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Year 16 AL, Desire versus Duty


Despair overflowed Luka's heart as the sun began to sink further and further into the ocean. It was a truly beautiful sight, the reddening star's fading light reflecting off both the sea and the sky above as day turned into night. However, he had not expected another day to pass so quickly.

Luka had assumed that when Amira had said that the Cave of Treasures was east of Iliasport, that it would be about the same as her previous directions had been for his trip from Iliasburg to the Bandit's hideout.

Luka was wrong.

Dead wrong.

Hours of marching along the coast of the Ilias Continent had proven that much. Even with a complete lack of encounters with Monsters, they had failed to find this fabled Cave of Treasures. Even worse now, they would probably have to set up camp in the middle of nowhere once more. Luka didn't mind camping, but he severely missed the comforts of a nice, soft bed.

And a bath. Oh, Ilias above knew how badly he wanted to have a proper wash.

Glancing about their surroundings, Luka noted that they were in a sort of middle-ground between two ecosystems. On their left was a little drop-off leading to the coast, while on the right was a small collection of trees overseeing the cliffside. 'Well, the trees will be a good place to set up camp, while the ocean below may end up giving up dinner for tonight.' He smiled at the thought, happy to at least experiment with whatever could be caught from the sea below.

"Well," Luka said, looking at the fading sun with squinted eyes. "It seems as if we will have to set up camp before we get to the Cave of Treasures." Alice, who had shed her Human disguise quickly after leaving Iliasport, actually seemed happy about this. For obvious reasons, of course. "Good, I'm getting hungry."

Lona felt likewise, "Me too, I haven't eaten in a while..."

Luka nodded, "Then it's settled. We'll set up camp here," He said, pointing towards the cliffside. "And I'll be catching us dinner down there." He finished, turning to point down at the sea below. Alice grew visibly excited at his words, "Ah, a seafood gourmet? That sounds very nice."

Lona skipped up to the purple-haired boy's side, a soft smile on her face. "I-I'll help in whatever way you want, Luka. I could even help you cook!" Luka shook his head at the suggestion. "Oh no, I'm good with doing that part by myself. Though if you want, his can help me put up my t-tent." He sputtered off and stopped as a sudden realization hit him.

He still only had one small tent.

Regularly, when it was just him and Alice, this would be no problem. After all, with serene weather like this, they could sleep separately with no issue. However, with Lona added to the mix, now the question of where she was supposed to sleep reared its head. There was an obvious answer, but it was one he didn't wish to acknowledge. Especially with Lona's particular affliction still being a worry to him.

'Sharing the same tent with her would almost certainly result in something Ilias would not approve of me doing. At this point, I know that much...' He thought, a bitter pang of conflict arising in him. '...But, if what Alice said is true, then that might be the only thing I can do to help Lona.' Neither option was particularly preferred by the young boy, as both required him to break one of his personal vows.

Either break his vow of helping those in need or break his vow of maintaining his innocence and purity.

Luka, followed closely by Alice and Lona, made it over to the patch of trees the young Hero planned to set up camp at. He shouldered off his traveling bag and set Angel Halo to the side for now. He got to his knees and retrieved his camping supplies with practiced ease, pulling out the tent and its spokes within seconds. If nothing else, he was getting better at the process.

Within a few seconds, Lona came to his side and watched as the purple-haired boy set all of the camping equipment to the side. Her dull brown eyes shone with nervousness as she said, "Ehh, I do have to admit that I've never actually set up a tent before." Luka glanced up at her while unfolding the tarp, "D-Don't worry. It seems like a lot, but it's pretty easy once you get down to it..."

Alice watched wordlessly as Luka walked Lona through the steps of setting up the tent, the small green shelter coming along a bit slower than normal thanks to Luka insisting on showing Lona every single last step. Alice could only hope that eventually, he would speed things along, and they'd get the firepit set up. After that, all that would be missing was the food. However, despite her earlier comment, food wasn't particularly on Alice's mind. Of course, it was there, lingering at the back of her mind, but it wasn't the focus.

What was the focus was how close Lona was getting to Luka since they had left Iliasport, both literally and figuratively.

The white-haired Elf had not strayed far from the boy's side since leaving the port town. Having kept close in an almost instinctual urge to remain within a one-meter radius of the young Hero.

This was somewhat expected due to Alice's theory about the Monster's state of Degeneration, but it was beginning to grate on the Lamia's nerves. The Elf's behavior was like that of a lost puppy latching onto the first available source of affection. Affection that, possibly, would be given in spades by the end of the night. However that all depended on what Luka decided to do.

The young Hero hadn't revealed what his plans for the Elf were if he had any at all. And not knowing this was troubling Alice some.

Technically, it wasn't any of her business what Luka did. If he decided to help cool off the Elf's rising lust, then that was his choice. He had already done a similar thing before, so this would be no different. However, the same wave of anger that had hit Alice in Harpy Village, threatened to spill out now just at the notion. Even though there wasn't a guarantee that the boy would actually go through with it.

But there was a chance.

There was a chance that he and the Elf would be sharing his tent tonight for intimate reasons.

And that really - really - bothered Alice.

