“You little bitch, I’m going to kill you!” she yelled before rushing towards the cat.
“Rulo, stop,” Daemon called out, with the orc instantly halting and looking back to him with a squeak. The ant girls watched the man in wonder as he stopped the furious monster’s rampage right away, his eyes going from the neko that was keeping on guard to the orc that was wiping the blood from her face with a frown.
“But, master,” Rulo whined.
“I understand why you’re upset,” Daemon told Tabitha. “However I’d prefer it if you didn’t kill her over some petty gold. You gave them your weapons to help them survive down here, they of course used them to fight with as needed. Any damage they may have taken couldn’t be helped, you had to be aware of that. The next time you attack her so callously for something that wasn’t in her control you will answer to me. Am I clear?”
“But-” Tabitha complained before the man narrowed his eyes at her. The neko growled and looked to the severed handle she had before tossing it aside and looking away with a low grumble.
“Fine,” she reluctantly hissed.
“And you,” Daemon continued with Rulo. “You were well aware of the weapon’s condition when you returned it to her. You should have known that if you take a neko’s wealth away you’ll get a scratch or two for it in return.”
“But-” she started before he walked closer and held his hand to her cheek, the girl freezing with a blush as he lifted his sword up next to her head with a soft glow coming from it.
“You’ve had your fun out here getting into fights with the locals,” he said while healing her face, the orc losing her voice as she stared at him with loving eyes. “I know you’re not so weak as to let a few bumps and bruises upset you, you’re better than that. Now I want you calm and under control again, we have work to do still.”
“Okay,” she breathed out while closing her eyes. Her injuries slowly vanished before Daemon sheathed his blade with a click, with the girl then opening her eyes in a wonder as she felt him still holding her cheek. He watched her for a moment then turned to Tabitha while lowering his hand, something Rulo almost raised hers to hold before she quickly stopped herself and looked down.
“If you girls are finished making even more noise over these ant girls I would appreciate it,” he said before walking off. Sasha and Forrus quickly trotted over to his sides and accompanied the swordsman while looking back to the others briefly. Scay slithered over to Tabitha who was glaring at Rulo while the orc was returning the harsh look now.
“You owe me for that hammer,” Tabitha sternly reminded her.
“Got your payment right here,” Rulo snorted while smacking her fist into her palm.
Tabitha grabbed her swords with a low meow before Scay slithered over and held her back.
“Please stop,” Scay begged. “No more fighting.”
Tabitha glanced to her with a grunt as the naga held her tail around her then to Rulo who scoffed and started walking off after the others.
“You’re lucky my master stopped me or else I would have smeared you across the ground,” she warned, shoving her way past a few ant girls who watched her curiously before turning to the neko. Tabitha growled while clenching her swords then looked to Scay who was still holding onto her.
“Please don’t fight with her, Tabitha,” Scay pleaded. “You’ll get hurt.”
“I can handle myself just fine,” Tabitha snapped while trying to push aside the girl’s tail.
“If you attack her from behind, yes,” Scay agreed. “But if she attacks you from the front, no.”
Tabitha looked at her carefully as the naga slowly moved her tail and shook her head.
“I’ve seen you fight, Tabitha. When you sneak up on others you can kill them easily, but when something attacks you directly you have more trouble with it. I don’t want to see you get hurt again today, I really don’t.”
“Scay, I-” Tabitha started before the naga quickly hugged her.
“I don’t want to lose my friend,” Scay whimpered. “I was so scared when you didn’t get back up earlier. I really was.”
Tabitha slowly looked around to seeing ant girls watching her while two more fights broke out among them in the crowd then failed to form any response to the naga’s words. After a moment Scay leaned back and smiled worriedly at her then picked up the broken hammer.
“It’s still worth something, it has to be,” she hopefully reasoned. “It’s made of gold and has these pretty gems in it. It’s okay, Tabitha. You can get money for it still. So please, don’t get yourself hurt again over this.”
