Romancing the Last Dryad

by Great Pikmin Fan

Part of the "Zenith Nymph" series. Vince is a Terrarian adventurer who went forth to a hostile island. Sonata is a Nymph with a huge ego that wants to make the Zenith. Together, they fight their way to... TRY to slay evil, TRY to woo Tania the Last Dryad, and TRY to get other dates on the side. They succeed. Eventually. Giant harem-ish thing. Cover art by BionicBandit.

9. A False King's Visit

Romancing the Last Dryad

Chapter 9: A False King's Visit

Beginning AN:

Uh, yeah, sorry to drop this for an update, but a massive rewrite is already in progress for this. The main reason why I even finished this "old version" chapter is because this specific arc is currently planned to be unchanged for the most part from this and the last chapter, so if you read this version, you'll get the jist of what will happen. A lot of the changes will be to the Snow and Sand Arc, in retrospect I hate the pacing of that and I think it's all over the place and crams way too much in at once. More details in the closing notes. But basically, dip over to Archive of Our Own for a while (my user name there is NeedsMoreDeepWater, "Great Pikmin Fan" is still a pseud but it's used mostly for my very old stuff) if you want to see the new version update by update. Because for here, I plan to leave this story as-is until the updates "catch up" to this point in the story, where I'll replace it all at once. And no, this is not (just) an ad for my AO3 page. Hee hee.

I'm also posting this just so that there will be something new for this story, since it hasn't updated in a while. Anyway, I had thought of posting this here and the "new" first two chapters to AO3 on the 30th, the anniversary of the Terraria update that added Nymphs, but then I found myself more-or-less finishing this early and deciding... eh, even if I don't get the rewritten first arc done in time, this could be a Nymph Anniversary update, no real harm in posting it early. ...Posting this early could even make up for if I fail to get the revised first arc done on time. I hope.

Fun fact I think this will be the last time I update a story on FFN without updating its AO3 counterpart (or, publishing an AO3 counterpart, since currently the only thing related to Zenith Nymph that's on there is Teasers)? At least the last for a while, unless I have some other bizarre rewriting plan.

Extremely quick edit with mild spoilers: Oh wow I completely forgot to note that the Party Girl is trans here and from reading over the chapter it looks like it's not even implied at all until the middle of a lovemaking scene. I could have sworn the story implied it earlier. (I don't think that saying the frosting over her crotch being "larger" counts.) Uh, yeah. Just letting you know in advance in case this isn't really your thing, but this chapter (and probably loads of future ones) has a bit of Vince (consensually) giving a woman with a penis oral. I normally wouldn't feel the need to warn about this sort of thing, but again, it's currently not even implied that Lexus has a dick until... she finishes. Since the massive rewrite won't be for a while, I'll hopefully tweak the chapter to mention this earlier (tastefully) so that if the reader isn't in to lovemaking between a man and a transwoman, they'll just know in advance what will happen from the story itself.

---

Lindsey smirked. Her only reaction to the flaming staff pointed at her. "Trust me. You don't."

Tania took her staff and blasted a ball of lime fire in Lindsey's direction. Yet the Oread crimelord deflected that by simply raising a hand, and a shield made of compacted, magically-enhanced diamond appeared and blocked it.

"Killing you would mean the Undead would fully take over the world, and I'm not sure if I want that just yet." Lindsey said. Her diamond-shield made a ripple of white magic, blasting Tania and sending her flying a good distance. "But I'll think about it. In the meantime, Terraria's Life can still live on with you as a head in a jar. Technically alive."

Memories from the Dryad's past came flooding in when the Diamond Lord held her hand out, and a blur of black and red appeared in it, forming a particular weapon.

A sword. It looked short at the moment, deep red with black lines. Yet there were after images of itself surrounding the blade, pulsing in and out. Absorbing the light around it.

Unexpectedly to Lindsey, Tania just smirked.

"What's with the smile? This is what destroyed your entire village! And now it will FINISH what it started!"

Lindsey swung. The weapon pulsed and twitched for a moment, then an utterly massive explosion rocked the island, fire and smoke blowing off in all directions, looking like a minature nuke went off. Screams could be heard in the blast, and while the explosion looked 'normal' at first, its flames soon blackened and the images of screaching faces and clawed arms began to emerge. Those figures, getting more humanoid by the second, reached out, yet they failed to find their target.

The eldritch 'smoke' cleared, leaving Lindsey standing by herself. She scowled.

"...I know you disappeared somehow! Where are you?! What did you just do?!"

"It took a year searching the planet, finding enough Chlorophyte for that, when the world is at its weakened state now. But it's worth it." She heard Tania's voice, but couldn't find her.

Lindsey looked down at her sword and gasped in horror.

A bright green rune appeared on the hilt of the blade, and a much larger matching one below Lindsey's feet. She tried to leap away from it, but her body felt slowed down immensely.

A flash came from the markings below her, blinding even the Diamond Queenpin.

The rune by her feet faded, and Lindsey felt herself able to move faster, no longer stuck to that symbol. The rune on her sword, however, remained there. And it would remain. For a long time.

In fact, the sword dulled in color, losing its distinct red and black tone and the bizarre haze disappearing completely. The blade turned in to what looked almost indistinguishable from a Tin Shortsword.

And then, to rub salt in the wound, the blade snapped in half, leaving a jagged bit connected to the handle.

"Not so tough without your Nadir, huh?" Tania asked. She had the smuggest fucking smirk on her face imaginable. Certainly not one usually seen on a Dryad. Lindsey knew that.

Lindsey just stood in place, trembling, while Tania began trying to take off to the other end of the island.

Until, finally, the Oread Leader screamed to the skies.

"I'LL SHOW YOU TOUGH!" She said.

Tania just chuckled to herself.

Stashing both halves of the Nadir in her hair, Lindsey had diamond instantly form around her arms. White magic energy pulsed through her new gemstone coating. She screached, her jaw opening up far beyond Human proportions, teeth becoming razor sharp, and eyes glowing a deep purple.

She roared loud enough to echo through the island. Heard everywhere. Even deep, deep below, where her Door Nymphs all tensed in fear.

They had no idea why their Master screeched like that, but it meant something that was not good was happening. And that would mean something not good would happen to them.

Back on the surface, Lindsey began firing on all cylinders. Blasts of white energy from both hands, slower than the common laser beams, but still quick enough to get Tania at least the slightest bit on guard. Yet the Dryad effortlessly dodged them, all while both going back and firing the occasional burst of Jungle flame Lindsey's way. One hit a direct shot on the side of her head. The flames fanned off and left no damage, but it was the thought that counted.

"I have to go fight the Last Eye of Cthulhu right now, but I promise I can go after you later!" Tania said.

Lindsey just snarled and hissed. And lept after the Dryad, who wasn't even remotely phased.

Like a leaf in the wind, Tania dodged. Lindsey jumped off the ground at rocket speeds, then stopped to practically float by where Tania was. The queenpin swiped at her, wrecklessly, aimlessly, but again, Tania dodged every swing. Until she decided to guard another physical attack with her staff itself, clashing loudly in the sky.

Both of them crash-landed by a dune. Lindsey was fast to keep striking with magic-charged crystal growths, but Tania rolled from them and blasted her face with another Jungle flame.

Lindsey lept across and planted herself on top of another dune. She aimed, and several bolts of white fired from her arms. All Tania had to do to avoid them was roll across the sand. Just one burst of Jungle flame was launched Lindsey's way, on the other hand- specifically where Lindsey would be.

A direct, far harder hit on her forehead. She nearly fell to the ground, only barely recovering so that she could land on her feet.

"If we are done here, I have an eyeball to fight. It's more important than this."

"NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ME! IF YOU LEAVE, I'LL KILL YOU IN A SLOWER AND MORE PAINFUL WAY THAN I WILL NOW! AND I PROMISE THAT IF I CATCH YOU, WHAT I WILL DO TO YOU WILL BE TORMENT AS-IS!"

That got Tania to crack a snicker. Lindsey fired another barrage of white magic at Tania, and even more gems began to grow out from the hardening skin of the Oread crimelord. Not more diamonds - they were rough, colored wildly... Tania could tell that they were gems of all assortments. Amethysts, topazes, emeralds, sapphires, rubies, and some that she probably just sort of invented by accident. Bottom line, Lindsey was losing focus. Good.

They fired beams too. None as large, fast, or powerful as the diamond ones, and many of them weren't even aimed at Tania. In other words, Lindsey broke a major rule of nature fighting a lost focus, and so it was fairly easy for Tania to just continue her way off the island.

"And I'm not running away, either!" She said. "I promise, I'll be back to end your rule for good!"

"KEEP TELLING YOURSELF THAT! YOU'RE AFRAID OF ME! YOU SHOULD BE AFRAID OF ME!"

While Lindsey kept leaping in her direction, eventually, Tania faded out in to the horizon with her massive jumps, boosted by sheer force of her magic. Reluctantly, Lindsey stopped. All of the gemstones that grew from her retracted back in to her stone-hard skin, and she started thinking of an alternate plan.

---

Ten particular Oreads gathered nervously by a large, diamond monolith in an even larger room of a certain mansion. All shivering in place.

A flash came from the monolith, and Lindsey was there, staring down at her various door-keeper minions.

"I... take it your fight with Tania didn't go that well?" The one with faded lime hair, the Copper Shortsword-shatterer, asked nervously.

"OF COURSE IT DIDN'T! She beat me! And she even put this HEX on my Nadir! IT CAN'T WORK NOW!"

Lindsey grabbed the Oread by the throat and dashed the two of them over to the nearest wall, holding her up against it, pinning her there. The impact left a hole twice Lindsey's size.

"You... This is YOUR fault! ALL OF YOU!"

"H... how...?" Asked the one with the faded green hair. "You said you wanted to face Tania-"

Lindsey spun around, throwing out a wave of white energy that attacked all nine of the other Nymphs, knocking them on the floor.

"It's your DUTY to make sure nothing bad happens to me! You should have seen the signs through the Diamond View and joined in to stop her!"

"Y..." The lime-haired one coughed out, "you specifically told us not to-"

"STOP TALKING BACK TO ME!"

Lindsey struck the green-haired Nymph on the side of the face, throwing her to the ground, again leaving an impact. She hunched over her green slave looking like a feral beast, claws out at an unnatural length, hunched over, eyes glowing red. Every other Nymph in the room took a step back. Lindsey knew she wasn't the one that spoke. That was the point. Punish any and every one of them.

"Nobody will know that she broke my sword." Lindsey's voice suddenly got real quiet. "They need to still think I can demolish whole ecosystems. I need to stay the threat in power, reaching the point where I can take over Hell's capitals. If word gets out, everyone will take this as their chance to fight me while I'm down. And if everyone against me bands together...

"THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN, GOT IT?!"

"Yes!" The nine Nymphs in the room that she did not slam to the ground all said, quickly. As for the one she did, she tried to parrot them, but only managed to get out an uncertain and confused "Ye-" before finding her neck grabbed by Lindsey.

"And YOU! With the Nadir gone, I'm going to resort to the Experiments. For your behavior, you'll be my first test subject. Consider this me being merciful, you'll learn to like the new changes."

"Th-the Experiments?" Asked the lime-haired Oread. "M-M-Master Lindsey, are you sure about this? You said it yourself, the testing is nowhere near finished, and toying with the Evil Biomes in that way-"

"Do you want to join her?! You were almost next."

"N-no bu-"

"Then you'll know what's good for you and shut up."

"Oka-"

"SHUT UP!"

Lindsey dropped the future 'first test subject' she was holding and walked over to the wall opposite of her puppets, huffing. The green-haired mook stood up and ran over to the rest of them. Their towering diamond leader took in several breaths.

"We're going to launch an invasion. Raid as many Nature Islands as we can to try to find something to undo this curse. And I'm going to use one of my Experiments to help me. And one of you BETTER track the Dryad down. Get ready. Now."

