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Year 16 AL, Affairs of the Heart

The Sun was finally overhead as the trio of the Prophet, the Monster Lord, and the increasingly emotionally confused Two-Tailed Kitsune entered the final stretch of their journey through the forest surrounding San Ilia.

Luckily for them, nothing more dangerous was than the odd few woodland creatures scurrying across the path before them was found, so their traveling was more or less uneventful after Luka's encounter with the Lamia he had displeased.

This downtime gave the young Hero time to think about his impending visit with the King of San. Truthfully, Luka didn't have any specific reason for wanting to meet the ruler of the city known for its purity. Instead, it was something more of a natural inclination; after all, meeting such an important figure in the Ilias faith should be a given for Ilias's Prophet. However, Luka did have a growing worry.

This worry having to do with the two Monsters of his current party.

Luka had already quickly deduced that Alice would be problematic. The Lamia had made it well known that she was not looking forward to their destination and held no interest in meeting the King of San Ilia. This made it to where the potential for trouble was already very high, and they hadn't even entered the city yet. Luka had been able to lighten her mood some with the promise of food, but that could only get him so far.

Undoubtedly, he'd have to keep a keen eye on the lavender-skinned Lamia.

Not to say that he didn't already do that.

The second variable in Kitsu was somewhat of an outlier. Before, he more-or-less understood how the silver-furred fox worked. At first, she preferred her space and wouldn't quite make herself too known other than a sentence or two. However, ever since their outing in Port Natalia, the Kitsune had been opening up more to the purple-haired boy. What made this strange though, was how Kitsu was starting to seem a bit more...

...Clingy?

The Two-Tailed Kitsune didn't really say it with words, but her actions were certainly alluding to it. Since entering the forest in particular, Luka noticed the younger Monster's staunchness to stay close to his side. In fact, he had even been secretly testing this by bouncing between either side of the dirt path. If he swayed over to the left side, she would as well. If Luka cut across to the right side, Kitsu would be there soon after.

Now, one could easily chalk this up to the silver-furred fox simply preferring to be around Luka rather than Alice - who had been keeping to the very middle of the path - but the young Hero had his doubts. It was only after this observation that he started to ponder something, thinking back to the moments that had led up right before his earlier fight with the Lamia.

At first, Luka had made the assumption that his Kitsune friend had been affected by some sort of pheromone attack. However, seeing as the Lamia definitely did not use such a strategy, that theory could be dispelled easily.

Luka stole a quick glance at the Kitsu, who looked to be completely fine now. 'Weird, maybe it was just a brief hot flash episode?' It was a sensible enough conclusion, but it didn't quite add up in the young Hero's mind. However, there was another explanation lingering at the back of Luka's mind, but it was one he'd hate to even entertain. One that involved the Kitsune's Monster instincts.

Alice herself had stated that it was a natural instinct for Monsters to mate and he had little reason to doubt that after what he's seen. From more timid Monsters like the Sparrow girl he had just met, to more sinister ones like the Spider Girl from the Cave of Treasures, nearly every Monster that Luka had met either had or began to cultivate a desire to be intimate with him.

Looking down at Kitsu again, Luka began to mull over the idea as he absentmindedly scratched at the cut on his left cheek. The silver-furred fox looked to be at least a couple years his junior, but he knew from experience that even younger Monsters seemed to have an interest in him.

Luka shuddered, not feeling very comfortable with the thought. A simple crush would be one thing but with Monsters, it inevitably went more extreme. He knew that from experience.

For example, even as somewhat humorous as it had been due to its ineffectiveness, Vanilla the Vampire had tried to hypnotize him for those very lewd reasonings twice and she couldn't have been older than twelve. Then after that, the young Harpy Pii had very explicitly desired to mate with him, and while she had seemed older than the Four Bandits, it couldn't have been by much. Either way, doing such things should be reserved for a much older age, shouldn't it?

Says the one who's been intimate with four different Monsters now, when he's only sixteen.

