Chapter 19: Hold me close

Trudging through the cold, his footsteps leave a trail among the thick snow on the ground.

'She's still there...'

"ZzZzZzzz..."

In front of him, was a slumbering monster surrounded by flowers in his backyard. Still in the position she was in when he has Sylph teleports the Dryad in his backyard.

Camellia, Primrose, Snowdrops, Pansies and lastly, Lily of the valley.

His partner glows back at him.

All the flowers that could survives in winter, he plants them there to keep her company as he goes on his journey...

It looks so peaceful despite the harsh weather. The winter season in the Natalia region came every time the year is nearing its end. He would spend the time playing with his fairy friend and drink a warm cup of tea after.

The sound of burning firewood and his friend softly snoring on his lap is something he has come to familiarize with the season. Its outright nostalgic.

Getting to see Sylph in person again instead of just her voice is also a good thing. She told him that after his fight with Granberia he had request for her to teleport them back here.

He was confused on whether or not he had said that since his memory of that time were kind of hazy but knowing everything turns out well in the end is enough to stopped him from questioning about it too much.

'Who is she...?'

'This was the Dryad I had to put to sleep back then.'

'Undine, you have seen it through my memories, haven't you?'

'I did... but seeing her in person is a different thing...'

Speaking of that, Salamander is feeling unwell due to the sudden change in temperature. Maybe it could be a good distraction for her...

'Salamander, why don't you replay the memories of my journey in the meantime?'

'S-Sure, I'll j-just busy myself with that t-then...'

Shivering from the cold, the Spirit of Fire dive through his life for the past couple weeksas he went to check on the Dryad closer. She looks the same if not for the snow covering her. Brushing them aside, he places his hand on her and tap into the flow to see if he could feel anything from her.

...

Nothing much... she's still alive and healthy, but there's nothing else.

Not even a dream...

He remembers something, the way his eyes would shine on instinct.

Maybe... he could use it to help her?

===0===

"This isn't fair! Both of you are just going to bury me in the snow!"

"What do you mean? This is a perfectly fair game of snowball."

"Okay, first of all. You!" Page 17 pointed at Sylph, "Are literally the Spirit of Wind. Secondly." She pointed at her fellow page monster, specifically, her giant grey hand. "How am I supposed to win against that!"

In the background, while they are playing with each other Luka and Cogita is trying their best to woke the slumbering Dryad. The librarian monster taught him how to use eye magic on command, it was weird at first but he got it down.

"How about this." her eyes shone.

[Eyes of slumber]

Nothing. Looks like canceling the spell with another one doesn't work too.

They try seduction, control, chaos, recovery and now slumber but not one of these eye magic is working.

He was a bit disappointed, not being able to help her despite his promise. Seeing this, Cogita reassures him that he'll think of something eventually.

"You are blessed with a wonderful mind, sooner or later, you'll succeed..."

He gave her a smile. "Thank you, Cogita. I just hope that time would come sooner..."

An idea hit him then, if he couldn't wake her up, he could at least give her something else.

[Eyes of control]

Using his magic, instead of waking her up he planted a dream inside her mind.

Of soft morning wind greeting her as she awoke.

Of smiles given by love ones.

Of memories born from bonds.

Of peaceful nights staring into the stars above.

Little things that form ginormous meaning.

Luka show her the beauty of life.

He hopes for the time being, it was enough.

===0===

As expected, the snowstorm made a mess of his front yard. There's not a single place that isn't cover in freezing white snow.

"Do you need help cleaning it?" Page 17 asked him.

He turns to her with an exasperated look.

"No need, Sylph is already working on it…"

"Hmm?"

As if the universe is answering her confusion, the Spirit of Wind suddenly shows up behind them.

"Behold my power, blow away the impurities!"

[Cleaning Hurricane!]

SWOOSH!

A strong gust of wind came and blew the mess away from his house, leaving his safe heaven clear of snow.

"Hah! Now you see how amazing my cleaning prowess is!"

He sigh, his body buried under all of them.

"Hey! You okay?" The page monster dug him from the pile of snow.

"She always does this… I'm used to it."

"Honestly…" Now she understands his earlier expression.

"I love her... but she can get a bit much sometimes…"

After getting the snow of off his clothes, the two made their way to the garden next to the house where the rest of their friends are.

"…Annie…"

Luka tilts his head at that.

"Who is that…?"

The page monster looked away in embarrassment.

