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Year 16 AL, Forest of Terrible Misunderstandings
Luka and his two traveling partners Alice and Kitsu had left the beach far behind and had entered a deciduous forest that stood between them and San Ilia. Alice was slithering at the front of the group, while Luka and Kitsu walked at the back. Strangely enough, the silver-furred fox staunchly remained close to his side despite there being plenty of space on the wide dirt path they were traveling on.
Not that it necessarily bothered Luka, but it still struck him as odd.
Either way, the young Hero felt himself grow at ease upon entering the forest, the warbling of birds and the scattered chittering of squirrels filling his ears with their lively and somewhat disorderly song.
"Phooew, phooew!" Luka whistled lightly back to the woodland creatures but, to his disappointment, the animals did not seem interested in responding to him. 'Well, maybe they're feeling a bit shy this morning.' The purple-haired boy thought to himself.
"Pho-o-uu!" Came a much less expertly done whistle from Kitsu, of all people. Luka glanced at the frustrated-looking Kitsune in surprise, not having expected her to attempt a reply. Even Alice glanced over her shoulder, though the Lamia had an awfully wicked expression on her face. "Congratulations, if you were attempting to appease all of the tone-deaf animals, that is."
Kitsu gave a small growl, the noise immediately losing its edge as the fox's face flushed in embarrassment. Luka's mouth grew thin, as even he couldn't really deny that her attempt had been lackluster. "Well, practice makes perfect, you know. Whistling doesn't come easy." He said, hoping to encourage her some.
The Two-Tailed Kitsune turned her red-eyed gaze up to Luka, "How long did it take you to figure out?"
Luka looked away from the shorter Monster, a nervous chuckle coming from his mouth. "Heh-heh, erm, l-long enough." Kitsu frowned, quickly figuring from his skittish reply that the purple-haired boy hadn't had trouble with doing what she could not. This elicited a loud laugh from Alice, the Lamia having to actually stop in the path to collect herself.
This only made the Kitsune's frustration grow, and she bared her teeth in what ended up being an unsuccessful attempt at being intimidating. "Wh-Whatever, I doubt you could do any better!" Alice just gave another short laugh and replied, "There's not much someone like me can't do better than a Kitsune, besides scarfing down disgusting Tofu."
"Okay, okay..." Luka said, waving his black-gloved hands while stepping between the two. "...That's enough! There's no need to bicker about it." The young Hero proclaimed, trying to keep the peace. Alice huffed, "I'm not bickering, I'm just stating facts!" However, the young Hero was not having it.
Luka put his hands together, "Either way, we should really just focus on continuing to San Ilia instead of fighting amongst each other." Luka gave his traveling partner a small smile as he came up with a way to placate her, "If we leave quick, I could probably cook us something to eat after!"
The golden-eyed Lamia's face quickly shifted from outrage to interest, "Hmmm, you have a good point." Alice mused, lifting a hand up to her chin in thought. Just then, however, her gaze swung to the side, looking at something only she had noticed. Her eyes quickly narrowed, an unnervingly displeased expression coming to her face. Luka shuddered at the sight, "Wh-Wh-What's wrong!?" He asked anxiously, not having ever seen such a look on her face before.
Alice did not elaborate, instead opting to vanish right before Luka's eyes. The young Hero gritted his teeth in dismay, 'Another Monster already!? I know Sentora would have a lot more Monsters, but this is outrageous!' Luka thought before turning his attention to Kitsu, who seemed to have picked up on this as well.
"K-Keep close, Kitsu!" Luka said as he scanned the treeline with his hardened pale-blue eyes. The silver-furred fox shuffled her sandaled feet to move behind him, tightly grabbing onto the boy's traveling bag while curling her two tails around herself protectively.
The forest started to grow quieter and quieter as the rather odd pair carefully shambled forward; Luka in particular picked up on this difference as he cast a wary gaze at the underbrush around them. 'What could it be this time?' Luka thought to himself, hoping that - at the very least - whatever he would have to face this time wouldn't have tentacles.
"Pho-ew, Pho-ew, Phoooew!~" A sharp whistle broke through the forest.
Luka froze, as that was not his whistling. The boy looked down at Kitsu, but the sliver-furred fox quickly shook her head. "Th-That wasn't me!" She said, answering the young Hero's unasked question. Luka bristled as he heard a stray rustling of leaves coming from the canopy above and glanced up towards the noise. Despite not seeing anything up there, he could feel something staring at him. However, it didn't necessarily feel malicious.
"Pho-ew, Pho-ew, Phoooew!~" The whistle went out again, sounding much closer this time.
Luka could now tell for sure that whatever was making that noise was right above him and Kitsu. 'I wonder...' Luka thought to himself as he tried to figure out the best way to approach the uncertain situation. '...Maybe I should try responding?'
It was another wild guess to the growing pile of wild guesses the purple-haired boy had made about Monsters and their behavior, but as always, he was willing to try.
"Pho-ew, Pho-ew, Phoooew!" Luka replied, much to Kitsu's confusion. "What are trying to do, serenade it?" The sliver-furred fox questioned. The purple-haired boy took his eyes off of the foliage above to shrug at the shorter Monster girl. "I-I don't know if I'd call it serenading, but if-"
A sudden sharp but quiet flapping cut off the boy's words and Luka quickly whirled around to face whatever horrible threat was here to confront him! However, Luka quickly faltered as he saw the somewhat meek Monster now standing before him.
The Monster was avian, much like the Harpies he had seen before, but Luka was able to identify a couple key differences: Firstly, and most prominently, was the large hood and cape that the Monster wore over her head and the majority of her body. Oddly enough, the brown hood itself was made to look like a sparrow's head and the rest of the cape resembled the brown feathers that the Monster had going down her arms and legs.
