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Year 16 AL, Winds of Change Part Three: DREADFUL GALES
Disclaimer:
Explicit gore ahead.
Nothing written is condoned, only meant for storytelling purposes.
Read at your own discretion.
After a very awkward and vaguely sensual cleaning of Angel Halo, Luka returned with purpose back to where Sylph had wanted to duel. Not long after he returned, Sylph appeared before him and immediately started peering at his cursed sword.
"Well, it's a little bit less ugly now..." She observed, "...Anyways, back to business!" The Wind Spirit shouted with vigor.
Sylph fluttered around, excitement dancing in her large yellow eyes, "In order to gain my blessings and wield the power of Wind, you must land single blow on me!" She proclaimed.
The rather simple nature of the Fairy's challenge caused Luka to peer at her quizzically, "Just a single blow?" He asked, subconsciously itching at the cuts he had gotten on his cheek during his time in the Haunted Mansion.
"Oh-ho-ho!" Sylph exclaimed while kicking out her curl-toed boots, "It may seem simple, but you'll quickly find how impossible it is to hit the Master of the Winds!"
Luka took the statement with a good deal of consideration, 'That does make sense. As the Spirit of Wind, she surely must be very swift.' He figured, quickly readying his stance to match what he assumed now to be a significant test of his abilities. 'I can't fail now, so I should give it all that I've got!'
Sylph then held out her hands with a wide grin, "Let's see how you face the full power of the mighty Wind Spirit, Sylph!" Just then, Luka heard a breeze picking up as the trees around him swayed. Their branches lurched up and down, their leaves all ruffling in unison. The young Hero's imagination ran wild as he wondered just how powerful the gales that Sylph could summon must be.
'For all I know, she could summon a tornado, or something even worse!' Luka thought, his mind thinking up images of great gales strong enough to usurp the largest of trees and knock over the mightiest of buildings.
However, his logical side eventually pulling through to dismiss these ideas. 'Wait, there's no way she would summon something that powerful here. She would destroy the Forest of Spirits if she went that far...' He mused, before deducing another possibility. '...No, she'll probably do something more focused in order to strike me down quick!'
With this in mind, Luka decided that his best action plan would be to take Sylph by surprise and strike once he was given an opening. And so, one technique came to mind, one that had helped him catch the likes of Granberia off guard in the past.
"I am ready," Luka declared, slowly preparing himself to use his greatest defensive technique. "Come at me!" He declared, replanting his feet into the grass. Sylph smirked at his bravado, "As you wish!" She shot back while sending the Wind bellowing soon after as it congregated onto Luka, who clasped his hands tightly around Angel Halo's handle.
"Shield of Heaven!"
Like Luka had thought, Sylph did not summon an overpowering wall of wind to flatten him in one fell swoop. However, unlike what he had quickly theorized, there was no concentrated gust to strike him down either. In fact, Luka was surprised to find that he didn't feel anything "attacking" his magical barrier at all.
"Oh-ho-ho!" Sylph exclaimed once again as she considered Luka's dome with a cocky grin, "So you brought protection with you? Ah, it may hold up now, but I'll tear right through it with this!" She yelled, pushing forward even more with her hands!
Luka narrowed his eyes, holding firm as a second burst of air descended upon him. But much like the first time, the young Hero was puzzled to find that Sylph's assault failed to even budge Shield of Heaven.
This appeared to worry Sylph some, her lips quivering as her confident smile began to waver. "A-Ah, I see that you must've put yourself through rigorous training before coming here! But can you overcome this!?" The Wind Fairy shouted, now closing her eyes in concentration.
At this point, Luka couldn't find anything to say in reply. Instead, he stood in a confused stupor as Sylph sent out a third wave of wind onto him, one that also failed to weaken his defensive technique. With a rising curiosity, Luka decided to drop Shield of Heaven and see if her "attack" would have any effect on him at all.
The Wind that quickly surrounded Luka was actually quite pleasant; it caressed his scalp while blowing through his long purple locks and tickled at his face and ears in quiet a playful manner.
"AH-HA!" Sylph exclaimed victoriously as she felt Luka's shield fall away, "NOW I HAVE YOU!"
With her eyes still closed, the Wind Spirit failed to notice that the young Hero she was "besting" was visibly unaffected by her efforts. "Just how long can you possibly last until you submit to me?" She pondered out loud, though the sweat visibly building on her forehead seemed to suggest that Luka wasn't the one having trouble weathering the storm.
Luka lowered Angel Halo to his waist, his mind now debating on what exactly he was supposed to do next. 'For one of the Four Spirits, she doesn't seem all that good at fighting. She seems to be on the same level of skill as the Four Bandits, and they were just kids...' Luka thought, before quickly making an addendum to his judgement. '...No, that's not fair. Papi was actually able to attack me, I don't think anything Sylph has done so far would even count as a hit.'
"S-So you have some resistance still? Then get ready, because I'm about to finish y-you off!" The Wind Spirit proclaimed, her arms trembling from the effort she was apparently exerting in order to conduct the Wind. Luka watched on as her face started steadily becoming more and more red as the Wind blew just a touch harder, though it still felt like a very light breeze to him.
Tentatively, Luka took a step forward, finding absolutely no resistance. With that, he simply decided to approach the Wind Spirit. He looked down to his sword with a grimace, 'My test is to see if I can land a single blow, but I don't really feel like striking at someone so harmless.' Luka thought. The young Hero kept moving closer to Sylph, who didn't seem to notice his approach due to her eyes still being clamped shut in concentration.
Meanwhile, the Spirit of the Wind kept had completely given up on taunting him, "Th-This technique doesn't come easy, y'know! Keeping it up is really starting to tire me out, so just go on and submit already!"
