Lualight in the inpherno.
phighting x Child! Fem! Reader. I only do female readers, sorry :p
Based on conversations about the AUs @cosmica-galaxy and I have been brainstorming together.
Tw: Inphernals and their bs., Cultist bs, violence, death of bio parents, isekai, child reader.
A couple and their child crossed the desert, covered in injuries and trying to keep away from whatever was supposedly chasing them. The woman held the girl as gently as she could while trying to keep up with her husband. The child was pouring sweat. The couple needed to find water and food. The two finally came across a small oasis in the desert, but it was claimed by those vicious birds that they had seen horned creatures riding. The man, knowing it was the only way to save his wife and child, decided he had to fight those animals. Their bodies could at least give the family the nutrients to keep going. He hid his family in a cave he found in th rocks and picked up a stick and some rocks. The woman laid her child on the ground and wiped the sweat from the little one's face. She didn't know exactly how their family had been transported to this place, but it was not anywhere near home. She cut open a cactus and spilled the water from it onto her child's head. She heard the yelling of her husband before the dying screech of one of the birds. Flapping wings indicated the evacuation of the birds.
The child woke, seeing her mom and dad relieved at her awakening. Her parents were resting in a cave. The air was a lot cooler than the outside. She saw her dad plucking feathers from what looked like a giant bird as he was also trying to find a way to cook it. The mother was keeping a lookout, watching out for the horned creatures that had been chasing them. The girl looked out of the cave and into the night. Her mother pushes her back into the cave after seeing some of the horned creatures on birds again, they dimmed the light to their fire to not catch attention. Who knows what would happen if those things caught them. After a while, the bird was cooked. Albeit, not very tasty. The meat was bitter and tough, but it was better than nothing. The girl and her parents ate their fill, not knowing when they would have another meal. It would be safer for them to keep moving during cooler hours and rest during the heat of the day in this desert.
The next morning, the family saw a what looked like a roughly scratched door on the rock in their cave. It looked like something had found them with the footprints that came from the door. The father decided it was time to move again. The family unit packed up and began to move again. Before the sun even rose, they ran. Ran in a direction that they didn't know what would lead them to. The girl wished for her family to find to somewhere safe to stay until they could return home and for help. The family kept running. The father led the way, something seemed to pull him into a certain direction. The group made their way across the red sand desert and in to the horizon. As they passed over the ridge, a horrific sight greeted them. It was a city ablaze. White stone buildings on fire and scorched partially black with fire that seemed to have a life of its own. The trio carefully moved through the flames as to not get burned. They could not help but to wonder what even happened here. How such a beautiful city was destroyed in such a way. The father noticed a door at the edge of the city. It looked like the door that had appeared in the cave they had stayed at before. He wondered what it led to and what used it. The family found a building at the edge of the burning city that was not touched by the raging fires. It seemed almost like a miracle as it was somewhat too clean and cool. The woman placed the child down and checked around. She was satisfied and the parents agreed that this was a good shelter until they found another later.
The desert sun rose to a peak and the family decided to rest through the heat of the day. Their stomachs still had their last meal to keep them from being too hungry. Sleep was soothing for the family. They could finally recover from being thrust into this strange place and from the injuries they had sustained. However, within their sleep, they did not sense the intruder in their hiding place. A tall and dark figure that had appeared from seemingly nowhere. The figure watched the family with interest and noted their lack of features normally attributed with the inhabitants of this place. The figure left before the family woke, but he would be back to check on them. The father figure woke first and did a check around the perimeter of the building. He made sure that he and his family were alone. The child woke and then woke the mother. The mother's ankle was swollen. She had hurt it when they first came and was running from the violent horned creatures that inhabited this place. The woman was careful as she walked on it as she looked for water for her and the rest of her family. The child explored the area under the watch of her father. She found a image in some rubble. It was some of those horned creatures. It looked like a family picture. It was damaged, but she saw the youngest of the creatures and what seemed to be the eldest of the family. She ran her tiny hand over the children's images. These creatures had families like hers.
