Romancing the Last Dryad
Chapter 2: The Diamond Lord and Her Keys
Beginning AN:
So, the beginning is meant to be a two-parter. Originally, most of the events of this were on the same night as the first chapter, with them not going to the surface, as said before. Again, this was a last-minute change, so... I hope I won't make it super awkward trying to alter that. But this is still a two-parter in spirit. It's why I feel so bad about taking so long for this to come out, as this and Chapter 1 are supposed to make up the "full prologue" of this fic, with Chapter 3 being the "Okay, this is where things really begin," IE (mild spoiler alert) when the first of the Nymph Variants will start showing up. This is also where I consder to be the real beginning of the "harem elements," so if you're reading this story just for that, I'm sorry to say, you'll still have to wait one more chapter. But I promise this will get in to "harem" (or, polyamory? It's not a traditional "multiple married wives" sort of thing, it's more like a lot of casual sex friends) content by the next chapter. I've even already written when that starts, so the odds of Chapter 3 having me say "Hey... I know I promised harem stuff but... maybe next chapter...?" are almost nill. Unless I drastically rewrite what I've already drafted, and even if I do, I wanna keep the poly stuff in. That's the main reason why I wrote this whole story to begin with! (That and to try to trick fanartists in to drawing my characters (and the Nymph and Dryad) for me for free, hee hee hee.)
However, this chapter will at least have a sex scene near the end. So if you're reading for risque content in general, you're almost there! (There is also sort of "harem elements" in this one near the end, but... it's pretty tame compared to what would follow.)
Vince woke up alone. He had more room in that odd spider web sleeping bag, so he could be a bit more comfortable, but still. No Sonata.
He went outside and saw that two out of three of his... roommates? Tennants? Were gathered out. Sonata was in the 'front,' doing some stretches, looking like she was about to run a marathon or something. Trent was writing things on a paper, staring at a bunny near by. Iris was of course the absent one-out-of-three.
Hrm. The idea of Vince becoming a landlord... well, no. He wanted to think it was appealing, but he didn't want to be a damn thing like his landlord from the Continent. Or the majority of the landlords from that hellscape.
Oh! He bumped in to someone new, too. An older man with a white beard and a brown coat. Based on the way he was facing, it seemed like he was heading right in the direction Vince was walking and possibly looking there, but still ran in to him anyway...
...Well Vince was somewhat used to that, back from the Capital.
"Oh. Mornin'." He said.
"Er, hi?" Said Vince.
"I'm Edwin. Edwin the Merchant. I heard you have money? I'm here to sell."
"Uh... okay, thanks-"
"Hey Vince!" Sonata got his attention with a wave. "Yeah that's Edwin I think he like sniffed out the gold coins in my hair or something! Anyway, that group I was telling you about! Lots of Oreads! I was waiting for you to wake up so we could go over to them!"
"Uh, if they're Oreads, wouldn't they be nocturnal?"
Sonata stopped her stretches. Apparently that was a good question, as she seemed way more focused on him after he asked it. "Uh, that's the interesting thing. Most are, including me unless changing would be convenient for you, but this group is just sort of active whenever. Their leader, Lindsey, can get up at whenever if it's important enough. Although I just want to show you around."
"Their leader's name is Lindsey?" Vince asked.
"Yeah."
"...Huh. I thought Nymph names are more... exotic?"
"What? That depends on where they're from, and even then, what does 'exotic' even mean?"
"I mean- um... yeah, I know Nymphs aren't a monolith or anything, but all Nymph cultures... that I know of, at least... they're very different from... most Human cultures. Uhhh..."
"Oh, you mean all the sex stuff. Yeah, that I understand. Hey though, 'wingman,' here's a protip. You don't want to call Nymphs 'exotic' as a compliment. They'll just react to it weirdly like I just did. If not worse. Fwew, I should probably be your wingwoman, huh?"
"...I'll get better at flirting eventually! And knowing about how to date your kind! I'm pretty good with Humans, if you want tips on them!"
"Haha, yeah. So, you're ready to go?"
"WAIT!"
It was Iris. She paced over to them.
"I want to go too." She said flatly.
"Really?" Asked Sonata. "I mean, just to get the elephant in the room out of the way, you're definitely not going to convince any of these Nymphs to put on clothes. They can be downright scary if they want to be."
"I'm over that now! I got the hint last night! But look, I lost a ton of my supplies to that infested web hell. And from what Trent tells me, I could probably get more at an Oread town. I'm just making a quick stop. Specifically I know they have lots of ingredients for making Depth Hair Dye. And um, Vince. You should consider getting a haircut. By me. Because I'm broke right now and could use any money."
"...I'm just fine with my hair style." Vince said.
Iris sighed. "Yeah. See, this is why I want to go with you. I so want to give up actually wandering around like you - er, no offense Vince - and just settle in my place, but I keep runnin' out of things and having to venture off and last time I did... yeah, spiders."
"That's fair."
"Uh, if you're coming along, make it fast please." Said Sonata. "Because I'm leaving right now and there's no way you'll find me if you get lost behind. Sorry I'm just really hyped about finally going over to Lindsey with some Humans."
"Wait though!" Vince said. "Lemme just... make and get some extra gear..."
He looked around. On his first day, he had already dabbled in crafting some of the tools he made during his Adventurer training. (Unfortunately, he wasn't allowed to keep any of the tools he created during that, they were to be taken in by the Human Capital and sold in stores at extremely marked up prices.) Among most of them... a makeshift raft that probably wouldn't even work... a bow with some arrows...
"Tick tock Vince, you wanna lag behind while Iris - uh no offense sorry Iris - is the one who meets some Nymphs before you? 'Cuz she really doesn't seem to be all that interested in meeting Nymphs, so that's like, an embarrassing look on you."
"I'm coming!" He stuffed the bow and just ten arrows in to the pack.
Back in the caves. Specifically, they entered through the same tunnel that Sonata had dug as a shortcut. They went past the spider nest, which seemed to have opened up since the trio's last 'visit' there - until a Wall Creeper spotted Sonata, then it peeled the webbing again to resemble a shut curtain. But Sonata quickly walked past that, leading Vince and Iris further down a tunnel.
Despite Vince having some fatal encounters at or around the spot just the last night, it still felt oddly... familiar to him? Like just by having Sonata with him, he already got a bit more in-tune with the layout of the island than before. Even though Sonata didn't exactly live there until now. Probably?
Hrm. That made Vince ask:
"So what was your home before you came here? Wait, you said something about being a nomad, but..."
"Yeah, I've been wandering around. I've come back to this island from time to time though. It's pretty chill. Nice, large spot with lots of small towns burried deep in the caves so I can buy stuff, a lot of riches, I can tease the Dungeon Guardian here... and it's easy to access. Speaking of which, you asked with perfect timing, I'm about to introduce my freeway to you! How do you think I go from island to island?"
"Um. I just assumed you boated."
"I'm kind of a thalassophobe, so no. I go under the Great Ocean, not over. Way less scary. Observe:"
They reached a rusty, old minecart railway. Several minecarts were on it, just sort of clustered here. Sonata proudly gestured at the whole track.
"...Are these the abandoned Human-Dwarf collab mineshafts?" Vince asked.
"Oh yeah!" Replied Sonata. "Back when you and the Dwarves shipped off way more people over here, they dug out some pretty elaborate mining networks. They had the same idea I did, that casually travelling island to island by air is too costly, by sea runs the risk of running in to Fishrons or other horrors, so through the underground is better. And underground has all the loot, which was a win-win for them... until they got horriffically slaughtered. Usually by us, hahahaha!"
Iris cringed.
"Well, the miners mostly cleaned up all the stuff that could be found here, so I just use these for travel. Fun fact, one time I got a cart stolen, and had to spend a whole month on Overcast Island because for the longest time nobody else would come over there. I learned how to build minecarts on my own, just so I could get back on the rails. I also tried skating and grinding the rails. ...Didn't end well. I almost fell in magma. Anyway, you two wanna take your own carts or ride together? Or like, pair off in some way?"
Vince flushed a little. "I wouldn't mind riding with you..."
"Um, I'd... like to travel solo, I guess?" Said Iris. "I had some experience riding minecarts during Adventuring training, it was... not very fun. But it was a little better when I was by myself."
Sonata turned to Iris with a concerned look. "Uh, are you sure you wanna go on this trip? I could even walk with you back to the surface to make sure you don't get caught in that spider nest on your way back aga-"
"I'm fine. And I learned my lesson with the nest, thank you very much."
"I'm on Sonata's side." Vince said. "You seem like you... well, don't even want to be here at all."
