“That’s just the first taste,” Aeon warned before snapping her fingers. A loud clack sounded off, with Mika then reversing in time to before she was ripped open below her waist. The human screamed and shook her head as she saw Aeon laughing with a cruel smile, the chronofly then grabbing her neck and pinning her against the wall while gently brushing the shaking woman’s hair.
“We’re going to play a lot more, Mika Harollson. I’m going to teach you how to properly behave with your new queen. You’re going to learn to kneel and grovel before me just like a proper peon. And because I like you so much, I’m going to spend as much time as it takes to make you learn your lesson.”
“No, stop!” Mika cried out.
“This will never stop,” Aeon coldly said in her face. “Your suffering will be eternal if you ever defy me again. Not even death can save you from my wrath. Now be grateful I’m not killing you and being done with it. As it turns out I think I could have use for a sorceress of your talents. You may be incredibly stupid but you do have some power that I can put to good use. All I need to do is… break you in a bit first. Hahaha!”
“Aeon!”
“That’s right,” the chronofly purred as she gripped the human’s throat and her breast. “Say your queen’s name. May it burn into your mind so you never forget.”
The sounds of Mika shrieking from being mutilated echoed outside the steel door, being heard by nobody as every ant girl in the tunnels outside were frozen in time without any knowledge that the Dark Queen was torturing one of their prisoners. The human’s screams for mercy barely sounded out above her bones snapping and flesh ripping apart. Her eye was made to watch as she was savagely maimed again and again by the Dark Queen without rest. And the haunting clack of time being rewound and the maniacal laughter of the chronofly dug into her mind as she was forced to experience dying over and over again in increasingly brutal ways by the malicious butterfly.
“Don’t worry, Mika Harollson,” Aeon gently said as blood sprayed onto her chest. “I’ll help you redeem yourself so that you may one day see your brother again. You’re going to be a very good girl for me. I’ll make sure of it.”
Chapter 14
Troubling Omens
In the world of Eden there were endless possibilities stretched across each new day. Some things could be planned for or anticipated, others could come as a surprise in either pleasant or horrible ways, but none were set in stone as the future held much mystery and curiosity for all. However sometimes there were signs of what was approaching, small and perhaps inconspicuous hints that the fates would slyly bestow for those who would take notice. It wasn’t always, and rarely was it obvious, but if one were to take a careful look around them these omens could be found.
Whether or not it was too late, that was a different matter.
*****
Walking out of their enchanted bathing room Daniel had both a towel wrapped around his waist and a hand covering his eyes as he tiredly sighed to himself.
“Well that certainly took me back to the old days,” he dryly stated. “Back when you girls were at each other’s throats at every turn.”
He glanced behind and slowly shook his head at his mates who came out after him. Even though the girls were still nude and wet after having washed themselves that morning they certainly weren’t in a relaxed or playful mood with one another for a variety of reasons.
“It wasn’t my fault,” Alyssa whined, using a towel to dry her hair and having what appeared to be bite marks on her arm. “I was just trying to wash your back when they started crowding me. I’m innocent here.”
“We were washing him before you interrupted us!” Falla shouted as she was holding her sister who was holding a hand to her nose which was bleeding. “You were the one who jumped onto his back and wouldn’t let go! Not to mention you elbowed Luna in the nose!”
“I was just trying to clean my mate,” Luna whimpered before cringing. “I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Clover corrected her as she helped Specca walk forward, the nixie holding onto the elf for support while appearing to be in a daze. “And Alyssa wasn’t the one who bashed Luna’s nose in, that was Squeak when she was trying to yank Alyssa off Dan’s back.”
Squeak jumped about squeaking while shaking her head and waving her arms around, the naked ant girl trying in vain to explain what happened and getting only blank stares from everyone.
“Specca?” Doku worried as she hopped over next to the weary nixie. “Are you alright?”
“Wha… what happened?” Specca asked before collapsing in Clover’s arms.
