Key:

Text

"Speaking, or in-text quote"

In-text emphasis

'Thoughts'

Additional emphasis

Year 16 AL, Snake in the Garden

Nighttime had arrived over an hour ago at that point, the crescent Moon starting its ascension now that the stars were out. The town of Port Natalia had mostly died down, just about all residents winding down for the night. However, the Prophet of Ilias was in no such relaxed state.

On the contrary, he was very anxious.

Luka had been lying awake in bed ever since he had first gotten into bed with Alice nearly an hour ago. Luka couldn't stop fidgeting, his poor mind becoming completely erratic since his excitement had not gone down at all no matter how much he tried to ignore it. Every time he moved to try and alleviate the pressure he was feeling, the sensation only grew worse.

'Why can't it just go away by itself already!?' Luka lamented as he squirmed around some more. No matter what position he tried to take, he could not get comfortable due to his ever-present erection prodding against anything and everything. 'At this rate, I'll never get to sleep.' Yet again he turned, moving from his side to his back for what must've been the dozenth time.

Twitch-Twitch

Luka's toes curled as the erection throbbed painfully in his underwear, and an uncontrollable light whine came from his throat. The purple-haired boy threw a hand up to his mouth, stifling himself before any more noise could come from his mouth. Luka sat up just a bit, peering around to see if he had roused either Monster in the room. His pale-blue eyes looked across the room to Kitsu who had shuffled into a more comfortable posture as she slept, lying in a fetal position on the green couch.

Luckily, her eyes were still closed.

The young Hero glanced to his right to where Alice lay beside him. Luka couldn't see the Lamia's face, but the mound of blanketing she had around her didn't seem to move much so it seemed as though he was in the clear until he felt something touch his foot...

...Something scaly.

"A-Ah!" The stuttered gasp came from Luka's mouth, and he pulled up his blanket to see Alice's tail snaking up his right leg and under his white nightshirt. The young Hero's eyes went wide as he felt the smooth limb crawl further up his bare leg towards his thigh. Luka was stuck, not sure what to make of - or do about - this sudden crisis.

"I thought we already went over the twitching thing, but you've been doing it for the last hour now. Just how many times do I need to remind you?" A familiar voice whispered in his ear.

Luka shivered at hearing Alice's voice so close and then quickly glanced to his right to make eye contact with the Lamia who certainly had not been there seconds earlier. "Wh-What are you d-d-doing, A-Alice?" He whispered in question.

Alice narrowed her eyes at Luka, though her gaze wasn't really angry. In fact, it seemed to be a bit more teasing than anything else. "I believe that I asked you a question first, so you should answer me before I answer you. Really, a Hero should have better manners."

The purple-haired boy momentarily forgot about the tail crawling up his thigh as he replied, "I-I do have good manners! I always try to - Ahh-Ah!" Alice cut off the boy by finally snaking her tail up to his erection, the scaly limb rubbing at his erection causing a barely stifled moan to escape his lips.

"Well, at least I have my answer. This is what has you all worked up, isn't it?" Alice asked, though in reality, she had been well aware of his excitement since he had left the bathroom and it had been keeping her up as well.

Luka couldn't immediately respond with words, his now erratic breathing being the only thing coming out of his mouth as Alice rhythmically rubbed her tail up and down against his hardened member. He was becoming very anxious now as Alice's movement was becoming slower and more deliberate, the leisured but more intense pace causing his toes to curl.

"A-A-Alice, y-your tail-" He began but had to swiftly cover his mouth as Alice's tail pulled down his underwear. The red limb very lightly poked and prodded his erection, even those small movements caused him to squirm and moan into his hand.

"Having an erection on would definitely make it more difficult to sleep, wouldn't it? I can't imagine that it will go down anytime soon by itself, either." Alice observed, her half-lidded eyes giving off a low golden glow. Luka grasped at the bottom sheet with his free hand, trying his damnest not to let out another loud groan that was threatening to burst from his throat.

Through his fingers, Luka attempted a response. "I-I think... th-that it could?" Was all he could muster, but his answer didn't seem to be so convincing to Alice. "Hmmm..." She hummed, rubbing the end of her tail against him once again. "...At this rate, I'm not so sure. However, I know that I could make it go away, if you want it gone now." Alice finished, though her tail did not leave his member and instead started deliberately rubbing against him again.

Luka felt his brittle resistance quickly falling away once more, just the mere touch of Alice making him lose any sort of clear-mindedness he may have had left. His breath hitched again and again as the Lamia did not allow him even a second of reprieve. 'Maybe...' He thought to himself, '...Maybe one more time... just...one... more.'

