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Year 16 AL, Shadow Behind the Light
Luka's apprehensive gaze bounced between the coffins as they jerked and shook, his heart already knowing what his mind was dreading. 'How many more of these Zombies does she have?' He thought as he waited for the Monsters to show themselves. However, just as quickly as the shaking had begun, it ceased, and everything went quiet.
The young Hero slowly glanced over at Chrome, who seemed to be very concerned at this development. 'Did something go wrong?' Luka thought in confusion. Just as he pondered this, a lone coffin lying at the Necromancer's end of the catacomb suddenly started to shake again.
Both Luka and Chrome looked to the casket as its door was pushed open by a pale white arm covered with tattered black cloth. The one very alarming detail, however, was the hand's long and sharp black fingernails. Luka tensed his body in preparation for whatever abhorrent creation may rise from the wooden box before him, but he wasn't quite ready for what he saw clumsily rise up into view.
Unlike the previous Zombies Luka had faced, this one's skin was somewhat normal - albeit still deathly white - as it was seemingly free of blemishes or bruises. If anything, the girl appeared to be the most normal-looking Monster he had seen so far. True, the ripped black rags she wore showed an egregious amount of bare flesh on her petite body but at this point, that was not uncommon enough of a sight to disturb Luka.
However, once she climbed out of the coffin and fully entered the light of the blue torches above, the young Hero saw for himself the true nature of this girl.
As the shadow from Zombie's hood faded away in the light, more of her face was revealed. Short and faded blonde hair came from beneath her hood and framed her once youthful face, only helping to accentuate her dark red eyes. Eyes that were, to Luka's mortification, bleeding from their sockets. It was fresher than the blood that the previous Zombies had spilled, for it crawled down her face in streams rather than clumps and the liquid was almost as crimson as his blood was.
And Luka couldn't help but dread how they would react to being cut by Angel Halo.
Luka gritted his teeth as two more caskets nearby began to rumble, their doors opening in much the same way to reveal two more Zombies that looked suspiciously similar to the first one, even as far as wearing the same type of tattered and ripped-up black cloth on their bodies.
The second Zombie was a bit more endowed than the first and had very long pale-blonde hair falling from under her hood. Her left eye was missing, its dark recess leaking a small stream of blood. The last of the three had shorter hair like the first, but this Zombie seemed to be older. Her right eye socket was empty as well, but Luka could still feel the intensity of her stare, nonetheless.
These two Zombies shambled over to stand next to the first, completing the trio. Considering how similar these three appeared, Luka couldn't help but wonder if they were related to each other. It certainly looked to him as though they could be sisters, in his mind.
'I wonder if they all died at the same time.' Luka pondered, feeling a pang of sadness hit his heart at the thought. He didn't even want to muse about how such a thing would happen.
"E-Ehhh..." The sound of Chrome's strangely nervous groan grabbed Luka's attention, and he raised a brow in confusion to see that the Necromancer was repeatedly snapping her fingers. "...Come on, come on! I need a little more than just these three here!" Chrome whispered frantically, not seeming to notice that the young Hero was staring at her.
The three Zombies swayed in place, not seeming to know what to do with themselves their master visibly panicked.
Chrome eventually caught on to how Luka was peering at her, and so the Necromancer quickly covered her worry with a laugh. "Heheheeh! You really should just give up now, b-because there's so much more where they came from!" Chrome exclaimed with some vigor.
The shaky proclamation did nothing to sway Luka, who fixed a glare at the Necromancer. "Not going to happen, I'm taking you down and ending this!" Luka shouted while holding out Angel Halo with both hands. He felt his magic build inside like a tempest as he aimed the blade towards the Necromancer.
"Thunder Thrust!"
Luka blasted towards Chrome and the purple-eyed girl was barely able to evade being skewered, as she managed to sidestep quick enough to harm. Either way, the now visibly frightened Necromancer - who was looking to put some space between herself and the purple-haired boy - nearly tripped while dashing behind her Zombies, stepping up onto a coffin with a huff.
Chrome whirled around and raised a hand, "Have it your way!" She began before snapping, the act bringing the three Zombies before her to attention. "Go drown our pesky little guest in darkness!"
The trio of Zombies began their assault slowly, each of them choosing to stalk Luka from a different side. The petite Zombie that had both of her eyes took the straightforward route, keeping in the little walkway between the columns of stone. The other two started to go around to flank him, the long-haired Zombie creeping to his right while the short-haired Zombie went left.
