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Year 16 AL, The Heart Only Grows Fonder
The evening sun blazed through the sky above Luka as he and a re-disguised Alice entered Port Natalia. The fading reds and yellows painted one half of the horizon, while purple and an ever-darkening blue spread across the sky on the other half.
Luka glanced about the port town, seeing that things had become more bustling as the streets were a lot more of Humans and Mermaids alike. Nearly all of them seemed to wear smiles, loudly talking and laughing amongst each other as they went on with their evening plans.
'Guess the nightlife here must be pretty popular.' Luka thought absentmindedly as he made way for Meia's residence. It didn't take long for the young Hero and his traveling partner to reach the small house, not having to hunt down an address now that Luka knew where he was going.
Luka softly rapped against the door's wooden facade, hearing Meia's muffled voice holler something unintelligible soon after. A few seconds passed and the Mermaid herself finally came to the door, a very large smile forming on her face upon seeing Luka standing there. "H-Hello Meia," He said to the lavender-haired Mermaid while retrieving the Rings of Promise. "The Queen gave you two her blessing, so your Marriage is now official!"
The Mermaid gleefully squealed as she took the rings from his awaiting hand, quickly slipping one of them onto her left ring finger. "Oh thank you, my darling will be so happy once he is able to wear his ring!" Meia quickly beckoned Luka inside, "Come in, I insist!" She said before turning around and sliding into her home.
Alice stared into the home with an oddly troubled expression. "I'll stay out here while you do that. I don't really care to be a part of whatever..." The disguised Lamia waved a hand at the house, "...This is supposed to be."
Luka gave his traveling partner a questioning look, but eventually just shrugged his shoulders. Her reaction was a bit odd to him, but considering how Alice tended to act around other Monsters - and how she acted last time they were here - he felt as though it was probably for the best. "Alright, I won't be long." The purple-haired boy said before heading through the doorway.
Luka closed the door behind himself as he passed through, watching as Meia turned towards him. "Unfortunately, my darling isn't here to wear his just yet. After taking me out for lunch at the Mermaid Pub, he went out to fish again..." The Mermaid let out a passionate sigh, "...Ah, he is such a hard-working boy~" Luka idly wondered if the man in question would prefer to be called a boy or not as Meia turned to face him, leaving Shouta's ring on the table.
Meia faced Luka with a somewhat apologetic look. "Like I said before, I don't really have that much to reward you with, Luka..."
The purple-haired boy quickly shook his head, "No-No, you don't need to worry about that, I'm content with just helping you two fulfill your dream." Luka insisted, not wishing to burden the Mermaid by making her feel as though she had to repay him. Meia shuffled closer to the purple-haired boy with a rather ecstatic gleam in her blue eyes. "...Oh, I thought long and hard over it during lunch, and even my darling said that he believed that my idea was absolutely wonderful!"
The Mermaid grabbed the perturbed-looking boy's arm and led him to the dining table, turning Luka and gently pushing him to sit in a wooden chair. Meia clapped her hands together as she began to shuffle over to the left. "Now, I talked with some of my friends that work at the Mermaid Pub, and they all said that they'd be more than happy to help reward you for me."
Luka looked at Meia with a growing sense of dread. "E-Eh, y-your friends that w-work there?" He stressed, hoping that this wasn't what he was beginning to think it was. 'No, it couldn't be those same three, could it!?' Luka thought in horror.
Meia, not noticing Luka's distress, nodded as she moved closer to the door, "Yep, they all seemed very excited about it, actually. In fact, they already had something planned for you!" Luka's pale-blue eyes widened as Meia opened the door, all three of the Mermaids from the Marvelous Mermaid Pub 'N Grill filing into the room.
From the tall one with the short pink hair and green top that had first greeted him, to the shorter blue-haired one with a white top that had taken his order; even the blond Mermaid was there, still only wearing an apron. And all three had very eager-looking smiles on their faces.
Luka sat frozen in disbelief as Meia continued, "Imagine my surprise when they told me that the purple-haired boy who was helping me wed my darling, had to be the same one they had already wanted to give an extra special three-course Mermaid dessert to the day before! How funny that is!" Luka's face showed clearly that he found no humor in this at all, instead feeling nothing but terror as the three Mermaids drew nearer.
The pink-haired one spoke first, "We were all soooo disappointed when you never came by last night, you know. We waited hours for you." She said, her teal eyes leering at him through her half-closed eyelids.
