Monsters and Maidens (177 to 181)

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Been having some technical issues, but here we are, on time! woot!

[177] [Noah]

Noah squeaked against the gag. Neither from pain nor panic, but from how Shery’s shoulder kept pressing against her gut with every lunge the gray-skinned maiden made. The dark streets around them were a slush of mud. Every step her handler took was another loud splash that betrayed their location to their pursuers. And the guards weren’t too far off.

They’d tried to get into the city of Aubria unnoticed.

They’d failed. Mark had been too tense, a stink of nerves prompted the guards to look more closely into the fake documentation. They made a run for it before their chance of escape was lost entirely.

And now, the only reason they’d yet to catch up was Brye.

Noah couldn’t sense the fox, but she could certainly feel the illusions that were being liberally cast all around them. Screams, flashes of light, crunching noises, odd nauseating scents. It was coming in a sensory cacophony that threatened to overwhelm even her. Each wrong turn the guards took bought them precious seconds. Each meter they could put ahead of the chasers was another gasp of air.

For Mark.

Bound and gagged, Noah could do little more than pay attention to their surroundings. And if there was one thing her powers were picking up on, it was the sense of desperate self-loathing from Mark. The human whose thoughts and emotions were usually a simmering storm had constantly been panicked in some way. Fear of ferals, fear of guards, fear of Brye and Shery, even fear of Noah. He’d likely sleep with one eye open if he could.

After weeks stuck with little to do other than sit around and endure the effects of the lepi berry three times a day, Noah had had the chance to focus a lot of her effort into the psychic abilities her breed was renowned for. And Mark was the perfect target. The powerful bond that kept them connected was a good starting point. And right now, she could read him like a book.

Right now there was no hesitation in his emotions.

Mark’s thoughts were a blade aimed at his own throat. He had put them at risk. His actions raised the alarm from the guards, made them suspicious. Now they were running, hoping to lose them before slinking off into the safe-house. And the human was slowing them down. Thank the drowned gods that the city of Aubria was so stretched for resources, or this chase would have ended already.

With not much to do but fight back against the instinctual panic of all mice, Noah tried to look at the city around her and see if there was anything about it that would feel familiar.

The last time she’d been here, she was human, and a male for that matter. These very streets had seen her grow from the half-starved homeless man all the way to someone working for the Boss. As a human, Noah had made many enemies. Very few were left alive. What would happen if any found her as she was now? Would escaping even be possible?

Voices shouted out, Mark and Shery cursed under their breaths, their emotions were so loud Noah didn’t even need to put effort to feel the apprehension and fear. And suddenly Noah felt herself falling. She shrieked against the gag, mind reeling as she slammed the ground, mud splattering all around.

Shery had dropped her, sprinting harder.

Dead weight.

Noah could hear the pursuers catching up. They’d spot her, imprison her, and then who-.

A hand yanked her from the mud, dragging her out of the way. That same hand covered her mouth as flickering lights and screaming ran past.

Noah didn’t register the pursuers, eyes wide, glued to the man that was currently pinning her to the wall. Mark was focused on the guards that had barely missed them, his hand pressed against her gagged lips, his other hand pressing her firmly to the wall as he loomed over her. This close, she could see the stains of mud on his fiery red hair under the hood, she could count the freckles of brown in his green eyes. His scent was all around her, overwhelming that of the dirt and grime and blood and shit. His touch was a firm pressure against her skin, his heart beat so fast she could both hear it and sense it in his touch.

The world began to shrink, blurring around the edges.

Mark turned to meet Noah’s eyes and suddenly there was nothing else around them. The question of why he’d saved her just then vanished. There was a burning possessiveness in his mind that snuffed out any doubt. Noah’s chest tightened. Her heart skipped several beats and proceeded to return faster than before. Across her mind flashed every time he’d fed her lepi, the burning arousal in his eyes as her hands trailed over her desperately sensitive body.

They were running for their lives and she couldn’t stop thinking of wanting to remove the gag that separated his hand from her face.

Noah tried to give the emotion reason, to control it. This was the bond messing with her, this was the insidious nature of a maiden’s curse, doubly so as she was a Tigermouse, possessing a body that craved to be touched. The bindings around her wrists and legs bit into her soft skin and everything inside Noah roared in complaint at her inability to reach out to her human.

If they were going to catch them, if they were going to capture them, then…

“Don’t move.”

The command was a leash, stiffening her limbs and turning them to stone. Out of sheer habit, Noah fought against the command, to break it in some small personal way to prove she could. But the effort felt like a token gesture that was quickly forgotten. Noah realized her wrists had been released only a moment later, her ankles followed, and her gag was removed without much fanfare. Dimly she noted this was the first time nothing had been restraining her ever since the waterfall.

Ever since her attempt to kill Mark and herself, this was the first gasp of true freedom.

The knot and regret that formed in her stomach at the memory was also the bond, she knew, but that one was far easier to push down and ignore.

“Move.”

Another order, another little jolt to her heart. Noah tried to ignore the soft throb on her wrists and ankles, or how the cool air brushed against her naked body, or how she could hear Mark’s short breaths. He was nervous, but in control. The thought that said control extended to her was savagely pushed aside. They were in danger, she had to remind herself they were in danger, that the entrapment hadn’t fully closed around them. That there was a way out.

