“Wha… what… what th…” Mika shakily breathed out.
“What just happened?” Scay quietly asked.
“She just killed Mika… and then brought her back,” Tabitha said bewilderedly.
“I reversed time,” Aeon explained. Tabitha and Scay looked to her in disbelief while Mika was staring at the chronofly in stunned silence now. “I can control time itself. Didn’t you know? I’m a chronofly. It’s my little… talent.”
“You can… control time?” Tabitha repeated.
“You didn’t deserve that little kiss just now, Mika Harollson,” Aeon coldly said to the human’s face. “After all you said and did for me, especially after what you said to me, you deserve much, much more. And I am a generous queen. Yes I am.”
She held Mika’s hand with its spell then aimed it down towards her waist, the human glancing down to it with a frightful whine before seeing Aeon smiling wickedly at her. The chronofly twitched her eyebrow then snapped her fingers, unfreezing Mika’s attack with a loud echoing clack that then shot through and tore apart her innards. Mika screamed with blood coming from her mouth as everything below her stomach was blasted out behind her in a splatter of gore and fire. The girls watched in horror as Mika shrieked in agony while being frozen in place still, her eye rolling back into her head as she wailed in unbearable pain.
“That’s just for starters,” Aeon taunted as she snapped her fingers again, reversing time with another echoing clack through the air with the magical attack zipping back into Mika’s hand while her body reformed to how it was before. Mika struggled to hold her voice in, the feeling of what she went through having remained clearly in her mind.
“As you can see,” Aeon said as she raised Mika’s hand to aim the spell at her heart. “Even death cannot spare you from my wrath.”
A flick of her fingers again sounded off the same haunting clack as well as caused the spell to shoot through Mika’s chest armor and then her body, the woman screaming with smoke coming from her mouth as her magic punched a hole clear through her. The human hoarsely gasped before falling silent, her eye going out of focus while blood dripped from her mouth.
“Fucking hell,” Tabitha breathed out as Aeon again reversed time with her magic, putting Mika back together and waking her with a startle and sharp breathing.
“I can kill you,” Aeon said holding Mika’s fiery spell over her stomach. “Over and over and over again for all time.”
She snapped her fingers, the loud clack sounding off in everyone’s ears while Mika felt her magical spell shooting through herself with an agonizing scream and blood splattering across the ground behind her. Scay covered her eyes with both hands while Mika gurgled blood before she fell silent again. Aeon chuckled and snapped her fingers, reversing time and undoing the fatal blow which left its horrible and painful effects in Mika’s mind.
“It’s really no trouble at all,” Aeon promised with a happy smile as she moved Mika’s attack to face her throat. “In fact I enjoy seeing you swimming in agony that I so graciously bestow upon you.”
Before the human could say a word Aeon snapped her fingers, causing the magical attack to blast through the hunter’s neck and sever her head clean off her shoulders.
“Holy shit!” Tabitha cried out as Mika’s head dropped into a roll off to the side.
“No more!” Scay whined shaking her head. “Stop killing her, please!”
Aeon waved her hand back, reversing time with a resounding clack echoing through the cave. Mika’s head rolled back and hopped back onto her body before she screamed in both pain and horror of what she was experiencing.
Nuci screamed in her throat as Mika was brutally struck down again with another shriek of pain.
“She’s crazy,” Tabitha breathed out as she stared wide-eyed at seeing Mika restored again to before the fatal blow, only to then be mutilated by her own attack once more while the chronofly laughed wildly.
“Make it stop!” Scay cried out while hiding behind her hair. The echoing clack sounding off followed by Mika again screaming in agony as her magical attack was shot through her couldn’t be blocked out by the naga no matter how much she tried.
Again and again Aeon laughed while moving time forward and back, each time letting Mika’s fiery attack shoot through her only to then undo the fatal strike and fire it through another part of her body. Although she was restored completely each time it happened the blinding pain and trauma of literally dying over and over again took a steep toll on Mika’s mind, something Nuci felt her heart breaking upon seeing as the human couldn’t even form any words with her constant screaming.
