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Year 16 AL, Hopeless Romantic
Very important update at the very end of this chapter after the reviews, make sure to read.
Soft golden beams of sunlight shined through the window, streaming through the air of the hotel room and spilling out onto the nearby bed. Beneath this golden glow is where the Sixteenth Monster Lord and the Prophet of Ilias slept.
Luka, still lying wrapped up in Alice's tail at the foot of the bed, began to stir as his mind transitioned out of his slumber and into consciousness. The young Hero let out a long yawn, feeling very cozy as he started to break through the fog of languor that came with crossing the line between night and day. However, once Luka tried to move, a problem presented itself:
He was still enveloped in Alice's tail.
Luka tried to budge in any way he could, but the purple-haired boy quickly found that he could only move his legs and his head from the neck-up. This, obviously, did not leave him with a lot of wriggle room. The young Hero tried to crane his head up, but this only granted him a smidge more view of the hotel room than what he had before.
With no other choice, Luka tried calling out to his traveling partner while hoping that it wouldn't annoy the Lamia too much. "Alice! Hey, Alice!" He whispered out. The young Hero felt the whole mattress shift and his traveling partner groaned, "Hrrmm." Luka tried to crane his head though the act only helped so much, "C-Can you let me go, please?" A few moments passed before Luka felt Alice's tail slowly – almost begrudgingly - let him go.
Luka sat up, stretching his arms above his head for a couple of seconds before carefully removing the blankets off of himself and sliding off of the bed. The purple-haired boy carefully landed bare feet-first and began heading towards the hotel bathroom to change into his day clothes. Luka carefully grasped the doorknob and twisted, steeling himself to prepare for the inevitable creaking that was to come. The door began opening, and...
...The door opened with no problem, and not even a single squeak occurred as it swung open.
The young Hero gave the door an extremely unamused look, not at all appreciating this as he moved to go inside the bathroom and change. Luka quickly moved to the traveling bag that he left on the ground the night before, taking out his traveling clothes. In no time at all, the purple-haired boy removed his nightwear and switched into his brown tunic and black pants. After successfully changing into his daywear Luka glanced over himself in the bathroom's mirror, pausing at the sight of his own face.
Luka's thoughts drifted back to the night before, particularly to the things Ilias had said about his "innocence" and how he should only give this it someone who he loves. The Goddess of Light's insistence on him safeguarding his virginity, while bizarrely intense, made him really think about the subject quite deeply. Specifically, it made Luka think more deeply about the idea of love.
The young Hero obviously wasn't unaware of the concept, he felt as though his parent's relationship had been a good example of what love was supposed to look like. However, when it came to placing himself in that same position, something very important ended up becoming a problem for him. In particular, it kept going back to the nature of attraction.
Attraction was a pretty significant part of finding a partner, both emotionally and physically. In Luka's mind, both of these sides of attraction were equally as important as the other. Beauty by itself was not enough to garner love, but it would be an outright lie to say it wasn't a factor.
However, just because someone looked beautiful, does not mean that they are someone who he should love. They must have a personality that meshes well with Luka's own, one that highlights his strengths and helps to cover his weaknesses.
With that in mind, however, a serious issue was beginning to rear its head: In all of his travels so far, he had only felt the possibility of this type of connection with Monsters. Whether it be a passing observation or an active visceral feeling of attraction, if he felt even a hint of this sensation, it was always with a Monster.
Heck, there were only three Human women that Luka could name as especially pretty. However, this list gets even less impressive when taking into account the fact that it included his own Mother, Micaela, and the nun-girl Sofia who he had only known for a fraction of a day two years ago. All in all, the number of Humans he could call pretty compared to Monsters was alarmingly off-balanced, as probably about half of the Monsters he had encountered he could consider attractive.
And unbeknownst to him, those three "Humans" weren't even Humans at all.
'I'm not supposed to feel that way about Monsters, according to Ilias. But it's getting more and more difficult to ignore those feelings.' Luka thought as a very dismal look came to his face. For one reason or another, the whole matter was starting to make things much more confusing for him.
Luka shook his head, finally deciding to stow away the issue for now before the mental battle completely ruined his mood for that morning. The purple-haired reached down to his traveling bag once again, swiftly grabbing his hairbrush to start straightening his long purple locks.
Knock-Knock-Knock
The young Hero's head spun quickly to look at the bathroom door, his pale-blue eyes getting just a touch wider in reaction to the noise. The purple-haired boy decided to lean over and open the door, the small form of Kitsu being revealed. "Oh, good morning, Kitsu." Luka greeted while giving the silver-furred fox a wave. Kitsu's red eyes glanced to the side, her demeanor seeming a bit meek for whatever reason. "U-Um, h-hey, L-Luka."
