#lualight

[pochishortly]

Short story (and not request)

I embarrassed myself after trying used banhammer but I flew away myself from teapot ship 😭 then I leave the game and draw bean scythe and bean lualight trying forgot that🙏

@krystalkitdemi I love your chapter's the lualight in the inpherno 🫶

[krystalkitdemi]

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~"

[krystalkitdemi]

Lualight in the Inpherno part 5

Phighting x Fem! child! Reader

Cw: violence against a minor.

You were awoken by someone pulling you out of the bed you slept in roughly. You screamed from the surprise as the armored inphernal carried you.

"Quiet, hornless."

The curt order made you annoyed. You had been having a good dream. You used your power to make a comb to at lease brush out your hair since the inphernal was taking you somewhere. It was right back to the large building that Windforce was in. The armored soldier like inphernal was rather rough with you, this made you wish it was Banhammer. He at least let you crawl onto a more comfortable spot. You were carried past more armored inphernals and some civilians who seemed to be lined up for some reason. You were dropped roughly onto the marble floor before Windforce's throne. She was tapping her clawed fingers against the armrest of the throne. Her unseen eyes could be felt glaring at your tiny face. "Time for the Trial to begin.," She said, "Lualight, you will only tell us the truth. You will not withhold or lie about anything." A trial? But you had done nothing wrong! You knew that but at the same time felt shame as you had many judgemental eyes locked onto you. You nodded and fiddled with the hem of your little dress. "Verbal confirmation.," She ordered. "I will not lie.," You said.

The audience murmured as she raised her hand. "The incident a few months ago where you used your powers first, what happened?," she asked. You didn't want to tell them, but you had to. You felt your power sparking within you and crystals began to grow on your body. The audience murmured more amongst themselves as they saw this happening.

"I was scared. My eye was about to be taken out."

More murmurs were heard before being silenced by Windforce holding up her hand, "Who was going to take out your eye?" You hesitated before answering, "The church of the true eye." You heard some inphernals make gasps or noises of disapproval to what you had said. Windforce made a harsh face. You could see her sharp fangs bared in a hateful snarl. You did not want to be there anymore. You were feeling scared, but like Banhammer said, there was nowhere to go if you did manage to escape this building. You were on a floating island. "What of the other times you have used your power?," She asked with a bitter tone in her voice. "Ordered to heal the members, revive dead members, cleanse food, and make materials.," You answered. You saw her fingers twitch. She was angry. "I didn't do anything bad!," you shouted, just as angry. Your fear left for a moment.

Windforce looked even more annoyed, "You are a disaster waiting to happen. You are a naive child being used." That is not right. You weren't being used. Your family loved you and you were helping. They needed you, the father said so. You couldn't have been lied to, your mama wouldn't lie to you! "Mama isn't using me! She loves me!," You said back. Windforce snapped. She stood from her chair and swung her sword, sending a shockwave that shook the room and knocked you over. You became dizzy as you felt your head hurt. Crystals fell off of your scalp. "SILENCE BRAT!," she roared. The golden yellow horned inphernal grabbed you by the collar of your dress and snarled at you, "I am sick of hearing you whine. Don't speak out of turn anymore, or I will make you regret it." She threw you back onto the floor, Making you roll across the clean marble. You felt a pain in your arm and your ankle. Crystals formed over you and your hurt areas. You struggled to get back up. More murmurs went through the crowd. They saw your weakness compared to them.

But your body was still sparking. You were scared, angry, in pain. Crystals were forming in the air around you. Windforce still held her sword, threatening to attack. You could not hold back your tears from your pain. She swung her sword again when it was stopped by another. A thin green colored one. You looked behind you to Venomshank. He was standing over you, a massive black bird behind him. The bird looked like it was ready to attack as well. "Stop this trial, Windforce.," Venomshank growled in a low and dangerous manner, "She is innocent. Lualight is a child who has done nothing wrong." "The brat is being used by the 'Church', how is that not wrong?," Windforce asked, but in a way that she did not want an answer. Venomshank made a snarl back at her. She backed off. "Fine. Why are you here?," She asked.

"I came to take Lualight back to Crossroads after Darkheart told me your son took her.," Venomshank replied, "That was before I felt you attacking her like she was a common criminal." You could have sworn you heard a little giggle from the shadows after he said that. Windforce waved her hand, "Take the brat. But she will be under your care, my verdict is that she will be raised by another god. The place she came from was just using her." You tried to say something before she made a snarl at you to shut you up. Venomshank picked you up from the marble floor and held you carefully. You saw that the doorframes, the wall and part of the floors were now covered in your crystals as you were carried gently through them. Your power must have leaked out more than you thought.

Venomshank was quiet. You could not see his face, but you could tell he was pretty upset by his body language. You could not look at the eyeholes of his mask. All you could do was to let him carry you. The giant bird followed behind him. "I'm sorry, Lualight.," He apologized. His voice was soft towards you, much different from the growl he made at Windforce. He stopped before the edge is the island. Venomshank placed you on the back of the bird before getting on himself. "To home, Sisyphus.," He told the bird. This big bird was Sisyphus the whole time? But he was massive! Sisyphus lifted himself and his riders into the air with the beating of powerful wings.

The large inphernal was gentle as he held you. He made sure that you didn't fall. He was quiet. You hoped he was not mad at you. Sisyphus landed at the house that Venomshank and Sword lived. You were allowed to get off of the bird, who shrank back down to his normal size and fluttered onto his owner's hat. Venomshank reached down and let you take one of his fingers to lead you inside the home. It was as simply furnished as before. He led you to the upstairs section to explore the bedrooms. He went back downstairs after you got settled into an unused room. Sisyphus stayed with you in the room. He let you pet his soft little feathers. A loud voice called out from downstairs, announcing someone returned. You carefully went downstairs and peered around the corner to see Sword happily talking to his mentor. He was asking Venomshank where he had went and telling him about things he saw in Crossroads.

"I felt something earlier. It felt like I was feeling someone else's fear and my skin and horns tingled a bit.," Sword said, "Do you know what it was?" Venomshank nodded to his ward, "I do. As I felt it as well, as did the rest of my siblings. You do not need to worry about it." Sword saw a glimmer in the corner of his eye and saw you peering around the corner with Sisyphus on your head. His face lit up. "Lualight, What are you doing here?," He asked with a wide smile and crouched to your height. You felt a lot better now that Sword was there. He let you hug his neck and returned it. Venomshank watched the two of you with an expression of care hidden behind his mask. Sisyphus returned to his owner's shoulder. He tilted his head to the side a little, "She will be staying with us." Sword looked at you then his mentor, "She will? What happened? Is her mom not coming to get her?"

Sword looked at you with a concerned expression, "Are you okay? Is something wrong, Lualight?" You didn't answer. You just hugged Sword, the one closest to comfort, tighter. He felt how hot some parts of your body were. Sword saw bruises starting to form on you. You had some blood dripping from wounds you did not know you had. Your white dress was being stained rusty red from the blood. "Lualight, what happened?," He asked with concern, "Venom, What-?" "Windforce.," Venomshank answered with a growl. That was all that he needed to say, Sword's face hardened a little before becoming concerned. "I'll clean you up and stop the bleeding.," The red horned inphernal smiled at you, "It's okay. Medkit taught me first aid." The mask wearing inphernal was looking at your wounds, they were a lot more serious than ones that an inphernal would have gotten from the same amount of force. He knew you were a lot more delicate. Plus you were young, so he needed to be prepared to help you with the trauma you no doubt would have.

The gladiator helm wearing inphernal helped you back to the bathroom and carefully cleaned your bleeding and bruised skin. He used a first aid kit to stop the bleeding and put disinfectant on your cuts. Sword also took the time to wash your hair in the shower after Venomshank explained to him about how hornless needed to be cleaned. After you were clean, he let you have one of his old shirts. One that did not fit him anymore. You could only follow Sword after he cleaned and patched you up. Your little hand held onto his cape as you followed him. He thought it was cute, kind of like a little baby bird following an older bird. You were just clinging to comfort he was providing for you. You followed him as he did his chores and when he was called to training by Venomshank. The god saw you clinging to his ward for comfort while looking a bit dazed. "I am sorry Lualight, but I will have to take Sword away from you for a while.," Venomshank said with a warm tone, "He'll be done with his daily training in about two hours." You nodded quietly. Venomshank placed his little black bird into your hands, "Sisyphus can keep you company."

You wandered the house with Sisyphus on you. You looked at the pictures on the walls, the small decorations, and the furniture. It was a comfortable home. You wandered back up to the bedrooms, you were feeling unsteady and sleepy. You wanted a nap. After climbing up onto the bed, you laid down and closed your little eyes, letting exhaustion take you.

Heels clicked and spurs jingled as Scythe walked through Crossroads. She was relaxed on the surface as she looked around, yet inside she was angry and on edge. She needed to find her baby. She saw a restaurant that Broker mentioned seeing you in and decided to see what information she could pull from the staff. The white hat wearing inphernal saw a familiar pink pair of horns. "Howdy flowers," Scythe drawled out, "So this is where you work." Vine Staff held herself back, trying not to be annoyed. It was hard not be be as this woman was a thorn in her side. "Is there something I can help you with?," The pink horned inphernal asked. Scythe had a smile on, "I'm looking fer my lil darlin'. She's 'bout this tall and cute as can be."

Scythe put her hand to your height. She noticed a sparkle from the neck of the waitress in front of her. "Looks like you already met 'er.," the half blind inphernal chuckled while motioning to the crystal necklace, "Isn't Lualight adorable?" "She's yours?!," vine staff could not hide her surprise and little bit of horror from her voice. "She sure is! She's so cute.," your mama cooed in adoration, "Wanted to find 'er and get 'er home before she got hurt." "I saw her with the Doc last time.," Vine staff replied and then looked to her smaller brother, "Shuri, Where did you see Lua last?" The green horned inphernal thought a second while holding dirty dishes, "I saw her going back to Doc's place when I was doing a delivery."

"Have you tried asking Medkit?," Vine staff asked. Scythe sighed, "Just came from there, had 'im look at my arm." She flexed her cybernetic arm. That meant that you weren't with Medkit. Perhaps that inphernal named Zuka, Broker's contact, would have some information. "Thanks for your information.," Scythe said and tipped her hat. She left the restaurant and continued her search. She needed her baby back. Her mechanical fingers twitched in irritation as she continued. Scythe needed you to be in her arms again. You were the important thing to her. She had lost everything else, she didn't want to lose you as well.

She heard chatter from some inphernals on the street. Banhammer had been in the area recently from what she heard. But what was even more interesting was the other rumors she heard.

He was last seen carrying a child with crystals covering them.

Your mama was coming to get you, even if she had to cut down the warden.

[krystalkitdemi]

Lualight in the inpherno Part 3

Phighting x Fem! Child! reader

CW: Violence, Inphernal bullshit.

It was a lovely day in the Crossroads, and you are a curious child. Medkit had taken you with him to run errands and to house calls. The inphernals who called him to heal them were confused by having a child watching them be healed. You assisted him when he needed it and kept close to him. It was relatively peaceful. Medkit looked at the notes in his hand. "The next one is... Rocket.," He read out, "Maintenence on his prosthetics." You lit up a bit, you could go back to Zuka's! You followed Medkit to the shop and into the building. Zuka was working on some of his wares. He did not even look up. "Welcome in.," The older inphernal greeted. You ran up to the counter, "Hi Zuka!" The shopkeeper looked over the counter to you, "Hey kid." Medkit walked up to the counter, "I am here for the scheduled maintenance on the prosthetics." Zuka motioned his thumb to behind him, "He's in the apartment."

Medkit thanked Zuka and the two of you went around back to their apartment. You knocked on the door and heard Rocket's voice. "I'm coming. Hold on.," He opened the door and motioned Medkit inside. The blue horned inphernal looked down at you after noticing you. He looked back at Medkit. "She is staying with me until she can go home.," He explained, "lift your sleeve so I can see the connection." Rocket sat down and did as Medkit asked. The teal horned inphernal leaned in and looked at the prosthetic. You climbed into the couch beside Rocket and looked at the prosthetic as well. You didn't understand the technology, but you did know it was well made. It reminded you of the one your mama had.

"It looks a little like Mama's.," you said, "It's a different color though." "I made both sets.," Medkit replied, "Your mother's was a special custom one I had to make for her." "Someone else is missing a limb?," Rocked chuckled, "Cool." You nodded excitedly and started to tell Rocket about how cool your mom was. From her pretty clothes and horns to her elegant use of her gear. He listened to you talk. "And she has a pretty glass eye.," you said while pointing to yours, "Mama is so awesome!" "She has a glass eye like that freak who comes around sometimes?," Rocket asked and got a side eye from Medkit. You stopped smiling and looked him dead in the eyes with a blank expression, "Don't talk about him like that."

You smiled wide again, "He's funny and tells good stories! He talks about you and Zuka." Rocket rested his head on his free hand as Medkit worked on his arm, his eyes cut towards you. He looked a little miffed about you talking about Broker. "How did you and Medkit meet?," You inquired. "Sword. He introduced us.," Rocket replied, "What about you? How did you end up knowing Medkit?" You looked at Medkit as he worked before looking back at Rocket. "He took care of me after I was found.," You answered. "She was close to dying. Heat and starvation.," Medkit added, "Her Mother adopted her soon after." "Huh. Sounds kinda like how Sword was adopted by his mentor and Zuka taking me in.," Rocket said and flexed his mechanical arm after Medkit indicated to try the joints.

"I had parents before being adopted...," You said sadly, "They... Are gone. They were hornless like me." "What happened?," Rocket asked while making a mean face, "Did they get eaten by something?" The teal horned doctor gave him a harsh look. A warning to not scare you. "I don't know. I just know they disappeared.,"You replied, "It's been over a year. They... Are more than likely dead." Rocket's face lost the teasing look. He seemed a bit sorry. He reached out his hand and placed it on top of your head. Rocket rubbed your hornless head. "You have a gear?," He asked. "No. Not really.," You replied. Rocket made a confused look, his sharp teeth could be seen, "How the fuck are you still alive?!" He pressed down on your head until you smacked his hand to make him let off.

"Change position. I need access to the leg.," Medkit interrupted. Rocket laid down on his stomach on the couch and let Medkit work. You climbed up onto the back of the couch to watch. The teal horned doctor reached into his bag to grab another tool. He searched around until making an annoyed sound. "Crowbar took my tools without asking again.," Medkit grumbled while clicking his tongue in annoyance. You patted the top of his head lightly to get his attention. He looked up at you as you smiled and pointed to yourself. "No. You should not use your power for something as trivial as this.," he said and looked for another tool. "I don't think my limbs are something that can be considered trivial, Medkit.," Rocket added and looked back at you. You did not heed Medkit and let your Lua flow out of you, forming into a shining crystal that floated just beyond your outstretched hand. Rocket's eyes locked onto the crystal, His mouth hung agape. Medkit begrudgingly took the crystal. The shining material shifted into the shape of the tool he needed before shedding the glittery skin to reveal the desired tool.

