Chronicles of Eden - Act IV

by Alexander Gordon

  “Daniel,” Triska growled with frustration. “What were you thinking going into a village full of witches on your own? Are you crazy?”

  “I had to, Triska,” Daniel asserted. “I had to try and talk to her again. We needed their help, we needed their support, I couldn’t take no for an answer. This is why I came out here, to speak to monsters about peaceful coexistence, so I did just that.”

  The other girls looked to Apoch and Astreal as they stepped forward while having bored expressions on their faces.

  “Ms. Charlotte wasn’t quite pleased about his refusal to do as she said earlier,” Apoch announced. “However she has made it clear that she’s interested in Mr. Daniel’s case due to his sheer persistence.”

  “I’d call it stubbornness,” Astreal mentioned. “But either way, she allowed him to at least present his… beliefs to her in front of the entire village of Rystone.”

  The other girls quietly gulped in suspense then looked to Daniel as he smiled weakly at them.

  “I talked to her about it,” he explained. “And although there were some fierce rebuttals at first, she does seem genuinely interested in the idea now.”

  The girls jumped with surprise before smiles slowly formed on their faces.

  “Oh my god, Daniel, are you saying…” Triska said hopefully.

  “Did she agree to help us?” Specca asked eagerly.

  Daniel paused for a moment then slowly shook his head, with the girls watching him with growing concern as he glanced to Apoch, the witch along with her sister shaking their heads in unison.

  “No, she did not,” Apoch stated softly. “I’m afraid Ms. Charlotte isn’t quite convinced that such an idea of man and witches living together peacefully can truly happen, despite Mr. Daniel’s insistence.”

  “Yes,” Astreal agreed with a shrug. “Such a thought of witches and humans living happily together ever after, it just seems like fantasy bullshit to her.”

  The girls looked to Daniel with sorrow before he held up a hand and shook his head quickly.

  “Hold on,” he reassured them. “This doesn’t mean we’re out of luck here. Charlotte just doesn’t believe this can happen, she doesn’t believe humans could ever willingly choose to be with and mate with a witch. After all that’s never happened before. But she is willing to give us a chance to prove it.”

  “To prove it? How?” Alyssa asked.

  Apoch and Astreal giggled and looked to her with slick smiles.

  “Ms. Alyssa,” they said together playfully, with Alyssa looking to them with worry as the sisters tilted their heads in opposite directions of each other. “You’re going to prove it with him.”

  Alyssa and the other girls looked at them puzzled then to Daniel as the boy slowly breathed out while looking down at the floor.

  “She’s willing to talk more about my idea with me,” he reasoned. “And to consider helping us, provided we show her that a human can and would in fact mate with a witch willingly.”

  Slowly the other girls looked down to Alyssa with growing fear as she pointed to herself.

  “Wait… Daniel, are you saying…” Alyssa said slowly.

  Daniel nodded then glanced up to her.

  “As proof to Charlotte that peaceful coexistence is possible between our races, she wants you and me to… do it, with each other. Tonight.”

  The girls stared at him with shock and open mouths as they couldn’t believe what they just heard. Apoch and Astreal giggled then pointed to a grandfather clock nearby which read 11:24, the two girls then speaking in perfect unison.

  “You have until midnight to receive Mr. Daniel’s seed, Ms. Alyssa. Otherwise there shall be no peace between witches and humans.”

  Chapter 10

  Daniel’s Decision

  In the world of Eden sometimes one would be faced with a difficult decision, being asked to choose something of great value amongst other tempting offers as well. Perhaps they could only pick one treasure among a rare and priceless collection as a reward or gift, or maybe choose one and only one delicious treat with the others then being given away to those who also desired them. Even though all the choices were enticing and considered to be worthwhile by themselves, sometimes choosing one and only one was nearly impossible. The thought of losing that which wasn’t chosen, the idea of whether or not the one picked was the right selection, or even still the dread of not being able to choose again once a decision was made, was sometimes just too difficult to bear.

