“That’s because I’m right and they need to know it,” Hilda snootily retorted with a stern nod. “I know what I’m talking about, I know what I’m doing, I know damn well how this place runs and how to keep it running. Who do ya think repairs these old halls and keeps the place from crashing down on top of us? Me. Who do ya think helped build all our homes and provided roofs over our heads? Me. Who do ya think knows what belongs where in Stonegate and shouldn’t be questioned when she’s got a whole list of shit to take care of? Me.”
“Who’s your boss and shouldn’t be talked down to?” Eirene flatly replied. Hilda muttered something as she lowered her head, with the copycat clearing her throat to earn a shy glance from the woman.
“…you,” she spoke in a low, defeated tone.
“That’s right. Now I know you pitch in a lot around here and this place would indeed be in shambles if it wasn’t for your expertise, but that doesn’t excuse your complete lack of manners with speaking to us. Please try to control your tongue in the future, Hilda, and your hammer. We may perpetuate the image of being uncivilized savages up there on the surface, but down here we most certainly do not. You know our motto.”
“Savages live in Stonegate. Saints live in The Cellar,” Hilda mumbled.
“Maybe she should live up there on the surface,” Vevil remarked as she started walking away. “She would fit in just fine.”
“Oh go fuck yourself, ya filthy smith!” Hilda shouted waving her hammer at the cyclops. Eirene shook her head with a tired outbreath before looking back to see Kitten staring at them in disbelief.
“Sorry about that,” Eirene said walking back to her. “Just had to straighten out a little misunderstanding, part of my duties as countess. Now then, shall we go see-”
“Hold it,” Kitten ordered with a stern look. “Back up. Are my eyes deceiving me, or is that woman over there a…”
“Human?” Eirene smirked. She looked back to see Hilda going into the storeroom and slamming the door behind her, being followed by her muffled yelling of colorful language that Clover would likely be quite familiar with.
“Yes, she is,” the copycat admitted with a calm smile at Kitten. “I did say there were no humans in the city of Stonegate, I just never said anything about who lived beneath it. Technically we’re now in what we like to affectionately call The Cellar. You know, Stonegate’s cellar. And that was Hilda Brown. She’s been here for some time and has helped tremendously with keeping the place standing. Her attitude is rather… sour, to say the least, but when it comes to construction she knows a great deal more than most of us and is the one responsible for building and maintaining most of what you’ve seen today.”
“You mean up above in that cave where we boarded the lift, the room that looked like it was built by a one-armed goblin with a nail driven into her brain?” Kitten recalled. “That was because of her?”
“No, Hilda didn’t do that. Unfortunately her work queue is always long and has higher priorities. That room did look pretty bad in comparison, it was built by goblins, though not as feeble minded as you seem to claim, but Hilda did a cursory look over the work and deemed it stable enough to stay standing until she could set aside time to redo it later on.”
“I see. And, what about the fact that she’s human?” Kitten loudly demanded. “Seriously, what the hell is a human doing here? What is this place anyway?”
“Oh, it’s not just humans who live in The Cellar,” Eirene chuckled with a meow. “Trust me, it will all make sense soon enough. But for now let’s go see Doc. We’re almost to the infirmary, and I’m sure Star would love to feel better again as soon as possible.”
She led the way again with Kitten following behind her, the cambion having a bewildered expression on her face while Star’s was a mixture of confusion and discomfort.
‘This has to be a trick, right?’ Kitten thought in her mind. ‘There’s no way that was a human. It had to be a copycat or some sort of monster who only looks human. That couldn’t have actually been a human woman down here, surrounded by monsters, taking orders from monsters, and living with monsters. Right?’
“Kitten, what if… what if Calam was telling the truth?” Triska wondered. “She said there was a sanctuary hidden below Stonegate. What if that was true? What if The Cellar is that sanctuary?”
‘A sanctuary for humans as well? That’s pushing this tall tale even further, Triska. I can understand it being a safe haven for monsters such as themselves, but for humans as well? This has to be an elaborate trick to lure us off guard. The only thing I haven’t worked out yet is to what end. What are they going to incredible lengths for in order to hide from the world and us?’
