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Year 16 AL, Welcome to San Ilia Part One: With Kings Like These...
The massive pearly white structure towered in the nearing distance, the tallest towers of the cathedral-turned-castle being over double the height of the mightiest trees bordering it. This was the city of San Ilia, a beacon of the Ilias faith and perhaps one of the most impressive man-made structures ever created. As magnificent of the partial sight as the marble castle was, however, it failed to raise Luka's spirits.
The unusually silent Hero stomped through the final stretch of the forest trail with an unyielding pace. He didn't slow to admire how the trees swayed in the errant gusts of wind, nor did he stop to watch the songbirds chase each other playfully through the lush green canopy.
How could he, after his bitter reunion with Sofia?
It wasn't as if Luka was actively trying to stay in a sour mood, he had even broken from his mood to feel a pang of awe when they had first spotted the white castle. However, his admiration quickly fell away when the visage of the holy city juxtaposed itself in his mind with the image of the all-but-ruined Temple that Sofia had been at.
After that, Luka quickly found himself back in the emotional slump he had been in previously, and he could only hope that he could get himself out of it by the time they actually arrived at San Ilia. The last thing the young Hero wanted to do was to be so depressed when meeting the holy city's King.
"Hey, Luka." The purple-haired boy looked down over to Kitsu, seeing the Kitsune's somewhat troubled face. Luka quickly pushed his own unsettled feelings to the side, attempting to look pleasant as she moved to ask him a question, "So, u-um, before we actually get there," Kitsu said, pointing to the approaching castle, "C-Can I stay in your bag?"
Luka blinked, almost asking why she would want to do that until he realized that a Kitsune running around in San Ilia might arouse a very undesired reaction from the populace. As relatively harmless as Kitsu was, she would probably still distress the Humans of the holy city. "Sure, I can do that." The purple-haired boy took off his traveling bag, placing it on the ground and unzipping it for the silver-furred fox.
After doing so, Luka took a step back and looked at Kitsu expectantly, but the Kitsune just shuffled in place as he stared. The purple-haired boy blinked in confusion as Kitsu started fidgeting nervously. Luka was about to open his mouth to question her behavior, but he was quickly cut off by her snapping, "S-S-Stop staring at me, I don't want you watching!"
Luka threw his hands up in front of himself, "Okay, okay!" He kept his arms up as he turned around, "I'm looking away now!"
Alice rolled her eyes, unable to hide exasperation at this interuption in their traveling.
Kitsu quickly stepped into the bag, crouching down until she was sitting inside of Luka's traveling bag. The Kitsune whispered to herself, "Foxy Technique: Kitsune Ball!" before wrapping herself up in her two tails and turning into a small fluffy ball. "O-Okay, I'm done!" Kitsu exclaimed with a quivering voice.
Luka turned around, stepping over to his traveling bag with a squinted gaze. Evidentially, he stared for a bit too long, as Kitsu was quick to voice her displeasure. "I-I said stop staring!" With a roll of his eyes, Luka knelt down and started to zip his traveling bag back up. However, a rare mischievous thought came to Luka as he started to close the bag.
Quickly, Luka reached inside and tickled the young Kitsune, who's jolting shook the entire bag!
"WAAAH!" Kitsu yelped, the flustered sound earning a small giggle from Luka as he zipped the bag up until a small hole was left open. The silver-furred fox was quick to voice her displeasure as he hefted her up, "I-I already s-said not to t-touch my t-tails like that!"
Luka almost felt bad, but the humored grin didn't leave his face even as he apologized, "I'm sorry, Kitsu. I-I just couldn't help myself." The purple-haired boy replied, but his words did little to comfort the embarrassed Kitsune. "J-Just don't do it again!" Kitsu cried from inside the traveling bag, and Luka had to hold back another chuckle as he finally continued on.
Alice slithered up from the side with a pronounced pout, "Oh, so you get to poke fun at the Kitsune but when I do it, you make a big deal out of it?" Luka quickly gave the golden-eyed Lamia a pointed look, "I think your definition of "poking fun" is a bit different from mine. I've never threatened to toss someone into the ocean."