"Okay, tent is done. Now let's build the fire pit!" Luka exclaimed. Lona gave a nod, following right behind, as always. "O-Okay. I, erm, don't know how to build one of those, either." Again, Luka was quick to calm the white-haired Elf. "Oh, well, I'll just show you that, too..." The Monster Lord's golden eyes silently observed as the two began collecting the necessary rocks to build the fire's perimeter.

It was almost sickening to watch as Lona still maintained her closeness to Luka during the process. She didn't even attempt to venture anywhere to collect rocks unless he went there first. If he placed a rock down, she'd almost trip over herself trying to put one right down next to his as quickly as possible.

Alice closed her eyes, having more than enough of watching the pathetic display. If the Elf really wanted Luka that badly, then she ought to just go for it instead of tiptoeing around the subject all cutesy-like. Especially with how oblivious Luka could be. After all, Alice herself had proven how easy it was twice to get the boy worked up, and she hadn't even really had to do anything. It was easy, almost trivial.

In Harpy Village, Alice had barely done anything at all. Sure, she had felt him up a bit first, but he had already been erect enough by himself anyway. And last night had been even more of Luka's fault. Alice had done nothing but let him massage her, which was his idea. The Lamia hadn't really wanted it, she had just let him do it because...

... Well... because it felt good.

But even then, Alice hadn't even lifted a finger to arouse him. Evidently, Luka became excited just by touching her. Which, honestly, was funnier than anything else. To think, something so unassuming could get him riled up that bad. Really, who gets excited from such a mundane thing, such as a backrub? Certainly not Alice. No, not at all. She hadn't even thought about his hands trailing down her back since then...

...Then why did she have to be thinking about this now, of all times?

"Alice!" The white-haired Lamia jerked, becoming very suddenly aware that the purple-haired boy that she had been thinking about was standing right before her. His pale-blue eyes were staring right into hers with worry.

Luka became sheepish now that Alice was completely focused on him, "S-Sorry for yelling, y-you weren't responding, s-so..." Alice wordlessly nodded, unable to formulate a proper response. Luka gave a quick and cut-off chuckle, "...Ha-ha, I-I just wanted to let you know that Lona and I were going to go down by the coast since she wanted to watch me fish. I didn't know if you wanted to stay here, or-"

"I-I'll go too!" Alice replied, abruptly cutting off the boy a bit too quickly. Luka jumped at the Lamia's swift response, not entirely having expected her to be interested. The purple-haired boy glanced back at Lona, who oddly looked a bit upset at Alice's answer. "...Al-Alright, then..." He promptly turned towards the coast, heading down to try and catch something to eat.


The sun had fallen a bit more over the horizon by the time Luka got set up to fish, but he wasn't worried. This, as his Father had told him in times past, was one of the most successful times of the day to fish. And so, the purple-haired boy sat on a significantly large and flat rock, the stone's angle facing perfectly towards the water before him.

In his gloved hands was the fishing pole he had used for many years, the line of which already had been cast and was now ready to procure the trio's dinner. 'I just hope that it's enough for all of us. I don't know how much Lona will eat, but I know that Alice will have a sizable amount. I might even need to prepare to catch more than one fish, depending on the size...'

Luka took a moment to reflect on his current situation. Already his journey to face the Monster Lord and forge a path of coexistence had been an odd one. Mostly due to the white-haired Lamia coiled around a rock of her own a couple meters back to his right.

Alice was still an anomaly to him. He considered her to be somewhat of a friend, still. However, it felt a bit more complicated than that, and that was not just because of the two times they have had... intimate contact. Truly, she was very interesting to him. He was aware of the fact that she was a powerful Monster, that much he had seen before. But she hardly ever showed this, as she left him to fight his battles by himself.

However, it couldn't be said that she simply didn't care for him. At least, that's what Luka would like to think. After all, if she didn't care about him, then why show him those techniques and help him grow stronger in the first place? Obviously, that had to imply something about how she felt about him, but he wasn't sure what that was.

'Alice had said that she was traveling the World and that traveling with me made it more interesting. But is that it? Am I just a spoke on the wheel of her own journey?' He frowned, the idea of him being nothing more than a curiosity that could be dropped as soon as he was no longer interesting to her leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

Luka lightly nudged his fishing rod, lifting the line ever so gently, as to arouse some curiosity if any fish were around.

'That couldn't be it, though. She actively helped me not be killed by Granberia, somehow. And she actually wished me luck when I went it to face Lucretia.' He thought, mulling over the conflicting information. 'But that still doesn't bring me any closer to an answer. She has some other higher agenda, I think. Though at the very least, it doesn't seem to be an evil one. Although she can be quite mean sometimes.'

The booster-seat comment still burned some. He wasn't that short, was he!?

Luka felt a tiny nip at his fishing pole. Reflexively, he almost jerked, but he stayed still. It wasn't too much to warrant action yet. '...But as mean as she can be, Alice can also be nice. Though I feel that it makes her more confusing than anything else.' Luka gave a small and quiet huff, his internal musings only having brought him to the same conclusion: Alice was bizarre.

"Wh-Whoa!" Luka whispered in alarm as something tugged very harshly on his fishing pole. He quickly rose to full height and yanked with all of his might. To his alarm, whatever he was yanked right back!