The woman called her family as she had found a well and aquaduct, fresh and clean water. They would at least be able to drink and clean their injuries. She took some water and washed her daughter's face. The man drank and cleaned the cuts he had gotten from his fights to protect his family. They had not seen any more signs of those horned things besides what was left in the ruined city. It was relatively safe. At least as safe as they think they were. The family still needed food. As they settled back down, their bellies growled with hunger. Deep into the night, the father fell asleep during his lookout turn and did not wake his wife to take watch. During this, the figure returned.
You woke from your sleep, smelling something cooking. Your parents were asleep. Mother and Father looked tired from all the running and fighting they have been doing to protect you since you all fell through that hole that brought you to this place. Your curiousity and hunger got the better of you and you followed the smell to the source. After following the smell outside, you saw a tall figure in dark clothing cooking some fish over a fire. This figure looked like a person, but clearly was not. The skin was too dark. There was a single black wing made of bone stick out of the back and a black horn with branching points sticking out of a wizard had that seemed to cover most of the face. You were able to see green glowing teeth grinning under the darkness of the hat and some markings on the cheeks that were darker than the rest of the skin. The creature turned to you, the grin seemed to widen. The figure picked up one of the fish it had and blew on it before holding it out to you, offering it. You carefully inched closer and took the fish carefully. You backed away quickly, making the creature chuckle. It then spoke to you. The speech was a bit garbled to you, you could not understand it. All you did was tilt your head in confusion before the creature lightly tapped itself on the head with a laugh. "Sorry, Sorry. Do you understand us now?," It inquired.
The voice was deep and the tone was friendly, albeit with a bit of mischief behind it. You nodded. "Oh good.," The creature continued, "Glad that we can finally converse. It has been a long time since we have spoken this language." He watched as you took a big and hungry bite of the fish he gave you. His head rested on his hand that was propped up on his leg. That smile never seemed to leave his face. Maybe you should go wake your parents. This creature seemed friendly eno- "Get away from her!," You heard your father yell as you were snatched up. The creature raised his hands. "We are not here to hurt anyone.," The creature spoke, "We just wanted to help a little." Your father was suspicious, but you could tell he was also looking at the fish the dark creature had. The wizard hat wearing being motioned to your father to sit. "We're not permitted to fight anymore.," He spoke, "Mortals being weaker and well.. You saw the city. We just observe for the most part." Your father was cautious but sat with the creature. He took an offered fish before holding his hand out and introducing himself to the creature. The being looked at his hand and took it in kind, "Darkheart is our name. We are or were considered a god in this place."
Your father took a bite of fish as you kept eating yours. "So what made you come see us?," Your father asked. Darkheart hummed a little, "We got the feeling that someone was doing something bad and investigated. Plus We haven't laid eyes on a hornless in over a hundred years! Imagine our surprise to see a family of them." "Hornless?," Your father echoed and felt his head. "That's what we call your kind. The hornless.," Darkheart replied, "You do not have horns like inphernals do. We haven't seen any since our own creator disappeared. So imagine our surprise to see you three." Darkheart continued to tell your father and soon, your mother, about how 'hornless' were tied to the creation of the inpherno itself. You could not understand much of it at all, mostly feeling sleepy from a full belly. Your father allowed you to sit closer to Darkheart and even lean on him as you dropped off.
Your family continued to struggle to survive, your father would go hunt for food and mother would gather edible and medicinal plants based on Darkheart's directions. The being who called himself a 'sword' was enigmatic but friendly towards your family for the most part. He was even teaching you and your parents how to speak his language so you could hopefully trade with less violent 'inphernals'. You grasped the concepts and speech a lot easier than your parents. Your father kept coming back with more and more injuries. Your mother started to go out as well. But one day, Your parents did not return. It was scary. You wandered around the ruined city and returned to the building you were staying in. Darkheart did not come back like you wanted him to. You were getting scared. You were getting hungry. Days passed and you finally decided to wander out into the desert and follow the path your parents had made. Eventually you got lost. You had to run from the birds that would try to eat you. You were getting sick from dehydration and hunger. But you kept walking.