Everyone scrambled to get out of the room.

---

Yeah micro-recap the Snow and Sand Gang, plus Arborea, Sonata, and Fulgra were still going at it. Amongst their chatter:

"Okay, but think," said Sonata, "Arborea. You didn't fight us or hit us with a tank or anything, and you still fucked up the absolute worst out of any of us. That's an accomplishment!"

"Oh that's something we can all agree on!" Said Utavnem. "The only thing that'll bring us together! You were cold and heartless, all for the sake of what? How is this saving the world?"

"It will pay off soon!" Arborea shouted.

"WHEN?!" Asked Impetua.

"..." After a pause, Arborea suddenly found herself having trouble making eye contact with anybody. Yet she still stood her ground. "Well, eventually. At least give it until the end of the third trial!"

"Can I weigh in here?!" Asked Iris. "Again. I think every last one of you fucked up. I normally don't like saying I have the moral highground over anyone, but here... screw it, I do! I'm standing over all of you!"

Sonata immediately hung her head in shame. That was always going to get to her. Always. "Okay, yes, BUT... I REALLY don't want to say this... you are absolutely in the right morally compared to all of us, but..."

"What did I do?" Fulgra complained.

"Not the time." Igniss told her.

"I'll tell you when it is the time. Believe me." Was Aquafla's statement to her electric friend.

"Well..." Continued Sonata, "I mean, you're not a Nymph. Have you even been to the Deep Woods before today?"

"I haven't, no."

"Yeah... you're not fit to lead, like, physically, you know? Navigating the place. Smelling out other Nymphs. Humans apparently have a way worse sense of smell than Nymphs. But uh, I've never been a Human so I can't speak from experience. Just stuff I read from books."

Iris gave her a funny look. Sonata shot that look back at her.

"...Uh, Iris, you look surprised about the fact that I read books."

"Oh no it's not that it's just- ah, nothing."

"You can lead us on the social stuff, I have no complaints there. But the physical stuff, uh... how do I say this without sounding horribly racist..."

"Yeah, I got it! You can navigate, but I can keep you all in check!"

"That is absolutely fair."

"Hold on now!" Said Fridginy. "What's fair about that?"

"Do you want us to go back to jumbled shouting matches?"

"Actually, I don't mind! Yelling at Impetua and Arborea is cathartic!"

"Yeah, well I don't mind either and I... agree with you on that, but Vince and Mollie probably mind! They're probably up there right now, getting torn apart by Giant Beavers or Colossal Crows!"

"Actually, Giant Beavers are one of the Dormant Species." Said Aquafla. "They say killing a Guardian would-"

"I think I've made my point. Okay, whoever has the best nose- uh that's been you Aquafla, so far, you lead the way."

"You don't have to ask me."

---

"There is absolutely a lake on the surface, and from here, the path is... in this way..." Aquafla said. She, for the hundredth time, looked at Arborea. "Right?"

A poker face from the Green Nymph. "I know the answer, but I cannot tell you. And I frankly don't want to."

"I can read your expression all over. You will give it away."

Again, poker face.

"I'm right." Aquafla continued.

Aside from the frequent bickering between the noteworthy Nymphs of Wood and Lake, and the even more bickering with everybody else, they were making a surprising amount of progress climbing up the Underground Forest.

"It's almost sundown though." Sonata said. "Yeah, you can kinda say that time is my thing, the Oread thing. Also the Dryad thing but-"

Every other Nymph in the party side-eyed her.

"-But that's not relevant right now! Heh heh!"

"As much as I'd hate to admit it," said Utavnem, "The danger's pretty real. Sonata's right. We might have a better shot if we camp out the night."

"Most cave beasts on the other hand don't care either way though." Said Sonata. "It's really annoying. Worms will go after you day or night, same with spiders, and so on."

"We're not talking about the beasts, we're talking about the Nymphs here." She said. "I shouldn't have to tell you how nocturnal we are."

"Oh yeah. So uh, sleep out somewhere. And hope that Vince and Mollie are doing that as we speak, because holy Pan."

"Here." Expvira said bluntly. She was standing before a small 'den' by the looks of it. A bit suspicious-looking. Iris thought she saw something squirming deep at the back end, but after letting her vision adjust, she didn't. It was a branch waving in the wind. "I'll wake you up four hours before noon. Plenty of time."

Iris yawned and stretched. "Fine. Sounds lovely, even."

She was actually the first one in. Well... it seemed safest, being at the back end like that.

Sonata went in next, then just pushed herself up against Iris, giving a dumb smile. "Hi!"

Iris' expression thrown back at her told Sonata everything she needed to know.

"Right! Right... I'll give you your space."

But Venatii pretty much slammed in to them, yawning and stretching out herself. "Yep! Might as well make due with what's here, and- oh I'm sorry am I making your weird hate-not-hate thing even more awkward than it already was?"

"Yep!" Sonata said. "Trying to get on Iris' good side is hard as-is by myself and you're not helping very much!"

"Sorry about that. But um, there's so little room that we need to do it like this..."

Sonata just sighed. "Very well, then..."

And thus, the rest of them piled on together.

"Fuck." Sonata said.

---

Speaking of fuck...

"Wanna do it?" Mollie asked.

That hit Vince like a truck. "Wh-wh-wait now, wait- wh-... WHAT?!"

"You don't have to if you don't wanna! That's the magic of consent!"

"Um- I... yes?"

"You don't sound very sure..."

"Well that's because you caught me off guard!"

"...Yeah, you're right, I asked at a wrong time."

...

"But I do want to do it." Vince said flatly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep."

Well then.

They had a little house, thanks to Vince's building skills. And, as it turned out, Mollie's even better building skills. (She made large nature areas for animals all the time. Elaborate ones that gave them plenty of room and what they needed. She extrapolated the skills in to a bit of survival shelter building, although she was better at building for the bunnies and all.) It even had a door, a torch, and a bed.

Yep the bed was by far the most important part of it. For two reasons. One, Vince really needed a good sleep in an area that creepy. Two, Vince really needed sex after a stressful day. Arborea's reassurances that the others in the gang were fine, and the door... basically being enough to block out any creatures (he took Mollie's word for it), was enough to put him at ease, and turn his attention towards his own lust.

Mollie made the first move by leaning in to him and kissing him on the lips.

"This doesn't feel right though." Said Vince. "I mean, Sonata could be getting killed there."

"Sonata survived dead-center on the island's Corruption and lived on her own for 500 years. She's got this."

Hm. She raised a good point, actually.

Vince had had his share of monogamous sessions, of course. It wasn't all the time that he was throwing massive orgies with Sonata and her friends. Plenty of times, just one of them would be in the mood while he was around. One-on-ones in the Nymph-rich culture were fine. It's just... it was never with a Human. In fact, Iris never really did anything with him after that one wild night (day...) after the Terra Tank. Regardless, Mollie would be a first for him in a way. His first time sleeping with another Human and without a Nymph. (Well, since landing on the Nature Islands. But honestly, he did not feel like counting his small handfuls of sexual encounters back on his original continent.)

Mollie climbed on top of him and he shoved those thoughts to the back. She gently rubbed the side of his face first, then went for a hard and fast ride.

For that moment, Vince's worries about the fortified forest just melted away as he made love to... well, Sonata's big fan. Kind of weird, Vince wasn't too used to having a friend-of-a-friend like that. He leaned up to give her a long, passionate kiss. Vince wasn't honestly sure why he put that level of emotion in to it; maybe it was out of any sort of lingering doubt.

Despite Vince trying to play his part, Mollie by far was putting in all the effort. He moved with her all right, but she was twice as fast and so much more fierce than him. It took ages of him in utter bliss, Vince lasting far longer than he expected to, Mollie also lasting longer than she thought she would, but soon they felt the end of their session welling up.

"Vince, I-" She began.

"Me too."

By then, Mollie had a leg lifted above him, flexing herself pretty hard to get in a good position considering their... situation. Vince was in a comparatively more comfortable place, sitting up, but Mollie did not seem to mind. As Vince would find out shortly, she was actually used to that sort of thing.

Well, as they warned to each other, their peaks hit. Vince let out one cry - then even before the clarity hit, he began to worry about any beasts or especially the locals of the area hearing him. Mollie moaned, nearing his volume, leaning in to him.

They collapsed on the bed, panting. Vince all-but forgot about Sonata and company. Until, after moments of panting with the two embracing each other...

"Hey, wanna see if we can ask Arborea for an update on Sonata?" Mollie asked.

"...We might, but I don't know how. I'm not sure if we need to... you said it yourself, if Sonata can brave the Corruption, she's got this. And Arborea said she'd talk to us if anything happened. We shouldn't call her every ten seconds, we might lose that option or something if we bug her too much."

"I know, but I'm still impatient. Having, you know, a little reaffirming would be nice."

Vince sighed. "It would..."

Well Mollie already got up and went out for him. As she did, she turned back to look at him and shook her ass back and forth a little, teasing him.

Vince already felt ready to go at it again. He really had gotten used to large Nymph orgies...

Right. Getting the hell through and eventually out of the Deep Woods. Vince also stood up and followed after Mollie.

"ARBORRRREAAAAA!" Mollie shouted out to the woods. "AR-BOR-EAAAAAA!"

"Shh!" Said Vince. "We may be out of the caves, but Nymphs could still ambush us!"

"Uh, we're still here to help you, remember?"

It was Veynnimi who said that. And her words absolutely scared the shit out of him, given that she somehow was right behind him without him noticing that. Considering that the general 'behind him' area was fairly limited before the thickwood shelter was in the way. In fact, it was non-existant just moments ago as he was getting out of bed and walking out of that shelter.

"AH!" Shouted Vince. "V-V-Veynnimi! Don't scare me like that again!"

"Sorry. You sure you wanna be a Nymph Harem... Haver? You don't sound like you're... uh, capable of doing that."

"Pssh!" Vince said. "I got pretty far! Sonata and her new gang! The Snow and Sand Gang, too! I've been bedding with them! I wouldn't even say it's a start, it's more like a... finish? I think I'm satisfied with the amount of people I'm seeing. I mean, not that I would mind more, uh... yeah..." he suddenly started avoiding eye contact with Veynnimi, and didn't want to look at Mollie either.

"...I'm a little confused then."

Arborea emerged from the ground, startling both of the Humans.

"OH MY GOD PLEASE DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE GOING TO TELL ME SONATA IS DEAD." Vince screamed.

Veynnimi on the other hand just sighed. "Hi. I sensed you."

"Sonata isn't dead! She's actually really close to completing the challenge! Trust me, I have nothing but good news to give you! Sonata, her three friends, Iris, and the Snow and Sand Group are all entirely alive! And... you have a visitor we think?"

Vince folded his arms. "If it's that Nillea Elf, tell her to go fuck herself."

"Yeah. And kick her in the clit too." Mollie added. "I hate her."

"Um, it's... I don't think Nillea would do such a thing. Look, I can show you right now:"

She made some very high-pitched whistles, followed by some low-pitched whistles. Whatever she was doing, Sahnah's ears were twitching.

A crowd of Green Nymphs came in (not the same ones that attacked the group earlier), carrying a giant thickwood square. And on that square was a fairly large cake. Five-layered, a shimmering white, edges decorated with elaborate waves of pink frosting. The sides of each layer also had frosting hearts on them, all topped off with sprinkles. At the base of the cake was a single sticky note, with a crude message on it reading 'Take to the town landlord. Vince was his name?' in fairly tiny text.

"...This looks like a setup." Said Vince. "Is this a trap? It's almost too obvious."

"Oh if it was something you couldn't handle we'd have told you since that would interrupt your trials." Arborea said. "But we sensed that there's a Human in the cake. One Human. Largely unarmed. It's addressed to you, and we spotted this being dropped off by a Human Continent airplane."

