“That is true,” Mae commented as she patted her bag. In doing so a bolt shot out from the front and struck a shield with a loud clang, bouncing off the plate and hitting the blade of a broadsword on a rack before flying over behind the group and striking into the wall next to the curtain with a thwack.
“Geez!” Max yelled out in surprise. “Why do you keep that thing armed?”
“In case I need it,” Mae nervously replied while staring at her arrow she accidently fired.
“If those customers saw that happen in front of them it would be all over for our business!” Mika yelled at her. “Don’t keep that darned thing loaded when there are people around you! It’s supposed to be safe in here for them, remember?”
“Sorry,” Mae apologized with her head hung low.
“I’m giving this back to Triska. Don’t burn down our home while I’m gone,” Mika dryly ordered before running out of the shop. Shortly after she left Milly blinked then looked to her brother and sister curiously.
“Say, weren’t we cooking lunch before coming out here?”
“Oh no, the stew!” Mae panicked before she and Milly rushed into the back room.
Max groaned and rested his head on the counter with a small thud as the smell of burnt stew started to fill the cottage.
“I wonder what it’s like to have normal sisters.”
*****
Sitting up front on their new carriage Alyssa was gazing up at the sky between the tree branches overhead, one hand holding the reins to Lucky who was hitched to the front of the ride and the other gently rolling her staff side to side against the seat. Sitting on the brim of her hat Pip was looking around at the leaves rustling above them, her legs gently kicking about over the edge of the witch’s cap while her wings quickly fluttered once behind her.
Standing further away Kroanette was looking around at the nearby woods where they had had stopped next to on the road, seeing a few rabbits hopping about through the shrubbery while a squirrel ran up along a timber. At her side Falla and Luna were searching in the bushes for a snack, with Luna trying to hold in her eager giggles while Falla sighed in annoyance as she moved aside grass and dirt.
“How much longer?” she quietly whined.
“I’m sure they’ll return any minute,” Kroanette reasoned with a shrug. “They were just going up ahead to buy some things and then come right back.”
“How come we had to wait here again?” Luna asked while parting the bush with a curious eye.
“It’s a human trade post. A carriage rolling up to it filled with monsters wouldn’t be welcomed in any regard.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Falla groaned rubbing her face. “How much longer must we wait before we can have sex with Daniel?”
“We already can, can’t we?” Luna asked her then turned to Kroanette in question.
“Falla, it’s not that simple,” Kroanette said shaking her head. “Triska and the girls have given us their blessing to be more intimate with Daniel, but none of us are quite in the mood for such things while Alyssa is still coping with her loss.”
“It’s been four days,” Falla sighed. “Every night we sleep in bed together and every day we spend with Daniel, I’m not complaining about that. And I do love it when he kisses me and holds me close, I know he wants to go all the way with me, and I’m more than ready for that myself. But yet we can’t get more intimate with our man because Alyssa’s still feeling sad? Why does it have to be this way?”
“Her daughter died,” Kroanette sternly reminded her.
“That Kitten killed to protect Alyssa and all of us from,” Falla argued. “Besides, Alyssa hasn’t been crying these past few days, she’s just been staring off into space and being super quiet all the time.”
“Falla, we’ll have sex with our mate when all of us are ready,” Kroanette firmly told her. “How can you be so inconsiderate of Alyssa’s feelings like this?”
“It’s okay to wait, Falla,” Luna reassured her. “I don’t mind waiting a little more to be closer with Daniel. We should make Alyssa smile and be happy again so she can join us when we all have sex, it wouldn’t be right to leave her out.”
“That is very true, Luna,” Kroanette agreed with a nod. “You should be ashamed of yourself, Falla. Only thinking about getting Daniel’s pants off when Alyssa is hurting from her loss still.”
“I’m not saying I don’t feel for her,” Falla defended waving her hands in front of her. “I am sorry she went through that, but still, how come we all have to wait like this? We finally got their approval to have sex with Daniel, and then all this shit happens to us. It’s not fair.”
