“It’s not funny!” Valentina roared out, her voice carrying far across The Outerlands and scaring the local wildlife from their peaceful day in the sun. As she sat below the tree with her hands ripping out clumps of grass in frustration her eyes were set in a furious glare.
“I had two of the damned things in my grasp, two that I had to search for on the other side of Eden! Two of the key fragments that I earned! And then my big brother’s goddamned pets stole them from me!”
“Careful now,” a woman’s voice chuckled from nearby. “Isn’t taking your lord’s name in vain something angels shouldn’t do?”
“Oh shut up!” Valentina snapped, striking her fist down into the ground out of anger that then caused a large crack to split across the hillside. “I swear when I find those wretched thieves I’m going to pulverize them into dust! It’s bad enough my big brother has to endure their company, but stealing from me like that… I will show them no mercy next time we meet!”
“Have you ever shown anyone mercy before?” the woman laughed. “Honestly, you may be an angel but you’re more of a demon than anything.”
“Like you’re one to talk,” Valentina scoffed. “At least the world recognizes me as a divine angel from the heavens, not some accursed monster that you so obviously are. And by the way, I’m getting annoyed how you never show me any respect when we meet.”
“Yes, you simply hate it when others don’t kiss your feet upon greeting you. Count yourself lucky I’m kind enough to have a conversation with you despite your deplorable etiquette. Tell me, besides myself do you even have any friends?”
“I don’t need friends,” Valentina spat out with disgust. “I only need my big brother and his love, that’s it. Everyone else in the world should just die and provide fresh compost for the flora of this world.”
“So hard to imagine why you’re all alone,” the woman giggled.
Valentina growled as she stood up and flexed her wings, her hands roughly patting down her skirt to get the grass off it before she glanced next to her at the one who was only increasing her ire.
“You’re so nauseating.”
“And you’re so funny.”
“You’re both fools,” Twilight derided in their heads.
“Well, I was wondering when you’d make yourself known again,” Valentina laughed with a bitter smile. “How are you doing, my dear? How’s isolation in that dusty old crypt treating you? I bet you’ve forgotten what it’s like to breathe fresh air by now. Has the stench of your own droppings filled your cage a hundred times over by now?”
“Twilight, darling,” the other woman kindly spoke. “It’s been so long since you’ve spoken to me. And here I thought you didn’t like me anymore. How have you been?”
“I’ve been doing quite well, Flarah, thank you for asking. Much better than the angel standing next to you I imagine. Poor girl, you had two pieces to my key but just couldn’t hold onto them, could you?”
“I’m going to enjoy smearing your accursed brains all over the floor of that tomb you’re in,” Valentina growled. “Don’t think you could possibly have a chance in defeating me in a fight. You may be a demon but I’m-”
“Nothing but a temperamental angel who fell from grace,” Twilight chuckled. “You foolish girl, do you honestly think you scare me in the slightest? Should you open my seal all that would await me is a rather paltry meal with the feathered rat that thinks she’s a holy maiden.”
“Oh, you got burned,” Flarah cooed in a seductive voice.
“Ohhhh, just you wait, Twilight,” Valentina cursed with a fierce glare up at the sky. “I’m going to break your seal, and then I’m going to break your neck! And after I gain the power you’re hording for yourself in that filthy city I’ll raze this world to the ground, not you! It will be a new Eden, reborn from my divine wrath and will, a utopia of beauty and peace, one that I shall rule with my sexy big brother!”
“You know he’s not really your brother, right?” Twilight dryly questioned.
“Yes he is!” Valentina screamed, shutting her eyes and covering her ears. “He is my big brother and I’m his little sister! Nothing you say can change that! I can’t hear you! No I can’t! Nope, nope, nope, nope!”
“Haha, I’m shaking in fear for when you find me, Valentina.”
“Twilight, you should be a little more afraid than you are,” Flarah playfully spoke up. “I doubt this angel is a threat to you, but there are those who are.”