Luka's traveling partner didn't seem to agree, crossing her arms with a frustrated huff. "She'd be fine." Alice insisted. Undeterred by the Lamia's proclamation, Luka continued marching forward with a shake of his head. "I can't say that I believe you." Alice let out a loud sigh as, evidentially, Luka's denial of the lavender-skinned Lamia's violent desire was just that terrible.
The young Hero glanced up, seeing that San Ilia was now fully revealed.
At the large stone archway leading to its doors, a handful of armored guards could be seen standing at attention. Above them were two red flags hung on either side of the large entrance, each bearing the cross of Ilias. Intricately carved columns bordered the entryway, their designs having to be made by only the most skilled of stone masons.
'I wonder just how someone would go about making such beautiful patterns.' Luka thought, 'They'd have to be the most skilled in their field, for sure.'
The duo started forward, noticing that there seemed to be a few men shuffling around before the large marble stairs leading to the entrance, conversing amongst themselves and the guards. However, not all of them seemed so pleased.
"Th-Three days!?" Luka heard a younger man cry out in surprise. "Why would it take three days before we can meet the King?" The young Hero's face widened at the comment, was the wait to meet San Ilia's King that long?
One of the older guards was the first to reply, "King Peter the Fourteenth is a very busy man, with many countless responsibilities. As much pride as he takes in meeting all devote followers of Ilias, he can only put aside so much time to do so." The armored man seemed quite tired, either from standing in front of the castle for what was probably hours a day or from having to continuously explain the wait to people.
"However," The guard continued, "You may stay in the castle until your call time. There are many free sleeping quarters available, and we serve three meals a day to any seeking sanctuary." The younger man still grumbled something under his breath but stepped up alongside a few others, and the guards parted to allow them inside.
"Did you hear that?" Alice spat as the wooden doors ahead creaked, "A three day wait? Don't tell me you actually plan on us staying for that long. If so, you may as well kill me now because being here for a single day surely will." Luka waved his traveling partner off, hoping that the guards hadn't heard her comments, "I-I'm sure that it won't be that bad," He began as they neared the steps, "L-Let's just see what-"
"-You!"
The purple-haired boy stopped dead mid-step, the sound of the older guard's sharp voice causing him to freeze. Luka glanced up at the man, who had his dark eyes now focused on him. The other men all looked over at him with curious gazes, unsure as to what was going on. "M-Me?" Luka asked, a twinge of apprehension hitting him.
The guard did not immediately reply, instead turning to a bearded guard, "Read me off the list again, lieutenant. I want to be sure." The man said, to which the other obliged. The bearded guard's armor rattled as he pulled a piece of parchment out of his pouch, clearing his throat for a moment before sounding off, "Shoulder-length purple hair, pale-blue eyes, childish features, below-average height."
Luka pouted as Alice snickered at the last detail, but listened on as the first guard addressed him. "Is your name, Luka?" He asked sternly. The purple-haired boy slowly nodded, "Y-Yes, that is my name."
The man then tapped on the ground twice with his spear. "Fantastic, the King was expecting to see you today."
Even Alice blinked in surprise at the man's words, both she and Luka watching on as the guards themselves pushed the wooden doors open, revealing a golden-brown entry hall behind them. "You may explore the castle as you wish but do remember that King Peter is expecting you." The bearded guard remarked as he and the older guard held the doors open for them.
Luka nodded absentmindedly as he passed through, more focused on the questioning stares the other men were giving him and Alice. "U-Uh yeah, s-s-sure." He answered dumbly, quickly shuffling in afterward. The large wooden doors quickly closed behind them, leaving the duo to stand in the large welcoming hall of San Ilia.
As seen before, the entirety of the castle's inside was colored a beautiful golden brown, to which Luka now saw was because of the large chandeliers hanging above from the ceiling. Their light bounced off of the glossy marble walls and floors magnificently. The pillars supporting the ceiling on either side of the hall had even more complex carvings in them, showing various depictions of Ilias, her Angels, and Humans.
Luka's pale-blue eyes ran over the sights in awe, taking in the sheer majesty of just the first hall alone. If the very first room was this great, then surely the others must be even greater!
"So, did you secretly put in a reservation for today or something?" Alice asked incredulously, "If you did, I'd actually be impressed with your ability to plan that far ahead."
Luka glanced up to her with confusion. "N-No," He replied, knowing that he had not even considered such a thing. "I-I think I would've remembered doing something like that." The disguised Lamia bit her lip as she mulled this over, something about the situation striking her as very odd.
