Another (Mostly) Serious Chapter

{Author's Note}

WELL! I've got what I think is a nice chapter for you all here today. Not much of an Author's note, but I will say that this chapter is half comedy, one-fourth exposition, and one forth foreshadowing. Telling if you can spot the obvious foreshadowing that is obvious for anyone with eyes!

ON WTH TEH SOTRY!

***

<San Ilia – The Inn>

The walk back to the Inn they'd rented was mostly uneventful. Well, it was uneventful for Kevin and Alice. The rest of the castle, on the other hand, was still in the throes of chaos. Between the rumors of the Monster Lord appearing and breaking the [Goddess Sword], the Heavenly Knight of Fire arriving to wreak havoc, and three men from three different professions suddenly going missing, there wasn't a moment when the air wasn't filled with panicked chatter.

Kevin only stopped to stare meaningfully at the statue of Ilias for a few seconds before they finally left the building. To his traveling companion, it would seem he was just giving the statue a dead-eyed stare in order to mock it, which she approved of. However, what he was actually doing was using the minor psychic power he retained in this form to project a message toward it, certain that the goddess was using it as a means to spy on her people.

'If you are not in the Dream Room tonight to explain yourself, you can forget about being welcome ever again,' he transmitted.

Back at the inn, Alice relaxed on the bed in her undisguised lamia form, while the Eevee sat at the small table provided by the room. He pulled out [Four Animists and their Sources] and started where he left off, once again enjoying the writing style of the great Bill Wurtz. The book described everything from the creation of the Four Spirits themselves, to their contributions to both human and monster societies throughout history, and even their bond with the Hero Heinrich in his quest to stop Alipheese Fateburn VIII.

It wasn't until the sun was going down and the boy was reaching the end of the book that he finally came to the section detailing their locations. Apparently, even if they were taken away from their domains, they would return at the first possible chance due to them being where their respective elements reached the highest concentration. Sylph, the Spirit of Wind, was in the Forest of Spirits, just a few days' walk from Iliasburg. Gnome, the Spirit of Earth, could be found wandering the deserts of Safina on the west end of Sentora. Undine, the Spirit of Water, made the holy springs of The Noah region, which was on the east end of Sentora, her home. Finally, Salamander, the Spirit of Fire, was deep inside an active volcano in the northern Gold region.

[Spirit Locations have been added to their entries in the Monsterpedia!]

'Thank you, System,' the teenager thought with a smile, before turning to address Alice. "Well, I know where all of the Spirits are now."

This, in turn, snapped the Monster Lord out of her lazy daze. "Finally. I thought you'd never finish that book."

"I would ask if you could've done it faster, but something tells me you'd be more likely to eat the book instead of trying to read it," he snarked back.

The funny thing is, Alice didn't deny the assumption. "So, do you have a plan to find them?"

"Yeah. We'll head out tomorrow to the Forest of Spirits to try picking up Sylph, and then just follow the order that they appear in the book," he replied, putting said book back in his bag.

"And that would be…?"

"Next would be Gnome, then Undine, and then Salamander."

"That's good," the lamia nodded. "Sylph and Gnome are the easiest to recruit and get along with, while Undine and Salamander have much stricter criteria for who can and cannot wield their power. The latter two wouldn't even entertain the idea of having you as a Host without the former two already inside of you."

The teenager decided to ignore the fact that one of the 'easiest to recruit' Spirits being in a known place near his location at the time of reading the book. The whole situation reeked of plot convenience, and was probably meant to give the hero a quick power-up at the beginning of the quest so the person playing the game didn't get bored with the same fighting mechanics being used over and over again in the game this world was based on.

With the general milestones of their future adventure planned out, the duo prepared for bed. Alice slipped under the blankets of the room's only bed, hiding her tail just in case someone entered the room without their permission, while Kevin shrunk down to his full Eevee form and immersed himself in the heavenly embrace of the Bag of Bedding. They both drifted off within minutes, though only one of them was anticipating sweet dreams that night.