“How do you think I feel?” Kroanette retorted. “I was ready to receive Daniel’s intimate touch just as you girls were, it’s not like I’m in favor of how this turned out. But truth be told I would rather wait while my loins burn even more for Daniel than have my moment with him while one of my co-mates is feeling depressed.”
“Me too,” Luna softly agreed.
“Yeah, I guess so,” Falla reluctantly admitted. “Still, I hope Alyssa feels better soon. It’s getting really hard to control myself around Daniel. I can feel my urges building up inside the more we wait, and I don’t want to do something I’ll regret later if my nature pushes me too much.”
“You can do it, Falla,” Luna enthusiastically encouraged. “We can both control ourselves. It’s what Daniel wants for all of us, to be able to control our inner nature and be good girls. It’s hard on me too, on all of us. But our love for him can give us the strength to resist those naughty thoughts for now. Just think about the love you have from Daniel, and from everyone. That’s what I do, and it really helps.”
“Yes, be more like your sister, Falla,” Kroanette agreed.
Falla smirked at her sister as Luna nodded eagerly to that. After a moment Luna quickly looked over to the side, her antenna twitched, and then she bolted down the road with swiftly moving feet. Kroanette and Falla watched as Luna raced over towards where Daniel and the girls were returning from before tackling him down to the ground in a fierce pounce.
“I MISSED YOU! WELCOME BACK! HAHAHAHAHA!” Luna manically laughed like a deranged psycho, all while Daniel merely watched her with a blank expression as he was pinned down by the special butterfly. Triska and Clover shared similar reactions, finding the sight of Luna going insane once again not really all that surprising at this point.
“Hello, Luna,” Daniel calmly replied while Luna was giggling through her teeth with wide eyes down at him.
“It’s like having a puppy waiting for us at home,” Triska mused as she picked up the carrying bag and slung it over her shoulder.
“Um,” Kroanette said with a weak smile. “Perhaps you shouldn’t be exactly like your sister.”
“I’ll try to control myself like she said,” Falla dryly quipped.
Daniel got to his feet with Luna hanging onto his chest and dusted off his pants before holding the butterfly around her waist. From the touch alone she seemed to come back to her senses as she settled down and nuzzled her head against his shoulder while her wings fluttered behind her.
“Have you been waiting for us?” Daniel asked.
“Uh huh,” she answered with a nod. “And we’ve been finding some nice snacks to eat while we were out here. They were yummy.”
“Oh really? Smile for me, Luna,” Daniel politely requested.
Luna showed a wide smile, with Daniel chuckling amusedly at seeing a few insect carapaces between her front teeth. He gently picked them out and flicked them away before setting the girl down and caressing her cheek.
“I do enjoy kissing you, Luna, however I must insist you take care not to keep any of your ‘snacks’ between your teeth after you eat them.”
“Sorry, Daniel,” Luna squeaked with a hand over her mouth.
“That’s alright,” Daniel said before giving her a kiss. The girl shivered in delight while Triska watched them with an amused smile. Clover however look
ed back down while holding her bow and quiver close. After the kiss ended Luna giggled and hopped about before Falla and Kroanette walked over to them.
“Welcome back,” Kroanette kindly said. “Did you get everything we needed from the store?”
“Oh, you got a new bow,” Falla mentioned at seeing Clover holding one. “Looks nice.”
“Whatever,” Clover muttered as she walked on past them with her head hung low.
“I wasn’t being sarcastic, I was serious,” Falla called back to her. “What’s her deal? I was giving her a compliment.”
“What’s wrong with Clover?” Luna asked.
“It wasn’t the particular bow she was hoping to find,” Triska answered with a sympathetic eye on the elf.
“Did something happen?” Kroanette inquired. “I thought she would be excited to have a bow again.”
“We can talk about it all later,” Daniel said walking them towards the carriage. “Right now I think we should be on our way. The locales probably shouldn’t find out there are monsters nearby or else there could be trouble.”
