“We’re going after bad monsters who are causing trouble,” he explained.
“Ohhhhhhh,” the three girls slowly said nodding.
“I still don’t think they fully understand,” Sasha flatly commented.
“So what should we do?” the first desuwraith asked.
“Jump off,” Rulo ordered pointing to the side at the passing tunnel wall.
“But we want to help.”
“You can help by getting out of our way,” Sasha hissed.
“But we want to be good girls.”
“Then jump off this moving train for us,” Tabitha said waving them off.
“But we don’t have anything else to do.”
“We don’t need you slowing us down or getting in our way,” Hollia argued crossing her arms.
“But we want to be good like Nuci told us to!” the three sisters whined before crying. They used two hands to rub their eyes while the other two waved around in their fits as the ant girls near them watched in confusion and a few slow head shakes.
“We want to be good girls!”
“We just want to help!”
“And besides we don’t know where we are or where to go!”
“This is not what we need to deal with right now,” Forrus muttered.
“Want me to stab them?” Scay asked glancing to Tabitha.
“Won’t do any good,” Tabitha groaned shaking her head. “You can’t hurt them with-… hey, wait a minute. They can’t get hurt from anything except magic, right?”
“That’s correct,” Hollia mused with a careful look at the sisters. “They are strong. Not too bright, but plenty strong.”
“So then how about we let them come with us? We can just send them off to battle The Sisterhood while we deal with their leaders, they could be useful decoys.”
“The Sisterhood has witches in their ranks,” Hollia reminded her. “Possibly other spell casters as well. These girls may be immune to physical attacks but a trained magic user would tear them apart. They’re much too naïve and simpleminded to go into a real battle.”
“I’m just saying, if they want to throw themselves at the horde for us why not let them?”
“We’re not taking them with us,” Forrus scowled. “They are utterly clueless and will only get in our way. They’ll just cause trouble.”
“Well the only one of us that can make those crybabies leave by force is Daemon,” Tabitha said as the girls turned to him for his verdict. “He’s the only one of us that can use magic to harm them. So, what do you say? Kick them off here or let them go nuts against The Sisterhood?”
Daemon watched the desuwraiths crying and hopping about on their knees while the ant girls around them were showing signs of growing irritation with the loud stowaways as they were grabbing pickaxes and sledgehammers with violent intent.
“Enough,” Daemon called out, with the sisters halting and looking to him with watery eyes. “Now listen closely. We’re about to go into a real fight. There are monsters there that are not only strong but can also use magic, magic that can hurt you three very easily.”
The desuwraiths looked to each other in silence then back to Daemon as he waved his hand to get the ant girls to back down from lunging at the sisters with their weapons.
“You should know you could get hurt very badly if you come with us. That being said, I won’t tell you not to come if you still wish to join us. That choice is ultimately up to you three. Do whatever you want, just know the risks before making your decision.”
Everyone watched the desuwraiths staring at Daemon without moving or speaking a word, a few minutes passing by before he slowly shook his head and continued to speak since they didn’t.
“Do you understand what I told you?”
“Yes,” the three girls said with nods.
“So what is your decision?” Sasha asked.
“What would Nuci do?” one of them worried.
“She doesn’t like to hurt others.”
“But she wants to help others.”
“What should we do?” they all asked Daemon.
“I can’t tell you that,” he answered as he sat back against the edge of the wagon. “Not even Nuci could tell you that. You need to make your own choices in this world, and accept the consequences of those choices. Only you can decide your own fate.”
The sisters turned to each other in question of what their next move should be while everyone watched and waited for their decision. After a while they looked back to Daemon and his girls before turning to face him together.
“We want to be good.”
“We want to make Nuci proud.”
“We’ll help you, however we can.”
“Very well,” Daemon agreed with a single nod. “If that’s your choice, so be it.”
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Forrus said looking down with a grimace.
“I suppose if they wish to do right in this world we can’t stop them,” Hollia sighed. “Still, I’m not certain this is something they should jump into so suddenly.”