***

<Within Kevin's Dream>

Kevin stared at the goddess in front of him, his arms folded across his chest and an unimpressed expression on his face. He sat on his desk chair, but refused to allow her to take a seat until she explained her actions. This left her standing in the center of the room, her head lowered in apparent shame and regret.

"I'm not mad," he said. "I'm just disappointed."

Ilias visibly flinched. "I'm sorry…" she mumbled.

Kevin sighed. "I would appreciate an explanation more than an apology."

She was silent for a few minutes, but was eventually able to muster the courage to speak again. "It's been…millennia since I last had a friend, so I was a little over-excited when you didn't turn me away the last two times I've visited. Hanging out in your dreams, and just talking without having to be a goddess, made me feel…normal. I wanted to thank you for that."

"I don't know if you know this," the boy started, leaning back in his chair. "But making your friend an unwilling Hero to your crazy cult and trying to send him on a quest to kill his other friend isn't a reward. It's a punishment."

As much as the blond goddess wanted to correct him and say her religion wasn't a cult, she knew that he wasn't exactly wrong. Their worship of her had started off as a cult, after all, and only progressed so far due to the fact that she actively interacted with humanity on a yearly basis. She also couldn't say that her followers weren't crazy, what with how a large number of them would kill an innocent person without a second thought if they suspected he/she had spoken two words to a monster.

Urging him to murder Alice was a whole other can of worms that she didn't want to get into.

"I know that it was wrong," she stated, honest regret present in her eyes. "But I do have a good excuse."

Kevin tilted his head to the side. "And what would that be?"

"The fact that outside of this dream room, I'm not entirely sane." She paused, but his intrigued expression urged her to continue. "Like I said before, I haven't had anyone to trust, confide in, or even share a normal conversation with for thousands of years. This has…warped my mind, more than a little; to the point where I've started wars and imprisoned my own angels for petty reasons. Just thinking back on some of the atrocities I've committed makes me want to vomit.

"This room's calming effect changes that. It reduces the severity of my loneliness-induced madness to almost nothing, allowing me to just relax and talk to you without years of mental degradation getting in the way. On the other hand, though, whenever I leave the insanity slowly comes back. My memories of my time here are slowly twisted until our friendship is corrupted into something else in my mind.

"In a moment of half-lucid thought, I had the idea of bringing you fully to my side by making you the 'Hero of Humanity' and using an entire kingdom's expectations of you to pressure you into going along with it," Ilias concluded shamefully.

The teenager was put off a little by her confession. Ilias had just admitted to him that she was clinically insane; that entering his dream room was the only thing capable of bringing her back to a fully lucid state of mind; and that this reprieve had brought her less-sane self to the conclusion that she should secure complete control over him at all costs. It was…a lot to take in.

As such, he replied in the only way he could think of. "Well…that didn't work out."

Ilias' shoulders somehow seemed to drop even further as she hung her head in shame. "No, it didn't." She refused to tell him of the sounds she'd made, the threats she'd screamed, or the tantrum she'd thrown upon the Monster Lord breaking her [Goddess Sword]. It wasn't even that good of a sword, as she hadn't wanted humanity to use it against her, so it was understandable that it wouldn't work against someone of Alice's power level, but the indignation of her shattering it to pieces within minutes of seeing it had driven the goddess to do some incredibly childish things she wasn't entirely proud of.

While Kevin was all for making people suffer for their own stupidity, he found himself empathizing with Ilias at that moment. Her descriptions of how she acted without the influence of his calming dream room was similar to how he would describe his Sylveon form. Yes, it was still him, but it was completely insane and hurt him to think about his actions in that evolution for too long. If this was what the goddess had going on, then she was in deep.

"Alright," he nodded, standing up and putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I forgive you."

Tears welled up in her eyes. She'd honestly come here expecting him to reject her no matter what she said, so his sudden acceptance of her apologies and presence filled her with joy. As such, she moved forward to engulf him in an emotional hug.

