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Year 16 AL, Winds of Change Part Two: Turmoil Within the Tempest
Once Luka made it to where he had heard the crash and Claudia's yell, he found a very curious sight.
Off the shoreline of the running river, there was a large gaping hole in the dirt. One that looked a bit too perfectly circular to be naturally created, from the looks of it. Luka first spotted the Doll and Fell, who seemed to be oddly chummy with each other now despite how they had been at odds earlier.
Fluttering alongside them were two Fairies who were slightly smaller than Fell. These two seemed to be twins, as both had pale brown hair and had the same bright yellow eyes. To make things even more confusing, the twin Fairies wore the same type of see-through pink dresses as well.
Luka walked up from behind as the four floating Monsters pointed into the hole and laughed, apparently taking great amusement in the trapped Elf...
"I SWEAR WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE, I'M GOING TO USE YOU GUYS FOR TARGET PRACTICE!" Claudia yelled.
...Who didn't seem to be nearly as amused.
The young Hero strode up to the hole, the four little Monsters seeming to be too preoccupied with their captive entertainment to notice his approach. As he did, Fell turned to look at the two smaller Fairies fluttering beside her. "Wow, nice work Mil and Lil! I don't think I've heard big sis get this mad before!" The purple-haired Fairy exclaimed. The twin Fairies giggled at Fell's compliment and the flapped their little butterfly wings excitedly.
"We worked alllll week on it, big sister Fell!" One of the Fairies said, her statement quickly being followed up by her sister. "We dug it just like you showed us, and then we even went deeper!" The other said with a flutter in her cutey voice. Luka sighed as he neared the large hole, raising his voice to grab the attention of the four mischievous Monsters.
"What's going on here, exactly?" Luka asked, causing all of them to whirl around.
One of the twins - he couldn't quite tell which, yet - brightened as she saw him and looked to Fell with excitement, "Oh, is he big brother Luka? I like him, he's cute!" She called out, followed quickly by her twin. "Yeah, look at his hair! So dreamy~"
The young Hero kept moving forward until he was standing at the edge, peering down into the hole to see a fuming Claudia, as he had expected. The Elf's dull brown eyes widened, "Finally! Please help me out of here!" She pleaded, to which Luka nodded. "I will, just give me a moment..." The purple-haired boy said, glancing about the considerably deep pit.
"What!?" Fell exclaimed, flying around to frantically stop Luka. "You can't do that, she said she'd shot at us when she gets out!" Luka gently waved the purple-haired Fairy off, "Don't worry about that, I'll handle it." He said as he looked down to the Elf down below. Again, the young Hero noted how deep the hole was.
Claudia seemed to only come up to three quarters of the pit's height, leaving about a meter of height between her and the edge of the hole. 'Well jumping down in there with her definitely wouldn't really help...' Luka thought, before an idea came to him. He looked to the Doll, who stood to attention as he looked to her. '...It's a bit crude, but it should work.'
"Yes, big bro?" The Doll asked expectantly.
Luka nodded, "Yes, I need you to extend your hair down to Claudia so that I can help her climb out. Do you think you can do that?" The Doll floated down to the ground and planted her feet in the grass, shifting from foot to foot energetically. "I've never used it like that, but anything for big brother~" She said before her dark purple locks twitched and expanded, reaching down into the hole.
"Alright, Claudia, just grab a hold of her hair and I'll pull you up!" Luka instructed, watching as the Doll's hair snaked down to the Elf, who looked at the locks with a doubtful look. "Are you sure this can hold me?" Claudia asked.
The Doll met Luka's questioning gaze with a shrug and whispered, "I dunno, maybe?" The young Hero then turned and gave Claudia a somewhat confident thumbs up, "Sure it can! But we should probably be quick about is, just in case." The Elf grimaced as she grasped the Doll's hair, mirroring Luka as he did the same on his end. The hair grew taut when Claudia lifted her feet, planting them into the dirt of the hole's walls.
Luka strained a bit upon feeling the Elf's weight, slowly pulling back the Doll's hair as Claudia walked up in tandem. The Fairies looked on with varying degrees of worry, Fell in particular seeming to be particularly worried as the blonde-haired Elf finally came up from the pit. With a final grunt, Luka successfully pulled Claudia out of the hole. The Doll retracted her hair once Claudia was out, fluffing her hair back into place with a bit of grumbling.
Claudia huffed and nodded to the purple-haired boy, "Much appreciated, Luka..." She said thankfully, but her gaze soon turned vengeful as she faced the Fairies, "...Now, what to do with you three for making another hole trap?" She mused out loud, not-so-subtly reaching for her bow once more. The Fairies visibly cringed, but Luka stepped in and grabbed Claudia's arm in a gently but firm grip.
