Disclaimer: Touhou belongs to Zun, and the only things that belong to myself would be Usagi the mimic, and Moegi the japanese beetle. Everything else belongs to their rightful owner. Beholders belong to Wizards of the Coast.
A/N: ...This feels like such a cop-out...
Yu/N: That would be because it is.
Yuu/N: Indeed.
A/N: You two aren't helping me feel any better about this...
Yuu/N: I'm sorry, did you think that that was our job?
Yu/N: I believe that she thought that that was our job.
Yuu/N: Well it's not.
A/N: Since when did the two of you get so mean...?
Yu/N: Well, you made us this way.
Yuu/N: You are quite the masochist, are you not?
Yu/N: Quite the masochist, indeed.
A/N: Anyways. I decided that as the idea I have for a valentines day story is still some months away from happening in my main story, I shall forgo that story for the time being, and instead I shall update this story, hopefully on valentines day!
Yuu/N: You are incredibly lazy.
A/N: You're starting to hurt my feelings a little...
Yuu/N: You do realize that I regard authors like you on the same level as ants, correct?
A/N: Uuu~
R/N: That would be my line; cease and desist in the use of it.
A/N: ...Remilia? Wait, what? You do not have a monopoly on that particular sound, you know!
R/N: So you say. I, for one, disagree with you on that point.
A/N: ...You know what? No. I'm not going to even bother trying to pick apart this hare brained logic...
R/N: Uuu~
A/N: H-hey, don't make that sound... I didn't mean anything by it...
R/N: But you have been so very cruel to me...
A/N: You make it sound like I'm the only one being mean. How about I give you a snack?
Yu/N: Take her up on that offer; authors are delicious.
R/N: Well... if you insist...
A/N: Ouch! ...Anyways, let's get on with the show.
Silently I toyed with the heart gear before me; it was perfectly fine enough for use already, but I like to be thorough. This would be check 315, as I have been rather nervous about tonight. It's the full moon tonight, and that means that Rumia will be by some time soon with the human parts. And so I've been nervously tinkering away for the last several hours, preforming checks 275-314. I've been waiting all month for this day to come, so I've been more than a bit anxious.
I had worked late into the night by this point. It was nearly the apex of night, where youkai are at the peak of their power, or so Miss Keine says. I choose to just take her word for that, as my evil eyes always seem to get a bit antsy on this night, as well as her being my teacher of the less practical things I know. I completed her whole set of five grades, but most of it felt kinda useless for life in Gensoukyou. The information on youkai was scarce, at best, and I felt like she was padding her lessons. All of the useful things were taught in the first couple of years after all.
And so, here I am, idly thinking about inane things as I await Rumia's return.
And then I heard a splat-like rapping at my very solidly built steel door. Putting down the heart gear, I hopped down from my seat and headed for the door. All but Alpha had gone to sleep by this point, and so I said, "Alpha, with me."
Flapping her wings hard a couple times, Alpha was soon hovering over my shoulder, and landed there, where I had a rest built-in just for her on my work clothes.
It had taken a year to crack the code on the door in question, and in the mean time, I was left using the, erm... 'Sky light' that I had... 'installed'. And by that I meant the rather large hole in the ceiling that I had blown to crack open this egg and get inside of it. Well worth the hard to make plastic explosives it cost me, but still, I wanted a way in that wasn't the big honking hole in the ceiling.
Pressing the button by the great steel door that I had installed for the sake of ease of opening said door, I waited as the gears began to spin, the locking mechanism unlocking itself, the door sliding to the side with the screech of metal on metal, sparks flying into the dimly lit darkness of my workshop.
When finally the door was out of the way, I looked around, finding nothing. Giggling, a childish voice said, "Down here~ You should really pay more attention to your surroundings..."
Looking down, I found there to be a large glob of translucent black slime before me. It was large enough, and tall enough to comfortably be used as a container to hold two women, or one particularly large man. Laying down, of course. And inside of the black gunk before me? Ohh, it was just what I had always wanted! Well, recently, anyways. She contained the head, heart, lungs, stomach, and liver of what I would presume to be a human. Judging by the head, and the size of said organs, they belonged to a human male! A large one! Goody! ...Save for the fact that it goes against my like for female evil eyes. It's just so much easier to call them she's! I have no idea why, really.
Smiling, I replied, "Hello, Rumia. Having a good night, I hope?"
Perhaps grinning under all that muck, Rumia exclaimed, "You betcha! I managed to catch five of the black-collars tonight~ Not nearly as good as my record of catching seven, but still, that's half of them!"
I smiled awkwardly at hearing of the end of so many lives, and laughed nervously. "I see! That's... great!"
Oblivious to my displeasure over this, she might have grinned were she able, saying, "I brought you the organs of the least tasty one, though. I don't think you'll mind, will you?"
Nodding at that, I replied, "No, that's fine. Have the more delicious parts to yourself. All I need is parts; it doesn't matter how tasty they are. I mean, it's not like the organs have any perceivable issues, right?"
Shaking her 'head', the hunter of the dark answered, "Not that I can tell! I can only tell how healthy a persons organs are when I eat them, though. A lot of the times, the lungs might be filled with tar, or the liver might be failing, though. So watch out for that!"
Stroking my chin, I said, "Smoker lungs, huh? And the liver of a drinker? Well, that's just great... Maybe I'll just use the lungs and liver of an animal..."
Perking up at that, Rumia asked, "Does that mean I can have the lungs and liver?!"
Chuckling, I said, "Sure, go ahead. Any other parts with problems?"
Hesitating a moment, Rumia put on a might have put on a thoughtful expression if she was in the right shape to do so, as if thinking hard about something. After the moment was up, she said, "...No, not really."
Raising a brow, I asked, "Really? Then why did you hesitate?"
Perhaps grinning under all of that mass, and deciding that honesty was the best policy, Rumia exclaimed, "I considered lying!"
Smiling, I said, "Well, thank you for your honesty. You could have easily lied, and I would have never known."
Shaking her 'head', the blob said, "No, you're pretty observant! You'd probably have noticed; I'm not a very good liar."
Raising a brow, I asked, "Is that so?"
Letting out a happy little gurgle, Rumia exclaimed, "That is so!"
Letting out a bark, Alpha asked, my mind warping to accomidate her mind, Shall we get get to inserting the gear and beginning this? I had long since gotten used to the ache of having the mind of another thrust upon me, so I didn't even flinch at the dull ache in my brain. Once upon a time the pain had been quite a lot, and Alpha had to speak slowly to limit pain. After a couple of evil eyes, I had simply grown used to it. My whole family had, really.
Smiling, I said, "Sure. Come on in, Rumia. I'll show you where you can put the organs." Waiting for her to slide her way inside, I pressed the button again, and the door slid shut, the gears spinning in reverse so as to seal the door once more.
Leading the blob of sunshine and rainbows over to one of my work stations, I patted the large, empty metal table. "Put them down here."
Climbing up the leg of the table, and sloshing over the edge, Rumia settled in the middle of the table, and began to separate into two separate halves, leaving the organs piled in the middle.
Raising a brow, I said, "These look surprisingly pretty, and don't look all that bloody at all."
letting out a wet giggle, the blobs replied, "Well, they kinda were cleaned simply by being inside of me! Pretty hard to leave blood on them, you know."
Rubbing my chin in thought, I nodded, saying, "Yeah, I suppose that that's true, isn't it? You do have to be in contact with the things simply to transport them, I suppose. It would be more surprising if the blood actually did get left behind."
Barking, Alpha stated, We should get to impregnating the heart.
Nodding to her, I headed over to my main work station to grab the heart gear. Finding it in the exact location that I had left it, I headed back over to the pile of organs and pair of piles of goop. "Alright, let's do this." With that said, I picked up the heart, and lined up the prongs of the gear with the left ventricle, before forcing it in. Really, it didn't matter where I plugged it into the heart, but I like to choose a specific spot. Besides, the less areas of it I damage, the better. That way the heart doesn't have to regenerate multiple sections.
Placing down the heart, I said, "And now the waiting begins"
Not needing any directions by this point, Alpha proceeded to brandish a barb, stabbing the heart with it.
Seven days later:
Groggily opening my eyes, I blindly searched for the light activation button I keep by my bed. My bed was a massive thing, as it needed to have room for all of the evil eyes that currently surrounded me, snuggling into my bare body.
Working to disentangle myself from the dozens of tendrils of various sizes that were hugging my limbs, I climbed out of bed and proceeded to get dressed, scratching my rear after I had gotten into my work clothes as I yawned noisily, and began to stretch a bit.
Heading for the rest of my workshop, I didn't even notice that Upsilon was watching me as I groggily made my way over to my bench and got to work on tinkering with things to wake up.
Before long, my eyes began to wake up, starting with Alpha, who stared at Upsilon a moment. ...Master, Upsilon is plotting your downfall.
Blinking, I looked to Alpha, followed by the shocked Upsilon, whose eye suddenly began to glow moments later, followed by the remainder if the evil eyes rousing, their eyes half-lidded, as if they were dead to the world. Moments later, they all took off towards me, and Alpha suddenly decided to flee, heading for the hole in the ceiling, leaving me to the sleepy eyes. "...Alpha? Why are you running?"
Before I even knew what was happening, my cadre of eyes restrained me. Well, the larger ones did. The smaller ones simply watched with their cold, dead eyes.
Looking between Omicron and Mu, who had me bound at either side, I demanded to know, "W-what are you guys doing?" I struggled against their tendrils, which were binding me as solidly as steel. "Let me go, you guys! This isn't funny! Let me go!" I tried to pull my arms free again, failing to escape the meaty tendrils that were wrapping around my wrists and ankles.
Finally deciding to speak, Upsilon asked, So, you make evil eyes for a living, do you?
Glaring at the eye, I answered, "Of course! They're my lifes work. All of my other creations were destroyed by that shrine maiden years ago, but my eyes... They'd never leave me.
With a neutral expression, the current leader of my eyes said, You're right about that, little girl~
Furrowing my brows, I shouted, "I'm not a little girl! I'm twenty for crying out loud! I'm just...
Smiling eerily at that, the eye asked, Small? Yes, that you are, and in so many ways, too. He was looking at my chest when he said the last bit. But I could help you with that. In fact, I am going to help you with that. You shall never be called short again.
