Key:

Text

'Thoughts'

"Speaking, or in-text quote"

Additional Emphasis

Year 16 AL, What Makes a Hero

"Now, when we get to Iliasburg, I'll handle most of the talking. Just make sure to apologize when I say so, okay?" Luka said, looking back over his shoulder to the adorable caravan of Monsters following close behind him. A small chorus of "Uh-Huh's" came in response, bringing a small smile to Luka's face.

Currently, The Prophet, The Monster Lord, and the former Four Bandits were en route to Iliasburg. Thus far, Luka had done most of the conversation while the Monster girls had given small replies back. Interestingly, Alice had remained silent throughout the traveling, merely watching the boy from the tail-end of the group as he shepherded the group to Iliasburg.

Luka, with his now second walking stick in hand, led the charge with a steady pace so that the younger Monster's would have no trouble keeping up. The small band of travelers were currently walking the same small stone path Luka had used earlier in the day to get to the Irina Mountain range. There wasn't much to be seen around, aside from the grasslands and the scattered bits of trees here and there. Overhead, some larger clouds began to gather and shade out the sun from time to time, periodically darkening the landscape with puffy shadows. The boy suddenly felt a small hand grasp his arm, a feeling that caught him off guard for a moment.

Looking down in surprise, Luka found that Papi the Dragon Pup was the one grasping his hand. "Mister Hero, me and my friends..." She paused, the rest of the former bandits coming up behind her. "...We're getting hungry." The boy stopped in place, looking back at the group of small Monsters with a questioning gaze. He scanned each of their faces, each one of them with big and pleading eyes.

Truly, there was no way he could possibly deny a snack break.

"Okay, okay." Luka said, turning to the group of young Monsters with a hand on his hip. "I suppose we can stop for a little while. Though you can just call me Luka, Mister Hero is a bit too on-the-nose I think." The purple-haired boy glanced around the landscape, looking for a suitable resting place other than a small collection of trees a little bit off in the distance to the right of the path. He pointed over to the small landmark, "Let's stop over there for now." The smaller Monsters hurried off as Luka and Alice followed slowly behind. Luka felt the Lamia's gaze on him well before she called out to him.

"Why are you wasting time with a pit stop?" Luka glanced back at Alice, who had a somewhat annoyed expression. She spoke her displeasure again, "We have other things to do aside from babysitting these four, you know. That Happiness Village won't help themselves, after all."

Luka's pale blue eyes looked at her in question, "You really care that much about what's happening in Happiness Village?" Alice gave him an impassioned look as she responded, "Of course I do! How else can I experience the unmatched greatness of Happiness Honey-filled Dango if the production of said honey is being tampered with!?" Luka's face fell at the comment, the boy shaking his head at Alice's logic.

'Again, I should have figured it would be food. Though I can't say I blame her, that stuff was pretty good.' For a brief moment, he thought back to Alice sucking the honey off his thumb the night before flashed in his mind. He shook violently for a second, the thought making his stomach knot up strangely. Alice evidently noticed this as she commented, "Did someone step on your grave? You're shaking like a leaf."

Luka gulped, "O-O-Oh it's nothing, just a bit cold." Alice lifted a disbelieving eyebrow, "You're... cold?" She peered at the shining midday sky with a puzzled look. She shook her head at his bizarre behavior, 'Must be a Human thing.' She thought, unaware of the reason for the boy's response. Luka eventually recovered, "A-Anyways, we'll check out Happiness Village soon, don't worry about that. I just want to make sure these four are properly taken care of."

Alice gave him a questioning look but didn't pry into his reasoning. Instead, she simply followed as he walked towards the four awaiting Monsters.

Eventually, the Prophet and the Monster Lord reached the cluster of trees. Luka leaned his walking stick on one of the trees, promptly slinging his large brown bag off his back and carefully placing it on the ground. "I don't have anything fancy here for you guys, but I think you'll enjoy it either way. This is one of my personal favorite treats growing up." The four former Bandits looked at him expectantly as he removed his gloves, putting them on the grass beside the bag for the moment. Then, he began unzipping the traveling bag as Alice slithered over to one of the farthest trees, leaning back-first against it as she observed the boy.

From his bag, the boy pulled out a couple of Mandarin oranges. "These," He said as he held them out in pride, "Are some of the sweetest fruits you'll ever have, I promise!" He handed each of the four Monsters one of the small oranges, smiling giddily as he did. Papi the Dragon Pup's eyes lit up in realization, "Ohhhh, I've seen something like this before! They're always selling them at the markets in Iliasburg!" To Luka's horror, the purple-haired Dragon raised the small orange to her wide-opened mouth, ready to swallow the whole thing in one bite!

"Whoa-Whoa-Whoa!" He exclaimed, grabbing the fruit before the Dragon could try and eat the orange in one bite. Papi looked at Luka with confused yellow eyes as he took away the fruit. The purple-haired boy gave a soft look to the Dragon Pup, "You don't want to eat this whole. You'd be depriving yourself of the full flavor!"

Teeny, the purple-haired Lamia suddenly butted in. "Yeah, obviously you're supposed to squeeze the thing dry with your tail! That's how you get the juicy insides." She exclaimed, holding her fruit up with said tail as she crossed her arms under her "chest" in a very Alice-like fashion.

