Warm lips and tender hands touched her body, breathing life into her once more. Hotaru started choking and rolled onto her side to cough up the water in her lungs. She pushed herself off the cold floor, feeling shaky and weak. Strong arms wrapped around her when she nearly collapsed. Fighting back was hopeless as she was cradled against a firm and warm body. She was freezing and weak. Her hero was warm, strong and tender. He pulled her onto his lap and Hotaru could tell he was happy to see her-very happy to see her.
Those warm lips returned to hers, the arms wrapping around her. Hotaru felt her own arms wind around him and pull him against her even more. She kissed him back and her slightly numb fingers felt the scars, firm muscles, smooth skin and short silky locks of hair. He pulled back from the kiss and nuzzled her intimately. His callused fingers brushed her back, her scar and Hotaru felt him tighten around her.
"It's all right, Morva. I don't blame you." She murmured to him as his lips found hers again. Morva's kiss was filled with more desire, more regret. He was hurting her in his grief. She wove her hand into his hair and pulled his head back from hers.
"Ow-Ame, you're pulling my hair." Morva whimpered, looking down at her.
"And you were crushing my jaw. I think we're even, He-Who-Finds-Me-And-Then-Disappears-For-Ten-Months." Hotaru shot back. "Do you realize how much that hurt? I was finally back in your arms and then you left me again." She kept her arms around him and cuddled up closer against his warm body. "It hurt so much when you left. Don't ever do that to me again, you Prick…or-or I'll kill you myself. I swear I will."
Morva kissed her again, deeper and more lasting than the rough kiss. This time it was softer, gentler, more passionate. "I didn't mean to hurt you, Ame. I just didn't want Apollo's heirs to find you. They were my prey and their psycho family charges towards their predators rather than running from them."
"Marius! Where is he?" Hotaru asked, remembering the Vestian male.
"He's doing what I sent him here to do." Morva wrapped his arms tighter around her when she shivered. "What are you doing here? It's much too cold for a land type."
"I came looking for you." She tapped his nose. Her finger traced his nose to his lips then gently traced over them with the lightest of touches. "And I only get cold when I die. I don't like drowning. It's the absolutely last thing I like doing."
Morva gently took her hand in his and kissed each individual finger before kissing her palm. "I'm just glad I got here in time. I almost lost you and just thinking that I could've just breaks my heart."
"For the love of Aries! I'm gone-what, 20 minutes?-and you're nearly beddin' her already!" Marius interrupted. Morva hung his head with a growl.
"He is so annoying. Marlos is so going to get it when I catch up with him next." Morva groaned, burying his face into the crook of Hotaru's neck. Hotaru giggled as his breath tickled her skin.
Marius came over to them and dropped a satchel by Morva's knees. "I grabbed whatever I could. Take a look and leave your girl alone for 5 minutes."
"Shut up, twerp." Morva half snapped opening the bag. "Let's get a look at this stuff. Meaningless junk. I told you-look for crystal. All of this is just debris."
"Well, excuse me for not being out of mines and forges!"
Hotaru rolled her eyes. "I'll go help the twit find what you need, Morva."
"No way in the Nether Realm! I'm just rescued you from that Shark Wolf! I'm not going to give you back to it just so it can eat you!" Morva protested as he scooped her up like a bride. "We'll all go together. Marius, grab the bag."
"I ain't your servant! Marlos said I was supposed to help you if anything were to happen to him! This is servant work!" Marius snapped, crossing his arms. Morva growled under his breath as he set Hotaru on her feet.
"Look, you little skeeve. Marlos did what I told him because he knew it helped me. I have been hunting Apollo for over 10, 000 years. I don't like being talked back to—especially when it comes to my tracking down the bastard that has been trying to take Ame away from me since day 1." Morva towered over Marius, his 2 fingers prodding the smaller male in the chest. "Marlos knew the score so I suggest you shut up and take it like the man your brother told me you were."
"And I suggest you both stop trying to piss off the other before I kick both your asses." Hotaru cut in, crossing her arms. Both males looked at her surprised. "I'm cold, tired and really bitchy so don't even continue this. It's giving me a headache."
Morva let a half smile curve his lips as he shook his head. He scooped Hotaru up again and gave her a kiss on the lips. "You are priceless, Ame. Absolutely priceless."
"Damn…you much have your hooks in deep if you can make him calm down like that so fast." Marius whistled as he picked up and shouldered the bag. Hotaru giggled at the look of exasperation on Morva's face. Her lover smiled down at her as he headed towards the edge of their island.
Hotaru looked down and clung closer to Morva. "I'm not going back in the water. No way in the Nether Realm! I just got warm!"
"Sorry, Ame, but it's the only way out of this place. Just hang on to me and I'll get us through before the Shark Wolf brings its pack to do us all in." Morva reassured as Hotaru buried her face against his neck. "Take a nice deep breath. If you need more air, I'll breathe for you."