"Ehhh, let's not go that far." He said pointedly, lowering the Elf's arm away from her weapon.
"However," Luka quickly added, aiming a hardened look at the guilty Fairies. "I do think that some apologies are in order. You shouldn't be digging traps like that. What if Claudia had gotten seriously hurt from falling down there? And even worse, what if I wasn't here to help get Claudia out if she was hurt? Things might've ended up a whole lot worse than how they did."
Luka's reprimanding seemed to do the trick, as all three of the Fairies seemed to take some shame in their actions. The three Fairies frowned and faced the blonde-haired Elf and spoke in unison, "We're sorry, big sis Claudia." They apologized, bowing their heads as they did.
Claudia placed a hand on her hip and hummed, "Hmm, well that's a surprise." She noted, quickly turning to give Luka a smile. "I won't lie, I'm pretty impressed. These three in particular are difficult to set straight, even on the best of days." Claudia remarked, giving Fell another pointed look, "Some being worse than others."
Luka smiled, "Well thank you," He said, purposely ignoring the Elf's last comment for the sake of everyone. "Now, eh, I think that it would probably be best if we continued on, right? I do still want to meet Sylph as quick as possible." The purple-haired boy finished, to which Claudia replied in earnest. "Of course, let us move on."
With a nod Luka and Claudia began leading the group, though the young Hero was quickly met by the twin Fairies of Mil and Lil, who fluttered right in front of his face. At this distance, Luka could now tell a faint difference between the two. This being the fact that one had slightly shorter hair than the other, her pale brown locks barely touching her shoulders while the other's hair fell a bit past her shoulders.
"Hey, can we go with you too, big bro?" The one with the longer hair asked with a smile. From behind her, the one with the slightly shorter hair clapped her hands together and gave Luka a hopeful smile, "Oh pleeease big brother Luka? We'll be good, we promise!" The young Hero - who was pretty sure that he hadn't given either of these two permission to also call him big brother - bit the inside of his mouth while mulling over the Fairies' question.
Now Luka certainly didn't have an issue with these two, but to add two more Monsters to his already considerable entourage seemed a bit excessive at this point. Before he could try to dissuade them though, the Twin Fairies of Mil and Lil seemed to have already expected some resistance and were staring at him with very effective puppy-dog-like eyes.
And so, in spite of the fact his mind was telling him that it was an awful idea, Luka gave them a nod. It was a hesitant nod, but a nod all the same. "I guess that you can, as long as you mind your manners. Okay?" Luka said carefully.
Neither Mil nor Lil actually confirmed that they would behave, instead letting out tandem squeals of celebration before flying over to Luka and sitting on either of his shoulders. With this new arrangement in place the young Hero continued on alongside the river, briefly feeling another odd chill hit his body. However, something about this one hit him in a different way. For whatever reason, it made him feel very...
...Upset.
"Are you cold, big brother? You're shaking like a leaf." The twin Fairy on his right shoulder said, he observation being followed up by the Fairy on his left. "If you let us go into your pants, we'll make sure you stay reeeeally warm~" Luka sighed and shook his head, "N-No, I'm fine." He replied, his denial of their advance eliciting a disappointed pout from the twin Fairies.
They seemed as if they were about to press further, but their advances were cut off by Claudia. "Mil and Lil! Don't trouble Luka with lewd offers like that, you know better!" Claudia quickly reprimanded, the twin Fairies frowning as she gave them a stern talking-to. "Behavior like that is not becoming."
Luka smiled as he was about to thank the Elf but to his dismay, Claudia's lecture quickly devolved from there.
"U-Unless, of course, Luka wanted one of us to pleasure him." She continued, her dull-brown eyes looking just a bit too excited while she kept rambling. "Th-Then I suppose that there would be no choice, and so I would have to-..." The Elf paused, noticing Luka's questioning look, "...-I mean, somebody would have to satiate him."
Luka said nothing in reply, simply grabbing his forehead with his free hand and planting his walking stick into the ground with the other. "N-Nevermind, let's just keep going!" He said, moving on and following the river once more. Again, however, Claudia apparently could not stop herself, trying vain to justify her perverted thoughts.
"All I'm just saying is if you needed a release, that helping you would be the only responsible course of action!" Claudia called out, rushing just a bit too quickly to catch up. "H-Hypothetically, I mean!"
Slink, thud.
Slink, thud.
Slink, thud.
The steady rhythm of Lamiaroid's shambling footsteps echoed through the hallway, the sound eliciting a similar reaction from both Doppel and Assassinroid. Both of them cringed, though the Chimera's was more out of intense hatred while the purple-haired girl's was from the dull throbbing of her hip.
