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'."