Tabitha sighed and looked at the broken treasure before taking it then gently patting the naga’s head.
“Fine, I suppose I can try to sell it off for something as it is. And… thank you for caring about me.”
“Of course, I’m your special friend,” Scay promised with a wide smile and one eye turning inward for a moment. Tabitha watched the naga shaking a little with a strained murmur then nodded and started walking after the others with her unique friend following behind.
“You sure are.”
The two made their way across the cavern towards the side where a few smaller rooms were carved into the walls. They were set up with rounded tables inside and had ant girls squeaking at each other while sitting on stone pews either drinking or having arm-wrestling matches. One of the rooms however had a large gathering of ant girls outside of it, with Tabitha and Scay wading through the crowd before coming out the front and seeing the rest of their group inside the dugout.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Mika muttered shaking her head. “After everything that’s happened to me, this is where it’s led me.”
“Can’t handle it, huh?” Hollia quipped with a smug grin. “Does that mean you accept defeat to a monster, hunter?”
“I’d much rather wipe that look off your face,” Mika snapped.
“Then do try,” the centaur dared.
Tabitha and Scay moved closer to the dugout, seeing their comrades gathered around a large table with a lantern hanging above for light. Sasha and Forrus were sitting to the side with the reptile girl having her blade resting beside her while next to them Rulo and Daemon were standing and observing the heated battle taking place. Seated across from the girls Saffron was showing an amused smile while on the table before them were numerous empty mugs that were steadily growing with the competition between herself, the centaur, and the human who were sitting next to her. Or rather Mika who was sitting next to the ant girl while Hollia was seated on the ground near the growing crowd of spectators since the seats couldn’t accommodate her.
“What is going on here?” Tabitha asked.
“And, go,” Sasha plainly said with a wave of the hand. At that moment Saffron, Mika, and Hollia began chugging another pint, the crowd of ant girls squeaking and cheering for their lieutenant while the other girls exchanged puzzled glances.
“They’re having a drinking contest?” Scay asked.
“I love this place,” Rulo commented with an impressed smile. “These girls know how to party.”
Saffron downed the beverage and set the mug down with a clink a few seconds before Hollia did, the two then laughing a bit as Mika took a few moments longer before she set her empty glass down and took a deep breath.
“You lose again,” Hollia playfully reminded her.
“What’s your deal?” Mika snapped while wiping her mouth. “I thought you said you were a princess or something, since when does royalty drink like that?”
“I don’t think it’s a matter of me being royalty, but rather you being a horrible drinker,” Hollia chuckled. “Sorry, Mika, but it seems monsters have bested you once again.”
Mika growled with a small blush and clenched fists before noticing Saffron giggling at her. The ant girl showed a pouting smile and shook her head before laughing with the crowd of workers doing the same.
“You’re both pissing me off. Not wise,” Mika threatened while one
of her hands gave off a crimson and black glow.
“Care to try again?” Hollia dared with a twitch of her eyebrow. Saffron nodded and waved Mika forward with her hand, taunting the girl to challenge her with a few sharp squeaks.
“You three can drink yourselves stupid later if you want,” Sasha spoke up. “And if you really want a challenge have Rulo join you, I’d wager she’d drink you all under the table.”
“I’m game for that,” Rulo commented with a grin.
“For now I think we need to discuss our next move,” Sasha said looking to Daemon, with all the girls turning to him as he was just watching Mika in silence.
“My knight,” Hollia said curiously. “Why have we not left this place and returned to the surface? What reason do we have to stay down here?”
“Besides waiting for the greedy cat in our group to finish her little nap?” Forrus muttered.
“Already forgot that I helped save your life, huh?” Tabitha sneered.
Forrus started to stand up with a growl before Daemon walked closer to the table and motioned her to sit, something she reluctantly did while glaring at the neko.
