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"Speaking, or in-text quote"
'Thoughts'
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Year 16 AL, Leaving Ilias Village
Luka sprinted as quickly as he could, flying past the entrance of Ilias Village within seconds of leaving his home. He still couldn't believe that he had been so careless as to leave his Father's sword on the ground! 'What a day this is shaping up to be, what else could go wrong?' He hopped over a fallen log, his brown boots stomping on the grass below. The boy nearly got into a full sprint once more, but a familiar face hopped out from behind a tree.
"Hiya there!~" The same blue Slime came into view, causing Luka to skid harshly to a stop a meter before her. The Monster groaned, "Ah! You again!?" She thrusted her arms down in frustration. "No way, my luck is just awful!"
Luka gave a nervous smile, "Oh, erm, hello again." The Slime wasn't having it. She shook her head, though Luka had to advert his eyes as they were not the only thing that shook as she moved. "Uh-uh, I'm not gonna fall for your goodie-goodie act again. You aren't cutting off my head twice, if that's what you're here for." The purple-haired boy frowned, remembering the act far too well.
"No, I'm not here to do that again. Though I do want to apologize for that, it was awfully rude of me to decapitate you." The blue Slime narrowed her green eyes at him, "Oh, do you think so?" Luka's frown deepened at the Slime's words. He did feel bad about how their first encounter went down, even though it was technically her fault since she attacked him.
'Though, I could still fix that. I just need to have a dialog with her, find common ground.' Luka thought. 'If I truly want coexistence with Monsters, I'm going to need to talk with them.'
Luka straightened himself a bit, "I feel as though we got off on the wrong foot before. If you would be willing, I'll like to start over." He smiled, lifting a hand to wave, "Hello, my name is Luka. And you are?"
The blue slime pouted at him, looking away in a huff. "Lime." She answered quickly. He cautiously took a step forward, "Well Lime, I do hope that I didn't cause you any pain earlier."
The blue Slime shook her head, "Oh no, it didn't hurt. But, it is very insulting to cut me off like that, I only wanted to have some fun!" Luka tilted his head, the boy's blue eyes staring disapprovingly at the Slime. "Yes, but that's kind of the issue, isn't it? It isn't right to assault men just because you wish to... mate." Lime silently tilted her own head, mirroring Luka in silent confusion. Luka cringed, now understanding that he had a lot of work to do.
"Just think of it like this, Lime..." He lifted a finger to emphasize his point. "...What if, by chance, I didn't want to 'have fun' with you?" The question, meant to hopefully provoke some sort of epiphany from Lime, instead caused her visible distress. Her face was distraught, lips quivering, "B-B-But why? Am I not pretty enough!?" The boy's blue eyes widened, woefully underprepared for the question.
"That's not it! You're definitely pretty, but I hardly even know you!" Lime quickly countered the point, sliding closer to the boy with a yell. "If you had given me a couple more minutes, you would've gotten to know me plenty!"
The purple-haired boy nearly slapped himself with the gloved hand he ran down his face, "I meant know you personally, not physically. Besides, I am not comfortable with having sex with someone unless I intend to marry them. I want it to be with someone truly special."
Lime's green eyes shone with confusion as she said, "I really was going to make you my Husband afterwards, though, that wasn't a lie... " Luka sighed, exhaustedly placing a hand on his hip as he felt the argument get off track. "As nice a sentiment as that is, Lime, it still wouldn't have been right. You'd be forcing me still." The Monster frowned, her green eyes dimming with sadness. The boy felt himself become bothered by the Slime's disheartened disposition.
He glanced down to the grass below, trying to think of a way to mend the situation. He hummed, "Hmmm, how about this. Is there anything else you want that I could provide?"
Lime perked up, her green eyes widening as she bounced up to Luka in a very distracting manner. "Ooo, ooo! I know!" Worryingly close now, the blue Slime said to the boy, "Would you be able to cook me a fish!? I haven't had any cooked fish in soooo long!" Luka felt his nervousness melt away as cooking, something comfortably familiar to him, was brought to the conversation.
The young Hero nodded with confidence, "Oh, you are in luck! You would be hard pressed to find anyone in the Ilias Village area who can sear fish better than I!"
The Slime squealed, catching the boy off guard by wrapping him into a strong hug. For a moment, the boy panicked as he felt himself suddenly squished up against the Slime's curvaceous body, fearing that he had been tricked twice over by the Monster. However, she let the boy go soon after, a large smile plastered on her face.