After a while of relentlessly killing and restoring the human Aeon paused while poised to snap her fingers again, her eyes resting on Mika who was struggling to breathe as well as hold onto her senses. Slowly the hunter’s vision focused to show the chronofly watching her with an amused smile, the monster then turning her sights over to Nuci who was crying while still frozen in place.
“Aww, is this too much for you, Nuciferyne?”
She smirked then smacked Mika’s hand aside, letting the spell finally fire out away from anyone to strike into a wall with a powerful blast. Turning her gaze back to the human she saw Mika’s eye twitching while tears were coming out, the hunter’s tolerance for pain having been exceeded by far with the fatal blows she had endured over and over again.
“I suppose I could stop there,” Aeon mused thoughtfully. “After all Mika Harollson did free me from my prison, something I’ve often dreamed about. Perhaps I should try being nicer to the poor dear.”
She snapped her fingers, this time releasing Mika from her hold. The woman dropped forward and was caught by Aeon, the two slowly lowering down onto their knees as the chronofly gently brushed the human’s hair with a gentle smile on her face.
“There there,” Aeon quietly said. “It’s all okay now, Mika Harollson. It’s all okay now. Aeon’s here.”
Mika slowly caught her breath and shut her eye, her hand tightening on the handle of her sword as Aeon glanced to her with a smirk.
“Still thinking you can kill me?” she asked leaning back and shaking her head. Mika opened her eye with gritted teeth, seeing the chronofly merely watching her with an amused smile. “You’re planning on swinging that little sword of yours at me. Well you should know right now that won’t work at all with killing me. But here, try this instead.”
To everyone’s surprise she gently took Mika’s hand and placed it on her own chest, the hunter staring in disbelief as Aeon had given her a pointblank shot at her.
“Go ahead and try,” Aeon dared. “Though be warned, if you’re unsuccessful I’ll be forced to discipline you again.”
Mika glanced down to her hand on the monster’s chest then to Aeon as the chronofly had a slick smile on her face. Looking around she saw the other girls watching her anxiously, none of them saying a word while fearing this was certainly a trap for Mika.
“Well?” Aeon innocently asked. “You wanted to slay me, didn’t you? Don’t tell me you’re scared to do your job, monster hunter.”
Mika grunted before glaring deeply at the chronofly, her hand giving off a crimson glow as a casting ring formed around her wrist. Aeon merely glanced down to it briefly then back to Mika before raising an eyebrow at the woman, showing no fear or concern at all to the hunter channeling her magic into an attack right against her. Without batting an eyelash Aeon then moved her hand up in the blink of an eye, catching Tabitha’s blade that struck at her head with her fingers and holding it in place. Everyone stared in shock, Tabitha especially, at seeing the chronofly holding the sword at bay with her fingers while keeping her eyes on Mika.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t see that coming?” Aeon plainly asked. “You fool. I see everyone’s path very clearly. I knew exactly when and where you would choose to attack.”
She slowly turned her sights up to Tabitha who was staring in fright at the Dark Queen.
“And you should have known
what would happen from trying something so horrendously stupid.”
With that she shoved Tabitha’s sword back with great force, so much so that the handle struck into the neko’s chest and punctured her heart. Tabitha hoarsely cried out as blood dripped from her mouth, her voice being lost as she wavered slightly before dropping dead.
“TABITHA!” Scay screamed in horror.
Nuci cried while shutting her eyes, the haunting laughter of Aeon’s voice tearing into her heart as she was pinned in place by the chronofly’s power.
“Damn you!” Mika shouted before firing her magical attack. Almost instantly everything became quiet, with Mika showing a stunned expression at seeing Aeon merely smiling at her while being unharmed.
“Mika Harollson,” Aeon playfully scolded while shaking her head. “Haven’t you learned by now?”
“But… how?” Mika breathed out looking to her hand. “What… what happened?”
“I moved,” Aeon simply replied with a shrug. Mika stared at her with an open mouth as the chronofly giggled and leaned to the side while lowering her wings, showing that Mika’s blast of magical energy was frozen behind her in midair.