"I was interested to see which one you would like the most," The blue-haired Mermaid said, smirking at the way Luka fidgeted. "We've got everything prepared for you, so I think we should start right away!" She exclaimed.
Finally, the apron-wearing blonde Mermaid came forward, holding a can of whipped cream in each hand. "There's gonna be a lot of cream already, but if ya like your dessert to be sweeter, we always can add more~" She said, shaking the cans - and her hips - with a wink.
All of this was just too much for the young Hero.
"W-WOW!" Luka suddenly yelled, slamming his hand onto the table as he rose from the chair and nearly flinging it into the wall behind him. "TH-THAT'S A W-WO-WONDERFUL OFFER, B-BUT IT-IT'S GETTING LATE SO I HAVE T-TO REFUSE!" The young Hero nearly sprinted to the doorway, much to the Mermaid's collective confusion.
Meia shuffled forward, "W-Wait, don't you at least want to try just one-"
Luka quickly shook his head, "N-NO, I-I-I'M FINE, R-REALLY!" The blushing boy yelled again while furiously grabbing the doorknob, his shaky hands causing the metal to jangle in his grip. Luka turned to face Meia one last time, ignoring the bewildered Mermaids standing beside her. "I W-WISH YOU A V-VERY LONG AND HAPPY MARRIAGE, M-M-MEIA!" With that, Luka opened up the door and hurled himself outside.
The young Hero grabbed Alice's arm, causing the disguised Lamia to give an uncharacteristic yelp as he quickly dragged her away. "H-Hey, what the Hell are you doing!?" Alice exclaimed, surprised by the purple-haired boy's frantic behavior. Luka quickly shook his head. "NO TIME TO EXPLAIN! GO, GO, GO!" Luka hollered, ignoring the bewildered look of both Alice and the people of Port Natalia...
Meia blinked in confusion at her now-closed front door. "That was odd," She said before turning to the other shocked Mermaids. "I thought for sure that he would want to have at least a slice of each." She said as she shuffled past the others, opening her refrigerator to reveal three separate cakes, each one baked by one of the Mermaids from the Pub.
"Well, I suppose that there's no reason to let them just sit here and go bad." Meia eventually said with a smile while she turned to the others, "I'll get the forks!"
The Goddess of Light was heavily upset.
The reason for this was simple, for her Prophet just helped a Human break her very own Second Commandment, the one that barred Humans from marrying Monsters. Not only Luka had done this, but he had decided to with very little hesitation as well. The Goddess's frustration was only offset by the strain she felt in her chest when thinking about the very complicated feelings that were settling inside of her.
Watching her Prophet go about his journey was starting to become very stressful for Ilias and was becoming so in ways she hadn't quite expected, either. Ilias had known that Luka would have to constantly fight away temptation, it was simply inevitable that he'd be challenged by the cunning tactics of Monsters. However, she hadn't been prepared for how strongly it made her feel.
Seeing Luka be seduced so frequently was troubling, very troubling. Troubling in a manner that was different from when it happened with regular Humans. With their failings to battle away Monsters, Ilias always felt disappointment but that would be where it ended. But with Luka, it was much more upsetting to her.
Ilias didn't know if it was because of how important Luka was to her plans for the World, or if it was because Luka was technically a creation of Heaven through Lucifina, but it just felt so much more personal to the Goddess of Light. Every time Luka faced a Monster, Ilias felt a terrible wave of dread run fall over her heart. So much so, that she sometimes had to force herself to look away from his battles.
This day by itself had many harrowing encounters for Ilias's Prophet, ones where Luka had been not only tempted but assaulted as well. Ilias truly hated that her Prophet had to go through so much hardship, and she had very abruptly discovered that seeing him get injured was very distressing. For something so pure - so perfect - to be defaced, would elicit a very peculiar reaction.
Ilias's heart would jump terribly in her chest, and she would feel the very unwise urge to forcefully rip Luka away and pull him to Heaven so that she could protect him from further harm. It was a desire that took a surprising amount of will to fight away, for Ilias knew that she couldn't do such a thing. Luka needed to go through such trials, for injury was an unfortunate but unavoidable part of his role in her plans. It would be idiotic to assume that he could face Monsters and not get hurt, Ilias had to accept this.
Even stranger, though, was the urge to do the same thing when any Monster tried to entice Luka.