Luka frowned at his own out-of-nowhere self-criticism. It did feel a tad bit hypocritical since he was only a couple years older than the Monsters he was thinking about, but it was different for him, wasn't it? The young Hero threw the idea away with a shake of his head, 'It's not like it matters either way, I'm not going to be doing any more sexual things with Monsters anyways.' Luka thought, though there was a lingering feeling of doubt at the back of his mind...

Thu-Thu-Thump

Luka stirred from his thoughts as his heart did an odd flutter, and a very sudden sense of light-headedness washed over the purple-haired boy soon after. Luka instantly began slowing down his pace, a great deal of worry worming its way into his head as his chest became strangely tight. Just then, his heart palpitated again with more force than the first time.

Thu-Thu-Thump

The young Hero let out an embarrassing yelp as his foot caught on a small dip in the ground and fell into the dirt, a sharp jolting through his hands and knees as they broke his fall on the dirt below. Both Alice and Kitsu whirled around, confused to find the young Hero on the ground. A quick gasp came out of Kitsu's mouth before she ran over to him. "H-Hey, are you okay?"

Luka could only grimace at first, the out-of-nowhere pain in his chest that was starting to grow stronger keeping him from immediately replying to the silver-furred fix's worried question. "I-I think I'm f-fine." Luka eventually answered after a few deep breaths, but his lie was unconvincing as even Alice looked concerned now.

The purple-haired boy started to stand but he quickly stopped as his light-headedness grew worse, and he fell back to his knees once more.

Thu-Thu-THUMP

Luka felt his heart quiver again, however, this time it actually hurt and the young Hero to shrunk in on himself. 'What's going on!?' Luka thought, fear gripping him in the most awful way. He'd never felt quite a sensation before, and it was starting to really scare him now.

The young Hero shifted his body, moving to sit cross-legged on the ground now instead of standing. Luka kept his gaze downwards, not able to meet his traveling partner's combined looks of concern. In particular, the golden-eyed Monster Lord watched as Luka raised a hand up to his chest, his whole left arm shaking as he clutched at the fabric of his shirt.

"Take it easy if you need to." Alice offered, her normally impassive gaze now filled with anxiety.

Luka glanced up to her and gave a shaky nod, "Y-Yeah, I th-think that I'll do that." He said before reclining backward. The purple-haired boy tried to put on a brave face as the other two Monsters looked on, but on the inside, he was having trouble reigning in his anxiety. What just happened - whatever it was - most definitely wasn't normal.

He had experienced an elevated heart rate plenty of times, but never before had it actually brought pain to him.

Luckily, it seemed to be over quickly as Luka felt the dull pain begin to subside; however, that didn't change how tight his chest felt. The young Hero sat there for a few more seconds while catching his breath before an idea struck him. Slowly, Luka brought his hands up in front of his chest, closed his eyes, and began to Meditate.

For a few seconds, the purple-haired Hero felt his magic swirl around on the inside as his body relaxed and his mind cleared. After a few moments, the pain and tension in his chest completely vanished, and the stress that had been building went away just as quickly. Luka dropped his hands with a sigh and opened his eyes to see both Alice and Kitsu now gawking at him.

"Wh-What?" Luka asked, nervously looking between the two. Alice was first to answer, but it only made the young Hero more confused. "H-How in the Hell did you do that!?" His traveling partner demanded, an unbridled look of horror adorning her face. Luka peered at his traveling partner in confusion. "I-I don't know what you're t-talking about?" He asked shakily.

Kitsu, who seemed to be more in awe than afraid, ran up to him and pointed directly to his left cheek, "Your cut is gone! I-It just, closed up!" The purple-haired boy blinked dumbly for a second before hurriedly removing a black glove and lifting it up to his face. Indeed, there was no cut on his cheek anymore.

Luka scrunched up his face, not understanding how this could be. "A-All I did was Meditate, I-I didn't do anything else I don't think." Luka muttered, shaking his head as he did. Did Meditation really take away his cut? As helpful as being able to heal himself sounded, it struck him as very odd. Luka was brought from his thoughts by the feeling of Alice's tail poking his no-longer-cut cheek.

