chronicles of eden - act I (85 page)

“Fine, you don’t need to talk, you can just listen,” Triska said simply.

“Get out, Triska! You’re the last person I want to hear anything from right now!” Alyssa yelled out. She choked back her sobs as she heard footsteps approaching her from behind, growling as she clutched her staff.

“I said get out now!” she yelled as the relic glowed with an orange hue. Green vines started to slink up through cracks in the floor as Alyssa trembled. The footsteps got closer, the witch baring her teeth as her eyes glowed a purplish hue.

“Dammit, I said get out!” she raged as she spun around, holding her staff out with a glare. Triska stopped suddenly as her sword sprung out of her sheath and spun around, the blade spinning around and stopping in front of her neck. Triska kept looking at Alyssa with a calm gaze as her sword hovered in front of her throat.

“Do you hear me? Get out and leave me alone!” Alyssa yelled with tears falling from her cheeks. Silence filled the cabin as neither girl moved an inch. After a pause Triska smiled a bit.

“It’s ok,” she said softly. Alyssa looked at her with frustration as Triska just smiled at her.

“It’s ok, Alyssa,” she said again.

“No it’s not! No it’s not, it’s not, it’s not!” Alyssa yelled out while shaking her head.

“Yes it is, Alyssa,” Triska said gently. Alyssa stood up as she glared at her, holding her staff out as it glowed with an orange hue.

“Just shut up! For once in your goddamned life shut your stupid mouth!” she yelled out.

“We don’t hate you,” Triska assured with a worried expression. Alyssa choked back a sob as she continued to glare at the teen.

“You’re not like those other witches out there, we know you’re not,” Triska said gently.

“Yes I am! I’m exactly like they are! Do you have any idea how many men I’ve bewitched in my time? How many men I’ve used like toys in my life? I’m just like those monsters out there!” Alyssa cried out with frustration. Triska watched as the witch cried while striking her staff down on the ground repeatedly.

“How can Daniel even look at me now, how can he even see me anymore after hearing what they did? How can he think I’m any different than just some goddamned monster?” she cried out as she broke down into tears. She dropped to her knees as she cried, dropping her staff as she buried her face in her hands. Triska’s sword wavered then dropped down as well, the metal blade clanking around on the floor while Triska watched Alyssa cry in sorrow.

“I’m not like that, I’m not,” Alyssa whimpered as she shook her head. Triska walked over and knelt down in front of her, then held the witch gently in her arms. Alyssa looked ahead with a quiet gasp as she stared with wide eyes over Triska’s shoulder.

“Wha… what are you doing?” she whimpered.

“We see who you are, Alyssa, because you fought your inner nature and won,” Triska said gently.

“Triska…” Alyssa breathed out as the teen held her gently. Triska looked ahead with a calm expression as she slowly rubbed the back of the witch with her hand.

“It’s ok, Alyssa,” she said softly. Alyssa froze in place while Triska held her, the witch then slowly looking over to her.

“Why are you saying this? Why do you care?” she asked shakily.

“Because, like Daniel, I believe in monsters and humans living together in peace, that we can coexist and find a way to live together. And I know you do too,” Triska said sympathetically. Alyssa trembled as Triska leaned back and looked at her with a small smile.

“You’re proof of his belief, Alyssa. That witches can control their nature, and live alongside humans,” she said softly.

“But… when I first met Daniel… I nearly… if those wolves hadn’t come… I would have…” Alyssa stuttered shakily. Triska nodded then rested a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“You made a mistake then, you were following your nature just like all monsters do. But you’ve overcome it, you’ve remained in control and helped him on his journey out here,” she said calmly. Alyssa wiped a tear away and looked at her curiously as Triska smiled gently at her.

“You know, Daniel wanted to come in here and talk to you himself. He was worried about you, we all were. But I insisted that I come instead,” she confessed. Alyssa looked at her with a bit of surprise.

“You did? But why?” she asked. Triska looked down as the witch watched her curiously.

“Because I wanted you to know that I don’t think any less of you. And if I couldn’t think any less of you after what we just saw then you should know that of course Daniel couldn’t either,” she reasoned looking back to her. Alyssa looked at her as she tried to keep her tears from coming out again. Triska smiled gently at the witch and tilted her head slightly.

“That, and I didn’t want a 72 year young witch to be alone like this,” she said softly.