Noah’s steps were unsteady, the mud was cold, and she had not walked on her own in weeks. Her body was ready, but her mind wasn’t. Mark did not wait for her to adjust though, grabbing her hand with his own, warmth spreading through her at that simple touch as he pulled them both through the town. She was reeling, trying to get back to her senses. Weeks of lepi and boredom had dulled her, fixated her on Mark, she had to-.

“Danger.”

She spoke the word before she could consciously make out where the danger was coming from. Her senses had simply sounded the alarm, and immediately she moved to pin Mark against the wall. To protect him. She had to protect him. The command was more like a need inside her, no different to the need for air.

His chest was broad, his body was hot, hotter than hers, the smell of his sweat tickled at something within her. She pushed her focus away from the craving for touch, towards the stomping sounds that followed two streets over. More guards had rushed their way through, entirely ignoring them. Noah sensed Brye just at the edges of her senses, but the fox was gone before she could even confirm it.

At some level, she knew that Brye was also protecting Mark.

“Let go.”

Noah immediately stepped back. She’d been looking straight up into Mark’s eyes. His order had rumbled through his chest and down her arms. The adrenaline was thickening in her blood, and her heart was beating harder. Her traitorous mind fed her the image of him pinning her to the wall.

“Move.”

Another order. Her instincts began kicking in, and this time she found it easier to follow because she agreed. Moving was better than letting her mind fall into the fantasy. She grasped his hand and pulled, ears moving on their own without her input, feet scurrying across the ground with only instinct to guide them. Conscious thought felt like it had become a luxury she couldn’t afford. Each movement was easier than the previous one, her mind stretching and coiling around in search of danger.

The act was so natural it was like falling into a lake and discovering you’d known how to swim all along.

Danger found them all around, all at once. At least a dozen different guards, moving near or towards them. None were aware of their exact location. But the one thing that Noah could sense from them all was that they knew the human was somewhere nearby.

More alarms rang within Noah’s mind, and she slammed Mark out of the way as a shadow emerged in the air between them.

“I’m taking you.”

It was Brye, the fox’s emotion sheltered and invisible, her hand grasping Mark.

“Wait, d-.”

He was gone, she was gone, and Noah was left alone in the street.

It took her several seconds to realize she was alone. Conscious thought came back with a rush, a stampede of thought. She was alone, unbound, free. Her head whipped to look around. She was free, on her own. There was danger, but escape wasn’t impossible, escape was never impossible.

Finally.

Her opportunity had come.

[178] [Noah]

Noah was a Tigermouse, and though she had never been exactly the most knowledgeable of people when it came to maiden breeds, even a toddler could tell you the basics. A maiden that wielded psychic energies that craved physical contact, the Tigermouse had the power to establish links with others. And through these links they could help teams to talk to one another, or even share emotions. If the maiden was an experienced one, the link could also be used in combat.

Noah had no clue what she was doing, however, so she could only really rely on her breed’s extremely deft hands, sharp senses, and their preternatural ability to detect danger.

With the guards increasing in numbers in the area, she had to move with care. She covered her body in mud and slunk her way between houses, down streets, carefully sticking to walls. Her mind kept screaming danger from all around. The guards weren’t picking up on any hot trails, which left them highly alert and moving warily as they attempted to find their prey.

Bit by bit, the mousy woman moved away from the hot-zone.

Each corner was a threat from every direction, each beam of light a potential end to her discretion. Her heart hammered against her small chest with a speed and force that would have killed a human, her every step filled with hesitation before she’d commit and rush from one cover to the next.

Seconds turned to minutes, then an hour, and then two. None had caught her, none had spotted her. They were looking for things that were bigger, noisier. Brye’s illusions could still be heard off in the distance. But the fox was clearly winding down, moving the guard’s attention far away from…

…from here.

Noah froze as she realized she was looking at the safe-house. Just a building amongst many others, yet the one she’d meandered to without realizing it.

She could tell Mark was in there, probably Shery as well. Her breath caught in her throat. Had she really made this beeline without even realizing it? She was free, why had she been moving closer to Mark? To the true danger? Mark hadn’t given her orders to follow or come back. He hadn’t told her not to run away either. And it wasn’t like she was wearing a restraining black collar. She was free, she could run, she could escape them.

She could… she could go anywhere else.

She could have even handed herself over to the guards. Tell them everything. Maybe hope for an escape.

Maybe she’d get a chance to get revenge on…

Noah shook her head. Maybe she could just see how far she could go before the bond finally broke. She was free, she could get away. Her hands clenched, frozen, heart beating faster.

Free.

Free.

To do what?

She was cold, hungry, naked, covered in mud and who knew what else. She was rancid and… alone.

Alone.

That thought terrified her far more than being caught.

Noah’s mind reeled. She’d once walked these streets, hungry, homeless, desperate. She knew she had what it took to get back up, to climb her way to some semblance of power, of control. She’d just have to get out of the kingdom, make her way north, then east, cross the mountain-range through Guenes.

If the bond broke, she was sure she could find someone else. A weaker bond, one that would mess with her head far less. Just get away, run, and-.

She squeaked as the door to the house opened.

Mark stood at the doorway, warm light shining behind him and framing his darkened expression with his red hair. His gaze peered into the darkness of the street, looking for something even if he didn’t know what. Weak human eyes that couldn’t see.