"I'm fine!" Iris lept in to one of the carts and shoved it a little from the inside. Slowly, and with some creaks, it began to move forward. "Uh, this is the right way, right?"
"Yeah but that's a lucky guess." Sonata said. She jumped in to one cart as well, with Vince trailing in right behind her. "Here, I'll guide you."
Sonata and Vince's cart quickly caught up to Iris', and Sonata stuck her hand in to the latter cart, holding on to the side. Iris flinched a little, but she breathed a bit, getting steady.
"Alright!" Sonata cheered. "Vince, are you ready to go to your first Nymph town?!"
"HELL YEAH!" He cheered.
"That's the spirit! Vince, I promise you, this is gonna be a life of beautiful naked people and loads of cool magic shit you can't find in your pollution-ridden Capital! ...You'll just have to find the right towns that won't kill and eat Humans on sight. But I promise this isn't one of them!"
"Yeah!"
"And Iris, I can buy you some supplies here, just so you know this island has a big-ish Heart Nymph and Hotspring Nymph group that should give you some really nice hair stuff."
"Good to know..." Iris said. Trying to sound upbeat, not pulling off that well of a job.
And so the carts went, out far in the darkness.
Vince and Iris at least held some torches out. It illuminated the area immediately around them. Emphasis on immediately - Vince could not see wall nor ceiling, just rails against the darkness that seemed to stretch out infinitely.
"Yeah, sorry for the cramped tunnel." Said Sonata. "I know this might feel a bit claustrophobic."
Vince just tensed a bit. And, somehow, despite her eyes being 180 degrees from looking at him, Sonata seemed to notice. Without even turning her face towards him, she said the following in a taunting tone:
"Still want that Nymph Harem?"
Iris snickered a bit to herself, making Vince avert his gaze from either of his other companions.
"I don't feel like now's an appropriate time to bring that up..." Vince said.
"Yeah it is! We're going to meet a potential lover of mine! Hee hee!"
"...So what is she like? You never told me what her town is like or... how easy she is to piss off and how violent she'll get when pissed off or what she'll use when pissed off or... anything. Or if this is even a 'she,' sorry. I mean there's the name- but for Humans and Nymphs that might be different-"
"Yeah 'safe bet' since 99% of Nymphs are female but we still don't assume, that's a common mistake people make. But right, Lindsey - a 'her' - runs this little center that popped up! I've known her for almost a century by now, she's pretty cool!"
"'Cool' as in 'Won't fight' or 'Cool' as in 'If she does fight, and she may often, she does so stylishly and will rip me apart in twenty different ways?'"
"Won't fight, but if she will - and that's a small if unless you attack her on sight like you did with me, heh heh - then she can fall under the latter. But for you, you have nothing to worry about."
Sonata then turned to Iris.
"You on the other hand... most Nymphs take fashion advice much less kindly than I did last night."
"I said I'll drop the clothes thing! You made a great point about that being a Wood Elf thing!"
"Yeah. But still. You seem more than a little less-adjusted to the whole Nymph Lifestyle. Trademark."
Silence followed. And, from there, Vince quickly learned that he did not like silence in the pitch-black caverns. So he spoke up.
"So. Um. Nymph society? What's that like? I'm still new to the whole 'being with Nymphs' thing and I know almost nothing about them. Beyond what I studied about in libraries. And that wasn't much."
"Yeah I don't blame you a lot of us, myself included, tend to be secretive fucks. Finding information without coming here is hard, and those who come here tend to not leave for one reason or another. Some reasons... less pretty than others. For the most part, it's a one-way trip."
"...Mostly because they're like me and think reporting anything back to that godsawful place is a waste of energy."
"Or they died. Which is very common. Yeah. ...And it's a bit too soon to rule out that that won't be like you."
Sonata gave him a warm smile.
"Uh... right..." Vince said, looking away.
It was silent the next few moments after that, apart from the occasional brief hint of an uncomfortable hum out of Iris. Through the long, long tunnel ride...
Which raised the question that broke the silence:
"How long will this take?" Vince asked.
"Oh, we still have about an hour."
Vince sighed. He looked over at his only other ally at the time.
"...Why are you joining us again?" He asked Iris. "You look like you're not enjoying this at all. And before you say it: Yes, I know you can ask me the same question. My answer of that, I... think Sonata's hot. There, I said it."
Sonata chuckled. Vince ignored that, laser-focused on Iris, who gave the following answer:
"I mean, Sonata seems like a friendly-enough body guard to have for this place. The brawn to Trent's brain in being the guides of the island. And both say that Oread Towns are the places to go for what I need. I just want materials for more beauty supplies, exotic hair dyes, ya' know. And then I'll be waiting in the cart to get the hell back."
"Hey," Sonata said, "if you change your mind before we get there and you want me to turn back, I can. It'd just take some elbow greese to get this cart moving the other way. The noises might attract wild, people-eating Nymphs. Especially since we're now out in the vast, open caves - which I'm telling you because based on your body language you can't see for shit with your Human eyes! Hee hee!"
"Y-yeah. Everywhere around me has just been black most of the time." Vince said.
"Well, when we get close to her home, you'll see some light. Don't worry. For an Oread, she likes light a lot more often than the rest of us."
Okay. Eyes out for light. Should be really easy to spot considering the infinite blackness surrounding the three of them at the moment.
Yeah. It was a long trip through the darkness. Curving and crossing and getting twisted around, all with very minimal guidance or light. Vince and Iris both pointed out small glimpses of lighting as potential end goals, but Sonata was always quick to brush them off. One that was actually a glow from a Blinkroot - shit, reminder that Vince needed to grab some of those for later. Another was... actually a faint light cast by magma from deep below.
Then, finally, the trio saw it. A single pink light in the far distance, at the end of just one more straight line through the tracks. Just moments later, more lights were visible. A hallway of them. At the end... a house? One of at least a few, it looked like. A whole, if very tiny, neighborhood. It looked nicer than the home Vince first encountered Sonata in, at least.
As they approached it, Vince and Iris could both make out far more details, even in the darkness surrounding the neighborhood. The windows were pitch-black. Tinted. Upon drawing even closer, they could see that the same applied for every single one of the surrounding homes. Surrounding homes that looked nearly identical, except that they were smaller than the central one. As the pink implied, that was the main color of the torches that were around the neighborhood. The mine cart tracks also met up right in front of the house, and seemed to stretch on to other parts of the neighborhood, albeit shrouded in darkness.
Anyway, once they made it, Sonata fearlessly hopped out and knocked on the door of the front and center home.
"Hello? Hello there? Lindsey?" She asked.
The door opened sooner than Sonata expected - and much sooner than Vince or Iris had thought it would. Standing there was another Nymph- oh, right, Oread. Possibly one...? She had red hair, skin even paler than Sonata's, and perhaps what stood out the most of her to Vince, eyes that looked wide and like she had not slept in days. And her mouth moved to a rather sharp, quivering smile. Anyway, she was also naked of course - 'Rule 1' and all apparently. For future reference, assume any Nymph character to be introduced is naked unless otherwise stated.
"Oh! Who are you?" Sonata asked. Sonata asking that question to the person at the house she seemed oh-so comfortable with made Vince's skin crawl. Vince looked, and based on the way Iris was backing up back to the minecarts, she felt the same way if not even stronger about the situation. "Hang on, you look kind of familiar."
"I'm one of Lindsey's friends!" The other Nymph replied. She had a faintly-pained, fake cheery tone in her voice. "Just... a friend though."
"...Okay. Can I get a name at least?"
"Leshly!"
"Okay then... and you're a friend of Lindsey's? Soooo... can you at least leave a message for her?"
She seemed to think about it for a while, staring blankly the whole time.
"Well what's the message?" She finally said.
"That Sonata's finally here for her!" Sonata was grinning like an idiot, also planting her Copper Shortsword to the ground and leaning on the handle. Which meant that she had to lean down a lot to pull that off. "She worked up the courage to talk to her face-to-face! In fact, if she was here right now, I'd still be talking to her! Heh heh, that's how confident I-"
Leshly disappeared in to the door and swiftly, yet quietly, closed it. Leaving the three standing there in the open again, nothing but the sounds of various things skittering in the deep darkness of the alien caverns.
And then she opened the door.
A tall figure stood before the three. Another Oread. But lankier, with pale blonde hair. Her nails, despite being in her 'Human disguise,' looked significantly sharper than the average Nymph's. Her soul-piercing eyes, purple. There was... something about her that sent an immediate chill down the spines of both the Humans.