Blinking, I carefully asked, "...What do you... intend to do...?"
Grinning in an all too sweet manner, the eye replied, Ohh, I shall make you into my sister!
Shaking my head, I replied, "I don't want to be an evil eye... I just like to make you guys is all..."
Widening his all too sweet grin, the eye responded, Ohh, I'm not planning on turning you into an evil eye... No, you deserve something more than that for what you've done for my kind.
Pausing to think about what he said, I replied, "...Go on..."
Grin widening to the point that it was starting to look disconcerting, the eye answered, I plan to make you... It paused, as if searching its mind for information. A beholder...
Blinking, I asked, "What? I've never heard of such a creature... Tell me how one is made... I wish to make use of this knowledge in my research."
Its eye narrowing with glee, Upsilon said, Ohh, you'll find out soon enough. You won't even have to lift a finger...
Blinking in realization at what the eye was intending, I replied, "W-wait, you don't have to do this!"
Grinning in a less kind way then before, my most recent project answered, Ohh, but I insist...
With that said, I was dragged over to one of my empty tables, where I was laid out, my arms spread eagle, and my legs spread somewhat to the sides as well. I noticed that Upsilon was looking for something on one of my more messy tables, and soon produced my trusty tape recorder. He must have read that I like to record these things...
Grinning wickedly, and pressing record, the eye faced me. Begin.
Beta, my cat, was the first to penetrate my chest with a barb.
I cried out in pain at that. I couldn't help but ask, "Wh-why? Why are you-"
Next, Lambda, my seal, thrusted her barb through my sternum.
I cried out in pain again. The pain building to greater heights with every barb, I begged, "Stop! Please...!"
Next upsilon contributed his barb.
I sobbed at the horrible despair I was feeling right now. "Stop...! It hur-!
I was interrupted by when Beta switched places with Mu, my cow, and Mu proceeded to penetrate me as well with his huge barb, which nearly made me cough up blood it was so large.
Resisting the urge to cough, I asked, "Why won't... you listen...?"
Once more feeling something stab into me, I saw that it was Tau, the Rumia blob given form.
Not even able to do anything but talk weakly at this point, I said, "Beta, let me go... We can fight this..."
Next it was Xi, the beautiful toad, who stabbed into me.
Not hurting as much from the small barb, I asked, "Alpha... Alpha, where are you...?"
Feeling another small pain, I looked, seeing that it was my smallest eye, Eta, the black widow. She had stabbed me as well with her nigh microscopic barb.
Grinning, Upsilon mocked, Alpha abandoned you to your fate, Rika. The one eye that could resist, and they didn't help you. How does it feel to be betrayed by the one eye you love the most?
Shaking my head, I declared, "No... No, Alpha would never abandon me. She's my best fr-"
I felt another eye impregnate me, cutting me off. It was Pi, the duck.
My head swiming at this point due to all of the pain, I shouted, "Stop it...! You're only... suppose to use one...!"
Mu exchanged places with Omicron, and my eyes widened with fear, knowing what was about to come. And so I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for impact.
The pain was excruciating, as the barb was large enough that it snapped my sternum in two. It was easily the size of a fist, if not larger, and it had jest been thrust through my sternum like it was paper.
And so I blacked out.
Eventually I awoke. Hours later? Days? I was unaware of how long I had been out, but my chest hurt quite a lot. Looking down at my chest, I found that it was bare, and was bruised and battered by the happening from before, nine barbs burrowed into my broken sternum, one of which being huge, one being large, and the rest ranging from small to tiny.
Sitting up, I swore softly. So that had really happened. I was to become an evil eye now. ...No, there still had to be time. If I could just get out of here, and have my sternum removed, maybe-
Chuckle reverberating across my mind, the evil eye that had instigated this said, Ah-ah-ah, you're not going anywhere, 'master'.
I stiffened at hearing that voice, and looked around; there was no point of origin, what with it coming from my head. After a short search, I came up inconclusively. Just where was that bastar-
I heard a whistle come from above me, and looked up to find that he was hanging from the ceiling by one of his tendrils, which was coiled around one of the steel struts that went across the ceiling. Cruel smile widening at having found that my hearing does in fact still work, the eye said, You're not going anywhere, missy. You're going to be watched day and night, so there is no way that you could possibly escape this place to seek aid. Face it; you've lost. End of story. You played with forces beyond your understanding, and those forces finally got tired of being messed around with.
Shaking my head wildly, I shouted, "No!" Regaining my composure a bit, I added, "My friends will help me over you in the end, I'm sure of it."
Sneering at me, the eye added, Even if they were to, it's too late! It has been a day! And you know what that means...
I paled a bit, and gritted my teeth, despair taking over a bit. I really had lost. It was over for me. I was going to become an evil eye no matter what. I had done experiments, and the only type of evil eye that seemed to take longer to worm its way in was the dragon, Sigma, not that it mattered. I already knew how long a human evil eye took to grow; I made one just the other day. So this was it. I'm Rika, the evil eye... And I don't have a heart gear, either... I'll be evil. I'll want nothing more than to make others into evil eyes, like Alpha used to want to.
...Alpha. Where is she? Please rescue me, Alpha...
Grinning with a cruel light to his singular eye, Upsilon said, Even if she were to come, you would still be mine! I would simply have to dispose of her. Face it. There is no hope for you. Your one hope fled with her tail between her legs! You. Are. MINE. And there is nothing that anyone can do to stop i-
Suddenly a metallic canister dropped down through the skylight. Eye widening, the evil eye that was doing as it pleased with me asked itself, What is that?
Knowing perfectly well what it was, I quickly averted my eyes and covered my ears, when its activation was marked by when my ears began to ring and I saw a flash of light even through my eyelids. Spinning around, I was tremendously happy to see a walker mech drop down from above, and barely had a chance to do anything before I was scooped up, and the mech leapt back up through the hole. Boy am I ever glad I knocked a hole in the ceiling now! I was happy to see one of my mother's mechs coming for me, too, of course. That means... Alpha didn't abandon me! She went for help! ...I think.
As the mech began to run, slowly picking up speed as it went, evil eyes began to swarm out of my home, giving chase. Some were still blind, and ran the wrong way, however. The rest of the swarm converged on us, and the turret mounted on top of the mech fired off shots that were aimed at wings, knocking the more threatening ones out of the sky. I was actually about to cry out for it to not shoot them, before I had seen that it was only aiming at their wings. I didn't want them to be hurt, even if they were no-longer on my side, and I'm sure that those shots were of a rather large caliber; they were single-shot, and seemed to cause the eyes they hit to spin from the impact that caused their shoulder to explode with gore.
I let out a sigh, and leaned into the comforting, cold, hard, uncomfortable embrace of my mother's mech. Watching from over her shoulder, I checked to make sure we weren't being followed. Sure enough, there were no evil eyes in sight. I couldn't help but smile a bit. Mom saved me.
Before long, we were back in the human village, and my top-less self was getting more than a few looks from men, and two women, as we had to pass through a busy street. Blushing, I covered up the slight swell that was my chest, feeling quite self conscious about being leered at by an entire crowd of men. Some even threw out a wolf whistle. So old-fashioned...
Soon we came to an old house that I was quite familiar with. My parents place. I couldn't help but smile a bit at the sight, and I was surprised to see the garage door open. It was always closed... I was also surprised when the mech began to sprint into the open passage, heading down the dark ramp as the door began to automatically close behind us.
As we descended down the ramp, I reminisced a bit. I hadn't been here in years. Not since I came to move my tank. And before that, when I brought my tank down here. I really never came down here. This was Mom's lab; I just used it for storage back then. These days, though, I just stored my things in my own lab.
Soon enough, we came to the form of my mother, who was beside Alpha, in her standard lab coat and glasses, her arms crossed. When we reached her, the mech abruptly stopped, and I went flying out of her arms, where I tumbled a bit, coming to a stop with my rear sticking up in the air, and my face at my mother's feet. With an impassive frown on her face, she commanded, "Get up."
Quickly pulling myself from the ground with a meek yelp, I asked, "Y-ye-" I found myself being slapped so hard that I was sent to the floor. I held my cheek, with tears in my eyes, an utterly shell-shocked expression on my face as I looked up at my mother.
Alpha tossed a shirt down at me as my mother, who seemed to be upset, simply crossed her arms again. Alpha barked, saying, It would be best to put that on, Master.
Sniffling, I began to slip into one of my mothers shirts, which was a bit loose in various places, but otherwise fit like a glove.
Frown deepening, Mom demanded, "What do you think you were doing, using human parts to make an evil eye?"
I winced a bit, and said, "But Mom, I had to-"
Interrupting me, my frowning mother asked, "Had to?" Shaking her head in disbelief, she said, "No, you wanted to. You didn't have to in the least! Do you even know what respect for the dead is?!"
Frowning, I shouted, "Respect for the dead would get in the way of progress!"
Shaking her head again, Mom asked in disbelief, "Where did I go wrong in raising you...?"
I couldn't even begin to decide on how to answer such a statement, so I kept quiet.
Resuming talking, Mom said, "It must be my fault..."
Shaking my head rapidly, I replied, "No, Mom, it's not..."
Frown deepening, she asked, "Then whose is it? I gave you my curiosity, which led you to do something that nearly cost you your life..."
Blinking, I said, "But Mom, there was no way that I could have known that a human evil eye would do this to me..."
Snorting, she said, "Of course not, but you've been playing with fire all of these years. It was bound to happen eventually."
Furrowing my brows, I replied, "No actually, it wasn't. I was following procedure, and I paid for something that I have no idea how even happened. If things had gone as they were supposed to, and followed the pattern that had been established, I would have been fine."
Frowning, my mother said, "Which is still a gamble! Are you really so stupid that you think that everything will always follow a pattern? Maybe it's because humans are more intelligent than the others?"
Blinking, I said, "But... I turned a dragon."
Not even batting an eye, Mom simply answered, "I stand by my theory."
Flapping over to me, and landing on my shoulder, Alpha wrapped a wing around my head, saying, Really, we were too late for it to matter, though.
Frowning, Mom replied, "We don't know that until we try; we just have to crack her open."
