“Where… am I?” Specca asked softly as she stood up next to the bed. Her legs wobbled again before she caught her balance. She took a few deep breaths while trying to deal with what was inside her before hearing voices in the adjacent room along with some squeaking. Mustering all the strength she had to walk she made her way over to the doorway and peeked in, seeing another room with three giant butterflies and Squeak all gathered together in front of something they were looking at.
“Squeak?” Specca spoke up, with the ant girl and butterflies looking back over to her before Squeak showed a worried smile and squeaked something at her.
“You’re awake,” one of the butterflies said. “Are you alright?”
“What happened? Who are all of you?”
“Well,” another butterfly said before pointing to Squeak. “She was licking your butt in the road and you passed out.”
Specca blushed brightly and looked at Squeak with unease while the ant girl smiled weakly and shrugged while squeaking something at her.
“We weren’t going to pry as to why she was eating your ass out in the road like that,” the third butterfly spoke up with an awkward frown. “If you two like to get freaky like that we’re not going to judge. But when we saw she was an ant girl we had to ask her for her help, so we brought you two here.”
“Wait, her help?” Specca asked as she slowly walked in. “You know what she is? And what happened out there wasn’t what you think it was, really.”
“It doesn’t matter, all we wanted was her help. We know ant girls can treat wounds, and we needed her to do so desperately,” the butterfly said as everyone looked to what was in front of them again, with Specca coming closer then gasping as she saw too. Before everyone was a bed made of the same leaves and vines as the other, only this one had a critically wounded butterfly girl laying on it. Her wings were tattered and ripped, her left arm looked to have had its flesh peeled from the bone, her breasts were covered in blood as well as her thigh, her right eye was missing along with her right ear, her long chestnut hair was muddied and had blood in it, and her mouth was cut with dried blood going down her cheek to the bed. All over her body there were what looked to be bite marks, with skin and flesh having been ripped right off the poor girl almost like she was mauled by a pack of animals.
“Dear lord!” Specca cried out with her hands covering her mouth.
Squeak knelt down next to the bed and gently licked the wounded butterfly’s cheeks and face. The butterfly quietly whimpered and whined while her remaining eye stared up at the ceiling still.
“What happened to her?” Specca asked as she tried not to faint from seeing the condition of the poor monster.
“We told her not to go,” one of the butterflies said sadly. “We told her not to go but she insisted.”
“The poor thing almost didn’t make it back,” another whimpered before she started crying.
“Her wings… oh god, they were so beautiful,” the third said softly.
Squeak licked the wounded girl’s face then squeaked at her with a worried smile. Slowly her smile faded as she saw the butterfly’s eye staring up at the ceiling with an empty gaze. Squeak waved her hand in front of the girl, got no reaction, and then slowly looked up to the others as they all saw the lifeless look in the butterfly’s eye.
“No… Rachel?” one of them whimpered as she knelt down next to the girl and shook her shoulders lightly, getting no reaction out of her friend. “Rachel? C’mon, say something. Anything. Rachel! Rachel!”
“Don’t die on us!” another pleaded as the three gathered around their deceased friend. “Say something! Please!”
Squeak slowly stood up and backed away next to Specca, the two watching with remorse as the three butterfly girls cried over their friend.
“That’s horrible,” Specca mourned softly.
The three butterflies cried and held onto their friend, with one of them looking at Rachel’s face with sorrow. She hesitated then gently closed the butterfly’s remaining eye with her fingers.
“Rachel…” she whimpered as she lowered her head.
“Sister…” the other two said softly as they did the same.
“I’m… I’m sorry,” Specca spoke up. The girls looked back to her with teary eyes as the nixie felt her heart ache at the sight. “I wish we could have helped. I do.”
“It’s not your fault,” one of the butterflies said as they turned back to their fallen sister. “I fear even if we found your friend earlier she wouldn’t have been able to help us with this. Nobody could.”
“What happened to her?” Specca asked worriedly. “How did… how did she die like this?”