Luka peered at Kitsu with growing confusion but decided not to question her behavior. "I can leave really quick if you-" Luka started but was abruptly cut off by the silver-furred fox. "N-No, that's fine!" Kitsu exclaimed, finally able to meet Luka's gaze. The Kitsune lifted up her hands, presenting the hairpin to the purple-haired boy. "I actually w-wanted to know if you'd h-help me with this again. I-It came undone when I was asleep."
Luka found it a bit strange that Kitsu would insist on him doing this again but was happy to oblige, "Sure, I can do that." He said, taking the long silver hairpin in his left hand while reaching up with his right to take hold of some of her hair.
As Luka came in close, Kitsu began to smell the boy much like she had the day before. However, this time the heavier scent she had noticed alongside his sweeter scent was much stronger now. The Two-Tailed Kitsune found herself glued to the spot as Luka stood over her, her tails again twitching uncontrollably due to the boy's musk. Just as Kitsu was beginning to feel worryingly light-headed, Luka pulled away and gave the shorter fox a smile, "There, all done up!"
"Okay-thank-you!" Kitsu's spouted quickly, her face almost getting as red as her eyes, much to Luka's growing concern. However, the dizzied Kitsune stopped Luka from asking about it by nearly knocking the purple-haired boy over with her tails with how fast she spun around to leave the room. "Uh-huh..." Luka said as he stared at the empty air Kitsu used to occupy before shrugging his shoulders and deciding to continue brushing his hair.
However, he did find it a bit strange that Kitsu never checked her reflection to see how he put up her hairpin.
Eventually, Luka finished with his freshening up and shouldered his traveling bag before leaving the bathroom. The young Hero took a glance around the room, finding a still-blushing Kitsu keeping her eyes on the ground while sitting quite demure on the green couch. Luka raised a brow at the silver-furred fox's behavior but was spurred to look to the other side of the room by the sound of Alice stirring.
The lavender-skinned Lamia rose from the bed's blankets with a full-figured stretch that Luka had trouble keeping his eyes off for a moment, only able to right as Alice glanced around the room. The Lamia looked between the purple-haired boy and the blushing Kitsu, her golden-eyed gaze quickly narrowing in suspicion. Luka grew nervous as Alice swiftly slithered out of the bed, making a beeline straight towards him.
Luka froze as Alice leaned in close and sniffed the air around him. However, Alice's suspicion was quickly put to rest as the only Monster scent she could find on him was her own. 'Good.' The Monster Lord thought, taking a bit too much satisfaction in this fact.
"Ehhh..." Luka drawled, not really sure why his traveling partner had just openly sniffed at him. However, Alice did not allow the purple-haired boy to continue, instead turning to snake pass Kitsu to the door leading out of the hotel room. Alice's body shifted from her true form to her Human form as she reached out and unceremoniously opened the door. The disguised Lamia looked over her shoulder to Luka, "Are you just going to stand there and gawk? Come on, we don't have all day."
Luka quickly recovered, lightly shaking his head while moving to grab Angel Halo from the table he had left it on before dutifully following Alice. Kitsu was slow to move, her head still somewhat spinning from the intensity of Luka's scent.
The trio left the Mermaid Hotel with little time, coming out of the building to find a light gray overcast above. Luka reached into his traveling bag as he led the charge, pulling out his map as he did so. "Alright, so it shouldn't take us all too long to get to San Ilia, so if we-"
"-Ugh..." Alice groaned out, quickly cutting off Luka but not saying anything more.
Luka peeked at his traveling partner out of the corner of his eye before continuing. "...Like I was saying; if we're quick about it, we shouldn't take too long to get there." The purple-haired boy finished. Kitsu seemed to regain some clear-headedness as she moved to add, "D-Do we really have to go there? A city like that isn't great for a fox like me."
Alice seemed to have a complete change of heart about the place and gave a malicious smile as she said, "I think it sounds like a wonderful place, we might just need to stay for the whole day!" She exclaimed while folding her arms, "If it's going to bother you that bad, then you should probably go find some other people to follow around. Or, since the ocean is still very close, and I can try to beat my fox-flinging record..."
"Y-You have a R-RECORD!?" Kitsu yelled in fear before darting behind Luka, who aimed a pointed look at his traveling partner.
"Alice!" Luka exclaimed, "We already went over this before, no fox-tossing!" Alice shrugged, not at all bothered by the young Hero's scolding but decided to drop her teasing early so that they could focus on leaving the Mermaid-themed port town.
The trio of the Prophet, the Monster Lord, and the silver-furred fox were making good progress, having left Port Natalia behind to follow the beaches of southern Sentora towards San Ilia. The beach they were moving along was picturesque, the only imperfection to be found being a few scattered groups of large light-gray rocks that dotted the beachside.
Luka took a glimpse to his side, taking a moment to appreciate the view.
