by J. Sselxuyt
But sleep means death.
Would that be so bad? Part of me wonders. I’m sick of creatures trying to kill me. It would be so much easier if I just let go. No more worries, no more fear. Just lie down and sleep.
No more friends to rescue and keep safe. Didn’t I want to be a warrior?
The thought sends another jolt through me. Brooke, Angela, Lisa, Arethusa, Sheila, Jennifer, Ondine, and Becky.
But Becky had tried to kill me. . . .
No, that had been the creature of light—Aldol?—possessing her. Becky’s in trouble and the others don’t know what happened, or that she was being possessed!
I don’t have time to rest, I realize as my resolve strengthens, Angela’s presence lending me a small bit of strength.
“Becky . . .,” I start, worried for the short brunette. There’s no telling what the other women might do to her before they understand she’s innocent.
“We know,” Angela replies, her hazel eyes searching mine. “I sensed a change in you from the other room. By the time I realized what it meant. . . . I thought we were too late. You wouldn’t respond to any of us, and Becky just kept crying that she didn’t know what happened.” She shakes her head, making her blue hair fan out in the process. “Brooke and Ondine are watching her now. Do you know what happened?”
“Aldol took over her, somehow. I could see it behind her eyes. I’m not entirely sure how it was doing it, but it somehow was draining me, through her.” More information seems to click in my mind, and I look Angela sharply in the eyes, making sure that there’s no unnatural glow there. Her hazel orbs are clean. “You’re here to restore me.” It’s not a question.
“Yes, and to make sure you weren’t already too far gone.” I can still hear the tone of fear in her voice. I pull her to me in a tight hug, glad to have her as a friend and ally.
“It almost was too late,” I confess. Then something else clicks, and I pull away from her a bit, unsure how to broach this subject with the succubus. “Um, I, uh, don’t know that . . . I mean, I was pretty drained, and I’m not, er, in the mood, I guess.” Could I have sounded any lamer?
To my surprise and chagrin, she smiles. “We couldn’t even if you were. Your body is too weak to sustain a single orgasm, even in your mind.”
I remember when Angela had told me the same thing, after finding her wounded and burned at the Saturday picnic. She’d told me that one orgasm would be enough to kill her. Am I really that far gone?
“Then how. . .?” I ask, confused, hugging her slight frame back to me, and feeling warmed by her mere presence.
I feel her shake her head against my chest, and I know she doesn’t want to answer. Placing my hands on her shoulders, I gently push her away, and wait for an honest answer.
Surprisingly, the succubus blushes as her eyes dart up to meet my gray ones, and then look down again. Her feet shuffle for a moment, before she finally speaks. “You’re not going to like this.” She starts, and when I say nothing in return, she finally continues. “We don’t actually have to have sex, while in here, to help you heal.” Her eyes meet mine again as she judges my reaction, but I keep my face stern. she flinches away from my gaze. The rest comes out in a rush, “Our souls are already combining, helping the other to heal.”
She goes silent, and I let that sink in. Sex isn’t required while in the mind? Then why did she stop me from healing her before?
Because she’d been trying to let me go, I comprehend immediately. She knew that she couldn’t resist being with me and wanting to carry my child, and so she had hoped to die rather than face life without me.
And Brooke. . . . Sex hadn’t been required to help her recover either. That might explain why I never felt any energy transference during our climaxes. The energy—or our souls rather—were already being mixed.
“It does speed things along, though,” the blue-haired succubus quickly pipes up, and suddenly I’m laughing.
The whole thing is just too funny. A succubus had seduced me and used me for sex unnecessarily, even helping me have sex with my childhood crush. It’s a part of her nature. In all honesty, how could I expect any less?
“Lyden?” she asks worriedly. “What’s going on? Stop laughing at me.”
In answer, I hug her back to me, pressing my lips against hers. “I love you,” I state when I come up for air.
She gives me a curious look after I break the kiss, before laying her head on my chest and hugging me back.