In any other situation, Kevin would've reacted violently to the sudden escalation of physical contact, but the effects of the room on his emotions made the sudden urge to eviscerate the goddess disappear. Instead, he simply stood there and allowed her to cry out her relief. It was made more bearable, due to their height difference, by the fact that his face was nestled perfectly between the valley of her breasts. With all of the volatile emotions he usually associated with the sexual characteristics of women being suppressed, he was able to enjoy their softness for a few minutes.

After the goddess had calmed down and the two separated, they proceeded to do what they had the last two times she'd visited. Namely, hang out, talk about things that don't matter, and mess around with the various odds and ends around the room. It was as if the 'holy sword' incident had never happened, aside from a few key details.

First was the agreement they came to at the end to do this more often; once every three nights, at the very least, and possibly more. Both understood that there was a high probability that the closer they became, the more likely she was to do something drastic in her less-than-sane state. So, they decided that having her be calm and collected as often as possible was a win-win, especially with the possibility of her default madness slowly being cured by the constant exposure.

The other thing, however, was the new light Ilias was beginning to see Kevin in. At first, she saw him as a nuisance who needed to either be controlled or eliminated. Then, when she'd been introduced to the dream room, she'd come to think of him as an acquaintance, and possibly friend, that she could just be herself around. Now, though, she was beginning to see him as something more. Only time would tell what that 'something' would turn out to be, though.

***

<The Next day>

The not-so-heroic duo had left the Inn early that morning so they could gather the necessary supplies for their trip to the Forest of Spirits. Since the King was footing the bill for everything, and by now all of the store owners in the town had been informed by the guards, neither of them held back with their expenses. Food, better camping equipment, and other odds and ends were shoveled into the Backpack of Holding by the armful, bringing smiles to both the shop owners and the travelers themselves. The only ones getting the raw deal out of this were the Church, but nobody really cared.

"So," Kevin said as they walked out of what felt like the twentieth shop. "What's the Forest of Spirits like?"

Alice thought hard about how she should answer before responding. "It's inhabited solely by Elves and Fairies, the former of which protect it from unwanted visitors. Like humans."

"It's a good thing I'm not human," the teenager smirked. Then, he frowned as a thought came up. "Although, if they act like those Dark Elves from Enrika, I will not be held responsible for what I will do to them."

The disguised lamia was about to make another quip back at him, but was interrupted. Not just interrupted, though. Interrupted by the one person neither her nor her companion wanted to see in another million years.

"Finally, I meet you again!" a voice came from behind them. "My Darling, I shall shower you with the affection I've built up over the past hundred years!"

They turned around slowly, dread filling both of their hearts as they begged for their ears to just be mishearing the voice. Unfortunately for them, the only one listening to their prayers was the Being, and he was an insufferable asshole, so of course they saw exactly who they were expecting.

"I am Amira," Amira announced her presence, standing proud in her mostly-nude 'majesty.' "An unfortunate lamia! My fiery passion burns brighter than a transient phoenix, as it rebirths stronger every time it is shot down."

Kevin stared at her with dead eyes. "Why…just why are you here? You should be on the Ilias Continent, bothering other would-be Heroes for their misguided love."

"Actually, I was hiding on the same boat as you! Together on our boat of love, I'll follow my Darling anywhere!"

"…You know what? This is fine. Great, even," the teenager suddenly stated, smiling in a way that almost looked genuine.

Amira stopped her hammy acting at that, honestly surprised by the sudden turn. "It is?"

"Of course," the boy nodded. "I was hoping for a test subject to use [Judgment] on, just to see how powerful it really is. And here you are, practically volunteering yourself for the position!"

Being a character who had been granted meta knowledge and situational plot armor, the unfortunate lamia was well aware of both the Move Kevin was talking about, and what state it would leave her in if she was hit with it. She also knew that she couldn't play up the comedic 'everyone already hates me' card she was planning on, as the moment the children would approach her and ask her to play, that would be the final nail in her coffin.

Thinking fast and breaking out into a cold sweat, the armless monster hastily spoke up. "Uh…uh…can I say something to try and convince you to not mutilate my poor fragile body."

"You have thirty seconds," Kevin responded, his voice full of malicious cheer.