"Well, that's a relief." Said Vince. "Adventurers don't go to the Nature Islands just to pick fights with other Adventurers. Fun sparring matches with friends though, yeah, but... I don't have any friends from there except Trent."

A pause. Nothing happened with the cake.

"Uh..." said Mollie, "is this Human alive?"

"They should be. I'm sensing an alive Human in there right now." Arborea said. "And I hear a bit of giggling."

Then the cake burst.

"HELLO, HELLO, HELLOOOOOO! HI THERE NATURE ISLANDS!"

Yeah. Everyone at the scene had their jaws drop at who emerged.

A woman with deep pink hair - less reddish than Iris', short, and with a curl at the front. She was holding some packets in her hands, and when she clasped them together, glitter and confetti began shooting out. Thankfully, none of it got in the cake. But anyway, she herself was completely nude, aside from (intentionally) having cake frosting positioned in such a way that a tiny bit went over each breast, and a larger splotch covered her crotch. She soon lept out of the cake, walking around with her hands on the hips of her slender body, laughing as she worked her way over to Vince and Mollie and seemed to be trying to avoid the Nymphs.

"HI!" She said. "LEXUS THE PARTY GIRL HAS ARRIVED! I'm here to help THROW THINGS DOWN! Let's party!"

Vince was left speechless.

"ALRIGHT!" Mollie on the other hand was not. "We have a new friend here! Uh... why do we have a new friend? What are you doing all the way out in the Deep Woods of all places?"

Thankfully Arborea was more than fast to explain. "She's not taking the challenge - she can't, because of a few to-the-letter specifics about how she found us and when she joined."

"But we can?" Veynnimi asked.

"Surprisingly even to me, yes. Anyway, Lexus is more of an 'audience member.' And it's part of Deep Woods regulations that audience members - at the time of the challenges - get a bit more lenience."

"Okay... and why is she even here...?" Vince asked.

"Because this sounded way more fun than that town you had in the middle!" Lexus 'answered.' "They were having... some kind of dispute. Trent said that the warriors of the place were taking a test, and directed me to here. He also talked to Arborea about this."

"Yes, Trent did stop by." Arborea herself explained. "I actually almost threatened him-"

"You MONSTER!" Vince shouted.

"Woah! Not in the way you were thinking! ...Probably." Arborea said in defense. One of the Nymphs that helped carry Lexus's cake in whispered something in her ear. "Oh. Wait, nevermind, yeah, it was what you thought. I told him if he could be an audience member, but if he actively helped any of you in any way, I would slash him across the chest. Lexus, by the way, will be held under the same standard. She would be slashed in the chest if she tried anything that would directly help you complete a challenge. I was just... ordered to make that clear."

Lexus cheerfully nodded. "Yep. Scythe slash right to the chest with her cool wood-vines. Arborea was pretty clear about that!"

Vince sighed. "Well, okay, fine. Now what?"

"We should really get started on the challenge." Mollie told him. "Hunting."

"We're already done." The three Humans heard Sahnah's voice.

"Yes...?" Veynnimi said in agreement? She didn't sound too enthusiastic.

They turned to look. Both of them were on their way to the Coliseum, both carrying large beasts over their shoulder. And yep, just from a glance, they fit the bill. Sahnah holding a gigantic emerald-green bass with sharp fangs, what looked like an eagle with wooden 'roots' sticking out from it, and a tiger. Well, she was carrying the first of them over her shoulder, and dropped the other two on the ground. Veynnimi had some... giant quadruped thing made of wood that Vince and even Mollie hadn't heard about, some kind of blue amoeba thing with two orbs floating inside of it, and a... oh, that was a Forest Pheonix.

Arborea emerged from the ground. Again? Mollie had no reaction, although Vince jumped back.

"Well, congratulations." Arborea said. "You two have cleared Part 2. Very early, in fact. You may... well, I actually can't open the coliseum. But you can stay here without worry about deadlines."

"Yes!" Cheered Sahnah. "Thank you! I assure you, you will be disappointed in us when we win and get our part of the deal!"

"What is your deal, anyway?" Mollie asked. "The deal you made and your deal in general. I think that's the happiest we've heard from you, too."

"The deal is food-related." Said Sahnah. "Probably boring compared to you and your weird quest to kill the Eye of Cthulhu."

"Hm. Yeah, sounds like it to be honest."

"But to us, this is exciting."

---

Hrm... that's odd.

Tania sensed that the Eye had a stop over by Washed Island. Close to the Lunatic Cult's home Dungeon, but still off by a whole chunk of land's worth. At the moment, she was resting on a Skyland above the Ocean, close by it.

Well, it was time to dive to that mysterious Nature Island that had decided to add on quite a bit to its nature.

She dive-bombed specifically. Her landing was flawless, and-

Woah.

Culture shock hit Tania like a ton of needles. So much... metal.

There was still some nature in the very center, Tania could see from the neon light-decorated platform she landed on. The dull grass she was used to, from decades ago. And those adorable thin trees waving in the wind... but there were metal poles supporting them. Keeping them safe from the wind. Which was, well, fair and all, but... it still looked so artificial.

Right, surrounding that little park in the middle was a bustling city. Significantly cleaner than the Human Capital, but there were skyscrapers to the west and to the east. Due north was a massive building, tallest of the island from what Tania could see. With a rather bright and unfriendly-looking red sign near the top of it. Tania could not get a good read on what it said from there. She just thought the sign might have been blue before she landed.

To the east, what looked to be a residential area. There were loads of houses, following by appartment buildings towering over them in the distance. A couple of them suddenly shut their blinds. And yes, they even had blinds in their windows.

To the west was significantly more technological. Another city, one with more of an industrial flair. That Tania guessed, again everything was utterly alien to her. There were... large wheels? For water? Wind? Both?

The... biomes she was familiar with were still there on the island. Apart from the obvious Frail Forest, in the distance she could make out a majestic Bone Spike in the far distance. And some Micro Pond Sets...

Ah, of course. What would a Nature Island be without its population? Nymphs, of course. Most of which were on dull colors, as to be expected given the regions at the time. The ones she could see outright emerged from the grass right in front of her, and unsurprisingly, they looked fairly pissed.

"Well." She said. "Interesting. This place really has grown. Not in the way... I would expect."

Then a red laser fired at her. It would have been a perfect shot to the head, but Tania sidestepped it casually. She turned to the shooter. A Dull Red Nymph, with fairly short and spiky hair. She noteably had some wire-like objects around her arms and legs in addition to the standard branches and vines (of which, they looked more frail and faded), and wore a particularly large, bright red wire around her waist like a belt.

"YOU!" She shouted. "How in the Jungle did you get past our security system?! The air mines should have blasted your limbs off! Not even Impetua could get past us! Granted she didn't take her tank for some reason, but still!"

"I dodged. Look, I'm not here to make any friendly greetings. The Eye of Cthulhu is around here, and I've come just to destroy it. Nothing more, nothing less. I promise, as soon as I am done, I will return to my home island and continue leaving you in peace. As was our deal."

"...The Eye of Cthulhu? I'm not falling for that. Our scanners would have-"

One of the large monitors on the enormous northern building suddenly flashed. It gave a flashing red (not as bright as it was when Tania landed) background, with a white outline... something round, lots of text written in a Nymph language that even Tania was unfamiliar with. A lot of exclamation points were on that screen.

"Oh. You're right." The Dull Red Nymph said.

"I also sealed Lindsey's Nadir. You're welcome." And with that, she jumped off.

"Hey, wait!" The Nymph cried after her. "This isn't over! We'll meet again!"

"Not the time! I promise I will return after the Eye's fall!"

Without giving too much away, both of them would keep their promisses. In the mean time, the Dull Red Nymph's left eye disappeared in to its socket, and in its place, a metal orb with a bright red piece sticking up rolled in. The eye fired several thin laser beams matching its color scheme, but Tania dodged them.

"Borrowing techniques from a Mechanical Eye Replacement? That's a bit insensitive." Tania said.

"US KICKING YOUR ASS doesn't care about sensitivity!"

Well, Tania rushed her way to the main building, all while that particular laser-flinging Nymph kept shooting after her. Mostly from the alternate eye, but some times she stuck her hands forward and flung lasers from there.

The doors were of the sliding type. Normally. But when Tania came within mere meters of it, they opened... just to slam shut (them opening was an intentional troll move, Tania knew), and for the 'glass' to display a red rectangle right across the middle of the doors, covering a spot where handles would be on traditional doors, with "LOL NOPE!" being displayed in white letters.

Tania just kicked the sliding doors, side-stepping more lasers, and they opened. The message changed to "OK FINE SHEESH!" But she didn't care. She didn't even notice.

"I KNOW YOU'RE IN HERE SOMEWHERE!" Tania shouted. "I need you to cooperate! The Eye of Cthulhu is around THIS island! If you don't listen to me, it could kill many of your population!"

"YEAH, YOU'D WANT THAT, HUH?" Said the Dull Red Nymph.

"OF COURSE I DON'T!"

...That caught her off guard.

"...I have no idea what kind of game you are playing, Dryad. But um. Stop playing it." The robotic eye rolled back in to the socket, again revealing a black empty abyss, until a 'regular' eye rolled back in its place.

"Believe me, I am not playing a game. I rarely play games, in fact."

"Why am I not surprised."

"Because you know that I take my job seriously and leave myself with little room to play?"

"Ugh, missed the point. Typical."

The cybernetic-enhanced(?) Nymph then made a whistling noise. And other Nymphs began breaking their way in. Yep, a full rainbow of them. But dull in coloration. Tania scanned them for a moment, and already knew that a key one of their members was missing. The leader, namely.

The idiot who writes everything in chat speak.

"I keep telling you. I opposed most of what the other Dryads had ordered. We both want Cthulhu dead. We are on the same side." Tania continued.

And then some machines started moving about the floor. Whatever they were, those in particular got the rainbow of Nymphs to stop what they were doing, putting their attention on the little drones instead. Said machines looked like gray orbs. With wires emerging from them, slithering about like snakes. As with most of the odd, overbearing technology on the island, they were decorated with red lines going about them.

The ring of Nymphs that surrounded Tania all got down on one knee.

"Well! Things are a bit feisty goin' on here, eh?" A voice came from one of the machines.

"Aye, sir." The Dull Chartreuse Nymph said. Sounding reluctant. "Look, we were just showing the Last Dryad that we don't need her in this world. Er, not in a literal way, we do literally need her in this world."

"You asked why she came here?"

"She says something about the Eye of Cthulhu being here." The Red Nymph of the group, the laser one that had been harassing Tania since her arrival, said. "But your radar would have-"

"My radar actually did pick up on that ol' red and white wrecking ball. Hahaha, oh I am SO sorry I didn't tell you all that earlier! I was distracted chatting with y'all and Dryad Tania showing up... oh I feel like such a shit right now, I apologize."

"While you are treating me better than the last two city leaders I spoke to-" Tania began.

"Oh I wasn't apologizing to you, Tania! Right, we can probably discuss some things over on private. If you want."

Tania looked around. The other Nymphs were still kneeling down. The robots just kind of... most of them were slithering about the room, seemingly aimlessly.

"Fine. I'll see what your offer is."

---

Sonata tore through a series of thick vines, and was finally hit with rays on sunlight. She gave a loud gasp/cry hybrid... sound. As she broke through the surface.

"I'M OUT!" She shouted to the heavens. She should have angled down and screamed it towards the hells, but she was exhausted. She wasn't thinking very clearly.

Aquafla was the next to follow after her, walking far more plainly.

"You probably shouldn't celebrate just yet." She told her.

"Don't... tell me that, please. I just want to be relieved that something went right for once. We're out of that horrible pit and a step closer to beating that damn Eye! Now, where is Vince?"