“Are you speaking about yourself, Flarah? Do you still intend to challenge me?”
“I never intended on challenging you, Twilight. You’ve been a wonderful friend and someone who I’ve been able to talk to for so long. I would be absolutely devastated if anything bad should befall you.”
“Oh, Flarah. Such lovely and empty words as usual. I do say you’re more deceitful and despicable than the worst of witches in Eden.”
“Why thank you, Twilight. It’s nice to know you think so much of me.”
“I am curious about something with you, Flarah.”
“Really? With your limitless knowledge and power I thought you could read me just like any book in this world.”
“Why do you seek to open my seal when you know I’ll devour you the moment you do? Surely you can’t be as delusional as that angel in thinking you can defeat me.”
“Just me and my big brother!” Valentina sang to herself while keeping her ears covered. “The whole world will be ours, just me and my big brother! Everyone else will die, everyone but me and my big brother!”
“I don’t believe anyone is as delusional as Valentina,” Flarah giggled. “Except for perhaps you, my dear. You may be a Dark Queen, a grand Darker One in your own right, however surely you’ve seen that I’m not some weak little fox. Honestly, you give me too little credit, something that will unfortunately be your end.”
“Flarah, I’m sorry to hear this. I was planning on keeping you alive as my pet after I reshaped this world to my liking, however it seems I’m going to have to eat you up when we meet face to face. I don’t think I’ll even enjoy that meal.”
“Oh, Twilight,” Flarah laughed amusedly. “Don’t be sad. I promise you won’t suffer long. As I said before I like you, you’re my friend. Before I take all that is yours I’ll take very good care of you, it’s the very least I can do for all the entertainment you’ve given me thus far.”
“I’m not sure which of you is the bigger fool. You actually think you can beat me so you calmly march towards your new grave, and she actually thinks she can block me out by covering her ears. Valentina, I know you can hear me still, stop embarrassing yourself.”
“Shut up!” Valentina snapped. “No I can’t! La-la-la-la-la-la-la!”
“Honestly, if only you two were stronger I would gladly help you gather the pieces of my key,” Twilight sighed in annoyance. “As it stands now neither of you are worth the effort in my eyes. After all I know I can find greater potential elsewhere, far greater than what either of you could offer.”
“Look who’s delusional now,” Flarah playfully replied.
“Ha, you brain-dead pompous whore!” Valentina laughed with a proud stance. “There’s nobody in all of Eden who’s stronger than me, and once I unlock all the power you’ve got in that crypt I’ll be a god in this world! A beautiful, commanding, lustrous god!”
“Again, isn’t that breaking the rules for angels?” Flarah chuckled. “Aren’t you supposed to be serving your own god rather than trying to become one yourself?”
“It’ll be just me and my big brother! It’ll be a new world of glory, of triumph, of incest!”
Flarah laughed heartily while Twilight chuckled in their minds, the reaper watching in amusement the bitter smile Valentina was showing while her eyebrow twitched a bit in her growing aggravation.
“Good luck with that, Valentina. You’ll need it.”
Valentina held in her growls as she heard Twilight laughing in her mind, the angel slowly losing her resolve while near
by Flarah remained peaceful and quiet despite the mental heckling she too was receiving. After a while Valentina shook and stomped her foot down, rupturing the hillside under her with a violent tremor that kicked up dust and debris all around.
“I’m so going to kill you, Twilight!” she roared into the air. With a few heavy snarls she began to slowly calm herself again, her eyes still set in a cold glare up at the sky above as Twilight’s laughter slowly faded in their minds.
“She is right though,” Flarah spoke up. “You may be an angel, but you’re no match for her. She’ll devour you long before you even draw her blood.”
“Like fucking hell she can beat me!” Valentina shouted over at her. “Nothing will stop me from realizing my dream, nothing will keep me from my magnificent future with my big brother, and nothing will keep me from tearing her throat out and pissing down her windpipe!”
