Key:

Text

"Speaking, or in-text quotes"

In-text emphasis

'Thoughts'

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Year 16 AL, An Old Friend


Disclaimer:

Disturbed sexual themes ahead.

Nothing written is condoned, only meant for storytelling purposes.

Read at your own discretion.


Numbness.

Coldness.

Darkness.

Luka stood amid a great plane of darkness, the only break in this being the meter-wide circle of light surrounding him. He tried to move, but his body was lethargic and slow to heed his command. An odd sense of déjà-vu hit him, and he realized that this was not the first time he had been in this position.

The first time had been four years ago, on the night he lost his Mother.

The young Hero gasped as he felt a great chill strike his body. The hairs on the back of Luka's neck stood up in reaction to the sudden rush that assaulted his body. Something was very distinctly wrong, but he couldn't place why. Luka scanned the surrounding darkness but could not see anything past the pale white glow that illuminated him.

'Where even am I?' Luka thought to himself while he glanced around some more, his gaze eventually falling to the ground. The young Hero tilted his head as he realized that he was standing barefoot in what appeared to be a bed of dead grass. However, what was even more peculiar, was the fact that he seemed to be wearing a set of white robes that were suspiciously similar to the long white shirt he usually wore when going to bed.

Luka moved to pull at the cloth, but his eyes caught something popping in and out of his peripheral. Luka tried to quickly look over to the disturbance, but whatever it was had gone long before he could make out anything more than a flash of something pale and pink.

Somehow, the air grew even colder. But even with the frigid atmosphere, Luka felt his forehead grow clammy with sweat.

Luka suddenly felt himself become overwhelmed with many varying emotions. There was an intense fear, a fear born from the fact that he was quite vulnerable standing out in the circle of light. Especially since he knew that something was lurking just beyond the light around him. He spotted another flash of something pink out of the corner of his eye, and Luka was able to dart his eyes just fast enough to catch a glimpse of what was currently circling around him in the darkness.

However, once he saw it, he instantly felt his heartrate skyrocket.

What Luka saw slithering in the murk was a long, thick, tentacle.

The purple-haired boy's breathing fell into a fit of hitching, the brief sighting fostering a horrible dread inside of his stomach. He started to rotate, his eyes frantically darting around as he slowly spun. Then, he heard it.

"...Haah...Haah..."

The young Hero became even more unnerved as the sound of breathing reached his ears. The voice was feminine, and it sounded very labored, almost as if the owner of the voice was out of breath.

Suddenly, the circle of light around Luka started to slowly expand, revealing more dead grass around him. The young Hero watched as more and more was revealed to him, apprehension gnawing at the back of his mind as the landscape was further illuminated.

"... Haah...H-Ha-ah...Haah..."

Once again, Luka heard the odd hitch of breathing. The strange noise filled the air all around him, making the task of finding where this voice came from nearly impossible. He felt as though the voice was familiar, but the way how it was muffled and distorted made it difficult to tell. What he could tell, however, was that he was not fond of how suggestive it sounded.

The young Hero's train of thought was very abruptly halted as the increasingly growing circle of light started to reveal something that made his stomach drop.

A strangled whine came out of Luka's mouth as the shadows started to reveal a sight that could only be described as nightmarish. The purple-haired boy shook as literally walls of pink throbbing flesh were presented to him, the entirety of the writhing mass being covered in various tentacles and obscene organs. Luka very quickly started to back away from the disturbed conglomeration but stopped in his tracks when he heard more sounds of wet squirming behind him.

Luka froze after whipping around to face the noise, finding even more horrible groups of fleshy organs and tentacles. His body's quivering worsened as his silent panic rose even greater. He wanted to say something, anything, but his throat had all but locked up. Even worse, the slimy mass of tentacles began to wrap and caress around each other, the noise of their disgusting symphony filling Luka's ears.

"N-No..." The young Hero finally choked out.

Horrifyingly enough, this seemed to spur this section of the flailing mass to start crawling towards him. Luka's pale blue eyes whirled around in his skull; no matter where he looked there was nothing but waves of lecherous organs, and they were all reaching out for him.

"...Haah...L-Luka..."

The young boy gasped as he heard his name being called out.

He stared up in horror as a pair of large red eyes manifested through the darkness and bore into him, the gaze holding a distinct and powerful hunger in them. Luka couldn't even move, the sheer intensity of the eyes causing him to freeze up. He could barely make out a face around the glowing eyes, but the details were fuzzy at best.

"...Come to me..."

Without warning, Luka was rushed on all sides, the various tentacles grabbing his limbs and restraining him in seconds. The purple-haired Hero screamed out as he was ferociously slammed against the dead grass below, kicking and pushing all the way but his efforts were to no avail as more and more of the terrible limbs descended upon him. His vision blurred from the tears that quickly found themselves building in his eyes, the crushing strength of the writhing mass forced him down onto his back.

