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Author Note:
[ ] = When Twilight is speaking.
{ } = When talking through Telepathy.
' ' = When thinking in your mind.
<< >> = When talking with your Pokémon or Tamed Beast.
--- --- = When describing a certain period OR Another place.
** ** = Point Of View, i.e., POV
/// /// = In Call
" " = System and when talking to it.
「 」 = Thoughts being heard
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Lumine: Adepti Energy? So that's the name of this new golden power.
She murmured while looking at the cube.
Lumine: Still, why does it feel like Adepti means something else?
As she pondered it, it seemed as if Cube heard her, and in the next second, the name changed.
.
.
Adeptal Energy: 1.01%
.
.
This surprised her for a moment, and she nodded.
Lumine: Um. Adeptal Energy sounded better than Adepti Energy because Adepti feels like the name of someone or some other ra. c..e...….
Her words trailed off at the end as she widened her eyes, surprised at her thoughts.
'Lumine: W-Wait...…Don't tell i---Kuh!!!'
The old familiar headache returned before she could delve deeper into it, making her stop.
Lumine: *HUFF* *HUFF* *HUFF*
By the time the pain died down, the Traveler was gasping for her breath. She was still not used to it, even if she had experienced it before.
Ultimately, she decided not to think about it and rest. After all, tomorrow would be the day she would leave this goddamn prison.
.
.
.
The next day.
???: Ouuuuuuuuuuuuu….
A voice resounded from the surroundings, and the blonde woke up.
Lumine: Urk…these voices.
This was the voice of Jail when it felt delighted.
As she stood up, she could hear the sound of people suffering and the hissing of the Marchens.
While still yawning, she stretched her body. Before long, she was completely awake and full of energy.
After checking everything and confirming she was not missing anything, she patted her cheeks and prepared herself.
Lumine: Now then. Time to go.
Walking towards the prison door, she grabbed the iron bars before bending them aside.
TUU!!!
Coming out, she looked around to see any enemies nearby. Seeing no one, she started walking, though she had her guard up to be ready for anything.
While doing that, she observed the place she was in as it was the first time she had come out of her cell.
The area was dark and slightly dreary. It was lit only by lanterns shining into a dark grey sky and onto a dark green checkerboard-patterned floor. The floor was littered with dice, candles, cushy loungers, and chess pieces that wiggled on their own every so often. The walls were a mess of prison bars and books. Some walls and even the floor were decorated with clocks that rapidly spun their hands.
The playing card motif was particularly noteworthy, with symbols of the four suites on the floor and walls as decoration. The area felt eerie, and its cheeriness was almost like a mockery of the prisoners.
Jail: Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuu....
This sound snapped the blonde out of her thoughts, and she frowned.
'Lumine: It's wailing again…I really hate this creepy voice.'
Walking down the corridor, she saw many. However, no one was in them.
'Lumine: Must be because they have been taken the people away for today's torture.'
Reaching the end of the corridor, she took a turn before stepping back.
MROW!
A cat-like Marchen, the size of a dog, landed in front of Blonde, blocking her way. This cat's original eyes were closed with stitches but had an additional pair on its head. It also had long, razor-sharp claws, an armored back, and a pointed tail.
Seeing it, a name appeared in her mind.
'Lumine: Grim Cat.'
The Cat glared menacingly at Lumine before jumping at her to strike her.
In return, the blonde stepped forward and spun clockwise. While passing from the cat's right, the silver appeared in her hand, and she swung.
SHIN!
PLAT!!
THUD!!
The Marchen head was decapitated, and its head and headless body fell.
Without even bothering to look back at the corpse, she continued walking. She hadn't gone far before the next wave came.
SWOOSH!!
SWOOSH!!
SWOOSH!!
Three 'Grim Cats' came out of the shadows and besieged her from 12 o'clock, 4 o'clock, and 8 o'clock.
The girl waited for them to come closer. When their claws were about to touch her, her sword moved and deflected them all.
SHIN!!
CLANG!!
CLANG!!
CLANG!!
In the next second, she grabbed the tail of one of them, threw it towards the second, and then dragged them towards the third.
BAM!!
All three cats hit each other before they smashed into the wall, one over the other. Then, the blonde moved and thrust her sword forward.
THRUST!!
SPLURT!!
The sword penetrated the bodies of three cats and impaled them on the wall.
YOWL!!!
YOWL!!!
YOWL!!!
They shouted in pain, but after a few seconds, the light vanished from their eyes, and they died.
THUCH!
THUD!!
THUD!!
THUD!!
Once she pulled out her sword, three dead bodies fell. She then swung her sword to the side and removed the pink blood of these Marchens from it before being on her way.
As she advanced, she faced more different types of Marchens.