"H-Hey!" Luka exclaimed while lightly batting away his traveling partner's tail. The golden-eyed Lamia looked as bewildered as ever as she drew closer, her face coming up right against his as she scanned the left side of his face. "Th-That makes no sense! You can't just close up a cut by sitting down and just making it happen!"

The purple-haired boy felt his heart throb again at Alice's closeness, though this time it was not a painful one. "W-Well, like I-I said, I-I don't know wh-why it happened!" Luka said, oddly stuck between the warring urges of wanting to scoot away from the Lamia while also wanting to scoot closer. "Y-You're the one who t-told me to try M-Meditating in the first place!"

Alice backed up to aim an incredulous look at Luka, "Yeah, as a joke! I didn't think it would actually do anything!"

The two grew silent, neither of them really knowing what to do now. 'Well, it's a good thing, I guess?' Luka thought. After all, if Meditating could heal his wounds and keep his energy up, it would greatly benefit his journey. That, and it seemed to not have any downsides, so maybe he should just be thankful?

"A-As strange as it is..." Luka said while rising to his feet, an action that seemed to be easier than normal. "...I do feel a lot better now, so I think it's a good thing." Alice didn't seem so convinced still, "S-Still freaky." The lavender-skinned Lamia whispered, still visibly frazzled by the sight of Luka's cut closing up by itself.

Luka shrugged as he began pacing back down the dirt path, content to move on for now. Alice watched him closely, not at all feeling the same way about Luka's newfound healing ability. Magic always had some sort of cost to it, and something about this new skill of Luka's made her feel uncharacteristically nervous.

"I guess that's why Meditation is such an important part of Taoism." Kitsu mused as she walked up beside Luka, "Heck if the other Kitsunes just said it'd make you invincible, I would've paid attention more!" The silver-furred fox proclaimed indignantly.

"I don't think it makes me invincible," Luka said, feeling the spot where the cut used to be one last time before putting his glove back on. "I mean, if I lost an eye or something, I doubt Meditating would bring it back." The purple-haired boy frowned, the off-hand comment reminding him of how his Father had begun to lose sight in his right eye towards the end of his life.

Alice scoffed, "The Kitsune's Taoism doesn't allow for them to Meditate to heal, I can tell you that much." Kitsu narrowed her red eyes at the Lamia, "Yeah, how would you know?" The silver-furred fox accused, obviously not appreciating Alice's dismissive tone.

In reaction, the golden-eyed Monster Lord doubled down. "I just do, even Tamamo no Mae herself can't just heal herself on a whim. Magic like that takes a lot of time and concentration, and if you mess it up you might end up doing more harm than good." Alice turned her gaze to Luka, "Which is why it's freaky that you can do it just like that. Even a small cut should take longer than just a few measly seconds."

Again, Luka could do little more than give a shrug, "I-I still don't know what to s-say, I did everything the same as I did before." He admitted once again. Looking to steer the conversation away from his bizarre discovery, Luka glanced at Kitsu. "S-So you keep talking about stuff like Ninjustu and Taoism, what are those things exactly?" The young Hero asked.

"Weeell..." Kitsu started while giving a smug grin, "...Ninjustu is a lot cooler to me, 'cause it lets you do really cool fighting moves!" Luka nodded accordingly, but Alice immediately moved to cut in with her signature blunt cadence. "That's a rather childish way of explaining it."

The Two-Tailed Kitsune was quick to whip around, "I-I wasn't done yet!" She quipped, before smiling at Luka again. "Anyways, it's the way we Kitsunes use the elements in our fighting techniques!" Luka perked up at the silver-furred fox's words, now very interested. "The elements?"

Alice moved in again, this time to give a much more in-depth explanation. "What she says is true, but there's much more to it than just that." The Lamia began, ignoring Kitsu's look of annoyance. "Infusing the elements into your Magic makes the effects much more potent than they are just by themselves. For Kitsunes, their main affinity is predominantly the element of Earth though there can be exceptions."