Luka fought the urge to laugh, not wanting to accidentally upset the Spirit he was trying to prove himself too. Once he came within arm's length of the Fairy, he carefully raised a hand up in front of Sylph and extended his pointer finger. Luka aimed for her head and pushed forward, reaching past her outstretched arms and poking Sylph hard in her forehead.
"Bang!" Luke exclaimed, quickly removing his finger to reveal a small red spot on the Fairy's pale skin. Sylph let out a quick squeal of surprise, her hands flying up to cover the "injured" area. The Wind instantly died down, leaving the clearing still once more.
"Well, you said I had to land a single blow. I think that covers it, right?" Luka asked with a small smile. To his dismay, the Wind Fairy's lip began to quiver and tears began to form in the sides of her eyes. As soon as Luka noticed this, his smile vanished. "H-Hey, that didn't hurt you, did-"
"-WAAHH!" Sylph cried, flailing her arms and legs around in a rather childish manner. "No fair, no fair, you tricked me!" She accused, pointing a finger back at Luka to emphasize her claim. "What a big meanie of a Hero you are, hurting on me like that!"
Luka raised his hands up in defense, "I'm sorry Sylph, I wasn't trying to hurt you! I was just doing the test like how you told me to." The Wind Fairy quieted down from actively crying to sniffling as she reflected on Luka's actions. "...I-I guess that's t-true." Sylph said in-between sniffles, lifting her hands up to rub away her tears.
After taking a few moments to collect herself, Sylph revealed something to Luka, "Y'know, it may be hard to believe, but I-I actually don't know much about fighting. Dueling you just now was the first time I've ever actually tried using the Wind myself in a battle." She explained.
Luka slowly nodded his head to show his understanding but, in all honesty, he had already reached that conclusion by himself.
Sylph tentatively brought her hands together as she asked, "If I gave my power to you, would you be able to use it more properly?" Luka didn't hesitate in replying, "I'd do my best to wield it as effectively as I could, that I can promise you!" He said, his smile returning to his face. The Fairy of Wind gave Luka one last once-over, taking into consideration what the Winds had told her about him and what she had seen herself.
In no time at all, Sylph made her choice while matching the young Hero's grin. "Alright, I trust you, Luka. And so, I will give you my blessing." All of a sudden, Sylph's body started to glow a very pale - almost white - green. Luka watched in awe as the glow intensified, its presence filling the entire clearing with its majesty.
The Fairy flapped her wings to hover in front of Luka, coming face-to-face with the young Hero. Luka fought back the urge to shy away from the Fairy and met Sylph's now glowing yellow eyes with his pale-blue ones. He gulped but stood firm as Sylph addressed him, "Hero Luka, I accept your request, and I hereby bestow onto you the power of Wind."
Then, the Fairy leaned forward, her lips quickly and gently pressing into his. Luka jerked in surprise after Sylph pulled back, watching as her body began to glow even brighter now after the kiss. "There, we are now bonded for life from this point forward!" The Spirit of the Wind proclaimed with a smile. Luka blinked a few times before her words truly registered.
"Wait, did you say for life?" Luka asked urgently.
Sylph did not answer him, instead her form was engulfed in the pale-green light which then shot forward and surrounded him. Luka let out a surprised cry as the light blinded him for a moment and he felt as though he was inside of a cyclone of wind. Then, he felt it build inside of him, as if a mighty gale was blowing inside of his very body.
The light faded away, leaving Luka to stand wide-eyed and alone in the clearing. The purple-haired boy felt amazing, it was as if his whole body was as light as a feather. As this sensation tingled within him, he began to hear whispers in his ears. The voice was light and quick, too quick for him to even properly describe, and it was telling him one thing after the other.
It told Luka how many insects were crawling in the grass below him, it told him how many birds there were flying up above, it even told him that Claudia was, in fact, not wearing any underwear right now...
...Though Luka really didn't need to know that last detail.
That one lewd observation aside, Luka felt more powerful now than he had ever felt before. "Wow, and this is just the power of one of the Spirits. I wonder how the other three must feel?" He mused to himself, gently flexing his fingers and feeling a breeze circle around him. Luka took a deep breath, feeling his lung swell up inside to a far greater degree than they ever had before, and then let it out in a great big sigh.
"Way to go, big bro!" The voice of Fell exclaimed. The purple-haired Fairy flying in front of Luka, catching him a bit off guard. Along with her came the twin Faires Mil and Lil. "Yeah, you beat big sis Sylph!" Mil said with a cheer, spurring Lil to do the same, "That was awesome, you're the coolest!"
Luka couldn't help the small tinge of red that came to his cheek, "Heh-heh, uh, thank you." He replied, his hand habitually reaching up to tug on a stray lock of hair.
The admiration wouldn't end there though, as Claudia quickly jogged into view. The blonde-haired Elf bowed respectfully to the young Hero and said, "I consider myself honored to have witnessed such a monumentous occasion. Congratulations on your victory, Luka."
"Th-Thank you, Claudia." Luka replied, his blush deepening just a tad as he briefly remembered what the Winds had said about the Elf's apparent lack of panties. The purple-haired boy glanced around for a moment, realizing that there was someone missing. "Hey, where's my friend at? She didn't run off, I hope?" He asked.
Not even a second later, he felt something prod his back. Luka turned around, seeing the Doll he was looking for. The Doll - who was thankfully clothed now - was holding out his discarded walking-stick with her hair, having used it to poke him seconds before. "Big bro, you were amazing!" She cheered, a genuine smile of admiration coming to her face. "I knew you were strong, but not that strong!"
Luka took his stick with a smile, "Thanks, it certainly was a..." The young Hero hesitated, not really feeling as though calling his duel with Sylph a "hard-fought battle" would be an accurate description. "...Eh, like Claudia said, it was a pretty important accomplishment for me." He finished, gripping his walking-stick and planting it into the ground.
"Well, I think it's time for me to move on." Luka began as he glanced over to Claudia and the Fairies, the latter three quickly becoming upset at his words.