  After all, it wasn’t as if choosing them all was always an option.

  *****

  “WHAT?” Triska and Specca cried out with shock, while Squeak merely squeaked loudly with a stunned expression as well. Alyssa stared at Daniel with an open mouth as words failed her while behind them Kroanette glanced from one girl to the other as she was curious how they would take hearing such a thing.

  “What do you mean she wants you and Alyssa to do it?” Triska shouted out. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Daniel nervously waved his hands around in front of him as he saw Triska, Specca, and Squeak staring at him like he was crazy while Alyssa continued to remain frozen and speechless.

  “Wait, before you all freak out over this-”

  “WE’RE ALREADY FREAKED OUT!” Triska yelled out with more than apparent frustration. “You just brought us here to tell us that you need to have sex with Alyssa for the witches to help us! This isn’t what we expected to hear at all!”

  “How could she ask you do to such a thing?” Specca demanded while stomping her foot. “This isn’t fair of her, she can’t tell you to do that with Alyssa just to prove yourself! That’s not right at all!”

  Squeak merely pointed to Daniel then to Alyssa while squeaking something, her words not being understood but based on the expression on her face it was clear she was anything but pleased to hear such a thing.

  Daniel paused as he closed his eyes, knowing that how the girls were reacting was pretty much on par for them given the circumstances, and then looked at them with empathy as he slowly shook his head.

  “Listen! This is why I had you all come here, to talk about this!”

  The girls all watched with extreme concern as he held a hand to his head and looked down while trying to figure out how to say what he wanted to say without the girls breaking out into a rather vicious fight.

  “I want to state that this isn’t how I pictured any of this going, okay?” he clarified. “I never planned nor asked for this, I never anticipated even being faced with this kind of decision, alright? I wanted you all here so we could talk about our options and for all of you to agree on what we should do, because I can’t make the call here alone.”

  “Daniel, are you actually considering this?” Triska asked while grabbing her hair. “Are you really thinking about having sex with Alyssa just to prove a point to Charlotte?”

  Daniel breathed out then looked around at all the girls, seeming to struggle to form any words before he shook his head and turned to Triska.

  “Triska, the truth is I don’t know what to do,” he remorsefully admitted. “I care for all of you, I really do. You all mean the world to me. And that does include Alyssa.” He glanced to the witch, seeing her blushing brightly and holding a hand to her cheek.

  “Daniel,” she breathed out, seeming to become choked up from his words.

  Daniel smiled a bit at her then looked to the other girls who were all watching him with alarm.

  “But, the truth is I don’t know if I love… well, who I love,” he explained. “I’ve been trying to figure that out, I’ve been trying to be fair with figuring out which one of you means more to me, I’ve been asking myself over and over again which one of you I really feel the strongest for. And… after thinking hard about it…” Trailing off with that sentence all the girls watched him closely as they grew more anxious from the silence. After a pause Daniel slowly shook his head and looked down with remorse.

  “I couldn’t choose one of you, not now, not
yet. I can’t do it, I just… I can’t…” He halted again as he tried to gather his thoughts, then looked to the girls with a saddened smile. “I can’t stand the thought of going on without any of you. I just couldn’t bear to lose any of you. I mean it.”

  “Mr. Daniel,” Apoch and Astreal interjected, with the group looking to them as they were watching the boy with bored expressions.

  “It is now 11:30,” Apoch informed holding a hand to her hip. “You have only 30 minutes left before Ms. Charlotte’s offer expires.”

  “Are you going to fuck Ms. Alyssa or not?” Astreal asked flatly.

  Daniel held in his sigh of annoyance at the two then looked back to the girls who watched him with worried eyes.

  “Listen, our time with this is short, I understand that, but I can’t make this decision alone,” he reasoned. “Doing something like this would help my cause, true, however I don’t want to do anything that would hurt any of you. I couldn’t live with myself if I made any of you cry with such a thing. I don’t know what to do, I can’t make this decision on my own. I need to know what you all think.”