"What?!," Rocket exclaimed and tried to get up. His sudden movements knocked you off of the couch and onto his back. You made a small noise from falling onto him. "You can make ANYTHING?!," He exclaimed, "Where the hell did you come from?! What are- HOW?!" You grabbed his horns as he tried to get up again, he immediately laid back down and tried to buck you off. Medkit had enough and grabbed both of you. "Stop moving." He ordered and turned to you, "And you. Don't just grab horns." You deflated from the scolding. Medkit had a scary angry face before putting you down on the floor. "Rocket. You are not to tell anyone what you saw.," Medkit said, "I don't want her to be exploited." You sat on the floor and did not move after being scolded. Thoughts of being scolded again mixed with the thoughts of what you had seen before. Meeting Sword's mentor, Venomshank. Finally being able to come to crossroads.

You rembered the food at the restaurant yesterday. You had not eaten yet. Your stomach was starting to hurt from hunger. The workers there were nice. The tall one with the pink horns seemd nice and Shuriken was sweet. Your belly rumbled a bit and you drooled a little from remembering the food. You could barely register what Medkit and Rocket were talking about. It was not important to you. Not as important to as filling your tummy. You wiped your mouth as you felt the drool on your chin. Rocket reached out and poked your head again with a teasing snicker. He did not seem to be mad at you for grabbing his horns earlier. "Did you not eat yet?," He teased. "No.," You replied, "Not since I went to that place yesterday." "Thieves rest.," Medkit added, "I found her there." "Heard that its good.," Rocket commented and laid back down. You wanted to go back. If not for the food, then to see the staff again. The inphernals you heard Broker talk about. How he was impressed by both their abilities and the look of their food. You would have to report back to him what you experienced. He would love hearing about it.

You felt your stomach rumble again. The urge to return to the restaurant grew. You heard Rocket laugh at your growling stomach. Medkit did not acknowledge your hunger as he worked. You just sat beside him as he worked. He had to completely take apart the leg since he saw a piece that needed to be fixed inside of it. "Oh, this part will need to be replaced.," Medkit sighed, "That is going to take a while to get the appropriate parts and put it all back together." "I'm hungry.," you said and saw that Medkit was focused on working while rocket seemed to have dosed off, "I'm going to get something to eat." You told Medkit where you were going and left the apartment quietly before going to see what Zuka was doing. He was with a customer, selling a weapon to them. You watched from a safe distance. After the customer left, you got closer to him. He still had the tired yet stern look on his face. He cut his eyes towards you after he saw you coming. "Are they still doing maintenance?," Zuka asked and got a nod from you.

"And where are you off to?," He asked. "The place from before, Thieves' rest.," You answered, "It was good and I am hungry." "Just be safe kid.," the older inphernal said and went back to working on some weapons. You walked out into the streets. It was still morning. You wandered down to the lower level of the city. Your tiny feet kept moving, following the familiar path you had taken the previous day. You finally found the building you were looking for, but the lights were all out. Nobody was there. Your face fell, feeling down that you would not eat the good food again. "Hey, why are you out here so early?," you heard a voice ask, "And all by yourself?" You looked up at an inphernal with soft blue horns looking at you. The horns themselves looked like cat ears. He was wearing clothes with the same pale blue on them. You answered honestly, "I was hungry. The food here was so good that I wanted to come back."

He gave you a smile after hearing you praise the food. You noticed then that he was wearing one of your crystals as a necklace. He crouched down to your level, still giving you a friendly smile. "The diner still won't be open for a while.," he said, "I'm so sorry." Your tummy let out a loud growl that made the inphernal laugh, "Sounds like your tummy doesn't care about when we open." He stood to stretch. His eyes saw that yours were locked onto his necklace. "Are you curious about this? Pretty right?," he grinned, "My siblings and I got them from strange yet kind customer yesterday!' You pulled a crystal out of your bag and showed him, it was bigger than the one he had on his necklace. "I gave Shuriken and the other one the necklaces.," You said, "Because... they are nice and I really liked the food." The inphernal's face was kind as he looked at you, "Thank you for the gift. My name is Slingshot, what is yours?" "I am Lualight, but I can be called Lua for short.," You introduced yourself. "Nice to meet you, Lua.," Slingshot said, "You already met my siblings, Shuriken and Vine Staff." "Is Vine Staff the big one with the pink horns and pretty makeup?," You asked with curiosity in your big and colorful eyes. Slingshot nodded, "She is."

Slingshot already thought you were cute when he saw you standing outside of his diner, But now that he was talking to you face to face? You are absolutely adorable and so very precious. He has never seen a newspawn this small or delicate before. Usually ones like you were killed or died of illness or injury where he was from. He assumed you were from either a wealthy family or had a family that really loved you, no matter how you spawned. He noted your softer skin, lack of horns, and docile behavior. You didn't display the typical aggressive or trigger happy behavior that newspawn were known for. He still had to open his shop. Slingshot opened the door and went inside to prepare the diner for opening. He saw you watching him through the windows. You were just waiting patiently. Your colorful eyes observed him and everything around you. The soft blue horned inphernal saw other inphernals walking around the streets, some he knew as less savory individuals. You were there, a delicate and docile little thing that could get hurt if left alone. He went back and opened the door. "Come on in, we're not open yet.," He said, "But I can't leave you out in the open. Vine Staff should be here soon, you can help her before we open."

You watched slingshot move efficiently and quickly through his kitchen, preparing for the day. His face had a smile on it the whole time. He seemed happy with cooking. You heard the door open and the little bell ring. "I'm here, Sling!," a gentle voice called out. You peeked out of the kitchen doorway to see the pink horned inphernal from before. The large inphernal saw you and stopped. She had a mix of different emotions in her eyes. The most you could see was a familiar one. Pity. She smiled at you, though. "Hello again, did Sling let you in?," Vine Staff asked and crouched to your height. You saw she had the crystal necklace on still. "He did.," You replied. She reached out her arm to pet your head, an arm that looked to be made of a thick tree branch. She stopped right before she touched your head. You reached up and grabbed the hand, placing it on your head softly. "No Horns...," You heard her mumur, "Poor thing." You gave her a wide and happy smile, moving your head to encourage her to pet you.

"Oh, I am glad you and Lua are getting along.," Slingshot's voice was heard from the kitchen window, "She can help you with cleaning the diner before we open. Just need Shuri now." Vine stood and motioned you to follow, she showed you what you can do to help. You were tasked with wiping down the tables. As you wiped the tables, you started to smell what Slingshot was starting to cook. It smelled delicious. Vine staff started to talk to you, asking you questions. "So where did you come from?" "Where are your horns?" "What kind of gear do you have?" "Are you cursed like I am?" "Where is your caretaker?" You tried to answer as well as possible, trying to keep as much about the family a secret as Father had told you to do. "The Lost Temple." "I was spawned without them." "I don't have one." "Mama says it is not a curse, I am special." "Mama is back in Lost Temple. I am being looked after by Medkit right now." Vine staff was nice. Her pink forward swooping horns matched her cute makeup. You saw some flowers on her arm as you two talked. The door bell jingled again as the last of the siblings entered the diner. Shuriken saw you and Vine staff cleaning and talking together. The green horned inphernal greeted the both of you.

Shuriken seemed to be a little tired. He must have been up late. He patted your head with your permission, rubbing your soft hair. Quickly, you grabbed his hand and rubbed your face against it. He had hard hands, like he had been working a long time. You wanted to thank him for doing a great job. You wanted to relieve him of his exhaustion. It was something you had done before for your mama and some of the other church fellows. Your Lua flowed into him with a gentle feeling. Shuriken did not pull away, this feeling of a sudden wave of energy washed over him. It felt nice, almost comforting. Like he had gotten a good night's rest, something he had not had in many years. Your healing of his energy caused the crystal on his necklace to glow, betraying your want to keep what you were doing hidden. He pulled back when you were done. His eyes were wide as he stretched, feeling how light his body was. "What did you do?," he asked. "I made you feel better.," You answered, "Like I do for Mama." Shuriken gave you a small smile. He patted your head again. "Thank you, Lua." You continued to help the siblings until it was time to open the diner. Shuriken put you on one of the booths. He gave you a menu to look at as he and the others finally opened.

A trio of customers came soon after they opened. "Welcome in!," Slingshot called out to the trio. An inphernal with dark red horns and a helmet on. One with green horns and a visor. and one with orange and blue horns that had a simple crystal embedded in the blue one. "Mornin' Sling.," the red horned one greeted in a laid back manner. Slingshot had a smile on, "Good morning, Skateboard." Slingshot's smile faltered a bit after seeing the orange and blue horned inphernal. The three walked back to a table you could only assume was their favorite one. You heard them talking amongst themselves as they passed by you. The orange and blue horned one cut his eyes at you, seemingly giving you a quick look to determine if you were dangerous. He himself seemed to be a dangerous individual compared to his company. He stopped and walked back to look at you, eyeing the crystals you had on your person. "Coil, Something up?," The laid back one asked and walked over, "Oh hey there. A newspawn." "A newspawn without any horns or a caretaker.," the more intimidating one said with a cocky grin and a teasing tone, "What's a tiny little thing doing all alone?"

"Leave her alone, Coil.," You heard Slingshot say. Coil snickered, "Why is the cute lil thing dangerous?" Slingshot made some muttering, this Coil seemed to get under his skin. The green horned inphernal also came over to take a look at you. "Oh by the swords, aren't you cute!," He exclaimed and patted your head. The newcomers kept petting your head, messing up your hair. Every time you fixed it, the two toned horned inphernal messed it up again. Your cheeks puffed up in irritation. "Stop, my hair..," You whined. You kept getting poked and petted by these friendly inphernals. The laid back one sat across from you in the booth. The rest decided to join you as well. The green horned one sat beside you. He was a lot more heavy set than the others. His clothes had a lot of green in it. His backwards cap was also a green color. "I'm Boombox, What is your name?," He asked. "Lualight.," You replied and heard Coil choke. "Somethin' wrong?," The one named Skateboard asked. Coil wiped his mouth, "Nope, I'm good."

Shuriken got your order as well as the orders of the three with you. The three continued on with their conversations while also conversing with you. "What region are you from?," Boombox asked, "Your clothing is quite different from anything I have seen before." "Lost Temple.," You answered, "It's a pretty harsh place, but it's okay since I live with others." "How'd ya get out here all by yourself?," Skateboard asked and took a drink of his beverage, "You're pretty young to be crossing a desert that big." "I was with others, But we got ambushed.," You replied, "I was able to escape and a kind inphernal brought me the rest of the way." "It's great you ran into a nice guy, because some inphernals will try to eat ch'ya!," Coil said and bit the air with his fangs exposed. You whined and clung onto Boombox's arm. The trio laughed a little and coil got a light punch on his shoulder from Skateboard. Boombox told you that they were from a tougher area called the 'playground' and that Skateboard survived being thrown off a floating island by one of the Seven Swords. Skateboard tapped his horn where it was cracked, "That's how I got this one."

Your food came as well as the ones that the three ordered. "Looks great as usual, Sling!," Skateboard said with a smile to the chef. Coil took a bite, "mmm. It's okay I guess." Slingshot's face had a smile, but it didn't meet his eyes. Coil continued to get under his skin. Slingshot seemed to be falling for the bait a lot. At least Coil stopped teasing you. You nibbled your food as the older inphernals talked. "Don't be too mean to her, Coil.," Slingshot said. Coil found another opportunity to tease, "Oh, Is this newspawn yours then?" You could see Coil looking back at you, his expression changed after hearing your name. Slingshot scolded Coil, only to get playfully teased back. You felt your cheek get poked by Boombox, He was smiling at you. "Do you have any music you like listening to?," He asked. You thought a bit and shook your head, "I listen to whatever is playing. I have not heard much. But... I like happy sounding music." He nodded his head enthusiastically.

It was kind of fun meeting these nice inphernals. You felt happy to know that there were people outside of the church that were as nice as the members. Your happy thoughts were shattered as Shuriken yelled. He had cut his hand on something in the kitchen. Vine Staff went to look at the wound. You could see it from the booth you were at. "Damn, that looks deep.," Coil commented. The crystal around Shuriken's neck began to glow and shake before breaking. The fragments embedded themselves in his arm before fading, leaving undamaged and healed skin. "What...?," Vine staff gasped. Shuriken looked at his healed arm and then at his shattered necklace. The trio with you were watching too. The green horned waiter looked at you, his eyes frozen in shock. You squeezed by by Boombox and grabbed his necklace before attaching another crystal to it. "Be more careful. I don't have a lot of these with me right now.," you said.

Coil had been watching with the most interest. He had noticed the crystals as soon as he came in. He had heard of 'Lua' before, especially when poking around the notes of that black Rock scientist he steals from. Your name having to do with Lua and the crystals you had, he had a feeling that you could be in trouble if someone with bad intentions knew about you. You returned to the booth and finished eating. The group with you also finished eating and left the diner with you after both parties paid. Skateboard and Coil were about to walk away after saying goodbye. You stopped them by calling out to them Skateboard crouched to your height after you held out some necklaces. "Are you sure?," the helmeted inphernal asked. You nodded and put the necklace on him. You offered one to Coil as well. He took it and put it in his pocket, not wanting to wear it for some reason. He thanked you and walked away with Skateboard following. Boombox stayed behind with you. "Where are they going?," You asked. The inphernal with you smiled, showing a tooth gap in his front teeth. "Back to Playground.," he replied, "they don't live here like I do." You reached into your bag and found that you didn't have any more necklaces with you. You pouted a little.

Boombox noticed, "I don't need one, honest." "But I want to." You replied and close your hands together. You made your power condense again, like you did back home. You could feel it crystalize in your hands. Boombox watched as you seemed to be crushing the summoning spark of a gear in your tiny fingers before opening your hands to him. In your palms lay a fresh crystal. One that shimmered brightly. It was beautiful. He had felt it. Your power as you condensed it down into a small stone for him. He picked it up and attached it to his tie. He still felt the pulses of sheer energy from it. It was warm. Like you. "Thank you." He smiled. You gave him a warm smile back, "You're very welcome!" You started to walk away and found he was going the same way. "Where are you going?," You asked the smiling inphernal. Boombox motioned to the same direction you were going, "My apartment. I have some work to do. How about you?" "Going back to Medkit.," you answered, "I feel like I am about to be scolded again."