Since it was still fairly early, the sun was still pretty close to the horizon, so its golden rays reflected off the vast blue water nearly as bright as the sun itself. Luka smiled at the sight, unintentionally slowing down his pace by a significant margin before completely stopping in the sand. Alice was quick to notice this, "Hey, you said it wouldn't take long to get to San Ilia but with that pace we'll never get there."
Luka merely held out a hand to the sunrise as he replied, "Yeah, but this is a beautiful view, don't you think?"
Alice shrugged, "Eh, it's fine, but it's not something to hold us up for." Luka frowned, not much appreciating his traveling partner's dismissal of the sight. Surprisingly, Kitsu spoke up to agree with him. "I think it looks nice. Though the view of the sunrise in Yamatai Village is a lot better." Luka appreciated the silver-furred fox's sorta-agreement, but Alice just scoffed and rolled her eyes.
The young Hero frowned at his traveling partner's sour attitude, wishing that she'd at least attempt to have a greater appreciation for such a sight.
'You'd think someone who is half-snake would prefer sunny days...' Luka mused but quickly rethought his own point. '...Though Alice doesn't really feel cold-blooded, so maybe it isn't quite the same for her as it is for reptiles?' The young Hero very nearly opened his mouth to ask this question but when he glanced over to his traveling partner, she was gone.
Luka immediately tensed up, knowing all too well what this meant.
"K-Kitsu!" The young Hero hissed, glancing over to the unaware Kitsune. The silver-furred fox, who had been absentmindedly kicking at the sand with her sandaled feet, looked up to Luka while giving a small hum before noticing Alice's absence. "Huh? Hey, where's that scary snake lady at-"
"KYAAHH!"
Both Luka and Kitsu jumped at the sound of a woman screaming rang through the air. The young Hero was first to respond, not taking a second to think before dashing towards one of the larger collections of rocks, kicking up sand all the way. A hesitant Kitsu followed Luka, her red eyes full of apprehension as she did not in any way want to be involved with what was about to go down.
The purple-haired boy paused for a moment once reaching one of the large rocks, quickly dropping his traveling bag and peering around the boulder to survey the situation. The Two-Tailed Kitsune following him stopped right next to him, tentatively joining the boy to see what was happening.
"Ahh! Get away from me!" The same voice that had first gained the young Hero's attention yelled out, the owner of said voice being a young woman.
The tall woman was oddly pale, her skin being nearly white. Even stranger was how the woman's peach hair seemed to perfectly match certain other parts of her attire, like the peach corset around the woman's pale-blue dress and the peach top of her pale-blue sunhat. However, these were details that Luka failed to pick up on due to the pandemonium that seemed to be going on.
Speaking of, the screaming woman before him was currently standing on top of one of the rocks of the sandy seashore, hiking up her pale-blue dress some as she tried to stay out of the reach of a truly outlandish-looking Monster.
The Monster in question had the torso of a woman - a naked one, of course - but the crimson-haired Monster's lower body was the much more alarming detail. The leathery cylindrical lower half of the Monster was a deeper crimson than her hair and was covered in many odd-looking lumps and bulges. Even worse, was the large, ribbed orifice on the end opposite of the Monster's torso.
The Sea Cucumber girl chuckled, "Haha, just a few seconds is all I need. Come down and let me suck out some of your energy!" Luka shuddered and watched many odd slimy tentacles start to stretch out from the Monster's lower body, but he quickly pushed down this aversion when the limbs began reaching up toward the frightened-looking woman.
"H-Hey, get away from her!" The young Hero declared, jumping from behind the rock much to the surprise of both the woman and the Monster. The red-eyed woman in particular blinked a couple of times at the newly revealed Hero, "Wh-Who are you!?" She asked, her voice hitching oddly at the start. Luka quickly waved off the question with a black-gloved hand, "N-Nevermind that, just get out of here while and I'll handle this!"
The woman seemed a bit struck by Luka's forcefulness and her reaction delayed quite a bit because of this. "O-... O-Okay!" She stuttered out before dropping behind the rock she was standing on, leaving Luka behind to face the crimson-haired Monster. The purple-haired boy slowly raised a hand to his back, clutching Angel Halo's guard with a black-gloved hand but left it on his back for the moment.
"Hmmm, you look appetizing..." The Monster said, her green eyes looking up and down the purple-haired boy's form. She turned her "mouth" towards him, the strange, ridged orifice starting to throb as it opened with a slimy squish. "...I'll enjoy sucking you in and squeezing out your semen." The Sea Cucumber ended with a smile, her large orifice opening up wide and more tentacles began to come out.
Luka twitched, the Monster's squirming limbs and her suggestive words giving him uneasy flashbacks to the Leech girl he had faced outside of Iliasburg. 'Calm down, Luka. Don't overreact, now...' The purple-haired boy thought, remembering how he had lashed out at the tentacle-wielding Dark Elf near Enrika. '...I want to at least attempt a peaceful solution here.'