“She managed to flee through the forest,” one said softly. “She couldn’t fly, so she ran. She ran and ran as fast as she could. She made it past the fluugher and the arachne, all on foot.”
“We found her out near the edge of our grove,” another explained. “She collapsed before making it into town. We brought her back here, we were so afraid we were going to lose her.”
“Kari and Sara went looking for help,” the third said turning to Specca. “They found you and your friend out in the road, and hoped an ant girl could heal Rachel’s wounds. I had hoped that too when they brought you two here, but I was fearful it wouldn’t be enough.”
“I see,” Specca replied looking to Rachel with remorse. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think Squeak could have saved her from such severe injuries, not all by herself anyway. Her saliva can only do so much. But what happened to her? What was she fleeing from out in the forest that did that to her?”
“She told us before she died,” the first butterfly said as a look of horror came across the three girls.
“She told us what happened to her,” the second said as they trembled in fear.
“She told us what she saw in Rackleholm,” the third said before they looked to Specca and Squeak, the two travelers seeing sheer fright in their eyes as they started to get a bad feeling of what may be nearby.
*****
Daniel was sitting on the front seat of the caravan while looking up at the sky, watching as the day started to fade to night while stars became visible among a few clouds. The gentle and serene glow from the butterfly grove was a unique sight to behold, with the balls of colored light drifting about slowly inside the enclosed canopy. Yet even with the soothing view of Flairwood or knowing he was close to speaking to another monster ruler about his beliefs, he found himself thinking more about Triska and how she was doing with the neko mercenary in their search.
“Alyssa,” Daniel called back into the cabin while moving aside the curtain. “Do you think they’ll be back tonight yet if they find the missing princess?”
“Not likely,” Alyssa said while sitting at the table, her eyes watching as Pip was once again hastily flying around in circles near the ceiling. “They’re probably just now reaching Rackleholm. At best they’ll be back tomorrow morning with the girl.”
“I hope they find her,” Luna worriedly mentioned while sitting on the edge of the bed with her sister. “The poor girl, I wish I could be there to help too.”
“She should be fine,” Falla tried to reassure her with. “Our monarch hired an experienced mercenary to bring her back safely, and we have Triska who will downright kill anything that looks at her funny. With those two on the case anything holding Complica prisoner is going to die horribly tonight.”
“Just what kind of image do you have of Triska anyway?” Daniel asked.
“Remember what happened yesterday?” Alyssa mentioned with a glance to him. “A wolf growled and snarled at Luna when she was digging for bugs. Then Triska comes along with her sword and we’re eating fresh cooked wolf that night which she butchered like ferocious warrior.”
“She was just protecting Luna from the wolf,” Daniel reasoned.
“The warcry she gave when she hacked off its head made me believe she loved killing it,” Alyssa commented with a shrug. “Don’t get me wrong, it was noble of her
to help Luna out like that, I just get the feeling she was seeing red the whole time she was slaughtering that wolf like a wild animal herself.”
“You know she gets very defensive of those around her,” Daniel defended with a weak smile. “And she was trained to be a fighter for a long time. It’s in her nature to fight against those that threaten her or her friends.”
“It was nice of her to help me then,” Luna admitted with a small smile. “I mean at first I was scared with all the blood flying about and her loud yelling, but after it was over I felt relieved she would protect me like that.”
“Yeah,” Alyssa dryly commented before glancing up and watching Pip still circling the ceiling in a blue blur. “We should all feel so safe when she has that sword of hers in hand.”
Daniel smiled a bit from hearing that then watched Pip flying around as well, seeing the tiny monster constantly zipping about around the wooden beams while giggling to herself.
“Looks like she’s not tired anymore,” Daniel chuckled.
“Yeah,” Alyssa distantly replied, with Daniel and the sisters then seeing her watching the circling blue blur with growing concern. “Still, if she didn’t do anything to affect my magic, and nothing around here is either, then… why can’t I open the gateway back to my home?”
“Alyssa,” Daniel gently said as the witch hopped off her chair and slowly walked towards him with her head hung low. “I’m sure your house is just fine. We might be too far away like you said, don’t let it trouble you.”
