the Luzura card and sighed.
The Following Morning…
The following morning, Zeo sat in his bed, looking at Luzura's card which was now fully charged.
"Luzura, arise!" he tossed the card, summoning the human witchling.
Luzura looked around and saw Zeo, quickly realizing she was in his bedroom. She looked at the card wielder who smiled at her nervously. Zeo grabbed her and looked over her shoulders, seeing no holes in her back. He then examined her face and saw no blood on it. He smiled sympathetically.
"Looks like you guys return to being cards when take a certain amount of damage" Zeo spoke, "But it seems you heal back up once you've fully recharged" he added.
Luzura nodded, smiling in agreement. She watched as Zeo removed her hat, setting it aside. The witchling then found herself being pulled into a tight embrace by the card wielder.
"I'm so glad you're alright. I couldn't bear the thought of losing you…" Zeo said, stroking her hair as he rested his chin on her head. Luzura looked up at him, "You aren't just my creation, Luzura, you're my friend. I really care about you" he told her, making her blush.
"I… I care about you too, Zeo" Luzura replied telepathically, giggling as she nuzzled his chest.
For the third time, Luzura's heart rate began to increase. Was this that heart soaring thing that Luz had mentioned to her last night? Was she developing feelings… for Zeo?
That's the end of this chapter. Honestly, I think this could be an actual episode. Looks like the dog brothers got their chance to shine… even if Eda did steal Zeo's victory near the end. The dog brothers were thought up by my friend IrishKatana.
This chapter marks Luzura's second appearance. It seems Luz's doppelganger might develop something for her creator (Would Zeo be considered her creator or would Luz? Because Luz came up with her character, but Zeo's the one responsible for giving her to life).
Anyway, if you have ideas for creature cards, feel free to message me or say it in a review. Remember to put in their name, level, attribute, and the description of their design.
And if you have ideas for fusions, be sure to list the fusion materials and to give a description of what the fusion beast looks like.
Remember to Read, Review and Favorite/Follow.