Hotaru took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut as Morva leapt off the edge of the island. The water rushed up around them and suddenly everything was heavily muffled, even Marius's ungraceful dive. She didn't have to open her eyes to know that Morva's body was changing. She could feel it through her body. Hid long webbed fingers curled around her bicep and thigh to keep a good grip on her then he started kicking his powerful legs.
At least Morva was a fast swimmer but the pressure was still bothering her. It was so suffocating, so thick—she hated it as much as she hated really thick fog and touchable darkness. It was worse than having to drink a truck full of milk. Morva seemed to sense her distress because he sped up. Keeping a land Chimera under water was not the best way to endear you to them.
Morva reached the surface and Hotaru finally opened her eyes. She looked up at him, not seeing the scars but long black hair and crystal beads. He was in his Chimera armor and he was taking her somewhere. Deep at the back of her mind she knew where they were going. She could feel the castle moving beneath his feet and she could smell the sea in the air.
"Ame, are you all right?" Morva's voice brought her back to reality. She blinked a few times and buried her face into his neck again.
"I'll be fine." Hotaru mumbled. Eventually…
Morva was back to normal-scars and all but he was walking somewhere. Hotaru peeked at her surroundings, dimly recognizing the area. She clung to him as she realized he and Marius were wading through water again.
"Morva, love…" She murmured to him. Morva made a curious noise in his throat, his one eye looking for any threat to him, her or to the Vestian following them. "…why are we headed towards…?"
She felt him look down surprised. He kissed her forehead, a smile curving his lips. "You might look 17 but you're certainly regaining your memory. Is that what made you space out earlier?"
"You had long hair back then. And the Mimas Castle was floating on top of the water." Hotaru cuddled up closer to her Saturian boy toy. "Morva, what's a Companion?"
"Apollo tell you that you and he were meant to be Companions of you and I?" He asked looking down at her again. Hotaru shook her head. "Then what is it?"
Hotaru gently bit her lower lip before continuing. "In that letter in the book, you said 'marriage' but it didn't mean anything to me. That's when I thought about Companions…"
"Our people have no concept of marriage-not the way the other planets do. A man never owns a woman and she never owns him. They belong to each other and only to each other. Becoming Companions, like with wolves, it's for life-even if we die. When you're a Companion, you each have a responsibility to each other. I would be able to kill anyone who transgressed on our Companionship and you would be able to do the same for me." The water Chimera explained to the land Chimera in his arms. "Most importantly, we alone could start a family. You couldn't get pregnant by any other man and I couldn't impregnate another woman but it's moot since neither of us would have the drive to sleep with anyone else. It would be my duty to protect you and our children and your duty would be to carry the children until they were born. Then we'd both care for them together."
"But that population control…" Hotaru's arms tightened around Morva. It was such a painful subject.
"Being physically Reborn as 'Hotaru Tomoe' gave you a uterus, believe it or not. You just didn't have a period and that meant you couldn't have children." Morva kissed her on the lips before sitting her on the top of a bit of rubble. It was dry and a nice place to sit. "If you would have me, then it would be rare but you could get pregnant…if you'd have me as a Companion after all I've done to you…"
Hotaru cupped his face in her hands. "Never say 'if'. I assure you-it's a 'when'. I'd never take anyone else as my Companion." Morva was caught off guard but he recovered by leaning forward and kissing Hotaru's lips. She pulled away, getting him to whimper softly, and put a finger on his nose. "What did you mean 'even if we die'?"
"Oh, that…well, if one of us were to die, our Chimera beasts-Mimas and Titan-would protect the survivor-once we commence the Companionship, of course. They would do anything to protect the survivor since it was their Chimera's other half. And the fallen one would ensure that the one to survive was to find someone worthy to take their place. Heat would fill their replacement's body and they would be compatible with the survivor." Morva explained with a slightly sheepish smile. His one eye looked depressed, like he knew something was going to happen. Hotaru kissed his forehead, getting him to look at her.
"How does the Companionship work? Is it like getting married?" Hotaru's question surprised Morva but he smiled.
"It's more like the honeymoon but we both have to give ourselves completely to the other—body, power, mind, heart, soul—everything. It would fuse us together forever." Morva took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles. "I just hope my scarred appearance doesn't push you away."
"Why would it?" Hotaru asked like a child. Morva looked at her disbelieving what he heard. "I've got the same kind of scar on my back and trust me-I'm just as scarred if I were to completely relax my powers."
"Going missing for over 9,000 years has that effect on people, Ame." He smiled and nuzzled her lovingly, only to get Marius to fake being sick. Morva groaned in frustration, making Hotaru laugh.
These two were definitely a class act.
I had fun creating Marius and he does show up a lot later on in my other stories.
