Chapter 17: Chapter 17 - Learning about Luna
Jake, Night, and Lexia are running to the cabin while Jake is holding Luna in a princess carry.
"Lexia, are you sure about this?" Jake asked Lexia.
"Of course, I want to hear for myself why this girl attacked me," Lexia replied, "Not to mention what your relationship with her is."
"That can wait until later, I'm going to use magic, brace yourself," Jake replied before telling Lexia.
As Jake used the space warp magic, the area surrounding them began to glow as they disappeared. At the same time that the area began to glow, Owen yelled at them, "Lexia wait, please don't go, or your father is going to end up killing me!"
Back at Jake's cabin, Jake, Lexia, and Night appeared next to the bed in one of the rooms of the cabin, as Jake gently placed Luna down.
"Did you just use teleportation magic?" Lexia asked half-certain.
Jake didn't respond, so Lexia asked a different question, "I don't understand, but you will explain this, won't you?"
After Jake explained to Lexia about how he trained with Lexia for a while and his relationship with her, Lexia said, "I see, now I have an idea about your relationship."
After saying this she again asked Jake, "But more importantly, what was that magic you used earlier?"
"It was a space magic that I created and is used for teleporting," Jake said not concerned.
Lexia seemed to get mad at this and started to corner Jake saying to him sternly, "Alright listen, obviously you haven't been made aware of this fact, but transportation magic has only ever been found in legends, outside of fairy tales there has been no confirmation that it even exists, so if this ability of your's is discovered, our society will fall into chaos, which will inevitably lead to war!"
"It's that bad huh," Jake said becoming concerned.
"That's right, so unless you must, try not to use it in front of others," Lexia said.
"Okay, I won't use it unless necessary or no one around me," Jake told Lexia.
"Well, then again I suppose it is just the sort of thing I should've expected from you," Lexia said herself and Jake, before saying to Luna, "By the way, how long are you going to pretend you're asleep?"
Luna opened her eyes and said, "So you saw through my charade."
"Yes from the start, and Sir Jake picked up on it as well, but he's too kind to say anything, so he simply watched over you as though he hadn't noticed," Lexia said to Luna.
After Jake heard that, he blushed a little giving an awkward smile and scratching his hair.
Lexia walked up to the bed where Luna is laying and said, "Now then, why don't you tell us about yourself now."
"And what if I don't?" Luna asked Lexia.
"Who knows? But I would like a chance to learn a little more about you if I can," Lexia said to Luna with a smile.
Luna scoffed and said, "This is absurd, you should just go ahead and kill me."
Jake walked up to Luna and said before asking, "I'm curious about what made you want to kill Lexia, can you tell me?"
Luna sighed and said, "It isn't exactly an interesting story, I was an orphan, I dug through trash, survived by stealing, I fought tooth and nail just to stay alive, and one day someone took me in despite the kind of person I was."
Luna took a pause before continuing, "I was taught how to read and write, and gained all sorts of knowledge on various subjects, including how to survive on my own, most of the techniques I learned were for assassination, you see, my new master was a professional killer."
"So a member of the dark guild," Lexia said.
"Is the dark guild a group of people who do illegal things?" Jake asked Lexia and Luna.
"Pretty much, they steal, swindle, deal illegal drugs, even kill, it's an organisation that commits a variety of crimes, they're very dangerous," Lexia explained to Jake.
"My master was part of the dark guild, so naturally I enlisted as well, I took on and completed more assassination missions than I could count, at some point, people started referring to me as the Headhunter," Luna continued telling her story.
Lexia exclaimed at the nickname of Luna, saying, "You're the Headhunter, a killer so deadly that even I've heard of that name!"
Jake remembered how Night was always wary of Luna when they first met, he asked Night, "Did you know of this at the start?"
To which Night responded with a light bark.
"Anyways, a few days back I received a certain assignment, I was told to eliminate the 1st Princess of the Arselia Kingdom, and as you can see I missed the mark, now then I've explained myself, do your worst," Luna said to Lexia after she finished explaining.
"Do you mean you aren't afraid of death, I mean I've been surrounded by death my whole life and I am still a little afraid of death," Jake asked in shock.
"Once I attacked the princess my execution was guaranteed, once the dark guild discovers that I failed, they would dispatch a team of assassins to kill me, so either way I'm marked for death," Luna said as she has accepted her fate.
"I don't want you to die Luna," Jake said with a slight frown on his face as he felt a slight pain in his heart that he hasn't felt in years because of the amount of dead people he encounters when exorcising curses.
"What, are you really worried about what will happen to me, I mean we're acquainted, but we only trained together for a little while, so there's no reason to concern yourself with a person like me," Luna said to Jake.
"Don't be so ridiculous, I know we are friends, so it means I have a pretty good reason to concern myself with you, I know we haven't spent much time together, so stop talking like I shouldn't care!" Jake said firmly, completely refuting her claim.