This impulse to pull him to Heaven was somehow even more powerful when a Monster sought something more intimate from her Prophet. Just the sight of one of the awful creatures trying to have his love made her seethe. They weren't even deserving of a sample of such a thing in Ilias's mind; however, Luka himself seemed to have a lot of trouble trying to keep the damnable creatures off of his person.
And sometimes, it looked as if he even wanted it...
Ilias had already seen that Luka's kind and gentle heart caused him to become so close to Monsters, that he had a tendency to let his guard down just because some of them would show him kindness. But Ilias knew the truth, she knew that even the most innocent of Monsters would want his innocence. They wanted to corrupt him by taking away his most precious treasure.
His virginity.
This was something that could not be soiled by a Monster's touch.
The mere thought of Luka, her Prophet, breaking his chastity with some disgusting and undeserving Monster lit her heart aflame with rage. None of them were worthy of having such a thing, and the fact that some - including the awful Monster Lord herself on multiple occasions - had been blessed with a sample of such a gift was egregious to the Goddess of Light.
Obviously, Ilias needed to guide Luka better so that no more Monsters could have a taste of his purity, or worse.
'If only his useless parents had taught him wiser when he was young, then I wouldn't have to...' Ilias stopped mid-thought as an idea came to her. It was a very devious one but if it could help steer Luka towards understanding who he should love, then it would be very beneficial to Ilias. '...It could work. After all, there would likely be no other person that could sway his heart.'
Ilias glanced down through the clouds of Heaven, all the way to the Seventh Level of Heaven, the realm of Principalities. Also known as the place where Human souls are kept once they are taken to Heaven. Even from this distance, Ilias could see the soul she was seeking to use, mulling about in an ocean of other deceased Humans.
Maybe even a Failed Hero, could still be of some use to the Goddess.
Luka did not stop until they were "safely" out of Port Natalia, glancing over his shoulder every now and then just to make sure that no more Pub Mermaids were looking to offer him their "dessert". Even as the sky started to slowly grow darker from the Sun declining, Luka did halt his march across the Natalia region until they came into the forest that surrounded San Ilia.
Usually, Alice would not have allowed Luka to almost literally drag her so far, but this was balanced out by the fact that there were now no more Mermaids around to pester her with their very presence. However, something was pestering her, something that had caused her to force the purple-haired boy to stop.
She was hungry.
Considering the fact that Alice had been benevolent enough to not burn any more Libraries down in pursuit of a meal, the Lamia only thought it was fair that they stopped for the day so that Luka could right this terrible wrong. And so, Alice was able to get the young Hero to stop by a creek - the dirt being quite soft, confirming what a certain Sparrow girl had mentioned earlier in the day - and start to set up camp for the night.
"You still have the rest of those potatoes, right?" Luka asked as he finished lighting his firepit, setting his mind on cooking baked potatoes, since that was what his traveling partner had seemingly been craving. Alice vigorously nodded, holding out the potato bag with her tail. Luka took the five remaining potatoes from the Lamia, wondering just exactly how she still had them after all this time.
'Where does she keep stuff at?' Luka thought in confusion as he took the potatoes from her awaiting tail and paced over to the creek. The purple-haired boy removed his gloves and started washing off the potatoes with the water, making sure that there was no dirt or grime on the outside.
"Any particular way you want these done?" Luka asked his traveling partner. Alice just raised an eyebrow, "You'd know more than I would. If nothing else, you're a much better cook than me." The purple-haired boy glowed just a bit from the compliment, but he pressed further as he continued to wash the brown vegetables.
"Even so, I thought there might be a particular herb or something you might want them to be cooked with." Luka said as he looked over to his traveling partner. Alice's face was flat as she replied, "I wouldn't know anything about suggesting what to put on it. I just know what tastes good, and what doesn't." She said, crossing her arms as she did.
Luka hummed, returning his attention back to the potatoes. "I could help you with that some, if you wanted." The young Hero said. Alice's eyebrows fell, "Hey, you aren't trying to make me be the cook, are you?" She accused. Luka quickly - and a bit fearfully - shook his head. "N-No, it's nothing like that. I-I just figured that I could h-help teach you how to d-d-do this stuff, just in case you're hungry and I'm not able to c-cook something right away, that's all."
Alice considered the purple-haired boy's offer as he took the washed potatoes over to his firepit. The Lamia slithered closer as Luka placed the potatoes in a large pot, retrieving a fork soon after to start poking holes in the potatoes. She watched with a curious gaze, as that was a step she had not done when attempting to cook the same dish.
