Act IX

by Alexander Gordon

  “What to do with her?” Doku asked. “What do you mean? If we’re all in agreement that she can be forgiven what else is there to discuss about her?”

  “The fact that she loves my master,” Kitten answered, with the girls then quickly turning to Star as she slumped down with a nervous smile. “She admitted it earlier in the cave, she loves him. She wants to be his too.”

  “Oh yeah,” Kroanette said before shrugging at the girls. “There is that little detail we hadn’t mentioned yet.”

  “She loves him too?” Specca worried while grabbing her hair. “How… but why…”

  “Blame Dan,” Clover flatly said as all eyes turned to him. “He’s just too fucking nice to all of us.”

  “Daniel, you charmed her too?” Alyssa whined hopping up and down. “Please stop doing this! Please!”

  “Not another one,” Falla groaned with a face palm. “We just went through this with Doku and Clover this morning, and now Star wants to be with him before the day has even ended?”

  “Daniel, aren’t we enough?” Luna worried with her wings drooping behind her. “Why did you want to charm Star too?”

  “I didn’t do anything!” Daniel pleaded holding his hands up. “I was just as surprised as-”

  “Oh just stop,” Alyssa scoffed with a glare at Star. “At this point it honestly shouldn’t be surprising to anyone. Daniel, please stop being so nice to everyone you meet, especially girls. Don’t you realize how desirable you are by now?”

  “Was I supposed to be a jerk to her all this time instead of being nice?”

  “Yes!” Alyssa, Specca, Falla, and Clover yelled at him.

  “You don’t have to be prince charming with every girl you meet,” Clover snapped. “Fuck, is there anyone you’ve come across that you haven’t gotten to fall in love you?”

  “I vote Star and Cindy both leave before we have to share Daniel with either of them,” Falla said raising her hand. “Snapper can go too.”

  “I don’t wanna go,” Cindy whined standing up. “I want to stay with Daniel. I don’t know where my mother is and I don’t want to be alone, and Daniel said Snapper and me can stay with him, so we’re staying!”

  “Oh great, she’s well on her way to falling in love with Daniel,” Alyssa muttered.

  “But I already do love Daniel,” Cindy said curiously. “He’s really nice to me. I like him a lot.”

  “Stop being so nice to everyone, Dan!” Clover yelled at the boy.

  “Why does every monster we meet want to be with Daniel like this?” Specca fretted.

  “They’re monsters who want to breed and he’s overwhelmingly kind and understanding towards us,” Kroanette summed up. “A double-edged sword if there ever was one.”

  “I like him just as much as I do with boobies!” Pip cheered with arms waving overhead. “And that’s a whole lot!”

  “On second thought, I don’t forgive Star!” Alyssa shouted. “Not if it means having to share her with my man! No way! Enough is enough!”

  “He hasn’t even proved he can love us all equally with the addition of two more possible mates,” Specca pointed out with a sharp eye on the jinx. “Before he could even consider taking another mate he should first make sure he can own up to his promises with those he already has.”

  “I agree,” Daniel spoke up, with the girls then seeing him nodding slowly with a solemn expression on his face. “There’s no way I could take another mate right now, I still need to take care of those I have now along with two more that I promised.”

  “That’s right,” Clover sternly asserted. “We get our shot with Dan first, any other girls who want to join next can get in the back of the line.”

  “We have a line now?” Specca quietly spoke in sorrow.

  “Besides,” Daniel continued. “Star, are sure you actually feel love towards me?”

  All the girls turned to him questionably then to Star as she was staring at him in shock. She stammered some form of hasty reply before he held a hand out to silence her.

  “From what Reiko told us you wanted to be with me because you believed I would forgive you for your past. Isn’t that right? It sounds like it isn’t me that you’re attracted to, it’s just my forgiving nature. You can find that with anyone, I’m positive other men would accept you for who you are once they got to see the real you. There’s nothing else really between us. Actually, you and I haven’t gotten closer in the time you’ve spent with us.”