Fell flew forward to be the first to object, "Hey, you're leaving already big bro?" The purple-haired Fairy asked in dismay, Mil and Lil quickly mirroring the sentiment as they appeared before Luka. "Yeah, you just got here!" The longer-haired one said, her short-haired sister unable to even say anything as tears welled up in her eyes.
'This is a bit dramatic, isn't it?' Luka thought as he appraised the three Fairies.
He offered a hand as he tried to reason with the little Monsters, "Look, I'm sorry but I need to move on. I'm on a really important quest and I don't really have time to stick around for too long." His explanation didn't seem to make the Fairies feel any better so he quickly added, "B-But you guys can stick with me until I leave the Forest at least, if you want!"
The Fairies cheered, dancing around Luka's head in celebration.
"Alright, let's not hold Luka up any longer! We wouldn't want to keep him here too late..." Claudia said, aiming a stern look at the three Fairies.
However, her hardened gaze quickly faltered as more unsightly thoughts invaded the Elf's mind. "...I-If we did, then he may have to stay here for the whole night and that would mean he'd need a place to stay! B-But I only have the one bed at home, so we'd have to... share..." Claudia gulped, her eyes beginning to unfocus as she stared off into the distance.
Luka let out a nervous chuckle, "Heh-heh, a-all the more reason for us to hurry up and move out!" He exclaimed while forcing a smile, hurriedly rushing towards the thicket to follow the river back out of the Forest of Spirits. Claudia's eyes focused back onto Luka and she gasped before moving to follow him through the trees.
"O-Of course, one mustn't rush themselves, either! A-After a fierce battle like that, you ought to rest a little!" The Elf said with a great deal of urgency, nearly diving through the trees after Luka. "Staying for a night may even be beneficial for you, you know? I wouldn't mind the c-company!"
The Doll and the three Faires watched Claudia chase after Luka, before Fell eventually shook her head. "Man, big sis Claudia reeeeally needs to stop reading those books..." She commented, the twin Faires beside her nodding in agreement. The Doll huffed and crossed her arms, "Hmpf, what she needs to do is get in line!" She hissed, shooting forward and breaking through the thicket in the blink of an eye.
With that, the other Fairies quickly followed, the group now beginning to move away from a much more dire situation.
Doppel gritted her teeth as she was sent flying back into the staircase, falling crookedly onto the steps back-first. Her body felt as though it was burning but she willed herself to roll to the side either way, barely avoiding Assassinroid's pounce in the process. The Chimera landed heavily onto the stone steps but this did not slow her down, and she scampered after the purple-haired girl who forced herself to her feet.
Assassinroid snarled while slashing at her opponent's face, but Doppel jumped back and out of the Chimera's reach. As the purple-haired girl slid away, her body spasming all the way. However, this time something very bizarre occurred alongside the trembling.
Thu-Thump
Thu-Thump
Doppel gasped as her heart quaked uncontrollably in her chest; all of a sudden, she felt as though she was being pulled towards something just outside of the prison known as the Biolabs. The sensation calling to her was achingly familiar, an instinctual connection that could only be one thing.
There wasn't any way for Doppel to know this for sure, but something deep inside was telling her that it had to be true: What she felt herself being pulled to had to be her Father. It was the only thing that made sense, for she hadn't been feeling this until today and she already knew from Lamiaroid's slip up that Luka was nearby. Which meant that this could be her only chance to unite with the only potentially positive connection she had in this World.
Which meant that she needed to fight harder.
"Demon Decapitation!"
Doppel's wrathful scream filled the foyer as she used her borrowed technique once more, her barefooted steps sending her flying towards the larger Chimera. Doppel's knife whistled through the air but did not cut across Assassinroid's throat, as the Chimera was quick enough to raise her claws up to deflect the attack. She then reached up and grabbed Doppel by the arm, mercilessly clamping down and crushing her wrist.
The agonized scream of Doppel was quickly followed by her being wrenched around and dragged out of the air, her shoulder being awkwardly bent in the middle of her descent. The purple-haired girl screamed again as she landed hard onto her ribs, the bones audibly cracking upon being smashed into the stone steps. Assassinroid then stomped down onto Doppel's back, keeping her sprawled awkwardly on the stone staircase.
"Stay... Down..." Assassinroid hissed out, putting her weight onto the small girl's back.
Despite the harrowing pain, Doppel thrashed beneath the Chimera in an attempt to somehow free herself. The Human-Monster Hybrid wheezed from her efforts, tasting more and more blood in her mouth by the second. Even still, Doppel did not let up. She couldn't now, not when she was so close...
...Not when he was so close.
Thu-Thump
Thu-Thump
Doppel strained and was able to plant her hands into the ground, pushing back against Assassinroid while twisting her body. The small move threw the Chimera's foot off of her, and the purple-haired girl quickly followed it up by stabbing into her opponent's stomach. Assassinroid shrilled in pain once the rusted knife drove into her guts, but she reacted quick enough to pull away before Doppel could cause more damage.
A heavy trail of blood ran down Assassinroid's front, staining the carpet below with a crimson blush. The Chimera backed away while keeping one of her large paws over the wound. Her glowing magenta eyes burned into Doppel, the weight of her hatred on full force as she moved to block the doorway.
Doppel herself hobbled down the steps indignantly, pushing through the exhaustion that was starting to plague her frail body. As she did, the door at the top of the staircase suddenly burst open, causing both the combatants to freeze and turn their gazes to the previously closed door.
"A rather inopportune time to start showing initiative, Doppel..." The lifeless voice that spoke from the doorway was one that Doppel recognized instantly; it belonged to her creator, La Croix. The Necromancer herself strode through the doorway, being closely followed by a ruby-haired woman in a lab coat that Doppel did not recognize.
