Seeds of Discordia

Liam watched as the four cloaked individuals behind the leader tense up and ready themselves for a fight. The leader brought a hand up to stop them before she pulled off her hood and revealed her features. Just like last time he saw her, Lolita had a solid purple colored skin tone, a pair of horns emerged from her short raven black hair and circled around the sides of her head before pointing forward. Her elf like ears were prominent much like her emerald eyes.

"Phantom Cat right?" Lolita questioned.

Liam smiled as he nodded and said, "Glad you remembered me. I hate to cut the pleasantries short, but I am curious as to why you are here, both on this island and so far from the city?"

Lolita stared at Liam for a long moment before asking a question of her own. "I'll answer, but first I'd like to have a couple questions answered. Would you be willing to humor me?"

Liam waited before nodding and saying, "Gladly as long as your team lowers their weapons. I promise we aren't here to harm you as long as you aren't here to cause any harm to us."

"Well, that depends…," Lolita started. "Will the three behind you oblige to lowering their weapons as well?"

Liam turned his head just enough for Artem and the other two to see him nod his head sharply. All three of them were reluctant, but they did as he had silently asked. As Liam turned to look at Lolita he saw her study each of them before looking at him.

"I don't know whether I should be thankful that you are willing to show that level of accommodation or call you stupid for willingly lowering your weapons before those in front of you do."

Roman snarled at the comment but then tempered himself as he watched Lolita move her hand in a way to make her team lower their weapons as well. She then said, "However, for the current situation, I will be more than glad to say I am thankful. Especially since I have some questions that needs you to be in the type of understanding you have shown so far."

Liam raised a brow as he grew curious. "Oh? I must say you have my attention with how you worded that sentence."

Lolita let out a chuckle. "You are a weird one. I will admit I like that. The weird ones are usually the ones who I tend to get along with better since they have open minds." She paused giving herself enough time to get serious before asking, "How did you get my name as well as come to know I am the Champion of Atrophy as well as my Seed? If memory serves me right I don't think I gave that bit of information to you during our last meeting."

Liam hesitated. He mentally kicked himself as he realized he played a card he hadn't realized he had. After a quick mental argument inside his own head, he decided to be honest. After his last run in with this group he understood lying would only bring harm instead of good.

"You're right in the fact that you did not give me that information," Liam started. He stopped himself and hesitated for a brief moment before deciding on the path with how he was going to answer, "Tell me. Does the names Jude or Kala sound familiar?"

It wasn't Lolita who responded to his question but the tallest member of her group. "Those bastards? Are you in league with them?!"

Lolita glared at the scaly member before looking back at Liam and saying, "I'm sorry for my teammate's outburst, but I am in agreement with him. What is your relationship with the Champion of Order and Time?"

"Relationship with Kala? Not really sure. Met her and her group for a brief moment before we were attacked. Can't really say I am a fan of her and her group," Liam commented as he frowned at remembering his interaction with them. He then scratched the back of his head as he added, "As for Jude. Well, that's a tough one to explain."

"Humor me," Lolita stated as she stared at him with a curious look.

"Well, we were in the same Tutorial Area. Well him as well as the Champions of Nature and Fel," Liam stated.

"You know Aranis?" Lolita questioned. Liam noticed her body relax slightly.

That slight relaxation of her body tensed up again as Liam inquired, "I do. I'm quite interested on how you've met Aranis though? How is he doing?"

"He's doing alright," Lolita said cautiously. "As for how I met him…I'm not sure if I should tell you how…"

"Oh come now," Liam said with a grin. "I told you how I met the man. Are you saying you can't return the courtesy?"

Lolita stared at Liam for a brief moment before a smile appeared on her face. "Alright…We met by chance around the edge of a Demon-kin city. Helped him with flushing out some Immoral Vice scum."

Liam nodded his head as he took that information in. As he did so he mentally groaned inside his head as he realized why she was so forthcoming with the information as well as that uneasy grin on her face. She then said, with a shit eating attitude, "Since I gave you that bit of curtesy. I assume you would reciprocate it back with tell me who you actually are and how you know four other Champions, not including myself?"

Liam remained silent for a long moment as he realized where he fucked up. He had to remember wording meant everything. While certain wording could be your greatest ally, it could also come back and bite you in the ass. He could feel the others behind him tense up a bit as they stared at the group which made the members of Lolita's group tense up as well.