Lamiaroid herself noticed this reaction, but the wicked grin forming on her face was not due to this observation. Instead, it was forming due to the small tidbit of information that La Croix and Promestein's conversation had unintentionally given her. And by all means, Lamiaroid would take advantage of this.
The Lamia Chimera craned her grotesquely long neck to eye Assassinroid, "Sssssoooo, my friend, do you want to hear something truly interesssssting?" Lamiaroid asked. Her fellow Chimera said nothing, firmly keeping her magenta eyes locked forward. Doppel frowned, very purposefully moving away from the other two.
"Fufufuu, come on, don't you wanna know what I heard about..." Lamiaroid took a deep breath before whispering out, "...Lukaaaaa?" Both Assassinroid and Doppel tensed up, albeit for immensely different reasons.
Without being spurred on, the Lamia Chimera gladly continued. "I heard from our Masters themselves, that your favorite lil' boy is just outside these labs right now, prancing about in the Forest of Spirits. What do you think of that, Assassinroid?"
Lamiaroid slunk over, getting very close to the other Chimera now.
"I reaaaaally want to know. Come on, is that not frussssstrating?" The awful Monster hissed out. However, Assassinroid remained firm. Doppel, on the other hand, felt more and more uneasy as the conversation about her Father went on.
Lamiaroid continued, "After all, you were so close to breeding with him, weren't you? I know you think about it every night." The Chimera sighed in a mockingly passionate way, "Ahhhh, so close but you fell just short!"
Assassinroid's ear twitched.
"...I heard it myself. You never even got that farrrrr, did you? No, you only got a sssssample, a whiff of the bouquet. But when you had your chance, you blew it." Lamiaroid spat, her mocking tone growing more and more devious by the second. Doppel clutched her knife tighter on instinct, feeling both fear and anger rising inside of her over what was happening right now.
The fear was expected, as Doppel was sure that Lamiaroid's unyielding and depraved comments would spur on a fight, but the anger was unexpected. The purple-haired girl couldn't say exactly why, but Lamiaroid's increasingly lewd remarks towards her Father was causing Doppel to shake even worse than she had been before when fighting Assassinroid.
Assassinroid herself was putting up a resolute effort to mask how much Lamiaroid's comments were affecting her, but her fellow Chimera seemed to be particularly determined to get her to crack under pressure.
The trio made it to a fork in the hallway, the leftmost hall leading to the living quarters while the one on the right lead to an area Doppel had never gone down before. Lamiaroid chuckled, "Why don't you make a run for it, Assassinroid? Eh?" The Chimera asked while nodding down the hall on the right. "You'd have just a few minutesssss, but why not take the chance? Maybe you'd get lucky and find Lukaaaaa right away, so that you could mount him to your heart's content!"
Doppel glared at the back of Lamiaroid's head, but the Chimera was too preoccupied with Assassinroid - who was now actively gritting her teeth in anger - to notice.
Assassinroid hurriedly cut across and went down the left hall, leaving Doppel and a cackling Lamiaroid to follow suite. The purple-haired girl glanced back to the other hallway and she couldn't help but wonder. Lamiaroid had seemed to imply that this hallway led to this place's exit, its escape.
Which was very much so enticing to Doppel.
"Doppy, come on now, don't be lagginnnnng behind!" Lamiaroid cooed, bringing the purple-haired girl's attention back to the Chimeras. However, Doppel made sure to keep that accidentally slip of information that Lamiaroid just gave at the back of her mind as she followed after her.
Eventually, the trio met another break in the maze-like hallways, this one being one that Doppel was more familiar with. The intersection led to two different dark hallways, the one on the left being the one Assassinroid came from while the one on the right was the one that Doppel's room was at. Without any pleasantries, Assassinroid scampered off down her hallway in a flash, her normally quiet steps echoing through the hallway in a clamor.
"Awww, guess I got her all worked up! Fufufuuu..." Lamiaroid chuckled, turning to face Doppel now. "...Guess that leaves just me and you, eh Doppy?~" The Human-Monster Hybrid did not respond to this, partly because she just didn't like Lamiaroid but also because she despised the nickname. Wordlessly, Doppel turned and began heading towards her own room as the Lamia Chimera behind her followed.
Unfortunately for Doppel, Lamiaroid was still looking for entertainment.
"Do you know what Assassinroid is going to do when she reaches her chambersssss, Doppy?" The Chimera asked. Doppel, not caring to know the answer but also knowing that Lamiaroid would give one anyways, just shook her head. The Chimera craned her head down to get closer to the purple-haired girl, "I'll tell you what she's going to do: She's going to drive herself mad, fantasizing about fucking your Fatherrrrrr."