"Gah!" Luka hollered as he slid down to the coast, causing Lona to yell in alarm. He focused on the task at hand, digging his heels into the craggy rocks of the shoreline, but was very suddenly distracted by the feeling of two very soft mounds pressing into the back of his head. Looking down, Luka saw as Lona's hands wrapped around his rod, gripping the pole to help him pull.

He didn't want to think about what those mounds were, but at the back of his mind... he knew...

"A-Am I h-helping?" He heard the white-haired Elf ask, and he managed to formulate a response, "Y-Y-Yeah, j-just k-k-keep p-p-pulling!" He exclaimed, hoping that their fight to bring in this fish would be short, as he was becoming very distracted by Lona.

Luka fought to reel in the catch, whatever it was on the other end, evidently being quite the whopper of a fish. 'Just how big is this thing?!' He thought in alarm as he and Lona tried to reel in his catch. Finally, something burst out of the water!

SPLASH

The deep blue water came alive as a large fish flew from the waves, wildly flailing its body back and forth before plummeting back into the water with a great splash. Luka's eyes widened in recognition. What they had caught seemed to be an adolescent, blue-finned tuna. It wasn't quite as large as an adult would be, but it certainly weighed more than Luka did.

"Oh, man!" Luka exclaimed, feeling his feet scrape against the rocks as he and Lona fought to keep themselves on the shore. "I-I'm slipping!" Lona shouted, and indeed, he could see her grip on his pole faltering.

"Haa-ha, j-just hold on a bit more, and we got him! I'm sure of it!" Luka replied, although he actually had no idea if they could actually pull this off or not.

SPLASH

Once again, the Tuna jumped from the water. However, this time, it had taken a different route. Bizarrely enough, the fish had decided to shoot itself towards the shore, aiming itself right towards the two!

"W-WAH!" Lona yelled, falling backward from shock. The white-haired Elf ended up taking the boy down with her as her hands went from his fishing pole to his waist to latch onto Luka tightly. This ended up being his saving grace, however, as it caused the young Hero to narrowly avoid being beamed in the head by the wild flying fish that soared right over them.

Lona had the situational wherewithal to twist as she fell, dragging Luka to fall beside her instead of right on top of herself. They both fell with an ugly thud, a small cloud of sand and dust kicking up from the landing. Sounds of the Tuna's flopping could be heard as the animal had effectively beached itself behind them, and the two quickly got to their feet to assess the situation.

Being more experienced in this type of situation, Luka reached down to grab a rock and started sprinting towards the large fish. He skidded to a stop just a little bit before reaching the Tuna, noticing just how big it was up close. "Jeez, this thing is bigger than I am!" Luka said before glancing over to Alice, who had been watching the entire thing with great amusement. "Hey, Alice! Do you mind holding it down for me?"

"Yes, I do mind." Alice answered simply.

Luka shot an annoyed look at her before shaking his head. 'Alright, Plan B then...' Luka looked at the violently flopping fish with a bit of anxiety. He didn't want it to simply suffer and die on the shore, but to properly and humanely kill it, he'd have to wear out the animal before anything else.

He glanced over his shoulder, seeing that Lona had come up behind him. "O-Okay, Lona, take this rock." He said, holding out said rock to the white-haired Elf. "Uhh, alright..." She said, a bit confused by his command, but took the rock either way. Then, to her shock, the purple-haired boy dove towards the fish, looking his arms around it!

The fish's wriggling became reinvigorated by the sudden contact, flailing both itself and Luka around with its efforts. "L-Luka, wh-what are you doing!?" Lona yelled, watching on in horror as the purple-haired boy was tossed around with the Tuna's flailing. "Ju-u-ust tr-trying... t-to... tire it out!" He proclaimed in between each bounce the fish gave, the two rolling around on the shoreline.

Alice, having apparently seen enough - or was simply growing too hungry to find any further enjoyment - finally stepped in. "Okay, this is getting old." She proclaimed before her golden eyes suddenly gave a bright flash. In an instant, the large tuna just gave up. It stopped writhing in the ground and just lay there beneath Luka as if it had no more energy to fight back.

"Oh..." Luka said somewhat dumbly as he raised his head to look at the white-haired Lamia. "...Thanks, Alice!" Luka said in earnest as he let go of the fish. The lavender-skinned Monster just rolled her eyes, "Don't thank me for that, I just wanted to make sure that our dinner didn't flop back into the ocean."

Despite her nonchalant answer, the young Hero gave her a smile anyway. "Well, even still. You helped me out a lot there." Lona, meanwhile, watched the interaction with a small frown, suddenly feeling very out of place...


Most of the sun had dipped down into the ocean by the time that Luka was able to get started on cooking the large Tuna. It had been somewhat of a complicated endeavor due to its sheer size but considering the happy-looking faces of his two traveling partners, Luka considered this meal to be a successful one.

"W-Wow, I didn't think you'd be so good at this, Luka." Lona said, having already finished her plate before he had and was now sitting lackadaisically on the green grass with both legs curled and a hand on the ground to prop herself up. "I didn't even really like Tuna before!"

As always, the purple-haired boy sitting cross-legged on the ground next to her was happy to brag just a little bit. "Well, I like to think that I have pretty solid cooking skills..." Alice, who had eaten - to Luka and Lona's horror - probably about half of the fish by herself chimed in from the other side of the fire. "It's one of his saving graces, although his swordsmanship still has some things to be desired."