"Fine, it's too late now, there's no way I can change my fate," Luna said to Jake.
"Pardon, would you stop excluding me from this please," Lexia said to both of them, "Why do you assume that if they don't kill you, we will?"
"Wait a minute, you're not suggesting you would let me go are you?" Luna asked stunned.
"Of course not, in light of the circumstances, you're going to serve me, I'm saying that I would like to make you my personal guard," Lexia said to Luna, which in the middle of the sentence made Luna gasp.
"You can't possibly mean that," Luna said in disbelief.
"No one outside of this room is aware that you attacked me, just myself and Jake, if you keep it a secret no one will ever know, and think if you're my guard, even the dark guild won't be able to get to you," Lexia said, trying to seduce Luna to accept.
"You don't understand, I'm a professional killer, why would you trust me?" Luna asked Lexia.
Lexia got mad and got up to Luna's face sternly saying, "You're far too concerned with the details, I am ordering you to accept the position!"
"I'm sorry but it just isn't that simple, you're such a bright light, someone like me isn't worthy of standing by your side, I can't possibly say yes," Luna said before looking at her hands and continuing, "I've killed so many people, my hand's are stained with their blood, and I'll never be able to wash it away."
Lexia heard this and came up to Luna and grabbed one of her hands, and began rubbing it while saying, "What are you talking about, your hands are quite beautiful, they're spectacular what do you do to keep them so soft and clean?"
"That's because of Jake's bath, wait that's not the point, I was talking about all the-," Luna was saying before being interrupted by Lexia.
Lexia started talking firmly while standing on the bed and pointing at Luna, "Silence this chatter immediately, you failed to assassinate me, which means that you are defeated, therefore you will behave yourself and submit to the victor, starting today you're my new guard whether you like it or not!"
"Hmm, right," Luna said slightly dazed.
In the middle of the nowhere within the area of the periphery of the Great Devil's Nest, Owen and the other guards are currently fighting some Goblin Elites.
Owen stabs one of them through their brain, killing it while blocking another with his shield. The other guards are struggling to fend off 4 more Goblin Elites, with Owen absorbing most of the damage they are taking, and simultaneously using the [Water Manipulation] Skill from the set effect of the equipment, hindering the Goblin Elites from wrecking havoc on the normal knights.
Owen quickly killed the surrounding Goblin Elites, ending the fight with him cutting through the leader of the Goblin Elites, the Goblin Elite King.
Owen swore because of the massive amounts of monsters in the area around them, "Dammit all, fall back for now, I'm sorry Princess Lexia, forgive me, please be safe in my absence!"
Back at the cabin, Luna is asking Lexia, "Are you sure about this?"
"Yes, of course, if I saw it's fine then it's fine, you will call my Lexia, just Lexia, and I'll call you Luna!" Lexia said to Luna.
Luna sighed when she heard this and said, "You sure are particular aren't you, okay so this is the first command I have to follow."
Luna got up from the bed and said, "Very well, Lexia."
Lexia nodded and hummed in agreement, "Now, back to your explanation, you were saying something about Jake's bath I believe?"
Luna got excited and exaggeratedly pointed to Jake, saying, "Listen and be amazed Lexia, he has an item that can summon a bath to appear, once you step inside it, all your fatigue melts away, your magic is restored, and it actually increases beauty!"
"Why wasn't I informed, that isn't fair!" Lexia had a small tantrum before asking coquettishly to Jake, "May I use it too Jake?"
"Of course, and if you want to take one with you, I have a bunch of them, I got the first one at when I was about 7 years old," Jake told them, and also opened his item box, having hundreds of the portable bath drop item.
"Wonderful, Luna you're coming with me!" Lexia said in joy before taking Luna with her.
"What me?" Luna asked in shock.
"Yes, you must, care to join us Jake?" Lexia asked Jake.
"Wait you can't just," Luna whispered to Lexia with her whisper getting quieter the longer she spoke.
"Thanks for the invite, but I will pass," Jake thanked and told Lexia.
Lexia playfully and charmingly closed one of her eyes, while saying, "Oh dear, well that's quite a shame."
In the bath, within the veil, Lexia and Luna are chatting to each other.
"This feels so nice," Lexia sighed with relief.
"I agree, Jake's bath is unbelievably comfortable," Luna said while stretching her hands.
"Luna, are you in love with Jake or something?" Lexia asked Luna out of nowhere.
Luna was startled and fell under the water, she exclaimed while stammering, "Me, what kind of nonsense is that, no… I don't… Jake… is just a good friend."
"And you're certain of that?" Lexia asked Luna, "Because from where I'm sitting, it looks as though you might have romantic feelings for him."
"No, you're just imagining things," Luna said trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Oh, so if you don't feel that way about him at all, I can marry him," Lexia said to Luna.