Doppel tensed up at this; a mistake, as it spurred Lamiaroid to go into further detail.
"Oh yes, I've caught her before. It's how I know that she can speak some, though not a lot..." Lamiaroid giggled again before elaborating, "...It's always the same thing. If I'm quiet enough when I sneak down there, I can hear her pathetic panting as she moans out Luka's name oveeer and oveeeeer and oveeeeeeeer..."
Again, Doppel tensed up and the first holding her knife began to shake.
"...It is quite sad," Lamiaroid continued as she came closer, "That someone who used to be regarded as one of La Croix's most effective killing machinesssss, has been reduced to acting like a bitch in heat so easily!" Doppel finally had heard enough and very quickly stuttered out, "S-Stop saying that, please."
"Ohhh!" Lamiaroid exclaimed in faux surprise. "Has little Doppy finally grown a spine? You usually are so quiet and demurrrrrrre. What brought this on, now?" The Lamia Chimera asked. Then, before Doppel could even reply, Lamiaroid clicked her tongue as she "realized" something. "Ooo, I think I knooooow..." She muttered, silently laughing to herself as they finally reached the door of Doppel's chambers.
However, Lamiaroid did not make any move towards the door. Instead, she fixed her unblinking magenta eyes into Doppel.
Slink, thud.
"Is the idea of your Father rutting with Assassinroid bothering you, Doppy?" Lamiaroid asked pointedly. Doppel replied pointedly, "Y-Yes, it does. Please stop." Unfortunately for the purple-haired girl, Lamiaroid's perverted mind quickly moved to twist this confession into something more depraved.
Slink, thud.
"Awww, little Doppy doesn't want her Daddy making any more babies with Assassinroid? Is that it? Or..." The Lamia Chimera trailed off while she stomped closer, forcing Doppel to step back. "... Is it jealousy?" Lamiaroid's perverted question immediately caused the purple-haired girl to flinch back in revulsion. "Jealousy? Why would you think-"
"-Oh, don't play coy, Doppy!" Lamiaroid cut in with a laugh, stepping even closer. "Look at your face, is that a blush I sssssssee? Awww, does lil' Doppy really just want Daddy all to herself? What a sick little girl you are!"
Doppel shook as Lamiaroid's off-putting teasing causing her anger to boil over. "No, Sh-Shut up! Y-You're the one who's sick for thinking that!" The Lamia Chimera laughed again as Doppel shook even more fiercely, "Fufufuuu, you are so precious. The quivering in your voice betrays you, Doppy..." Lamiaroid teased again, taking another step closer.
The trembling in Doppel's hand grew stronger by the second, her rusted knife shaking intensely in her hand. Lamiaroid's twisted interpretation of Doppel's feelings causing a great well of disgust to grow inside of her. She had no idea where Lamiaroid's sudden fixation on her was coming from, but Doppel was starting to feel her hatred for this Monster grow larger as this uncomfortable situation went on.
The purple-haired girl gritted her teeth as the Chimera took yet another step closer, however she did not back away this time.
"...Tell me the truth, Doppy. Are you like Assassinroid, pawing yourself at night while thinking about him? Do you hope that one day you can find your Daddy and tempt him to fuck his own Daughter!?" Lamiaroid mused. The sheer depravity of the Chimera's words enraged Doppel, the mockery Lamiaroid was making of her being too much for her to ignore now.
But what the Lamia said next, forced her over the edge.
Lamiaroid's warped grin grew even wider, and her magenta eyes sparkled with glee. "What a dirty little Daughter you are, wanting to be impregnated by your own Father!" Something inside of Doppel snapped upon hearing this, and the purple-haired girl could no longer contain her rage. That, is when a sudden power burst forth from Doppel, one that she had unknowingly inherited from Luka.
"Demon Decapitation!"
Lamiaroid's magenta eyes flared in surprise as she did not realize what Doppel was doing until it was far too late. In the split-second it took the purple-haired girl to leap forward, her long rusted knife slashed across Lamiaroid's throat and ripped open the exposed flesh. The Chimera screeched and stumbled backwards whilst clutching her throat, the dark blood gushing from between her mechanical fingers.
Doppel jerked as she felt the pain in her fractured hip reawaken, barely registering as Lamiaroid's blood splattered against her face.
A gasp coming from Doppel's throat as she flew past the Chimera and landed on the ground, her body now feeling as though it was on fire. Despite the severity of her pain, Doppel was able to glance back at Lamiaroid. Her pale-blue eyes widening as they caught sight of the Chimera stumbling unevenly to the side, having no other choice but to smash back first into the hard stone wall and slide to the floor.