Lona frowned, seeming to disagree, "I think he's pretty good, better than I am, anyway, and I was one of the better swordfighters in Enrika." Luka could sense something bad in the air as Alice scoffed at the Elf's words. "That couldn't be much of a high bar." Luka cringed as Lona became indignant, pushing off of the grass to sit a bit taller. "What is that supposed to mean?" The white-haired Elf asked, her tone holding some anger.

Alice shrugged, unfazed by Lona's change of demeanor. "All that I am saying, is that beating an Elf shouldn't be some great hurdle for him. Heck, it isn't even a stepping-stone. Not when he is going to fight the Monster Lord herself. To her, an Elf is about as mighty as a drop of water is to the ocean." Alice's mentioning of Luka's goal seemed to stifle the Elf's anger, as she visibly shrunk and her dull brown eyes lowered to stare into the fire.

The white-haired Lamia looked away from the Elf, satisfied to have set that fact straight, until she met the sight of Luka himself. The purple-haired boy looked rather upset by Alice's words, having to turn his face away from the two. Alice felt a small inclination to actually prod into what had troubled him, but Luka suddenly rose from the ground, leaving his portion of the meal behind.

"I-I'm not really feeling so hungry anymore guys, I think I'm gonna... go..." Luka didn't finish, simply walking away from the group.

The purple-haired Prophet of Ilias broke through the small line of trees to look at the setting sun. Or rather, the already faded sun, as the solar entity was already completely gone now, only scattered bits of red painting the now darkened sky. He gave a large sigh, slowly hiking back down to the shoreline. Once getting there, he found the large rock that he had been sitting on before when fishing, using it again so that he could try and clear his mind.

Alice's words, while they may have not been intended to do so, reminded Luka just how far off his goal was. After all, as needlessly blunt she had been, the Lamia was right. Beating Elves and whatnot were far removed from the final battle he was destined to have.

It felt so far away, so unobtainable. Luka hadn't even left the Ilias Continent yet, and things had already been pretty difficult. Many battles he had were only "won" through sheer luck or by outside interference. But one thing was certain: When he faced the Monster Lord, he could not hope for such things. At the back of his mind, he would love to believe that he could somehow avoid having to fight the Monster Lord, that some other solution could be found, but...

...Luka was starting to have doubts about his quest.

Out of all the Monsters he had encountered, he had only avoided having to fight entirely with a scant few. He still had to fight most to some capacity, even if it didn't lead to having to be sealed. To think that the Monster Lord herself would simply agree to his idea of coexistence seemed a bit silly, now.

Of course, if he got strong enough to actually beat her, he could just seal her with Angel Halo. However, even that felt like a betrayal of his beliefs as even the idea of sealing her put a bad feeling in his stomach. He didn't quite like how it felt like he would be forcing her to conform to his will. But would a heartfelt plea on his part just fall on deaf ears? Would she even care about what he thought, or would she just find his ideas silly and stupid?

Luka shook his head at the troubling thought, 'To merely hope that I could settle this thing peacefully might just be the best I can do, for now. As much as I hate to admit it.' He thought, leaning back a bit on the rock. 'But who knows, maybe I'm just off to a rough start, and things will get easier from here on?'

His poor heart quivered, seemingly knowing the truth that his mind did not.

Luka froze, hearing the sound of shuffling rocks behind him. He turned, his purple hair being tossed by the movement. He was a bit surprised to see that Lona was standing a couple meters away, a troubled look on her face.

"Are you alright, Luka?" Lona asked, her voice low and soft. Luka considered voicing some of his troubles but quickly dropped the idea. He didn't want to unload all of his personal problems on the Elf. Instead, he gave a weary-looking smile. "Y-Yeah, just needed some quiet time to think, you know."

Lona's dull brown eyes fell a bit, "I see... I'm not bothering you, am I?" She hesitantly asked. Luka shook his head, "No, of course not!" He said, causing a faint smile to grow on the white-haired Elf's face. "I-I'm glad, I actually wanted to join you, if you don't mind."

The purple-haired boy watched as Lona stepped closer, her long green skirt revealing some of her long legs as a lazy breeze blew in from the sea. Luka's throat closed up for a moment at the sight of her bare flesh, though didn't seem to bother Lona. In fact, the only thing she seemed focused on now, was him.

Lona hiked up the skirt a bit and sat on the far side of the rock he was on before looking over to the fading light of the sun. "It's a beautiful sight, I've never been able to see such a sunset from Enrika." She commented, another breeze gently lulling her long white hair around. Luka glanced at the sight himself as he replied, "Yeah, it is really something else..." He paused, enjoying the quiet time. Rarely did he find himself able to just be at peace, not with how hectic his journey had been thus far.

"I know I already said it before, but I want to thank you again, Luka." Lona said, bringing the boy's attention to her. He was a bit taken aback to find that the taller Elf's dull brown eyes were on him entirely, something very passionate swimming in her gaze. He opened his mouth to reply, but Lona stopped him. "I-I mean it. For you to do what you've done for me. It might not seem like much, but it means a lot to me."

Lona scooted closer.

