Hey there, readers! Here is the newest chapter, all set and ready for your reading pleasure! I really hope that you enjoy it as much as I did writing it!

 

 

 

 

I've Been reincarnated as a Bunny Girl?! (Chapter 14)

 

 

by

 

 

Elite Shade

 

 

 

 

"You are certain of this, Percival?" The old man looked up from the report on his desk that he was reading. Percival felt His Holiness' eyes boring through him, electing to remain bowed.

 

 

 

"Yes," the red-headed elf said, gulping a little, unsure of how this information would be received. "A small group crossed the border earlier today, with matching descriptions for both the rabbit beasta and the orc who have been the root cause for the disruption in several of the Empire's operations. In addition to one Archibald Nunarin, son of the Duke who oversees the city of Shuta."

 

 

The old man began to scratch at his chin with his long, bony fingers. "It would seem that the will of our lord is at hand. Are they still in Wishlighte?"

 

 

"I am receiving updated reports as soon as they are written, via the Linked Parchments. So far, several watchers have observed the group stopping at a jewelry shop, where the young noble made a purchase for what he declared was his fiance. Apparently he and the beasta are to be wed."

 

 

The old man frowned at that. "So the Nunarin bloodline will include that of this beasta? That is unacceptable. However, it certainly is most convenient, is it not, Percival?"

 

 

"Uh... s-sir?" Percival finally looked up into the ancient eyes gazing back at him, feeling a shiver run down his spine.

 

 

"So soon after our failed attack on Starlight Rose, the home of the rabbit no less, they decide to come to the Empire, of all places for a young... couple to go?" He practically spat the word out.

 

 

"I admit that it does seem suspicious, sir," Percival said. "Yet one of their overheard conversations illuminated that they were actually going on a trip to Scarvale, when the young lord insisted on a detour to purchase some souvenirs."

 

 

The old man furrowed his brow. "Wait a moment... the jewelry shop... where is it located?"

 

 

"Uh..." Percival was confused by the sudden question, but quickly shook it off. "It is along Miralla Avenue."

 

 

The old man's eyes widened at that. "That is near the location of the goblin, Sevlin's, shop, is it not?!"

 

 

Percival paled a bit at the sudden harsh tone from the old man. He had seen people perish in the most dreadful of ways when his holiness would speak in that tone. "I-I believe so, sir."

 

 

The old man stood up and flicked a finger. The marble flooring beneath the desk rippled, suddenly becoming a liquid, that the large ornate piece of furniture quickly sank into and was swallowed up by. The surface rapidly solidified, and His Holiness strode over to the high priest, lifting his head up by the chin so that they were once more looking into each other's eyes. Percival fought a tremble at the fury he was seeing in those smokey yellow eyes.

 

 

"And they are going to be heading east, to Scarvale? You are certain of this?"

 

 

"Y-yes, your holiness!" Percival gasped out, feeling his body tense and freezing up.

 

 

The old man was silent for a few heartbeats before he released Percival, who gasped, suddenly realizing that he had been unable to breathe.
"Dispatch the Emerald Eyes to intercept them as soon as possible. Inform them that they are to send Abyssal Emerald ranks only. These adventurers, particularly that accursed rabbit, have proven too dangerous for normal methods to be used."

 

 

"Y-yes, your Holiness!" Percival bowed low, shivering at the sudden chill in the room. Being dismissed, he was hopeful that the infamous assassin guild would be able to remove this particular thorn from the Grand Bishop's side. Having to deal with one group of interlopers was bad enough, but this new group that had arisen had only made things worse, setting back meticulous plans greatly from their interference. He returned to his quarters, a rather small and sparse room, with the symbol of their lord engraved in gold on the ceiling.

 

 

He walked over to his much smaller desk, and pulled out from a locked drawer a softly glowing emerald. Set within it was a small black swirling mass. Pulling out a small golden needle, Percival pricked his left ring finger, letting a drop of blood well up before he quickly wiped it onto the stone. The light flared inside as he walked to the full length mirror that was next to his closet. He touched the stone to its reflective surface, and watched as a series of cracks began to spirderweb out from where the stone touched. When the entire mirror was covered in cracks, the fragmented image of himself was replaced with a figure whose eyes glowed green.

 

 

"The Emerald Eyes are at your service," a quiet voice hissed out of the ether.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

"This land could be real pretty if it weren't for all the creepy statues," Kiana said, now the one holding the reins while Geth was digging in a pack in the back of the cart. Passing by on their left was a massive stone statue of a humanoid with a bald head and no facial features, seven arms, two of which were held up in prayer, and a large pair of wings sticking out from the back. Looking closer, Kiana could see that the hands of each of the arms appeared to be twisted deformed lumps of interlocking fingers. Also, on each of the individually carved feathers were bulging eyes. Kiana got the oddest sensation that the statue was watching them. This was the fifth such statue they had seen since leaving the city.