  The girls stared at him with disbelief then looked to each other.

  “But… wait, you can’t… not like… but she…” Triska stammered looking back to Daniel then to Alyssa with nervous eyes.

  “Oh god, this can’t be happening, not like this,” Specca said holding hand over her mouth and looking down with sorrow.

  Squeak looked to Alyssa and opened her mouth as if she was going to speak, then turned to Daniel before slowly closing her mouth as couldn’t figure out what to say, or squeak, about this.

  Alyssa looked around at the girls then to Daniel, a glimmer of hope coming across her face as she slowly walked up to him.

  “Daniel?” she asked softly. “Would you… would you really have me tonight like this?”

  Daniel looked at her with a slight smile as the witch tossed her staff over to the side of the room onto the floor before she held her hands to her cheeks with a blush on her face.

  “Alyssa,” he gently replied. “I want to say something important to you, something that goes for you as well as all the girls, and I want you to listen carefully. Each of you are beautiful to me, each of you I care so much about, and each of you…” Again he trailed off as he tried to form the right words, with all the girls watching him with growing suspense before he finally continued.

  “I would be honored and willing to take to bed with me.”

  Alyssa gasped quietly while holding her hands over her mouth as the other girls stared at Daniel with wonder.

  “Daniel, you… mean that?” Triska asked as a faint blush formed on her cheeks.

  “You would be alright… doing that with me as well?” Specca asked timidly while hiding behind her hands, peeking at the boy between her fingers while her tail slowly swayed behind her.

  Squeak merely squeaked something while pointing to herself with a small blush on her cheeks.

  Daniel looked around at them and nodded with a worried smile.

  “Yes, it’s true. I know that whoever I may pick as my girlfriend, as my love, as my mate in life, I would be fine with everything about them, human or monster.”

  “You’re serious,” Kroanette spoke with wonder. “You would actually have sex with a monster just as easily as you would with a human, only if because they would prove themselves to be kindhearted and caring to you?”

  Daniel looked to her and nodded again, with the centaur glancing around at the other girls before turning to Daniel as she fell speechless.

  “It is now 11:35, and still no answer,” Apoch and Astreal mentioned dryly as they kept watching the grandfather clock.

  Daniel looked down while holding a hand over his eyes, struggling to keep his mind focused while time was dwindling for them, then turned to the girls with urgency and held his hands out at his sides.

  “I’m sorry,” he desperately implored. “I wish we had more time to make a better decision about this, but we don’t. Please, I don’t know what to do. We could gain the witch community’s support with our cause, or we could decline Charlotte’s offer and leave right now. Either way, we need to make a decision, one that I can’t make for all of us.”

  The girls all looked to each other with concern then to Alyssa, the witch glancing to them with worried eyes before down while her hands fidgeted at her sides. From the bedroom a cat mewled softly, with the group then seeing a black cat walking out and standing next to the sisters while watching the other girls.

  “Ms. Charlotte is growing impatient,” Apoch and Astreal informed sharply together. “What is it going to be?”

  “Charlotte?” Triska asked carefully.

  The cat’s eyes glowed red briefly for a moment, with Alyssa jumping with a squeak before quickly bowing to it.

  “My grace,” she shakily greeted.

  “That’s Charlotte? She turned herself into a cat?” Triska asked pointing to the cat.

  “No,” Apoch corrected. “She is merely using the animal as her seer, so that she may also witness Mr. Daniel’s act of love to a witch or his refusal to prove his belief.”

  “So, Mr. Daniel, we’re waiting,” Astreal said glancing to the boy with dull expression.

  Triska growled then pointed to the cat accusingly as it looked to her with a simple meow.

  “What are you trying to pull here?” she yelled out. “Is this some sick game to you? You can’t tell Daniel to have sex with Alyssa just like that, this isn’t something you can force upon us like this!”