Noah had taken a step forward and into the beam of light shining from the house before she’d been able to stop herself.

Their eyes met. He was surprised, and she froze in place. She could run, she could still run, just cover her ears and run. Ignore any orders he gave. Escape that bubbling concern and possessiveness that was now pinning her in place as if she’d been chained to him.

Rather than run, she took another step closer.

She was waiting, anticipating, breath held tight and heart deafeningly loud.

“You made it.”

Those three words ignited something inside Noah.

She didn’t want to be alone.

Her senses pulled her closer to Mark, her mind brushing against him and sensing his emotions. The storm had returned. Out of all the swirling mass of confusion, she locked onto the relief he felt for her. Her feet took another step forward. Noah nearly fell, but froze back in place when Mark moved out of the house to cover the remaining distance.

He grabbed her hand, there was no fight inside her.

Mark pulled them into the house. The door closed behind them with a certainty that locked Noah’s fate. Shery spoke with irritation, but the mouse wasn’t listening. Her heart was a drum, her body was hot, a strange warm hunger was growing within her as Mark practically dragged her through the house.

The entirety of her focus was on his hand. So big and warm, wrapped around her own, guiding her. The rest of the world just slipped through her fingers. Dimly she realized she’d been taken to a washroom.

“Clean up.”

The door closed with a thud, Noah squeaked, alone again.

With the immediacy of Mark’s presence gone, her thoughts came back to her in a whirlwind. Too many words, too many thoughts, too many conflicting emotions. Her body moved, obeying instinctively, but her mind was in a thousand places at once. She moved the cold wet cloth across her body while she tried, and failed, to fight back against the tide of images of the past month. Of the sensation of Mark’s desire aimed squarely at her, yet him holding himself back each time.

Were their roles reversed, she would have jumped him. She would’ve used her short slender figure to drink in everything. To share the hot pleasure of release as they joined and-.

Noah hastily shook her head, realizing the direction her thoughts had taken. She’d wanted to think of the scene as she’d once been, human and male, yet that was becoming an increasingly foreign concept to her. It was a knowledge that felt more academic, something she’d read in a book. Noah the human would have raped Noah the mouse in a heartbeat, that was what would have happened.

Noah the mouse felt a degree of abhorrence to the notion. Again, instincts warred within her. The bond, her body, her mind, her very soul felt like it was trying to fight against the tide.

She was a Tigermouse, she knew, her breed craved the physical contact of others. She knew, deep down, that she’d been starved of that. Mark had starved her, unknowingly, he’d sought to humiliate her for her transgression and instead she’d become ravenous. She was a mouse, but she felt ravenous, almost desperate. Her instincts ate away at her, a need she had no control over.

It made it no less effective, however.

She turned her thoughts to her past, to the anger she’d felt at him. Back when she’d recently turned, back when she’d yet to bond. Mark had promised her an end to the torture, the shame, the fear. And then snatched it away from her. He’d used her.

But…

Noah shook her head.

No.

No, she couldn’t. She couldn’t let herself follow those thoughts down that path. Her skin ached, Mark’s eyes dancing within her mind. The naked desire and self-restraint.

Hadn’t she learnt her lesson already? Everyone was there to be used by someone else, usually by someone better. That was how she’d ended up working for the Boss. The man was never seen, but his power amongst the gangs and criminals was absolute. Having that power backing you up was a strength in of itself… wasn’t it? Noah the human had used the Boss’ power to add to his own.

That was how it always worked.

Another shake of the head. No, that was the bond talking, trying to trick her, to push her. Her head stopped as her eyes landed on the only reflective surface in the room. A mirror, a luxury that had likely been added for whatever fat-cat happened to use the safe-house.

Standing in front of the mirror, she looked at herself properly for the first time since she was hit by the Curse of Eve.

She was a perfect representation of her breed. Noah the maiden had a face devoid of the burn scars that had once been a mark of pride, a sign of the monsters Noah the human had fought and survived. She had a pretty face, almond shaped, wide expressive eyes, a button nose, and a small cute mouth. Her body screamed weakness. She was short, barely five feet tall if one counted the large round mousy ears atop her head. Her metallic gray hair had grown out down to her shoulders, swaying against her almost porcelain skin.

She was unmarred. Nearly twenty years of hardships had once upon a time covered her old body in scars and old burns. Proof of the life the old human Noah had lived, of the tests and trials that had been overcome. Now there was nothing, only the smooth perfect skin of a woman, a maiden. Of bare, tender small breasts and modest hips, almost as if a doll.

As she looked into her gray irises, she tried to find the memory of the appearance of that old human Noah, of an image of who that person was. To try and, perhaps, compare herself to that life that felt more distant every time she thought of it.

Only the barest details bubbled to the surface, the memory of that old body like water slipping between her fingers. A jolt of fear rushed through her. She turned away from her reflection.

What else would slip? Already the thought of that old male burned face was too vague to remember anything other than the scars.

She moved to leave the presence of the mirror, with moisture still clinging to her skin as she stepped towards the warmer living room.

Her hesitation grew when she spotted Mark lounging on a chair in front of the fireplace. Her mind reached out to his through the bond, not finding any resistance in his distraught state. His thoughts were troubled, his emotions turbulent, his body tense and tired. She read his concerns like one read a book. It had been a long and dangerous chase, needless risks caused by his own mistake. Even if they were safe now, they couldn’t know if they would be tomorrow.