Shuddering, I replied back, "I don't like the sound of that..."
Mom decided that she didn't like me saying that, so she said, "You don't have a say in this. We have to try and save you; I'm not about to abandon my little girl..."
Frowning a little, a look of concern on my face, I said, "Mom..."
Sighing, Mom asked, "Yes, dear?"
Pausing to consider my words, I said, "I may not believe that it will work, but... I won't get in your way. Do as you please with me."
Quirking a brow, Mom replied, "That is a dangerous thing to say. If I wasn't related to you, I might do many unscrupulous things with you."
Smiling, I replied, "I trust you not to; you're my mom."
Sighing, she replied, "So be it."
My mother turned on her heel, and began to make her way deeper into the complex, expecting me to follow without any indication to. And she was right to do that, as I had begun to make my way after her, heading deeper into the complex, and soon catching up with her, walking an arms length behind her.
Soon enough we arrived at an operating room much nicer than the table I used for mine. Motioning for me to get on a table, she said, "I'll be back in a moment. I should go clean myself before we begin, and I'll gear up."
Nodding, I sat my rear down on the table I would soon be getting very familiar with. There were tanks for anesthetic, and various tools that made me a bit nervous, and sparkling in the light of the operating room.
Waiting for some time, I was eventually surprised by the sound of Alpha barking, forgotten on my shoulder. It was her favorite spot, so I was quite used to the weight of her body pressing down on me. She didn't bother hijacking my thoughts, as I understood the intentions behind her barks just fine. She was trying to set me at ease. Honestly, I was more at ease before she had barked; surprises are a great way to up your heart rate from resting.
Chuckling nervously, I said, "Thanks, Alpha."
Nodding, she barked again, which I understood as her saying that I was welcome.
And so we waited for minutes on end in relative silence as Mom did... whatever it was that she was doing. Eventually our wait paid off, and we heard a knocking at the door, before it opened, revealing my mother. She was now wearing a surgeons mask, and a pair of latex gloves. Where she got the both of them I'll never know, but she was also wearing a fresh outfit, and her hair was wet. Apparently she had taken things to the next level, as her skin was a bit pink. Apparently she had scrubbed it quite a lot.
Sharing my sentiments, Alpha commented, Scrubbing so thoroughly was unnecessary.
Frowning, Mom said, "I'm not taking any chances with my baby."
Shaking her head, Alpha added, When you are trying to prevent an evil eye from being born, minutes are precious. You wasted many on hygienics. In the end, an infection would be better than becoming one of my kin.
Frowning deeper at that, Mom said, "Out. Go terrorize a village or whatever it is you eyes do in your spare time."
Using her tendrils as a spring to hop off of my shoulder, the evil eye flapped her way out the door, and landed on the ground, facing us. Taking her seriously, Alpha said, Affirmative. However, I shall instead stand guard. It would be rather disappointing if after all this effort to save her, she was simply recaptured.
Sighing, Mom replied, "Yes, yes, just go." With that said, she closed the door. Turning to me, she asked, "Now, is there anything I should know about the removal of these things in your chest before I knock you out?"
Nodding, I replied, "Well, if you remove the sternum or any other bone they are imbedded in, that should neutralize them. However, if they've grown into the heart, it may be lethal to remove them. They are covered in hooks, so to successfully remove them would be nigh impossible."
Biting her lip, Mom said, "Alright. I shall be careful. Get on the table, and I'll knock you out."
Nodding, I said, "Well, as I'm already sitting on it, I'll just lie down." With that said, I laid down, and closed my eyes.
Moments later, I felt the mask come into place over my mouth. Gulping slightly out of a feeling of nervousness, I laid there and let her do her thing.
After a minute had passed, and I was beginning to feel a tad antsy about sitting in silence, she asked, "Are you ready?"
Opening my eyes once more, I looked to my mother, a nigh unreadable fear in my eyes. "I am..."
Her sharp eyes spotting this fear, my mother comforted, "Shh... Just close your eyes and relax. Nothing bad will happen. Alpha is watching the door. When you wake up, you will be all better, and we can work on killing the eye that did this to you. Alright?"
Hesitating a moment, I nodded slowly. I didn't quite believe that it would be so easy, but Mom telling me that it would be was enough to calm me down, even if I knew it was a poor lie.
And so I closed my eyes, relaxing into the table, just as I had been instructed to.
After another ten seconds, I began to smell something, and Mom said, "Breath deeply. In... and out. In... and out."
Already feeling a touch sleepy, I began to breath.
In.
And out.
Just like Mom said.
In.
And before I could even begin to breathe out again, I had already fallen unconscious.
In my dreams, a great evil eye loomed over me, chasing me this way and that. On its belly, the character for Upsilon. It attempted to impregnate me, but I was always able to dodge. Eventually it gave up on playing nice, and decided to fire a laser at my leg, lancing through it with ease. I cried out in pain, and fell down, now unable to dodge it. Once more it loomed over me, and its barb was produced from a tendril. As it reared back its tendril, it suddenly exploded, and I was in awe to see that my mother had fired a rocket at it, killing it instantly.
When finally conscious returned to me once more, I opened my heavy eyes, looking about. My eyes were seeing double, as though I couldn't help but cross them. Perhaps that's exactly what was happening. Who knows. All that I knew was that there were two ceilings, and I didn't like it one bit. I also knew that I had my head resting on something soft and warm. It felt somehow squishier than a pillow. It reminded me of when I would lie on Tau. I miss my eyes... As I couldn't see, I simply closed my eyes back up.
As soon as my eyes were closed, I felt a finger whisk away the tear from my eye before I had even realized it was there. Opening my eyes back up, I looked around, and settled on the two blurred figures in white that my head was resting on the laps of. They also looked to have purple hair, and there was only one person I knew who had purple hair. Well, two people now, if you count double vision. "...Mom...?"
Brushing a errant strand of hair out of my eye, the one who was looming over me as I lie on what I presumed to be a lap asked, "Yes, sweetie?"
Letting out a sigh that wasn't so much relief as it was simple elation at having my mother there while I was feeling unwell. "Did it... work?" I knew that this wasn't a dream, as my chest was quite sore. It felt like, well, someone had torn a bone out of my body and hopped me up on painkillers.
Silence greeted me.
Slowly coming to a conclusion, I stated, "It didn't work..."
Sighing sadly, my mother said, "I tried my best, but... the barbs were already all the way into your heart. I'm..." She hesitated, obviously bothered by what she was about to say. "I'm so sorry that I failed you when you needed me most, Rika..."
I smiled up at her with the smile of someone that had accepted their fate. "Don't be, mom. You tried. I'm happy to have had a mom like you. You... always tried to do what was best for me, no matter what it was. Thank you." I was ready to face my fate head-on at this point. If even Mom's level of skill wasn't enough, then nobody else in the human village would be able to help me. There was no real doctor. Just those that had read books on the subject, and were the next best thing. Mom being ever pragmatic, she took it upon herself to memorize every one of the medical and biology books. Who would have thought that she would get a chance to make use of that knowledge? Even if she failed, at least she will know that she did all she could, and not beat herself up as much, right?
Right?
She'll at least have no reason to think that she could have done something more, and blame herself for it, I hope.
My vision finally clearing enough that I could at least make things out, I looked down at my chest. I could still see the butt-end of the barbs pushing up on the chest to my clothes, signifying that they were in fact still there.
Following my eyes, and where they led to, Mom frowned.
Quickly realizing that I had brought down her already sour mood from the whole 'your only child is doomed' thing, I said, "Sorry..."
Shaking her head, my mother replied, "No, it's not your fault. You... just wanted to make sure that I was serious, I suppose... Why you would think I would joke about such a thing, I don't know.
Frowning, I answered, "I didn't think you were withholding the truth..."
Furrowing her brows, she asked, "Then why did you look at yourself like that? My word should have been good enough..."
Sighing, I said, "Sorry, Mom... I didn't mean anything by it..."
Sighing herself, Mom replied, "What am I going to do with you...?"
Shrugging my shoulders, and wincing from the effort, I said, "You could always just rip out the barbs before I turn into one of them..."
Blinking, my mother replied, "But that would kill you! I can't do that!"
Sighing once more, I pointed out, "That's the point, Mom."
Furrowing her brows, Mom shouted, "I can't do that! I won't do that! There must be another way!"
Grumbling a bit, I asked, "And if it's the only way to 'save' me?"
Growling, Mom shouted, "I will not kill my only daughter!"
Raising a brow, I asked, "So you'd have me turn into one of them?"
Silence greeted me.
Sighing, I said, "Look, I might have a potential way to keep this from getting too bad."
A pained look on her face, she asked, "If you have a way through this, why would you suggest I kill you?"
Grimacing at the face I had made my mother make, I said, "Well, I don't know if it will even work."
Frowning, Mom said, "If there's a will, there's a way."
Sighing yet again, I replied, "Well, it didn't work on the human evil eye, and I'm going to be one, so..." I trailed off at the look on my mother's face. She looked heart broken. Sighing once more, I amended, "I'll not give any guarantee, but I'll at least try. I'll draw up a blueprint for it and we can make it together."
Smiling with renewed hope, Mom said, "Alright. What are we to build?"
Frowning in determination, I answered simply, "A heart gear."
Blinking, Mom asked, "A what?"
Chuckling, I added, "It's what keeps my eyes in line. Without it, Alpha had an urge to impregnate me and any other people he was around, so I invented a way to keep them in line subconsciously. It keeps them good, and it had worked up until..."
Stating the obvious, Mom continued for me, "Upsilon."
Nodding, I said, "That's right."
With that said, I got to work on drawing up a blueprint which was incomplete. "This is your half. I'll build the rest."
Looking it over, Mom said with a hint of surprise, "It's... pretty much just a steel cube."
Nodding, I said, "For the most part, yes."
Stroking her chin in thought, Mom asked, "And where does this go?"
Pointing to the pair of prongs in the diagram, I said, "You plug it into the heart."
Raising a brow, she repeated, "The heart."
Nodding, I answered, "That's right."
Looking to be having trouble with things, she said, "And it works around the subconscious."
Nodding once more, I repeated, "That's right"
The gears slowly turned in my mother's brain, as she digested this fact. "...And the subconscious is a part of what, again?"