Either way, Alice let it go for now. "Whatever, that man said we can go see the King whenever, so let's just go and get it over with." Luka followed as his traveling partner, but his next words nearly made her audibly groan. "Erm, I-I thought that maybe we could look around f-first?" He said nervously.
Alice looked down at the purple-haired boy with great annoyance, "Oh come on, what is there to see, exactly?" Luka perked up, taking her words as a challenge rather than an insult. "Well," He began, and the disguised Lamia nearly put a palm to her face as he paced over to one of the pillars of marble. "These columns, for instance, all have their own personalized scenes carved into them!"
With a quick glance, Alice did indeed see that each marble pillar had their own scenes depicted instead of being copied over from each other.
Luka continued as he took off his black gloves, "Each one of these must've taken years to create!" He exclaimed, stuffing his gloves in his pockets before reaching out and feeling the indentions in the religious depictions. In her mind, Alice could - at face value - appreciate the work it must've taken. However, it did little to sway her overall opinion on the overall matter.
"Yes, so many years slaving away to appease your master. Tell me, how often does Ilias herself come to appreciate the handiwork of her diligent followers?" Alice's question gave Luka a mental trip. Did Ilias ever come descend to do such a thing? The only time Luka really knew of the Goddess coming to Earth was to Baptize her Heroes. Other than that, she was always in Heaven.
Alice shrugged while continuing, "Maybe it isn't any of my business to say but if I had a Goddess I created such things for, I'd like it better if she came down to at least give me a "thank you" for such tedious work. But considering how those men who came in before us are already gone, it seems as though even your fellow "believers" don't take much time to appreciate these designs. They may as well not even be here."
Luka's eyebrows fell as his expression soured. It was true, wasn't it? He'd never heard of Ilias ever descending from Heaven to give thanks to her believers. Angels did very sparingly and usually with many years in between, but when was the last time Ilias did? Did she ever do such a thing?
And then those other men. They hadn't come in that long before he and Alice did and yet they've already disappeared. Did they even take a look around the long hallway, or did they just rush elsewhere, not bothering to stop for a moment? It made the obviously hard work done here seem a bit less meaningful now. Luka couldn't imagine how it would feel to be someone who spent a whole part of their very lives creating these, just to have that work not even garner a passing glance.
It didn't take away from the castle's luster, but it did make the purple-haired boy feel as though the place was a bit more hollow than before.
Luka moved from the marble pillar, walking down the lengthy hall with Alice in tow. They reached the end of the hallway, which split into two different hallways. In between this split, was a great glass-stained window. Like many others Luka had seen, the window held a depiction of Ilias. The Goddess of Light had her eyes closed, and her hands were folded inward as if to pray. Her large white wings were spread out as well, making her form seem all the larger.
Again, Alice didn't seem very amused.
"What exactly does a Goddess pray to?" She asked, nodding to Ilias's folded hands. Again, Luka felt his mind blank at the odd detail that Alice just pointed out. "I-I don't know, I just assumed that it was just symbolic of her Holiness?" Even when saying it though, the answer felt lackluster. Alice didn't say anything more, but she was smirking, nonetheless.
Luka looked between the two hallways, intent on finding their next stop. The hallway on the right was marked with a sign that read as follows:
San Ilia Library
Guard's Office
'The Library seems interesting.' Luka thought to himself. 'There would be a lot of ancient books in there, I'm sure!' Without even being there, Luka could almost smell the old parchment and faded ink, the idea arousing a great deal of excitement in him. With a look to the left, Luka found there to be a sign as well:
King's Throne Room
San Ilia Chapel
'So that's where I'd go to meet the King, then.' Luka mused. As important as that way, however, the young Hero felt himself more pulled towards the Library than anything else. Luka glanced up to Alice, who had a curious eye on the Library as well, oddly enough. "I think we should visit the Library first, what do you think?" He asked.
Alice nodded, "It would be the least insulting place to go from here." She didn't necessarily seem as excited, but there was a certain gleam in the disguised Lamia's golden eyes. With a nod, Luka started moving towards the Library in earnest. Alice followed by his side, already having a particular book in mind.