Luka warily eyed the yet-again bouncing Lime, "Alright, well we'll have to go get something of mine and meet up with my traveling partner first, just so you know." He brushed off an errant remnant of Slime from his sleeve as he walked past the Monster, "But not long after that, I'm sure we'll be able to figure something out."
"Yay!" The slime cheered, following suit as the boy made way for the crater he had carelessly left his sword by.
There were no words for this.
The gall of the abomination known as Alipheese Fateburn the Sixteenth to strike upon the Goddess's face was already awful enough. The entire damned bloodline had been a cancer to her for the entirety of her existence. Billions upon billions of years Ilias has had to deal with their terror, and now they attack her on her Birthday, on the day she was supposed to give her Prophet his baptism!? The insult, the slander, it was all maddening! Though that wasn't all, the ambush by itself was terrible enough, but there was something much worse along with it.
The wound would not heal.
Try as she might, the offending scar still glistened in the reflection of her wrathful face. "How is this possible!? My Holy power is absolute! I have never had any issues healing my Angels of afflictions perpetrated by Dark magic, why can I not fix this one put upon myself!?" She clamped her still-scarred hand onto her right cheek, pushing her magic into the cut with ferocious strength.
Alas, when revealing the cheek, her injury was still there.
"Gah! What is wrong with my Magic!?" She yelled, turning away from the mirror. The Goddess had long since missed Luka's Baptism, something that fostered even more anger in her. But she couldn't have descended to him with such a blemish! How could he look to her as a supremely powerful being when she had such an abnormality resting on her face?
She couldn't, she wouldn't! Ilias needed him to keep believing in her and to show any weakness would dismantle her entire image in his eyes, she just knew it.
The Goddess closed her eyes, frustration pouring out of her in hot waves. "I can fix this, certainly. After all, it is still my birthday. The Baptism can still occur, I can see to that myself..."
She turned from her mirror, stepped up to her throne, and elegantly fell into the seat with a huff. "...You'll regret doing this to me, Alice the Sixteenth, I will make you pay the ultimate price for doing such an awful thing to me." A malicious smile grew on the Goddess's face, "Yes, I'll get to see your smug face reduced to dust when I have my Prophet cut you down for good!"
Ilias clenched her fists, her blue eyes giving a dangerous glint. "Then, I will finally be rid of the bane of the Fateburn bloodline..."
The Goddess reached a hand up to her collar, grabbing the red jewel tightly. "...And once I have, this World will be bathed in my Light, one that will exterminate all of your wretched Monsters."
Ilias laughed to herself, the dark chuckle vibrating off of the golden clouds around her. 'After all is said and done, I will rightfully rule over Humanity and the Earth as I always should have. While all you can do it is sit back and watch for all of eternity, my dear Sister...'
Eden was distraught, having never before had something like this happened. Not long ago, she had sensed Ilias's rapid return to Heaven. It didn't take very long for the last Seraph to infer that something was wrong. After all, it had been noontime when the Goddess had returned, and Eden knew for a fact that Ilias should not have been back to Heaven so quickly.
However, when she had attempted to pray to Ilias for an answer, she received none. This was very irregular, as Ilias rarely ever ignored Eden, even on the worst of days. To the Seraph, this meant that Ilias must be so upset that she didn't want to be bothered by anyone. Therefore, something very bad must've happened.
"Oh Goddess, what has happened? Please answer me!"
Eden prayed but still got no reply from her Goddess. The sage-haired Angel frowned, rising from her knees to stand in the middle of her garden. 'This is awful. What could've gone wrong? Did something go wrong with Luka's Baptism?' Just then, another Angel appeared in the Garden of Eden. It was the Leader of the Archangels, Ariel.
The Angel's piercing red eyes were locked onto Eden, a serious edge to her stare. Eden took note of the fact that the Archangel's gauntlets were already flaring with energy, a tell-tale sign of the Archangel's anger. "Eden," she barked. "What is going on? Ilias has missed the Prophet's baptism."
The Seraph gasped, "She... she missed it!?"
Ariel scoffed, annoyed at her "superior's" behavior. "Yes, that is what I said. The other Archangels and I all witnessed it." Eden turned away from the white-haired Angel, pacing in her rock. "No, no, no, this is terrible. Why is this happening? Why today?" Ariel peered at Eden, crossing her arms as she did.
"Has Ilias not spoken at all?" Eden shook her head, staring up at the ceiling of cloud. "No, Ilias will not even respond to my prayers..."
