chronicles of eden - act I
Page 69
"You called her beautiful? Her?" Triska asked in disbelief. He looked at her as he stammered something.
"You promised to do that with her? Just like that?" Specca asked shaking her head with teary eyes. Alyssa and Squeak stared at Daniel with worried eyes as Luna glanced to him with a sniffle.
"No! I never promised to do that with her, just that I would try to save her life. And I only said she was beautiful because she was getting all upset about her being a monster, really!" Daniel pleaded.
"You liar, you called me beautiful because it's the truth and you know it," Falla accused sharply, crossing her arms in discontent.
"You're one to talk about lying; you were just trying to guilt trip me into having sex with you," Daniel shot back while shaking his head.
"It doesn't matter if I was lying or not, that's not the point here," Falla argued sternly. Suddenly a blade whipped out in front of her, the girl staring at the tip with wide eyes then to Triska as the teen glared at her.
"No, this is the point, and I'll be glad to stick it in you if you even touch Daniel again," she threatened with anger. Luna looked at Triska worriedly as Falla backed up a step, the butterfly girl growling with frustration.
"Don't kill my sister, please! She's all I have in the whole world!" Luna pleaded with a fearful expression. Falla glanced to the blade then to Triska, the human holding her sword firmly as she glared at the butterfly monster.
"He promised to help me, all I want is his seed and then you can have him back," Falla hissed bitterly.
"He promised you nothing of the sort, and you'll get nothing from him. You're despicable, trying to guilt trip Daniel into having sex with you like that," Triska scolded sternly. Falla chuckled and looked at her amusingly.
"I'm a monster, what did you expect? I need his seed, plain and simple. Besides, it's not like he wouldn't have enjoyed it. I would have been doing him a favor if anything, I'm a far better choice than the selection he has here," she gloated, glancing around at the girls. They jumped a bit then glared at her.
"Excuse me? How dare you say such a thing," Specca scoffed with discontent. Squeak shook her head with a stern expression while Alyssa glared at the butterfly girl. Triska growled as she prepared to ram her sword through the neck of the monster before Daniel spoke up.
"You're wrong, Falla," he declared. All the girls looked to him as he showed a stern expression, his eyes showing that he was indeed angered by the butterfly girl's words.
"Each one of those girls would be a far better mate than you," he said as he walked towards Falla. Triska looked back to him with awe as she slowly lowered her sword, Alyssa watched him with wide eyes as she lowered her staff, Squeak watched him with wonder as she squeaked softly, and Specca watched him as she blushed brightly.
"Daniel," Triska said softly as he walked past her, the boy having his eyes locked onto the butterfly girl who was watching him curiously.
"I would gladly pick any of them over you any day," he assured, crossing his arms before him. Falla looked at him with surprise as the other girls kept staring at him, all of them feeling their hearts beating faster at his words.
"They don't lie and try to use underhanded tricks to be near me, they don't stay with me merely because they want me to get them pregnant, and I find each and every one of them far more beautiful than some deceptive little monster such as yourself," he said proudly. Triska's jaw dropped at the exact same time Alyssa's did, followed a mere second later by Specca and Squeak's as they all stared at the boy in shock.
"D-Daniel…" Alyssa stuttered under her breath.
"You… mean that?" Specca asked as she felt her heart pounding steadily. Squeak's antennae twitched a few times as she squeaked quietly. Falla looked at him with surprise then growled with frustration.
"You're kidding me; they have nothing that I don't. I'm far more beautiful than any of them; my wings alone are even more attractive than them. How in the world could you possibly make your claim that they're more desirable than I?" she yelled out. He shook his head as he stepped back, and then gestured over to his group who were staring at him with stunned expressions.
“Triska has been by my side since we were children; she’s stood with me through all the good times and the bad for as long as I can remember. She’s always believed in me, trusted me, and been there for me. She’s never lied to me or steered me wrong, I trust her with my life completely. Her heart is far more beautiful than yours, Falla,” he declared, with Triska blushing while staring at him with wonder.