Boombox thought a bit, "How about we go together? We are going in the same direction." You nodded and got picked up by Boombox, being set on his shoulders. He seemed to be used to carrying heavy equipment. But to him, you were not heavy at all. He carried you back as far as you both were going. He left you with a friendly goodbye and an invitation to one of his shows later. You would take him up on that offer if your caretakers would let you. As soon as you got back to Medkit, you were scolded for disappearing when he was supposed to watch you.

Clawed fingers tapped the chair their owner sat in. The faint pulses of Lua energy had reached all the way out there. The ruler stood, having enough. "Find the hornless!," the tyrant bellowed, "Being them to me!" Wings shimmered behind the towering inphernal before the tyrant sat back down. There was a single question being asked in the mind of the ruler.

Why did a hornless show up now?

[krystalkitdemi]

Lualight in the Inpherno Part 7

Phighting x Child fem reader.

Cw: This is kinda just a fluff episode. :p Not many warnings.

You swung a fake weapon at a training dummy at Venomshank's request. He decided to train you to defend yourself and how to use your power. He didn't know specifically how your Lua worked, but was willing to help you with training it. Sword was there with you, being a model to mimic stances off of. You'd look to them to see if you were doing the stances correctly. Venomshank would either give you a nod or gently correct your position by moving your limbs with a light touch. By the end of the training, your little muscles felt sore. You fell into Venom's arms. "You did well for your first training day.," The god said to you. He pressed his forehead against yours since he could not give you a kiss because of his toxic saliva. Even though he wanted to. Your soft skin was pleasant on his. You were allowed to get cleaned up, washing the sweat off of your skin and out of your hair. Sword and Venomshank continued their training as you held Sisyphus.

It was nice to have more training done. But you also wanted to read like you did back at the church. The tomes and the stories they held were something you missed. Perhaps Venomshank knew of a place with some good books to read? You approached him while he and Sword were taking a break. Sisyphus sat on the little hat you were wearing as you walked up to Venomshank. "Venom.," You said it get his attention before asking your question, "Is there a library or bookstore in Crossroads?" The mask wearing god thought a bit before he nodded as confirmation. "I believe there is.," He replied, "The library is ran by an individual created by one of my siblings. It will be safe for you to visit." Your face lit up. You could read again! You could see Venom's eye twinkle a little from seeing your happiness at the possibility of reading again. "Take Sisyphus with you.," Venomshank said, "He will help watch over you." You were allowed to leave with Sisyphus after Venomshank gave you directions to the library. You noticed his little eyes had turned green. The same color of Venomshank's gear. Your little shoes tapped on the ground as you walked. You went over the directions in your head. You disregarded the words of others on the street as you walked. You had your hat on and Sisyphus perched neatly on the hat.

You walked through the business on the upper level of the crossroads. There were various shops, sights, inphernals and smells. You passed by many inphernals with many different colored horns and shapes of horns. You kept walking on towards the library. You looked into shop windows as you passed by. You saw the familiar green horns of Boombox in a music shop. He must have been getting some things for his job. You kept walking on with Sisyphus on you. You passed by bridges that had the names of other places on them. Playground, Where Boombox, Coil and Skateboard were from. Thieves den. Lost Temple. Blackrock. You wondered what some of those places were like. What the inphernals there were like. You reached a road and realized you had forgotten the directions that Venomshank had given you. Your little face scrunched up in worry. "Oh no. Where is it?," you said to nobody in particular. "Suh, little dude.," You heard a voice and turned to the alley beside you. There, sitting on some boxes was an inphernal wearing a orange cone on his head. He had a very relaxed expression. His horns were the same orange as the cone on his head. His puffy jacket was purple with a traffic light motif on the sleeves.

"Ya lost?," He asked. You nodded. Sisyphus eyed the inphernal carefully as he took a drag off of a burning rolled up paper in his fingers. The smoke he breathed out stank to your little nose. "I'm looking for the library.," You said to the inphernal. He gave you a lazy smile, "Down this street about four doors and on the left. You can't miss it. Just a heads up, Deeri looks strange, but she's nice." You looked down the street he pointed to. You saw that he had a small gap in his front teeth. "Thank you.," You told the inphernal. "It's nothin'. Name's Traffic, By the way.," He waved his hand with the rolled piece of paper in his fingers. You followed his directions, even passing by an inphernal in a teapot helmet and a big robot following said inphernal. You got to the building and looked inside. There were books lining the walls and chandeliers on the ceiling. It felt cooler in the library than in the street. You stepped inside and looked around. You did not see anybody. Not even the 'Deeri' that Traffic mentioned. You began to look at the selection of books available, seeing if any piqued your interest.

It did not take long before the feeling of someone watching you to take hold. You looked up to the second floor. A creature that looked like an inphernal, but was obviously not, was looking down at you. The head looked like a white pumpkin with black rootlike antler horns on either side of the head. The white coat the creature wore was open, letting the blue heart like organ inside be visible inside the root like ribcage. The eyes peering from the holes in the pumpkin were a blue color. This had to be 'Deeri', she was strange looking just as Traffic said. She placed the books she was holding down and came downstairs, her eyes never seeming to leave you. "Would your name happen to be Lualight?," She asked, even her voice sounded different than inphernals. It was more like a melody on an instrument. You gave her a nod as the tall being circled you, taking in your appearance and writing notes. Sisyphus cawed a bit as she took off your hat to examine your head. The bird settled into your hands as the being touched your hair and head gingerly. "Hornless, just as I was told. Size is slightly smaller than an average newspawn.," She said as she made more notes. "You are 'Deeri'?," You asked, "Traffic told me how to get here after I got lost."

"Yes, I am Ghosdeeri, The librarian and owner of this library.," She responded in her pretty voice, "I apologize for my observations of you, I have been tasked to watch and record what happens here in Crossroads. With a new order to observe you." You looked down at Sisyphus, the bird peered back up at you with his green beady eyes. "Is there a reason for your visit to my library?," Ghosdeeri asked you. "I wanted to find some books to read.," You replied, "I used to read a lot before coming to crossroads." She wrote down some notes as you spoke, yet was listening to you. "You are welcome to look at my selection. You can find many things here.," She said and put her pen down. You heard the bell on the door jingle and looked back to see traffic saunter in. He had his silly relaxed smile on. He gave Ghosdeeri a friendly greeting before looking at you and your uncovered head. "Woahhh... Check it ooooouuutt.," He said and touched your head gently, "Kid's got no horns." After two years of this, you were pretty used to it. He was not being mean so you didn't mind it very much. "Cool bird, bruh.," He said while plopping onto a cushion, "Is it yours?" "No. He belongs to my caretaker.," You replied, "His name is Sisyphus." The white pumpkin headed creature looked at the small bird you held, "Venomshank must be your caretaker."

You looked at Traffic, seeing that he was not reacting to the news of who your caretaker is. He lifted his hands up. "I don't have any problems with anyone, man." You went back to looking at the selection of books while being watched over by Ghosdeeri. You saw many different genres of books. You wondered if she had books or anything that had information on the hornless that used to be in the Inpherno. Maybe she had a manuscript you could read and translate like you did in the church. You felt safe in the library. You chose a book and sat on a cushion next to Traffic to read it. He was talking to Ghosdeeri about other regions he went to while she wrote down some of the things he was telling her. The book you chose detailed the life in the Lost Temple before the Scorch, The beautiful buildings and the commerce there. You recognized a few of the buildings from the burning ruins you had stayed in. You pointed it out to Ghosdeeri, Who told you a bit more about the said buildings you had seen and stayed in with your family. She wrote down your detailed story of being in the ruins with your family and your interactions with Darkheart while Traffic listened to you talk. He was petting your soft hair as you spoke. Sisyphus sat on a table nearby with watchful eyes. She let you go home with some books to read that night. But you had to return the next day and give them back.

As you walked back to the home, you passed by the music store again. Boombox was still there, but this time he was talking to one of the two inphernals you saw the previous day. The tall one who was missing an eye and wing. This inphernal seemed to know Boombox pretty well. You felt Sisyphus turn his little head to look at the two as you walked by. You knew he was a part of Venomshank, did this mean that Venom knew the inphernal Boombox was talking to as well? You looked at the horns, a pretty soft purple color. You wondered where the yellow horned smaller one was. You rounded the corner and walked the streets. A soft patch of yellow caught your eye. There he was, the other one. He was sitting in a cafe, presumably waiting for his companion. You saw him. And you locked eyes. He was much smaller than other inphernal adults you had seen, but he was quite cute. He lifted his head off his hand when he saw you pass by with Sisyphus on your shoulder. You stopped for a second to look back at him before Sisyphus urged you to keep walking by nudging your cheek. You kept walking by and followed the roads back home. You stopped once more at a store to buy a water. There was a display of magazines that caught your eyes with how pretty they were. You decided to buy one as well since there were articles that featured Phighters in the tournaments and an idol duo called Flipside. You kind of wanted to see them after hearing their music in the stores you had been walking by.

You sat on a bench and flipped through the magazine. You looked at the interviews with different Phighters and their pictures before flipping to the page that had a special article about Flipside. Apparently the two idols were called 'Valk' and 'Dom'. You sipped at the bottled water you got while flipping through the pages. You stopped at the picture of the idols and thought they looked familiar. They looked like they were kind. You were about to flip the page when you saw their horns. It was the same horns of the ones you saw. The same horns you saw in the restaurant the previous day. You had seen them in person. You flipped through the pages more to read the interviews they had for their spawndays. You gave Sisyphus some of your water was you read. He sipped it while looking at the pages as well. "These two were at the place Sword and I ate at.," you told the crow, "I think they seem nice." You looked up to the tower in the middle of crossroads. The tower the idols work in. You wonder what Phights were like. Was it like the sparring that mama and the others did in the church? You kept sipping the water before finishing it. You flipped to the poster that came with the magazine. You thought it would be nice to put in your room.

The sound of voices from the crowds around you did not bother you. Others were minding their own business as you minded yours. You opened one of the books that you got from the library and read it. It was a nice afternoon to read, the weather was sunny and warm. Sisyphus pressed his little crow body against your cheek as you read. He seemed to be taking a nap after watching you so intently. However, you could feel that he was still being attentive. Your eyes saw green and you looked up to see Boombox walking by with the two from earlier. They were talking about music from what you could hear. Something about a selection for an upcoming show. "Woah.," You said softly to the crow companion with you, "They are so cool looking." You flipped the page of the book and caught a piece of conversation from the two with Boombox. "We felt some sort of warm feeling yesterday, it was strange but felt nice." Boombox nodded, "The crystal on my tie felt warm yesterday as well. And the glow it made was pretty." "Been meaning to ask where you got it.," the larger inphernal asked with a deep but calm and gentle voice, "It's beautiful." "A cute little newspawn gave it to me.," The green horned inphernal said with a smile.

You put the books away in the bag you carried and hid, but kept listening to the conversation. It was kind of rude, but you were curious about these two. They mentioned feeling your energy from yesterday, does that mean they are related to the Swords like Banny was? Boom took the crystal off the tie to let the two look at it closer. He told them that a newspawn had given it to him. "Wow. It is so pretty.," The smaller one with yellow horns said, "Crystals like that would make beautiful accessories for our costumes." The purple horned inphernal seemed to be rather deep in thought. He seemed to be thinking while looking at the crystal. "I do not think that would be a good idea.," The tall one said after some thought, "These crystals seem to be rather important." Boombox nodded, agreeing with the purple horned inphernal. He did think they were powerful. Especially after seeing how you healed Slingshot with pure altruism. He relayed that story to the two he was with. "Did you catch the Newspawn's name?," The yellow horned asked, "Or perhaps what she looks like?" Boombox gave them your name and appearance. You saw his visor change expressions as he relayed the information.

The smallest one seemed to have a revelation. He realized he had seen that same newspawn earlier! And the newspawn had Venomshank's crow with her. That means his uncle had taken in the said newspawn. He saw from the corner of his eye some movement. A small figure darted into an alleyway with a black bird flying behind it. He looked fast enough to see you. He saw Sisyphus land on your shoulder as you were running down the alleyway. You looked hurried like you were late for something. He assumed that perhaps his uncle had put you under a curfew. He was kind of right. Venomshank had told you to come home before a specific time, the crow had told you that it was getting late and you needed to go home. You were running back so you would not be late for dinner. Your tiny feet carried you home. You opened the door to see Venomshank had been waiting for you with Sword. Venom had a pocket watch out. "Twelve minutes early.," He commented, "If only my other ward would be this timely." His jab at Sword felt teasing. Sword looked away a little embarrassed. You were breathing a little hard from running.

Venomshank looked down at you with a smile, He had his mask off so you could see his face. Sisyphus returned to his shoulder. "Did you enjoy your trip to the library?," he asked as he followed you to the living room. You hopped up onto one of the chairs and nodded. You pulled out the books you got to show him. They were small books with pictures in them, easy reading for you. You picked the book you were reading up and returned to the page you had been on. Venomshank watched you, feeling a warm mix of emotions while he did. You were adorable, strong and intelligent. He felt pride in having both you and Sword as his wards. He will try to do right by you, raising you as a kind and gentle young god. You had the potential to break and reshape the Inpherno if you so pleased. But, you seemed to only want to have a peaceful existence. You finished the book and moved onto another one about the different animals in the different regions. You recognized a few of them. Specifically the vultures that your mama rides and that tried to eat you when you first came to the inpherno. You pointed to the picture while looking at Venomshank. "These tried to eat me.," You said with all the plain innocence of a child.

Venom's pride turned to concern as he looked at the picture of the bird in the book. One of the natural residents of the Lost Temple. You had to be terrified as you were hunted. "You're safe now, You do not have to worry about any of that.," he said to you and petted your head. Safe. You felt safe with Venomshank and Sword. It felt a lot safer there than in Splintered Skies or Lost Temple. Venomshank could not help but to pet your head, you noticed. He seemed to like to feel your soft hair and the warmth of your scalp. You kept reading with Venomshank beside you. He pointed out some animals he knew and told you about them. While reading and talking about animals, you asked him about the other regions. He told you about them. You already knew about the desert and wastelands of the Lost Temple. He told you about the archipelago and jungles of the Theives den. The cold tundra of Blackrock. How playground has a mix of different habitats.

"Do you think I could see them one day?," You asked. "You can, But not now. Not for a while.," Venomshank answered, "For your protection." His voice told you that he cared. He wanted to protect you. You believed him. You heard Sword walk back in, he was holding the magazine you bought. He seemed to be reading the interviews of the phighters. He sat on the other side of you and pointed to an article. It was about popular past warriors. The figure he was pointing to looked a little like rocket, but older and with a different weapon type. The inphernal had blue horns that were the same shape and color of rocket's. He looked more muscular and taller than rocket. "It's Zuka.," Sword grinned. You put down your book and looked at the picture of younger Zuka. He looked so cool! Much different than the man you knew now. Venomshank nodded as you two looked at the picture. "I worked with him during that time, as did my siblings.," Venom said with a smile, "We all favored him." Sword flipped through the pages and looked at other old Phighters. You saw Banhammer in one of the articles. The rest of the night after dinner was you talking with Venomshank and Sword about what you read in the magazine and in the books you borrowed. You put up the Flipside poster in the room Venomshank gave you. You placed the Sunset colored Crystal you made next to it to illuminate the two.