"Lindsey!" Sonata cheered. "There you are-"
"Sonata." She said, sounding bored at first. Then her eyes locked on Vince and Iris. She seemed to put two and two together, because a smile slowly began creeping across her face. Glints of light flickering from the torches also drew attention to her teeth appearing to show from that smile, and they were exceptionally sharp. "You finally brought snacks over."
"WHAT?!" Vince asked. "Sonata, you said we were just-"
"I know! I did! I meant it!" Sonata said. Frantically. "That wasn't a lie! I didn't think Lindsey would say this if I introduced Humans to her!" She turned to the taller Oread. "L-Lindsey, they're not snacks! No! They're my new... uh, friends? Right guys, you're my friends?"
Iris was furiously shaking her head. Vince... was frozen in indecision. And fear.
"Uh." Vince finally spoke up. "We met her yesterday. And she wanted to show us... you. For some reason. I don't know why, because I'm getting red flags everywhere about this, no offens-"
"You. Human. Stop talking. I didn't ask you to speak."
Vince immediately shut up.
"You sure this is a good idea?" Iris whispered to Sonata.
"No." Sonata replied, even quieter.
"Other Human. That goes for you too. Shut up." Lindsey said. "I heard all of that."
Iris became entirely soundless.
"Good. Now, Sonata, you were saying?"
Sonata's pupils were about the size of pinpricks. "I. F-forgot? Um. Sorry, I was kind of expecting the Humans to help me out just a little, but uh, heh heh, you just told them to shut up..."
"I know you don't see them as offerings for me to eat, but I want them to be. Sonata, this could be your chance. Your chance to be someone much, much, much bigger than you are. Be on your way of achieving your latest dreams. The Zenith. A harem. All yours."
She took a step forward - which made both Vince and Iris step back - and angled her head downward. Her smirk slowly began to grow even larger, turning in to a grin.
"Give them to me. You seem to have some attachment to them. Get rid of that. Show that you're worthy."
"Woah! Why should I do that? I don't like you that much. I mean, we met not that long ago, and I really like these Hu-"
"I think it's time for you to know who I really am." Her voice changed. But in a slight, subtle manner that neither Vince nor Iris could quite place their finger on...
...Sonata, on the other hand, definitely could. She gasped. That voice was clear as day in her head.
"Vince. Iris. Get back in the mine cart right now, and get out of here." Sonata said, not taking her eyes off of the towering Nymph. "This is her."
"Say it." 'Lindsey's' smirk grew.
"Th-the Diamond Lord.
"Nyxza."
Iris booked it to the cart. Vince felt like he really should, but...
"...Who is that?" He felt that asking those three words wasted him enough time to get killed. Especially since the mysterious Nymph already told him to be quiet.
"You claim you wanna love some Nymphs but you don't even know that?!" Sonata asked. Sounding... angry, almost. Angrier than what Vince had heard from the brief time he 'knew' her. "I'll- I'll explain after we get our asses out of here! But for now, GO!"
So Vince began running too. But the 'Diamond Lord' just snapped her fingers. It was a loud snap that echoed through the cavern walls. A noise that made several other Oreads and what seemed like a few Nymphs of other types to peek their heads out of their homes a good distance away - before slamming all their doors of various kinds shut.
The same Nymph that initially greeted Sonata appeared from the doorway again. That time, however, she was soon followed by others. A rush of them came pouring out of the door, all while 'Lindsey'/Nyxza watched on with a smug grin on her face.
"Key Holders." She said. "Bring me all three of them. I'll figure out what to do with Sonata later. Prepare to cook the Humans now, though. I'm peckish."
"THERE'S THE CART!" Sonata cried out. "GET IN!"
And yet she was the first one who followed that instruction. Iris and Vince both scrambled after her, getting in in that order. The Diamond Lord, however, just remained put.
Sonata pushed off against the ground, apparently using some kind of Nymph strength, and got them moving - for all of two seconds. Because right after, a pair of hands grabbed the cart. The trio looked ahead, finding themselves face-to-face with one of the Lord's mooks. The one with green hair, to be specific. She had a forced, pained grin on her face.
"So, you're Sonata!" She said. Her voice was that same fake-cheery tone that the other mooks had had by then. Even by Nymph standards, her mouth was unnaturally stretched to make the expression. "The Diamond Lord talked about you a lot!"
"...Really?" Sonata said, nervous beyond all belief, constantly jiggling the cart to try to break it out of the minion's grasp.
"Yes... that you'd make a fine addition to working with her. Willingly or not. She'd prefer willingly, but she can make not work just fine... She's so close already, after all..."
"Well I'd like to get FARTHER if you could just GET YOUR HANDS OFF THIS MINE CART AND LET ME GO LET ME GOOOOO!"
Sonata shouted that, then started swatting her hands around. One slapped the Oread holding the trio down - and it sent her flying back a good distance.
Even Sonata looked a bit surprised at that.
"...Are you stronger than the other Nymphs?" Vince asked.
"No. Trust me, I've been in lots of fights. I'm painfully average. Those are the Key Holders, they're weaker-"
Of course the other 'Key Holders,' whatever that meant (damn Sonata's vague-ness), didn't just sit around doing nothing. They too rushed around and surrounded the group, and re-locked them down by placing all their hands around the cart.
Vince, Iris, and Sonata could all hear Nyxza walking over to them. None wanted to turn their heads - the two Humans, especially paralyzed. Sonata wasn't, but she did whimper.
At a breaking point, Iris stood up and gave a battle cry, scissors in hand. "YOU WANT SOME OF THIS?!"
The circle of Nymphs around them giggled.
"No." Said the one with sky blue hair. "But it won't be as bad as what the Diamond Lord will do if we fail or take too long, soooooo..."
Iris jabbed her scissors in the shoulder of that one that just spoke. That pushed her back off, and with a sweeping kick, the other mooks backed away.
"C'mon, let's go!" Iris said, trying to jiggle the cart back and forth. "Sonata, you get this moving again! ...Again!"
Sonata nodded sternly, giving a respectful salute. And in contrast to that gesture, her words were... "No promises!" But she at least reached a foot out and kicked at the ground anyway.
The kick managed to push back the large amount of remaining Oreads who tried to hold them back. 'They were off,' but barely. And just based on the sounds the Nyxza were making, even her walking was faster than them. Somehow.
Finally, Vince summoned the courage to look behind him. Not-Lindsey still had that smirk on her face. She was looking him in the eye. And she began to shift her form. Bones cracked - or no, something went on in her body that vaguely sounded like bones cracking. Her skin turned a deep blood red, almost looking like her flesh itself was disappearing. Black lines began appearing on her - markings, similar to Sonata's own that resembled stains of blood. Except these were smaller and intricate - as if she had writing on her body, but they weren't any actual characters of any real language.
Unlike other Nymphs from what Vince knew, she underwent more changes than that. Her entire lower jaw suddenly dropped an uncanny distance, accompanied by a crack. Her teeth became far sharper. Fingers, turning long and thin, with the nails being like needles. Her eyes... red like Sonata's, but far more bloodshot. They sent a piercing gaze, red lines of blood vessels spreading at a visible rate. Even her hair color shifted to be a chilling blank white. Finally, the Diamond Lord raised an arm, gems beginning to form along it. Fitting her title, they were all perfect, glimmering, clear diamonds.
"I'm not concerned about the Humans." She said. "But Sonata..."
They were moving off back in to the darkness. The sweet, comforting, familiar darkness.
But of course they weren't safe yet. Very soon after Nyxza's house left Vince's eyesight, he heard creaking behind them.
Oh thank goodness. It was just her duodecet of mooks, and not the Diamond Lord herself. They rode in a series of mine carts, one for each, but all of the carts were crammed close together.
"Sonata, they can't follow us back home." Iris said. "Throw them off trail or something!"
"Uh, this is already underneath our island." Said Sonata. "And she knows that I live here. Since I've visited her a few times before. And told her I wander around this island a lot. Uh, my bad. But look, the Diamond Lord's got other plans. Bigger plans. She won't want to waste energy hunting small fry like you. I've seen this happen before-"
"You knew that would happen!" Iris lashed out.
"With the Diamond Lord! I didn't know Lindsey was the Diamond Lord!"
BANG!
Nyxza's mooks rammed in to their cart, and the one with green hair in particular lept from hers to the group's. Vince and Iris both shrieked the moment the carts made contact.
"Relax! You already saw I can take one of them hand-to-hand!" Sonata said. "The three of us shouldn't have a problem at all, even with twelve of them! I mean... me fighting one doesn't prove that mathematically, but you get the idea!"
