Chapter 35: Surprising the surprise

It had been a long night for Eel and even though the sun was peeking over the tree line of Leaf’s (not so little) grove.<Well - certainly can’t complain about not getting any excitement from that~! All in all it was a refreshing experience...>But, as she came upon the doors of her home for the last few years she couldn’t help but pause - resulting in a confused glance from those around her. Closing her eyes she let out a sigh of defeat with a vicious grin on her face.<Life on the line, monsters breathing at my nape and no way to go but forward… What have I been doing these last few years? No wonder I’ve not been able to go further - I learnt today what it takes to truly get stronger!>Shaking her head as if trying to get rid of the thought - nonetheless the almost bloodthirsty grin of a beast who has just caught the scent of prey lingered on her little cheeks. Before she realized it they had already dropped off the bound {Dark-Elf} while putting the little Cow-Succubus to bed.In front of her wasn’t her bed however.Instead it was the backdoor to the back-’garden’ of Elizabeth’s Paradise with many thoughts filling her usually straightforward mind; so many it was beginning to annoy her to no end. So many questions filled her head yet none of them were about the previous fight. It wasn’t about what was occurring in the wider world. It wasn’t even about why she was attacked by someone who she should’ve considered family - though she was always good at understanding that Kat hated her so never did.No, it was none of that.“Where’re ya goin’?” <Fuka><That is indeed the question...>A smile Eel had never made before appeared on her face - Eel was generally a happy person who found enjoyment in the simple things of life. It came with being inhuman, she didn’t worry about the same details as a human might!Haven’t got a house? No problem, I’ll just find a nice cave and enjoy the simple life of a beast.Incoming war is on the horizon? Oh well, guess there will be a lot of annoying foot-traffic scaring away prey in the hunting grounds. Just have to change some of them into treats instead!Ran away from my caretaker because she was fat, old and hateful? I’ll just try to leave the city nation in order to expand my horizons and maybe come back for some revenge later…<So why am I still locked in this cage of a city that has offered me nothing? It’s not like me or Emily need it to survive… I suppose Leaf does since she’s part of that mega tree now but I have a feeling she’d be fine.>“I’ve always wanted to leave {Orrid} and finally begin my adventure - take Emily with me and set forth to kick some ass yet… I still haven’t.” <Eel>Eel’s forehead gave a loud *thunk* as it impacted the door. A wry smile on her face as she said this however Fuka just shook her head with a sight - clenching her fist before having it fall down upon Eel’s head. Letting her feel the full weight of that metal gauntlet.She of course grasped at the forming bump upon her head - glaring towards Fuka in an accusatory fashion with a pout on her face.“Owie… What was that for!” <Eel>“For ta dumbass in front ov’ me! Ya entire fookin’ style is about relentlessly pushin’ ‘n’ movin’ about, not lettin’ ya opponent know what crazy shit ya ganna dee in ya next charge! Pretty much always involvin’ runnin’ straight towards ‘em tho’! Hell; ya literally manipulate momentum ya fookin’ spoon! Don’ worry about the details - in a weeks time our party is ganna go to {Gobberz} and ya ganna spend ya fookin’ dosh finally an’ we’re not comin’ back till the war starts!” <Fuka>

Translated:

"For the foolish bum in front of myself! Your whole mode of combat is entirely focused on the aspect of aggressively traversing about the field, not letting thy adversary get a single moment to consider thou very own considerations in the heat of battle! However, it almost always indoctrinates the concept of ‘adding pressure’ to ensure you hold the advantage! Heavens child, you even control momentum itself to an extent! You needn’t consider all the circumstances - forthwith we shall spend the next fortnight preparing to begin a journey towards the nation of my own people. The Goblins. From there we shall spend all of thy saved tuppence at the local gentle(wo)man clubs; for which they are said to have the best on this side of the {Eternal Frontier}. We shan’t be back till we either wring you dry or those knife eared prudes finally put this foolish domain 6 feet under!”<Southern Fuka>