The longing for his touch came back to her, a desire for mutual comfort that found no rope or wire to restrain her. Like a moth drawn to a flame, Noah quietly stepped closer, her small feet quiet against the otherwise creaky floor. The thoughts coalesced as she felt his eyes turning to her, desire mixing in with the rest of his thoughts.

The doubt vanished instantly. She… was a maiden. Whatever that meant, Noah the human was gone, no more than a memory.

Noah the Tigermouse sat on the floor in front of Mark’s chair. Carefully, she leaned back against his leg. The heat of his skin seeped through her more deeply than the fire. The gnawing ravenous thirst for contact was soothed, if partially. She waited for Mark to shove her off, push her away, or to at least react in some way.

He didn’t. He acknowledged her presence for only long enough to recognize she wasn’t trying anything and turned back to look at the flickering flames and focus on the troubles ahead.

Noah let out a sigh she hadn’t realized she’d been holding onto. She relaxed further into the feeling of his skin as she crossed her legs to get comfortable, the nakedness forgotten in favor of the man she was bonded to.

She too wasn’t sure what awaited for them in the future.

[179] [Barry]

Barry stood in front of the room where Kajou and Pan were imprisoned. The door was closed, so he couldn’t hear what was going inside, but he could readily enough guess that the guards were putting both maidens into the same restraints as the previous time around. His thoughts turned to the piece of paper in his hand, a full page of densely packed words and black smears. The eighth draft he’d been working on all night.

He hadn’t been able to sleep, not when his thoughts went straight to Pan and Kajou.

It had been a long night of mad scribbling on the paper, trying desperately to put into words the things that were needling at his mind. The fear, the anger, the… everything. A desperate dash with charcoal stained fingers, an attempt to rip the things inside his mind and plaster them on the paper, to get rid of them for good. But now that he stood in front of the door, he was of half a mind to start running and never turn back. But the image of Embla raising her axe and bringing it down on the two sisters turned into a knot in his gut.

Was he doing this for the Court? Embla? Kajou? Himself?

Barry couldn’t find the answer by the time the doors opened. With a heavy breath, he stepped inside. Pan and Kajou were in the same chairs as the day prior, only their sides had been switched. They both glared at him, one far more intense than the other, but there was an unfriendly edge in their eyes all the same.

“I… I’m going to remove the gag.” He said, approaching Pan. “And… you can say whatever you want. Okay?”

She had no answer, only a glare and a snarl.

“Okay, then.”

Reaching for the gag, he tugged at the knot, letting it fall from her mouth.

“You should be the one tied up, not us.” She spoke with a dark, slow hiss to her words.

“Yeah, well, that… is a valid opinion to have, and I respect it.” He coughed, shifting his gaze to the papers. “I… I wanted to tell you something, so I’d…”

“I hope your soul burns along with the other human filth. You are just as bad as all the other humans.” She spat.

“That’s… that’s wrong, but coming back to the-.”

“You tricked Kajou, played her for her kindness. You used us just so you could trick the Court.”

“H-hey, that’s not a-.”

“And that’s what you do. That’s what all humans like you do. You are weak and pathetic, so you pretend to be harmless.” She pressed on. “But you aren’t, are you? You just look for the opportunity, when they lower their guard, when they’re defenseless, and you stab them in the back.”

Pan glared at him. Her gaze was fury and flames, she might have been bound, but the power behind those eyes would have turned him to ash there and then. Barry took half a step back, hesitating.

She didn’t stop.

“That’s what you are, filth. You betray everyone. You don’t know what loyalty is, you don’t know what love is. You slither and only see how to get what you want.”

The image of Veronica flashed across Barry’s mind. His eyes widened, a gasp escaping his lips and a cold sweat running down his back.

Pan was emboldened by his stunned silence. “That’s right, I can see through you. You might have tricked the others, but you’ll betray everyone. Like all the other humans, you’d kill your own family if-.”

Her words had come to an abrupt stop as Barry’s hand slapped her clean across the face.

There was no wound, no redness in her face. Yet it was hard to discern who of the two was more surprised.

The Valkyrie took it as vindication, sneering. “See? In the end, you are all the same.”

“What would you know about family?” Barry’s hands clenched. “You, you of all people.”

“Don’t you-.”

“No, SHUT UP!” He roared, stepping towards her. “You don’t know what loving your family means. I saw you, I saw it with my own two eyes. I spent weeks in that hellhole you made for me and the only thing I saw from you was disdain and hate for your own sister!”

“Liar.” She hissed.

“Really? REALLY? Because I remember Kajou being terrified of you, afraid that you would attack her or abuse her physically if she said something that would push you over the edge.” His voice was shaking as his tone voice. “That’s not love, that’s control. You’d attack your own sister over a disagreement.”

“I’d never kill her.”

“AND WHO GIVES A SHIT!?” He screamed. “You can heal her back up, so who cares? Just cut and cut and cut and cut her some more. Carve everyone into tiny little pieces. So long as you can put them back together. WHO CARES!? There’s no scar, no wound, no bleeding, so of course it means nothing. CUT THEM UP, WHO CARES!? JUST TORTURE THEM FOREVER!”

The color was draining from Pan’s face. “I-.”