The purple-haired boy swallowed down his shame, the overwhelming excitement he was feeling becoming too much for him to beat away. He moved his hand away from his mouth, "O-Okay, c-c-can you..." Luka looked away from Alice's anticipating gaze, his face a fiery red now. "...H-Help... me?"

Alice wasted no time at all, her tail now wrapping around his erection from the bottom to just below the head. Luka choked out a breath as the Lamia's red limb began to slither up and down his length, relishing in the unfamiliar but effective sensation of Alice's tail jerking him off.

"Now you'd better let me know when you're close," Alice started, her mouth coming quite close to his ear to emphasize her point. "I don't want you making a mess all over where I'm going to be sleeping." The sensation of Alice's hushed voice speaking so close to his ear caused a very intense and somewhat bizarre reaction to occur.

"Aha-Ha!" A small and broken-up giggle left Luka's mouth and his body spasmed involuntarily. Alice paused, watching with great interest now as the purple-haired boy squirmed and tried to pull his head away. "D-D-D-Don't d-do th-that!" He exclaimed. However, it was too late now that the lavender-skinned Lamia had discovered this hidden weakness.

A devious smirk came to Alice's face, and she slid closer, her tail beginning to slink up and down his erect penis once again. "Do what?" The golden-eyed Lamia asked rhetorically, sliding closer to him once again. She brought her lips up to his ear once again, "This?"

Luka let out another stuttered laugh, the sound quickly shifting into a moan as Alice squeezed his erection tighter. The Monster Lord found herself becoming quite fascinated with this response Luka was having and, unfortunately for him, it was a weakness that Alice was going to mercilessly exploit. The Lamia shifted tactics, manipulating the peach flowers in her hair so that their green vines started reaching out to Luka.

The tendrils reached the side of Luka's head and began to lightly caress his ear.

"Ahaa-Ha-HA-AA, A-Alice, wa-aa-ait..." The young Hero laughed/moaned again, the combined sensation of the Lamia's tail vigorously rubbing his length and her flowers tickling at his ear being a very strange - yet, effective - technique. Luka felt himself already nearing the brink, his body growing tense as Alice continued her relentless assault with a pleased grin.

"...A-A-Alice, I-I'm, I-I'm-" The lavender-skinned Lamia beat Luka to the punch, releasing his ear and dipping her head beneath the blanket. Luka only had a moment's reprieve until he felt Alice's mouth now join her tail, quickly engulfing his erection's head as her red limb continued to pump up and down.

Luka felt himself finally give way, the release that had been needed for over an hour now finally erupting into Alice's awaiting maw. The Lamia did not let up, actually rubbing her tail against his member with renewed vigor as he came. The young Hero's eyelids started to fall as fatigue started to set in, his orgasm at the hands - well, tail - of Alice having taken quite a lot out of him.

However, Luka was somewhat aware of the fact that his erection had not gone down yet.

"...Al-...Al-Alice..." He whispered out, feeling more waves of pleasure overtook him due to his traveling partner's apparent disinterest in stopping. Luka's eyesight started to grow darker and darker as he began to drift into sleep. Eventually, even his moans drew silent as Alice continued to work away at Luka's still-present erection as he fell unconscious.

Neither of them noticed the pair of wide red eyes that had watched the entirety of the act from across the room.

A couple hours later into the night, Luka reawakened.

His rousing came in the form of a jerk, his body stirring unexpectedly. The purple-haired boy gave another quiet moan, this time out of the unexpected sensation of becoming awake instead of immense pleasure. Luka blinked a handful of times, seeing a stray beam of moonlight coming in through a nearby window.

A labored sigh came from his lips, and he slowly began sitting up. Luka's arms wobbled unsteadily while he fought to sit upright, but after a few moments of struggling her was able to right himself somewhat. His pale-blue eyes shifted to the side as he glanced to where Alice was lying. He couldn't see much, due to the Lamia having enveloped herself in blankets, but it seemed as if she was asleep.

Luka swayed some as he came to his feet, the effects of Alice's work having taken its toll on his body. He fought to keep himself from tripping as he stumbled over to the bathroom. He nearly crashed into the door but was able to carefully open it without making any creaking noise and slipped inside, shutting the door behind him soon after.

The young Hero leaned against the door for a moment, his exhausted body fighting against his awake mind. Luka was able to push away, moving to the sink to look at himself in the mirror. "O-Oh my..." He breathed out, taken a bit aback by how frizzled up and wild his hair had become. The purple strands curled up and stuck out crazily from the sides. "...S-So much for brushing it down last night. M-Maybe I should take another bath?" Luka wondered out loud, though the idea was quickly forgotten due to an unexpected source.