Luka looked between the three with apprehension; he knew in his heart that he needed to seal these girls to save them from Chrome's control, but them still looking so close to being living Humans was greatly unsettling. 'I wonder if they're aware what they're doing, like Frederica was...' The young Hero felt a bitter rage rise inside him yet again, '...If there's even a chance of that, then I need to finish this quickly. Their souls need to be put back to rest.'
Out of the corner of his eye, Luka saw the long-haired Zombie on his right start to pick up speed, her ragged black robe fluttering behind her as she lunged out to him. With a yell, Luka jumped forward to meet her and struck out with Angel Halo.
Surprisingly enough, the Zombie did attempt to dodge the purple-haired boy's attack, but she was not quick enough to avoid him completely. Angel Halo's odd curved blade cut into Zombie's right arm, opening a long gash down the inside of her forearm. Luka found his previous suspicions to be terribly true as his sword did not scar this Monster's skin; instead, the same crimson trail that fell from her empty eye shot from her arm and splattered onto the ground.
Luka could practically feel his heart drop down into his gut once the blood started freely dripping down the Zombie's arm, his earlier worry being confirmed by the Monster's more fresh and easier-flowing blood. The purple-haired boy still had no idea why his sword was causing such terrible injuries, but he forced away the thoughts and kept on the offensive.
"Demon Decapitation!"
Luka fired towards the Zombie while rearing his sword back to his left, running up the Monster and slashing across her neck. The Zombie's throat was immediately torn open, her pale white flesh quickly becoming stained with a gushing stream of blood. The metallic smell filled his nose, the overwhelming sensation quickly turning his stomach over.
The Zombie fell onto the ground before him, squirming around while clutching at her throat. Yet again, Luka found himself freezing up at the odious sight. A wet gag started to come from the Zombie's throat, the action causing even more blood to spurt from the large gash on her throat. As disgusted as Luka felt to have done such a thing, he felt a shred of comfort upon seeing the bright yellow light that left her body.
Luka's attention was pulled away as he heard stomping from behind and he turned to see the other two Zombies reaching out to him, their long claw-like fingernails only seconds away from grabbing him! The young Hero let out a yell and swung wildly at the two, but they were actually able to evade his attack and jump back. Luka was about to chase after the two until he heard the sound of metal whistling through the air.
A gasp came from Luka's mouth as something small and sharp flew past his face, the item landing against the stone ground with a loud clang. He looked over briefly to see the thin, gleaming piece of metal clatter and disappear into the dark. However, this momentary pause made him miss the second blade that came flying his way.
"Gah!" Luka exclaimed as he felt something sharp embed itself into his right thigh and when he looked down, he found there to be a small scalpel digging into his skin. The purple-haired boy glanced over to where the blade had come from to see Chrome standing on top of one of the coffins, her hand already pulling out another scalpel from the bag hanging from her shoulder.
The Necromancer gave Luka a mocking grin as she raised the small blade up, its surface glistening in the low light of the blue fire blazing overhead. "Pain before pleasure, eh? Soon enough, you'll be engulfed in both!" Chrome proclaimed with a cackle, twirling the small medical tool in her fingers. "You'll be sorry that you ever came here!"
Luka didn't find it to be nearly as amusing.
With a growl, Luka reached down and yanked the scalpel from his leg, hissing in pain as fresh blood trailing down from the small cut. He tossed the blade aside and raised Angel Halo as the two still-standing Zombies rounded on him once again. Luka aimed his sword at the Zombie who was missing her right eye and steadied himself.
"Thunder Thrust!"
Like so many times before, Luka shot forward with great speed. The Zombie failed to move out of the way in time, and Angel Halo stabbed deep into the Zombie girl's guts. Luka flinched as the undead Monster's blood splattered all over him, adding to the egregious amount of rotten vital fluid coating his body.
In one last ditch effort, the Zombie swung her left hand towards his face. Luka hissed as her claws split the skin on his right cheek to form three long gashes, more of his own blood being spilled now. The young Hero kicked out with a foot, removing the Zombie from his sword. She tumbled to the ground, finally going limp as a bright yellow light left her and vanished into the air.