"NO, S-STOP!" Luka cried out, but his pain-filled pleas fell on deaf ears. The seemingly endless ocean of pink flesh kept him down as the red eyes drew nearer, the horrible glowing orbs firmly remaining on him. The purple-haired boy was powerless to do anything but writhe as more tentacles came and tore the white robe down the middle, revealing pale white skin to the creature leering down at him.

"...Perfect..."

At the back of Luka's mind, he recognized the fact that the voice was beginning to sound eerily familiar, but the young boy couldn't focus on that as the slimy wet tentacles started to rub and caress his body. At this point, Luka was on the border of hysterics. The young Hero's chest burned as his heart thundered away in his chest; he could no longer even move his arms or legs due to the monstrous appendages holding him down.

Luka's vision started to blur even worse now, tears cascading down his face even more now as he felt the disgusting tentacles massage his bare, unprotected flesh. Then, he watched as some of the tentacles began slithering down his body to the one part of his body that had yet to be revealed. This was enough to finally push Luka over the edge.

"N-NO, NO! PLEASE DON'T!" Luka wailed, but again his cries meant nothing.

"... Finally, you are now mine..."

The purple-haired boy's white underwear was forcefully ripped down, his member almost immediately becoming subjugated to an onslaught of tentacles that began to rub and stroke him. Luka felt his face turn hot as he started to become erect, a powerful surge of shame hitting him as a haze of pleasure started to overtake him despite his anguish.

"... Mine... FOREVER!"


Luka's eyes snapped open, the final words from his dream breaking him out of his slumber. The poor boy trembled beneath the wool blanket covering him, his whole body freezing despite the sweat coating his entire being. Luka sat up and glanced around the room, seeing a small stream of sunlight coming from the windows next to him.

The room was fairly plain, not much decorating it other than a dark red throw rug and a bedside table.

The young Hero himself laid in what technically would be the captain's bed, but that had changed last night due to Alice's "suggestion" that she and Luka take the captain's quarters for themselves. Which just meant that she had hypnotized the captain for a second time, ignoring Luka's questioning of the morality of doing such a thing once more. At the moment, however, things such as that were far from his mind.

Luka's face fell into his hands, hot tears falling down his face. That nightmare had felt far too real to him. He could even still feel the phantom touch of the tentacles on his body. It made him feel dirty, unpure. And, even worse...

...It seems as if the erection he got in his dream had carried over to his real body.

The young boy's body jerked with each silent sob that came out of his mouth, and his chest started to hurt from the heaving. Why did his mind dream up such a terrible, abhorrent situation? That would be the second time he's dreamt up his own violation and Luka couldn't understand why that would be. Then, on top of everything else, he had actually gotten excited from it!

A bitter feeling of self-disgust surged within him, and he clenched the blanketing with tight fists as his anger built more and more. Eventually, Luka shut his eyes and took a deep breath.

'Enough! Just stop thinking about it, Luka. It was just a stupid dream, it doesn't mean anything.' The reasoning was a bit shaky, but soon he felt himself calm as the heat in his body died down. Thankfully, the shameful erection he had went away as well. The purple-haired boy waited for a few more moments, letting his breathing fall back into a steady rhythm before opening his eyes.

To see an awkward-looking Alice standing at the foot of the bed.

Luka couldn't feel any more mortified if he tried, as the Lamia's golden-eyed gaze made him feel like an ant under a microscope. The young Hero bristled, realizing that his face was still wet with tears from his earlier breakdown. Luka looked away and quickly started rubbing away the tears from his face.

"S-S-Sorry..." The purple-haired boy whispered through his sleeve, his embarrassment evident in his shaky tone. Alice did not immediately say anything in reply, allowing the young Hero a couple seconds more to collect himself. Finally, Luka was able to face the Lamia again, though his face was still puffy and held a tinge of red.

Alice finally opened her mouth, "You have a couple more minutes before this ship hits dry land, if you need a moment alone, I can leave." Luka was a bit taken aback, not having expected the offer. "N-No, that's alright. I j-just..." Luka looked down to the bed coverings. "...D-Didn't have a good night's sleep." The room went silent as Alice continued to appraise the boy.

It wasn't entirely a lie. Luka's night on the boat had probably been one of his worse as, evidently, the purple-haired boy didn't sleep very well on boats.

Luka glanced around the room again, his tired eyes finally finding his traveling bag in the corner. The young Hero gingerly removed the blanket covering his body and slid off the bed. Once slipping on his shoes, the purple-haired boy shuffled towards his bag with Alice watching all the way. He knelt down to unzip the already partially opened bag but quickly stopped himself upon remembering something.

