After going to Nyx's house, Luca realized she really wasn't joking when she said she had a bunch of chickens.

The place looked less like a home and more like a feathery apocalypse.

Chickens were everywhere—on the fence, on the roof, under the table, even perched on the window ledge like little guards.

It was chaotic, noisy, and smelled strongly of...well, exactly what one would expect.

By the time they were done catching them, the trio had managed to fill an entire small wooden cart.

And now, Luca dragged it behind him, while the chickens sat inside looking far too relaxed, flapping their wings and clucking as if enjoying a joyride.

Nyx, on the other hand, looked thrilled.

"Ahhh." She sighed contently, stretching her arms as she walked beside the cart. "My house is finally going to smell like a house again and not like bird poop. Do you know how long I've waited for this day?"

She turned around to glare at the chickens, her grin twisting into a evil smirk.

"You little feathered devils made my life hell. And now I'm going to enjoy every moment of butchering you, one slice at a time."

As if they could understand her, the chickens immediately began squawking louder—fluttering, fidgeting, and glaring at her with wide, terrified eyes.

But Luna on the other hand, who was walking beside Luca, looked horrified. Her face went pale as snow, and she pressed a trembling hand to her lips.

"P-Please, Auntie Nyx!" She said, her voice weak. "Don't talk to them like that! You're scaring them!"

"Good." Nyx chuckled. "They should know fear before they meet their demise."

"Noo!" Luna said, close to tears. "Please, stop saying that! I think I'm going to be sick again…"

Hearing this, Luca immediately panicked, dropping the cart handle and rubbing Luna's back.

"It's alright, it's alright, Luna. You'll be fine, okay? Deep breaths. Deep breaths."

He gave her a sympathetic smile, but inside, he was sweating bullets.

He had thought Luna was exaggerating earlier when she said she couldn't stand the thought of hurting animals.

But within the hour they had spent catching the chickens, she had already vomited twice.

Not because of the smell, not because of blood.

But purely because she imagined what was coming.

And now, she looked like she was seconds away from making it a third time.

Luca sighed and said in a concerned manner,

"You know, Luna, you really don't have to come with us right now. It's only going to get worse from here. Me and Nyx can handle this."

But Luna, despite looking like she was about to faint, shook her head stubbornly. She gripped his arm tightly, as she said,

"No...no, I'm coming. Don't leave me behind."

"Luna…"

"I said I'd stay by your side, didn't I?" She said weakly, forcing a brave smile even though she was leaning heavily on him.

"Even if I faint...I'll faint next to you."

Luca looked at her, half-moved, half-exasperated before sighing.

"Alright, alright. Just don't vomit on me. No one's going to want any food from a man that smells like puke."

He adjusted his hold on her so that she didn't faint as she they walked before looking at Nyx with a wry smile.

"I knew elves would react badly to the idea of eating meat, but I didn't think it'd be this bad. I mean, she's physically ill right now."

"It's only natural, Hero." Nyx shrugged with a small smile. "Elves have been vegetarians for thousands of years. They've never touched an animal, let alone killed one. For them, what you're saying is basically a mix of cannibalism and child murder."

Luca groaned. "Thanks for the comparison, that helps a lot."

"But it is true." Nyx continued. "Telling an elf to eat meat is like telling a human to eat their pet dog. Of course they're going to lose their minds."

"And honestly, I still don't know if your little cooking plan will even work."

"Trust me." Luca said with confidence. "It'll work."

He glanced back at the cart of chickens and smiled faintly.

"Besides, these guys are perfect for it. They've got no predators around here, so they've been living the good life—fat and lazy. Look at them. They didn't even fight back when we caught them."

"They just came along like we were taking them on a picnic..."

"...not knowing that they are in line to be turned into the juiciest meal imaginable."

As soon as he said that, Luna's face went ghost white.

Her cheeks puffed, her throat made a strained noise—

"Luna—!" He started, but it was too late.

She turned and bolted to the nearest bush, collapsing beside it as she began retching miserably.

"BLERGH!!!"

"Okay, maybe we should stop talking about butchering chickens."

Luca grimaced, as he went over to her.

Nyx was giggling now, trying not to enjoy this too much.

"Good idea." She said, then looked around and gestured toward the distant trees. "Anyway, Lulu's backyard is nearby. Want to see why she reacted like a banshee when you mentioned killing chickens?"

Luca, who was currently wiping Luna's mouth with a handkerchief and helping her sip some water, sighed.

"Honestly, yes. I need to understand what kind of insane bond she has with those birds. I mean, she acted like I told her to throw her baby into a fire."