The Lamia continued to silently observe Luka as he reached for his traveling bag, removing salt, pepper, and a flat-leafed herb from somewhere in his bag. 'How does he keep all of that stuff in that bag?' Alice wondered as he showed the herb to her. "I-I prefer the flat-leaf parsley myself, it has a better flavor than the curly parsley!" Luka said with a smile.
Alice nodded quietly, not mentioning the fact that she hadn't even known that there were different types of parsley.
Luka began to season the potatoes, lightly shaking the salt and pepper on top before beginning to break apart the parsley. "Balancing the seasonings out is probably the hardest part, since you can't use too much or too little. I-It's just one of those things you learn after a while." The young Hero revealed, sprinkling the pieces of flat-leafed parsley over the potatoes bit by bit.
Finally, Luka put his seasonings away and hefted the large pot up, moving over to the firepit and hanging the potatoes over the flames. "Now, we wait!" He exclaimed with a toothy grin. Alice nodded but said nothing more.
The crackling fire was beginning to be the main source of light as the sun dipped further below the horizon, dark shadows streaming from the trees around them. With nothing else to do, Luka moved for his traveling bag once again to find a certain journal he had been neglecting. With his book of Monsters in hand, Luka used the yellow and black-dotted flower he was using as a bookmark to quickly flip to the last entry he had made, the one for Alma Elma.
Luka shuddered at the name, remembering the Succubus Queen quite well. 'Okay, what was the first Monster I fought after her?' Luka mused to himself, having to mull this over for a little bit, as it had been a while since then. Luka sat cross-legged on the ground as he began to write, but not before taking out the flower said journal. 'Nearly forgot that I had this.' Luka thought as he appraised it, deciding to stick it behind his ear for the moment. He missed how Alice's face scrunched up, glancing around for moment as if looking for something.
Unknown Sea Cucumber: Common Sea Cucumber
Strengths - Able to shoot concentrated stream of water that is strong enough to shatter rock.
Weaknesses - Easy to out-maneuver
Intelligence - Average
Friendliness - Not Friendly
Luka's Notes: Besides Aqua Breath, has no other noteworthy skills.
Unknown Shellfish: Common Shellfish Girl
Strengths - Can disguise as Human, cunning
Weaknesses - Emotionally unstable
Intelligence - Above Average
Friendliness - Not Friendly
Luka's Notes: Not above lying and manipulating. Keep wary around them.
Luka wrote the last note down with a frown. He didn't like the idea of having to be overly suspicious but if hadn't been for Kitsu, the Shellfish Girl probably would've successfully tricked him so that she could attack. Unfortunately, some Monsters weren't worth the risk that came with trusting.
Unknown Sparrow: Common Sparrow Girl
Strengths - ?
Weaknesses - ?
Intelligence - Average
Friendliness - Very Friendly
Luka's Notes: Probably one of the nicest Monsters I have met on my journey, though I definitely need to be careful about accidentally answering mating calls.
Unknown Lamia: Common Lamia
Strengths - Very strong tail, able to uproot trees if need be
Weaknesses - Blunt force trauma, more reckless when angry
Intelligence - Above Average
Friendliness - Quick to Hostility
Luka's Notes: Extremely quick to jealousy. Must watch how I word things around Lamias.
Luka hummed, finding the notion to be something to definitely keep in mind for his current traveling partner, to an extent. As strange as it was, Alice always seemed to be much less agreeable when there were other Monsters around. He wondered if that was just an instinctual behavior that all Lamias had, or if that was just a product of the terrible luck he seemed to have.
'Sofia hadn't acted that way though, despite how she felt about me.' Luka quickly shook the thought of the Lamia Nun from his mind before her memory could upset him too much.
Book Monsters: All Types
Strengths - ?
Weaknesses - ?
Intelligence - ?
Friendliness - ?
Luka's Notes: Difficult to identify since they don't appear until they ambush and no two seem to be the same. Just need to be able to react quickly if I encounter one.
None of the Monsters he had fought in the San Ilia Library were one in the same, so it seemed as if Monsters in books were something of a wild card. As unhelpful as his notes were for them, he'd just have to stay vigilant if he's ever around a large collection of books.
Soapy the Crab Girl: BLOOD RIVAL
Strengths - Armored body, large claws
Weaknesses - Sand. It's rough, coarse, and gets everywhere.