Luna gasped and said, "No, of course not-,!"
"Ah-huh!" Lexia exclaimed while pointing at Luna.
"I mean… I just-," Luna was stammering before she got interrupted by Lexia.
"If you two are only just friends, then it shouldn't be a problem if I marry him," Lexia said to Luna.
"I suppose it's fair to say that I find Jake to be desirable as a teacher and training partner, but when it comes to something more than that, I really can't say, for certain," Luna said to Lexia.
"Ah, right, then I must issue a declaration of war," Lexia said as she stood up.
Luna scoffs while asking, "What, you declare war against me?"
"Indeed, you might not realise it yet but you're undoubtedly harbouring feelings of love, and I also have to be madly in love with Jake," Lexia told Luna.
"You think it's love?" Luna asked Lexia.
"So, you and I will fight, and if I manage to become Jake's bride, we'll consider me the winner!" Lexia said to Luna.
Luna gasped before Lexia continued, "Well then, are you alright with me swiping him away from you?"
Luna slightly lowered her head, saying, "You can't."
"Hmm?" Lexia hummed in a questioning way
Luna stood up from the bath and said firmly, "Jake belongs to me!"
"I see, this means that you've accepted my decleration of war, I assume?" Lexia said to Luna.
"With all my heart," Luna said while Looking firmly at Lexia.
After they looked at each other for a while, Lexia said to Luna, "Perfect, then starting right now, you'll be my guard and my rival, how nice."
After they finished having a bath, Lexia and Luna are sitting on some wooden chairs next to the table in the cabin, with steam coming out of their heads.
"Well, I'll start making dinner, have a nice rest," Jake said to Lexia and Luna.
"Pardon me, Jake!" Lexia said excitedly as she stood up from the table.
"What's up?" Jake asked Lexia.
"Allow me to make it!" Lexia said with her eyes shining.
After Jake got the ingredients ready, Lexia was holding a kitchen knife and is aiming it at a potato. She swung the knife down, missing the potato and getting the knife stuck in the chopping board.
The potato bounced to the ground, as Lexia said, "My, this is more difficult than I thought."
She continued to try to cut it a few more times and kept missing, causing her to say, "Why won't this silly old thing cut properly!"
As she finished saying this, she tried to cut it one more time, causing the knife to go flying backward as it stopped and hovered close to an inch away from Jake's face, as he turned on infinity.
Luna started screaming, "Lexia you killed him!"
Lexia began screaming too, before Jake said, "Um, Lexia please don't take this the wrong way, but maybe you should let me do it."
"Ahhh, he's turned into an undead!" Lexia continued to scream as she and Luna began to cry.
"Um, I'm not dead, it didn't hit me, it got stopped by me using infinity," Jake said as he began to coax them.
After Jake coaxed them and explained why he is still alive to them, he began to cook dinner. After he cooked dinner they began to eat.
"Delicious!" Luna and Lexia exclaimed while humming because of how good it tastes.
"I'm glad you like it," Jake said to them.
Lexia quickly came to Jake and hugged his arm saying, "That's my darling Jake for you."
Luna was stunned before she said, "Jake!"
"Do you need anything?" Jake asked her.
"I was thinking maybe you could feed me?" Luna said while holding her stomach.
Stunned and not knowing what to say, Jake could only make some sounds, before Lexia said to Luna, "Excuse me!"
"I still haven't fully recovered from being injured before, it's hard to move around, help me would you," Luna said to Jake with her mouth open for food.
Jake remembered how hard he kicked her, so he began to feed her.
As he fed her, Luna said to him, "Um, Thank you."
After he gave her some, Luna gave Lexia a mocking side glance, so Lexia said to Jake, "Now me, Jake, feed me the same way you just fed her."
"But Lexia, you're not injured," Jake said to Lexia.
Lexia demanded to him as she opened her mouth, "Obey your princess!"
"Okay," Jake said.
After he fed both of them, he asked them, "Are we finished now?"
To which both of them responded while picking up some food with a spoon, "Of course not, because now it's time for us to return the favour!"
Lexia said, "Here, say ahh."
While Luna said, "Don't hesitate, just devour it all."
After they finished eating, they all went to sleep, with Lexia and Luna sleeping in the same bed in one of the rooms, and Jake and Night sleeping in another bed in another of the rooms.
Time has passed and it has become morning, at the entrance to the Great Devil's Nest, the knights, Owen, and the carriage are waiting there, hopeful to find Lexia.
Jake yelled to them from a distance, "Yo, Owen!"
After Owen and the knights heard this, they looked into the forest in the direction they heard the sound, and saw Jake waving at them with Lexia and Luna on each side of him, and Night by his feet.
"Princess Lexia, good, I see you're unharmed!" Owen exclaimed with joy and relief.
"Of course I am, nothing happened," Lexia replied to Owen.
