Centuries ago, Kai’Vra was another mindless nymph, a creature, or rather, a plant of limitless potential. She had grown from magic beans bought by a foolish child, and grew into a fine specimen of her species, watered diligently by her ‘owner.’ He’d found her cute, raising her in a clay pot, and she reciprocated. He was quite cute, to think he could tame one of her great kind.

Once she’d gained enough power, she ate him alive, tearing him apart in glee as he bled, screamed, and prayed.

Back then, she was only a mindless plant whose simple drive was to consume and gain power.

Years passed like a blur as she slowly gained her basic level of sentience, preying on small creatures and plants to build her body, that of an attractive woman who could entice men, then eat them alive.

Her second victim was a drunkard, if she remembered correctly, a betraying, married man who had fallen easily for her simple trap. Of course, back then, it was still a struggle to kill even him, and her ploy was far from an original one-it was baked into her very nature. She liked to think that some demented druid had bred her kind to satisfy his deviant fetishization for plants but died to his own creation.

With her second kill, she found it unfulfilling. She needed to seduce stronger-willed, better people. Still, she needed more assurance, more power. While then she was dumb, she was always careful, and that never changed. She continued to feed on animals for sustenance while she stalked her new prey, a similarly debaucherous but refined man.

She approached him in his cabin, then pressed him against the wall, just how he liked it.

And bit down.

This sort of cycle continued, and she soon became powerful enough to kill without stalking, merely finding, then consuming, her victims when they were alone.

Ironically, at some point, she’d become known as the man-slayer, a woman who would kill any man who cheated. One girl had sought her help killing her husband, but Kai’Vra couldn’t understand language, so she lost the opportunity to kill them both.

Then, the druid came. He was strong but not fast. She avoided him with all her desperation as he tracked her on the ground, through rivers, forests, plains, and finally, a dessert. After days of running from the earth-empowered mage, he faltered upon seeing the desert, a place no man returned from alive and returned to his home, empty-handed.

Kai’Vra, however, was far from her territory, out of her mojo. Seeing she couldn’t return, she traveled the desert aimlessly until she found a ruined city, where she wandered its premises.

It was an ominous place, with grey statues of lizards with red eyes. She hadn’t processed it then, but the way it was standing, untouched, yet entirely uninhabited...it was unnatural. That city was not meant to be found, never meant to be treaded within.

In the ruined city’s center, two pillars stood. When she looked between them, she saw the void, and it stared back. Her mind was consumed by nothingness, an absence of fear or self-preservation. Everything was hopeless, there was no point in continuing, there was no running, it was all worthless in the grand scheme of things...

Then, a thing attacked her, a creature not meant to be within her realm. It was a mass of incomprehensible limbs and organs filled with gluttony.

At first, she had let it encircle her, like a spider consuming a cocooned fly. She had been hypnotized by the lawful being’s gaze, not caring if she died or not and unable to see life as a blessing.

Then, something in her snapped. A magic unnatural and foreign was unlocked in her soul, plantmancy. Indeed, nymphs were not born with her power nor her level of intelligence. It was by pure chance she attained both at the same time.

When she felt the burst of life within her, magic, she was invigorated once more. She wanted to fight, she wanted to kill, she wanted to live.

Before it could devour her, she began eating it. In a race to survive, she and the eldritch being consumed each other’s bodies with ravenous, crazed intention. She controlled the plants around her, the cacti, the flowers, the shrubs, everything, to wear at the creature. She ripped and tore at it, even as she was torn to shreds, wishing for nothing less than survival.

A day later, after each of them regenerated over and over, their built-up powers slowly degrading, she emerged victorious against the being that had driven a civilization mad, and she grew from it.

From that experience, she learned much. She learned of grit and souls, of the things beyond her small world, and of the powers that would carry her to godhood. Most importantly, she learned sentience.

From there, she dominated. With her recently attained powers, new ways to observe the world through mana, and intelligence she became a creature to be feared. After returning to her territory and consuming humans that walked on the road, she made a daring choice.