“You… what?” Mika shakily asked.
“I moved aside, let your little spell fire outward, and then moved back; all in the time it took you to blink,” Aeon explained with a smirk. “Mika Harollson, have you not yet grasped the fact that I can control time? Do you honestly believe I can be struck down by something I can see coming a mile away, something I can easily dodge without breaking a sweat even if it’s right in my face? I can avoid any attack. I can move faster than anything in the world. I can control time itself. I see everything that’s going to happen in this world. Do you get it now?”
The girls stared at Aeon in disbelief, seeing firsthand that the chronofly’s words were indeed true. It was hard to argue with her after witnessing her blocking Tabitha’s sneak attack that nobody else saw coming along with dodging a pointblank magical strike from Mika.
“You give me too little credit, Mika Harollson,” Aeon sighed while reaching back with her hand. She gently grasped the crimson bolt of energy with crackling sparks coming off her fingers, then pulled the frozen spell around as if moving an ordinary object.
“I see everything you’re going to do before you do it. That being said…”
She stopped, let go, and then flicked her fingers, launching the magical attack through the air with a loud hiss before it struck Scay in the chest. The naga only had time to scream for a moment before she exploded violently back across the floor. Nuci screamed in horror with wide eyes, her brokenhearted cries going ignored by Aeon as she smiled coldly at Mika. The hunter stared in shock at seeing the naga’s bloodied corpse littering the ground nearby then gasped as Aeon clutched her throat with one hand.
“She was going to rush me in another five seconds,” Aeon reasoned. “Not that she had another five seconds anyway. Now then, it’s time you understood this. I am your queen, Mika Harollson. Remember that, or else I’ll remind you, again and again and again. Remember your place. Remember who rules you. But most of all, remember the pain.”
With that she crushed Mika’s neck with a sickening crunch, the human letting out a gurgle before her head rocked to the side with a frozen look of shock on her face. Aeon shoved the body aside and stood up, dusted herself off, then snapped her fingers. A loud clack echoed through the cave as time reversed for the three slain girls, with Mika’s neck snapping back into place as she was sat upright again, Tabitha jumping back to her feet with her sword yanking out of her chest, and Scay literally reforming again from a haze of blood and gore. The three girls snapped back to their senses before quickly scrambling away from the Dark Queen, all of them staring at her with heightened alarm as she glanced around at the girls with an amused smile on her face.
“You all look rather scared now,” she chuckled. “Still… oh my, seriously? You still haven’t learned your lesson yet?”
Turning her glowing eyes to Tabitha she showed a cold smile while the neko gripped her swords tightly on reflex.
“Your little plan of striking me from behind in twenty one seconds is both cliché and ill-fated. I assure you it won’t end well for you, but if you insist on testing fate then by all means go ahead and try whenever you like.”
Looking over to Scay she crossed her arms and slowly shook her head as the naga trembled with a quiet whine.
“You are fast, my dear, but not fast enough. I can see you’re planning on rushing me the moment I turn my back to you and… wow, you really want to stab me. Too bad that won’t be happening. Ever. I can always see you coming, remember that.”
Scay glanced to the dagger in her hand then to Aeon with a nervous frown as the chronofly set her sights on Mika, the hunter gripping her sword firmly in hand while struggling to keep her composure.
“Maelstrom won’t work on me,” Aeon playfully warned shaking her head. “You’re going to try using it in a few seconds, but you should know you won’t even be able to cast it in time, let alone strike me down with such pathetic power. Oh, and don’t bother trying to swing that little knife at me like you’re planning on doing now instead. You won’t get far with that attempt either.”
Mika glanced to her sword then around at the other girls, all of them looking at her worriedly then to Aeon as she laughed and held a hand to her head.
“Unbelievable. You’re all still going to try and kill me down here. I can see each and every way you may dance towards me, and it’s all just so laughable that you think you can actually succeed! You still don’t get it do you?”
She instantly appeared behind Tabitha, the neko turning to her with a yelp before slashing both her blades in a cross attack at her. The chronofly caught the swords with her bare hands and leaned closer to the frightened girl’s face while holding the blades without a care.