“Or maybe that alpha witch found it and burned it to the ground,” Falla spoke up with a shrug.
“Falla!” Daniel snapped at her while Alyssa whimpered and started shaking. Falla smiled weakly at him then glanced to Luna who was watching her with a dull eye.
“He’s never going to love you if you don’t start being nicer to him and the others,” Luna quietly whispered. Falla opened her mouth to speak while suddenly becoming flustered then looked down and away to avoid eye contact with everyone.
“He’s never going to love us anyway,” she muttered to herself. “What’s the point?”
Daniel shook his head slightly at the sisters while they were talking quietly amongst themselves then watched Alyssa as she slowly stepped out of the cabin and sat down next to him on the seat.
“Don’t listen to her, Alyssa. I’m sure your home is still hidden and safe.”
“I hope so,” she replied softly before cuddling up against his side. Daniel gently smiled and held the little witch close to him.
“And besides,” he mentioned, getting her attention with a worried glance. “This is your home too, with us. And you’ll never lose that.”
“Thank you,” she replied with a small smile forming. “I love you, Daniel.”
“As I love you, Alyssa,” he promised before gently holding her chin up and kissing her. The little witch felt her inner flame heat up from his affection while inside the cabin Luna and Falla watched them from across the room.
“That’s never going to be us,” Falla quietly scoffed before looking down and holding her hands to her head.
“It could be, if we’re nice to them,” Luna insisted. “Being kindhearted girls worked for them, he loves them just as they do with him. We just have to be like that too.”
“It doesn’t matter, Luna.”
“Yes it does. You have to stop being so mean to them.”
“Mean?” Falla snapped while looking to her with frustration. “For crying out loud, I’ve brought them right to our home just as I promised. I’ve been a very good girl for him and that hasn’t changed a thing between us.”
“But you don’t believe in him,” Luna worriedly reminded her.
Falla sighed and looked towards Daniel with worried eyes as she saw him holding Alyssa close, the two now gazing up at the sky as it turned to night above them.
“Of course I believe in him, Luna. Look at him. He actually stood up to an ant girl queen and an alpha witch, talking about man and monster living together in peace, and he’s still alive and going forward. He’s got three monster girls and a human who all love him, believe in him, fight for him. And he actually convinced two monster rulers to give his crazy idea a chance. If anyone can really make peaceful coexistence a reality in Eden it’s him. I’m not blind to that.”
“Then why don’t you support him like all of us?” Luna asked curiously. “You always act like he’s going to fail. You make fun of him for wanting to protect us with learning to use magic. You’re always so grumpy and negative around him. Why?”
“He’s never going to love us, Luna,” Falla said shaking her head slightly. “What’s the point in trying? No matter what we do or how much we love him, he-” She then froze in place for a moment before slowly looking over to Luna who was watching her with wonder.
“Um…”
“Falla?” Luna asked softly. “Do you love Daniel?”
“Of course not,” Falla quickly argued before looking away and holding a hand to her cheek. “Why would I? He’s been nothing but trouble for us from the minute we saw him. Besides why would he ever want me when he’s got those four? Not that I care, because I really don’t.”
Luna looked at her curiously, glanced over to Daniel as he and Alyssa were talking with the witch giggling a bit, then back to Falla before smiling a little.
“You love Daniel,” she gently accused.
“No I don’t,” Falla sternly argued, turning back to her sister with a glare.
“Liar,” Luna giggled before gently tapping Falla’s nose with her finger. “I know you, Falla. You’re a good liar, but not that good.”
“I’m not lying.”
“You’re blushing,” Luna pointed out. Falla jumped with a small gasp then looked away while quickly shaking her head.
“No I’m not. You’re making things up now. Just drop it, alright? We’re done talking about this.”
“Falla,” Luna gently said while turning her sister by the shoulder to face her. “Kindhearted girls don’t lie.”
Falla glanced down and away with a quiet grumble before Luna shook her lightly by the shoulder.