"That's all I need! A group of children asked me earlier if I could help clear out the haunted mansion to the North. I, of course, told them no, as my character is designed for impact, not physical strength. It might interest you to know that the Boss monster at the end has an Elemental Type that you don't currently have, and won't be able to gain anywhere else anytime soon."

Time moved slowly after her claim, with seconds stretching out to feel like hours. Finally, after a solid minute of contemplating her claim, Kevin nodded. "I'll let you live. For now."

As was stated long ago, Kevin knew exactly the type of character that Amira was: an information dump. She was the kind of literary device that knew more than she logically should, treated the fourth wall as if it wasn't there, and was impossible to kill due to her purpose in regards to the world. It was only after she'd served all of her Plot Device duties that the Eevee would be able to take sweet revenge on her .

Looking at the above text, Amira felt even less safe than when he was just threatening her with Judgment. She didn't have much time to wallow in the fear, though as two soldiers were suddenly approaching.

"Ah! A monster is in the town!"

"She may know something about the Monster Lord breaking in earlier! Catch her!"

Amira shouted in 'fear' at the guards suddenly charging toward her, and ran away. Kevin and Alice watched as the backwards monster was chased out of their sight, both satisfied at the turn of events.

Although, Alice was a bit suspicious. "How did she know about your Elemental Types?" she inquired.

"Knowing would only give you an existential crisis," Kevin warned her, before they continued their trek through the city.

It was as they were leaving the city a few hours later that the lamia posed another question. "We're not actually going to that haunted mansion to the north, right?"

"Not right now, no," Kevin shook his head. "But eventually. I'd like to get Sylph first."

"But you're planning on going afterward?" she continued. "What's the point of going there? Since ghosts aren't real –"

The Eevee sighed in exasperation. "Alice, if you want to stay behind when I go to the mansion, you're free to; but I'm not going to let your irrational fear of ghosts stop me from unlocking a new form. Can we save this conversation for when it actually matters?"

Silence was all he received in return, so he took that as a 'yes.'

"Good. Now, as long as no particularly brave monsters try to stop us, the map says we should be able to reach the Forest of Spirits in three days by foot," he continued. "Do you have anything else you want to buy before we go?"

"Not particularly. Everything I wanted is in your bag."

"Then let's go."

***

<Three Days Later>

Over the course of the journey, not a single monster tried to attack them. Kevin assumed it had to do with the fact that he now constantly emitted a Spirit-level aura, having completely unlocked the potential of his Eevee form, and Alice was willing to agree. His explanation of how the Normal Type Energy he'd absorbed from Page 65537 made his base form as powerful as his evolutions was surprising to the lamia, but she wasn't exactly worried, considering the fact that she remembered how there were no Types that Normal was super effective against.

Ilias visited twice, since the 'three days minimum' was just that: a minimum. She and Kevin spent that night talking about the Monsters the latter had encountered over the course of his journey so far, the powers he'd gained, and his plan to find the Four Spirits. Contrary to her own expectations, the goddess felt happiness at the idea of the teenager gathering them up. Maybe it was due to the nature she shared with them, possibly giving her a chance to –

She killed that line of thought then and there. With how psychotic she was in the outside world, it was still way too early to think about getting close to the Eevee in any way other than through the dream room. Maybe she could contemplate it when her default mindset outside of the room was no longer 'Megalomaniacal Psycho Bitch,' which could take months, if not years to fully resolve.

'Hopefully, they can do the same for him as he's doing for me,' she silently prayed to whatever power was higher than her in the universe.

Neither she nor Alice were blind to how broken the teenager really was. After all, it takes a lot of psychological trauma to make someone that apathetic, not to mention THAT aversive to the thought of having sex. He may have refused to reveal his past to anyone, but the proof was everywhere for those who cared to look for it.

Back to the present, the odd duo stood at the beginning of the dirt path that led into the Forest of Spirits. The trees were enormous, with thick branches and enough leaves to completely shroud some locations in darkness. Every once in a while, the sound of childish giggling would echo in the distance, likely the fairies that Alice had talked about living here. Otherwise, there was a peaceful silence that hung over the area, giving it an otherworldly feel.