“You know who gives a shit? I do!” Barry’s hands were shaking. “You are a horrible person. You made me spend every waking moment in that forest fearing for my life! I should be ecstatic to see you die, to be rid of the nightmares of you stabbing me through the fucking heart like I’m some glorified pincushion!”

“You d-.”

“SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!” His ears were ringing, his chest hot. “Justice isn’t killing everyone you don’t like! Fairness isn’t determining someone’s merit based on what they are! Having the power to shut up the people that don’t agree with you isn’t being right. It’s being a tyrant!”

Barry panted heavily, glaring. Every part of him was alight with adrenaline. His whole body practically trembled under the sheer emotion and pressure that was exploding out of his chest like a sun.

“I’m fed up with this as much as you.” Speaking with a shaking whisper, he shook his head. “No one deserves to be treated like they’re trash or expendable. No one deserves to be oppressed or mistreated, even less just because they were born a certain way. I just want to help fix this. Is that too much to ask?”

“Then why save me?”

Pan whispered the question. Her eyes held a glare, but she looked as drained as he was.

“I don’t know.” Barry’s shoulders slumped. His throat felt hoarse. “I just… I don’t think Kajou deserves that.”

As he spoke the words, a jolt ran through his body. The sensation was one he was growing to recognize, of a bond forming. Confusion crossed his features as he stared into Pan’s eyes. She looked back at him, but there was no recognition or reaction, only a long distant look, as she was lost in thought.

Barry turned to look at Kajou, her face contorted into shock as she met his eyes. The cloudy, unfocused edges were gone entirely. She was bonded. And that only confused him.

“A bond, at its core, is a connection.”

The voice came from the entrance of the room, all heads turned. Embla stood at the door, arms crossed. She was not wearing her armor.

“It requires both parties to be willing to reach out for one another.”

“I didn’t…”

“Barry, you’ve had your hand extended to both these girls.” Embla stepped closer, looking at Pan and Kajou. “All they had to do was reach out for you. And one of them has.”

“Kajou?” Pan’s voice trembled, pain clear in her eyes.

“No, Pan, I-.”

Pan shook her head, snarling. “You… you’ve betrayed me!”

Barry froze, reaching out and grasping Embla’s hand. “Don’t. Please don’t. Don’t kill her.”

“She has time to change her mind, if she so wishes.” She replied, though she did not move.

“She might be a bad person, but she doesn’t deserve to die.”

Embla tightened her grip on his shoulders. “I gave my ruling, it will not change.”

“So she just gets to suffer your cruelty?”

"If she does not accept your kindness, then she will, yes.”

Looking down at Barry, her thumbs slowly traced circles on his shoulders, ignoring the screaming sisters behind him and focusing on his eyes.

“I am strong. This is how the strong rule.”

Barry moved to speak, to say something, but did not find the words. He barely got the strength to frown at her. And in return, Embla smiled, a soft, lonesome smile, a mere hint within the corner of her lips and a glimmer of something in her eyes.

“Take the throne from me. Only then will you be able to make the decisions.” She let go, turning to leave. “But the Valkyrie’s time will run out before then.”

He flinched, lowering his gaze. “What… what should I do?”

“Kindness is a powerful tool, and she’s clearly turned it down.” She whispered, leaning down, kissing the crown of his head tenderly. “What remains are unkind things.”

Letting go, she turned to leave.

With a gesture of her hand, the guards entered to release Kajou from her seat. The Amazoness didn’t put up a fight. Tears streaking down her cheeks as Pan hurled insults and screams, thrashing against the bindings of her chair furiously.

Everything grew silent when the door closed shut.

[180] [Helga]

Helga woke at four in the morning sharp. The first thing she did was check on the alarm spell. Miss Alice’s room had not been intruded upon, and her spell had remained untouched. With a nod, she rolled over, careful not to squish her wings into the mattress as she hopped out of the bed. With the water from the basin she prepared the previous night, she splashed her face and rubbed off some of the sleep.

She made her bed, dressed up, and did another check of the spell on Miss Alice’s room before removing the spell before it fully ran out, and placing a fresh one. Helga went back into her room and opened the window, carefully perching herself on the sill before closing it from outside. A little rustle of her wings, and she jumped.

Morning take-off was always the worst. The air was cold, and it took extra effort to struggle against it. If the building were taller, she might have been able to just glide, but as it was Helga had to beat her wings with everything she had until she started to get some altitude.

Spotting the other hunters and guards, she gathered some radiant energy on her hand and flashed a quick, silent greeting. They all returned it, meaning none of the maidens flying overhead were ferals. That brightened Helga’s smile. It meant she wouldn’t have to be worried of Miss Alice’s safety and she could focus on her training.

Beating her wings with everything she had, she pushed herself higher and higher. There were no thermals for her to use since the ground was cold, so she kept flapping harder and harder. The strain was good. It burned in her wings and back with the sting of effort. Higher and higher, she kept rising into the sky, only switching to gliding for the brief reprise to catch her breath.

Up and up, she kept going, focusing only ever on the dark sky above, on the clouds. An eager smile came to her lips as beads of sweat started to make their way down her back. Higher, higher, up and up, her wings were trembling, and as she was starting to reach her point of exhaustion, she began pouring her radiant energy into her strained wings, urging them to go harder, harder, up and up.

And suddenly, she saw sunlight.

