29 The True Bonding Ritual of Wind

{Author's Note}

I will be honest with you all: I've been wanting to write this chapter since I first started this story, and I'm so glad I finally have it out here. And on my birthday too! Turning 26 today and getting the 29th chapter of MGQ Eeveelution out are both events worth celebrating, in my opinion.

I will give a brief warning: This chapter is almost entirely out of character, for both Kevin and Sylph. The reasons for which will be explained throughout the chapter, but if it still doesn't make sense to you by the end, read the other Author's Note at the end.

Now...I shall follow up with a previous threat I made to a commenter and say:

OO WT STORI!

***

Sylph wasn't the only one who experienced the sudden onset of foreign feelings at that moment. Upon stepping through the invisible barrier that separated the forest from the rest of the world and kept the powerful aura of the Spirit of the Wind hidden, Kevin was immersed in the same blend of surprise, intrigue, and longing as the childish spirit. It was enough emotional stimulation to make a shiver run down his spine and through the rest of his body.

Normally, an unexpected shift in his emotional, mental, or physical state would prompt the teenager to pause and think long and hard about what the possible cause for it was. Numerous cases of him being coerced to do things with the use of certain substances had led him to be hyper-vigilant about any sudden changes or sudden shifts in his behavior. It's why he was able to quickly determine how his Leafeon form altered his mind the first time he'd evolved, despite the only changes being a peaceful state of mind and the ability to feel any form of happiness.

He wasn't able to think about it, though, as this wasn't emotional manipulation on a scale that he was familiar with. If he were able to examine himself from an outside point of view, more specifically the patterns of his brainwaves, he'd be exposed to the fact that this was an instinctual response. His nature as an Eevee, with the unstable DNA present in every member of the species, made him highly receptive to pure, undiluted sources of Elemental Energy. While normal members of the species displayed this receptivity in the form of evolving when exposed to special stones or conditions, Kevin's circumstances of being a hybrid with the ability to evolve and devolve at will had an…interesting reaction to it.

The scrambled emotions clouding his head eventually solidified into a single purpose. Not just a desire, but a NEED to find the source of the magical aura that surrounded him on all sides. He continued forward, forgetting the lackadaisical attitude he previously held in finding the forest's Spirit and focusing entirely on detecting which directions the density of the aura were strongest in. Nose twitching, ears perked up and swiveling at each sound that echoes through his surroundings, and tail wagging back and forth hypnotically, the boy disappeared into the Forest of Spirits.

Alice, still standing outside of where the magical array of the forest concealed the vast well of magic from the rest of the world, was able to notice the change in Kevin's behavior before he vanished behind the trees. She watched as he went from his typical 'devil may care' mentality about entering the forest and finding Sylph, to suddenly having his spine straighten and his ears shoot straight up.

It was obvious to the lamia from the way he continued forward as if in a trance, the animalistic side of his powers taking over all of his actions, what the cause of his reaction was. She'd seen enough monsters falling to their base instincts to know what to look for. Hell, even though she couldn't see them, she'd be willing to bet that his eyes were constantly shifting between being focused and unfocused, with his pupils dilating as far as physically possible.

"The only question is," she mumbled to herself, staring at the last spot she'd seen him at. "What KIND of instinctual response is this?"

***

As he slowly drew closer to the source of the aura, the Eevee blocked out everything else he deemed as unimportant. This included plants, animals, insects, and even the local elves that watched him from the foliage. Anything that did get in the way of his direct path toward the source of the well of Pure Energy was either walked through or pushed aside.

A few of the Elves were contemplating whether or not they should try stopping him. On one hand, they were entrusted by generations of Monster Lords and Sylph herself to protect the Forest of Spirits and keep humans out of it. On the other hand, the boy in question seemed to be a male monster, was giving off an aura comparable to the Spirit of the Wind herself, and was absentmindedly proving that trees qualified as things he could push out of his way. In the end, the majority of them decided to just let him be.

Note how the word 'majority' was used.

One particularly brave/arrogant/potentially-suicidal elf determined that her duty to keep all men out of the forest should outweigh her sense of self-preservation. As such, she readied her quiver full of arrows, tightened her grip on her bow, and stepped out in front of the boy.

"Halt!" she shouted, nocking an arrow and pulling the bowstring in preparation for possible retaliation. "I am Claudia, a defender of this forest! State your purpose here!"