Luka cupped a hand to his mouth and whispered, "Kitsu?"

The Two-Tailed fox had staunchly insisted the night before that she take up residence in his bag until they reached Sentora. The request had been a bit odd as Luka was certain that his traveling bag could not be that comfortable, but the Kitsune had been adamant about it and Luka had no energy to argue about it after his fight with Alma Elma.

"Errh." Came Kitsu's tired-sounding grunt.

"Can you hand me my journal, please?" He asked, the question gaining another tired groan. He heard some stirrings come from within the bag until the boy's little black book and a pen were pushed through the opening. He grabbed it with a quick "Thank you!" and left the silver-furred fox to continue her sleeping.

Luka returned to the bed where Alice was waiting, hopping back on the side before opening his book. 'This is loooong overdue...' He noted to himself in his mind, thinking back to how many Monsters he had faced since making his last entry. '...I haven't made one since the Rafflesia and Roper girls.' Putting pen to paper, Luka started writing down more entries as Alice quietly watched on.


Kitsu the Kitsune: Two-Tailed Kitsune

Strengths - ?

Weaknesses - ?

Intelligence - Average

Friendliness - Neutral (?)

Luka's Notes: Not sure what to make of her since she's only traveling with me as a "prank". She doesn't seem super fond of Humans, though. When we met, she seemed more afraid of me than anything else.


'Kinda hard to gauge Kitsu's fighting skill since I never fought her. Though she doesn't seem like much of a fighter in the first place.' Luka mused, having to leave those particular areas blank for the time being. 'Guess it doesn't matter that much, from the way she's acted thus far, she'll probably want to leave once we hit Sentora anyways.'


Unknown Spider Girl: Common Spider

Strengths - Fast, Opportunist, Webs

Weaknesses - Relies on ambush tactics, most likely disadvantaged in head-on fight

Intelligence - Above Average

Friendliness - Hostile

Luka's Notes: Has a strange tendency to rhyme. Despite this, not very friendly at all. Keep guard up, don't lose sight and watch out for webs.


The young Hero frowned upon recalling his battle with the Spider girl. It had been a very harrowing encounter, one that he may not have one without Lona's help. 'I'd be lying if I wasn't still a bit upset with her leaving. It was for the best, but even then...' His thoughts trailed off as he flipped the page to start his next entry.


Nanabi: Seven-Tailed Kitsune

Strengths - Powerful tails, can use fire (yikes!)

Weaknesses - Seems to mostly rely on tails

Intelligence - Above Average

Friendliness - Hostile, when provoked

Luka's Notes: Nanabi didn't seem like too awful a Monster before our fight. Though she was definitely a force to be reckoned with, definitely not one to underestimate if we were to fight again.


It was true, as terrifying as his fight with the Seven-Tails had been, he had the feeling that if the circumstances were different then things could've gone more smoothly. Heck, if hadn't needed Poseidon's Bell at all, he probably could've avoided fighting Nanabi entirely.

'Though that might've only been because I saved Kitsu, can't forget about that.' Luka thought, 'But even still, it gives me a bit of hope that not all Monsters are that bad.'


Tamamo no Mae: Nine-Tailed Kitsune, Heavenly Knight of Earth

Strengths - Most likely about as strong as Granberia

Weaknesses - ?

Intelligence - Very High

Friendliness - Friendly (?)

Luka's Notes: She's a strange one. Didn't really seem interested in fighting but claimed that we would fight someday. If this is so, why didn't she just stomp me out then and there?


Tamamo had definitely been something of an enigma. The Nine-Tails could've easily beaten him, that he had no doubt about. Yet, she simply chose not to. 'Maybe she just truly appreciated his act of saving Kitsu that much?' Luka pondered to himself. If that was the case, then he couldn't help but admire the Kitsune's honor. Any other Monster would've taken advantage of his weakened state, but Tamamo did not.

The purple-haired boy moved his hand to the next page, mulling over whether he should include the other two Monsters from the Cave of Treasures. 'Well, I didn't really fight them, Alice stopped that from happening.' Luka eventually just decided to skip them since he wouldn't have much to write down anyways, but unfortunately, that brought him to his final entry for now:


Alma Elma: Queen of the Succubi, Heavenly Knight of Wind

Strengths - Most likely about as strong as Granberia and Tamamo, seems to be very fast

Weaknesses - ?

Intelligence - Very High

Friendliness - Not in the preferred way

Luka's Notes: I dread the day I have to face her again.


Luka tensely removed the pen from the paper, having perhaps used a bit too much force to write his "Luka's Notes" section of the entry. But it wasn't a lie, he really - REALLY - was not looking forward to that day. As awful as it was to be absolutely outclassed by Granberia was, he could stomach that. Being cut down was a much more respectable defeat than becoming the Succubus Queen's plaything.