“You can’t sneak up on me,” Aeon taunted before vanishing and appearing behind Scay, the naga trembling in fear as she peeked behind to see the chronofly gently running a hand through her hair.
“You can’t touch me,” Aeon said, then appeared behind Mika in the blink of an eye. The hunter spun around and backed up while keeping on guard, staring in frustration as the chronofly showed a wicked smile with a dreadful aura flowing around her.
“And you can’t kill me,” Aeon stated waving a finger at the human. “I see everything, girls. I control time itself after all. So do yourselves a favor and push any delusions you may have of killing me out of your heads right now. There isn’t a single soul within Eden that can keep me from assuming my rightful place as the queen of this world. That’s my future, and it will be coming true, I assure you.”
“Way to go, Mika,” Tabitha scorned with a harsh glance to the woman. “This is all your fault. Thanks a lot for fucking us all over with your insanity.”
“What do we do now?” Scay whimpered while holding her hair over her face. “She knows what we’re going to do before we even do it. I don’t even know what I’m going to do before I do it, but she does. She’s cheating.”
“We’re all going to die, thanks to her,” Tabitha hissed at Mika. “You actually thought you could strike down a Dark Queen? Didn’t Daemon make it perfectly clear that these monsters are not to be fucked with?”
“Oh, but she tried so hard though,” Aeon mockingly pouted. “You have to at least give her credit for challenging me to begin with. It was stupid, yes, but brave.”
Slowly she walked towards Mika with a gentle flutter of her wings, the hunter tensing up while debating whether to try her luck with attacking the Dark Queen again despite her likely knowing what she would do before she even did it.
“All this, simply to keep your dirty little secret a secret,” Aeon slyly said, with Mika growing more anxious from those words. “You really are so easy to control, Mika Harollson. It’s almost sad really.”
“What secret?” Tabitha asked.
Mika turned to her with a strained grunt before Aeon
grabbed her hand and spun her around to hold her from behind. With a solid grip on her hand holding her sword and the other arm held behind her back Mika struggled to move while the chronofly laughed as she aimed the woman’s blade up next to her neck.
“Why yes,” Aeon sneered. “What secret indeed. Should we tell them, Mika Harollson? Should we tell them what you fought so desperately to keep hidden from the world?”
“Damn you!” Mika cursed as she let go of her sword. In the blink of an eye Aeon was then holding the sword herself while keeping it poised to slice the woman’s neck. The hunter grabbed the monster’s wrist and struggled to pull it away to no avail while Aeon smiled curiously at the girls.
“Would you like to know? It’s actually a very juicy piece of information if I do say so myself.”
“Aeon!” Mika shouted. She gasped as the chronofly pressed the sword against her throat, her body freezing on reflex while Aeon put more pressure on the woman’s arm behind her back.
“Yes, I think they deserve to know why you did what you did,” Aeon mused. “In fact, I think all of your little friends should hear this. I’m certain they’ll find it very interesting.”
“You can’t,” Mika breathed out in fright. “Stop this, please.”
“Mmmm, but I’m having too much fun,” Aeon cooed into her ear. “Besides, it’s obvious you’re more fearful of others learning the truth about you than you are of me. I find that to be a little hurtful actually. If you should fear anything in this world it should be me. Honestly, I’m feeling a little jealous that I can’t make you feel such despair and agony as the truth so easily could.”
“What is she talking about, Mika?” Scay asked.
“What truth?” Tabitha questioned.
Aeon laughed as Mika looked at the girls with fright, the chronofly then grabbing her hair and yanking the woman down to her knees with a painful cry. Mika struggled to pry the monster’s grip off her while Aeon gave a fanciful wave with the sword.
“Yes, I think it’s time for Mika Harollson’s dirty little secret to come to light. But, not down here. It’s so gloomy and stifling down here. I think we should go higher up, where all your friends are waiting for us. I’m sure they’ll be excited to hear the tale as well.”
Chronicles of Eden - Act XI Page 7