To live among them.

But her journey from a plant on the verge of death to a god that took the combined efforts of 200 druids to seal and weaken is a story for another day.

What she had gleaned from that experience was that fate existed. What were the chances that a nymph happened to hold the power of plantmancy and used it to eat a being of pure comprehension? Because of that series of events, she believed in destiny, a greater purpose, and saught it.

She’d sought many destinies, but right now, she sought genocide. The eradication of the human species. That was her end goal, her ultimatum.

But she had time. If a human surprised her, it wasn’t only her duty to kill them but also to glean their secrets, show her authority, and prove that she was the superior species.

For that reason, she took her human-killing easy. What mattered to her, unlike her lesser kin, was the big picture.

Right now, she sought Drade and Onei and their secrets. If the human fictions were right, and magic existed beyond the scope of her knowledge, she wanted-no, had to learn more. Comprehension, how delightful that word was. She salivated acid, just thinking about the secrets of the world.

She casually jogged down the alleys, intentionally giving the humans a chance to run, all before she would outsmart them, torture them for intelligence, then exterminate them. Well, one was not a human, as he had stated in their first encounter. She regretted not pressing that topic, but to be fair, she had been starved of food and was growing weak.

Then, she paused.

She smelled a strange scent in the air, that of fungus spores.

EWWW!!

Onei and Drauko heard Kai’Vra’s scream echo through the tunnels

“I’m not sure what’s going on over there, but we take help!” Onei said.

Drade didn’t seem so happy. “If something made Kai’Vra scream...” Luuko finished his sentence, “We probably want to be far away from it.”

“If we leave at the nearest exit, we should get to school,” Drade continued.

“Wait, what!?, you mean we aren’t going to the Friends for help?” Many of the Friends lived in their headquarters, so there would surely be some strong people who could help.

“No, we left to get your body back. If we try to get the help of strong people, my luck will screw me over. There’s rarely a boon without a bane. Rarely a bane without a boon too...”

“That’s some scary as heck luck. It doesn’t even let you...ask for help.” See! Both you two can’t ask for help!

How can’t she? If she asked, I’d try my hardest for her.

Exactly! You’re the only person she can ask.

Hmmm...you’re right, Drade reluctantly agreed.

“So we are going to the school?” Onei asked for confirmation, confused by the one-man show.

“Mhmm,” Luuko responded, holding back her drowsiness.

Unfortunately, they wouldn’t get away so easily. A black blob, which had quit on chasing Kai’Vra, was approaching them from behind, drooling acid in its goopy mouth.

“But...” Drade said, “It doesn’t look like fate’s making this easy for us. Left!”

Onei and Drauko approached a crossroad as the slime spit at them, then dived left, avoiding its attack.

At this point, both Onei and Drauko were short of breath, and their mid-dash banter certainly hadn’t helped. “We need a way to keep that thing off our trail!” Luuko said, pulling out Drade’s handgun and shooting it. The goop seemed to stop for a few seconds but continued chasing after them despite the bullet. “Mmm, yep, I expected that.”

Drade, do we have anything else on us?

I’ve got a laser pointer.

Those aren’t-

It can fire a laser.

Why didn’t we use that earlier!

Drade shuffled through his pack as they ran(used to it) and pulled the weapon out, then Luuko pointed it at the goop, shooting a small laser that slowly evaporated it.

Onei covered her eyes, the concentrated light too bright, “Ahh! That’s bright.”

The goop shot at them again, and they were forced to stumble and fall to dodge.

This thing’s useless! Do you have anything else?

An umbrella? My phone? Batman made me a concussive charge...we could try using more of my magic, but...

But what?

While I’m capable of almost any magic, assuming I trained myself in it...

Strong.

It drains my life force permanently. Even that small lumancy spell wracked me with pain.

...Oh...oh,, I’m so sorry-

Don’t worry about it. These things happen. I’m underprepared for my dangerous reality as is.

They continued running.

Dude, you keep a laser pen in your backpack, does that count as underprepared to you?