Helga spread her wings with a gasp, breathing hard. It was sunlight.

She quickly looked around, finding the clouds underneath, still dark, not yet touched by the sun. A loud whoop escaped her. She cheered, throwing her hands in triumph. She’d beaten the clouds again. She’d watched the sunrise before anyone else in the village.

A quick look downwards. Astunes was so tiny from this high up, she could cover it all up with her thumb!

Taking a deep breath, she began to dive. The smile was plastered all over her face as she plunged down through the chilly air. Wind blasted all around her until it became a deafening roar. Faster and faster, the ground was rushing up to meet her, inexorable, unrelenting, a foe she could one day crush.

Snapping her wings open before she reached close enough to really get close to the village, she had to signal her greetings to several others when they’d reasonably sent beams of light on her way to check she wasn’t feral. Now that she’d warmed up properly, Helga began her aerial combat drills. There were several other aerial maidens mid-training like herself, but she couldn’t really match their speed or agility mid-air, so she had to train on her own so she wouldn’t hold them back.

Swirls, loops, lunges, she moved through each combat technique and ability, picturing a fight against another Valkyrie, an imaginary spear flung in her arms as she twirled and thrust, blocked and dodged.

Once the sunlight reached the top of the radio-tower, Helga stopped her training, doing one last fly-by around the village. She greeted several other hunters, this time with friendly waves since she was close enough to more easily recognize the various people. Right as she was about to turn back to the Baroness’ house, she spotted a banner in the distance, signaling for her to approach.

Considering it was the Earl’s banner, Helga didn’t see why she shouldn’t.

Getting closer, it was clear this was a contingent of knights from the Earl. Their pale blue armor glimmered magnificently. Helga could only marvel at the dignity and poise the knights held as they marched up the road towards Astunes.

“I greet the knights.” She landed, careful not to raise too much dust as she did, bowing her head. “May honor follow you.”

“And you.” The banner-woman said. “Are you a hunter?”

“No longer, ma’am. I am owned by Lady Alice.” The words swelled with warmth and pride within her as she spoke.

There was a quiet scoff. “Guide my second in command to the Baroness’ estate. We will secure the area and prepare for the departure.”

“Certainly.”

She glanced at the only other winged maiden in the contingent. A Valkyrie, much like herself, one wearing a lighter variation of the knightly armor. The maiden was older. However, there was an air of quiet dignity that was no more than a veil over the ferocious determination within her eyes.

“Lead the way.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Helga turned to leave, taking to the air. A quick look over her shoulder revealed the knight was keeping pace without much effort, even while weighed down by the armor. The younger maiden could only look in awe at the elegance the knight flew with, as if the metal surrounding her chest, legs, and arms was no more than an illusion.

Inwardly, Helga wondered how she trained to fly like that. Maybe she flew carrying weight? She would have to test it out and see how much she could handle.

“You serve a Lady? Is she one of the visitors?”

“Yes, she owns me, ma’am.”

She raised her chin as she spoke, revealing the worn blue collar. The knight’s was green, technically of lower standing, but she was a knight. There was no way Helga could compare herself. Just flying alongside her made it clear she had a long way to go.

“It seems we should have come sooner.”

“Sooner is always better. Any help fighting ferals or rebuilding is always good.” Helga nodded in agreement. “What is your name, if I may ask? I am Helga.”

“No, you may not ask.”

“Oh, ok. I guess it’s a protection against certain spells? It always confused me, what  with how some spells used someone’s name.”

“We should not waste energy in useless conversation.”

“Completely agree, I was about to finish my morning training, so I’m going to need to clean up before I greet my Lady. If she wakes up late, I might be able to help with her breakfast too.”

Ignoring the bewildered look from the knight, Helga beat her wings faster, working up speed to reach the manor sooner. They landed near the gate, and the Baroness’ knights came to greet their fellow. While Helga jumped up to her window. No one had locked it, which was good because she didn’t think she had the time to go through the top entrance. The manor was a maze, and she’d definitely get lost again on her way down to her room.

Helga locked the window behind herself, humming a little tune and stripping off her training clothes. She thought back to the armor wearing Valkyrie. Maybe she could sew some pockets into her training clothes and add weights like rocks? Though that would have to be for later.

With a washcloth and some cleaning spells, she freshened up, then put on her uniform. A quick check in the mirror so she could comb her hair properly and smooth out her clothes, and a comb to carefully go over the feathers on her wings that the spell had missed. Everything was perfect, so she turned towards her roommates. “The knights from the Earl have come. Today looks like it will be busy.”

And suddenly the whole room became a whirlwind of activity as five other maidens were rushing through their morning preparations while Helga stepped out. Another quick check on the alarm spell. No one had stepped into Miss Alice’s room. Helga listened intently. Her owner was still breathing deeply, slowly, asleep.

Cheering quietly, she hurried down to the kitchen where the morning meals were already being prepared for both the humans and the maidens in the household. “I have news, the Earl’s knights have arrived.”

“Already know!” The head-maid spoke while frantically working on four stoves at once.

Helga took her own corner of the kitchen, picking up Miss Alice’s favorite foods, but putting extra focus on the coffee. She knew it was her favorite and today was going to be a big day so she would definitely need the energy.

