“Because she doesn’t deserve to sleep where you do!” Lelu whined hopping up and down. “If anything that should be me in there, not her!”
“It’s not like I could have offered it to you last night anyway, you couldn’t even get up the stairs, remember?” Max reminded her, then glanced to her questionably. “I’m actually still amazed you were able to climb them today like you did. You were really… determined to come up here this time.”
“I wasn’t going to leave you alone with her!” Lelu exclaimed pointing to Grace, the centaur then noticing the elf watching them with a raised eyebrow. “EEP! She’s awake!”
Max turned to see the elf watching them then smiled nervously while he and Lelu didn’t move an inch, the children staring at each other in silence for a while before the boy slowly walked over to the bed with Lelu quickly trotting after him.
“Um… are you alright now?”
“You’re human,” Grace said.
“Yes he is,” Lelu asserted holding onto Max. “His family are monster hunters, so don’t think about trying anything lewd with him or else!”
“Lelu, cut it out,” Max grunted while trying to shake the centaur off him.
“Monster hunters?” Grace repeated.
“That’s right,” Lelu agreed with a stern expression. “So you’d best watch your mouth and your hands with him. And also get out of his bed, you don’t deserve such generosity from him!”
“What are you doing near him then? You’re a monster.”
“I’m his best friend, that’s why! So keep your hands off him or else they’re likely to be chopped right off! You hear me?”
“Lelu, stop it,” Max ordered as he finally pushed the centaur aside. He then smiled weakly at Grace who was watching him with discontent. “Sorry about that. Anyway, are you-”
“Fuck off,” Grace snapped, with Max and Lelu then staring at her in surprise. “Fucking monster hunters, I know about your kind! Hunting us elves down like we’re animals, you fucking barbarians! You think you can scare me just because you’ve tamed a centaur as your pet?”
“She’s not my pet,” Max defended shaking his head.
“I would prefer girlfriend, but pet works for me too,” Lelu mentioned with a timid smile at him. Max turned to her in puzzlement before Grace lunged out of the bed, tackling him to the ground and shaking him by his neck.
“One of my best friends lost her mom to a monster hunter like you! She didn’t do anything to deserve that, she was just going to rape his dumb ass and maybe break his jaw for the way he was fucking her, but that’s it! You think you can scare me just because I’m an elf? Well I’ve got news for you, bitch, I’m nobody’s weak little-”
After a sudden hard slap Grace recoiled from the hit to her cheek then glared at Lelu who was returning the harsh look with her hand held back still.
“Get off him this instant!” Lelu ordered slapping her again. Grace yelled and slapped her back, the two then going back and forth hitting each other while Max stared at them in bewilderment.
“Fuck you!” Grace barked out.
“Wretched elf!” Lelu shot back.
“Prissy pony bitch!”
“Foulmouthed degenerate!”
“Stop!” Max yelled out. The girls stopped and looked down to him with red cheeks and a few tears in their eyes while he carefully held his hands up. “Can we stop it with the fighting and hitting for just a moment? Let’s just calm down here and talk, okay?”
“What kind of monster hunter are you?” Grace asked. “Aren’t you supposed to want to kill me, not tuck me into your bed and want to talk like some fucking pussy? Why did you bring me here? You planning on making me your pet too? Is that it? You fucking little-”
“I don’t have anyone as my pet!” Max cried out. “You fell from the ceiling by means we don’t understand and then you passed out. I carried you to my bed so you could rest, that’s it!”
Grace looked to the bed questionably then down to him while sitting atop the boy.
“Why?”
“I was just trying to be nice,” Max reasoned. “It’s not like you’re the first monster to come here unexpectedly anyway. I’ve already let one into my home, what’s the point in not letting another?”
Grace turned to Lelu with a raised eyebrow while the centaur was still glaring with fury at her.
“Get off him now, elf,” Lelu hissed.
“My name is Grace, you fucking cow,” Grace snapped.