She... showed that it 'wouldn't be a problem' by trying to awkwardly fight the green-haired mook off. Just one shove was all it actually took, sending her falling to the cavernous depths below. Sonata snickered.
"Don't worry, she's not dead." Sonata said.
"That's a bad thing!" Iris shouted. "I want those monsters dead!"
"Well, they're kinda forced to work with the Diamond Lord, so it's a little fucked to just think of them like-"
"I want them DEAD! I don't care WHAT this asshole did to them, they're after me right now! It's them or us you disgusting pig!"
Sonata moved back and even looked a bit hurt from that. "You... you would care. Trust me. The Diamond Lord fucks people over bad."
The other Nymphs went after them next. Their carts surrounded the trio in the series of parallel tracks, and the band of Oreads closed in on them all. Even in front, some of them hopped over across tracks in order to get them from all directions. The ones ahead stopped, making the cart of the trio knock in to it, stopping it in turn dead in its tracks.
"No." Vince weakly said.
The one with teal hair attacked next, aimed at him. It was a quick, swift move, jabbing her claws in to his shoulder - he didn't even feel the actual entry at first. But when he did, it hurt. A sudden sharp sting of pain, and once that began, he REALLY wanted it to stop. He screamed out in pain.
He managed to shove the Nymph so that she wasn't freaking IMPALING him any more. Or at least what felt like impaling. It got her to back off a good distance away and fall off the rails, to the darkness. Iris also came to his aide - in continuing to keep any other attacking Nymphs off. Finally, he took his bow out, aiming it to the red enemy who first greeted them all at the door. Or... the orange-haired Nymph? Or, the one with the purple hair was glaring at him with piercing red eyes. Maybe the one with cyan hair, already bracing her arms defensively?
It hit him. Vince had no idea what to do in that kind of situation. Despite his training, going against an army like that was a bit beyond what he was prepared for. Even if they were exceptionally weak Oreads. He took a deep breath in, and fired blindly.
"I-Iris, Sonata..." Vince began.
"Don't worry, I got this!" Iris confidently said.
She gave a sweeping kick that knocked off most of the minions. Specifically, the ones with violet, sky blue, and orange hair fell off the tracks outright, also being swallowed by the cavern darkness. It also left their carts, emptied and open, and so Iris hopped in to that one.
All attention was on the Stylist then. Vince, Sonata, and Nyxza's army all looked her way. In particular, the one with pink hair turned around so fast and suddenly that her cart swerved, a strong enough turn to throw her off balance. The cart wobbled, and she too fell off.
Vince looked through his pack and-
Oh. Right. The piece of shit Copper Shortsword that he bought just before leaving the Human Capital. That was... all he had on him at the moment.
Well, the 'defensive' one with cyan hair attacked next, hopping in Vince and Sonata's mine cart. Vince tried swinging it at her-
To his surprise, it actually did something. Unlike his attempt with Sonata, the mook was pushed back over the edge, slipping and falling between the vehicles.
"Great thinking, Vince!" Sonata said, casually kicking off the one with green hair as well.
Alright, the ones with red and purple hair went next. ('Leshly,' the former was named? Or was that an alias?) 'Blue' and 'Yellow' huddled up by a cart in the back, and the last of them - 'Lime' - seemingly vanished. The former pair decided to go after Sonata, who had her back turned to them, seemingly looking at the abyss below.
"SONATA!" Vince cried. "WATCH OUT!"
Sonata didn't move. The other two Oreads approached her-
Right as they were about to touch Sonata, she turned around with her face in her true form, teeth sharper than knives, laughing maniacally. She lifted her hands up, with sharp claws, and dug them in to the shoulders of the pair. With a mighty heavy, the pair were flung up towards the possible-ceiling of the cavern. Due to the darkness, neither Vince nor Iris could tell if they made contact with some cave roof. But either way, they were out of sight.
And then there were two?
The ones with yellow and blue hair went over to Vince and Iris as Sonata did some cart-hopping to catch up with them. Putting up a bit more of a fight than the other Oreads, those two 'Key Holders' quickly split themselves up so that Vince and Iris were uncomfortably forced in-between them. Vince managed to parry the yellow-haired one's claw swipes with his shitty sword of copper, while Iris parried the blue-haired one's own flurry of hand attacks with her scissors, but they seemed to be a bit more evenly matched.
Until Sonata came by and shoved the pair off, again throwing them out in to the darkness.
With that, she shifted back to her Human look, laughing, and nudged the cart to get it to knock off the others in front and start moving themselves towards the exit again. Or, maybe. Vince at least had no idea what direction they were going, but he assumed...
"WHOO!" Sonata cheered. "That was amazing! I feel FUCKING invincible! WWWWWAAAOOUGH am I bloodlusted right now! Hahaha, come on, put it there! We make an amazing team, right? Fuck, that fighting made me horny, Vince, you feelin' like-"
Sonata stopped smiling when she looked at Vince. It was that smile drop that, in turn, made Vince realize that he himself was shaking like a leaf. Vince and Sonata looked over at Iris at the same time, and found that she was giving the Oread a stern scowl.
Everything went quiet afterwards. The speed of the cart was definitely picking up, with the silence of the area allowing all parties to hear that as clear as day.
"Right. Reading the room." Sonata said. "Uh, look, I'm sorry. I legitimiately had no idea that Nyxza was Lindsey the whole time. I just thought... out of everyone I came across, she'd be the one person I could completely trust. She does that. Don a disguise. Put on an act. Seduce a Nymph she 'likes enough.' Or in my case, someone she wants to toy around with. You see, this wasn't actually my fault, Nyxza doesn't put up any 'signs' that she's-"
And then their cart was knocked to the side, making the three spill out. All of them screamed to various degrees as their sole remaining ride tumbled off the one track and fell in to the darkness, with Vince barely grabbing on to the rail with just one hand. He felt like his heart stopped then and there. Vince looked around - Iris was also holding on dearly to the rail with only one hand, while Sonata was nowhere to be seen. And above, standing there...
...Yep. Nyxza's final Oread servant sicced after them. The one with lime hair, standing above them and grinning.
"How the hell did you hide from us?" Vince asked.
"Heh, like I'd tell! Even if it seems likely you'll die, I don't wanna take any risks that you'll make it out and blab my stealthy secrets! Now then..."
She stomped on Vince's hand, sending a sharp sting of pain that made him cry out. The pain only got worse as her toenails sprung out in spikey talons.
"Sonata seems to like you more, so you'll go first. Don't worry, I'll catch you before the fall kills you, so I can be the one to deliver you to the Diamond Lord herself!"
"RAWRGH!"
Sonata rushed in and tackled her with her shoulder, knocking her a bit further down on the track. Immediately, she rushed to Vince and offered a hand. Vince gladly took it with the free hand, and Sonata pulled him up so that he was with her on the track. Sonata rushed to Iris next, offering her hand, although Iris took considerably longer before she took it and was likewise pulled up.
All three of them looked at the last Key Holder, who soon recovered from that attack. She shot them a dirty look, teeth full of knives forming a bitter scowl at the exploring trio.
"You can only sneak up on me once..." She said, standing up. "So now, you're out of options. Trapped."
She rushed after Sonata, who drew out her Copper Shortsword from her hair. With a decisive move, Sonata swung the sword, aiming straight at the enemy's head.
To the trio's surprise, the enemy Oread caught the sword between her hands and began to laugh.
"Aw, don't tell me, the only reason why you have that piece of shit instead of using your claws as your basic weapon like a good Nymph should is because you believe the fairy tale of the Zenith, don't you? Well, here's what I think about that..."
She clasped her hands together, destroying the shortsword and turning its blade in to a glittering rain of metal dust. All that was left was the handle, which even then was lost as the lime-haired opponent swatted it away. The whole time, Sonata looked on with a gasp.
"N-no... that was..."
"That was a fairy tale that you've been chasing after pointlessly. Admit it, Sonata. You're never going to be the top of the world. Nyxza already took that throne. She claimed it first, ninety-five hundred years before you were even born. And there's nothing you or any number of Human 'friends' you make can do about it. That's just life, it's tough and cruel!"
She rushed over and headbutted Sonata, which got her to gasp in pain and take a step back on their extremely narrow platform. Acting fast, the lime-haired Nymph put Sonata in a hold and bit her on the neck, drawing a good amount of red blood from it.
Growling, Sonata returned to her true form and shoved the enemy off of her, but the opponent Oread was fast to reply with a spinning kick to the head, nearly knocking Sonata off. It was then that Vince looked through his pack, seeing the Wooden Bow.
Vince got that out again, and just as the enemy Oread rushed to Sonata again, he fired at her.