“He can still love you,” Luna promised, with Falla slowly looking back to her with concern. “Stop lying and putting him down, especially if that’s not how you really want to treat him. Be honest and good, like I’m doing. He can still love both of us, just as we do with him.”
“You… love him?” Falla asked slowly.
“Of course I do, I’m happy to admit it. I know if I tell him right now he might not return my love, and the other girls might be mad at me, but I will tell him one day. I would be lost without him, Falla. We both would be. He saved us from being horrible monsters in this world. I never want to be without him.”
“He’s already chosen who he wants though,” Falla said closing her eyes and shaking her head. “He loves the other girls, not us.”
“So?” Luna asked, with Falla then seeing the girl showing a curious smile. “Falla, what’s wrong with him loving two more? Besides, I want to be with Triska and the other girls too. I feel so safe and happy around them. I want… I want to be with all of them.”
“Luna?” Falla questioned while showing some concern. “You’re not saying you… love them too, are you?”
“It’s not the same love I feel for Daniel,” Luna admitted with a shrug. “But I know that I never want to lose them in my life, and I would be so happy to be close to them and have that affection returned by them. And also I really want to pay Triska back for saving me from the wolf yesterday, so I figure making her scream in ecstasy would be a good way of doing that.”
“What?” Falla asked with surprise, with Luna giggling and looking down with a timid smile.
“I liked spanking her when we left Eston with the other girls, it felt really good, and I want to try more things with them. They all seem so happy with each other, and they get to be with Daniel who makes them even happier. I want to be a part of that.”
“Oh god,
” Falla groaned while holding a hand to her head. “What have these people done to you?”
“They’ve made me happy,” Luna answered with a worried expression. Falla watched as her sister showed a saddened smile and nodded a few times. “And I know they’ve made you happy too. The only thing keeping you from Daniel is yourself. If you really do love him, then be the kindhearted girl he believes you can be.”
Falla fell silent as she looked at her sister with wonder before slowly turning to Daniel while Luna watched the boy and witch with a gentle smile. After a moment Daniel looked back over to them as he sensed he was being watched, seeing both sisters staring at him while their wings fluttered once behind them.
“Luna? Falla?” Daniel asked, with Alyssa then turning and watching the sisters while Pip was still going nonstop in her circles above near the ceiling.
“What’s wrong?” Alyssa questioned.
“Nothing,” Luna happily said with a shrug. “We were just talking about stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?” Daniel asked. Falla glanced to Alyssa then smiled a little.
“Just how… we’re probably too far away for you to use your magic to go home, that’s all.” Alyssa watched her curiously as the girl looked up to watch Pip and avoid eye contact again. “It’s just more believable than your house being wrecked so suddenly.”
Alyssa showed a small smile and looked down while holding onto Daniel’s arm from that. Daniel smiled as well and nodded in approval at Falla, the girl looking away for a moment before slowly turning back to him with what Daniel believed to be the first time she ever appeared bashful before him with a timid smile and a small blush.
“Just… stuff like that,” she reasoned.
“Thank you, Falla, that was very…” Daniel said before he noticed the two girls were just staring at him while the sparkly dust from Pip’s continuous circling above was beginning to drift down and around the sisters. He looked up to see the fairy still going while giggling to herself then back to Luna and Falla. He wasn’t sure why but suddenly they appeared differently to him. Luna’s innocent smile seemed to become more alluring along with her figure as she sat on the bed with her legs crossed, her wings almost appearing to radiate with a small glow from the light emitted by the overhanging lanterns while the colors of her petal bra became more vibrant as well, drawing his eyes to her breasts again before they shifted over to Falla. Her smile slowly formed into a more natural sly smirk that she always had, but this time it seemed to call to Daniel more than before. His gaze slowly went down her figure as it appeared more attractive now, the curvature of her breasts and hips drawing his attention more than they usually did. Either as an attempt to seduce him or simply because she felt the need to move she gracefully unfolded her legs then crossed them the other way, offering Daniel a quick peek under her skirt which his eyes seemed to capture perfectly in his mind.
Chronicles of Eden - Act V Page 23