"It's almost funny. To think that our meeting so long ago would eventually come back around to this, to you saving me from Darkness. I can't even put into words how that makes me feel..." Luka bristled, having forgotten that little detail. That Lona was not completely rid of her Degeneration. He hadn't even thought about the fact that she didn't know this. And from how it seemed, it was rearing its ugly head.

"...I just, wish that I could repay you, somehow." She said, her breath hitching just a little bit, but enough for him to notice. Luka felt his own breathing falter.

Lona scooted even closer.

Luka looked over to the fading sunlight, an awfully familiar feeling in his stomach. As obvious as he could be, even he had an inclination to what Lona was hinting at. "H-H-Hey," He said, standing up from the rock. "Y-You know, it's getting l-late and - well - w-we should probably get some sl-sleep soon, right?" The question practically fell from his mouth, coming out a jumbled mess as the troubled Elf looked on.

"Luka-" Lona started swiftly rising from the rock after him. The purple-haired boy raised his hands, his mouth forming a nervous smile. "Y-Yep! That s-s-sounds right, in fact, I-I'm e-exhausted right-" Luka had begun turning away, but he was stopped by the feeling of a hand tightly grasping at his wrist. His body tensed, and he hesitantly began turning back around.

Unsurprisingly, the white-haired Elf was the culprit, her hand desperately clutching at his arm. The young Hero's heart was thumping inside of his chest like crazy as he rose his head to meet Lona's gaze. "L-Luka..." She started, a pleading hesitation in her voice. "...C-Can we... sh-share your tent... tonight?" Luka felt his throat close up at her question, having dreaded such a thing. He wasn't a fool. He knew what the Elf meant, what she was asking from him.

"I-I don't k-know..." He said, the very notion of what she was asking, causing him significant distress. He was already riding a thin line with what he had done with Reina once and Alice twice now. He didn't know if he could add Lona to that list, even with her issues with Degeneration.

"Pl-Ple-ease..." Lona begged quietly.

That absolutely broke him.

The look in her dull brown eyes held an anguish that struck Luka like a knife through his very heart. All of a sudden, the idea of saying no, of denying her that, it couldn't possibly be done. Luka didn't know how it had come to this once again, but his heart just couldn't stop it. He knew that he shouldn't, he knew that it was a bad idea, and he knew that there would be repercussions. But he just couldn't muster a response other than a shaky and uncertain nod.

As heartbreaking as Lona's plea had been, the smile that came to her face after his acceptance was just as heartmelting. Luka could see the tinge of red growing around her cheeks as she gave a hushed, "Thank you."

Luka returned her words with a small half-smile on his own, but on the inside he was terrified. Terrified of what was about to happen, about what he was doing. And even worse...

...He looked up to the sky above...

...Luka knew he was being watched.

The young Hero let out his extra anxiety with a heavy sigh, knowing that he was about to break his vow of innocence for the fourth time in less than a week. He looked back to Lona, who was gazing at him longingly. She seemingly could see his nervousness and offered him a reprieve, "I-I'll wait in the tent, if you n-need a minute..." She said, the smile not leaving her face.

Luka nervously grinned back, "I-If y-you don't m-mind, yeah." Lona sauntered past him quietly, her body grazing past his own just a little bit. Despite the mostly mundane contact, it still made him jolt some.

He heard the Elf's steps fade away slowly until it was just him and the sea. The soft swishing of the waves breaking against the shore filled his ears, offering the troubled boy a little bit of peace. The sun's light was completely gone now, and the sky was now dark. Fitting, that it would be that way now, considering how he felt.

"So, you made your choice?" Luka turned around to see Alice standing there, her face peculiarly impassive.

Luka sighed again, looking down to the ground below him as it suddenly became very interesting. "I-I suppose... I have..." He muttered, kicking at the little rocks below his feet. Alice tilted her head a bit, her white hair falling to the side. "I didn't think that someone could look so depressed before getting intimate..." Alice's words caused him to look back up to her again.

Luka mustered a small, humorless chuckle, "...Ha-ha... Y-Yeah..."

Alice's next words stumped him. "If it troubles you that much, why agree to it?" The purple-haired boy paused, not even sure how to respond. How could he put his feelings into words? Should he even bother trying? "I..." He began, still unable to meet her gaze. "...I just, don't want to..." He stopped, suddenly feeling very idiotic.

What did he not want to do?

'I don't want to hurt her feelings.' He thought though that seemed like a poor excuse for doing this.

'I don't want her Degenerate further.' That was better, but even still, it didn't feel quite right.

'I don't want to...' His train of thought was very suddenly halted.

"What do you want?" The Lamia asked.

What did he want? It was a simple question, but his mind couldn't formulate an answer. Not that his clamped-up throat would allow him to give that answer. For anyone else, something like this would be so arbitrary, but for Luka, it felt as though the whole weight of the World had just fallen upon his shoulders. He didn't understand why his thoughts were so muddied.

Alice took note of his sudden silence, her golden-eyed gaze running over his somber form quickly before she continued. "It's none of my business how you spend your nights..." Luka felt further confused by the odd lift in Alice's voice, his eyes rising to meet hers. Despite the oddity of her voice, Alice's facade remained neutral. "... But if you want coexistence, isn't something like this be something you want as well?"