A group of inphernals moved their caravan through the desert back to their home. They had gotten more supplies and were laughing as they made their way back home. A large bird landed in front of the caravan before the rider dismounted and ran to the lead car. "There's a newspawn ahead! They are in rough shape.," The rider relayed, "Do you have any water or food to give them?" The driver nodded. The crew within the caravan got the water and some food for the one the scout saw. They kept moving until they saw the little one wandering the desert, tired and thin looking. One of the members got out and carefully approached the little one. The little one was dirty and covered in scratches from the thorns and cactuses they more than likely hid in to avoid the vultures. The little one tried to run, but was too weak to get anywhere fast. The member was able to pick the little one up and brought them back to the caravan. Water was offered and the little one drank. Now that the caravan could see the newspawn, It was apparent this one would have died if they did not find them. The group decided to bring the little one back with them to their home.
When the caravan reached their destination, the leader took the 'newspawn' to the medbay to be checked out. The little one was given a wrapping of cool, wet cloth to cool their body temperature. "Is the doc in?," The leader asked and got a look from another waiting inphernal. "He's in, What do you have there?," The other one asked. The caravan leader unwrapped the barely conscious 'newspawn' to show. "A newspawn. We found the little one wandering the desert.," The Inphernal replied, "I think this one needs immediate treatment. Our scout went to report this to the father." The Other nodded, "I agree. But at least we have a new member of the family." The Inphernal set the newspawn down on a waiting seat and knocked on the door. A gruff voice called out from within. "What is it?" "Doc, We found a newspawn in the desert. and well... they are not doing well." The door opened for the doctor to look out, his eye looked over to the wating chair with the soaked 'newspawn' on it. "Bring them in."
The Inphernal doctor removed the cold cloth covering the small body, nothing the softer, more colorful skin, the growth of fur on the head, barely open colorful eyes and most notable, lack of horns. He took a glove off his hand and pressed it to the face of the little one. "Seems to be suffering heat exhaustion or heat stroke.," He murmured, "Some minor injuries. malnutrition as well, that can be fixed." His eye flicked back up to the scalp, His hand touched the little head gently. "Where are the horns?," He asked. "Don't know. We are betting that they were either torn off or... They spawned without them...", The leader answered. The doctor looked down the hall, seeing a small gathering of others who came to see the newspawn that was found. He clicked his tongue and picked up the little one to take into the medical bay. "I'll take over from here.," He said and closed the door behind him. The doctor set the little one on the examination table, the crystal floating between his horns giving him light as he started healing the wounds on the kid. The wounds were small, but difficult to close for him. Thankfully, the little one's body temp was falling back to normal range. Danger was passing for the little one. At least they were safe now.
You came back no longer in the vehicle caravan. You saw a horned creature touching your head. Instinctively, you kicked at the horned one. You didn't know this one, not like darkheart. Your small foot made contact with his chest, but it did not hurt him. It just put some dirt on his clothes. The horned being looked a little miffed but did not attack. He instead backed up and talked. You could not understand most of what he said except "Calm" and "Help". You noticed that most of your bloody cuts were gone, so he must have been helping you. The creature had teal horns that looked like a deer's antlers with a small crystal between the horns. He had an eye patch over his left eye. His clothes looked fancy. All in shades of teal. He touched your skin, feeling your soft cheek before trailing back up to your head. "You are safe.," He said with a small smile to comfort you and rubbed your head gently. The being kept examining you, you felt like you were at a doctor's office again. Did the inphernals who found you take you to their doctor? "My name is Medkit.," he introduced himself, "what is yours?" You didn't know how to respond to 'Medkit'. Darkheart did not give you a name to give out like he did for your parents. You shook your head, not knowing what to say to him.