The yellow horned Valk washed his face after he ate his dinner. Dom was reading a little before bed. "Remember the conversation we had with Boom box?," He asked his brother. Dom looked up from his book, "About the crystals and the newspawn who makes them? Yes." "I saw her. She has Sisyphus with her.," Valk said and plopped next to his brother, "No horns. Big colorful eyes and a mane of fur on her head." Dom closed the book he was reading. He closed his remaining eye as he took a breath in. "Remember the Stories Grandpa told us?," He asked his smaller brother. Valk scratched his head as he thought. Their grandfather had told them many stories before. Their horns lit up in a warm feeling again. Just like they had felt the previous day. It felt a lot better than the Angered and fearful feelings that had made their horns and skin prickle. "Hornless. Like Grandfather's creator.," Dom said, "That means another has appeared. Over a hundred years after the previous had disappeared."

"That would explain why she had Venomshank watching her through his bird.," Valk said, "I kind of want to talk to her now. She is so cute." "She is.," Dom said as he remembered seeing you at the restaurant with Valk, "I think Grandpa would have loved to see her himself." The yellow horned inphernal nodded. Their grandfather would have loved to see a new Hornless appear. He more than likely had already sensed your energy and knew what you were. But, he was in self isolation, He would not emerge from that. "Would still be nice to get one of those Crystals from her.," Valk said with a slight pout. Dom picked his book up to read again. "Maybe if you see her again, you can ask her for one.," The larger brother said as he got back onto the chapter he left on.

The warmth of your happiness reached Scythe again. She felt your pendant. Her hand wrapped around it and held it to her cheek. She felt your heartbeat in it faintly. It was not the same as holding you herself. Scythe was not worried about it much anymore. She had finally caught information that helped her to finally track you down. You had been seen entering the Library. She knew you loved to read, so she would just have to wait until you came by again. Then she could take you home. All she had to do was avoid the Banland Police until then. "Mama is gonna take you home soon, Darlin'."

[krystalkitdemi]

Lualight in the Inpherno part 6

Phighting x Child Fem reader

CW: Injured reader, Violent inphernals.

You woke up later to fingers tapping your forehead. Sword was looking down at you with a big smile. "Did you forget where your room was?," He asked with a small laugh, "This is mine." Sword had Sisyphus on his shoulder as he woke you up. You did a little stretch and were picked up by the older inphernal. You hugged his neck while still waking up from your nap. You also felt sore from the injuries you sustained from Windforce. You made a small whine when one of your injuries were pressed on by accident. "Oh, Sorry.," Sword apologized, "We can get Medkit to look at your injuries later." He carried you down the stairs before setting you down on the floor to walk yourself, you held onto his cape and rubbed your eyes. You followed Sword as he walked though the house, keeping a grip on his cape to not fall behind. He slowed his pace down so you could follow as well. "You found her, where was she?," The voice of Venomshank was heard as the two of you walked into the den. "Taking a nap in my room.," Sword answered. As your eyes adjusted to being awake again, You saw Venomshank sitting on a chair that seemed to be specially made for him and his size. He was looking at a book that seemed to be old, it had text that was human language on it.

Venomshank was not wearing his mask. His face had a kind smile on it. "Lualight, I hope you are comfortable.," The godlike inphernal said to you with a kind tone. "I am, thank you.," You replied. Venomshnak noticed that you did not seem to be as happy as you had been before. He closed the book and set it down before beckoning you to come closer. "Is there something wrong?," He asked, "You can tell me." "Mama is going to be worried. I have never been away from her this long.," You answered. Venomshank's smile faltered. He knew that your previous caretaker would be worried about you, especially since you seemed to be rather close to her. He did not know about your previous caretaker more than what little you had divulged before. You mentioning how protective she was of you. Venomshanks placed his hand on your shoulder in a gentle motion, being careful not to scratch your skin with his sharp nails.

Venomshank also knew he could not let you go back to where you had been. Especially since Windforce had found you were being used. He did not know the whole story, but she had good information. Even if she was a brute with a short temper. "Lualight, Please tell me everything you remember since you came here.," Venomshank told you in your language after dismissing Sword to run some errands. You told him everything. How you and your parents fell into the Inpherno and met darkheart. How you got seperated from them and were found by the church. That you were a beloved member of the cult. That they loved you and that they had you do many things for them. You gripped the borrowed shirt you wore while talking to him. Venomshank listened patiently and let you cry as you needed. He now knew everything about your past. You only left out where the church was. Venomshank was holding you at the end of your story, letting you hug into him for more comfort. He felt your heartbeat in the crystal on his horn as it shook slightly. The one that you made to give him. "I am not allowed to go back, am I?," You asked and got a shake of his head as an answer.

"No, I cannot let you. It is to protect you.," The inphernal said in your language, "There are those who would use you for their own gain." "Mama never did.," You said, "I miss mama." "I know you do.," Venomshank replied and held your cheek in his large hand, "But your safety comes first. The power you hold has the potential to completely change the Inpherno itself." Venomshank was sincere. He did not want you to get hurt or be used my nefarious individuals. He placed you back onto the floor. "You can tell me about any trouble you have.," The smiling god inphernal said, "I am here to help you. I will train you if you want and protect you if you need me." You leaned into his hand that was still on your cheek. His hand was warm and gentle on your soft skin.

He placed Sisyphus into your hands. You petted the little bird softly, similar to how Scythe taught you how to pet hers. "Did you like flying on Sisyphus?," Venomshank asked. "Yes. It reminded me of the rides I took with mama on her bird.," You replied. "I had heard that those who live in Lost Temple do use birds as transportation.," he mused, "I'm glad you were comfortable." Your conversations were interrupted by Sword coming back home with some groceries. He had brought some bandages and soaps for you as well. "Feeling better, Lualight?," Sword asked and got a nod from you, "I'm glad. Hey, want to help me with these?" You agreed and helped to put away the groceries with Sword. The older inphernal teased you slightly with being so small. He was not mean with his teasing like some were. It was nice to be with him and Venomshank. You helped to make dinner and clean up afterwards. Sword went to his room after, being reminded by Venomshank that they had some more training in the morning.

Apparently he skipped the last part of his training to go check on you. You followed Sword to his room. He was changing into his sleeping shirt when he turned and jumped at your sudden appearance. "Agh! Lualight!" He placed his hand over his chest as you got closer to him. "Sorry, Sword.," you apologized. "No, it's fine. You just startled me.," He said while breathing out. You noticed that the crystal necklace he wore was losing it's shine. Like it had been healing him slowly. You grabbed the crystal and began to refill it with your Lua and fix it. You let go after fixing it. The shape changed slightly, but it now gave off a pleasant glow. Sword felt it after you let go. He could have sworn it felt like there was a heartbeat. He also had felt a warmth in his horns as you fixed it.

"That was you. Those times I felt something through my horns, that was you.," he said, finally realizing the previous sensations he felt. You gave him a small nod before trying to walk back to your room. You got hugged from behind by Sword. "I'm sorry. You were so scared.," he said as you felt tears on your shoulder, "You don't have to be scared anymore. Venomshank and I are here for you, I'll be a good brother." He hugged you so tight that you could not wiggle out even if you tried, but he was also so gentle. He made sure not to hurt you. He did not want to let you go. You just surrendered to being hugged like a pillow. At least you would be warm as you slept. You used him as a pillow since he didn't want to let go. His heartbeat was strong inside of his chest. Sword found you very comfortable, you had such soft skin compared to his. You were also very warm as he held you. It was quite comforting. As you two slept, Venomshank checked in and saw the two of you cuddled together. He found it so cute that his own ward and the young hornless got along so well that you two would rather be close instead of in seperate rooms.

The next morning, you were woken by the light coming through the window. Sword was making light snores as he still slept. You saw Sisyphus on a perch in the room, watching the both of you. You never saw the perch before. Venomshank must let Sword take care of and keep Sisyphus in his room. The bird fluffed up after shaking, making a puff of feather. He made a yawn and looked at you with his beady little eyes. The red horned inphernal was not holding you as tightly as he had been, allowing you to wiggle out. You sat on top of Sword and tapped at him. Your little invading fingers lifted his lip to look at his teeth. He had small fangs. Small compared to some you had seen before. They were not as long as your mama's fangs. You opened one of his eyes, looking into the faint color that his eye had. You wanted to touch the bright red horns Sword had, but you stopped. You remembered what Banhammer and Medkit had told you. That it was rude to grab the horns of others and that your powers made it painful when you grabbed the horns of others. You poked at his face again, pressing into his cheek. You got a small groan out of him he put his arm over his eyes. You leaned in closer and saw him peek out from under his arm.

"G'morning Sword.," You said and got off the bed. Sword got up and stretched. He changed outfits while you wandered downstairs to see Venomshank. The tall inphernal was fixing his mask onto his face when you found him. "Good morning, Lualight. Sword and I were about to train this morning.," He said to you, "You are welcome to join or watch." He was about to say something else when he noticed your messy hair. Your bed head was cute, but needed to be fixed. "Would it be okay for me to fix your hair?," Venomshank asked. He really wanted to brush it. He had never seen a young hornless before and your hair was so pretty and soft looking. Venomshank took the comb from you when you held it out for him. You sat in his lap as he ran the teeth of the comb through your hair. He ran his ungloved hand over your hair to feel it. The texture felt so nice under his claws. He carefully combed out the tangles and made it look much better than you could.

You liked how it felt when he was combing your hair. It was like how your parents used to. Parents that you realized that you were forgetting slowly. All you could remember now was the family you had in the church and the friends you had made through your adventure through the Inpherno. Venomshank had long finished combing the tangles from your hair and was petting it as he waited for Sword. You felt warm and comfortable. Like you were back with your mama. Except this was one of the seven sword gods and your mama was nowhere to be found. You heard the sound of boots descending the stairs as Sword came into view. Venomshank stood while carefully holding you to not irritate your injuries. "Good morning Sword.," the tall inphernal greeted his ward, "Are you ready for your morning training?" Sword looked a little nervous before nodding, he relaxed after seeing you. You still had his shirt on, a shirt that was too big for you. Your hair had been brushed out and you looked healthy despite your injuries. You were carried out behind the home before being set on some boxes. Venomshank and Sword got into their positions before starting their training sparring. It was evident of the experience difference between the both of them. You felt like you were not alone and looked beside you. A big black mass was in your way.

You fell off the box you were seated on with a yelp from the shock of the sudden appearance. You heard a familiar mischievous laugh as you looked back up to the wizard hat wearing god of chaos. His ever present green grin was looking back at you. You whined as you got up, feeling that you had bumped into some of your bruises. It hurt to fall like that. Darkheart tilted his head in amusement. "Has our sister been rough with you? What a brute.," his tone was teasing. "You already know. You were there the entire time.," You said back, "I heard you." Venomshank had turned his attention to you as soon as he heard your yelp. He saw that his brother had come to visit again. A visit to more than likely just see the precious hornless. "Why are you here, Darkheart?," Venomshank asked his sibling with a slight annoyance in his tone. Darkheart feigned sadness as he responded, "Is it so wrong to want to visit our dear brother?" His clawed hand was over his heart as he asked that. But he soon removed it to laugh afterwards.

"I know better than that, Darkheart.," the masked god said and picked you up after coming to see if you got injured again, "What is it that you want?" Darkheart motioned to you, "We wanted to see her again." You doubted about that being the only reason. The hat wearing god motioned to the crystal on Venomshank's horn. "And we wanted a crystal as well.," He finally admitted. You could do that. You liked him well enough to give him one that was special made. Even if Darkheart was mischeivious, he had helped you several times. You summoned a crystal like you had done before for your mama and gave it to the mischeivious god. His grin looked amused this time. "This works as payment~," His voice sounded like there was a laugh in it as he spoke before disappearing. Venomshank put you back onto the box and looked at your bandages. Some blood was on the one wrapped around your head. Sword came up after Darkheart left. Venomshank turned to him. "Could you take Lualight to your friend?," the mask wearing inphernal asked, "She is bleeding again." "What about the training?," Sword asked. "We can stop here.," Venomshank replied, "Take her to Medkit and run some errands with her."

Sword carefully took you from his mentor and left with you in his arms. You felt pain as the feeling of the torn open wounds finally hit you. The red horned inphernal ran with you in his arms and to Medkit's apartment. He passed by the landlord and ran up the stairs. Sword knocked on the door. It did not take long for Medkit to answer. The teal horned doctor looked at Sword before looking down at you. He pulled both of you into his apartment. "What happened? Where was she? Who-," Medkit asked question after question. His single eye looking frantically over you and at your injuries. He used his gear to close the wounds he could, making your skin itch from the rapid healing. You whined as he kept you from scratching at the freshly healed skin. The wounds that were too deep for him to close were cleaned and wrapped in fresh bandages. Once you were healed, Medkit sat down on his couch with you on his lap. Sword sat on a nearby chair. "What happened?," Medkit asked. Sword pointed to the scar on his cheek, "Same as this." "Windforce. She was mad at me.," You answered, "I was taken to her when I was trying to come back to you."

Medkit looked like he was getting a pain in his head from your answer. "Okay then, Where have you been since?," The doctor asked. "I stayed the night in Splintered skies. And I have been with Sword.," You replied. Medkit looked to Sword, who nodded. "My Mentor brought her home after getting word she was there.," Sword explained. You felt the hand of Medkit on your hair, He was gently petting your head. "Her mother came her yesterday, looking for her.," Medkit said, "She's getting a little desperate." "I don't know if I can give her back.," Sword answered. "Windforce said I have to stay with Sword and his mentor.," you added, "That I cannot go back." Medkit picked you up and handed you to sword, "Take her, go." "Med, what?," Sword asked. "Her mother is dangerous. The less I know about where you two go, the better.," Medkit explained, "I trust you and your mentor to take care of her."

You were more than a little surprised, you thought that Medkit would take you back to turn you over to your mama. But he did not, he is letting Sword take you instead. He gave you a small and gentle smile. The same kind he had given you when you got hurt in the church to reassure you. Sword left with you in his arms. He took you to the shopping district and set you down. You walked with him holding your hand to keep yourselves together. Your bare feet started to hurt on the rough concrete, Making Sword pick you up again. You still had your little bag with you, having some money. Sword took you to a clothing shop to get some new clothes. The first thing was comfortable shoes. The inphernal who owned the shop was helpful with measuring your feet and getting you cute and comfy footwear. After you got the shoes, you tried on different clothes. From styles based of different phighters, to cute little dresses. The shop owner helped you picking fashions and clothes that fit your style and needs. The owner offered to tailor some clothes for you after seeing that you had some specific needs. You paid with your own money, finding that you were carrying a significant amount from the owner. That inphernal had you buy a better and more secure bag to keep your money in.

