“What the fuck are you doing?” Rulo cried out.
“Sasha?” Hollia nervously asked.
“Something I would never do in my life,” Sasha cursed before she punched Daemon in the face again, knocking him back a step before he recovered and watched the girl punching his gut again.
“Sorry, master,” she begged before scratching his face with her claws again. “Please forgive me.”
Aeon staggered with a painful cry, the newest distortion in the timeline being way off for how things should be going. Mika screamed as she was able to move forward again, the girl throwing all her weight towards the chronofly while pushing the sword ahead to strike down the monster. Her casting circle flared up below her, purple wisps of light flowing upward around the hunter before forming into glowing balls of energy that began to build up in the air.
“Finish it, Mika!” Hollia shouted. “Now’s your chance!”
“Hurry, before she recovers!” Tabitha yelled.
Mika screamed while channeling all her magic into the attack, the balls of energy flowing down around her and into the sword as it flashed crimson in her hands. Aeon yelled with eyes shut tight as she struggled to freeze time before her, her magic causing Mika’s strike to blur and slow down yet unable to halt it completely.
“You… can’t… beat… me!” Aeon cried out.
“Watch me!” Mika yelled before swiping hard with her sword. The powerful attack blasted forward against Aeon, the chronofly screaming as the blade’s slash cast out a blindingly hot arc of energy that clashed against the monster’s body. Everyone watched as the attack flared outward past the chronofly in a slow, crackling wave, with Mika letting loose a powerful roar before lifting her sword up high above her. Glowing black and crimson casting rings appeared down around the blade to the hilt, wisps of neon red light sifting through the air into the sword as Mika prepared another attack to throw at the screaming chronofly.
“I’m not holding back anymore!” Mika roared. She swung down with her sword, casting out a furious wave of crimson light with dark streaks of magic flowing through it, the fiery spell carving through the ground and engulfing Aeon in its bright light. The chronofly screamed as the attack raced through and crashed into the wall of the cave further away, a powerful explosion detonating while the entire cavern rumbled from the force.
All eyes watched in marvel as Mika stood with her sword held down and a powerful torrent of deadly energy blowing away from her, the woman’s cape fluttering wildly behind her along with her hair while her furious yell lasted a little longer still. Slowly the wave of crackling magic died down and vanished, leaving a smoking crevice that led all the way towards a large hole that was struck into the side of the cave. Mika’s cape finally dropped down as the casting circles below from both her and Aeon vanished, the human wavering slightly as she felt a wave of fatigue hit her from the magic expenditure. Slowly she looked around the area, seeing ant girls and the desuwraith sisters staring at her in stunned silence while dust gradually settled within the cavern. The Archlight’s Blade wavered then dropped to the ground with a clang, with Daemon glancing down to it briefly then back to Mika while blood dripped from his chin.
“Did… did she get her?” Rulo asked as she was able to move again.
“That was an extraordinary amount of magic you used, Mika,” Hollia complimented.
“Is she gone?” Scay wondered spinning around in circles with her tail. “Is she? Is the bad monster gone now?”
Daemon and the girls behind them observed the aftermath of Mika’s attack while keeping on guard, all of them then noticing something else in the cave that caught their attention.
Mika breathed out and stepped back. She smiled a little at the sight of her magical attack’s onslaught then glanced behind to see Daemon and the girls all looking up at something. She paused for a moment, sensing an ominous presence still nearby, then carefully looked upward. High up in the air Aeon was fluttering her wings while having wisps of smoke coming off her body, the chronofly watching Mika with a death glare while green neon waves of light rippled behind her wing’s movements.
“But… how?” Hollia breathed out.
“Shit,” Tabitha cursed through bared teeth.
“She’s still alive,” Forrus feared.
“But that attack was right in her face,” Rulo nervously pointed out. “How could she still be alive? She was hit with it!”
“She dodged it,” Mika softly said in horror. “She dodged the attack’s hit at the last moment.”