"Eh, no, not really-" Luka started, before Vanilla the Vampire cackled at the small Lamia.

"Kukukuu, of course you'd two would think so brutishly. It's easy to see that you have to break the skin with your fangs and then suck the insides out!" She flashed her minuscule teeth as she gave a sly smirk.

"Well, you see, actually-" Luka began before being interrupted for the third time by Gob the Goblin, who yelled out her idea while raising the orange high above her head with a confident gaze in her blue eyes.

"You're all wrong! The only way to open these is to smash 'em with a hammer!" The small Goblin's yell seemed to flood the entire countryside, causing the entire group to blankly stare at the Goblin girl. Noticing this caused a heavy blush to firm on her face as she shrunk down, holding the Mandarin close. "Hehehee, uh, just kidding..."

Luka suddenly dropped down to sit cross-legged on the ground and then patted the grass in front of him. "Come on, I'll show you the proper technique." In unison, the Dragon Pup, the Vampire, the Lamia, and then the Goblin girl all sat down in a half-circle before the boy like a congregation of students learning wisdom from a sagely teacher. "Now, the first step is to peel off the skin. I find it easiest to start at the stem."

He demonstrated with celerity, removing the stem along with a significant chunk of skin, showing a glimpse of the segmented insides. "See?" Luka asked, showing his Mandarin to the four younger Monsters. Smiling, Luka continued as handed Papi another fresh Mandarin. "Honestly, from there on, it's pretty straightforward. You just keep peeling off more skin until it's all gone!" They nodded, each attempting to mirror his actions with various success.

Papi found it very easy due to the extra help from her sharp claws, simply cutting off the stem and going from there on with little extra effort. Vanilla had a bit more trouble, having to rip off the stem with her small fangs. Teeny, with some effort, was able to get the stem off by prying it off with her fingers much the same as how Luka had. However, the last Monster of the bunch was still having some difficulty...

"Damn it!" Gob's gloved hand failed to get a proper grip for the dozenth time, the mistake causing her to glare at the Mandarin with frustrated blue eyes. Once he saw her distress, Luka reached out to take her hand, startling her.

"Hey, don't get too worked up over it, Gob. Here, you probably just need a better grip." He grabbed the wrist of her glove, pulling on it gently. "If you take off this, you'd probably have an easier time." He slipped off the Goblin girl's glove to take her now bare hand in his, guiding it to the Mandarin. "Now try." He said, spurring the now blushing Gob to try and peel the fruit once more.

With some effort, she was able to get the stem off. "Haha!" She called out, raising the orange triumphantly. "Take that, fruit! How easily your walls fall to the great Gob!" Luka chuckled at her behavior, taking from his bag a Mandarin for himself. The boy looked over to Alice, holding up his fruit. "Yo, Alice! Do you want one!?" The lavender-skinned Lamia inspected her hand with lazy eyes as she replied, "Not at all, just finish up quickly! I'm getting bored."

Luka shrugged, beginning to peel his own Orange with vigor as the others followed suit. "Once you have the outer skin gone, then you'll reach the segments. Most of these guys will break off into six pieces that you can eat one by one." He looked at each Monster, seeing that they had indeed gotten their peels off as numerous rinds littered the grass around them.

"Now," He said, glancing at each of the eager faces of his little group. "You may eat." Luka watched them utterly devour their fruits, the boy himself taking his time as he went small bite by small bite. He couldn't help but smile at the Monster's reactions of satisfaction.

"Hey, this stuff tastes waaaay better without the outside part!" Papi said, peering at a piece of Mandarin in her clawed hand.

Vanilla snickered, lifting a piece to her mouth as she said. "I still say sucking it out is better, the juice is the best part." She stabbed her fangs into the fruit, draining its insides in mere seconds.

Teeny scoffed at the small Vampire, "All you think about is sucking, huh? So unbecoming!" The Lamia smirked as she popped a piece of citrus in her mouth, ignoring the heated glare Vanilla threw at the snake girl.

Gob happily munched on her sweet fruit, watching with some curiosity as Luka slowly ate his food. "Why do you take so long to eat, Luka?"

The question spurred the others to look at the older boy, who had only had two of his six slices, while the former Four Bandits had either one or two slices left. He smiled, looking down at his food with some nostalgia. "Well, I've always taken time with eating these because I'd always have one of these with my Mother growing up. It was one of her favorites, too."

From her spot at the tree, Alice snapped her attention to the boy, listening closely after hearing him mention his Mother.

"We'd have one of these around noontime as a snack..." He peered up at the sky, "...It'd usually be after lunch, to have something sweet just for the heck of it. We'd sit outside and just relax. Sometimes she would tell me stories about her youth, but usually we'd just appreciate the nature around us. It would nearly take us half an hour just to finish a single Mandarin, just to really savor it." He sighed, his blue eyes staring at the clouds. Even from her place several meters away, Alice could see a certain melancholy building those pale orbs of his.

Luka looked down at the four Monsters, each of them observing him in silence. "Hehe, sorry. That, erm, must sound awfully silly." He raised a hand to his head, playing around with a lock of purple hair. "But I do still think it's important to take your time with these things, to really enjoy the experience." He returned to eating his Orange, spurring the others to do so likewise. However, each of the young Monsters seemed to take a bit more time before finishing their food.