"N-None of that will be happening!" Luka exclaimed, finally taking Angel Halo off of his back and pointing it towards the Monster. "Now, I-I won't allow you to get away will assaulting innocents. B-But if you denounce your ways, then we can settle this without any fighting!"
The red-haired Monster raised an eyebrow at the young Hero, but simply smirked at his words. "I don't believe that will be happening..." The Monster said while subtly digging into the sand with some of her unseen tentacles. "...Besides, it isn't too bad to be squeezed up by me. Give it a chance, it might just surprise you." Luka missed the hint as more of the Monster's hidden limbs snaked through the sand towards him.
Luka shook his head, "I'm warning you, I don't want to hurt you but if it comes down to it, I will do what I need to." The purple-haired boy said, which earned a chuckle from the Monster, "He-heh, I'd worry more about yourself than me."
Suddenly, multiple crimson tentacles burst forth from the sand and shot towards Luka!
If this was a week ago, these tentacles probably would've latched onto the young Hero and he'd be having to figure out a way to get free. However, after all the fights he's had in his journey so far, Luka was quick enough to jump back and out of reach of the Monster's tentacles. The Sea Cucumber paused as Luka skidded to a halt, "Huh, you must have a lot of energy in you to move like that." She mused, her green eyes flashing with renewed interest.
Ignoring the Monster's comment, Luka charged around the sprouting tentacles and took the Sea Cucumber off guard a second time by launching his first attack.
"Thunder Thrust!"
The Sea Cucumber girl was unable to mount a counter, and Luka successfully stabbed Angel Halo into the Monster's side, eliciting a loud yell from Luka's opponent. The young Hero pulled back just as the Sea Cucumber's cylindrical body squirmed and shot out barbed tentacles at the boy. Luka skidded backward across the sand, his face still steeled as he came to a stop in front of the large rock that he and Kitsu had been hiding behind before this battle had started.
Luka tensed up, quickly glancing to the side to see the other tentacles from the Monster's attempted ambush shrink down into the sand. His pale-blue eyes snapped back to the Sea Cucumber girl, who wore a face of great agitation now. Luka narrowed his eyes, "I-I'll give you one last chance to reconsider! Surrender now and I'll be willing t-to let you leave without further harm."
His words didn't seem to sway the Monster any, and he watched as the now-scowling Sea Cucumber slowly started revolving to aim her lower "mouth" towards the young Hero. "The only one surrendering here, will be you." Luka tensed, watching as the Monster's body started to pulsate.
Even after seeing similar grotesque movement before, the sight still caused his stomach to knot up uncomfortably. Then, the Monster took Luka even more off-guard as she opened her slimy "mouth" wider, the tentacles inside moving to the walls of her insides.
"Aqua Breath!"
Despite how the phrase was somewhat pleasant-sounding, the attack was anything but. For, from the Sea Cucumber's gaping maw, a highly concentrated stream of water shot out right at the young Hero!
"W-WOAH!" Luka shouted out, only just bare able to roll out of the way as the intense jet of water slammed into the rock that had been behind him moments before.
An audible crack came from the rock as the force actually shattered the large boulder's surface. Luka watched with wide eyes as the attack ended, revealing the deep rupture in the rock's facade. "O-Oh boy..." Luka whispered out, too occupied with the sobering sight of power to notice that the Sea Cucumber was making her next move.
The Monster's crimson tentacles shot out of the sand again, this time being able to grab at Luka's right leg and arm! The purple-haired Hero grunted but swung Angel Halo down at the tentacles, quickly severing the grip before hopping up just as more of the Sea Cucumber's limbs began shooting out of the sand. Luka's backpedaling nearly led to him whacking his own head against the rock, but he was just able to stop himself with his now-freed hand.
As more and more of the limbs started reaching out towards him, Luka began to hurriedly crawl up the rockface. The young Hero's efforts led him to the top of the rock, thankfully just out of reach of the Sea Cucumber's flailing tentacles. Luka turned around and faced the Monster, holding Angel Halo close to his body as he tried to think of a quick way to beat this Monster.
Just then, the Sea Cucumber grinned, "If that's the way you want it!" The purple-haired boy watched as the Monster below tilted her body, her grin growing larger as her "mouth" aimed right at him once again, the tentacles inside wriggling wildly.
'That's it!' Luka thought, realizing what the Sea Cucumber was about to do. The purple-haired boy pushed down his revulsion at the sight and waited for just the right moment. The tentacles moved to the walls of the Monster's insides in preparation for her attack.
"Aqua Breath!"
"Demon Skull Beheading!"
Luka sprung from the rockface as the Sea Cucumber shot out a high-pressure stream of water towards him. The young Hero felt the Monster's attack whoosh right under his feet as he flew forward, his arc ending with a brutal strike from the boy's sword onto the shocked Monter's shoulder. Luka heard the Sea Cucumber yell out in pain as Angel Halo dug into his opponent's upper torso and the Monster's body soon started to fade away as she was sealed.