As morbid as the thought was, even making Alma Elma's entry had lightened his spirits some. Because, if nothing else, it took his mind off of his nightmare.

"You do realize that you'll have to get used to fighting Succubi, right?" Alice asked out of the blue. Luka jerked and turned to the Lamia, who had been silently watching Luka pen his entries, apparently having read them as well.

The young Hero nodded, "Y-Yeah, I know. I just..." He paused, trying to find the nicest way to put it. "...Don't want to." He finished with a whisper.

Alice snickered at his odd tone, "Well you'll certainly face Alma Elma again eventually. Until then, you have to foster up some confidence. It's the best was to counteract a Succubi's seductive ways." Luka closed his book while giving Alice an inquisitive look, "Is that true?"

The white-haired Lamia nodded, "Of course it is. A Succubus is better than any other Monster at using their opponent's mind against them. The less confident you are, the more confident they will be. And as you know after fighting their Queen, it is very difficult to defend against a confident Succubus." Luka mulled over Alice's words for a moment.

It made sense. The mental was just as important as the physical one; you could be the strongest person on the planet, but if you had no resolve to use it, what good would it do you? In a way, it was actually a very smart tactic. After all, he knew firsthand how difficult it was to fight someone who continued to talk about having sex with you...

...It was very distracting.

"I see, I'll keep that in mind." Luka said. He stood up from the bed with his book in hand, quietly striding across the room to return his book. He carefully slipped the journal into his bag and gently started lifting it up onto his shoulder, making sure not to disturb the Kitsune sleeping in his bag. He faced Alice with a shrug, "Well, I guess we should head to the deck now."

The lavender-skinned Lamia nodded in agreement before shifting into her Human disguise, then the duo - though technically trio - left through the door of the bedroom to head up to the ship's main deck.


The Prophet of Ilias and the Monster Lord watched as the crew got the ship tied to shore, the men aboard the boat still looking to be somewhat surprised to find that they actually made it to Sentora. However, this paled in comparison to the people of the port town they had stopped at, as they seemed even more shocked to see a ship docking at their port.

Both Luka and Alice turned to see the ship's captain step up to them, his face just as bewildered as everyone else.

"Somehow, we actually made it to Port Natalia. It seems like you were right about that bell of yours." The man said, nodding to Luka with some respect. The purple-haired Hero moved to face the man fully, "Well, I wasn't lying when I told you about it the first time." Luka replied as he crossed his arms over his chest, just a touch of self-satisfaction coming through in his tone. However, that rare showing of smugness would immediately be punished.

"Ah, I do apologize for that, my boy. I just figured you were just another thirteen-year-old trying to play a stupid prank. That was my mistake." The man's apology was genuine, but Luka raised his hand to correct one very significant mistake. "Er, I'm actually sixteen, sir. Not thirteen."

To Luka's dismay, the captain merely laughed before giving him a disbelieving look. "If you had said fourteen, I'd probably believe you. But sixteen? Come on now, lad. You don't even have a single whisker on your chin."

The man's tease combined with the sudden sound of Alice's bare-restrained snickering caused Luka's face to heat up as a significant amount of embarrassment and frustration welled up inside of him. Luka turned away from the man, instead focusing his gaze on the town in front of them. "C-C-Can we get off th-this boat now!?" The young Hero asked, trying not to be too rude but also not wanting to stay a moment longer, lest he be teased even further.

"Sure you can, just watch your step when you cross over. Sea legs, and all that." The captain said. Luka gave him a nod and a quick "Thank you!" before quickly rushing to the stairs set up against the boat.

He slowed down a bit once reaching the stairs, the weight of the situation now coming down on him as he descended. Once he left this staircase, he would officially be on Sentora. The young boy felt a familiar surge of emotions in his heart as he reached the last stair-step. This was it, the big next step both literally and figuratively in his quest to-

"-I wonder what type of food they have here. There's got to be some very exotic cuisine, I'd bet." Alice's external musings about food sapped some of the ardor from his personal excitement, but he did feel a strong sense of accomplishment occur as he planted a step on the wooden docks. "So this is it, we've finally made it..." Luka paused, his face scrunching up a bit as he looked around a bit closer than he had before.

Port Natalia looked to be a bit more traditional-looking than Iliasport was. The building looked more like actual housing than businesses, unlike the main port of the Ilias Continent had been. It also seems as though the town was not nearly as affected by Alma Elma's storms, as there were plenty of travelers milling about the port town.

The thought about the storms caused Luka to pause and he turned to look at Alice with a questioning look. "Hey, do you think we should go get Poseidon's Bell back?" He asked, to which his traveling partner gave a low hum. It seemed as though Alice was about to answer, but a familiar voice yelling out stopped the disguised Lamia from continuing.