“Triska,” Alyssa said as her eyes were watering up again.

“I was wrong before,” Triska admitted with nod. Alyssa looked at her with wonder as the teen smiled.

“I do trust you with my life, Alyssa. You’re a good witch,” Triska said kindly. Alyssa trembled then hugged her while crying, burying her face into Triska’s shoulder as the teen held her again. The cries of the girl echoed out inside the cottage as Triska held her gently. After she got most of her tears out Alyssa sniffled and closed her eyes.

“Triska?” she asked softly.

“Yes?” Triska said glancing to her.

“You just wanted to come in here so Daniel wouldn’t be alone with me, didn’t you?” Alyssa asked while holding onto the teen’s shirt. Triska smirked and looked back ahead.

“Perhaps, doesn’t change what I said though,” she said simply. Alyssa breathed out slowly as she calmed down then opened her eyes slightly.

“I still say I love him more than you do,” she said with a small smile. Triska chuckled softly and shook her head.

“No you don’t, Alyssa, no you don’t,” she said as she held the witch gently.

“Huh, didn’t see that coming,” Specca said from behind them. They looked over to see Squeak and Specca watching them curiously from the doorway, with Squeak’s antennae twitching slightly while Specca adjusted her glasses.

“What are you two doing here? I said I would talk to her,” Triska said as she and Alyssa broke from their hug.

“Yes, and that’s what we were concerned about. We wanted to make sure you two weren’t fighting again,” Specca said curiously. Alyssa smirked and held out her hand, calling her staff back into her grip. She glanced to Triska’s sword and held her other hand out to it, the blade rattling around slightly before leaping off of the ground. Specca and Squeak watched as the sword spun around in the air and slid into Triska’s sheath while the human watched them with a calm smile.

“We’re fine, just needed to have a little talk is all,” Triska said glancing to Alyssa. The witch stood up and wiped her tears away as Specca and Squeak walked in towards them. Triska stood up and looked to Alyssa as the witch glanced away with a troubled expression.

“Are you alright now, Alyssa?” Specca asked gently. Alyssa nodded and looked down.

“I just hated remembering how… I was once like that. Not too long ago… that was me. If it wasn’t for Daniel, I would still be like that,” she said softly. Specca nodded slowly then looked at Alyssa carefully.

“Although I’m quite sure you’re nothing like those other witches we witnessed earlier, I do question your belief that you love Daniel the most,” she said accusingly. The girls all looked to Alyssa as she smiled softly at that.

“It’s true; I love him with all my heart. He will be the only human I will ever mate with,” she said assuredly.

“That’s where I draw the line, Alyssa. You may not be like those other witches and all, but that doesn’t mean I’m letting you take Daniel away from me. I’ve loved him for far longer than any of you, and there’s no way anyone could love him more than me,” Triska declared, crossing her arms before her. Squeak shook her head and squeaked again and again firmly as she presumably argued with them, pointing to herself with a firm squeak at the end of her speech. Specca glanced around at the girls then smiled amusingly.

“Again, I’m the most suitable mate for him, I already told you earlier that he and I are the best match,” she said proudly. The girls just looked at her with dull expressions as the nixie held a hand to her cheek as a faint blush formed.

“He’s so brave and daring, and so intelligent too. I will never find another out there like him, not if I searched all of Eden. We belong together, it’s so clear to see,” she said softly. She jumped a bit as her glasses were quickly taken by Squeak, the ant girl holding them up with a confident smile and a raised eyebrow.

“Hey, give those back!” Specca yelled as she tried to grab them back, missing horribly as Squeak casually stepped around her. Specca scrambled around at the blurry image of Squeak while Triska and Alyssa watched with small smirks, both of them seeing the nixie struggling to grab hold of the ant girl or her glasses.

“At least with us we can
see
where he is all the time,” Triska chuckled.

“Yeah, what good is all your knowledge of monsters if you can’t even see one of them coming to take Daniel away?” Alyssa asked playfully. Specca yelled as she tackled Squeak to the ground, the two then rolling around while the ant girl held the glasses back away from the nixie. As they tumbled about yelling and squeaking at each other Alyssa glanced to Triska.

“Triska,” she said softly, getting the human’s attention. After a pause she smiled at her.

“Thank you,” she said calmly. Triska nodded with a slight smile.