For a moment, Doppel stood frozen, unable to look away as Lamiaroid thrashed madly. The Chimera was frantically screaming something unintelligible, her hoarse voice echoing terribly throughout the halls of the Biolabs. But then, Doppel realized something:
She now had nobody stopping her from escaping.
Doppel grimaced in pain as she pushed herself off the ground and hobbled away, hearing as Lamiaroid let out harsh wet coughs. But the Chimera could not stop Doppel, as she was too busy trying to keep herself from suffocating on her own blood.
The purple-haired girl turned the corner, her pale-blue eyes practically sparkling with hope as the distance between herself and Lamiaroid grew. Doppel ignored the pain in her still fractured hip, not caring in the slightest about it...
...For it paled in comparison to how happily Doppel's heart thumped in her chest, as she drew closer and closer to freedom!
At this point, the river Luka and his party had been following had condensed into a small stream, one that at points was nearly hidden by the ever-increasing thicket of plant life they were traveling through.
Luka felt a rising excitement build up inside as he stepped through the tall grass, his heart racing quicker now than it had before. The young Hero could feel something in the air changing and it was drawing him closer like a beacon, almost as if he could feel the Wind Spirit's power flowing through the air itself. It pushed him to continue on, even as the foliage steadily grew thicker.
Briefly glancing over his shoulder, Luka took note of the Monsters trailing behind him.
Fell, Mil, and Lil - the latter two having left his shoulders earlier - were currently playing catch with an acorn. His pale-blue eyes moved over to the Doll and Claudia, the Elf having been showing off her homemade arrows to the smaller Monster. Luka couldn't help but smile at the sight before turning his attention ahead once more, just as he was met with a wall of trees and bushes.
Luka reached up and gently tugged on a large branch, the action revealing to him the heart of the Forest of Spirits.
The first thing Luka noted, was that the river that they had been following did indeed end here as it formed a small little pond in the middle of the clearing. The water rippled calmly as it rolled into the estuary, its surface looking to be as clear as a mirror otherwise. Luka also noted that the plant life here seemed to be the greenest as it could possibly be, their leaves being a magnificent emerald hue.
As nice as this was though, he wasn't here to appreciate the plant life. Luka was just about to step into the clearing, before he considered the sheer number of Monsters following him. He hesitantly turned to face the five, who looked at him expectantly.
"Eh, you know, you guys should probably hang tight back here while I talk to Sylph. You can watch if you want, but I really think I should handle this by myself." He said. Claudia and the Fairies murmured various agreements to his request as they didn't have an issues with this, but the Doll was quick to stomp her small foot into the grass. "No way, I wanna go with you, big bro!" The Doll said with a pout.
Luka fought back a sigh and slowly replied, "I'll only be a little bit, I'm sure." He knelt down until reaching eye-level with the Doll. "Please..." The young Hero paused for a moment, his mind heavily debating whether he should actually say what he was about to say. "...Can you do that for your big brother?"
If the Doll had a heart, it would've just skipped a beat.
"O-Oh, okay..." She replied lamely, having to use a hand to keep her hair kempt as it began to twitch uncontrollably. Luke gave the Doll a smile that looked suspiciously like a grimace before he rise to his feet once more. "Then I'll be right back!" He exclaimed, turning to enter the heart of the Forest of Spirits.
Luka broke through the underbrush, stepping out into the clearing with purpose. The young Hero as he paced towards the pool of water. He took a glance around, briefly wondering if he should call out to the Wind Spirit but this would soon be proven unnecessary.
"Huh, what's this, a Human?" A light voice pondered out loud, its owner fluttering down from the canopy and into view. "What type of business do you have here?" The small figure asked, a light breeze lulling around the clearing as she descended.
The small Monster looked to be about the same size as the Doll but was most definitely a Fairy. This much Luka could tell from her odd pale-green wings that lightly flapped as she hovered before him.
Her face was soft and childlike, and her large yellow eyes peered curiously from between her lengthy white hair. She was adorned in a light-green dress that parted as the cloth fell past her hips, the loose fabric swishing around her bare legs. On her arms and legs were similarly colored gloves and knee-high boots, completing the Monster's overall winsome appearance.
"Are you Sylph, by chance?" Luka asked, taking a step forward as he did. Sylph gave the young Hero a playful wink and replied, "Yup, that's me! But who are you and what do you want? If you came this far, you must need something from me." She said, lightly kicking a foot up.
Luka gripped his walking-stick somewhat nervously and quickly bowed before replying, "My name is Luka, and I am here to ask for your blessing to borrow the power of Wind. I am a Hero, and so I will need your strength to defeat the Four Heavenly Knights, get to Hellgondo, and then face the Monster Lord." He proclaimed in earnest.