Intelligence - Average
Friendliness - Very Hostile
Luka's Notes: I guess that we're sworn enemies for life since I'll never kill her. I don't know why, but I feel very worried about this one...
Unknown Jellyfish: Common Jellyfish Girl
Strengths - Tentacles, possibly electrically charged
Weaknesses - Attack can be reflected by Shield
Intelligence - Average
Friendliness - Not Friendly
Luka's Notes: I may have been able to avoid fighting her, if she hadn't started arguing with Mink. But either way, I'll have to keep an eye out for these if I go into the Ocean again.
Unknown Sea Anemone: Common Sea Anemone Girl
Strengths - Tentacles, large mouth
Weaknesses - Tentacles can be nullified by Shield
Intelligence - Average
Friendliness - Very Hostile
Luka's Notes: Be very careful of orange tentacles.
Anko the Anglerfish: Common Anglerfish Girl
Strengths - ?
Weaknesses - ?
Intelligence - ?
Friendliness - ?
Luka's Notes: Very weird. Very, very weird.
Luka sighed at the last entry, as that Monster wasn't really one that he knew what to say about, but he felt spurred to give her a section anyway. The young Hero returned his Heaven-sent flower to the journal and closed it before rising to check on the food. A satisfied hum came from his lips as he eyed the potatoes, which seemed to be nearly finished now. "Almost there, just a few more minutes." He whispered to himself.
"How do you know that?" Alice asked curiously. Luka paused for a few seconds before glancing up at Alice, who had been so silent that he had almost forgotten that she was there. "You mean, how do I know it's just a few more minutes?" The young Hero asked back. His traveling partner nodded as she slithered up to the pot, "Yeah, how can you tell so easily?" The Lamia prodded further.
Luka took a few moments to mull over the question. "W-Well, you can smell the difference. Before, you could only really smell potato but now all the other seasonings are a lot more pronounced. Th-That, and the skin will end up getting a lot darker." His explanation didn't seem to fulfill the Lamia's question completely, as she stared down at the potatoes with a great deal of perturbance.
"It gets easier to tell the more you cook, so don't feel bad if it doesn't make sense the first time." Luka hurriedly added as he began to get the feeling that Alice was actually having trouble grasping the concept. From what it seemed, his traveling partner had never really cooked before. 'I guess that it was more essential for me to learn, though.' Luka thought to himself as he looked back down at the potatoes.
As much as he loved his Mother, he had to admit that her culinary skills did not seem to get better the more she cooked, as opposed to what he just said to Alice.
Grumble Grumble
Luka paused as he heard the very audible noise of somebody's stomach growling. And since it wasn't his stomach making the irritating noise, he could only figure that it was coming from his traveling partner. Luka stole a glance at Alice, becoming very surprised as the Lamia kept her gaze down in what appeared to be embarrassment.
Perhaps to most, this would've been humorous. But for Luka, it was actually making him surprisingly upset. 'Has she really been that hungry?' The young Hero wondered with a touch of guilt. He probably shouldn't even feel bad about it, but it troubled him all the same. Instead of acknowledging the noise, Luka moved to check on the potatoes and started removing the pot as soon as he verified that they were finished.
Alice watched as Luka lowered the pot onto an awaiting plate - she still did not understand how he fit all of this stuff in his traveling bag - and began grabbing for another plate. The Lamia took note of the troubled look on his face as he wasted no time in preparing a plate for her. Luka used a fork to grab four of the five potatoes and swiftly placed them on the plate and turned to hold it out to her.
"Here, eat up!" Luka said with a smile. Alice took the plate as soon as the purple-haired boy presented it to her, her golden eyes gleaming with desire. An odd and giddy noise came from the lavender-skinned Lamia's throat as she began cutting into the potatoes with the fork, breaking apart the brown skin to reveal the golden-brown interior.
Luka felt his heart lift a bit as he heard the Lamia's happy humming, moving to make a plate for himself. The young Hero sat down again after grabbing the last potato, preparing to have his part of the meal. As he sat down, Luka glanced up at Alice again and had to pause another time.
The Lamia had quickly devoured one of the potatoes already, though this wasn't what surprised him. What did force him to stop dead in his tracks was the large smile that his traveling partner had on her face as she ate the potatoes. Luka had enjoyed seeing her satisfaction before but with the combined light of the dying sun reflecting off of her from one side and the wild flames of the firepit doing the same on the other...