He quickly tried to think over the best course of action right now. While he was doing well keeping his real identity a secret while in his Spirit Weave form, he also understood that revealing who he really was with another Campion to a Deity like his could end up forming a new bond. However, he wasn't sure if this was the best way to go about it.

Liam's gaze fell upon something that, unfortunately, made him make his decision. With a sigh he muttered, "I guess I don't really have a choice since it's about to run out."

Artem, Ariyana, and Roman stood straighter as they understood what Liam meant. Lolita and her team looked confused as Liam began muttering more to himself, "I knew I should have tried to replenish more before coming here. No, if I did that they would have attacked them before I arrived. And of course the ones I did use are taking just a bit longer since I thought I'd have enough time for it to digest before running out, but nooo, my calculations had to be off."

"Um…what are you…," Lolita tried to ask, but suddenly stopped as the shadowy cloak that covered Liam's chest and head suddenly vanished leaving his face completely exposed for not just his team to see, but Lolita and her group as well.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Liam clicked his tongue as he frown before giving Lolita a half smile and a wave as he said, "Well, to answer the foot in mouth open ended question I just so happened to walk myself into, hi. I am Liam. Also since it wasn't addressed out loud…" Liam hiked a thumb pointing behind him. "The three behind me are part of my team."

Lolita stared at Liam and took in the features that she wasn't able to before when he was in his Phantom Cat form. Or rather the lack of features that disappeared. She was really confused now that she was able to see more of him. She had originally thought he was a Cat-folk Beast-kin due to the tail and ears. Now that his disguise had disappeared though, she saw no tail or ears. To her he looked like a plain normal human. That was until she looked into his eyes. They still retained the feline look to them as they switched from normal to slits.

"Just what the hell are you?" the tall scaly man asked as he stared at Liam.

Liam turned his attention towards him. Lolita saw a strange colored twinkle flash for a brief moment in his eyes as he said, "That's a mighty rude question to ask from someone who is hiding under a cloak." With a teasing smile Liam then said as he leaned forward a bit as he raised a hand to his chin and said, "Hm, let's take a gander shall we. Strong looking scales, a snout, lizard looking eyes, tall, and buff. Hm…two legs as well." After a brief pause he snapped his fingers and finished, "I know…you must be a guppy!"

The entire area remained quiet after Liam announced his so called guess. The smile on Liam's face faltered a bit as he saw the confused looks on everyone's faces. When no one reacted he scratched his cheek, feeling a bit embarrassed until he heard a chuckle right behind him. Judging from the sound of the voice and the way the person was chuckling he knew it was Ariyana. Liam grew a small triumphant smile as he took the small win.

"Um…," the tall man in Lolita's group started. "I don't know what a guppy is, but I can confidently say I am not it. But to sate my curiosity what is a guppy? Is it a strong being where you come from?"

Liam tried hard not to let his smile grow even more as he heard Ariyana's chuckle threaten to grow into more than a chuckle. Deciding to roll with it he went on, "A strong being? Oh yes." Liam nodded his head with emphasis. "So strong everyone loves them."

The scaly man stood tall as he looked a bit proud. "If that's the case then I have no problem being compared to a gup…" His voice died out as Ariyana couldn't hold back her laughter. Confusion first settled in on the man's body language until he realized something was wrong. He then scowled and said, "You're fucking with me aren't you?"

Liam's grin widened as he said, "I am. Sorry, but I wasn't expecting it to go that far." He then turned to look at Ariyana and asked with a playful smile, "I take it you have guppies on your old home planet?"

Ariyana placed a hand up as she tried to take a moment to respond. After a couple of seconds she started to settle down, but after getting a single look at the hooded figure she started back up. "I'm sorry…," Ariyana started between her fits. "I just can't…help it…I just keep laughing…at the sight of this big guy…looking like a multi-colored fish…"

Roman started laughing after he too thought about it. Artem was a bit more considerate as he placed a hand on his mouth. To Liam's surprise the other hooded members started laughing as well. What's more the big guy's body suddenly arced as he let out a loud laugh as well.