“Alyssa has the power to take me away by force if she really wanted to; she could have had her way with me a long time ago if she really wanted. But she’s nothing like those other witches that we saw, she’s not some monster driven by her nature. She’s far better than some deceitful monster that would do anything it could just to breed,” Daniel continued, with Alyssa slowly holding a hand up to her heart as she stared at him with amazement.
“Squeak stood up against her own kind, her own queen even, to save me from being used as a tool. She’s traveled with us to help me with my quest, not just because her queen ordered her to, but because she wants to. I can’t understand anything she tries to tell me, but I can see clear as day that she has a kind soul in her, something that sets her apart from monsters like you,” Daniel said, with Squeak blushing with a quiet squeak, her antennae twitching a bit as she stared at him with loving eyes.
“And Specca has far more to offer than you, Falla. She’s intelligent, polite, and kind with those around her. All she ever wanted was to be around humans because she loved the world they’ve created, not because she was trying to steal a man away. Her heart and soul are far more attractive than yours by far,” Daniel said proudly, with Specca holding her hands to her mouth with a quiet gasp. Falla looked at the four girls with disbelief as they were all staring at Daniel, all of them speechless as they felt their hearts beating faster for him.
“What about me?” Luna asked innocently, having appeared in front of Daniel with a timid expression. He blinked and just looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“I… don’t even know you,” he said simply. She nodded then took hold of his hand with both of hers, shaking it politely with a gentle smile.
“My name is Luna, nice to meet you,” she said happily. She then let go of his hand and looked at him curiously again as he just stared at her.
“I’m worried about you, Luna, I’ll give you that,” he said with a slow nod. She looked away with a blush while holding her hands to her cheeks, having a deranged smile on her face.
“HE CARES ABOUT ME TOO! I FEEL SO LOVED, HAHAHA!” she laughed hysterically. Daniel just watched her with a mix of fear and genuine concern for the girl, and then looked back to Falla with discontent.
“I did say earlier that you were pretty, Falla, that wasn’t a lie. However, it means nothing if your heart and soul are not. As beautiful as you may be, I don’t find you attractive if all you want is to get my pants off,” Daniel stated firmly. Falla looked at him with a bit of surprise then growled loudly with frustration. Daniel shook his head then started walking away, picking up his dagger and sheathing it back in his shirt while Falla watched him closely.
“Hey, hey! Where do you think you’re going?” she yelled out. Daniel stopped and glanced back to her.
“I have a long road ahead of me, Falla, and I don’t want to waste any more of my time here talking to you. It’s more than apparent you’re not one of those I’m looking for. You lied to me, insulted my friends, and are only interested in using me as a tool. We’re done here,” he declared, with the other girls all looking over to Falla with dull expressions.
“You can’t leave, you promised to help me! Hey!” Falla yelled as she started to run towards him. She stopped as Triska held her blade out to her again.
“You’re not getting anything from him, Falla, got that?” Triska threatened. Falla looked at the sword carefully then to Daniel with a glare. Luna ran up to Triska and grabbed her arm,
the teen glancing to her as the butterfly girl had a fearful expression.
“Don’t kill my sister, please. All we want is to have children, we’re not hurting anybody,” she pleaded. Triska looked at her carefully then to Falla, the girl showing a frustrated expression as the blade was held towards her throat. After a pause Triska stepped back and lowered her sword.
“I’m not going to make your sister cry by spilling your blood in front of her. I’m not a heartless monster like you,” she reasoned before she sheathed her blade. She glanced to Luna who slowly let go of her arm then back to Falla.
“If Daniel doesn’t wish to speak to you, then you’re done here,” she said before turning to walk away.
“What?” Falla shouted out.
“You heard him. You’re done,” Alyssa said firmly. Squeak nodded in agreement as she holstered her pickaxe behind her.
“Hey, he promised to help me!” Falla yelled out.
