LUCIA

6 Escaping Neinhart

"The first rule is about your life" Luke said "You'll reach a point in time when you'll stop aging and become immortal. You won't die of old age but after you've had a female child who'll replace you as a heart, you'll undoubtedly die"
"Just from the first rule, it sounds more like a curse" Lucia said
"There is an exception to this rule"
"What is it?"
"If you get harvested, not only will you die, but it'll take hundreds or even thousands of years before a new heart is chosen and this kingdom will most likely sink to the bottom of the ocean" Luke said and Lucia frowned "The second exception, is if the heart had a child in another heart's territory. It's a loophole that brings me to rule two: If a heart leaves their own kingdom, they have five years before they die. It's the third exception of rule one"
"This is seriously confusing"
"Blame your predecessors for that" Luke said "Rule one and two are connected. If the child of the heart is born in another heart's territory, the same five years they have to live in rule two, will apply to rule one. The exception to rule two, is you can always return back to your kingdom to recover lost life and magic along with expanding your stay in another kingdom"
"It's because of these two rules that there's no problem with me leaving Neinhart?"
"Your sisters have been doing the same thing for the past fourteen years so their life span and magic was at it's top" Luke said as he looked out the cave "That's why Melvin lost" Lucia clenched the hilt of the white longsword when she heard this
"Rule three: A heart when injured, can only be healed by a spirit or another heart. However, when gravely injured by a heart, they can only be healed by another heart" Luke said "There's no way to go around this rule. Although, minor injuries can be healed all by yourself"
"I see"
"Rule four: when there is a set of female hearts that are born at the same time from one heart, they will be marked with the yin and yang symbols which will determine their destinies. Among the set, some will have yin and others yang. It depends on the child but, the size of the white and black circles in the yin and yang symbols, determines who will be in control of the body when said set merges" Luke explained "There can not be more than one heart, is what that rule is trying to say. In your sisters case, Diane-Annabel who was born with the yin symbol is in control of the body of what's now called 'Diana'"
"Are you saying... they can't be separated?"
"What a foolish wish. Keep going like that and you'll become just like your father" Luke said and Lucia took in a deep breath as she held back her tears and kept quiet "Better. Rule five: Hearts can give birth to special attributes hearts when the love for their partner is stronger than any other emotion. You are a product of this rule and whether the other rules apply to you or not, I don't know.
Lastly, rule six: If two hearts love each other very much, once they share a kiss, their two kingdoms will become one and they shall be free from the rules. As for why this rule exists, I have no idea. The rule is even rumored to be a joke placed by one of the first hearts, just for the sake of messing around"
When Luke was done with his explanation, he looked at Lucia who was clearly trying to ignore him
'I hate babysitting brats' Luke thought before he suddenly saw her stand up "What is it?"
"Do you...hate my father?"
"I detest Melvin more than anything" Luke said as he went back to resting "He took everything away from me. My sister who died after having you, and this kingdom that's about to crumble. All for the same stupid kindness that you're also trying to show towards the enemy. I detest your father because he was a fool"
Lucia pursed her lips and began to run towards the entrance of the cave. Luke frowned at her action and wanted to leave it until his ears twitched
"Stay away from there" Luke shouted
"I'm not listening to you" Lucia cried and as soon as she walked out of the cave, she was almost crushed by a giant club, but Luke was immediately by her side in his human form
He grabbed the club with his left hand and Lucia with his right hand, but the blow to his left was strong and sent a shockwave which shattered his arm.
'That was unexpected' Luke thought as he looked at the beast holding the club while gritting his teeth. It was a large minotaur with large horns and drool coming out from it's mouth. It looked like its body was made out of dark red shadows that were always shifting.
'This strength is abnormal' Luke thought as his arm healed before using it as leverage to push off the club while holding Lucia.
The minotaur roared and stared at Luke with its hollow black eyes. Luke threw Lucia in the air and took on a slightly smaller version of his spirit form before jumping and catching her on his back
"Hold on" Luke growled and Lucia gripped his fur tightly as he started running away from the area
"What was that?" Lucia asked as Luke was navigating through the forest
"The assassin" Luke said "It's made out of magic and I can't defeat it"
"Are you alright?" Lucia said as she noticed blood running down what was supposed to be Luke's left arm
"Spirits can't heal wounds that were inflicted to them by hearts" Luke said "But I'm fine"
The minotaur suddenly dropped from the sky and Luke dodged the club it swung but the shockwave still hit him and injured his internal organs.
'Damn it' Luke thought as he continued running and noticed Lucia's grip on him had reduced. As soon as he sniffed the air, he could catch a whiff of Lucia's blood, 'Where was she hurt? She seems to have been knocked unconscious' he continued running and before he knew it, it started raining fireballs.
Luke used magic to have vines tightly wrap Lucia to his body as he started dodging the incoming fireballs. Explosions continuously went off as the fireballs he dodged touched the ground. A couple grazed him but not one touched Lucia
'I thought we'd be heading there tomorrow but this changes things' he thought as he continued down South before making a turn southwest and increasing his pace.
   When he finally reached a cliff, he took deep breaths and checked on Lucia. She was still sound asleep on his back and there was only a slight burn on her forehead.
'Looks like I didn't dodge all of them' he thought as he heard the roars of the minotaur from afar 'This one doesn't give up'
Over the cliff was a vast ocean and nothing more. One would think Luke was crazy when he leaped forward however, the air around the cliff shook and a ripple was formed right after he leaped.
For anyone viewing it from Neinhart, Luke had jumped off the cliff and disappeared. But, Luke had only walked through the gate of a magia regiones and was immediately pulled into a large water cyclone.
He covered both Lucia and himself in a large bubble as the cyclone swayed them from side to side. He was at least thankful there was air in the cyclone. The water currents took them deeper and deeper into the vast ocean. He began to navigate his way through the magia regiones.
Above water
A familiar minotaur was dead just before the cliff with a large scythe stuck in its chest. The same hooded woman was staring at the gate of the magia regiones
"This direction...so, a spirit from Neinhart, has a connection with the heart of Lupin" she said "I still need to complete my report so...will I follow the gate?" she tilted her head "I'll just teleport directly to Lupin and wait at the entrance"
******
Centre Of Lupin
A girl was laying on a soft bed while snuggling a pillow and taking in large whiffs of it. She had calf length platinum hair with golden hibiscus shaped combs on the sides of her hair, and large innocent ultramarine eyes. On the table was a note which read [I'm off to Neinhart for a couple of days - Luke]
"Ah" she groaned "It has already been three days. I miss you Lu-Lu"
She stopped sniffing the pillow and simply hugged it "Hurry up and come home to me" she smiled