 

 

"I must say that I find them a bit disturbing myself," Archibald said, side-eyeing the giant stone angel.

 

 

"They're depictions of archangels from the Leoluna's newest testaments." Geth grunted as he hefted up a trunk and began to unlatch it. "However, I've noticed a distinct similarity between these archangels and a mythical creature common in the Vespaln religion. Known as the Kir'itos, or as roughly translated as the term can be 'The Watchers Hiding in the Light'."

 

 

"Interesting. And are these Kir'itos benevolent beings?" Archibald asked, while Kiana's ears twitched.

 

 

"Not at all. Their role in the myths that involve them seem to revolve around cementing the idea that just because a being is native to the realm of light, that does not inherently mean it cannot be evil. They have a counterpart from their realm of darkness whose lesson is actually the opposite. All of Vespaln is about balance, actually."

 

 

"Uh, guys," Kiana said in a tone that caused Mirabelle to snap out of her nap.

 

 

"What is it?" Geth stopped unlatching the chest, looking to the bunny beasta.

 

 

"We're being watched again," Kiana said, feeling the fur on the back of her neck start to stand up.

 

 

Archibald looked around, a soft whirring noise coming from his head as he closed one eye.

 

 

"I'm not seeing anything," he said, turning around to check both sides.

 

 

Geth narrowed his eyes, mumbling under his breath. A set of runes on his armor began to glow with a faint blue light while he grabbed his sword. Mirabelle hissed, her eyes glowing amber as she looked out to the left side of the cart, her tail thrashing angrily as she did so. Bolt began snorting, stopping in his tracks, looking around wildly as he began stomping the ground. All of a sudden, Kiana leapt in a backflip from where she was sitting right next to Archibald, her hand darting out and catching a needle-like dagger an inch from his neck.

 

 

"Loch-Menoch!" Geth roared, a blue light radiating out from around him, a similar aura now shining out from Archibald and Kiana. He slashed the reins holding the cart to Bolt, the tenebricorn rearing up and letting out a whinny before letting loose one great stomp that caused a tremor in the ground. In doing so, whatever enchantment that had allowed their assailants to remain unseen was lifted, revealing five individuals, all wearing green hoods and face masks.

 

 

"It's not every day that my invisibility spell gets dispelled. Well done," came a feminine voice from one of the shorter hooded figures. She was playing with another needle dagger. "Maybe you lot will actually prove a bit of a challenge?"

 

 

Kiana leapt off the cart and charged at the nearest assassin, the sunlight shining on her donned mithril knuckles. The one she was charging was the largest in the group. He was wielding a greatsword that he immediately swung at the bunny. Kiana leapt over it... only for the swing to suddenly pivot and head for her throat. She backhanded the blade with her right knuckle, bringing her left fist down on where the big boy's jaw had been just a half a second ago. Spinning around, she had just enough time to block a kick to her face, which was followed by a sudden thrust of the sword. Kana caught it with her free hand and snapped the tip of the blade right off.

 

 

While Kiana fought the large assassin one on one, Geth was currently managing to hold his own against another two. The one with the needle daggers was darting around him, attempting repeatedly to stab in whatever gaps in his armor she could find. All the while, another male assassin he was also dueling was taking measured strikes with his own katana. Geth had entered a state of deep focus; purple flames just like the ones engulfing his katana blazed where his eyes normally were. As he moved and blocked strike after strike, and quickly shifted his stances and body movements so that the needles would just bounce harmless off his armor, his eyes shone brighter and brighter.

 

 

Near the cart, Archibald was locked in battle with a female assassin, whose weapon was a pair of sickles. She twirled and grunted while she attacked, becoming a whirlwind of slashes. Archibald was doing his best to keep up, using his mechanical arm as a shield whilst he made nicks and cuts with his sword. The entire time, his mechanical elven eye was tracking the assassin's attacks and beginning to formulate a pattern. Starting to anticipate her strikes, the noble began to turn the tide of the fight.

 

 

Off on the other side of the cart, the final assassin, wielding a trident, of all things, that was glowing with a green energy, was having to deal with not only Mirabelle, but also Bolt. The tenebricorn was actually using his horn to parry his thrusts with the trident. The assassin barely managed to roll away from the cloud of yellow mist that the giant snake began spraying at him. However, he was not quick enough to avoid some of the breath attack, his left leg quickly growing numb. He took a misstep, and that was when Bolt charged at the exact same moment Mirabelle struck. Just as her long fangs dug into his neck, Bolt's horn stabbed through his chest, piercing his heart. He let out a wet gasp, dropping the trident, dead before his body even slid off Bolt's horn, collapsing to the ground.