One was a humanoid rabbit with four legs and a muscular build. Its four legs had metal greaves on them. This Marchen was called Wererabbit.
Second, a Marchen was covered in full metal armor up to the waist. An eye could be seen in its helmet, and some tendrils were coming from the chest armor to hold its Vambrace and Gauntlets. Instead of legs, this Marchen had metal cart wheels with spikes on them. This Marchen's name was Soul Keeper.
Third, a Marchen that looked like a Ghost. It was wearing a cloth with a red bow tie. On its head was a big black hat with a skull, and two horns were coming out. It was also wearing white gloves with a wooden stick in one of its hands. As for its legs, it didn't have any as it was hovering in the air. This Marchen was Cursed Ghost.
Still, none of them possessed any challenge to the Blonde. She even took care of twenty of them simultaneously without breaking a sweat.
.
.
.
An hour went by.
The Traveler continued finding her way out while killing the countless Marchens that stood in her way. She also remembered the layout of the place and the way she came from so she wouldn't get lost.
As she was moving forward, suddenly, she heard the sound of fighting from the distance and stopped.
Getting curious, she slowly approached the source and hid behind the wall at the turn.
At some distance away, she saw some people fighting the Marchens.
They were two teenage girls.
One had brown hair and wore a black-red hoody over her white top. She was also wearing knee-length shoes and was fighting Marchens with giant scissors like a weapon.
The other had black hair and a red hairpin on her head. She was wearing a prisoner garb and fighting with a broad sword.
Lumine's gaze lingered on them briefly before she looked behind them.
There, she saw a crowd of prisoners waiting for the girls to finish the battle. There was excitement and joy in their eyes as if they were finally going to be free from this hell.
But then her eyes turned to a boy standing before the crowd. He had short, light blue hair and dark blue eyes.
Still, it was not his 'handsome' looks that drew Lumine's attention. It was his agitated and anxious expression as if he wanted to join the fight with those girls. And then a shocking scene occurred. Just when that black-haired was about to get hit, the boy stepped forward and took the blow for her.
BAM!
Black-Haired Girl: Jack!
Seeing that the body fell, the girl became anxious, resulting in getting hit by another Marchen.
Black-Haired Girl: Kuh!
Brown-Haired Girl: Alice!
Noticing that their team had been hit, the scissors girl hurriedly took care of her enemies, rushed to their side, and helped them.
After taking care of all the remaining enemies, the brown-haired girl let out a sigh of relief and approached the pair.
Brown-Haired Girl: Jack! Alice! Are you both ok?
Alice: I am, and Jack is fine, too. Thanks for helping us, Red Riding Hood.
Red Riding Hood: You are Welcome. But Jack, you are very brave to take that attack for Alice. I am really impressed.
Jack: I just…want to protect...Alice.
Alice: Thanks, Jack.
Jack: As long as you are fine, Alic.
Seeing the blushing pair and the smiling hooded girl, the Traveler shook her head disappointedly.
'Lumine: Bravery? It's more like stupidity. That Marchen was already at a death door; that final attack didn't hold much strength. Hence, even if that black-haired girl, Alice, had taken it, she would be fine. On the contrary, your involvement distracted her, making her open to the attack of another Marchen, who was still fine. This also makes that scissor girl break her concentration from her fight and look for your well-being.'
As a veteran, Lumine already saw the whole fight in an instant.
'Lumine: You know what, Jack, you are the very example of a pig-like teammate who brought more damage to the team than the enemies themselves.'
She then decided to go another way as she didn't want to get involved with them.
.
.
.
After walking away to the distance, the Traveler went into her thoughts.
'Lumine: So, those were Blood Maidens. The unique individuals are born in jail and are a hybrid of humans and Marchen. Their strength and regeneration are beyond ordinary humans. For now, only they met the criteria for joining my team....... Should I have approached them?'
As such a thought crossed her mind, the image of that blue-haired boy, Jack, appeared in her mind. This made her flinch, and she hurriedly shook her head.
'Lumine: No. Absolutely not. I don't wish to have any affiliation with that boy. I have a feeling that wherever he goes, the trouble follows. Having someone like him near is like carrying a time bomb around. And now that those two blood-maidens are connected to him somehow, I will stay far away from them. I am not going to let them join my team either.'
After concluding, the Traveler nodded and picked up the pace.
But then the surroundings started to turn darker.
'Lumine: This...…. What now?'
Noticing this, the blonde frowned. Then she heard the sound of rushed footsteps behind.
Turning, she saw three people running in her direction, only ten meters away. Seeing them, her eyes couldn't have but widened as she screamed inwardly.
'Lumine: ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!!?'
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*A/N: Please throw some power stones.
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