Mollia was having fun for the first time in awhile at the Peacewell Hotel: Trademark under Infinite Destinations Travel Agency. Maybe it was because she hadn't felt sunlight in a few months, maybe it was because she felt peace for once, or maybe it was because she had forgotten about her plan that ended her world.
"Speaking of which... Are we still workin' on that whole "getting me a body and we go and find Mouse" plan or what?" Rat asked as she peered out from underneath the beach chair the Paladin had been relaxing on.
Mollia let out a sigh, staring up to the clouds with a thoughtful look. "Maybe... Maybe we should just give it up, Rodent. We lost that day. Why should we try again?"
Rat crawled out from under the chair and despite having her usual grin, her eyes were filled with a hint of malice... Or hunger, hard to tell.
"Do ya know how many times I died just to summon you?"
"Four thousand eight hundred and ninety nine. I named an attack after it, remember?"
"You only died ninety nine of the times... I suffered the rest while you remained as a weird sub conscious thing in my head. In my name... Or our name or whatever. I shoulda stayed complacent. I had a good thing going before I remembered I'm you!"
Mollia stared at the phantom of herself with a cold look. She never cared for Rat, mainly because she was just a hollowed out version of her mind. A version of herself she never wanted to see the light of day. But even still, she knew she couldn't get rid of her.
"Why do you not go ask your little ex boyfriend for a body then? I shan't stop thee."
"Why are you speaking old timey?"
"Because you're frustrating me." Mollia remarked, waving a hand at Rat to try and make her disappear. Rat gave a dramatic sigh and floated away, though flipping Mollia off in a petty act of defiance to herself.
With her much needed break, Mollia continued to relax as in the meantime, Rat had decided to head her other half's word and went off to pester Markeeth about her body.
Yet on her way across the wooden board walk, her eyes were taken up by the sight of Scrap serving ice cream.
"A robot... No... Something greater." She mumbled to herself. Almost instinctively, she decided to pester the robotic attraction.
As Scrap scooped up another serving and handed it off to Ave, she felt something hit the cold steel of her head. With a glance up, she noticed the phantom sitting on top of an umbrella stand with her signature grin. "Sup, Mate?"
"Mate? We do not know each other, I do not think I qualify for a mate."
"Very literal. Ya remind me of an old mate of mine. She was just as robotic as you... 'Cept she destroyed my world. So sad." Rat couldn't help but snicker while she slid of the umbrella, standing face to face with the shorter machine.
"Say... What kinda world you from? I know Zanir just loves hiring hopeless oddballs, but you... You seem more odd than ball." She giggled, trying to swipe her tail through Scrap's head, but was pleasantly surprised when she found that her tail couldn't phase through.
Scrap didn't seem to notice or mind the question. She explained her world was one built on logic and science but collapsed after infighting from major political leaders. It ended in a nuclear fallout that only machines survived.
The story was interesting enough to keep the ever story loving rodent fascinated, and as Scrap continued, Rat's ears flickered a bit in interest when she mentioned her heart.
"A heart? You got one of those?"
"Oh yes. It was a gift from the good witch doctor himself. Would you like to see?" She asked, having a child like excitement about it. With a nod from Rat, Scrap opened up her chest and showed off a familiar white robotic heart that had a glowing white core, which looked out of place compared to the rest of her more retro body.
"A sub-mind... And you just have that in your chest? I gotta ask... Who's heart is it?"
"It's mine?" She answered with a confused smile, scratching her grey wire like hair. Rat felt a twinge of hesitation before putting her hand out to try and touch the heart. But before Scrap could stop her, her hand began getting dragged into the heart.
The few people around, all stared at the sight of Scrap and Rat trying to get away from each other yet pulled back like they were both magnets.
René and a large red skinned demon, Colt, quickly rushed over and began trying to pull Scrap away from Rat. With a bit of a struggle, they managed to stop the ever dashing Rat from disappearing. Though Mollia watched the situation with a light bit of delight, yet somewhat disappointed her literal other half didn't vanish.
"Thanks... I owe you two." Rat said with a playful flick of her tail. Though her mind was now running around, thinking of the possibilities of the heart.
"Note to self... Keep the robit in mind for plans."