Sylph raised a gloved hand to her chin and hummed, her yellow eyes looking over him in appraisal. "Hmmm, is that so? It's been a very looong time since a Human has come here asking for my powers..." The Wind Spirit mused. She squinted at the young Hero a bit closer, taking note of his purple hair and blue eyes. "...Huh, you kinda look like him too." She mumbled to herself.
The Fairy of Wind briefly contemplated that fact that the purple-haired boy before her looked suspiciously akin to a certain purple-haired man, but she quickly waved it away. "So, before anything else, I must consult the Winds to see what they say about you!" Sylph proclaimed.
With an energetic flap of her wings, Sylph flew away from Luka and came to hover above the pond. She lifted a hand to her mouth to clear her throat, before outstretching both of her hands and opening them palm-out. Wordlessly, she hovered there for a moment, a light breeze starting to blow through the clearing once more as she did so.
"Uh-huh, uh-huh..." Sylph grunted to herself, nodding as she did. Luka shuffled nervously from foot to foot, feeling the Wind wrap around himself now. Then, the Wind started to pick up some, actively tossing both his own hair alongside Sylph's. "...Woah, okay okay, slow down." The comment spurred Luka to lean in a bit closer, his face scrunching up in concern.
The Wind grew stronger, its power distorting the water and shifting the branches of the nearby trees. "Hey, would ya give me a-" Sylph's voice was drowned out by a particularly strong wind. "-Quiet down, I can't understand all of that at the same time!" The Wind Spirit yelled in frustration. Luka was started to become very worried now, his pale-blue eyes looked around and watched the trees sway in the gale that was building.
"ONE AT A TIME, PLEASE!" Sylph screamed, visibly putting a good deal of effort in keeping herself steady. "THIS ISN'T HELPI-IIEEEH!" The Wind Fairy's complaint was cut mid-word as the Wind suddenly blew upwards, causing her dress to shoot upwards.
"O-Oh!" Luka exclaimed, quickly covering his eyes after getting a glimpse of Sylph's light-green underwear. The Wind Fairy angrily forced her dress back down, only able to do so now that the Wind had died down.
"Jeez, don't ya think that was a bit much!?" Sylph yelled out in annoyance, frantically flattening down her dress before facing Luka once more. The purple-haired - and somewhat red faced - but eventually uncovered his eyes, vainly attempting to not think about what he just saw. "Wh-What all did the W-Wind say?" Luka asked, eyeing Sylph expectantly as she hovered close again.
"It confirmed for me that you wouldn't use my powers for evil, but then it started getting all crazy towards the end." Sylph said with a befuddled look on her face. Luka raised an eyebrow at her comment, "Crazy?"
Sylph nodded, "Yeah, the Wind started telling me a whole lot of stuff all at the same time. Which is weird, since it doesn't usually freak out like that." The Wind Fairy said. This spurred Luka to take another step forward, "Uh, if you don't mind me asking, what all did it say?"
Luka's question caused Sylph to huff, "Waaaaay too much. I only caught bits and pieces of it but for instance..." The Spirit of the Wind held up a hand as she listed off some things, "...The Wind told me that you're a bit gullible but good-hearted, that you believe in coexistence, and that you have a very active and complicated love life-"
The last detail made Luka sputter, "H-Hey, don't just say that out loud!" He cried in dismay, but Sylph moved to the other hand in order to keep listing out things despite his pleas.
"-The Wind also told me that you have deep-seeded and unresolved traumas, that you have memory issues, that you're constantly in danger..." The Wind Spirit paused, dropping her hands to give Luka a somewhat confused look. "...But there's one thing the Wind kept saying at the end, something really weird."
Sylph fluttered a bit closer, "...The Wind kept saying to be wary of those who claim to care for you." Luka froze, practically every muscle in his body clenching up as he heard this. Yet again, his mind was brought back to the cryptic message he had been given by that ruby-haired woman back at the mansion.
"Not all of those who watch over you, are looking out for you..."
It wasn't quite the same as what Sylph had just said to him, but Luka could not ignore how similar they were. The fact that these two completely unrelated sources had delivered him strikingly foreboding warnings just didn't sit well with Luka. Nothing about it made any sense to him, but it certainly made him feel ill at ease.
'How could they be talking about the same thing? There's no way that it happened by happenstance!" Luka thought; however, the true nature of these warnings were lost on Luka now.
Before he could ponder this further, the young Hero was broken from his brief stupor as Sylph continued with a smile. "Hey, if it makes you feel better, the Wind definitely seems to think that you are worthy of wielding its power!" Luka did indeed feel his spirits brighten just a touch at this revelation, but his smile was somewhat forced. "That's great! So, erm, how do you give me this power, exactly?"