"OI, WHICH ONE OF YOU BASTARDS PUT A HOLE IN MY SHIP!?" The captain of the boat the two had just left shouted out, even Alice grimacing a bit from the sheer rage from the man's voice. The duo looked over to the boat in time to see the barrel they had used to cover the hole be thrown overboard, the wooden item cracking open on Port Natalia's shoreline.

Luka quickly glanced back to his white-haired traveling partner, a bit of nervous sweat coming down his face. "Y-Y-You know, I don't th-think we need the Bell back that bad." Surprisingly, Alice was quick to agree. "Eh, yeah, it's probably for the best."

The two quickly turned away from the boat and its enraged captain, leaving the docks behind to venture inside the heart of Port Natalia. Whilst doing so, a peculiar smell hit Luka's nose. The young Hero lightly sniffed, not sure what to make of the fishy smell. Then he heard a light feminine voice call out to him, "Hey you, would you like some Grilled Starfish?"

Luka paused, 'Grilled Starfish? That sounds odd.' The purple-haired looked over to the voice, finding a curious sight.

The owner of the voice appeared to be a young woman with very short sand-blonde hair standing behind a small wooden food cart. He could only see her from the waist up, which allotted him the knowledge of the fact that the woman seemed to only be wearing a somewhat tattered light-blue top. He could see steam rising from the woman's side of the cart, which is where he assumed the fishy smell to be coming from. Luka gazed up at the small sign hanging over the cart, which read:

Port Natalia's Famous Mer-Made Grilled Starfish!

"Mer-Made? What does that mean?" Luka mused out loud. Alice sighed, the somewhat annoyed sound spurring the boy to look up at the disguised Lamia. "What?" He asked, spurring Alice to reply, "Take a good look around, and read the sign again." Luka frowned but promptly did so. For a moment, he still didn't understand what his traveling partner meant. But then he saw them.

Slowly shuffling amongst the Humans, were several Mermaids!

"Wh-Wha!?" Luka stuttered out, before looking back to the woman manning the food stand. "Wait, so you're a Mermaid too?" He asked, to which the blonde Monster gave a nod as she lifted up her light-blue tail fin for the boy to see. Alice quickly chimed in, "I had hears that Mermaids have existed alongside the Humans of Port Natalia for a long time. Evidently, they live so close that they may as well be considered one whole society."

"Really?" Luka mused, glancing out into the crowd once again. Indeed, the crowd wasn't just simply made up of Humans going on their way and Mermaids going somewhere different. Instead, the groups were heavily intertwined. Almost every group of Humans had a Mermaid or two, and groups of Mermaids would have at least one Human with them.

And there were also many men with a Mermaid - or two - on their arm.

'Wow. They already coexist here, it seems.' The young Hero thought happily. He felt a small glimmer of hope rise inside of his heart. This is what he wanted, what he envisioned! Man and Monster living together in harmony, it was right here before his very eyes. Certainly, if this town could figure it out, then others could too.

'But I still need to convince Ilias that is possible too.' The thought caused Luka's face to falter a bit. But it was true, he needed to prove to the Goddess of Light that Monsters could learn to live more... Reasonably? Well, something like that, anyway.

Luka looked back to the Mermaid behind the food stand. "So, you're selling... Grilled Starfish?" The purple-haired boy asked. The Mermaid was quick to reply, "Yes, I know it may sound a bit odd, but trust me when I say they are delicious! Each one is Mer-made with love!"

For a breath of a second, Luka nearly had a heart attack upon hearing the Mermaid's words. The first reason was from the bad pun and secondly from the fact that "Made with love!" reminded him a bit too much of a certain Honeybee girl who had used similar phrasing.

"E-Eh, you know, I-I'm actually not all that hungry! M-Maybe next time?" Luka said, which caused the Mermaid to frown. She held up one of the Grilled Starfish with a pair of tongs, "Are you sure, they're really good! I promise!"

Again, Luka tried to decline. "Th-That's alright, I-"

The Mermaid swiftly skimmed out from behind her food stand, a suddenly desperate edge to her voice. "Please! I've only sold like five of these this whole week and I really need the money right now!" Luka frowned, noticing now that the clothing that the Mermaid wore was a bit tattered and ripped. It seemed clear to him that she was speaking the truth.

"Ah. O-Okay." Luka finally relented, which caused the Mermaid to smile brightly before shuffling back behind the food stand to retrieve one of her "famous" Grilled Starfish. Alice leaned down to drop her face next to Luka's, "You probably should read prices before agreeing to buy something." The young Hero faltered, his pale-blue eyes looking to the menu...