"What do you mean?" A guardsman questioned to his superior as they crossed through a dark, gloomy forest path. "The thing we're hunting doesn't have a name... All we know is it stalks these woods in search of someone."
With thirteen guards travelling through the decrepit woods of Havensbane, they all felt rather confident in delivering the supplies they had to the village only a few miles away. But their confidence was quickly shaken as one of them noticed a blur cross by in the shrouding pale mist that filled the almost breathing forest.
Something that didn't belong was here.
"W-What was that?" A guard asked his comrade, clutching his spear tighter. "Calm down, dude. Probably a bird. Or maybe... An evil plant monster!" Another responded in a playfully ghoulish voice.
Their commander gave a jolly laugh as he turned back. "Relax. You youngins need to grow some nerves." But he felt that something was off. Quickly counting his guards, he noticed that three of them were missing.
"What the-"
Before the captain could question were they went, another guard was dragged away by a black blur that shot past them. They all heard his chilling scream around them, before seeing his body drop from a tree above.
His heart missing from his chest.
The rest quickly reached for their weapons, preparing themselves to fight this unseen foe. The captain barked his orders for them to group up, yet as he rushed to gather with them, he was swiftly taken away by an unseen force.
A green light blinded the remaining forces before, one by one, they were swiftly taken away by the forest...
Or whatever lurked in it.
"So the story goes." A young fox eared man wearing a flashy red guardsmen outfit said to the tavern maiden, who just wanted to take his order. "And your telling me this... Because?" She asked as she lowered her notepad slightly, now slightly invested in the strange man's story.
"The point is... This world is never safe from monsters. And this little town has a little monster problem, right?" He smirked, his hand resting on his katana's hilt as he eyed the woman over. Glancing around the rather sad looking tavern, it was pretty empty. Only a few patrons drinking their sorrows away.
"After all. This place is known as the most haunted village." He took a swig of his drink before glancing back at the now creeped out bar maiden. "So you just here to tell ghost stories or are you here to order?"
He couldn't help but snicker, a multi coloured tail poking out that swayed almost hypnotically. "I'm just sayin'... Monsters love this place. Ain't that right, Succubus?"
The bar maid tensed up before awkwardly laughing. "Are y-you suggesting I'm some kinda demon, dear? D-Demons are extinct..."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Save the speech. I know a demon when I see one. So I ask you. Will you run and make it slow or will you stand there and let me end ya fast?" He sighed before standing up, staring daggers at the bar maid, who began to breathe heavily. She quickly bolted for the door, her human guise falling apart as crimson wings spread.
The patrons of the tavern all watched on in stunned silence at how fast things turned ugly. But the fox eared guard just sighed and crossed his fingers. "Whip. If you could."
Before the fleeing succubus could escape, a phantasmal hand pinned her to the wall. "You didn't have to wait so long you know." A ghostly woman with a white hood complained as she appeared out of thin air. The candles that lit the tavern all suddenly extinguished as the swordsman readied his blade.
"Don't be rude, Whip. It ain't cute." He laughed, staring at the terrified succubus. "D-Don't k-kill me! I-I-I just want t-to live in pea-" She cried out before loosing her head in a slice. The ghostly apparition, Whip, stared at the rolling head through a single hole in her hood.
The fox eared swordsman, Pit, let out a light laugh as he casually stuffed the demon's head into his bag before throwing some coins on the deceased demon's body and walking away. The on lookers were silent, though a few murmurs and whispers filled the tavern.
As Pit stepped outside to the darkened sky of the ever haunted village of Xtone, he took a few deep breaths as Whip floated around him playfully.
"What's next on the chopping block? There's a dragon near bug-beat we could hunt? Or perhaps a minotaur? Or should we try and crack open that city of monsters Midas has?" The phantom questioned as she hovered around a lantern held by Pit.
The fox demi-human seemed to be thinking over his next move as he wandered around the quiet village. This was his home after all. With a flick of his tail, he decided that hunting in the forest would be more fun than standing around idly.
Yet his mind wandered back to the story he told the succubus. He wasn't really telling a story as much as he was just repeating the reports of the surviving member of a trade caravan that was on the way to the village.
It had been a week since the incident had come to his attention, and the monster hunter wasn't about to let such a good story go on without making sure it had a happy ending.
One where the monster was slain and the souls were laid to rest.