“Their choice, their problem,” Rulo snorted looking away.
“Hopefully it won’t become our problem,” Sasha cautioned while keeping a close eye on the sisters.
“Hee hee, stab,” Scay grunted while peeking over the edge of the wagon with a wagging tail, not appearing to have noticed the conversation at all.
Saffron sighed then started squeaking at the workers in back, with some of them pushing crates of their explosives further back in the car and sitting down between the boxes and the desuwraith sisters for obvious reasons.
“So how can we help?” one of the desuwraiths asked. “What should we do?”
“Prepare yourselves,” Daemon answered as he looked ahead to where they were quickly venturing. The desuwraiths turned their gazes ahead as did Sasha and Rulo while the convoy steadily raced along the rails towards their fated destination. Daemon lightly drummed his fingers on the handle of his blade then caught Sasha’s glance beside him as she too knew what may await them at the end of the line.
“Prepare yourselves, for we may be coming face to face with a Dark Queen of Eden.”
*****
Sitting on their bed within their quiet home Daniel kept his eyes on his sleeping mate just as he had ever since she woke up. Sleeping peacefully under the covers Triska hardly stirred during her slumber, her mouth opened just enough to breathe while her chest slowly lifted and lowered as she appeared to be past the coughing fits that plagued her earlier. Beside the resting cambion a tray was seen with an empty bowl and glass on it, showing the weakened girl at least had some appetite still.
“How’s she doing?” Specca asked as she and Doku came over and carefully moved closer atop the bed so not to disturb their co-mate. The nixie picked up the tray while the harpy gently brushed a few loose strands of Triska’s hair out of her face with her wing.
“She appears to be okay,” Daniel said, eyes never leaving his bedridden mate. “At least she’s able to sleep and rest now.”
“The poor dear,” Doku lamented. “I feel awful for what I did to her. This is all my fault. If only I hadn’t-”
“You didn’t know your healing magic would hurt her,” Daniel interrupted shaking his head. “You’re not at fault for this, Doku. None of us knew she had changed like that, not even her.”
“Daniel,” Specca carefully spoke up. “You don’t suppose those other succubi Kitten encountered have anything to do with this, do you?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure. According to Triska’s story those demons attacked Kitten with extreme force, but then left her alive and went away. From what she remembers they didn’t appear to cast any magic on her. They just… nearly killed them with brute force.”
“It had to be them,” Specca cursed. “They did something to Triska and Kitten. How else could their body have changed so drastically? Holy magic harms her now, that wasn’t the case recently. Who knows what other changes have occurred with her after meetin
g those damned demons.”
“What should we do now?” Doku asked.
“For now all we can do is wait for her to recover,” Daniel sighed. “It could be possible holy magic hurts her if she’s weak enough, she was seriously injured when we found her. Or maybe something else caused the change, maybe it’s only temporary. Whatever did cause it we have to help her through it. That’s all we can do for her right now.”
He then turned to the two girls who continued to watch Triska with troubled frowns.
“Did you have any luck in the library, Specca?”
“Not particularly,” Specca replied shaking her head. “I didn’t find anything regarding cambions, at least nothing we didn’t already know, or what could be happening to Triska and her sudden weakness to holy magic. I did find information about demon lords, about the beelzebubs, and everything Triska said matched up with it. Terrifying creatures. Darker Ones who are experts at dark magic and it’s said their hexes are as bad as they come in this world. They’re able to draw monsters towards them with unique rituals, ones that attract monsters that share such wicked desires in their hearts. None of us would feel the ritual’s effects at all, but those who do will only cause trouble wherever they go. It gives me the chills just thinking about one of those things possibly being around here.”
“Do you believe there is one here in Koskaysil?” Doku worried.
