Heading To Mondorus

Despite how much I had hyped up this journey the walk to Mondorus was incredibly uneventful, the only thing of note was a butterfly that landed perfectly on my finger, if being a hero was going to be this easy I shouldn't have anything to worry about. After climbing up a small hill which took more physical effort from me then I'd care to admit, I saw Mondorus in view and it was beautiful, just from where I was standing I could see large stone houses than could be seen for miles, a myriad of stores and carts selling everything from weapons to fruit or even weird novelty items, not to mention the large lake which sat directly next to the town making it a popular spot for tourist. Seeing this beautiful sight in view, a newly invigorated excitement burst though me giving me a slight skip to my steps, "maybe the world was far different then my books had led me to believe" I thought to myself, I mean those books were old, maybe that's how the world used to be.

The town was just as exciting as I had saw and imagined, there were so many people, some shopping, some talking, some kids were even playing a ball game with each other. This place was so wildly different then Linarus, my home town, you would be lucky to see two or more people just casually walking about but here you'd see groups in the tens, it was almost overwhelming at first going from a quiet and secluded place to one of noiselessness and liveliness. Just as I was collecting my thoughts a young cheery looking women came up to me "Ah hello there sir, would, by any chance this be your first time in Mondorus?" The bubbly women said almost bouncing as she spoke her sentence, I had no idea what to say, the only social interaction I've ever had with someone like this was with John and even then I would have to prepare myself a little bit, that's not even to mention I now had to keep the goddess reputation in line can you imagine if someone found out and thought "your telling me that guy who could barely hold a conversation for two minutes is the goddess chosen hero?, I guess she really is ".

"Uhhhh yes, yes it is, w-was it that obvious?" I said, now nervous of how people in the surrounding area viewed me "Oh no no sir it's nothing like that, I'm just really good at remembering people is all and with a face as cute as your I would never forget" She said giving me a quick wink. My social inability had just went from 100 to 1000 "I-I d-don't, I m-mean, I-I'm not" It wasn't even words coming out of my mouth anymore just the ramblings of someone who sounded like a nervous teenager. The women however found my social meltdown quite humorous as she let out a soft giggle "I'm just teasing you sweetie, now before you pass out on me, what would be your name?", despite me emotionally dying on the inside, I (by some miracle) managed to say "I-It's Aeris", "Aeris, what a lovely name, speaking of names, I'm Kya nice to meet ya, now what would your purpose be in Mondorus?".

After what felt like forever it seemed we were actually having a normal conversation but that question was a bit iffy, "Oh yeah a voice in my head told me to defeat the strongest being on the planet you know something the average person would say". "Uhhh that's k-kind of a long story" best to avoid looking like a crazy person, or at least as best I could "Well you could just tell me on the way" Kya responded "O-on the w-way to what?" and before I even had the chance to ponder what her statement meant I felt a warm and soft sensation on my hand, it was her hand. Kya hand took my hand and interlocked her fingers around mine, much to my disbelief "Well I have to show you around silly, now let's go".

And thus commenced the most hectic part of my day, a day in which may I remind you had me have to leave all my friends behind, lied to all of them and spoke to god herself, Kya gave non-stop energy moving here and there, dragging me all the same showing me places I didn't even have time to process. That wasn't even mentioning her teasing, oh goddess the teasing, every chance she'd get she would call me embarrassing names like cutie or sweetie and even gave me a nickname of Ara, which she would always punctuate as if she was talking to a young child or small animal. She got a right kick out of it when I asked if we could take a break in a bar I pointed out, I was then quickly informed by Kya that it was not a bar but a strip club, which she said though burst of laughter mind you, while I had to stand there contemplating if running away was a socially acceptable option. And I swear her hand gripped tighter around mine when I wasn't looking.

And after what felt like hours, Kya finally stopped right in front of her house "And finally this is my place so Ara, Mondorus's pretty cool right" She said as if this kind of rapid and energized movement was something everyone could handle, I however was clearly not everyone. "Y-yeah it's pretty nice a-also do you t-treat everyone like this?" I said genuinely curious if I was the only person who found Kya just a tad , "Hmm like what?" clearly that wasn't going anywhere. But before either of us had a chance to say anything a loud bell chimed from the centre of the town, I looked at Kya thinking that this must be one of Mondorus's many strange customs but instead were greeted by an expression which did not belong on her face, fear. "Of all days this could happen it had to be when you arrive, of fucking course it had too" hearing her curse made it truly set in how scared she was, which in turn made me terrified, the constant sound of the bell not helping, "K-Kya wh-what's happeni" I couldn't even finish my sentence as Kya grabbed me by the hand and brought me into her house with her. Her hand wasn't the same playful, teasing grip she held before, she held my hand tight as if scared for my safety.

"K-Kya please wh-what's going on?" My scared question was only met by a small shush by Kya "Talk quietly okay" not knowing how to process what was going on, I gave quick nod of my head. Kya gave me a quick smile in response and then placed her ear against the door frame, coming back from it with a sign of relief. "Okay it seems she's in some other part of the town" I wanted to ask again about what was going on but felt like asking for the third time in a row would make her annoyed but luckily I didn't have to. "Now I know you must be pretty confused ara" Kya said with a calming tone "But to keep it short, this super strong manticore has been snatching guys from around the village who are never seen again, since she's so strong we made the bell to inform the town when she's coming" A-A manticore, the monster that the books I read only described as freaks of nature, strong, fast and deadly, it's even rumoured that the demon queens army is mostly comprised of them. "And since her taste is for cute, innocent guys like you, I know I had to get you out of there" A shiver ran down my spine, not only was she a manticore but I would be in her sightlines, who knows what a manticore would do to me, would it poison me with it's sharp stinger, would it tear me up with it looming claws or maybe it would even do something called mating which was in the monster girl book I had, unfortunately the rest of the paged was ripped out so I have no idea what mating is, but it sure doesn't sound good.

"So we're just gonna lay low in here for a while until the bell chimes again which means she's gone" She said trying to reassure me "K-Kya if you don't mind me a-asking how many men have been t-taken" Kya let out a long sign in response "30 in the last few months" My eyes shot open, thirty men, men with friends, family's, livelihoods all taken by it. I clenched my fist, for some reason that I didn't know, that fact made me angry, as in really angry, this manticore has taken away so many lives and to top it all off manticores live for an incredibly long period of time so this village and it's inhabitants would have to suffer this monster for generations to come. I hated how it could hurt people like this so freely for it's own selfish desires, but what could I do, I was just some idiot who thinks he can play the hero, I couldn't beat a small puppy let alone a manticore. I looked up at Kya hoping to see that uplifting smile once more but instead all I could notice about her face was single tear drop down from her eyelid.