Near the end of the hallway was what appeared to be a staircase leading down to a lower level of the castle. Standing in front of the staircase were two men, one being a priest, and next to him was an armored guard wearing a red cape designating a position of authority. The two men were conversing amongst themselves about something, the priest energetically lifting some books he held in his hands.
However, the young Hero and his traveling partner were quickly spotted by the armored guard. The man's red cape billowed as he turned to them, leveling a squint towards Luka. "Hey, you're Luka, aren't you?" He asked, causing the priest to stop and follow the other man's gaze. The cleric's eyes widened behind his thin glasses, "He must be! He has the right hair and eye color, is most definitely childlike in appearance, and is sufficiently short enough to called below-average in height."
Luka bit his lip to keep a frown down, but Alice's closed-mouth snickering was heard for the second time and he found himself becoming quite flustered.
"Yes-I-am-Luka!" The young - and now flustered - Hero stated before gesturing towards the staircase behind the two men. "A-A-And I am very much wanting t-to visit San Ilia's Library!"
The cape-wearing armored guard stepped forward, "But it is to my understanding that the King was looking for an audience with you? You'd ought to report to his throne room immediately, lest he get caught up in some other matters. Come, I will escort you."
Luka sighed at the sudden interruption of his plans but decided to abide either way, 'Well, I can just come by later, then.' The purple-haired boy thought as he followed the taller man, whose armor jangling somewhat reminding him of the sound that had been coming off of Christe...
...Luka still wasn't really sure what that noise had been, but he felt as though he didn't want to know either.
The red-caped guard eventually led the duo to the end of the left hallway, having to take another turn down a different hallway before coming to a stop in front of a set of large red doors. Above the arched doorway was a sign saying, "King's Throne Room."
"Right this way, Hero Luka." The guard said, pushing the door in and walking inside to hold it open for the two. The odd pair walked through the doorway, stepping onto the bright red carpet of the throne room. The rest of the room was oddly modest for what could be considered one of the most important people in the World, the walls matching the color of the carpet.
The walls were mostly bare otherwise, only being divided up by more white-marble pillars and golden embellishments that bordered each square of the wall. On a raised section of the floor, was a surprisingly modest "throne" which looked more like an exceptionally expensive armchair than a seat fit for a King.
This was an observation Luka decided to tentatively keep to himself though.
Speaking of, the chair in question had an old man sitting in it. The elder wore a bright white robe and red sash, the gold trim matching the small golden cross of Ilias around his neck. A large crown sat atop his head, the blue and white hat having a red jewel at its center, much like the one Ilias had on her own forehead.
The elderly man's face was gentle-looking, but something oddly troubled flashed in his light green eyes. These same eyes brightened some as Luka walked in, "Ah, so you must be Luka. Wonderful!" He exclaimed in a light, nearly playful tone. The King looked to the guard and nodded, "Thank you, Captain, you may leave now. I wish to speak to the boy alone."
The Captain of the guard gave the King a deep bow, "Yes, your Highness." He replied in reverence before leaving the room, leaving the three behind.
"Ex-Excuse me, King Peter," Luka started, putting a hand in his chest. "But how is it that you knew I would be here?"
The King of San Ilia leaned forward, placing his white-gloved hands onto the armrests of his chair. The purple-haired boy watched as the man slowly pushed himself to his feet. "Ah, yes, that is quite the tale to tell. I actually only found out myself quite recently, just last night, in fact." Luka raised an eyebrow at the man's words, waiting as he descended from his throne to stand before him.
King Peter looked off to the side, a far-off expression coming to his eyes. "You see, Ilias herself came to me in a dream, and she spoke very highly of you..." The man paused; the whimsy on his face faded a bit into uncertainty. "...She, erm, actually went on for quite a while about you." Alice raised an eyebrow at the comment, but the man did not elaborate, quickly moving on.
"Nonetheless, the Great Goddess of Light was very explicit in having us meet as quickly as possible so that I may help guide you on your quest." The King said. Luka's face brightened, "Oh, really? That's great!" The young Hero exclaimed, ignoring the quiet scoff that came from his traveling partner behind him.
"Indeed," King Peter said before his face became a bit more unsure. "Forgive me if I may seem a bit scattered but the Goddess was very specific on how I guide you. Give me just a moment, I had it written down somewhere..." The elderly King mumbled the last half to himself, turning away to shamble over towards a large wooden desk. "...Aye, I hope I hadn't thrown it away by mistake."