“What…” <Eel>What could Eel do but look blankly at Fuka as her brain worked to slowly translate what her friend had said - Fuka apparently having already decided what they would be doing and when they were doing it. However, since Eel had no complaints she reloaded her brain. Shaking her head with a long sigh.“Fufufu~ I suppose if you are so forceful I can’t help but agree~!” <Eel>Fuka just nodded with a grin while Eel decided to go ahead and open the door - finally stepping out in order to head towards her mother’s tomb. Her peaceful night was once again suddenly broken by a flash of crescent shaped turquoise light - like a crescent moon that came flying towards the open door.Although the intent was less ‘murderous’ than the others she’d felt and certainly couldn’t contend with those she just ran away from; it was still certainly at the peak of this realm and no doubt made her appear as a novice… Which she was.The intensity alone was enough to blind the pair; Fuka was fast though and brought up the base of her shield in an attempt to block some of the blow. Although she still wouldn’t be able to firmly stand in front of Eel in order to take the blow. The pair would be sent back regardless but at least she’d be able to avoid having her team leader cut in half.This turned out pointless as she felt not impact - not because the light was perfectly sent back but rather because it passed through her shield causing her eyes to widen. She even felt it clip the bottom of her outstretched wrist causing it to gush with blood. More shocking was what happened with Eel - although she was no slower it was mostly adrenaline and luck that Fuka managed to cover her. Eel had no time to draw a weapon so could only cover her neck - her one true vital - but the crescent-moon attack simply impacted her and caused her to stumble… It also cut apart any cloth or leather across her waist but it didn’t do more than impact her skin. Based on how strong this intent was yet not feeling any pain Eel couldn’t help but freeze up in shock - if she was cut in two from the waist she’d likely react in an instant but this was simply just oo bizarre. However, the scent of blood from Fuka’s wrist soon brought her back as she gazed deeply into the dark night to find her new opponent…Only to find nothing. She couldn’t even sense any life other than those you’d expect.Summoning her blade as she held it in front of herself with gritted teeth - deciding to step out first since Fuka obviously couldn’t fulfill her role as a tank without the ability to block the attacks…But nothing happened.Searching till it was noon still made them unaware of who exactly it was who attacked leaving Eel more certain to leave. If it was Fuka or Emily who opened the door they would’ve died. The only words Fuka said was a soft muttering while studying her own wound. The name of an element she had read about due to being a paladin.“Moonlight…” <Fuka>-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Did you two really believe it was only Alice and her cat interested in this new child [sbnᴉƃƃlʎ-lᴉuǝ] [bnǝsʇᴉou-ɯɐɹʞ] Anytime I can have some fun you can be sure I will do so [pɐsɥ] though this was mostly for our cute demonic empress [sbnᴉƃƃlʎ-lᴉuǝ] [bnǝsʇᴉou-ɯɐɹʞ] Chahahaha [sbnᴉƃƃlʎ-lᴉuǝ][Ǝxɔlɐɯɐʇᴉou-ɯɐɹʞ]” <Ɔɥɐos ſ Ⅎɐnsʇ>Sitting confidently like they were on a throne was a confident ‘girl’ who spoke casually but occasionally archaic words held such power they seemed like magic spells themselves were spoken but not understood. Just these ‘phrases’ causing the world itself to distort, although weakly, showed how outside of Elizabeth Jr’s league this character truly was…And a character they were…A golden cloak made of feathers completely covered their body while a tunic covered their flat torso about half of their plump tighs. Perfectly showing off those wide hips thanks to the aid of a leather black belt with red creases; tied up with a cute pink ribbon above their plump rear. The tunic of white with golden trim along the outside made them look completely like a priest - though they wore golden gauntlets with similarly golden talons which could be said to oppose the cloak of golden feathers and tunic. The right talon claimed ownership to a gnarled and ancient wooden stave that seemed to be made of an unknown but far superior wood that seemed to entwine to produce the artefact. The stave had a blunt base but the top of the stave had the entwined branches shoot out before hooking around to create a crevice where a black ‘orb’ with red sparks of infinite power seeming appearing in the empty void causing an impossible scene of void being filled while infinite being finite.Oh, and that ‘orb’ was hardly an orb at all. Instead it was what was commonly referred to as a 120-cell or a four dimensional dodecahedron.