"The name I chose for myself… it's Annie…"

The purplette finally got what she meant. Giving her a bright smile, he congratulate her.

"That's a beautiful name… Annie."

She covered her face, "…Thank you…"

===0===

"Where are you going, darling~"

He froze, "Uh... I'm going to meet someone from a village nearby..."

"That sounds lovely~! May I come with?"

It was an innocuous request. But his survival instinct is telling him to say no.

Because after he had invited the pages into his house (Cogita uses a grimoire magic that turns her lower body into a normal human one), and while everyone is making themselves home, he realize he forgot about a certain Elf.

He has to talk to Donna. He promised her in the letter that he would if he came back.

The thought of Page 257 (or Yoko, the name she has chosen for herself) and Donna meeting each other could only resulted in a disaster.

Thinking on his feet, the forest dweller comes up with an idea.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you about something." His words were made to be heard by everyone on purpose. Now he has the attention of all the pages.

"Back in my room upstairs, there's this shelve full of books that I used to read back when I was a kid. Maybe you could check them out if you're interested?"

===0===

It was a complete success.

'Sneaky Luka~'

'Don't say it like that, Sylph...'

He is currently making his way through the snowy forest. Her village shouldn't be too far from where he is. Last time he visited was when he delivers the letter to her, but that was a while ago and he wanted to make sure he's going to right path.

Now that he's back in here, his connections to the wind are much stronger. So, by simply asking for directions, the wind places the information into his head without any problem.

It felt kind of like cheating, but he's not going to complained.

'I'm g-glad you're n-not a stalker, young man...'

'Indeed, there's many depraves thing someone with his powers could have done...'

'Oh yeah! Like that one time he uses the wind to sense for anyone nearby and ended up sensing a bunch of Elves bathing on a lake! He was so embarrassed~!'

Trying his best to ignore the conversation their having, the blushing forest dweller marches on through the cold.

...

...

...

There it is, he saw the small settlement just ahead of him.

Alright... how to approach this?

Is it wise to just walked in? Now that he's seen most of the world, Luka knows that the monsters here aren't necessarily aggressive or evil by normal standards, but still...

Well, he did say he wanted to get better.

The purplette started walking towards the village.

A pair of guards saw him coming and were to stunned to say anything. After all, why would a human willingly walk into a monster village?

"I'm here to see someone..."

"...Go ahead."

"!?"

"Thank you..."

The younger of the two then went to questions her senior's decision.

"You don't have worry; the wind seems to love that human."

"What does that mean?"

She stares at him, "Enough for me to know he's safe..."

It's funny, in hindsight. Back then he was so afraid of what could happen if he ever shows himself to these people. But now here he is, walking in like it was nothing.

Granted, back then he was a helpless child. Now as he is, Luka was sure no one in the entire village could harm him.

Continuing on his way pass several houses, a well in the middle, a wooden statue of Sylph (she said they are still monsters who worship her but it's still weird seeing it in person), and lastly, a moderate looking house near the edge of the village.

Gingerly raising his hand, he gave it two solid knock and waited.

...

No response.

...

M-Maybe she's busy with something?

...

"Mom, look! There's a strange man outside big sister Donna's house!"

"Don't point at strangers, dear. Even if they are strange, It's rude."

...

'Why is the world so cruel...'

Creak.

"Sorry about that! I was busy with some-!?"

Never mind, the world is amazing.

"H-Hello there..." Luka gave her what he hopes was a charming smile.

It wasn't, but the Elf doesn't care.

Her vibrant emerald eyes widened as she gasped.

"Luka! You're here!?"

"May I come in...?"

She flusters. "O-Of course! Just... uh, give me a second."

"Right..."

Closing the door, the forest dweller hears muffled voices inside.

"Mother! Where's the honey pie!?"

"I was actually saving that for later..."

"My love life in on the line!"

"Fine..."

A couple more rustling and hurried footsteps later, the opens again.

"Welcome to our house! Please make yourself at home!"

He barely manages to keep a straight face.

"Thank you..."

===0===

"So, you're the one who save me and my daughter's life?" Appraising him with her sharpeyes, Donna's mother exudes an aura of wisdom and experiences.

"Well, I'm sure had anyone been there they would have done the same-"

"Just say yes, Luka." Donna cuts him off.

"Yes, it was me, ma'am."

"Hmm."

All and all, the introduction could have gone worst.

===0===

He never had honey pie before. It's delicious.

