“Wait!” Alyssa yelled as Doku hurried the basin over towards the entryway, her wings flapping to keep her off the ground while her feet gripped the bowl tightly. She got to the opening and brushed aside the curtain before swinging with her feet outward, throwing the glowing mixture outside while the rain was still coming down in a lighter shower.
“Doku, no!” Alyssa cried out, grabbing her hat and shutting her eyes as the group watched Doku regain her balance from her swing and turn back to face them.
“What’s wrong?” Doku asked, moments before a loud explosion was heard outside. The blinding flash and powerful gust of wind coming through the curtain caused everyone to jump with a startle while Doku froze in place with a whine. Alyssa groaned and rubbed a hand on her face tiredly before she sighed and shook her head slowly.
“That needed to be dumped out slowly,” she flatly explained.
Doku looked back outside, with her and Cilia squeaking nervously at seeing a glowing crevice of charred terrain and smoke leading away from the ride from where the magical liquid had landed. Slowly she turned back to the group trembling in fear while Cilia ducked down into her bosom to hide.
“I’m sorry,” Doku whimpered. “I just wanted to help.”
“What does it take to get you to stop helping?” Alyssa dryly asked.
Doku gulped then looked over to Clover, the elf watching her with weary eyes while her breathing was quiet and ragged. A shaky groan escaped the bound girl’s mouth while her body trembled under the covers from enduring her sentence.
“Am… I going to be punished now… too?” Doku fearfully asked.
“I don’t think I could stand to see you suffer the same fate as Clover there,” Kroanette mentioned shaking her head with concern.
“Neither could I,” Alyssa added while watching Doku shake in fear in front of them.
Triska walked over to Doku as the harpy hid behind her wings with a nervous whine, the teen then guiding the girl back over to the table to sit down next to Luna.
“Please, just rest for the night, Doku,” Triska insisted with a weak smile.
“Sit here with me, okay?” Luna asked kindly.
Doku slowly nodded then looked behind her to see Daniel standing close and resting his hand on her shoulder.
“It’s alright, Doku,” he promised. “Just… take it easy now, alright? You’ve earned a break.”
“But I can still help, I can-” she quickly insisted before he held a finger over her lips, silencing her as she froze with a deep blush from his touch.
“I understand you, Doku,” he reasoned, with the girls watching him curiously as he smiled knowingly at the harpy. “You desperately want to prove that you can be a good wife, just like all harpies do. You want to show the world that you can do anything you set your mind to, that you’re capable of being a devoted housewife and mother to any man. But you’ve already proven that to us. I can see perfectly well that you are a talented and dedicated harpy.”
“D-D-Daniel,” she quietly stuttered. Cilia slowly came up from between her breasts and looked at Daniel curiously then to Doku as she felt the harpy’s heartbeat picking up in her chest.
“It’s true,” Daniel assured her with a gentle ruffle of her hair. “So you’ve already won us over, you don’t need to keep pushing yourself so hard or trying to prove that you can do any chores. I think we can all agree you’ll make a wonderful wife someday. Better than wonderful even.”
“I… will?” Doku squeaked out.
“I know you will,” he said with a wink before walking back over to the bed.
Triska lightly ruffled Doku’s hair then joined Daniel and Kroanette with changing the sheets and pillows for the night. As they worked to get the bed cleaned up Doku slowly lowered her head while she felt her heart beating heavily in her chest.
“Doku?” Cilia quietly asked. “Are you alright?”
Doku remained silent while her eyes couldn’t be seen behind her bangs, her breathing quiet while she appeared to be deep in thought about something. After a few minutes she slowly stood up from the table, catching the attention of everyone as they saw her getting up again.
“Excuse me,” she softly said. “I… just need to step outside for a moment. I’ll be back shortly.”
“It’s still raining outside,” Specca mentioned looking to the entryway. “Are you sure you want to go out there now?”