He clenched his teeth at the sight of his opponent simply swatting the arrow away mid-air, so he fired again. That time, Sonata also gave her a shoulder ram, and she seemed to be unable to dodge both attacks at once. The limehead barely ducked from the arrow and was knocked down on the tracks by Sonata, where the friendlier Oread soon pinned her down by placing a foot on her stomach.
"You... will... never... defeat... the Diamond Lord... Nyx- OW!"
"RAAAAAAAGH!" Iris had stabbed her in the base of the foot with her scissors, infuriated. Yanking the scissors out, she got ahead of Vince and Sonata, and kicked the enemy Oread hard enough to send her flying off the tracks.
Iris turned around, breathing heavily. It was enough to make Sonata tense - shifting to her Human look for whatever reason - and Vince to take a step back.
"Let's go home." Iris said. "We'll walk."
"Uh, this is the tunnel." Sonata said, breaking the hours of silence as the three moved back on foot. "We can finally stop having to balance on this."
Sonata was the first to hop down to show them just how close to the ground it was. As it turned out, pretty close - the distance between the tracks and the stone was less than half the height of each of them. Vince took her offered hand to help him climb down, while Iris jumped off, refusing to make eye contact with the Nymph.
While down, the light of the torch Vince held managed to get something that caught his eye. A giant pinkish crystal, shaped like a heart, with faint bits of light trailing through it. Vince looked to Iris and Sonata.
"You can have it." Iris flatly said. "You need it more than me right now. I took a few already."
"Oh, I maxed out centuries ago." Said Sonata. "Also, those things work weirdly with Nymph biology anway."
Shrugging, Vince struck the Life Crystal with his pickaxe, digging it out. He embraced it, and it turned in to a series of pink motes, which were absorbed to his body. He felt stronger. Better.
But only by a small amount.
Next to it was another chest, and while Iris and Sonata already continued to walk on towards the exit, Vince dashed over and gave it a peek inside.
Damn. It had a fresh bomb in it. And some other junk. Vince decided to quickly stash them, the bomb in particular could make a good weapon against anything else like Nyxza and her company. Only for emergencies, though.
Not too long after, the three reached the same spot that they initially got on. At least, Vince took Sonata's word for that, since the caverns at the moment all looked the same to him. Later, a giveaway became apparent when Vince saw light from the series of torches that he left as a trail to himself. (In spite of Sonata laughing at him for doing that. Something about having better vision than him.)
After reaching the "mine cart station," Iris rushed to the ligthened dock and quickly walked her way towards the little hill Sonata dug up last night. She was wordless.
"I-Iris, I-" Sonata began, holding a hand out to her.
Iris just walked away faster, sighing. Sonata could tell from a glimpse at her face that she was more disappointed than angry, at least.
Vince put a hand on Sonata's shoulder, getting her attention.
"Hey, you didn't know." He said. "And Iris'll forgive you eventua-:
"I should have known. Look, Vince, I..."
Sonata walked over to the nearest sittable rock sticking out from the cave and rested on it. She also shifted back to her true form. Vince could even see her hair go from organized to jagged and messy.
"You probably should have found out that something was amiss. I'm 500, and wanted to plan a 'Nymph harem,' but I hadn't started yet. Did you ever think there was anything weird about that?"
"Wellllll..." Vince said. "I hope this doesn't come off as rude, but... part of me thought you were one of those 'all talk but gets flustered when it comes down to it' people."
"What? Me? Fuck no. Okay, I'll just come out and say it. I had a lover. I had one for a while. Back then, she was all I needed. I... used to be more monogamous. We both slept with others on the side, knowingly obviously, but she was the only one that wasn't just a one-night stand. She was a partner. A 'soul-mate,' or at least I might have jokingly said that at the time. I don't believe in soul mates. But... she was really something special. The closest person I ever knew. The one woman I could say for certain that I loved."
Sonata took a deep breath.
"Nyxza killed her. This happened ten years ago. I thought I was finally ready to move on a few days ago, but..."
She stayed silent after that, making Vince slowly stop filtering the ambient sounds of the caves. The flutter of a bat's wings in the distance. Dripping from damp ceilings. Possible sounds of odd monsters skittering.
"Sonata, I'm so sorry."
"I didn't meet 'Lindsey' until recently. Last year. I thought I could finally fill the void again. She seemed so charming. Funny. Understood me. But just now I learned that she was really the same person who killed my lover. I have no fucking idea why she kept me alive, and why she wants me to work with her. Why she's toying with me like that. And I thought I could see through her disguise. No matter what form she took, that I'd feel that souless, burning red stare, and those boney limbs of hers. I guess not."
"I know it's not the same thing, but I've also lost friends before. I... have an idea how you feel. Most of them fell to disease. A few were shot by muggers, though I can't hate the crooks too much, they looked even worse off than we were... desperate to get the tiniest scraps."
"The Human Capital. Yeah, I feel sorry for anyone I find out is from there. I'll admit, that place sounds a lot worse than the Nature Islands. I've never been there. Or any larger landmass, for that matter. Unless you count the Dryad Jungle."
Sonata abruptly stood up. "Hey, thanks for reaching out, but I don't need pity. To tell you the truth, my 'big goals' - the Zenith and the Nymph harem - they're both only half of a full story. I want the Zenith so that I can stand a chance against that motherfucker. Kill her. Make her regret keeping me alive. Avenge my lover, avenge everyone she's wronged. End her eon of village-torching and power-grabbing and tearing down that big fucking fancy city she has built up underground before she can lay a finger on Hell. Free her Key Holders - you know, those Nymphs we fought back there? Her minions, and she abuses all of them."
"And the Nymph harem is because you want to prove yourself as getting in to a better, healthier polycule than her?"
"That one's... complicated. Look, just forget it. All you need to know is that the Nature Islands are still dangerous, and they're exponentially more dangerous with the Diamond Lord around. Thankfully, she moves a lot when she's not settled under an identity like 'Lindsey.' And with her secret identity exposed, she's probably gonna head out and leave this island alone. News travels fast, the neighbors she had probably overheard us. Might have even called up some Hell Capital authorities that could at least make her think staying there would be too big of a hassle. So we're relatively 'safe' for now. Just..."
She began to walk on the path leading to the surface. "You don't have to get in my life right now. Save that for when we've known each other for a while. I mean a while. No need to put pressure on yourself now, when you're still getting used to all the shit on here that you probably won't even survive."
"Son-"
"And I don't want to pressure myself on knowing you either."
"Uh-"
"Come on, Iris must be starting to get worried that you're taking so long down here. As for what she thinks of me, meh. I don't think it's as good. Let's get back home."
She went on to the surface. Vince stayed for a while, but after losing the sound of Sonata's footsteps, and hearing a growing number of strange and ominous noises, he decided to go up too.
"Hey, Vince, sorry about your journey." Trent said the moment Vince stepped in to the small town.
"Huh? Oh, I guess Iris and Sonata told you everything."
"Errrrr... Iris did. Sonata was silent. I think you should go check on them both."
Vince immediately ran to the center of the neighborhood and looked. Iris just stepped outside and began lighting a cigarette. Apparently, he stared at her for a bit too long in surprise, because she looked a bit bothered.
"What?" Iris asked, taking a puff.
"It's nothing- okay, it's a lot of things." Vince replied. "First, I wanted to see if you were okay. You left in a huff, and that's... understandable. But also, I didn't picture you to be a smoker."
"I'm surprised you and Trent aren't smokers. This place is stressful."
"I had more than my share of tobacco floating in the atmosphere back at the Human Capital. I think I'm done."
"You sure?" She puffed again. "It's better without the smog mixed in, heheh."
"Haa haa... I'm good... uh, so, you're sure you're okay? That was the Diamond Lord. One of the most feared Nymphs in the world. It... definitely scared me, at least."
"You know about her?"
"Only a little. Ancient texts talked about a Nymph even other Nymphs were afraid of. She runs this horrible empire, but she'd occasionally set up fronts in towns and try to do business there, slowly bleeding them dry and assimilating them in her bigger empire. I think that town was one of those fronts and all, if she's still following that pattern, that area might be safe and she's gone back to her... big... creepy diamond city thing?"
"Compared to the spiders, that wasn't as disturbing. Look, I don't think I'm going on adventures with Sonata any more. I know that was an accident, but I think it's just not my thing, and Sonata's not my... kinda person."
"That's fair."
"Speaking of, you should probably go see her."
"Ah... I spoke to you first because, well, you're newer to this than her - I'm newer to this than her - and because we spoke a bit in the caves when we got out of the minecart and she really didn't want to seem to talk about it."