“Squeak swung Alyssa off Dan’s back right into you like sledgehammer,” Clover flatly said with a dull stare at the ant girl. Again Squeak continued hopping around while squeaking something in her defense. Falla held her sister close then scowled at the jinx in the group who was rubbing her head with a grimace while having a towel loosely draped over her shoulder.
“Refresh my memory, was that before or after Star grabbed Luna and I, teleported us into the air away from Daniel, and dropped us on top of Clover and Specca?”
“Right after,” Clover growled rubbing her head.
“Not to mention she bit me!” Alyssa complained waving her arm around. “Those fangs of hers went in real deep, dammit!”
“You weren’t letting go of Daniel!” Falla shot back. “That was your own fault! I would have bitten you too if that was the only way of getting you off him!”
“Star?” Pip asked as she fluttered around the jinx. “Are you okay?”
“Is she okay?” Alyssa shouted. “I’m the one with bite marks on my arm!”
“Star?” Doku gently said. “Is your head still sore?”
“What happened to Star?” Luna asked from behind her hand.
“Star turned right into Squeak and took Squeak’s head to her own,” Clover said with a smirk at the jinx. “Like running into a brick wall. Serves her right for dropping Luna and Falla on us like she did.”
“And for biting me!” Alyssa added.
Star meowed and waved her hands around while shaking her head, her and Squeak then getting into an argument of two different languages and no understanding from anyone around them. Alyssa then joined in with them, seeming to have a third dialogue all on her own with the two upset girls as they bickered in circles. Clover shook her head at them then helped Specca stand upright with a worried smile.
“You okay, Specca?”
“I-I think… so,” Specca replied while wavering slightly on her feet. “I wasn’t aware Alyssa’s head was that strong.”
“Seriously, what is wrong with you girls?” Clover barked at her co-mates. “Why can’t you use some goddamned self-control like we were? You didn’t see us going fucking crazy in there around Dan!”
“You two were the ones crowding him first!” Falla yelled out. “This all started because of you two smoothing your boobs and bodies against him!”
“We were washing him!” Clover argued. “It’s a fucking bath, that’s what it’s for! We’re allowed to soap up and scrub him down however we want, we’re his fucking mates! Nothing bad would have happened if you girls would have just stayed the fuck back and let us do our job of washing our man!”
“Rubbing soapy breasts against Daniel is our thing! Luna and I do that all the time and you know it! You can’t just steal that from us!”
“I can do that just as good as you two can!”
“Really?” Pip wondered. “But your boobies are smaller than theirs. Doesn’t it take you longer to rub them all over Daniel like they do? I thought it would take longer.”
“Fuck you! They’re not that small!”
“Keep telling yourself that!” Falla snapped while Luna held both of her hands over her nose with a whine. “Not to mention you elbowed me in the gut in there during all that crap! That hurt you know!”
“You were grabbing my hair! That hurt too, bitch!”
“Someone grabbed my tail,” Specca
wearily recalled. “Though I have no idea who that was.”
Clover held the nixie close and started yelling at the other girls, with Falla doing the same while holding her injured sister, Squeak squeaking loudly and pointing around at all the girls in discontent, Alyssa hopping about with glowing violet eyes as she shouted relentlessly, Star meowing in anger at the girls while Doku was trying to move her hair aside to look at her head, and Pip who merely flew in circles around them all while giggling happily as she was in her own little world again.
“Hey!” Daniel called out, with all the girls stopping and looking over with a jump. They saw their man watching them with a dull stare and holding Cindy in his arm, the sand wraith trembling a little as she hid her face in his shoulder. In his other arm he held Snapper, the swarm peeking over his shoulder at the girls with curious eyes while her antennae twitched a few times.
“That’s enough,” Daniel sternly said. “You all got carried away in there and acted callous with one another, all of you except for Doku and Pip who had enough sense to keep control of themselves.”