 

 

Geth's male opponent howled as the paladin's blade sliced off both of his hands, effectively disarming him. This came at a cost, however, as Geth felt a sharp stabbing pain under his right arm. He struck out at the female assassin, who just narrowly managed to deflect it. Now with just her to focus on, due to the now disarmed assassin being engulfed in purple flames, the paladin's unfaltering strikes came in quicker and quicker succession. The other green-hooded assailant did her best to keep up with the strikes, but with a single swipe, her head was soon parted from the rest of her body. Geth gasped as he looked down, the purple flames in his eyes extinguishing, to see a steady trickle of blood coming from the puncture wound. What was worse, he could feel an odd prickling sensation starting to spread out from where he was stabbed.

 

 

"Poison," he said with disgust.

 

 

Archibald's mechanical eye began to show him exactly where his own opponent's sickle strikes were going to be, long before she even knew herself, with a 97.5% accuracy. He had previously learned not to rely too heavily on these predictions, but still, they proved helpful. This was demonstrated when he managed to catch her arm in the vice-like grip of his mechanical one, putting his blade to her throat. The fear in her eyes was evident to Archibald, who simply said nothing. She released her weapons, to suddenly start convulsing as the mechanical arm electrocuted her. When she dropped to the ground, Archie kicked away her weapons; he quickly checked and found that she was still breathing.

 

 

Kiana had never faced an opponent this fast before. One would think that a walking mass of muscles would be naturally slow, and a lot of the time, they'd be right. But despite his mass, the man the bunny girl was fighting in hand-to-hand combat, due to her breaking apart the rest of his sword, was proving to be a skilled and very deadly unarmed fighter. His natural strength, which she suspected as they traded blows faster than the eye could blink was magically enhanced in some way, wasn't really enough to actually cause her damage. It was, however, his skills in deflecting and redirecting her own strength that was proving to be a bit of a challenge. He caught a kick from her that he was somehow able to transfer the power from to the open palm strike he delivered to her chest. The pain Kiana felt reminded her of her past life, and when she would spar while training. That was enough to bruise her ribs.

 

 

His punches kept coming, and she dodged and blocked them just fine, but she was still on the defensive. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Geth was leaning up against Bolt while Archibald rushed to his side, looking in her direction. Mirabelle was slithering towards her, but Kiana was worried this guy could actually kill her snake. Her fist collided with his and she felt several of the bones in his hand break, and heard him hiss in pain. That was when she knew he was losing the energy to maintain the speed he was using. Seeing this as her opportunity, she spun a kick at his head... that he caught in both his good hand and his broken one.

 

 

He redirected the force behind her kick into a jab from a small aquamarine syringe that only now Kiana could see was up his sleeve. Kiana wanted to kick herself for not waiting for help. Whatever it was, it was fast acting, and Kiana started to feel a chill in her limbs, almost like a cold numbness, that felt eerily familiar to her. She wrenched her leg free and tried to throw a punch, but her movements were sluggish, still powerful, but sluggish. The man in green chuckled as he caught her attack and used it to deliver a powered up double palm strike to her chest. Kiana was vaguely aware of going flying a bit, but that came secondary to her mind, as she was certain that some of her ribs must be broken. The pain was instant and she couldn't focus on anything, and on top of that, she suddenly found it hard to breathe. With a choked breath, the blue glow of her eyes started to sputter, all the while the assassin approached, chuckling to himself.

 

 

"The purified essence of a banshee's wail is best used on an enemy that relies on physical prowess. In your case, actually delivering it to your blood stream was the hard part." His voice was deep. Kiana looked around and saw that she apparently had been thrown much further away from the cart and her friends than she had thought. As she looked up into the sky, she saw a white dot that was quickly growing larger. Before it was blotted out by the assassin's hooded face looming over hers, as he stood over her.

 

 

"Any final parting words for me to deliver to your friends before I finish them off as well?" He sounded so smug, making Kiana smile, the white form growing larger still behind his head.

 

 

"Yeah," Kiana coughed, wincing as she did so. "Good boy, Snowflake."

 

 

The assassin was confused for the briefest of moments before a deluge of the white frost breath attack slammed into him. Kiana quickly, albeit painfully, wriggled away. Her ears heard his scream that was quickly silenced as the frost wyvern landed next to him. Snowflake growled and snarled at the completely frozen solid figure standing dead center in the patch of ice that had formed in this area of the grasslands. Snowflake swiped at it with his claws, causing the frozen corpse to shatter entirely. The large winged reptile carefully leaned his head over Kiana, whimpering and licking the side of her face. She reached up and rubbed his cheek.