"Prophet Luka."

Luka's heart leaped into his throat as he heard the voice of Ilias echo through his mind. Immediately, he picked up on how strained and troubled her tone was. A rising feeling of apprehension rose in him as he tried to reply back. "Ilias?" He whispered out loud.

The Goddess of Light did not reply back as quickly as he had and for a few moments, Luka felt his heart skip as his nervousness grew. He remembered back to the last time they spoke, to their last meeting when he was in Iliasburg. He could still remember her final words to him:

"Just remember, I am always watching over you."

Surely Ilias must've seen his progress thus far, the good and the bad.

"My dear Luka, I wish to Commune with you once more. We have... Things, to talk about."

Luka relaxed some as Ilias's tone seemed to ease some. He gave a nod, "O-Okay." As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt the air around him fluctuate and the young Hero's body shifted as he began to disappear.

Interestingly, Luka did not need to shield his eyes this time as he was teleported to Heaven; as he looked around about the Heavenly realm, the purple-haired boy could see that all the clouds had already been dimmed in preparation for his arrival.

Luka glanced up, seeing Ilias herself waiting on her throne for him.

Ilias's face was conflicted as she stared down at her Prophet, her large blue eyes seeming a bit tired herself. "Greetings, my Prophet." She said, moving to stand from her marble seat to walk down to him. Luka stood to attention, fluffing down his white nightshirt as Ilias approached. However, his already shaky confidence faltered even more, and his shame compelled him to look away from his Goddess's gaze.

"H-Hello, my Goddess." Luka answered, lightly brushing his hair out of his eyes.

Ilias came within a meter of him, before getting to her knees. The Goddess of Light lightly padded a hand onto the dim but still golden cloud making up the floor below, "Sit with me, Prophet Luka." Quickly the young boy obliged, dropping to his own knees before Ilias. They knelt there together for a few moments, Luka's gaze still averted while Ilias's eyes stayed fixed on him.

"Do not look away from me, my Prophet." Ilias said. Anxiously, Luka raised his gaze upwards to meet Ilias's. They sat there in silence, merely taking in each other's presence in those long few seconds. Finally, the Goddess of Light addressed the troubled boy. "Truthfully, I am proud of you, my dear Luka." She said, surprising the young Hero a bit.

"Y-You are?" He asked, to which Ilias gave him a small smile. "Of course I am. Your progress so far has been more than what I could've hoped for. To face what you have and get to Sentora so quickly, it is very impressive." Luka matched Ilias's smile, feeling the warmth in the Goddess's words. "Th-Thank you, I-I've been trying my best!"

Ilias nodded, "I know..." She said before her face became a bit more downcast, "...However, I am... growing concerned for you." Luka's face quickly fell as Ilias's voice lowered. The Goddess of Light reached out and surprised the boy again by grabbing his hands. "We had a talk about Monsters the last time you were here visiting me, do you remember everything we talked about?"

Luka frowned and responded with a nod. "Y-Yes, I remember." Ilias leaned in, captivating the purple-haired boy with her troubled gaze. Her next question, however, felt like a punch to the gut. "Then why are you committing such unholy things still? You surely know better." Luka felt himself nearly become sick from the question, his anxiety rising to new heights from Ilias's saddened tone.

"I-I... I-I-I d-d... don't... k-know..." Luka whispered, the sheer amount of guilt Ilias was making him feel causing even the simplest of words to catch in his throat. Ilias regarded him with a long and troubled look for a moment, watching as her Prophet trembled before her. It pained her to see him so distressed, but he needed to learn a lesson.

"Monsters can be quite tempting, but you need to guard yourself better than what you have been." Luka's body scrunched up as the Goddess of Light continued to press while giving his hands a small squeeze. "I understand that - as a growing boy - fighting those urges can be difficult, but allowing Monsters to touch you like that is very dangerous."

The young Hero's frown deepened as Ilias firmly but gently chastised him, a great amount of shame now taking over his heart. "You do know how important my First Commandment is, don't you? Your virginity needs to be preserved for the one you love and I'm sure you recall what I said about love?" The Goddess paused, giving the trembling boy time to respond.

The poor boy sighed, "I-I-I-I d-do, I do..." He trailed off, his gaze falling down to the clouds again. Luka understood how important his chastity was and so he couldn't - and he wouldn't - cross that line. Luka gulped, trying to fight away the wavering in his voice, "...I-I w-would never disobey y-your Commandments."

The Goddess of Light smiled at his proclamation, taking great pleasure in hearing his words of submission.