“Cow? Cow?” Lelu shouted while turning red. “How dare you, you godforsaken little-”
“Hey!” Max called out. The girls looked down to see him shaking his head slowly while keeping his eyes aimed up at the ceiling. “Again, can we stop with all the fighting here? And can you let me up now?”
Lelu shoved Grace off Max and quickly helped him up, the elf stumbling and muttering to herself while getting onto her feet before she glanced around at the room they were in with a sharp eye.
“What do you mean you were trying to be nice to me?” Grace demanded. “Why would you want to be nice to me? You’re a monster hunter, you-”
“I’m not a monster hunter,” Max tiredly called out. “My sisters are, I just look after the cottage while they’re gone. I’ve never killed a monster in my life.”
Grace stared at him in puzzlement then glanced to Lelu who was showing the elf a stubborn glare while keeping close to the boy.
“What’s going on here?” she asked Max. “Why are you being nice to monsters and inviting them into your home anyway? You’re human. What are you after here?”
“First off I’m not inviting anyone here,” Max said shaking his head. “Lelu came here after being chased by bloodthirsty gremlins and you fell into my kitchen from the ceiling… somehow.”
“Chased by gremlins?” Grace repeated. She looked at Lelu carefully then slowly showed some curiosity. “Wait, did you come from Ruhelia?”
“Of course I did,” Lelu snapped. “Ruhelia is… or was, my home. It was until those malicious fiends came.”
“It really was destroyed?” Grace wondered. “That was true? They really did wipe out the centaur kingdom?”
“They?”
“The Sisterhood,” Grace replied, with Max and Lelu watching her curiously. “They said they slaughtered all the centaurs because they wouldn’t join them. They were telling the truth, weren’t they?”
“The Sisterhood?” Max asked. “Who are they?”
“A bunch of dirty assfuckers who barged into our home and told us to do as they say or else,” Grace growled with tears starting to form. “A goddamned army of them marched into our forest and took over like they owned it and us, threatened to burn down the forest and us if we didn’t do as they said.”
“Wait, you mean your home was attacked too?” Lelu wondered.
“Yes it was,” Grace sniveled as she looked down and away to hide her tears. “They just stormed into our forest and took over. They’re making all the elves of Green Haven do as they say just because they got numbers on their side. Those fucking demons…”
“Hold on,” Max spoke as he stepped forward. “Now your home is under attack too? Who are these monsters anyway?”
“I don’t know!” Grace cried out, holding her hands over her eyes while struggling to control her emotions. “A fucking traitor brought them into our home saying they were going to help us, but they’re not helping us at all, they’re treating us like slaves!”
“Those monsters that took my home and mother from me, they’re attacking you as well?” Lelu worried.
“Yes, they are,” Grace growled. “They took my home, they’ve taken all our food and horses, they’re making us join their stupid army, and… and…”
“And?” Max carefully asked.
“They killed my mom!” Grace wailed as she dropped to her knees sobbing. Max and Lelu jumped a bit as the elf broke down crying while hiding her face. “My mom was the priestess of our forest, she did everything those fucking assholes asked, and
they still killed her! They murdered her right in front of me!”
“The elven priestess has fallen too?” Lelu softly asked.
“Your mom was the elven leader?” Max wondered.
“She was, and now she’s dead!” Grace shouted while waving her fists around. “Those fucking assholes, they’re all going to die for this! They can’t push us around and get away with it, I won’t let them!”
“This is unsettling to hear,” Lelu said to Max. “First my homeland was trampled under by this monster army, and now the elven forest has fallen under siege too.”
Max rubbed the back of his neck with a troubled frown, trying to think of what to do or say to the newest grief-stricken monster in his home. Grace continued to swear and swing her fists around while only getting more worked up the longer she thought about her plight. After a while the elf then quickly looked around at the ceiling, seeming to be searching for something as she wiped her tears away and stumbled onto her feet.
“Lady?” she called out, with Max and Lelu watching her in puzzlement. “Hey, are you still there? Lady?”
“Who are you talking to?” Max asked looking up.
