Pale hands snapped around monstrous teeth.
Hammer was awed by Soma's speed. He pushed spread jaws away from the American and his associates, thin fingers slipped between long incisors and canines. There was rage in his cold arms, a fury that brought his own fangs to bear. The young man was powerless to set time back and rescue Arikado from his fate inside that awful maw. His failure fueled his struggles. He could not let this fair-featured snake rip apart his friends.
The young man pushed against Lamia's second mouth. "You guys need to get out of here. I'll hold her off."
"Soma, don't be a fool!" Julius shouted.
Lamia's human head spoke, mocking Julius' concern. "You heard my lord. Let us have a little privacy."
Ice snapped at her tail. She swiveled her torso, turning to face Yoko. The witch was halfway through another bombardment of crystals when the serpent woman whipped her tail at her. The blow smacked Yoko into the side table. She yelped as her head hit sharp trim, the mirror on the table shattering below her body. Blood and glass tacked to her hair as she pulled up, dazed and wobbling.
Julius and Hammer grabbed her before another flick of Lamia's tail could squash them. It landed with a thick plop, floorboards splintering in her wake. Soma snarled as he wrestled her back. Her torso twisted over her spine, tail winding in smooth spirals as they fought. She was half a ton of lean muscle, save for the unsightly bulge in her guts. Everything about her powers involved pressure, strength inside and out.
Soma pushed her shoulders to the ground, fighting to match that overwhelming power. "Let Arikado go, or I'll cut him out."
"Why not take a third option?" Lamia rolled Soma over. His head struck the ground with a hard smack. Light scattered in his eyes as her weight pinned him down. A churn over the top of his stomach made him want to throw up. "Love me, my lord, and I will return his atoms to you in our image."
A red blur ran forward. "You monster!"
Blonde curls flailed as Mina pushed Lamia's chest backwards. There was no way the shrine maiden could compete with such a beast. Lamia yanked Soma back with her tail, then slammed Mina beneath her. Soma pulled at the appendage slithering up his neck, reaching forward with trembling fingers. His mind swam, his soul buzzing with fright. He feared striking Lamia. Two of his friends were trapped within her coils, vulnerable to being struck.
Lamia's second jaw foamed with delight at Mina's squirming. "What did you hope to accomplish, little girl?"
Mina fumed. She didn't budge as the monster leaned over her. "It was bad enough when you were just a normal girl trying to steal Soma! At least I could handle that, if you were really kind to him. But this?" She swatted the monster in her gut. "You think this is how you're going to win him—by wiping out evidence that he ever loved anyone else?"
"Don't touch my beautiful skin." Unblinking eyes flickered at Mina's appearance. "Although, yours is pretty, too. So soft and tender."
A shriek escaped the maiden as a forked tongue wrapped around her right thigh. Burly arms came to her rescue. Hammer slammed Lamia back as Julius snatched Mina up. The pair was covered by fizzling magic. Yoko's magic petered out, smacking Lamia with soft snow instead of stabbing ice. Hammer braced the witch. The blow to her head had been more severe than they thought. She sank against his chest, blood trailing down her face.
Hammer drew a pistol from his side as Lamia pulled Soma before her. The American snarled. There was no way he was going to risk a shot. He barked at Soma. "C'mon, kid. Kick her in the gag reflex!"
His words drew Lamia's ire. A blur of black scales and blonde hair barreled towards the mouthy American. Soma dug his heels into her skin, trying to slow her down. She slammed him through walls as his companions ran out of her path. The serpent crashed onto the walkways, smashing through supporting rails. Lamia doubled back, shocked at her own strength and speed. Her flailing wasn't enough to keep them on the ledge.
Air slipped beneath thin legs and thick coils.
Soma howled as they fell through layers of floors. Gravity pummeled them as they fell to the earth. Soma was sure his bones were going to be smashed into powder. He didn't know how he would survive the fall, never-the-less how the enormous Lamia could. Anything as bloated and heavy as she was would burst open like a rotten pumpkin, all seeds and strings splattering over solid ground.
Planks cracked as they landed on the bottom floor. Soma groaned in pain. He scrambled out of Lamia's grasp, his body struggling to overcome the agony from falling so far. It wasn't quite as bad as the last time he'd fallen through a tower, but it was by no means pleasant. He turned back to find Lamia recovering. Her sore skin throbbed. There were stripes down sensitive sides, places where blood vessels had snapped. She was still whole, her prey held fast in her bowels.
With a tired stagger, Soma drew his knife. "Just…just stop. Neither one of us is up for this." He gave a wave of his blade, arms aching. "If you love me, then let him go. Please."