“I’m not certain. If we’re lucky those two succubi were merely passing through our land, and hopefully we’ll never see them again. But… there is a chance a beelzebub could be here somewhere, and if that’s true…”
“There’s going to be a lot more monsters showing up in our land,” Daniel finished with a hint of frustration. “Beelzebubs attract monsters by the masses, luring their charmed peons towards them and feeding upon the anarchy they cause along the way. I fear there may be one here in Koskaysil. Ruhelia coming under sudden attack by a horde of monsters, it’s too coincidental to ignore.”
“This is bad,” Doku nervously said while trembling. “This is very bad.”
Specca held the harpy with one arm, trying to calm the troubled bird while gently rubbing her wing, while Daniel turned his eyes back down to Triska as he worried not only about his injured mate but also the fate of everyone in the realm if a beelzebub truly had taken up residence in their land.
*****
The sun was beginning to lower in the sky as the afternoon hours came upon the land. Sitting atop a knoll with her nine tails slowly rustling behind her Flarah was casually examining her fingernails while a calm breeze blew by, the kitsune appearing to have not a care in the world as she tilted her hand one way then another with a calm smile on her face. Her sister however had plenty of cares that she was concerned about and was actively expressing them in a way other than being calm.
“What in Eden’s asshole are we doing, Flarah?” Kindra shouted with a stomp of her foot. Her fiery tails rustled behind her with cinders rising into the air as the kitsune snarled at her elder who didn’t even pay a fleeting glance from the outburst.
“Hey, answer me! Why have we been sitting around here all day? Let’s go into that forest and burn those wretched bitches to ash!”
“For the last time, no,” Flarah calmly replied. “I told you before we need to wait.”
“For what?” Kindra demanded as she marched over in front of her sister. “What are we waiting for? We’ve been sitting here all day doing nothing! What the hell are we waiting for here?”
“Patience, Kindra,” Flarah giggled. “Trust me, you don’t want to spoil the surprise.”
“What surprise? Dammit, I don’t care what games you’re playing, Flarah! There are elves in that forest that need help, there’s a Dark Queen in there that needs to fry, there’s-”
“An army of monsters at the Dark Queen’s disposal,” Flarah reminded her. “We may be powerful beings in this world but we’re by no measure immortal. You’ve taken down a few grunts here and there, good for you. There’s far more in there than you seem to realize and you’re not as all-powerful as you’d like to think.”
“I can level that whole forest to the ground if I wanted to,” Kindra growled. “Including all those who reside within it.”
“I’m quite certain the elves wouldn’t appreciate that,” Flarah smirked. “But come now, think carefully. I know you don’t like to, but do try this time. Even if we both ventured in there to be heroes it wouldn’t end as such. For one there’s far too many to burn in there, even for us. Don’t fool yourself into thinking your power is infinite, nor your stamina and luck. Also I know how much you don’t like to see innocent people get hurt, so you must have realized by now that if you charge in there those poor little elves will be used as living shields from your fire. Are you prepared to burn them and those unsavory monsters all at once?”
Kindra snarled at her with clenched fists while Flarah merely resumed looking at her fingernails.
“Not to mention we cannot stop the Dark Queen ourselves. It doesn’t matter how much fire you throw at them, the gemini will always keep coming after you with everlasting strength. Consider all of that, Kindra, and you’ll see that we’re not ready to help anyone down there right now.”
“Then what are we going to do?” Kindra shouted. “What’s your plan for fixing this mess? What the hell are you waiting for?”
“She’s waiting for the Archlight’s Blade and Hellfire’s Edge to arrive and slay the gemini,” Aeon spoke up, with the two kitsunes quickly looking back to see the chronofly standing near them gazing ahead at the elven forest with an amused grin on her face.
“Isn’t that right, Flarah?” she asked glancing to the woman.
“Who are you?” Kindra carefully asked. “Where did you come from?”
“Aeon?” Flarah slowly said, her eyes widening slightly. “Is that really you?”
“Aeon?” Kindra repeated. She pointed to the chronofly while looking between her sister and the monster with disbelief. “Wait, did you say Aeon? That’s Aeon? The chronofly? That’s the Dark Queen of time?”