Luka grimaced, remembering with a bit of apprehension how Nanabi had been able to shoot fire at him in the Cave of Treasures. Alice continued, "However, while this comes easy to Monsters, Humans have a far more difficult time utilizing the elements and it is usually to a much lesser extent." The young Hero frowned while they continued to walk along the dirt path. "So, it wouldn't be possible for me to do the same?"

The lavender-skinned Lamia opened her mouth to answer but quickly stopped herself. Luka watched as Alice's golden eyes gleamed in thought, somewhat anxiously awaiting her answer. He still didn't have much of an inclination towards fighting, but the idea of being able to use the elements themselves sounded very fascinating to him.

Eventually, Alice gave her answer. "There is a way, actually..." The Lamia began, her confirmation bringing a great smile to his face. "R-Really?" Luka's traveling partner nodded, "...Yes, in fact, your insistence on going to San Ilia will actually help with that." Alice's words caused the young boy to redouble his efforts, speeding up his pace.

"Let's get going then!" Luka called out, leaving the other two behind. "H-Hey, wait up!" Kitsu called out, running up right behind the young Hero.

Alice watched the excited boy nearly dashing down the path, a very strange pang of concern hitting her. Just minutes before, Luka was hunched over on the ground in visible pain and now he was running around as though it never happened. Alice probably shouldn't worry about it, but that didn't stop her from feeling very distressed.

Little did the Monster Lord know, was that she had ample reason to be alarmed about this, as this issue would only get worse...

"Alright, let us go over the Commandments." Sofia began, shuffling a bit in her spot at the front of the Prayer Hall. Behind her was a dirtied marble podium and propped up on top of that, was the jagged piece of rock that had Ilias's Six Commandments To Monsters. The other two pious Monsters in a smiling Rosary and a flustered Christie - having recently returned from her "adjustment" - were kneeling before the disguised Lamia.

Sofia cleared her throat before starting her little sermon, "Now, the first and most important Commandment for us to remember when the Prophet gets here..." The Lamia Nun started while throwing a very pointed look at Christie in particular, who tried not to squirm under the Lamia's gaze. "...Your Kind Shalt Not Have Intercourse With Humans."

Sofia stressed this Commandment with a stern edge to her voice, "Our bodies are not worthy of being intimate with the Goddess's followers, so we are to reject our base instincts and embrace chastity." Both of the disguised Monsters before her nodded, but Sofia took note of how Christie was having trouble keeping eye contact.

"Is there something the matter, Christie?" Sofia asked, causing the disguised Succubus to flinch. "N-no, not at all! I'm just v-very excit-ee-ehh-ehh..." Christie trailed off, realizing that the particular wording she was about to use would not be wise. The Lamia Nun raised a brow at her fellow Monster's mumbling, which was quickly saved by Rosary, who placed a hand on Christie's shoulder.

"I believe what our Sister is trying to say, is that she is looking forward to meeting the Prophet you've told us about." The Slug Nun offered, helping Christie to save face some. Sofia considered the explanation for a second, finding it sufficient for the moment but still feeling distrustful of the Succubus. "Alright, just remember to be on your best behavior! Luka is a very important person to Ilias, so let us try and be as pious as possible."

Sofia raised a finger high and pointed it to the stone slab behind her, "And remember well the Second Commandment, Your Kind Shalt Not Fraternize With Humans. We are to keep are communications with Luka respectfully concise, so do not speak out of turn and keep conversation decent." The disguised Lamia again gave a sharp look to Christie, who vigorously nodded.

The Lamia Nun dropped her hand and let out a sigh. "Alright, let us do our best to uphold our piety so that we may make a good impression on the Prophet." The other two Monsters nodded but Rosary raised a hand, "Sister Sofia, you know quite a bit about Prophet Luka, correct? What are we to expect from him?"

The question caused Sofia to bristle up some. She had told the two a very brief retelling of her time with Luka - making good not mention how it had ended in particular - but hadn't spoken much of how the Prophet was due to how it would undoubtedly arouse certain feelings still lying dormant inside of her heart.