Luka whirled around to face the last remaining Zombie, silently but briefly lamenting how young the final Zombie appeared. However, Luka again willed himself forward, knowing at the very least that he was putting these Zombies to rest.
Although the thought didn't help him feel that much better.
The pale Zombie stumbled forward, her tattered black robe swaying alongside her uneven gait. She raised an arm and began to swing her hand, seemingly aiming to scratch at him with her claw-like fingernails. However, she would never get even that far.
Luka countered by swinging for the offending arm, his blade carving into the undead girl's limb. Her flesh was easily severed, her arm coming apart at her elbow and falling roughly to the stone ground with a meaty thwack. The Zombie fell forward onto Luka, her freshly sundered arm leaking an abhorrent amount of blood onto the front of the young Hero's shirt and pants.
Luka gave her a sharp shove and the Zombie nearly fell back onto the ground from the force, but the purple-haired boy wasn't finished just yet. He lunged forward, not even calling upon his magic as he slashed Angel Halo down across the petite Zombie's exposed chest. His attack successfully split open the girl's skin, adding even more bloodshed to the once-gray cobblestone under his feet.
The last Zombie finally fell to the ground, her small frame landing awkwardly onto the stone. Luka gulped down the vile that burned at the back of his throat, his pale-blue eyes looking at the absolute carnage he had left in his wake.
On top of Frederica's corpse - which was still lying motionless amongst the rumble with a small, frozen smile on her lips - and the three still lying upstairs, Luka now had to add this new trio of bodies to his name. Sure, he technically hadn't killed them but in no way did that make him feel any better. Not when he quite literally had their blood on him.
He had never felt so far removed from being a Hero before.
Luka flinched once he heard a clatter come from the other side of the catacomb and looked to see Chrome standing in a daze from atop a casket. The young Hero spied the scalpel lying by her feet, the source of the clattering he had just heard. Considering the Necromancer's now empty hand and wide eyes, it seemed as though Luka's actions had sent her into something of a shocked stupor.
Not that he really cared, not at this point. Instead, Luka began to march towards Chrome with his sword in hand, more than ready to finish this. The Necromancer blinked, seeming to break from her haze upon realizing that she was the last moving target in the room. She swiftly bent down and retrieved her dropped scalpel, her hand visibly shaking as she pointed it at him.
"Y-You may have handled my Zombies so thoroughly, but you should really reconsider tr-trying to fight me. I may not look like much, but I'm no push-over..." Chrome said, somewhat frantically reaching into her shoulder bag with her free hand as she did. "...In fact, for your sake, I think that we should just call this off and pretend like none of this ever happened!"
At that, Chrome pulled out a very odd item. It appeared to be an old medical hacksaw, as the frame of the tool was square-shaped and had many small teeth on its bottom. Teeth that, from what Luka could see, were stained with blood. No doubt, the Necromancer had been using that same saw on these corpses when she experimented on them.
Something about that detail sent him over the edge.
Luka broke out into a sprint, rushing the coffin without any warning. He jumped up onto the coffin and knocked the scalpel out of Chrome's hands with a swipe of his sword, causing the Necromancer to fumble and fall off of the wooden casket with a yelp. The purple-haired boy did not let up, hopping off of the coffin and swinging Angel Halo down recklessly onto his retreating opponent.
Chrome was barely able to raise her hacksaw up to counter the attempted hit, Angel Halo clanging loudly against the medical instrument. But Luka did not let up, frenziedly swinging down onto the saw again and again until the frame buckled under the pressure, breaking in two. Chrome released the saw with a yelp, coming to a stop once the young Hero standing above her pointed the tip of his cursed sword at her.
"Do you really believe I'd just let you walk away now!?" Luka took a step forward, bringing his sword closer to Chrome's face as he did. "You've done too much evil here for me to turn a blind eye!" Chrome cowered away from the purple-haired boy, stumbling up to her feet as soon as she put a good bit of distance between the two.
Despite being altogether on the backpedal, Chrome found a bit of resolve as she bit back. "What are you going on about? Evil this and evil that!" She spat with purpose, "Like I already told you, they're nothing more than bags of flesh now that they're dead. Nothing more than puppets!" Chrome's words caused a roar of buzzing to fill the back of Luka's head, further aggravating his ire.