“Yes, I’ll be fine. I’ll just stand outside the curtain for a moment. A little fresh air will help me relax. Don’t worry about me.”
Daniel and the girls watched the harpy slowly walk towards the entryway while Cilia glanced over to Daniel with a curious eye. Upon reaching the curtain Doku turned her head down and to the side, halting in place while remaining silent.
“Doku?” Luna asked with a worried smile. “Are you alright?”
Doku merely nodded, her eyes from behind her bangs watching Daniel through her hair as he saw the harpy standing still before the fluttering curtain. With a small poke in his mind he felt something for a brief moment, almost like another aura coming from the feathered girl before it vanished entirely. Doku turned her head away then passed through the curtain, the black shade dropping down behind her while everyone glanced to each other curiously as they wondered what was bothering the girl.
Outside on the front seat Doku stood while looking up at the moon in the clouds, the rain falling lightly around the area as the storm was finally coming to an end. Cilia looked around at the soaked landscape then up at Doku as the harpy’s golden eyes could be seen gazing at the heavens.
“Doku? What’s wrong?”
“He said I’m an angel,” she quietly recalled. “That I would make a wonderful wife. Even though I’m such a failure of a harpy, even though I’m useless, he… he truly appreciates me.”
“Daniel is nice, isn’t he?” Cilia mused with a smile. “I like him. I see why all those other girls like him too.”
“He wants to help all my sisters, he wants to help everyone, he wants to help us even though we’re monsters; he’s amazing.” Doku looked down to Cilia with a teary-eyed smile. “He actually approves of me, Cilia. And not just because I can do housework, but because he truly cares about me, he actually cares about who I am.”
“Doku?” Cilia wondered, tilting her head curiously as she saw the harpy smiling with love in her eyes.
“He’s too good to be true, and yet he’s real. Such a human with a caring and noble heart, I always dreamed of finding a man like that.”
“Do you like him, Doku?”
Doku looked up at the sky with a gentle smile, a loving sigh coming from her lips as she felt an overwhelming sense of happiness with the mere thought of Daniel now. Cilia watched her curiously then looked out at the horizon and saw a glistening rainbow crossing over the land against the moon in the sky.
“A moonlight rainbow,” Cilia breathed out in awe. “I haven’t seen one of those in forever.”
“I’m going to remember this moment for the rest of my life, Cilia,” Doku dearly promised. Cilia looked up at her in wonder as the harpy blushed and held a wing to her cheek.
“On a lovely night under a moonlight rainbow, that’s when I found my husband.”
Chapter 14
The Two-Faced Twins
In the world of Eden it was common to come across those that were difficult to trust. Perhaps their words were hard to believe or their motives suspicious and unclear, there was something about them that caused a sense of uncertainty and caution. That wasn’t to say they always were deceivers, as it was possible they were just protective of themselves or their goals. Sometimes there were ways of discerning the truth, others it was almost impossible to see their true intentions. When dealing with those that masked their motives from the world it was always important to trust one’s instincts.
If they were hiding something, it was for a reason.
*****
Sitting on the couch in their cleaned cabin Daniel was deep in thought about the
recent discovery of what the artifact he held in his hands really was. After dealing with Clover’s sudden thawing of her icy persona and Doku overzealously cleaning their living area everyone was beginning to calm down for the night. With everything quieting down finally Daniel’s focus returned to the strange relic that was apparently the key to Twilight’s freedom, though that only raised more questions than answers for him and the girls.
“So, is this Twilight a friend of yours?” Doku asked from beside him, the harpy sitting very close to his side while Cilia remained nestled in her bosom.
“I think so,” Daniel answered with a shrug, eyes going over the nearly weightless artifact while he felt both wonder and concern from it in his hands. “Today was the first time we heard of her. She just appeared out of nowhere, she saved Kroanette from drowning in a ravine when she was injured.”
“She did? That was so kind of her,” Doku praised with a warm smile at Kroanette.