“Just stop, sister, he’s not going to help us,” Luna said sadly while looking down.
“Listen to your sister and go, you’re not going to be using Daniel, not now or ever,” Specca said with a slightly firm tone. Falla growled loudly as Luna walked over to her. Daniel and his group walked off into the woods back towards their caravan while the two butterfly sisters watched them go, with Luna having a saddened expression while Falla’s was of rage. She screamed and started shaking her sister by the shoulders.
“I almost had him too! I almost had him and then you blew it, why do you always do this to me?” she shouted out. Luna looked at her curiously as she was shaken back and forth.
“Um… sorry?” she said nervously. Falla screamed in frustration then broke down crying, with Luna gently holding her while smiling weakly.
*****
Alyssa climbed back onto the driver’s seat of the caravan, looking ahead as she slowly took hold of Lucky’s reins. She giggled quietly to herself as she had a gentle smile on her face.
“Feeling better now?” Triska asked sitting down next to her, leaning back against the caravan as she glanced to the witch with an amused smile. Alyssa nodded and looked back inside the cabin, seeing Daniel sitting next to Specca and looking in the monster book she was writing in. He had a concerned expression while Specca explained about the Dark Sabbath as she wrote all the details down. Sitting across from them Squeak was watching Daniel with a gentle smile still, the ant girl having had her eyes locked onto him nonstop ever since they got back.
“Yeah, after hearing Daniel speak for me like that I feel better than ever,” Alyssa said with a nod. She blinked then glanced to see Triska looking at her with a raised eyebrow. After a pause Alyssa shrugged with a small smile.
“And after what you said too,” she admitted reluctantly. Triska chuckled and leaned back again with an arrogant smile.
“I take it this means you take back what you’ve said about me being useless out here?” she asked arrogantly.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here,” Alyssa said as she snapped the reins. Lucky neighed then started running along the dirt road, the single horse pulling the large caravan with little problem. Triska looked at Alyssa with annoyance before the witch glanced to her and giggled playfully. After a pause Triska smiled a bit and shook her head.
Inside the cabin Daniel took the monster book from Specca after she finished writing her entry about the Dark Sabbath, reading it over again with a worried expression.
“Really? All monsters go into a mating frenzy on those nights?” Daniel asked as he reread the details about the unique event. Specca nodded and looked to him with concern.
“Yes, but don’t worry. We aren’t due for another Sabbath anytime soon. And on the night before the Sabbath the moon can be seen with an orange tint to it, as well as the sky turning pitch black with no stars being seen, so we’ll know when it’s going to happen,” she reassured hopefully. Daniel nodded slowly as Specca smiled gently at him.
“Don’t worry, Daniel, I promise I won’t allow myself to do anything to you on those nights. I would never do anything to harm you, I swear,” she promised. He smiled and glanced to the nixie.
“I know you wouldn’t, Specca, I trust you,” he said gently as he set the book down at his side. Not even a second later Squeak quickly leapt forward and hugged him with a happy squeak, nuzzling her head against his chest as she squeaked a few times. Daniel chuckled and rubbed her head gently.
“I trust you too, Squeak, I know you wouldn’t do anything to hurt me,” he said with a laugh. Squeak looked to him with a bright smile and squeaked again while Specca smiled reluctantly at her. Daniel then looked over to Alyssa, the witch glancing back to them along with Triska.
“That goes for you too, Wildfire Witch,” he said calmly. Alyssa smiled timidly and looked down as Triska cleared her throat, in doing so causing Squeak to slowly let go of Daniel and sit down beside him with a weak smile.
“I never once thought of you like those other witches, Alyssa, none of us did. We know you’re better than them, that you’re in control of yourself. So don’t leave us like that again, ok?” Daniel asked gently. Alyssa nodded and looked back to him with a loving smile.
“I promise, Daniel, I’ll never leave your side again,” she said softly. She giggled then darted back inside the cabin, quickly leaping over and landing down on his lap as the other girls watched with surprise.