"SHUT UP!" Luka roared, his voice booming in the cramped catacomb and effectively silencing the Necromancer. "Just because they're dead, doesn't mean that they're open to being made into mindless slaves! They should be at rest, not here being used for your whims! Can't you see how they're suffering!?"
Chrome looked at Luka as though he had grown a second head, "Suffering? What are talking about?" She shot back, "They're all dead, they don't feel anything anymore."
Luka was quick to fire back, "Even if they don't feel anything, they still are aware of everything you make them do!" He pulled his sword away and aimed it at the lifeless body of Frederica, "Her soul was calling out to me when I first got here, she was begging me to free her from your control! If that isn't suffering, then what is it!?"
His words seemed to cause the Necromancer to pause, her glowing purple eyes glancing over to Frederica's unmoving corpse. For a moment, Chrome seemed to be considering what Luka was saying, but the purple-haired boy wasn't finished quite yet.
Luka pointed over to the other three corpses, "And if Frederica was like that, then I'd be willing to bet that all these others were aware of what was happening to them too!" He exclaimed, spurring the silent Necromancer to look over the three blonde-haired Zombies. "And by how similar they look; I'd be willing to bet that they were sisters. Think about how terrible it must have been for them to be like this together, when they should be at peace!"
Something more complicated flashed in Chrome's eyes as she looked over to the mangled corpses on the ground and, for a moment, Luka felt as though his words had made an impact on the girl. He watched her for a few seconds longer, waiting to see how she would respond. However, Chrome remained silent as her eyes moved to stare at the floor.
Slowly, the storm that had been raging inside the young Hero started to dampen and the buzzing that had been vibrating in his head went away. Luka glanced down at Angel Halo, cringing some as he saw the heinous amount of blood staining his sword. 'This has already gone way too far, I need to take control and do this like a Hero should.'
Easier said than done.
Luka bit his lip in thought, debating to himself exactly what to do now. Chrome seemed more or less pacified at the moment, but he couldn't - in good faith - just leave things like this. He wanted to give the girl the benefit of the doubt but that would be awfully hard, considering the events that had led up to this. After a few more moments of deliberation, Luka decided to give the Necromancer an ultimatum.
"If you promise not experiment on the dead anymore, then I'd be willing to let you go with a warning." Luka began while putting Angel Halo on his back. Chrome gave a small nod but did not look up at him, "I promise that I won't, you have my word." The young Hero watched the purple-eyed girl carefully for a few more moments, the last embers of his anger dwindling down now.
"Okay..." Luka started before thinking up another stipulation, "...And I want you to rebury these women, so they may be at peace again." The young Hero stressed, giving her one last hard glare. The Necromancer nodded again but said nothing, leaving the two in a brief silence. But this sudden hush in the air did not last long...
Rattle Rattle
Both Luka and Chrome looked over to one of the coffins lying on the floor across the room, just barely catching how the casket wobbled before coming to a stop. Neither of them said a word, both looking as confused as the other.
Luka turned to Chrome with a great deal of suspicion, "That had better not be another one of your Zombies..." The purple-haired boy trailed off, letting his own silence do the talking for him. He was a bit surprised though when Chrome started to vehemently shake her head, "No, that's not mine! I don't know what the heck that is!" She exclaimed with vigor.
This only helped to further confuse Luka, "Really? I'd think that you'd know everything that goes on here."
Chrome huffed at his comment, "I do! But that doesn't mean I control them all. For instance, that troublesome Ghost that floats through here from time to time isn't my doing, and same goes for that weird little Doll I see crawling around."
Luka took a pause upon hearing this, 'Well, those two not being Chrome's doing doesn't make up for much...' The purple-haired boy thought as he glanced over to the corpses, '...It's a start, but there's still quite a bit of work needed to fix what she's done here.'
Rattle Rattle
Again, the coffin shook, this time with just a little bit more force behind it. Luka turned his pale-blue eyes on the casket while slowly reaching for Angel Halo, "Well, let's go find out what it is, then..." The young Hero said as he began creeping up to the coffin. Chrome hesitantly followed, more out of curiosity than anything else. Together, they came within arm's length of the coffin, which was now actively shuddering.
Luka slowly reached out to the standing coffin's door, gripping the edge with a bloodstained glove. Even more carefully, he began to pull the door to reveal...
...Alice?