Soon, they had all finished up their snack. Luka stood and made for his currently opened bag. He moved to zip it up but paused upon noticing his journal poking out. He looked back at the former bandits, a smile on his face. 'Well, they don't offer up much information really. But there's no harm in adding them just because.' He grabbed the small book, opening it up as he sat down on the grass once more. Quickly, he began writing.

Papi the Dragon Pup: Common Dragon

Strengths - Sharp claws, tough scales, can breath fire

Weaknesses - Inexperienced

Intelligence - Average

Friendliness - Friendly

Luka's Notes: Definitely gave the toughest fight. Also, Eyebrows!

Vanilla the Vampire: Common Vampire

Strengths - Can morph into bats, can fly

Weaknesses - Inexperienced

Intelligence - Average

Friendliness - Friendly

Luka's Notes: She should wear more clothes. Can't have this girl running around with nothing but panties.

Teeny the Lamia: Common Lamia

Strengths - Has a tail

Weaknesses - Inexperienced, Water(?)

Intelligence - Average

Friendliness - Friendly

Luka's Notes: Her tail is shockingly good at massaging, tempted to add that to "strengths" category...

Gob the Goblin: Common Goblin

Strengths - Surprisingly strong for size, actually wears clothes

Weaknesses - Inexperienced

Intelligence - Average

Friendliness - Friendly

Luka's Notes: Needs to invest in smaller hammer.

Engrossed in his writings, Luka failed to notice the four Monsters peering at his book to see what he was writing.

"What about my eyebrows!?" Papi roared from his left, a great big pout forming on her face upon noticing the comment. Luka jumped at the yell, chuckling nervously at the angry Dragon girl as he tried to justify what he had written down beyond the fact that they were gigantic. "Hahaha... Uh, well I just thought that they looked very cute on you." The purple-haired girl recoiled at the comment, a dark blush coming to her cheeks.

"D-Don't say stuff like that so easily..." She muttered, turning away from Luka. Meanwhile, the Vampire girl in front of him craned her neck, reading her entry.

"Kukukuuu, so my lack of clothing bothers you so? My apologies, but I can't bring myself to wear more." Vanilla moved over to the boy's side, leaning over to whisper in his left ear, "Although I can always wear less, if you ask nicely~" Luka pulled away, shaking his head vehemently. "N-No, that will NOT be necessary!" He exclaimed.

Another round of snickering came, this time from the Lamia of the group. The noise took the blonde Vampire's attention away from Luka. "Fufufuuu, for what reason would he want that? You haven't anything interesting to show!" Vanilla bared her fangs, rounding on Teeny. She poked the purple-haired Lamia with a finger, "That's rich coming from you! You're as flat as a washboard!"

Teeny's tail twitched, her emerald eyes narrowing at the Vampire girl. She raised a fist threateningly, "I'll flatten your face if you say that once more! Go ahead, I dare you!" Luka watched on in confusion, as Papi chuckled into her hands at the sight. Luka turned to the Dragon Pup on his left, "Does this happen often?"

She shakily nodded, unable to say anything through her silent laughter. From his other side, he heard Gob whisper to him. "They do this every other day or so. I don't get what the big deal is, though..." She looked down to her entry, a look of indignation growing on her face now. "Hey, I don't need a smaller hammer, I carried the other one just fine!"

Luka gave her a disbelieving look as he talked bluntly to her, "You got it stuck twice, and I needed to help you get it unstuck the first time." Peeking out from behind Luka, Papi shook her head. "I told you that thing was too heavy for you!" Gob pouted, about to counter back until the memory of Luka helping her pull out the hammer came to her. The Goblin's face felt as if it was burning as she remembered how oddly good it felt when she had practically grinded against the older boy.

"I-I guess you c-c-could be right..." She stammered, trying her best not to look at Luka as she fought the blush growing on her cheeks. Luka closed the book, turning back to put it back into his traveling bag. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes, you just need something a little different, even if it wasn't what you really wanted at first." He gestured to Angel Halo resting on his back. "You really think I wanted this ghastly thing as a sword?" He shook his head while zipping up the bag. "It definitely wasn't my first choice, but I use it a lot better than my last one, so that's why I use it."

Papi squinted at the thing curiously, taking great note of the strange eyes on the blade. "Where did you get it, anyway? It's so cool." Gob grimaced at Papi's comment, shutting eyes tightly as she disagreed, "It's not cool, it's disgusting!"

Luka nodded his head in Alice's direction, the Lamia seeming to have slipped into a nap once more. "Alice gave it to me, I'm not really sure where she got it from, though." The two small Monsters peered at Alice questioningly. Gob was first to ask about the Lamia.

"Why is she with you, anyways? Heroes don't travel with Monsters from what I know." Luka shrugged at the Goblin's questioning, "To be honest, I don't really know why she follows me around. She helps every now and then, though, so I don't try to question it too much."

Papi looked at Alice, puzzled at the boy's answer. She turned to him, "Sooo, you're a Human Hero, but you're friends with a Monster? It doesn't make much sense to me, Heroes always just fight Monsters and stuff."

"Well," Luka began as he sat down on the ground again. "My goal isn't to fight Monsters. I want Humans and Monsters to live peacefully together. That's why I try not to fight if I can help it, I really don't want to hurt anybody." He looked to Papi, "You're actually the only one of your four I had to use my sword against."