Lolita stared at the scene before her before looking at Liam. She didn't interrupt nor did she reprimand him for making fun of her teammate. Instead, she felt…relaxed. She thought about why she did and understood he was ribbing her teammate for being rude, but not out of any form of malice. Instead she felt he was doing it to lighten the mood of the people around the area. They had felt tense for quite a while and been on edge since they discovered the news she wasn't happy to hear.

With a sigh, Lolita clapped her hands and said, "Alright, alright. Enough with the teasing." She gave Liam a glare, but it softened a moment after as she smiled and said, "There's more to you than you're wanting to say…isn't there?"

Liam smiled and shrugged, "There might be, but is now the time for us to get into that." His playful smile then turned into a more serious look as he stated, "You are here for a reason, and I would like to know what that reason is. Would you be willing to let me know what it is?"

"I am, but I would like to know how you knew we were here," Lolita responded.

Liam smirked as he said, "That I can say without any issues. A few members felt your presence over here and decided to check it out last night. After feeling like they were in complete danger they high tailed it out and went to report it in to the local Web Branch. Luckily, I was there when they did and since this island has a lot going on they weren't going to check it out. However, after hearing their details I felt I needed to since there is a lot going on and I don't like random surprises at my back."

"Like you're one to talk," Roman suddenly ribbed.

"Not the time Roman," Liam stated with a smile before looking back at Lolita.

Lolita looked like she was thinking something over in her mind as she took in what Liam muttered to herself, "So that's what that was all about last night." She then nodded and said, "Thank you for that. What we are here for is simple. We are searching for the bastards that have been using some of my stolen lingered mana and using them on islands all around."

Liam felt his body freeze as he took in her words. His eyes narrowed as he stared at her. Lolita could feel the fierceness from the look as well as her team. This all caused everyone to tense up once more. His next words took them by surprise as he asked, "Do you know what bastards did that? Did they have scaly bodies with a human-like upper half while the lower half was snake-like? Do you know how they stole the lingering mana?"

"Y…yes. They did look like snake-folk. I believe we identified them as…," Lolita started to say until Liam finished for her, "Naga."

"You know about the Naga?" Lolita asked as she felt her hands ball into fists.

"You can say that," Liam replied. "We were almost ambushed by a group of them in the middle of the ocean. They used a Sea Parade as a distraction as they searched for a passenger on the ship we were on."

Lolita scowled. "So they really are real then. Not something we just made up?" She saw the confused look on Liam's, Artem's, Ariyana's, and Roman's faces which prompted her to reply, "We tried to get information on them, but it seemed like either no one believed us that we saw them, or they claimed there were no such thing as Nagas."

"We've done some digging around on them as well and found out they quote unquote, died off, years ago. That and their history isn't anywhere to be found through normal means. We also found out they belonged to a group that disappeared years ago called the Children of the Sea."

"So that's what those fuckers were spouting," Lolita muttered before asking, "If you ran into them and know about them then does that mean…"

"Someone claimed they had seen sightings of silhouettes that matched their description, but since they were running away from your presence they weren't able to fully confirm what they saw," Liam informed. "We believe they are on this island and have placed some sort of item holding both yours and Kala's mana and are going to use them for something."

Lolita formed a scowl at the mention of Kala's name. "If that's true then there is probably a chance they are trying to make their way here. I'd rather not see that bitch, but if they did to her what they did to me then there is no helping it." She then grimaced before looking at her group and adding, "You all heard what he said. If we run into them, no matter how annoying they are we ignore them. our main objective is to find where those snake bastards placed my mana and retrieve it. After that we get the hell out of here."

The four members behind her nodded in affirmation as Lolita turned to look at Liam and asked, "So, now that you know we are here and what we are up to. What are your plans now?"

Liam looked at her before looking at her group. With a swift decision he stated, "We have a similar purpose. I have a few more members searching the island. We can meet up with them and see if they found anything out. However, I'm still stuck on trying to figure out how they even trapped yours and Kala's mana as well as how to track it."

"I can answer both of those," Lolita stated, surprising Liam and his group. "I can feel faint traces of my mana since its leaking from the containment items. It's how I traced it to this island. And as to how they trapped my mana. They used a highly advanced version of this." Liam's eyes widened as an inky Shadow blob suddenly formed in Lolita's hand. "The only difference is they didn't use shadows but a higher form that felt like even more sinister than Shadows."