“Careful, empress,” a centaur urged, taking hold of her arm as Kroanette halted with a short gasp. “Don’t rush yourself. Take your time.”
“I told you before, stop calling me the empress!” Kroanette whined, shaking her head. “I’m not the empress, my sister Hollia is next to take the throne. She is your empress, not me.”
“If she’s still alive and returns to us, then she may take her place as empress,” another centaur agreed. “Until then, you are the only living member of the royal family. It’s up to you to-”
“I’m not the empress!” Kroanette cried out, shaking her head harder. “For the last time, please don’t call me that anymore! My sister is alive out there, I know she is, and I’m sure she’ll return for her people any day now. So please, please, I’m begging you; don’t make me take over as empress until then! I don’t want to!”
“Now now,” a copycat said with a weak smile. “Don’t get yourself worked up, stress won’t make the healing work faster. Take it nice and slow, and try to relax.”
“Please heed their words, empress,” a centaur urged with a hopeful smile. “Your people would love for you to run with them as soon as you’re able.”
“Dammit, I told you to stop calling me that!” Kroanette yelled, thrashing her arms in a fit. She looked around at the nearby centaurs with a nervous whine, seeing only caring and adoring smiles aimed at her, before she hopped atop her three good legs in a fluster.
“Are any of you listening to me?” she desperately demanded. “I’m not the empress, I don’t want to be the empress, I’ve never wanted to be the empress; please, for the love of god, don’t make me the empress! WAAAH!”
“What’s the problem, empress?” Eirene laughed as she walked up to them.
“For the love of all things… don’t encourage them!” Kroanette yelled at her. She blinked then jumped at seeing Kitten standing beside the copycat. “Kitten? Is that you?”
“You’re alive,” Kitten marveled. “You’re really okay.”
Kroanette stared at her in stunned silence, words faltering in her throat as she saw the demon eyeing her over, and then gasped in surprise before quickly searching the area with a bright smile coming across her face.
“Is Daniel here too? Did he come for me just like I requested? Oh my dear knight, I just knew you would! Daniel! Daniel! Where are you, darling?”
“Hey!” Kitten shouted, getting her attention. “What the hell? I came all the way here to make sure you were okay, and all you can think about is if my master came along too? What about me? I risked my ass coming to a supposedly dangerous monster city all to find you, and the only thing that enters your stupid brain is-”
“Daniel?” Kroanette called out, trotting over to the side then back over to the other. “Daniel? Where are you, my love? Daniel?”
“He’s not here, idiot!” Kitten barked out. “We came here first to make sure this place was legit and that you were really alive and well. We were the ones who risked-”
“Oh! Are the girls here? Alyssa? Specca? Squeak? Doku? Clover? Are you out there? Hello?”
“You ungrateful cow,” Kitten growled, grabbing her sword and getting ready to unsheathe it. Eirene quickly stepped closer and held onto the cambion’s arm as the demon was snarling at Kroanette, a weak smile seen on the copycat’s face as she laughed a little.
“Easy now, girls,” she insisted. “There’s no need to get physical. Kroanette? I think your friend here would like some recognition for coming all this way to see you.”
“Her? Friend?” Kroanette repeated, looking at Kitten questionably. After a long pause with the centaur remaining still and her tail slowly swishing behind her, she shrugged then trotted forward to pet Kitten on the head, something that only brought further growling from the upset woman.
“Okay, sure. Thank you for coming to see me, Kitten… even though I’m positive it was only at Daniel’s command that you did so.”
“I’m going to kill you,” Kitten hissed. “We were all worried about you, you stupid bitch! Do you have any idea the distress you’ve put my master and the other girls through after you ran away? My master’s been pulling his hair out in fear of the worst for you! And I’ll have you know I voiced no objections to coming here to search for his foolish little centaur who has no navigational skills whatsoever while being prepared to fight to the death if need be in order to bring your sorry ass back home to him. That being said, a little fucking gratitude would be appreciated!”