“You wouldn’t let anything happen to us, would you, Daniel?” Falla sweetly asked as she quickly held onto his arm with a coy smile.
“No I wouldn’t, and that’s exactly why we’re going to be on our way now,” Daniel said glancing behind him.
“I love how protective you are of us,” Luna sighed happily as she held onto his other arm.
“He’s our own knight in glowing armor,” Falla purred. “Who needs Kitten around when we have you?”
“Well thank you,” Daniel replied with a weak chuckle. “But Kitten was the one who came through for us before, I would have been in trouble if she hadn’t stepped in to help.”
“No no, you had the situation under control. She just got in your way is all,” Falla insisted.
“Is that how it happened?” Triska mused with a smirk. “Maybe you and Daniel should talk about that with her together.”
“No!” Falla yelled out at her, arms tightening around Daniel’s as she stayed as close to him as possible. “Keep her inside, keep her inside!”
Kroanette giggled at seeing Falla shaking nervously then turned to Triska who was also finding amusement in Falla’s fright of her inner demon.
“How has she been doing, Triska? It seems like she’s finally been quieting down lately.”
“No, she hasn’t,” Triska flatly said glancing to the side, watching as Kitten was walking alongside them in her mind with a stubborn scowl at Falla.
“Oh c’mon, Triska,” Kitten politely said through bared teeth. “Let me out so me and her can talk about how I saved everyone here from being burned to a crisp! That ungrateful little motherfu-”
“I don’t think she’s too happy with you, Falla. Picking up a lot of negative chatter.”
Falla whimpered and hid beside Daniel from her, rather poorly due to her large wings, while Daniel and Kroanette watched Triska seeming to be having an internal conversation with Kitten again.
“Is she at least behaving?” Daniel asked.
“By the way, Triska,” Kitten grunted with annoyance with a glance to the carrying bag. “I couldn’t help but notice you didn’t pick up what I asked you to. They had it there, and you just walked right by it!”
‘Again, why would I get a collar and leash? We don’t have a dog.’
“For us, silly,” Kitten purred with a seductive leer. “It’s not for a dog, it’s for a kitten, get it? Meow. Get it? It’s for us, of course.”
‘I rephrase my statement. Why would I get a collar and leash? I’m not a dog.’
“Stop acting so innocent. You know the collar goes around your neck while the leash goes into my master’s hand. It’s basic foreplay, Triska. He can have us under his complete control, he can do whatever he wants to us, and we won’t be able to run away. Don’t you want to give him that power? Don’t you want him to fuck your brains out and to become his sex toy, completely subjugated by his will and throbbing manhood?”
‘You make it sound so degrading, kind of hard to agree with what you’re saying.’
“Just picture having that leash binding you to him, making you his bitch. I get the shivers just thinking about it, don’t you?”
“What’s she saying to you?” Luna asked.
“The same thing she does every day,” Triska sighed. “Sex, sex, sex, sex, and oh yeah, Daniel.”
“I thought she was learning to control herself,” Daniel said in disappointment. “Isn’t she making any progress?”
Triska glanced over to him then down to see Kitten now crawling next to him on all fours with her wings tucked in and her tail waving behind her, her body phasing through Luna’s in the teen’s imagination as she kept pace with Daniel while making cat scratching gestures at him.
“Meow! Meow! Meow! Pet me, master! Please!”
“At best, very slowly, Daniel,” Triska reasoned shaking her head.
They made their way over to the carriage where Alyssa was looking down at Clover beside the wagon, the elf just standing there in silence while she clutched the bow and quiver close to her chest.
“What’s with you?” Alyssa asked.
“Clover? Are you okay?” Pip said while leaning over the brim of the witch’s hat.
“Yeah, never better,” Clover muttered.
“Then why are you just standing there?” Alyssa questioned. “You can go inside if you want.”
“Hey, Alyssa?” Clover said glancing up to the witch. “I haven’t been busting your ass while you’ve been dealing with losing one of your own, so I’d thank you to give me the same kindness in return.”