Only thing normal about the damn thing seemed to be a bunch of cloth wrapped around to form a handle for the talon… However on closer inspection this cloth was a set of silken white tights that revealed the true nature of its owner. Said owner wore a black thigh-high on their right while the left had a crimson sock that (partly due to being folded at the top) didn’t even cover the full shin.As for their face? That was a mystery due to the very long brimmed ‘wizard/witch hat’ that completely hid over half of the figure's face leaving only a grin that spread from cheek to cheek. The hat itself was a simple design - black like the one sock but crimson stitches made what could only be said to be a smiley face appear on the large sagging ‘cone’ of the hat. Even figures like Mother who didn’t see through sight alone would find everything but that cheshire grin shrouded in anonymity.Though at the same time despite that they would know straight away who this figure was.“You are the last person I wanted to meet here Chaos...” <Sierra>Looking at Chaos who is currently the only ‘all-encompassing’ magic god except for {The Infinite Mother} - Sierra couldn’t help but feel deeply unsettled by him.Currently they were found in a realm filled with webbing and above Sierra would be a dark-skinned woman who had a cloak of black wings and a similar wizard hat - she even had a monocle over her right eye which she adjusted. She couldn’t move due to being caught in the web but she also didn’t seem worried.Across from the pair was Chaos who was sitting (upside down) on a stool that had it’s leg hung from a single swaying thread. Despite that to everyone else in this realm it was as if the stool was the only thing anchored as Chaos remained perfectly still - not even a single sign of movement from his should be falling off hat.It only showed how powerful Chaos was that it ended up being that everyone else felt they were instead swaying. Or maybe they were?“Little Chokin-Bako certainly has improved with her traps under your guidance young master.” <Artemis>“Hehe~ flattery will get you every-” <Chokin-Bako>“I do love you Chokin-Bako but for the love of Violet do not release the owl [pɐsɥ] no creature is harder to catch than her [sbnᴉƃƃlʎ-lᴉuǝ][ɟnll sʇod]” <Ɔɥɐos ſ Ⅎɐnsʇ>His accent was far different than those around him - what some may claim to be ‘middle-eastern’ - while the owl in question spoke with a calm and very ‘posh and proper’ fashion.The ‘Chokin-Bako’ mentioned appeared from behind chaos in the form of a little spider that crawled out from his feathered cloak while sounding quite similar to one ‘Violet Indigo’ though mostly due to being taught by her. The spider in question was fully black with a black vapour gushing out from it’s body before falling down under itself - though with Chaos around it was increasingly hard to judge such things as ‘up and down’ - with such quantity that it was hard to tell if the little spider had a physical body. Nonetheless, eight terrifying blood-red eyes kept an eye on this little temporary realm she made ensuring (with Chaos’ interference) no one could escape.“You didn’t answer my qu-” <Sierra>“Everyone always asks why are you here [Ɔɥɐos] and never how are you here [Ɔɥɐos] [pɐsɥ] you really need to learn how to appreciate the younger generation Sierra [sbnᴉƃƃlʎ-lᴉuǝ][ɟnll sʇod]” <Ɔɥɐos ſ Ⅎɐnsʇ>Sierra bit her lip under her helm as she gazed upon the scene - knowing full well that she was clearly outmatched and since Chaos was too busy playing games it was clear she would receive no answers. Nobody can force Chaos other than their joint eldest sister after all…With that thought a light bulb flashed.“Not possibly… She doesn’t interfere with the waking world!” <Sierra>“To succeed in ones dream they first need to move forward so while you dragons and spirits fight we demons have made our own conclusion for once [sbnᴉƃƃlʎ-lᴉuǝ][Ǝxɔlɐɯɐʇᴉou-ɯɐɹʞ]” <Ɔɥɐos ſ Ⅎɐnsʇ>