Luka blinked a few times at the remark that most certainly wasn't supposed to be heard as Alice - In a very Lamia-like way despite being in Human form - slid to stand next to him. "Are you really wanting this man to "guide" you? He seems like the type that needs "guidance" to make it back to his bedroom so that he can take his midmorning nap." She whispered, her tone full of doubt.
"D-Don't say that! I'm sure he'll have something perfectly helpful to say." Luka whispered back severely, trying not to squirm at the feeling of Alice's hushed voice in his ear. The disguised Lamia squinted her golden eyes at the turned-away King, "I doubt it, he seems just as lame as I thought he would be. I've done much better as a guide to you, and I didn't need Ilias haunting my dreams to do it."
Luka sighed but did not argue her point since she was technically right. "Let's just hear him out. Who knows, he may just surprise you." Luka offered. Alice scoffed before rising to full height while crossing her arms, "I doubt that, but I'll humor it for your sake." The young Hero didn't know why, but his traveling partner's remark made him grin just a little bit.
"Aha! There it is." Peter the Fourteenth exclaimed, turning away from his desk to rush back to the pair. In his somewhat shaky hands was a piece of parchment and a pair of reading glasses. "Pardon me," The King apologized as he donned his bifocals. "I wrote this down in the middle of the night with nothing more than the light of the Moon, so it may not read out as spectacularly as how the Goddess relayed it to me."
Luka tried to ignore the feeling of Alice's mocking eyes falling on him, watching the man mumble to himself as he read from the paper in his hands.
"I must ask you, then." Peter the Fourteenth began, "How much do you know of using the elements in battle?" He questioned.
"Wh-What?" Alice whispered disbelievingly. She was supposed to be the one to educate Luka on the elements!
Luka perked up, "I-I've heard about it before, but I don't know much about it myself." The elder King nodded. "Yes, being able to do such a thing is a very powerful advantage in battle, and being able to use all four is what can make one strong enough to beat even the Monster Lord." He continued, not-so-subtly glancing back down at the paper in his hand.
"That is, after all, hooow... theeee..." Peter the Fourteenth trailed off as he squinted down at his paper once more, "...Sorry, made quite the ink smudge there. That is, after all, how the esteemed Goddess's first Hero, Heinrich Hein, was able to defeat the vile and wicked Eighth Monster Lord at the end of his journey."
Luka's eyes widened, "Really? I never heard anything like that." Although, in all fairness, there wasn't a whole lot of written records of the First Hero's journey despite how notable he was. Everything known about Heinrich was spread mostly by mouth.
The King nodded, "Absolutely, he was able to wield the power of Wind, Earth, Water, and Fire when he faced the Eighth Monster Lord in battle. Having this power - along with the wisdom of the ever-pure and beautiful Goddess of Light - was how Heinrich was able to bring a Monster Lord to her knees!" Alice looked irritated at the man's quick comment about Ilias, but thankfully did not interject about it.
"S-So, how is it that I'd be able to do the same thing?" Luka asked, his excitement growing. The King of San Ilia lifted up the paper high once more, "Yes, it says right here, that you must-"
Suddenly, the paper burst into flames, disappearing right out of King Peter's hands. The ashes fell to the ground, painting a section of the bright red carpet black with dark ash.
"-Oh wow, how terrible." Alice said, causing Luka to glance at her in shock. However, his traveling partner kept her shameless gaze away from his. "It seems as if the paper spontaneously combusted. How bizarre!"
"A-Alice, did you?-" Luka began, but the King's sudden hysteric mumbling stopped him. "O-O-Oh my, th-that is not good, that is very not good. I-I didn't think to make any c-c-copies." Peter the Fourteenth said, shaking his head as he continued to stare at the empty space between his still-held-out hands.
The young Hero watched on in concern as the elderly man spun on his heel, walking over to his throne. "U-Uh, y-your Highness? A-Are you alright?" The King did not immediately reply to Luka's question, instead opting to slowly sit back on the cushioned red seat.