The serpent hissed at him. The young man moaned as she smashed into him once more. Of all the people she shouldn't be fighting, it was him! He was trying to give her a chance to do something right! He pulled his knife upwards, nicking one side of her lower jaws before she pinned his arms to the ground. He grimaced as thick flesh coiled around him. Lamia was not keen on letting either man go.
"This is your fault, my lord!" Lamia chewed him out as she squeezed him tight. "If you would have listened to Shaft, I would not have had to take such drastic measures. Your ill-begotten son is a threat to our kingdom. Would you throw away global domination so quickly over one insignificant mistake?"
Soma cried out as she snapped the end of her tail around his body. His knife fell to the ground. She wrenched his wrist down as he fought to find any soul to help him. The roll in her stomach interrupted his thoughts. Such movements were too feeble for Arikado. Soma gasped, trying not to despair at that weak trembling.
Three souls resonated with him, seeking Dracula's power of dominance. He cleared his mind, listening to their call. The soul of a succubus promised him health and happiness at a single touch. Useless, since he couldn't move his arms. A flame demon gifted him with overwhelming power. He didn't dare take it. If Lamia would roast from it, so would Arikado. The humblest of monsters won his attention. He felt like a fool for not listening to its soft cries before.
White mist surrounded Soma. He fell through it, slipping through Lamia's coils on leathery wings. A tiny, fluffy bat flew up from where Soma had once been. It dove away, landing next to Soma's knife. The youth broke his transformation. He flipped backwards, landing on solid human feet.
"I'd give up my powers for any of my friends in a heartbeat." Soma snatched his knife from the ground. "Trust me—right now, I don't have many beats to give. But I'd sacrifice every last one of them for any of them."
Lamia sneered at him. "Is it your heart that is broken, or is it your head?"
The snake woman rounded on him again. One swipe was enough to deter her. Red and white fluid followed the strike of his knife. The first substance was easy to identify. Blood, of course. The second took him a moment to figure out. He only realized it when she turned to face him, fluid leaking from where her unblinking eyes used to sit. She stared at him with empty sockets.
"If only you could blind me so easily," Lamia hissed as white membranes bloomed in her skull once more.
She snapped thin fingers. Dozens of floating eyes came to her command. As they corralled Soma away from the shattered tower's floors, she spat at her king. "Do you know what it's like to be forced to see for all eternity? To remember the horror on your children's faces as you were forced to devour them? I was merciful to your son when I took him. I had a maw that could fit him whole. I wasn't forced to gnash him to pieces to satisfy a goddess' sick revenge! To see his death every waking moment!"
Soma could only stammer in horror. "T-that's awful."
"And yet, you deny me the one thing that could comfort me!" Lamia shrieked at him. Her words stung worse than the electric-tipped tails slashing at him. "If I have to fill my belly with children, I'd rather they live, for once! But here I am again, having to destroy instead of create simply because you rejected your rightful state!"
Lightning snapped in Soma's teeth. "He could have been yours too, you monster!"
The serpent shrieked at such a word. She lashed her tail at Soma, bashing him into the cursed ground. Her eyes circled around him, biting at his flesh with bolts of electricity. He shuddered in agony. She found his jolts of pain pleasing. Every twist in his jacket, every flail of his arms and legs made the surging within her seem like little more than butterfly wings grazing her ribs. Soma could not last as himself forever. Either his desperation would force him over his moral boundaries, or he would die. At the moment, she didn't care which oblivion he would fall into.
White light flashed in her guts. She gave a hiss of shock. The eyeballs swarming Soma quaked as a force ripped them apart from the inside out. Lamia herself felt rended as power flowed inside her. The prey within her was stronger than before, his thrashing shaking the whole of her belly. She curled around herself once more, fighting her own flesh.
"How many times must I strangle you?" Lamia snarled at her guts.
Soma pulled himself up. Her pain gave him a moment to strike. He slashed at her chest. She rocked back, but did not fall. He realized how ineffective his attack was as teeth grazed his arm. Soma pulled away before her fangs could dig deeper into his skin. He clutched at the injury. Blood slipped between his fingers, staining pallid flesh garnet and black.
"You bit me!" Soma huffed.
Lamia smirked. "Are you, Lord Dracula himself, complaining of a little nip?"
She leaned down to lick at his wounds. Her tongue and torso were jerked back. Soma's eyes widened. Thin arms were at his defense once more, grappling with the monstrosity that dared to call itself his wife. Mina was never going to win a wrestling competition. At least her fire gave Soma his saving grace.
Mina braced an arm around Lamia's neck. "Let them go! Now!"
"Or what?" Lamia taunted her. "Are you going to—"
Piercing metal drew her mocking to a halt.