"Oh that's why you were behind?"
"Yeah. You... didn't find anything weird about that?"
"Do you want me to be completely honest?"
"Well, yes. It would be refreshing to have some honesty here."
"I thought you two were going to a private spot in the caves to have weird rescue sex."
"Oh." Vince blushed a little. "That..."
"What? Not to sound racist, but isn't that how Nymphs generally... I mean..."
"No, that's a fair thing to guess with Sonata... uh, but me... I'll just go see Sonata right now."
He quickly walked to Sonata's house. Which was, well, his house.
He opened the door half-expecting Sonata to be sulking or something. Instead, she was happily sitting there on the chair that Vince had plopped in shortly before they left for the caves, at the table that Vince also very hastily crafted together. She was smiling at him.
"Hey, Vince!" She said. "Is everything okay? You lagged a bit. I would have gone back, but I heard you talking to Trent. I just assumed that I was normally faster than you, so I made it here first."
"Um... you're sure you don't want to talk about Linds-"
"Nope! And you know, her name isn't Lindsey. It's Nyxza."
"Yeah I meant your fake friend who betray- nevermind. So, name, she's named after the mythological night goddess?"
"Well, it's more like the other way around, but that's not important. What's important is, this is the life I'm trying out now. So, I have a few more ideas on things we can do. That are hopefully better than that last thing."
"Like what?"
"The goals I mentioned! Well, okay, the Zenith's a bit too close to fighting Nyxza, but the Nymph Harem! We gotta start building room for all the potential hot roommates we'll pick up!"
"...'We'll?'"
"Yeah...? Right, you didn't mind the idea of us sharing partners together? I mean, I admit I could be jumping the gun, but I got the vibe that you were in to me. And that, you know, I was 'included' in your imagined harem idea."
"Uh. Well. Um. You see, I... yes?"
"You sure? You don't sound too sure. If you don't want to date me, that's totally fine. I'll have you know that even the most bloodthirsty, eat-Humans-on-sight Nymphs tend to respect boundaries. And the few who don't are seen as assholes even by Nymph standards. Just like Ny- dammit I'm doing it again.
"Anyway, we're gonna need houses. Those boxes you've built? Not enough. Trust me."
"I've been meaning to improve the work, sorry. Making better furnature-"
"Oh, no. Vince, Nymphs are all for quantity over quality. Don't worry about making it cozy just yet, I guarantee you we've lived in worse. But yeah fancying stuff up is still a goal. Just not immediately now. Nymphs would prefer having more space for more of their friends than those spaces being elaborate."
"Shouldn't we focus on this one at a time? I mean, if we-"
"No. Vince, trust me on this. I'm actually an oddball in that I'm a solo traveller. Nymphs are looking for places they can bunk with their friends. First and foremost. Okay, usually those 'friend' counts are just around two... I think the most common Nymph group is a triad. Hmmm... Vince, that gave me an idea, we'll need a whiteboard. Or a blackboard."
"And how would I make one...?"
"Oh, there's basically biomes for that. Long story. We don't need a black-or-whiteboard immediately. Or grayboard, actually."
"A gray- nevermind."
BOOM!
A shake rippled through the entire house, throwing Vince on the ground. Sonata, on the other hand, stayed put.
"Wh-what was that?!" Vince asked. Sonata just had a grin on her face.
"I dunno, but it sounds like someone's taking issue with us! And if someone's taking issue with us, I get to FIGHT again!"
Sonata rushed out the door, leaving Vince to struggle a bit to follow after her.
"W-wait! There was also something I wanted to give you!" He cried out.
Yeah, it looked like Vince's town had two new faces to it.
The one that stood out first was a Dwarf. Dressed in brown, having a Mining Helmet, and bearing a full orange beard. Neither Vince nor Sonata wanted to profile, but based on the bomb with the lit fuse he was holding, he was the one who...
"YOU'RE HOLDING A LIT BOMB!" Vince shouted.
"Huh?" The new man said. "Oh yeah, that. Well, I've been meaning to-"
Vince dashed over and knocked the bomb out of his hand, sending it further in the forest. It burst mere seconds later.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Vince asked.
"What? That's just my business."
"Why was that bomb lit?!"
"I was going to throw it out like you did! You should have given me one second!"
And the other new face spoke up: "Yeah, I see you've also just met Tordak. Not a big fan of his character myself, but his business is good for my business." A woman with blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, wearing a white medical outfit that included a miniskirt and red heels.
"And you are...?" Vince asked.
"Madeline. Medic. And... you're this town's primary adventurer, right?"
"That might be me at this point!" A suddenly-appearing Sonata said. She moved her way past Vince and greeted the two new parties. "Hi! Sonata, Oread trying to get a big Nymph Harem and forge the Zenith!"
"The... Zenith? Isn't that a children's fairytale?"
"Nnnnnope!" Sonata said. And just like that, she was done with the Nurse, and looking over at Tordak.
"So, you blow things up, right? That's pretty cool."
"I do. Uh, are you a Nymph or just someone who hates clothes?"
"Both!"
"That's pretty cool."
"Haha! I think we'll get along great!"
"You like the caverns too?"
"Do I?! Pfft! Fuck the sunlight, I love going around in the dark pits!"
They shook hands.
"I'm Sonata."
"Name's Tordak."
"Ah, right, Tordak. You interrupted me with your bombs, and for that, I'm gonna have to blow you off right now. That wasn't meant to be a bomb pun. I'm sure Vince'll have something planned for you later, you see, he likes me, and so he'll probably take my side in that your blasting was really annoying."
"Um," Vince said, "I'm 'taking your side' because that was dangerous. He was holding a bomb with a lit fuse in the center of town."
"Haha, suddenly our fight on the first night doesn't seem so bad now? Ah, I kid, sorry, I probably shouldn't have gone that way. Anyway, Vince, what next? Oh, right! I was gonna show you my plans for where all the Nymphs will live!"
She rushed back in to their house. It was then that Vince took his backpack back out and looked in to it, seeing the inventory he made. One thing in particular caught his eye...
Vince entered their home soon after, holding something behind his back. There, he was treated to the wonderful sight of Sonata bent over a table. Because she was furiously scribbling something on a giant piece of paper that he had not seen before with both its ends tightly wrapped up like an exceptionally thick scroll. He could swear her ears actually perked up at his arrival, but she definitely noticed him opening the door, as she began to smirk while making more exaggerated hip motions. Swinging that enormous, naked ass of hers in a hypnotic motion.
"Hey, Sonata, I have a present."
"Please tell me it's your cock."
It was at that moment that Vince learned what would happen if someone tried to pull off a spit take without having drank anything. He... coughed, very awkwardly. Made a hell of a dry weazing sound.
"I'm still a bit pent up from fighting those Key Holders, I wasn't joking about that and that never really faded. I just pretended to not be because I remember that the rest of the town would probably not consider that polite company, but now that we're behind closed doors, heh heh heh heh...
"...Oh, sorry. Was that too spicy?"
"No. No, it- I uh- I really do want- I mean. I do have a present, and it's uh... well okay, it's... probably that... maybe later... but... here."
He approached her and held out the object behind his back.
It was his Copper Shortsword, with some vines tied around it to resemble the bow of a gift. The vines themselves were of low quality - Vince just quickly slashed around some vines below cave entrances using a guide he found as one of the 'junk items' in one of the chests he explored - but the tieing... he'd like to think was pretty good. He studied knots extensively during training. Mostly how to undo them in the event of being captured and thrown to a cave or something.
"Here." He said. "I know it's not much, but you lost the sword you had, and you were planning to make that super-sword thing with it, and I was always thinking of going for archery anyway, the sword was just the cheapest weapon I could buy... I hope this is the right kind."
"Aw Vince, that's really sweet of you." She took the sword, unwrapped it, and then placed it in her hair. Vince looked carefully, and he could swear that some of the hairs wrapped around the sword and pulled it in. Vince stared on in confusion.
"...How does that...?"
"Something something limited shrinking magic. Trust me, there's almost no use on that in combat and it doesn't work on living beings who don't fully cooperate, but basically, we can carry stuff around. I could carry you around in my hair, though you'll be tiny and stuff. But yeah, that's how Nymphs carry stuff without clothes."
Vince blinked. "Y-you know what, nevermind."
"So, about that sex offer."
"I uh, we still have the whole day ahead of us, and I think I still need a moment to think about everything. It's all a little sudden. Maybe tonight?"
"Sure thing! What do you want to do?"