The Archangel behind her gave a hum before asking, "Have you gone up there to ask her yourself?" The sage-haired Angle recoiled, whipping around to face Ariel. "What!? Absolutely not! One does not simply enter Ilias's domain without permission or invite!" Eden stomped up to the frustrated Archangel, pointing a finger at her. "I forbid you from doing that!"
Ariel's red eyes narrowed. She uncrossed her arms, "You forbid me? You cannot keep me from seeing the Goddess!" Ariel stepped up to Eden, the two Angel's faces right up against each other now. The pond around the two began to ripple violently, the power in the air beginning to swirl. Eden straightened her stance, standing just a bit taller than Ariel at full height. Her blue eyes bore into the Archangel's red ones.
"When Ilias is otherwise indisposed, running Heaven is my responsibility! So if I say you can't do something, then by the Goddess, Do. Not. Do. It!" The Archangel's fists clenched until her knuckles paled, and the gold gauntlets on her forearms crackled with red energy. Before things could escalate, a third presence made herself known.
"Calm yourselves, Sisters." The voice was melodious, carrying a gentle soothing to it. This was the voice of the golden-haired Archangel Runael.
The Archangel approached with her normally closed eyes open, her emerald pupils gleaming with concern. "This is no time for hostility. Whatever just occurred has obviously caused Ilias great distress," She folded her arms over her chest, "Therefore, we should all band together in singularity. Fighting will not bring us anything praiseworthy. Surely, Ilias would hate to see her beloved Daughters quarrel amongst themselves."
Ariel turned back to Runael, her robes flowing with her. "I have no intentions of starting a fight..." She faced Eden once more, eyes furious. "...But I would most certainly finish one, if it came to be."
The Seraph's eyes widened, "You dare to challenge me!?" Eden yells, outraged. "Need I remind you which of us is the Seraph? You are treading on treacherous grounds, Ariel!" Runael approached the two, placing a hand on her fellow Archangel's shoulder.
"Ariel, I recommend you retract that statement. Surely you don't wish to upset the Great Seraph, correct?" The white-haired Angel glared daggers at Eden, eventually bowing out by breaking her gaze and staring to the side, "...Apologies, Eden. I merely am worried for our Goddess."
Eden's appraising eyes looked over the two Archangels, eventually relenting as well. "Apology accepted, Ariel. Keep patient, I will inform you first when I learn what has happened. I give you my promise."
Runael nodded, "Splendid, then I believe that Ariel and I will be taking our leave." Runael turned her green eyes to Ariel expectantly. "Right, Ariel?" The Archangel in question merely muttered, "That is right." Quickly, the two disappeared from Eden's garden. The Seraph huffed, turning her gaze back towards Ilias's throne room.
Alice stood beside the sizeable crater in the ground, her golden eyes facing the ground in thought. The sun was well past noon now, being three-quarters of the way in the sky. The rays of light fell diagonally across the landscape, illuminating her in a warm glow. However, neither this nor the idle breeze gently tugging at her hair could bring her from the thoughts taking up her mind. The cause of this was the sword lying on the ground before her.
It wasn't a remarkable weapon, the hilt being a plain steel that had an errant chip in its metal here and there that showed its age. The grip was a plain brown that ended in a gold pommel. However, the one detail that remained the focus of her attention, was the gold-plated hand guard.
Right where the hilt met the blade, in the middle of the guard, was a bright red jewel. This detail was a hallmark of a sword crafted either for or by a Hero of Ilias as a way of paying respect to the Goddess. 'There's no mistaking it, this is definitely that man's sword...' Alice had known the weapon had seemed familiar when she first saw it in Luka's hand, but now it was all but confirmed to her.
This was the sword used to strike down her Mother.
She trembled for a breath, shoving down the flood of erratic emotions that threatened to disturb her. The familiar sight had been unexpected, although the current Monster Lord hadn't really known what to expect after her very brief and one-sided fight with Ilias. She had known that the one-sided encounter wouldn't end very well, but it was a necessary risk for what she was trying to accomplish.
Though she had never expected to see what seemed to be the son of her Mother's killer be the one chosen as Ilias's newest Hero.
Thinking back to the boy named Luka, she found herself somewhat conflicted. His purple hair and blue eyes were a dead giveaway that he was related to the man who had slain her Mother, but other than that, he has so far proven to be completely unlike the man before him. His face was too innocent, too friendly. That, and his talk of coexistence, of peace, of not wanting to kill?
It all screamed of sheltered ignorance, 'Do they not give their Hero's-to-be a run down on how the World really is?' Alice thought to herself. 'Surely, a village like his would give him all the reason he needs to not believe such a thing. Though I suppose that makes things easier for me...