"I believe you wouldn't, my Prophet." She said, gently pulling him forward some while leaning in even closer. "Now, I have some news for you. Stand, my dear Luka." The purple-haired boy did so, with Ilias following likewise. Luka kept his gaze locked downwards as the Goddess of Light brought her hands together, a very large smile growing on her face.

"Now, you and I know each other quite well, but I believe that it would be beneficial for your progress as my Prophet if you were to start communing with the rest of Heaven as well!" Luka began to lose his apprehension, finally looking up to Ilias with wide eyes. "R-Really?" He asked, "Wh-When will I be able to start?"

Ilias gave a smile at her Prophet's sudden enthusiasm, slowly bringing a hand down towards his head. "Right now, my dear Prophet Luka." She said, laying a hand down on top of his purple hair. Luka's pale-blue eyes widened as his body began to disappear once more, and soon, only a shimmer of bright golden light remained behind.

The bright smile on the Goddess's face quickly left and she brought a hand up to her necklace, rubbing it gently. "Oh Luka, you need to learn that these Monsters aren't your friends. They may seem loving, but they know nothing about what love is." The Goddess said to herself.

The Goddess of Light had been dismayed to see that her Prophet would interact with Monsters so indecently, but she would not give up on him. His soul ever still burned bright with the purest white, thankfully remaining completely untainted by the Darkness that surrounded him. Like a candle in the night, he still shined.

And so, her heart still held on to her hope.

'A few... stumbles in the path can be overlooked. I am nothing if not a forgiving Goddess. In time, he will find that there are more worthwhile rewards in life, rewards that Monsters could never give him.' Ilias thought, remembering each of Luka's intimate moments quite vividly...

...Every touch he shared, every kiss he exchanged, every moan he let out...

...Every single face of elation he gave as he was brought closer to euphoria.

"Such things should only be shared between him and someone worthy of his love, not some lowlife Monsters..." Ilias spat, "...And especially not that damned Monster Lord." The Goddess was about to move to sit on her throne, but she hesitated. An idea came to her mind, one that may help in steering Luka back towards the Light, her Light.

With her mind quickly made up, Ilias transversed to the middle of her throne room once again and held out a hand. Then, before her, the ground of dim golden cloud began to reshape until it became a small tub-like crater.

Ilias smiled once again, an odd shiver going through her body as the basin of golden cloud in front of her began to fill with purifying water...

Luka nearly fell over as he was teleported to the Level of Heaven directly below Ilias's throne room and was taken aback to see just how different this section was.

The floor below his naked feet and the ceiling high above were made of golden clouds, but the area around was anything but barren. Luka took a look around in wonder, finding a wonderful assortment of large emerald-green hedges, each one of them looking to be trimmed to absolute perfection as not even a single leaf seemed to be out of place.

"Wow," Luka said, reaching out to gently feel the soft shrubbery. "This is some of the nicest hedges I've ever seen." The purple-haired boy observed, casting a glance away from the bright green barrier to continue looking around the Level of the First Order of Angels. Luka passed by what appeared to be birch trees that had bark of the purest white, the normal black spots that one would expect not being present. Their leaves, too, were an emerald green.

A small grin grew on Luka's face as he momentarily forgot why he had been sent there, finding himself more interested in the Garden around him. He walked up to one, his pale-blue eyes looking all over the flowers poking out of the bushes. Again, the young Prophet felt the plants, taking great appreciation of the flowers in particular. He took a small sniff from one of them, sighing as he smelled their sweet, floral scent.

Luka felt a quick but strong stirring in his gut upon breathing the smell in, the sensation causing him to give a brief and confused hum.

The purple-haired Prophet continued on, though he was a bit perturbed by the suddenly elevated pacing of his heart as he made his way deeper into this Heavenly realm. After some walking, he came to the centerpiece of the Garden. It was a huge pond, the diameter having to be at least six meters or so. In the middle of the crystal-clear reflective pool, was a large and smooth gray rock.

The pale-blue eyes of Luka gazed around in awe at the sight, unable to do anything but stand there and take in the lush foliage surrounding the shoreline. "This is beautiful!" He exclaimed with a smile, "I wonder how long this all took to grow?"

"Millions of years, I'll have you know." A voice said unintentionally rhymed. Luka jolted, looking over to his side to see a woman standing there. More specifically, an Angel. That much he could tell from her many pairs of large wings and the massive golden Halo hovering above her head.

The Angel was much taller than Luka and had long sage-colored hair that fell below her shoulders. Her blue eyes were half-lidded and somewhat glazed, as though they were unfocused. A small smile adorned the Angel's face as she stared down at him, her hands clasped together in front of her pearly-white robes. "Hello, Prophet Luka." The sage-haired Angel said, lightly fluttering her many large wings in greeting.