With his light-green gaze still fixated on the empty air between his outstretched hands, the King continued to mumble to himself. "A-Ah, I-I..." Peter the Fourteenth let out a croak, his tone turning grave. "...I-I just lost a p-piece of Goddess-given w-wisdom. O-Oh n-no. Oh no-no-no-no..." Luka felt a bit lost now, not sure how to comfort the clearly distraught King.
However, he wouldn't need to worry about that for long.
"Uh-oh." Alice turned to face something unseeable, her comment spurring Luka to face her. "Wh-What is it?" Luka asked, still somewhat suspicious of his traveling partner's part in the "spontaneous combustion" that had just occurred.
BOOM
It felt as though the entire castle of San Ilia shook to its very core, Luka himself needing to hold out his hands to balance himself until the violent trembling subsided. "Wh-What was th-that!?" The purple-haired boy asked, his pale-blue eyes wide as he looked up to his traveling partner.
"I'm not sure if you would feel better if you knew." Alice said, genuinely believing that if Luka knew who just arrived, that he would faint from stress before he ever even faced the Monster marching her way for him right now. The young Hero was about to ask just who could be attacking San Ilia of all places until the doors of the throne room were suddenly thrown open.
Standing behind the door was the Captain from earlier, his face covered in sweat and soot. "M-My Lord, quick! We must get you somewhere safe and-" The man paused, his eyes widening in alarm once he saw the state of the elderly King. "-What happened!?" The Captain exclaimed, to which Luka could only nervously fiddle around. "E-Eh, well, y-you see. Erm..." The young Hero stuttered out, looking to Alice for help.
Yet again, the disguised Lamia was gone.
BOOM
Luka quickly whipped his head around at the very much closer blast that sounded out.
"A-Ah, I see now..." Peter the Fourteenth mumbled amongst the ever-growing clamor of mayhem echoing from down the hall. "...I-It must be Judgement Day. Yes, I-I think I hear the horn trumpeting right now!"
The Captain of the Guard looked grave, "This is not good, the King is inconsolable!" The older man fixed his anxious eyes on Luka now, "You, young Hero! San Ilia is under attack, we are in dire need of your help!"
Luka tried not to look as though he was shaking in his boots, "W-Who is a-attacking?" He asked, to which the Captain shook his head. "I am not sure; I couldn't see a form through the Hellfire and brimstone spreading throughout the halls. But whoever it is, she must be one of the worst demons of the Monster Lord's army!"
'Hellfire and brimstone? What kind of Monster would that be?' Luka thought, but his train of thought was broken by the Captain rushing past him to come to the King's side. "My Highness," The man said, lightly shaking Peter the Fourteenth by the shoulder, "Are you hurt, what is the matter?" The King stayed unresponsive, his hands still frozen in front of himself.
"U-Uh, okay, I-I'll just..." Luka started shuffling backwards out the doors, "...G-Go, then."
Luka turned around, swiftly leaving Peter the Fourteenth's throne room behind to go find the Monster. Almost immediately, the purple-haired boy could see what the Captain had been alluding to, as a dark cloud of smoke was hovering up against the ceiling. The black fumes invaded Luka's nose, causing him to scrunch up his nose in displeasure.
Eventually, the sound of struggling could be heard, alongside the loud crashing of metal. Luka grimaced at the sound of yelling being very abruptly cut off, hearing even louder crashing coming from up ahead. Luka slowed his pace as he reached the fork in the hallways he had first entered from, placing a bare hand on the smooth walls of the castle as he peered around the corner.
"UAH!" A man cried out, right after being sent tumbling to his feet via a very horribly familiar Monster. "N-No way!" Luka whispered out, watching as none other than Granberia was fending off a dozen guards.
However, "fending off" was perhaps not the way to put it. To say that the Dragonkin was flattening them was a better way of putting it.
Luka did not hesitate to pull his head back behind the wall, a great spike of fear shooting through his heart. "Why her? Why, out of all the Monsters to show up, why Granberia!?" The young Hero lamented, grabbing at his long purple hair with both hands and pulling harshly. Luka eventually dropped his hands, taking slow breaths in order to quell his elevated stress.
Indeed, it seemed as if Luka was going to have to fight the Heavenly Knight of Fire a second time. How insanely bad was his luck, that he would encounter her again so soon after the first time. How long had it been? Only a handful of days, maybe a week. Luka wasn't really sure, but it didn't really matter now. As terrible as it was to admit, he knew that he had absolutely zero chance of winning this fight.