Despite the boy's non-heroic disposition, he could be molded into one if given the chance, and Alice was willing to put in the effort. 'I have to, if I ever want to make up for my own mistakes. I'll make him a Hero, and this time a Monster Lord's death will actually mean something...'
Looking up from the sword, Alice heard some scuffling in the distance. She sighed, pushing the dark thoughts away. '...Finally, I thought he'd gotten lost or something.' The Lamia's face turned questioning, as she heard the boy talking.
"...just wondering, what does that even mean?" That was definitely Luka, but the other voice was unfamiliar.
"You mean Puru?" Alice raised a brow at the feminine voice, peering into the thicket to find its source. Luka spoke up, "Yes, is it some sort of Monster term? I've never heard it before." Luka stepped into view, coming around a bush while looking back at a closely following blue Slime Girl.
Said Monster began an explanation. "Oh, well actually it's really interesting, you see..." The Monster paused, locking eyes with Alice. "...Ehhhh..." Luka turned forward to find Alice standing before him, a surprised look plastered on her face.
Luka was the first to recover, "Ah, Alice. I hope you haven't been waiting too long, I got a bit sidetracked." He stepped to the side, gesturing to the Slime Girl. "This is Lime, I met her earlier today."
The Monster Lord's look only became more confused as he looked to Lime, pointing a hand to Alice. "Lime, this is Alice. She is my traveling partner!" The Slime Monster squinted her eyes at Alice, the gears in her head turning as she looked at the larger Monster. "Huh, a Lamia named Alice. Hey, wait, aren't you the-"
Alice's golden eyes flashed, silencing the Slime in the middle of her question. Luka, not having noticed what Alice had done, raised a questioning brow at Lime.
However, Alice cut him off with a question herself. "Why is there a Slime with you, Luka?" The Lamia was considerably confused by this development; she knew that the boy had said that he didn't see Monsters as his enemies, but she hadn't thought that he'd be frolicking around in the woods with one so soon after their last meeting.
Luka raised an uncertain hand up to idly yank at a lock of hair, "I sorta promised to cook her some fish as compensation for... well..." Luka nervously The Slime shook her head furiously, acting as if her earlier episode had not occurred. "For cutting off my head!"
Alice watched as Luka coughed into his hand, awkwardly looking away from the two Monsters. "Ah, yes. Apologies again, for that..." Luka peered down to the grass below, noticing the fallen sword that Alice had forgotten about. "Ah, there it is!" He exclaimed, walking up to the weapon and picking it up. Alice felt herself twitch as the boy hefted the sword off the ground.
The Lamia's tail uncoiled, holding something else out to Luka, "Here, you left this behind at your house. I figured you would need it." She tossed a hefty bag at Luka, who caught it with a grunt, nearly dropping his Father's sword while fumbling the items.
The inconvenient toss bothered him a bit, but Luka was appreciative either way. "Oh, thank you Alice!" The Monster shrugged, "Don't thank me yet. I'm getting hungry again, so you'd better have something in that bag of yours to make up for that."
Luka gawked at the Monster, "You're hungry again? But you already took all of my meat before we left!" The Blue Slime behind him snapped to attention at the comment, having been distracted by a flock of birds flying overhead.
"Oh, now I see how it is. You should've just said something before, Luka. Every Monster knows that Lamias don't like to share their meals." Lime said bluntly.
The boy in question turned to Lime, misinterpreting the Slime's meaning. "I know, she had it all down in seconds." Luka looked back at Alice, who was staring owlishly at Luka, who continued just as unaware. "No offense meant, of course."
Alice merely regarded Luka with an expression of utter disbelief before deciding to not comment on the boy's obliviousness. "Nevermind that, are we going now or not? Moreover, do you have a route in mind? I assume your ultimate destination would be the Monster Lord's Castle."
Luka gently placed his bag down, opening the plain brown carrier to retrieve his sword's scabbard. "Well..." He began, slinging the holster over his left shoulder, positioning it on his right side. "...Yes, that is the end of my journey. But that's going to take some time to get to, so I have chartered a rough course to take."
Luka sheathed his sword, the action causing Alice to be somewhat more comfortable now that the eye of the red jewel was no longer in sight. The purple-haired boy pulled out a map of the three continents, an elaborate series of dotted lines strewn about the parchment. "I plan on first heading to Iliasburg, since it is the closest and largest city on the Ilias Continent. There will be the easiest place to stock up, as it will have the most options for travel wares. Then, I plan on heading for Iliasport as it is the only way to get from here to Sentora. After tha-"
"YAWN! Less talk, more fish!" Luka flinched, looking back to an impatiently bouncing Lime.