“What do you mean?”
“Never mind,” Clover grunted, lowering her head again with a hand trembling on her bow.
Alyssa watched her with puzzlement while Daniel and the girls walked up behind the elf.
“Hey, what’s up with Clover?” Alyssa asked them while Pip flew over and landed down on Kroanette’s chest.
“We just need to get going,” Daniel answered with a wave of his hand. “Is everyone else inside?”
“Squeak walked off a little while ago,” Pip said while scanning the surrounding area. “She hasn’t come back yet.”
“Where did she go off to?” Triska wondered.
“I asked her where she was going, but I have no idea what she said,” Pip replied with a shrug.
“She’s never going to learn we can’t understand her,” Falla commented shaking her head.
The door to the carriage opened inward with a quiet creak, the group then seeing Specca walking out and drying off her hair with a white towel. Her scales appeared slick and moist while the blissful smile on her face was one they all recognized easily from the past few days in their new home.
“Another bath?” Triska asked amusedly.
“This one was especially enjoyable,” Specca sighed happily as she rested the towel over her shoulder and straightened out her tie. “I still can’t get over how wondrous our new living space is in Twilight’s study.”
“You’ve been spending all your time in that bathing room,” Kroanette mused with a smirk.
“That’s not true,” Luna mentioned. “I see her a lot in the library. I think she spends more time in there than she does taking a bath.”
“I see her taking a bath while reading a book more than anything,” Falla added with a raised eyebrow at the nixie.
“Don’t get those wet, Specca,” Daniel chuckled. “Twilight wouldn’t be happy to hear all her books ended up in the water.”
“I’m careful not to get the pages wet,” Specca huffed, and then looked at Daniel curiously. “Say, has she spoken to you at all yet, Daniel? I had questions about some of the books in the library, they’re written in a language I’ve never seen before and I was wondering if she could help me make sense of them.”
“No, I haven’t heard from her at all since that day,” Daniel said looking up at the sky. “I suppose she’s still resting. She’ll speak
to us again soon, I’m sure of it. In the meantime the least we could do for her is take good care of the home she’s given us.”
“Specca!” Doku called out from inside. The group watched the harpy quickly fluttering over behind the nixie and hopping about in distress. “I just mopped the floor, you trailed wet footprints all across the hall. Please dry off completely before leaving the bathing room.”
“Oops. Sorry, Doku,” Specca apologized with a weak smile.
“Now I’ll have to mop all over again, oh dear,” Doku fretted before scurrying back inside.
“Doku, wait!” Specca called out after her. “Please stop cleaning already, you’ve been at it all day.”
“All day?” Alyssa repeated with a raised eyebrow. “She hasn’t stopped cleaning our home since we got it. We can’t get her to stop at all.”
“Doku, please stop! Come back here!”
“Oh, where are my manners?” Doku exclaimed. She quickly raced out of the carriage and rushed over into a hug with Daniel, the other girls jumping back a bit as she nuzzled close to him with a happy sigh. “I missed you, my dear husband. Welcome home. I’ll have lunch prepared just as soon as I clean up the place a bit more. I hope you enjoy it.”
“Doku!” Triska shouted out.
“Right! Sorry, I’ll have the hall cleaned up right away! Sorry again!” Doku squeaked before rushing back into the carriage. Daniel and the girls remained silent as the sounds of the harpy reassuring herself that she was going to be a good wife to Daniel echoed from inside the ride. After a while Triska sighed and held a hand to her head.
“Dammit, she’s killing us with kindness. That’s not fair.”
“Every time we try to call her out on saying Daniel’s her husband she does that,” Alyssa groaned. “Yesterday before I could open my mouth to set her straight she gave me a plate of cookies and apologized deeply that she burned two of them earlier.”
“Did you set her straight afterwards?” Kroanette asked her.
“I couldn’t, they were too delicious,” Alyssa whined. “I didn’t have the heart to say anything after I tasted those.”
Chronicles of Eden - Act VIII Page 3