Unfortunately for her, today would not be the day that she proved her valor in protecting the Forest of Spirits from a possible threat. Instead, it would be the day when she would serve as an example to the rest of the elves for why they do not attack Spirit-Level enemies without a plan. 'Claudia's Blunder' would be spoken of for generations in the future, both in good and bad humor.

Due to not being in his right mind and all of his actions being controlled by his instincts, Kevin didn't even take a second to think before attacking the bold elf. In the time it took the female monster to blink, the boy's ears stood straight, his tail went rigid, and suddenly he was within arm's reach of her and delivering a devastating punch that shattered her jaw. The speed at which the attack was delivered caused her to be launched away from him, through a tree, and embedding herself in another tree.

Needless to say, she was also knocked unconscious.

[Quick Attack – Normal Type Move]

[Description: The user lunges at the target that makes it almost invisible. This move always goes first]

Reassured that the unexpected adversary had been incapacitated, Kevin's body language relaxed. He continued in his single-minded search, not even deigning to acknowledge the unconscious elf's body as he passed by her. This cemented in the minds of every other elf that it was a VERY bad idea for them to try stopping the boy's progress through the forest.

After all, if worse came to worst, Sylph would step in to protect her domain.

Surprisingly, the intruder had a better reaction to the fairies that approached him with their childish curiosity. He didn't speak to them, but he also didn't lash out at them either. The most he did was gently swat away any of them that came too close to his crotch or backpack. Otherwise, they were free to do whatever they wanted around him.

This, however, left a lot of leeway for what they COULD do to him, though.

"How about we put a rose here!"

"Yeah! Yeah! And a daisy would look so good here!"

"I've got a Succubus Flower! Where should I put it?"

"Big bro won't let us prank his penis. Just put it away for later."

The further he delved into the forest, the more fairies there were fluttering around him. After determining it impossible for them to get inside his clothes, they instead came to the unanimous decision to decorate his body with flower crowns and bracelets. Over the span of an hour, the number of plants they'd attached to him in various ways numbered over thirty, and they were nowhere close to stopping.

***

In a clearing located in the very center of the Forest of Spirit, Sylph sat on a stump and used the winds to keep track of the intruder's progress.

Through the breeze's whimsical whispers, she discovered that it was a boy, but not a human one. He somehow possessed the ears, tail, and apparently the sense of smell of the Kitsune race, but he wasn't one. If he was, she knew for a fact that there was no possible way for her whole body to react to the aura he gave off the way it was.

As much as she wanted to give in to her own immaturity and go straight to him, two things stopped her. Although she often donned the appearance of an airhead who had no idea what common sense was, she wasn't an idiot. The wind may be whimsical and playful, but it was a terrifying force when concentrated, after all. Said concentration led her to notice that not only was the boy honing in on her location, but he was urged primarily by his instincts. There was no real conscious effort to track her, even if that was what his hunt for her had started with.

That, paired with the fact that her own instincts were urging her to stay in the clearing, prevented her from following the unrestrained desire to go to him that was growing by the second. Seeing as her instincts had kept her free for the thousands of years she'd existed, she wasn't keen on going against them anytime soon.

So, she waited, constantly consulting the air currents around her for his current status in a way reminiscent of a child constantly asking their parents 'Are we there yet?' it was fortunate that the winds themselves weren't sentient enough to become annoyed by her constant pestering.

***

He was getting close. He could feel the source of the power that gripped his heart and drove his senses wild a few dozen yards away. It took all of the free will he could muster not to simply break into a sprint to get there faster, because something in the back of his mind told him that he needed to make a good first impression. To whom, he didn't know. All rational thought and memories had long since been left behind in favor of following the yearning that propelled him forward.

"Oh! He's going to Big Sis Sylph's room!"

"But we're not allowed to go there…what should we do?"

"We have to go, but maybe he'll play with us again when he's done talking to her."

The swarm of fairies who had decorated him, noticing just where they were in the forest and where their new 'big brother' was heading, broke away from him. It was forbidden for them to enter that clearing, as it was where Sylph usually went when she wasn't feeling up for playtime. This stood as proof that even though she was fairy-like, even the Spirit of the Wind could suffer from overexposure to them every once in a while.

They weren't, however, forbidden from watching what was going on within the clearing. As such, hundreds of fairies and even elves hid themselves in the foliage surrounding the expanse of grass. While the fairies were curious about what kind of pranks Sylph would pull on the boy, as she was always better at pranking others than all of them combined, the elves were feeling a mixture of intrigue and dread at the encounter they were about to witness. What reason could they have for fearing the events to come? Well, the answer was simple:

Sylph was in her human-sized form.