"That I cannot tell you." Arborea said, emerging from a tree right next to Sonata and scaring the Jungle out of her. "As part of the challenge, you have to find each other on your own-"

"SONATA?!" Vince's voice. In a distance, but not too far. And following that was the sound of footsteps rushing at her. From that distance, Sonata should have been able to smell him, but the new scents of the Surface Deep Wood overwhelmed her during that very brief moment. "I hear Arborea, it sounds like she's talking to you!"

"Oh I hope I don't get fired for this." Arborea said.

Again, Vince rushed up and greeted Sonata with a very tight hug, chuckling. Sonata returned the hug with an even tighter grip. "SONATA! Sonata, you made it!"

"Heh, I should be saying that about you! How the fuck did just you and Mollie get- right. You had help."

"Hello there," was Sahnah's voice, "we are the help."

Sonata sharply turned and then stared hard at her in surprise.

"Oh. Hey. Sahnah! And I take it Veynnimi is-"

"Heyuh." That made Sonata jump a tiny bit. Yeah, Swamp Nymph, check.

"Hey, thank you two for keeping Vince and Mollie safe." Sonata told them. "I owe you the world."

"You could just pay us back by dropping out by whatever the last challenge will be and letting us win." Said Veynnimi.

"Wait, what? I thought this was a team effort."

Veynnimi and Sahnah exchanged glances.

And then Impetua and Arborea followed.

"Oh dear." Said Arborea. "I thought I already cleared... this is going to be awkward. But yes, the final part will turn you against each other. Only one of you will be selected as the best representative for a one-on-one duel with me, securing your victory."

"So what's stopping us from all drawing straws and whoever picks the shortest has to do all the hunting and just skip the tests completely? I mean, I think I might lose either way so..."

"Because the final challenge also has a number of 'slots' to it, and the less members of your team make up those slots, the more will be filled by very, very eager voluntiers, and if they end up winning, you will all fail."

"Huh. That's a neat idea."

"...Focus on the current task first. Then I will tell you about the third and final one."

"Right, got it. Which was...?"

Arborea sighed. "Right, I never told your group. It's to hunt. I want one flying creature, one land creature, and one aquatic creature. From each of you."

"Well," Sonata turned to her group, "you heard her! Let's get to hunting!"

"Excuse me, you're not our leader." Aquafla said. "Well, group, you heard her. Let's hunt."

"Okay that's just petty."

"I'm sorry for this... but in a case like this, I feel like we should have the leader role cemented. You know?"

"Argh, fine... like I said, I don't think I'm making it to this 'one and only person there' ending..."

---

"So, Deep Woods, Deep Woods..." Vince said. "Sorry, hunting in the Deep Woods is alien to me. Do I do bird calls? That's a serious question."

"Uh, you don't wanna do that." Said Sonata. "I tried that once. I got carried away by a Colossal Eagle. Thing tried to regurgitate me to its babies. Thankfully, Oreads taste really bad to most creatures. I mean, we're kind of sort of rocks but not really."

"Ah."

"A whistle on the other hand would work."

"You mean like..." And then Vince made a... pretty bad whistle, honestly.

Well it wasn't that bad apparently, as it got a Forest Raven to divebomb him. The problem was that it started pecking him in the face.

"Ow! Ah, argh! You- ARGH!" Vince swatted at it. Well, by using his golden bow, and it managed to deal a good amount of damage to it. If that noise it made was any indication:

"SQUAWCK!"

It was flopping about on the ground! Vince decided to pounce it-

"You have arrows!" Sonata said. "What are you doing?!"

"Oh. Right."

One shot to the head. Clean. That brought a smile to the Adventurer's face.

"Well, I got one out of the way, now I just need the land beast and the fi-"

"ROAAAAAAR!"

Well, that may also cover the former.

Yeah... emerging from the bushes behind him, a Giant Beaver. Bearing very large, sharp teeth, it roared at him.

...Compared to the giant bugs and especially that sheer Nymph horde that greeded him in the Deep Woods, that was nothing. Vince just shot an arrow right between the eyes. That made it flinch, but just a few more and it collapsed on the ground for the count.

"Two back-to-back!" Vince cheered. "Now I just have to fish!

"...Now I just have... to fish." His smile faded. Memories of working for... that kid came up.

"Or just go in the water and shoot more arrows at shit." Said Sonata. "The fish here are huge."

"Well, that at least sounds less boring."

"I've seen you fish for Sammy. It is less boring."

Sonata was absolutely right.

Moments later, Vince was by a pond. Apparently it was the pond Aqualfa was sensing from below the ground. He could very easily see some massive shadows moving in the waters below.

Just snipe one and...

Splashing followed, along with a hiss. He definitely got something.

"Woah!" Said Sonata.

"I'm sure, but I think that's a..." Said Aquafla.

Well, it moved a lot slower than it was before. So Vince stuck his arms down and grabbed at it. He felt some slaps at him from the tail, but... it calmed down. And he yanked it from the water, with a disgusted look on his face. Also, the other shadows started moving towards him, meaning he had to pick that up fast...

A nice, large, blue fish. With branches sticking out from it and moss growing all over the surface. Vince... felt like he'd get some disease just from touching the thing.

"Haha, NICE!" Sonata said. "And that's already three for three! So, how are-"

She looked around and saw her various teammates rushing back with Deepwoodland creatures already in-hand. Igness being the last of them to jump down.

Okay, Fridginy had three... Harsahne had three... Aquafla had six (two of each 'type,' and each species was unique), the bragging fucker. Fulgra, three. Igness, three. Harsahne, Impetua, Iris, Mollie (looking somewhat regretful)... three, three, three...

Yeah. The point was made.

Anyway, Sonata, zero. She sighed, rolled her eyes, and dove in to the pond, knowing exactly what she needed to do.

She had fished there before. Just... the others were faster. Not necessarily better, but faster. Some slashes and... she had herself a fish! There, wasn't too hard for her!

...

"RARGH!" So Sonata decided to get the 'arial' animal by climbing to the treetops. Semi-easy to do for a Nymph - they had adapted to climb cavern walls, at least. Or, Sonata specifically.

That battle cry was as she had lept to a crowd of birds. Yes, she double-checked with Arborea, they were native to the Deep Woods. They counted.

Sonata sank her claws in to one of them, taking it down with her, falling back through the thick field of leaves in the Deep Woods trees. Also hurting herself against several branches.

Conveniently, her drop also brought her near some of the grounded fauna. On top of one of them, in fact. A green deer-like being, also with sharp teeth because of course. Sonata swiped a claw at that - no need to even use her swords. Jabbed in the neck, and it was out.

There. Her part of the test was done, and they were finished. A large grin formed on her face.

Arborea emerged from the nearest tree. Frankly, considering the tests up to that point, Sonata was used to that already.

"Well, with that, the second test is over. You all pass. Very early from the allotted time given, even."

"Yes!" Sonata said.

"OH THANK THE GODS SHE WON!" Vince cheered. Sonata gave him a look.

"...Yes, I was really starting to doubt if you could beat this. I... sorry."

The look continued. Until...

"Yeah I know where you're coming from. I almost started doubting myself, to be honest. But, well, I've got what I wanted now! So, on to Part 3 and we can get out of here?"

"Well, that's the thing. You finished early. While the second part of the test could be scheduled whenever, I only have authority to open the coliseum for the third part under the right time. As much as I hate it, this is not negotiable. This means that you have extra time by yourselves, to do as you wish. Leaving the Deep Woods will no longer disqualify you-"

Thank the GODS!" Vince shouted. "I'm getting out of here!"

"But! I highly recommend that you stay here!"

"Sorry Arborea, you're gonna have to convince me."

"Uh, can I convince you?" Asked Sonata. "I'm actually thinking of staying here for a moment."

"What? Why?" Asked Vince.

"Well, for one thing, I'm already sure my Nymph friends are staying."

She got confirmation with the Nymphs behind her all giving a series of "Yes"es and "Absolutely"s.

"...Why, if you don't mind me asking?" Asked Vince.

"Well, I have unfinished business with Arborea." Said Impetua. "I understand my answer may be the most obvious by far and that I do not speak for the others, but that is mine."

"I have a less obvious answer." Said Fulgra. "Shouldn't we get to know this place? I don't know, something about knowing the enemy?"

"Something like that." Said Aquafla.

"But really I just don't want to make the long walk back to the Forest."

"Wait, long walk? Come on, Fulgra, you're better than this. The Forest Town isn't too far from here."

"Well, that plus the other reasons given then. But yeah, Vince you can stay or leave."

"...I'll stay." He said. "Iris?"

"Oh, I was always planning on staying. You know, I feel like we're safer near Arborea and her forest friends than we are anywhere else on this island at this point."

"That is indeed true." Arborea said. "But please, we are not of the 'forest.' We are of the Deep Woods. If you have to, the 'Deep Forest' and below ground is the 'Underground Forest,' but we don't really like those names either."

"Well, sure. I want to be here regardless."

"Same!" Said Mollie. "But for me, it's because I think this would be fun! I'm not very familiar with this biome and all the species here!"

"Also, I'm pretty sure her house is better than your boxes." Fulgra added. "No offense."

Vince shrugged. "Well, I guess it's settled then..."

---

The elevator doors opened, and Tania stepped back out in to the lobby with... mixed feelings.

On one hand, she got to form a 'truce' with at least one of the Nymph islands. Better than the zero she had had with them all for a century, that's for sure. And she was closer to taking down the Last Eye... she had it in her sights. Tonight would be when she finished it off.

But on the other hand, well. Tania just felt like she made a deal with the devil. Or one of several devils, less bad than a few others, but still pretty bad.

She stared at the 'ticket' she was holding on to for quite a while. She honestly didn't understand what just transpired down in that 'office.' But it wasn't pretty. Long story short, she was after the Dancer once the Eye was taken care of. And might have needed to bring a Human over, but Tania had made her stance on that part of it pretty clear.

Tania did consider herself a good negotiator, after all. It was one of the lesser-known Dryad skills.

---

Damn.

Vince figured the whole time that Arborea had a better house than the Snow and Sand's homes since... well, Arborea was high-ranking in one of the larger societies, while Snow and Sand were honestly just kind of a group of misfits. Betrayed by Arborea. But he wasn't expecting it to be at that level. Not even with the sheer size (both of height and width) of the tree that was hollowed out and served as her home.

But seriously. Arborea lived in a freaking mansion compared to any other home Vince had seen. (While on the Shores of Sparkling. Of course, he had to walk - well more like run considering the schedule - past a few rich neighborhoods back in his original home continent on his way to work, and got to see that wealth flashed all over him. Daily. Hey, another shitty memory to throw away.) A wide, opened living space, a television that alone was the height of the usual wall Vince would make for his box houses, staircases that lead up to the second floor-

And the third floor. And fourth... yeah, there was a chain of staircases that just kept sprawling up, and doors leading off to different rooms. It was brightly-lit, but still, he couldn't make out the end - it was that far away. from the ground floor, Vince felt a little dizzy just looking at the place.

"The guest bedrooms are floors one through sixteen." Said Arborea. "Please do not head above that, those are my personal spaces for business. I wouldn't mind, but the Grand Elder Wood will mind. Likewise, don't go to the basement."

She pointed at a single set of stairs that went down. To a much less brightly-lit path, dug out in just a narrow rectangle, and leading to a gigantic boarded up steel door at the end. It made the four Humans - oh yeah Lexus just kind of agreed to be with them too - all shudder. Although the Nymphs didn't care.

"Not entering that is for my own personal reasons." Arborea said. "Well, anyway, enjoy yourselves."

She turned towards the stairs-

"Arborea." Said Impetua. "I still don't think we're finished talking."

"That's fair. Any of you can follow me to my office if you want and stick by General Impetua's side, I still need to do plenty of paperwork, after all. As for the rest of you, enjoy your stay."

And they both fled up the lengthy staircase.

...