La Croix stopped just shy of the edge of the top step and aimed an inquisitive gaze at Assasainroid's injury, "...Though I must say that I am impressed. To inflict such damage on Assassinroid is no small feat, and since I do not see Lamiaroid here, I am to assume that you have dealt with her in some compacity. Am I correct, Doppel?"
The purple-haired girl did not answer, instead taking the unexpected down time to suck in as much air as she could. Doppel felt as though her body was close to giving out, everything straining and burning even when she was doing nothing but simply standing there. Nevertheless, she did not lower her knife, not even for a moment.
La Croix's empty gray eyes remained on Doppel even as she turned towards her associate, "It seems as if I need to shift my focuses a bit, Promestein. Perhaps this girl does have potential after all, despite my initial judgements. Do you agree?" A growing sense of dread filled Doppel's heart as Promestein nodded, "I agree. She may just end up becoming one of our most effective operatives, I think."
"Of course," La Croix replied, a certain morbid glint dancing in her otherwise dead eyes. "Though some corrections may be in order, first."
Doppel's blood ran cold upon hearing this, horrible thoughts of whatever the Necromancer now had planned already playing in her mind. "N-NO!" The Human-Monster Hybrid shouted, turning to limp towards the front doors of the foyer. Assassinroid moved to cut Doppel off but La Croix silently lifted a hand, effectively stopping the Chimera in her tracks.
The Necromancer had other ideas.
Doppel didn't see as La Croix began to raise her hand up over her head, nor did she see the odd eye-like symbol that began to glow a dull red in the darkness behind the two scientists at the top of the stairs.
Snap
"Bondage."
From the darkness in which the owner of the ghastly voice spoke, several tendrils of dark black chains shot out into the foyer. Like snakes, they slithered down the staircase and caught up to Doppel within seconds.
The first few rusted coils hooked around her legs, tripping up the purple-haired girl as she came within a meter of the door and causing her to drop her knife.
"L-LET GO OF ME!" Doppel yelled as she tried to claw at the ground, the effort being rendered fruitless as more of the unfeeling chains came to subdue her. They wrapped around her body now, wrapping around her body even more. Doppel cried out in pain as their pressure worsened the injuries to her fractured hip and ribs, her body now being dragged back towards the staircase.
All of those in the foyer watched as Doppel weakly fought against the inevitable, slowly being dragged up the stairs by the chains of the depraved creation hidden in the darkness. La Croix's gaze was impassive but calculating, taking note of how Doppel was effectively detained without any major consequence. Assassinroid grimaced as she held her large hands over her stomach wound, though her magenta eyes glowed with a touch of satisfaction at the sight before her.
As for Promestein, something hesitant flashed in her ruby-eyed gaze for just a moment though this was quickly interrupted by her Fellow Seeker of Truth.
"It does seem as though Angel Ghoul's chains are working quite nicely. Don't you agree, Promestein?" La Croix asked. The Fallen Angel slowly nodded, "It does seem effective at restraining, yes..." She trailed off, watching as Doppel neared the top step. Just as the purple-haired girl began being pulled past the two, she was able to throw out a hand from her sole free arm and latch onto the edge of the top step.
"N-NO! NOO!" Doppel cried, tears streaming down her reddened face.
THU-THUMP
THU-THUMP
Doppel's arm quivered from the effort, the limb threatening to give under the strength of the chains yanking her backwards. Even still, the Human-Monster did not give up, not when she could still feel him just beyond the walls of the Biolabs. As her arm threatened to give way, Doppel did the only thing her desperate mind could think of:
She cried out for help.
"FATHER! SAVE ME!" Doppel screamed, her wretchedly hoarse voice echoing in the small stone foyer. "P-PLEASE, PLEASE!"
"Hm," La Croix hummed almost nonchalantly as she began to pace towards Doppel. "She seems to have a good deal of defiance, certainly not as much as I would've assumed..." The Necromancer noted.
Doppel continued to hold her grip on the edge of the step, holding on to the last shred of hope and defiance she had left. But this would not last much longer as La Croix stood right next to the purple-haired girl's hand. "...Just another thing that needs to be fixed, in due time." She finished.
La Croix moved to bend over, fighting against her own creaking spine to reach down and grab Doppel's wrist. A gasp escaped the purple-haired girl's lips, as she had not expected the woman's touch to be so deathly cold. Then, La Croix unceremoniously ripped her hand from the steps, forcing Doppel to begin sliding back into the doorway and towards the large glowing red eye peering from the darkness.
"NOO! PLEEEASE!" Doppel wailed desperately, the skin of her fingers beginning to split open as they ran along the floor in a last attempt to resist her captors. The effort, however, was fruitless and the Human-Monster Hybrid was dragged further and further away from the freedom she had been so close to obtaining.
Doppel relentlessly raked at the ground with her free hand, leaving a trail of blood behind her. Through tear-blurred eyes, the purple-haired girl watched her world become darker and darker as she was taken away.
Meanwhile, La Croix raised up a small black receiver to her mouth and spoke into it. "Radio, go find Lamiaroid for me. Certain consequences are due for failing so spectacularly to carry out direct orders." The Necromancer said as she and Promestein followed into the doorway, a rare threatening edge to her tone as she talked about the Chimera that Doppel had gotten the better of earlier.
The purple-haired girl in question had stopped fighting against the chains digging through the brown and bloodied rags she wore on her body, her strength having all but disappeared by this point. However, even with having virtually no energy left, Doppel still called out for help.
"Fa-a... Fa-ther..." Doppel breathed out, her voice nothing but a forlorn whisper as she was brought deeper into the Biolabs. Eventually, the foyer was left empty as the scientists and their experiments left through the doorway.
Or, so it would seem.
Creeeeak
The half-opened door of the passage that Doppel and Assassinroid had come through slowly opened, revealing a truly horrendous sight. From that doorway, an amalgamation of dead, naked flesh and mutated inflorescence slowly emerged into the foyer.
