[Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we finally meet Lumi, who f*cked around and was made to find out.(6/6)

What he said felt profound, but I needed time to understand it further.

He offered his arm outstretched before me and I took it, biting into his flesh and savoring his blood. It was surely an impure act, but one I couldn't help but take part in. Only in those moments were my thoughts free of torment, and once more could I feel divine power course through my veins.

When I was done, he wiped my mouth and then picked me up.

"Swings?"

I didn't feel like arguing with him and agreed to letting him enjoy his role as my damned father.

Leaving the chapel, it was a few steps to the swings where Ebony and Mint were being pushed by Beastie, the goblin skeleton who was partly responsible for my imprisonment in this human-like goblin body.

"Lumi!"

"Came to play with us?"

At least these two goblin children were reasonable to deal with. I took my seat on the swing being pushed by my father and the other two being pushed by the skeleton who, somehow, seemed pleased to see him. Bitey, who had been sitting on Ebony's head, leapt from there onto my lap and spun around before sitting down and gesturing for me to pet it.

"Want to go hunt with us later?" Ebony asked me.

"Hunt?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah. Something easy, like squirrels. Bitey is good at finding them."

"Why bring me?"

"Because I'm a big sister goblin and so is Mint. It's our job to teach a little sister goblin like you how to be a goblin!" She whimsically claimed.

I felt my father's hand ruffle my hair for a moment before being pushed again.

"Why not give it a try, Lumi?"

"I… don't know how!"

"Didn't Stella teach you how to hunt?" Father asked me.

"She tried, but I'm no good with the bow. If I had a staff, maybe...."

"Hmm, a staff…? I suppose I can make one for you. But you should go along with your sisters for now and just listen to what they need you to do. Even if it's only to be an extra pair of eyes to watch out for danger."

After spending some time on the swings, I reluctantly did as he suggested and went out into the forest with Ebony and Mint. Bitey and Beastie came along and it was less a hunt and more of a massacre. Mint would use her Druidic magic to ensnare animals with grass and plants while Bitey would land killing blows, usually a snap of the neck, on whatever they came across. Beastie would carry all the spoils, and at the end of it, when we returned to Goblinhome, a number of them were dropped off at Melon's Kitchen where they were converted to decent quality food for us to enjoy eating.

Father had come to find us there and had brought something nearly the same size as I was.

It was a staff made of bone, from the last remaining femur of a Black-claw which Ivory still had to trade with, or so I was told. It had an etching of a snake twining around it with an open mouth trying to consume the symbol of the Goddess Elara, the five-pointed star at the head. Coupled with the twining of the snake was some kind of formulaic magic that ended at the top with a magic Rune I was entirely unfamiliar with.

"What is this?" I asked him.

"I call it Aurora. It's a staff meant to channel light magic. It might not be as effective as yours since it's inlayed with Runes instead of some divine charge, but I have a feeling you'd be the best qualified to use light magic among all of my daughters."

"GWOH! Lumi just got a grand weapon!" Ebony said with admiration.

"Mint, you should ask Husband for one, too!"

"I don't need one right now." she said quietly.

"Let's go test it out on a hunt tomorrow, Lumi!"

It was decided to do so. After eating, Father brought me back to my cave-hole where Mother was in the middle of making me something along with Pepper. It was a familiar thing, too. When asking what it was, Mother said that it was something Old One brought over to her a little bit earlier. But there was no mistaking what it was to me. The white vestments I was given to wear when I became a Saintess. The robes I still wore when I died in that cave while purging goblins from this world.

"Why?"

I threw a complete fit when I saw it. I'm sure it bothered my Mother to see me do that in front of the other goblin, but I was filled with anger and hate upon seeing it. The robes were a sign of purity, and being a goblin now… how could I wear such a thing?

I knew I was being selfish, but Mother and Pepper stopped mending it and Pepper took it with her when she left.

"I'm sorry, Lumi. Old One was sure you'd enjoy wearing it. I thought you might as well..."

I truly despised that Old One in this moment. Mother was quick to shift the subject to that of my new staff.

"Did Ark give that to you?"

"Yes."

Mother scooped me up and put me in her lap, I helped myself to some milk while she caressed my head.

"I'm sure he knows what he's doing if he's given you a weapon already. I must have failed in teaching you how to hunt as a goblin…"

The caressing then turned into a hug, which then turned into her carrying my tired body to our bed where she snuggled up with me under some warm covers… I had no idea where things would go from here, but I was sure of one thing at least. My mother and father were prisoners here, and it was my job to help them escape. Only then might the Goddess Elara restore us all to what we should truly be…

As such, I will never offer up a prayer to that twisted Creator of the Bloodmaws…

Never.

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