After all, he had only survived the Dragonkin the first time, before being saved by Alice. So - unless his traveling partner had the urge to do it a second time - Luka had little chance of escaping Granberia's wrath again. The purple-haired boy let out an anxious breath, knowing that he had no choice in the matter. As Ilias's Prophet, he must take up his weapon in order to defend San Ilia.
And that he shall, even if it means his quest coming to a very quick and bloody end.
Luka swallowed down the sense of dread rising inside, slowly raising his arms to remove his traveling bag but then, he remembered something. A fluffy, silver-furred something that was hiding inside said traveling bag. He had almost forgotten about Kitsu due to how oddly silent the fox had been since she had been stowed away.
Luka gently moved to remove his bag so that he could attempt to explain the horribly complicated situation at hand, as he couldn't allow the Two-Tailed Kitsune to be caught up in the crossfire if things started to get really bad. The purple-haired boy laid his bag on the ground, hurriedly unzipping it open to find...
...His balled-up nightshirt?
"Huh?" Luka uttered, somewhat lost since he was fairly sure that it hadn't been there before, since he usually put it far away from anything that would get it too dirty otherwise. The young Hero shoved the thought away while he reached down, grabbing his nightwear to move it-
"-Eep!"
For a moment, the distant sound of awfully one-sided fighting fading away as Luka stared down into his bag with heavily questioning eyes. Then, he watched as Kitsu's surprised face popped out of the shirt's neckline. The silver-furred fox's wide red eyes stared into the purple-haired boy's bemused pale-blue ones. Luka blinked his eyes in confusion, "Why are you wearing my nightshirt?"
"E-E-Ehh..." Kitsu stuttered out as her face slowly started to flush very suspiciously. Luka shook his head, he didn't have time for this right now.
"N-Nevermind! Look, I-I just need to let you know that I'm probably about to die!" The young Hero exclaimed, hastily pulling out his black gloves from his pockets as Kitsu's face morphed into mortification. "W-Wait, WHAT!?" The Two-Tailed Kitsune yelled, rising out of his traveling bag in a hurry.
Luka - after hesitating just a bit to consider how cute the now nightshirt-donned fox looked - opened his mouth to reply, "Yeah, and it'll probably get ugly, s-so you should really figure out an escape plan, o-or something!" After saying this, the purple-haired boy dashed over to the edge of the wall once again, peering around the corner once again to see...
...Granberia standing amongst a heap of fallen soldiers, her bright yellow eyes boring eerily right at him.
Hellfire and brimstone now suddenly sounded quite the fitting description.
The Heavenly Knight had her sword put away, leaving her arms folded high across her chest. The Dragonkin's fiery red hair and long purple cape was tossed around by a gust of wind coming through the now-annihilated doors behind her, but her intense stare kept on him all the same. The guards she had been fighting were all scattered about, either unconscious or completely unable to muster anymore fight.
"Oh no..." Luka whispered out, feeling as though death itself was staring him in the face. The purple-haired boy gulped, glancing back to a concerned Kitsu. "...J-Just go and find somewhere safe, o-okay?"
The young Hero didn't wait for an answer from the stunned Kitsune, forcing himself to practically jump from his "hiding" spot to face the Heavenly Knight of Fire. Granberia had not moved from her spot, standing as still as she was when Luka first saw her. The Dragonkin still had her arms crossed over her chest, entirely unconcerned with the raging fire spreading behind her.
Luka fought the innate desire to run, pushing forward toward Granberia despite everything tell him not to. The Heavenly Knight of Fire made no movements, nor said any words, as Luka marched her way. Instead, The Dragonkin merely watched the young Hero as he approached, evaluating him very closely. While there was still anxiety swimming in his eyes, the purple-haired boy moved with purpose.
Eventually, Luka came to a stop once there were only a few meters left between the two. At this distance, the purple-haired boy could see scar he had left on the Dragonkin's left cheek the first time they fought. 'Hopefully I could do better than that, this time.' Luka thought grimly. He glanced down for a moment, seeing that the Dragonkin had her sword buried in the marble flooring.