"FUCK YEAH!" Sonata shouted, letting herself fall ass-first on one of the couches. She even bounced quite a good distance, that was some soft material considering how fucking hard everything else in the Woods had been up until that point. "After what we've been through, this is a reward well-deserved! Two whole days of just doing nothing but lounging around!"

"I mean... come to think of it, I wouldn't say that. We're almost prisoners here." Iris said. "It's barely safe for us to explore the Deep Woods around us in the day. And the sun's setting, at night we can't even take three steps out the front door. We'll need Arborea with us, or at least one of the Nymphs from this island."

Well. It was comfortable enough, anyway. So Vince finally got to taking off his armor. That shit sucked. People said that wearing armor would have its advantages and keep him well-protected, and honestly, compared to how even his Human friends were doing, that seemed like bullshit. Steam came out for each part he removed. Beneath that armor, to the Nymphs' delight, was absolutely nothing. Of course he went commando (well, and whatever not wearing standard clothes would be called) under that gold thing.

Oh yeah, the house itself. Yeah, it beat trying to shelter up in that hellhole, like the original plan was and what he was doing before Sonata and company emerged.

"Alright!" Sonata cheered. "Vince! Great to see you embracing our life! Naked and everything!"

"Yeah... yeah..." was all he said. "It was gonna come off eventually."

So unsurprisingly, a lot of making out was going on. A bit more surprisingly, the Nymphs weren't exactly sticking to their own groups. Vince half-expected that Sonata's Red-Yellow-Blue Friend Trio (he wished they came up with some sort of shorter nickname) to just be around each other and Sonata. But no, no two between the four of them were anywhere near together. The Snow and Sand... had them, and the newest Nymph allies Vince and Mollie ran in to, covered.

Vince and Mollie themselves were sort of in the middle, awkwardly, along with Iris. Not involved in any makeouts at that exact moment. Not really sure who to... 'hang out' with as the kisses quickly got heavy and the hands spared no centimeter of anyone's body.

Well. Television was there. And, unsurprisingly, porn was on it. Well, maybe it was a little surprising, for the reason Vince brought up:

"...Arborea's okay with that?" He asked. "Just... everything going on? Putting porn on her set?"

Sonata broke in to a fit of laughter.

"Of COURSE she is! Do we look like Dryads?" Vince did not want to answer that question that Sonata asked. "No, we're no prudes, we just... you know, whatever! This is the norm!"

"So, wow. Porn in the enemy's place."

"Oh this isn't porn." Harsahne casually said. "It's just a standard sex scene in a standard Nymph action movie."

"REALLY?! What's your porn like then?"

"There's no story in-between. This movie'll have story. Just... not right now." A particularly loud moan came from the screen. "Or for a while, usually. But I see your point, that wasn't a bad question. It can be tough to tell the difference a lot of the time."

"In the rare times I get access to a TV," Sonata said, "and a movie's sex scene comes on, I just kinda give up and switch to full-on porn by the time it's over because I'm too horny to care about the story. So it might as well be even the same thing."

"Eh, it's hot."

"That's my line of thought. Sit back and enjoy the-"

"AAAAHHHHH!" One of the actresses on the film screamed.

"-Exactly." Sonata said with a grin.

He sat down and got comfortable. Mollie and Lexus were also already on it, both of them with their eyes glued to the screen - oh yeah, Lexus was watching along too. Vince... had not been paying too much attention to her since his focus on the hunt, if he was to be honest. Iris on the other hand...

...Well, she was chatting with Floyaz and Suultae at least. And had a glass full of some kind of purple liquid. Hey, if the Nymphs weren't freaking out over it despite looking right at it, it must not be toxic. Although he kind of wished Veynnimi was looking in her direction. The (confirmed) poison expert.

Hours passed, and Vince got a bit curious. It was night by then and the 'windows' that the tree-home had just showed black. He went over to the main door, opened it, and-

Holy fuck. Vince's eyes popped open.

Pitch black. Not a single ray of moonlight pierced through. Of course, given that even sunlight on a clear day had difficulty breaching the Deep Woods, it was not that surprising that the night counterpart fared worse. But still, it was as if he was just staring off in to an empty void, and the tree was the only thing floating amid it. Of course, he knew it wasn't empty due to the rather loud noises of hissing and skittering around.

"Heyuh." OH FUCK!

Veynnimi made Vince leap the hell back from her - and in to the blackened grass. That... also felt like it went up to his ankles. She offered him a hand, and the instant his brain stopped registering her as 'Whatever it was that startled me' and moreso 'Oh, that's Veynnimi, she's a friend... I think,' he took it. She pulled him back in to the light and closed the door, securing him once again.

"Uh, sorry for startling you." The Swamp Nymph continued. "You were looking outside for something? If you want company to keep you safe, I could come with wherever you were going."

"Oh, no, I was just curious... I've avoided the Deep Woods since I got here, I never got to see it at night."

"Hm. Yeah. Most light's blocked out. It's impressive how dark it is. Not even the Swamps get that bad. Uh, anyway, if you're gonna stay in or venture out somewhere, you should probably keep the door closed."

Vince lightly slapped himself upside the head. "Right, Zombies. Lesson 4 in Adventuring Training."

"Uh, more importantly here, bugs. They're quicker and more numerous." She pointed down. Vince did not want to look.

Yeah, not only was Veynnimi actually rapid-fire stomping her foot on a trail of... ant things, Vince wanted to say, that apparently tried going in a trail that the door cut off, but Vince himself had centipedes crawling up his legs. Veynnimi just summoned a violet vine to spray some mist at them. Vince didn't feel any harm in it, but the centipedes fell off right away.

"Ah, sorry."

"Hey. You're still kinda new here, and 99.99961% of the population sees you as fresh meat. You're an underdog, so I'm sure Arborea won't get mad at you for making an honest mistake or thinking that common Deep Woods living etiquite is trivia to be ignored. And if she does, I'll back you up."

"Oh, uh... thanks... that... wasn't what was on my mind, though... just, hey, could you not sneak up on me like that? It freaks me out. Especially in an unfamiliar land."

"Sorry, it's a bad habit of mine. I've been trying not to do that - to put things in perspective, even the other Nymphs get creeped out from time to time."

Vince took a deep breath, which involved having his eyes closed the whole time. "Oh, good, I-"

I mentioned his eyes closing because when he opened them, Veynnimi was already clear across the room, chatting with someone else.

...In her defense, she never said anything about not leaving suddenly. The... opposite of sneaking up on someone? Well, whatever, he went back to the couch.

Vince felt someone rubbing his leg, and turned to see it was Mollie. Giving him a mischevious smirk. Seconds later, Lexus tapped against his other leg.

Hell yeah, he was going to do that.

He really wished Sonata and Iris would join, but hey, he did not want to be a choosing beggar. Two women were more than the zero he had had back on the Continent. With the occasional one, or a man.

Vince leaned over to Lexus, a little uncertain. Preparing a kiss-

"Go on. I know you wanna!" She said teasingly.

Well, he started by kissing her on the cheek. Newest face, and also instantly a lover, Vince guessed. She pulled him in to her arms, their bodies pressed together. And Mollie joined from the other side.

"Ah fuck." Said Harsahne. "The sex scene's over. Does anybody care about the racing storyline? I'll just flip it to real porn since you all seem to want to go in that direction."

"Yes please." Vince heard Sonata say. Vince himself wasn't even looking at the screen when it ended, so he wouldn't make for a good judge.

He wasn't looking at the television. Lexus and Mollie were on him - actually okay not exactly, Lexus reached over Vince and began kissing Mollie on the lips.

"You're getting in to this..." Said Lexus. "Fun fact, Nature Islands are great places to start a Nymph harem if you're nice enough!"

Vince gasped.

"Th- that's why I came here! Actually. Funny you should say that, since... well I just said why it was funny. So, how was that going?"

"Oh, you know, I just got here! I spent a lot of my prep time trying to make a good first impression!"

"Well, it was worth it. You... definitely had an impression."

"Hee hee! I got that a lot back at the Capital!"

Vince rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm... trying not to remember that. If you would keep the stories to a minimum... heh heh..."

Suddenly, Iris bumped Vince on the shoulder with a grin. Vince looked at her.

"You two are getting along nicely!" Iris said.

"Heeee... I would say I get that too, but Vince... you know. Heh, sorry Vince!"

"Oh, it's fine. It's just a suggestion that we don't talk about... the Capital. But not a hard rule. If you really want to, I guess you could-"

"No, I hated that place too. I understand if you don't wanna talk about it. Besides, there's a lot we can talk about here..."

"There absolutely is but if you don't mind that, I... think this place is a bit creepy. N-no offense to Arborea."

Arborea suddenly emerged from the floor right besides him, poking her head and upper torso out. "Oh, none taken. 'Creepy' is actually what we go for in the Deep Woods."

"...You've done well."

"Thanks." Was all Arborea said before she disappeared back in to the ground.

"I bet the Nymphs didn't meet your expectations though!" Lexus teased.

"Ah. Well. You see, I knew that Nymphs... weren't all too friendly. But, you know, that they're a lot more open than most cultures. I thought if I could just not get killed by them immediately, I could spend my time on the Nature Islands getting along with them and... just being me... I thought it was worth the risk. And so far, even after everything I think it is. It's the best option for living right now."

"Ooh, what about the Elves if you manage to get a Royal Blessing? I've heard that you just need to snipe a Dart Trap Lord-"

Lexus suddenly got angry glares from the Nymphs at her.

"Well, the Elves are prudes." Vince said. "And... harder to impress than Nymphs."

"Speaking for literally everybody, also less worth impressing than the Nymphs." Sonata said. That was one of the few times where everyone nodded in agreement in something out of Sonata. "Unless you like people screaming at you for how they're 'ruined' because you saw their navals or something like that."

Lexus just pecked Vince on the cheek again. Vince felt himself heat up a bit, then leaned in for his own kiss - but he looked around. About half of the Nymphs' eyes were on him.

"Wanna take this somewhere a little more... private?" He asked.

"Why?" Fulgra asked. "We don't mind if you get intimate with whoever. You know, as long as it's consenting adults and everything."

"Well, I mind. Kind of. Around others. Not even you per-say, but you know, Impetua. And Arborea. But mostly Impetua."

"Well, both the people you mentioned aren't here right now." Harsahne said. "So...?"

"I mean. This is all so sudden, that's the problem."

"...We had an orgy to celebrate Impetua's defeat." Sonata said. "I mean, it's fine if you don't want to do it. I'm just curious as to why. I don't really understand why that was fine but this isn't."

"That was in my own familiar home. Maybe it's that?" Vince curled his hands on the fabric of the couch. It felt comfortable, but at the same time... weird. Completely unlike any furnature Vince felt from the Capital or made while on the island.

"Oh no, that I understand." Said Sonata. "As a wanderer - some might even say nomad to be fancy - myself. Yeah, I get the feeling of not getting up to it when I'm somewhere unfamiliar. Especially when it was the place that held someone evil and all. But hey, you'll get used to it. Having a friend from the strange places is what helped me out, after all."

"...So you're saying become friends with Arborea?"

"I mean." Sonata shrugged. "Other Deep Wood Nymphs live here too. Not all of them are like that crowd that tried to eat you."

"That is something to think about... anyway, Lexus, Arborea said we could have the guest rooms here, so..."

---

Vince picked the closest, lowest room. Like, in the event of a fire or something. Even though he knew that her wood was very, very flame retardant.

The room itself looked pretty nice though. Spacious, with actual carpet and a neat floral texture to the place. And that bed looked comfortable. Not some odd wooden coccoon he had assumed Wood Nymphs would sleep in. Lexus already had her arms over his shoulders, giving them a quick rub.

"You're sure you're comfortable with this?" Lexus asked.

"Yes! I am. It's just... a bit of a shift from what I was used to."

"Welllll... you can get used to this."