...Oh dear.

"I-I see." Luka hesitantly said. Somewhat regretfully, he pulled out the egregious amount of money and gave it to the Mermaid, who gladly handed him a wrapped-up Grilled Starfish. The young Hero mustered up enough cordiality to give the Mermaid a wave as he turned away, though he wasn't all too satisfied to now have the questionably edible food item.

The pair strolled down the stony path towards the heart of Port Natalia, Luka choosing to walk closer to the buildings on his left while Alice stayed on the right, closer to the main road.

"That was certainly a waste of money." Alice spouted off, quick to throw in her opinion. Luka shrugged, unzipping his traveling bag to stow the food away. "A least it was for a good cause... I think..." Alice hummed in reply, but let the matter drop as they walked away from the Mermaid and towards the plaza of Port Natalia. Luka reached into his bag and began stuffing the Grilled Starfish inside.

"Hey, Hey! Watch where you poke that thing!" The hushed voice of Kitsu startled the young Hero, who had admittedly forgotten that the Two-Tails was still hiding inside of his traveling bag. "S-Sorry!" He exclaimed, moving his hand away from the bundled-up fox.

Alice glared at Luka's traveling bag, "Wasn't the agreement that she only stay until we get to Sentora? Why the hell is she still in your bag?" Surprisingly, the bundle of silver-fur inside of his bag spoke again. "Because there's H-Humans everywhere! If I came out now, I'd surely be attacked!"

Luka frowned while looking down at his bag, "I don't really think that's true. The people here seem nice enough." The Kitsune scoffed, evidently not believing the boy's words. "Oh, they seem nice, sure. But they'd probably try to make me a love slave, like you and that Elf!" Luka, having enough of the Kitsune's talk about "love slaves", was quick to snap back at his bag.

"Hey, I already told you that Lona was just my friend! Nothing more! So stop using such awful terms to describe her!" The young Hero said. Alice leaned over once more, "You know, foxes are repugnant, but we may be able to use her to catch some fish. We can just say she got lost or something if anyone asks." Kitsu yelped from inside the bag, her tiny squeal eliciting an odd look from some of the people passing by the group.

"No Alice," Luka chastised, "We aren't using Kitsu as bait."

The disguised Lamia huffed, "Killjoy." Luka kept walking forward as he glanced up at Alice with indignation, "I am not a killjoy, I just don't enjoy senseless violence." Alice just snickered at the purple-haired boy, "It isn't senseless if you have a good reason. And being a Kitsune is reason enough to be dumped into the ocean." Luka's mouth parted halfway from how dumbfounded he felt. Just how deep did the Lamia's hatred for foxes run!?

It would be comical if it wasn't so disturbing.

The young Hero was about to voice his displeasure, but he was abruptly smashed into by a taller man with short, sand-blonde hair. Luka - and Kitsu from inside his bag - yelped out as a man who had been rushing out from a side alley collided with the boy, sending Luka onto the ground with a rather rough landing.

The man tripped over the fallen boy, stumbling a little way further before completely falling onto his face. Alice, who had conveniently been left out of the scuffle entirely, gave the man a harsh glare as he started cursing while getting to his feet. "Watch where you're going, you idiot!" The disguised Lamia yelled, causing quite a few people to turn towards the commotion.

"Oi, I ain't the idiot here!" The man spat as he rose to his feet, Luka doing likewise behind him. The young Hero was quicker to hop onto his feet and he turned to face the staggering man, who continued to rant. "Maybe you should keep better track of your brat, lady!" He said, dusting his dark gray shirt and pants as he turned to face the two with a glare.

However, once his hazel eyes fell upon Luka, he froze.

Luka's irritation faded as he saw the man's somewhat scratched-up face visibly pale, his expression seemingly in disbelief for whatever reason. The taller man's mouth fluttered open, but no words came out as he looked down at Luka as though he was some sort of demon. "S-Shit..." Is all he managed to sputter out before taking off down the road in a full sprint, vanishing into the crowd seconds later.

Both Alice and Luka watched with confusion as the formerly brash man ran away as if threatened with a quick and painful death. The disguised Lamia was first to recover, shifting her curious gaze to the young Hero. "Do you... know that guy?"

The purple-haired boy shook his head, his gaze still firmly locked ahead to where the man had last been. "No, I've never met that man before in my life. I think I'd remember someone as odd as that." Luka young Hero hesitantly looked away from where the man had run off to, his mind not really able to make heads or tails from what just occurred.

"All Humans are odd, as far as I'm concerned..." Kitsu chimed in quickly from Luka's bag.