Medkit seemed a little miffed, but finished treating you. He kept examining you though, specifically your eyes and head. He made you open your mouth to look inside. He noted that you did not look like a regular inphernal. You did not even have any nubs for horns to grow from. You were completely hornless. He found that even though your eyes were strange and colorful, they looked pretty. He finally finished and set you aside. "Stay there.," he told you and called another inphernal in. You watched him. The teal horned inphernal healed patient after patient and worked on prosthetics of others. He was efficient, albeit lacking of a bedside manner. You heard a knock on the door and Medkit called for them to come in. It was an inphernal that you had not yet encountered. They talked to medkit in a hushed tone while glancing at you. Medkit waved his hand and replied something.
The being walked over and picked you up, making you struggle. "You are safe.," Medkit repeated to you. You did not understand much else of what he said but did pick up "clean" and "clothes". You were taken away from Medkit and to another room within the large place. The inphernal that held you carefully put you down and started to remove your dirty garments. They spoke softly in their strange language while also wiping you down with a damp cloth. You soon realized that this one was tasked with cleaning you. That must be what Medkit was explaining before! You were then placed in a tub of water and washed. More inphernals came, either helping to wash you or to observe you. After being groomed to an inch of your life, you were wrapped in new clothes. A small pale teal robe accented with a darker teal collar and bow. You were taken to another part of the building where more horned creatures were. All the infernals were watching you as you were carried in. You were set before a tall inphernal who seemed to be the leader. Eyes lined his coat. Beside him was one wearing what could only be described as a white cowboy hat. The horned swooped back with smaller spikes jutting off of them.
The leader looked down at you, seemingly judging you. He leaned forward and spoke. Most of what you did not know. You heard a familiar voice. It was Medkit, the doctor came up and seemed to tell the leader something. The leader nodded. He returned his gaze to you. "I welcome you, to the family.," he spoke. You did what darkheart told you before about greeting. You smiled and bowed your head. The one beside him smiled at you with a friendly smile despite of how intimidating they were. The skin seemed darker than the others, with a glass eye visible and a large scar on the cheek right below the eye. A teal shirt and a green tie was covered by a white jacket. This inphernal also had a green bandana on. The inphernal held out the mechanical right arm to you. "I'm Scythe, darlin'," she greeted. You did not take the hand, but hugged the legs of the large inphernal. Scythe was a little taken back by your actions. She was not complaining though. You were small and sweet, not knowing about violence. You didn't even seem to have the usual reactivity or violent temper some newspawn had. You were docile. She knelt down and used her non-prosthetic arm to return your hug. You could feel her musculature on your face and one of her teeth poking your scalp. You heard her say something to the leader. Whatever it was, the tone seemed affectionate.
After meeting the leader and Scythe, you were led to a room by another member. It was now your room. It was a rather plain room with just a bed, an empty bookcase, closet and a desk. The bed was at least comfortable. You were taken around and shown things. Where you can eat, the medical bay, where many other things were. It was a rather comfortable place. The Inphernals were rather nice, some of them looked at you with a strange, almost pitying look. You settled in rather quickly. The 'family' were quick to catch on that you did not understand them and started to give you lessons on their language and writing. While you were learning that and the history of the inpherno, they were also urging you to summon a 'gear'. You had tried many times to summon the said gear, but nothing ever happened. You were told that they would not know your real name until you were to summon forth your gear. You kept trying.
And you kept failing.
It was frustrating for you. But, you decided to keep moving forward. You attended both your lessons and the Sermons that the leader, Father Overseer, gave. You helped around the building as much as you could while training and trying to summon your gear. While you could not summon a gear, you started to find some shining crystals that seemed to appear out of nowhere in your room. You kept some of the bigger and prettier ones on your bookshelf while keeping the smaller ones in the drawers of the desk. While living in the church with the family, You grew closer to Scythe. You often came running to her when she came back from her missions and escapades. What you did not really know was that she started to look forward to coming back to your happy face. Your joyous expression relieved all her previous exhaustion. She could just come back and have you stick by her like a little baby chick with a mother bird. The other members noticed this budding relationship as well and teased you two lightly. Scythe never denied it. Sometimes even smiling wider and laughing. You found yourself wanting to be near her more when she was around, even finding yourself hiding behind her when something scared you.