The Dragon Pup snickered, "Well, that's not surprising. I am the best fighter here!" Gob took offense to the statement, stomping the ground fiercely in defiance of the statement. "Hey now, I'm the strongest here! I've never lost an arm-wrestling competition with you!" The Dragon Pup crossed her arms, leaning over to stare down the Goblin girl. "Yeaaah, but I always win our sparrings. Being strong isn't the only way to win fights!"

Gob pulled the brim of her hat down to cover her forehead, leveling a glare at the purple-haired Dragon. "Them's fightin' words, you want me to clobber you here in front of everyone!?" Gob challenged, causing Papi to bear her fangs in a wicked grin as her tail whipped around excitedly. "Ohhh, I'm gonna make you regret that!"

"Wait wait!" Luka said, finally interjecting himself between the two. "There's no need for all of that! If you're friends, then there shouldn't be any reason to rough each other up." The Dragon Pup and Goblin girl backed down, looking just a touch bit embarrassed by his scolding.

"Ha-Ha!"

SPLASH

"Eek!"

The three jumped at the yells, snapping their collective eyes towards the noise.

Unnoticed by Luka was the fact that the Vampire and the Lamia had similar ideas, their bickering having escalated while he was caught up with the other two. Currently, Vanilla was standing alone at the edge of the other end of the small hilltop. She was laughing heartily down at something unseen, spurring Luka to dash over to the blonde Vampire and see what had happened.

Down below, bizarrely enough, was Teeny splashing around in the shallow side of a small murky pond of sorts at the bottom of the hill. 'Huh,' Luka thought to himself, 'Never even saw this the first time me and Alice came through. And she says there's no reason to stop and look around!' Focusing back on the situation at hand, Luka called out to the purple-haired Lamia.

"Teeny, are you alright?" The small Lamia turned her angry emerald eyes up at the boy, "No, I am not!" She lifted a hand, pointing an accusing finger at Vanilla. "That stupid bat shoved me down here!" Luka gasped, looking down at the smug blonde girl.

"Vanilla, why'd you shove her down there for?" The Vampire looked up to him in outrage. "What? I didn't shove her down there." She turned away from him, wrapping her cloak around herself tightly. "I pushed her, and then she tripped over her own tail! How can I predict that she would be so clumsy?"

Luka turned a stern gaze down to the younger girl, "You shouldn't be shoving Teeny around. Friends should treat each other better than that. Besides, you know she can't swim." The Vampire grimaced, keeping her eyes averted. "But she started it..." Vanilla muttered, sinking further into her black cloak.

Luka sighed, looking down at the Lamia, who was slithering out of the water. He lifted a hand to his mouth to call out to the girl, "I'll find something to dry you off with, and then we'll settle this little argument!" He peered sideways at Vanilla with knowing eyes. "Right, Vanilla?" The Vampire huffed while stomping away, not offering any more words.

Luka sighed, rubbing his head with his free hand as he turned around to get his traveling bag. "Well, I don't have any clean towels packed with me. Kinda messed up on that one..." He said under his breath as he walked over to the brown bag.

The boy idly flickered his eyes over to where Alice had been resting, sure that the Lamia was finding amusement in his current predicament. However, his heart stopped when he found that Alice wasn't there at all.

She was gone.

Luka felt his breathing involuntarily quicken, his blue eyes desperately searching around himself for a sign of his traveling partner. However, she was truly gone.

"Hey, where'd your snake-lady friend go?" He turned his wild gaze to the questioning Gob, who was watching him with uneasy blue eyes. Dragon Pup stood a little way behind her, looking around in confusion as she noticed the Lamia's disappearance.

Luka couldn't answer, anxiety rushing through his mind. Usually, he would be prepared for a Monster ambushing him, but he also didn't usually have four young Monsters to look after when this happened. Then, his blood ran cold as a familiar voice rang out, her scream now much blood-curdling than it had been before.

"AAHH!"

Luka sprinted over to the side of the hilltop, coming to a stop at the edge. At the bottom of the hill's base was Teeny, her hands deeply dug into the grass and dirt in front of her. Her face was red with strain as hot tears fell from her emerald eyes. A third of her body was submerged in the water behind her, something having grabbed her by her small tail.

"HANG ON!" Luka yelled out, madly dashing down and diving towards the girl. He slid across the grass, kicking up a cloud of dirt as he locked the small Lamia's wrist in a death grip. They both began to slip closer to the water as Teeny's fingers dug through the ground before Luka was able to plant his feet down into the ground.

With now half of her body submerged, the purple-haired Lamia cried out in pain. "Pl-Please, I-I can't hold on!" The boy gritted his teeth, pulling as hard as he could. Bit by bit her body became more visible as the boy was able to slowly pull her closer to shore, until Luka was able to see what had a hold of Teeny.

Wrapped around the Lamia's own tail was a much larger and more muscular black one that had small but bright red dots running along its top. It flexed, wrenching the girl back closer to it. "A-AH, Luka, please! My tail's going to break in half!" The girl squealed.

The boy's heart was thundering in his ears, and it felt as if his whole body was trembling as he furiously kept a hold of the small Lamia's hands. Her nails were clawed into his sleeves, the sharp extremities cutting into his wrists. He ignored the pain as his mind flew, trying to find some way to save the girl without her body ripping in half. 'If I could just reach my sword, I could cut into this thing and get her out of here!'