“I don’t know,” Grace answered. “But she helped me escape the temple. She knew how to get me out through the magic gateway.”
“Magic gateway?” Lelu repeated. “Temple? What are you talking about?”
“Lady?” Grace called out loudly. “Answer me, please! Are you still there?”
“Nobody’s up there,” Max said pointing up.
“I heard her voice in my head,” Grace explained. “It was like she was always with me wherever I went.”
“So it was your imagination,” Lelu flatly assumed.
“No it wasn’t!” Grace shouted at her. “She helped me escape those fucking assholes and told me how to get through the gateway above my home, she’s the reason I was able to get away from those bitches and end up here.”
“Who helped you do that?” Max asked.
“I don’t know!” Grace yelled at him. “I just said that!”
Max and Lelu turned to each other in question then watched as Grace continued to call out to a woman who never answered her. The elf shouted out in frustration then quickly ran past the two into the hall, with Max and Lelu jumping a bit before quickly following after.
“Lady? Where am I? What am I supposed to do now?” Grace yelled as she ran down the stairs.
“Hey, where are you going?” Max called out after her. He then stopped halfway down the steps and looked back to see Lelu trotting in place nervously at the top while shaking her head.
“Um, a little help, Max?” she whined.
Max ran back up and took her hand, carefully guiding the trembling centaur down two steps before she slipped and fell forward with a yelp. They tumbled down the stairs and crashed onto the floor with a thud, the centaur having landed atop the boy and smothering him with her breasts while his arms flailed around underneath her.
“Sorry, Max,” Lelu groaned rubbing her head. She looked down to see his eyes peeking over her bosom while his muffled cries were almost lost in the centaur’s chest. After a pause and forming a deep blush Lelu quickly hopped to her feet with a nervous smile and helped him up, the boy catching his breath and deeply questioning how such a young girl was that well-endowed. They then heard Grace charging through the front door of the cottage, shouting at the top of her lungs for someone who still didn’t reply. Without pause Max and Lelu quickly raced through the storeroom and across the sales floor before leaving the building and seeing the elf shouting up at the sky while stumbling about in circles.
“Lady?” Grace desperately called out. “What do I do now? Help me, I don’t know what to do! Lady!”
“She’s gone crazy,” Lelu dryly stated. “Or perhaps she’s always been like that.”
“I don’t know about that,” Max said shaking his head. “She did just fall from the kitchen ceiling out of nowhere. Something did happen to her.”
Grace shouted again and again, being met with only silence each time as she desperately called out for the unseen woman. After a few more steps she tripped and fell with a scream, the girl slowly getting up on her hands and knees while struggling to hold in her tears.
“Help me,” she whimpered. “What do I do now? Where do I go? Please, tell me.”
“Grace?” Max asked. The elf quickly looked back to see the boy walking up to her with Lelu keeping close to him. “Please, you need to calm down.”
Grace staggered onto her feet and quickly wiped her tears away, avoiding eye contact with both of them while quietly whimpering to herself. She then looked to Max with a quivering lip, hands being held close to her chest as she tried to say something under her breath.
“You need to calm down,” Max implored. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on or how you got here, but it sounds like there’s a whole bunch of trouble out there that’s been affecting you both. Can you please just come inside and tell us what happened? If there’s an army of monsters going on a rampage out there I’ll need to tell my sisters about it when they come back, they’ll need to know to warn people.”
Grace slowly looked around then back to him with a teary-eyed scowl.
“Why should I trust you? What makes you want to help monsters anyway?”
“I’m just trying to help a frightened girl who dropped onto my lap,” Max sighed shaking his head. Grace looked at him curiously as the boy started walking back while waving her to follow. “If you want to talk come back inside, I’m not going to hunt you or anything. I just want to know what the hell is going on out there.”
Grace saw him head over to the cottage door then turned to Lelu who was watching her with a dull stare.
“He wants to help me?” Grace asked pointing to herself. “Even though I’m a monster?”
