God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 202: Lessons Learned

...Kami Miyako...

Yvon sat at the table of his manor, his thin eyes narrowed even further, as he listened to Commander Montec. "Reports of Dominic's death have filtered out, but he had more support than we expected, and his Agante seem unfazed by his death, it's very slow going to lock down the entire city."

Yvon sliced a piece of well cooked meat on his plate and took a small bite. "Then it looks like we need an incentive, I would suppose that they're hesitant because they don't believe we'll really feed them, and I suppose I can't blame the people for that. I was going to wait, but let's do this now. Send a few thousand soldiers outside and over to the labor camps, put the slaves down and bring back the meat, we'll feed the army first, and then the loyal population that joined me early, and then the rest. Let the faithless wait on the benevolence of the faithful." He chewed slowly and swallowed even more slowly, savoring the feel of freshly cooked meat sliding down his throat, "Oh, and also, I seem to recall there were some slaves brought here from Crossroads, most of their owners have now died, send a detachment and take those who are without owners. No sense in feeding unowned livestock while actual people go hungry." He remarked with a casual wave of his knife.

"Of course, Cardinal." Montec, the barrel-chested soldier, said confidently, though he kept his eyes glued to the plate the entire time, tearing his gaze away only when Yvon took his knife up and pointed to the door.

"Well, get going. Don't worry, there will be plenty for you, I'll make sure of it." Yvon remarked with a tiny hint of impatience.

"Sir!" Montec replied in a deep voice and spun on his heel, rushing for the door.

A few minutes later his plate was clean and Yvon headed for the discipline room. He walked slowly as he contemplated what tools to try next. "I wonder how many times we'd have to heal his balls and remove them before he gives in?" Yvon asked himself with annoyance. "Stubborn animal." He cursed and spat on the floor, he was still grumbling when he reached his destination and found his slave wiping down the one he'd taken from Dominic's manor.

It took a few seconds for him to realize that the prisoner had freed himself by dying. Yvon approached more rapidly than his aging body should have allowed, and yanked her away from the corpse by her hair.

"Why are you cleaning a corpse?" Yvon asked the stupid slave.

Misu yelped a little as she staggered back and forced herself to her knees. "I was told to c-clean the body of the slave... I-I was doing so, I swear it, master..." She whimpered as she lowered her eyes in deference.

"Gah... he was supposed to be 'alive' you stupid beast!" Yvon ground out... "What good is a clean corpse?!" He asked her as he raised his withered hand to slap her.

"For c-cooking." Misu cast herself at his feet, covering her head with her hands against the familiar blows, but they did not come.

She opened one eye and peeked up, his hand had paused.

As if brought up short by her words, Yvon laughed. "That's true. Have the animal dragged to the kitchen, no sense in wasting meat, we'll have him for dinner tonight, I'll find Dominic some other way." Yvon remarked, leaving her alone, he stormed out of the room.

Commander Montec stood at the gates of the city of Kami Miyako. "How long?" He asked himself.

"Sir?" A thin, hungry looking subordinate asked, the confusion on his shallow face revealing that he did not understand the question.

"Nothing." Commander Montec shook his head dismissively, "I was just wondering how long it's been since these gates actually 'opened'. Weeks? Months? It feels like years, like a lifetime since we shut out the refugees when the city couldn't hold anymore."

"Worried, sir?" The young man asked in a shaky voice.

"About threats? No. About getting a good night's sleep after what we're likely to see out there? Yes. I see reports about what's out there, and it's like some kind of frozen hell. The bodies that washed in from Wheaton, a lot of them were taken out and consumed, entire villages worth of people became bandits, some took over the woods to extort terrible prices just for firewood. Can you imagine it? Selling your sister for a few sticks of wood to burn? Your parents forced to trade away one of their children for the same? Imagine just getting to Kami Miyako from some village running away from General Neia, Enri, or the dark elves, or one of the others. You run and run through cold and ice and snow, you cling to your loved ones and the promise of safety in the most sacred city in the world... only to find it closed against you, no food, the river choked with blood and corpses?"

Montec took off his helmet and scratched his head ruefully, "We're living in a kind of hell in this city, running out of everything, we're like birds shut up in a cage and desperate for our owner to come and feed us because we can't get out to feed ourselves anymore. But them out there?" He waved a hand toward the massive fifty foot gates that slowly began to open as the now poorly maintained and frozen chains began to creak and strain under human muscle.

"Out there, they're truly in hell, no government, no support, the truth is our gates aren't even shut against the demon of the west and her coming armies anymore, they're shut against the people who fled the fallen cities, towns, and villages, we're besieging ourselves. The ones who try to get in, we kill, and those who survive out there, take the bodies back to eat them. I don't even know if the work camps are intact anymore, and I doubt Yvon does either. If they are, it's only because of the large walls and guards. For all we know, the humans in charge have already eaten the slaves there. This may all be for nothing." Commander Montec remarked as the gates finished opening.