Thankfully, an unexpected intervention helped the boy's predicament.

"GRAH!" Papi roared as she charged forward, slicing into the tail with her claws. A dull hiss could be heard coming from the water as the arrow-headed black tail released Teeny, causing the girl to fly into Luka's awaiting arms. They both grunted as they harshly collided with the ground, Luka being the first to recover as he lifted his head to gaze at the shoreline. He saw the large black tail slink back into the now choppy waters, Papi chasing it off.

Luka peered down to the shaking Lamia in his arms to whisper, "It's okay Teeny, I have you now." She shook in his arms, her tail in particular quivering harshly as it wrapped around him. He grimaced at the sight, slowly rising to his feet as the Lamia clung to him. He could feel wetness building on the front of his shirt as the purple-haired girl buried her face in his chest. Papi turned back to the two, running over once she saw Luka moving to stand.

The boy looked over to the water and saw that it was beginning to grow choppy. Clearly, whatever had ambushed Teeny wasn't quite finished yet. The purple-haired Hero cast a glance back up the hill, eyeing the confused and scared-looking visage of Gob and Vanilla, who both stood frozen up on the edge of the hilltop. 'They can't stick around for this,' he thought, glancing down at the quivering Teeny in his arms. 'This is too dangerous for them.' Luka's eyes hardened as they returned to the water, formulating a plan for his next move.

"Papi, I want you to take Teeny back up the hill to the others and keep them up there. I don't want you guys getting involved with this." The Dragon Pup bristled a bit at his request, but Luka cut her off before she could argue. "Please, just make sure they stay safe, okay?" The purple-haired Dragon gave a hesitant nod, reaching for the Lamia in his arms. Teeny nearly couldn't be pried off the boy with how tightly she was clutching him, but eventually, with some effort, she let the Dragon Pup take her away.

Luka watched Papi run the small Lamia up the hill with conflict in his eyes. He wanted to comfort the girl after the attack she had just had, but he couldn't let his guard down when there was an obviously hostile Monster around.

He took a couple of steps forward, reaching back with his left hand to grasp his sword. He didn't know what this Monster was, but he couldn't allow it to attack an innocent like that and get away with it. Taking Angel Halo off his back, he was about to yell out to the water until the Monster let herself be known.

A wet mane of dark black hair broke through the surface, covering the face of the pale-skinned Monster like a dark veil. Small, curved horns protruded from the Monster's forehead, and from the sides of the Monster's head came two odd longer stalk-like appendages that came from where her ears would be. The Monster's torso came up out of the water as well, being completely naked like much of the Monster's he had faced thus far. Unlike them, though, Luka was unfazed by her large bare breasts, his own growing anger overruling his usual shyness.

The creature's hands came up to her face, pulling the greasy black hair away from her face to reveal a set of piercing dark-red eyes. The Monster spoke, "Ahh, I was frustrated that my prey had escaped me at first. However, now I see that I have a much more delicious catch to feast on." A long dark tongue came from the Monster's mouth, a disgusting slurping noise coming from her as she licked at her lips.

Slowly, she inched forward towards the shoreline. Her movement caused the rest of her torso to appear, the large black lower half of her body becoming more and more visible as she rose. Luka noticed the bright red dots running alongside her body, knowing that her large tail no doubt was lurking somewhere beneath the water's surface.

The boy raised his sword, stopping the Monster in her tracks. "It's not going to be like that. You're going to be answering for what you tried to do to my friend." The Monster chuckled, her black hair bouncing along with the noise. "On the contrary, you are going to make up for taking away my lunch when I am starving." She crawled further up the shoreline, exposing the rest of her lower half. That was when the Monster decided to show off the most disturbing part of her biology.

"Here, boy, let me show you what I have in store for you..." The Monster reached down with both arms, grabbing at a small slit in the front of her large body. She then began to pull at the small hole with both hands. Alarmingly, the slit began to open and grow larger. "...O-Oh~" The Monster moaned, the hole in her lower half becoming grotesquely huge as the fleshy pink inside became exposed. Luka watched on in horror as a collection of small and thin writhing tentacles started to undulate from the glistening maw.

Wider and wider it stretched until it grew to be as wide around as a person's body. The Monster's face was clammy, her tongue hanging out halfway as she became excited. "I can hear your blood pumping, boy. You have a healthy body there; I just need to taste it!" The tentacles started elongating, throbbing as they grew larger as if the Monster's heartbeat was flowing through them. They reached out to the boy, quivering and writing as if his very presence was arousing them.

Luka felt a cold sweat erupt over his body, the sight of the awful pulsating tentacles causing him great distress. He shook from the sight, his whole body wracked with nerves. Suddenly, the water around the Leech was kicked up by the Monster's large muscular tail as it aggressively flew toward the boy. Luka was just able to swipe the arrow-headed tail as it careened at his, cutting a large gash into its side.

The Monster's face became pained at the attack, her eyes squinting harshly at the boy. "You're quicker than I would have thought..." Then, a grin came to her face. "...Luckily, I know how to slow down energetic little boys like you." Again, her tail shot out at him from the water's edge with deceptive speed. However, when Luka made to thrust at the appendage, the Monster pulled back, and a particularly long tentacle flew towards the purple-haired boy and wrapped itself around his right hand.