"Well, I haven't had a 'normal' day on the surface, not preparing for nightfall or venturing some cave. I know we already spent most of the day... underground again, but if we could just... stick around here and walk and chat and stuff?"
"Alright."
And well, that's how things went. Vince went about exploring, and Sonata got a few laughs in over at how he was seeing so much for the first time. When Vince asked what was so funny, Sonata just restated that she's explored most of the island already, so what was new and exciting to him was the same old, same old to her. Especially in the central Forest, which Vince really wanted to stay in. Definitely a reasonable request.
Sonata offered to be Vince's tour guide, but he declined at the moment, saying that he wanted to get some sense of wonder and discovery just for one day. For the most part, that worked out, with Vince discovering the trails Sonata walked through, the big rabbit homes Sonata used as food, and some cliffs to hang by. However, there was one exception where Sonata went in to backseat mode:
"Hey, you almost passed something great. I know you didn't want a tour guide or anything here, but..."
"Huh?"
"Around that cliff."
Vince did as instructed, taking a walk to a mountain that normally loomed over behind the town to the north, and was lead to a beautiful waterfall. Below it, a clear pond of a descent size, leading to a stream of a modest size that fed its way farther north.
"Hey Vince, wanna know the secret to how I get this irresistible body squeaky clean every day? Or, most of the days?" Sonata dove in to the pool elegantly, cutting through the water like a sword through thread. Below, she became a shadow that zipped its way over to the waterfall, and like magic she emerged behind. With just one hand, she parted the waterfall, like a curtain revealing her beauty.
The downward sun made the water that splashed her body glisten with white. She had a mischevious grin aimed at Vince as she slowly rubbed all over herself, washing off her arms, taking long strokes at her legs, teasingly brushing a hand at her pinkening pubic area. She turned around just so that he could have a full view of her rubbing her ass, getting it to jiggle each time a hand left contact with it.
"You know, spelunking can sure dirty up a person," Sonata said, "if you wanna get Nymphs to find you attractive, you should clean-"
SPLOOSH.
Vince had thrown off his clothes like they were trying to kill him and dunked in to the pool, although he was a good distance away from Sonata. Something that Sonata soon corrected by again diving underwater, turning to a blur that zipped by his location. Like a fabled Mermaid, Sonata emerged from the water with a fantastic splash up against Vince, throwing her hair back with one shake, approaching him as she smiled. She kicked forward in the water, and their chests touched.
"I'm really sorry if I'm coming on to you so strong..." Sonata said with a gasp. "I- I'm pent as fuck. I should have let it out by myself before we went on this walk-"
Vince leaned in and kissed her on the lips.
...
He pulled his face away right after, but he brought his arms up to hold her. Before he could, however, she hugged him first, and pulled them both in together. Sonata tried to play it cool and slow, but the sheer heat Vince felt by his waist from her groin betrayed her. Well, he was the one to think that - as if Vince didn't have what felt like a goddamn baseball bat between his legs at the moment, ready to burst.
The moment was ruined when it seemed like Sonata noticed something. Her attention was grabbed, and she looked around at the opening in the mountain that the pair had walked through earlier.
"Huh? Sonata, what is it?" Vince asked.
It was Iris, stepping through. Sonata sunk most of herself in the water, right as the Stylist turned towards Vince with a smile.
"Oh! Uh- Iris!" Vince said, throwing his hands down to his crotch.
"Aww, shoot." She said jokingly as she took off her shoes, socks, bow, and apron. "Looks like I'm not the first Adventurer to find this little bathing spot. Say, no pressure, but you wanna maybe build us some tubs so that we don't have to go all the way out here to get clean? I mean, I guess that job falls under my umbrella too, so I could be the one to make them."
"Uh. R-right. Right! No, I'll do them!"
"And if you're taking suggestions, I love public baths. Steam rooms, too. It's great chattin' with others when there's water everywhere and/or steam's going through your nose." Her shirt went off next. Vince was somewhat expecting her to have on another outer layer first for whatever reason, so he was slightly caught off guard at the sight of her torso only being covered by a frilly pink bra that exposed a great deal of her cleavage. She tossed her shirt to the pile with her other clothes, an act that made her chest jiggle.
"That sounds like fun."
"Honestly, get that, and a steady way to make supplies, and I'll be set for life." Iris wasted no time at all hooking her hands in her waist. Both her pants and her underwear were thrown down next, and Vince only knew she wasn't going commando from the flash of pink he accidentally saw within the pants when the garments went down. He also thought he saw that she stylized her pubic hair as a heart over an otherwise bare crotch (and it matched her head hair), but he didn't want to stare. Iris began stepping in the pool.
"You okay Vince?" Iris asked. "You're not shy or anythin', are you?"
"No! No, I've uh... I've had to shower with plenty of people back in... you know where. That includes women and enbies. I got used to it."
"He's nervous because this was kind of a private thing between me and him at first, no offense." Sonata said, finally emerging more from the water, looking bored.
"Oh!" That got Iris to take a step back. "Sonata! I didn't see you there!"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you."
"Look, I'm sorry. If I acted a bit rude there. I was scared and... none of what happened was your fault. I shouldn't hold anything against you." As she said that, she began unhooking her bra.
"It's fine."
"It wasn't." She slipped it off and threw it in the pile with the other garments. Vince wasn't even watching any more, he was just waiting for her to dip down below like Sonata was and cover her body with water. "I let my frustration get to me and I took it out on you. Look, being honest, I... think you're a little odd. A little much. A bit... forward. But I don't hate you, Sonata."
Unfortunately for Vince's shame, Iris instead sat on a rock sticking out from the water and just dipped her legs in it, scrubbing them first.
Sonata shrugged. "For what it's worth, I like you."
"Awww... you're sweet. In your own way."
She finally dipped more in the water - just to go over to Sonata. And hug her. The water splashed over both of their bodies as Sonata was caught off guard at first, but returned the hug shortly after.
"From now on, I'll try to get to know you better. I think I can learn to adapt to your culture."
"You're hugging someone you just met yesterday in the nude while someone else you just met yesterday is near by, Nymphs would be pretty proud of that."
"And I wish you good luck on your Nymph harem plan."
"Hee hee."
"And Vince..."
Vince tensed up and blushed red all over when Iris turned to him. She had rose to where her torso was out of the water, giving him a full view of her bare, wet breasts.
"I never got to properly thank you for saving me the other day. Come here!"
Yep. She pulled him in for a hug too. A VERY MUCH PLATONIC HUG, he tried to think of it as. And- ah shit she gave him the bonus of a kiss on the cheek. Do NOT think of her naked body embracing his. And TRY to get that fucking BEHEMOTH between his legs DOWN. Think about the most repulsive things imaginable. The diagrams of the Crimson and what twisted horrors beings within became. The working conditions of his home life. The-
"OH!" Iris said, suddenly backing up, holding a hand to her face. "I'm so sorry! I- I didn't know you were... um..."
"Yeah. I was trying to cool myself off. Sonata and I were getting pretty intimate when you showed up."
Iris laughed. "Oh, that is awkward. I wasn't expecting a poke."
"Um. Yeah. Okay. So uh, I was just thinking about leaving-"
"What, really?" Sonata finally spoke up again. "Vince, I wasn't kidding about suggesting that you bathe and smell better. I was trying to be seductive, but since company's around, I'll be blunt. You kinda smell like shit bro. I think you should get over your sense of modesty and wash up. Jungle, that goes for all three of us, Iris, since we made ammends, you also smell terrible."
"Well, I was tied all around in the spider nest unlike you two. I think I'd take more time here..."
Speaking of 'time,' the trio noticed that the sun was beginning to turn the mountain shadows in to behemoths that appeared to stretch endlessly, and stars were beginning to make themselves visible in the sky.
"Alright, in just a few minutes it will officially be night." Sonata said. "Vince, unless you want a repeat of your first night here, you should stick with me so I can ward off the undead. Iris... I trust you a little more to fend for yourself, especially because the sunlight bounced off the scissors in your pocket in to my eye at one point so I know you came prepared, but still... uh, yeah, Vince. Sorry. But it looks like you've gotta stick with at least one of us for a bodyguard."
"Not a problem."
They continued washing themselves afterwards, under the soft glow of the night sky. Iris briefly got out to place a quick torch over on the shore to cast light on them, also helping to give the place a cozier vibe.