Thankfully, unlike the Harpies, this bird Monster wore a decent amount of clothing. Her upper body - aside from a small section of her bare midriff - was covered in a broad tan sash and her lower body was clothed in a long tan sarong with a green hem on the top and a purple hem on the bottom.
The Monster's face was quite soft and pleasant looking as well, her large brown eyes and tousled brown hair giving her an overall innocent look.
Luka and Kitsu watched as this Sparrow girl carefully stepped forward, a small smile forming on her face as she approached. "G-Greetings, are you the one who replied to my song?" The Monster asked. The young Hero took a few seconds to reply, a bit caught off-guard by her courteous disposition. It was certainly different than the treatment he usually got when meeting a Monster.
"Eh, yeah. That was me." Luka answered, not quite as uneasy as he had been before.
The Sparrow girl's smile grew quite large, and she gave her wings a happy flap, "Yay! That's wonderful!" She exclaimed while hopping up to the purple-haired boy with her taloned feet.
Luka tilted his head at the girl's comment, "It is?" He asked, not understanding why such a thing would excite the Sparrow girl. The brown-haired Monster nodded energetically, her shyness starting to fade more and more. "Of course, you mirrored my mating call perfectly!" The young Hero's face of confusion quickly shifted into one of utter disbelief as he parroted, "M-Mating call!?"
The Monster's brown eyes gleamed and she gave another vigorous nod. "Yes, I just came into age for espousal, so your timing couldn't be any better!" With little hesitation, the Sparrow girl did a great bow, the black eyes of her bird-hood staring straight at the young Hero, "I would be most happy to call you my Husband~"
This was enough to finally push Luka over the edge, his face starting to grow flush. "Wh-Whoa, wait, I-I think there's been a misunderstanding h-here!"
The Sparrow looked up though her body still bent forward in her bow. "Wh-What are you trying to say?" She asked, standing straight as the happy light in brown eyes dimmed. "If you returned my call, then you must've wanted to be my Husband, right?"
Luka fought the urge to sigh, he wasn't too thrilled to be in this situation again but at least this Monster hadn't attacked him yet. "I didn't realize that was what you were whistling for," Luka explained, offering an apologetic look. "I'm not looking for a marriage right now. I'm, erm..." Luka paused, trying to find a gentle way of letting the Monster down.
The Sparrow girl's eyes fell on Kitsu, who was barely visible due to how much of her form was hidden behind him. However, the Sparrow girl could make out the somewhat hostile Kitsune's red eyes. The bird Monster's own brown eyes widened, now "understanding" Luka's situation.
"Ohh, I see now..." She said, before looking up to Luka. "...She's your mate, isn't she?" The Sparrow girl asked innocently, pointing a brown-feathered arm at Kitsu.
Luka's mouth parted, but an adequate response other than a low and confused "Uhhh..." failed to come out in time before the Two-Tailed Kitsune rushed out from behind him. "O-Of course I'm not!" Kitsu sputtered out. The Sparrow girl gave a very bird-like tilt of her head, "Really?" She asked.
"YES, REALLY!" A lightly flushed Kitsu shouted out, stomping in the dirt as she did. Luka was still unresponsive.
The Sparrow girl took another step forward, leaning over the indignant Kitsune while sniffing at the air. "Hmm, well his scent isn't on you..." She mused, looking up at Luka with curious brown eyes. "...So why... Ohhhh..." The Sparrow girl stopped herself mid-sentence, coming to another realization.
She leaned down to Kitsu even more to whisper, "...If you two are needing a private place to consummate, there's a creek with some particularly soft dirt to rut in near the end of this path!"
If Kitsu's face wasn't hot with embarrassment before, it sure was now as the Sparrow's kind suggestion leveled the silver-furred fox's composure and caused her to become a stuttering mess, "U-U-U-Uhh, th-that's... aa-aa-aahh..." Luka, on the other hand, finally snapped back to life. Quickly, the young Hero seized the opportunity and grabbed Kitsu by the hand to gently but firmly pull her along as he walked around the giggling Sparrow girl.
"Th-Thank you so much for the suggestion, we'll-make-sure-to-look-out-for-it-bye!" Luka rapidly exclaimed over his shoulder, putting as much distance between them and the Sparrow girl. Thankfully, the bird Monster did not give chase, instead waving to them while exclaiming, "Have fun, you two!" The purple-haired boy was able to get himself and Kitsu away before any more embarrassment could take place, the bird Monster flapping away as they continued deeper into the forest.
After a few minutes, Luka and Kitsu were - thankfully - out of eyesight of the Sparrow girl. The young Hero sighed, trying to rid himself of his mental exhaustion. 'Why must every Monster encounter I have be so lewd?' Luka thought with a slow shake of his head. 'Well, at least I didn't have to fight this Monster. In fact, she was pretty nice, all things considered.' Luka mused.
Kitsu, meanwhile, was too preoccupied with her thundering heart to even realize that Luka was still holding her hand. The implication the Sparrow girl had made about them had caught the Two-Tailed Kitsune completely off-guard, and she couldn't stop thinking about what the bird Monster had said.
Especially the part about rutting in the dirt.
The silver-furred fox fought to push those types of thoughts of her and Luka out of her mind, but it was becoming increasingly more difficult to do so. It didn't help much that she was walking so close to the young Hero, his scent invading her nose once again. Before, it had been overwhelming, but now Kitsu was beginning to actually like it.
"O-Okay, I think we're good now." Luka said, finally releasing Kitsu's hand as he did. The silver-furred fox felt an unfamiliar ache go through her chest as the young Hero backed away, placing a palm on his face as he sighed. Luka shuddered as he let out this exhale, again trying to let some of his nervous energy out.