She took the tray with the food all the way up to the Lady’s room, quietly entering and leaving the tray near the bed. With her wings she tugged the curtains open and glanced at miss Alice. The woman was older than her by nearly a decade, yet her face was fair, soft, and she always seemed to somehow manage to get her hair to perfectly frame her sleeping face like a halo.

“Good morning, ma’am!” Helga cheerfully, nudging her awake.

Miss Alice yawned, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from her face. “Morning.” She muttered, sniffing at the air and spotting the hot cup of coffee. She took the beverage and slowly sipped at it, sighing pleasantly and smiling softly. “This is good.”

Butterflies fluttered inside Helga’s stomach as the room became a little brighter.

“Thank you!” She beamed a little too hard, her radiant energy seeping through her and making her wings glow. Helga very quickly reined it in, feeling a burning in her cheeks as she turned to bring her Lady the wash basin. “The Earl’s knights have come and are currently in the process of greeting the Baroness. The expedition to Balet is likely to depart in two or three days.”

“Oh joy.”

This time miss Alice did not sound quite so happy, Helga wondered whether she should have held back from sharing the news until after breakfast. A rumbling sound interrupted them both. Helga’s cheeks turned from slightly flustered to intensely blushing. Embarrassment washed over her like an avalanche. She’d forgotten to eat!

Miss Alice looked at her in concern. “Are you hungry?”

“No ma’am!” Helga spoke hastily. “I just forgot my mid-training snacks. I’ll manage.”

“You are a terrible liar.” There was no sting to her words, only a smile. Miss Alice glanced at the tray. “Well, you happened to bring me too much, again. How about we share?” She smiled at Helga with that disarmingly mature smile.

She gulped, nodding. “Thank you, ma’am.” Miss Alice might not have worded it as an order, but Helga had learnt that was just how she spoke. Soft words and never imposing or commanding, tender like a very warm blanket.

Helga knew it was improper, but the butterflies in her gut told her it was oh so perfectly right.

[181] [???]

South of Vasia existed a tiny hamlet. It was deep enough in the forest that, by all accounts, it was invisible for anyone who didn’t know of its existence. Only one road connected it to the capital of the kingdom, no other road led to or from the place. an inexperienced onlooker might have dismissed the hamlet as nothing more but another tiny conglomeration of huts, just like every other budding seed of civilized existence in otherwise feral infested lands. It had only a dozen houses, some farmland, a watchtower, and a radio beacon.

But the longer one observed, the clearer it would become that the nameless hamlet was anything but ordinary.

The hunters that guarded the hamlet carried themselves with the discipline of knights, the farms were tended by maidens that would have been more commonly seen in specialized guilds, even the radio tower itself was connected to an electricity generating facility that was far more powerful than what such a hamlet would ever need. If one possessed the proper senses, it was possible to detect the elemental magic that had seeped into the soil, the earth, tainting it and betraying the nature of something underground.

But even if one possessed the ability to see underground, it would have only raised further suspicions rather than revealed the truth. All the individual would have been able to see would have been barriers upon barriers, obscuring detection of anything and everything underneath the hamlet. The best one could have guessed would have been at the size of the area being protected.

Something larger than the hamlet itself, deep underneath.

In the end, the only way to truly and innocuously reveal what occurred within the depths of the hamlet would have been to pay close attention to the singular tradesmen that would enter the hamlet once a month. His cart would be loaded with mundane things, food, leather, wood. And on his pocket there would be a single white and red sphere, containing a Mimica, a maiden capable of creating spaces to safely store objects into.

And hidden within this maiden’s storage space would be chock full of a singular item. An item crucial for the continuous existence of the kingdom, a reason why there were many other such sites spread across the territory, tucked out of sight, secret.

Today was the day a tradesman would come to gather the cargo and take it to the next secure location, a transactional if tense affair. He was not flanked by his maidens as he made his way into the hamlet. They were royal knights pretending to be his own. Or so it would have normally been that way.

Under the watchful eye of the two fake royal knights in disguise, he walked towards the smallest building within the village.

“Stay calm, nothing will happen.” The taller of the maidens purred, shadows flickering across her form, her striped tail hidden under the guard cloak.

The man nodded, stepping into the shop and towards the counter. A friendly maiden greeted him with a smile. “I’ve… come to buy the usual.” Fishing into his pocket, he brought out a pokeball and the royal seal.

The maiden nodded, taking the pokeball and putting a different one in place. “Have a nice day, sir.”

“S-Sure.” He turned around and left the shop, gulping as he glanced at his two escorts. “I… it’s done.”

“Good. Now, we wait.”

While the human gathered the other items for his trip back to the capital, the maiden within the shop walked to the back, opening a small panel behind the door in the storeroom. The panel had a hole, round and of the exact size of a pokeball. Taking the one the merchant had left on the counter, she dropped it down the chute.

The device traveled a hundred meters straight downwards and landed softly at the end.

Nana startled at the sound. She sat up straight as she reached for the pokeball. Was this it? She prayed it to be so, or all of this would have been for nothing. She walked out of the room, pocketing the white and red sphere. Marble corridors dimly lit by soft orange light illuminated the way. On her way to her destination, she passed over a walkway that oversaw one of the larger work areas in the underground facility.