Speaking of honey...

"Here, for the pie..." Luka hands Donna's mother the jar of honey given to him by Bii.

"Oh, please. You don't have to." She said despite already taking the jar. "This is very high quality, where did you buy this?"

He smiles at the cherished memories. "A good friend of mine gave it to me as a gift."

"Really? That's so nice of him!" Donna chimes in.

"Bii is actually a Hornet girl..."

Her eyes slightly dimmed.

"Oh."

'Wait, what did I do wrong? Why is she looking at me like that!?'

'This is hard to watch...'

'T-tell me about it...'

'You can do it Luka! Get that Elfussy!'

What does that even mean!

===0===

Storytelling time, finally, something he's good at.

"The Colosseum? I remember going there once."

He perked up at that, "You did, ma'am? How far did you make it through?"

"Only the second one. I got lucky my first opponent is more inexperience than me."

Her gaze then went back to him, "How far did you make it, young man?"

"Ah."

Let's change the subject.

"What's wrong Luka?" Donna worriedly asks.

Let's change it fast!

===0===

The forest dweller doesn't think war makes for a good afternoon story, so he opted to skip that part and just tell them about the friends he made there instead.

"YOU BEFRIENDED THE MONSTER LORD!?"

On second thought, maybe he should've skipped that too.

"I thought she could use one... she looks lonely is all..."

From the way Donna is looking dejectedly at the living room table, her mother patting her back. He couldn't help but feel a bit bad despite not understanding why.

"It's over..."

"There, there... your still in the race."

'There's a race going on?'

'I guess you could call it that~'

===0===

"Is there really a village of humans who worship monsters?"

The splashing sounds of water accompany his next words as they clean their plates together.

"Fascinating, isn't it...?"

As they continue their conversation, getting more and more comfortable around each other, Donna's mother quietly left the room. An exasperated smile on her face.

'Honestly, those two...'

===0===

"What happen to your eyes?" Getting closer, the silver-haired Elf ask about the sudden change of his left eye color.

"I... don't understand it myself... it just happens."

She continues staring into his eyes, she could've sworn that it was slightly glowing before the forest dweller look away in embarrassment.

"Personally, I think it looks wonderful~" She reassures him.

His heart skips a beat.

"Thank you..."

===0===

'Just kiss her already!'

'It's not that easy...'

'You're d-delaying the i-inevitable...'

'Why did you make it sound so ominous...?'

'Go for it, Luka!'

It's getting dark outside, when he told her, Donna hesitantly led him to the front door.

He understands her, there's many times he wishes he could keep those moments going.

But changes are a part of life.

This is no different...

"Before you go..."

"Hmm?"

She took his hands in hers.

His mind blanked out.

"Do you... mind if we..." He's not the only one blushing now.

'Girls! What do I do!?'

'Let your heart guides you...'

'We c-could use some m-more warmth..."

'Go for the left nipple!'

He's never asking them for romantic advices ever again.

Luka takes a deep breath. He can do this. Be someone he can be proud of!

Then he stares into her beautiful emerald eyes and his resolves crumbles like wet paper.

"I... W-Well, I mean-" Talking became a gargantuan task all of a sudden.

A memory appears. One that has help him before.

"The first step is to acknowledges the problem exists."

...

"The second is understanding where or why it happens."

...

And lastly, to work on it in your own pace."

...

The problem is... his sense of guilt...

The reason it happens is... because he ran away...

To work on it... he has to...

To...

...

The forest dweller looks ahead. In front of him stood Donna, the young woman he had help before.

She's really pretty, and cute, and precious, and... nervous?

Hell, she looks even more nervous than him.

It was akin to jumping into a lake on a stormy day. His mind goes from chaotically searching for ways to solves the situation to a serenely calm sense of thought.

"Are you alright?" She asked him.

"Yeah... I'm fine. Are you?" He asks her back.

She let out a nervous laugh, it sounds lovely.

"Oh, you know... just trying to express myself to this dense dork who save my life twice..."

Ouch.

Well, it was kind of his fault.

Time to make up for it.

"Go ahead..." Her eyes went back to his. "This... dense dork isn't in a hurry..."

In a twist of events, now she's the one too flustered to speak.

Luka laughs, surprising the Elf.

"Wh-What's so funny!?"

"We're both hopeless, aren't we...?"

At this, she couldn't help but laugh too.

...

Out of breath, she timidly let it out.

"I love you..."