Luka quickly bowed his head, "H-Hello there! Um, a-and who are you?" He asked after raising his head back up. The Angel returned his gesture, "I am the Seraph Eden." The purple-haired boy tilted his head due to his unfamiliarity with the term, only really having heard of the Archangels before. "S-Seraph?" He asked, to which said Seraphim was more than happy to reply.

"Yes, it is my designation!" She exclaimed, raising a finger up as she quickly filled the boy in. "I am Ilias's right-hand in Heaven, her most important Angel."

Luka's mouth parted in admiration of the Seraphim's words, not aware of how Eden was stretching the finer details of her claims. "Really? That's amazing." He said, to which Eden crossed her arms beneath her breasts as her face broke out a very satisfied grin. "I was hoping you'd think so, my Prophet!" Eden said, not noticing how her arm folding tightened the cloth around her bosom in a very distracting manner.

However, Luka did notice this.

The young Prophet quickly looked away from the sight, not wanting to be eyeing one of Ilias's very own Angels. "S-So..." He began, twirling an errant strand of his purple locks as he did. "...Y-You were the one who created this place?" Luka asked.

Eden gave a quick cough before answering, "E-Eh, well I didn't create it, The Great Goddess Ilias did. But, ever since then, I alone have taken great care of this Garden and have cultivated it to the wonderous state you see before you now!" She finished with a prideful look.

Luka glanced about the Garden of Eden, his smile returning. "I-I can tell that it took a lot of work. I've gardened for a long time myself, but this is much better than anything I've done." The sage-haired Seraph's blue eyes became uncharacteristically excited upon hearing the young boy's words, "Oh, you dabble in garden work as well?" She asked, leaning down a bit while doing so.

Luka lifted his gaze to meet Eden's. "Yeah, I've been gardening since I was young. It's one of my passions." Luka answered in earnest.

Eden's smile widened, and she reached out and grabbed the Prophet by his smaller hand, "Come with me, there's much more here to appreciate." Eden said while gently pulling Luka alongside herself. The purple-haired boy hummed, wondering why the feeling of Eden leading him by his hand was so oddly familiar.

'I feel like I know her face, too.' Luka thought though he wasn't sure why this would be.

The Sage-haired Seraphim brought Luka to the other side of the pond to a line of white-trunked trees, pulling him through to see a large field of short grass and flowers.

Luka sharply inhaled as he looked about the landscape, watching in amazement as the emerald-green foliage before him seemed to shimmer and glow. "E-Eden, this place is wonderful!" Luka exclaimed, to which the Seraph quietly chuckled. "Hmm-hmm, feel free to explore if you wish." She released Luka's hand, allowing the young to pace forward, slowly following as he made way for a nearby bush filled with fully bloomed flowers.

Eden watched as the purple-haired boy practically frolicked in her Garden, a warm grin coming to her face as someone finally took some appreciation in her handiwork. The Seraph folded her hands behind her back as she watched Luka inspect each flower in the large bush before him.

It wasn't exactly what Eden envisioned her first meeting with the Prophet would be like, but Eden found herself enjoying herself, nonetheless. The purple-haired boy was a bit skittish, but he had a very endearing politeness to him as well. The compliments certainly helped though, of course.

"As good as this is, I think I know something you'll find much more impressive!" Eden said as she walked up to Luka's side, grabbing him by his hand once again.

The purple-haired boy was brought to a denser area of the First Level of Heaven, Eden slowly guiding him through a small forest. 'I wonder how far the roots go.' Luka thought, scanning the bottom of the white-barked trees to find that the roots of the trees actually went into the clouds. After a few minutes of unhurried walking, Eden brought Luka to a small clearing in the middle of the forest.

The air itself seemed to flicker with golden light, the Heavenly phenomenon obscuring something huge standing tall above the trees. As Luka was led closer by Eden, the sight the Seraph was wanting to show him was slowly revealed:

Standing at least a dozen meters tall was an intricately cut visage of Ilias made entirely of emerald-green hedges.

"Wow..." Luka said, stopping in his tracks to look over Eden's creation. The figure stood with its hands and wings held aloft, almost as if to beckon him closer. A surprising amount of detail in particular was held in the face, despite the nature of what the tribute to Ilias was made of. In place of the golden jewelry the Goddess of Light usually wore was an assortment of bright golden flowers, red flowers being where the red gems would also be.

"...Eden, th-this is..." Luka trailed off, unable to even put into words how impressive this was to him. As the young boy had said before, he did have a passion for gardening and had cut hedges many times as well, but this was on a completely different level. The Sage-haired Seraph giggled, the light fluttering noise bringing Luka's attention from the profile of Ilias. "Absolutely magnificent?" Eden finished for the young boy, who silently nodded in response.