"A-Ah, yes..." Sofia began nervously, fiddling with her Nun habit's collar while she tried to stay calm. "...The Prophet L-Luka is a very kind and respectful boy. I-I'd say that there exists no better representation of what a follower of Ilias should be!" Her words were a bit shaky, but they seemed to placate Rosary who smiled at her superior's answer.

Sofia cringed in preparation as Christie raised her hand. "D-Do you know how long it will be u-until the Prophet gets here?" The Succubus asked. The disguised Lamia relaxed, having worried that the Succubus's question would have some sort of lewd purpose behind it. "Well," Sofia started while folding her hands together. "I don't have an exact time, but it is sure to be soon, so we should get started right away on preparing this Temple for his arrival!"

Rosary perked up at Sofia's words, "What shall we do to begin, Sister Sofia?" The disguised Lamia took a glance around the Temple they were in, grimacing a bit at the state of the abandoned House of the Goddess.

They certainly had their work cut out for themselves.

Meanwhile, the Prophet that Sofia and the rest of her congregation were awaiting was coming closer and closer as he led the charge toward San Ilia.

The forest was still as tranquil as it had been so far though Luka made sure not to answer any whistling this time, wanting to avoid a repeat incident. "We can't be too far off, now." Luka remarked though he was halfway tempted to recheck his map to make sure that they were going in the right direction. But then, as the trio started going around a bend in the path, something was revealed to Luka's party.

A parting in the forest revealed what seemed to be a dirtied marble facade.

Luka peered at the sight in curiosity, his shoulder-length purple locks flopping to the side. 'Huh, what's that?' The young Hero pondered to himself, moving a touch quicker. More and more of the battered building was revealed, and Luka could see a small, decolored symbol of what looked to be a stylized sun on the front of it. 'Is that a Temple of Ilias?' Luka thought in surprise as he recognized the symbol.

"What an ugly building." Alice declared. Luka would've liked to disagree and say that it wasn't that bad, but the clearly abandoned Church really did look like it had seen better days. Luka kept to the front of the group, leading his Monster friends within a few meters of the Temple.

"Erm, is this San Ilia?" Kitsu asked, looking up and down the marble building with questioning red eyes. "Looks like a dump to me." The silver-furred fox finished. Luka quickly shook his head, "No, I don't think so."

Alice - unsurprisingly - was glaring towards the building as if it spat in her lunch, but this wasn't just because of the nature of the Temple. What was bothering her, however, was what neither Luka nor Kitsu had noticed yet. These being the three Monster presences that she could faintly sense within the marble building, their presences being so faint that she couldn't even tell what type of Monsters they were.

Either they were very weak, or they were smart enough to purposely mask their power.

"It's definitely a dump, but it's also a populated dump." Alice said, causing Luka to glance up at his traveling partner and ask, "There are people in there?" His question was from disbelief, as he honestly couldn't believe that the Temple would still be in use. Alice shook her head, "Not people, no. There looks to be three Monsters in there, but I can't tell what types they are."

Luka caught on to the Lamia's meaning, turning his gaze back to the dirtied marble building. 'That doesn't sound good, they could be waiting in there to ambush any unsuspecting travelers seeking refuge!' The young Hero hardened his pale-blue eyes, 'If that's the case, then I need to stop them!'

With a small roll of his shoulders, Luka steeled himself to take on whatever may be hiding inside. "I-I'm going to go check it out then." The purple-haired boy proclaimed before walking towards the "abandoned" Temple's cracked and jagged front steps, but Alice slithered between Luka and the Temple. "Why are you bothering with this? It'd be quicker if we just kept going to San Ilia."

The young Hero shook his head, "If there's a possibility of there being dangerous Monsters in there, then it's my duty to look into it." Luka answered with confidence. Alice shook her head while Kitsu nervously scuttled forward, "I-I don't know, th-this place looks c-c-creepy. What if it's haunted!?"

"D-Don't say stupid things like that!" Alice quickly snapped, the Kitsune's comment causing her to subtly slither away from the run-down Temple. Luka gave his oddly behaving traveling partner a side-eye before replying, "Well, even if it was, I still need to investigate." He finished before stepping forward once more.