Kroanette stepped back in surprise before lowering her head in remorse from the cambion’s words, with the centaurs and copycats around them watching in silent curiosity while Eirene stepped back from the confrontation.
“Well, I’ll let you girls catch up, I’m sure you have a lot to talk about. Kroanette, please take it easy with your leg for the night. It’s almost fully healed, don’t let Doc’s efforts go to waste by being reckless. And, Kitten? Please try not to cause any trouble while you’re down here, or we’ll have to ask you to leave.”
Kitten and Kroanette merely glanced to her without saying a word before looking at each other again, with Eirene nodding and then starting to walk off towards the city.
“Good, now if you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to, like dealing with my troublesome daughter. I’ll see you girls later.”
“We’ll go prepare your room for the night,” a copycat kindly told Kroanette. “Don’t stay up too late talking with your friend, you need your rest still. After tonight your leg should be ready to run again, just make sure to be careful with avoiding trees in the future, okay?”
“Should we… leave you two alone right now?” a centaur unsurely asked while the copycats took their leave.
“Yes, please,” Kroanette said, nodding. “My… friend and I have some things to discuss. If you wouldn’t mind, could you all give us some space?”
“Very well, empress. We shall see you later. Have a good night,” a centaur kindly said as they all bowed to her.
“Dammit, please stop calling me that!” Kroanette cried out in a fluster. The centaurs merely waved to her and looked over Kitten in question before trotting away, leaving the two girls standing together alone while the centaurs ran off to join their kin in the ongoing stampede.
“Kitten… I-” Kroanette started to say before Kitten raised a hand.
“First off, I want to say on behalf of Triska and… myself included, it’s great to see you’re okay. You have no idea how much your absence has been hurting everyone back home, especially with my master.”
“Thank you, Kitten. Um… would it be alright if I spoke to Triska now? I am thankful you came for me as well, it really does mean a lot to me, it’s just…”
“No, not yet,” Kitten said shaking her head. “Triska and I have agreed that I need to stay out here for the time being. We’ll explain why later. For now I’m the only one you’re going to be speaking with.”
“Okay,” Kroanette said, a hint of disappointment in her voice.
“Second, did those centaurs just call you empress?” Kitten questioned.
“I don’t want to talk about that right now,” Kroanette sighed, shaking her head. “Let’s just say I’m being pressured to take over my mother’s duties, and that I really don’t want that responsibility on my shoulders. Can we please talk about anything else?”
“Sure,” Kitten said, eyeing over Kroanette and then her bandaged leg. “So, Stonegate’s a sanctuary for the needy. Who knew?”
“It was a very shocking surprise for me as well,” Kroanette said with a small laugh. “Though I’m not sure which took my breath away more; me being brought here to be healed so remarkably well, the city being a copycat kingdom that’s been putting on one hell of a convincing show for the longest time, or that my people from Ruhelia were brought here for protection after our homeland came under siege. It’s… it’s just unreal. Of all the places I would have imagined finding them, Stonegate would have been the very last on the list.”
“I figured you would have,” Kroanette reasoned. “Though I still hoped you would have answered the call. I know it must have sounded crazy that I would be asking you to come here of all places to see me, but…”
“You couldn’t tell us the truth of why you were here because of the oath,” Kitten said, nodding. “I get it, now. You said the only thing you were allowed to say and hoped we would believe it was really you.”
Kroanette nodded with a small smile before rubbing her sore leg, with Kitten eyeing over the bound limb with a distant eye.
“You’ve been having some trouble out here thanks to The Sisterhood, haven’t you?”
“You know of them as well?” Kroanette quickly asked her. “How did you hear about them?”
She saw a serious look on Kitten’s face, the demon clearly choosing her next words carefully as there was something she needed to say to the centaur that she wasn’t so eager to.
