The forest floor, recently a battlefield of shadow and steel, now felt impossibly soft against Riku's back. The Flugel's kiss had ended as abruptly as it began, leaving him breathless, disoriented, the taste of starlight and something ancient lingering on his lips, a phantom weight in his mouth. He gasped, struggling to regain his composure, his eyes still wide with a mixture of shock and violation.
Then, with a casual, almost playful gesture, the Flugel pushed him. Not hard enough to injure, but enough to send him stumbling backward onto the leaf-strewn ground. He landed awkwardly, his head hitting the soft earth.
Before he could even push himself up, she moved. Fluid, silent, impossibly fast. She didn't just land beside him; she landed on him.
The weight was negligible. Ethereal. Like being draped in moonlight. Yet, the press was undeniable. She straddled his waist, settling herself onto his crotch, her body a perfect, shimmering enigma perched upon his. Her crimson uniform, unstained by the recent battle, flared around her delicate legs. Her golden eyes, ancient and vast, sparkled down at him, filled with that unnerving blend of power and utterly focused curiosity.
The physical intimacy was shocking. Unwanted. His mind reeled from the sudden proximity, the impossible reality of a being who could erase cities now sitting astride him, her delicate form radiating an intoxicating warmth that felt utterly wrong given the context. He was pinned, not by force, but by the sheer, overwhelming audacity of the gesture, the casual disregard for his personal space, for his autonomy.
He lay there, chest heaving, acutely aware of the soft, almost weightless pressure on his lower body, the rustle of her uniform against his clothes, the unsettling intimacy of her presence centered upon him. It wasn't just physical; it was a psychological assertion of dominance, a statement of ownership delivered with a terrifyingly serene smile.
Meanwhile, off to the side, Levi, was sitting on a branch wiping his blade. The shadow creatures were gone. Riku wasn't being physically harmed. The situation had devolved from a life-or-death battle into… whatever this was. Seeing no immediate need for combat intervention, but uncomfortable with the static waiting, he decided on a pragmatic course of action.
He pushed off the branch, landing lightly near Riku's head. "Oi, Dola," Levi said, his voice low, a note of impatience creeping in. "This… roleplay. Don't know how long you plan on keeping it up. But I'm heading back to tell the villagers to keep moving. They're losing valuable time." He gestured back down the path the villagers had taken, his sharp gaze fixed on Riku.
Riku's eyes snapped towards Levi, the raw fear and violation in them momentarily replaced by something else entirely. A sharp, intense glare that pierced through Levi's usual stoicism, momentarily wiping the pragmatic impatience from his face.
It wasn't just anger. It wasn't just fear. It was a look that screamed of a sudden, terrifying realization. A look that told Levi, with chilling clarity, that he had just made a monumental, potentially catastrophic blunder.
Go back to the main column? Now? With a Flugel potentially tracking them? The thought flashed through Riku's mind, a cold dread tightening his chest. He needed a reason, a plausible excuse to get Levi, their fastest scout and most potent defensive asset against anything that might track them back to the main group, away from this immediate location, away from the potential fallout of the Flugel's unpredictable presence. A reason that wouldn't immediately tip off the Flugel that he suspected tracking, or reveal the true nature of Levi's speed.
"No," Riku said, his voice strained, pushing himself up slightly despite the weight on his lap. "Go to the old village."
Levi froze, his brow furrowed in confusion. The old village? The one they had just evacuated? The one they knew was empty? "The old village?" Levi asked, skepticism thick in his voice.
"Just go," Riku insisted, his voice gaining a desperate urgency. He couldn't explain. Couldn't reveal the terrifying calculus churning in his mind.
"Are you sure?" Levi asked, searching Riku's face for an explanation, but finding only that unsettling, desperate intensity in his eyes.
"Yes," Riku affirmed, his gaze unwavering. "Go there, check if anyone was left behind." It was a flimsy excuse, but it was the best he could do in the moment.
Levi, though bewildered, recognized the absolute resolve in Riku's voice. He didn't understand the reason, didn't like the order, but he trusted Riku's judgment, especially when it was delivered with that chilling edge of desperation. He nodded grimly.
"Alright, Dola," Levi said, securing his blades. He glanced at the Flugel, still perched on Riku's lap with unnerving serenity, a silent question in his eyes about this bizarre interaction.
Before Levi could launch, Riku added one last thing, his voice low and urgent. "Levi. If you encounter any being. Monster. Individual of another race. Anything. Do not engage in a fight. Do not reveal your presence if you can avoid it. Just come back quickly."
Levi's eyes narrowed further. A direct order not to fight, even if threatened? That went against every instinct, every fiber of his being. But Riku's tone brooked no argument. He understood. This wasn't a typical scouting mission.
With a sharp nod, Levi launched himself from the ground, the hiss of his ODM gear echoing through the pass. He shot through the trees at maximum speed, heading back the way they had come, towards the empty, abandoned village, leaving Riku alone with the seraph.
The Flugel, who had been observing the entire exchange with a serene, almost detached interest, smiled down at Riku as Levi's form disappeared among the trees.
"Shifting villages?" she asked, her voice light and airy, as if discussing the weather. She gestured back down the path towards the fleeing villagers. "Oh, I must have troubled you. wasting your so much time."
Riku, still acutely aware of her presence on his lap, managed to push himself up slightly more, propping himself on his elbows. "Yes," he said, his voice strained. "We are. We had to."
"But that's so much work!" she chirped, tilting her head. "I can easily teleport all of you, you know? It would take only a moment! Get you to your new location faster."
The offer was tempting. Impossibly so. The System clock was a constant, terrifying presence in Riku's vision. Teleportation would solve everything.
"No," Riku said, shaking his head. "There's no need for that. We... we have plenty of time. And my people would become scared if they saw a Flugel. Especially one with... glowing wings and a halo."
The Flugel's smile didn't falter. "But you can convince them! Riku Dola can convince anyone! That's what the movie showed me!"
"I… I have more important matters to attend to," Riku deflected, trying to steer the conversation away from the villagers. He needed to understand her, not just her capabilities.
The Flugel's golden eyes sparkled, a predatory gleam entering them. Her smile widened, her delicate lips curving into an inviting, sensual shape. With a slow, deliberate movement, she licked her upper lip, her gaze dropping to his mouth.
"More important matters?" she purred, her voice dropping to a low, seductive murmur that sent a shiver down Riku's spine. The weight on his lap suddenly felt heavier, more significant. "Like... beginning what we were doing?"
A fresh wave of fear washed over Riku. He knew. He knew with chilling certainty. If he resisted now, if he outright refused, she wouldn't stop. She would take. Forcibly. Her power was absolute, his helplessness complete. He couldn't fight her. He couldn't run. The only option was to somehow buy time, to distract, to understand, to find a way out of this terrifying, intimate trap.
"Before… before that," Riku said quickly, his voice tight with a desperate urgency, his mind scrambling for a new angle, a new question to keep her talking, to delay the inevitable, "I want to ask something." He had to keep her engaged, keep her talking, reveal her nature, her purpose, anything that might give him leverage. Anything that might prevent the terrifying, beautiful seraph sitting on his lap from deciding it was time to continue where their terrifying kiss had left off.