“Who’s Aldol?” The question catches me slightly off guard, and I realize that she doesn’t know the name of the other dimensional creature. Why is there a hint of laughter in her tone, though?
“That’s what the creature calls itself. It says TanaVesta named it that,” I tell her softly.
She bursts out laughing in earnest, and I pull back, looking at her curiously. She hugs herself back to me. I wait almost impatiently for her to tell me what’s so funny.
“’Aldol’ is an insult used in TanaVesta’s domain. It’s used when referring to someone who is small and foolish,” she finally states, and this time I join her in laughing.
* * * *
I wake slowly, groaning at the feeling of needles painfully pricking every inch of my skin.
“Lyden!” Lisa shouts, hugging me tight and making me groan at the new wave of pain that shoots through my body. “I was so worried!” she cries into my shoulder. It feels like my arms are tied down with lead weights as I try to lift them and hug her back. Despite Angela’s help in restoring me, my body is just too weak to move very much.
Before I succeed in moving my arms, Brooke is hugging me as well, and I give up the effort as too much work. Arethusa hovers over my body, smirking in a satisfied way, and I wonder what the little pixie thinks of the whole situation. Ondine has her sword out, and pressed against Becky’s bare chest.
The short naked brunette just stares at me wide eyed, and I can see where copious tears have streamed down her cheeks and onto her breasts. She’s crying again, but I know that they’re happy tears now. Good, Aldol released her, probably thinking me already dead. I wish someone would give her some clothes to wear, at least. I can easily see a large puddle of dried cum between her legs and under her crotch. How had I shot that much out of me? There is also a massive bruise forming on the side of her face.
Angela clears her throat as she enters the room, before saying, “If you two don’t give him some air, he’s going to suffocate.” The two women back away, looking at each other sheepishly.
Turning my attention to the succubus, I can see that she’s very weary. I wonder how much of her soul is now in me, to replace what Aldol had stolen.
“Thank you,” I yell as loudly as I can. It comes out barely above a whisper. “All of you, thank you.” I have to suck in another breath, that sentence wearing me out, but I have one more thing to say, before I get some more rest. “Becky is inno . . .ce . . .nt.”
Closing my eyes, I get some real, undisturbed, sleep.
* * * *
When I reopen my eyes, I see that the sun has set, and there is a slight glow under the closed doorway. Moving my arms, I’m glad to note there’s no pain, but it still takes a bit of effort to get out of bed. I realize I’m still naked as I stand up on wobbly legs and go to Becky’s closet, where I have some of my own clothes and slowly get dressed.
Just as I get my pants on, the door opens, and Ondine steps through.
“Oh,” she gasps as she sees me standing topless in the bedroom. “Should you be up yet?”
“I’ve slept well enough for the dead,” I tell her, knowing she has no idea how close a statement that is. “Where is everybody?”
“Sleeping mostly, except for Brooke and me. She’s watching over the traitor now.” Her words are callous and uncaring, making me flinch when she calls Becky a traitor.
“Help me out there?” I ask the mermaid, not certain my legs will support me that far. Placing a shoulder under my arm, I lean on her as she guides me out. Sure enoug
h, by the time we reach the front room I’m out of breath, and my legs are already exhausted and cramping.
“What are you doing up?” Brooke demands of me. I see the still naked form of Becky stir at the curly redhead’s loud words.
I wait until I plop onto the couch before replying. “Come to exonerate her,” I say, weakly waiving a hand at Becky. “She’s innocent. Aldol took over her. She had no more control over herself than Lisa did back in the dungeons.”
“But she almost killed you, Lyden,” Brooke counters, her voice firm.
“How do we know that thing won’t try to control her again?” Ondine asks. I just shake my head.
“That thing’s name is Aldol,” I explain as patiently as I can. “It told me so.” I have to stifle a laugh, remembering what Angela told me about that name. “It also thinks I’m dead, so will have no reason to come back.” I see Brooke about to argue further, but I cut her off, raising my voice, “I won’t have you or anyone else punishing her, for something that’s not her fault. The least you could do is get her some clothes.” Both women stand statue still, and I turn to glare at Brooke. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the accused woman sit up and stare at me. The bruise is on the left side of her face, and that only makes my ire rise even more. “Brooke, you sat by while Lisa attacked me in the dungeons. Should I call you a traitor for not helping me?”