“If we find Kroanette, we’ll find our answer.”
Eirene guided the demon down a busy hallway, with passing monsters seeming oddly cheerful and friendly given that they were all supposedly creatures of lust and violence. In fact the only one who appeared unruly and difficult to approach was the lone human they came across during their walk. After venturing further into the catacombs they came upon a very distinct door at the end of a long hall. It wasn’t just a standard wooden entryway, as this one was painted red and had small spikes protruding from its steel frames. It looked to be a gateway into a hellish lair filled with demons, with even the steel ring used to pull the door open being made of a circling snake that was eating its own tail.
“I feel I must warn you before we meet with Doc,” Eirene mentioned, grabbing hold of the door’s ring and glancing back to Kitten.
“Now you want to warn me?” Kitten dryly quipped. “After seeing the city above filled with copycats pretending to be suffering humans all to assist your guise of this being the most notorious and dangerous haven for monsters to congregate, seeing all manner of monsters normally considered to be savages and murderers acting so pleasant down here in your hidden dungeon of hospitality, and finding a human woman choosing to work for you and help keep this place in decent condition all while having the disposition of a disgruntled ogre, now you want to warn me about something that I might find to be strange in this confusing as fuck town?”
“Yes,” Eirene plainly answered. “I feel I should warn you that Doc is a bit… eccentric. Whatever you see or hear in her infirmary, know that she is the most qualified and skilled doctor we have. She knows what she’s doing, she knows what she’s talking about, and although her methods of dealing with patients are a little peculiar, there is nobody better to take care of your friend in all of Eden.”
“Alright, I’ll try to keep that in mind,” Kitten said with a small shrug. Eirene nodded then pulled the door open with a creaking moan. She motioned for Kitten to enter, the demon taking a slow breath before venturing inside. Making it a few steps in she quickly stopped as her warning was actually well deserved, with only Eirene having a calm persona to her now as she walked in behind them and closed the door with a screeching slam.
“Uh…” Kitten managed to get out, herself and Star staring in disbelief at not appearing to be in any sort of medical lounge or infirmary, but rather a dungeon of torture and unspeakable horror. Racks were set up against the walls and pillars with steel shackles to hold prisoners in place for likely whippings and being skinned alive, presumably since there were bins of sharpened saws, knives, stakes, and surgical tools set in various bins all around the expansive chamber that seemed ready and eager to rend flesh and bone with glee. Benches with black leather restraints for arms and legs were set alongside another wall while in the corner of the room was a wooden horse that only reminded Triska and Kitten of the kinky little witch that lived with them and how she likely wouldn’t actually kill them atop the stand as opposed to how being mounted upon this particular one would surely end. The lanterns hanging above them dangled next to chains that were freely draping from the rafters, many of which had shackles and even large hooks on their ends that glinted in the light. The ground was slightly indented towards the center where a grated drain was placed, likely for any vomit or blood t
o be collected from any of the good doctor’s ‘patients’.
The entire dungeon only reminded Kitten of hell which honestly made her feel slightly more at ease now. It reminded Star of a similarly designed prison in her old mother’s castle that was used to deadly effect. And for Triska she imagined only the most depraved acts of murder awaiting anyone who visited this dangerous woman for any reason whatsoever.
“What in Eden?” Kitten slowly asked, looking back to Eirene.
“I did warn you,” the copycat smirked.
“That she was eccentric, not the devil.”
“I assure you, I’m not the devil,” a woman spoke up. Kitten blinked before looking around for the voice, seeing nobody in the room while the rattling of chains was heard above. Searching the rafters carefully Kitten eventually rested her gaze on the speaker who was seated on one of the beams with chains swaying gently in front of her.