Luka gave his bag an annoyed glare, but quickly dropped the expression once realizing that the Kitsune probably couldn't see his face. Meanwhile, Alice's gaze fell down to the ground, her golden eyes catching something lying on the stone below. "Seems like he dropped something." The disguised Lamia noted, spurring Luka to follow her eyes to the ground.

Lying on the ground was a small white cross of Ilias, the small sculpture having a thin blue border around its edge and a small pair of Angel wings coming out from behind the cross. A small silver chain was connected to its top, the chain itself having been severed at some time during the man's fall. Luka bent over and reached down, grabbing the small pendant with an ungloved hand.

With a small hum, Luka took a closer look at the pendant. He turned it over, finding a name engraved in small letters along its side. It simply spelled out:

Lupton

"Well..." Luka started, looking into the sea of people and Mermaids filing around, the man who had run away still nowhere to be seen. "...Guess I can hold onto it in case I see him again." Alice looked down at the boy with a raised brow, "Why would you care to return that ugly little thing for? It'd be more at home at the bottom of a trashcan."

Despite his traveling partner's words, Luka pocketed the emblem. "As weird and rude as he was, I'm not going to just throw this away. What if it's of special importance to him?" The purple-haired boy replied as he started down the road, but his white-haired traveling partner simply scoffed. "Whatever... So what's our next stop from here?"

Luka, not minding the quick change of topic, began reaching into his traveling bag. "Hey, watch my tails!" The Two-Tailed Kitsune exclaimed as Luka began rummaging around for his Father's Map. The young Hero opted to ignore the Kitsune's grumblings and finally pulled out the parchment, unfurling it with a flick of his wrist. "From what my map shows, the nearest major city is San Ilia. And-"

Before the purple-haired boy could continue, Alice butted in with a very annoyed tone. "Seriously? We finally get away from the Ilias Continent, and the very first place you want to go out of your way to visit is the only town on Sentora that's named after that woman?" Luka sputtered a bit from Alice's harsh words, not really having expected such a fierce reply.

"Th-That place would be full of Humans! How horrible!" Kitsu cried out, gaining some confused looks from Humans and Mermaids alike walking around them. Luka was about to start his defense but, before he could continue, the odd pair were stopped in their tracks by a lavender-haired Mermaid.

The Monster seemed a bit skittish as she approached, her voice low and nervous. "Erm, excuse me, Mr. Traveler... Could I speak with you for a moment?" She asked, her blue eyes finding his own. Luka paused, becoming a bit jittery himself as he noticed that the Mermaid - who was admittedly quite pretty - was wearing light purple clothing that seemed to be right at the cusp of being completely see-through.

Luka was quick to keep his gaze on the Mermaid's face, "Um, Y-Yes?" The young Hero shuffled to the side, not wanting to block the flow of traffic as he stopped to talk with the Monster. Alice stepped up close behind Luka, her eyes squinting a bit suspiciously as the Mermaid continued.

"You see, I saw the sword you carry, and I couldn't help but think that you were not a normal traveler..." Luka understood quickly what she meant. Angel Halo was most certainly not a common-looking sword, so it stood to reason that anyone seeing him with it would probably assume that he was a bit uncommon himself. "... So I was hoping that someone like you would be willing to hear out my story?"

The purple-haired boy was a bit surprised at the request, "O-Oh, um, sur-"

BOOM

The sound of a large, terrible blast thundered out from across the large plaza. The boy's ears were filled with the surge of screams and rubble falling as a building started to collapse, a huge plume of dark smog erupting into the sky as the fiery embers rushed out into the streets. "Wh-What the Hell was that!?" Kitsu exclaimed, her jerking movements causing his bag to sway around.

Luka could give no answer as he stared in horror at the wreckage, not believing what he was seeing. "N-No, that's the Mermaid School!" The Mermaid who Luka had just been talking to yelled, before rushing to the ruins of the now utterly destroyed school.

The purple-haired boy felt stuck in place, powerless to do anything more than watch as Humans now also started rushing to the wreckage. "I can smell gunpowder in the air..." Alice noted, her face all tense as her golden eyes watched the aftermath. "...It must've been a bomb."

"A-A bomb!? But why!?" Luka exclaimed, unable to break his gaze from the horrible sight. "Wh-Why would someone bomb a school!? That's terrible!"

Soldiers started to file in, moving quick to help escort out dozens upon dozens of injured Mermaids and people alike. Some were lucky enough to walk away by themselves, but others were covered in blood from the gashes in their skin from the blast and debris. Even worse, some were not able to walk away under their own power at all, having to be carried out of harm's way by the soldiers.

Luka felt a powerful rush of anger hit him. Who was responsible for this!? To do something cruel, it was unthinkable to him! And for what reason?