"S-Sorry for you pulling you like that, by the way." The purple-haired boy slowly raked his hand down his face as he finished his explanation. "I-I just figured that if I went along with what she thought we were going to do, that we'd get away easier."
Kitsu nodded her head, "Yeah..." She whispered, barely able to get even that much out due to how fiercely her stomach was knotting up. Luka was able to continue walking on without issue, but Kitsu fought to keep herself from stumbling on every errant dip in the dirt path. But she couldn't help it, her legs felt like jelly now.
"Hey, by the way..." Luka said out loud, not noticing the fox's growing issues as he kept at the front of the charge. "...If you happen to see and decently sized sticks, let me know, please?" Kitsu wiped a bead of sweat off her brow, only half-hearing what the purple-haired boy was saying.
Luka glanced over his shoulder slowly as he continued, "It may sound odd, but it's something my Father once told me and..." The young Hero came to a stop as he noticed Kitsu's suddenly haggard appearance. "...Hey, are you okay?" Luka asked as he turned around to face the short Monster girl.
Kitsu nearly bumped into the boy despite having watched him stop, having to grab onto one of his outreaching arms to steady herself. "I-I don't know..." Kitsu answered honestly. Luka took note of the sweat building on the fox's brow with a touch of worry, quickly removing his left hand's black glove to feel Kitsu's forehead, who shivered under his touch. Luka frowned at the movement, a bit of worry growing in his heart.
"You might be coming down with something..." Luka murmured, not realizing that he was the one who was causing Kitsu's ailment. "...Maybe we should find somewhere shady for you to cool off at?" He mused, glancing around to see if there were any suitable areas around. The red-eyed fox couldn't help but agree, as her body was beginning to feel as though it was burning up.
Luka scanned the treeline, unable to find a suitable break in the thicket bordering the dirt path. Luka backpedaled on his earlier idea, not liking the idea of going into the uncharted area of the forest. 'Dang, not really any good places here it seems. Maybe there'll be a rest stop of sorts further down the path?' The young Hero thought it over for a few more moments but he paused, a realization he should've made earlier just now dawning on him:
Alice was still gone.
Like so many times before, this caused Luka's anxiety to rise significantly. If his traveling partner had been gone even after the Sparrow girl, then that could only mean that there was still a Monster around. Which also potentially meant that they had been followed ever since then.
The young Hero's gaze fell down to Kitsu, who seemed to be only halfway there as her red eyes were somewhat clouded over. Suddenly, the sight reminded him of his encounter with the Rafflesia girl back on the Ilias Continent, and how that Monster's pheromones affected a sealed Lona in a very similar way.
Of course, that wasn't the case here as the only smell messing with Kitsu was Luka's, but the purple-haired boy was unaware of this.
"C-Come with me for just a moment..." Luka said, lightly pulling Kitsu to the side of the path where a bush jutted out some. Normally, the silver-furred fox would feel inclined to tear away from his touch, but the feeling of his bare hand on her arm was abnormally stimulating. The Kitsune nearly fell as he led her to the shrub, guiding her to stand behind it.
Luka let go of her arm and began removing his traveling bag, much to Kitsu's confusion. The purple-haired boy leaned in close, his breath tickling at the fox's face. "I-I think something is stalking us, j-just stay here and let me handle it." He finished while putting on the glove he had removed earlier, leaving a somewhat dumbstruck Kitsu to sway in place as he disappeared from sight.
Kitsu's cloudy red eyes stayed on the open-air Luka had just been occupying, her heart beating like a drum now because she had - for a hairbreadth of a second - imagined that Luka had led her to that secluded spot for something very different.
Meanwhile, the purple-haired boy stepped away from the bushes on the side, moving to stand in the middle of the dirt path.
"O-Okay, I know you're here, so come out already!" Luka called out to the forest around him, but he received no answer. The young Hero cautiously lifted up a hand to Angel Halo, gripping its handle in his left hand and removing it from his back. He didn't like leading with any type of aggression but considering the circumstances he felt it better to be safe than sorry.
Luka stood still in the middle of the path, listening for any signs of movement in the underbrush around him. The young Hero nervously clenched his sword tightly with both hands, his dread growing by the second at what type of Monster could be hiding in the thicket that surrounded-
"L-Luka~"
"WH-WHAT!?" Luka yelled out as his pale-blue eyes fell down to Angel Halo. 'Great, it's going to moan my NAME now!? Oh by the Goddess above, what kind of depraved person created this thing!? They would have to be a pervert of the highest order!' The purple-haired boy thought as he stared down at his grotesque sword. After a few moments, Luka's gaze became softer as began to notice something.
"Huh..." He said, looking closer to the eyes of the weapon. When Alice initially gave Luka Angel Halo one of the first things he had noticed about the weapon was its terrible eyes, which had blood-red sclera and nauseatingly green irises. However, that was not quite the case anymore.
Some of the smaller eyes that were situated around the biggest one in the middle, had - at some point - changed. The sclera had lost their dark crimson and turned into a faded white, while the bright green irises turned into a pale blue not too unlike his own eyes. "...Strange, it looks a bit more appealing than before but that's still awfully bizarre." Luka whispered to himself.
Indeed, it was a welcomed change. But Luka had no idea why it would have done this. Was it just something it did by itself? Luka hummed, 'Maybe Alice would know?' The young Hero pondered to himself.
Rustle
Luka's previous thoughts were abandoned as he heard some foliage become disturbed to his left, causing the young Hero to quickly tense up and turn towards the noise. The purple-haired boy caught nothing more than a flash of something pale green and scaly moving beneath the plant life bordering the dirt path. Luka's eyes widened, his time around Alice - and to a certain extent, Teeny - made him well aware of what this Monster could be.
Understandably, he was now very nervous.