The centaur along with her co-mates were all gathered on the bed which had new sheets and clean pillows on it, with herself lying close to the edge in front while the other girls were sitting beside her, all of them watching the harpy with cautious eyes as they saw how close Doku was sitting to Daniel now. Pip however was bobbing up and down excitedly in the centaur’s bosom and didn’t seem to mind the harpy getting close to him unlike the other girls.
“Yes, it was,” Kroanette carefully agreed. “I must thank her the next time she makes her presence known to us.”
“How did she do that anyway?” Falla spoke up. “If she’s trapped somewhere and needs that key to get out, how did she help Kroanette or even talk to us like she did?”
Daniel stood up and made his way over to the bed while staring at the relic, with Doku quickly hopping to her feet and following closely after. He sighed and nodded before sitting down on the bed with the girls watching him curiously as he seemed to have an answer for that question. Doku carefully sat down next to him while keeping close, the other girls noticing this but choosing to remain quiet as Daniel appeared ready to tell them more.
“She didn’t personally save us,” he admitted. “She had two helpers come to our aid.”
“Helpers?” Specca questioned.
“Alyssa,” Daniel said looking to the witch. “What do you know about Apoch and Astreal?”
“What? Those two?” she asked before showing surprise. “Wait, did… did they help you?”
“They did,” Daniel confirmed, the girls jumping a bit in response as he looked down at the relic with a careful eye. “They came out of nowhere and teleported us back here with their magic. But they didn’t do so on Charlotte’s behalf, they did so on Twilight’s. They even called her master.”
“Master?” Alyssa repeated. “But… I don’t understand, why would they call Twilight their master? What were they doing helping her?”
Daniel blinked then looked to Pip, the tiny fairy watching him curiously from between Kroanette’s breasts.
“Pip, you said before that you knew Apoch and Astreal. Do you remember anything else about them?”
“I don’t think so,” Pip replied. She held her head and hummed while seeming to think real hard. “I know them though, I’ve seen them before, but I can’t remember where.”
“You mentioned they always come back,” Triska recalled. “That if they die they just come back again. How is that possible? What did you mean by that?”
“I’m afraid I’m a bit lost here,” Doku spoke up with a weak smile.
“So am I,” Cilia agreed holding up a hand. “What is everyone talking about?”
“Alyssa, what do you know about those two witches?” Specca asked her co-mate.
“They’re Charlotte’s helpers, not Twilight’s,” Alyssa explained while trying to wrap her head around what she was hearing. “They’re dimensional witches who excel in manipulation and summoning magic. They’ve been Charlotte’s helpers for as long as I can remember.”
“They’re not witches,” Pip said shaking her head.
“Yes they are,” Alyssa argued with her. “They’re just like me.”
“No, they’re not. They’re not like you. Not at all. You’re a witch, but they’re not like you, they’re not witches.”
“What are you saying?” Kroanette asked the fairy in her chest. “If they’re not witches then what are they?”
“I… don’t know,” Pip answered worriedly.
“I’m sorry, but I still don’t understand,” Doku spoke up again. “Who are you talking about right now? And what is that strange thing you’re holding, Daniel?”
Daniel looked to the fragment of Eden as did all the girls, the relic causing a growing sense of uneasiness to spread among them by its presence alone.
“Daniel?” Triska asked. “What are we going to do about that? About her?”
“Are we going to help her be free?” Luna wondered. “She needs someone to save her, doesn’t she?”
“I don’t know if I trust her,” Falla mentioned with a careful eye on the relic. “Something about all of this is giving me a very bad feeling.”
“She did save my life,” Kroanette reasoned with a small shrug. “Or rather had her helpers do so. I would like to know more about her before I pass judgment.”
“She’s seeking knowledge, truth, power, and freedom,” Specca recalled. “I wonder if that’s good or bad.”
“She’s seeking power,” Triska reminded them. “That seems like a dangerous thing for anyone to be searching for.”