Nyx grinned. "Oh, you'll see. Come on."

Following her lead, they walked a little further until they reached a massive tree—the home Leona, Lulu, and Luna used to share before Luna and Lulu began staying with their aunt.

The tree itself was enormous, its roots sprawling across the forest floor like thick veins, with beautiful wooden steps leading upward into a carved elven home.

But Nyx led them around to the back.

"Be quiet." She whispered, crouching down and peeking through the bushes. "You'll want to see this for yourself."

Luca and Luna crouched beside her, curiosity growing.

And then—when Luca peeked past the leaves—his jaw dropped.

Right in front of them was a massive fenced area.

The enclosure stretched across the ground, at least the size of eight swimming pools and within it were small wooden sheds that looked like chicken houses, each neatly built and painted.

And inside that enclosure…

There were hundreds of chickens.

White, fat, waddling, and squawking everywhere.

Some were eating, some were sleeping, and some were literally sunbathing in the dirt.

It was like a chicken metropolis—Chicken City.

But the most shocking part wasn't the chickens.

It was Lulu.

The girl was inside the fence, surrounded by her feathery subjects. And she wasn't just standing there—she was imitating them.

Her hands were tucked under her arms like wings as she crouched, wobbling her head side to side.

"Wokak! Wokak! Wokak!" She cried proudly.

And, unbelievably, the chickens answered back.

"Wokak! Wokak wokak!"

Lulu nodded seriously and bent down to one of them.

"Yes, yes, I know, Henrietta! You're upset because Auntie Nyx stole your eggs again, right? Don't worry, I'll make her apologize later."

Another chicken squawked loudly.

"Oh, hush, Beaky! You always complain about everything. You ate the feed from Clucky's bowl again, didn't you? Admit it!"

The chickens squawked indignantly in response, and Lulu gasped dramatically.

"Excuse me?! Don't you talk back to me in that tone, young lady!"

Nyx was trembling beside Luca, tears forming at the corners of her eyes from how hard she was holding back laughter.

Luca, meanwhile, looked like he was watching a fever dream.

"She's...talking to them." He whispered, completely dumbfounded. "And...they're answering back."

Luna nodded weakly beside him. "She...She always does this...she says she understands them."

Nyx snorted. "Oh, she understands them, alright. Probably better than she understands most people."

Lulu, still oblivious to their presence, now strutted proudly across the yard.

"Alright, my precious babies! Roll call!"

"Wokak!"

"Wokak!"

"Wokak!"

She nodded seriously, counting them one by one.

"Henrietta? Present. Beaky? Present. Clucky? Present. Peep-Peep? Present. Fluffzilla? Present."

"Good! Everyone's here! Now who wants to help Mama Lulu dig for worms today?"

The entire flock erupted into loud, chaotic squawks, like a chorus of approval.

Seeing this, Luca slowly turned to Nyx with the most bewildered expression imaginable.

"…Okay." He said quietly. "I take it back. I understand exactly why she screamed when I mentioned chicken stew."

"Told you." Nyx smirked. "You just declared war on her children."

But despite how ridiculous it was, a smile slowly crept across his face.

It was funny, yes—but also strangely adorable.

There was something pure about it, something endearing in how genuinely happy she looked, laughing with her flock as though she'd found her own little world within theirs.

Still watching, he leaned closer to Luna and whispered,

"I gotta ask...why exactly does she love chickens so much? Is it just because she thinks they're cute or something?"

Luna, who had finally recovered from her nausea, let out a soft giggle.

"No, it's not that simple." She said, her tone turning warm and nostalgic. "It's actually...quite meaningful, really."

He turned to her curiously. "Meaningful?"

She nodded, her eyes distant with memory.

"When we were children." Luna began, her tone soft and a bit wistful. "Lulu used to spend a lot of time in the forest, watching the birds. She always loved seeing them fly—so high, so free."

"But then one day, she noticed that the chickens, even though they had wings, couldn't fly like the others. Not properly. They could flap and jump a little, but they always came right back down."

Luna gave a little laugh, looking at her sister fondly.

"She said it made her sad. She told me, 'What's the point of having wings if you can't use them?' And then she started crying because she imagined what it would feel like to have wings herself and still be stuck on the ground."

Luca blinked, glancing back toward Lulu—who was now crouching beside a particularly fat chicken, rubbing her nose against its beak affectionately.

"So she felt sorry for them?" He asked quietly.