“According to Mika those that call themselves The Sisterhood are supposedly heading towards Green Haven,” he said, with Mika nodding and looking down with a scowl from hearing that name again. “Those two monsters we faced in Eston are leading this horde, going by the names of Jovian and Jacqueline according to Hollia. Seeing how they were the ones who personally murdered the centaur empress they’re likely going to try threatening the elven priestess as well.”
Saffron squeaked with a stern expression and slammed her fist onto the table, the surrounding ant girls showing great anger and nodding in agreement to her words.
“And they are also the ones who threatened Saffron’s queen,” Daemon added. “Needless to say we’re all quite tired of them stirring up trouble. That being the case the ant girls of this nest are going to assist us with removing Jovian and Jacqueline from the land of the living.”
“How are they going to do that?” Hollia asked.
“They already have tunnels leading to Green Haven,” Daemon explained, with Saffron nodding at the girls. “They can get us there quickly with their mining rails and with their explosives they’ll provide the distraction we need to single out The Sisterhood’s leaders.”
“Distraction?” Rulo asked.
“They’re going to attack the horde from underneath and allow us to concentrate on the two demons,” Sasha said, with Saffron showing a sharp smile to that. “We won’t have to wade through all the grunts to slay them, we’ll come up right under them in that forest while their followers are thrown into chaos by the ant girls and their bombs.”
“That sounds like a plan to me,” Tabitha agreed while Scay eagerly bobbed up and down behind her giggling. “One swift strike and those wretches are out of our hair.”
“One question,” Hollia mentioned raising her hand. “How exactly are we going to dispatch the gemini?”
“Gemini?” Mika asked looking to her carefully. “What do you mean, gemini don’t exist.”
“Neither do male monsters,” Tabitha pointed out glancing to Daemon. “And yet that’s not stopping them from appearing.”
Saffron looked at Daemon with puzzlement while Mika shook her head.
“Hold on,” she argued raising a hand. “The ones leading The Sisterhood are gemini? How do you know this?”
“We’ve seen them,” Sasha explained. “They do live up to their reputation of being hard to kill quite splendidly.”
“Gemini don’t exist!” Mika shouted. “Those monsters are just a myth, nothing more!”
“You’d be surprised what myths are true in this world,” Forrus said.
“Really now? Immortal twin monsters with multicolored eyes that can only be killed by two legendary swords of heaven and hell exist in this world? Bullshit! I know the difference between real monsters and those from fantasy tales, and gemini don’t exist in Eden.”
“Wrong again,” Daemon plainly said.
“For crying out loud,” Mika muttered covering her face with one hand. “This is getting ridiculous. I’ll admit there’s some fucked up shit in this world I never expected to see, but gemini being real is just too much to believe. Next thing you’re going to say is that the Archlight’s Blade and Hellfire’s Edge are real too, aren’t you?”
“Of course they are,” Sasha answered. “My master wields the Archlight’s Blade.”
Mika opened her mouth to yell at the reptile girl, paused, quickly looked to Daemon’s sheathed sword, then to him as she suddenly fell speechless. The swordsman slowly pulled the blade out to reveal its glowing runes and a gleam of white light, all eyes staring at the holy weapon in wonder as it gave off a powerful yet soothing aura. Sliding it back into its sheath with a click Daemon remained silent as he watched Mika struggling to form any words now.
“You’ve seen its ability to heal others, haven’t you?” Sasha reminded her. “You can see well enough with your remaining eye that it is no ordinary sword. I assure you it is indeed the holy weapon you’ve heard of. And believe me how I wish it wasn’t at the same time.”
“No…” Mika breathed out as she looked at the sword then Daemon again. “That… but… it’s not real. It can’t be.”
“He shouldn’t be real,” Tabitha said pointing to Daemon. “And yet he is. In case you haven’t noticed there are a lot of myths turning out to be fact lately.”
“Those swords exist?” Mika softly asked, with the swordsman nodding to that. “And… gemini? Those fabled monsters are real as well?”
