V listened intently to the priestess. Overall the story was not so important, the worlds history had little to do with his participation in the God's game. However, the part involving the rabbitkin and the demon's supposed powers might be relevant. They might explain Eika's odd behavior and abilities. For example, if the rabbitkin had indeed become as demons, perhaps that would explain why Eika was capable of harming the Champion of Darkness, the lady had spoken of the demon's ability to rebuff the powers of the Gods. If Eika was able to channel that power for a moment, perhaps it explains why simply ramming into him was enough to make him stumble backward. On the other hand, L was also partially a demon. She said that the God of Honor made her that way to "solve a certain problem" but the god of Honor did not share any more information than that. By the story, it sounded as if the demons had been wiped out, but that they also wielded extreme powers capable of challenging even the Gods. If they could find a way for L to tap into that, surely that would assist them. Perhaps she could ignore or bypass the Blessings given to the Champions by the Gods.

As the priestess finished her story, Eika's voice came from behind V. "That's not true!" V and the priestess turned to look at Eika. "Ah, a rabbitkin. I am sorry if my story upset you, I was merely recounting history. It was not meant to offend you." Eika and the fox girl had meandered over back toward V sometime during the story, and now Eika was angrily stomping her foot. "It's not history! Rabbitkin aren't devils! Mommy told Eika when I was small!" The priestess appeared interested as she replied "Ah, I do know that some of the less..." The women searched for the right word, trying not to upset Eika any further "uh... some of the more nomadic of the rabbitkin clans that now exist now tell a different story. I would be interested to hear this fal- uh... alternative version of history. It would be helpful to know what they believe." Eika's bluster started evaporating faster than a puddle in a desert as responded "Um... well Eika does not really remember the story. I was a little girl at the time..." The priestess tilted her head "If you cannot remember the story, why are you so certain that I am wrong?" Eika's face became distressed as she tried to respond. V stepped between them, partially for Eika's sake, partially because he did not want Eika to make a bigger scene then she already had. It probably would not serve them well to upset the local clergy. "Thank you for the information Miss. However, we will have to continue this conversation at a later date. We have an ill companion and must be getting back to check up on her, the sun is also starting to hang low in the sky." The women nodded "I will say a prayer for your companion. It was nice speaking with you." The priestess bowed and returned to caring for the plants in the area.

As they headed back to the hideout, Eika informed V of the fox girl’s new name "So Eika might have accidentally gotten the fox girl named after a famous hero." The foxgirl nodded "Ya its great!" Eika sighed "Her name is Luna now. I guess." V shrugged "It’s probably fine to be named after a famous hero. In my world lots of people shared names with famous heroes of history. I just hope naming yourself after the moon is not taboo around here." Eika looked at the sky as she spoke. "Ya that would be bad." Luna mimicked Eika "Ya... really bad..." V could not help but smile a bit at the silly girl's antics. He wondered why the god that sent her here chose someone who could obviously never win. Perhaps he or she also hated this Game and did not want anything to do with it? It would not surprise him to learn that the Goddess of Motherhood was not the only god who did not want to participate in a killing game. If the god who sent her here was indeed a God/Goddess of innocence, it tracked that they would not like to participate in a killing game. Although, on the other hand, they basically sent a little girl to their death? Perhaps they hoped she would surrender to someone and not have to fight at all? As V considered the hapless girl's condition, Eika started trying to teach Luna about secrets again.

Arriving at the hideout, Eika spoke up "Hey I’ll be right in, the clouds are pretty and I want to look at them for a bit! It’s like flowers in the sky!" Eika's excitement was shared by Luna "Are you sure they are flowers? The clouds look like fluffy beds! I want to sleep in a fluffy bed..." The girl was practically drooling, the beds in the hideout were basically just wood with a torn-up sheet over top of them. V nodded "Watch Luna, make sure she does not run off or something. Also, don't run off either." V descended into the hideout, wondering if he should really leave the two of them outside. Even if they are simply standing near the entrance there was certainly a number of risks leaving them alone. As he mulled over his concerns about Eika's responsibility he noticed L had rolled onto her side at some point. "The three of you sure make a lot of noise. I hope you are better at sneaking around when you're alone. Otherwise, I have no idea how you survived this long." V was surprised to hear L speaking, he thought she would be unconscious at-least until tomorrow. Perhaps her regeneration was stronger than he expected, or "Mother's Care" actually did something? "Well I was not trying to sneak up on you. I can sneak when I want to, trust me." L tried to sit up, but seemed unable to move her body much. "I feel like I have no strength at all. I think I did greater damage to my internals than is visibly obvious. I can barely sit up. I cannot move my leg at all, which is weird because I should be able to move the upper half."