Alice - who was definitely not trying to reign in her fear of ghosts because that wasn't a fear she had - and Kitsu - who was definitely afraid and didn't care enough to hide it - watched Luka step up to the Temple in earnest, climbing all the way up to the front doors. They weren't nearly as large as the Ilias Temple of his hometown and the wooden doors looked to be the type that would make the most awful squeaking noise imaginable when moved.

Undoubtedly, doors such as these have already proved to be one of Luka's most indomitable enemies and so he removed his traveling bag accordingly and set it on the ground beside him.

Luka raised a black-gloved hand and took the large, rusted ring that served as the doorknob, giving a glance over his shoulder as he did. Alice, predictably, was already gone. 'Is she really that scared of ghosts?' He questioned in his mind before his pale-blue eyes found Kitsu. The silver-furred fox was watching him wide-eyed from the bush she was ducked behind, the entirety of the shrub shaking alongside her.

'Guess I'll be going in completely alone.' Luka thought, turning back to the door and pulling the door by its handle. Which, very surprisingly, only gave out very minimum creaking. Luka felt himself become greatly irked by this; however, his annoyance was quickly subdued by surprise as he saw the absolutely abysmal state of the inside of the Temple.

The dark blue carpeting was scuffed and ripped, the various parts lifting up off the ground and curling in on themselves. The rows of wooden booths seemed to be just as ruined, their dark blue padded seats being torn just as badly as the carpeting. Luka glanced around more, feeling that the wooden frame of the upper level looked unsafe from how much rot there was on the planks being used as its foundation.

Luka cringed at the sorrowful sight of the Temple, slowly stepping inside as he pulled the door closed behind himself. 'This place looks like it hasn't been used in decades.' He thought, his gaze rising up towards the opposite end of the Prayer Hall. The stained-glass window held a visage of Ilias which seemed to be the only thing left mostly intact.

The purple-haired boy spied a lone podium standing below the image of Ilias, a stray beam of sunlight coming through a hole in the ceiling and lighting up the floor before the marble stand. Luka stepped forward to get a better look at the inside of the Temple but this proved to be a mistake.

"Wh-Whoa!" Luka yelled as he slipped on a slick puddle of something, before harshly smacking the back of his head on the tile flooring below him. The young Hero groaned as he began to see stars, clutching the back of his head with both hands.

Luka closed his eyes tight, but the white spots glittering in his gaze did not disappear. The purple-haired boy silently cursed himself for making such a near-sighted mistake, cringing at the pain that hit his head.

"B-By Ilias!" A soft voice cried out.

The young Hero was hit by a wave of confusion in between the waves of pain he felt, but Luka could barely think about that as he felt a pair of soft hands gently grabbing both his head and one of his arms respectfully. The kind voice spoke out to him again, "I-I'm so sorry, I j-just mopped here!" Luka was finally able to open his eyes as the white spots faded, meeting gazes with...

...A Nun?

If Luka's confusion wasn't great before, it certainly was now. Didn't Alice say there were Monsters in here?

The brown-haired woman of the cloth's equally brown eyes looked over him with great concern, "I hope you are not badly hurt, I-" The woman paused, her eyes widening in realization. "-Wait, are you..." The black-robed woman's face grew excited, "...The Prophet Luka?"

Said Prophet froze up, not at all having expected to hear his "official" title being used by someone outside of Heaven. "Y-Yes I am?" Luka answered, his head swimming in both pain and incertitude. He moved to stand, and the brown-eyed Nun helped him by wrapping an arm around his back. In a few moments, the purple-haired boy rose to his feet, the Nun only releasing him from her grip once he was able to fully stand.

Luka took a could seconds to make sure he was fine, raising a hand up to the back of his head once again. The brown-haired Nun frowned, "A-Again, I must apologize, my Prophet. I had to mop that spot multiple times due to, erm..." The woman cleared her throat quickly, "...A leak that I've had quite a deal of trouble fixing."

