“The truth,” Tabitha said, with Mika quickly turning to her in trepidation. “You said she’ll tell your brother the truth if you didn’t kill her. What truth?”
“Ah, now that’s the right question,” Aeon replied holding her sword out towards the human. “What dirty little secret were you prepared to face a Dark Queen over in hopes it wouldn’t get out? Oh my, it must be something sinister to make you go to these lengths, wouldn’t you agree?”
Mika shut her eye and lowered her head, hands clenching at her sides as she held in her voice.
“Explain yourself,” Sasha demanded. “What pitiful little secret could you possibly have that would justify letting the Dark Queen go free for? Answer me, Mika!”
“You won’t even defend yourself or your actions?” Forrus scowled. “Look at us, Mika! Tell us what the hell you were thinking, if you even were thinking!”
“Don’t play stupid or silent with us!” Rulo shouted. “What the fuck were you thinking? Answer us!”
Mika remained silent with her head lowered from those words. Aeon watched her curiously for a while, seeing the human refusing to speak further on the matter, then sighed with a bored expression on her face.
“Well this isn’t any fun if you won’t play along, Mika Harollson,” she pouted. With that she shrugged then threw the sword through the air, the blade streaking across the cave in the blink of an eye before lodging itself through Sasha’s chest.
“Sasha!” Daemon shouted as the reptile girl jerked back from the hit, a stunned look of horror on her face as she stared at the blade that was pierced through her. Instantly Aeon appeared before her, taking hold of the sword as all eyes turned to her in shock.
“Maybe now she’ll talk, right?” she mused looking back to Mika. “Or do you not care if anyone else dies because of your actions?”
Yanking the sword aside swiftly she sliced through Sasha’s body, the reptile girl dropping dead as the chronofly started walking back towards the hunter. After two steps she turned and waved her hand sharply, a loud clack sounding off as Daemon and his group were halted in place from charging the chronofly. All off them remained still while appearing to be stuck running forward, rage seen in their eyes while Tabitha and Scay remained behind as they stared at Sasha’s body with disbelief.
“You bitch!” Rulo shouted while remaining still as stone.
“What is this?” Forrus snarled. “What accursed magic is at work here?”
“You will die for that,” Hollia growled. “You despicable monster.”
“Ah ah,” Aeon taunted shaking a finger at them. “It’s not your turn to play yet. Calm down.”
“I’m going to kill you!” Daemon yelled out. Aeon looked at him curiously then walked over, examining his face while gently grazing his sword with hers as she got closer. All the girls watched her carefully while she showed a slight smile and shook her head.
“You hide your feelings so well,” she mused softly. “Yet this is the truth, plain and obvious. You do care for that reptile girl, don’t you?”
Daemon narrowed his eyes while black scales started to appear up along his arm from his gloved hand while even reaching up alongside his neck and cheek. His eyes grew far colder while the irises shifted to a more narrowed demonic appearance, the pointed bones protruding from his arm and elbow drawing surprised looks from Mika, Hollia, the desuwraiths sisters, and all the ant girls.
“My… knight?” Hollia slowly said with wide eyes. “What… what’s happening to you?”
“He’s really pissed off, that’s what,” Rulo cautioned. “That’s his real form starting to show now. You only see it when you’re about to be torn apart limb from limb like that queen is.”
“He’s not human, is he?” one of the desuwraiths nervously asked.
“He doesn’t look human to me.”
“I really don’t think he’s human.”
“He’s no human,” Mika slowly spoke. “Not even close.”
“Whoa,” Tabitha quietly commented as she and Scay swore they could feel Daemon’s furious aura very clearly. “Starting to see more reason why Charlotte is so interested in him.”
Saffron looked over Daemon in awe and faintly squeaked something while all the other ant girls in the cave seemed squeakless at what they were seeing. Aeon however merely smiled curiously at him without a care as his monstrous form was easily slipping through his human appearance.
“You would only show this side of you for her, wouldn’t you? Yes, just as I thought. You keep this side of you so suppressed, yet it is she who can bring it out of you so easily. Why don’t you just admit it already, you love that girl. You want to mate with her. You want to fuck her senseless. If only you could, right?”