'That'll take a long time to fix.' Luka thought idly as he appraised the no-doubt very deep gash that now laid in the middle once pristine hallway. 'I wonder why she does that; wouldn't it be more inconvenient to just have a sheath?' Knowing that an answer to this question wasn't very important, the young Hero silently reached around and grabbed Angel Halo off of his back, aiming his weapon towards the Heavenly Knight.
Granberia gave a small hum, watching on as Luka readied his stance without being prompted to, "Hmmm, maybe what the others said is true. Just by looking at your form, I can tell that you've improved your technique since last time we met."
Luka took a second to ponder what Granberia said before cutting to the point, "Y-You'll have to get through me, i-if you're looking to attack the rest of San Ilia!" The young Hero declared, luckily able to keep most of his words straight while standing before the Heavenly Knight of Fire. However, a quick scoff from Granberia caught him off guard. "I am not here for this pathetic castle. I'm here for you."
A wave of unease washed over Luka upon hearing this, "Y-You're here for me?" He repeated, the young Hero's mind a bit scared as to what this could mean.
"Yes, I want to see for myself if what I've heard is true..." Granberia elaborated, reaching over to her right side with a scaly hand and gripping her large sword's handle. "...And there's no better way, then to challenge you to a duel!" The Dragonkin exclaimed right before yanking her weapon from the ground. Bits and pieces of the marble ground shot up into the air, the movement dispersing a bit of the smoke up above.
'She really went out of her way to track me down, just to see if I've gotten stronger?' The idea was awfully strange to Luka, but he didn't have long to think about this as Granberia leveled her massive sword at the young Hero. "Now," Granberia started, an unnervingly excited gleam in her bright yellow eyes. "Show me some heart, Hero."
Luka sucked in a deep and long breath, psyching himself up for the battle to come. The air left his lungs soon after, scattering a bit of errant dust left over from Granberia's destruction around the air. "O-Okay..." Luka finally said, gripping Angel Halo tight in his hands. Thankfully, his sword did not let out any lewd moans.
The sound of swelling smoke and demonic fire filled his ears, and the young Hero's heart was already beating fiercely before a single attack had been thrown. All the same, he held his ground, watching for any tell of movements from his opponent. However, Granberia did not shift, nor even blink. It seems as if, unlike the first time they met, she wanted him to make the first move...
...Great.
Luka crouched just a bit, lowering his small frame even more. Gathering up his magic, he found the name of the only attack he could think to start with.
"Thunder Thrust!"
The young Hero became a blur, charging the Heavenly Knight of Fire dead-on. Bizarrely, even in that half-second of movement, Luka saw a smirk come to Granberia's face...
And I'll be cutting it off here, for the next fight will need a great deal of time to itself.
So, as you can no doubt tell, I made quite a few changes here as well. Most notably with the fabled "Goddess Sword". Technically, it does still exist as that was the King's original plan until Ilias came to him to change that, I just had nothing much to do with it since it was really just a gag. And I have enough gags as it is, so I didn't find any reason to introduce it.
Instead, I just made it to where Ilias actively wants Luka to gain the power of the Four Spirits. For as much as Ilias despises Monsters, Heinrich was proof enough that someone wielding all four elements is powerful enough to kill a Monster Lord. So - begrudgingly - she will want Luka to do the same.
The ends that Ilias wants justify the means, even if it makes it to where Luka will undoubtedly be around even more Monsters during his travels because of it. As long as he kills Alice - and keeps his chastity while doing so - that's all that will matter...
Deadinside378: Thank you once again!
F14M3RZ: Out of all the Monsters pining for Luka, Sofia is ironically probably the tamest. Which is what I wanted, because it helps to highlight that there's nothing actually wrong about how she feels. The only issue is that Sofia is so stuck in believing that Monsters are innately evil, that she believes even the most innocent forms of affection from a Monster - even one as pious as herself - is perverted and can only lead to losing her way.
As for Heinrich, I had what I've wanted for him and Black Alice figured out pretty early. So much so that - if you're willing to try and figure it out - I actually have a very subtle hint hidden all the way back in Chapter 5 about why he ends up snapping on Black Alice. It's a detail that may not be so clear until I start delving into Heinrich's past more, but once I do, it may make more sense.
So expect that, even when Part 3 comes out, I won't be changing anything I have planned out to adhere to that. Anything that just happens to match up with canon is by convivence. Though I can't imagine that would actually be the case.