“Kitten? What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Kroanette, you may wish to sit down,” Kitten warned, earning a nervous look from the centaur.
“Why?”
“Please,” Kitten insisted. Slowly Kroanette sat down on her legs, with her wounded one being kept out in front of her on the grass. The cambion slowly breathed out as she ruffled her hair, hesitating with speaking further about something she honestly didn’t want to be the one who had to tell the centaur about.
“Things have been… bad out there ever since you left,” Kitten finally said. “You’re not the only one who has been hurt by The Sisterhood.”
“What happened? Are Daniel and the girls okay? What has The Sisterhood done this time?”
Kitten closed her eyes, herself and Triska knowing fully well what was going to happen after the tale was told.
“I’ll tell you what happened,” she said, looking at Kroanette with a small glimpse of empathy. “And… I’m sorry you had to hear it from me.”
*****
Daniel and the girls listened to Triska telling the story of their investigation of Stonegate, the group showing astonishment, disbelief, and also sorrow as the tale was told in full detail. They heard about Star’s unfortunate accident, and her miraculous saving by the eccentric doctor from the city of Stonegate that, despite all the horrible rumors surrounding it and their blatantly obvious display of all things deplorable and unsavory, was actually a sanctuary run by copycats for both humans and monsters alike who had nowhere else to go in the world. A sanctuary, run by Countess Eirene, who adamantly believed that aside from a few rare exceptions, everyone in Eden, both human and monster, were the same; selfish, disgusting, dogmatic, and violent creatures who only cared about themselves in the world.
They learned the truth about what was hidden beneath the ominous city, they heard about the copycats and gargoyles having spies everywhere who helped keep their secret from everyone by way of cloak and dagger, and they were astounded to hear that such a place where Daniel’s beliefs were in full effect already existed, yet was kept in the shadows and out of the public eye so as to preserve itself in fear of imminent retaliation from everyone should the truth become known.
“Kitten told Kroanette everything,” Triska sadly informed them, finishing her long story. “Well, she omitted the exact details of how Daniel slayed the gemini, we figured that was something that should remain between us and we weren’t sure if other ears were listening, but otherwise she told her about all that happened. Green Haven falling. The elves being rescued by Daniel and the girls. And… Squeak being slain during the battle.”
“How did she take it?” Daniel worried.
“She cried herself to sleep last night,” Triska remorsefully told him. “She couldn’t stop crying all night. It destroyed her when she heard Squeak died. It was pretty much how I expected her to take it.”
“I see…”
“Kitten remained by her side all night,” Triska continued. “She watched over her like a hawk. Clover and Reiko arrived this morning. After they were sworn in, they went through the same unexpected reveals we did. They saw the truth for themselves. Reiko remained by Star’s side while she recovered, and Clover took her turn reprimanding Kroanette for her actions after they were reunited.”
“She wasn’t too hard on her, was she?” Luna asked.
“Kroanette was shaking in fear after Clover got through talking to her,” Triska said, slowly shaking her head. “I don’t think she’s ever going to run off on us again.”
“Good,” Falla declared. “She better not. Though I was almost certain you would have been the one yelling at her for what she did. That is your specialty after all.”
“If I was able to come out last night and speak to her in person, I would have, Falla. But I wanted to make sure I was able to tell you all what we saw when we came back. And also, I’m going to ignore your last comment. This time.”
“That’s simply unbelievable,” Specca marveled, eyeing over the large crowd of monsters before them. “All this time, Stonegate’s been a sanctuary for the less fortunate and a prime example of Daniel’s beliefs. And we never would have even suspected it given what we knew of it before.”
“They were the ones rescuing the centaurs of Ruhelia after they fled their kingdom?” Doku wondered.
“That’s right,” Triska said with a nod. “Their scouts would find centaurs running blindly out there or in the clutches of The Sisterhood, grab them, pretend to haul them into Stonegate under the guise of planning to eat them, and then let them run free in their underground paradise while safely hidden from those on the surface. The magical barrier the gargoyles have around the sanctuary keeps them shielded from any seers trying to hunt them down.”