"H-How long did it take you to make something so detailed?" Luka asked, to which the Seraphim replied while gently putting another hand on his shoulder. "Many, many, maaaany thousands of years of practice!" The purple-haired boy's eyes widened in alarm, but he was just as quick to recover. 'I suppose that one would need that long to get that good at it...' He mused to himself.

Eden stared down at Luka as the boy continued to take in the sight of the Seraph's gardening skills. She moved to say something else to the boy, but Eden suddenly stiffened, sensing a very brief but also very powerful aura of Darkness behind her and Luka.

Even worse, though, was the fact that the Seraph recognized this presence all too well.

'What in the name of the Goddess are you doing here!?' She thought as her smile fell into a deep frown. Eden lightly shook Luka's shoulder, bringing his attention up to her. "Excuse me for a moment, Prophet Luka. I need to go... see to something."

Luka tilted his head in response to Eden's words, sensing a great deal of tension in the Seraph's tone. "U-Uh, alright. I'll be waiting here, then." Luka finished, his eyes following the Seraph as she spun around and took off, her large and powerful wings sending her away from him. The young Prophet eventually turned away from the disappearing Seraph, a bit aimless now as his guide went to go attend to other matters.

Rustle Rustle

The purple-haired boy hummed in question as he heard something moving about in the bushes right in front of the tribute to Ilias. Luka turned over to the emerald-green foliage, missing as something small and brown quickly disappeared deeper into the underbrush. However, Luka tilted his head as he did see something poking out of the bushes, something he knew for certain wasn't there before.

It was a bright yellow flower with two sets of petals: an outer one with longer thin pedals and an inner one with smaller wide pedals that were dotted with black spots.

"Huh..." Luka murmured to himself as he strolled over to the shrubbery, gently plucking the flower from within the leaves. For some reason, he felt a shiver go up his spine as he raised the small object. The purple-haired Prophet examined the flower closely, searching his mind for the name of the plant for a few moments. Luka smiled as he finally realized the name.

"...Alstroemeria."

Eden's face had now fully formed a scowl as she flew towards the middle of her Garden, quickly diving out of the air and landing on the shoreline to glare out towards the rock in the middle of the pond before her. Standing on that very rock, was perhaps the last face the Seraph wanted to see.

"What are you doing here, Alice?" Eden asked, her voice calling out across the pond with a great amount of hostility.

Indeed, the figure that was now bouncing on her heels was Alipheese Fateburn the Eighth. The Former Monster Lord was currently merrily swishing her dress about, much to Eden's annoyance. Black Alice's carmine eyes glanced up as if just now noticing the Seraph, "Ah! Eden, there you are!" She exclaimed, giving the Sage-haired Seraph an exaggerated wave. "I was wonderin' where you were at!"

Eden all but snarled, stomping hard on the cloudy shoreline. "Get off of my Prayer Rock, you miserable creature!" Black Alice let out a gasp, her hand coming up to her mouth as she put on a facade of regret. "Is that right? Oh m-m-my, I am soooo very sorry!" Despite her act of mournful lament, Black Alice was very slow to walk to the edge of the rock. Eventually, much to Eden's absolute horror, Black Alice stuck out many large dark-purple tentacles from beneath her dress and used the limbs to swim across the pond.

"NOOO!" Eden yelled out, her hands flying up to grab fistfuls of her own hair. "Y-You stupid Monster, that water has been pure for Eons, and you just soiled it with your vile f-f-fucking tentacles!"

Black Alice nearly burst into a fit of cackling at Eden's rare cursing but was able to put up a face of faux offense. "Oh my, Eden. Such language being uttered in Heaven? How unbecoming." The Former Monster Lord whispered out the last part as she crawled onto the shore next to the enraged Seraph, only pulling her tentacles back up her dress once she was completely out of the water.

Eden fought to control her flaring temper, but she couldn't move her anger-filled eyes off of the now "ruined" centerpiece of her Garden. "A-A-Alice, wh-what is the meaning of this!? You are not allowed in my Level of Heaven!" The Seraph yelled. Black Alice just let out a snicker in response, moving to adjust her baby-blue hair ribbon. "Is it really so awful of me to be here? Ilias allows me to enter her throne room, after all..."

The carmine-eyed Monster smirked as she gave Eden a side glance, "...Are you trying to imply that your judgement of me is above our Goddess's?"