It was a well known fact among the elves living in the forest that what they were looking at was not Sylph: the happy-go-lucky and ditzy Spirit who shrank herself down to the size of a fairy so she could have fun with the little troublemakers. No, what they were looking at was Sylph: the millennia-old Spirit who could destroy this entire forest with a single wave of her hand and had aided a human Hero in slaying the eighth Monster Lord.

She may appear harmless, and maybe even happy, with the dreaming smile on her face, her golden eyes closed as she listened to the breeze that swayed her long light green hair. Her spring-green dress, shoulder length cloves, and pointed shoes that covered what parts of her flawless pale skin that weren't exposed might lower someone's defenses with how adorable she appeared. And maybe her bright green-yellow, and red feathered wings and green feathered ears may give her the appearance of someone who's too adorable to be anything but dangerous.

But they knew that any time Sylph deemed it necessary to remain in her true form, things were going to get messy. And they were…

…just not how anyone, much less Sylph or Kevin, expected.

When he finally stepped into the clearing, the Spirit of the Wind's eyes immediately opened and locked gazes with his own. Both stared at each other, motionless, and some of the onlookers would suspect neither were breathing if they couldn't see their chests slightly rise and fall.

Both were spurred by their instincts to maintain eye contact as he approached her, disregarding the rest of the world in the process. It wasn't to establish dominance, though. No, the purpose was to confirm without a shadow of a doubt that the person they were seeing was, in fact, real. Only once all possible methods of observation were reaffirmed could the next steps play out.

Upon reaching two feet away from the stump, Kevin stopped. He reached out his hand, offering it to her in order to help her stand. She gracefully accepted, grabbing hold and being pulled up in the process, although the force that the boy had placed behind the tug was more powerful than was necessary, leading to her stumbling into him.

While this may seem like an accident, it wasn't. Both expected this, as it led to one of the final methods for them to confirm each other's existence. Being the same height, as Sylph's form was naturally short, the Spirit's face was buried in his neck while his was in her hair. They both took a deep whiff, inhaling a scent that confirmed what they were both begging with all of their hearts to be true.

'He's/She's real,' they thought, their thoughts almost mirroring each other.

As if triggered by this confirmation, a new presence settled over the clearing. It was something primal, dating back to the dawn of time when the Spirits themselves were first born. The ancient force, which hadn't been seen in the world since its inception, was formless, yet its purpose was to oversee and consecrate an event that each Spirit could only go through once in their existence:

The [True Bonding Ritual].

While all six of the Primal Elemental Spirits were capable of bonding to humans and monsters in order to lend their power, the [True Bonding Ritual] was unique. Its contents varied from Spirit to Spirit, but the circumstances leading up to it were universal: a strong, instinctual pull upon feeling each other's aura, followed by physical contact to initiate the ritual.

Control was taken away from both Kevin and Sylph as they released each other and took two steps back. While this should've spiked fear, they both understood on an instinctual that this was supposed to happen. No matter what the ancient overseer of the [True Bonding Ritual] prompted them to do, they would allow it, as they knew deep down that as long as they didn't fight the flow, this would be an unforgettable experience.

"Are you worthy?" Sylph asked, her voice flowing like silk and tickling the teenager's ear.

A serene smile spread across Kevin's face. "I am."

Once again going with the flow of the unseen operator, the Eevee mentally triggered one of the remaining two evolutions he hadn't used yet. It was the perfect one for this occasion, and would be imperative for the ritual to reach its final stage.

Light engulfed his body, though Sylph didn't look away. She stared straight through the obscuring rays that covered the boy's transformation, watching as the rapid conversion took place. White hair replaced brown. Hazel eyes shifted to deep blue. Dark brown wings with white feathers on their undersides sprouted from his back as he gained six inches of height. The fox-like ears atop his head sprouted similarly colored feathers as well, and his long bushy fox tail thinned out with only a tuft of fur remaining on the end.

His clothes didn't change colors, but their designs were definitely altered. His hoodie became an aviator jacket with feathers lining the collar, cuffs, and bottom. His pants became less baggy and more aerodynamic. The sneakers that barely left a dent in the grass morphed into boots, and a pair of wind-resistant goggles could now be found in his jacket pocket.