Squeak nodded and squeaked something then jumped with a realization and quickly started squeaking at the group while waving her arms around. Everyone watched as she tried in vain to convey something important then glanced to one another in question.
“She’s never going to learn we don’t speak squeak, is she?” Alyssa dryly asked.
Falla sighed then moved closer to Squeak and held her head to touch their antennae together, the ant girl still squeaking at her as if being unable to calm herself.
“Hold on,” Falla insisted as she tried to get the ant girl to hold still and connect their antennae. “Wait, let me just- Squeak, wait!”
“What is she doing?” Cilia asked pointing to Falla and Squeak.
“Can somebody please explain to us what is going on?” Doku shyly requested, not being heard of course as everyone was focused on what Squeak was trying to say to them.
“Okay, there,” Falla grunted as she finally got Squeak to hold still for her. “Now, calmly tell me what it is you’re trying to say.”
Squeak spoke to the butterfly girl with urgent squeaks as everyone waited with growing interest. Falla listened carefully then showed a look of wonder as she realized what Squeak did.
“That’s right, that other swordsman. The one with the Archlight’s Blade.”
“Other swordsman?” Doku questioned with puzzlement.
“Daemon,” Daniel recalled. “He and those others monsters that follow him, they’re searching for these as well. They know what they’re used for.”
“He must know about Twilight,” Triska reasoned as a smaller piece of the puzzle became clear to her. “He’s searching for the pieces of her key.”
“Do you think he’s trying to rescue her?” Luna asked with a curious smile.
“What about that succubus?” Specca pointed out. “She was after these things as well, and I don’t think she was trying to rescue anyone.”
“Maybe that’s why they were always fighting each other,” Daniel mused while tilting the relic around. “Maybe one was trying to save Twilight, and the other… wasn’t? Hm, even if that’s true, we don’t know anything else about her or the City of Eden, or why either party would want to go after her.”
“City of Eden? Where’s that?” Cilia asked up at Doku.
“I think we’ll have to wait until they’re done talking before we get any answers,” Doku sighed in defeat.
“So what do we do now?” Alyssa spoke up. She slowly reached out and touched the arti
fact, feeling a slight shiver running down her spine from the mere touch. “None of this is adding up. Apoch and Astreal serving Twilight, that swordsman Daemon and all those monsters fighting each other over these things, none of this makes sense.”
“We don’t have enough information,” Specca stated while carefully eyeing the relic.
“Charlotte was after them,” Daniel said as he set the artifact down on the bed. “Daemon is after them, that succubus was after them, it seems everyone is after these fragments. But still, this isn’t why we came out here, we have our own quest to seek out, we have our own mission to complete.”
“So we’re not going to help her?” Luna worriedly asked.
“Even if we wanted to we can’t. We don’t know where the other pieces are, we don’t even know where Twilight is being held prisoner. Not to mention I feel as though it would be a very dangerous undertaking to search for all these relics, they seem to attract very dangerous people in the world.”
“We don’t have the power to help her even if we wanted to,” Triska agreed. “Besides, we’ve got our hands full with trying to bring peace to this region, to the whole world even. We don’t have time to go on a wild chase for these things.”
“So we’re not going to help her then?” Kroanette assumed with a hint of disappointment in her voice.
“Truthfully I would like to,” Daniel admitted. “After all she did for us I would like to help her. But we have our own quest to complete. That alone is going to be difficult to achieve.”
“Perhaps we could help with that,” two familiar voices came from the front of the room. Everyone quickly turned to see Apoch and Astreal standing before the curtain which was pulled over to the side. The raven haired witch held a brown bag in hand while the blonde haired witch held a small black one in hers. The two walked towards the bed while glancing around carelessly at the room, their steps in perfect sync with each other along with their posture and silent scoffs of derision.
“Who are they?” Doku quietly asked.
Chronicles of Eden - Act VII Page 44