“Boobies!” Pip cheered as she dived down into Squeak’s bosom.
“Well, I didn’t do anything special,” Doku shyly said stepping back and lowering her head. “I’m sorry for not helping to calm the situation. I was preoccupied with speaking to Cindy and Snapper. I should have stepped in and tried to talk them down from being so rough with each other, I could have prevented this.”
“Oh yeah,” Falla flatly commented. “That would have solved everything.”
“But, Daniel!” Alyssa whined hopping about.
“Enough,” Daniel firmly said shaking his head. “That bath wasn’t relaxing for any of us, we now have a few injuries to take care of, and you girls scared Cindy with all your screaming. That was not at all what we needed this morning.”
“But I only tried to-”
“Alyssa,” Daniel sharply said, with the witch hopping with a squeak. “That’s enough. Both Cindy and Snapper are uncomfortable with all the noise you girls have made. Lower your voice right now, all of you.”
Alyssa cringed and lowered her head while the other girls showed similar remorse from their behavior. Daniel turned his eyes to Cindy who was peeking up at him from under her bangs, the wraith holding onto his waist while shaking a little still.
“I’m sorry, Cindy,” Daniel softly said. “They just got a little carried away. There won’t be any shouting now, I promise.”
“Thank you, Daniel,” she quietly replied.
Daniel smiled a little then gave her a gentle kiss, the wraith wiggling her chest slightly along with her hips from the gesture. He then looked at Snapper as the youngling was watching him with a wide smile, the infant swarm snapping her teeth a few times while she held onto his chest. Daniel lightly chuckled then gave the swarm a kiss on her nose, right before he quickly pulled back to avoid the child snapping his nose off. Snapper cawed and buzzed her wings as Daniel smiled at her before she was passed over into Cindy’s arms.
“We’re going to go get dressed,” Daniel told the girls behind him. “We’re going to tend to our wounded, we’re going to have a lovely breakfast, we’re going to get our strength for the day ahead, and we’re going to do so as a family. And we’re going to start all that off by you girls apologizing to one another for your horrendous behavior in the bath.”
All but the fairy and harpy in the group lowered their heads and glanced to one another before looking down with quiet sighs.
“Sorry,” they all said, with Squeak and Star saying so in their own tongues.
“To each other, not the floor,” Daniel corrected before walking off with Cindy and Snapper. The girls twitched then looked around at one another with remorse while Doku slowly shook her head and Pip continued to giggle and wave her arms about excitedly in Squeak’s bosom.
“This isn’t a very good start to our day,” Doku said as she walked over to Luna and lowered her hands with her wings. “I didn’t even get a chance to bathe with Daniel because of your actions. I was so looking forward to that this morning.”
“Sorry, Doku,” Luna whimpered before cringing. A small glow of white light bloomed against her face as the harpy focused her healing magic from her wings, a very faint hiss in the air being heard for the first time from it as the other girls were rendered speechless and completely silent from realizing what kind of monsters they had been with each other earlier that day.
*****
Inside their bedroom everyone was getting dressed for the day, not a word being spoken as the girls didn’t want to risk another argument slipping out between them. Sitting on the bedside Cindy watched Daniel putting on his shirts while holding Snapper in her arms, the wraith glancing down to her naked body with a curious eye with the youngling merely kicking her legs about and snapping her teeth in the air like she always did.
“So now you’re not going to be naked?” she asked looking to Daniel. “Do you want me to be naked still? Would that make you happy?”
“Haha,” Daniel laughed as he buttoned up his vest. “Well, I certainly don’t mind seeing you without clothes, Cindy. You are very attractive. But during the day we do try to have some decency and wear something to cover ourselves. Walking around nude isn’t quite proper for us.”
“My clothes aren’t real though,” Cindy said with a worried smile. “They’re a part of me. Should I put something on my body like you do? I don’t want to make you upset by doing something wrong.”