...It made Alice look very beautiful.
Thu-Thump
Luka twitched and quickly forced his gaze back down at the potatoes on his plate, gently prodding at his meal with his fork. However, the odd and queasy feeling growing in his stomach didn't feel like hunger, which was concerning.
The dinner went on without a hitch, as Luka was eventually able to finish his meager part of the meal and quickly moved to prepare his tent so that he could be alone as soon as possible. Alice had already picked a tree to sleep in, coiling around its trunk with her long red tail. Seeing her do so reminded the purple-haired boy of how comfortable the position was for himself...
...Why did he suddenly feel envious of a tree?
Luka pushed away the thought, fretfully pulling at his purple locks as he did. It was difficult not to be aware of how bizarre his thoughts had been getting recently, especially some of the ones centered on his traveling partner. They would come out of nowhere and leave him feeling rattled to his very core. Even worse, was the fact that he knew these were observations and ideas he shouldn't be having.
"Are you just going to stand there all night?" Alice asked, peering at him in confusion from her tree. Luka jolted, feeling all out of sorts now. "A-Ah, no. S-Sorry, I..." Luka didn't even know what to say. He couldn't admit that he had been thinking about the Lamia in such ways. "...I-I'm just really t-tired, y-you know?"
Thankfully, Alice just dismissively shook her head at his behavior. "Then you'd best go to bed now, no reason to stay up if we aren't doing anything." The Lamia said while laying her head on her arms. Luka nodded, taking the opportunity to swiftly grab his traveling bag off the ground and retreat to his tent. The young Hero unzipped his tent and began to step in, but not before facing Alice once more.
"G-Goodnight, Alice." Luka said. The Lamia in question silently stared back at him for a few moments, seeming to contemplate something. Once she was done, she finally replied.
"Goodnight, Luka." She whispered.
Thu-Thump
The purple-haired boy had to stifle the gasp that threatened to spill from his throat, the near-jerk reaction very nearly falling from his mouth. Luka didn't know why his heart fluttered so terribly from this alone, out of all things, but he did know that he should immediately retire for the night. With this new resolution in mind, Luka ducked into his tent without another word and zipped the tent back up.
Luka took a good number of deep breaths as he stood inside his tent, clutching at his chest while he attempted to calm down. 'Why is it that I keep feeling this way?' He thought in alarm as he could feel his heart thumping from inside it's cage. It was difficult to accept at this point, but with everything that had been happening during his journey, he couldn't ignore it anymore.
He was starting to believe that he had a natural attraction towards Monsters.
It could easily be explained away by the fact that Monsters simply seemed more attractive because they were the ones who kept flaunting themselves at him, but that didn't explain away these odd reactions he was having. It wasn't that clear cut because not every Monster he met necessarily caught his attention in that way. No, there were ones that had clearly garnered a more powerful reaction than others and, alarmingly, he had to admit that Alice was one of them...
...Which was difficult to digest.
Luka removed his traveling bag stiffly, dropping to his knees to search for his nightwear. The purple-haired boy slowly took his white nightshirt and lifted it up before himself. The white fabric was easy to see, even in the growing darkness of the tent. It felt as though Luka was staring at his very own innocence, being swallowed by the darkness of his impure desire.
A chill shook his body as he laid the cloth out on his futon, but he tried to keep a brave face in front of his own growing despair. Luka slowly removed his clothes, desperately trying not to think about the ever-complicated position his frail and tender heart was putting himself in. He had already reprimanded himself for leaning too much into these feelings before, how many more times was this issue going to rear its ugly head to him!?
'You shouldn't have to keep telling yourself to focus!' Luka scolded himself as he began putting on his nightwear, 'It doesn't matter how nice they are! It's like Ilias said, in the end they will always want the one thing you can't give. You know this already!' The young Hero threw his nightshirt over his head with a scowl, the self-deprecating thoughts forcing his mood to fall drastically.
Luka clenched up as he made for his small bed, laying down and pulling the covers over himself. The confused boy lay there, staring up at the ceiling with frustration. It seemed as though it was going to take him longer than usual to fall asleep tonight.
Ilias glided down to the Seventh Level of Heaven with purpose, arriving in the realm of the Principality in no time at all. This Level in question was made up of particularly flat and gray clouds, ones that were broken up by the occasional jagged black rocks. These sharp stones gleamed as Ilias passed them by, reflecting the Goddess's brilliance back at her. As Ilias reached the heart of this realm, a truly outstanding sight could be seen.