Luka expected the words.

He never expected the impact it would have.

===0===

There's a spark.

...

Something clicks in place.

...

He doesn't know what that something is, but it felt right.

...

'She's so soft...'Thought the purplette as she straddles him.

It was warm despite the snow outside. Not uncomfortably, but in a good way.

He doesn't really know how to describe it, either by a lack of knowledge, or something else.

It placed them both in a trance-like state.

He chose to place his trust on her.

The forest dweller allows himself to be vulnerable.

And she holds him close.

But if it's only for him, then that would be selfish...

Luka holds her closer.

She hummed appreciatively into his ear.

The night passes by so fast...

===0===

"..."

"..."

He's here again, the dream of endless green skies.

Distracting himself from the silent woman next to him, Luka saw the lump on the ground have grown into a blue tree.

It's around his height now, compare to before where it doesn't even reach his knee.

On its branches, he could see yellow leaves growing on it. Surprisingly a lot more colorful than he thought.

"..."

"..."

Lilly is still staring at him. At this point it's starting to get unbearable.

He slowly turns to her...

"H-Hey there, partner... do you wanted to say something...?"

"Congratulation."

He wishes he could forcefully wake himself up.

"You might want to start looking for a ring."

Blushing even harder, he could only nod his head.

"Not the one Kraken gave you, that one's for El."

"Don't bring her into this!"

===0===

Snuggling closer, she stared into his sleeping face.

'He must be having a pleasant dream...'

Who would have guess someone who looks so gentle could also overpowered and pacify a rampaging monster with ease?

He never said it back to her.

But he doesn't have too.

His action is louder than anything he could have said.

Though, she wonders why for a second there she could see hearts in his eyes.

It must've been her imagination...

===0===

"What happened?" Asked the librarian monster.

They found the forest dweller asleep on the kitchen table. In his hands are a half-eaten sandwich and a cup of water.

It was already passing morning, yet the purplette is still soundly sleeping.

Sylph joyfully flew to her face.

"He's all tuckered out!"

"But why?" Asked her junior.

"Oh, that's because he just lost his virginity."

Cogita did a double take.

"He what?"

"He what!?"

"My darling did what!?"

Chaos. Absolute chaos.

Sylph only laughs.

===0===

The tension inside the room is so thick you could serve it on a plate.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Three Heavenly Knights sat across each other on the roundtable as they try to formulate their next words.

"So... why don't we start by establishing why we're all here." The oldest and most level-headed of the bunch said.

"Someone doesn't know how to keep their fantasy to themselves." The Dragonkin snide.

"And someone also doesn't know how to hold themselves back." With practiced ease, the Succubus shot back.

Tamamo tries her best not to groan.

'This is going to be a long day, isn't it?'

And indeed, it was. The Kitsune question the both of them on why they decided to approach him the way they did and every time, they would either avoids answering or steer the conversation away from the topic.

"I found him first."

"The fact you are using that as an actual argument leaves a bad taste in my mouth."

"And the fact you almost kill him doesn't~?" Alma Elma may have said that in a joking voice, but her expression is the furthest thing away from joking. It was actually quite frightening.

"Ghk!"

Oh boy...

Next time she sees that young man, she would need to warn him in advance...

===0===

As he finished restocking his supply and places all he needed in his bag; Luka made his way to the front door.

He had already said goodbye to Donna and her mother this morning. He also did a maintenance check on everything and now that he was sure it's alright for him to continues his journey, the forest dweller closes the door behind him and was greeted by the fresh air outside.

He took a deep breath.

"It's time to go..." He said, flying into the air.

The wind of the forest wishes him luck and help him flew to his next destination.

BOOM!

===0===

The spirit could see a figure in the distance. That fact in of itself isn't very unusual, but what piqued her interest is how he's walking directly at her.

"..."

Walking to the side, she creates a small sand storm between them to test her theory.

Despite the obstacle before him, the young man continues walking towards her through the sand storm. She shocks at his recklessness, but after seeing him without any sand on his outfit after walking out, she realizes he has the power of wind.

Still walking towards her, she figures he has been sensing her the whole time.

How curious...

...

...

...

"Excuse me, Madam Gnome?" His voice greeted her softly, there's a smile in his heterochromatic eyes.

"..."

He let out a chuckle. "Well, they do say you were very quiet..."

"..."

Getting on one knee, he said. "A dear friend of mine told me she really misses you, you know?"

She gave a nod.