The young Hero pulled away and fell feet-first onto the sand as the Monster shrank into an actual Sea Cucumber, plopping unceremoniously in front of him. Luka let out a short breath as he looked down at the sealed Monster. He carefully placed Angel Halo on his back, surveying the Sea Cucumber with a gentler gaze as he wondered what to do with his former opponent.
"Whoa!" The voice of Kitsu exclaimed, spurring Luka to turn towards the silver-furred fox as she dashed up to him. The excited-looking Kitsune looked between Luka and the sealed Monster erratically, "Th-That was so cool! I-I've only ever seen really foxes with at least three tails pull off a move like that!"
Luka pulled back in surprise at the Kitsune's words of admiration, a small pink blush coming to his face. "O-Oh, r-really? I didn't think it was all that-"
"-Amazing!"
Both Luka and Kitsu flinched as the woman that Luka had just saved sprinted up to the two with an incredibly large smile. The peach-haired woman stopped before him, clutching both of her hands in front of her chest while gazing down at the young Hero. "Such bravery, how inspiring you are!~" The woman said, her voice impassioned.
Luka's previous pink blush started reddening at the admittedly pretty woman's strong words. "J-Just doing my duty, m-ma'am." He said, lightly kicking at the sand beneath his foot. Kitsu eyed the woman with a squinted eye, feeling something uncomfortably off about the woman as she stepped closer to get within arm's length of the two.
Luka felt a bit of the same sensation as the red-eyed woman stood over him, her grin still as wide as ever. "Erm, d-do you need help getting home, ma'am?" The purple-haired boy asked, to which the woman slowly shook her head. "Oh no, I actually live here!" She exclaimed a bit too happily. Luka took a glance around, confused as he didn't actually see any houses around.
"Ah, o-okay..." Luka said, before moving to turn from the woman. "...Well, if you don't need anything else, I'll just be going-"
Luka was caught off guard by the woman swiftly reaching out with a hand, gently but firmly grabbing onto his left arm. "Wait, I do n-need something from you!" She exclaimed with a worried look. The young Hero shared a quick look with Kitsu, who was now looking a bit unsettled by the woman's behavior. However, Luka tried to maintain his cordial disposition and replied, "Okay... What do you need?"
The woman grabbed onto his arm with her other hand, and now both of her hands latched onto the shorter boy's arm. "I need you to marry me!~" She proclaimed, her voice echoing along the shoreline.
Nothing but the sound of softly crashing waves filled the air as an abrupt silence fell upon Luka and Kitsu. The purple-haired boy slowly opened his mouth, but no words came out. He was too stunned to speak. The Two-Tailed Kitsune took a small step back, her silver fur starting to stand on end a bit as a strange sense of unease fell on her.
"Ehhhhh..." Luka drawled out, slowly pulling away from the taller woman. "...I... I-I don't... know about that, ma'am." The woman firmly pulled him back, her smile only widening, "But you must! Somone like you is someone I've been dreaming of! Dare I say that our meeting was fated to happen!" Again, Luka slowly pulled himself back, not quite liking how her grip on his arm was becoming uncomfortably tight now.
Luka tried to keep his cool while saying, "Th-That's awfully flattering, b-but I c-can't say that I feel the same."
Suddenly, the woman's grin faded, and a look of absolute anguish came to her. "W-What? Am I not good enough for you, Master?" Luka flinched, his face becoming a hot red now. "W-W-Wait, I-I'm not your M-Master. I-I'm just a Hero!"
The woman pulled him back, her red eyes gleaming madly now. "Master, Hero, it doesn't matter to me. I just want to bear your children~" Luka's mouth parted in a look of shock, not being able to properly process what he was hearing.
Suddenly, Kitsu stepped forward and gave the woman an annoyed glare. "Hey, can't you take a hint?" The silver-furred fox asked while planting her hands on her hips. Slowly, the woman turned her gaze toward Kitsu as the fox continued, "He already said no, now stop being such a creep!" The woman's face grew eerily vacant as she stared down Kitsu, who quickly lost confidence as the woman stared her down.
"L-Listen," Luka began, causing the woman's mouth to turn up into a grin again as she faced him. "I-I'm sorry if it upsets you, b-but I'm not going to be y-your H-H-Husband." He finished, his words quickly making the woman's grin fade once more.
"Why?" She asked, the slight edge in her voice causing Luka to feel worried. He didn't want to be mean, but this woman was starting to become an issue now. 'I wish Alice was here, she'd probably be able to scare this woman away-'
Luka froze mid-thought, a realization suddenly coming to him. Alice was still gone, and she was only ever gone when there were Monsters around. He had already defeated the Sea Cucumber girl, but if Alice hadn't reappeared yet...