"G-Get off me!" He yelled, the sensation of the very hot and slimy tentacle pulling at his currently ungloved hand causing alarm. He took raised Angel Halo up in his left hand and cut the appendage in half. The Monster seemed unfazed, watching the boy with satisfaction in her half-lidded gaze. He raised his sword in both hands but noticed that something was off. His right hand was beginning to feel fuzzy, as if it was falling asleep.

Luka eyed the hand in worry, not understanding what the Monster had just done. The Leech gave a low chuckle at his distress, "Hehehehe, do you feel it now? My slime helps to relax the body, helps make it to where my prey doesn't thrash around too much when I have hold them inside..." The boy's heart rate quickened, a panic settling in as he felt his right hand up to his wrist grow cold.

"...Not only that," She continued as she crawled a bit closer to the edge, "But it'll make insemination so much easier for me." Luka narrowed his eyes cautiously, keeping his gaze on the smug-looking Monster.

'I have to end this now, then. The longer this Monster's slime affects me, the more difficult this'll get.' Luka slid his right foot forward, a diligently practiced gesture in preparation for his strongest attack. He felt the magic inside him build until he called out:

"Demon Decapitation!"

Charging forward, Luka came within arm's length of the Monster. He forced himself to ignore the writhing tentacles reaching out towards him as he slashed along the Monster's throat. She flinched at the sudden cut, eyes now wide with shock. The cut landed, creating a large scar along her throat.

However, to his horror, this did not defeat the creature.

From his right, the Monster's large tail flew into view with maddened speed and smashed into his side. He hissed as his small body was harshly flung to the ground; the dirt below might as well have been stone with how his body was rocked by the impact. He sat up sluggishly, feeling a sharp pain in his right side as he did. Just as he was beginning to rise, multiple tentacles shot out at him, gripping his right arm fiercely and dragging him towards the soaking wet gaping maw of the Leech Monster.

Luka raised his sword, ready to chop the offending appendages off, but he was stopped by the Leech's large black tail. Luka couldn't hold back his pain-filled scream as the large tail was able to coil around his left arm, squeezing it uncomfortably tight. Now, he was effectively stuck as the tentacles started to drag him closer. He looked up to the Monster, who was grasping her throat with fury in her eyes.

"Y-You little bastard." She hissed furiously; the boy's attack apparently had messed with her voice. "I was going to make it quick since I was hungry, but now you've really pissed me off. So, I'm going to take my time devouring you." Luka began to panic as he was within arms-length of the Monster's giant mouth, the tentacles inside reaching towards him manically. Centimeter by centimeter, he was being pulled closer, some of the tentacles now reaching his right leg alongside his right arm.

The Leech leaned in close, her eyes boring holes into him. "Yes, nice and slow. It'll take weeks, if not months, to drain you dry. You'll be a bare skeleton by the time I'm through!" She coughed into a cackle as his arm started to go inside her mouth, tentacles reaching into his sleeve now. Luka nearly gagged at the sensation, the arm itself had almost gone completely numb already.

Suddenly, he was nearly flipped sideways as his right leg was taken inside as well. He began to violently thrash as he felt the hot and slimy appendages crawl up his right pant leg, the foot already going numb. Despite his best efforts, the sensation started to send him into hysterics.

"N-NO! LET ME GO!" He finally screamed as he used his left leg, the only free limb at the moment, to pull back with all his might. He felt as if he was about to rip apart from the effort, his free foot digging into the wet mud of the shoreline.

"It's no use now," She whispered haughtily. "You're almost inside me now, so just let go and accept your fate. You. Are. MINE." The tentacles heaved, nearly causing him to slip in the mud. But he persisted, keeping the rest of his body from being sucked in as he tried to maneuver his sword in any way to attack the Monster. The Monster grinned wildly, her teeth flashing smugly. "I already told you, idiot. It's too late-"

"EARTH CRASHING GOBLIN!"

"H-Huh?" The Monster grunted, looking up at the source of the noise just in time to see the large stick aimed towards her face.

Luka's walking stick, to be exact.

The modestly thick piece of tree limb snapped over the Monster's forehead and mouth brutally, causing her hoarse voice to yell out in pain as she covered her face with both hands. The Monster's black tail involuntarily released the boy, her concentration broken by the blunt force that had walloped her across the face.

The boy nearly collapsed, his left arm throbbing in pain as he glanced up to see Gob falling to the ground beside him with a huff. He stared wide-eyed at the younger Monster, not believing what had just happened. The Goblin rushed to his side, her blue eyes wide and her body trembling with adrenaline. "C-Come on!" She said, rushing to his side while grabbing him from behind by the waist. The Goblin wrenched back with all her might, actually managing to help the half-numbed boy overpower the tugging of the wounded Monster's tentacles and pry the boy away.

The pair flew backward, tumbling a couple meters away from the shoreline. Luka's lungs heaved as he desperately tried to push himself up, but his left arm and leg would barely move at all despite his frantic flailing. All he could feel was a dull buzz in the limbs as he repeatedly fell back down in the grass and dirt. Gob hopped to his side again, grabbing his right arm tightly with both of her own. "Get up!" The Goblin yelled, fighting to pull the larger boy to his feet. Before anything could come from her efforts, however, the Leech Monster made herself known once more.

The large black tail shot back up the hill from the water, curling around Gob's small leg and dragging the small girl down to the shoreline. The Goblin's horned helmet fell off her head, bouncing against the ground as the girl was carried away.