Luka visibly flinched at Alice's words, his pale blue eyes falling to the ground once more. She was right because he did want coexistence. He did want peace. Which meant that, realistically, this would be a part of that. But Luka had never really thought of it that way before for himself, because...

...Because he was Ilias's Prophet. And he wasn't supposed to be doing these things in the first place.

Which was part of the problem. Because he still didn't know how he could convince the Goddess to see things his way.

"Well, I won't hold you up any longer. That Elf is already in your tent, now. So... have fun..." Alice said, the last part of her sentence now having a very strong lift to it. One that Luka could tell wasn't an accident now. He looked up, his mouth opening to question her, but he found that his traveling partner was now gone.

'Is she upset at me?' Luka thought, his confusion now hopelessly down spiraling. Alice had said that she didn't care for what he did with his "nights", but the tone of her voice conveyed something much different. It reminded him of how she acted after his moment with Reina...

Luka shook his head, the many conflicting thoughts making his brain hurt. The young and confused Hero forced himself to start climbing the small hill to his campsite, mentally unprepared for what he was going to be doing.

The walk was short and mostly silent, the splashing of the waves gradually falling away and becoming replaced by the rhythmic chirping of crickets. He broke through the small line of trees to find that someone had put out the campfire, leaving the grounds now completely dark. Luka's gaze immediately locked onto his green tent, the normally mundane sight now gripping his heart like death itself.

Luka gulped and began trudging forward through the grass. His poor heart was pulsing his entire chest as though it would burst through his ribs and flesh to sprint as far away as it could. Funnily enough, though, he felt a twinge of anticipation. Almost as if a small part of him was...

...Looking forward to it?

He shook the thought away immediately. He couldn't even contemplate that right now, not when his mind was swimming in a haze. As he got closer to his tent, Luka noticed the now familiar smell of something sweet in the air, something floral-like. It hit him powerfully, and past experience told him that this smell was coming from the one hiding out in his tent right now.

Luka didn't know if making the connection between this smell and the arousal of Monsters was a good thing or not. What was concerning to him, though, was the fact that he actually really liked it.

Now, he was right in front of his tent, his hands shakily rising to the zipper closing the shelter's "door". It was maddening how much effort it took for him to finally clamp his fingers around the thing, and even more so was it maddening how much he felt as though he was going to faint before he finally started to pull.

Ziiip...

Never before had the sound seemed so provocative.

...Ziiiiiip...

Luka licked his lips; they were uncomfortably dry.

...Ziiiiiiiiip...

Almost there.

...Zip!

The flap fell down as he finished dragging it about halfway, and he caught a glimpse of what was awaiting him.

Sitting at attention, not even hiding beneath his bedsheets, was Lona. He was somewhat relieved to find that she was still wearing her clothes - sans sandals - but it was a small reprieve. It wasn't as if it would remain like that for long. Luka knew that well enough.

The white-haired Elf's dull brown eyes were on him, a look of clear and unadulterated yearning on her face. Luka leaned over a bit and shuffled through the tent's entrance carefully, feeling as his body trembled the whole way. He turned around, feeling Lona's eyes boring into him as he rezipped the entrance.

Ziiip...

Maybe he could call it off. He still had time.

...Ziiiiiip...

But his hand just wouldn't stop.

...Ziiiiiiiiip...

He couldn't stop, not now.

...Zip!

Luka could hear Lona gasp, the air coming into her lungs through one sharp inhale. The young Hero very cautiously started to turn back around to face his "guest" for the night to find that she was in the same spot she was before, her eyes still unwaveringly staring at him.

It almost didn't feel real to him as he gently kicked off his shoes. From there, Luka delicately shuffled closer, though with how small the tent was, it didn't take much time. Then, he carefully bent down and fell onto his knees, spurring Lona to rise to her knees as well. The purple-haired boy and the white-haired Elf gazed into each other for a couple moments, a certain type of tension building in the air until something gave way.

Lona jerked, a nervous giggle coming from her mouth. The light flitter of laughter got Luka to calm down some, his posture finally relaxing as the Elf faced him with a blush-bordered smile, "Hahahaa, s-sorry, I'm a bit nervous..." Lona said as she patted her knees with both hands, "...I've... actually never done this before..."

Luka did a very slight recoil, the confession confusing him a bit. "Wait, then, h-how did you become a Dark Elf? I-I thought it occurred from... o-overindulgence?" Luka asked.

Lona looked away, her face looking a bit ashamed. "W-Well, most of my transformation was not my own. My... m-my Mother was a Dark Elf, so the change was bound to happen." She started messing with her hands, picking at the nails on her fingers. "I never even had to interact with a man to start... having urges..."

While looking over Lona, Luka realized how much sense it made. That's why Lona appeared to be a dark Elf even when she was young, it had been in her blood since birth. And that was why her sealed form was so radically different than her regular form, she had always had an abnormal amount of Darkness in her.

'Which means that she was doomed from the start.' His thoughts depressingly added.

"...I've never done more than m-m-masturbate before, s-so I'm not sure where to go from here. But I really want to do it with y-you." The confession really threw him for a loop, as it was quite unbelievable to think that he technically had more sexual experience than a Monster that - he assumed - was around his own age.