You finally didn't have to walk around with only a shirt on. You and Sword walked hand in hand, feeling better from being healed and clothed. You felt a little hungry and thirsty. You didn't have breakfast. You wandered with Sword, watching him do errands and talking to him about things when you saw a small Cafe. You recognized the massive inphernal sitting in it. He must have been taking a break. You looked back to Sword, who was looking at a selection of goods in the store you two were currently in. He already told you that this was going to take a long time. You pulled at his cape, "I see someone I know, can I go say hello?" Sword looked down at you, "Oh sure. But come right back." You nodded at him before rushing over to the Cafe next door. He was still sipping his drink. A big grin was on his face like he had just won a battle. Knowing him, he have.

You walked up to Banhammer with some inphernals watching from a distance. "Banny.," you said to get his attention. The massive inphernal stopped drinking and pulled his blindfold up to look at you. He recognized you immediately. "Shouldn't you be in Splintered Skies?," He asked. You shook your head, "No. Your mom gave me to someone else." Banhammer didn't fight when you climbed onto him. You sat comfortably on his lap. "Who did you get taken in by?," Banhammer asked. You didn't need to lie to him as he knew you, "Venomshank." "Ol' Shank, huh?," Banhammer asked, "Didn't take him for the type." "He's very nice.," You replied. Banhammer took another large gulp of his drink. You noticed how others were keeping their distance from him. They seemed to be quite surprised by your boldness towards him. "Those injuries, are they from my mama?," He asked. You just nodded a little. You felt a big hand on your back. "You're lucky she held back, She could have killed you.," He said.

You looked back to the store and saw Sword was still looking at the selection. "Hey, did you use your power earlier?," Banhammer asked, "I felt you do something. You know you shouldn't without permission." "Darkheart asked me for a crystal.," You answered. The purple horned inphernal shrugged, "That counts I guess." You climbed higher onto his shoulder. You were careful to not hold his horns. You remembered that he was supposed to be a warden or something. Someone who is associated with the police? "Banny.," You said, Calling him by the nickname you learned from your mama. "What is it, kid?," He responded. You held onto his head, "Aren't you supposed to be chasing bad guys?" "I am.," He replied, "Nobody can outrun me for long!" He got you off of him and placed you on the seat beside him. You could see him better now that you were not looking at him in the dark and because he was staying still. He was massive and muscular with a big muscle gut. "I'm actually here in crossroads because of a certain criminal.," He told you, "The most dangerous and wanted criminal in the Inpherno. She has been on the run for years now." You leaned in as he talked. He seemed a bit annoyed at mentioning that this criminal had been evading him.

"But I can catch her! I can catch any criminal.," His laugh was boisterous, "She can't escape me for long." He took another drink, finishing the glass and waiving the waiter over to have another one poured for him. He ordered a meal for himself as he had the waiter's attention. Banhammer turned his attention back to you when the waiter left. "Be careful around here. This criminal has killed many and she is a silver tongued manipulator.," Banhammer warned, "I have heard that she has been around here for a few days now." "Have you faced her before?," You asked while remembering that your mama had been chased by Banhammer before. The massive inphernal nodded, "Of course I have. What Kind of warden would I be otherwise?" He took a big drink as his food was brought to him. The waiter cut a quick look at you before walking off. Banhammer contiued talking after taking the drink. "She's tough. And fast.," The big warden told you, "Very ruthless. Scythe would cut you down without a thought." You looked back to the store, keeping an eye on where Sword was. He still was looking at the selection. You looked at banhammer again. He was talking about your mama. You knew she was dangerous, but not that she was the most wanted. He gave you a rough pat on the head after you got off the chair you were on.

"Dont let Scythe get ya.," He said with a teasing smile. "I don't think I'd have to worry about her hurting me.," You replied and pushed his rough hand away from your head. You two said your goodbyes after you gave him a crystal pendant and you returned to Sword. He saw your messed up hair and laughed. "I see the one you knew was a bit rough with you.," He said and fixed your hair for you. You pouted a little, but helped him to carry his selection to the register. You watched the cashier ring up the items and helped Sword carry the bags away. It was fun to be with him. He's good 'big brother' material. He held your hand again as you walked together, both holding bags from shopping. "Didn't expect you to have that much money on you.," Sword said with a smile, "Did your mother give you that?" You nodded, "It's all that I earned while working with her." Sword kept holding your hand in his harder one, he was being careful to not use too much pressure on your much more delicate skin. He walked with you until stopping at another restaurant with you. It was not the one you liked to go to, The one with Slingshot and the others. But you hoped that it was just as good.

You and Sword talked and ate in a booth you had gotten. The booth was away from a lot of the other patrons so you two would be able to talk freely. Sword talked about his training with Venomshank, but made sure to not say his name. You were not as practiced as you talked about your past. You told Sword about living in the old ruins and meeting Darkheart. How the chaos god first met you and taught you the language. Your 'older brother' listened to you talk about Darkheart and your past in the desert. You told him about being found and waking up in Medkit's care. You trailed off after telling him that part. "I liked everyone, But I am not allowed to go back.," You said, "Especially since Windforce thinks I am being used." Sword didnt know what to say about that. But, you could tell that he cared. He cared enough to listen to your troubles. "Sorry to talk so much.," You apologized, "I haven't been able to talk about it before." He gave you a reassuring smile, "It's okay, its been bothering you for a while. Besides, hearing about Darkheart being something other than a pain in my mentor's neck is kind of nice." You two did not check if there was anyone else in the booths nearby before talking.

"Are your injuries feeling okay?," Sword asked. You gave him a smile, "They feel a lot better, thank you." "I'm happy that you are. Venom and I were worried about that.," He said. Sword looked at the time and got up to pay. You watched him walk away and sipped at the rest of your drink. you heard some hushed conversations and louder ones nearer to the front of the restaraunt. Sword came back after paying to let you know it was time to leave. You gathered up the shopping bags you had and left. You noticed that there was a pair of inphernals close to your table. One who was large with purple horns and one who was smaller with yellow horns. They both had wings, but the bigger one was missing a wing. You saw them looking at you and Sword. Yet they seemed to be trying not to be too obvious about it. You walked while holding Sword's hand out of the restaraunt, eyeing the two the whole time. The sun was getting lower in the sky when you two left. It was getting late and you two had been out shopping all day. It was fun. Sword took you back to the home that he shared with Venomshank. The said god was waiting for your and Sword's return. He looked down at you when you ran in after Sword opened the door for you. "You two look like you had a good time together.," Venomshank said with a smile in his voice.

You ran up to him to give him a hug on his leg after dropping your bags. He picked you up and gave you a hug before putting you back down. He let you put your new outfits away as he took Sword to finish their daily training. You sat in your room and remembered what Banhammer had told you. That your mama was stalking around crossroads. That he was trying to hunt her down. She must have been looking for you after you have not returned to the church after a few days. You held up the crystal you wore and looked into the glowing colors coming from the shining mineral. "I'm sorry mama.," You said to nobody, "I would like to see you again." You went back downstairs to watch Sword and Venomshank train some more. You watched as Sword and Venomshank sparred, their swords clashing together. Sisyphus flew onto your shoulder and pressed his little feathered body against your cheek. You petted him, feeling his soft feathers. It was kind of nice to watch Venomshank and Sword spar in the afternoon light. You felt warm and happy to be with those who you knew who cared for you. You took Sisyphus into your little hands and held him gently.

The happiness in your heart made you feel warm. This warmth spread through you. The feeling was the ever familiar feeling of your Lua. It didn't violently come out of you like the other times. It felt like the times you spent with your family in the world you came from. The times your parents took you to an amusement park or on walks through nature together. The small but meaningful moments. You let Sisyphus leave your hold when he wanted to perch onto your head. In his place, a new crystal formed in your hands. It was large and smooth, yet shone with the colors of the sunset. You knew that others would feel your power, and hoped that Windforce would not get mad at you for being happy. You watched as Venomshank finished the lesson with Sword. You hopped off the box your were on and ran up to the two. You held up the crystal that you made by accident. "That is beautiful.," Venomshank said and took it from you to look at better, "This is one of the best ones you have made so far." He gave it back to you as Sword looked over your shoulder at it, Sword placed his hand on it and felt the warmth. "It's so pretty.," Sword said, "What are you going to do with it? Sell it?" "She cannot sell it.," Venomshank said, "This is made of pure creation energy, it is too powerful." "I'm going to put it in my room for decoration.," You said, "Like I did when I stayed with mama."

The warmth of your happiness spread to the edges of the Inpherno, making powerful others feel your presence. The five who personally knew your energy, to the six who do not know you yet. Those who also held your crystals felt your warm happiness. Your mama felt your warmth radiating from the pendant you made for her. She put her gloved hand over it with a smile. She knew you were happy. Scythe sighed, feeling better knowing you were safe and happy wherever you were. Yet, she still wanted to take you home. Her heeled boots tapped on the pavement as she walked before she heard an all too familiar sound. The clatter of armor. She turned to see her pursuer. "Howdy, Banny~," She drawled out, "Still chasin' me? I know i'm irresitible, but this is silly." "Never gonna stop till you're behind bars like you're supposed to be.," Banhammer said and charged forward. Scythe evaded his hammer and saw the familiar glimmer of one of your Crystals. So this big brute had met you too. She evaded another swing of the hammer. "Nice crystal~ But mine is better.," Scythe taunted the blindfolded inphernal. Banhammer took the bait, lifting his blindfold to peek and see Scythe. The most wanted herself was tapping the pendant on her. The crystal itself was shining in beautiful tones of color.

"She's quite the Darlin', ain't she?," Scythe said with a fanged smile. Banhammer lifted his gear, "Lualight ain't going anywhere with you or that freaky group you're with." Your mama's smile faded with his statement. Her teasing face was replaced with something more menacing. Something dark. Banhammer had never seen her like this before. He was more used to Scythe teasing him, chiding him, or even making playful flirts. This was a side of her that was far more dangerous. "I ain't going to prison.," She said, "And I ain't letting anyone stand between me an' my lil Darlin'" "Too bad, Mama said she's gonna be raised by another god.," The big inphernal replied and swung his hammer again. The tip got hooked on the edge of the laser blade of your mama's gear, she used it to launch herself in the air and swapped to her rifle mode to fire a barrage of bullets into the warden. The armor deflected most of the bullets, but they tore into his flesh where he was exposed. The warden swung blindly at Scythe.

Scythe switched modes again and caught the hammer shaft, swinging herself behind Banhammer to put her blade right to his neck. "I'm getting my daughter back.," Scythe said with all of her previous show and swagger replaced by her dark and destructive singleminded desire. The tone would have made a lesser inphernal freeze, This was the lesser seen side of the most wanted. The violent nature that had made her dangerous in the first place. Banhammer grabbed at the inphernal that was behind him, only to find that she had disappeared. Her usual trick that helped her evade him many times. But he also now knew that she was after You. She even claimed that you were her daughter. He remembered that you were crying for your mama when he took you to the Splintered Skies. You were crying for her. She must have been looking after you since you were found. He had heard you were found in the desert of Lost Temple. He cursed himself for losing track of Scythe again. He would have to catch her eventually. Nobody could evade him for too long. He found his bullet wounds closing up as the crystal you gave him glowed. He felt your energy that was stored in the crystal healing him.

Darkheart emerged from some shadows and hummed as he saw his new target for annoying. The plain white inphernal in front of him had horns that swooped forward with one part broken and replaced with a clear substance. "Is there a reason for your visit, Darkheart?," came the voice of the one in front of him. "Only to ask if you felt that earlier.," The wizard hat wearing inphernal asked and sat in front of the one he was visiting. The other one looked up at him, letting his X mark shaped eyes gaze at his brother before returning to work. "I did. The phenomena has happened several other times.," The other inphernal responded. "Were you not curious about what it was or where it came from?," Darkheart asked with his glowing teeth making a bigger smile if that was even possible. "I do not care for the affairs of mortals, Darkheart.," the plain reply came. "Well, we guess you don't care that a hornless has appeared then.," The dark skinned chaos god shrugged, "Cute little thing too." That got the attention of the emotionally dry god. "Did we get your attention now, Ghost?," Darkheart teased.

"Explain, now.," Ghostwalker said dryly. Darkheart told the story of finding the hornless family to his brother. The seemingly emotionless god listened to his brother's story. He did have some doubts, but after feeling those energy bursts, he knew his brother was not lying. There was a hornless about. And a young one from what Darkheart was describing. That explained the phenomena. Ghostwalker usually did not care for things that were not his work, but a hornless was different. The creator species, like his own creator, had appeared in the Inpherno. This warrented some investigation. He would have to tell a watcher to keep an eye out and report back.

Perhaps another of his family had already spotted you as well?

[krystalkitdemi]

Lualight in the inpherno part 4

"Do you remember the stories I told you when you were young?"

"The ones about the hornless? Yes, why?"

"A hornless has appeared again it seems, over a century after the last one was seen. I want them to be brought to me."

You were being held by Rocket after getting permission from Medkit to accompany him. The blue horned inphernal was taking you with him to run errands for Zuka. He growled at passersby who gave you weird looks or said something mean about you. You gripped him tighter as another mean passerby shot a rude comment about your lack of horns again. Rocket kept walking as to not start a fight. It was kind of fun to shop with him, even though he kept teasing you about trying to carry things when you were just so small. He had you carry some small groceries when you two were walking back. He kept looking down at you, watching to make sure you were keeping up. "Do you have any other uses for your power? Like offensively?," Rocket asked. You nodded after thinking of how to answer, "I do, but I am trained more for healing duties. My first use of my power was an explosion of crystals after I got really scared." You still felt bad about hurting your church siblings. The crystals shredded Crowbar's arms before he was healed. He was just doing his job and holding you. "I can take you to the training warehouse if you want to practice.," Rocket said, "It could be fun."

You thought about his offer a bit. It would be nice to practice with your power. You wanted to see just what you were capable of. You nodded to him with a determined look in your eyes. "We need to get back and tell Dad.," the blue horned inphernal said, "I kinda wish I could have seen your first explosion. I kind of like explosives myself." "Is that what happened to your arm?," You asked and got a small smack to your head, "Ow!" You rubbed where Rocket smacked as you two kept walking together. Rocket stopped as you two heard shouting. He pulled you to the side as a scarred up and scary looking inphernal ran past. "Damn. Is that the wanted guy?," Rocket asked nobody in particular. He pulled you into a shop and waited, you looked up at him to ask why when you heard thudding steps. You looked out the window just in time to catch sight of a massive inphernal, as big as Darkheart or Venomshank, pass by at an incredible speed. "Banhammer better not break anything again.," You heard an inphernal in the shop say, "I hate cleaning up after him." After the coast was clear, Rocket led you out of the shop. The image of Banhammer was still in your mind. Massive Charcoal grey body covered in armor of black and purple hues, horns that looked like a massive battle-axe on his head. But most concerningly, was the blindfold. How could he work with that on?

