Eldritch 44

'And if you find yourself hopelessly in danger? Pray....'

Rossweisse hissed in pain as she awoke, feeling the ache in her head from where she had been struck. She wasn't dead, but it certainly hurt. She tried to reach for it and only when she realized her hands were bound did she notice her predicament.

She was on her knees and bound in something like a stockade, both hands restrained at either side of her head with her neck stuck as well. Ropes of some kind bound her legs down wherever she knelt.

She took a breath and blinked open her eyes, adjusting to the light as she took in her surroundings.

It was a primitive village of some sort, with hutts and wooden buildings. Yet plants were growing all over the structures. It was all situated in a large circle of a clearing, the sun shining down on them with the sound of a soft-flowing river flowing nearby.

There was a crowd around her, maybe even the whole village. All of them were women.

But not mere human women.

"So, you're awake."

Rossweisse craned her neck to see someone standing over her in armor and a cloak. Like everyone else she could see, she looked beautiful and alluring. And they were, truly, but that was all a mundane eye would notice. Rossweisse saw them for what they were. Each one of them was strong with some amount of muscles and scars upon their bodies. These women were warriors and they were no strangers to battle.

More importantly...

They all had the ears and tails of rabbits. Bunny-women, as it would be.

"Are you the leader of this village?" Rossweisse asked as she regained her senses.

The white-haired bunny woman nodded. "I am, and my name is Tully. You are not a mere human, are you?"

Rossweisse nodded with a scowl despite being bound. "I am a valkyrie, a servant of the Aesir. I have been sent here to find the Lost One."

There were murmurs, scuffs, and glares from the crowd as Tully narrowed her eyes. "Many have tried, few have made it this far. Fewer still have made it past us."

"I can see why. The presence of the Lost One hinders the powers of everyone who enters here, doesn't it?" Rossweisse predicted. "Making them easy prey for you."

"The Lost One has made this place a sanctuary for themselves. We guard this place and the Lost One in exchange for the gifts we have been bestowed," Tully said simply. "Your Gods have no power here."

"Let's just kill her already!" someone in the crowd yelled, others howling their agreement.

"Enough!" Tully declared, slamming her foot down to silence them all. "She has made it this far. She has earned the right to partake in the hunt."

Rossweisse frowned. She didn't like the sound of that. "And just what will I be hunting?"

The village of bunny women laughed at her question.

"Oh no, you're not the hunter," Tully informed with a smirk. "We will be hunting you."

Yep, she was right, she really didn't like the sound of that!

"Of course, you can refuse," Tully offered with a whimsical shrug. "We'll make your death painless if you decline."

Rossweisse took a breath before nodding. "I'll take your challenge."

Meanwhile

"Welcome home, Master," Nctosa and Nctolhu greeted, bowing to him as he entered the room.

"Tosa, Tolhu," he greeted in turn with a smile. "Has Yog or Yad come over by chance?"

"Not to our awareness," Nctosa answered honestly.

"If they did, they did not make themselves known," Nctolhu expanded on.

"Point," Issie murmured. "I don't suppose either of you would know what's keeping them busy?"

The twin shook their heads in sync.

Issei hummed. He could just call out and get Yog or Yad to appear, but if it was important, they'd tell him eventually. A more immediate question came to mind. "Is Asia here?"

"She is in her room, Master," Nctolhu answered, waving to the "closet."

"Do you desire her, Master?" Nctosa questioned curiously.

"I definitely do, but that's not what this is about," Issei answered honestly as he went over and knocked on the door. "Asia? Are you awake?"

"One moment, Issei!" the blonde's voice rang out before the door opened to reveal the nun. "Do you need something?"

"I was actually wondering if you wanted to head out and spend the day at the mall?" Issei asked with a smile.

"...." Asia blinked, a small blush forming on her face. "L-like a date?"

"I mean...if you want it to be?" Issei answered with a bashful smile. "I just know you don't get out a lot, so I thought I should show you around town."