Aeon looked to her hand and slowly formed it into a fist, flexing her fingers afterwards with distorted waves of energy rippling outward from them before turning her glowing eyes down to Mika again. The human started to lift her sword up only to then notice it was gone from her hand. Almost immediately the blade was struck right through her from behind, a strained cry coming from the woman as she saw the blood-soaked steel piercing outward through her chest armor. Everyone watched in surprise as Aeon had suddenly appeared behind Mika while having the hunter’s sword rammed through the human.
“Mika!” Hollia cried out.
Mika screamed with blood coming from her mouth before shakily looking back to Aeon as the chronofly held onto her shoulder.
“Stupid human,” Aeon scorned.
Mika’s legs wobbled before she dropped to her knees, her hands slowly reaching up to the sword sticking out of her chest while she felt her strength quickly leaving her. Aeon yanked the blade out with a slick crunch, with Mika coughing out more blood as she stared at the hole in her armor in shock, then slowly walked around to the human’s front and held the sword up to strike her down with.
“Nothing can stop my rule,” Aeon vowed. “It is destiny. It is preordained by the fates of Eden. I am the queen of this world. And nobody, nobody, will take that from me!”
Mika slowly looked up to see Aeon glaring at her with glowing eyes while her wings gave off a haunting glow. The chronofly remained poised to finish the hunter off while Mika struggled to move, her body having almost no strength left in it while blood dripped down her chin.
“I told you,” Aeon taunted with a cruel smile. “I see everything that happens, everything that ever will happen. You can never beat me, nobody can. Time is my domain, fate is my will, and this world belongs to me. I am the one true queen of Eden. Nobody can take that from me. Nobody! Especially a foolish monster hunter such as yourself! Never mind me keeping your brother as a pet. I’m going to peel him apart when I see him, I’ll be sure to rip out his heart before he dies and send him to the underworld to meet his rapist sister afterwards! But you, you die right now, Mika Harollson!”
Aeon lifted the sword up high, with Mika seeing images of Max flashing before her eye as she faced the end. The chronofly then swung downward, only to suddenly stop as a sharp root struck outward through her chest with a crunch. Everyone stared in stunned silence, Aeon included, as the bloody root was thrust through the chronofly from behind. Dropping the sword onto the ground with a clank Aeon slowly looked to Mika with blood coming out of her mouth, the human returning the same shocked expression as silence filled the cave. The chronofly then looked over past Daemon and his girls at something, with everyone but Mika who was starting to drift into a daze turning to see large violet flower petals wrapped in a bud growing near the wall. Slowly the flower opened up, revealing the guardian of the chronofly tucked inside. Nuci rose up with her violet hair flowing down behind her, her eyes slowly opening with tears seen in them while her heartbroken expression was easily noticed by all.
“Who… is that?” Rulo slowly asked.
“The guardian of the City of Eden here,” Daemon answered.
“Nuciferyne!” one of the desuwraiths cheered with a hop.
“She’s alive! Yay!”
“We were so worried about her! And us! But mostly her!”
“She’s the guardian of the Dark Queen?” Sasha questioned.
Everyone looked over to see Aeon staring in shock at
Nuci, the alurane merely looking back with teary eyes and a quiet whimper while having one of her roots spiked up from the ground and piercing the chronofly through the heart.
“You…” Aeon breathed out. “Weren’t… supposed… to do… that…”
“I’m so sorry,” Nuci wept. “I’m sorry, Aeon. I really am.”
“No,” Aeon coughed as Nuci’s root slowly pulled out of her and slinked back into the ground. The chronofly wavered before dropping to her knees, her wings drooping low behind her as she shakily held a hand over her bloody wound.
“You… can’t… kill me…” Aeon softly droned. “You’re… not destined… to kill… anyone…”
Mika’s vision blurred before focusing to see Aeon staring at her in stunned silence, the chronofly then dropping to the side with a thump while her eyes went out of focus. The human slowly looked up as her eye fluttered closed, wavering slightly on her knees for a moment longer before dropping to the other side amidst the silence in the cave.