Evidently, it isn’t enough to fight against a slime.

As they ran, Onei slipped off her shoe, then turned to face the slime. “Go on without me...I’ll handle this,” she said overdramatically, ready to swat the thing like a bug. She hit at it, which surprisingly seemed to annoy it, keeping it busy. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to last, as it gripped onto the shoe on her second attack, then began crawling from it onto her arm, its body keeping cohesion like a sticky octopus. “Ewww!” Onei smacked it against the concrete before it could touch her, and it eventually ate the shoe, assimilating it into its body. “It’s corrosive too!” she shouted to the running Drauko before she ran from the monster.

Not like that paragraph actually mattered in the end.

Onei was practically flailing at this point, unable to catch a breath through the action.

“I’m...” She breathed harshly, unable to keep running for more than a few more seconds. “Not...exactly...able to...huh?”

Drauko was face to face with a young teen, who was maybe fourteen, in dingy, muddy clothes. He had a thick chain about twelve feet long bundled by his side.

“Who da hell are you?” he asked as Drauko and Onei floundered past him. “What are ya running from...?” He saw the goop, then yelled, “Da fuck is that?!”

“Goop!” Onei shouted back to him.

“Eww. Get that away from me. Hey, don’t drag it to me!” He shouted as it spat acid at him. He flicked his wrist, and suddenly, his chain glowed red, then reacted to the attack with a sudden slash, throwing the deadly acid away. He flicked the chain again, and it slashed at the creature, cutting it in two.

Onei gave him a thumbs-up as she fell to the ground, breathing heavily. Drauko did the same but instead tried to sleep, only for Drade to smack his own face. Not the time, Luuko.

But...I’m so...exhausted! Luuko said through nonexistent metaphysical breaths.

“Can...can you help us?” Drade asked the newcomer.

He shrugged. “I was planning to do something, so unless you shoved a thousand bucks in my face right now, that’s a no.”

Drauko slowly put their backpack in front of them, then shuffled through it. They pulled a small bundle of folded $100 bills out.

“...Dude, did you really just pull a thousand dollars from your backpack?”

Drauko nodded, their head falling on the ground as they held it out.

“What...do you need help with? This weird thing?” the teen said, before flicking his wrist again, his chain striking it once more. “Doesn’t want to die...” he muttered.

Drauko finally got to yawn, then Luuko spoke, “Nuh-uh, we’re being chased by an evil plant monster. Please save us.” They looked up again, only to notice the boy had been sitting beside a latter to the surface. “Some luck...an exit.”

The boy looked at the latter. “Nah, you don’t want to go up there. If you did, you’d be thrown into prison on the spot.”

That’s better than fighting a plant monster, Luuko noted.

NUH-UH! I’d rather walk into dragon territory than try to escape prison!

Don’t you know lots of people who can telepo-

Nope, not happening. Last time I went to jail, Lumia herself was the only person strong enough to break me out!

I still don’t get it. Why did you call Lumia for an ‘orbital strike?’ Is she secretly the strongest person in the Friends or whatnot?

Yes.

You know, that explains a lot.

“You finished spacing out?” the kid asked before handing the two bushed teens his hands. Onei and Drauko took them. “If you’re chased by a plant monster, I can eradicate the thing, easy.” He snatched the bundle from Drauko after they stood, then counted it. “Looks good-Hey, I said stay down!!” he flicked his other hand, and the chain sliced the goop before it could reform again. “I’m a little confused, though. I’ve never even seen creatures like that before. I mean, I knew magic existed since I can use it, but why am I seeing the first glimpse of it now?”

“Fate,” Drade said bluntly.

“I’ll take your word and cash for it.”

“But you can’t beat the monster alone.”

“IIIII dunno about that, bud. My chain control can make sonic booms on command, I don’t think some dumb plant monster stands a chan-”

“Dumb plant monster? My name may be Kai’Vra, but my last name isn’t Doubi.”

“WOAH! You didn’t say it was a hot plant monster.”