 

 

"Such a good boy, Snowflake." She laid back down, hearing shouts and footsteps approaching. Archibald soon arrived, along with Mirabelle. The serpent hissed as she finally made it to Kiana's side, coiling around her protectively.

 

 

"I th-think my ribs might be broken, Archie," Kiana said, groaning a bit.

 

 

Archibald started to look frantic before he apparently got a hold of and composed himself.

 

 

"Don't worry, Kiana. We've got some healing potions, and Geth says that the town shouldn't be that much further. They'll most likely have a healer or two. Geth's bringing the cart over, and we're going to very carefully lift you up and lay you down in it." While his voice was full of his usual confidence, Kiana saw the worry in his eyes. She turned to look up at the clear blue sky again, wondering if this was how her new chance at life was going to end. All too soon.

 

 

"I got careless," Kiana gasped out, her eyes watering. "I got freakin' careless... I'm sorry," she said, her voice hitching as the tears flowed. Archibald did the best he could to comfort her without moving her. Geth was swaying a little in the driver's seat of the cart as he neared them, a small obsidian bottle open and between his lips as he downed its contents.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

"Kiana, please wake up!"

 

 

Kiana's eyes fluttered open, slowly sitting up, expecting her chest to hurt. She was surprised to find that it was just fine as she slowly stood up, checking to make sure she didn't get any grass stains on her dress.

 

 

"Come on, Kiana! We gotta hurry!"

 

 

"I'm coming, Davi! I just had to make sure my new pretty dress didn't get stained. My Auntie Lisol worked really hard to make it for me!" Kiana smiled at Davtio, the young boy with the shock of golden locks and pointed ears giving her a cheeky grin. He was missing two of his teeth, having been really excited to go show his parents earlier, so they could let the Tooth Gryphon know he was going to put his baby teeth under his bed tonight. Kiana double checked her dress, a canary yellow with puffed shoulders, and a large matching bow tied around her waist.

 

 

Kiana giggled as she took Davtio's offered hand. The two ran through the woods, laughing and letting out excited squeals as they ran to investigate the old barn. Some big kids had told them that it was haunted, but Kiana knew better. She might be a four year old little bunny girl now, but inside, she was still a big tough grown-up man! Kiana shook her head a bit at that.

 

 

Inside, I'm still my same adult self, she thought, correcting herself. Ever since she had first re-learned how to walk, Kiana found her mind would sometimes lapse into a more childlike state. Her memories were still there, and she still felt like herself, but even though at bed time, when she knew that there wasn't a monster under her bed or in her closet... or even if there was, she could just obliterate it with some punches and kicks, she still felt better when Mommy or Daddy would check again each night for her. As she had reflected on this before, often bringing it up when she would have a tea party with her plushie friends, it really was an interesting experience. Now at age four, it didn't happen nearly as often as when she was a baby. But still, growing up all over again, with her adult self still intact, while also seeing the world through the bright and colorful and exciting lens of childhood... it was truly amazing.

 

 

"There it is," Davtio said, suddenly letting go of her hand, running off ahead, towards a partially burnt-down-looking barn. From this side, it was apparent that half of the roof had caved in.

 

 

"Wait for me, Dav!" Kiana giggled, rushing to keep up with him. As she did so... something felt off. Something felt... familiar.

 

 

"Huh... but didn't we already do this?" Kiana asked out loud.

 

 

"Come on, Kiana, there's probably treasure hidden inside!" Clouds seemed to be blocking out the sun as everything started to get dark.

 

 

"But... no, all that's in there are some giant fire beetles that tried to swarm us," Kiana said, rubbing her head. "And after I squished them all with one slap... Daddy and Mommy still put me in timeout, especially since I stained my dress with their guts, and also got it a little singed. We... we already did this."

 

 

Davtio called out to the little bunny girl, but his voice sounded so far away. And it was so dark out that Kiana had trouble seeing anything. She began to whimper, feeling so alone.

 

 

It's alright, Little One, a soothing, motherly voice in her head cooed to her. Looking around, Kiana heard a crack of thunder, and looked up to see what looked like a giant, floating, undulating cobra above her, looking down with its glowing blue eyes. You need to open your eyes now, Little One.

 

 

"Huh?" Kiana asked. "But they are open... aren't they?"

 

 

Just open them for me, Little One, your soulsong says you have a job to do.

 

 

Kiana thought hard, unaware that her own eyes were starting to flicker, and then shine out with a blinding blue light. Feeling a sudden jolt of energy run through her, Kiana awoke.

 

 

 

 

There we go, readers! Sorry to leave you on a bit of a cliff-hanger there, but I just couldn't help myself. Please consider letting me know what you think!