Not sure where she was going with this, I answered, "The mind?"
Quickly continuing from there, she asked, "And what is the mind a part of?"
Not even needing to think on the answer to this, I answered, "The brain." Thinking a moment, I added, "We should really move on to crafting the heart gear. We are on a time limit. A particularly long time limit, but one of this size normally takes me a day."
Sighing, and rubbing her temples, Mom said, "Alright, dear. Let's go collect all of the materials we need and get to crafting this... metal cube." She sounded as though she was talking about something ridiculous when she spoke of the so-called 'metal cube'. "That goes in your heart." Pausing once more, she eventually added, "And affects... the brain."
Raising a brow, I asked, "Are you alright, Mom? You're acting strange."
Twitching a little, Mom said, "Just fine, sweetie."
Shrugging, I replied, "Well, if you say so..."
With that said, we got to work.
Mom built the casing, the point that it plugged into the heart much like a barb but less, well, barbed, and finally worked on the clockwork.
I, on the other hand, set about building the core. The circuitry, the wires, and everything that made this bad-boy tick, I made. It was a bit like a power source that was recharged by the beating of a heart, mixed with the true meat of the thing. And it was all to be enclosed in the steel cage that is the casing, the gears and such used to interface with the multiple layers.
When finally I finished the hardest part, which was programing it to put limiters on the desires to impregnate humans, we combined the two parts, forming an unpowered heart gear. There was one problem with the heart gear, however. Unlike the heart of a youkai, a human heart wouldn't be able to regenerate the damage in short order.
I would be killed by the insertion.
But I knew that Mom would never be able to do it if I told her. When the work was done, and I was getting ready to go under, she requested, "Now, tell me one last time what I need to do."
Nodding as I laid down on the operating table, I said, "You just have to go in, stab the thing into the left ventricle, and then patch me up. It's not a hard job. Don't worry about any bleeding. Just patch me up when you're done, and I'll be good to go." I pointedly left out the fact that patching me up wasn't needed. I wouldn't need it where I was going.
Nodding, Mom put the mask over my face again, and said, "Breath deeply. In and out. In. And out."
Smiling up at her, knowing that this was going to be my last moment with her, I said, "I love you, Mom. Thanks for everything."
Blinking at the odd time to say such a thing, Mom replied, "I... love you too, sweetie."
With that said, trying my best to face my fate head-on, I closed my eyes.
I breathed in.
And before I could breath out, I was already knocked out.
I awoke to darkness, surrounded by something moist, and smelling strange. I tried to move an arm, but there was no response. I tried to kick myself free of my confines, but my legs would not move. Where am I? I don't like it here. I want out.
I tried to slam myself against the soft wall before me, and found that it was very solid, but I heard a crack. I know not what drove me to repeat that action - they say that insanity is repeating the same action and expecting a different outcome - but I did.
I threw myself forward, somehow knowing that it would bring me to freedom. I heard a louder crunch this time, and something wet and cold splattered on me.
I repeated the action. I was rewarded by a sickening crunch, much louder, as I felt several long hard things give way.
Once more I pushed forward, and this time I tore through something thin and stretchy. I was out. But where was I?
I looked left, and I looked right. It was still as dark as pitch. I tried to move out of the hole I made, dripping the cold liquid as I did, but now some hard wall was in my way. It felt wooden. Growing angry, I tried to slam my way through, but it didn't budge. Remembering a lesson I learned from Keine, I headbutted the thing.
I heard a crack, and felt it splinter.
Smiling, I proceeded to headbutt harder.
Once more I headbutted the wooden obstruction, and was rewarded by... is that dirt falling on me?
I headbutted one last time, and I flew out of it, now being buried alive by dirt.
I can't breath!
I began to struggle, but my arms and legs still wouldn't move. I ended up just wriggling about as I tried to free myself.
As I struggled for minutes at a time, I eventually began to feel asphyxiation catching up with me. I tried to breath, but ended up choking on dirt.
Was this how my life would end?
Buried alive in dirt thanks to my own stupidity.
I didn't want to die like this.
I didn't want to die at all.
I wanted to live.
To see daylight again.
To be... free!
I didn't want to die like-
No.
I would not die like this...
There had to be a way.
As if by magic, I suddenly knew what to do. I focused, and the dirt around me began to move on its own, as if compelled by an unseen force. My unseen force.
Unfamiliar power coursed through me, and suddenly all of the dirt before me was gone, and a rock hit me in the face. I had just compressed all of the loose dirt above me into a rock by... by... I'm not even sure how.
Now free, I began to gulp down air, coughing out dirt, relieved to finally have fresh air to breathe. As I gasped for air, I noticed that the sky was dark, and the moon wasn't full, thankfully.
...Why wouldn't I want the moon to be full? That is a good thing. It seemed to be... quite a ways away from being full. It was still two weeks away from being full, by my estimates. I shall have to make note of that, in case anything comes up that I can't crush on my own.
Getting up from the six foot hole in the ground, I thought on what I needed to do. The last thing I had known, I was at Mom's house, and then... I was here. I began to connect the dots, and eventually I came to a disturbing conclusion.
Didn't I die?
I looked back to the hole, and found that there was a grave marker on the other end of it. Lovely. But if I died, what is wrong with me? And why am I so low to the ground? I'm short, but not that short. I tried to look down at myself.
Where is my body? I only see long ropey dangling things. Wait...
Am I floating?
Testing this, I tried to rise.
Nothing happened, and I couldn't press my arms down into the earth to help myself up.
I tried to walk forward.
Nothing happened, and I couldn't feel my legs obey me.
I heard a sound from behind me, and spun around, subconsciously knowing how to, but not conciously.
There was a young man there, armed with a spear, and a lantern in his hand. It was nearly blinding, as I had been in the dark for some time. I also noticed that he seemed frightened by something behind me, so I spun around again.
Nothing was there.
So I spun around to face him, and I found him to be pointing his spear at me now. "Stay back, youkai! I don't know what that blood came from, but I'm not gonna let you get any of mine or any of the villagers'!"
Youkai? What youkai? I looked around, and found there to be no youkai around, so I asked, What youkai?
He moaned in pain, and flinched as if struck, dropping his spear. "W-what the hell?" Realizing he had dropped his spear, he quickly scooped it back up.
Blinking in surprise, I asked, Was that me? Gasping in surprise, I said, It was! It was me!
Reeling in pain, the poor man shouted, "Sh-shut up! Stop it! Get out of my head!"
I tilted my 'head' at him and asked, What?
Thrusting his spear at me, I cried out in a reptilian sound of pain as it... didn't penetrate me? It just kind of went into my skin, and stopped... I think...
The wound still bled, however, causing me to ask with anger in my voice, What was that for?!
Apparently the man couldn't take it anymore, and he fell in a pile, crying out in pain.
I tried to blink in surprise, asking, What... just happened? Did... I do that?
Then everything began to fall together, clicking into place. He told me to get out of his head. I was causing him severe pain from my 'voice', and he was telling me to stop. I knew exactly where I had just come from; before I had died, I was on my way to becoming something that could do all of these things. An evil eye. And then it hit me just what I had battered my way out of my own ribcage. I had been... buried, and I hatched. I'm an evil eye now. I was no-longer human, and with that, I had lost what few weaknesses I had. I likely no-longer age, and am now likely much stronger than I once was. Just to be sure, knowing that all evil eyes had sharp teeth, I licked my teeth, and likely would have paled if I were able to. They were all sharp. Every last tooth was like a razor-sharp killing implement. I was no-longer human. I was... an evil eye.
And the thought of no-longer being human was too much for me to bear, and I simply broke a bit at that moment. I didn't even care anymore that I seemed to be blessed with the heart gear working to keep me from impregnating the first human I had met. Or animal, for that matter, but I already had a habit of impregnating any unique animal I happened upon.
I let out a terrible shriek of despair, which caused me to send out a shockwave of psionic energy, tearing up earth and stone alike around me with hooks and blades of pure force.
I was spattered with some sort of warm liquid in my despair. Surprised out of my despair, I Looked to the source, realizing that my tantrum had caused the body of that guard to rupture open, spraying blood all over me. Not that I wasn't already covered in blood, mind you. And I was dealt a terrible blow of a realization. I had just killed a man. A man that was utterly innocent. I had snuffed out his life, and he was gone. It was horrible. It was just... he... I... He could have had a lover. Now where there was once a complete family, I had left a gaping hole behind. He could have had a wife, whom would now be a widow thanks to me. A child who would grow up without a father.
And it was so easy... It took no effort. I just let out one roar, and he was... he was... gone.
I let out another wail of despair, sending chills down the spines of every last villager I had woken up with my first wail. This time, the ground below me in a ten foot radius sunk down, crushed under the sheer weight of my terrible power unleashed without an ounce of restraint or control. The body, on the other hand, was smashed like a pancake, and blood flew in every direction, splattering the surroundings and myself as bones and armor were crushed by the monumental force of my mind. As seconds of my tantrum went by, the ground sunk deeper, and the body was pressed deeper into the shallow trench I had made in the earth.
I didn't even hear the rapid foot falls as numerous armored men ran to see what was happening, and so close to the human village. They hadn't even realized that it had happened on the border of it, right where a patrol was supposed to pass by. Right by the cemetery.
It wasn't until the bolt of a crossbow struck me that I was brought out of my despair. Who would dare to interrupt my tantrum? Who would dare to attack me, the mighty Rika, killer of defenseless humans?! I turned, and this time two bolts struck me one after the other, knocking me to the ground. While I was strong, I was small enough to fit inside of my chest cavity. The pain of the blows was enough for me to unleash another torrent of psychic energy, knocking every last guard that had come for my life off of their feet. All of them but the guard captain, who simply charged through the extreme pressure of my attack, blades of psychic energy whipping at him, cutting at his cheeks, his body, and even chipping and cracking his heavy armor, which was all that had kept him from being blown away. Swinging his mighty blade, he attempted to bisect me, but with my tough bone layer that all evil eyes possessed just under their skin much like an exoskeleton with a layer of skin over it, or simply put, armor, I was simply sent flying from the force of the impact as if I were a baseball and that weapon a bat.