[Name: Kevin]

[Age: 17]

[Form: Griffeon]

[Type: Flying]

[Ability: Air Lock/Run Away]

[Weapon: None]

If Kevin were actually able to pay attention to his stats at the moment, he'd think of how fitting those two abilities were for this form. Air lock would completely nullify the effects of weather on him, allowing him to fly freely no matter what meteorological phenomenon tried to bring him down; while Run Away, as was pretty obvious, guaranteed escape, like the wind slipping through the cracks in any defenses.

While Sylph had no outward reaction to the sudden transformation the teenager had undergone, other than the smile on her face stretching even further to its limits to reflect the eagerness she felt inside, the fairies and elves in the surrounding foliage were not so composed. Jaws hung open wide enough to catch birds, weapons and flowers were dropped, and all eyes were now glued firmly to the male monster who was now emitting a magical aura almost identical to the one produced by the Spirit of the Wind. It was a level of insanity that even the oldest of elves had never witnessed, and that was saying a lot considering the world they lived in.

No further words were spoken between the Griffeon and the Spirit. With the melding of their auras and the urging of their instincts, they knew that anything they said would be meaningless. All that mattered was their actions, and how they would affect not only each other, but the world as a whole when the ritual was completed.

The gentle air currents that had previously been whimsically cycling through the clearing reacted to the wills of the two incredibly power beings, gradually picking up speed. A few broke off into small spirals, creating dozens of miniature tornados that rotated around the edge of the clearing, ensuring that nobody would be capable of bothering them. The rest of the area was filled with strong air currents that went up, down, left, right, and every other direction in a seemingly random pattern.

Both participants then turned and walked away from each other to opposite ends of the field, their footsteps in sync as they step over, between, and under the practical minefield they'd created together. Upon reaching the edge, they spun around and locked eyes once again. In a seemingly-practiced movement, Kevin bowed at the waist at the same time as Sylph gave a ladylike curtsey. Time stood still for a brief second following these odd actions…

…before the duo launched themselves toward each other, and the [True Bonding Ritual of Wind] commenced.

In the split second before the two perceived 'combatants' met in the center of the 'arena,' the hearts of almost every elf stopped. They'd never seen a Spirit battle before, but they believed that that was what they were about to witness. After all, there had only ever been one Spirit of the Wind, so it was obvious that they when another came along, they would fight for the position. The only questions in their minds were: why were they both smiling, and was this a fight to the death?

All expectations were crushed, however, when the duo met in the middle of the clearing and, instead of immediately unleashing unbelievable power on each other, grasped each other's hands and started spinning around. The more they spun, the closer they became until they were pressed up against each other, before breaking way and taking off into the sky.

The whole sequence of events was accompanied by something the onlookers would never have expected: music. The way the wind was flowing through the grass, branches, and even itself created a melody that had never been heard before, and likely never would again in this world. It was indescribably, hypnotic, and seemed to be the driving force which the two powerful beings in the clearing coordinated their movements to.

Realization hit one onlooker after another as the duo once again met in the air, floating playfully around each other and flowing from an embrace, to the unknown boy twirling Sylph around, to a downward-spiraling dive.

This wasn't a battle.

It was a dance.

Indeed, they were correct in this conclusion. While some versions of it did include fighting, the [True Bonding Ritual] was unique for each Spirit and drew heavily from the core concepts of it. Wind was an element of freedom, whimsy, and constant movement, so a dance was the only way for its Spirit to properly bond with another.

{Author's Note: I wrote this scene while listening to "Love the Way You Move" by Slightly Left of Center. I find that it gives my lacking description a lot more imaginative flair.}

Both of the ritual's participants spread their wings as the swooped upward, riding the air currents back up and around the clearing. Laughter could be heard coming from their mouths, though it was scattered by the breezes and only heard by a scant few. Those who did hear it, though, could honestly say they'd never heard such pure joy before in their lives, and they doubted that they ever would again.

Seconds stretched into minutes, then a half hour, and finally an hour passed, but neither participant showed any signs of fatigue. They bobbed, weaved, circle each other, and barely missed colliding on more occasions than their captivated audience could count. Any time they did make contact, they held each other like lovers, staring deep into each other's eyes for a few moments before separating again.

What went unseen by the surrounding monsters was the connection being each time they touched. This was one of the most important parts of the ritual, which was gradually binding their souls together so they would be inseparable, no matter how far away their physical bodies became. The break-aways were meant to allow their souls to briefly adjust to the momentary exposure, gradually becoming more and more accepting of each other in the process.

This also had the side effect of imprinting their memories upon each other. As their very essences became closer and closer, they began to see events in each other's eyes. Good times, bad times, and everything in between were shared without fail, laid bare like a pair of open books. The only thing stopping the duo from breaking down from what they saw inside each other was a hyper-joyful mindset being enforced upon them by the ritual itself.

