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Felix frowned, looking around him. He knew he had heard something wandering around his forest. He moved further, using his walking staff to keep him balanced as his eyes glanced around, trying to figure out what… or who… the intruder was.
The leaves on the trees above him rustled as he continued his trek. He shuddered. He didn’t like the feeling he got from it.
Something was wrong. Out of place.
He sighed as he jumped over another boulder, perching on the top as he tried to scope out his forest, looking for anything out of the ordinary. He heard a twig snap.
He barely had time to react before a hand clamped over his mouth, a shushing noise greeting his ears. Felix’s eyes widened.
“Don’t panic,” the voice whispered. “I’m only here to help.”
Felix turned around slowly, holding his staff in front of him. The newcomer had dark hair beneath a hood, bright blue eyes that reminded Felix of the moon ponds in the middle of the night, gleaming and mysterious. “Who are you?”
The newcomer pulled his hood down, an impish smirk on his face. “Your forest is in trouble and I’m here to help.”
Felix’s eyes narrowed. “What do you know?”
“Let me show you.”
The two walked in silence for a long while, stepping over logs, rocks, and fallen trees as they headed northward. Felix considered running for it while he could, but if something was wrong with his forest, he was dying to know. He had to figure it out.
They walked until they reached the very tip of Felix’s forest. “In that cave.”
Felix froze. “This is a trap.”
“I have no harm or mal intent towards you or your forest.” The intruder assured him. “I come from the open water, not far from here. We were plagued by a disease of some sorts and it travels through our water. I figured since you were south and downstream, it might be affecting you too.”
Felix nodded. It made sense. Most of his moon ponds were kept filled by an underground spring, and it did break the surface in that cave.
But if he was wrong for trusting this new person, he could lose his forest and everything he tried to defend. All of it would be gone.
“Show me.” And into the cave they went.
The cave was deep. Felix had been there before, he knew every rift and every break in the cave walls. Nothing looked different. No ghouls jumped out of the walls at him. Everything looked fine.
“I never did catch your name, you know.” The newcomer smirked.
Felix raised an eyebrow with a smirk. “I never threw it.”
“Cheeky.” the other rolled his eyes before holding out his hand. “I’m Luka.”
The blond hesitated. “Felix.”
Luka grinned. “Nice to meet you, Felix.”
“The pleasure’s mine.” Felix smiled a bit.
“Well, anyway, right up here, you can see it.” Luka pointed up ahead at the shimmering bioluminescence of the spring. “The deep purple hue in the water, that’s what’s poisoning our water. It makes them angrier, more volatile.”
“Does it have a name?”
“The official’s name in town is Akuma No So, but everyone just calls it akuma.” Luka shrugged.
“Demon.”
“Yeah, named for a reason too, it’s a sneaky little thing.” Luka smiled. “It corrupts peoples’ emotions, makes them angry and vengeful, it turns them into some mindless monster. And it’s hard to avoid. Everyone feels things sometimes.”
Felix nodded, trying to figure it out. “What got it in there?”
“Rumor has it, the king got too selfish. He made a deal with the devil, so to speak, to achieve a perfect life, and he was punished with the devil’s son. It consumes its victims, bends them to its will and makes them into something they’re not.” His expression darkened slightly. “I lost everyone I loved to its power.”
Felix hesitated, lightly squeezing Luka’s hand. “I’m sorry.” It didn’t sound particularly supportive, but Felix was doing his best.
“Don’t be, it wasn’t your fault.” Luka smiled. “You didn’t even know what akuma was, let alone have been responsible for it.”
Felix cracked a smile. “How do you know that? Maybe it is my fault.”
“You’re downstream, doofus.” Luka grinned. “It hit us first and you quite obviously don’t get out much.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Yeah, it is.” He shook his head. “But I should go, it’ll be dark soon and I don’t live in a bioluminescent forest of amazingness.”
“How unfortunate.” Felix smiled. “You could stay, I suppose, help me figure out the akuma issue.” He looked away quickly.
Luka grinned wider. “Thanks, Felix. We don’t really know what to do with it, but I know one of the old oracles said something about finding the song of the ladybird, if that helps.”
“Like the bug?”
“Heck if I know.” Luka shrugged. “But it sounded important, so I thought I’d mention it before I forget about it.”
Felix paused, thinking about what the implications of ladybird could mean. “Wait, I’ve got it!” He snapped his fingers excitedly.
“You do?” Luka raised an eyebrow. Without waiting to respond, Felix took off out of the cave, Luka trailing after him. He kept running until he reached the steps of his treehouse.
“You coming?” He grinned from the balcony-porch.
“You could slow down, you know, it’s not that hard.” Luka wheezed as he rested at the bottom of the stairs. “What’d you figure out anyway?”
“The ladybird.” Felix waved a hand absently, ducking into his house and returning a moment with a scroll. “The stars tell her story, she was this figure of beauty and purity, a positive inspiration for all who knew her. To contrast, the butterfly was a figure of deviousness. Look past its external beauty and you see the worm it is. It slithered its way into all the major battles in the world, so the story goes.”
“This sounds like a nursery story.” Luka deadpanned. “Also, butterflies are caterpillars, not worms.”
Felix ignored him and continued. “Back in ancient times, when the ladybird and the butterfly battled over the heavens, it was basically your classic good versus evil scenario. The ladybird triumphed and the butterfly was cast out to wander all its life. But the ladybird had been injured in the battle and fell from the heavens.”
“So it is a nursery story.”
“Shut up about nursery stories.” Felix shot him a look. “If your oracle lady is talking about the song of a ladybird and the akuma is this evil magic sent to curse our waters because of a selfish king, there’s a good chance we need to find something that relates to the ladybird’s legend.”
“Like what?” Luka raised an eyebrow.
Felix shrugged. “Why would I know? It’s not a magical fantasy story where the answer is insanely obvious. It’s not that simple.”
Luka chuckled. “Okay, okay, have it your way.”
“Thank you.”
“So… when do we start?”