He pursed his lips, "Eh, I suppose that it is better to take it one step at a time... Iliasburg is the main stopping point, after finding some fish, of course. Now, I know that there are some freshwater creeks that run right from the ocean around here..." The boy gave a wide smile as he slung the bag onto his back, and began walking forward. "...If you think that my meat skills were good before, then just you wait, because it gets better!"
The two Monsters watched as he pressed forward into the thicket, the Slime confused and the Lamia incredulous. Lime gazed up to Alice, her green eyes questioning. "I'm confused, is he talking about his penis or the fish?" Alice, completely beside herself by that point, merely shook her head.
Drip.
Drip.
The pipe had been leaking for as long as she could remember. As far back as when she had been first created and kept in this cell, it had done that. Perhaps, at first, it had annoyed her. Then, after some time, it was a soothing and comforting noise. A quiet, calming familiarity; something to take her mind off of the constant bloodshed and death that surrounded her life.
It had been a source of solace for her until now.
The teal-haired Chimera known as Assassinroid sat curled in the corner, magenta eyes facing away from the cell door in dejection. She had been doing this anytime she wasn't called upon for an execution or training, neither of which had occurred in several weeks now. Although, the Monster hardly cared for this.
Not when she couldn't have what had just slipped through her fingers.
The sizable fingers on her hands clenched up, locking up in a wave of anger. It had been two years since that night when she almost had claimed the boy she had been growing attached to, two years since she had been beaten within an inch of her life for doing so. That Seraph had very nearly killed her, though Assassinroid almost wished that she had, as the Chimera's punishment for so foolhardily messing up her mission was being disallowed to even step foot on the Ilias Continent.
La Croix had sentenced the Monster to that punishment personally when Assassinroid had been dragged back to the Biolabs. Another wave of resentment hit the Monster as she remembered that moment for what surely was the thousandth time. It had been humiliating; the cold disappointment in the voice of the dismissive La Croix, the unwanted looks of pity from some of the other experimental Monsters, it all had brought a burning shame to her whole body.
Though, the one thing she couldn't stand the most, was the constant mocking of her 'savior' on that day.
Slink, thud.
One of the Monster's large, pointed ears twitched at the all too familiar noise. She failed to stop the snarl forming on her face the noise drew closer.
Slink, thud. Slink, thud.
A hissing type of laughter echoed from down the isolated hall Assassinroid had been sent to after her previous failure, reverberating off the purple stone walls and floors with unpleasant intent. Then a disgustingly fawning voice called from down the hall, "Assassinroid..."
The Monster inched closer to the wall now, revulsion practically radiating off from her form. "...Aww, don't make me beeeg! I have great news for youuu..." Any news the creature ever gave her was hardly ever great. Per usual, it meant that she would be let out to fulfill the intention of her creation: To assassinate a high-level Monster and bring back its carcass for experimentation.
Her job didn't bother her, but ever since her incident with Luka, she was expressly forbidden from venturing to the Ilias Continent under threat of a quick and merciless death. And the Monster who just so happened to be in charge of seeing to this, was the one inching closer to her cell right now.
Slink, thud. Slink, thud. Slink... thud.
The sound stopped in front of her cell door, but Assassinroid did not turn to the noise. "I see youuu~" The teal-haired Monster let out a growl of frustration, the singsong voice of the other Chimera grating her ears.
The voice continued, "Don't be ssshy, now. I have good news, fantastic news, something very different than the other times." Assassinroid perked up some, a slight interest in hearing something different from the regular assignment. The Monster behind her cut off that excitement quickly. "La Croix wants to see youuuu... personally."
Immediately Assassinroid shook from the statement; La Croix requesting that a chimera be brought to her was rarely a good thing. Nevertheless, the teal-haired Monster rose from her spot on the floor, turning to approach the cell door. Standing somewhat hunched at the door was a Monster named Lamiaroid.
Lamiaroid was a more recent creation, more recent than even Assassinroid, who hadn't been "alive" for very long herself. The Lamia hybrid, even hunched over, was taller than Assassinroid by half a meter. More notable, was the increasingly disturbed appearance of the creature.