He looked over his shoulder from atop his horse, "Remember, do not 'attack' the refugees, but do not let yourself be attacked, kill anyone who gets too close. When we come back, we're going to rush the meat through, but when we go out, we go slow so as to not arouse hostility or fear!"

Swords and spears went up and an enthusiastic battle cry filled the air for a moment. 'I wonder how long it will be, before we end up harvesting the refugees to keep the city going?' He considered with a kind of abstract detachment that struck him as more horrific than the thought itself as the clip clop sound of horses riding out and pulling empty carts began to make enough noise to drown out the other sounds around them.

'It can't be hopeless.' He told himself as they went beyond the walls. The stench hit him first. The foul odor of thousands upon thousands of unwashed bodies pounded against him like a lance against a shield or a hammer from a smith's forge striking metal to make something useful for life or for death.

The refugees, in numerous different accents, shouted the news that the gate had opened, questions went back and forth, and as their faces turned to him, he saw what living death looked like. Their faces yellowed, filthy, and callow, were haunted and hopeless. Many were incredibly thin, and those who he saw that were not, had cruel, vicious looks in their eyes that sparked with hate when they saw his unit coming out of the city in gleaming armor.

"Ward!" He shouted as a precaution, and long spears were lowered outward by the cavalry, a silent warning to the civilians to not come close, they parted slowly, the ocean of their bodies staggering or stumbling out of the way.

For a little while, the silence was only broken by animalistic growls and hopeless wailing from children and adults alike. Hands reached out beyond the spears, and voices started to cry out slowly. "Food! You have to have some... please! My child is dying! You can't abandon us!"

"Stay back! We are going out to get food!" Commander Montec shouted. "When there is enough, we will share it with you!" He called out, 'Am I lying to them, or to myself, or both?' He wondered, until someone called out a demanding question.

"Where?! Where is it?!" It was a sharp question that was obviously filled with doubt.

"The work camps! We go there to harvest everything!" He shouted recklessly. 'Damn it... I shouldn't have said anything, but looking at that...'

He was brought up short by an answer, "Those are empty. We tried those ourselves." A grim voice said from close by.

He looked over and saw an unusually well fed man with silver hair and a long sword on his back. He was moderately built but nonetheless clearly his body was tight with muscle, danger radiated off of him. His eyes narrowed up at Commander Montec. "You can go, of course, but it won't do you any good, there are no supplies there, there aren't even any elves there, not in any of the facilities. They're gone. No idea where, but they're gone."

Commander Montec raised his hand to order a halt, the horses nickered nervously, as if understanding that they too, were potential food for the hungry, and pawed at the ground with their hooves.

As he spoke, silence began to fall and a shadow of dread began to fall over the unit.

Commander Montec furrowed his thick, bushy brow. "When?"

The swordsman raised his hands up and shrugged, casually he took his sword off his back and tapped it up and down on his shoulder. "Who knows? This morning? Yesterday? We'd gone there ourselves a number of times but could never get to close, first it was just arrows, but we knew there were people there because of the fires, they were cooking food, goodness knows how much, some people... they went crazy, charged the place, ended up getting arrows for their trouble. Then..." he shook his head, "No more fires, no more noise, just, nothing. A few people went over again, while some watched, they got in, all we heard was an ungodly howl, they screamed, and none came back. Something else is in there now, and it doesn't want visitors." The swordsman said in a low, dreadful voice.

Commander Montec began to feel a surge of anxiety, anger began to overtake the mood of the refugees, and he could feel it, they could feel it, the power of their numbers, but more importantly, the dangerous one handed sword wielder had moved in front of his horse, blocking the way.

"You're lying." He said doubtfully to the swordsman. "Who are you, anyway?"

The swordsman laughed bitterly, "Used to be famous, not much liked, but famous. I'm sure if I told you my name, you'd know me, but you know, I've found it more useful to be anonymous these days. It lets me trade my skills and have my fun without interference, since that bitch threw me away like trash." He bared his teeth in a moment of rage and his grip on the sword tightened.

"If you really want a name to curse, call me Bretraca." The middling sized man said in a now deeper, crueler voice.

"Why would I curse you if I don't know you?" Commander Montec remarked as he instinctively, slowly, began to reach for his sword.

The silver haired man smiled cruelly, "Because I think my good time here is just about over, used to be I could get a little girl every night, sometimes two or three, for just a little sword use, probably still could. But this is all about to come crashing down, you might not recognize it, nameless Theocracy commander, but I do. I've felt the rhythm of battle and know when something's hopeless, night is descending on you, and I don't plan to be caught by it, not when I've still got a requiem to bring to a stuck up tease. So first, I'm taking your horse for myself and riding the hell out of here, and they'll be taking the rest of your horses for the same end. If they were smart, they'd be getting gone too, but..." He shrugged again as his low voice was caught only by the commander himself, "Between you and me, they're not that bright. Too much faith, too little thought, that's always been the problem with you Theocracy fucks."