The lavender-skinned Lamia was curled up in her own tail, seemingly scrunched up as much as she could at the very back of the coffin. The Lamia shook, mumbling something incoherent as she rocked in place. The sight of his traveling partner in such a vulnerable position caused Luka to become quite upset, and he leaned in close to try to get her attention without provoking her.
"Alice?" Luka called out softly. The Lamia ceased her shaking and eventually started to unravel. As her red tail fell away, more and more of his traveling partner was revealed until he saw her face. Just as he was about to say something more, Alice's face widened in unbridled horror.
"WH-WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!?" Alice yelled, forcing both Luka and the onlooking Chrome to hop back some. At first, the purple-haired boy stammered as he tried to figure out just what his traveling partner was talking about until he realized that he must look like a mess.
A quick look down to his clothes all but confirmed it, as the front of his shirt and pants were stained with a mix of wet crimson blood from the Zombies he just fought, and the black clumpy blood from the Zombies upstairs. Luka couldn't help but wonder just how bad his face looked.
"W-Well," Luka started as he gestured to Chrome, "I was fighting these Zombies that this girl here made and-" Evidentially, this was more than what Alice needed to hear, as the Lamia's wide eyes narrowed in on the Necromancer. Alice then moved at a terrifying speed, slithering up to Chrome in what had to been quicker than a blink of an eye.
"So YOU are the one responsible for this!" Alice declared, her golden eyes glowing maliciously. Chrome started to stammer out something - anything - to save herself, but it was far too late. "U-U-Uh, you know, I-I-" The Necromancer never got the chance to explain herself, as Alice's massive red tail reared back and then swung back towards the purple-eyed girl.
THWACK
"WAWAAWAAAHHH!"
Luka winced as Alice's tail slapped Chrome across the face, the sheer force of the hit sending the screaming Necromancer flying across the catacombs until she landed flush against the wooden door of an upright casket. The door exploded into little pieces as Chrome smashed into it, the fragments shooting out from her impact.
A cloud of dust erupted from the now shattered coffin, the detritus blanketing the area around the violent collision.
"A-Alice, that may have been a bit much." Luka remarked, watching to see if Chrome was even moving from within the wreckage of the casket. Alice, however, did not seem to care a great deal about that. The Lamia scowled at the carnage she had just created, "Not enough, in my mind! I think I should've hit her HARDER!"
For a few moments, Luka was somewhat worried that Chrome had become injured, but the purple-eyed Necromancer finally stirred from within the waning dust cloud, shakily stepping out of the ruined coffin with a noticeable sway. Chrome's swirling purple eyes widened as they found Luka and Alice and she held out her hands defensively, "I'm sorry, okay! No more, no more!"
With that, the short Necromancer ran off to the other side of the catacombs, practically flying up the staircase leading out of the room.
Luka let out a great big sigh after Chrome disappeared, the effort only helping so much to alleviate his growing stress. Far too much had happened in the little time he had been there, and it was really beginning to catch up to him. If Luka was being honest, he felt like he was on the verge of having a meltdown, and he just wanted to get out of this demented place.
Alice glanced over at him, noticing the purple-haired boy's silence.
Indeed, Luka looked about as bad as he was feeling. On top of his ruined wardrobe, his face was a mess as well. His normally light skin was even more pale than usual, this being sickeningly offset by the blood marring his face. The one detail that, perhaps, bothered Alice the most was the freshly made cuts running down the right side of his face.
Everything else was already upsetting the Lamia, but something about the injury was getting under her skin in the worst way.
"Let's go, Luka." Alice eventually said, breaking the silence at last. The young Hero in question nodded, having no qualms with the decision. However, as they started to move for a stairway that opened up on the other side of the room, something began to manifest in front of their very eyes!
At first, it started as one of the yellow lights that had left the Zombies, but then it started to form the shape of a woman. More and more details became clear until the apparition started to take the shape of the girl Luka had seen in the picture upstairs.
"Frederica?" Luka exclaimed, staring up at the now normal-looking Human form of Frederica. The spirit gave Luka a soft smile. "Thank you, Hero. Your actions have freed not only me, but all of the lost souls that were trapped here as well." As she said this, seven more apparitions started to appear around Luka and Alice, those being the four Zombies he had fought upstairs and the three he had just defeated minutes ago.
Their images weren't quite as clear as Frederica's, but their skin was free from the blemishes that they once had, looking as healthy as a ghost could appear, at the very least.