“No, but—“ hurt fills the redhead’s eyes at my painful words, but I don’t let up.
“You’re not holding Lisa hostage too, are you? We all forgave her. You know what it’s like being under Aldol’s control. She had no choice in the matter.” I turn on Ondine, but realize immediately that she wouldn’t understand. She hadn’t been there for the altercation with the light creature.
“Maybe if she cared more about you, instead of getting into your pants, it could have been avoided,” Brooke shoots back, hurt anger in her tone. I see Becky flinch at the accusation.
“And maybe if I’d been more attentive, I would have realized what was happening before it was too late.” I have to take a few breaths before I continue in a more moderate tone. “We can play the maybe game all night, but in the end we have a choice. Either we kill her, or we forgive her. If she is truly still an agent for Aldol, then she’s too dangerous to let live. But by that logic, we’ll have to kill Lisa as well. Since it was me she wronged, I think the choice should be mine.” I look at the little brunette, shivering on the floor, and try to give her a gentle smile, knowing my words have likely terrified her. “There’s no way in either world I’m going to let anyone harm anyone that’s important to me.” I finish my statement, looking hard at the mermaid.
“But—“ Brooke starts, but at my raised eyebrow she cuts herself off. After a second she gives me a rueful look. “When did you grow such a strong backbone?”
Smiling at her to let her know I’m not angry, I say, “Somewhere between getting captured by orcs and dragons, and facing my fear of the water, it must have appeared. Also, it helps to have friends like you to show me how to have one.”
Brooke smiles back at me ruefully, but it slips from her face as she looks back at Becky. “Ondine, go get her some clothing.” She squats down in front of the short brunette, and I see sadness enter her eyes. “I’m sorry for the way we treated you. It shouldn’t have taken Lyden’s words to get me to see reason, but I guess. . . . No, there is no excuse. I hope one day you’ll forgive us.”
Becky looks fearfully at Brooke for a moment, before looking my way. I see some of the tension leach out of her. “Lyden, I’m so sorry,” she pleads with me. “I-I don’t know what happened. I couldn’t control myself, and then those words I spoke. . . . I don’t understand where they came from.”
Carefully I regain my feet and shuffle over to her. I collapse more than squat, on the floor and pull her into my arms.
“What’s with all the racket?” A bleary-eyed Areth asks, fluttering out of Lisa’s room.
Ondine arrives back in the main room, holding a set of my clothes. I guess she’s not entirely up-to-date on the fashions here on Earth. Brooke sighs heavily, taking the clothes from the other mermaid, and heading back into Becky’s room.
“Ah,” Areth says, looking down at where I’m holding a softly sobbing Becky, “I see you finally came to your senses and realized she was innocent.”
Smiling at the fairy, I ask, “Did you defend her?”
“Of course not!” She exclaims indignantly. “It’s not my place to meddle in your mortal affairs, unless it makes things more interesting, and I didn’t need to add to the entertainment value. You all make for quite the fun ensemble.”
I’m about to say something so fierce and scathing to her, that generations of pixies will know better than to infuriate a Generator, but Brooke reenters with some of Becky’s clothes, saying something that completely distracts me.
“I just realized, Becky heard everything we were planning,” she says cautiously, and despite how careful her tone is, I feel like she’s attacking the brunette again. Something must register on my face. “I’m not blaming her,” she quickly adds, “but we may be in some trouble, if the light beast, Aldol, knows what we’re up to.”
“It thinks I’m dead,” I reply, trying to impart in my tone that I’m not angry with my childhood friend. “Will he really worry about us now?” I don’t know if the thing will go after them or not, and in truth I’m worried it might. If it does, though, I’ll be here to defend them.