With tightly clenched fists, Eden finally snapped her wild blue eyes to Black Alice. "Don't you dare try to say such things." The sage-haired Seraph spat, to which the Former Monster merely grinned. A silence befell the shoreline as the two stared each other down, neither of the polar opposites backing down from the other. The water beside them started to become choppy from the sheer power of their auras.

Surprisingly, however, Black Alice conceded.

"Alright, alright." The carmine-eyed Monster lifted up her hands in surrender, "I won't bother you any longer, Eden..." The Last Great Seraph relaxed a bit, but that did not last long, not after what the former Monster Lord said next. "...I'll be gone as soon as I give our adorable Prophet a little gift!" She finished, beginning to move past the Seraph.

However, Eden was not having it.

The sage-haired Seraph side-stepped in front of the former Monster Lord, narrowing her blue eyes at Black Alice. "And why do you think you are even fit to be around him, much less give him a gift?" Eden did not even allow Black Alice to continue, raising a hand to poke her enemy's shoulder with a single finger. "I don't care what it is, I'm not going to allow you to corrupt another Hero!"

Black Alice's face tensed at the Seraph's allusion, her arms trembling as a thick veil of malice began to come over her. Eden, not one to back down from a perceived challenge, met the former Monster Lord's hated-filled glare. However, surprisingly, Black Alice's glare suddenly vanished, an odd smile replacing her previous expression.

"Ahh... Oh well, if you insist..." Black Alice said with a shrug, spun away from a now confused Eden.

The Seraph watched as the former Monster Lord began walking away, absolutely lost at her extreme shift in behavior. "Um, o-okay?" Eden said a bit dumbly, not at all sure how to take this unexpected reaction. The Seraph eventually turned away as well, flapping her large wings to return to Ilias's Prophet.

Black Alice's face broke into a wide smile, her carmine eyes wide as she looked back over her shoulder at the retreating form of Eden. The Eighth Monster Lord giggled while watching her small brown bear float out of a nearby bush. "Aww, fantastic job, Beary!" Black Alice exclaimed, holding out her arms to catch the stuffed animal in her arms, hugging it tightly. "Now we can watch our adorable little Prophet a bit closer, can't we?"

She tilted the brown bear back and forth, rocking its head in mock agreement. Black Alice raised a hand and poked the bear on the nose, "Then, maybe we can find out what makes this boy tick, right?" The bear's head was rocked with much more vigor this time, and the carmine-eyed Monster openly cackled. "Hehehe! Oh, stop it you naughty thing!~ We can't get too ahead of ourselves just yet, there's still a lot of work left to be done..."

With that, Black Alice vanished into a light-blue portal, leaving the Garden for good.

Luka was sitting cross-legged in on the golden clouds as he tentatively held the strange bright yellow flower in his fingers, holding it aloft in his right hand while tenderly caressing the pedals with his left. 'Lilac's still my favorite, but this might be a really close second.' He thought with a smile, glad that he had discovered the flower.

Not wanting to lose the flower, Luka - due to an unfortunate lack of anywhere better to put it - haphazardly slipped the flower into his shirtsleeve.

The purple-haired Prophet looked up just in time to see an approaching Eden, who had a very bothered look in her eyes. Luka met the Seraph halfway to ask her about her troubles. "Wh-What's wrong, Eden?" The young boy asked. To her credit, Eden stopped to collect her outrage by taking a few breaths. Slowly, the Seraph brought her hands together, her fingers very tensely wrapping around the opposite hand.

"Oh, nothing Prophet Luka. Just a little bit of... uh..." Eden looked away for a moment, mumbling something to herself before looking back to Luka. "...Anyways! I believe that we have a little bit more time until-" The sage-haired Seraph paused as if being interrupted by something. Luka watched in confusion as Eden's face slowly became disappointed.

"Oh... O-Okay..." Eden said out loud after a short bout of silence, her gloomy blue eyes falling to the golden clouds below. "...W-Well, Luka, it seems as if our time here is over for now. Ilias has requested that I bring you back to her throne room."

Luka blinked in surprise, "Really?" He asked while lowering his hands to his side, a look of disappointment coming to his face. The young Prophet hadn't been there with the Seraph for all that long and had actually found himself enjoying the opportunity to see more of Heaven.

Eden felt herself become dismayed at the sight of the downcast boy, moving forward to stand in front of Luka. "Well, I'm sure the Goddess will have us meet again soon! Now, let me take you to our Goddess!" The sage-haired Seraph exclaimed, before surprising Luka by bending down and wrapping her arms around his lower back. Luka's face burned with a bit of embarrassment as the taller Angel quite easily hefted him off the ground into her arms and he hesitantly had to wrap his arms around the Seraph's neck to hold on as she flew them both upwards into Ilias's throne room.