The woman's tone struck Luka as odd, but the purple-haired boy didn't question it as he watched her move to stand before him. It just now struck him how much taller she was to him, a fact that made him a touch bit nervous. "Th-That's fine, Miss, eh..." The Nun gasped, "Oh! I almost forgot, my name is Rosary." Luka nodded, "Don't worry, Miss Rosary, I-I'm not upset."

Rosary's face flushed just a bit, "Th-Thank you, Prophet Luka." The Nun then took a quick glance over her shoulder, her gaze coming back to Luka just as swiftly. "W-We are about to have tea, would you like some?" Luka felt a bit more suspicious, 'We? Alice did say that there were three Monsters...' However, this didn't seem to add up to the young Hero. '...But if she is a Monster, she surely would've attacked me when I was down, wouldn't she?'

Deciding to go along with whatever was going on, Luka replied. "I-I would love some, thank you."

The brown-haired Nun nodded with a smile, "Fantastic, I'll go check to see how far along it is. Y-You can take a seat wherever you wish!" Rosary exclaimed before turning around and heading down the aisle between the booths of the Prayer Hall. Luka watched her go all the way, his nagging sense of confusion only rising more and more as things went on.

Eventually, Rosary turned and disappeared through a door on the side of the Prayer Hall, leaving Luka alone in the run-down Temple. The young Hero felt awfully lost as he started slowly pacing down the sloped aisle, his head swimming as he made his way down. His pale-blue eyes wandered more, seeing the peeling paint of the once pure-white walls falling off in some places while being grossly stained in others.

'I'd hate to say it, but this place really is kind of a dump...' Luka thought, not even daring to actually voice his observation. But how could he not notice when there was even mold in some places high up where the walls and the hole-riddled ceiling met? Time had definitely not been kind to this Church. '...I wonder why this place was left like this. Maybe it was abandoned after San Ilia was founded?'

It made sense, seeing as San Ilia is undoubtedly the heart of the Ilias faith in Sentora. That and since this forest seemed to have a significant number of Monsters, it probably was just more sensible to leave this place in favor of the larger and probably easier-to-defend Temple/Castle hybrid. Even still though, Luka felt it was a shame that this place had seemingly been forgotten so carelessly.

Luka glanced back up to look at the stained-glass visage of his Goddess once more, coming to a stop in front of the dirtied sermon stand. The young Hero felt a very conflicted jumble of emotions swirl within him as he looked up to Ilias, the one who had crowned Luka as her Prophet. The Goddess's likeness stared down at him from the Temple's stained-glass window, the soft blue eyes gazing down upon him with benevolence.

The young boy sighed, suddenly feeling a great weight on his shoulders. Unbeknownst to him, his situation was about to get all the more complicated and muddied.

Creak

The sound of squeaking wood filled the room, but what caused Luka to freeze up was the small gasp that came afterward. The brief noise struck him hard, as something about it itched at the back of his mind. The young Hero slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder, his pale-blue eyes widening in utter shock at who he saw standing behind him.

Luka felt his heart flutter as the conflicted emotions he had already been feeling moments before went haywire, finding that the person who had been walking up behind him was Sofia. The blonde-haired Nun was taller now, and her form was a bit fuller, but otherwise she looked nearly identical to the day they had first met. Luka's throat closed up before he could speak though his mind was so frazzled that even if he could talk, he probably wouldn't be able to put together a coherent sentence.

Likewise, Sofia could not muster any type of greeting, stuck in place with one foot still on the wooden plank that had caused the squeak. Similarly, the disguised Lamia's own heart quivered as she came face-to-face with the boy who still held an iron grip on her, even on the best of days. Just like that, it was if she was thrown back to that day two years ago when she had first met Luka. The first time she had been truly tested in her resolve.

A resolve that was already starting to crumble once again.

The silence in the room was deafening, neither of the two being able to do more than stay frozen as the bittersweet feelings resurfaced. Fondness and sadness clashed terribly in the two, only furthering the awfully awkward reunion. Truly, if it was only the Prophet and the Lamia Nun in that Temple, they perhaps would've never moved from their spots.