Asia blushed a bit but didn't stop smiling. "I-I would enjoy that, Issei. J-just give me a moment!"

The door closed, leaving Issei with the twins once more.

"....." Nctosa and Nctolhu stared at him rather pointedly.

Issei felt their gaze and turned to them questioningly. "What? Did you two want to come along?"

"No, Master," Nctolhu answered evenly.

"Not at all, Master," Nctosa added.

Issei gave them a skeptical look but didn't say anything further.

The door opened to reveal Asia in a casual pale-purple sundress that ended just above her knees. Her green eyes shyly glanced from the floor to Issei. "H-how do I look?"

Issei took a deep breath. "Like an angel," he answered fondly, making her flush and squirm. "Shall we, Madam?" he asked in a playfully over-the-top voice as he made a faux-bow while extending his hand to her.

Asia giggled at the act. "It would be my pleasure," she said as boldly as she could.

Issei grinned. "Just remember not to say anything until we're out of the house."

Asia nodded in remembrance. She didn't quite understand it, but there was some kind of eldritch magic at work that made Issei's parents not notice her if she didn't draw attention to herself when she entered or left the house.

Soon, they were off on their way for a day of simple fun and enjoyment.

If Issei noticed the smiling yellow eyes watching them, he didn't draw attention to them.

Meanwhile

Rossweisse had been released from the stockade and left outside the village, halfway to the forest. With her was another bunny woman, this one with light brown hair.

"The rules of the hunt are simple," the bunny woman said with a smile that was somewhere between vicious and helpful. She pointed up to the sun, growing near to the horizon. "Once the sun touches the horizon, you may run into the forest. We will not come after you until it has fully set."

"About an hour then," Rossweisse realized with a frown. "I don't suppose I'll have access to my powers?"

"Afraid not," the bunnywoman said unapologetically. "Now, here's how the Hunt goes. There are pools in the forest that if you reach them, you can escape from here unharmed. If you go past them and keep searching without being caught, you will eventually find a tree with purple and green fruit. Eat it, and you will become one of us!"

"And how do I win without leaving or joining? Do I have to defeat you all or survive until sunrise, or....? "Rossweisse asked in confusion.

"That has only happened twice," the bunny remarked. "If you keep going, you will eventually find your way back to the village. If you reach it, you will win and be allowed to meet the Lost One."

Rosswissie furrowed her brow. "I'm not trying to insult your skills, but what stops me from just sneaking around and coming back to the village?"

"I was wondering if you'd ask or just try that!" the bunny woman said, clapping her hands together. "You see, the forest will see to that. It's not a normal one. Once you get in, it doesn't matter which path you take, only how far you travel. Eventually, you'll find the pools, the trees, and then just pop out back at the village."

"Right. The Eldritch are fond of these non-euclidean designs," Rossweisse said with a sign.

"Hmm? Eldritch? What's that?" the bunny asked curiously.

"Oh? I suppose you might not know that term. It's what we call entities like the Lost One," Rossweisse answered. "Might I ask, what happened to the other two that won?"

"The only man to reach here took one of us as his bride and left," she answered thoughtfully. "The other, well...."

Rossweisse tilted her head.

The bunny woman leaned in to whisper. "We're not certain, but we're pretty sure that it was Lady Titania who somehow time-traveled here."

Rossweisse blinked. Somehow, that didn't surprise her. She shook her head and looked to see the sun inching down. "I'd ask for advice, but I doubt you want me to succeed."

The bunnywoman just smiled like a mysterious murderer. "Get ready, your head start is about to begin."

Rossweisse nodded, looking back to see many of the villagers standing at the side of the village, each looking eager and ready for the hunt.

She turned back to the forest and the sun, tensing her body. 

She pushed down some internal dread, hoping that her clumsiness didn't end with her getting boiled alive in a stew.

Meanwhile

Issei and Asia had made their way to the mall, where the young king took her to various places of entertainment. Music shops, an arcade, a few different food stands, and even a clothes store.