Soma gawked as Lamia screeched in pain. Mina had taken what the forces of nature and Soma had not stolen. Lamia's tail fell dead to the ground. Mina scurried from the serpent woman, rushing for Soma's arms. There was blood on her hands. Buried in the base of Lamia's spine was the knife Julius had given Mina. Lamia wrenched it away, shrieking in agony. The action did her no good. It did not restore the strength her massive tail once had.
Slender arms weren't strong enough to carry the large bulk trailing Lamia. Her attempt to crawl forward was in vain. "You viper! What have you done to me?"
"I'm sorry." Mina folded her hands together. She was uncomfortable with the blood that had stained them. "It was the only way I could stop you. When we turn Soma back into a human, maybe you can—"
"If I can't have him, I don't want to live!" Lamia shrieked.
She moaned, unable to feel the lump in her stomach moving. Both her jaws clenched shut. She hissed at heavy footsteps approaching her. The rest of the adults finally caught up with Soma and Mina. They eyed the injury in the snake woman's back. All three were shocked to find blood not only on Soma's hands, but on the miko's as well.
Mina approached Yoko. "She's hurt."
Yoko pressed a hand to her bloodied head, smiling. "Good work."
"I don't feel too proud about it." The shrine maiden frowned. She kneaded her skirt, flustered. "If we take down this shrine and heal Soma, then she'll go back to being a human, right? I want to give her that chance—even though I did something awful to her."
Mina had an odd kind of mercy. Yoko sighed. Lamia didn't deserve such thoughts, but the human soul within her could still repent. At any rate, the bloated serpent could do no more than scratch at them. With such a bulbous mass on her hips, she was unlikely to trail after them. The worst she could do was send more eyeball monsters after them. As long as it wouldn't bite them in the ass, Yoko had no problem with Mina's kindness.
"You're way nicer than I am, Mina." Yoko knelt on the ground, observing the swelling in Lamia's tail. She pressed her hand against it. A weak nudge reached back. Much too weak. "Hammer. Potion. Julius. Knife. Now."
The first item came to her open hand. Yoko pulled the stopper out of the potion, then downed it in gulp. That was all she could afford for self care, at that moment. Arikado's health was more pressing on her mind. She stuck out her other hand, waiting for Julius to pass her a dagger. He grunted, then pulled it out a fresh blade.
Two hands reached for it.
Yoko lowered her eyebrows. "Soma?"
"Let me take care of this." Soma frowned, eyes wide. "You look like you could use a break."
She wanted to be mad at the kid. There was nothing worse than when someone doubted her abilities. Her fingers trembled as she held them out, vision swimming. Soma was right. Thanks to her head injury, she was more likely to cut herself or stab Arikado than clear-minded Soma was. She smiled, then pushed Julius' weapon towards Soma. The kid knew what was at stake. He wouldn't screw this up.
The witch smirked, fluffing Soma's hair as she left. "Alright. He's your baby."
"Ugh." Soma sighed. "Don't put it like that."
He knelt before Lamia's belly, nerves prickling his fingertips. Soft hands on his right shoulder reassured him. Mina's bravery seeped through Soma's coat and into his arms. Julius, Yoko, and Hammer rolled Lamia back. Her belly popped up, scales stretched, skin beneath bruised. Hammer snatched onto human shoulders as Julius and Yoko pressed Lamia's flesh smooth. There was little she could do to fight them, other than twist her top half and swear.
Soma steadied himself, one timid hand resting on her distended coils as he felt for Arikado. The second heart within her was slower than before. He hoped that was a good sign—that Arikado was calming down, not blacking out. A resonance of heat guided his first cut. Lamia wept, her only pain coming from her shame. There was no flinch from the second heart, no fear for what Soma was doing. That trust reinforced Soma's will.
A layer of pale fat glistened over white muscle. Soma made shallow cuts, worried more about hurting Arikado than the throbbing mass around him. White fell to pink, then red as an engorged organ quivered before Soma. With one last cut, he split the serpent's stomach open. Black bile gushed over his knees. Everyone recoiled from the stench. He screwed up his face, then pitched the knife aside. There was one grotesque task left for him.
He stuck his fingers into the gash. Weak fingers brushed back.
Soma made an undignified cry. He reached forward, burying himself up to the shoulders in gunk, flesh and slime oozing over his forehead and fringe. Trembling hands clung to his arms. Wet, ragged coughs sent delayed terror through him. How was Arikado alive? How had he not been smothered or disintegrated by acid or chewed up into teeny tiny pieces? He put one hand behind Arikado's head as he dragged the agent out. There was a hot gush against him as soaked hair and clinging cloth slimed him. Black fabric fell into his lap. White flesh clutched onto his jacket, pale hair sticking to his neck and chest.
The dhampir fought to catch his breath. Soma struggled to keep his.