“Are all angels as devilishly cold as you are?” Flarah innocently asked.
Valentina scoffed and looked away while crossing her arms, a frustrated expression on her face while her wings flapped a few times to blow away all the dust and smoke. She rolled her eyes then glanced back towards Flarah with a raised eyebrow in question.
“Besides, you honestly think you can beat her? You haven’t even been collecting any of the key fragments to get to her yet, how can you be so sure you’re going to be the one to kill her?”
Silence was the only answer she was met with. After a few minutes of getting nothing more Valentina turned to face Flarah with a curious eye. With the dust billowing away from the disheveled hilltop there was one section of the haze that appeared to be darker than the rest. This was because the dust and dirt that had flown in that direction had become burnt and scorched to ash, the darker clouds formed by the noticeable heat increase that was being exuded from someone.
However that someone was mostly obscured to the angel, not by smoke but rather nine large fox tails that were gently swaying about in a bunch. The golden tails with white tips appeared to give off specks of cinders and flames as if they were covered in fire rather than fur, the air around them wavering slightly from the heat being given off by the calm and peaceful monster. The tails covered the view of nearly all her body while she was seated down on a patch of scorched dirt, the grass having been incinerated under her when she first took a seat earlier, while over the top of the tails her head was seen. Her long orange hair was lush and vibrant while having crimson ends and yellow streaks running all throughout it. Sticking out from the locks were two large furry fox ears, both of which were clad in soft auburn fur that complimented the fiery appearance of the monster.
Valentina grunted as Flarah remained quiet then turned to walk away while her wings stretched out behind her.
“I don’t get you.”
“It’s quite easy, my dear,” Flarah spoke up, with Valentina stopping and waiting for her to continue. “I don’t need to bother searching for the key fragments at all. One way or another they’ll be brought to the City of Eden, and when they are I’ll be there.”
“So you’re just waiting for me to open the seal for you, is that it?” Valentina asked.
“I’m merely waiting for anyone to open it for me. Why bother chasing after the silly things when eventually they’ll be brought right where I need them?”
“Ha, you fool,” Valentina laughed. “Then not only will you have to fight Twilight but also whoever opened the seal. You do realize that when I open the gate I’m going to claim the power within that city, no matter who I have to kill in order to do so.”
“We shall see about that,” Flarah distantly replied.
“Why are you after the power anyway?” Valentina wondered with a glance back to her. “What is it you want to do with it?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Flarah mused. “I guess the world will have to wait and see, won’t it?”
“Don’t be an idiot,” Valentina scoffed. “You know you can’t hurt me, and you know I would skin you alive without breaking a sweat. Do yourself a favor and stay out of this, Flarah. You can’t beat either of us.”
“Valentina, are you trying to protect me from the big bad demon in that city?” Flarah asked curiously. “Oh my, you do fancy me as your friend, don’t you?”
“Hardly,” Valentina laughed. “I’m actually thinking of making you into a lovely fur coat I could wear while I raise my new world out from the ashes of the old.”
Flarah laughed amusedly while Valentina merely glanced back at her with a dull expression on her face.
“You two make me smile so much,” Flarah playfully said as she tilted her head up to look at the sky. “I’m going to miss our chats after you’re both dead. I really am.”
“You’re so irritating,” Valentina muttered.
“And you’re so cute,” Flarah cooed in a seductive voice.
Valentina watched the monster remaining still on the ground while her tails and hair gently ruffled in the wind, the cinders and waves of heated air blowing off her fur hinting at only a mere fraction of her power that the angel was fully aware of. It was more than apparent Flarah had no fear for either Valentina or Twilight, though what she wanted the power of the reaper for was still something the angel was unable to get an answer for.
“Whatever,” Valentina snapped as she turned away and flexed her wings. “Just stay out of my way, Flarah. I suggest you burrow deep underground and pray to survive the grand shift of this world when I make it my own. If you’re lucky I just might keep you alive afterwards as my pet, if you learn how to kneel and beg properly of course.”
