Lily chases the creature, trying her very best to catch it. It smashes through trees like twigs, looking back to see if she is still following it,
Damn it! This thing just won't stop!
Suddenly, the creature turns around and swings its claw directly at Lily's head. Her eyes widen and she quickly ducks, it's claw striking her ponytail, causing her hair to rest on her back, stopping halfway. The lily flower in her hair falls gracefully to the floor. She rolls forward getting back to her feet and looks back at the boogeyman, who is now towering over her,
That was close. This thing separated me from Yoshiki…
Lily holds her staff tightly and braces herself for the worst. The creature picks up a tree with its hands, ripping it from the earth below. Lily's eyes begin to widen and fear begins to build in her heart. In a swift motion, the boogeyman swings the tree directly at Lily, aiming for her left side . She quickly evades by jumping over it and back, performing a backflip in the air. The swing decimates the trees to her right. It then lifts the tree above its head and strikes downwards. Lily dives to the right and forward rolls, to prevent herself from losing balance. The strike causes the ground to crack and shake violently. She attempts to strike, but the creature quickly swings again, this time aiming for her right side. She evades again, jumping over the swing and it's strike destroys the nearby trees. She quickly performs several backflips to create some distance and lands perfectly on her feet,
Damn it! I can't get a shot! There's no opening!
Lily grits her teeth and glares at the fear,
I have to get rid of it's weapon, but it won't leave me an opening to do that! I have to try destroy it while it's attacking… it's the only way.
The creature charges in and she keeps her distance as best as possible, staying out of its range. She looks around to see the trees in the surrounding area have fallen or been completely eradicated, leaving their stumps behind. This allows for the sun to shine down on them completely,
I can't hide and surprise it… what even caused this thing to start fighting back…
Each dodge causes Lily to feel more fatigued and her breaths become heavier, as the creature continues to swing the tree violently, however each time, she is able to dodge successfully. She looks behind her to see more trees and quickly rushes towards them with the creature right on her heels. She jumps on to a branch and keeps leaping to the next one. Behind her, she could hear the creature slamming its own tree into the others, in hopes it would bring her down. She stops and hides behind the trunk, breathing heavy and glancing down at the ground below her. Lily can hear the heavy footsteps and now sees the boogeyman. It is snarling and searching for her, resting the tree in its hands on its shoulder. Lily silently follows it, keeping a distance away from the fear. She keeps her eyes on the weapon and in a swift motion, she throws her staff directly above it,
"Might of Zeus!" Her staff begins spinning violently over the creature's head.
Dark purple sound shards begin raining down on it, causing it to let out a roar. Lily quickly leaps from the branch and lifts her staff above her head,
"Brawn of Heracles!" She exclaims and slams her staff down on the tree, causing it to snap in half,
There! I destroyed its weapon!
Lily quickly moves back and holds her staff in front of her diagonally. Her hands glow dark purple and she lets her dark matter flow into her staff,
"Apollo's Whip!" She begins swinging her staff diagonally, sending a horde of sound shockwaves directly at the creature.
Her attacks slam directly into the boogeyman, causing it to let out a screech and push it back into the opening,
I have to keep it away from the other trees! I have to use as much dark matter as possible!
Lily keeps swinging and the creature is now pushed out of the woods and into the small clearing they created. Her flurry of attacks cause the boogeyman to lose balance and land on its back. Lily swings one last time, sending it flying into centre of the empty space. She runs out the tree line and towards the creature and jumps into the air. She grips her staff with one hand,
"Spartan Assault!" Her staff lands directly onto the heart of the boogeyman.
It lets out another screech and Lily smirks smugly. She holds her staff in its chest, however notices the creature isn't dispersing. Before she can do anything, the creature grabs her throat and begins standing up, lifting her off her feet. She begins choking and it throws her away. Lily lands a few feet away from it. It pulls her staff out of its chest and looks at her with a sinister smile, which sends shivers down her spine. Her eyes widen and she's frozen in shock,
It's… smiling…
The creature then throws her staff directly at her feet,
"You look scared." She flinched slightly at the sound of its voice,
"You… talk…" It begins to chuckle slightly, maintaining its devilish smile,
"Is that a problem, child?" The creature lets out another chuckle only this time, it was louder and filled with malice,
"Don't you dare mock me!" Her voice cracks slightly and she is beginning to sweat.
Lily's hands were beginning to shake, but tries her best to hold her act of bravery. She stands up and grabs her staff, standing in a defensive position. She points her staff at the creature and digs her feet into the floor,
It isn't dead… and I pierced it's heart! It's talking… this is too much to comprehend…
"Who are you?!"
"All questions shall be answered, my child. Do not worry about that."
"What?!" It lips curl into a larger smile,
"I am your saviour, child."
"You're nothing but scum! Now answer me! Who are you?!"
"Such anger… such arrogance. I pity you. You do not see the light, nor the consequence of challenging me. I must say I am disappointed."
"What?!"
"The other child. The boy. He faired better than you and bested my other half quicker than you did." The smug smile and those words cause Lily to snap and she charges with fury in her eyes.
The creature simply continues to smile, as it slowly raises its hand directly at Lily,
"Lightning Type: Death Bolt." A strike of lightning is shot directly at her and she is sent flying through several trees.
Lily rolls back a few times and lands on her stomach. She remains there frozen in shock and her clothes are ripped, as well as smoke dissipating off her,
I can't move… what was that… it's like… it zapped me from my dark matter…
She looks up to see the creature slowly approaching her,
It's over… I'm… going to die…
Lily gently closes her eyes, however the sound of someone swinging a sword and the boogeyman now screeching causes them to flip back open. It was Seijuro. He was slightly out of breath and looks back,
"Sorry I'm late."
"It's… fine… Yoshiki…" She says weakly,
"Two of you is troublesome, but it would seem… there is something I must deal with. I'll be back for you both." It suddenly vanishes,
"Lily… you ok?"
"Do I… bloody look ok…?" Seijuro rolls his eyes and helps her up,
"I… don't understand…"
"What?"
"He… could have killed me… at any point… and he could have killed you too… why didn't he…?"
"Forget about him for now, Lily. We need to get back to Hayashi's Inn. We can plan our next moves there." She can't really do anything besides nod.
Seijuro helps her up and places her arm around his shoulder, and they both walk,
"Wait!" She lets go of Seijuro and stumbles towards the middle of the destroyed area. She falls to the floor, as picks something up and places it in her hair. It was her lily flower. Before Seijuro could question this, Lily quickly speaks,
"How was your fight?" She asks, as Seijuro helps her up again,
"It was ok, for the most part and we didn't create such a mess like you guys did." He chuckles a bit and Lily gives him a small smile.
She looks around to see trees laying flat on the ground and stumps of where they would normally stand. However, Seijuro interrupts her sightseeing by speaking,
"I didn't know boogeymen could speak…"
"Yeah… kinda freaked me out at first. He spoke like a psychopath."
"You weren't scared, were you?" Lily's normal response would be to scoff and make a comment about Seijuro's idiocy, however she sighs,
"I was… a bit."
"Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of." Lily turns her head slightly to face him
"Damn you, Yoshiki. You're too concerned for your own good." Seijuro blinks in confusion and chuckles nervously,
"Let's just head back." She nods and the two slowly walk towards Hayashi's Inn.