  Star quickly warped over and hugged Daniel close, pressing her face against his with a muffled meow as she struggled to keep Daniel as near to her as possible.

  “That’s not what he means, Star,” Specca sighed.

  “You just want a man who will be nice to you,” Alyssa agreed with a forced smile. “There are plenty of other men out there that can give you that. Lots of them. Ones that aren’t our mate.”

  “I understand you like me,” Daniel grunted as he slowly pried the jinx off him. “But we don’t have any form of a romantic bond. I feel a strong connection to the other girls, I care about them so much and they care about me. I love everything about them, from the way Specca adores taking bathes, to Alyssa acting like a young child despite her age, to Squeak being dirty most of the time, and even the way Falla still has that deceptive side to her.”

  “What do you mean?” Falla whined. “I’ve been an honest butterfly with you since you took me as your mate, Daniel.”

  “When I asked you who ate the last cookie after dinner three nights ago you tried to blame Luna,” Alyssa dryly reminded her.

  “You told me it was my turn to feed Pip that night as well when it was actually yours,” Kroanette flatly chimed in.

  “I asked if you could help hang our laundry during a rest stop,” Doku hesitantly spoke up. “You said you had to feed Lucky then, even though Alyssa was already doing that.”

  “Well…” Falla slowly replied with a nervous smile. “So a few things slipped my mind before. I wasn’t trying to deceive you.”

  “Falla,” Luna sighed. “Even I can tell you’re lying again.”

  Daniel shook his head with a slight smile at the girl then turned to Star as she was keeping her eyes on him still.

  “I took Doku and Clover as my newest mates because of two reasons. One, I didn’t want to lose them. They mean that much to me, so much that I would gladly fight to keep them safe with me.”

  “He’s being charming again,” Clover teasingly pointed out as she tried to hide her smile. “We just told him to stop and he’s not listening.”

  “Star, I would fight to keep you safe, I’m not saying I would stand aside and let you get hurt if I had a say in the matter, but a big difference there is that I would be fighting to protect you just as I would with anyone in the world. Because it’s the right thing to do. When I fight to protect my mates, the ones I love, I can feel a difference. I’m a Bloodcat of VanEllovan myself in a way, I would fight to the very end with everything I have to keep them with me, and I would do so against anyone that dared to take them away with lethal force if I had to. They’re special to me.”

  “I’m alright with him not stopping,” Doku spoke up. “I like this protective side of my husband.”

  “You’re my friend, Star,” Daniel said walking up to the jinx. “And I think the girls are alright being your friends as well. We don’t hate you for what you did in the past. We’re sorry to hear you went through such hardships, but we’re glad you’re still the real you. You can come with us if you want, you can be proof to the world that jinxes can control themselves, you can help our cause, and you can be our friend. But right now I honestly can’t say I could take you as my mate. There isn’t any actual love between us.”

  Star stared at him in disbelief for a moment then slapped him hard. All the girls gasped as he stumbled back before Star pounced him down onto the ground and landed on top of him. She started yowling and meowing with a fierce look in her eye while Daniel watched her in stunned silence, seeing a very pissed off jinx
arguing something in her tongue. After a long speech she leaned closer to his face and growled something in discontent while gripping his vest, all with the other girls staring at her like she was crazy.

  “Star, what are you doing?” Kroanette demanded.

  “How dare you hit him like that!” Clover shouted.

  “Do you have a death wish?” Kitten yelled out with fire in her eyes. “I don’t care if you’re a jinx, a vampire, or both; I’m going to kill you for touching my master like that!”

  Before she could unsheathe her sword or for the girls to rush Star all at once Daniel held out his hand to stop them and glanced over to where Reiko was still floating in the air.

  “Reiko, what did she just say to me?”

  “It had better be good, or else,” Alyssa growled as her eyes glowed softly.

  Star looked over to Reiko and waited for the harvester to translate for her, the tiny monster remaining silent at first then shrugging with an innocent smile.