Looking down to the Archlight’s Blade she chuckled while lightly tapping it with her own sword.
“Ah, if only Valentina hadn’t cursed- I mean bestowed upon you this holy blade. I’m sure you would have ravaged that reptile girl into submission long ago. Perhaps you would have done so upon first meeting her. She certainly was begging for it back then, wasn’t she? She practically threw herself at you, and yet you declined like a noble knight. All because of this blade. Be honest, if it wasn’t for this weapon holding you back you would have her as your sex toy every night, wouldn’t you?”
“I’m going to kill you,” Daemon swore. “Slowly. Painfully. I’m going to make you wish you were never released from your cage!”
“Well that’s not very nice,” Aeon pouted. “Oh dear, it seems I’ve gone and upset you, haven’t I? Perhaps I have crossed a tiny line with you, I’ll take the blame for that. I’m just so excited to be out and about again, maybe I’m being a little too rough with you. Tell you what? Let’s try this again, shall we?”
She waved her hand towards Sasha, a loud clack echoing out before the reptile girl appeared to leap up onto her feet with blood shooting back into her from the air. Her wound vanished along with the tear in her shirt before she jumped with a gasp, the stunned girl quickly looking around before seeing Aeon smiling coldly at her while resting a hand against Daemon’s cheek.
“Are you okay, dear? We were worried sick about you. Him especially.”
“Y… you. You!” Sasha roared as she tensed up.
“Calm down. You’re alright now,” Aeon droned. “Well, none of you are going to be alright in the end, but you know what I’m talking about.”
She waved her hand back, throwing everyone away with a fierce magical force. Mika watched as everyone around the area, all the ant girls, desuwraiths, and Daemon along with his group were blasted back as a ring of power struck them very quickly. They tumbled away along the ground before scrambling to their feet again, with Daemon and his girls looking themselves over quickly at noticing they were no longer held in place before seeing Sasha shaking her head with an angry growl.
“Sasha?” Daemon asked. “Are you alright?”
“I think so,” Sasha said looking around at herself, her eyes then noticing Daemon’s arm having shifted to his monstrous form. He glanced to it then back to her in silence while his arm slowly returned to normal, her gaze going from the retreating scales to his own as a faint blush formed on her cheeks.
“Seems I struck a nerve killing you,” Aeon giggled. “You should have seen the look on his face, Sasha. Killing his pet reptile girl really brought out the monster inside him.”
Sasha jumped with a much deeper blush before looking down and trying to calm herself. Daemon glared at Aeon while his sword gave off a soft glow, the chronofly watching him with an amused grin while Sasha slowly turned a stern glare towards her as well.
“What did you just do? What happened to me?”
“I reversed time, my dear,” Aeon explained with a fanciful bow. “It’s a little talent of mine. All of time, past, present, and future, are my domain. What do you think? Pretty neat, huh?”
“You… reversed time?” Hollia questioned.
“She’s a chronofly,” Tabitha explained. “She can co
ntrol time at will. Stopping time, rewinding it, doing whatever the hell she wants with it. That’s what she does. She even knows everything we’re going to do before we do it.”
Aeon smirked and nodded to that as those in the room who hadn’t heard of such things before stared at the chronofly in disbelief.
“She can control time?” Forrus slowly repeated.
“You saw it yourself,” Tabitha said to Sasha. “We saw it too. She killed Mika down below. Then undid it, redid it, and undid it, over and over again. Same to us as well.”
“I don’t like dying,” Scay whined. “It hurts. It really hurts.”
Sasha looked herself over carefully then Aeon as the chronofly merely winked at her.
“That’s unbelievable,” Hollia said shaking her head.
“Seeing is believing,” Tabitha stressed with her. “You know there was probably a reason why she was locked away. Maybe this could be it, what do you think?”
“It’s true,” Daemon agreed. “She’s a time controller. That’s why she was sealed away. Her magic over time itself is chaos waiting to happen.”