"H-Hey, I see y-you in there!" Luka nearly groaned at how his voice had to falter so badly, but the idea of having to fight a Lamia was making him nervous. Everything grew still for a moment, but then an amused chuckle came from the bushes in front of him.
"Fufufufuu..." Luka bristled as the underbrush started to shake now, "...I was beginning to wonder if you would ever notice me. Though it seems that you actually have a keen eye."
The Monster began to reveal herself and indeed, it was a Lamia. Her tail was long, though not nearly as long as Alice's, and it pushed her smoothly through the barrier of brush between the forest and the dirt path. The Lamia was clothed in what seemed to be a fabric of a finer quality, the pleated white skirt she had bearing a pattern of conjoined red crosses along its bottom, juxtaposed with a longer black underskirt that flowed a bit longer underneath.
Higher up the Lamia's body, above her bare midriff, was a small white outlined with bold black borders around the sharp designs. The top opened around her sizable cleavage, connecting around her collar and shoulders. As minimal as it was, Luka couldn't deny that it was appealing. Finally, the Lamia had on a matching pair of white gloves that were nearly elbow-length.
The detail that stuck out the most to him was the Lamia's face.
The Monster was no doubt pretty, with her soft feminine face and large blue eyes, but that wasn't necessarily what bemused him the most. No, instead Luka found that her face was oddly familiar. But he knew that there was no possible way that he had met this Lamia before, so how could that be?
"Fufufuu," The Lamia chuckled again, lifting a gloved hand up to her face as she began, "Starstruck, are we?" She asked, having caught Luka staring. Normally, this would make the young Hero embarrassed, but his confusion was stronger than his sense of modesty.
Luka lowered his sword some as he asked, "S-Sorry, have we met before?" The Lamia lost none of her smugness as she raised a brow at his question, "I doubt that, if we had met before this day, you would certainly not be standing here right now."
The purple-haired boy's face scrunched up in thought, ignoring the Lamia's comment. 'Strange, then why do I recognize her face?' Luka shook the thought away; it wouldn't help him to ponder such things, not when the Lamia's eyes were running up and down his body at the moment. She slithered out to the middle of the path, drawing closer and closer to the onlooking Luka.
"But, if you are to my liking, we can certainly get to know each other better." The Lamia said salaciously, her eyelids dropping as she stared down the young Hero. Luka grimaced, shaking his head while he was forced to raise Angel Halo again. He felt as though it would be fruitless, but Luka warned his opponent either way, "I'm not interested, s-so you can forget about that."
Instead of getting angry, the Lamia smirked and raised herself off the ground with her tail. "Not interested? Heh, there's no Monster in this forest - Lamia or otherwise - more attractive than I. You'd have to be blind to disagree with that." She said, bouncing her curling blonde hair with a hand. Luka paused, looking over the Lamia once again. She was pretty, yes. However...
"W-Well I wouldn't s-say that..." Luka muttered absentmindedly, as a certain Monster Lord currently occupied that spot in his mind.
This was a grievous mistake.
Quickly, the Lamia's face widened in shock, and then swiftly morphed into an ugly glare. "WH-WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!?" The Lamia screamed, causing Luka to bristle. "H-Huh?" He asked dumbly, before realizing his mistake. 'Wait, by Ilias, did I just say that out loud!?' Luka realized as a chill went up his spine.
The Lamia began snaking forward, her previously teasing blue eyes now filled with wrath. "S-So what, I'm not good enough for you? Is that it!?" She demanded, much to Luka's bewilderment. The poor Hero squirmed a bit as he started backpedaling both figuratively and literally. "I-I'm didn't m-mean it l-like th-that, I was just, erm, cl-clarifying?"
Evidentially, if his initial comment was "strike one" then his elaboration was "strike two" for the Lamia clenched a gloved fist in front of her, aiming it threateningly at the young Hero. "Oh, well how about I clarify your face with my fist!?" Luka's grimace widened as the Monster began charging forward, apparently not needing a "strike three" to justify attacking him.
"Wh-Whoa!" The yell left Luka's mouth as he just barely pulled back enough to avoid being folded by the rage-induced fist of the Lamia. The purple-haired boy raised his sword defensively as another balled-up hand came at him, haphazardly parrying away the Lamia's wild strike with Angel Halo. Luka stumbled away to the left side of the path, grunting as he harshly collided back-first into the small tree jutting out from the underbrush.
Luka pushed himself off of the tree as the Lamia gritted her teeth, feeling a bit of soreness from the contact with the boy's sword but not at all ready to let up. "You'll regret s-saying such stupid things! When I'm done, you'll be begging to worship the ground I stand on!" The Lamia declared, swaying a bit before launching her large tail towards the boy! Luka yelped and dived out of the way, ducking beneath the swipe as her scaly tail flew overhead.
SNAAAP
Luka froze, not understanding what had just happened until he looked back to where he had just dived from. What he saw, made his pale-blue eyes go wide. The Lamia's tail had completely and effortlessly uprooted the small tree he had just been standing in front of, the dirt and roots being the only thing left behind now. Luka turned fearfully towards the Lamia, horrified to see that she was beginning to lift it up into the air.
And it was aimed at him.
"YAAH!" The yell escaped Luka's lips as the Lamia swung down, and the purple-haired boy was just barely able to roll out of the way in time as the tree crashed with a dull thud against the dirt path. Luka quickly scampered to his feet to aim Angel Halo toward his attacker, who was beginning to lift the tree once more. Obviously, the young Hero was not going to be able to solve this with words alone.
Not that his words had necessarily helped any in the first place.
"Demon Decapitation!"