  “She says she hates you and wishes to come with me now. Sorry, Daniel. You blew your chance with her.”

  Star yowled loudly at her with bared fangs, prompting the harvester to hop with a squeak then smile nervously. She then sighed and floated over next to Daniel with a dull stare at him.

  “Fine. She said you’re an idiot.”

  “Famous last words,” Kitten snarled as she started to pull her blade out.

  “Because she does love you,” Reiko bitterly continued. Everyone watched Star curiously as the girl was sulking with a teary-eyed grimace down at Daniel. “She said it wasn’t just the idea of you forgiving her that she found desirable. It was how protective you are of those you care about. How you accept others and cherish them for who they are. How you would fight with everything you had to protect them. She said you reminded her of Seraphine.”

  “Of Seraphine?” Daniel wondered, with Star nodding and wiping her tears away. She meowed again and again, with Reiko lamenting that she had to translate these words for her friend.

  “She sees the same kindness her mother had in you, the same person that would truly want the world to be a better place and would treat others so fairly. Even though I adore her like no other, even though I would never say no to her, she… she loves you, Daniel. She loves you for who you are.”

  Star meowed and nodded while gently holding onto his vest. She tenderly said something in her own language before lowering her head and closing her eyes, apparently waiting for his reply to what she just said.

  “You may not feel a bond with her, but she feels it with you,” Reiko sighed. “She doesn’t want to lose another who is so special to her, just as you claim your mates are special to you. She said she loves you, Daniel, and wants to give you her heart. And for you to choke on it.”

  Star hissed at her with a narrowed glare.

  “Oh I think he knows that last part is from me,” Reiko scoffed as she turned away stubbornly. “Honestly, Star, you’re so mean. Having me convey your words of love to him when I love you so much more than he ever could. It’s so unfair.”

  “Star… you really feel that way towards me?” Daniel asked.

  Star nodded with a small smile and quiet mew. Rendered speechless Daniel stared at her in wonder, seeing the jinx sitting atop him with the bloom of the fire against her showing the cat’s figure and loving eyes that were fixated on him. Her tails slowly swayed behind her, her hands lightly pawing at his chest, and her legs were tucked close and holding onto his waist as she waited for his answer to her confession. The other girls were waiting too, as all eyes were on Daniel except for Snapper who was busy coughing out sand while being coddled by Cindy. After a long while of silence Daniel rested his head back with a sigh.

  “And once again I’ve taken the heart of another girl without realizing it. I really have to stop doing this, if I can ever figure out how to stop doing it.” Shaking his head he sat up with Star in his lap still, the girl showing growing dread to his gesture while clinging to his chest more securely now. “Star, I’m glad you’re a kindhearted girl again, that you’re not the Bloodcat of VanEllovan anymore. I can forgive what you did in the past, I can understand what happened to you and why you did the things you did. And I can even call you a friend, someone I can trust because I do honestly trust you, Star. But I don’t feel such a bond with you that I do with my mates, I can’t lie and say I do just to make you smile now. I’m sorry, Star, I don’t want to hurt you, but I can’t return those feelings to you. We just haven’t gotten that close for me to say such words to you and for me to mean them.”

  Star whimpered with watery eyes then buried her face in his shoulder, her hands holding onto his arms while her tails slowly lowered onto the ground behind her. Daniel’s girls lowered their heads in silence, none speaking against his decision to refuse the jinx’s affections yet not wishing for Star to be hurt like this because of it. Reiko however was smiling brightly while floating near Daniel and Star, her gaze locked onto the jinx while she quivered a little as she held in her giggles.

  “I’m sorry, Star. But I can’t forsake you and your heart either,” Daniel said, with Star leaning back and meowing softly at him in confusion. “You’re a kindhearted girl, a beautiful soul in this world. You deserve a real mate in life, one who will cherish you and never lead you astray. If I were to take you as my mate with no meaning behind it I would be a horrible person, someone you don’t deserve to be with.”

  “Yes, you don’t deserve her at all,” Reiko agreed.