“I highly doubt we’re in any rush,” Angela says, rubbing her eyes as she enters the room. We all look at her as she startles most of us. “What? I could hear you all out in the car. It’s not like you were being quiet.”
“I guess I’d better come out of hiding too, then,” Lisa adds sheepishly, coming out of her room.
“Sorry,” I mumble, apologizing for waking everyone else up.
“Don’t be,” Lisa says quickly. “What you said was true, and we should have realized it, but I’m more worried about what Brooke said. If this Aldol knows our plans, even if he thinks you’re dead, why shouldn’t we hurry?” The question is aimed at the succubus.
“Have you ever dealt with timeless beings? They don’t exactly hurry at anything on our time scale. A hundred years could go by, and they’ll hardly make a move.” I look at her sharply, thinking back to all the rushing we’ve done lately, and don’t think she’s right. “Listen, I’ve been thinking over the last few centuries with TanaVesta, and I think I know where Aldol started influencing her. Just under two centuries ago, she started to grow a bit paranoid, though not on the same scale as Varun. I think he was tipped over the edge a bit more by TanaVesta’s actions. Anyway, I can see where her actions started to change, and I think it was all thanks to Aldol.” She shakes her head, and I can see a small smile play across her soft lips at the creature’s name. “Creatures that live longer than a millennia tend to take life slower. I think we have time to better prepare ourselves before we go rushing in this time.” She looks around the room, meeting each of our gazes before continuing. “I for one am sick of getting captured, and being unprepared.”
I really can’t argue with that last statement. So far we’ve been lucky. But do we really have time to spare?
“But TanaVesta seemed to be in a hurry when she’d captured me,” I respond, pointing out a flaw in her logic. “She raped me every few hours, trying to grow her power as quickly as possible”
“That was a different situation,” the succubus replies easily. “The appointment with the other two Pillars was likely scheduled decades in advance. She saw an opportunity, and tried to seize it.” She pauses to look at Brooke, a sad look on her face. “I don’t know if she planned on killing them at that meeting before we showed up, but I doubt it. More likely she was setting up something that would have come to fruit decades down the line.”
What would it be like to live for so long? I wonder, but can see her point.
“Okay,” I concede, “but I wish there was a way to be sure.”
“I can scout!” Areth nearly shouts in excitement, and we all look to where she’s fluttering. “What?” she asks, suddenly growing embarrassed.
“I thought you didn’t want to meddle in mortal affairs. Why do you want to help?” Brooke asks cautiously. She looks around the room, and I can tell she’s trying to figure out what the pixie’s angle is. Her eyes stop when they get to me, and I see her give a slight nod before turning back to Areth. “Most of us have a personal tie to Lyden, beyond the danger of our world. Only you and Ondine have no real ties to him. And forgive me, but your kind isn’t exactly known for being helpful.” I think about how in games, fairies are known to be helpful, but mythology holds a different opinion of the tiny creatures.
The tiny fluttering figure puffs her chest out indignantly before responding. “I think I’ve been very helpful. Look what I did for his car, so you could all escape. I even saved his life back with the Cyclopes. Lyden saved me from a fate worse than death, twice. And shouldn’t it be enough that I want to save our world?”
I’d only been in danger from the Cyclopes because of her, but I keep my mouth shut.
“Okay, okay,” Brooke states, holding up her hands to ward off the fairy’s anger. Turning to Ondine, she asks, “I suppose you just want to save our world as well?”
“You saw how Varun was,” the other mermaid replies. “Lyden chose to save me from being persecuted for being a woman.” The brunette mermaid meets my eyes for a second, before continuing. “I have watched him since then, and seen that though he is a little rough around the edges, he has the potential to be a great leader. According to the prophecy you mentioned earlier, he may be our only hope of stopping Aldol.” I see the corner of her mouth twitch, and I almost wonder if she was about to smile. If so, it would be the closest I’ve ever seen her come to doing so. “From the sound of things, he is immune to that thing’s power as long as he can keep his trident in his pants.”