The depraved marriage of a Human corpse and Monstrous flower silently gazed at the front door of the Biolabs with a single half-lidded eye, the blue of her iris faded and dull. Whatever thoughts the rotting mind of the girl was long gone, now replaced with only one desire: to feed.
And so - with no one to stop her - the Chimera Dryad made for the door to satiate her hungers, both of her insatiable stomach and of her now purposeless womb...
As the undead Monster began leaving the Biolabs to get into the Forest of Spirits, Luka and his ever-growing band of woodland Monsters followed the river at a steady rhythm to get out of the Forest of Spirits.
At the tail end of the group, the Fairies had added the Doll to their game of catch, all four of the flying Monsters tossing the acorn between each other. Though from the looks of it, the Doll's hair seemed to give her a somewhat unfair advantage. No matter how trickily the Fairies threw the acorn, the Doll was always able to intercept it.
"No fair, big sis Dolly! You're way too good at this!" Mil of the twin Fairies declared, her sister Lil nodding along with her. Even Fell was pouting as she added, "Yeah, I can't do things with my hair like that! How do you do it?" She asked, watching as the Doll began juggling multiple acorns in her dark purple locks.
"That's a secret!" The Doll replied unhelpfully, a fit of laughter coming from her mouth once the Fairies all collectively huffed in displeasure.
Luka himself was at the front of the group, while Claudia followed right beside him. The Elf not-so-subtly eyed the young Hero down, who in turn pretended as though he wasn't being looked at in manner similar to how a starving wolf would leer at baby calf. To her credit, Claudia hadn't tried any physical approach on him but judging from the way she was looking at Luka, an attempt may not be too far off.
Which meant that Luka really needed to pick up the pace.
'I thought that regular Elves weren't supposed to be driven by lustful cravings!' Luka lamented, before his mind recalled something he and his traveling partner had said talked about before. 'Unless Claudia is like Lona, and I happen to be a fit for the type of man she desires as a mate-'
THU-THUMP
THU-THUMP
Luka stumbled, nearly falling flat on his face of it weren't for the walking-stick he held in his hand. The purple-haired boy instantly recognized the initial sensation but the strange wave of despair that hit him after the face most certainly struck him by surprise. Before he could ponder that further, he felt Claudia gently grab him by his arm.
"Are you alright?" The blonde-haired Elf asked while moving to look him in the eyes. Her question brought the attention of Fell, Mil, Lil and the Doll, who quickly dropped their game to surround the pair. A cacophony of concerned chatter came from the flying Monsters which, while appreciated, was discouraged by Claudia.
"Don't crowd Luka now, give him space!" The Elf sternly demanded, but Luka quickly waved her request off, "N-No, it's fine, r-really." He said, though his free hand subconsciously began to grab the section of shirt above his trembling heart.
Luka pushed himself up to stand upright, his breathing just a touch more labored than before. "Don't worry, this has happened before. J-Just give me a moment." He said, leaning his stick against a nearby tree in preparation to Meditate. After doing so, the young Hero closed his eyes and brought his hands together.
Luka took a deep breath, already feeling as his magic began to swell in his chest and take away the pain that was threatening to spike. On top of that, the three cuts that he had gotten on his cheek when fighting Chrome's Zombies vanished from his face.
Once he felt himself sufficiently healed, Luka opened up his pale-blue eyes to see all of the Monsters staring at him. "How did you do that, big bro?" The Doll asked while pointing to his face. Luka furrowed his brows, "How I did what?" He asked back.
Claudia stepped forward and closely examined Luka's face, gently running a finger across where the cuts had just previously been. "Those cuts you had; they vanished as though they were never there." The Elf noted, squinting at the now seemingly unscathed flesh of his cheek.
Luka felt a certain chill as the Elf touched his face, "O-Oh yeah, when I do this technique called Meditation, it heals my wounds!" He quickly clarified, earning nods of - shaky - understanding from the Fairies and the Doll. "I see, that is an amazing ability." Claudia muttered in awe as she pulled away from the purple-haired boy.
"Yeah, it's helped me out a lot-" Luka suddenly fell silent as a tumultuous breeze blew through the Forest of Spirits, the sheer force of it causing Fell, Mil, and Lil to latch onto Claudia's long blonde hair. The Elf hummed as she searched the sky, "Hmmm, that was an awfully powerful current." She noted out loud.
Normally, Luka would voice his agreement on the observation, but he was too focused on the fact that the Winds had just told him that something dangerous had just entered the forest.
Something dangerous to all of those in the Forest of Spirits.
Luka looked deep into the wall of foliage before him, his pale-blue eyes anxiously scanning for something he could feel beyond the thicket. It was a sinister and disturbing presence, one that he couldn't ignore even if he wanted to. The young Hero's breathing quickened, and his body practically buzzed from how jumbled his nerves were becoming.
"There's something wrong..." Luka said cautiously, taking a step towards where the wind had come from. He glanced over his shoulder to face his somewhat confused party of Monsters. "...I don't know what it is, but I can feel that something really bad is about to happen!" The purple-haired insisted.
Unfortunately, it would not be long before Luka was proven right.
"HYA!" The owner of the small frantic cry emerged from the underbrush soon after, revealing herself to be a Fairy. The flying Monster was a bit larger than Fell, and had pink-purple color scheme, everything to her long-sleeved sweater-dress to her wings, to even her hand and wings being a vibrant mix of the two colors.
Claudia steeled her dull brown eyes as she recognized the distressed Fairy, "Aubrette, what's wrong?" She asked while taking a step forward.
Aubrette's purple antenna and long twin tails swished as she frantically shook her head, "I-I don't even know! Me a-and Calypso, a-and Rusalka were just, uh..." The Fairy paused as she briefly considered her next words, "...Not digging a trap-hole, when this freaky Monster showed up and tried to eat us!"