  Apoch and Astreal struck their staves into the floor sharply, causing the building to rumble with a loud bang while everybody backed up from the sisters and cat.

  “Ms. Charlotte is not ordering Mr. Daniel to do anything,” Astreal snapped. “He is not being forced to take this witch to bed by any means. If he doesn’t want to, then he doesn’t have to.”

  “Our alpha is offering you a chance to prove your idiotic belief,” Apoch added with discontent. “Something that isn’t asking too much given what you are claiming can be done in this world.”

  Specca stepped forward while shaking her head and gesturing around at her friends.

  “But it can be done,” she insisted. “We’re proof of that. We’re with him peacefully right now, aren’t we? We’re not raping him, or tricking him, or using magic on him, or anything. We’re proving that monsters and humans can live together in peace.”

  “Ms. Charlotte wants to see a human willingly choose and mate with a witch on his own accord,” Astreal demanded. “Provide us with that or else your claims of coexistence mean nothing.”

  “Merely traveling around with this human and preaching his beliefs is not the same,” Apoch argued. “Now, either Mr. Daniel gives Ms. Alyssa his seed on his own free will, or else we are done here tonight.”

  Alyssa looked around at the girls then to Daniel worriedly, with Daniel turning to her as she slowly walked up towards him.

  “Daniel, what is it you want to do?” she asked softly.

  Daniel hesitated as he looked at her with gentle eyes then turned to the other girls who all watched him with distress in fear of his answer.

  “I… I don’t know,” he slowly replied.

  Triska glanced to the clock then to Daniel with heartbroken eyes. After a while she took a shaky breath then shook her head slowly.

  “Do it,” she managed to get out before holding back her tears and cries. The group looked to her as she hung her head low, her hair covering the view of her eyes as she merely waved over to Alyssa.

  “This is what… we came out here for, for the good of Eden,” she whimpered. “We need their help with this, you said it yourself, we need the witches to help back us up on this. If this is what it takes… then we have no choice.”

  She held her hands to her face, trying her best not to cry as the other girls looked to each other with sorrow. Specca held her hands to her cheeks as she whimpered, her tail slowly swaying around behind her before she took
a shaky breath and turned to Daniel with a saddened smile, it obviously being forced as her lips tried to curl down into a frown against her will.

  “Do what… you must, Daniel,” she shakily said. “That’s why we’re out here, to… complete our mission. That’s why… that’s why… that’s why you should just do it.”

  The nixie quickly broke down into tears, looking down and away as she felt her heart aching while she cried quietly to herself. Alyssa looked at her friends with remorse then to Squeak, the ant girl glancing to Daniel then back to her as she had tears coming down off her cheeks. She then slowly forced a small smile and nodded before turning away and crying softly with closed eyes.

  Daniel felt his heart break at seeing the three girls being brought to tears then looked down while trying to convince himself that he was only out here for his purpose, for his quest, to promote peace between humans and monsters in the world.

  Alyssa looked around at seeing the three girls reluctantly giving their blessing to proceed then turned to Kroanette, the centaur sighing quietly before looking to the witch with a solemn expression.

  “Don’t look at me, this is all up to you,” she said shaking her head.

  Alyssa then turned to Daniel, trying to force a small smile as she walked up to him.

  “I… I would love… to… for us to…” she said shakily, finding her words being difficult to get out as her heart began to ache more and more. Slowly she stopped and glanced back to seeing Triska, Specca, and Squeak crying while avoiding eye contact with everyone, the sight of them in agony like this driving into Alyssa’s mind and causing a painful sensation to spike in her chest.

  “Well, are you going to do it or not?” Apoch and Astreal demanded while tapping their feet impatiently. Daniel glanced to them then to Alyssa with remorseful eyes, the witch just watching as her friends continued to cry out of sorrow.

  “Alyssa, the choice is up to you,” he offered. “In the interest of forming relations with your kind, I’m… okay with doing this with you tonight.”