“You’re not doing anything wrong, Cindy, I promise. You’re a different case from the rest of us. You can make clothes for yourself whenever you want, that’s actually a neat little trick you have. You dressing up in your own way is perfectly fine with me.”
“Okay,” Cindy said nodding. Looking down at herself she watched her body reform her clothing from the very sand that she was made of, her skirt and shirt taking form along with her belt and sandals with the appearance of being real clothing instead of enchanted grains of sand. Daniel watched the wraith dressing in her own way with a curious eye before she smiled happily at him with a giggle. He nodded in approval and winked at her before noticing the other girls were finishing getting dressed all around the room while watching him with worried eyes still. They were gathered around the wardrobe and bedside, all clean and healed of any bruises or bite marks they got from their squabble, and all seeming to wish to speak up about what they did while not finding the words to do so.
“Let’s get something clear,” he said walking over to Luna near the wardrobe, taking a moment to brush aside her bangs before she took hold of his hand with hers. “I’m not angry with any of you. I know you girls do care about each other, there’s no denying that. And I also know you can get a little carried away sometimes, and that’s alright. I just don’t want any of you getting hurt in the process or treating each other so poorly.”
“We’re sorry,” Luna implored. “Really, we-”
“It’s okay,” Daniel said holding a finger over her lips. Looking around at the girls he saw them all smiling worriedly at him while remaining silent. “I love each and every one of you. You’re all special to me. You’re all irreplaceable to me. And you’re all the ones I want to spend my life with. I promise I’ll do everything I can to show you all that I love you equally, that’s my priority. Not even my quest to bring peace between monsters and man is more important than the girls I’ve selected as my mates in this world. You all are my world. I want you all to know that.”
“You’re my world too, Daniel,” Alyssa promised as she came closer to him. “I love you so much. We all do. Really. We’re sorry we got a little carried away earlier in the bath.”
“A little?” Falla quipped. “Luna walked out of there with a bloody nose.”
“Now’s not the time, Falla,” Specca stressed through a smile aimed at Daniel.
“That won’t happen again,” Clover assured shaking her head. “We swear. We went a little nuts seeing you naked, that’s a given. We’ll be
more careful next time.”
“You’re really not mad at us?” Pip worried while fluttering over in front of Daniel. “You promise?”
“I promise, Pip,” Daniel said, holding out a hand that the fairy touched down on. “I love all you girls just as much as I did when I woke up this morning. And that’s a whole lot.”
“A whole lot? Really?”
“Really,” Daniel promised before giving her a gentle kiss. The fairy’s wings quickly buzzed while she gave off a golden glow, the tiny monster holding onto Daniel’s cheeks as she kissed him before dropping back onto his hand with a timid smile on her face.
“I like my mate’s kisses.”
“Well so do I,” Daniel chuckled as he rested the fairy on Alyssa’s hat. He then knelt down and gave the witch a kiss of her own, with the little monster quickly holding onto his shoulders while one foot lifted back in the air. When the kiss ended Daniel stood up and noticed the other girls watching him with eager smiles now.
“In fact I like all of my mates’ kisses,” Daniel continued before walking over to Specca and giving her one as well. The nixie’s tail wrapped around his leg as he held her close, her hands gripping his vest as she felt her heart beating faster from his token of affection. When it ended, and Daniel took a moment longer to pull her tail off him, he then gave a kiss to Squeak next. Holding his senses from her powerful euphoric saliva Daniel cherished his moment with the ant girl just as she did with him. Upon breaking from the kiss Daniel winked at her then made his way over to Luna and Falla.
“I like all your kisses equally,” he promised before holding Falla around the hips.
“Even though our kisses don’t have the same effect as Squeak’s?” Falla worriedly asked. Daniel smirked then kissed her while holding her close, the butterfly’s wings fluttering a few times behind her as she held onto her mate.
Chronicles of Eden - Act XI Page 48