To his bewilderment, Sylph immediately shook her head. "Nope, can't just give it to ya on a silver platter!" She said, only furthering Luka's confusion. He tilted his head as he asked, "But, you said that the Wind found me worthy?"
Sylph placed her hands on her hips as she elaborated, "I did say that, buuuuut, ya still gotta prove your resolve to me. I can't give away my powers to people just 'cause their heart is in the right place, there's more to it than that. You have to put in some work to show you have the determination to not only wield my power, but to master it as well!"
Luka's pale-blue eyes gleamed in understanding, "I see, alright then..." He started, raising his head up high to meet Sylph's gaze with vigor. "...Whatever it is I need to do, whatever test you have for me, I'm ready!" His words elicited a cocky grin from Sylph, who removed her hands from her hips and clamped them together. "Then you best be ready, for your test is a duel with yours truly!"
Sylph twisted her hands around in preparation to pop her knuckles while saying, "I hope for your sake that you came prepared, Hero Luka! As one of the Four Spirits, I am one of the fiercest opponents that you will ever face-"
Crack
The sound of the bones in Sylph's knuckles popping cut through the air loudly, highlighting the terrible pain she had just clumsily afflicted onto herself. Luka faltered as a silence fell between them, the Wind Spirit seemingly frozen in place now. Then, Sylph finally reacted.
"Wawawahhh!" Sylph cried out as she unclasped her hands, staring at them with pain-filled eyes. Luka moved to the Wind Fairy with a great deal of concern, "Sylph, are you alright?" He asked, carefully reaching out to her with a hand.
Sylph pulled away, "O-Of course I am! A g-great Spirit like me isn't so easily bested..." She weakly proclaimed, though the tears that ran down her cheeks didn't really convince Luka of her words. Sylph huffed for a few moments before her pain started to fade and she returned to normal, "...Now, l-let's get back to our duel then!" She said, wiping away her tears in an attempt to save face.
Luka nodded halfheartedly and let his walking-stick fall to the side, "As long as you're ready..." He replied, reaching back with his left hand and gripping Angel Halo tight. The purple-haired boy pulled his still-bloodstained sword off of his back and pointed it at Sylph. "...Then I am-"
"-EEHH!" Sylph yelped, her small hand pointing at Luka's sword. "Why is your sword covered in blood!?" She exclaimed in horror.
Luka cringed at the Wind Spirit's yelling, his battle-ready stance quickly falling away as he frantically tried to explain himself. "Now I-I know it looks bad but, you see, I fought these Zombies about an hour ago, and, well-" Sylph furiously shook her head, "-Nope, don't wanna know all that scary stuff! Just go wash it off!" She yelled, pointing to the small pond beside them.
"Alright, okay, no need to yell so much." Luka said, awkwardly stepping away to kneel at the grassy shoreline. He then slowly started to dip Angel Halo into the water, noticing in confusion that the sword started to shake a bit in his grasp. Luka, being aware of what could - and probably would - happen here, turned to Sylph with a look of equal parts hesitation and embarrassment.
"N-Now, you should know that my sword tends to, erm..." Luka took a moment to force the word out of his throat, "...M-M-Moan. I don't know how to stop it, so I figured that I'd just tell you that." The young Hero warned. He quickly looked back down to Angel Halo, watching as some of the blood caking its blade was already floating off. Luka steeled himself, trying to be optimistic about how this will go.
'Maybe Angel Halo won't make lewd noises this time if I ask it?' Luka thought hopefully. He leaned down close and whispered, "Hey, Angel Halo, can you please, please, not make any suggestive noises? Just this one time? I'd reeeeally appteciate it." In the hopes that his appeal would bear fruit, Luka reached down and started to rub at the bloodstains.
"Ooo-Ohh~"
Luka flinched as even the breeze that had been blowing through went silent. The young Hero gulped, trying to ignord the fact that he could feel Sylph's eyes on him. He shakily started caressing the cursed sword once more. For a few seconds, Luka was able to continue cleaning Angel Halo without hearing its moans, but once his fingers started rubbing around the miniature Angels on the blade, things got much worse.
"Ahhh, L-Lukaaa~"
"Gah!" Sylph suddenly shouted. Luka yelped and looked over to the Wind Spirit, watching as she frantically covered her ears, "Five minutes! I'll be gone for five minutes, so you better be finished when I get back!" She said before shooting back uo into the canopy. Luka sighed and looked back down to Angel Halo with a growimg sense of shame. Just as the he thought that things couldn't get any worse though.
Splash
The sudden crashing of water made Luka jump, his pale-blue eyes flying to the side to see...