But that was not the case...

"S-Sofia!" A voice called out, an odd metallic jangling accompanying it before the owner of the cacophony of noise came running out of the doorway Rosary had left through earlier. However, this was not Rosary.

Luka and Sofia broke from their prolonged eye contact to see Christie run in, the Succubus Nun's long blue hair bouncing as she entered the Prayer Hall and glanced towards her fellow pious Monster. "Sofia, the tea's finished, but we-" Christie stopped dead mid-sentence as her light green eyes looked past her fellow Sister and immediately became locked onto the distressed Luka.

"-We... W-We only have th-three cups." Christie finally finished, but her mind was already far from their teacup issue now. Sofia slowly nodded, feeling as though she was burning under Luka's intense gaze. It was almost as if all the sinful fantasies she had ever thought were turning into a swirling inferno inside her chest. "O-Okay Christie, i-it will be fine. We may just need to share."

The Succubus Nun nodded, shakily turning around and leaving through the doorway.

Sofia hesitantly turned back around, nearly flinching as she found that Luka was still staring at her. The disguised Lamia fought the urge to shudder, having to fold her hands together to stop this. "W-..." Sofia gulped, "...-Would you like to join u-us for tea, Luka?" The young Hero stood in silence, only offering a miniscule nod in reply.

By Ilias, did Sofia wish that Luka had said no.

Quite a bit to unpack here, as I've now introduced a few more wrinkles into the story. First and foremost of this being the subject of Luka's health. More specifically, it is going to fluctuate greatly as Jeremiad goes on. The reason - that I've admittedly made up completely - is similar to why Lucifina's health was falling and why Micaela's currently is as well, but not quite the same.

For Luka's Mother and Aunt, their strength started to fall because their powers were sealed. (This not being as detrimental with Micaela because she did not fully seal them, while Lucifina did.) Either way, their powers were fighting to get out and this struggle causes stress on their physical bodies.

However, Luka is a different story due to the fact that he is only Half-Angel; So, his powers are inherently harmful for his body. This makes their affect much worse. So even while his Angelic powers are better sealed thanks to Micaela, they will still cause him harm. What is the solution then, you may ask?

Meditation, lots and lots of Meditation.

This might seem like no big deal at first, but as the Monsters Luka battles start to get stronger and as his Angelic side pushes harder to be freed, the toll all of this takes on our young Hero will get worse. To the point where Meditation starts to become a crutch both physically and mentally as Luka's injuries get more extreme...

...And of course I can't forget about Sofia. Poor, poor Sofia. The next chapter will be tense for all the wrong reasons. For her reunion with Luka won't be as great as one would hope.

F14M3RZ: I do plan to have a connection of sorts like that for Sofia and Anastasia, as it delves a bit into why Sofia is how she is. We won't get to that right away, but their blood relation will come up again in the future.

Nice on picking up on the dynamic of the "Monsterous Angels" and "Angelic Monsters", by the way. It's a great bit of irony as you can argue that Black Alice's followers in Sofia, Christie, and Rosary are more "pious" than Wormiel and her followers.

Speaking of Black Alice, she's one that's going to be hard not to sympathize with as this story goes on. Especially with how badly she starts to project onto both Sofia and Luka for varying reasons. A friend is definitely something she needs though unfortunately, there's little in the way of friends in Heaven and Earth for her.

If only there was someone who could change that...

Marshman101: I'm glad to hear this is your favorite fanfic of MGQ, that's actually very flattering. As to who Luka will finally do the deed with, well, just got to wait to find out. Though the answer may be unsurprising, I'll be honest.

espioll: There's a key reason for that, this being the fact that Sofia trues to hide her identity as a Monster. For this story, this is something Black Alice did as well while she traveled with Heinrich. In fact, it's a very important detail to keep in mind.

Alice is slowly coming around, but it'll be a little bit before Luka really grows on her and starts to lighten up on him some. Remember that Alice is still trying to fulfill her own goals, so she's attempting to keep him at arm's length, but our purple-haired Hero is steadily making that more and more difficult.