“To coexist, we have to help each other,” she reasoned. Alyssa looked down with a small smile, and then glanced back to Triska.

“Daniel’s still going to be mine though,” she said assuredly. Triska chuckled and gave the witch a confident smile.

“We’ll see about that, witch,” she challenged. The two girls locked into a stare with each other with daring smiles then looked down to Squeak and Specca as they rolled around still in their struggle.

Sitting in the front seat of the caravan Daniel was looking up at the sky while Lucky quietly ate some grass. Daniel watched a few clouds drift by overhead then looked over to the cottage where Specca and Squeak volunteered to go and make sure Triska and Alyssa weren’t fighting again.

“I hope Alyssa’s feeling better. The poor girl,” he said softly.

“Somebody help!” a girl’s voice came from nearby in the woods. Daniel looked over towards the sound while Lucky grunted a bit, the horse’s ears perking up from the call as well.

“What was that? It sounded like…” Daniel said looking around at the woods carefully.

“Please! Anybody, help me!” a girl’s voice cried out desperately again.

“Somebody’s in trouble,” Daniel said standing up. He looked over towards the cottage then to the woods, then quickly jumped off and ran towards the cry for help. He jogged through the wooded area as he looked around franticly, only seeing trees and small beams of sunlight coming through the branches and leaves above.

“Hey, where are you? Hello?” he called out.

“Help me, please!” the girl’s voice cried out again. Daniel ran towards the sound of the call and looked around quickly, his footsteps moving about softly through the grass and foliage. He dashed over towards the sound as fast as he could, rounding a large tree then halting and staring with wide eyes as he saw a figure ahead of him. There in front of him he saw a girl caught in a tangled mess of green vines that were strung around two trees and their branches. However it was clear she wasn’t human.

“Please, help me,” the girl said shakily. She stood about as tall as Triska did, wearing brown sandals and red ribbons that were wrapped around her lower legs and ankles. She had a green skirt that appeared to be cut out of a giant leaf and wrapped around her, along with a green vine with leaves on it tied around her waist holding the skirt up. Her bra was made of purple petals with the straps over her shoulders looking like green stems. She had short dark hair and red eyes, the girl staring at Daniel with fright while her arms were wrapped in vines and held out to either side of her. Behind her she had large butterfly wings, the edges being black with red spots while the segments had purple sections in them. And on her head were a pair of bug antennae similar to Squeak’s.

“You’re… you’re a…” Daniel said as he saw the monster on the verge of tears, her arms and body having green vines wrapped around them and holding her still. She struggled to move in her bindings as she whimpered, looking at him with pleading eyes.

“Please… I beg of you… help me.”

In the world of Eden all monsters were female, all born from a mother as daughters with only sisters in their families. However, even monsters could have different personalities just like humans could. Although their basic instincts and characteristics of their class remained, some developed unique traits in comparison to one another. Not all witches performed the same magic, and some preferred to use smaller wands rather than larger staves with their spells. Not all slime women were the same, with some being very timid while others were downright cruel. Just because two monsters were of the same class it didn’t mean they would behave the exact same way. Still, even if they had different personalities or quirks it didn’t change what they were.

No matter what the differences were, they still had the same desire to breed.

*****

Near the dirt road next to a broken down cottage a caravan was seen along with Lucky, the white horse looking around slowly as it grunted a bit. Inside the abandoned dwelling Triska and Alyssa were looking down with a raised eyebrow each as a quiet squeaking sound was heard.

"So… what have we learned here?" Triska asked flatly.

"That Squeak really is compelled to try to heal those around her who are injured," Alyssa said simply.

"And what else?" Triska asked.

"Once she starts to do so, you can't really stop her," Alyssa added. Triska nodded as they watched Squeak using her saliva to heal an injury on Specca. During the two girls rolling around in their little quarrel, Specca had rolled over a nail which dug into her thigh, the nixie screaming as the others quickly looked to her in surprise. After pulling the nail out she held a hand over the wound which was starting to bleed, cringing as it stung sharply. Squeak looked at the injured girl then showed a concerned expression, quickly putting Specca's glasses back on that she had been holding back from her. Before the nixie could say anything, she saw with clear vision Squeak quickly pulling her hand away and beginning to lick the wound. Although this nullified her pain and sent waves of euphoria rippling through her body, there was one little complaint Specca tried to voice as she was lying down on the ground.