Luka's cry was followed by him sprinting forward, and he wasted no time in aiming a slash towards the Lamia's neck. The Monster's anger was replaced by shock as he landed a clean hit, a diagonal scar quickly forming across her throat as she released the tree, which fell onto the ground beside the Lamia's tail. Luka hurriedly kept moving forward past the Lamia to leave her reach, but he wasn't quick enough, and his opponent's large tail was able to swat at him as he retreated.
A harsh grunt left Luka's throat as he was flung a few meters up the path, and he rolled even farther than that as a cloud of dark brown dust followed him all the way. The young Hero groaned as he rose, knowing that he couldn't afford to stay still for too long. Luka lifted up a black-gloved hand to push away the long purple locks blocking his view, hissing as he felt a sharp pain on his left cheek.
Feeling something warm dribbling down his face, Luka wiped at the area and found blood on his sleeve. The purple-haired boy frowned at the sight but rose and spun around to face the Lamia once more.
Thankfully, the Lamia was more preoccupied trying to figure out what had just happened rather than chasing him down, clasping at her now scarred throat with one of her hands. Luka aimed Angel Halo at his distracted foe. With a hardened edge to his face, the young Hero called out his next attack.
"Thunder Thrust!"
Once again Luka charged forward, dashing across the dirt he had just been flung into until the Lamia noticed his approach. The Monster coiled up her tail in front of herself in an attempt to block the attack, resulting in Angel Halo burying itself into the side of her large pale-green limb. A yell of pain came from the Lamia's mouth and her tail began to wriggle furiously in an effort to launch Luka away a second time.
Luka hopped back, putting much-needed distance between himself and the Lamia. He skidded to a stop, forcing in sharp breaths of air now that the strain of not just this battle but the two he had on the beach earlier began to catch up with him. The young Hero could feel his chest start to burn with each push of his lungs, the ragged gasps for air slowly becoming more desperate.
He needed to end this soon.
The young Hero warily watched the Lamia coil around herself, bringing the freshly made scar into view. The Monster's expression turned furious as she inspected the injury and then raised her blue eyes up to leer at Luka. "You insult my looks, and then you deface my tail!" The Lamia screamed, her tail "stomping" back down into the dirt loudly. "I'm going to throttle you like a ragdoll!"
Luka cringed at the display but said nothing as he calculated his next move, having to quickly wipe away at the still-bleeding cut on his cheek. A spike of concern hit him as the Lamia reached over to the tree, slowly coiling it around her newly found weapon. However, just as the Monster was raising it high in preparation to attack Luka once again, something truly unexpected happened. For both opponents had forgotten about a certain silver-furred fox...
"Kitsune Moonsault!"
Luka and the Lamia both jolted as the sound of what seemed like rubble moving rang out. The purple-haired boy momentarily forgot about his opponent to glance up, able to catch a glimpse of something flying just below the canopy overhead. In that split second, Luka's pale-blue eyes widened as he realized that this "something" was Kitsu...
...Backflipping?
Indeed, the silver-furred fox was currently mid-flip, falling downwards towards the back of the Lamia's head. The Lamia raised a brow as she began to turn, but her movements would prove to be too slow as Kitsu was already upon her. Luka was taken aback as the Kitsune - who hadn't shown very much of an inclination for battling up to this point - finished the rotation by giving a fierce mule kick to the back of the Lamia's head!
Luka cringed at the thwack that echoed after the impact between the fox's wooden sandals and the Lamia's skull, watching as Kitsu then pushed off the now dazed Lamia's head and flew back from the direction she had come from. The young Hero looked on flabbergasted as the Lamia fell forward, the small tree banging on the already rattled Lamia's head as she crumbled. A large cloud of dirt kicked up from the monumental crash, causing Luka to hold up a forearm to shield his face.
Once the cloud of dust cleared, Luka dropped his arm and stared stupefied at the aftermath. "O-Oh my..." The young Hero stuttered, looking down at the now sufficiently unconscious Lamia. He tentatively approached the fallen snake Monster, now somewhat unsure what to do. "...I almost think being sealed would be better than that." Luka muttered, eyeing the Lamia with a bit of pity.
Luka raised his gaze up from the Lamia to see Kitsu running up to him, a victorious smile on her face. "Well," Luka began, "I have to thank you twice over now for helping me. But I have to ask, what did you just do?" The Two-Tailed Kitsune crossed her arms smugly, "Eh, just a little bit of my special Ninjutsu. Awesome, right?"
The young Hero certainly couldn't say that he wasn't, considering the down-and-out Lamia lying behind her. "Y-Yeah, that was pretty impressive, I-I'd say." Luka admitted with a tired smile, placing Angel Halo on his back. The purple-haired boy hunched over some, placing his hands on his knees as he let out a long sigh. Kitsu's red eyes narrowed, her prideful smile fading into a look of concern at his apparent fatigue and the still-bleeding cut on his cheek.
Luka slowly rose to stand, another labored breath coming from his mouth. The Two-Tailed Kitsune seemed like she was about to say something but stopped as a certain Monster Lord reappeared.
"Now that was sad." Alice ridiculed, a look of disdain painting her face.
Luka was not surprised to see Alice standing there but her comment gave him pause. "Wh-What was sad?" He asked, to which the golden-eyed Lamia nodded her head towards her unconscious fellow Lamia on the ground. "To be defeated in part by a Kitsune? Hardly a display befitting of a Lamia." Alice said dismissively.
The young Hero frowned, "That's a bit harsh, don't you think?" Alice scowled at Luka's question before replying, "Hardly harsh enough, actually. I couldn't imagine anything more depressing than being folded by a Kitsune, especially one with only two tails." Kitsu aimed a glare at Alice but kept quiet, perhaps knowing better than to get into a verbal spar with someone who may or may not still try to fling her towards the ocean.