The pair quickly broke through the barrier of Heavenly clouds, Eden - knowing the layout of the room by heart - immediately turned towards the marble throne in the center of the room to fully face herself and the Prophet she was still holding towards Ilias. The Goddess of Light was sitting with one leg crossed over the other atop her throne, her bright blue eyes already fixed on the pair.

Ilias took a moment to take in the peculiar sight of her Third Daughter holding up her blushing Prophet, the purple-haired boy still having his own arms wrapped around Eden. Ilias felt an odd twinge of annoyance at their closeness, something about the sight not sitting quite well with the Goddess.

"Greetings, you two. I'm sorry to cut your time so short, but Luka will need to return to sleep soon." Ilias said, to which Eden was quick to shake her head. "Oh, no worries, my Goddess! Luka and I had a wonderful time, didn't we?" The sage-haired Seraph asked, glancing up at the purple-haired boy she had still wrapped up in a hug.

"Y-Yeah, it w-was f-f-fun. But, uh..." Luka said, trying not to make things too awkward. "...C-Could you p-put me d-down, please?"

The young boy's question caused Eden to falter, "O-Oh, yes. Sorry, Prophet Luka." The Seraphim said before swiftly depositing Luka onto the golden clouds below. Ilias felt her previous annoyance subside some, and she smiled at her last Seraph, "Alright, Eden. You may return to your Garden now."

Eden quickly nodded, flapping the wings on her head as she did. "Of course, goodnight, my Goddess of Light." The sage-haired Seraph turned to Luka, "And goodnight, my Prophet!" Ilias's face twitched at Eden's utterance of "my" but said nothing as Luka bowed to the Angel. "Goodnight, and th-thank you again, Eden." With a wave, the Seraph finally disappeared, leaving the Prophet of Light and his Goddess alone.

Luka turned to Ilias and gave her a warm smile, "Th-Thank you, my Goddess. I e-enjoy meeting Eden." The pleased-looking Ilias uncrossed her legs and stood from her throne to approach her Prophet. "I'm glad that you enjoyed it meeting Eden, Luka. She is a very integral part of Heaven, and so I plan on having her help guide you as you come here to meet the rest of my congregation."

Ilias came to stand before Luka, "Of course, that will be for a different time. I do not want to overwhelm you with having to meet so many at once." The Goddess of Light folded her hands together, her bright blue eyes looking down into Luka's. "Before I send you off back to Earth, I have some even more special for you, my Prophet." The purple-haired boy watched in curiosity as the Goddess of Light paced away, an unusual amount of sway to her gait.

Luka quickly averted his gaze, absolutely not wanting to stare at his Goddess in such a manner.

Ilias turned, briefly taking note of the twinge of pink on the young boy's cheeks before giving him a large smile. "Now, I know that we already did this before, but I thought that the best way to assist you in maintaining your purity from Monsters..." Ilias gestured down to a familiar bowl-shaped crater in the floor of golden cloud, the sight causing Luka's heart to flutter anxiously.

"...Would be for me to give you another Baptism."

Lots to unpack here, huh? Other than the smut, of course.

So Luka has finally "officially" met another Angel, the Seraph Eden. Which probably went a bit more nicely than what one would assume. This is for a good reason, though; for her and Luka will start to become closer and closer as she serves as his "guide" through Heaven.

I wanted this specifically because, as one of the Three Great Seraphs, Eden really should be considered his second Aunt alongside Micaela even though she's something of an outlier when it comes to appearance and behavior. I don't know if many people would agree to that sentiment, but that's going to be a large part of her character development moving forward.

Not to say that any of this makes Eden automatically good, for she still is something of an Ilias fanatic at this point but expect that to slowly start changing as Eden's growing relationship with Luka starts to change the Seraph's perspective on things, especially concerning her Goddess.

Speaking of Ilias, we're about to continue down the awful downward spiral she's being sent down due to her growing obsession over Luka. Especially as this obsession starts to make her much more possessive, manipulative, and perverted.

This next "Baptism" will not be the last, and it will only get worse ever new time she forces it upon Luka.

espioll: It could be considered a stretch, but since in this fanfic I've established that Angels aren't allowed to have sex, I like to think that the vast majority of them have only a very, very basic understanding of how it works.

And considering how I've written Marcellus, he would've known more than a thing or two about it well before ever having met Lucifina.

As I said, we'll see Luka's behavior vary in dominance depending on the Monster. That also helps make sure that things don't get too bland, so to speak. I really want each encounter to actually mean something instead of just being smut for smut's sake. Which may seem a bit counterintuitive considering what my source is here, but it's a hill I'm going to die on.