With that the angel took off into the air with a mighty flap of her wings, soaring fast and far off into the distance while Flarah calmly remained seated at the top of the hill. The woman murmured with intrigue to herself while watching the clouds gently passing by overhead while she appeared not to have a care in the world.
“Sorry, but I will bow to nobody in this world. Thank you for the kind offer though, friend.”
*****
Leaning against the counter with his eyes glued to the finely polished reptile girl sword that was set on display, the weapon’s sleek steel blade showing his curious face in the reflection, Max slowly looked over the mighty sword while lightly drumming his fingers on the stand.
“What I wouldn’t give to be able to wield that,” he spoke in awe. A bright smile came across his face as he fantasized about swinging the heavy blade around effortlessly with one hand while striking at trolls and orcs without fear. He would block and parry their axes and stone hammers with taunting laughter before striking down the lustful monsters with poise and a cool smile.
“I’d be the best monster hunter Eden has ever seen,” he declared proudly to himself.
The image of him lunging across a battle-scarred field with fire and bloody corpses flashed before his eyes. With a fierce slash of his monster weapon he struck down another reptile girl, slicing through her own blade and then herself before she screamed in painful agony as she dropped down before him. Max held his sword up high, the steel dripping with fresh monster blood, as he let loose a mighty warcry that echoed across the land.
“I’d slay everything I was hired to kill, and even the ones I wasn’t. All monsters in Eden would tremble before me.”
And that’s what he envisioned next, the sight of goblins and gremlins literally cowering in fear before the young boy as they pleaded for their lustful lives. Max laughed boldly before dashing into the group of them, wildly slicing and dicing his way through the crowd that cried, bled, and peed themselves in sheer fright from his relentless assault.
“To any that dared try to touch another human again, they would have to answer to Max Harollson!”
A vicious swipe of his blade to the left cut down a menacing orc.
“I would be unstoppable!”
A heavy swing to the right ended the life of a skittering arachne.
“I would be awesome!”
A wild spin behind him sliced off the head of a large
troll.
“And I would finally get myself a girlfriend!”
Walking amidst the hazy battlefield Max boldly marched through the field of monster corpses, every single one of the lustful fiends having been struck down by the young boy and his oversized weapon. He came up to a gremlin that was trying to crawl away on her stomach in horrible pain, the monster looking back to him with fright before he pierced his blade through her and into the ground. As the gremlin let out its last dying howl Max walked past it towards where a young woman was feebly lying on the ground with her clothing in tatters.
“Don’t worry,” Max spoke in a cool voice as he knelt down to lift the girl into his arms. “You’re safe now. Every last one of those stupid monsters are dead.”
“Oh, Max,” Milly swooned with a bashful expression, her large breasts bouncing once as she was lifted up by the much smaller boy. “You were so brave and awesome. How can I ever repay you for saving my life? I’ll do anything you ask. Please, do what you will with me.”
Max stood still before the reptile girl sword on display in their home with a blank expression on his face. After a long while of silence he promptly punched himself in the head then groaned loudly while pulling on his hair.
“Why would you imagine that?” he exclaimed while trying to push the image of his sister out of his mind. “What is wrong with you? I hate this, I need to find girls my own age to talk to. Actually, I just need to find anyone else to talk to. I hate being stuck out here in the middle of nowhere like this.”
With a heavy sigh he walked away from the monster weapon, his daydream about wielding it having been ruined by the provocative image of his own sister slipping into his mind. He rubbed his face tiredly while making his way towards the backroom, an irritated groan escaping his mouth as he grumbled to himself in annoyance.
“I need to find a girl my own age to talk to, or for that matter I just need friends. What’s going to happen to me if the only people I ever get to really see are my sisters?”
Chronicles of Eden - Act VIII Page 48