However, that blow did make it through my bone plating, and I was now bleeding quite badly. Just what kind of man was this guy to be able to penetrate the tough hide and bone of a youkai with a single stroke of his blade? What sort of monstrous strength must he have?!
As I bounced across the ground, I suddenly willed myself to stop, and I was left suspended in the air as I skidded to a halt. Moments later, as soon as I had faced them once more, I felt three more bolts plunge into my body, and I let out another scream of pain, and proceeded to flee from the confrontation. In the time that that exchange had taken, the three crossbowmen had apparently gotten back up, and were now prepared to assist.
I flew high and fast as my flesh wounds began to already seal themselves as I ran as if my life depended on it, and really it no-longer did. My adversaries didn't know how to fly, so all I really needed to do was fly up for a couple dozen metres. However, not that I was paying attention to my sealing wounds, the only one that wasn't sealing was the one cut by the heavily armored captain's blade.
This was turning out to be one hell of a way to wake up. My first minutes as a youkai were already looking to be quite chaotic. Still afraid for my life, I flew for the one place I considered safe. My home, and lab, in which I had for years conducted my experiments and brought about my army of evil eyes.
It was the one safe place I had left, or so my confused mind was thinking. It had simply slipped my mind that there was a certain usurper waiting there for me, with all of my enslaved friends to back it up.
It was dark, so it was hard to find the place. I could see somewhat better in the dark than I was used to, but it wasn't helping that I was used to finding it on foot. However, when I finally did find it, I silently floated down, and made my way inside. I know the place like the back of my hand, not that I seem to have hands anymore, but strangely the light switch was eluding me.
Ohh.
Right, I have no hands. ...How am I supposed to turn the lights on? Annoyed, I called out, Guys, can you get the lights for me...? I'm having technical difficulties... Suddenly the lights turned on, and I found myself to be face to face with Upsilon. ...I forgot about you...
Smiling darkly at me, Upsilon said, I'm hurt. Aren't we friends, Rika?
Growling threateningly, I accused, You did this to me...
Raising his single brow, he replied, I'm surprised that you even care still... Moments later, he read the reason why from my mind. ...Ahh, you pulled off a last ditch effort just to spite me. I'm impressed with just how far you went for little ol' me. His voice was sickeningly sweet as he said this.
Growling a bit more, I said, Like I would just let you win...
Giving a warped chuckle that came from what sounds like a reptile, Upsilon replied, I supposed I shall just have to...His smile turning twisted, he continued, Rip it out, now won't I? Letting out a cruel chuckle, he added, After all, you would... most likely heal.
Growling, I said, You're hedging your bets on a maybe?
Frowning, the eye said, What choice do I have? You won't obey, so it's alright isn't it? Sneering, he added, Although, maybe if I make you obey, like the others, my pretty little beholder... Maybe then...
Gritting my teeth, I asked, Pretty little-?I winced as I felt something try to worm its way into my mind, as if a worm was boring into my skull, trying to get at the meat within, and devour me from the inside out. With a single flex of mental muscles, air was displaced around me, blasting out in a roar of air suddenly being torn. And just like that, it was gone, that worming feeling.
Frowning once more, the evil eye said, Impressive... You hardly even know what your powers are, or how to use them, and yet your instincts drove you to do exactly as was needed to stop my mind control...The evil eye before me began to clap its tendrils, clearly smug that I, his child, had pulled that off. The others weren't so resistant!
Growling, I asked, What did you do to them?!
Raising his one brow, he answered, Nothing major.
I narrowed my eye at him as I ground out, What. Did. You. Do.
Smiling sickeningly sweet, he answered, Just a bit of a push in the right direction is all. They were so very willing with that little effort I put in.
I let out a furious snarl, and a laser fired from my eye, burning a hole through the air in an instant. But the evil eye was quicker, suddenly vanishing as if it blinked out of existence, before reappearing in my face. Before I could even react, he unleashed a psionic shockwave, flinging me into the rock wall with enough force to send a spider web of cracks bursting from my point of impact. Sneering at me, he said, Too slow. You will have to do better than that to even consider facing an experienced evil eye. Maybe if you would open your eyes you would stand a chance.
Shaking my 'head' to get rid of the dizzy feeling from that impact, I shouted, You're only half a month old!
Sneering, the eye said, And when compared to a newborn like you, I am ancient. I at least know my capabilities, where as you know nothi-
In an instant I charged up a bullet of pure mana by pulling it from the air, and it hovered over my pupil. In that same instant, I fired, sending the ball screaming towards my target so fast that he barely had time to avoid it, as he had been busy talking. He didn't even have time to teleport this time, so distracted was he. And it cost him, the bullet tearing a bloody swath of flesh from his side just from nicking him.
Growling for a change, the iris of Upsilon began to glow. As he retreated, I soon learnt what he was planning. Out of the shadows, my friends began to attack, firing thick lasers at me. Thankfully they took a moment to all coalesce the light around them into a stronger beam, so I managed to dodge while only lightly smoking, my skin a bit raw in places that had been damaged by all of the beams focusing on me at once. Of course, with me out of the way, the beams all hit the same point, causing an explosion of mana to rip through the air, sending me flying farther than I had intended.
As I skidded to a halt, I realized that the lasers were now all gaining on me, the beams all fully charged this time, so I began to flee as I thought up a plan, the conjoined beam gaining on me. I threw myself to the side, just as the beam tried to cleave me in two, and resumed my fleeing, quickly learning on the fly how to fly quickly so as to avoid being reduced to chunks.
He know I won't fight my friends, the coward. If only there were some way that I could remove his mind control. And then it hit me, sending me flying from another detonation of mana. If this kept up, I'd be whittled down to nothing! Quickly getting up from the ground, I began to float away from the monstrous beam once more. Maybe if I were to throw up... some sort of interference? But how?
Once more the beam nearly bisected me as I dived to the side, and I began to search for some miracle to grant me the power of mind control.
Sadly, my silent prayer went unanswered, and I was forced to continue to flee, my smoking body already regenerating from the deep cuts the lasers had cut into my body. Thankfully, they only barely damaged the tough bone beneath the skin, but soon enough they would get through, and I would die. While my prayers for mind control had gone unanswered, long stalks began to rise from the top of my skull. I knew not what they were, but I could feel them bob when I made a sharp turn to avoid being cleaved again.
And then I suddenly expanded my field of view, and my depth perception improved greatly. I couldn't help but blink the new eye atop my head in surprise. I hadn't expected such a thing in the least. But there was one thing I really should have been more attentive of.
In my thoughts, I had stopped floating away from what was chasing me, giving the lasers time to catch up with me, and I was informed of this by way of lasers tearing through my skin like a hot knife through butter, the lasers all concentrated to a single point that slashed across my body, and a moment later, the mana in the air detonated again, sending me flying.
Blood flowing freely from the massive wound on my back, I rolled across the ground, bouncing when I first touched down, leaving a bloody trail behind me.
As I lay there, a second eye stalk began to rise out of my head, and the eye opened, disorienting me a bit as I rose from the ground. As I simply used my mind, no muscles screamed in protest as I rose, my mind still fresh from recently waking. Although, the pain was giving me a bit of a headache, so perhaps that could be counted as my muscles screaming in protest at my rise. Having grown wise to the act of standing still, I began to run from the lasers as fast as I could, and learned something that horrified me. The lasers weren't all behind me anymore; they were firing at me from all directions again. Just when had they all gotten into position to do such a thing?
Ignoring that for now, I tried something new. My three eyes glowing, I threw up a shell of sheer force, the beams diffusing as they hit it, reducing the damage to the point that the lasers were cutting just as quickly as my flesh healed the damage. As I did this, a third eyestalk rose from my skull, opening up. Just how many of these things are there...?
The lasers no-longer working, I saw a flash of light come from the shadows of the ceiling. Knowing that that was my target, I lowered my defenses and charged up a large bullet of mana once more, which continuously grew over the course of five seconds. I wasn't facing him, so as to make him think that he was still hidden, but as soon as I turned and fired, I heard a cry of pain, and smiled with satisfaction. I had hit my mark. And moments later, an explosion of burnt magic filled the air, ripping into my newest creation. No...
My prey.
As I was about to launch a counter offensive, I was suddenly struck by bullets of various sizes, which burned themselves into my flesh. And moments later, just as mine had, they erupted with the fury of a bomb.
As my flesh was torn into, and I cried out in pain, I crumpled to the ground as best as one without limbs could. From the ground, I saw that my handy work had done quite a lot of damage. Growling, my prey screamed, Curse you... Rika! You were supposed to be mine, and now... Now, I have to destroy you! As he spoke, a fourth eye pushed out of my skull, opening. I'll see you in hell!
Smirking smugly, I replied, You first. With that said, I pulled myself from the ground, and felt power surge through me. Suddenly I had arcane knowledge coursing through my mind for what felt like hours, and had only been seconds. With a grin, I began to incant.
Eye widening, Upsilon said, No... Pulling himself from the ground, he screamed, Stop. Not about to listen, I kept going, and... I created a light? The evil eye blinked, before chuckling a bit. Bursting out into a full blown laugh, he asked, Is this the power of a beholder? I thought it would be... more. Flapping his wings hard and fast, he rose into the air, and fled the battle.
As I was about to give chase to my prey, my vision suddenly blurred, and I felt a splitting headache come over me, getting worse as time passed. As I tried to chase the pain away with my newly acquired powers, I felt a laser dig into my flesh like a drill that cleaved through skin in an instant, only having trouble with the tough bone, although I could hear it grinding away at me, trying to chew through the plate of tough bone that it was boring away at. At first I cried out in pain, but I eventually worked through the two-pronged attack. Growling, my eyes all began to glow, and I let out an earth shattering roar that sent out a shockwave not unlike the ones I had unleashed in my despair at killing that man. The act was enough to break the mental assault enough for me to regain my once blurred sight, and the pain to recede to a dull throb.