It was a giant butterfly, dressed in dark heels, a tight fitting white skirt, and a black and white colored tunic that bared a deeper cut down the middle to her belly, with only a white and golden laced belt wrapped around her large chest that held the clothing in place over her breasts. Her hands were clad in white gloves, she wore leather holders with scalpels and small surgical tools on her left arm as well as her right thigh, and around her neck was a black choker with white studs on it, the collar having a single steel ring on the front as if belonging to a hazardous dog. Her long messy brunette locks traveled down past her shoulders in both the front and back, her teal colored eyes were focused on Kitten with an eerie gleam in them, and a small scar was seen running down her left cheek towards her smile that was wide and foreboding. Her wings fluttered gently behind her, the bases being black while the segmented sections inside were colored a pale blue and the dots around them a sharp green. Her antennae twitched as she giggled to herself, the woman hopping off the rafter and gently landing on the ground with wings fluttering behind her.
“I have a wondrous track record of healing the injured and nursing the sickly,” she boasted with a stern smile. “I assure you the devil has no such record. Nope, not at all. That asshole wouldn’t want it anyway, I’m sure. So sure of that. But I do, and I do, I really do. Just me, mind you. Just… me. Ha. Haha. Heh heh heh. HAHAHAHAHAHA!”
The butterfly broke out into maniacal laughter with a sinister look on her face, her wings fluttering wildly behind her as she appeared to go completely mad. Kitten looked back to Eirene with extreme doubt about this being a renowned doctor and miracle worker, then ahead to see the butterfly now right in front of her with a wide grin on her face.
“Name’s Doc, friend,” the woman proudly announced with a twitching eye. “Just Doc, mind you. I suppose you could call me doctor, after all I am one, a rather beautiful and talented one if I do say so, which I do, but I prefer Doc all the same. Just Doc. That’s fine. And who might you be, dearie?”
“Kitten,” the demon slowly replied.
“Me-ow!” Doc rawred with a clawing gesture. “I simply love that name. Kitten. Such a cute little kitty cat you are. And who’s this?”
Star gulped as she saw Doc looking at her as if she was pondering roasting the jinx over a searing fire for dinner.
“Oh my, oh my, what do we have here? She looks absolutely delicious. I love your eyes, darling, and those tails are so sexy I just want to rip them off and whip your scrumptious looking ass with them. Wouldn’t that be so much fun? Mmm! I’m getting hungry just thinking about it. Wow, this is surely a treat! I have two little kitties coming to mama for some love; I’m SO FUCKING HAPPY RIGHT NOW! HAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Star mewled as she tightened her grip on Kitten with a nervous grimace, her eyes watching with a noticeable amount of concern as her supposed doctor appeared to be out of her mind.
“You’re the doctor of this place?” Kitten asked as skeptically as she could.
“But of course,” Doc elegantly answered with a fanciful wave of the hand. “I’m the one and only, and the only one too, which is rather difficult sometimes, but it is what is. Now what brings you here, I do wonder not so quietly to myself. I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of working on either of you, and I would remember having you on my bench, yes I would. I would indeed remember that. I actually want to remember that now. That would be so great and hot. Would you be a dear and GET ON THE COUNTER FOR ME? I don’t want to wait any longer! DOC’S GOING TO TAKE REALLY GREAT CARE OF YOU, OH YES SHE IS! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Kitten stared at the crazy woman who laughed so hard she keeled over holding her sides, the demon then turning her puzzled scowl over to Eirene who was merely watching her with a small smirk.
“Eccentric,” Kitten repeated. “I think that is a gross understatement.”
“Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion regarding that,” Eirene mused with a shrug. “But what I said about her skills is no less true. Speaking of which, Doc, sweetie? Could you pull yourself together and focus for a moment? This poor jinx was attacked by-”
“A Violet Princess,” Doc factually stated as she snapped back to a focused persona. “I already know, dear, I can smell the pungent aroma of a fluugher all over this one. Not to mention her belly looks rather swollen, and if my eyes aren’t playing the usual tricks on me I believe I spot a fluugher seed sticking to her butt.”
“Playing the usual tricks?” Kitten carefully repeated as the butterfly plucked a black seed off of Star’s rear. The doctor examined it closely, sniffed it a few times, then popped it into her mouth and started chewing it with a curious murmur.