“The one and only,” Aeon proudly announced with a curtsey. She walked closer with fluttering wings and stood next to Flarah, watching with a sly smirk as the kitsune was staring at her in silence while actually showing some surprise for once.
“Hello, friend,” Aeon softly said as she reached down and gently scratched behind Flarah’s ear. “Nice to see you face to face. Oh my, I wasn’t sure if anything could startle you, but it appears I have just now. So sorry about that.”
“Flarah, what is going on here?” Kindra demanded. “What is she doing here? How is she here? You didn’t let out another Dark Queen, did you?”
Flarah slowly stood up while keeping her eyes on the chronofly, seeing very clearly the Dark Queen smiling sharply at her with gently fluttering wings that distorted the air around them.
“You didn’t mention you would be here for the festivities,” Flarah carefully said. “I’m a little surprised by your arrival.”
“Things have changed,” Aeon replied with a shrug. “Fate has changed.”
“I see,” Flarah slowly said, her cautious expression then changing to a sympathetic smile. “Oh you poor thing. I hope the headaches haven’t been too much for you. I wish I could have been there to gently rub your back while you vomited so elegantly into a toilet.”
She quickly hugged the chronofly and rubbed the back of her head with soothing coos, with Kindra staring in shock with an open mouth while Aeon was growling in rising frustration as the kitsune coddled her.
“I’m glad you’re able to stand still,” Flarah gently said. “Poor dear, the changing of fates must have been so dreadful for you. How ever did you manage to get through it? You don’t appear to have soiled yourself, that’s so wonderful to see.”
“Knock it off!” Aeon shouted as she shoved Flarah back. “How dare you treat me like a-”
“There there,” Flarah teased as she pinched the chronofly’s cheeks with a smirk. �
��No need to be a fussy butterfly. It’s going to be okay, dear. Oh ho ho, look how cute you get when you’re angry. So adorable. I always did wonder how that look of yours would be whenever we spoke before, I’m so glad I get to see it now.”
“What the hell is going on?” Kindra cried out. “What is she doing here? Why are you doing that to her? And did you just say you’ve spoken to her before? You’ve been talking with the Dark Queen of time?”
“How dare you,” Aeon snarled while her eyes glowed deeply. “How dare you treat me like a child, Flarah.”
“I’m sorry,” Flarah cooed while still holding the enraged chronofly’s cheeks. “I’m just so happy to see my dear friend. You should have let me know you were coming today, I would have prepared a lovely meal for us to share together in celebration.”
“Flarah!” Aeon roared, her voice echoing loudly in the ears of the kitsunes as she swatted away Flarah’s hands. She stomped her foot and waved her hands down, an echoing clack sounding off as the two kitsunes became frozen in place with even the haze and cinders from their tails remaining still in the air.
“You always do love to run your mouth, don’t you?” Aeon hissed as she glared at Flarah who retained her calm smile. “Your tongue is most sharp, I’ll give you that, but your common sense is severely lacking when speaking to those greater than you.”
“What the hell is this?” Kindra shouted as she tried to move. “What did she do? Flarah, what have you gotten us into? What did you do this time?”
“Don’t get mad at me,” Flarah giggled. “I didn’t let this one out. I can’t take credit for this.”
“How did she get out then?” Kindra yelled at the chronofly. “Where’s your guardian? How did you escape your city?”
“A human let me out,” Aeon replied while keeping her glowing eyes on Flarah. “Wasn’t so hard to manipulate her, she may be gifted with magical talent but she’s an utter moron when it comes to basic reasoning. With the right push she came straight to me and unlocked my seal. As for my guardian, she tried to stop my release but failed. She tried to kill me afterward but failed. In the end I was forced to correct her misguided way of thinking in a rather unfriendly manner. Now she’s my pet, a guardian no longer.”
Chronicles of Eden - Act XI Page 53