"Yes." Luna said with a warm smile. "She decided that if the chickens couldn't fly like the other birds, then she would be their friend and help them feel happy instead."

"And from that day, she started feeding them and taking care of them. She'd sit with them for hours, talking to them like she does now."

"Mother didn't like it at first." She giggled softly, remembering. "The chickens were noisy, always running around the house, and they used to peck at her laundry."

"But eventually, she gave in."

"She built those fences you saw back there and even the chicken houses just so Lulu's little friends wouldn't wander everywhere."

"And when I asked her why, she just said she didn't want the chickens wandering off and getting lost..."

"...but I think that it was her way of showing love."

There was a sadness in Luna's eyes now.

"She never said it out loud, but she always did little things like that for us." She smiled bittersweetly.

"And now...we're barely even family anymore."

There was a brief silence. The mention of their mother cast a subtle shadow over Luna's expression.

Her eyes lowered slightly, the memory she was thinking of quite painful now.

But then she shook her head, pushing the thought away and smiling again.

"So...that's why she loves chickens so much. It's not just because they're cute. It's because she felt like they were the ones who needed her. And maybe, in a way, she saw herself in them."

She looked up at Luca with a soft, expectant smile.

"So...what do you think?"

"Honestly?...I thought it was going to be ridiculous."

He admitted with a small chuckle.

"But that's...actually really sweet. I get it now. I can see why she's so attached to them."

He smiled a little wider.

"And to be honest, it makes me think Lulu's a lot smarter than I gave her credit for. That kind of empathy? You don't see that often."

But before he could say more, Luna tugged on his sleeve, her eyes wide.

"Um...you might want to look again before you call her smart."

Luca frowned, confused, and turned his head back toward the chicken enclosure—

—and froze.

Lulu was no longer standing.

Instead, she was lying flat on the ground, arms spread wide, humming cheerfully as she sprinkled handfuls of feed all over her body.

"Come on, my little angels!" She chirped. "It's lunch time! Eat up! Don't be shy!"

Dozens of chickens immediately swarmed toward her like a feathery tidal wave, hopping up and down her body as they began pecking away at the seeds.

"Ow! Ow—gentle! Gentle!" Lulu squealed between giggles as the chickens crowded her, pecking happily. "Henny, that tickles! Stop biting my hair! And Clucky—oh gods, not there!"

Luca's eyes widened. "Not there?" He echoed uncertainly.

And then he saw it.

The largest chicken of them all—a monstrous, fluffy beast that looked like it could rival a small dog in size had proudly hopped right onto Lulu's chest and was now pecking determinedly at the seeds sprinkled over towering breasts.

Lulu looked down at it, sighing dramatically.

"You naughty boy, Sir Pecks-a-Lot! Always jumping on my breast, aren't you? You always want to take this moment to feel up my soft breasts."

"His name is what?" Luca's mouth fell open.

But Lulu just chuckled and continued affectionately.

"You just love the view from up there, don't you? I get it, it's the best spot since my breasts must feel like a soft cushion to you."

"So, go ahead, eat your fill, you greedy thing!"

The chicken gave a satisfied squawk and continued pecking happily.

Luca's face was frozen somewhere between horror and disbelief. Slowly, he turned away, his lips twitching.

"Never mind." He muttered. "Forget everything I just said about her being smarter than I thought."

"I've seen some insane things in my life." He muttered under his breath. "But this...this is quite high up there."

But even though he said that, Luca wasn't discouraged.

If anything, watching her roll around joyfully beneath her sea of chickens sparked something in him...a fire of competitive determination.

He clenched his fist, a grin forming on his face.

"Alright then." He said confidently. "If I can make her—the self-proclaimed mother of chickens—enjoy my cooking, then I can win over anyone."

Luna blinked. "You mean…?"

"I mean." Luca said, standing tall again. "If I can make her fall in love with a chicken dish, the rest of the village won't stand a chance. They'll be lining up for it."

Luna smiled softly, looking at him with renewed admiration. "You really don't give up, do you?"

"Not when it comes to food." He said with a confident smirk. "Especially when the goal is to prove that meat isn't the enemy—it's salvation."

And with that, he turned toward the cart full of chickens, grabbing its handle with renewed determination.

"Come on." He said. "Let's head back. It's time to turn this village upside down."

Nyx chuckled and followed after him, while Luna hurried beside him, holding onto his arm again—this time not out of weakness, but quiet support.

As they walked away, Lulu continued to roll on the ground behind them, buried beneath a mountain of feathers, blissfully unaware of the fate that awaited her beloved flock.

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