"Well, looks like Issei is having a fun time," Akeno said with a giggle as she spied them from across the mall. "Would that cute girl I spy with him, Asia?"

"That's her, yeah."

Akeno hummed and looked over to the speaker. "I was wondering when you were going to speak up, Lag."

The Eldritch of Doom gave her a side eye as he leaned on a pillar. "Are you following the King or something?"

"Oh no, nothing like that. I just came to do some shopping and saw Issei on his little date," Akeno said with a sigh. "A shame. I wouldn't have minded a day with him."

"You already warm his bed. Is there a reason to continue these courting exercises?" Lag asked with raised eyebrows.

Akeno shook her head. "Love is about more than just mating for us, Lag. We enjoy displays and acts of affection just for the sake of it being from our beloved."

Lag hummed. "Eldritch like me have a hard time grasping things like love."

"Like you?" Akeno asked curiously.

"I wasn't born from a womb," Lag said, glancing up at the ceiling. "There is a long-forgotten world that many different Eldritch attacked at the same time. That planet's doom was so certain, that I was born in its dying moments. Those like me, born out of chaos and accidents, with no progenitor to be linked to? Certain connections are strange to us."

"I see," Akeno said in thought before narrowing her eyes as she glanced down. "Lag, is that one with you?"

Lag was already looking to where she meant. There was a man following the pair from halfway across the mall. A human would find the ragged and twitching businessman very suspicious and off-putting, but the crowd around him paid him no mind and he slipped through among them. A weak camouflage of the eldritch sorts. "No. And that's why I'm here."

"Do you mind if I help?" Akeno asked.

"From what little I know of you, you'll come along anyway even if I say no," Lag said with a sigh.

Akeno smiled playfully. "My, my, how observant of you~!"

The twitching man crept closer and closer to Issei and Asia as they went through the mall. As they entered another store, he deemed this his moment and sped after them with a crazed and rabid look as he rounded the corner and charged into the store-

-and found himself elsewhere.

Instead of some shop in a mall, the man found himself in a parking lot.

"Don't bother running."

The maddened man turned to see him; the Horseman of Doom, Perdition himself. Lag leisurely rode on his motorcycle towards the foe, man and vehicle warping and twisting into the eldritch flesh of his true form.

The sky darkened, and the stars seemed to die as they appeared, and all around them the cars and pavement began to rot and rust and rupture before Lag's very power.

"My, my," Akeno said from one side, sitting on a ruined car with lightning dancing between her fingertips. "Is this one really so worrisome for all this, Lag?"

The man had a broken, permanent grin on his face as he carelessly pulled a weapon from his shirt with her left hand.

It was an overly thick dagger with a blade that curved back and forth, with a green eye at the hilt, the orb looking between the devil and the eldritch.

"Tread carefully, Thunder Bringer," Lag warned. "A nature like my own dwells in that blade.

"I see," Akeno said, narrowing her eyes.

"Hehahohehaho," the man laughed with the laugh of many distinctly different people at once. His body began to convulse as his head twitched and twisted at a blurringly fast speed. His skin bulged and twisted into a black and green mess of meat and bones on the left arm, going up to his head which had now mutated into having one large and off-centered eye.

Once more, what was left of the man looked to Lag, and something spoke through the body. "We need not be enemies. We should be united in our very natures, to bring about the End of Ends, O Great Rid-"

The voice got no further as one of the horse legs of Lag's lower body stomped on the ground, sending a fissure of ruin forth that erupted upon the possessed cultist and tore his body to pieces.

"No," Lag said simply, to whatever might still be listening.

"Hehahohehaho," the head laughed, even lacking lungs to speak.

Lag tilted his head. "Why do you-?"

He stopped as he realized it.

The dagger was missing, as was the hand that held it.

Lightning crashed down before Lag and struck the floating limb out of the air before it could strike him.