"O-Okay," Luka said while slowly slipping off his gloves, something that immediately caught Lona's attention. "I-I actually do have a little bit of experience, s-so I... am familiar with the steps." He assured her.

"A-Alright." Lona said quietly, watching intently as he folded his gloves and set them to the side. Once he did, the Elf finally made her move.

Luka's pale blue eyes were wide as he watched as Lona pulled up her skirt and crept forward towards him. Quickly, the taller Monster made it within arm's length of him, and he was able to feel her breath on his face once she got close enough. Then, the white-haired Elf began to reach for the boy, her hands gently grabbing his wrists.

"Luka..." Lona whispered, attempting to pull him in as she did. He let himself be pulled forward, watching as Lona's face drew closer to her own. "...M-May I, kiss you?" The young Hero nodded, spurring Lona to lean forward, her lips softly landing against his own within a few seconds.

The Elf's supple lips rubbed up on his mouth carefully, taking in the boy's particularly sweet flavor. The feeling of the kiss sent a jolt throughout Luka's body, and he pushed back in earnest, the action eliciting a low hum from Lona.

She pulled back, her dull brown eyes a tad bit wider now.

"W-Wow..." She breathed, before immediately coming back in for more now that her fire was being fanned by Luka. The white-haired Elf leaned into the kiss much more intently now, her hands moving to his knees. The contact made Luka tremble, his own hands reflexively grabbing onto the Monster's forearms. Lona flinched at his grip, breaking away from his lips in the process.

Lona's face was flushed, a detail Luka could only tell with how close her face was to his own.

The heat inside the tent grew as Lona dived in once more, the Elf's inexperienced hunger driving her to press against the boy. Luka barely kept himself upright as he was assaulted by a litany of wet kissing, Lona now actively moaning as she kissed him. Again, she broke away, both occupants of the tent having to pause to breathe. Luka saw as Lona's dull brown eyes were becoming glazed over, something more akin to the look she had given him as a full Dark Elf appearing in her expression.

The white-haired Elf shivered, and a low moan came from her lips as she lunged forward again, this time wrapping her arms around Luka's shoulders and dragging him down on top of herself as their lips met. The purple-haired boy gave a short "Mmph!" of surprise during the fall, landing on top of Lona. His body pressed against hers, and the Elf promptly wrapped her long legs around his body, forcing him even closer.

Lona moaned even louder into his mouth as their hips touched, Luka's growing excitement pushing up against her thigh. The purple-haired boy's head was buzzing, their position rather familiar, as they had done something very similar during the tail-end of their encounter in Enrika.

Realizing that he needed to guide this along, Luka pulled away, having to fight against the white-haired Elf's tight grip. A wet smack reverberated through the tent as their kissing was abruptly cut off, and Lona looked up at him with a bit of confusion. Wordlessly, Luka kept pulling back until he was onto his knees again, staring down at Lona with a bit of a haze in his eyes.

Lona lay there, her chest moving up and down to the beat of her sporadic breathing. Her white hair was tousled around, lying in strands around her head. Sweat could be seen falling down her face, a visual testament to the heat building inside the small shelter. The young Hero responsible for Lona's excitement began lowering his hands down to the bottom of her skirt.

Lona's dull brown eyes went wide as he gripped the hem and started pulling up.

"L-Luka..." She whispered, watching as the purple-haired boy shakily started to reveal more and more of her legs. He remained silent as he pulled the long green skirt higher and higher, passing her ankles, then her knees, and then her thighs...

Luka cleared his throat warily as his venture finally revealed the Elf's white panties, the one and last piece of clothing between Luka and the inevitable. At the back of his mind, he wondered if the extra piece of clothing being there was better or worse for him. Luka was obviously glad that Lona had gotten the underwear; however, that now meant that it was up to him to remove them.

The realization sent a wild shiver up his spine.

The Elf gave a silent but high moan, almost a squeal, as Luka moved his hands to her hips, hooking his badly shaking fingers beneath the thin straps keeping the panties hugged around her waist. He noticed the smell of the white-haired Monster's arousal grow stronger as, very slowly, he started pulling down.

Each second that passed felt longer than the last as the white piece of fabric fell lower and lower, Luka's efforts began to reveal Lona's most private area. The boy kept his pale blue eyes averted from the sight, not quite ready to face that part of the Monster yet. Further and further he went, sliding the white cloth back down her thighs...

Thump Thump

...Her knees...

Thump Thump

...Her ankles...

Thump Thump

...Until he slipped off the underwear completely.

Luka took the time to fold the somewhat damp underwear, gingerly placing it to the side. He kneeled before the now vulnerable Elf, her legs noticeably twitching in anticipation. Luka started to lean down into position, much like how he started with Reina, but was stopped by Lona's hushed voice. "W-Wait, I-I want..." The purple-haired boy watched as the white-haired Elf rose from the mat that served as the "bed" of the tent.

Luka was a bit confused as Lona rose to her knees, her green skirt falling to cover her modesty again for a moment before she turned her back to the boy. She looked over her shoulder, a lustful gleam shining bright in her eyes. "...I w-want you to touch me, f-from behind." The young Hero was a bit perplexed by the request but couldn't find a reason to deny it.