Her main body was what could be considered a regular Lamia, her long charcoal gray tail came down to her right at an odd angle as a makeshift leg. Parallel to her tail-leg was a prosthetic robot leg, one that seemed to connect at her 'hip' underneath a dark teal skirt. Her dark gray upper body was mostly exposed, excluding the white chest armor that made a loose attempt to cover her breasts.
The Monster that the Chimera had been built from seemed to lack a right arm, as the only one Lamiaroid had was a spindly armored arm on her left side. Her right side, instead, had a large silver mechanical appendage covered in large spikes. The offending limb dripped with something Assassinroid recognized quickly, confirming that Lamiaroid had fed recently. Another similar appendage jutted from the Lamia's left shoulder as well, although it ended in a bulbous protrusion built for violent extraction.
It, too, was leaking.
Worse of all was Lamiaroid's off-putting face. It sat atop her long neck, being able to move freely in an appropriately snake-like fashion. Her face was very pale, as white as the metal adorning her body. An overly friendly smile stretched sickly across a good portion of her face thanks to the creature's abnormally long and unhinged jaw. Her piercing eyes were dark green, unblinking as they watched Assassinroid.
The Lamia's Dark teal hair was short, aside from the twin-tails coming down from her head. Strangely, the locks came up and wrapped around two small white horns on her head before coming back down. Assassinroid was not sure if this was how the Monster was built, or if she did such a thing to her hair out of her own desire.
The Lamia opened up the cell door, stepping out of the way and letting Assassinroid leaving her 'room'. The two started to walk through the hall, Lamiaroid choosing to walk behind her fellow Chimera. Assassinroid could feel her superior's eyes boring into the back of her head, much to her own annoyance.
Slink, thud. Slink, thud.
"Ssssooo..." Assassinroid silently frowned at the sound of the Lamia's voice. "...What do you think La Croix is wanting? Perhaps she's finally giving you probabtionnnn..." The smaller Chimera did not react to the question, not that she could. Unlike Lamiaroid, she could not speak fully. This was a fact Assassinroid was sure that the other Hybrid knew full well but did not care about.
"...Or maybe, maaaaybe she's wanting to worsen your punishment for ruining her and Promestein's plans! Hmmm, I wonderrrr..." The Lamia giggled to herself, uncaring of Assassinroid's audible snarl.
A silence befell the two, or rather it was mostly silent, as Lamiaroid started to hum a little tune to herself, giggling as she did. They made their way deeper into the Biolabs. They passed through multiple dark, purple corridors. Some rooms that they passed held other chimera Monsters and other experiments in them.
In some, moans of ecstasy could be heard from captive Human men being fed upon until their last dying breath. Other rooms, however, elicited sounds of grueling pain as more unlucky captives found that some of the Monsters there craved more painful means of extracting energy from their victims.
Slink, thud. Slink, thud. Slink, thud.
"Assassinroid, I have a question for you." The Monster in question continued walking forward, even as she felt Lamiaroid's head droop down onto her shoulder. "How did it feel to feast on an underaged boooooy?"
Assassinroid immediately pushed off the offending creature's head, painful memories of that night in Ilias Village filling her head. The Lamia laughed despite the forceful nudge she had received, moving to the Monster's opposite side. "How did that boy taste? I imagine it would be sweeter than the ones they farm here in the labs." With a growl, Assassinroid pawed the Lamia's head off of her shoulder. Again, the taller Monster just cackled.
"Hahaha! No need for that, I simply wish to know what could've spurred you to break protocol and endanger your set mission. After all, you never had before or after..." Assassinroid's magenta eyes glared ahead, seeing that they had almost reached their destination. "...Or, maaaaybe, it's less about what he is and more about who? Is that it, Assassinroid? Did you fall for this underaged booooy?"
Lamiaroid's prodding was quickly becoming more instigating; clearly, she was trying to get a rise out of her fellow Chimera before meeting La Croix on purpose. The Lamia wanted Assassinroid to break, to cause a scene, to shame herself in front of their master another time.
They were nearly at the door now, the Lamia's voice becoming more of a whisper the closer they got. "Ooo, ooo, I know. If you won't tell me, then perhaps I will have to find another way of knowing. La Croix will soon have missions for me, I'm sure. With how much better I am at doing my job then you, I could find the time to find the boy!"
Lamiaroid moved her to be right against the smaller Chimera's ear. "Maybe, I'll be able to find this Lukaaaa... And find out for myself!" Assassinroid stopped, whipping around to face Lamiaroid.