"A Monster tried to eat you, here?" Claudia asked with a look of shock. Aubrette was about to reply, but two other Fairies appeared from behind her.
The first Fairy was rather well-endowed by Fairy standards, her large breasts being very pronounced through her pale-blue sleeveless top. She also wore a dark see-through skirt, showing a good deal of her tanned flesh. She frantically fluttered her large pale-blue butterfly wings while exclaiming, "Help, that thing is goin' ta kill us!"
"Indeed, that malformation seeks to dine on our delicate flesh!" The second Fairy agreed, her tone a good deal posher than her fellow Monsters. She wore a flowing pale-green dress that fell a little past her hips. Two odd-looking twisted antlers poked out of her head of long pale-green hair, adding to this Fairy's bizarre presence.
"What kind of Monster is it?" Luka asked, gaining the attention of the three Fairies. To his dismay, the Faires quickly lost track of the severity of the situation as they looked upon Luka.
"Ooo, he's a cutie!" Aubrette quickly noted, patting down the large purple frills at the bottom of her sweater-dress. "What do you think, Calypso?"
The Fairy with the pale-blue top and hair hummed and crossed her arms beneath her bust, "Hehe, I'm likin' the looks of him, I can tell ya that!" Calypso shouted.
The last Fairy - who Luka assumed to be Rusalka - fluttered closer to the purple-haired boy, "He most definitely is a charming one, I think I may fancy him."
Luka was a bit jarred by the spontaneous flirtation, but their sudden advances would be halted by another sudden violent breeze, one that threatened to send the Fairies flying. Once this died down, Claudia moved to scold the three.
"Aubrette, Calypso and Rusalka, there are more important things at hand!" The blonde-haired Elf yelled with a great deal of displeasure, "Now, answer Luka's question. What kind of Monster attacked you three?" The question would be answered, but not by any of the Fairies.
CRASH
A tree fell somewhere in the forest behind the trio of Fairies, causing all of those in the group of eight Monsters and one young Hero to jump in surprise. The Fairies - including Fell, Mil, and Lil - scattered to the opposite side of the river as the foliage began to move, their fear becoming too great to stick around any longer. This left only Luka, Claudia, and the Doll behind.
Luka and Claudia both took out their weapons, aiming them at the tree line as the unseen Monster approached. Meanwhile, the Doll stood beside the young Hero, her purple eyes showing her concern as she looked between Luka and the forest he stood before. Then, the terrible conglomerate that had attacked the Fairies made herself known, causing all three of them to freeze.
The Monster dragged her misshaped body using dozens of small green vines that served as her legs, these limbs extending down from the corpse of a Human girl. What little was left of the blonde-haired girl was ashen and sunken-in, some of her bones being visible through her skin.
She only had a section of one leg left, all of her other limbs being gone and replaced with what appeared to be parasitic plants. These overgrown flowers trembled and pulsed, their petals throbbing more and more as she drew closer. They grew straight out from her torso and head, half of her face being covered by the mutated flowers.
"Wh-What..." Luka began, his pale-blue eyes as wide as they've ever been. "...What is this thing?" Claudia shook her head, keeping her gaze locked onto the Chimera. "I don't know, Luka." She replied, her voice more serious than it had ever been.
The Doll couldn't even say anything, her purple eyes locked on the morbid creation standing before them. Silently, the small Monster flew away from Luka's side, seemingly disappearing off to the other side if the river where the Faires had hidden.
Luka couldn't blame her, for he wanted to run just as bad.
As the Chimera Dryad approached a low rumbling came from her, the sound being akin to a stomach growling. It's one unseeing eye stared right through the duo as if they weren't even there.
Having enough, Claudia pulled her arrow back and aimed it at the Monster, "Be warned! I, Claudia, am the Guardian of the Forest of Spirits! I am hereby demanding that you leave immediately or suffer the consequences!" The Chimera did not answer, silently drawing closer to the duo.
Luka finally finding his own voice and added, "This is a sacred and peaceful place, you can't just come in and attack its inhabitants!" He yelled, stomping a foot down. Something seemed to awaken within the Chimera and her single blue eye homed in on Luka.
The Monster attacked without warning, sending a volley of vines out to entrap him. Luka shouted as he slashed wildly at the onslaught, cutting the ivy in half with Angel Halo. The limbs burst upon opening, spraying clear liquid onto the grass below as they flailed around. The vines began to retract, but the Chimera kept moving forward.
Claudia wasted no time in shooting off an arrow, sending the bolt flying until it struck the Chimera dead-on in her stomach. The wet stab of the arrow delving into the flesh of the Monster's torso. The attack seemed to have no effect, as the Monster did not even flinch in response. Instead, she started extending more vines in order to restrain the two. Luka responded by pointing his sword towards the Chimera, tensing his body up as he called upon his magic.
"Thunder Thrust!"
Sprinting through the grass, Luka stabbed into the Chimera's stomach right next to Claudia's arrow. To Luka's horror, dark clumps of blood drained out of the injury, confirming that the Monster was undead, like the Zombies her had found at Chrome's hideout. With a great deal of regret, the young Hero swiftly pulled away and returned to the river's edge, leaving the wound to spew rotten blood onto the grass below.
Again, the Chimera Dryad had no reaction to the attack and continued trudging after the two.
"You are a repulsive creature..." Claudia mused while taking another arrow from her quiver. She took aim and shot at the Monster's head, the arrow digging straight into the Monster's forehead. However, to Claudia's shock, the Chimera simply kept on crawling forward. "...Wh-What?" She stuttered out.
Luka shook his head, "It's undead, Claudia. We'll have to do more to put it down for good." His explanation caused the blonde-haired Elf to bite her lip, a terrible feeling of trepidation falling on her. "So be it, at least it doesn't seem to be very-
"Maneating Sunflower."