“Yep, definitely a Violet Princess seed,” she concluded, then spat it out towards the drain in the room and smiled eerily at Star. “Someone had a wild night tonight. I’m so jealous. Well, not too much given your condition, but what girl wouldn’t want to be tied down and savagely raped senseless by a huge, pulsating- MMMMM no! No, no, no, no! Don’t you dare get me this wet before I operate, you sexy tease you; Doc needs to FOCUS ON HER WORK! HAHAHAHAHA- what were we doing again? Oh yes, that’s right. Well, shall we get to it then?”
“Are you mentally ill?” Kitten questioned.
“Nope. I’m perfectly fine. HEE HEE!” Doc replied through gritted teeth. She pranced around joyously in circles before stopping at one of the benches, the woman taking a moment to lightly dust it off with her hand before spinning it around atop its swiveling base, which made a grating clinking noise all the way around, before motioning Kitten closer with a devilish grin on her face.
“Come on over, I don’t bite. Hard, anyway. Come come, are we going to get started or not?”
“Started with what?” Kitten cautiously asked.
“With treating your friend, what else?” Doc impatiently demanded with a flustered huff. “Now hurry up, we only have so long before those seeds take root inside her and then it’s bye-bye Miss Kitty Cat. So get over here, put her on the table, and strap her in nice and tight FOR SOME SERIOUS LOVING AND HEALING! I’m super serious; it’s going to be awesome, just you wait and see.”
“Yeah… I’m not sure about-”
“Excuse me, darling, but I have all day and night to do my job, I mean I pretty much live here after all. She however only has so long before those seeds take root and she’s essentially a seedbed for a fluugher. That is what you should be sure about right now. So, are we going to chit-chat her remaining time away, or are we going to save a life tonight? Which is it going to be?”
Kitten glanced to Star while hesitating with an answer then looked back to Eirene as the copycat was nodding at her.
“She knows what she’s doing, she’s the best there is, you have my word on that. You have to trust us if you want to save Star. Do whatever she says and I promise that cat will be as good as new again real soon.”
“You honestly expect me to believe that after seeing this?” Kitten demanded, motioning towards Doc with her head. The butterfly was giggling with a severely dangerous look in her eye while she was now twirling a sharpened scalpel between her finge
rs in a frantic manner.
“If you don’t, Star’s a goner. What happens next is up to you. Make your choice, Kitten,” Eirene advised. Kitten looked to Star with a discouraged grimace, then over to Doc who was seductively licking her surgical knife while watching them with a chilling leer that even Kitten felt uncomfortable from seeing.
“Well?” Doc asked. “Are we doing this or not?”
“If she kills you, Star, rest easy knowing I’ll avenge you,” Kitten said, earning a very nervous look from the jinx who found no comfort in the cambion’s reassuring words. The demon carefully approached the butterfly who kept her piercing eyes locked onto her, the eccentric doctor giggling excitedly as she drew near before fancifully gesturing to the bench.
“Isn’t strapping her in going to be pointless?” Kitten asked as she set the jinx down atop the stand. “She’s a jinx, she can just teleport out of those binds whenever she wants.”
“We’ll be handling that little detail with this,” Doc purred, reaching into her cleavage with a sultry grin at Star. After rummaging between her breasts she pulled out a small silver holder, which when snapped open like a clamshell, revealing a plethora of oddly colored pills inside the case along with strange, and presumably, edible tablets of various milky shades. She sifted through the medicine before plucking up a soft white pill, something she held out towards Star who for good reason leaned away from with a troubled frown.
“Come now, kitty cat, it’s just a simple pill. Don’t worry, it’s perfectly harmless. All this will do is dampen your magical abilities for the procedure, that’s all. We need to make sure you don’t run off before we’re through otherwise you’re through, you know? C’mon, say ahhhhhh.”
Star shook her head with lips tightly clamped as the doctor tried gently pushing the pill into her mouth.
“Look, you want to have that fluugher grow out of your innards and turn you into a compost heap?” Doc quizzed her. “Or do you want me to get all those seeds out of you so you can live to prance about and eat some tasty fish another day?”
Chronicles of Eden - Season II - Act II Page 22