Rocket held out his hand to you, holding yours once he felt you grab his. You heard the criminal scream in the distance. You looked back to where the sounds were coming from and felt a light tug from Rocket. "Don't mind them.," Rocket said, "That is the Banland police force business." The screams were terrifying, you felt your skin prickle from fright. It was like that other time. You still could see the pained and enraged face of the intruder in the church. How they looked at you and your mama.

How your mama sliced off their head...

Rocket's voice brought you back, "Hey. Hey! Listen to me. Look at me." You looked up at him. You could see your reflection in his glasses. You were scared and had some sweat on you as well as a faint layer of crystals covering your cheeks and hair. Your hands had some crystals on them as well. They seemed to be sparking as well. "Let's get back to Zuka.," The blue horned inphernal said as you two walked away, "Maybe we can get an ice cream on the way."

Rocket opened the door for you, letting you into the shop with you holding your half licked over ice cream. He stopped and groaned. You looked up at him and then to the couch to see why. "Heya kiddo, Hello Lua~," Broker greeted while making a friendly little wave. "Why are you back?," Rocket asked and dropped some of the groceries on the table before putting the rest in the fridge. "I was just delivering some parts your dad ordered is all.~," The stitch covered inphernal said and winked with a silly face. You kept licking your ice cream and hopped up on the couch, sitting on Broker's belly. He motioned to your treat, seeming to want a bit as well. You held it out for him to take a bite. "I wouldn't do that, you don't know what kind of diseases he has.," Rocket said. "You're just jealous, Rocket.," Broker teased and took a big bite of your icy treat. You pouted at the mostly empty cone in your hand. Broker snickered at your little face. You ate the rest before he could take it from you. "I know you would not just wait around if you were only delivering parts, 'specially with Banhammer around," The younger inphernal said, "Why are you really here?"

You could have sworn you saw Broker sweat a little when Rocket mentioned Banhammer. "I wanted to see Lualight again.," Broker admitted, "Cute and precious little Lualight!" You felt a tight squeeze from the stitched inphernal's arms wrapping you in an embrace. "Your mama has been busy.," Broker told you, "She would have come here herself if she could." His cheek rubbed against yours. He stopped and picked the crystals out of his skin. He pulled some crystals out of your hair as well. "Did something happen?," Broker asked. "The big inphernal scared me.," You answered, "The screams were scary." "Banhammer is scary.," the one eyed inphernal nodded, "That's why I avoid him." Rocket only rolled his eyes and went to go talk to Zuka. Broker picked the remaining crystals from your skin and hair, making you pristine. You looked at his cuff with the chain still on it, The one that he did not take off. Zuka and Rocket could be heard talking as you got off of Broker to get closer.

"You think I could take her to the Warehouse to practice?," Rocket asked Zuka. Zuka looked up from what he was working on, "Practice what?" "Using her abilities. She told me that she once made an explosion of crystals," Rocket said, "I thought that maybe I could help her learn to use her power for offensively." "You just want to see another explosion.," Zuka did not even look up, "Go ahead and take her. Also, Broker is staying the night as well." "Thanks Zuka!," Rocket cheered. You had gotten closer and closer slowly. Zuka looked down at you. "Don't make too much of a mess at my training warehouse.," He told you. You gave him an eager nod and followed Rocket out. "We'll be back later!," Rocket called out to Zuka and picked you up before running with you. What you didn't know was that earlier when your power started to peek out, you had gained the attention of someone. Someone who was now investigating.

Rocket put you down when you two reached the warehouse complex his father owned. He led you to the training dummies that he and his dad set up. He twitched his hand and the sparkling from his fingers turned into his gear. "Those dummies are guys who want to hurt us.," Rocket said, "What we do, is to attack them back with our gears." He shot one and made it blow up. You jumped from the noise and explosion. He turned to you.

"Your turn. Give it your best shot."

You held out your little hands and focused as much as you could. However, only small shards shot out at the dummies. You deflated from disappointment. Rocket scratched his head. "So... What happened last time?," he asked, "You said there was an explosion." "I was scared. Someone was trying to take my eye.," you replied. Rocket took a fake knife from a nearby prop box and attached it to the dummy You were aiming at. He pointed to it. "This guy wants to take your eye then.," He said, "Are you gonna let him, or are you gonna protect yourself?" You tried to summon forth the power again. The crystals were bigger this time and shot right through the dummy like bullets.

"Better, but I think we can make it bigger!," Rocket cheered, "Keep going! There's more bad guys over here!" He pointed to the dummies he set up behind you. You remembered how the surge of power felt when you first let out your lua. You felt it building more and more as you kept trying to summon it again. That was until you got to the final set of dummies. You felt energy sparking in the air around you. Rocket kept yelling words of encouragement to you. With what sounded like a thunderclap, a barrage of crystals were summoned. The burst exploded, destroying the mannequins before you. The light of the afternoon sun sparkled in the crystalline fragments falling around like snow. Rocket was knocked back on his rear, but his mouth was agape from seeing it. "That... was...," he gasped, "BEAUTIFUL!" He jumped back up on his feet. You felt him lift you up. "You did it!," He cheered. His cheers were joined by your own. Both of you celebrated that you finally grasped how to use your power offensively. "We should show Sword!," Rocket said, "Oh. And dad!" "Medkit too!," you added in.

He nodded, "Lets go!" Rocket ran with you hanging onto his neck and laughing. The two of you ran through Crossroads to find your friends. You saw Sword looking into a window. "Sword!," You called out to him and broke his thoughts. The red horned inphernal looked at you and smiled. He waved excitedly at the two of you. "Sword, you have to see this!," Rocket exclaimed, "She figured out how to do an attack with her gear!" Sword's eyes widened a bit, he seemed more excited from hearing that. "Can I see? Oh, where can we go see?," Sword asked. "Dad's warehouse, I'm gonna get dad and Medkit to see it too.," Rocket said, "It was so beautiful!" Sword's face had lit up, but then he seemed to think.

"Oh! I should tell my mentor about this!," Sword said, "He will be interested in her power, he loved meeting her last time." You remembered how kind Venomshank was to you and how much he felt like your own father to you. You saw Rocket make a face. He didn't seem to like Venomshank. "I want to show my friends!," You said, "All of you." "Meet us at the training warehouse later.," Rocket said and ran off with you on his back. He ran all the way back to the shop and was out of breath. You did what you could to heal him and give him his energy back. He went into Da Shop and sat down at the counter next to his Father. "I am guessing you two had a breakthrough.," Zuka said and looked at the both of you, "You have some crystals on you still." You looked at your hands and saw some crystals on the back of them. You felt Zuka brushing off your hair and saw the crystal dust fall to the floor. The glittery powder faded as soon as it hit the ground. "We wanted to show you what we were working on at the warehouse.," Rocket said to his father, "After we close, of course. Sword is coming too." You could have sworn you saw Zuka smile a little. But it was so faint that you could not be sure. "Alright. After we close.," He said.

You looked around, noticing someone was missing. "Where did Broker go?," You asked. "He disappeared after Rocket mentioned Banhammer.," Zuka answered. The sight of him earlier flashed in your mind again. He was massive. He was scary. The hammer he weilded was also vary scary. You wandered back to the apartment that the two lived in. You saw an old picture of Zuka. He looked so much like Rocket when he was younger. You saw newspaper clippings of 'ambassador B.Zuka'. He was so cool when he was younger, but he is also just as cool now. You saw the family picture of Zuka and Rocket. That made you remember the pictures in the home you and your parents lived in. The pictures of you since you were a baby and your parents' wedding photos. "Hey, Lua.," Rocket called out to you, "Come on. Time to go." You followed him out to the truck. Zuka was already waiting. Rocked helped you get in and got in himself before buckling up. You buckled as well and Zuka drove you two to the Warehouse.

Sword was already there. Along with his mentor and the bird. Sisyphus was perched calmly on Venomshank's head. "We're here!," Sword called out to Rocket. You noticed how uncomfortable Zuka and Rocket looked while looking at Venomshank. Rocket ignored Venomshank and paid attention to Sword. The two greeted each other with a very friendly manner. Venomshank knelt to your height to greet you. His clawed, gloved hand gently brushed over your hair. You felt a little nervous knowing that more inphernals were going to be watching you. But, at the same time, you wanted to give them what they wanted to see. Venomshank's petting felt encouraging to you. He was there to support you. You were pointed to the dummies by Rocket. You could try to make your lua more impressive by making a bigger explosion than the one before. With your friends watching you summoned forth the same energy from before. Yet, it was not enough for you, you summoned even more to make it bigger. Heat seared through you as the sound of what may have been ten thunderclaps rang out. A huge burst of crystals shredded the dummies like a tidal wave, The blowback from the impact itself pushed you back into Venomshank's arms. The remaining crystals burst.

When you looked up, the light of the setting sun reflected through the shining Lua crystals that still hung in the air and those that had pillared around what remained of the dummies. The warm hues of the sunset refracted through the crystals lit the warehouse in an almost magical way. You heard Sword and Rocket cheering about how cool it was. Zuka looked to be having a small panic attack about something while you felt Venomshank pet your head again. "That was incredible.," Venomshank said and held you up, "Good work, Lualight!" He did not tell you that the sheer amount of power you had used made his skin prickle and how the other Swords may feel it as well. Or how the beauty of the crystals made him want to keep some. He was too focused on how happy you were, how you were so warm and comfortable to hold. Mostly he noted how tired you seemed to be, as if you had put a lot more energy than you expected into what you wanted to show him and the others. He did not set you down, but held you carefully while brushing the crystals off of your face. You were happy. You had grasped another use of your Lua energy. "It's so pretty.," You said while looking at the shining crystal dust falling from the sky in a soft powder. The powder piled in your hand as you held it out. It melted after a few seconds on being on your skin. After a few minutes, the crystals themselves disentigrated, leaving a pristine floor and cleaned walls. As if they healed the damage they had caused themselves.

You were allowed to go back to Medkit after a small celebration with Zuka and Rocket. Sword and Venomshank had already left to return to their home, You were invited to stay but you had to decline. Your tiny feet walked along the sidewalk. You watched the people around you running final errands and going home themselves. You could have sworn you saw someone moving in the shadows, a faint patch of green shining as they moved. It was getting darker and you knew Medkit would worry. You heard different things, talking, laughing, footsteps. You heard one more thing that made you a little scared. Rumbling steps of something massive coming towards you. You stepped into a side street to let whatever it was pass as you cut into another path to your destination of the apartments. After you came out into another road, You heard the rumbling again. Faster this time. It was following you. You picked up the pace, not wanting to be caught. You remembered what Coil had said before, some inphernals may try to eat you or something like that. You knew you may have to defend yourself, so you summoned some of your Lua to charge up an attack that would hopefully stun your pursuer.

The figure finally showed around a corner. You could not make it out, but it was massive. You could not escape from how fast they were moving, so you shot out your Lua burst. The sound was loud in the small street you were running down. But as soon as it was getting close to the figure, Their massive hammer swatted your attack aside. Hammer?? Oh no. you bolted, not wanting to be crushed by the Inphernal. You did not know what you did to get him chasing you, but it was scary. You could see his fangs bared in the flashes of light your crystals made. You screamed as you fell to the street to avoid the swing of his hammer. "Leave me alone!," You screamed and scrambled to get up. You heard him make a small grunt as you felt a large hand wrap around you. You thrashed to try and get away. Your foot hit his blindfold, knocking it off partially. "Stop fightin' already.," He growled at you. His voice was deeper than any you had heard before, but not as much as Darkheart's. You felt his other hand grab and hold you still. You could only look at his face. The blindfold was askew, letting you see that Banhammer had two sets of eyes. A main pair and one smaller pair just below.

"So you're the hornless... Rather small compared to what my mama told me.," Banhammer stated and began walking back through the streets you had come from, "Are you even aware of what you are doing?" You were confused. You didn't do anything bad. "I'm not a criminal. I've been helping others.," You stated. The massive violet horned inphernal carrying you seemed skeptical, "What about a few months ago? I felt something like fear and pain." You looked down. That again. He must have sensed when they tried to take your eye like Venomshank did. "I was about to be hurt.," You said, "I didn't mean to..." "Mama and I felt every time you used your powers.," Banhammer told you, "I don't doubt that the others felt it as well." "Venomshank asked me the same thing.," You told him. The large Inphernal looked at you with all four of his eyes after taking off his blindfold. "You already met old 'Shank?," He asked with a grin and got a nod out of you. You tried to get off of him, to jump out of his hold. Banhammer did not let you go. "Oh no. You are not going anywhere.," He laughed, "Not when Mama wants to see you."

You saw a flash of purple as bright wings appeared on Banhammer's back, like neon butterfly wings. He lifted off into the air and flew high above crossroads. You saw the lights in the streets below. It was a different type of beauty compared to the sight you saw on the bird. Banhammer flew swiftly with you in his arms, getting farther and farther from Crossroads. You saw the tall tower in the middle of the city disappear from view. The sun was almost completely gone. New lights appeared in the distance. A city that seemed to be made of shipping containers and heavy equipment appeared. A massive crane rose in the center. This had to have been playground. In the sky was a floating island, high above the crater where the city was in. Banhammer flew towards the floating island. You struggled from his grip and clambered onto his back. "Hold on kid, Don't fall.," The larger dark skinned inphernal said, "You'd splat if you did." This made you grab onto his neck guard tightly. You felt him wiggle in the air to make you a bit scared and laughed at your reaction. "I am not gonna let you fall.," He chuckled, "I am just teasing you. You're too cute not to." Banhammer set down on the floating island. It had a clean and peaceful looking city on it. The architecture reminded you of the buildings in the desert. These one were not on fire like those were.

"Welcome to Splintered Skies.," Banhammer said, "The kingdom ruled by my mama." You wanted to get back to your mama, but you had a feeling that Banhammer and his Mother were not going to let you go home anytime soon. You climbed onto his shoulders and held onto his horns. You felt him make a small shudder. "Don't hold onto horns.," He said, "Especially with your power." "Why not? Someone else lets me.," You replied. "Our horns are directly tied to our gears.," Banhammer replied, "And your entire body has a type of power that created the inpherno itself. It kind of hurts when you grab them." You let go of his horns and wrapped your arms around his head instead. The tall inphernal walked through the streets with other inphernals getting out of his way either out of respect or fear. He did not seem to care. "Someone lets you hold onto their horns?," Banhammer laughed, "What a weirdo." "Don't call him that! He's funny!," You said back to the big inphernal that basically kidnapped you. Banhammer kept laughing, "He has to be if he likes something like that."