Luka shook his head lightly, still not understanding why his traveling partner had to be so prickly sometimes. Instead, the purple-haired boy started walking over to the downed Lamia still lying sprawled out on the dirt path. Alice and Kitsu watched on with a bit of confusion as Luka tucked his hands beneath the Lamia's waist in an attempt to lift the unconscious Monster.
"I hope you aren't trying to cop a feel right now." Alice stated flatly, earning a very unamused look from Luka. "I am not, I just want to get her to somewhere a bit safer than out in the middle of the trail." The purple-haired boy said. Then, with a great deal of strain, Luka was able to heft the Humanoid part of the Monster up against his side in a haphazard cradle as he tried not to do any further damage.
It was an arduous process, as the Lamia's dead weight was a bit tricky to carry without falling over. But eventually, Luka was able to get the Monster's upper body lying on the side of the path. As he made way for the tail, Luka heard Kitsu start to speak up. "I don't understand why you would care. You should just let her get a sunburn, would serve her right." The Kitsune rattled off, giving the unconscious Lamia a glare.
"I'd hate to agree with the fox, but it would be a fitting punishment for such a sloppy performance." Alice said, her golden eyes still looking down at her fellow Lamia dismissively. "Besides, she would've certainly flattened you with that tree if given the chance." She added, crossing her arms in a very Alice-like fashion.
Luka shook his head as he started lifting the Lamia's tail, "I'm not going to do that. Just because she was going to hurt me, doesn't mean I should hurt her." Alice rolled her eyes, clearly unable to fathom how the young Hero could really care that much about a Monster that tried to brain him with a tree. Eventually, Luka was able to get the Lamia's body under the shade.
"There we go." Luka said to himself, satisfied that the Lamia would only have to deal with confusion and a bit of embarrassment as a result of their fight. 'And perhaps a minor concussion.' Luka thought, grimacing as the sight of the Lamia being knocked out by her own weapon flashed through his brain. However, as Alice said before, Monsters tended to be more durable than Humans so she should be alright...
...Hopefully.
Upon grabbing his traveling bag, Luka joined Alice and Kitsu once again and they continued on down the dirt path. Unbeknownst to any of them, a very abnormal situation awaited them on the way to San Ilia...
"O Great Goddess Ilias, hear our plead..." The soft words of Sofia, the Sister Lamia, reverberated off the walls of the abandoned church on the outskirts of San Ilia. "...Help us keep our filthy souls as clean as they can be." She continued, her eyes shut and hands folded in front of her as she prayed up to Ilias.
"M-Mm!" Another feminine voice lightly groaned.
Sofia kept her eyes tightly shut, shuffling just a bit on her "knees" as a twinge of annoyance hit her. However, being the diligent follower of Ilias and the leader of pious Monsters that she was, Sofia continued as though nothing happened. "Help us not turn to Darkness, so that our bodies may-"
"A-A-Ah!" The same voice from before let out a stifled moan, the faint sound of metallic jangling accompanying this slip-up.
Again, Sofia paused to collect her growing anger. 'Give me patience, Ilias. Give me patience.' The Lamia nun pleaded in her mind, trying to get through the morning prayer session quickly. "...So that our bodies," Sofia paused again, satisfied to find that no lewd noises followed her words. "-May remain pure as well." A light breeze blew through one of the run-down Church's broken windows, ruffling the disguised Lamia's long blonde hair.
Sofia took a breath, reclasping her hands as a smile came to her face. "O Great Goddess, above all else, give us the strength to uphold our chastity. So we may not fall into temptation of immoral urges-"
"Haa-AH!~" The voice moaned again, this time Sofia could not wrangle in her temper and her blue eyes snapped wide open and she threw a glare over her shoulder. "C-Can you please stop making those obscene noises!?" Sofia exclaimed, causing the source of the noise to flinch.
Kneeling on the faded blue carpet behind Sofia was a fellow Sister garbed in a long purple nun habit along with a white undershirt that covered most of the Monster's body, the ends of its bottom and its sleeves having golden embellishments. On top of the woman's head of waist-length blue hair was a veil that matched her dress, a white headband with similar trim being wrapped around her forehead. From the headband was a small thin red jewel that hung down her forehead.
This was Sofia's first Sister-in-arms, the Succubus Nun, Christie. Though like Sofia, the Succubus had all of her Monstrous features - such as her horns, tail, and wings - hidden to appear like a Human.
"S-Sorry, Sofia. I-I think I have my b-belt on too tight again..." The Succubus confessed as her light green eyes aimed down to the ground in shame. "...M-May I have the key so I could, a-a-adjust it?" Sofia gave her fellow Sister a long and suspicious look. The "belt" that Christie was referring to was, in fact, the Monster's chastity belt: an item that the Succubus had sworn that she only ever took off when it was quote, "Absolutely necessary".
However, due to Christie's status as a Succubus, Sofia had her doubts about that claim. Thus, a "mutual agreement" had been reached between the two, and Sofia took it upon herself to safeguard the key for Christie.
"Is that all you are going to do?" Sofia asked with an air of suspicion. Christie quickly nodded up and down, "Of course! I'll be back within the minute, I assure you!" The Lamia nun searched Christie's face for a few more moments and finally reached into her dress pocket, her hand coming back out with a small silver key in her fingers.
"Okay," Sofia relented, getting off her knees to turn and hold the key out to the also now-standing Christie, "But try to be quick about it, alright?" The Succubus vigorously nodded before snatching the key away, a faint metallic jangling following the Succubus as she dashed out of the dilapidated prayer hall of the abandoned Temple.
Sofia let out a defeated sigh and shook her head, 'Why is it that, out of all the kinds of Monsters to have here, I must deal with a Succubus?' She thought in irritation.