"Yeah. That's what I think. I mean, maybe not this this exactly. Once all the tests are done, I'm getting the hell out of here and resting back in my home town. For a good while."

"Resting here shouldn't be so bad though! I mean, Arborea's one of the higher-ups! She should keep us well-guarded!"

"Yeah... Zombies still on occasion bang at our doors. It hasn't happened much since the town grew, but I still hear- well actually I'm not sure what it is I'm hearing. I have windows, but I never want to look out them. I know I'm getting out there slaying things, shooting with my arrow, but it feels different when I'm at home and supposed to be safe and whatnot."

"I can help fend off Zombies. I've got grenades!"

"...Do you have any with you right now?"

"Yes!"

"...Where do you keep them? You've been naked since we-"

"In my hair! I actually learned that trick from Nymphs! During my Adventurer training, I found a small town of them on my camp Nature Island, and talked to them, and learned a few tricks from them! Only a few though... wanna learn the best way to collect bathwater?"

"What use would that have...?"

"Well, legends say that there's a pool of a mystical liquid under a few certain Nature Islands, this being one of them. If it mixes with water that was also mixed with a person's essense... well, I don't know what will happen. The legends just say 'something good' and leave it at that. Well..."

She fell with her back on the bed. With a smirk slowly creeping across her face, Lexus beckoned Vince over.

"Come on." She said. "You know you wanna."

"Yeah, I do. I mean, we were before I noticed all the Nymphs staring at me."

"Staring at us." Lexus... 'corrected?' She giggled. "They liked what they saw."

"Right, I should be getting used to that by now..."

"Well, you said it yourself! Alien environment! Just take time! All of that! I'll keep parroting what you said back at you, you know. Anyway, let's get to it..."

Vince got in the bed with her. All things considered, compared to the Nymph Gang, he was relatively slow - as to be expected considering that competition. He quickly climbed on her, feeling the sides of her stomach.

Lexus hugged him. Vince began rubbing, quickly working his way lower and towards the middle of her body.

His hands got to quick work giving her the 'massage' of her life. One hand intimately caressing her, the other feeling her legs.

"You know how to please a guest." Lexus said, in a low, seductive tone.

"Well just like you, I learned a thing or two from the Nymphs... okay, maybe like twenty things from the Nymphs."

"I'd like to experience them ALL at once!"

"That... would require me to have six hands."

"I think you'd look good with six hands! It's totally possible, too!"

"...Uh, one thing at a time, if that's okay. Both with what I'd go through, and what lessons from the Nymphs I'll use."

"Start with Lesson 1, then."

"Gladly."

The first lesson was close to what he was already doing. Just handsy stuff. While Vince pleasured Lexus by hand, Lexus was the one to bring more romance to the table by kissing him. Her tongue went down with his, suckling on his throat. In a way... it almost felt like Vince was getting just as intense of a session as he was giving to Lexus, just... way upstairs.

She was a phenominal kisser - Vince wasn't sure if he was able to return the favor. Lexus just seemed to have a... knack for the whole sort of thing.

"Mmmmmhh... Vince..." Lexus moaned. A sigh later, and "I'm getting there..."

Vince grinned, then he swiftly moved downwards...

...And his mouth took over that particular job.

"Oh! You're really gonna... hee hee... I like the way you think... but- I'm really at my- OH!"

Vince kept his mouth on her. And, with one loud moan, Lexus leaned back and unloaded inside him.

"Oh- AAAHHHHHHH!"

She was in utter bliss - until she saw Vince's upper half twitch a little.

"Oh gods, are you okay?!" She asked.

Vince gave her a thumb's up, and had seemed to stop with any sort of issues. Once Lexus finished, Vince slowly got up from her. His mouth buldged up a bit, like he was struggling.

"Oh I'm so sorry..." Lexus said, getting up and moving her hand near his cheek. "I should have warned you. Before I came here I just ate a really rich and hearty meal with aphrodesiac-stuff and things that boost sperm count... and I didn't, you know, play around with myself for a while. And I'm just naturally a really seedy lady. Oh yeah, you really needed the warning that that was a big load."

Vince swallowed. He faced her with a grin.

"It was a bit, but it wasn't too much for me to handle."

"Great! So, want me to return the favor? I'll even swallow..."

"You don't need to go the extra mile or anything, but yeah."

She started by using her hands, as did Vince. Except that Lexus had more flare to her technique: pressing her chest to his, sliding her body along his, and arching her ass upwards.

"I wish Arborea had a mirror right there." Lexus said, wiggling her hips. "You could enjoy my cutie booty while I'm doing this." And she perked up as a realization hit her. "Oh! Want me to try to find one?"

"Well, not now, while I still-"

Oh he thought she was kidding. But based on the way she lept up and bolted out the door, she wasn't.

...

Vince heard some knocking about a minute later. Without giving it too much thought, he just said "Yes?"

Sonata opened the door, which made him flinch a little bit. She was eating... some kind of Nymph food it seemed, he wasn't familiar with it. She had a large wooden bowl being held in one hand, with the other hand picking off these odd reddish-brown flake things. Based on her movement on first stepping in, she opened the door with her foot.

"S-Sonata!" Vince shouted. Sonata looked over at him in confusion, but upon seeing his state - specifically, the state between his legs - a large grin began to form on her face as she figured it out.

"Oh." She said. "Nice. The new blood didn't cheat you though, did she?"

"No. She went off to borrow a mirror from another room so that I could see her ass while she- it's a long story-"

"I'M BAAAAACK!" Lexus cheered as she stepped in. She was holding a giant full-body mirror, frame larger than she was tall, and dragged that behind her as she went in. "Oh, be careful, Arborea said this was fragile." She... seemingly said that to herself? Vince was nowhere near that.

"Oh, hey Sonata!" Lexus continued.

"Hey Lexus." Sonata said back. "So you like watching yourself too, huh?"

"Oh no, this is for Vince, not me!"

Sonata turned to Vince with a grin. "You like watching yourself too? Hah, what happened to 'I'm not that vain?'"

"No, I mean it's so that he can see my ass too." Lexus 'helpfully corrected.'

"Oh shit that's a brilliant idea. I'm gonna write that down. Besides, Vince, you look like you want some privacy."

"Um. Yes. That's why we came up here in the first place." Vince replied.

"'Kay, I'll leave you to it. Sorry. I'll bug you about the thing Arborea wanted when you're finished."

"Wait, Arborea wanted some-"

Sonata already left, having closed the door on them.

She was right though. It could definitely wait. Now, Vince had Lexus on his mind. And only her.

Huh, the mirror really did help. He tried looking her in the face out of respect, but the hypnotic sway of her ass just drew attention over there instead.

She lead him over to admire her body as she worked on him, and she succeeded. Lexus' slim build made her cheeks stand out more, and she was very much kept up in appearances for someone who a few hours ago had spent time in a cake transported through a dangerous woodland. Her skin also had the slightest hint of a shine, especially on said ass, as if she rubbed a miniature dab of oil on herself similar to her fondness of glittering herself just before the start of their session.

Having gotten himself very riled up while working on her, Vince didn't last as long.

"Lexus..." He said.

"At your limit?" She giggled. "Yeah, I can tell. I just... have a gift, you could say."

Lexus hummed a bit as she climbed up him and kissed him on the lips, and the exact moment their lips touched was when Vince burst.

"I- AHHH!" Vince shouted. Lexus winked at him, and... well, she already 'had him aimed' right at her face.

Once he was done, she moved up. The sight of Lexus drenched with his love batter was one to behold, and she almost acted like it was nothing. Lexus just smiled and giggled at him.

"Feel a lot more relaxed now?" She asked him. She then licked around her face, which... Vince honestly found a bit of a mood-kill, but still.

"Yeah." He said.

And, well, Lexus went to wash up. And Vince fell on his back on the bed. After all, it had been an exhausting day, and he was ready to-

"Wanna talk to Arborea and Impetua?" Lexus suddenly sprung on him.

Vince was wide awake.

"Uhhh... about what? Why? Honestly, I feel like one of the Nymphs should get involved before any of us."

"Maybe they did, but I feel like we should at least try to help them too!"

"Uh."

"Hey, Impetua's on your side, isn't she? And that's a good thing to have?"

"I guess... I guess that would work! Yeah! I'll go over there, try to speed up us leaving this hellhole. You coming too?"

"Of course! I'd love to see Arborea turn around!"

---

"Impetua." Arborea said. "I still believe we were both right, to a degree."

"Bullshit." Was Impetua's reply.

"We need to unify and have a stable form of leadership, and if no other biome society wants to do so, then I could help the Grand Elder Wood in letting the Deep Woods step up and take that opportunity."

"Single-handedly. At the expense of the other biomes."

"True-"

"You're actually admitting it?!"

"-But it's a cost needed to be made. The lands are too disorganized to 'fight in unity.' We got lucky with the Elves. But... most importantly..."

She hung her head down.

"Fine. I admit it. Betraying you was a mistake. I... still believe the Deep Woods could be the key to turning life in the Nature Islands around, there just should have been a way we both did it together."

A silent pause.

And then Arborea collapsed on her knees, starting to cry.

Right as Vince and Lexus opened the door and looked inside. Vince's eyes practically buldged open.

"It was LONELY, I'm so sorry!" Arborea continued, not even noticing the two Humans standing there. Impetua did, and her response was to look over at them, grin, and jerk her thumb at Arborea, as if to say 'Come get a load of this loser.'

Arborea rushed up to Impetua, looking like she was going to hug her, but stopped herself. Her eyes finally drifted over to look at Vince and Lexus, but apart from that, she turned back to the tank general.

"If you two want to throw more on me with her, go ahead." Arborea said. "As long as it's factually correct. FUCK liars."

"No need to worry about me lying!" Said Lexus. "Or doing any insult-y stuff!"

"I wouldn't like either," Vince said, "but no promises on insulting. Since this whole thing did piss me off..."

"And try not to go too hard, either." Arborea said.

"Arborea thinks that she can make things up with me and we can 'work together.'" Impetua recapped. "I have very mixed feelings about this. Because I never figured out if I wanted you to come crawling back to me, or considered you irrideemable and don't want you in my life in any way any more."

"We all know I would want it if you sided with me, and I think that's for the best. But if you don't want my help, I can understand."

"I want your help. But that's really just because I'm a lazy ass." Vince said.

"I am willing to work out some sort of agreement." Said Impetua.

"Thank you. But... it would be best if it waited until we completed the tests. The Grand Elder Wood is technically watching under me. Overall."

"Oh that is fully understandable. She was always a spying, annoying shit."

"But you're not afraid of her hearing that?" Vince asked.

"Oh. I hope she hears that. The downside is that it would mean she is spying on you."

Arborea sighed, standing up. "Look, we can discuss this more after the final trial. For now, you should rest. You should all be at your best if you want to challenge whatever it is the Grand Elder Wood has in mind."

"Rest, right." Vince said. "Can do."

He turned around and made his way to the door-

"Oh, you don't have to go all the way back to whichever room you picked." Arborea said. "I'll let anyone sleep here. Well, on a first come first serve basis anyway, I don't want this bed to get too crowded. It's only meant for fifteen people. I know, I'm a bit of a loner."

"Huh, yeah. I did pick a room far away from you because I'd feel a bit more comfortable that way."

"Awwww..." Impetua walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I was just like that before I met Arborea."

"Wait. Really?!"

"...I thought the Snow and Sand Gang told me that they told you everything about Impetua's history before you fought her." Arborea said.

"They did." Vince replied. "I just... well, yeah, that stuff was easy to forget."

"Ah, trust me, you'll remember it." Arborea said with an almost-smile. "Impetua will remind you if that if you live with her long enough."

"...You know, we can arrange that." Impetua said. "You'll just have to convince Sonata to back down a little bit."

"Huh? Oh, right. Yeah, I'm sorry about her. She's... very on-edge when it comes to protecting me."