V walked over to L and attempted to hand her some water. She tried to take it but her grip was too weak to hold it properly. "I can't." Her voice trembled. "I have never been so weak before. I’ve been stabbed through the stomach, had arms and legs broken, but nothing compares to this." As V gingerly tried to help her drink water, L's thoughts returned to the battle. Her sword clearly pushed her far, far beyond the limits of her body’s ability to function, even using a leg which was almost severed. Perhaps it damaged her other organs and muscles as well. She supposed in some ways it was a good thing, as she was able to deal a critical blow to the monster, but the price seemed steep. She was certain she would be dead if not for her Regeneration skill. It was lucky she had recently acquired level four, as she was not convinced that level two would have been enough to stem the internal damage she had clearly received. V was carefully navigating the task of helping L drink water. He did not want to be accused of doing something like "Touching her face," he was sure L would take poorly to any physical contact, considering she thought most of his actions were less then honorable.

"Help me turn over, and get these pants off. You need to examine my left leg. See if something else is wrong with it, as I said before, I cannot move it at all, which seems wrong." V hesitated "Uh...what?" He had left her clothes on, including her torn pants. The most he had done was try to move the ripped parts out of the way of the wound and the purple substance. He had considered removing her shirt and pants, in order to look for any other wounds that might need tending, but decided that was a quick way straight to death. It wouldn't matter if she had other wounds or not if she killed him once she recovered. L scoffed "If you don't think you can control yourself, I’ll try to do it myself." V shook his head. She was a beautiful woman, she could easily be a model back in his old world, but that was not the problem. He was not some sort of lust filled monster. He was just a bit nervous that she would go crazy for even the slightest misplaced hand or gesture. "No I'll help, I just uh, well I didn't think you would want me to ever be close to your bare skin in any form." L shook her head "Of course not, but I am a warrior first, a woman second. If my body is going to fail in its duties to carry out the first job, I need to know." V swallowed and nodded; he was still certain to be more careful with her clothing then he had ever been in his entire life. He figured that should he touch something he was not supposed to, L would somehow find the strength to lift her sword and run him through.

After some careful maneuvering, V had helped L flip over on the bed and remove her pants. Luckily for V, she was wearing simple underclothes. L spoke, her voice muffled by the fact she was face down. "Wahfs it loof like?" V examined her wounded leg. "I can’t actually see the wound, I put a potion of some sort over top of it. It formed a slimy barrier like thing. However, it already seems less sturdy then when it first formed. I suspect it will start falling off or just... dissolving in another few hours." L nodded "If you fink you can contain youfself, try placing your fand on my figh. I need to fee if I can feel anything." V sighed, was she trying to find an excuse to kill him? He gingerly placed his hand on the back of her left thigh, if felt extremely weird, it was like her muscle was... wiggling underneath the skin. At this point he heard a noise from the other side of the hideout. "WAWAWAWAWA! Adult situations!?" Eika yelled as she placed her hands over Luna's eyes. "Eh, why are my eyes covered?" Eika started pulling Luna back up the steps, keeping her hands over her eyes. "Uh... Sorry. We... um.... ah... will be outside!!!!" Eika had also covered her eyes with her ears, but was clearly peeking out from behind one as she ascended the steps with Luna.

L had turned her head when she heard Eika's exclamation. "We should probably clear that up later..." V nodded "I’ll explain it at the same time I explain that she can’t actually read my mind. It is dangerous for her to think she has powers she doesn't." L was curious about that, but was more concerned with her leg "Did you touch my leg yet?" V nodded, not that L could see him properly. "Ya it was sort of horrible actually." L made a dissatisfied noise "Well I'm sorry my skin is not soft and pliant like a handmaiden." V very quickly corrected her "Uh no your skin was great." he paused a moment, realizing that was probably not the right thing to say. "Uh what I mean is that your muscles sort of feel like wriggling worms under the skin. It's quite horrible feeling." L thought for a moment. "Depending on how powerful my regeneration skill is, the muscle could be actively knitting itself back together, reconnecting the top and the bottom of my leg. It would explain the movement. Alternatively, I have some sort of parasite in my leg, I would not put it past that monster." V placed his hand on her leg again, feeling around. "I hope not. Because if it’s a parasite its basically your entire upper leg." L spoke harshly "Just because I cannot feel your hand, does not give you leave to molest my entire thigh. I think we have gotten enough information." V quickly withdrew his hand "Uh... right. Ya. Do you want me to grab you a new pair of pants?" L shook her head "I don't want to risk tearing off the purple bandage slime thing yet." V stood up, brushing himself off and taking a deep breath. "Well, let me go talk to Eika, I need some fresh air anyway."

"Oh. You were just looking at her leg wound? Eika guesses that makes sense. I was wondering why L would let you touch her!" Eika nodded sagely as Luna looked between her and V "What?" the girl's confusion displayed plainly on her face. Eika patted the girl on your head "You will understand when you’re older. Right now, it’s not important to you." Luna nodded "Is being older a good thing?" Eika sighed "Yes... and no." V smiled as Eika attempted to explain "being older" to Luna. It was like the blind leading the slightly more blind. V gazed at the sky; a few bright stars had already started to shine down. Tomorrow was the last day before the Champion of Violence was supposed to show up. He wondered if they were strong enough to overcome the upcoming trial. He also still needed to discuss L's title with her, and see if they could discover what her title actually did.