“He wanted to help me first,” Lelu snapped with hands set at her hips. “In fact he’s called me his friend because he cares about me so much. And as his best friend don’t you think for a moment I’m going to let any horny monsters hurt him, you got that?”
“I’m not horny,” Grace shot back. “But I am getting pissed off that this fucking pony here thinks she can speak to me like I’m some nameless monster of Eden.”
The two girls growled with fierce glares at each other before Max whistled to get their attention. He waved them over to the open door with a tired expression on his face then leaned against it with crossed arms.
“Girls, can you please come inside before some traveler sees you standing out there?” he dryly requested. “I have no idea how I’m going to explain me being nice to monsters to my sisters, let alone some random stranger who might come across you, and I’d rather not worry about that right now.”
Lelu shot one more glare at Grace before trotting off with a snooty huff. The elf grumbled then started walking after, the two girls coming back to the cottage while Max looked around for anyone who might see two monsters coming into his home. As the two girls got closer he jumped in surprise as he did indeed see someone coming over the nearby bend along the road.
“Oh crap, get inside!” he urged waving them in. The two girls looked at him questionably before he grabbed their hands and hurried them in through the door. “Get into the storeroom and hide, hurry! Someone’s coming! They can’t find out you’re here!”
Grace opened her mouth to speak before Lelu grabbed her hand and galloped through the sales floor as fast as she could go, dragging the elf along and banging her against the counter that she went around. The elf shouted and started cursing before being rushed into the backroom where the centaur quickly closed the curtain and clamped a hand over the elf’s mouth.
“Shut up,” Lelu sternly ordered. “Humans are coming. If they see us we’re done for.”
Grace blinked then glanced to the curtain as did Lelu, the two freezing in place while remaining as quiet as possible.
Outside Max was smiling nervously beside the open door as three figures walked up the road a
nd onto the path towards the cottage. He glanced back to see the backroom curtain fluttering slightly before remaining still then turned to see some familiar faces approaching him.
“Back already? That was quick. So how did it go?”
Standing before him were his sisters, each of them dressed in their normal clothing while having no armor or weapons with them. Mika and Milly slowly glanced around the area with amused smiles while Mae walked up and raised an eyebrow in question at Max.
“Little brother?” she spoke in a knowing tone. “What are you doing out here?”
“Nothing!” Max insisted with a wide smile. He then showed a puzzled expression as he noticed his sisters were unarmed. “Hey, where are the horses and your equipment? How come you walked back here? Is your job over already?”
“Don’t worry about that,” Mae replied taking hold of his hand. “We need to have a talk inside, Max.”
“A talk?” he nervously repeated. He then noticed Mika and Milly watching him with sly grins. “Um… what do we need to talk about? I don’t think there’s anything we need to talk about.”
“Max, go inside,” Mae ordered.
“Wait, is this because I let Lelu in here?” he stammered as his sister pulled him in with her. Mika and Milly followed after and closed the door, locking it with a click while Mae pulled Max along towards the backroom. He jumped a bit as they went behind the counter then quickly hopped in front of her while freeing his hand.
“Hold on, why are we going to the backroom right now?” he called out, hoping the two monster girls would get the hint. “And how come you’re all back so soon? Did everything go alright with the monster hunt?”
Mae glanced over to Mika and Milly, the two looking around outside for a moment before turning to her with nods. Max looked at them curiously before Mae picked him up and set him on the counter, a warm smile on her face as she gently held his cheeks while he stared at her in puzzlement.
“The hunt went fine,” Mae assured him. “We just hurried back as soon as we could to see you.”
“To see me?” Max repeated.
“Yes. We missed you,” Mae said before kissing him forcibly. Max thrashed around and kicked his legs while trying to push the girl off him, finally being able to do so before feeling Milly’s breasts resting against the back of his head. Looking behind he saw his sister smiling slyly at him while she grabbed his shoulders and held them in place. Mika had a similar look on her face as she leaned over and licked his ear.
Chronicles of Eden - Act X Page 29