"Oh, that's a common thing among Nymph relationships. That is not the first time someone has held me over lava, and it certainly won't be the last. Still, it is a highly romantic gesture. I would find it sweet that Sonata did that to someone if I were you."

"I do not find it sweet. In fact I find it a little creepy."

"You'll get used to it."

Without anything else in mind, Vince collapsed on the bed of that room. Impetua fell right next to him. Arborea stood over the two for a while, in thought, while Lexus fell in to the bed next to Vince and wrapped her arms around him. Arborea looked at Impetua, who just glared back. And thus, Arborea instead fell in to the opposite end of the bed, facing outward, back turned to the others.

Vince and Lexus fell asleep right away. Impetua followed soon after. But Arborea kept her eyes open, rarely even blinking, for about a good hour after that.

---

Tania looked out at the horizon. Even in the night sky, she could see it as clear as day:

That was Sun Island, she knew. And floating towards it was a blue cloud. Translucent, and with a swirl of colors, but it was mostly blue. Tania shook her head.

A Slime Rain. And those poor Slimes were going to be absolutely slaughtered by the Saturated Nymphs - and any Adventurers that might have made it, she heard a thing or two about people exploring there - that lived there.

Oh Gaia, was that weirdo with the tank still active there? She'd slaughter them. Tania had one encounter with her, Imp-something (names of the Nymph enemies she made just blur together, numbering in the tens of millions at the least), five years ago.

Whatever. Focus on the Eye. It settled on Washed Island at the moment, and Tania had no reason to check out Sun Island.

She'd get to the unique Dungeon situation. Eventually. But now, the Eye. Besides, she didn't think anybody actually important lived in that place.

---

The next morning, a Green Slime fell from above, landing square in the middle of Sun Island's central forest. Another followed. Then a Blue Slime landed. Then more. A large series of nearly harmless blobs, dropping from above. Nearly harmless on their own and at the standard size, that was.

Trent watched that with a frown on his face. And looked up. Yep, there was a rather nasty, multicolored cloud looming all above the island. It looked as if some watercolored mess of a blob was thrown up in the air, blue all-around with several other splashes mostly of cool colors swirling within. If the whole thing came crashing down... yeah. Thankfully, the odds of that happening in a Slime Rain were rare. Their very low density let them float up, until they re-condensed and went down.

That was about the extent that Trent knew about the Slimes, anyway. One thing was certain though: Once they started falling, they would fall en-mass.

"Everyone!" He announced. "Get back to your homes!"

Half of them already were. Billy ran in with no questions asked. Edwin on the other hand stayed out and stared at the Slimes gathering about. Trent killed one with an arrow.

"Or... stay and fight off. But be careful! If you see any large Slimes, get back in your house right away!"

"Ah, can't be any worse than Katheelhu's Eye or whatever the kids these days are calling it." Replied Sonata's personal naked Merchant. He took some Throwing Knives out from his beard - a trick involving magic that Sonata taught him, actually. "I'll be fine on my own!"

"I... doubt that. Just stay safe."

---

"Ah, fuck." Were the words Vince woke up to hearing. Coming from Arborea, and- yeah it was still surreal to think about that two of his largest Nymph-enemies thus far (from that island, at least) both shared a bed with him. Almost fever dream-like. His eyes popped open, and he looked to see that she was already sitting on the edge of the bed, facing away from him, hand on the room's wall, focused. Impetua was out of the bed with her own hand on the wall.

"Yep." Impetua said. "We have Slimes. Lots of them. From above."

"The volume of dense leaves and branches should block most of them out of here at least." Said Arborea. "But I'll still announce it."

"Thanks to Aquafla, the rest of the team know- oh, Vince, you're awake. Yes, we are suffering from a Slime Rain. You did cover that in your training, right?"

Vince sighed. "Oh yeah. An annoyance. Slime nests being commanded by their nest's King to attack a place all at once. Very annoying. I've dealt with one in training, but I hid it out. Didn't fight King Slime."

"Well. While that is an option," Arborea said, "it might reflect badly on your overall scor-"

"Oh I'll fight them now. Definitely." Vince was already over to his gear. Quiver, bow, the works. "I feel like I can handle this after busting up that tank. We can do this all together, no?"

"We should." Impetua told him. "And by 'together,' I do mean-"

"Yes." Arborea replied. "I figured. Let's go grab the others."

Arborea ran off, just as Lexus yawned and stretched out.

"By the way," Impetua added, "What you are referring to is likely not the actual King Slime. The True King Slime is significantly more powerful than what you Humans have, in your limited scope, called 'King Slime.'"

"What's going on?" Asked Lexus.

"Slime Rain." Vince and Impetua said at the same time, which got them to look at each other briefly.

"Oh, great!" Suddenly, Lexus seemed to be a lot more awake, cheerfully leaping from the bed, a sudden bounce that got Vince's attention. "Lots of gel, which means I can make lots of candles! Let's also prepare a lantern celebration for when we bust the King! Did you have a lantern celebration before Vince?"

"Uh, yeah." Vince said. "The town threw one after we destroyed the Terra Tank."

"Oh that's why I saw those during my first night of lying down in the Forest doing nothing." Impetua said.

Lexus' smile finally dropped as she looked at the Force Nymph. "Um... what...?"

"Long story." Vince said. "I'll tell you once we're done with the Slimes."

---

Ah, how convenient, everyone else was already gathered. Nymph and Human alike. With their weapons at the ready.

Iris and Sonata both looked bored out of their skulls. Iris was hacking away at Slimes like they were... well, stray hairs. Swinging her scissors at them, swift and efficiently. But looking bored. While Sonata was lightly jabbing at them, alternating between her Starfury and her Enchanted Sword. Still unsure which of her most recent toys she wanted to play 'Slaughter the Enemy' with.

Mollie and the Variants were... a little more in to it, but that really wasn't saying much. They were at least actively going around the Woods and hunting down Slimes that leaked past the leaves, rather than patrolling a designated area and going for something there. Mollie was outright pouncing them. And it seemed like it was the first time that Sonata's RYB-Trio, the Snow and Sand Gang, and the mysterious duo of Sahnah and Veynnimi were all working together as one great, big collective unit. Even Arborea - who was tag-teamed with Impetua already, getting rid of more of the easy blobs. If someone saw that out of context, they'd be unable to pin-point which 'team' each Variant came from.

Well, shit. Vince did not want to stand around doing nothing. He got to firing arrows at them. Since they were... fairly basic Slimes and all, it didn't feel like he did too much on them.

"Vince, do you know about the Nymph-Slime rivalry?" Sonata asked.

"Actually, I didn't. In fact, I thought you got along peacefully."

Every Nymph stopped the Slime-slaying to stare at him (not like that would cause any real harm). Fridginy even had a Purple Slime jump-tackle her, and it didn't even look like she noticed.

"No. No, we do not. We really, really don-" Said Sonata. An Orange Slime lept over at her and hit her, and she one-shotted it with her Enchanted Sword. "Ah! I'll tell you about it when this is over."

"I can tell you now, I'm good at explaining things while I fight." Said Arborea. " I learned such a skill. You see, Slimes come from another world and invaded Terraria when it was still young. Just when Humans, Dwarves, and the rest were still developing. They wanted to eat people. Plain and simple."

"...Nymphs want to eat people!" Said Iris.

"You still get it. It's competition." Said Sonata. "Also, they eat Nymphs. Nymphs don't eat other Nymphs. Well, I mean, cannibals exist, but that goes for all races. We're not normally cannibals, is what I mean."

"Yes." Said Arborea. "To be fair, we eat Slimes. So... call it a wolf-eat-wolf world. Or something like that."

"We eat Slimes." Said Vince. "Gel's tasty, I mean."

Yeah, they went around splattering Slimes like popping bubble wrap for a while. None of them were challenged by those things. It was more of an annoyance, really. A moment for some really casual chat to pass on, too.

And then the gang all heard something large crash down. All eyes fell on it.

An exceptionally giant Blue Slime. That, for whatever reason (that Sonata or most of the other Nymphs would be happy to explain), had a gigantic gold crown adorned on him.

Most noticeably, there was a figure in the middle of him. A Human in a... ninja outfit? He floated there, motionless, looking to be passed out. Somehow undissolved.

Vince looked at the man and squinted. Something about him just seemed so familiar...

Regardless, it made several exaggerated jiggle motions in place, revving up a large jump.

King Slime.

"A False King." Said Aquafla.

"A what?" Asked Vince.

"Vince I'll answer your question later, but for now everybody follow my lead. Alright, Fulgra, Igniss, this is going to be a very specific battle where-"

"DIIIIIIE!" Cried Sonata, rushing towards the giant blue blob.

The Oread gave a firm slice with her Enchanted Sword and shot a beam in the Slime's direction. It hit, causing a satisfying bend to the King's outer layer and a jiggle throughout the whole structure. Sonata grinned. She kept rushing towards it.

The mega-Slime hopped up, so Sonata tried to play it cool and do a running slide below him. She lifted the Starfury up as she slid below him, cutting his base and dealing a great deal of damage. Sonata managed to reach the other side and stand up-

No wait. King Slime fell on her hand. The one holding the Enchanted Sword, which made her realize that her dual-weilding wasn't too good of an idea.

"AAHHHH!" Sonata screamed. "SHIT!"

She drew her hand out, with the sword, but both were covered in blue sludge. It still stung. Lightly, but still. She tried shaking it off - just to remember how sticky Slime Gel was.

Oh, no. It turned outright embarrassing when Fridginy lept over next to her. Suultae joined - yeah, medic of the group or something. The two gave her a good ol' eyescan.

"Let me help you with that." Said Suultae. "I got a thing or two."

"Uh-huh, yeah, I know, I know..." Sonata said.

Suultae's hands began glowing, and the plants around her wrists started to snake over to Sonata's injury.

Anyway, meanwhile, the others were still fighting. The gang had their various biome-themed or just personal weapons out and ready, hacking away. Shooting, in the case of Vince. They chipped away at it with a pretty decent speed, breaking off bits of the blue goo. Slowly freeing the black-clad figure that was trapped within.

That was mostly it, the Slime did not have a lot to offer beyond its size. Chip away, dodge the bounce, repeat. One thing that definitely was not 'repeated' was Sonata having him land on her hand. Once was bad enough, and she adapted to it because she wasn't an idiot or anything.

Soon, they had the 'False' King on the ropes. Parts of him split off, but for the most part they were just ordinary Blue Slime mooks. A small handful had spikes, though. Nothing too big, and nothing too painful. Pretty easy compared to that tank fight earlier, and the proper challenges of the Deep Woods.

Towards the end, the Slime's mass was barely taller than Vince or Sonata. He was significantly slower than he had been - seemed weak. Dying.

"Just a little more!" Commanded Aquafla.

"I can do just that!" Fulgra replied with a grin. She wiggled her own sword back and forth in her hand. A couple of sparks flew on it.

Vince jumped past a wave of the Spiked Slimes and climbed on one of the many trees that made up the Deep Wood. While he was safe from any attacks, the branches proved to make it difficult to actually snipe. Still, he readied his bow, as the 'False' King was chipped away... and fired.

And that arrow was the final thing that made the False King just... burst. The last bits of slime exploded out, covering nearby trees with gel that was rendered harmless. As for the figure, he dropped in to a bush. His eyes opened from under his costume, and he gasped out for air. He peeled off his hood, revealing a familiar looking set of brown hair.

"Oh my gods!" Vince shouted. "You're Trent's brother, aren't you?"

He had to sit up.

"T...Trent? Part of the Order of the Guide? You know him?"

"Yes! We were friends! We went a while back!"

"Oh, you're Vincent, are you?"

"Yes! Or, you could call me Vince!"

"Everyone calls him Vince." Sonata said. "I think I might have started that?"

"You didn't." Vince replied. "Trust me."