"Many thanks, dear Hero." The one who had been wearing the dress said, floating up closer to the purple-haired boy. Her face shifted into something more apologetic, "We are sorry for assaulting you, please understand that our actions were not our own. Normally, none of us would make advances like that so abruptly."
The woman who had been wearing nothing but stockings before, now wearing what appeared to be a nightgown, quietly mumbled, "It was a bit nice, though, I must admit."
"H-Huh?" Luka stuttered, not quite knowing if he had caught that right. Before he could question further, the last remaining Zombie who had been the first to kiss him hurriedly butted in. "Nothing! Just the dead reminiscing on things meant for the living. Just know that we appreciate you saving us!"
To save himself the headache, Luka just nodded and let the matter drop. The three women then vanished, their souls finally being put to rest. Next, the three he had fought not too long ago drifted up to him. Their once-tattered robes and hoods were fully restored, and the two that had been missing an eye now had them back.
The youngest was the first to speak up, her still red eyes gleaming giddily despite the circumstances. "Oh, thank you, kind sir! Me and my sisters are finally free from the anguish of being Zombies!" Luka felt an odd mix of joy and sadness, his heart not being torn between feeling good for freeing them and bad for the terrible context of the situation itself.
"You're welcome, I hope that you and your sisters are able to move on to the afterlife." Luka said, but he was a bit surprised when the long-haired girl who had been missing her left eye shook her head. "Not quite yet, we quite like being ghosts. It will make practicing our witchcraft much easier, actually."
Luka stammered confusedly, "R-Really? You w-want to stay like this?" The older short-haired girl smirked, "Of course! We still have some mischief to get up to, you know. Especially with San Ilia being so close... fufufuuu!" She ended with a laugh, spurring the others to start rising into the air.
Luka tried to attempt to dissuade the three, but they had already flown up and out of the catacombs by the time he even opened his mouth. 'Might want to check in on that, I can't imagine that going well if left unattended.' As he thought this, the last spirit other than Frederica approached, this one being the sword-wielding Zombie he had dueled.
The woman's tunic was free from the blood and grime, helping to make her appear a bit statelier than she had been as a Zombie. She bowed deeply, the wisps of her once-red hair waving with the movement. "I owe to you my most amiable gratitude, young Hero..." She began, before raising back up to stand upright. "...Your actions have liberated me from the prison of my own flesh and bone. I wish that I could repay you adequately but as it seems, I haven't anything to give you."
The young Hero was taken aback by the impassioned speech and tried to wave her off as well, "That's not necessary, I was just doing what a Hero should."
Luka's words did little to deter the swordswoman, "There's no need to be humble, not many could have that kind of courage in such daunting circumstance. Even I would have my doubts, when I was still alive." The woman smiled, her pale-red eyes looking at him with fondness. "I do wish that I were still among the living, you'd be one that I would wish to cross swords with on more pleasant terms, if you don't mind my saying."
A more bittersweet look came to her face now, "Even in our brief scuffle, my vitiated mind was able to recall how I used to be. I could feel it, an inkling of what I once was breaking through the madness." Luka watched quietly as she paused, his face forming a frown as he watched her reminisce. "You had awakened the true me enough to spur my Zombified self to use Vacuum Slash in our fight. It has been so long since I had used that technique, it had been my favorite..."
The woman shook her head, her red hair waving lightly. "...Apologies, I have probably gone on for too long. Farewell, young Hero. May your journeys be pleasant, and your sword remain sharp." With that, the swordswoman disappeared, leaving Luka behind with a heavier weight on his heart.
Meanwhile, Alice looked as pale as her white hair, cold sweat falling profusely from her brow. However, the worst for the current Monster Lord had yet to come.
From the ground, many more vague outlines of people started to emerge. Their forms were much weaker, only giving the barest of details to their bodies. Luka watched on in shock as an innumerable drove of spirits surrounded the pair, their forms wafting like a candle under a calm breeze. They all spoke at the same time, drowning the young Hero in their words of appreciation.
Eventually, Frederica ascended up with them, making it to where all of the ghosts were now gone.
Luka sighed, "Ah, well now they can finally be at peace. Right, Al-..."
Thud
"...-ice?" Luka finished with a lift in his voice, turning to see his traveling partner now lying motionless on the ground. The purple-haired boy kneeled down, trying to get a look at the fallen Lamia.