The Lamia's grin was disgustingly wide, stretching the whole length of her pale white face. Her dark green eyes were bulging intensely, a look of delight dancing in those horrifying eyes. Assassinroid felt the desire to rip apart the arrogant Monster in front of her, to shut her up once and for all. However, she stepped down from the Lamia's silent challenge.
It would be foolhardy for the Chimera to fight with Lamiaroid in general, let alone when in front of La Croix's very room. Doing so would most certainly earn her significant punishment. So, Assassinroid backed down. She looked away, facing back towards the large black doors of La Croix's room.
Slowly, as if knowing that the two Hybrids had called off their potential fight, the doors began to open.
Lamiaroid, wishing to get in one last word, whispered to the other Chimera as she slunk away. "See you sooooon, Assassinroid." Assassinroid quickly shuffled in, the doors closing behind her quickly.
The room of La Croix was extravagant. Large red curtains fell from the ceiling, draping onto the floor in giant folds of satin. Similarly red-colored carpet extended from where Assassinroid stood to a space between the curtains where an elevated, occupied seat stood. The otherwise dark room was illuminated by two tall candelabras, showing a very uncomfortable sight.
Sitting cross-legged in the seat before her, was La Croix herself.
The Monster's deathly pale face inspected Assassinroid with an unmoving face. Her light gray pupils, nearly as white as the rest of her eyes, emptily stared at her Chimera with no strongly positive or negative emotion. La Croix sat up straighter, a bizarre cracking filling the air as she did.
La Croix's dirtied and dry white hair fell in front of her face, a stiff arm coming up to brush it aside as she uncrossed her legs and began to stand. The strange asterisk-like symbol on the hair above her forehead glowed a bright pink, the skull emblazoned on it seeming to stare at Assassinroid as well.
La Croix wordlessly began to stride towards the Chimera, her steps labored and forced as she stiffly continued forward. Her dirty white labcoat fluttered somewhat, revealing a slightly bloodied series of bandages lining the Monster's abdomen right above her dark magenta pants.
La Croix stood before Assassinroid, assessing the Chimera before her with an impassive gaze. "I have a task for you, Assassinroid." The Chimera remained silent, watching her master in expectance as she spoke to her in a flat voice. "It is somewhat different than what you have been programmed for, but I see you as acceptable enough to be fit for the position. Follow me."
The necromancer led Assassinroid into a side passage, the two silently plodding through the dark hall until they came to a small observation room overlooking a dark cell.
They came to a set of angled one-way mirrors, coming to a sight that shocked the normally stoic and level-headed Chimera to her core. The room before them was painfully plain, having all-white walls made for desensitization. In the corner of the room was a small bed with similarly white sheets and a pillow. There was a litany of blocks and other toys designed for children strewn about the floor. In the middle of the floor, however, was what had thrown Assassinroid into a panic.
Sitting crossed-legged on the floor, was a nearly complete copy of Luka as he looked on the day Assassinroid had last saw him.
Except, it wasn't him. In fact, it wasn't even a "him" at all.
No, dressed in plain brown rags as if a homeless peddler, was what one could imagine Luka would look like if he were a girl. Her face was softer, and her ruffled shoulder-length purple hair was divided into two twin-tails that went down behind her head. The girl's pale blue eyes stared vacantly at the ground.
La Croix's cold voice cut through the air, "Her name is Doppel. I created her at Promestein's behest since we had been able to retrieve a sample of Luka's genetic makeup from your stomach after you were brought back here by Lamiaroid. Thanks to your incident with the boy four years ago, I was able to get usable genes."
Assassinroid's face twitched as she observed the girl. Despite La Croix's assertion that the small girl was created four years ago, she did not look like she was four. Instead, the purple-haired girl looked about twelve or thirteen years old.
"Nonetheless, even if she was successfully conceived, she is ultimately another failure." Assassinroid turned to La Croix, whose appraising eye looked over the purple-haired girl. "Despite being born from Luka's DNA, she holds only the Monster genes of her Mother and only the Human genes of Luka. None of the Angel genes from the boy made it into Doppel."
La Croix lifted her eyes to stare at the ceiling above, disappointment oozing off of her. "An unfortunate development, indeed. Now, all we really have is a Human-Monster hybrid that will not be able to utilize Angelic magic like Promestein and I had hoped." The necromancer's pale gray eyes returned to the still unmoving girl below, "Taking into account all the resources used to create Doppel, I could've pooled that time and effort into multiple Monsters of arguably equal strength."