"GOB!" Luka yelled, watching as the squealing girl was pulled towards the Leech Monster, who was furiously scrubbing at her now injured face with her hands and wrists. The small Goblin was raised by her foot a meter off the ground, flailing in the grip of the Monster's tail. The Leech removed her bloodstained hands from her face, revealing the long gash the Goblin's stick attack had left on her face.

"You stupid kid..." The Monster growled, her dark red eyes matching the stream of blood running down her face and into her gritted teeth. "...I'm going to make you suffer!" The black tail of the Leech Monster started to lower the Gob downwards towards the gaping maw, its tentacles writhing crazily toward the Goblin.

The Leech chuckled darkly before giving a strained whisper, "This mouth of mine collects more than just sperm. Have you ever wondered how being drained of all your blood feels like!?" Gob could only stare wide-eyed at the Monster's disgusting mouth as its pulsating appendages reached out to her. Just a couple more seconds and the small Goblin girl would be stuffed inside and forcefully eaten alive.

That is, this would've happened, if a small purple blur hadn't just shot forward to make the save.

The Leech choked out a wet gasp as Angel Halo was forcefully driven into her sternum, the odd sword being plunged halfway into the Monster's chest by Luka. The boy's face was strained, a manic rage lighting his normally gentle blue eyes. The Monster hadn't even a moment to react to the attack nor its fallout, as her body began to dissipate as if turning into dust. Luka fell backward onto the grass below as the Monster disappeared, collapsing into a heap. For a while, he could only breathe as he stared up into the blue sky above, the sight being oddly calm considering what had just transpired.

Luka began to sit up just as he was all but tackled from the side by Gob, who pulled him into a fierce hug. He felt the girl sobbing into his shoulder, muttering something incoherent into his sleeve. With his right arm still somewhat incapable of moving, he could only offer his left hand on her back as something of a quarter hug.

"Hey, it's alright. It's over now." He muttered though the words felt half-hearted coming from his mouth. Sure, the fight was over, but he had a feeling that this experience was going to badly affect the four Monsters.

He made to stand but found his pale blue eyes finding something thin and black writhing in the grass. It was the Leech Monster in sealed form, trying to crawl back into the water. A wave of disgust hit him upon seeing the Leech, the unpleasant sight upsetting him greatly. He let go of Gob, reaching out and grabbing the creature by her now harmless tail. It wriggled weakly in his grip, not even able to fully turn around to latch onto him.

Gob noticed the sealed Monster in his grip, not understanding where it came from. "Ewww!" She said, pulling away from the boy to gawk at this Leech. "Get that thing away!" The boy happily obliged, able to force himself to his feet. His right leg violently shook, spurring the Goblin girl to frown as he fought to steady himself.

Luka was able to start the short but laborious walk to the shoreline, peering at the black Leech in his hand with unease. Upon reaching the shore, he thought of just simply hurling the sealed Monster into the water but quickly shook the thought away. 'No, that's not right. She might've been cruel, but I'm not.' He slowly lowered the Monster to the shallow part of the water, depositing her on the water's surface. The Leech simply floated on the top for a moment before weakly swimming down into the murky water. He turned away once it was gone, stumbling a bit in the wet mud as he made it to the grass.

He walked up to Gob, who was watching his awkward gait with large and worried eyes. The boy found the strength to force a small smile on his face, "H-Hey, thanks back there. You really saved me, you know." His words seemed to raise her spirits some, as she smiled back up at Luka.

As he neared the girl, he spotted something else on the ground: Gob's helmet. Grabbing it up by one of its horns, he lifted the cap up and brought it to the Goblin. "Here," He said, gently placing it on her head. "I think this is yours."

Her smile widened when he placed it on her head, a touch of red painting her cheeks. "Thanks, I... uh..." She looked down towards the shore, where remnants of his now broken walking stick lay. "...I'm sorry about your stick."

He waved it off as he continued up the hill, "Eh, I'll find another one. No use worrying about it now." The two took the small hike up the hill, being met halfway by a concerned-looking Papi. "Luka! W-We need your help. Teeny isn't looking too good." The boy didn't hesitate to rush up the hill, a bit of dread in his stomach as he reached the top.

He noticed Vanilla first, the blonde Vampire staring at the collection of trees before she turned towards him and the other two former bandits. Her light red eyes were forlorn as she rushed up to Luka in a hurry. "W-We tried talking to her, b-but she won't say anything to any of us..." The Hero raised his blue eyes up, seeing the girl sitting in the shadow of the trees. His mouth curled downwards, taking note of the Lamia's heavy trembling. Luka nodded towards Vanilla, "Alright, I'll see what I can do..."

Luka glanced around, finding his travel bag after a moment of search. He unzipped it, digging around until he found a certain item inside. From the bag, he pulled out a faded red cape, his Father's cape. 'It isn't a blanket, but it'll have to do.' The boy's reasoning for needing the item was because, as a kid, his Mother would often comfort him by wrapping him up in a blanket and holding him close. It was a gesture that would always prove successful in calming him down when he was upset. This same thing working with Teeny was a bit of a shot in the dark, but he was willing to try.