Kai’Vra scowled with distaste, halting as she was revealed by Drauko’s phone. “I’d normally seduce you to your death, but I have standards, and kids aren’t a part of them.”

The kid laughed. “If ya frickn’ think I’d fall for you, you’ve another thing comin’, bitch. I’m already married to violence.”

“Oh, good, then I’m sure you’ll die by her side,” Kai’Vra said, smiling menacingly. She reeled back her arm, then threw it forward, suddenly spearing forward as cartilage only to be cut by the kid’s chain before it could get close.

He pocketed his money, then took a stance. “That all you got?”

“No, I’m simply testing the limits of your abilities,” Kai’Vra responded before commanding a dozen grass roots to break through the sewer’s ceiling. The boy flicked his hand up, and his whip cut in a circle above him, severing all the roots. Kai’Vra had already sent her other hand flying towards him, but he was able to cut it with another small motion, his whip shattering the air, rebounding through the sewers like a gunshot.

Kai’Vra retracted her two arms, and they turned back into human arms, though with their fingers cut off. “You can call me Kai’Vra, as I mentioned earlier. What is your name?”

The boy smiled with cocky confidence. “I’m Kaleb, and it is not a pleasure to meet you.”

“I second that!” Onei said.

Kai’Vra laughed. “And I reciprocate.”

“You’re surprisingly nice,” Kaleb admitted.

“I hope you’ll continue to think that while you watch me from the afterlife as I kill every last human alive.”

“...For the equivalent of Adolf Hitler, that is.”

“Who?” Kai’Vra asked with curiosity.

“He committed genocide on jews and gays and other people? The evilest man in history?”

“Not familiar. I’ve been sealed away for a few hundred years.”

“Ahh, the ‘ancient evil’ archetype.”

“Yes. Though I don’t know if I’d call myself that evil. Unlike a discriminatory scumbag, I kill everyone, no matter their age, religion, gender, or sexuality.”

“Ahh, you’re such a merciful omega to the human race.”

Kai’Vra had finally healed her hands, so she struck forth with one then the other. Kaleb tried to cut them both in one flick of his wrist but was forced to flick twice due to Kai’Vra’s sequential attack. Before he could properly recover, a tree root broke through the concrete on the other wall, then shot towards him like a sharpened stake. He dodged by stumbling back, the attack leaving a giant tree root in between him and Kai’Vra.

Kai’Vra didn’t give him the opportunity to gather himself and ran forward with surprisingly slow bounds, ducking beneath the root as Kaleb tried to cut at her from overhead. Instead of dodging the chain’s strike, she raised a hand where it would hit. The chain cut through the root with ease but only managed to slice part of Kai’Vra’s arm because of its protection.

Kai’Vra was only a few feet from him, her teeth bared as she dived to chew on her new food. Kaleb’s other hand held the chain, and he bared it in front of him, shoving it into Kai’Vra’s mouth as her head grew into a monstrous mass of bark and greens as she tackled him to the ground, keeping her back with it, but just barely.

Drauko saw how Kai’Vra channeled her magic to individual parts of her body to strengthen herself. Hence, as she turned her left arm into a planty spear, making it as strong as steel with her magic, they didn’t wait to attack and shot her unprotected face in rapid succession, throwing her and her aim off Kaleb long enough for him to command his chain to hit her away, then dash off his butt.

“Run!” Luuko said before fearfully running away with Onei and Kaleb.

Kai’Vra stood from the grimy waters, a genuine smile on her face. She’d had a little too much fun there, fighting a fair opponent. He was only a child, of course, but he showed promise as a fighter. Too bad for him, his death was imminent.

It was fun being weak again, with the thrill of battle and trickery muddling the outcome of her fights.

This wasn’t only about wisdom now, but about having fun. This day just kept getting better.

She shivered as she remembered the fungus. The way fungi got into her stomach, then grew...inside her...she wanted to squeal just thinking about it. Ohnonono, she wanted nothing to do with fungus, and she wouldn’t let her run-in with the mundane plant ruin her day.