"In all fairness, I think that's the longest she's been able to resist it. It's been at least a few days, I think." The blonde-haired Lamia nun glanced at the third occupant of the group, the one who had been silently kneeling beside where Christie had been up until now. The third Monster was a slug named Rosary, though one would have a decently difficult time making out that she was a Slug at first glance.
The brown-eyed Monster was dressed much simpler than her contemporaries, being clothed fully in a black nun habit with a white trim on her sleeves. Her long veil was similarly colored, the article falling far down her back.
"What you say is true, Rosary..." Sofia began, though she quickly folded her arms in annoyance. "...But even still, she never takes just a minute and we both know why." The Slug Nun frowned but could not deny Sofia's words. Undoubtedly one minute will turn into five, and five will turn into ten, then ten to thirty...
Rosary stood from her knees, "Ilias willing, she will be able to shake away such impure thoughts." Sofia nodded in agreement, folding her arms as she and Rosary waited for their Sister-in-arms to return.
'You'd better wash your hands this time, Christie...' Sofia thought with a look of disgust, knowing from experience that the Succubus wasn't really the greatest at covering her tracks.
Sofia had a very long talk with Christie after that particular incident and ever since then, the Succubus was no longer allowed to participate in food preparation since then.
The bright blue eyes of the Lamia Nun looked around the abandoned Temple they were in, a feeling of discontent rising in her heart. The original plan, as it had been given to her by Black Alice, is that Sofia would travel and find fellow Ilias-faithful Monsters. However, after finding Christie and Rosary, Black Alice inexplicitly had Sofia come back to San Ilia instead of the new Temple of Ilias like she was supposed to.
Black Alice had not given a reason outside of a "change of plans" and the three had been unceremoniously sent back to wait in the Temple where Sofia and Black Alice had first met two years ago. Truly, Sofia wasn't thankless. Any Temple was good enough for her but in her heart, the Lamia Nun wanted to be at the one promised to her, the Temple for Monsters.
Sofia saw something out of the corner of her eyes, and her gaze went up the even more rickety upper floor of the Temple where she saw a peculiar sight: A small brown teddy bear. Sofia's eyes widened, knowing quite well who's calling card this was.
"E-Excuse me, Rosary, I need to go attend to something very quick." The Lamia Nun said, to which the Slug Nun simply nodded. Rosary folded her hands to begin her own prayer as Sofia walked past, heading up the dirtied blue carpet between the battered booths of the Temple. The disguised Lamia made way for a staircase at the back of the room, quickly climbing up the stairs to the top floor.
Wooden creaks followed Sofia as she made it to the second floor of the Temple, where a familiar face awaited her.
"Ahhh, Sofia!" Black Alice exclaimed, sitting cross-legged at the very back of the upper-floor booths. Strangely enough, the ancient Monster had a small wooden table in front of her and that table had a white teapot and two small cups accompanying it. Black Alice waved Sofia over, and the disguised Lamia was quick to oblige.
Sofia nodded to her superior, "Greetings, Black Alice. How are you today?" The older Monster reached up to adjust her baby-blue hair ribbon before grabbing one of the cups, "I'm doing fantastic, just got done making myself some tea." Black Alice leaned forward a bit, grabbing the nearest teacup in a hand before blowing at the air above the cup to cool down the drink. Strangely enough, however, there didn't seem to be any steam coming off of the tea.
Either way, Black Alice raised the cup to her lips and made a very exaggerated slurping noise for a few seconds as a somewhat confused Sofia looked on.
"Um, y-you were wanting to see me, I assume?" The Lamia Nun asked, stopping Black Alice mid-slurp. The older Monster's carmine eyes looked over to Sofia, "Oh yes, I actually did. Come, sit with me my little snake friend." Black Alice said with a smile, placing down her cup to pat the blue padding of the scuffed-up church booth she was sitting in.
Sofia cringed at the reference to her hidden tail but walked up to Black Alice all the same, the older Monster scooting over to allow the disguised Lamia to join the older Monster. Black Alice reached out a pale hand to grab the teapot, lifting it up to pour the tea. Sofia watched as her fellow Monster leaned over and tilted the teapot and...
...Nothing came out.
Sofia's bewilderment grew more and more while Black Alice hummed to herself, keeping the teapot there all the same. The Lamia Nun tilted her head, seeing that Black Alice's cup also had no tea in it. "Done!" Black Alice proclaimed, placing the teapot down and giving Sofia an expectant smile. The disguised Lamia in question looked between the empty cup and the carmine-eyed Monster in confusion.
"Eh, s-so is the Temple nearly finished, yet?" Sofia asked tentatively, not making any attempt to grab the empty cup. Black Alice's smile faded for a second, but she covered it up with another - less genuine - one.
"Yes," Black Alice said curtly, "The Temple had a bit of a setback. There was a..." The pale-green-haired Monster paused, searching for the right phrasing. "...Mistake in the foundation, caused in part by the unforeseen consequences of someone's enormous ignorance." Sofia gulped, feeling the air around Black Alice grow uncomfortably tense.
Black Alice turned to Sofia, "But, everything is now finished!"
Sofia gasped, clasping her hands together merrily, "That is splendid! Does that mean that we are able to head there straightaway?" The older Monster suddenly stood from her seat, nearly knocking over her tea party set-up. Sofia flinched as Black Alice quickly spun around, stopping to face the younger Lamia with a wide grin.
Black Alice lifted up a single finger and lightly tapped on the perplexed Lamia's nose, "Nope!"
Sofia's mouth dumbfoundedly hung open as she stared at Black Alice, "Wh-What d-do you mean? I-I thought-" The carmine-eyed Monster raised the same hand to cut off the Lamia, "-Becaaaause..." Black Alice very slowly bent forward, her wide-eyed gaze boring into Sofia's. "...Your Prophet is heading this way."