For good measure, Akeno brought lighting down upon all the body parts, with enough power to reduce them to dust.

"You have my thanks, Priestess of Gremory," Lag said as he turned around, flesh tendrils sprouting from his arm to grab the blade and pick it up.

Akeno approached cautiously, looking at the eldritch weapon. "What is it?"

"A blade touched by a Mad God, one seeking the end of all that the Daemon Sultana has wrought," Lag answered, squeezing his hand and turning the blade to dust.

"So...everything," Akeno summarized with a frown. "Should we tell Issei?"

"Already know!"

Akeno started in surprise, turning around to see Issei with a certain time goddess. "Issei? Yad? How long-"

"Yad just brought me here," Issei answered with a wave. "She told me you stopped  someone from interfering on my date with Asia earlier."

"Earlier?" Akeno repeated. "So, you are...?"

"From the future, a little bit, yeah," Isseid said, rushing the back of his head. "You get used to it."

"Ah. I was worried we interrupted your date," Akeno said before turning to the Elder God of Time with a smile. "Yad. It has been a while since we spoke. I hope your other self is doing well?"

Yad just nodded to her. "Thank you for your assistance. Lag might have been slain if not for you."

"That blade could kill an Eldritch God?" Aeno asked with a frown.

"Or cripple them at the least," Lag answered, shifting back into his human form and motorcycle.

"It definitely could have killed me," Issei said with a scowl. "Which was the goal, obviously.."

Akeno raised an eyebrow. "I know I shouldn't ask for a name-"

"The Waiting Dark and the Destroying Eye are his titles," Lag explained, leaning on the handlebars with his arms crossed. "Like I said, he wants to end everything. And he'll take any progress he can get towards that goal."

"Like killing Issei, and causing Aza to destroy the entire Earth," Akeno said with a frown.

"Honestly, Earth would be far from the only planet screwed over by that," Issei said with a head shake. "Still, thanks for the help, Akeno."

Akeno smiled at the young king. "My pleasure~"

"Right, so, I'm going to clean up this pocket dimension and head back to guarding the Boss in the present," Lag said, turning to drive off.

"I suppose that means you have to head back to the future, mister time traveler?" Akeno asked playfully.

"Well, I could. Or I could take a long way around," Issei said with a grin.

Akeno had a very interesting look. "Oh?"

"For me, this was yesterday. So while yesterday-me is taking Asia on a date, how about tomorrow-me taking you on a date as well?" Issei asked, chuckling. "And yeah, I know that sounds a bit corny and stupid, but it was kind of fun to say."

"I can imagine," Akeno said. "And if you want to treat me to a day on the town, well, who am I to refuse the wishes of the mighty Eldritch King?"

Yad coughed to remind them she was there. "I'll make sure nothing interrupts you unless it's the Queen herself."

With a portal-opening slash, she left the two as well.

"Shall me, Madam?" Issei asked playfully, sticking out an arm to her.

"As you desire, Your Highness~" Akeno answered, taking his arm.

Once they had all left, none were left to see the dust gathering to reform the Destroying Dagger, lying innocently on the ground.

With the pocket space ending, it would appear abandoned in the parking lot for any unsuspecting human to find.

It would, of course, if someone else hadn't picked it up.

The eye in the blade dilated and twitched in fear as a hand reached down and picked the weapon up lazily.

Yellow eyes glowed malevolently as She stared into the green orb.

"Now, now, you've had your funny or now, Cyaegha," Nyarly cooed playfully. "And, as a punishment....you lose this toy."

The eye of the blade began to bulge in pain as cracks of pale light began to form as cracks all over the blade and hilt.

Without a mouth, the blade screamed and dissolved into actual nothingness.

"I'm sure that hurt," Nyarly said with a chuckle as she crossed her arms. "But you shouldn't have tried to interrupt his date like that."

Just as she had appeared, the Messenger of the Gods disappeared without a trace to be found, with only a whisper to herald her departure.

"Have fun, Daddy~"