Daemon’s girls looked to each other in question while the ant girls around the cave along with the desuwraiths were keeping a nervous eye on Aeon, all of them not braving a single step closer as not only was her aura downright terrifying to them but talk of her being able to control time itself didn’t give them any confidence in challenging the Dark Queen at all.
“Yes, it’s true,” Aeon admitted. “I see everything. Nothing surprises me, as dull as that can be sometimes. I can rewind or stop time at will, the entire timestream is my domain. Eden is my kingdom. And I am the only queen it shall ever have. Any questions so far? I hope I’m not losing you all with this very simple concept.”
Daemon and the girls remained silent while cautiously watching the chronofly, the woman looking around at everyone with a curious eye before giggling and turning back to Mika.
“They catch on quick, much faster than some monster hunters I know. At any rate, I spared that girl’s life to give you another chance to come clean in front of everyone. So then, kindly tell us all your little secret that you fought so desperately to hide from the world. Come on now, don’t be shy, Mika Harollson.”
Everyone watched Mika slowly getting up onto her feet, the human keeping her head lowered and her eye shut as she remained silent. Aeon waited a moment for the human to give an answer she still wouldn’t give then showed a wicked grin.
“Or should I just tell your brother right now?” she dared, with Mika turning to her with a furious growl. “Haha, I see that sparked a reaction in you rather nicely. So, what will it be? Either you tell them, or I tell your brother.”
“Mika,” Hollia carefully said. “Explain yourself. Not because she’s ordering you to, but because we want to know what the hell was going through your mind that warped your judgement so severely.”
“And it had better be a good reason,” Rulo threatened. “Or else the Dark Queen is going to be the least of your worries.”
“I hardly think that will ever be true,” Aeon laughed at her. “But I applaud your enthusiasm with that threat.”
Mika slowly breathed out then looked to Aeon with a dull stare, seeing the chronofly chuckling while walking up towards her.
“Speak,” Aeon ordered, holding the sword out towards Mika’s throat. “Everyone’s waiting.”
“The truth is I’m a monster myself,” Mika reluctantly spat out.
“You are?” Scay gasped in surprise. “Wow. What kind of monster are you? You look so human.”
“I am human,” Mika dryly retorted. “It’s a figure of speech.”
“What do you mean you’re a monster yourself?” Hollia questioned.
Mika glanced around at seeing everyone watching her, waiting for her to explain her actions, then glared at Aeon who had the most eager smile on her face as she knew for a fact that the hunter was going to continue. Fearing Aeon would enact upon her threat Mika turned her eye away from everyone while feeling a sinking feeling in her heart.
“I love my brother.”
“What does loving your own family have to do with any of this?” Tabitha demanded.
“No,” Mika said shaking her head, then turned to the neko with a strained expression. “I love him.”
Tabitha eyed the human carefully then showed a curious look as Mika took a shaky breath.
“I’m not saying this because he’s my brother, or because he’s family. I’m saying this because… I love Max.”
“I still don’t understand what you mean by this, Mika,” Hollia spoke up shaking her head. “What does loving your sibling have to do with releasing a harbinger of death upon the entire world?”
“I LOVE MY BROTHER!” Mika shouted out. “Like a MATE!”
Looking around she saw only confused stares from everyone except for Daemon, Sasha, and Tabitha.
“I still don’t get what she’s talking about,” Forrus scoffed shaking her head.
“Neither do I,” one of the desuwraiths spoke up.
“I’m not getting it either.”
“Good, I thought I was the stupid one for not following.”
“She’s in love with her brother,” Tabitha realized. Everyone turned to the neko as she watched Mika with a curious eye. “Not in a familial way, but rather a romantic way.”
“What’s so bad about that?” Hollia asked. “I always thought human women used their men for breeding all the same. What difference does it make if she’s his sister?”
“It’s taboo,” Sasha pointed out. All eyes turned to Mika as she lowered her head in shame. “It’s considered a sin among humans to engage in such relations with one’s own family.”