'Did she really faint?' Luka mused, lightly nudging her with a hand. Alice did not move, much to Luka's concern. With little other choice, the young Hero deduced that he would have to carry his traveling partner out of this place. "Just have to be veeeery careful." He muttered to himself.
Luka began reaching down to cup his hands underneath Alice but paused right before touching her. His pale-blue eyes went to his black gloves, and he couldn't help but lament the fact that he had gotten blood on yet another pair. 'And so soon, too. Kitsu had helped me find these not that long ago.' The young Hero shook his head while taking off his gloves, rolling up his bloodied sleeves as well.
"Okay, here we go!" Luka said in an attempt to psyche himself up, slowly looping his hands beneath the Alice. Very carefully, the young Hero hoisted the Lamia up until she was hanging over his shoulder by her waist. As carefully as he could, Luka began walking her over to the staircase Chrome had run up earlier.
Luka wasn't sure which was worse: Having to balance Alice in such a precarious way on his shoulder while not stumbling, or trying to ignore the fact that his traveling partner's endowment was giving just the slightest bounce in the corner of his eye.
Actually, Luka did know which was worse. Because he was having much more trouble with one than the other, and he certainly hadn't tripped yet. In fact, the purple-haired boy was having an alarmingly difficult time trying to keep his gaze from sneaking a glance, which was very uncharacteristic for him.
'I shouldn't be peeping, period! Especially not when she's passed out like this.' Luka thought with a frown.
After a few minutes of very cautious stair climbing, Luka found himself back in the foyer. He gave the gaping hole in the ground a wide berth, carrying Alice to the front door of the mansion. It took a little bit of more complicated maneuvering, but Luka was able to pull the door open and step out onto the rickety porch.
The storm overhead had seemed to calm despite the darker clouds being present, as the lightning that had shaken the mansion was no longer crackling. Luka took a look around, trying to find if there was anywhere he could safely lay his traveling partner. Eventually, he settled on a soft-enough-looking hill of grass on the side opposite the mansion's cemetery.
Luka took his time bringing the lavender-skinned Lamia to the ground, sliding down to his own knees to gently deposit her onto the ground. He left her lying on her back and rose to stand over his traveling partner. Luka's gaze lingered on Alice's form for a moment, noticing that their position was uncannily similar to when he met her for the very first time.
Truly, that hadn't happened all that long ago. But it felt like an entire lifetime to Luka. How could it not, when so much had changed in so little time? Sometimes it was hard for him to remember that he was only sixteen.
Luka looked away from his traveling partner to gaze upon his blood-stained clothes, 'I certainly never thought back then, that I'd be doing things like this.' The purple-haired boy thought while frowning. He was able to pull himself from these thoughts after a moment and glanced over to the mansion. Luka's pale-blue eyes spied his traveling bag, which was still sitting where he had left it before entering the home.
Leaving Alice behind, Luka jogged up the mansion's facade and retrieved his bag, unzipping the top to gaze inside. After a few seconds of rifling, he found an extra pair of clothes and pulled them out, laying the articles on the floor before him.
"Hmmm..." Luka hummed, his expression turning troubled as he wondered how exactly he should go about changing into fresh clothing. He didn't really want to go searching for somewhere private to change inside the mansion, but he couldn't just change right there on the porch either...
...Or could he?
The thought was a bit terrifying, but Luka figured that if he could be quick, then he could avoid having to search for a washroom inside. After all, he didn't want to leave Alice unattended outside either. At least when he was out here, Luka could keep the Lamia in his direct line of sight.
Luka took a deep breath and kicked off his shoes before reaching down to his belt buckle. His fingers fidgeted around the metal piece before undoing it completely, pulling the belt off of his pants and letting it drop to the ground. Luka undid his pants with greater hesitation, feeling himself grow more unsafe as he pulled his pants off completely.
"Oh-ho, big bro~" A terribly familiar voice cooed from the side.
"EH!" Luka nearly jumped out of his skin at the noise, and he snatched his sword off his back to point it at the shattered window next to him. To his exasperation, the occupant of the window was the Doll girl he had faced twice inside the mansion.
"What do you want?" Luka asked pointedly, none of his usual pleasantries on display. Despite this, the edge in the young Hero's voice probably would have benefitted from him actually wearing pants, as the sight of him standing in just a shirt and his underwear didn't make for an intimidating sight.