This was done by design. In order for them to be bound together so deeply, they had to understand each other as thoroughly as they knew themselves. It wouldn't do, though, for the ritual to be stopped early due to the emotional rollercoaster the memories of a millennia-old Spirit and a psychologically tormented mortal melding could cause. As such, they were both forced to process the other's existence and essence in a state where despair, apathy, and anguish could not interfere.

That would be saved for later.

After what seemed like an eternity for the two, but lasted two hours, the [True Bonding Ritual of Wind] was finally coming to an end. The symphony created by the wind was dying down, the air currents were losing their power, and the tornados around the edges of the clearing started dissipating into nothing. Even the audience was feeling the spellbinding effect that had captivated them for the entire performance waning.

Sylph and Kevin once again faced each other in the center of the clearing, eyes boring into each other. With a bright flash, the boy had returned to his Eevee form, as it was the ideal one for the completion of the ritual, and not just because it was at eye-level with the Spirit. Sylph even giggled a bit at him suddenly becoming as short as her again, but said nothing more.

The overseeing force behind the [True Bonding Ritual] observed the duo one last time, having approved of both the beautiful choreography they had performed, as well as the sanctity of their unification. Their souls were one final push away from becoming irreversibly intertwined. The overseer, knowing exactly what that 'push' needed to be, finalized the ritual with the only word it had spoken in its existence, and the only one in its vocabulary.

{"Kiss"}

Overcome by their instincts for the final time that day, the Eevee and the Spirit wrapped their arms around each other and brought their lips together. It was a chaste kiss, not going beyond the surface-level contact of their lips, but that meant little to them. Both of their bodies and souls were immersed in a combination of pleasure and wholeness that neither had ever experienced, as their very beings were intertwined in a way that even a true God would find hard to undo.

Halfway through, Sylph's body started to dissolve. Staring from her feet, particles of her essence dissolved into pure wind energy and flowed up to Kevin's chest, being absorbed by him. Neither paid it any mind, though, still wrapped up in their own little world. It wasn't until her arms had disappeared that the Spirit took the initiative to break the kiss and stare deeply into her new Host's eyes.

"Together Forever," she whispered.

"Together Forever," Kevin nodded.

Just like that, she was gone. Completely bound to her new Host and residing inside his soul.

This was also the point where the presence that had settled in the clearing vanished, taking the trance the Eevee and Wind Spirit had been under with it. They broke free of the control their own instincts had over them, with the boy on the outside shaking his head as if awakening from an alcohol induced fever dream after a night out on the town.

Unfortunately for him, unlike with being drunk, he was capable of recalling the entirety of the last four hours, from the moment he entered the Forest of Spirits to the kiss he had with a complete stranger. Although, he couldn't say she was a complete stranger now, due to how much of his mind had been shared with her and vice versa over the course of whatever that dance was.

As a result, he took the opportunity to shout the exact words that were going through everyone's minds at that exact moment, even Sylph's.

"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WAS THAT!?"

***

{Author's Note}

Well...that happened.

For those of you who didn't understand why this chapter was the way it was, here's the explanation:

Kevin's instincts as an Eevee and Sylph's Instincts as a Spirit overrode their typical personalities due to being exposed to each other's auras for the first time, leading them to seek each other out, or in the latter's case, allow Kevin too seek her out.

After coming together, the cosmic force that watches over the Spirits and is in charge of overseeing the [True Bonding Ritual] Stepped in and, along with their own instincts, influenced them to go through with the ritual, making it so not only is Kevin now the Host of Sylph and the wielder of her power, but they are basically Married as far as the MGQ universe is concerned!

I originally came up with the Rituals for each individual Spirit when I thought of how the game never went into what happened when one of them found a 100% compatible mate with whom they could fall in love. Since they are as old as the world itself, I figured their concept of love and the rules for them being 'married' would be different, thus necessitating a universal force whose sole purpose was to wait for the Spirits to find someone qualified to be their One True Love, and enact a ceremony (Ritual) that would make them inseparable.

Think of it like the Spirit equivalent of a Shotgun Wedding, sanctioned by the Universe itself.

And, in case any of you missed the obvious cliffhanger at the end, Kevin is NOT going to react well to it.

As always, comment on the paragraphs and the chapter itself. Try not to be a dick, memes are appreciated, and correct my grammar so I can fix it for future readers!

See you later!

Next chapter