“Yes, it is a sin to them,” Aeon agreed with a smug grin. “The very idea of her wishing to lay with her brother is horrendous among the eyes of humans. Her feelings for her brother are considered immoral, ghastly, and sick by human standards. But I’m afraid that’s not the full truth of this matter, is it, Mika Harollson? Please, do continue.”
Mika glared at her then turned her eye away as everyone was watching her closely now.
“I didn’t mean to,” she shakily defended. “I couldn’t help myself. I dedicated my entire life to protecting him, watching over him, always keeping him in my sights. He was the only one I thought about, the only one I wanted to be near, the only… I didn’t mean to develop these feelings for him! I couldn’t help myself!”
“Now now, Mika Harollson,” Aeon taunted. “Don’t waste time pleading indifference about all this. The mere fact that you love your brother in the most romantic way isn’t all there is to this tale. Let’s pick up the pace and get to the good part, no sense beating around the bush after all.”
Mika growled while clenching her fists, a single tear coming out of her closed eye as she tried not to relive her actions within her own mind again. She shook her head then turned her vicious glare towards Aeon as the chronofly smiled curiously at her.
“So what happened?” Scay wondered tilting her head.
“I raped him!” Mika shouted, with everyone showing surprise as the human kept her furious eye on the chuckling chronofly. “I had a weak moment a few months ago. My sisters were away, Max and I were alone, and… I raped him like a monster!”
“Mika,” Hollia softly said.
“I drugged and knocked him out so he wouldn’t know, so he wouldn’t remember! I ripped off his clothes and fucked him on the kitchen table! I humped him until he finished inside of me, and then I cried all night because of the terrible thing I did to my own brother! That’s my secret! I fell in love with Max and raped him because of it! Are you happy now, Aeon? Is that what you wanted me to say?”
“I’m quite amused, yes,” Aeon politely answered with a nod. “Thank you for sharing that with us, Mika Harollson.”
“You raped your own kin,” Daemon carefully said. “That’s why you tried to kill Aeon? To hide your sin from the world?”
“She
threatened to tell him the truth,” Mika defended. “He can’t know, he can’t know what his sister did. I can’t lose him like that. If he knows the mistake I made he’ll never look at me again, he’ll hate me forever. She can’t tell him the truth, I can’t allow it!”
“So that’s why you let her out?” Tabitha shouted. “All because you wanted to silence her from spilling your secret? You stupid human, what’s to stop her from both telling your brother the truth and destroying the world now? How is this any better for you?”
“I had to try,” Mika sternly answered. “Max is all I have left in this world, he’s the only family I have now. I know I can’t be his mate, I understand that, but I’m still going to protect him just as I swore to myself I would!”
“From Aeon? Or yourself?” Sasha snapped. “This was all done because of your selfishness, all a vain attempt to hide your mistake in his eyes. You’re not doing this to protect Max, you’re doing this to protect yourself!”
“I wonder which your brother would find more shameful,” Forrus scorned. “The fact you treated him like any other monster in the world would, or that you released a Dark Queen in your stupidity to hide your dirty secret from him.”
“You stupid girl,” Hollia scoffed. “You’ve damned the world with your recklessness. This is far worse than you abusing your own brother, you’ve just sentenced us all to a dire fate because of you fearing him knowing the truth.”
Mika held in her voice as she glared at Aeon, the chronofly nodding slowly with a slick grin on her face while keeping the hunter’s sword held to her throat.
“They’re right you know,” Aeon laughed. “You’ve only been thinking of yourself. That’s it. If you had even bothered to consider the implications of releasing me you would have seen how foolish you’re being. All of this, all to mask your incestuous love towards your brother. How selfish and idiotic of you, Mika Harollson.”
Mika whimpered and shook her head, struggling with the heartache of those very true accusations. Slowly she turned her eye towards Hollia, seeing the centaur glaring at her with understandable anger.
“Wouldn’t you have done the same for Maria?” she shakily asked. Hollia showed a glimmer of curiosity as Aeon slowly started walking around the human. “If it was the only way you could see her again, to let her live, to keep her with you… wouldn’t you have done the same as I and tried, even if it seemed hopeless?”
Chronicles of Eden_Act XI Page 12