The hollow voice stopped both Claudia and Luka in their tracks and they watched as a enormous sunflower billowed out from the Chimera. The flower's bright yellow petals started to violently pulsed as it grew in length, and its stem began to grow wider until it was as thick around as a person. Once the mutated limb had finished this awful transmogrification, it shot forward towards Claudia with alarming speed!
The sunflower's inner petals flared open like a demented maw, aiming to clamp around the Elf's head. Claudia let out a scream as she dropped her bow, throwing up her hands to guard herself from the attack. She was able to catch the edges of the mutated flower's mouth, but the Elf yelped as she was quickly forced to her knees by the Chimera's unnatural strength.
Luka raised Angel Halo and charged to the flower to cut it off of Claudia, but the Chimera apprehended him as well with another demented technique.
"Rose of Strangulation."
A large pink rose atop the Chimera's head broke open and a long thick vine quickly sprouted out, zooming through the air towards Luka. The bright green tendril wrapped around his neck and forcefully yanked him into the air. The purple-haired boy cried out in pain and alarm as he was hung by his neck, swinging Angel Halo at the vines with his left hand while desperately trying to free his throat with his right hand.
"AAHHH!" Luka's attention was brought to Claudia, who let out an anguished scream. He looked over just quick enough to see the sunflower fall over her head, it's undulating orifice opening wider in order to suck in the rest of the poor Elf's body.
"Cl-Claudia!" Luka choked out, gripping down hard on the vine holding him in midair. He looked up and swung for the vine trapping him, successfully cutting the limb in two. The purple-haired boy let out a wheeze upon landing back first onto the ground but quickly fought to his feet and darted over to the blonde-haired Elf. Luka focused on the enlarged stem of the sunflower, calling upon his magic once more.
"Demon Decapitation!"
While it wasn't the exact scenario the technique called for, Luka executed the attack perfectly and slashed through the enlarged vine. The ballooning limb was completely severed in half by Angel Halo and the sunflower immediately let go of Claudia. The Elf let out a groan of pain and relief as she wrenched the sunflower head off, collapsing to the ground soon after.
Luka rushed to her side and grabbed one of her arms to pull her off the ground. Claudia limply grabbed her discarded bow on the way up, her legs trembling as she threatened to fall again.
Just as the two were about to regroup, more vines snaked over and curled around Luka's ankles. A rough grunt flew out of his mouth as he hit the ground face first, his body being dragged back to the awaiting Chimera behind him.
Claudia yelled something but Luka could barely hear her over his own thundering heartbeat. He turned to start striking at the vines dragging him across the grass, but they started wrapping around his arms as well. However, just as the Chimera Dryad had him in her unyielding grasp, Luka felt something else wrap around him. That something being the long, dark purple hair of a certain Doll that he had thought was away hiding in the forest.
"Got you big bro!" The Doll called out from across the river, her ridiculously long hair stretching at what had to be over five meters to reach him. The small Monster's hair wrapped around the other vines as well in an attempt to wrench them off of Luka, but the point was about to become mute as Claudia stood and aimed an arrow for the Chimera's core.
"SET ABLAZE!"
Claudia sent the arrow flying towards the Chimera, the shaft bursting into flame as it flew over Luka's head. Once it hit the Monster's chest, the arrow violently exploded and engulphed the Chimera into flames.
Luka felt the vines leave his body and he was then dragged over to the river until the Doll left him lying next to Claudia, who quickly fell to her knees. The purple-haired boy rolled over onto his back, letting out a long sigh as he did. The Doll flew over to Luka and Claudia, looking between the two with a great deal of worry.
"Are you two alright? I wanted to help earlier, but I was too scared..." The Doll said, looking down to the grass in shame. "...I'm sorry, if I had just done that earlier, then maybe you two wouldn't have gotten hurt." In spite of the pain wracking his body, Luka sat up and gave her a soft but purposeful look, "Hey, don't feel bad about that. You saved me back there!" He exclaimed, his words garnering a small smile on her face.
"No, n-no way." Claudia suddenly breathed out. Luka moved to look at the Elf in question, but he froze midturn. He gasped, now seeing what had disturbed his blonde-haired friend.
Through the ember and smog of her own burning flesh and foliage, the Chimera Dryad emerged once again. Her pale skin was peeling off and shriveling up as it was cooked by the flames, the awful stench of sour meat burning up now permeating the air. The Chimera had a noticeably slower pace, but she still crawled forward all the same, much to everyone's disbelief.
Luka gritted his teeth and forced himself to his feet, grabbing Angel Halo on the way up. He looked to the Doll with the utmost seriousness, "Get Claudia somewhere safe, now." He said, his tone not allowing any room for argument. The Doll looked between Luka and the Chimera warily, but did not say anything and instead moved to Claudia's side.
She used her hair to pull the Elf up to her feet and then began to cross the river to the other side while Luka faced off against the Chimera Dryad once more. He regarded the mutated Monster with an atypically callous gaze, 'I'd hate to do this, but I can't let you go farther than this.' The young Hero thought. He began to approach, but the Chimera lifted up several flame-covered vines to cut him off with.
Luka lingered at the edge of what was a comfortable distance from the Monster's reach and debated on his next move, 'I don't really want to be caught up in all of that...' He thoughts, watching the Chimera's vines wave around ominously.
Then something odd happened: Luka briefly saw Sylph enter his eyesight, appearing and disappearing so quick that he almost thought he had imagined it until he heard her speak to him.
"Luka, don't forget about my power so quickly!" Sylph spoke in Luka's mind. He blinked in confusion, "Wait, are you in my mind?" He asked. Sylph laughed and responded, "I did say I would be with you, right? Now, use the Wind! Feel it flow through you!"
Indeed, Luka could feel something swirling within him. Again, Sylph spoke. "Trust in the Winds and they will protect you. When your enemies come for you, they will hit nothing but air!" She proclaimed.