You pouted a bit. Whispering from onlookers could be heard. They were wondering about you and why you were on Banhammer. Why you were so small. Why you didn't have horns. You felt a little self conscious. You had heard from the father and your brothers and sisters in the church that the fake gods were bad. That those associated with them were evil. You felt like your faith in that was being shaken. You had only been treated with kindness wherever you went. Banhammer walked into a large building that seemed to be teeming with inphernals clothed in armor. The inphernals greeted him like he was an important person. He kept walking and came to a large room where an inphernal even bigger than he sat on a throne. Their curled horns had a yellow, almost gold color. You could not see most of the face because of the helmet and headdress the inphernal wore. "Mama!," Banhammer called out and the larger inphernal lifted her head. "Banhammer, What an unexpected surprise!," Her voice was kind towards her son, "Why did you visit so soon after your last one?" "I found the hornless.," Banhammer said and puffed up in pride. You saw the larger inphernal look around. "Where are they?," She asked.

Banhammer took you off of his shoulders and set you down. You had been hiding behind him. The other inphernals in the room had murmurs amongst them. The seated inphernal stood to her impressive height. She tilted her head a little. "This little brat is the hornless?," She asked in a harsh tone and got closer to you, "Why is it so small? The other ones were not this small." You felt her hand poking at you head and cheek like you were used to curious inphernals doing. Banhammer crouched alongside his mother and started poking your face as well. You whined as they pinched and poked your face. "I've never seen this. It has to be a hornless newspawn.," She finally said, "Hey, brat. Why are you small, are you a newspawn?" "I am a child.," You replied, "I am not a grown up yet." The yellow horned inphernal made a disgusted face, "And here I thought we had another adult hornless since that bastard disappeared. Why do you have to be a child?" You got a bit angry at how rudely she kept talking to you and poking you. You felt your skin sparking and the inphernal pulled away from you. "Geez. Calm down you little shit.," The helmeted inphernal told you, "Ban, Where did you find it?"

This had to be Windforce. Venomshank was right, you did not really like her. She seemed as irritated as you. "I found her in crossroads.," Banhammer answered, "She was going to the apartment block." You tried to get away, but were picked up again. This time by Windforce. "No you don't. You have some things to answer for.," She said with a small snarl. "I did not do anything wrong! I have been helping people!," You exclaimed. Windforce seemed to be getting more irritated. She handed you off to Banhammer. She sat back down on her throne. "I'm going to lay it out for you. You are a hornless, a species that created myself and the other Swords.," She started, "You are more connected to this world in such a deep way, that we the Swords, can feel every time you use your power and when you are in an intense emotional state." She looked a little mad at something. There was something she was hiding. "So you either need to be watched over by one of us, or be much more careful about your power uses. Like those bursts you did today.," She continued, "I can't watch you. Ban has his own work. So you either have to be dumped onto someone else, or you have to stop using your power altogether until you are older and can control it more." Windforce tapped her clawed hand against the armrest of her throne, "Choose what you are going to do. I can't be killing a fucking newborn god, no matter how damn annoying you are."

She was waiting for your answer. You were tired and annoyed at her. Crystals were forming on your forehead as your lua reacted to your irritation at her. "I just wanna go home.," You snapped back, "He kidnapped me!" "That's not an-," Windforce sighed and was getting more angry, "Okay. You're a bratty kid. You have been using a lot of energy, so you are tired. You need a nap." You started to argue again. "Ban, Take her somewhere before I start needing to punch something.," Windforce said, "We'll continue this tomorrow." You were taken to a house that seemed to be empty. It had a large bed in and other utilities. As soon as Banhammer put you down, you tried to sneak away. "No you don't.," He said, "You can't escape. This is a floating city, there is nowhere to even go." "I wanna go back to my Mama.," You said back while on the verge of tears, "I don't want to be here. I wanna be with Mama again. I didn't want to be caught in an ambush or have my friends get hurt. I.."

Large hands placed you back on the large bed. "Time for bed.," Banhammer told you, "Don't try to leave again. Or... I may have to put you in a cell. Next to the scariest inphernal." His big sausage finger pointed at you, "I will do it. Then You'd have to stay in the banlands and you wont see your mama again." You started leaking tears. Banhammer sighed and rubbed his head. "Sorry. Just... Stay here? Stay until morning and then we can let you leave.," He said, "But you need to stop using your powers without thinking. It can cause a lot of problems if the wrong people were to find out about you." His hand patted your head. "Go to bed kid.," Banhammer said and started to leave. "Lualight.," You sniffled. He looked back at you. "My name is Lualight.," You repeated. "Goodnight, Lualight.," Banhammer said and turned the light of the room off. You took a crystal from your bag and held it. The faint light it gave off was comforting. You wanted to not be in the Splintered Skies territory. Venomshank was right. You didn't like this place or Windforce. Holding the crystal felt comforting. It was like you could feel someone else was there with you. The faint feeling of a heartbeat or even many coming through the crystal was enough to lull you into a peaceful sleep.

Medkit returned home to his apartment and jumped after getting into it. Scythe was there, sitting on his couch and waiting for him. "Heya Meds. I hope ya don't mind I stopped in.," She said with a grin, "Now, Where's my lil darlin'?" "I do not know.," Medkit replied, "She was with one of my- someone I know." Scythe's glass eye narrowed, giving a hint as to what her full expression would be. She flexed her cybernetic arm. "Meds. I hope for the sake of yer friends, My baby is not hurt.," She said and got up. She stalked closer to Medkit, Standing over him with her exposed fangs glinting with a dangerous and threatening smile. "I had to kill some 'phernals for hurtin' her already.," Scythe continued, "I ain't afraid of killin' a few more." "I have some faith that she is safe.," Medkit said, "Lualight has learned to fight back." Scythed backed up, "My baby better be." She left Medkit's apartment and held onto the pendant you gave her. She could swear she felt your pulse through it.

"Mama's comin' to get ya, Darlin'"

[krystalkitdemi]

Lualight in the Inpherno Part 8

Phighting x Fem! Child! reader

CW: Meh, not really.

It was a bright morning. You were given some small errands to run from Venomshank. You had to return the books to the library and drop some things off at Da Shop. You left after eating a little something and giving Venomshank and Sword a hug. They had decided to do some morning training. You climbed the stairs to the upper levels of Crossroads. You took the familiar roads to the shop that Zuka owned. The shop was currently closed. You wondered if Zuka and Rocket were up yet. You walked up to the apartment door. You knocked on the door and waited. Again you knocked after a bit. "I'm coming, I'm coming.," You heard a voice call out and the door opened. You looked up and saw Zuka scratching at his shoulder while yawning. You could see his fangs. Teeth worn down with his age. He looked down at you. You waved with a big smile. "Good morning, Zuka!," You grinned. He made a slight smile after seeing you, "Mornin' kid. What're you doin' out here this morning?" You held the package that you were given out to him, "Venom told me to give this to you!"

Zuka's face lost the smile after you mentioned Venom. He took the package from you as you pulled out the magazine you got. "I found a picture of you.," you said and opened to the article with his picture in it. You pointed to it with a big smile. He looked down at the picture and then to your happy face. "You are so cool, Zuka!," You cheered. Zuka motioned for you to follow him in with his head. You did and he placed the package on the table. "That was a long time ago, kid.," He said, "I am not proud of it." You looked between Zuka and the picture of him when he was younger. He was a lot more desaturated. "I still think you are cool now.," You said, "You are a good person, I'd like to be like that when I grow up." You felt his large and calloused hand on your head. You heard a tired sigh. "Don't lose your kindness in this world, Kid.," He said to you as he rubbed your scalp. His hand was big enough to cover most of your head.

He let you out after waking up his son. Zuka had to open the shop. You walked through the streets again. Your little shoes tapped on the pavement. You didn't have Sisyphus with you. But it was just a quick errand run before going back home. You passed by the cafe that Slingshot owned and saw him getting ready to open. He and his siblings saw you through the window. You gave them a friendly greeting wave, one that they returned. It was a beautiful morning and you felt happy. You didn't see that a one eyed someone was watching you from the alleys. You found your way to the library and knocked on the door. The door opened and you saw Traffic on the other side. He was scratching his belly with a sleepy smile as he held the door open for you. Did he sleep in the library. You walked in and saw Ghosdeeri at the desk. Her silver glasses reflected the lamplight she was working under. "Good morning, Ghosdeeri. Morning Traffic.," You greeted the two. Ghosdeeri looked up from what she was writing, "Good morning, Lualight. Did you enjoy the books?" You nodded.

"Yes! The one about the animals was interesting. It was also fun to hear about more things from Venom as we read it together!," You were smiling as you relayed the information to the pumpkin headed creature. She seemed to be pleased with your happiness. She took the books from you and put them back. "Is there any other books that you would like to borrow?," She asked in her melodic sounding voice. "Uhh. Do you have anything that needs to be translated?," You asked, "Like some manuscripts or tablets?" Ghosdeeri shook her head, "I do not have any of those. But they can be found in some government buildings in other regions from what I hear. There are also come in the museum." You nodded, "Okay. Thank you." You walked to the door and wished them goodbye. You returned to walking through the streets, seeing the streets begin to be filled with inphernals.

A familiar set of horns beckoned you when you saw them in an alleyway. Dark blue. Curved with a slight swoop backwards. You peered down the alley and saw Broker on his tablet. He had his usual grin on. He looked up. His face lit up after seeing you. "Lualight!," He cheerfully greeted, "You have been having quite the adventure!" You walked up to him and sat on the box he was on. You looked at the video he was watching on the tablet. It was a video of you and Scythe. She was swaying to music as she held you. You remembered it, she was making you feel better after you had to get some vaccines. "Your mama misses you a lot.," Broker said, "This week has been the scariest I've ever seen her." "I miss her too.," You said. Broker patted your head with a smile. You leaned into the petting. His hand moved down to your cheek as his thumb ran over your cheek as he held it. He watched as you nuzzled into his hand. "The Father has been worried. We all have been.," he said, "And it's been hard trying to keep track of you. You keep moving about and Banhammer keeps getting close to catching me again."

Broker gave you a silly expression to see you smile again. He was always so friendly and warm to you. "Was afraid that Meds lost you for a bit.," Broker said, "But I'm glad that you are safe. Poor Meds has been going through it though." You remembered that you needed to apologize to Medkit. You had wandered off and gotten kidnapped by Banhammer. It was your fault. "Please don't be mad at him.," You said, "It was my fault for not being careful." "Oh, it's not me. Your mama has been super stressed after you disappeared.," He said with both his hands up, "She's been giving him a hard time all week." You could believe him. Your mama was very protective about you and had a little paranoia concerning you. Broker patted your head still. He placed you on the ground. "I still have some business here in crossroads.," the scarred inphernal said, "Be safe~."

He gave you a smile as you walked away. You wandered back through the alleys. You began to be very aware of someone following you. A shadow was on your back as you walked. You stopped for a second before looking back. You saw hands reaching for you and you were picked up swiftly. You were snugly placed against a warm chest and your head was nuzzled into. You struggled to escape before the arms holding you squeezed tighter. Your eyes were facing a forest green neck scarf. You knew this smell very well. You knew the hands that picked you up and the sharp fangs that nuzzled into your scalp. You snuggled into the familiar chest and let yourself relax. The body holding you heaved as she made a sigh. Her tension relaxed after having you in her arms. "My lil' darlin'.," She said finally, "You gave your mama a good scare." You looked up to her face. She was giving you a smile. Your mama gave you a kiss on your forehead. "Mama, I missed you!," You said and hugged her neck. Scythe started to walk with you in her arms, "Oh I missed you too, Darlin'."

You noticed that you were not going to the same destination you were originally heading, She turned off to go somewhere else. You passed by Slingshot's cafe again. Even when you tried to get out of her hold, she kept you against her chest. Scythe kept nuzzling and running her hand over your back. She was careful not to put pressure on your bandaged injuries. Your mama took you up further to a high point. You found her vulture was waiting there. The bird bowed to allow Scythe onto the saddle while she held you. After she got on and had you settled, the bird lifted off into the air. You were going back to the church. Scythe had noticed that you were not wearing the clothing that you had on when you left. You had new clothing on. She thought you were so cute. She had also seen your bandaged wounds, that meant that something had happened. She was not going to let you out of her sight or out of her arms for a while now. You saw the giant tower getting smaller as you were flown away from Crossroads. Scythe held you close to her body with her real arm while she held the reigns with her robot one.

"We've been worried sick, darlin'.," Scythe said, "After you disappeared during the ambush, we all got very worried. Then hearin' that 'Kit lost you as well." "That was my fault, not his.," You said, "Please don't be mad at him." Scythe didn't look mad at you at all. She looked more relieved. Like she had been fretting every day since you disappeared. She was more tired looking. "The Father wants to hear everything that happened when we return.," Your Mama said, "He'll especially want to know how you got hurt like this." You saw her grit her teeth. She was mad that you were injured. Her own and only baby. She wanted to have some beauty sleep after getting back to her room with you. You felt her pressing you tighter against her as you two flew through the area that you had been ambushed in.

She didn't let you look down. "Keep your eyes on the horizon.," she told you. But you saw a faint red on the sand below. You looked to the horizon and watched that. Not wanting to see anymore of what you glimpsed. You relaxed against you mother until you got back to the church. Even when you two had gotten off the bird, she didn't let you walk. Almost like she was afraid that if she let you go you would disappear. Her shoes tapped on the floor. Other members stopped when they saw her walk by with you. They either bowed or gently greeted you. Scythe walked you into the office of the Father. He was sitting at his desk before he looked up and saw you.

"Lualight, you've finally returned home.," The Father stood and pulled a chair out. Scythe hesitated, yet put you in the chair. She stepped aside as the Father walked behind you. The clawed gloves traced the chair behind you. What used to feel like comfort now felt like a threat. It felt like he was threatening to keep you restrained unless you gave him the answers he wanted. "We were worried when you vanished. Our little god was lost in a dangerous world.," his voice had a gentle tone to it. He was not genuine. He didn't mean it. You had heard genuine concern from Venomshank. You just looked forward as you were taught to. How Father taught you to be when he was speaking to you. "Now, my dear Lualight, where did you get these injuries?," He asked.

His claws trailed by your head. "From Windforce.," You answered. His pacing behind you stopped. The claw dug into the wood behind you. His voice was less gentle after and more demanding, "Explain." A single word order. No asking if you were okay or if you still were in pain. Just demands for answers. Scythe tried to speak, but Father had her be silent. "I was taken to the Splintered Skies and put on a trial by her.," You explained to the Father, "She got mad at me and..." You didn't finish your statement. You remembered how scared and hurt you were. The Father tapped his claws on the wood. "Continue.," he ordered. "I got hit with the power of her sword.," you told him. His clawed hand ran over your bandaged wound. It hurt when he pressed into it. You winced and pulled away from him. "Who gave you aid?," He asked. "Medkit.," you answered.