"So, anything else to warn me about before we go in?" Kevin asked.

"Hmm…" Alice hummed. "As I said before, along with Sylph, there are lots of fairies and elves that live here. They usually mean no harm to humans, but the fairies can be a bit mischievous."

The boy cocked his head to the side. "Are we talking about 'dumping a bucket over someone's head' mischievous, or 'trying to force their way into my clothes and have some fun' mischievous?"

She sighed. "A little bit of both, to be honest. Also, I can't come with you. If the Monster Lord paraded through their forest, the fairies would be shocked. I'll wait outside this time."

"What makes going through here different from you following me literally everywhere else so far?"

"Having lived around Sylph for their whole lives, the monsters in the Forest of Spirits are much more sensitive to magical power. Also, I visited here a few years ago after taking the throne, meaning that even if I were to try hiding my presence, I would be called out within seconds."

Kevin nodded in understanding. "I get it. How do you think they'll react to MY magical aura?"

"I honestly have no idea," she shook her head. "But I can say that Sylph will know you're there the moment you step beyond the tree line."

"Alright then. Let's get this over with."

With nothing else holding him back, the Eevee boy entered the Forest of Spirits.

***

<Bonus>

<Near the center of the Forest of Spirits>

Sylph was having an amazing day. True, every day was amazing if you lived life as an air-headed, hyperactive, fairy-sized Spirit of Wind, but that's not the point. The point was that here and now, she was enjoying life to the fullest!

After waking up this morning, she'd taken off at speeds that would make most harpies jealous, speeding around the Forest of Spirits to wake herself up. It may no have been a particularly SAFE method of getting her blood pumping and bringing her consciousness to full efficiency, as was demonstrated by the number of trees around the forest with sylph-shaped indents and holes in them from her having a collision once every few days, but damn if it wasn't refreshing!

Following that, she ate some fruits and berries, and moved on to her favorite pastime: playing with the fairies. Since she liked to let her mind flow freely like the breeze, she could often be described as childish, making her the perfect playmate for the pint-sized monsters. Everything from tag, to hide-and-seek, to pulling pranks on the elves was on the table every day of the week, with nobody to tell her what she could or couldn't do. This was her domain, after all!

However, today was different.

Halfway through a breakfast that consisted of an apple bigger than the rest of her physical body, all of her whimsical thoughts of plans for the day came to a grinding halt. Something had just entered her forest, and it felt…weird. She vaguely remembered the feeling of a Spirit she couldn't recognize passing over her a week ago, and it was nearly identical to the creature that was now walking along the path to her. But this sensation was stronger, and it didn't immediately slip through her grasp like leaves in the wind.

The most confusing thing, though, was the sensation she had in her heart, as if she was being drawn to wherever this magical aura was coming from. It was calling out to her, causing an ache of longing to appear in her chest. It left no doubt that whoever it was, they were coming for her, and she needed to prepare for when they arrived...

…because when they did, her life was going to change. For better, or worse.

***

{Author's Note}

Sooooo...how did you guys like it?

Who would've guessed that Ilias has an actual reason for being a genocidal maniac, and while affected by the room she feels regret for everything she's done in her loneliness-induced madness? I sure would, considering what humans do when left alone for too long.

I will be honest, Kevin's first in-person encounter with a Spirit (Spot the hidden context behind that if you can) will be both fun, and difficult to write at the same time. I have a plan for the dynamics he'll have with all four of the Spirits, but let's just say his nature as an Eevee will react interestingly with a primal source of pure elemental energy.

That's enough spoilers for now, though!

On another note, it seems that the Cliff Hanger method I've been employing is working to keep my creative juices flowing. Hopefully it lasts forever!

And, finally, I am definitely considering the prospect of opening up a discord server so I can talk directly to you guys now. Had a few people say yes to it when I suggested it before. Still thinking of a name for it. Suggestions are appreciated.

As always, comment on the paragraphs and the chapter itself. Try not to be a dick, memes are appreciated, and correct my grammar so I can fix it for future readers!

See you later!