"Okay..." He whispered, quietly sliding closer until he was pressing against the Elf's back. A bit uncertain about how to continue, Luka carefully reached around to Lona's front with his right hand, pulling up her green skirt once more and balling it up in his fist. Then he leaned a bit to the left, reaching down low between Lona's legs with his dominant hand.

The Elf jerked as his hand found her wetness, Luka's fingers easily sliding inside of her.

"Ahh~" The sigh came out of Lona as he hooked his fingers up into her, diving deep into her folds. Rhythmically he began to pull out and push back in, feeling the Elf's insides with his index and middle finger. Luka subtly cringed, thinking about how, once again, the finger holding his Mother's ring was once again getting soaked with Monster juices.

'I really need to clean that tomorrow...' Luka flinched powerfully this time, a much more frantic realization coming to him. '...By the Goddess, I haven't even cleaned it since that night with Reina!'

"O-Oh, Lukaaa..." Lona moaned, leaning back into the boy. Her butt grinded up against his crotch, finding the budding erection growing in his pants. Luka gasped at the feeling, the pleasure from it knocking the previous thoughts from his mind. Lona's left arm suddenly reached up and around, surprising the boy by cradling his head with the arm. "M-My neck, kiss my neck~" She gasped, pulling his head into the crook of her shoulder.

Uncertainly, the boy obliged, lightly kissing up the softness of her shoulder while continuing to pump his fingers inside of her. "A-Ahh-Ahahaa~" Lona giggled, twitching as his lips ran up to her unguarded neck. Suddenly, she reached down, grabbing his left hand.

"J-Just a second..." She whispered, halting his progress for a moment. Then, to his surprise, she raised both of her hands to her chest and began sliding her top off. Luka wordlessly watched from her side as the white-haired Elf's breasts were released, the green top being tossed to the side carelessly. Then, Lona grabbed Luka's right hand - which had been resting on her waist as he held her skirt up - and quickly dragged it upwards.

Luka froze as his bare hand met her uncovered right breast. He had felt breasts before in more roundabout ways, but this was the most direct contact he had ever had. The softness felt so much more visceral in his open hand, and he could feel Lona's hardened nipple in between his right hand's pointer and middle fingers. On instinct, he gave her breasts a light squeeze, which caused the Elf to grind up against his erection even harder.

"Ahh~" Luka finally moaned out, unable to hold back his own composure any longer. Lona's hand gripped Luka's hair tightly as he kept thrusting his fingers in deep, her juices flowing all over his hand at this point. 'I guess we shouldn't have done this on my only bed mat...' Luka thought, a bit annoyed at not realizing how messy this might get.

Lona's body began to spasm, the purple-haired boy's fingering sending shocks of pleasure straight to the Elf's very core. She was grunting now, each guttural groan coming from her throat in a desperate plea for Luka to go faster, to go deeper. "Lu-Lu-Luka! I-I'm CLOSE!" Lona said, barely able to keep her voice down. Luka redoubled his efforts, dead-set to end this soon.

He slid his left hand up, beginning to encircle the nub at the top of the Elf's vagina.

"O-OA-AUUHH!~" Lona moaned out something intelligible, her body aflame from the sensations wracking her flesh. She furiously gripped Luka's head and jerked him forward while turning her head, barely able to catch his lips one more time as she finally climaxed onto his hand.

"Mmmmphh-Mmmph~" Her lewd noises continued into the kiss, vibrating Luka's mouth with the intensity. He felt as her insides clamped his fingers, her vaginal muscles desperately gripping onto him. Lona let go of his lips once she had finished, nearly falling forward if it wasn't for Luka's still breast-clasping to be there to catch her. The purple-haired body pulled his left hand out, shaking all the way as he held the weakened Elf upright.

For a couple minutes, they just stayed kneeling there, their breathing nearly in rhythm with each other. Luka pressed his forehead against her bare back, trying his best to catch his breath. Suddenly, Luka began lurching forward and he realized that Lona was falling! He wrapped both arms around her, gently laying her down - as best he could - on the mat below.

Lona limply turned onto her side as he settled her down, making sure to not touch her too much with his cum-covered hand. Air blew raggedly out of his lungs as he leaned halfway over her to look at her face, seeing that the white-haired Elf had actually passed out.

'Oh...' He thought, '...That's... good I guess...' Luka's clouded mind finished dumbly, not certain what else to think other than the fact that he was half-asleep now.

Despite his exhaustion, Luka managed to pull his blanket out from beneath Lona's dead weight so that he could cover her up at the very least. Then, with little fanfare, he nearly collapsed beside her and let out another ragged breath as he lay there...

...Which was a bit uncomfortable, since his erection was still flaring madly inside his pants, indignant at the fact that he did not get a release as well.


And carefully I upload this, wondering if I may just be getting a bit too M-rated for this website. Good thing I keep all the chapters saved, just in case someone gets surprised that a fanfic from this particular source material contains some questionable content.

Oh well.

chronotimeguard: Yeah, pretty well figured that Lona and Luka spending some "private time" was more than inevitable at this point. Which, like with Reina, will end up raising the ire of one very jealous Monster Lord, although she still won't admit it. Oh, and a certain possessive Goddess of Light won't be very happy either, naturally.