  “Your love shouldn’t be wasted on someone who can’t return it.”

  “Yes, exactly,” Reiko added with a few eager nods.

  “And I can’t return it. Not honestly, not as I am now. I’m sorry, Star.”

  “Too bad, so sad,” Reiko sighed mockingly before rushing over and hugging Star’s cheek. “Oh well. You tried, Star, but it seems he can’t return your feelings. I don’t want to be the one who says ‘I told you so’, but I did say-”

  Star grabbed the harvester’s head tightly with her hand, electing a muffled yelp from the tiny girl while the jinx shut her eyes and wiped her tears away. After taking a moment to calm her breathing she looked at Daniel with a determined expression and meowed with tails rising up into the air again.

  “What do you mean?” Reiko whined while squirming around in her grip. “Star, he said no! No means no! Just give up on him and be with me! Pretty please!”

  Star meowed and shook her head before saying something more in her tongue and letting Reiko go. The harvester shook her head with a cough before staring at the jinx with disbelief.

  “You can’t do that! He doesn’t want you, Star! He never will, no matter-” she argued before Star meowed loudly at her and pointed to Daniel, obviously wanting her friend to translate what she was saying to him. Reiko growled in frustration then glared at Daniel while he and all the girls were watching them curiously.

  “You. Suck.”

  Star yowled at her with bared fangs and a very threatening glare then pointed to Daniel again. Reiko muttered something to herself before speaking again in a bitter tone.

  “Star said… fine. If you can’t return her feelings now, then she’ll wait.”

  “Wait?” Daniel repeated with a confused look at Star. She nodded and meowed again, with Reiko rubbing her hands down her face as she grumbled to herself before scowling at Daniel.

  “She’s going to wait for you to return her feelings, no matter how long it takes. Just as you’ve asked of her she’s not going to run or hide anymore. She’s not giving up on being with you, even with you not returning her feelings yet. And she’s promising to help you however she can, by being proof of your beliefs, guardian for you and your family, and… and…”

  “And?” Daniel carefully questioned.

  “And… she said she’ll do anything you want. Anything at all to prove you belong together. But she really belongs with me! You can’t deny that, you can’t come between our love! Nothing shall separate us in the end, nothing!
We’re going to be lovers, not you and her! We’re going to be mates, not you and her! We’re going to have amazing sex and-”

  Star reached over and grabbed Reiko, crushed her into a ball with the tiny monster whining in sorrow, and then threw her off into the bushes away from the group. She scoffed at where the harvester had fallen out of sight then turned to Daniel with a determined look and meowed again with a firm nod.

  “Star?” he asked. “You’re going to stay with me until I fall in love with you?”

  Star nodded with a meow and held up her pocket watch to him, showing the time ticking away inside, then meowed again with quick glance to the time and then a tilt of her head. Daniel looked at the clock in wonder then back to her before she closed it and winked at him, with her message getting through both to him and all the girls who were watching her in stunned silence.

  “You’re going to wait for me to fall in love with you,” Daniel said. “No matter how long it takes.”

  Star leaned forward and nodded before kissing him, with the girls around them gasping at the sight. While they yelled her name in surprise, anger, and in threatening tones the jinx leaned back from the gesture and meowed softly at Daniel with loving eyes, tuning everything out except the one she had truly become enamored with. As she did he stared at her while becoming speechless, both surprised by her sudden token of affection and also that he could very easily guess what she just said to him.

  “No matter how long it takes.”

  Chapter 16

  Bonding

  In the world of Eden friendship and even romance all started with a connection formed between those who had grown closer together. Either by common interests or ideals, or perhaps out of attraction and desire, they became joined together by a bond that drew them closer over time. Of course sometimes these ties weren’t so easily formed for others. Maybe there was tension or conflict keeping them separated from those they wished to be with, or perhaps it was even against their own nature to make friends as others did. But for those troubled souls all wasn’t lost, there could still be hope for them in forming warm relations with those that could one day be their family.