Suddenly, La Croix focused her cold stare at Assassinroid. "Of course, she still has some potential. That's where you'll be put to good use." The Chimera was confused by her master's words until the pale Monster made an awkward sweeping gesture with her stiff arm. The limb crackled, pointing down to the girl. "Assassinroid, this girl will be your own little project. I want you to personally oversee her training until she has the same combat prowess as you, if not more so."
The Monster fought to keep her displeasure from showing as La Croix continued on, "By the time you are through with Doppel, she should be disciplined and coordinated for nothing but battle, just like you..." La Croix fixed a pointed look at Assassinroid, "...right?"
Something about the Necromancer's tone made the question seem more like a threat, although it also felt like a challenge. There was a distinct feeling in Assassinroid's mind telling her that this was La Croix's technique appraise her. After all, Assassinroid being discovered and then beaten by Lucifina had indirectly made it to where Luka was much more difficult to get to. Undoubtedly, having to tend to Doppel was an extension of the punishment she had been given for the last two years.
Assassinroid gave a quick nod, earning one last comment from La Croix. "Good. I am confident you will do well. In fact, if you do well enough to impress me..."
La Croix stepped closer, her legs bending oddly to bring her closer. "...I may just be able to arrange a meeting between you and the real Luka. When the time is appropriate." Assassinroid felt her body warm up instinctively, the very idea of meeting the boy again having been an awful and bitter fantasy over the last couple of years. The memories of her nearly claiming him had been ones that replayed in her head nearly every night since she failed to stick to her mission.
To put it short, the very notion of being able to physically be around him again was exciting.
La Croix walked by without another word, leaving Assassinroid behind to look down upon the unsuspecting Doppel. Assassinroid hardened her gaze, a lingering disappointment at the back of her mind over the fact that Luka wasn't the one she was looking at. However, if this creature could help Assassinroid to get back what she had lost, then she would make do...
...And she would work this Doppel to the bone, in order to ensure that the mission is done correctly.
So we're slowly moving away from canon again, as Lime has been added to the party, temporarily at least. No, Luka won't be followed by a literal herd of Monster Girls, I just like the idea of some tagging along here and there. That, and I enjoy writing the interactions here.
Some more infighting on the Angel's side, Eden being in particular everybody's least favorite it seems like her list of enemies keeps growing. Keep that in the back of your mind.
Also excited to keep slowly adding in more perspective from each side, especially with coming back to Assassinroid and showing where she's at now. Doppel will be a major character moving forward as she continues to develop, so expect more of her as well in the chapters to come.
espioll: There's certain canon parts I wish to keep in, as the changes done so far will have larger effects later on in the story rather than the very start. Not to say this is a beat-for-beat retelling, but it's not going to 100% throw away all canon events either. Yes, it seems unwise of her to do, but as will be revealed more and more here, Ilias is not exactly mentally well.
universeflash: None of them had known of the battle because they were already at the Temple at the heart of Ilias Village. Alice had briefly fought Ilias between Enrika and Iliasburg (A good distance away from Ilias Village), and then had been sent careening into the Forest whilst they were there as Ilias descended later than they had. The blast was strong enough to shake the ground but only for Luka to notice, like in the game. Otherwise, logically, every Human in Ilias Village would've heard the blast and went to react in some way.
The Angels were unaware of Alice because of Alice's ability to mask her own presence, much like Micaela, something that I plan to expand upon. Though this is already hinted at due to how easy it was for her to sneak into Ilias Village in the first place. Either way, Ilias's absence to them would be more important an occurrence, as Ilias never misses a baptism.
Also, Luka had no knowledge of the Archangels being there, so him interacting with them wouldn't be possible at this moment. As for him not interacting with Ilias, that is merely because of his growing doubts due to her conflicting behavior. His perception on what is real and what is not is a pivital part of this story, as Ilias's conflicting messages cause him to doubt if his role as a Prophet is real or not.
Proud Parent: I already answered this particular issue in my previous reply to universeflash but I will reiterate. All of the Archangels were in the Temple while the Alice fight occurred, and the brief fight occurred a good distance away and the blast from the impact wasn't strong enough to alert anyone but Luka because he was far closer. Alice had masked her powers to get into the Village, so the Archangels would not have sensed her there.
I don't intend to stick beat-for-beat with the main story. Everything will build towards a similar end with Alice and Luka fighting against Ilias in one final grand battle, but getting there will be somewhat different depending, honestly, on how I feel. It's simply an idea I wanted to explore; it isn't perfect, but I am trying my best to make it enjoyable. Just know, though, that this will most likely be a very long fanfic, longer than what even I can predict as I will admit a good chunk of this gets written on the fly.