The Father seemed to be satisfied at the moment as he went back to his desk, he steepled his fingers. "You will be made to speak on this after the sermon. Rest for now.," He ordered, seemingly giving your mother the order to rest more than you. He had turned to her on the last part of the statement. Scythe picked you up from the chair you had been seated on. Her hands were careful and gentle. She returned to her room with you. Scythe took off her hat and scope. Her jacket, scarf and necktie were taken off after as well. You were held against her, you could feel her exhaustion catch up to her. You heard her breathing change as she fell into sleep. She kept her arms around you as she slept. Your mama was warm as she slept with you in her arms. She was relaxed now that you were back with her. Back where you belonged. Scythe had not been able to sleep since you had disappeared. Even when Broker called back to tell her that you were safe. She did not rest. She had been running on fumes to get you back. Her beloved daughter.

Your little head was slotted onto your mama's chest, right under her chin. You felt her breathing, heard her heartbeat. It was hard to not drift off yourself. You had slept well, but the soreness from the training Venomshank had given you had made you tired. You could not leave. You might as well nap with her. A sense of safety was with you as you slept in your mama's arms. While you were sleeping, word of your return spread through the church. As did word of you being injured. The news spread like wildfire through the church. "Scythe brought her home this morning." "I saw that she had bandages on her." "She's safe now. Good." Nobody tried to interrupt the nap you and your mother were taking. They knew that you two needed your sleep. Besides, it was too precious of a sight to see. The young god they loved, asleep in the arms of her mother.

The sun moved across the sky. Venomshank was waiting for you to come back. You did not come back. Sword went out to find you, even asking Medkit if he had seen you. The gladiator helmet wearing iphernal went to the library to ask the ones there if they had seen you. They told him that they saw you when you returned the books and nothing else. He thanked them and looked for you some more. Sword remembered that you really liked the cafe that Slingshot owned. The young warrior walked in and started asking the staff if they had seen you. His heart dropped when he heard they did. And that you were being carried by a very dangerous inphernal. Vinestaff could not hide her disgust when talking to Sword about seeing you being carried by your mama. She even mentioned that the inphernal carrying you claimed to be your mother. "How in the inpherno is she even related to Lua? Lua is too sweet to be hers!," Vine fussed. Shuriken nodded with an uncomfortable smile. "Thanks for the information.," Sword said. "Hey, It'd be best to not go after her. The people that her mother are with are very dangerous.," Slingshot said through the kitchen window. Sword deflated. You had been taken.

He went back to the home he shared with Venomshank. The god worriedly stood and looked at Sword when he came back. "Did you find anything?," Venomshank asked. Sword made a grimace, "She was taken. Her mother took her." Your mother. That dangerous individual that you had told him about before. He had also gathered more information on her when you and Sword were out together. Venomshank knew she was the most wanted criminal in the Inpherno, if not the most deadly. His own nephew had multiple dangerous encounters with her.

Scythe.

The enforcer of the Church of the True Eye. Banland Police force's most wanted criminal. Wanted for multiple murders and mass execution. She didn't seem to be one to adopt a helpless hornless. Yet she did. She loved you dearly from what you had told Venomshank. The most wanted who adopted and loves the most innocent. He did not know the location of the Church itself. If he did, he may have considered retrieving you himself. But then again, he did not like to interfere with mortals and their follies. "Venom?," Sword's voice pulled Venomshank from his thoughts, "Will Lualight be okay?" "She will be. Hornless may be soft in body, but their power can shake the inpherno itself. Only fools would dare to challenge one of the creator species.," Venomshank said. He hoped his words were as true for the young as the one he had known. Telamon's memory gave Venomshank some hope. If you were similar to he, then you will be perfectly fine.

You had woken from your nap, but Scythe was still sleeping. She was stubbornly holding you. You couldn't move. You did see some of your fellow church members peering in to check on you and your mama. Nobody dared to wake her. Nobody dared to take you from her either. All you could do was watch her sleeping face and listen to her breathing, listen to her heartbeat. Her warm breath blew over your hair. You would see her face muscles move, like she was dreaming of something. You could only hope that it was something nice. You saw the familiar shimmering of crystals that had appeared during your sleep. Finally, your mother stirred. She got up and stretched her joints out with some popping. Scythe wrapped her arms around you again and hugged you tightly. She smothered your face in kisses and nuzzles. The tickling of her fang against your cheeks making you smile. "Mama! That tickles!," You could giggle out as her kisses were turning your skin pink. She stopped kissing your face and gave you a smile. One that was so full of love and warmth. She had really missed you in the days you were apart.

You were taken to get changed out of the outfit that you had bought in the crossroads. You were dressed in one of the robes that were made for you. The habit to hide your hair and hornless head was placed on you again. The inphernal dressing you also painted your face with makeup, symbols of the church on your forehead and under your eyes. some rogue on your little lips. Your wounds were cleaned and examined, leaving the healing tissue exposed for viewing by the other members. You were taken to the Father again. He wanted you to give you some direction on what you were to say on your part of the sermon. You had to tell your story, or at least the parts he wanted you to tell with certain embellishments. The Father wrote down the script he wanted you to follow and practice. You read over it, reading aloud for Father to coach you. "Again. But put more emphasis on this part.," The father said, pointing to the passage. His clawed hand tapped the page as the other was resting on the back of your chair. You repeated the sentence, with more emphasis as he asked. "Good girl, much better.," He praised as he petted your head. His claws ran from your scalp to run gently across your cheek.

The Father's clawed fingers ran across your cheek, letting the back of the fingers brush over your soft skin to not cut you. He was careful to not smear the makeup put on you. "Start again, from the beginning.," He said in a kind tone, directing you to speak again. "My trip beyond the church has been wrought with both danger and discoveries-," You began, reading the script based on the story you had given the Father. He kept running his fingers over your cheek as you spoke, giving gentle encouragement to keep going. His demeanor was a lot more gentle than when you first returned. He stopped you when you got to the part of when you were learning to defend yourself. He took his claws off of your cheek to tap on the wood of the chair. "Could you do a demonstration of this new power of yours?," Father asked, "At least just summoning one of those shearing crystals without damage?" You thought a bit, you had only been able to do attacks with those types of crystals. You didn't know if you could suspend it like your church siblings did with their gears. Plus, you knew that the use of the power would be felt by Windforce and Venomshank. You were moved from the seat you were on to the Father's lap. You did not try to argue with him. His claws were so sharp that if you struggled, they would have cut you. He had you continue to practice under his watch. He corrected any mistakes and made you redo the speech until you had it perfect. Or as well as a child could do. He was reading over his own notes for the sermon later that day. You were a few days out of practice for speaking to the family, but you still had to. It was part of your duties. The Father kept running his claws over your skin, running over your cheek and neck. He ran his claws close to your still healing wounds. "Now these sections are crucial, they link to my own sermon.," The Father said as he pointed to his notes and then to your own. 'The Evil of the False Seven' Something that Father kept preaching. How the 'Swords' were false gods. Especially in regards to the one known as 'Firebrand'.

"You saw the wickedness of the False gods yourself.," He stroked his clawed hand over your injury on your head, "It is a wonder that you survived. Or maybe it is because you are of the true ones." His claws tickled your scabbed over wound, making you try to move away from his touch. "It did hurt.," You said. "But it did not kill you.," The Father replied, "That is the most important part." You held onto the paper you were reading, The eyes on his coat seemed to be watching you along with his own. "Those wicked false gods will want to stop you. To keep you from becoming what you were meant to be.," The Father asserted, "Either by force or by trying to convince you of their fake goodness. You have seen their true nature, The flames at the ruins and from Windforce."

"Not everyone I met was bad, though.," You told him and looked up at him, "Many were very nice." "You were fortunate to have such interactions.," The Father hummed while running his clawed fingers over your cheek, "Most of the population are violent by nature. Even right from spawn, they begin to fight." His claws kept petting your soft skin as he explained the dangers of inphernals to you. "But you, a hornless, are a kind and gentle being. Not having a fighting instinct as strong as ours.," The Father continued, "Such a nature makes you a more stable and considerate creature. A true god. You need to stay that way to be a good leader." He ran his finger over the bridge of your nose, down to the tip of it.

"Now, from the top. We have a few more hours before we have to give our sermons.," Father said while petting your face more. He made you repeat it again, Correcting mistakes while stroking his clawed hand under your chin. You spoke until the script was finished. The Father patted your head to praise you. His claws wrapped around your head easily as he rubbed over your hair. His claws smoothed over your clothes before lifting you up. He stood himself before walking out of his office. His shoes tapped on the smooth floor as he made his way to the auditorium. It seemed a bit more crowded in the halls, like it was during your introduction to the church. The members all around the inpherno must have been called after you were returned home. A cold feeling ran over you. You could not place it, but you wanted to be at Venomshank's place or with your mama instead. Members stepped aside for you and the Father, bowing as you passed by. Their horns and top of their heads were all you could see. You wanted to see their faces.

The Father brought you into the auditorium and set you on a seat that was new. A seat that was on the stage and near the podium. Inphernals, your church family, flooded into the Auditorium. They took their seats as the sound and smell of life filled the massive room. "My dear family," The Father spoke out to the crowd after they all sat or found somewhere to be, "Our dear Lualight has returned." A roar of excitement echoed through the crowd. It was so loud. They had all missed you. "I know many of you want to hear from her about her adventure, so I shall let her tell you first before our sermon.," The Father turned to you, beckoning you to the podium. You stood from your chair and made your way up, hopping onto the stool provided for you.

You began to speak but stopped from the feedback of the microphone. This made some of the members laugh. But you didn't feel like they were mocking you. You heard some gasp and whisper about your injuries. You spoke, following the script and direction that the Father had given you. Yet, you decided to add something. The fact you hid in the eternal flames from the Inphernals that had tried to catch you. The flames that had devastated so many of your fellow church members. You kept speaking. You didn't tell them about staying with Venomshank or about Sword. You told the rest of your story. You told them about Windforce and her trial, about seeing Banhammer. About seeing other inphernals in the Crossroads and about the wranglers you saw. You told them about how you had also began to learn about self defense using your power. You summoned your crystals as an example, making them burst above your hand.

You returned to your seat after finishing. You allowed the Father to do his sermon while you thought about what you had said. You didn't believe all of what you had said. You followed the script that was given, but that was to keep Father Overseer happy. He gave his sermon as you waited to be let go back to your mama. You would rather be sitting with her anyway. You were barely listening to what he was saying as you looked at the crowd or the hem of your robes. You wondered about Ghosdeeri. Was there others like her? Perhaps one here in Lost Temple? You thought about Chainsaw and Crossbow again. Were they okay? Were your crystals able to heal them? You wanted to know if they were there in the auditorium with you. You looked up and scanned the crowd for them. You finally saw them, their horns peering over the crowd in the very back. The brooches you made for them seemed to be sparkling in response to your want to find them.

After the sermon, you tried to make your way through the crowd to go see Chainsaw and Crossbow. You were stopped by various church members. They wanted to talk to you, to touch your injuries or even pet you like usual. Some, like those who were burned by the eternal flames, touched your skin since you were unburned. You saw that the two you wanted to talk to were called away by someone else, leaving you alone with the other church members who wanted to talk to you. You were picked up by one who held you up so you could be talked to without crouching down. You tried to talk to and help as many of your family as possible. Easing their pains and worries as they came to you for comfort and support. Lua poured from you and into the ones you were helping, easing their pains and healing them as they needed. The inphernal who held you passed you to another when they were called away. You kept healing and helping your family, like you wanted to do. But you yourself were getting exhausted. You kept taking care of everyone else, yet you felt like the others did not stop to want to help you. Only your mother seemed to care. Broker was nice, so was Chainsaw and Crossbow.

After you finally were able to help everyone and got to the archives. You sat in your usual spot to read what still needed to be translated. You recognized it as some medical text. Oh so the scouting teams found some medicine books. It seemed to be for inphernals to help their hornless companions in the days before the hornless left. You carefully translated the words as you could. You were not as fast as Ghosdeeri. You thought that having her help you translate would be nice. Or at least someone like her. You stopped and looked up at the lighting fixtures above you, mind wandering back to the Crossroads and those you met there. You could see why Broker liked Zuka and Rocket, they were kind. Boom box was a lot of fun too. Coil scared you a little, but he seemed to be nice underneath it all. Even though he smelled a little like dog. You stretched your little arms out, reaching out behind you and feeling fabric touch your fingers. Someone was behind you. You leaned back forward. "Oh Sorry.," You apologized. You turned back and saw The Dollmaker, the oracle of the church and the one who had made a lot of your clothes. "Dolly! Are you okay? I didn't hurt you did I?," You asked, knowing her fragility.

She shook her head as one of her dolls piped up, "I am okay!" Dollmaker took one of your hands and looked at it. She must have heard that you had walked through the eternal flames. "No burns, fortunate child.," another doll spoke with a saddened voice. The overhead lights shined off of her four horns. Her bandaged face looked down at your tiny hand as her dolls scampered around her feet. You could not help but feel bad for her, a beloved member who had been irreparably scarred by the heat of the scorch. You had not been told much about the scorch, only that it was caused by one of the Seven and that it hurt many inphernals, killing many more. You tried to soothe her pains whenever you could, even now you let her have some of your Lua to not suffer. The eye shaped gold jewelry on her head shined and she tilted her head in comfort from the healing. The three dolls that made up her gear even slowed down and seemed to relax. "Dolly, is there something you needed?," You asked. She shook her head and presented you with a doll. It was of your mother. You took the soft toy and hugged it with a wide smile. She seemed pretty happy from your reaction and gave you a pat on your head. You could feel her clawed hand on your head through her long sleeves. She left you to keep working on your tasks. You didn't see her look back at you sadly as the needles impaling her spine starting to spark.

Dollmaker walked slowly to the Father's office, feeling another vision coming to her. She instinctively pulled one of the needles from her spine and pulled fabric from her bag. She hurridly made a doll. The frantic pace of it was enough to get the Father's attention as he saw her making the doll. "Dollmaker, Do you have news?," He asked as Dollmaker finished. She held the doll she just finished and began to shake. The father noticed the needle she used was the second one on her spine. The one that warns of coming bad omens and tragedy. "A storm comes.," the voice of the sad doll spoke, "It will shroud the inpherno. Regions will be covered in the shadows the storm casts." "A storm?," The father asked before Dollmaker held out the doll. "Sorrow, rage, pain. This will come to pass.," The dolls all spoke together.

In her hands was a doll of YOU.