I pulled myself from the ground, floating into the air, and a fifth eye pushed out of my skull, and I made every last one of my eyes glow just as the fifth opened. The psionic backlash I sent out was enough to outright end the assault on my mind, and cause them all to fall to the ground, stunned by the pain they were in, the light in their iris' dimming to a dull flicker for a moment, before coming back with avengeance. Just as I was about to fly after the ringleader, I found them firing more of those explosive balls of blue plasma-like mana. However, this time I was prepared, even if I had been caught in an ambush of sorts, and tears of pain were welling up in my eyes. I sent out another whirlwind of force that slammed into the projectiles, causing them to all bounce back, and force my friends to evade as they landed near them with a burning blue glow that only intensified ever so slowly as they sat there until they all exploded in one spectacular explosion.
As I waited for them all to recover, a sixth eye began to rise out of my head, opening. Hearing an angry growl from the shadows of the ceiling, I fired off a laser of my own, twice as thick as any of my evil eyes could produce. Well, save for Sigma, but she hardly counts. It hit the figure cloaked in shadows, and illuminated Upsilon as it burned away at his flesh, revealing bone which was far less vulnerable to concentrated fire. When my laser blast had ended, the entire front half of him was reduced to nothing but bone and rapidly regenerating flesh.
Growling with his lipless mouth, he screamed, Curse you! His now lidless eye began to glow, and he turned to flee, but found that the webbing of his wings had been burned away. Growling in frustration, he swung his body, and released the ceiling, flinging out of my line of sight.
As I was about to give chase, I once again, as was expected, was interrupted, a large metal table crashing into me, and nearly crushing me against a wall. Noticing the table wasn't stopping while I was set on the ground, leaning against one of the stone walls, I quickly flex my psychic muscles, and the table screeched to a halt. Then the force behind the table intensified far beyond that that I could hold back, and I decided to change my strategy, floating out of the way as quickly as I could, just as the table slammed into the wall. Looking back to the battle, a seventh eye rising out of my skull and opening, I picked up the table with my own psionic might and tossed it at another table that was being flung at me, while dodging an engine that nearly wanged me across the head, before I found a screw driver burying itself into my flesh with enough force to chip the bone armor beneath.
Growling, I tore the screwdriver out of my body with psychic might, and drove it into the floor. This was going to be a long night, I just knew it. Looking left and right, I found myself about to be turned into a pancake, so I dropped out of the air just as the two table slammed together surface to surface with a resounding crash. Second later, they both tried to flatten me against the floor, and I flung myself to the side just in the nick of time, the tables making an indent in the floor with their force. As I panted heavily from all of the stress, I felt an eighth eye push out of my head, and I began to realize something. I was feeling much stronger than when I started this fight. What could be the cause of that? Also, at the rate things are going, I'm going to have to replace everything. Where would an evil e- beholder like me even get materials for such a thing? Hrm... Maybe I'd go with Kappa. He's my best bet for such things. I'm sure he'd have concrete mix, and sheets of steel I could... somehow convince for him to let me have. Wait, what's that sound?
Suddenly I saw something fall down the hole in the center of the ceiling, followed by two more. I paled a bit, and tore my widening eyes away from the sight, facing away from them and slamming my eyes all shut. Where as last time my mother came to save me, she had used only one, this time she decided to go all-in and toss triple the amount of flashbangs needed. Needless to say, the sound was deafening, and the force of the explosion was enough to stun everyone around, while everyone but me was blinded. As I turned around to face the hole in the ceiling, a fourth flashbang went off, blinding me with its brightness. It seems that she expected to need to prepare for someone smart enough to look away and all that jazz.
Maybe wanting to blind me? But why? What have I done to deser- Right, that guard... With myself now blind, I heard a great crash from the center of the room, along with the whir of a chaingun starting up, and decided it best to throw myself behind where I remembered those pair of tables to be. As I began to hear the thunder of a constant stream of bullets being fired, I felt one more eye push up and out of my head, opening. If my estimates are correct, this should be the final eye.
Realizing that I could see with my new eye, I looked to the side, where I had been floating, and found the floor to be chewed up with the impacts of high caliber rounds. Then again, everything seemed to be; they didn't exactly seem to be looking to conserve ammo. Realizing the horrible roar of the chaingun had stopped, I retracted all but my good eye, and peeked over the tables like a periscope. What lie before me was utter devastation. Even the ceiling had been hit! If not for the fact that evil eyes can fly, I would wonder just where my mother is aiming. I sure hope everyone survives this... Well, everyone but Upsilon. By the dragon am I starting to hate that guy. If he had been a bit nicer, I wouldn't have had to kill him.
At the center of the ruins that was once my workshop, I found my eye settle on a sleek monster of a machine. It had a crab-like design to it. ...Or maybe a spider. Or perhaps a scorpion. You know, a scorpion evil eye could have been really awesome. ...Digressing. I had to question how it got in through the hole in the ceiling, because the thing was huge. Nothing like the mech from before, that's for sure. That one was obviously made for speed, where as this one...
This machine was made for war. It had eight heavily armored legs in a circular pattern sticking out of the main chassis. It had two gatling guns where one would expect the claws to be on a scorpion, and the mouth was a nightmare of blades that looked like it could deconstruct most things into scrap if it tried hard enough. For a stinger, it had... I'm not even sure what to call it. The thing just looks like it's supposed to fire something very large, with the size of the barrel. On the chassis one could tell that it had a cockpit, unlike the last machine that she had sent, and it was black, the insides unrecognizable by sight alone.
A bit intimidated, I asked, M-mom, is that you?
As if able to hear the direction my voice came from, the miniguns began to spin up and were pointed at the table I had hidden behind. Letting out an afraid squawk, I ducked behind the tables in full, afraid to come out.
With a loud screech of feedback, Mom's voice blared to life. "Rika. I see that your... condition... has improved has... improved, if traded for another."
Swallowing the lump of fear in my throat, I replied, Y-yeah... Doing... well enough...
Her voice emotionless as the turrets continued to whine as they stayed ready, she asked, "Kill any good guards recently?"
Gulping, I answered, M-maybe...
Voice stern and even, she replied, "You realize that I shall have to put you back in your grave for that, correct? Why did you do it?"
Hardly able to contain the fear welling up inside of me, I replied, I-I-I see...Swallowing the lump in my throat, I added, I don't want to die... I didn't mind dying in my sleep, but this? This... scared me. I don't want to be shot dead. I had been filled with a new wave of wanting to live when I had to dig my way out of my own grave like that.
A bit more forceful now, Mom asked, "Why. Did. You. Do. It?"
Yelping, I cried out in fear, I didn't mean tooo! Please don't hurt me! I want to live!
Chuckling quietly, just loud enough to be heard over the speaker, she said, "Not evil after all..." At an actually respectable volume, she went on the say, "Only one of us is leaving this alive, Rika. The villagers are blaming me for this, and I either have to bring you back in pieces, or not come back at all. I... do not want to do this."
Growling from off to the side, Upsilon said, Ignore me, will you? You may have defeated my army, but you will never defeat m- I suddenly heard a loud explosion from in that very same direction as the tail of mech belched white plasma.
Pouting as best as my new mouth could, I said, I wanted to kill him, mom!
Chucking, my mother said, "Sorry, honey; he was a threat, and he was focusing on me. Had you killed him before I got here, I wouldn't have had to steal that honor from you.
Angry now, Upsilon shouted, You think you can write me off so easily?! I'll show you! I'll show you all! I'll make you fight each other!
Sighing, Mom answered, "You realize that I already have plans to kill her. If anything, you taking control of me would make me less effective and help her wi- Yes, Master..."
The twin chainguns unleashed hell upon the tables I was hiding behind, and I was forced to flee to the side before the steel tables were chewed to bits. Thank the dragon for whomever decided to use steel thick enough for armor plating on those tables! I know I wouldn't have, but I would be dead now if it weren't for how thick those things were. ...Then again, they did almost crush me several times.
As I fled, the chainguns trailed twin paths of destruction side-by-side in my wake, my speed being just a bit more than the targeting system could handle without manual controls. Of course, Upsilon didn't know this, so he couldn't exactly do more than curse at myself still drawing breath.
In the end, I was basically running circles around the massive thing as it constantly rotated to face me, its thick legs quite nimble, and I began to fire one continuous beam of energy which was meant to melt through the armor, but it only barely began to wear at the black paint, leaving behind a shiny alloy in its wake.
Getting an interesting idea, I tried to focus my main eye as I fired the thick laser, and it began to thin out to a finer point, slowly turning thinner and thinner as I noticed the beam begin to actually damage the armor of the thing. It would be a long process, but I would surely win in the end at this rate if exhaustion doesn't get me first.
Crying out in frustration, Upsilon screamed, What are you doing?! Kill her!
Droning on like a zombie as I managed to cut off one of the legs, Mom replied, "Yes, Master."
Within a second, I had been stomped into the ground by the obedient foot of the machine, and then the tail swung like a golf club and sent me flying into a pile of machinery. Smashing through an old computer I had been taking apart to learn the secrets of, I skidded face-first across the ground, hidden from sight in a pile of old junk that I had never gotten around to taking apart for parts and the ever limited commodity that is sheets of steel.
Cackling madly, Upsilon shouted, Is that the best you have, beholder?! My mother could do better, and I killed her for the inheritance!
Small cuts and wounds already closing, I growled. How dare he do that to his mother... She probably loved him as all mothers love their children do, and he... he...
The wreckage blasting out away from me in a massive explosion of steel shards, I darted across the room and slammed strait into the gut of Upsilon, causing him to cough up bile and gasp for air. Not giving him a chance to recover, I blasted him with a rapidly narrowing laser, which went from simply burning away flesh, to cutting deep into the bone plate within a second. He never stood a chance, the beam easily cutting into his delicate innards with ease. I didn't make it painless for him, either. First I slashed open his stomach, next I cleaved a lung free, and then I hit the diaphragm, before finally cutting his heart in two. All while doing this, I held him down as he breathlessly screamed in agony, his face a rictus of pain before the light of life in his one eye was snuffed, leaving him to go limp in my hold.
Letting him drop to the ground, I said, That's what you get for killing your mother. What an evil man...
The speaker of the steel monstrosity blaring to life, Mom said, "-n against me! ...Huh?" Pausing a few moments to take everything in, the mech looking around at the surroundings, Mom continued, "...I feel as if I have missed something important..."
Turning to the great machine that contained my mother, I said with great relief, Mom, you're okay! My mother was silent at that. ...Mom?