"Okay, I'll trust in your power!" The young Hero replied before charging the Chimera. The Monster's burning vines shot for Luka, but a sudden and intense breeze swirled around him, cutting the vines before they ever reached him. "Ooo, the Wind works very well for you!" Sylph noted with a laugh.
Luka continued dashing through the Chimera Dryad's defenses, each assailing vine being cut or blown away with ease. Then, once he got right up to the mutated Monster, he let her have a taste of his newest technique.
"Chaos Star!"
Luka started swinging Angel Halo wilding around her base. Each swing fazed through the creature's vines and flowers while carving into the rotten torso. Again and again the gash was made deeper, until the attack was finally finished.
Upon the final swing Luka retreated back to the shore of the river, feeling the awful burning bile rising at the back of his throat once again. He forced it down enough to face the Chimera once again, appraising the damage he had just done.
The pale corpse had a terrible diagonal gash going from her waist all the way up her chest, exposing the decayed organs that now threatened to spill out of her. The Chimera's congealed blood slowly leaked out from the rip in her skin, soiling the sacred grounds of the Forest of Spirits.
And yet, the body just would not go down.
Luka watched in horror as the Chimera Dryad refused to cease, even as her body was now mutilated and still burning from Claudia's previous attack. Somehow, someway, it was still operating in pure spite of its injuries.
"Huh, wow. That's one tough plant... thing..." Sylph remarked shakily, before finding her confidence once more. "...But it can't hold up forever. Finish it off, Luka!" The young Hero nodded, planting his feet into the ground once more. The Wind blew around him just then, whispering something in his ear.
"Vacuum Slash."
Luka blinked, quickly recognizing the name from his earlier fight with the sword-fighting Zombie earlier that day. 'I'm not sure if I could do that, but I'll try if the Wind want me to.' He thought. And so, he planted his feet into the ground and stared down the Chimera Dryad. He called upon his magic again, this time feeling the Wind dancing around him as he did. A great power surged within him, building and building until he finally attempted this newly-inherited technique.
"Vacuum Slash!"
With the Wind at his heels, Luka closed the gap between himself and the Monster in nearly an instant. He mirrored what the Zombie had done, going in low with Angel Halo to his left and aiming a crooked slash up the Chimera's torso. His sword tore right through the Monster, cutting her apart completely as both Angel Halo and the Wind attacked as one.
The attack completely overwhelmed the Chimera Dryad, whose flowers and vines simply fell away and burned as they flopped onto the ground unceremoniously. The corpse itself was torn in two as what remained of the top and bottom fell onto the grass soon after. With that, the mutated and mutilated abomination was finally defeated.
Luka himself stood in a stupor, looking down at his handiwork with a look of shock. His face paled as he gazed upon the sight of the mangled corpse laying on top of a bed of what used to be its predatory flowers, his body shaking intensely as a terrible nausea overtook him. It was then when the rest of the day finally and truly caught up to him, the images of the Zombies he had cut up along with the rotten blood he had spilt flashing in his mind.
He looked one last time at the girl that once made up the core of the Monster he had been fighting. Somehow, the single blue eye had survived the onslaught and was blankly staring up at him.
It looked so innocent now, compared to how it had been earlier. And only then did it register to him just young the girl's face was. It was a silly thought, but as his mind grew fuzzy, Luka idly wondered what this girl's name would have been. Surprisingly enough, Luka received an answer in the form of the Wind whispering in his ear.
"Miyabi."
Luka then promptly fainted, limply falling back first onto the grass. In the last few seconds of consciousness, he could hear Claudia and the Doll calling his name him while the World went dark.
Now we're heading towards the deep end, as I've no doubt thrown quite a bit of very significant things here in this chapter.
First and foremost, Luka now has Sylph on his side and along with her, he now has the Winds on his side. I plan for this to have some very interesting effects going forward as, the degree of which the Wind "speaks" to Luka and how important what it tells him with vary as greatly as it has thus far (i.e. from informing Luka about Claudia's apparent lack of underwear to attempting to warn him about the various forces coming after him).
And then there's Luka's usage of Vacuum Slash. In this story, as Luka gains the blessings of the Spirits, he will be able to use abilities tied to those elements. So now that he has the Wind, he can use attacks that channel the Wind (Vacuum Slash being an ability that uses the Wind attribute in Paradox). This is the reason I had made the Zombie Swordsman use this technique a few chapters, so that he could "learn" it from her.
Now, this doesn't mean that Luka will be able to copy every attack he's ever seen, as some abilities would just not be physically possible for him to do. This just helps to add a bit more variety into the story so that Luka's fights don't get too repetitive.
Unfortunately, Doppel did not obtain her freedom here and you can probably guess that her detainment will become harsher from here on now that she has La Croix's renewed interest. While that is true, there is a silver lining to this, one that may be a bit unexpected. So don't give up hope on Doppel having some happiness because it will come in time. Maybe even sooner than you may think...
As an aside, I also gave some of the nameless Fairies names for the sake of convenience. They will be back, so it's easier to identify them that way.
F14M3RZ: Simply enough, Lamiaroid was too cocky and let her guard down enough for Doppel - who hadn't proven herself as much of a threat to the Chimeras, mind you - to get the upper hand on her. So that little window of opportunity was enough for Doppel to get in a nearly fatal hit.
omegaqilin: I've really quite liked writing for the characters beneath the "Seekers of Truth" umbrella so far. I've always imagined that, despite having the same goal, that they all simply don't share the same approach. So, even though I would consider Promestein and La Croix as friends, they in no way will sacrifice their methods unless they directly impede one another. Hence why La Croix outright ignored Promestein's order to wipe Assassinroid's memories, like you said.
Luka and Doppel are certainly influencing one another emotionally. And now that their connection has been fully realized subconsciously, it will continue to persist as Luka's journey continues.