*****
Mika’s eye slowly opened along with a weak groan escaping her lips, the world coming into focus to show she was inside a smaller underground room within the ant girls’ nest. She noticed a few torches lit in the chamber, showing several ant girls who had their hands chained above their heads while they sat back against the walls of the room along with herself. Seated on the hard ground she slowly looked up to see the thick shackles and chains that kept her hands bound together, her gaze then turning down to her chest where her armor had been removed to reveal her bloodied shirt with a hole above her breasts. She saw her skin appearing perfectly fine through the tear, her wound inflicted by Aeon having vanished entirely while her shoulder too was no longer throbbing in pain or baring a large cut in it.
“He shouldn’t have done that,” Rulo spoke up, with Mika turning to see the orc along with Saffron standing nearby watching her sharply. “I don’t understand why my master saved your sorry ass after what you did.”
“What happened?” Mika asked.
“What happened? You nearly damned the world to hell! That’s what happened! You let the Dark Queen out and almost got everyone in Eden killed! What the fuck were you thinking?”
“She had to die,” Mika scorned.
“So you risked the lives of everyone in Eden?” Hollia questioned as she stood beside a large steel gate that was opened for her. The centaur slowly walked into the underground jail while two ant girls remained near the door behind her, herself along with Rulo and Saffron watching Mika closely who merely lowered her head in silence.
“You risked the lives of everyone. Ourselves, yourself, your precious little brother. You risked all of us on a chance that you could slay a Dark Queen, a monster who you knew perfectly well belonged locked away in her crypt because of how dangerous she was. You did all this, simply to hide your dirty secret of your forbidden love of your brother. Do you really believe you did what was right, Mika?”
“I had to try,” Mika replied.
“I see,” Hollia mused. “You really are limquar del medsian.”
“What?”
“It means ‘fucked in the head’ in our language,” Hollia scoffed. “Mentally unstable or downright insane.”
“Wouldn’t you-”
“No, I wouldn’t, Mika!” Hollia shouted. “I understand how you perceive this, how you believe yourself to be just in your decision. However I do not agree with you. If I had the choice to save Maria, my mother, my entire people from the wrath of The Sisterhood should I release and then kill a Dark Queen, if in by doing so I would somehow spare them their dire fate, then I would have to say I wouldn’t do it! I wouldn’t, Mika! That risk is far too great to take, I would have to be the most selfish centaur in the world to test such a gamble!”
Mika opened her mouth to speak before Hollia knelt down and clamped a hand over it to stop her.
“And even if I did succeed,” Hollia scorned. “Even if I by some miracle managed to slay a Dark Queen and my family and people were allowed to live again, I couldn’t dare face them afterwards. How could I? I would have just risked the entire world, all of its inhabitants’ lives, for my own desires. I would be mortified with myself and my greed, I would have been shunned by everyone I saved, and I would be forced to run myself through with my own spear in a feeble attempt at redemption for such a reckless and downright despicable decision!”
Mika stared at her in stunned silence as Hollia drew back and stood up.
“You risked your own brother’s life with your actions, Mika. The very one you claim to wish to protect. You don’t care about him at all, you only care about how you’re viewed by him and others. You only wish to protect yourself from embarrassment. You’re a horrible sister for him, Mika.”
“I… but…”
“You fucked up,” Rulo snorted. “We were lucky her guardian was able to kill her, because if she hadn’t and that Dark Queen got out of here everyone in Eden would have died, including your bratty little brother.”
“Aeon’s dead?” Mika wondered.
“Nuciferyne killed her,” Hollia said. “If she hadn’t we would all be dead, and it would be all your fault, Mika. Your brother would have suffered far more than he would have simply knowing the truth about his sister, he would have gone through hell itself all because of your blind foolishness.”
Mika lowered her head remorsefully while closing her eye, feeling her heart aching from their words while cursing herself from the truth of them. Hollia shook her head then glanced to Rulo and Saffron while crossing her arms.