Luka flinched as he felt the "woman's" hands tightened even more around his left arm. "If you just gave me a chance, I'd show you why I'd be the perfect Wife for you..." She said, her red eyes boring down onto the young Hero. "...I already have our Honeymoon plans scheduled! Oh, what fun we will have!" Luka saw the bottom of the "woman's" dress ruffle and move by itself, spurring him to make his move before the "woman" could get the better of him.
Swiftly, Luka used his non-dominant hand to somewhat awkwardly grab Angel Halo from his back and swung at the "woman" who was able to jump back just in time to avoid the strike. Kitsu yelped as this occurred, getting on all fours to scamper out of the way.
Luka's face hardened as the "woman" slid back, her dress folding upwards by itself as her form started to change. Her dress started morphing, growing larger and parting into two halves. The bottom folded beneath her while the top folded up above her head, both halves starting to look oddly shell-like. However, this part of the transformation was just the beginning.
The main body of the newly revealed Monster started to shift, her torso becoming bare and her hat starting to unravel into a mound of...
...of...
...Tentacles.
Luka's entire demeanor changed as more of the limbs started to come out of the Monster's body, and he hardly noticed as a giant clam shell formed around the Monster. Instead, the boy's wide pale-blue eyes watched as many pairs of tentacles - each one with an odd suction-cup-looking orifice - started to lift from the Monster's fleshy body.
"You seem tense, Darling. Here, come into my shell, and I'll help you loosen up." Luka gulped, twitchy uncontrollably as the Shellfish girl's tentacles aimed towards him. Their suction-cup-like holes made uncomfortably loud smacking noises as they opened and closed repeatably. The young Hero fought to keep his anxiety down, "D-Don't make m-m-me do th-this." Luka warned, keeping Angel Halo aimed at the Shellfish girl.
However, the Monster just smiled.
"Don't be silly, Darling. Come and embrace your future Wife-to-be!~" The Shellfish girl yelled while sending out a sudden barrage of tentacles in Luka's direction. The purple-haired boy countered with a slew of wild swipes of his sword, most of the attacks missing, but he was able to keep the Monster's tentacles at bay. The young Hero was given a reprieve as the Shellfish girl retracted her tentacles.
The Monster's red eyes narrowed at Luka, "Why do you keep denying me!? Let me service you like a Wife should for her Husband!" The Shellfish girl yelled, sending more tentacles at the purple-haired boy. Luka ignored the Monster's frustrated question and decided to go on the offensive as she unleashed her attack.
"Demon Decapitation!"
Luka bellowed as he charged past the Shellfish girl's attack, kicking up sand while ducking low under her tentacles. He jumped forward once drawing near and slashed at the Monster's neck, his attack cutting along the Shellfish girl's throat. Luka heard the Monster cry out after he flew past, falling into a somewhat clumsy roll across the uneven sand below. The purple-haired boy practically jumped to his feet, pointing Angel Halo towards the back of his opponent. He stood there for a moment, waiting for the Shellfish girl to make her next move.
But nothing happened.
The young Hero paused, his pale-blue eyes warily watching the Monster though he couldn't see much other than the backside of her shell from where he was standing. Just then, he started to hear the sound of crying coming from the Shellfish girl.
Luka's face softened at the noise, and he absentmindedly lowered Angel Halo a bit as the Shellfish girl continued to weep. Cautiously, the purple-haired boy tip-toed around the Monster's shell until arriving at the front side of his opponent. Trembling inside her protective armor was the Shellfish girl, who had all of her tentacles wrapped around herself as she cried.
"Um," Luka began, shuffling his feet as he became unsure how to approach the drastic behavior change. "A-Are you alright?" The young Hero felt strange asking the question just after slicing at the Monster's throat, but if he could finish this without having to fight anymore then he would do it.
The Shellfish girl shot a pain-filled look at Luka through tear-filled eyes, "O-Of course I'm not!" She yelled and pointed an accusing finger at the young Hero. "I finally find my love-to-be and he tries to kill me! I can't imagine anything more devastating!" Luka hesitated after the Monster was done, watching as she turned back away and continued to cry.
Luka's mouth became long and thin as he mulled over his current situation. For the moment, the Shellfish Monster seemed to be uninterested in fighting him further so he could just leave...
...But the Monster's crying tugged painfully on his heartstrings.
The purple-haired boy slowly lifted his arm up and placed Angel Halo on his back, moving to stand at a somewhat unsafe distance from the Monster. "Hey, I-I'm really sorry, I didn't want to hurt you, but you gave me no other choice." Luka gently stressed while holding out both hands in front of himself, trying to get the Monster to see his way. "You can't just force someone to marry you. It has to be out of love."