He hugged the archer. "Hey, thanks! I was just minding my business and that giant Slime at me!"

"Shay?" Trent's voice, which even caught Vince off guard. Every Nymph around them tensed up as well. "Shay! Oh my gods, I didn't know you were still alive!"

Yeah, he emerged from the bushes and even got Arborea to flinch. The Guide immediately went over to him and kneeled.

"He's dressed like a ninja and his name is Shay?" Asked Sonata. "You know what, I won't even say it."

"That's the guy who quit on the first test..." Arborea whispered to herself. "How the fuck did he sneak up on me like that...?"

"Am I still on Sun Island?" He asked. "Wait- wait, this is the Deep Woods! And I'm surrounded by Nymphs! ...I thought they'd be less diverse than this."

"Oh, believe me, these Woods usually are." Sonata said. "Long story. Very annoying story. But this 'diversity' is all a part of my crowd, and we're friendly for the most part. So uh, don't worry, you're in good hands."

"As a general rule if you see a lot of different Nymph Variants together, that's a sign they're friendly." Fridginy said. She chuckled. "My gang was one of the exceptions, heh heh... but I swear we're not!"

"Here, I'll show you my home. You can stay with me for a moment." Trent said.

"Oh yeah." Said Sonata. "Trent, where did you come from?"

"...From the Forest home? I don't really understand the question."

"No, it's just... you snuck up on us. And uh, thing is, it's really hard to do that to Nymphs."

"Especially Nymphs in their home biome!" Arborea added.

"Well. I get that. Never understood why."

Shay needed to rest on Trent's shoulder.

"That Slime really damaged me. I'm feeling light..."

"Oh, I believe the Humans have a medic in their home town!" Arborea said. "Her name was Magdalene or something like that."

"Madeline. And uh, protip, just use her as a last resort." Said Vince.

Trent chuckled. "He's kidding... mostly. Madeline is a good healer. If you uh... have the funds, but I'll cover. Anyway, we'll be seeing you later."

"Wait, can you get out as easily as you got in?" Arborea asked.

"Sure thing! I'm a Guide, it's kinda part of the description that I know my designated island like the back of my hand!"

The two brothers disappeared in to the bushes as Trent said those words, Trent helping Shay get to his feet after his presumably long bout of being paralyzed in the slime.

"The Slime's stopped." Dhivuu said. "The sky is now clear."

"Okay." Said Sonata. "Now what?"

"Now what?" Arborea asked back. "We just got rid of an annoying False King! This is cause for celebration!"

"Another one? We spent the whole last night at your place relaxing. And you weren't there, but we also had a bigger one for smashing Impetua's tank. You probably saw the lanterns. If you uh, looking from the tree tops and stuff."

"Hey, I'm not complaining about a double-party!" Said Lexus.

"Well, it won't be a party." Arborea explained. Lexus' mood dropped considerably after that. "Just a short thanks. I mean... we already celebrated enough."

"Aw."

"But! We could have one later! I- I want to invite you to something once this blows over, in fact!"

"Which will be soon, RIGHT?" Impetua asked.

"Yes! It will!" Arborea said. "In fact, we are wrapping up this portion right now! Since you all passed the second trial, if you would, meet me in the Coliseum for the final trial."

She began walking on through, out of the clearing. Thanks to the way the Deep Woods were, that meant that she was soon engulfed in bushes. Both Iris and Vince had trouble seeing her after that, and based on the way most of the Nymphs semi-panicked and scurried along to try to keep following her, even their keen senses wouldn't give a total lock on her position.

Mollie just casually walked in the 'right direction.'

---

"Okay. This is where the third and final test will be." Arborea announced.

There it was, finally clear and in the center.

It was an absolutely enormous hollowed out tree. Especially in terms of radius. The trunk stretched out as far as the group could see, which was a bit by Deep Woods standards as some of the greenery was cleared away. Not all of it, as the endless stretch of leaves covered the view of the top of the building... mega-tree from the base. What they could see at the moment, however, was that there were a set of carved out windows, and a pair of enormous double-doors capable of easily fitting in four elephants. At once. If they all entered side-by-side.

"I'm scared." Vince said flatly.

"You should be." Arborea replied, equally flatly. "For this is where things will get very rough. The first two trials, you worked as a team. But now, I will be pitting you against each other. You will have your peers - and many others who have volunteered - holding you at their mercy. To calculate your strength to the finest level."

Sonata chuckled at first. But then it hit her.

"Wait. This isn't a... tournament, is it?"

"Yes."

"Aw FUCK!"

---

(False) King Slime.

Slimes normally aren't intelligent, but occasionally they merge together to become a powerful force to swallow all things. Gathering whatever riches they can find, they don jewelery to mimic royalty and attempt to give them a more intimidating appearance. Yet these are still but small fry compared to the actual leaders of the Slimes...

Vince's Comment: Unless a Slime Rain is going on, you're safe from this towards the middle of a Nature Island. "King Slimes?" that don't bring whole armies in cloud form tend to form around the Ocean, I guess something about that mysterious vast pool draws them towards it. Sorry, the Ocean had always mildly creeped me out, while Trent seems to find it boring for some reason. Anyway, False Kings can be fended off with pretty basic tools, but one thing you have to keep in mind is being able to change your elevation. Having three tiers of flat ground to run about and circle one should be good enough, and don't worry about teleportation as long as you don't stray too far or try to taunt one.

Sonata's Comment: I hate how Humans got fooled by the crown and call these things "King" Slimes. Nah. The True King Slime is fully sapient, fully powerful, and fully a pain in the ass. But let's not talk about him yet. False Kings, that's what this is about. I hate them. I go about stompin' on some small Slimes, then suddenly BOOM, fucker wearing gold and the occasiona robe comes by and proves to be a bigger battle. It doesn't help that me, being the lazy ass I always was, took until kinda recently before I started killing them back. Vince's first False King kill was actually also only the third False King I stood by and fought until the end. Still annoying every time though, especially when all I want to do is search the lakes in the far Forests of the island and then BOOM, blue blob hopping over to me!

Tania's Comment: False King Slime.
Gelatineous Rex Mimica.
Slime Family.
The most common means of Slimes to enter other dimensions is through a spell that scales exponentially in required energy based on mass, which means that Slimes tend to only send their basic units across the multiverse to conserve resources. One of the most common loopholes to this is by having Slimes gather together; however, these basic soldier Slimes are unintelligent, and intelligent Scouts are sent far and few in-between, so the Slimes tend to rely on luck that strays will merge together. While cross-type merging is possible, merges are most stable when every Slime involved is of the same type, so most Kings who last longer than a few weeks tend to be monochromatic. As Blue Slimes are the most common of all Slime Types, so too are Blue Kings the most common, however Kings of other colors and even of biome sub-types have been spotted on rare occasion. False Kings, now having enough intelligence to follow more than the basic orders of the higher Slime minds, will usually gather an army of other Slimes and get them in to a vapor state. The resulting colorful cloud will recondense over a given society, creating an event known to commoners as the Slime Rain. They can also cast less-powerful versions of the dimensional crossing spell, which lets them travel only limited distances, but it also allows them to teleport in spite of their size.

---

Closing AN:

Uh this following stuff was rewritten before I decided to have the big rewrite (actually, before a rewrite of just this chapter, and way before I decided to remake the whole story and split up the Snow and Sand Arc by a bit). It's still... kind of relevant to this part in the story as-is currently planned?

Consider this chapter to be a "calm before the storm," if an odd one. I wanted this to be a "chill" chapter, sort of, after the previous one was the closest yet this story dove in to horror. (Keep this in mind. The closest yet.)

Right, I don't have too much else to say about this chapter. Planning for it was kinda all over the place (what else is new), moving around the King Slime fight, having the second trial be more of an actual challenge challenge (before I think I just skipped over it instantly), and so on. Yet again, this was rewritten from the ground up. Mostly in accordance to rewrites of Chapter 8. Originally being more of a "direct continuation" of it and all.

Uh... yeah. That's basically it! This is pretty much "just" the chapter between Chapters 8 and 10. And the latter is... well, where things will really really start moving, hopefully.

Alright, this part of the note is "new" stuff:

I actually can't remember why I decided to name Trent's brother "Shay." And sorry for King Slime's fight being really short, honestly I had skipped that (and a lot of other parts) until near the very end of writing the final version of this chapter and by that point I was a bit exhausted with this so... yeah, the first canon boss, and I did not give him the treatment he deserved. But don't worry, I guarantee the Eye of Cthulhu fight will be much longer and much more climactic. (Fun fact I almost forgot to add the notes/comments at the end of this chapter.)

That aside, here's an overview of what will be changed in the new version, the "Final" Lore Rewrite: The Nymph Variants are gonna be worked around, but hopefully this should be for the last time. I already have a Notepad file where I'm brainstorming ideas for what "biome" would be represented by each color and the like, and it's growing fairly big. For the first... I want to say five chapters? (Not sure how long the second arc will be exactly, but the first arc will still be two chapters and won't be changed that much from how it is now.) Fiveish chapters will only focus on Variants I already have set in stone. And hopefully by the time this new "interim" arc, centered on the Red-Yellow-Blue Trio (also, Iris and Mollie, I'd like to keep the canon characters involved), is finished, I'd have most of the Nymph Variants fleshed out and planned so that it feels like I'm slowly revealing a world that's been already built up instead of going "Oh yeah there's also this type of biome/Nymph that just popped out of nowhere and wasn't hinted at just because the author thought this would be a good idea." I already have a planned original work, Biome Artists, that's supposed to re-use the whole color-element-Variant thing but in a slightly different manner - that one is my more serious work, I've also decided to ease up a bit on the darkness of this a little bit in the rewrite and lean in to Terraria's general silliness so that this and Biome Artists could stand out from each other a little more. Yet still, I'm very strict with myself about fleshing out the biomes and such because I want to use this as practice for Biome Artists. BA is meant to feel like it took ideas touched upon in RTLD and expanded on them greatly, and that's easier to do if the RTLD ideas aren't complete shit.

Yes, this will mean a new Nymphlopedia as well (I'll also keep the old version up on here since it's pretty much a completely different story unlike the rewrite of this, and I'll post both versions to Archive of Our Own, with the old version being posted no later than right before I start posting the new version), but unlike last time where it was posted before RTLD and acted as a "preview" to it in the leadup to its release, the new Nymphlopedia will be like the opposite. I'd like it to be out some time around either the new RYB Trio Arc or during the revised, potential Snow and Sand Arc, and I'm sad to say that it likely won't be a "multi chapter a day" thing any more. (Or at least not a consistently multi chapter day until the finale thing. In part because... well... I'm thinking about the number of Nymphs that will be featured in the new Nymphlopedia this time. Or doing something like, say, stopping at 100 again (102 counting Dryads and Oreads), but then going back to it with more.)

One possibly major change (I say "possibly" because these at the moment weren't huge and important characters) aside from splitting up the Snow and Sand Arc is this though: You know how the SaS Arc as it stands introduced like sixteen Variant characters all at once? Yeah, I'm gonna split them up. The Snow and Sand "Gang" will be smaller, the former side-members will be relocated to different spots and groups and stuff, and will be introduced more slowly. Just a few at a time, so that I don't have to juggle a ton of character introductions at once. "A ton of character intros at once" isn't counting Lindsey's (who is also very likely to be getting renamed) "Door Nymphs," since their whole thing is that they're meant to come off as a hive mind in that chapter.

Oh and there's a very small chance that the AO3 version of this story and Nymphlopedia will have illustrations. I've been thinking of that for a lot of my stories, actually. If nothing else the first chapter will open with the full version of the cover art and show the glory that is Sonata's ass, though you could see it already if you know where to look. But whether or not I add other stuff is another story.

Well, sorry for ending this on such a long note and then saying to wait. But... yeah. Long story short, I haven't abandoned this story at all, and so much more is hopefully coming.