“We’ve seen them ourselves,” Sasha told her. “We’ve seen how resilient they are to all manner of harm. We’ve seen more that remains hidden in this world than many, things that you don’t even want to know of. Believe us or not, it makes no difference. The truth of this world will always be the truth.”
Mika stared at Daemon in awe, struggling to form any words before she lowered her head and seemed to withdraw into her thoughts.
“My knight,” Hollia said again to the swordsman. “I don’t doubt your claim of what those hellspawns are, after all I’ve seen I will never question your words. Though please do explain how we can kill the gemini if we only possess one of the mythical swords of legend. It’s said that we need both of them to slay the gemini together.”
“I’ve been curious about that too,” Tabitha spoke up as she walked closer to Daemon. “Look, I’ll believe that the ones leading The Sisterhood are gemini. Why not? But if that’s true why are we hunting them when we can’t kill them at all? What’s your plan for actually dealing with them?”
“It’s true they appear to be gemini,” Daemon said looking to his gloved hand. “However if they were indeed that then they shouldn’t be here it all. I’m not convinced they’re truly gemini and are instead a different monster class.”
“What do you mean they shouldn’t be here at all?” Tabitha questioned. “You’re speaking like you know where they would normally be found.”
“So they’re not really gemini?” Hollia wondered. “They merely look like them?”
“Perhaps they aren’t,” Daemon cryptically answered. “And perhaps they are the real thing. If that’s true then we won’t be able to kill them. However the real gemini shouldn’t be here in this land, their presence seems highly unlikely.”
Looking around he saw all the girls except for Sasha and Rulo showing concern to his words.
“What the hell are you talking about now?” Mika asked. “The real gemini? How would you know where they should and shouldn’t be? They’re not even supposed to exist. You’re not even supposed to exist. How the hell can you know about any of this?”
Saffron looked at Daemon carefully, seeming to be thinking something about the unique swordsman, then started to squeak at him before Mika stood up and pointed to the man.
“I don’t understand any of what’s going on here or why this is happening, but you seem to
have a pretty good idea since nothing at all freaks you out. Not even the fact that there are male monsters, or immortal ones, or even the idea that there are supposedly monsters out there that are worse than Darker Ones. Enough is enough. I’ve stayed in your company thus far not because I prefer it but because I want to know what the fuck is happening here.”
“You really don’t want to know those answers,” Sasha warned. “Be careful what you’re asking.”
“I do want to know those answers,” Mika argued. “After all the shit I’ve seen I really want to know. You’re not human, Daemon. You can talk to ant girls. You’re far stronger than you appear. You have a legendary sword that isn’t supposed to exist. And you have a group of monsters that dote on your every word for some reason.”
“Excuse me, but I’m not like them,” Tabitha interrupted shaking her head. “I’m just being paid to help him, that’s all.”
“Help him with what?” Mika asked her. “What the hell is going on here? Tell me! What are you all so set on helping him with? Why are you helping him at all instead of trying to rape him like monsters do? Why are there literally dozens of ant girls surrounding us yet not one of them is trying to rape him? None of this makes sense!”
Saffron looked around at the girls then squeaked at Daemon with a puzzled expression. The swordsman kept his eyes on Mika while all the ant girls nearby were watching him curiously, none of them making a single step towards him with any lecherous intentions at all. Mika glanced around at all the monsters that were just looking at the man yet not doing anything to rape him.
‘He’s completely surrounded and yet not one monster is trying to take his pants off. Surely they don’t think he could fend them all off should they gang up on him… could they? Could he?’
“There is so much here that doesn’t add up,” Mika said turning to Daemon. “Now I do agree that The Sisterhood needs to die, and if you have any plan how to make that happen then fine, I’m all in. Believe me I want them dead far more than any of you do and I’ll do anything to make that a reality. But I need to have these other questions answered first because frankly these mysteries are making me really uncomfortable, and that’s even with all the other horrible shit that’s been happening lately.”
Chronicles of Eden_Act X Page 33