The Doll floated down from the window frame, lightly billowing her kimono as she absentmindedly swayed her arms. "I just want to play with my big brother, why is that so wrong?" She asked with a frown. Luka fought the urge to sigh, "Because the game you want to "play" isn't one I can do."
"Why?" The Doll asked while blatantly looking down at Luka's groin. "Is it broken?"
"Wha- NO!" Luka exclaimed, reaching down to grab the new and unbloodied pair of pants he had laid out on the ground. "There is nothing broken!" The young Hero said while furiously covering his bottom half. The Doll's frown only grew at this, her purple eyes showing her lack of understanding.
With his modesty salvaged, Luka placed his hands on his hips and tried to figure out a way to navigate this. He didn't want to just brush the Monster away, especially since she was currently not hostile. 'Maybe if I could just reason with her, then I could resolve this a lot smoother than I had to so far here.'
It was a long shot, but Luka was willing to try if it meant avoiding more conflict. His already shaky emotional state had already faced enough gruesomeness today, trying something different here if possible, would definitely be more desirable. With this in mind, the purple-haired boy looked down at the waist-tall Doll with a gentler look in his pale-blue eyes.
"Look, the "games" you want to play aren't the type you do with random strangers. That's for more intimate situations that happen between someone you are very close with..." Luka paused, removing Angel Halo from his back so that he could switch out his shirt. "...And, eh, I'm pretty sure that siblings don't do those type of things together, either."
Or at the very least, Luka hoped that wasn't the case.
The Doll watched with curious eyes as Luka change shirts, using his already dirtied shirt to wipe off the blood and grime from his face. "How do big brothers play with their little sisters, then?" The Doll asked while taking a tentative step closer to Luka. The question somewhat stumped the young Hero for a moment. He didn't have any siblings himself, let alone a younger sister, so he didn't have any experience to go off of.
However, Luka had somewhat fantasized about having a sibling from time to time when he was younger, so it would be a lie if he said he didn't have any ideas...
Luka glanced over his shoulder to Alice, who was still lying unconscious on the ground. 'It's not like we're going anywhere quick, so I guess I could try and figure something out.' He thought before turning back to the Doll. Luka gave the Doll a small grin, "Well, it would probably be easier if I showed you."
The Doll's eyes widened with excitement, "Really, you'd do that for me?" She asked, bouncing lightly in place. Luka's grin widened just a touch, "Yeah, as long as you behave." The young Hero's grin faded as his expression turned stern, "But you need to fix your kimono if you want to play, there's no reason for your chest to be showing like that."
Luka's words only caused the Doll to giggle, "What, you don't wanna have even a little peek?~" She asked while raising her eyebrows. Luka shook his head. "No. Now, please..." The purple-haired boy said, giving her an expectant look.
The Doll huffed before adjusting her collar, making it to where her small breasts were adequately covered per Luka's request. Though she made sure to keep her cleavage in a very deep V, in the hopes that she could entice her "big brother's" pale-blue eyes to wander...
Pretty straightforward chapter, with just a couple twists here and there. Most notably, I deliberately made it to where Chrome was not aware of Frederica's pleas, as I felt that change helps make easier to redeem in contrast to the original game.
The biggest detail here though, is a slight look into how Luka is a touch more emotionally unstable. There will be more of this on display as we go along, but this is just a slight look into how you can expect that to work.
omegaqilin: Your theory is just about right in how I will be treating Angel Halo in this story.
For Undead Monsters, the effect is different because the soul is being stripped away from the body instead of being sealed into it. So, as the soul is released from the body it is keeping together, the body is left to basically fall apart and even Angel Halo's scarring effect is strong enough to cut it.
F14M3RZ: As I stated in my notes, expect these chapters to be a glimpse into how bad things will get later on. I feel like a broken record for how much I say it, but I plan on escalating things immensely.
And once we get to the Monster Lord's Castle, this story will become even darker.
dagolas: I applaud you for reading all of this that quickly, that must've been a considerable effort. I'm glad that Jeremiad has been that enjoyable for you.
As you said, I can't reveal much, but I have certain plans for the things you have mentioned already in mind. Especially for Eden, as she will be quite the important character in Luka's life in Heaven.