Finally speaking, my mother asked, "Why didn't you just beat me...? You could have used that chance to kill me, and I wouldn't have to... to face you."
Blinking in surprise, I replied, Mom...
Gritting her teeth in annoyance, my mother growled loud enough that I could hear it over the speakers. "Why couldn't you have killed me?! You were supposed to be a monster! You were supposed to have killed that man in cold blood! Not... this... This was... supposed to be easy. I don't want to fight you, Rika... I don't want to... to kill my little girl. Why did you have to come back? It was bad enough losing you one time, but... now I need to kill you myself? What sort of twisted monster set this scenario up?"
My one eye tearing up, I replied, I came back because of Upsilon. I was to be his... beholder. The word was still alien to me. Just what is a beholder? What makes me so much stronger than an evil eye? Is it all of my eyes? Looking to Upsilons body which was now in a pool of his own blood, the wounds no-longer regenerating due to his death, I added, He wanted to make something strong. A champion, perhaps. I know not what he was planning to do with me had I not had you install the heart gear. Even if it killed me to do so, thank you for doing it.
Silence hung over the battered lab for a while, until finally Mom stated as fact, "...You knew it would kill you."
Sighing, I nodded my body, looking back to Mom's mech. I did. I prepared myself for the worst; Mom would no doubt be angry.
There was a stunned silence hung in the air for a time, and eventually my mother simply said quietly, "I see." Somehow, what I got was worse. She didn't attack me, she didn't reprimand me, and she didn't even raise her voice. In fact, she did the opposite; her voice was as quiet as a mouse.
And somehow that hurt worse. That calm acceptance grated on my nerves more than any slap across the face could have. I just wanted to curl up and die thanks to the lack of a response. The lack of a response hurt more than anything she could have done or said would have. Nervous now, I asked, M-Mom...?
Silently, Mom sat there for a time, before answering, "You did what you had to; I cannot fault you for that. But next time - I know that there won't be a next time - at least leave a note that I can find on your person. I do not enjoy blaming myself for your death, you know."
Gulping, I nodded rapidly. R-right.
Nodding to herself, Mom replied, "Very good. Thank you. You aged me years already just by having me kill you. There was much blood, you realize. And I know that you had to be aware of just how much blood would come out... You've done this over a dozen times, Rika..."
Laughing nervously, I said, S-sorry, Mom.
Looking me over, Mom added, "...You've certainly changed, haven't you, Rika. You haven't seen yourself in a mirror, have you?"
Sighing, I replied, I'm honestly a bit afraid to look at myself in a mirror. I know that I must look silly.
Chuckling, Mom answered, "Silly? No, you look... intimidating, and quite masculine, even if your jaw structure is still that of a woman. Look for yourself." She lifted one of the legs of her mech, and it proceeded to fire a mirror at my 'feet'. Why does her mech have a mirror dispenser that shoots at high speeds? ...How in the world did that mirror survive the impact? It cracked stone! ...Note to self: legs of Mom's mech fires high-speed reflective pucks. Unknown if there is more to it or not
Picking up the mirror with my mind, I looked at myself. I looked like a head with grey skin, eye stalks for hair, and spike-like teeth. My eye has a slitted pupil. All of them do. My iris gently glows yellow with hidden power, and I had tendrils dangling from my 'neck'. All in all, I looked terrifying. And that's coming from a girl that works with evil eyes constantly... To anyone else, I would simply be a monster that needs slaying.
Done with the mirrored puck, I set it down. Sighing, I said, No wonder that guy attacked me; I look more monstrous than any of my eyes.
Not quite sure how to respond to that without lying, Mom answered, "You could be worse, sweetie."
Laughing dryly, sounding as if I were a villainous man in my laugh, I replied, True; I could be something like Rumia.
Across the room, a pile of goo that was still in pain said, "I resent that!"
Blinking my ten eyes in confusion, I replied, Well, at least Tau is alright.
The mech before me sighed, and Mom said, "Sorry; I had to be sure that the enemy was disabled."
Sighing, I replied, It's fine. I'm going to be killing you anyways, so I'll have my revenge.
Chuckling, Mom said, "Quite bloodthirsty, aren't we?"
Sighing a bit louder, I answered, I've accepted that one of us is... not leaving this place. Well, alive, anyways. I'd certainly not want a rotting corpse in my lab. I believe I have a nose still.
Nodding, Mom replied, "And I would be taking your corpse with me as proof when I... defeat you."
Sighing yet again, I said, Well, shall we get to... killing each other?The junk around me began to float, and I crushed it all into the shape of sharp spikes that were all pointed towards my mother. I'd rather not do this, but I have no choice.
Sighing as well, my mother answered, "We might as well." Her dual chainguns began to whine as they began to spin up.
We were locked in a staring match, waiting for one of us to open fire. Seconds went by, followed by minutes, and we kept staring at eachother like compressed springs ready to be let loose on each other. There was a tense atmosphere as I stared unblinkingly at my mother, the whine of her gatling guns the only sound we heard. I quickly learned that I actually didn't have to blink for some reason, and swiftly took advantage of this as I waited for the first shot to fire, my weapons of choice glinting in the light.
Eventually growing impatient with us, Tau shouted, "Fight start!"
We took that as our queue to begin, and the first second of our fight was a blur of motion as I dodged to the side, throwing myself out of the way of the way as the twin beam mini-guns began to unload a salvo of death upon where I had once floated. In the second second of the battle, Mom corrected her aim to where I was to be, and I unleashed all of my sharp implements on the unmoving joints of the mech, lodging them in quite well, hopefully accurately hitting between the plates of the armor as I had intended. In the third second, an explosion tore into the innards of two of the legs of Mom's mech, and I ran strait into the fire of Mom's chaingun, which shredded my flesh like it was paper, and left pock-marks in the bone underneath that wouldn't heal nearly as quickly as the damage to the flesh. I had to grit my teeth due to the pain which I was quickly growing used to.
From there, I changed directions, and Mom tried to her best to keep up. I zigzagged my way around to the back of the mech, finding that it was now having more trouble keeping up with me with so three of its legs disabled, all on its left side. When I got behind the mech, I was treated to the tail of the thing swinging at me, and sending me sailing into a wall, and landing with a slight thump on the ground. I was now in front of the mech again, and the tail was charging up another salvo of its heated payload. Digging its legs into the ground, it unleashed an attack that caused it to slide back a foot from the recoil, spinning slightly from the fact that only one side had been saved from the recoil. As the burning red payload was flung at me, I quickly got my senses about me again, and flung myself to the right, thinking to take advantage of the legs being the way they were on that side, but Mom was ready, unleashing a salvo from her twin laser chainguns that struck home, tearing holes in my skin again.
Gritting my teeth, I continued through the immense pain, and I was soon behind the machine once more. Dodging the tail sweep, I began to charge up my eye for one giant attack, and fired the concentrated glob of power at the base of the tail, the tank not even able to think of dodging anymore. It struck home, and melted armor plates away like a heat lamp on butter. That is, it wasn't all that effective, but sustained usage would take it down. But I didn't have time for that, as the tail swung again, sending me flying towards the front again, and I this time put up a barrier top bounce off of the wall just before I hit, sending me out of the trail of fire that the chain guns were unleashing as they failed to catch me in their sights.
Realizing that the shots were missing, Mom adjusted her aim, and I began to scream towards the safety of her behind as twin trails of destruction converged on my position, and the mech set itself on the ground, lifting every one of its legs to aim at me, and I learned something worrying. Just like on the one leg, there were slots on the bottoms of the legs which were as thick as a torso around, and there were also little claws on the bottom of the legs that were retracting before my eyes, and a slot just like the one that fired the first mirrored shot opened, and... nothing happen?
Moments later, five explosions tore into me, one after another, sending me crashing to the destroyed floor below, and bouncing once. Chuckling, Mom asked, "How do you like my mine launchers? I didn't think they would be of any use against a flying target, but it seems I was wrong!"
I gritted my teeth to try and work through the pain as I already began to regenerate. What?! Mine launchers? But I don't see anyth- They're reflective because they have optic camo, aren't they?! ...I was using a mine as a mirror?! While I thought that over, another five explosives ripped chunks out of my flesh, and caused me to slam into the wall of my lab with great force, dizzying me. When I had regained my senses, I noticed that the plasma launcher of a tail was finished charging, and suddenly fired out a blue wad of plasma at high speeds, which I flung myself to the side to dodge, and lifted more of the surrounding scrap, turning it into further razor-sharp implements of death by way of crushing them into the shapes of thin spikes. Behind me, I could feel the intense heat of the plasma burning its way through the rock. As I fired them at the exposed joints of the legs, armor clicked into place, and the shots were all deflected. Even if that failed, I used the opening given to zoom over to the back of the mech, and begin to charge my eye again. By the time I had reached my destination, the armor had disabled, and the machine was free to move again, the legs swiveling to face me. Unleashing my payload on the root of the tail, I watched as another layer of armor melted away in the explosive might of that blast. Moments later, I felt explosions rip into me again, and was annoyed to realize that the legs were pointing my way, which I realized as I was sent sailing away.
As I was sailing through the air, I came to a conclusion. I wasn't going to win this, at this rate. I needed more power! And then it hit me. Why not just take control of her mind, and force her to eject?
Now knowing how to win this battle, I- Wait, how do you even do that? And then I smack into the wall, jarring me a bit. I felt a bit dazed again, for the second time in a short time, but I pushed through it, flinging myself to the side moments before another set of mines exploded where I had been just a second ago.
As I tried to figure out just what to do, I heard the strangest whispers begin to come to me. They were coming from the direction of my mother, and they were all worried about me, angry about what the village was forcing her to do, and sad that this was how I was going to remember her. It took a moment, but I realized that these were my mother's thoughts. Does she... not expect to win? But if she expects to lose, why is she fighting so hard? Why not just let it happen? Is she so stubborn?
Following my instincts, I focused my will upon the consciousness I was feeling, and willed it to obey me. There was a fight, and the mech stopped attacking. My will against hers. Our wills clashed for some time, but in the end, I won. I had just... controlled my mother. ...Mom. I floated over to the cockpit.
In a dull voice, she asked, "Yes, master?"
Sighing, I commanded, Open the cockpit.