He unfurled the garment as he tentatively approached Teeny from the side, his right arm and leg now finally having shaken off most of the numbness. The purple-haired boy carefully crept up to Teeny, looking over her curled-in form with worry. The little Lamia's face was averted towards the grass, her body low to the ground as her tail was curled around herself. Luka got down on one knee, gently wrapping the red cape around Teeny, eliciting a quiet gasp from the girl.

The Lamia's emerald eyes locked with his blue ones as she faced him. The boy could see the trails of tears falling down her cheeks, a somewhat amusing sight back when they had "fought" at the cave, now being a very sobering sight.

Silently, he removed his gloves and dropped them onto the grass below. Then he opened up his arms, holding them out towards the purple-haired a word was uttered as the now cape-covered Lamia slithered over to his awaiting arms urgently while latching onto him with both her arms and tail. He returned the hug, gently running a hand through her long hair as he did. Luka closed his eyes, feeling her pain through each body-shaking sob that rocked the girl.

It was an odd sensation, being the comforter. For all his life, he'd always gone to either of his parents for support, but he'd never been in the position of being the supporter. As unfortunate as the circumstances of it were, it felt oddly nice to be relied on in such a way. The boy was broken from his thoughts by Teeny, whose small voice finally spoke to him.

"A-Are you hurt?" The quiet question came as a surprise to him, the boy not having expected the Lamia to ask him about his well-being. "I h-heard you s-screaming, I wanted to help... but..." She lifted her emerald eyes away from his chest, shame in her tone. "...I was too scared."

Luka shook his head, "Don't worry about me, all that matters is that everyone's safe now." He gave her a smile, but she looked away from him with a frown. "But-But Why?" She asked, taking the boy off guard again. "Why do you care?" Luka's answer came quickly.

"Because I'm a Hero, and that's what Heroes do."

Her emerald eyes met his again, a mix of something difficult to describe flowing through her. He spoke it so confidently, as if it were a fact. The tiniest hint of a grin came to her face, something relieved Luka a bit. He drew her in close, brushing his hand through her hair again. He looked around some as he held her, his eyes widening a bit as he locked eyes with the reappearing Alice.

She stood right where she had been before when she was napping, almost as if she had never left. Her golden eyes were large, a hard-to-pin expression in her gaze as she watched him. Luka felt a breeze, the sensation spurring him to look upwards to the sky. The sun was partially blocked by clouds, but still very much high in the sky. 'I don't want to rush things, especially after all that just happened, but we do need to start moving on, now...'

He nudged Teeny lightly, "Hey, can you walk?" He asked the Lamia. She nodded, coming up with him as he stood up. He looked over to the three former Bandits, who seemed to be pretending as if they hadn't just been watching the two hold each other. "Okay, I think it's time for us to go. We still need to get back to Iliasburg, after all."

It didn't take long for The Prophet, The Monster Lord, and the former Four Bandits to return to the path. Iliasburg was nearing in the distance, as the small group pressed forward. The rest of the trip had been quiet, especially for one lavender-skinned Lamia named Alice.

Truthfully, the Monster Lord had been unusually silent for a majority of the trip back. Plainly put, the reason for this was because she had been lost in thought.

From what she had seen from Luka ever since taking these Monsters into his care, was very interesting to her. Without being spurred to, the boy had fallen into the role of caregiver. It was a silly thing to be surprised by, but it really did take her off guard just how naturally he fit into the almost Father-like role. And then there was the fight with the Leech Monster...

...That had been the only time she had seen him truly incensed.

She hadn't known Luka long, only a minute handful of days, but she could easily tell that something like that was not a normal thing for him. Either way, he had taken on that Monster without hesitation like a Hero should. He didn't beat the Leech by himself, but he had acted without any hesitation at all and fought confidentially, which was a good thing in her eyes. The more Heroic he was, the better he'd fit his role. Which is what she wanted.

Something else that had caught her eye, despite herself, was how he had consoled the small Lamia named Teeny. Seeing him so easy do such a thing actually warmed her heart a bit. It was touching, truly.

Although it bothered her a bit to think of how pleasing it was to watch the purple-haired boy act so paternal to the purple-haired Lamia. Alice had felt her own tail twitch just a bit at the potential irony that could be found there. However, she couldn't allow herself to indulge in such fantasies. That wasn't why she was following him, so there was no reason to lean into those types of feelings.

So this one was a bit difficult to write for multiple reasons, one of the main ones being the simple fact that nothing actually happens in the game from beating the bandits to getting back to Iliasburg. Though I really wanted to have this here, both for fluff and character development.

Also, as one might notice, I messed with the order a bit here by having the Leech Monster appear this early. It's an unimportant change ultimately, but I felt that she was the best fit for having a more depraved and desperate encounter for Luka and the former bandits to have here.

Proud Parent: I realize that my decision will end up changing a lot of how this universe works, but that is a purposeful decision. Any attempt of rape is to be treated as an ends to the means. The means being physical violence and other forcible tactics. This is why the only two instances of rape I have written - The first with Assassinroid, since he was asleep (cannot give consent) and the second with Ranael, since he was physically restrained (Obviously nonconsensual).

Trust me when I say trying to write fight scenes here as they would happen in the games would clash with my writing style. So you will find more often than not, any attempts at Luka's innocence will be done through more violent/manipulative means. I'm not going to sugarcoat it here.

Guest: That is a parallel I intend to play into for sure, among other characters Luka will meet in the future.