The Shellfish girl looked back over her shoulder, aiming a saddened gaze upon the boy as he continued to talk. "I-I mean, I don't even know your name, let alone enough about you to want you as my wife." Luka finished his brief heart-to-heart by dropping his hands to his side, watching intently for the Monster's reaction. However, he did not notice the single tentacle hanging out of the shell that was snaking towards his feet.
"Maybe you're right, maybe I have been going about this wrong..." The Shellfish girl said oddly but this went over Luka's head, as the boy was much more focused on what the Monster had just said. "R-Really? D-Do you really think so?" Luka asked in excitement and stepped closer, not noticing how the lone tentacle was nearing his foot.
However, a certain Two-Tailed Kitsune watched the movement very closely as she started lifting up a sizeable rock in her hand.
"...Yes, I do." The Shellfish said as she turned to Luka, an unnervingly large smile coming to her face. "In fact, I think I've had a change of hea-" The Shellfish Girl was abruptly cut off as a palm-sized stone landed on top of her hidden tentacle courtesy of Kitsu, the action stopping the Shellfish girl's attempted ambush.
Crunch
"GAAH!"
Luka hopped back with a yelp in reaction to the Monster's seemingly random yell, but the boy's shock disappeared as he noticed the offending limb that had just been sneaking around the bottom of the shell towards his foot. "Wh-What?" He asked watching the Monster angrily grab the stone with one of her other tentacles.
"Gotcha!" Kitsu yelled from behind the boulder she was standing behind, sticking her tongue out at the Monster right after. The Shellfish girl aimed a glare at the silver-furred fox, before hurling the stone right back at the Kitsune, who was fortunately quick enough to duck the attack.
"You tried to trick me?" Luka asked, his voice saddened at the revelation. The Shellfish girl's furious red eyes whipped back to the young Hero, "Well, you weren't going to marry me willingly, so I had to do something!" She exclaimed, "And if it wasn't for that mangy fox, I'd be well on my way to having you as my Husband!"
With reserved disappointment, Luka reached back around for Angel Halo once again to finish this fight. Clearly, this Monster was not interested in making peace. The Shellfish girl gave a more anger-filled yell as she prepared to send more tentacles Luka's way. However, her efforts would be quickly cut short by the young Hero, who planted his feet into the sand and pointed Angel Halo straight for the Monster before him.
"Thunder Thrust!"
Luka dashed forward, stabbing his sword deep in the Monster's stomach. The Shellfish girl flinched, her tentacles folding up and squirming on themselves as she was sealed away. The young Hero pulled back, watching the Monster fade away with an uncharacteristically somber gaze. Luka was pulled out of his troubled thoughts as he heard sand being kicked up, and his pale-blue eyes looked to the side to see Kitsu running up to him with a somewhat cocky grin.
"Ha-Ha, now that's what you get, ya weirdo!" The silver-furred fox exclaimed as she pointed furiously at the defeated Shellfish girl's sealed form. Luka couldn't find it in him to show the same amount of energy, only giving a half-hearted shrug as a reply before looking down at the shell once more, a clear dismay showing in his pale-blue eyes.
'Did it really have to be end like that?' Luka asked himself, 'I've sealed more Monster's than not at this point. There has to be a be a better way, but what am I missing?' The boy was brought from pondering this further due to the reappearance of his traveling partner, who decided to appear out of nowhere beside him.
"For once I agree with the fox, even with how juvenile she had to put it." Alice said suddenly from the side, causing Kitsu to lose her nerve and hide behind Luka. The young Hero glanced up at his traveling partner, who had a look of distaste on her face as she looked down at the sealed Monster. "Monsters who act that desperate for a mate are an embarrassment to the rest of us and deserve to be treated as such."
The Lamia then quickly dug up a hole in the sand with her tail before dismissively rolling the sealed Shellfish girl into the hole. Luka raised an eyebrow at the action, his gaze following Alice as she slithered over to the sealed Sea Cucumber who seemed to be attempting a hopeless escape to the sea. "Alice, what are you doing?" The confused boy asked as Alice started mercilessly rolling the other sealed Monster towards the hole.
"Just giving these two adequate punishments." The white-haired Lamia replied simply, not taking her eyes off of the Sea Cucumber as she rolled it into the hole as well, before covering them both up with sand. Luka recoiled, "W-Wait, w-won't that hurt the Sea Cucumber!?" He asked incredulously, but his traveling partner seemed unconcerned.
"Eh, not too much. But she'll be able to dig herself out, no need to worry about it." Alice said with a shrug before looking down at Luka, "Well, come on. Let's go to the "fantastic" city of San Ilia to go bore ourselves with meeting some lame King."
Luka gave Alice a pointed look as he moved to retrieve his traveling bag. "How do you know that he's lame if you've never met him?" The purple-haired boy asked, "That's a pretty rude assumption to make."
Alice scoffed, "Being the King of a place named San Ilia would naturally make someone lame. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that it's a prerequisite to being that city's King." The lavender-skinned Monster mused, much to Luka's rather mild disapproval.