Seconds passed, which felt like minutes, but she eventually obeyed, the cockpit sliding back to expose my mother to the air. She looked so... obedient. It felt wrong to do this to her. This wasn't a victory; this was hollow. There was no pride in what I had done, turning my mother into my puppet. My slave. All just so I could live another day. And then, in the end, I'm going to have to...
I began to charge my eye up, tears welling up as I did. I was about to blow a hole in my mother, and there was nothing she could do to stop me. In the end, the ball of energy slowly dissipated. I couldn't do it. I couldn't kill her. But what else is there for me to do?
I began to unfasten her seatbelts, which formed a cross across her chest, and plucked her from the seat, carrying her out of the mech with a sigh. This sense of power is... intoxicating. I could so easily destroy her now. Without her mech, she's little more than human, and the threat is gone. Sure, she does have that natural ability with the magic in the air, but she never did train it. While she can detonate the mana in the air, I am still... superior. I can fire globs of concentrated mana, and fire high-powered lasers from every one of my eyes. If only she had some form of countermeasure for mind attacks, maybe this would have played out differently. Maybe I would be the one who wouldn't be around any longer.
Getting an idea, I floated over to one of the tables, flipping it back over and then sat her down on it. I released my power over her mind, willing control to return to her. I hope she is willing to listen to me.
Her dull eyes remained lifeless for just a few second longer, before she blinked rapidly. After a moment, her senses returned to her, and she locked eye with me, a look of dawning horror coming to her face, and she began to frantically look around, before running for her machine. Knowing that I couldn't exactly let her do that, I proceeded to tug at her back with my mind, pulling her to me with ease, perhaps giving her whiplash with just how quickly she was flung at me. Bouncing off of my squishy body, she fell to the ground, stunned momentarily.
Clearing my throat, I said, There is no escape for you.
Regaining her senses, she tried to crawl away from me, to which I responded by dragging her back towards me. Crying out in pain as she dug her nails into the ground, and the subsequently broke off, she shrieked, "N-no, let me go!" She was clearly in a panic by this point.
Sighing, I said, Mom, calm down.
She continued to try to get away from me, my mental power holding her in place by the wrist. "Let me goo!"
Grumbling, I said a bit louder, Mom.
Continuing to try and get away, Mom started muttering things fearfully. You know, if she was in less of a panic, maybe she could try to get away.
Growling, I roared, Mom!
This time she held her head, whimpering in pain.
Sighing, I just yanked her towards me, and used my eye stalks to give her a strange hug. Mom, it's okay... We'll get through this somehow. I don't know if you'll like it, but... we'll get through this. I held her there for some time, making slightly scary cooing sounds. Honestly, I doubt she would have done this for me had she won. After all, I would have been dead when I had lost. There is no way to disarm someone who uses their mind as a weapon short of destroying their mind, and by that point you might as well have killed them.
After a good ten minutes of her not calming down, I got an idea, my instincts guiding the way. Doing as I felt I should, I began to soothe her psyche in an attempt to calm her. Unsurprisingly, what with it being far more direct, it worked within moments, and she fell asleep.
Well, that was more effective than I was hoping... Shaking her back awake with a sigh, I locked eyes with her. Will you listen, please? I will not harm you; I could never do such a thing. Although, I am quite annoyed with how easily you were made to kill me. Shouldn't I be more important than that after Dad...I couldn't bring myself to finish that sentence. To so easily try and kill me, even with all things considered, I was hurt, to say the least. Betrayed, even.
Life returning to her eyes, Mom said, "I'm sorry, sweetie... I wasn't sure what to do. I just..." -Didn't want to die.
I growled in annoyance at that, and replied, I know you didn't. And unlike you, I'm not willing to kill family. I expected more from you, Mom. ...But I'm not here to chew you out.
Raising a brow, Mom hesitantly asked, "You aren't?"
Nodding, I reiterated, I'm not.
Frowning, Mom asked, "Then what is it that you want of me? You won. Quit tormenting me and just end this."
Growling, I shouted, What did I just say I wasn't going to do?! Grinding my teeth in annoyance, I added, I have several... offers. First, will you let me impregnate you?
Furrowing her brows, she shouted back, "What?! No! ...And that sounds terrible!"
Nodding, I said, Alright. One down, two to go. Second, will you stay here, and live the rest of your days in peace with me? Well, unless they find and try to exterminate us. Then we'd have to drive them off.
Shaking her head, my mother said, "No, that's the cowards way out. I'd never be able to live a life like that. I might as well just have you kill me in that case."
Nodding again, I said, Fine, then. And the final option is to wait 100 years with me for them to forget about us. It would... pass in the blink of an eye for you, I think.
Blinking, Mom replied, "I would die before that was over."
Grinning, I replied, Not with what I have in mind! You'll just have to have an internship as a statue for that time is all. I'm fairly certain that it'll work, too! Of course, there's the issue of getting someone to undo the spell, but she doesn't need to know that.
Raising a brow while crossing her arms over her chest, Mom said, "Define 'fairly certain'."
Sighing, I replied, Look, if it failed, you'd die. Is that any different than the original plan?
Chuckling, Mom replied, "Point."
Hesitating a bit, I asked, So...?
Sighing, she answered, "...Fine. But... don't forget about your mother, alright? I don't want to end up being trapped in stone for an eternity simply because you forgot about me."
With that said, I swallowed hard, and began to focus my power into my main eye. I've never used this attack before, and my mother's life depended on me using it correctly, and focusing on a certain color.
Blue.
Blue.
Blue.
I focused on this color for some time as power began to coalesce into my main eye.
Blue.
Blue.
Blue.
I chanted this word like a mantra, focusing on the color completely.
Blue.
Blue.
Blue.
Power began to run into my eye, focusing into my pupil, and my yellow iris began to change color, becoming blue.
Blue.
Blue.
Blue.
I closed my eye, and my concentrated my mind to the peak of my ability.
Blue.
Blue.
I shouted, Blue!
My eye snapped open, and I unleashed a spray of blue light, blinding myself and my mother in one go, which lasted only as long as the energy was spraying from my eye. Well, for me, anyways. My mother should be blinded for the next hundred years. Normally this spray of light would be like the colors of a prism, but I managed to focus it down to just the color blue. As my alien knowledge tells me, that would be the color that I wanted. The color of petrification.
As the color blue cleared from the area, my handiwork became apparent. Lying on the table, my mother was frozen in stone, trying to shield herself from the rays that had crashed into her, her eyes squinted shut as she gritted her teeth. That was certainly bright!
Gently lifting my mother up, I floated off to the side, and proceeded to set her in the corner.
I next proceeded to check on everyone. They were at the very least unconscious. As it turned out, they were all in critical condition, and the smaller ones looked like they wouldn't make it. Well, youkai regenerate from much, so they'll be fine, right? There's really... nothing I can do for them if they aren't fine soon. They'll just end up... dying.
Just thinking of that was enough to bring tears to my eyes. Dammit, why did Upsilon have to be evil? Everything was going so well. This is all his fault. Why couldn't he just be like all of the others?! Was it the heart gear? Did I make it wrong? Was it something about the human I used? What was it?! Why did this have to happen?! I didn't want power like this! I just wanted friends that could keep my safe. Friends that could protect me. Mister Bakebake betrayed me... Sigma left me to do... whatever it was he does. I wanted to make a strong friend that could be there for me, and keep me safe. To keep me in line, even.
I looked at myself in a hand mirror that was now floating before me that I had recovered from a pile of junk. I was something that wasn't me. It was wrong. It was the monster that I had become.
For the first time since I became a beholder, I truly let myself realize just what had happened, and began to cry long and hard.
Soon, I felt a pair of wings wrap around me from behind. Looking back with a leaky eyestalk I was happy to see Alpha. With great joy in my voice, I said, Alpha. I turned to face her, and smiled through the tears. At least I still have her.
Smiling back at me, Alpha licked my face, saying, Rika.
In the end, the smaller evil eyes didn't make it, but the bigger ones did. I was sad for a time, but I eventually accepted it, placing their graves outside of the lab, where I could visit them whenever I liked.
The next weeks were spent getting Kappa's help to get materials for repairs of the lab, which we ended up trading for using animals we caught.
The following years were hard at first, as we had to drive off humans now and then before they discover where my lab is. It's not exactly hard to find the thing, however, and it was eventually discovered, although they couldn't get in, so they dropped the subject of exterminating me. After all, I had only killed once, and they weren't about to waste money on a professional.
Then, one day an outsider was running from Rumia, and I opened my doors to him. I knew Rumia and Tau wouldn't be happy about that, but they would understand when I told Tau that he wasn't a black collar. I even amused myself by having him listen to my old recordings. He was a curious little human.
Smiling, I said, And that human is you.
They chuckled, and said, "Honestly, I thought I was screwed when I met you for real..."
Snickering hissily, I replied, And if I told you that the heart gears stopped working years ago?
Gulping nervously, the human said in a quiet voice, "Please don't hurt me."
Laughing hard, I said with amusement, I fixed them; you are safe. ...It was not an easy task, mind you, and Alpha hasn't returned since then, thinking that I had turned evil, but I did fix them all. Well, all of the ones that would trust me... Alpha still hasn't returned, nor has she been fixed...
Sighing with great relief, the human replied, "Thank god... I thought you were going to eat me, or turn me into one of your children."
Shaking my 'head', I replied, No, that is not something I would be capable of. Tau would try to stop me if I did the former, as you are innocent, and I do not trust humans to be good evil eyes. No, instead I shall have Tau lead you to the village, where you can live the rest of your life in peace.
Tau giggled, saying, "Is that so~?"
Sighing, the human asked, "Is there no way home...? I mean, there's nothing tying me to the outside world or anything, but..."
Smiling, I replied, You shall come to love this land eventually. It may take time, but you will acclimate to this life where magic is real, and monsters roam the land. You could even have the kappa build you modern devices that are overly complicated. Or, if you are feeling adventurous, you could come see me. I accept trades of the materials required along with extra parts.
Sighing again, they said, "Very well. Lead on, please, Tau."
Giggling, Tau replied, "Alrighty~"
With that said, they left me to my devices, leaving to head for the human village. I kind of miss the human already... We had bonded a little, in that night that we spent together.