Underneath her forty maidens sat in front of wooden tables. They were paired in groups of two, a Minimouse for every Enchantress. Blank empty eyes worked on the task at hand with single-minded focus, carefully taking the synthetic leather and slowly remaking them, inscribing the enchantments onto every inch without a single error or mistake. Seated in the center of the room was the cause for the impossible concentration each maiden showed, a psychic, her power pulsating through the room like waves washing on the shore.

The maidens, once exhausted, would step out of the room and remember nothing of the work they had done, the details of the magic or the weaving of the magical tool. They would become people once more and exist, breathe, play, enjoy. Only so long as they never stepped out of the facility.

The only way out of the facility, to the outside world, was through the proving. If you worked hard enough, fulfilled your goals, and did not misbehave, you could get out once you had gathered enough points. But it was a lie, Nana had learnt so. Any maiden that left the facility would have their mind fived, all memories erased.

She quickly shoved down that horrible thought, hurrying across the walkway to the other side. Everyone ignored the mousy maiden as she moved through the corridors, she was an errand girl, her skill in manufacturing had been wanting, but they’d found use for her in assisting in the things others needed.

“Halt.”

The command from the guards made Nana’s feet freeze in place. She glanced from one to the other, and then back. “I bring the new Mimica.”

“Oh, that was today wasn’t it.” The armor-wearing maiden slumped her shoulders, sighing.

No more was said, no more was needed, the door opened and Nana hurried inside, walking into the containment center. It didn’t take her long to reach where the Mimicas lived, a series of plain and empty reinforced rooms. Each room was occupied by a feral Mimica, the ghostly maiden would possess the coffer within the room and, when presented with enchanted collars, would store them. The feral would remain in the room until her cargo capacity reached its limit, at which point she would be returned to her pokeball and sent to the capital. Only once back at the capital would they be bonded and broken out of the feral state.

It was a failsafe to guarantee none could get their hands on the enchanted collars, for a feral Mimica would never allow their storage space to be opened. And killing them would only make the storage space to implode, its contents spewing out highly damaged, for the enchanted collars, it would be irreparable. Each room was a box without doors or windows, merely slots in the concrete.

Nana put the pokeball into the only spherical slot and pushed the door, the device released its contents inside the concrete room. But this pokeball did not have a Mimica in it.

Nervously, she waited for the shadow to step through the rock solid wall as if it were no more than smoke. Ruby red eyes looked down at Nana and every fiber of her being withered under the power of the Vampire. “Where.”

Not a question, a command.

Nana whispered words, the direction to the destination she’d been instructed to provide, and the Vampire melted into the shadows, gone as if she’d never been there. The mouse waited for several seconds before she moved again, taking the now empty pokeball and making her way back to the room she’d been occupying while waiting for it. Again, unobstructed, unseen, invisible to the guards and wardens of this place of suffering.

She sat back on the wooden stool, it was still warm. With her hands on her knees, she closed her eyes and tried to imagine what she’d do once she was out of there. She knew very little of the outside aside from the conversations from the knights, there was something called chocolate that was supposedly the best food out there. Food had always been one of her few pleasures, that felt like something she would want to at least try once.

What would it taste like? Chocolate could melt so perhaps something like cheese?

Shouts could be heard outside, her hands clenched into fists. “It’s going to be alright.”

Gulping, she nodded to herself. Everything would be alright. The alarm wasn’t going off, so that meant everything was going as it she’d been told it would. She nodded again, lips curling slightly. The silence that had followed the screams was worse than the screams, everything in the back of her mind was sounding alarms, that she was in danger.

The ground shook around her right as shadows curled and bloated, the vampire emerged. She held three spheres. Two were pokeballs, much like the one Nana was holding, the third was also a sphere, but it was black, made out of something that felt wrong to Nana’s senses.

The curse of Eve, that which forced a human to become a maiden.

“As agreed.” The Vampire offered the pokeball she’d been holding.

Nana hesitated as she reached for it. “Will… will I go outside?”

“I will take you to my Mistress’ domain.” The maiden’s eyes gleamed with power. “There, you will be rewarded for the help you’ve provided. An offer to continue helping us, and freedom.”

Nana nodded, touching the pokeball and feeling the world vanish around her.

The vampire glanced at the occupied pokeball and placed it on the chute next to the empty one, placing the cursed also occupied black sphere next to it. She glanced at the remaining pokeball, hers. She placed it last, and chanted a small simple delayed spell for movement, casting it upon all four before recalling herself.

The room was left empty.

All four spheres began to move up the chute and back to the surface.

The shopkeeper was waiting for them in the end. She headed to the back of the shop, bringing a basket of apples and placing three of the spheres at the bottom. Then, she allowed herself to be captured on the fourth. Her world vanished into darkness, her now occupied pokeball tumbling into the basket. Several minutes passed and the taller of the false knights entered the shop, taking the basket with all four occupied spheres, and walked outside to load it onto the merchant’s cart.

An hour later, the merchant and his cart walked out of the hamlet, flanked by the guards.

Six hours later, the guards would attempt to rotate with those on the lower levels and discover the communications had been cut off, and the tunnel collapsed. Alarms were raised and a hunting party sent to find the merchant.

But the only thing they would find of the man would be his bloody remains right next to those of a dead Mimica, the surrounding area littered with torn enchanted collars. The magic saturation from the destroyed magical items saturating the area and obscuring whatever spell had been used to hide the thief’s trail.

----

Ominous music plays in the background

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