She was already a looked up to figure in the church. Yet, you looked at her in a different way. To you, she started to become your mother. You would follow her, even when she was working on something in the church or talking to the fellow called ' The Broker". She would let you be beside her, sometimes had you in her lap and petting your head with her non mechanical hand while swirling a glass of wine in the other. You sat with her during the sermons. The day you finally called out to her with a 'mama' is the day the others saw her shed tears of joy. Father overseer decided that you would be officially be her ward and she your caretaker. Your outfits soon changed to match that of your new mother, a White little dress robe with accents that matched hers. You followed her to training grounds and watched her while also doing some light training of your own. You kept trying to summon the 'gear' your family keeps talking about. Everyone else was able to summon them so easily. Chainsaw, a crossbow, your mother's scythe, and more items. It was hard to be the only one without a name because of your lack of gear. You did not realize that you were slowly forgetting that you were not an inphernal.
The family let you wander around the church facility. You were allowed to look at the artifacts that they had in the archives. The tablets and scrolls had writings on them about old civilizations and stories. You would sit in the archives and read these old manuscripts. The stories they held interested you, Especially the one name that kept repeating over and over. Telamon. The apparent creator of the Inpherno. You read that he was born without horns, similar to you. This somehow gave you a little hope. If the powerful Telamon did not have horns and could do things that were so amazing, would you be able to as well? You showed the manuscripts to your mother and the researchers in the archives. It became clear that they could not read the words on the pages and tablets at all. But, how? You could read them just fine. You are soon asked by the others to read the manuscripts to them for records and cataloguing. This gave you a new feeling of purpose in the church other than the cute hornless newspawn.
One day, you were lay on the bed in your room and fiddling with one of the crystals that you kept finding. The light of it felt familiar and soothing. You had been living in the church for quite some time with your mama. It was nice. A knock at the door caught your attention. "Little one, may I enter?," Called the voice of one of the family members. You sat up on the bed and answered, "Come in." The Inphernal came in with a smile, "The father says it is time for your induction." You felt happy and a little scared. You were finally going to be recognized as an official member. But at the cost of one of your eyes. You looked down at the crystal in your hands. The Inphernal knelt before you, wrapping their large hands around your small ones. "I know you are scared, but it will be okay.," They said with a smile, "Father has called in Medkit to look after you one the ceremony is complete." "Will it hurt?," You inquired with a trembling voice. "It does a little, sister. But Medkit will be there to make that stop.," Was the answer. The Inphernal helped you slip on the ceremonial dress clothes that were prepared for you. They led you to the room where the ceremony was to take place. Scythe was already there and waiting with Father Overseer and others. You saw Medkit looking on, already prepared with his gear. His facial expression looked a little concerned. The Inphernal that was tasked with the ceremony was already waiting in the center of the room with the dagger.
Father clapped his clawed hands together. "Our little sister," He said and got your attention before continuing, "Today is when you shall be accepted as a true member of the family." You gulped a little saliva and walked up to the father and the dagger holder. "Do you agree to become a member of our family?," He inquired, "To work and live for your fellow family members?" "Yes I do.," You answered, "I want to stay here with mama!" This answer got a few amused chuckles from the audience before father made them all silent. "We still do not have your true name, but we will still accept you as you are. Gear or none at all.," He said, "Welcome to our family, our hornless sister." As soon as the father spoke, your little head was grabbed and held still by a member behind you. The dagger holder before you knelt down and held one of your eyelids open. "Be still. I will try to make this quick.," He spoke, trying to soothe your nerves. You have seen the ceremony many times before. All the others did not flinch as they had their eyes removed, However, you are not like the others. You were terrified. Out of pure instinct, you began to fight back.