“Amazing,” Daniel softly said, looking over the centaurs in the valley while thinking deeply about what Triska had told them. “I had no idea copycats and gargoyles would go to such lengths to protect others like that.”
“Okay…” Alyssa slowly said. “Um, that answers some questions. Definitely raises more, but it sounds good so far at least. But, why are all the centaurs coming back here? Why did they leave the safety of Stonegate? Wow, I can’t believe I just said that sentence.”
“How did they even leave Stonegate?” Falla asked scratching her head. “Wouldn’t that draw attention having hundreds of centaurs just running out of the city gates?”
“There’s a back exit to the sanctuary behind the mountain,” Triska explained. “It only opens from the inside, but it lets those in the refuge leave without being seen coming out of Stonegate itself.”
“But why did they all come back here like this?” Specca asked.
“They followed Kroanette,” Triska said, then turned to Daniel. “When she told them she was leaving Stonegate to return to her mate, to return to you, her people went wild.”
“Wild?” Daniel repeated.
“Word spread like wildfire among them,” Triska said with a proud smile. “Of her mate who not only liberated the elves of Green Haven, but also took the fight to The Sisterhood and killed their leaders, the ones who murdered Kroanette’s mother. Daniel, the centaurs followed Kroanette all the way out here not just because they wished to accompany her…”
Daniel took a few steps forward as he realized what the reason was. It became apparent to everyone atop the hill that all eyes were now on them, or rather the man standing with them. At the base of the knoll and stretching far across the valley were hundreds of elves and centaurs, all looking up towards the man who was said to have beaten back The Sisterhood and avenged their people.
“They came here to see their champion,” Triska finished.
“Wow,” Specca breathed out.
“They all came here… for Daniel?” Alyssa wondered.
“So many boobies came to praise my man,” Pip marveled, s
lowly fluttering down and landing on Luna’s bosom.
Daniel took a step forward, surveying the large crowd of women and children all gazing up at him in hushed silence. He saw young and elder elves and centaurs, everyone appearing to await what he would do next with heightened anticipation. Slowly, he raised his hand up into the air, giving a small wave to the crowd below. And that was enough to spark the sudden roar of cheering, hollering, and whistling from everyone, with some elves and centaurs even raising their bows and spears in salute as they celebrated the man like he was a king.
“…wow,” Daniel managed to say, stunned at the very least from seeing so many people being this thrilled and enthusiastic for merely seeing him. Young centaurs and elves were hopping on their feet while shouting his name and waving to him. Their elders were doing the same and also holding up their weapons as they cheered for their champion against The Sisterhood’s tyranny. Their rallying voices carried far and wide across The Outerlands as the two monster communities celebrated the human who answered their prayers.
“This… is kind of weird to see,” Daniel admitted with an awkward smile.
“Holy shit,” Felucia said in surprise as well. “They’re going nuts for him.”
“So many people down there,” Cindy spoke in awe, herself and Snapper looking over the huge gathering with curious eyes. “And they all came to say hi to Daniel?”
“Incredible,” Falla marveled with twitching antennae. “There’s hundreds and hundreds of them out there. And they’re all cheering Daniel’s name.”
“They like you, Daniel,” Luna said with a bright smile forming. “The elves and centaurs really like you.”
“They more than like him, Luna,” Triska corrected, stepping up beside Daniel. “He’s a goddamned hero in their eyes. Eirene may have said we wouldn’t have much of a voice with our cause, but it looks like we have a few more voices being added in our support.”
“This is wonderful, master,” Sheal praised, walking up beside Daniel. “With this many supporters by your side you’re sure to make an even stronger case with any that you speak to about your peaceful ambitions. You’re sure to sway our sisters into standing beside you now.”
Chronicles of Eden - Season II - Act II Page 42