"Whelp, I'm done." Iris said, suddenly getting up right in front of Vince and facing outwards. Her ass was the last part of her that Vince had yet to see lain bare, and that was still... technically true if it meant anything, as since the torch was the only real light source and she was between it and him, her whole back was framed in shadow. Still, Vince got to see the silhouette of her a brief moment before he turned away, and he could make out a bit of roundness by the waist. But Vince sighed. He got through that whole thing with no Iris butt. He could at the very least not have that part of that particular friend he wasn't dating dancing around in the reaches of his mind, tempting him at night, running the risk of getting in to his fantasies and just making things more awkward the next time they met in pers-
Nope suddenly a purple-tinted light shone on it, exposing to Vince that Iris' ass wasn't as gratuitously large as Sonata's, but it was still fairly round. Vince turned around in confusion and saw that the glow was coming from Sonata's hand.
"If you don't wanna use that torch, I've got some really basic light magic. I mean, I can't use it for long periods of time without straining myself. That's why I didn't use it back in the cave."
"Mmmm... nope, I'm good." Said Iris.
When they got back home, Vince slammed the door open and Sonata rushed over to their... ah, they still have a shitty bed.
As soon as the door was closed, they started kissing furiously. As soon as they reached their little sleeping sack thing, Sonata threw herself on - falling ass-first. Vince got on her immediately after and dear gods it felt great to finally work on extinguishing that fire inside of him. She pulled him close.
Despite being on bottom and presumably less at a tiping point than him, Sonata still pulled most of the work. She was a fast and wild lover, as he expected from her nature. What blew his expectations out the water was how great she felt. Vince didn't consider that 500 years of living meant that Sonata had plenty of experience, she managed to find his hot spots just by reading subtle cues he made when she touched a certain point, mixed in gentle kisses with furious face-sucking, and at one point lead his hands to her ass. She... knew what he wanted, too.
It didn't last very long for either party, not that it was meant to - the whole thing was wordlessly agreed to be a quick drain so that both could stop being so bricked up. It was a given that neither held anything back, neither tried to keep themselves down with unsexy thoughts, their weapons were loaded with their overfilling ammo and just set to fire as fast as possible.
"S-S-Sonata, f-fuck, I'm-" Vince said.
"Yeah sure me too, blast me bro."
That cheesy line didn't even ruin the mood for him. Vince let out a scream as he finished, with Sonata moaning at she reached her peak. The two of them felt absolute bliss as they settled down, Vince finally quelling the urge he got- well, he figured it may come off as creepy, but deep down he had that urge since he first saw her. The couple collapsed soon after.
"Wow, you cum a lot." Sonata said. "If you get more Life Crystals, you're gonna be shooting whole buckets."
"Huh?"
"You didn't know Life Crystals also increase potency? You'll need that if you want a Nymph Harem."
"...It might have been mentioned as a side effect I read..."
She got up to clean herself off - Vince followed. There was an emergency water supply in a crude wooden pail for situations... not intended for situations like that, but it worked.
"So, admit it, seeing Iris' gorgeous body got you riled up too, huh?" Sonata asked with a grin.
"I- Y... yes! But I was just thinking about you the whole time we did it!"
"It's okay to have fantasies if you keep them to yourself, you know."
"It isn't that, it's... I don't want anything to get awkward between me and Iris."
"You promissed her a public bath things are gonna get awkward until you get desensitized to nudity. Which, by the way, I can help with."
"How so?"
"Well, for one thing, you're probably not gonna worship my ass like you do now when you become aware of how bad I shit. And Vince, even when - hopefully not if - you get some toilets working around here, that will still be a 'when,' not an 'if,' on its own."
"Okay...?"
"Well, goodnight!"
She slipped in to the little sack. Taking up all the room for herself - Vince had to give her a cue that he wanted her to move over so that he could actually fit in.
Just before dozing off, Sonata said one last thing:
"No but seriously, I think you and Iris would make a great couple."
"You mean a truple with you, right?"
Sonata was already asleep. And snoring loudly.
The next morning, Vince got up to see that Sonata was back to drawing whatever it was she was doing the other day before their walk.
"Okay, what is that?" Vince asked.
"Oh, you're up! These are my plans for our Nymph homes! I'll need to show you outside, the full paper won't fit out here without getting all bunched up and creased. Trust me, I tried."
She rolled it all up and put it in her hair-hammerspace thing, then happily walked towards the door. Vince followed.
Sonata reached one of the many chopped down stumps near town, took out the rolled up sheet, and opened it up.
Vince had to take a step back in shock.
It was in fact a huge sheet of paper all rolled out and laid on the- well the stump at first, but it spilled on to the grass. She did that on the stump in the first place because, as Sonata suggested, the paper could not fit in any of the houses in Vince's neighborhood. There was no 'likely' or 'probably' about it. The paper was just that fucking gigantic. It really couldn't. About four times the width of any of the floors. One did not have to take measurements to see that.
It was a drawing of an entire city. A very heavily labeled, painstakingly crafted, map of a grand cityscape. Dead center was a building that looked like it could rise above mountains. All around, there were restaurants, a movie theater, some factories... most of them had signs atop them showing a caricature of Sonata giving a wink or some other pose. There was also a giant moat around it... based on how it was drawn despite the black and white scheme, it seemed to be made of lava, with several visible semi-molten stones in it. Oh, and a dragon peeking its head out and shooting fire. Of course there was a giant drawbridge... and, atop the whole gargantuan thing, a giant net in a dome shape.
"Wow." Said Vince. "That's... um... you're a pretty impressive artist."
"Mhm, I can draw well when I'm passionate. But ask me to make something I don't want to and I half-ass it. So anyway, let's get started! Wanna help?"
"Uhhhhhhh..." Vince began.
End of the Introduction Arc
The Caverns.
The vast layer of stone and gems that divides Terraria's topmost crust and the blistering Underworld. Oreads of lower class typically live here, in huge spans of lawless necromancy fields that make up large gaps in-between the small towns.
Vince's Comment: "Typically, going down here marks the moment where your Adventuring really begins, where you find great treasure but have to fight greater beasts. Where you go from a simple farmer to a full-fledged explorer boosting yourself with all sorts of magic artifacts. Of course, many will die. Like I almost did back when I first started. Yeah, I won't lie, my carreer got the way it did from dumb luck, I wasn't some amazing catography god who knew the ins and out of every creature like the back of my hand. If you want to be like me, don't do what I did. Please study. Take guides like this seriously."
Sonata's Comment: "I still fucking love how Nymphs just go around taking random shit they've decided they don't need or loot off of fallen Adventurers and placing it around in chests everywhere. It's not very practical, but it's fun giving explorers more reasons to go down and watch them try to race.
"No, we are NOT the ones who left all those dart and boulder traps everywhere. That's actually the fault of those Lunatic Cult guys. Fuck them."
Closing AN:
Whoo, this chapter is... something. I didn't want it to be this long, but I kept thinking of more scenes and "checkpoints" that I thought of covering here before getting to the first "proper" arc, and uh... yeah, it was bloated. I definitely rushed the introductions of the Merchant, Demolitionist, and Nurse, and for the latter two, Vince finding the stuff that let them move in. I'm thinking of making small tweaks to this chapter later. Especially because I wrote a lot of stuff that was cut - mainly old draft endings, especially back when this was supposed to take place on the same night as Chapter 1 (as explained in the notes there). Maybe even move a few things over to Chapter 1.
Speaking of cut scenes, the bathing bit near the end originally had a point where Iris' clothes fell between some rocks and she struggled a lot to get them out, wanting Vince to hold the torch to give her light. The whole joke was that she was being incredibly suggestive as she reached to try pulling her clothes out from inside a cluster of rocks sticking out of the ground and adding to the whole awkwardness of Vince seeing her naked for the first time, but... it felt too contrived and dragged on for too long. I still have the draft of it (the scene's complete, too), so if anyone wants to see it I could post it, but I personally thought it was just unfunny. And on the topic of the bath scene... yeah that was kind of a last-minute addition and I mostly added that because I was feeling a bit horny at the time. I'm not sure if I'll like it in retrospect.
By the way, you can think the artist qtchuwu for unintentionally pushing me to get this chapter out faster. They drew a sketch of the Lost Girl (it's on Twitter, look under that handle, though you'll need an account; and it's on Reddit under an NSFW tag, just search "Lost Girl" there and you'll find it) with her crotch out in the open and barely censored by an icon of her face. That somehow motivated me to work faster on this when the chapter was already pretty close to being done. They were taking requests so I asked if they would also draw a rear view (I actually just meant from the back but I could see how that could be taken as specifically an ass-view, but I wanted that anyway), and I told myself if they did, I'd have the chapter finished no later than a day afterwards. Well, they did. Exclusively on Twitter/X right now. But anyway, yeah, happy Chapter 2, the end of the prologue, and again, I promise the next chapter is when things will really go down!