The Level of the Principality had a very large bowl-like structure that sunk into the clouds, one that wasn't all too dissimilar in shape to the pool Ilias would create to Baptize Luka with. However, this pool was not filled with water for Ilias to "purify" her Prophet with...
...This is where the Goddess of Light stored Human souls.
As dismal as the clouds around them were, the large swirling concoction of Human essence radiated like a vortex of gold. This Holy light was akin to how Angel souls glowed, but it was only an effect that could be reached when they were up here in Heaven, under their Goddess's influence. And so, these Human souls resided here for now until the end of time.
That is, unless, they become useful.
As Ilias strode nearer, the Principality herself appeared on one of the taller jagged rocks overlooking the swirling pool of gold. Nagael was adorned in her vine-covered robes, silently watching the Human souls mull around until the Goddess of Light drew near. The brown-haired Principality turned to face Ilias, giving her a small bow.
"Greetings, my Goddess." Principality Nagael dully greeted, nary a touch of warmth coming through her tone. Ilias returned the gesture either way, having been accustomed to the Angel's monotone facade for many thousands of years. "Greetings, my Daughter." Ilias replied, before staring down into the well of souls.
The Goddess's bright blue eyes looked over the expanse of spirits with a curious eye. It was difficult to tell for certain since Ilias herself did not often need to venture to this level of Heaven - Nagael was able to diligently look after it herself, and had been doing so for a very long time - but something about it seemed smaller than usual.
"Is there something that you are needing, my Goddess?" Nagael asked flatly, her half-closed blue eyes shifting between Ilias and the pool with a nearly undetectable amount of wariness. However, Ilias did not pick up on this subtle shift of nervousness, as she was much more focused on the task at hand.
"Thank you, my Daughter, but this is a matter I will be handling by myself." Ilias answered, waving the Principality away. Nagael hesitated for a moment but eventually disappeared at the Goddess's order.
Ilias stared deep into the pool of souls, finding the man she was looking for once again. The Goddess of Light beckoned the soul to herself, watching as the glimmering essence floated toward her. After a few more moments, the soul fell to the clouds below and started to lose its luster. It shifted from gold to gray, becoming less of a vague glow and more of a defined shape.
The shape of a person.
More and more details, from his short and unkempt hair - which would've been purple when he was alive - to the clothing he wore, which was very similar to what a certain purple-haired boy currently wore while he was traveling. All of these features came together to form the man who helped to create Ilias's Prophet.
Don't ask me how I wrote this so quick, I don't know either.
So Ilias is going to attempt to use Luka's own Father as a way of manipulating him. That much may already be obvious, but I wanted to clarify that just in case. I do apologize, because I feel as though that I had stated before that Marcellus would not appear again after his death. Which, as you can see, is not true.
Don't know if that was a regular note I made or a reply to a review. Either way, I apologize because I hace changed my mind since then.
As for how this will go, just imagine how Ilias would interfere with Micaela's interactions with Luka, but at an even more claustraphobic scale since it take place entirely within Heaven and under Ilias's ever-watching eyes. There will be some good reunion time with that, but it will be very bittersweet.
Proud Parent: That, alongside the grave miscommunication of this chapter, are going to be the much-needed light-heartedness before another storm of angst comes our way. I did have quite a good amount of fun with that scene, though.
omegaqilin: Lucifina will reunite with Luka in the "Chapter 3" section of this story, I will say that much.
To clear things up a bit, Anko wasn't referring to the actual sight of the kiss as hot, she merely felt the water around Luka and Mink getting hotter. She is still blind.
Alice will definitely be the main girl, but I've got something in mind for maybe expanding on that...
F14M3RZ: Souta is simply what I gave as a joke since there is not officaly name. Nothing too crazy or important, just a pun since Souta is very close to Shota.
I was quite fond of that line too, for what you said plus the fact that it helps show that not all Monsters that have an interest in Luka are for purely lewd reasons, which makes his internal conflict all the more difficult.
For instance, the surface-level physical attraction of someone like Reina is more easy to ignore than something of a more real attraction, such as Mink's desire to actually marry. Which, for Luka, means a lot more emotionally.
Funnily enough, I think I made his "reward" here even more awkward. At least secind handidly, since it was just a severe misunderstanding.