“However,” Hollia reluctantly continued. “We do owe you credit for something, Mika.”
The hunter slowly looked up to see the centaur eyeing her with a solemn expression.
“Though your actions were very misguided and selfish, something wondrous has come of it. The Dark Queen is dead. That’s one less horror in Eden to be concerned with. As angry as we are for what you did, you did also lend a hand in putting that monster to rest once and for all.”
“But… I failed to kill her,” Mika lamented looking back down.
“I never said you were the hero of the story, Mika. You just presented the opportunity for another to become one. Bottom line, you did screw up, there’s no defending that. But there are only three Dark Queens in Eden now instead of four. That’s something we are thankful for.”
Hollia turned to walk out of the room then glanced back to Mika, having a glimmer of sympathy for the human in her eye.
“You were fortunate things worked out this time, Mika. But luck won’t always be on your side. You have a gift with your magical prowess, your courage in the face of danger is commendable, it’s only because of your singlemindedness that you keep falling further in life.”
Mika turned her gaze towards the centaur as Rulo and Saffron walked over to her, the three girls watching the human who seemed at a loss for words.
“I wish you luck, Mika,” Hollia said.
“For what?” Mika softly replied.
“For getting back onto your feet. You’ve fallen quite hard and far now. I’m not sure how you could possibly atone for what you did, or how you could even look your sibling in the eye after you risked his very life without thinking. I wish you luck with moving forward now. You’ll certainly need it.”
The three girls left the jail, with the steel door being closed and locked with a clank behind them. The ant girls still in the room watched Mika in silence, seeing her lowering her head while starting to quietly cry. She slumped down against the wall with her hands held up above her, her heart breaking at the realization of just how much danger she nearly cast the world and her little brother into because of her reckless actions.
“I’m so sorry, Max,” she whimpered. “I’m sorry for everything, I’m sorry for not being there for you, I’m… I’m sorry being a monster myself. I just… I can’t lose you. I can’t bear to lose you too. If something threatens to take you away from me I just… I just lose all self-control and common sense.
Please forgive me.”
Hollia, Rulo, and Saffron made their way through the nest together, passing numerous ant girls that were once again busy scurrying about with their work in every direction in the tunnels. Many stopped to squeak and salute Saffron along the way, the lieutenant merely nodding and waving back while walking forward with the orc and centaur.
“So,” Hollia mentioned glancing to the longhaired ant girl. “What was that business of you kissing my knight the way you did earlier?”
“Yeah,” Rulo snorted with a glare at the ant girl. “That’s right. What the hell were you thinking kissing my master like that?”
Saffron merely showed a mischievous smile while slowly licking her lips, the girl squeaking once afterwards and keeping her eyes forward as she calmly walked between the two girls. Rulo growled loudly before she snatched up the ant girl by her collar and held her off the ground, something that instantly got the attention of all surrounding ant girls as they quickly stopped and tensed up while Saffron merely watched Rulo with a blank expression on her face.
“Nobody kisses my master like that!” Rulo shouted while shaking the girl about. “How dare you do that to him, and right in front of me too! I’m going to beat the shit out of you for that, you stupid bug!”
“I’m surprised you just now remembered what she did,” Hollia said with a raised eyebrow. She blinked then looked around the tunnel while Rulo was shaking and berating Saffron, the centaur then walking off while having her hands held up defensively. She made her way over towards a bend then looked back just in time to see all the ant girls in the tunnel swarming Rulo with loud squeaking, the monsters getting into a wild brawl with dust kicking up and rocks flying about.
“Also surprised you’d pick a fight with Saffron when all her subordinates are literally five feet from you on all sides,” Hollia flatly added. Shaking her head she then trotted off while more ant girls rushed over to join the fight against the pissed off orc. After trotting deeper into the nest she came upon the entrance to the City of Eden, the cavern being filled with the sorrowful wails of someone that many ant girls were gathered around.
Chronicles of Eden_Act XI Page 14