Jake said to Owen, "I'm sorry, we accidentally got separated from you, I hope you can forgive me."
Owen sighed before saying to Jake, "There's definitely a lot that I would like to say, but I'm sure you had a hard time too, now then, who is this tiny creature?"
"Oh, I guess I haven't told you yet, this is Night, a new member of my family, and his race is a Black Fenrir whatever that is," Jake introduced Night to Owen, as Night gave a light bark and lifted his paw at Owen saying hello.
"Pleasure to meet you, Night," Owen said to Night, before saying in shock after he realised what Jake said Night's race was, "Wait, did you say that Night is a Black Fenrir!"
"Yeah, is there anything wrong with that?" Jake asked confused.
"Black Fenrirs are a legendary creature only told about in fairy tales, they are said to have the same strength as the Genesis Dragon, which is the strongest dragon that is also only told about in fairy tales when they completely grow up," Owen explained to Jake.
"Seems that you're pretty cool bud," Jake said to Night slightly impressed but not changing how he treats him.
"By the way, I don't think I've met your other companion," Owen said after thinking for a while.
"Well you see-," Jake was starting to explain when Lexia interrupted him.
She said, "That's Luna, she's the assassin that attempted to kill me, but it's fine, I have employed her as my personal guard." Lexia stunned everyone as she finished speaking.
"Lexia, really?" Jake asked in disbelief as Luna covered her head with her hand.
"Oops, it slipped out," Lexia said trying to act cute.
Owen and the knights blocked Luna on all sides and pointed their weapons at her, blocking her from Lexia, Owen said while keeping Lexia behind him, "Please stand back Princess Lexia!"
"Stop Owen, there's no need!" Lexia ordered Owen.
"I must, you just said she attempted to kill you, that means she's dangerous," Owen said to Lexia.
"Exactly, which is why I want her working for me," Lexia explained.
"Forgive me my lady, but that reasoning doesn't make sense," Owen apologised to Lexia.
"Oh, I'm so tired of arguing with you!" Lexia said angrily as she was fed up, "Go ahead and take them down Luna."
"You're more foolish than I predicted," Luna said to Lexia.
"Wait what?" Lexia asked confused.
"Owen, what Lexia is saying is true, they came to an agreement between them, she has become Lexia's guard now, just as she says," Jake said to Owen trying to diffuse the situation.
"Or that's simply a means to fulfil her assassination plot, in which case Princess Lexia is in grave danger," Owen said to Lexia and Jake.
"You worry about every little thing, think Owen, if she had wanted to kill me, then why wouldn't she have done the deed last night when we were sleeping together," Lexia said to Owen.
"You slept together?" Owen asked.
"Naturally, we were staying at Sir Jake's residence, why wouldn't we have slept together?" Lexia asked Owen a rhetorical question.
Owen sighed and said, "I suppose that makes sense."
"Sorry about that," Jake apologised to Owen.
Owen was thinking for a while, as he finally sighed and lowered his weapon.
He said, "I still don't trust this young lady completely, but we'll stop holder her at sword point at least."
As the knights put away their swords, Jake told Owen, "Unfortunately, because of this event, I will be unable to come to the royal palace."
"Ohh, you're not able to go to the palace after all?" Owen asked with distraught.
"Are you sure, I really wanted you to travel with us though?" Lexia asked Jake with visible sadness on her face.
"I'm sorry, I have business to attend to, so I don't have the time you suggested to go to the palace," Jake said to Lexia, "If we left yesterday, we should have been able to make it."
"Oh, I see," Owen said while laughing sadly, "I suppose if you have plans, there's really nothing to be done."
"If you can give me a map of the kingdom, I should be able to get there when I have the time available," Jake suggested.
"Well, if that's the case, we'll see you there at a later time, whenever is most convenient for you," Owen said to Jake as he gave him a map, while continuing to say, "If you follow this road you'll reach a village, if you ask around you can also get directions to the capital."
Lexia, Owen, and the knights began to get ready to leave, as Luna said to Jake, "Well, goodbye again Jake."
"Yeah, see you later, Luna," Jake replied.
Some more time has passed and the carriage has began to leave, Lexia says to Jake with her head outside the carriage waving at him, "Goodbye Sir Jake, next time let's meet at the royal capital!"
Luna stopped the horse she was riding, got off the horse and ran to Jake, giving him a kiss on the cheek, making Lexia stunned.
Luna said to Jake, "Um, that kiss was not just a thank you, but a message too, I'm officially declaring war!"
Luna began to run back to the horse, as inside the carriage Lexia is ordering Owen, "Stop the carriage, I must tend to this at once!"
Owen replied while looking out the window, "You know, the weather's nice today."
"Owen pay attention, stop this carriage immediately, if she's going to kiss him, then I want to do it too!" Lexia began to whine.