"Stop moving!," The dagger holder ordered, "It's gonna be worse if you don't hold still!" Fear had taken hold of you. You gripped the crystal in your hand before it shattered. The sound of it snapping echoed through the room before you felt a flash of energy rip through you. It was white hot and bright as a lightning strike. In the blink of an eye, The ones holding you down were pushed back and away from you. The Inphernals surrounding you were also pushed back by the shockwave of pure energy. The smell of blood hit you. But not yours. During the burst of energy, a tidal wave of razor sharp crystals formed and burst out into the crowd, tearing into the bodies of those nearby. You were panting from the sudden burst of energy and the adrenaline coursing through your small body. You saw what you had done and were terrified. The looks the others gave you scared you. The way the father looked at you. Your mama as well. Faster than you think you could move, you retreated back to your room and dug yourself into the empty space under the bed. Your small body was surrounded by the crystals that appeared when you were resting and the ones that coated you after the outburst. You were sorry that you hurt your brothers and sisters. You didn't mean to.... You didn't mean it...
You lay under there for what seems like hours before you heard the tapping of shoes coming to your door. You knew those steps. It was your mother. She opened the door and walked in. You saw her white and gold boots walk around your room, looking for you. "Darlin', Where are ya?," She called out, "It's okay. Nobody is mad at you. Well, not everybody." You crawled out from under your bed and looked up at her, She looked down at you before kneeling down. "There ya are, little darlin'," She chuckled and pulled you into her arms. She brushed the crystal shards from your hair and clothes with her mechanical arm before giving you an affectionate nuzzle. "You gave everyone a scare with that gear of yours.," She said, "'Kit has about finished patching everyone up." You were carried by your mother out of your room. She took you to Father overseer. The Father was holding a piece of the crystal that had been created by your outburst. It glowed faintly and sparkled with multiple colors reflecting within it. He looked at you as Scythe walked up. "I'm sorry.," You whimper. "You reacted from your fear. It is only natural for you.," He mused, "But you have shown your ability, Do you know your true name yet?" You shook your head. The name should have been obvious when your power was shown, so nobody knew what your name was.
"Then it stands to reason that your gear is one that is either unrecorded or forgotten.," The father said, "You shall be given your new name when we identify your gear." He waved his hand to dismiss you. "Go. You will not be doing the ceremony." You bowed your head to him and were about to be carried away by Scythe when he called her. "Scythe. We need you at this meeting to decide her new name." Your mama placed you down and patted your head with a smile. "I'll see you later, Darlin'," She chimed at you before following the Father. You noticed other higher ups in the church following the Father and cutting glances at you. You even saw some of the archivists that you had helped with translating the manuscripts. They had the papers with the translated texts with them. Wondered what they needed the texts for. Another Inphernal had a crystal that was from your room, They took it to Father overseer as you walked away. You were at least glad they didn't take your favorite big one.
The Father rolled the crystal in his fingers as he listened to the work that you had done with the archivists. What secrets you had uncovered and the reports of your medical biology given by Medkit. Finally he had the crystal you made examined by the former blackrock scientist. All in attempt to find your name. "This crystal should not exist like this.," Medkit finally said, "It is just as, if not more pure than the ones in the spawn wells." He wanted to keep this secret from the church, but was being paid to tell them these things. Plus Scythe and Broker would call him out for lying. "That is an interesting discovery.," The Father said while looking through the crystal. "The original owner of such a power was the creator, according to these manuscripts my lil darlin' helped to translate.," Scythe said. "The name of the power is Lua.," one of the archivists said, "The Original owner's name was Telamon." Medkit scowled slightly. He knew how dangerous this could be if the child was found out about and started to be used by the wrong people. The wrong people also included this church in his eyes. "Lua? It has a good ring to it.," Broker chimed, "But a little simple, hm?" "It comes with a gentle light.," The Father said before finally stating, "I have decided. Her name shall be Lualight." His smile evident, "Our faith has been rewarded, As we have been blessed with a Newly spawned God."
Your outburst did not just effect the curch. The shockwave traveled much further than that. Eleven beings shivered from the the feeling of a new power creeping over their skin. Their reactions differed from the other but one thought all united them.
"Who was that?"
"Oho. You have awakened. HOW FUN~"