"Heeey, big bro~" The Doll cooed, sitting partially submerged - and fully naked - in the water beside him. "So, when's my turn to be all rubbed down and polished up?~" She asked with a quick shimmy of her shoulders, giving Luka the widest grin she could muster.
Luka, on the other hand, just stared blankly at the naked Doll. After a few moments, the purple-eyed Monster's smile faded away. "Not gonna happen, is it?" She asked, to which the young Hero finally offered a reply. "...Please dry off, and put your clothes back on."
The Doll sighed in defeat, "Well, it was worth a shot. Can't blame me for trying." She said, glumly floated out of the water and disappearing back into the treeline behind the purple-haired boy. Luka lightly shook his head and thought, 'I need to get out of this Forest as soon as possible.'
Luka opted to continue to clean his lewd sword, creating a ghastly little cloud of red in the water before him while doing so. All the while, the young Hero felt his body tremble uncontrollably. Luke frowned, the sensation beginning to really bother him now...
The initial high of getting the better of Lamiaroid had tapered away for Doppel by now, the pain in her fractured hip having caught up to her by now. The purple-haired girl lamented how she had to slow her sprinting down to a light jog and this wasn't helped by the fact that Doppel had no idea how much farther she had until she could find her escape.
Doppel rounded another corner, seeing a large intricate wooden door at the other end of the hallway. The Human-Monster Hybrid perked up, her energy renewing at this change in comparison to the maze-like halls she had been trying to navigate.
The purple-haired girl nearly slammed into the door, grabbing its large handle and pulling it back. The large wooden door creaked awfully but Doppel kept at it until she had wrenched the door open, her heart leaping in her chest as she found herself in what appeared to be a foyer.
The gray stone of the walls and floors were more defined and there were even some nice throw rugs lying on the floor. The complex patters and vibrant colors of the rugs almost comically betraying how horrifying the place truly was.
Doppel wasted no time in hobbling through the door, entering deeper into the foyer and passing by a stone-fashioned staircase. She held her knife in her left hand while clutching her right hip with her other one. Doppel's labored steps hit the rug-covered stone hard, her feet undoubtedly having to have blisters at this point. But that didn't matter, not when she was so close...
...But yet, so far.
The purple-haired girl didn't hear Assassinroid follow through the doorway behind her, but she sure did feel the Chimera tackle her from behind. Doppel screamed out in pain as her hip was reaggravated by the fall, the sounds of their tumbling filling the otherwise silent foyer.
Doppel frantically start fighting back in any way she could; she kicked and punched and even attempted to bite at her assailant, herself and the Chimera rolling over each other until they were eventually forced to separate. The purple-haired girl rushed to stand up in the middle of the room after the break, Assassinroid having already done so as she blocked the final doorway between Doppel and her freedom.
"You..." Doppel hissed, her quivering hands coming together to clutch her bloodstained knife tightly. "...G-Get out of my way, N-NOW!" She yelled. Assassinroid snarled in reply, crouching down and getting on all fours to guard the front door.
The two stared each other down, Doppel's steeled pale-blue eyes meeting the fiery magenta eyes of Assassinroid. The mutual animosity that had been building between the two was almost tangible now as they faced off, the air itself being thick with the tension. Then the tension finally broke as Assassinroid flew forward, Doppel being only a step behind.
The two clashed in the middle of the room, Doppel's knife striking against Assassinroid's large claws to begin the purple-haired girl's desperate struggle for freedom.
And here it is. Luka - after cleaning Angel Halo - will strive to prove himself worthy of Sylph's power while Doppel fights to unite with her Father. This should prove to be interesting...
...As an aside, I did move some things around here in the order of which Luka encounters some Monsters in the Forest of Spirits. Some Faires A-F will be encountered after Luka acquires Sylph's powers.
F14M3RZ: Alstroemeria is still okay because it is in his Monster journal as a bookmark, so no need to worry about that.
I think the craziness suffices, though it will be getting even crazier soon. As for Doppel, her connection with Luka is only growing and it will have a decent impact on the story moving forward.
omegaqilin: La Croix did offer Assassinroid a chance with Luka, but that is under the stipulation that she is able to properly train Doppel. That, and this would only be "possible" much later on. Either way, this is mostly La Croix using Assassinroid's anomalous desire for Luka to her own advantage.
Remember as well that Promestein actually had asked La Croix to wipe the Chimera of her memories of her time with Luka, which did not actually happen, either.
dagolas: Doppel will continue to inherit skills from Luka as time goes on, though this will end up making herself very interesting to La Croix. Which, in turn, will end up being very problematic for Doppel.
I wanted a good in-between for Sylph as I wanted her to be a lovable airheaded, but still also be helpful to Luka.