"Good job, kid." Yoko kneeled next to Soma. She brushed hair out of his eyes, her own shining with pride. "Want me to finish up?"
Soma bobbed his head. "Please."
Yoko rolled up her sleeves. "You just take care of him." She turned to Julius. "I could use your help."
Julius nodded. It was just as well that he helped her finish the last leg of Lamia's surgery. He crouched down, sparing only one smirk for Soma before getting to work. Yoko patted both Soma and Arikado, then went to perform her thankless task. Another pair of gentle hands raised themselves before Soma's eyes. Soma held fast to Mina's clean hands. She helped the pair wobble to fresh grass before letting them rest again.
The dhampir was in shock, hacking up lungs filled with gunk. Soma brushed slimy hair away from Arikado's face as he composed himself, eyes pinched shut. There were gouges in his back, purple contusions winding down his throat and chest. Soma winced. This was his fault—the bruises, the injuries, the white hair beneath slime. His blindness had broken Arikado.
Soma turned to Mina, red-ringed eyes worried. "If Hammer's got any spare potions—"
"On it!" The miko hopped away, quick to fill Soma's request.
The young man's sides were burning, bite marks seeping blood. The pain was bearable. He calmed his mind and raging instincts, trying to focus on getting Arikado stabilized. Soma was careful not to touch raw wounds as he rubbed Arikado's back. The agent's coughing became stronger. Soma yanked his hair back as a disgusting roll of phlegm evacuated Arikado's lungs. Some of his stomach's contents too, from the look of it.
Soma stilled his movements. "Hey. Talk to me. Are you okay?"
Arikado nodded. "Thank—"
He locked his gaze on Soma. Both balked.
There was terror in Arikado's eyes. Genuine fear. For a man that had been trapped within a monster's guts, he was more horrified by what had happened to Soma than his own experience. The young man winced. It couldn't be pleasant to see him on the edge of becoming one of the undead. Between his fangs, his hair, his skin, and now being coated in several kinds of bodily fluids, he had to look like a monster fresh off a kill.
But Arikado? Nothing in him could scare Soma. A bolt struck his heart as luminous irises focused on him. This wasn't a bizarre nightmare, some submerged memory recalled in a fanciful light. Gold eyes. Arikado really did have gold eyes. Genetics? Magic? Whatever caused it, it was astounding. Soma couldn't stop gawking. It was wonderful, too strange to be real.
"Soma…" Arikado didn't have the courage to ask about Soma's state.
"It's alright. I'm fine." Soma wiped slime from Arikado's face. "Yoko's got a plan to fix me. Just take it easy."
Arikado took a deep breath, then relaxed. "Alright."
A soft swish through the grass halted their conversation. Mina plopped next to their sides. She yanked the glass stopper from one bottle, then handed it to Soma. "Hammer says it's on the house, but just this once." She cracked open another bottle. Her mouth moved faster than her mind as she spoke with Arikado. "Here. Drink this. You'll feel—oh my gosh!"
Soma snorted potion out of his nose, laughing at Mina's surprise. He pointed to his own eyes. "Cool, huh?"
Mina socked him in the shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't know!" Soma chuckled.
"There was a great deal you did not know." The dhampir bowed his head. "I am sorry."
If Soma wanted to be mad, no one would have blamed him. If he felt hurt, underestimated, betrayed by those who hid the past from him, he would have been justified in his anger. Steady limbs spoke of a truth greater than Arikado's name or Soma's nature. The young man snatched the dhampir around the neck with one arm. This was his. It was selfish and greedy to think, but in that moment, Arikado was his.
Soma's throat cracked as he spoke. "You're kind of a heart breaker, you know that?"
Wet hair rested on the crook of his neck, murmurs soft and true. "It runs in the family."
Author's Note
My first draft of this story actually ended here. Not at this plot point, but at this chapter. Hell, this wasn't even a thing in the first draft. Just decided to fluff up Beth's role. So, sorry to tell you, but you've got more to go. Unless you're enjoying this. Then, yay?
God, I wrote so many different drafts to get to this point. There was just a straight one where Julius and company helped Soma recover and cleaned up Arikado in one chapter, one where Soma figured out what to do on his own, one where Maria Renard as an avatar of Suzaku came back from the dead to help Soma save Arikado, one where Mina smacked Soma into shape while trapped in a glass ball...dudes, I had drafts. That doesn't even get into whether or not Soma did the ritual willingly or was hypnotized. Hell, there were even a few drafts where he ended up stabbing Arikado with a spear. And this is where I ended up—cutting open a snake in a moment of accidental theme repetition. Writing is wild.
The next couple of chapters are in rough shape. I'll try to get them in on time, but I've got a heck of a week ahead.