Intermission:
Lithisia’s Solo Shovel
✦ ✦ ✦
Before leaving on their journey to the Kingdom of Darkness, Alan and the others decided to rest for the night at the World Tree Castle. They were all rather exhausted from their adventure in Rahzelfo, and even shovels needed rest. Not only had Alan’s fired off multiple Wave Motion Shovel Blasts, it had also soaked in the Angel Furnace for quite some time. Shovels were durable and wouldn’t break, but it was best to let them rest so they could regain their cutting edge.
Thus, for a while, the team relaxed.
Late in the night, Alan was awake and about; he had gone to bed quite early. “One orb left… Man, I’ve come a long way…”
There was only a little left to the request Lithisia had first made of him.
Alan thought back on his meeting with the princess. That’s right. When we first met, she…
“D-don’t worry about me! You can’t possibly win with just a shovel!”
“How did things turn out like this?”
At the time, Lithisia had been a strong and kind young woman. Now she was a strong and kind shovel woman. The quickness and diversity with which she harnessed the powers of the shovel stunned even Alan, and those powers grew every single day. In only a few weeks, she’d experienced inconceivable growth. Or perhaps “evolution” was the better word.
“I mean, I’m happy and all, but…hrm?”
Just then, he heard a small noise coming from far above, all the way on the roof of the elf castle. Alan had left his shovel up there to let it dry out. Could it be an enemy attack? No, he didn’t sense anything of the sort. Nonetheless, he grabbed one of his secondary shovels and fired a Shovel Wire up to the roof. It was an express route.
The moon was full and the stars were as bright as ever. In front of the shovel Alan had stabbed into the stone roof was a single girl in a dress. Lithisia. She was on her hands and knees, carefully blowing onto Alan’s shovel, then delicately wiping it down with a silk cloth. She repeated this process over and over again. Finally, she ran her finger along the shovel as if to check her work.
“Hm… It’s still kind of dusty…j-just a little more, shovel.”
Lithisia restarted the process, sweat glistening on her forehead and dirt staining her knees. Judging by her current state, she’d been polishing this shovel for hours. Lithisia was likely planning on continuing this until morning without a wink of sleep.
Alan watched in silence from the corner of the roof.
“Sir Miner…this is all I can do, but…”
Alan thought to call out to her but stopped himself. Lithisia had taken it upon herself to polish his shovel. It wasn’t Alan’s place to interfere. She simply and quietly, in the shadows, wanted to give her all to maintaining his shovel.
I should pretend I didn’t see anything and get out of here… That was the kindest thing Alan could do as a miner. When it came to anything but romance, he was a man who knew a great deal about the subtleties of the heart. I should get back to bed.
He turned his back to Lithisia and prepared to leave. It was then that Lithisia, silk cloth in hand, looked up, cheeks damp with sweat. She seemed on edge, but she hadn’t noticed Alan watching her from afar. For some reason, her cheeks were turning slightly red.
“Mm…” After confirming nobody was around, Lithisia brought the silk cloth to her face. With every fiber of her being, she inhaled the aroma of the cloth. “Mmmmmaaaahhh! Sir Miner’s shovel scent…his aroma…mmph!”
Her body trembled as her whole being filled with joy. Lithisia kept sniffing as her eyes brimmed with tears. She was completely focused on this experience.
“Mmmmmph, I love it. I love shovels. I love this shovel scent! Mmmmmm!!!”
Scoop, scoop! Scoop, scoop! (The sound of her refilling her Shovel Charge through her nose!)
“What in the hell is that sound?” said Alan.
“?!”
Crap, I didn’t mean to interject.
As Lithisia held the cloth up to her nose and once more inhaled, she at last made eye contact with Alan.
Time itself froze, the miner’s shovel gleaming in the pale moonlight. Lithisia tightly closed her thighs. Confusion writ itself across her face. Huh? Sir Miner? Why? Y-you weren’t supposed to be here. You weren’t here. Why are you here? He saw me, he saw me, he saw my shovel he saw my…
Thus began the waterworks. Lithisia cried like she had never cried before.
“Noooooo! Scoop, scoop, scoop!” Lithisia waved her hands about, her face colored with mortification. Her entire head was basically a tomato at this point. “I-It’s not what it looks like! This isn’t a shovel or scoop or a…ah…aaaaaahhh!!!”
“Get a hold of yourself, Lithisia! You’re not making any sense!”
“I swear it’s not what it looks like, shovel!” Lithisia dashed off at full speed.
It would be bad to let her go in this state, Alan thought, so he grabbed her, placing her arms behind her back. Nonetheless, she continued to resist with all of her might. Where was this tremendous power coming from?!
“Urgh!” Left with no other choice, Alan grabbed the shovel nearby and swung it. “SHOVEL (stop)!”
“!!!”
Lithisia was paralyzed. This was a special skill that capitalized on the fact that both “shovel” and “stop” started with the letter “s.”
“Uuuuuuuh…”
Lithisia looked at Alan with tear-filled eyes. Her regret was plainly apparent. She apologized over and over again, wishing she were dead. In the hopes of making her feel safe and perhaps calming her down, Alan took his shovel and caressed the top of her head with it.
“Ah…ahh…”
Lithisia’s eyes drooped as Alan continued to rub the head of his shovel across her pate. For some reason, this bizarre princess was more at ease with a shovel than she was a human hand.
“Don’t worry, Lithisia. I’m not angry.”
“Ah…mm?”
Really, shovel? Even though I’m such a scooping shovel of a princess? So said Lithisia’s eyes, but Alan was being honest.
Truth be told, he had no clue what she was doing.