Luka quickly grabbed his bag before striding up to Alice, who joined him as they started continuing on to San Ilia. A nervous-looking Kitsu followed as the Prophet and the Monster Lord continued to debate between each other, the Kitsune not looking forward to entering the human-dominated city.
Alright, we're out of Port Natalia and to San Ilia. Not too much in the way of major development, but we do get more of Luka meeting more Monsters, though with less-than-preferred results. He can only hope that soon his luck on befriending them will start to get better.
Though considering that the next Monster he is to face is another Lamia, Alice would probably prefer that he strikes her down as quick as possible.
espioll: Nope, Ilias's second Baptism also had no effect. It's all just becoming a part of Ilias's growing perversion, even if she doesn't quite realize it yet. What's going on in the Sealed Sinner's Prison will remain as something in the background for now, but expect it to get worse the longer things go on.
Shadow Necro: Black Alice using that outfit is purely because it is her "Human Disguise" in canon, and I thought it would be appropriate that she bust it out really quick while on Earth. As interesting as Black Alice and Luka traveling together sounds, that won't be happening here...
...After this story is done though, who knows?
F14M3RZ: Now, I usually try to reply to each review I get if possible, but in this case that isn't feasibly possible unless I had a whole chapter reserved for you. However, I do absolutely appreciate the feedback, don't get me wrong. So, I'll try to touch on a few things you've mentioned.
Ch 11 Review - I'm glad that my character work stands out so much. I try to be very careful in shifting certain behaviors, but not enough to make anyone too OOC. Some like Luka and Ilias probably are the most different, other than characters who have next to no character like Runael and Chamael.
Ch 19 Review - There isn't a Commandment keeping Angels from having intercourse with Monsters because there is already one barring them from being around Monsters entirely: My Daughters Shalt Not Fraternize With Monsters
It may not explicitly say it, but having any relations, sexual or otherwise, would be breaking this Commandment.
Ch 20 Review - Trying to make Luka and Alice's intimate moments make sense is a difficult one. I didn't feel like it would be right with Alice being too forceful, but I couldn't have Luka be too willing either. That's why it will always come down to the same situation: Alice gives Luka a choice, and Luka gives in every time. And the justification for it is always shaky at best.
That's always what separates it from his encounters with regular Monsters, as with those, Luka is more coerced out of either situational circumstance or a touch of emotional arm-twisting.
Ch 31 Review - I'm glad you pointed out that Luka is something of a mirror of Black Alice and Alice is one for Heinrich, because it's an important detail to keep note of.
Ch 44 Review - Alma Elma being able to smell someone's "experience" is honestly something I'm surprised wasn't already a thing for her character. You'll definitely find that come into play for each time they meet, because the number of scents will grow. Much to Luka's embarrassment.
Ch 50 Review - I have something of a soft spot for Eden as a character, so I'll be going out of my way to make her part of this story very important. Especially since she'll start playing a greater part in helping Luka while he's in Heaven.
Ch 51 Review - I like your speculation, though I can't confirm any of it to be true other than the reason why Chaos is starting to spread is because of character(s) we already know. How that is and why, though, will be revealed in time. Though I will say that one of your many reviews did accurately predict something I have planned.
Very Important Update
More likely than not, most reading this will know that the site was down for about all of July 12th-13th. The part that concerns me is the explanation given for the DNS issue that Fictionpress sent out on July 13th:
"We have a very strict policy on sexual content and sexual content related to child abuse. On July 12th, GoDaddy deactivated dns-resolution for our domain due to a dozen links of fictional content they deemed broke their "ChildAbuse" policy."
Now, I probably don't have to explain how this could be an issue for this story. After all, the first part of this story delves heavily into these very topics/themes. Now, there were stories actually reported and taken down due to this - or so that is what was claimed - and so it was somewhat of a stroke of luck that Jeremiad wasn't taken down the first time around.
Bottom line is that this story will only be getting darker as it goes on and I won't shy away from delving deeper into these themes, so Jeremiad is in a very precarious position on this site. I won't stop posting updates for Jeremiad on this site, but I am tentatively prepared for it to be a part of a potential future purge. So soon, I will have an ao3 account and have Jeremiad posted on there so that it can still be read.
Most likely, if Jeremiad gets taken down from Fanfic, it probably won't be getting back on it. I'm not going to even consider editing out anything to make this story more compliant with the policies. To do so would neuter so much about Luka's character and his various relationships, both the good and the bad.
And sections like the ones with Assassinroid, Ranael, and Doppel would probably have to be cut out entirely, which would create major holes in the plot as well.
In closing, if you ever try to read Jeremiad here on Fanfic and it is just gone, look on ao3 and it will most likely be there. I'd hate for it to come down to that, but at this point there is no other option. Here's to hoping that Jeremiad somehow is able to just slip by.