The purple-haired tensed as he suddenly began to feel as though he was being watched. He turned, scanning the crowd with narrowed eyes. But no matter how much he looked, all he found were the concerned gazes of Humans and Mermaids looking upon the devastation. Shaking away the feeling, Luka turned back to see the injured Humans and Mermaids being attended to.

'If I find whoever is responsible for this...' Luka thought, his fists clenching up as he watched the bloodied victims of the attack being carried off. '...I'll make sure they pay.' But just as his temper was starting to grow out of control, the purple-haired boy felt a hand fall onto his shoulder. Luka jolted and looked up to Alice, who was gazing at him with a softer look.

"Calm down, you're getting all twitchy again." His traveling partner remarked. Luka absentmindedly grabbed at his left arm as he replied, "I-I'm fine, just a bit shaken up, that's all. I'll be fine after we leave-" The young Hero attempted to pull away from Alice, but the disguised Lamia tightened her grip. Luka bristled as he looked up to meet Alice's stern gaze.

The disguised Lamia shook her head vehemently, "You're obviously not okay. You're shaking as if you're going to burst." Luka tried to pull away again, "Th-That doesn't matter." The young Hero began, but Alice was quick to cut him off again. "I'm not blind, you know. You've looked like you're about to throw up since this morning, and you can't go around looking like that if you want to be a Hero."

Luka grimaced at her words; did he really look that awful right now?

Alice continued, "Besides, it's been a whole continent since I've eaten, and I want to try what they have around here." Luka faltered, her statement both somewhat ridiculous but also one he couldn't argue against since - truthfully - he was getting a bit hungry himself. "Y-Yeah, I guess you're right. There's nothing wrong with a little rest."

"Ooo, is there anywhere here that has Thin-Fried Tofu?" Kitsu excitedly asked, her balled-up form bouncing within Luka's bag.

"Probably not, unless you go dumpster-diving, then maybe you'll find some." Alice remarked, causing the Two-Tailed Kitsu to whine. Luka patted the bag lightly, trying to offer the silver-furred fox some comfort as they walked away.


In an alley not too far away from the scene of destruction, two men looked out to the retreating form of Luka with varying degrees of interest. The first to speak was, coincidentally, the man who had tumbled over the boy just minutes earlier.

"...See, Lazarus? I told ya, if he ain't Marcellus's son, then he's gotta be his nephew or something!" Lupton exclaimed, pointing a finger at the Prophet of Ilias. The man shook his sandy-blonde hair in disbelief and turned to his superior, "I can't believe it, I just can't!" He muttered.

The other man known as Lazarus reached up with a black-gloved hand to clear his face of the similarly black stringy locks, his dark eyes intently examining the purple-haired boy. Lupton turned to look at Lazarus, "What are we gonna do? Do ya think he's-" The sand-blonde-haired man stopped as Lazarus raised a hand, "We ain't doing nothin' right now, Lupton. This isn't the time or the place."

The younger man scrunched up his face a bit in confusion. He looked back to where Luka had been, but the boy had effectively disappeared from sight.

Lazarus continued, "If he's anything like Marcellus was, we'll find out if he'll be a problem in time. But for now, we have bigger problems to deal with." Lupton turned around to face the black-haired man, who had begun to walk deeper into the alley. He quickly moved to start walking besides Lazarus, "I guess so..." The sandy-haired man muttered, "...You think he's a Monster-lover too?"

The question caused Lazarus to pause for just a second, knowing what the younger man meant.

"We'll just have to see. If it comes down to it, he'll be dealt with accordingly..." Lazarus finally said before continuing down the alleyway. The black-haired man began pacing down the alley again, Lupton striding up right behind him as they began their departure from Port Natalia.

Lazarus reached up to his collar, absentmindedly pulling at the pair of chains around his neck. One of which being the chain of his Ilias Kreuz pendant. While the other one belonging to an old friend.

"...Just like his Father."


I'll admit, this one was a bit more difficult to write for more reasons than one.

First off would have to be the very beginning part. To clarify, this wasn't just a normal nightmare. I won't reveal much about the particular situation this is foreshadowing, but I did leave a particularly big hint as to who was raping Luka, though I will not confirm it if anyone guesses her correctly.

Secondly, I went out of my way to not have Luka actually see Lazarus yet simply because him seeing the man would, at this point, mean very little to Luka as he doesn't know him or Ilias Kreuz yet. I also threw Lupton in here because, even if it's brief, it's nice to actually expand on some of the Human characters in the original game.

(I mean, come on, I had to basically make up a look for him because he only has a silhouette in the main game.)

Proud Parent: I'd never perma-kill Cupid off, I assure you. Her subplot with Valkyrie will continue on.

chronotimeguard: It was a very short break - shorter than I had meant, even - but it was nice nonetheless.

espioll: I do want the Angels to have a bit more development instead of just being single-minded drones.