The Former Monster Lord's words had an immediate effect on Sofia, whose bright blue eyes grew quite large as Black Alice stood up straight. "You mean L-L-Luka!?" Sofia exclaimed. Black Alice gave the disguised Lamia a large nod, "Oh yes. In fact, he should be passing by here in well under an hour."
Sofia lifted up a shaky hand to her throat, the collar of her blue dress suddenly feeling quite tight around her neck. The Lamia couldn't even speak as she failed to reign in the conflicted emotions bouncing around in her heart. The very idea of seeing Luka again was both exciting and frightening.
Black Alice pretended not to notice the ever-growing blush on Sofia's face and asked an unassuming question, "Is there something wrong, Sofia? Don't you want to take the chance to see our wonderful Prophet once more?" The older Monster asked. Sofia grabbed at her collar again, looking away as her heart began to race for all the wrong reasons.
"I-I do, b-but wouldn't it be a waste of the Prophet's time to come here?" Sofia asked before her bright blue eyes widened, feeling Black Alice grab her by the shoulder. The disguised Lamia looked up to the Former Monster Lord, who was smirking at the young Monster's distress. A merrily little chuckle left the carmine-eyed Monster's thin lips while her pale hand gently shook the Lamia.
"Sofia, that's no way to think. You are to be the leader of the first Temple of Ilias created specifically for Monsters; if you are to take up such a prestigious role, then you will undoubtedly be in contact with the Prophet again sooner or later..." The Former Monster Lord finished, a broad grin now on her face as Sofia's troubled emotions began to show on her face. "...And that shouldn't be an issue for you, should it?" Black Alice asked.
Sofia looked down to the ground, having to clasp her hands together to stop their quaking. However, a great worry was brewing in her heart, one that stemmed from the Lamia Nun's very first meeting with Luka: Her very conflicted feelings for the purple-haired boy.
Her time with Luka hadn't been too long in retrospect, but it had impacted Sofia greatly. He had been, without a doubt, the nicest person she had met both before and after denouncing her Monsterhood. The day she met Luka was one etched in her heart, but this had been both a blessing and a curse for the pious Lamia. Even now, Sofia held a great deal of guilt in her heart for fleeing the boy's house in the middle of the night.
However, she had no other choice but to do so; the unholy urge to invade Luka's room and break her vow of chastity had been strong, much too strong. Almost as strong as this forbidden lust was the bitter shame that followed her ever since that day, and even worse was the fact that she just couldn't rid herself of it.
It was a terrible cycle, for every time she thought of the Prophet, she was brought right back to that night two years ago and a conflicting mishmash of desire and guilt would well up inside her heart all over again.
Snap Snap
Sofia was brought from her depressed thoughts by the noise of Black Alice snapping her fingers with the hand that was no longer on the Lamia's shoulder. "Sofiaaaa..." The Former Monster Lord drawled, bringing the pious Monster back to attention. "...You'd best prepare yourself and your Sisters, for Luka's sure to be here sooooon~" Black Alice droned again, her baby-blue dress swishing as she turned around to face away from Sofia.
"O-Okay, I-I will do so at once!" Sofia proclaimed, though her large blue eyes were anything but certain as she turned from her superior to head back to the first floor.
Black Alice snickered as her small brown teddy bear floated towards its Master, a small yellow flower with freckled black dots being held between its stubby hands. The Former Monster Lord gingerly plucked the flower from her bear's grip, a small and almost warm smile coming to her face as she looked over the flower.
"Oh, Sofia. Can't you see that denying what you truly are can only bring you more heartbreak?" Black Alice muttered, twirling the flower in one hand. "How sad it is, for a Monster to hide her-..." Black Alice suddenly stopped, her smile vanishing.
The Former Monster Lord brought a pale hand up to gently brush the yellow petals, feeling their softness beneath her fingers for a moment. She slowly lowered the flower while turning her gaze upon the abandoned tea party, suddenly feeling just as empty the porcelain cups and teapot on the table.
"...Yes, how sad." Black Alice murmured flatly, before disappearing from the abandoned Temple of Ilias.
Sorry for the long wait on this one, been working on both writing this chapter and moving Jeremiad to ao3 and that takes double the work with not much extra time to do it. That and this chapter just happened to come out as an abnormally long one as well.
Not super eventfully on Luka's side yet again, but that will change pretty quickly in the next chapter, as one could assume from this chapter's ending. Having a reunion with Sophia will be complicated enough but having that alongside an easily-made-jealous Alice, a salacious Succubus trying to keep her chastity, and whatever else may go awry? Suffice to say, Luka will have his hands full trying to navigate this oncoming mess.
Deadinside378: Yup, so if Jeremiad ever disappears, you'll know where to find it.
Guest: We'll see more of Black Alice and Heinrich eventually, don't you worry.
TotalGuestDeath: I can agree that Luka is very passive-reactive, but I disagree to the assertion that he simply has no character, that's just not accurate. As I've already heavily alluded to, Luka will undergo a very drastic change when his traumas are brought to light. Just because you don't see it yet, doesn't mean it won't happen.
Shadow Necro: I definitely hiding something, but it's an idea for the future. An admittedly distant future, that is. But if you stick around for that long, you might very well enjoy that as well.
F14M3RZ: Nice comparison, I didn't really think of it that way, but Alma Elma pestering Luka about his escapades is a very Psycho Mantis thing to do.
Fixed the errors you pointed out. Has to do with a glitch in the Fanfiction app, as it is not always reliable for writing but is sometimes the only option I have available. Though, such as in the example you pointed out, it has a nasty habit of "shifting" and copying paragraphs over each other.
The King of San Ilia will be a bit different, but more so because of a certain Goddess of Light's growing urge to interfere in Luka's journey...