"Do you want to say hello to everyone...?"

Another nod.

He offers her a hand. "My name is Luka, just Luka. Let's go on a journey..."

There's something about him. A certain sense of freedom he emits.

The Spirit of Earth almost took his hand.

But she stops herself.

"Hmm?" He tilts his head in confusion.

She shook her head, pointing to the sword on his side.

There's a step to this, she needed to make sure he's worthy first.

He seems to understand, not even looking phased.

"Right... I forgot about that..." Pulling his weapon out, it saddens her to see it's just a simple wooden sword.

It wouldn't be able to harm her, he would fail the trial...

"Let's see... should I show you my mastery of the elements?"

Saying that, the wind picked up as he's surrounded by a whirlwind. They seem so ready to help him, a sign of his affinity if she had to guess. Next, he enters a stance that kept his joint nimble and free to react to anything. There's no fire on his weapon, so he has yet to mastered Salamander's power.

Overall, he's a fighter who specialize in speed and agility.

A poor match against her.

Putting aside her dolls, she hardened her fist and punch the ground before her.

A giant wall of sand explodes towards him and he was buried.

"…!?"

Or at least, that's what she thought.

With her senses connected to the earth, she feels him standing behind her.

Turning to him, the young man doesn't seem to have any scratch on him.

"..."

She would need to try harder then.

===0===

...

...

...

Despite his best element being a direct weakness to her. The spirit could not for the life of her win the fight. She tried everything from turning the ground into quicksand, to a giant hand made of sand that would chase him, to launching herself at him with her strength and not even a single attack had landed.

But that goes for him too.

He looks worried.

It made her feels strange.

"You want me to hit you as hard as I can...?"

She nodded.

"Are you... sure...?"

She huffed, a little annoyed he thinks she couldn't handle it.

"Alright then..." He agrees hesitantly.

It looks like her trick worked. Now all she has to do is wait for him to be close to her and punch as hard as she can. Then she would make him pay for making her look like an amateur in their fight.

Just a little bit, she didn't want to actually hurt him.

With a twirl of his weapon, the purplette lowered himself to the ground and disappear with a faint whistle.

[Burning Gale!]

There's fire on his sword now.

"Oh."

CRASH!

...

...

...

By the time her body is dug out of the sand, she finally understood how much she had underestimated Luka.

===0===

"I'm so sorry..."

"..."

The Spirit of Earth still refused to look at him in the eyes.

With green and yellow outfit that covers her entire body except her face, pale gray skin, deep green eyes, and a hat covering her long dark hair, Gnome joins his party for the unseeable future.

He could feel a knock again. Letting her in, he waited for the girls to greet each other.

...

"Hmm?" Except, that didn't happen.

Where did Gnome go?

Last time he felt her inside his mind knocking on the 'door' and waiting to be let in. But then she just disappears.

'Girls. Do you know where she is...?'

'Wait, did Gnomey got lost?'

'She couldn't have been far...'

'Don't worry, young man. I'll try calling for her.'

As the spirits went to search for their silent friend, Luka couldn't help but feel like something bad is going to happen.

===0===

When she shook his hand and was granted permission to enter his mind, she could feel something else in there. A strange dream-like pocket dimension hidden in the corner of his subconscious.

It was faint, but she could barely make it out.

Thinking it was just a bundle of memories, she reached out and enters the dream.

He is to be her contractor now; it would make sense for her to get to know him better.

One bright flash of light later, she was brought to an impossible reality only a dream could create. An endless green sky stretching as far as she could see with a growing blue tree in the middle.

The vibrant yellow leaves falling around her only adds to the surreal feeling of the dream.

"..."

Tapping the clouds bellow her, the spirit proceeds to search for any memories he could have lingering in this place. Anything from small meaningless ones, to life-changing moments in his life.

So focus she is in trying to find one, she didn't realize the clouds above turning an ominous grey.

Eventually, she manages to dig out an old memory from core of the dream. It resisted at first, but as the Spirit of Earth, she is simply too good at unearthing hidden treasures.

Pulling it out, what was in the palms of her hands is a small black orb radiating with negativity.

"...?"

It unnerves her at first, but she reminds herself it was just a memory.

Nothing els-

Right as she replays the memory for her to see, the world shook.

END OF CHAPTER


Author's note: On one hand, our favourite forest dweller took a massive step forward.

On the other, trauma, so much trauma incoming.

Poor Gnome.