“I’ll stay nice and close to you from now on, yep yep!” she cheered as she held onto his shirt and giggled playfully.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing? Get off of him!” Triska yelled out.
“But he wanted me to stay close to him, this is what he wanted. Besides, I feel so much better being near Daniel like this,” Alyssa said cuddling up on Daniel’s lap, with the boy watching with a nervous expression.
“That isn’t what he meant at all, Alyssa, get off of him,” Specca demanded as she reached over and yanked the witch off of his lap. The two tumbled around together in a struggle while Daniel and Squeak merely watched, the two turning their heads slightly to the left then to the right as the nixie and witch rolled around on the floor. Squeak watched for a moment then jumped a bit with a loud squeak, the girl then quickly covering Daniel’s eyes with her hand as he showed a nervous expression with a blush.
“Specca, stop flashing Daniel!” Triska yelled as she turned to face them.
“Ow! Alyssa’s biting me!” Specca cried out.
“That’s what you get for pulling me away from Daniel like that!” Alyssa barked back.
“Keep your skirt down, Specca, right now!” Triska yelled as she dove down into the fight, the three girls then rolling around yelling at each other while Squeak kept her hand over Daniel’s eyes.
“She’s biting my arm!” Specca whined loudly.
“Then let go of my hair!” Alyssa shouted out.
“Knock it off you two, hey!” Triska yelled as they continued to tumble around on the floor.
Daniel listened to the sound of the three girls fighting then sighed quietly. He gently moved Squeak’s hand as he looked up at the ceiling, the boy then sitting back against the wall with a pillow as he kept his eyes upward. He reached over and grabbed his monster book then opened it in front of his face, calmly reading it while he heard the girls fighting near him. After a moment he blinked then looked up thoughtfully.
“Falla and Luna… I wonder if their names… hm, coincidence?” he asked himself quietly with a shrug, the boy then returning to reading his book.
‘What are the odds they would be named after fallacy and lunacy?’
*****
Sitting high up in a tree the two butterfly sisters were watching the horse and caravan riding off over a hill further into the outerlands. Luna watched them go with eyes of wonder while Falla had a scowl on her face, her arms crossed before her while she tapped a finger on her arm with discontent.
“There they go,” Luna said softly while waving to the travelers as they vanished from sight over the hill.
“He was nice wasn’t he? I like him,” she said softly.
“It’s not fair, I worked so hard to setup that ruse and it was all for nothing,” Falla grunted with narrowed eyes.
“It was a good try though, sister, you almost had him,” Luna said gently.
“Yeah, almost, until somebody blew it for me!” Falla yelled out at her. Luna looked at her curiously then tilted her head slightly.
“Really? I thought I blew it for you, did somebody else ruin your plan too?” she asked curiously. Falla looked at her with exasperation then back toward the horizon with a grunt. Luna giggled then hugged her sister.
“Don’t be so grumpy, Falla, we’ll get a human one of these days. I’ll even share the one I get with you if you like,” she said cheerfully. Falla muttered something as Luna shook her playfully.
“C’mon, sister, it’ll be alright. We still have each other,” she reasoned with a happy demeanor. Falla glanced to her then back ahead with a focused expression. She then stood up on the branch as her wings fluttered behind her, staring off to where the caravan had vanished while Luna looked up at her curiously.
“Let’s go, Luna,” Falla said in a commanding tone.
“Go? Go where? Where are we going?” Luna asked curiously.
“This isn’t over yet. Daniel promised to help me,” Falla said firmly. Luna looked at her for a moment then off into the distance. Slowly a twisted smile formed on her face as she giggled awkwardly.
“Are we going to have SEX WITH HIM? HEE HEE HEE HEE!” she laughed through her teeth as her eyes widened. Falla nodded with a sly smile as Luna stumbled to her feet behind her, the girl’s wings fluttering wildly as she giggled uncontrollably.