Commander Montec's hand found the grip of his sword, the refugees began to close the distance, made braver by the growing numbers who had come to the disturbance of the departing soldiers.

"You're not one of us..." The commander remarked slowly, his eyes widening with concern.

"No, I'm from the Draconic Kingdom, came this way after my life fell apart, had all kinds of fun during this war, now it's time to move on. Get down off your horse now, and go back to the city, and you can stay alive for at least a little bit longer." The man who called himself Bretraca uttered.

Commander Montec drew his sword, somewhere, a refugee came too close, and a soldier stabbed out and opened up a throat. The refugee fell with a cry, and it was as if someone had given a signal, the mob descended on the band, atop the walls, soldiers called out in alarm, the gates began to open up as soldiers were called by a large horn atop the wall, to come and render aid.

Montec reared his horse back on its hind legs and then urged it forward, only to find himself falling backward as a the swordsman proved his ferocity with a flash of steel, and Montec felt his arm fall away from his body. He howled in agony, clutching the stump, rolling back and forth in snow and muck as the blood pumped out where it was severed.

From his position on his back, he saw his soldiers struggle mightily against a tide, but it was like crabs waging war against waves from the sea, one by one they began to go down. He raised his head enough to look one more time at Bretraca, and saw that, true to his statement, he'd taken the horse and was riding away from the fray.

He fell back again as he lost strength, and with the back of his head tilted, straining back in agony, he could see the gates of the city open as reinforcements came to rescue the unit from the refugees, and Theocracy soldiers butchered Theocracy people. The clash of metal and the cries of flesh, the stench of filth, shit, and disease, had the stench of death added to it all, and in great quantity before the men in armor began to gain the upper hand over the numbers without it.

However, long before that happened, before he could feel someone dragging him to safety, Commander Montec had completely lost consciousness. As the light faded, a thought passed through his mind, 'It might be hopeless... No... It 'is' hopeless...' and then his thoughts ended.

He awoke hours later in a barracks infirmary with a magic caster standing over him.

"I'm alive?" He asked.

"Do I look like Alah Alaf? Does this look like heaven to you? If I do, and it does, then you have absurdly low standards for a reward in the afterlife." The magic caster said sarcastically. Montec shot up, ignoring the sarcasm, "What happened? Where..." He started to ask, and then immediately checked to see that his left arm was intact again.

"Some of your unit survived, the reinforcements drove the refugees back... but... you lost most of your horses and we weren't able to recover all the bodies." The magic caster's voice was bitter and grim, and despite the previous sarcasm, he put a hand on Montec's shoulder and said, "I'm sorry, truly I am. But there are so many out there..."

"We're under siege by our own people... forget the undead, we'll kill each other. And we'll do it long before the demon of the west comes for us, hell she'd be kinder to come finish us off, she could hang back and just wait, and let us die as we cut ourselves to pieces." Montec said bitterly.

"No, we won't, we are preparing a larger force to go out to the work camps, we'll harvest what's there, this happened to you because we underestimated the refugees desperation." A creaky, sinister voice said from nearby as light footsteps echoed off the wooden floor.

Commander Montec turned to find himself face to face with Cardinal Yvon. "Sir!" He said urgently. "Forgive my foolish words, I was only..."

"No, think nothing of it, you'd just had your arm severed and woke up in... here." Yvon had one hand behind his back, and gestured to the dimly lit room around them both. "Anyone would say foolish things in those conditions. But don't worry about it, we'll send you out again soon, along with the rest, the refugees might bar the way for a company, but not for a battalion." Yvon remarked casually. "Those faithless ones need to be punished, severely, when time allows. Of course that is assuming that the demon of the west doesn't just butcher them for us, they might make a useful shield at least, to protect the true faithful of the gods within their sacred city."

"Sir... all that may be true, but I think sending the soldiers out will accomplish nothing." Commander Montec looked down dejectedly.

"Oh? Why is that?" Yvon's sinister eyes took on an even more dangerous look as they looked down at him from an angle, a subtle anger underlay the seemingly calm question.

"The one who... did this... to my arm, the one who cut it off and stole my horse. He told me the camp was empty. Everyone on the walls and inside apparently vanished. The refugees tried to get close, and for a long time they were just killed for it. But then the cookfires stopped appearing..." He went quiet, took a deep breath, and then explained the rest in a slow, halting tone.

"You believe him, this man who severed your arm? Why?" Yvon asked incredulously.

"Because, he was afraid, and he was getting out of there. That was why he wanted my horse. He had no reason to lie, after all I was almost certainly going to die, and if there were anything there, a man like that would have taken it already. Whatever is living in there now, it kills anything that goes in, and there is nobody there consuming any supplies." Commander Montec grimaced, "Even elves need to cook food, if they're not cooking, they're dead and no longer edible, or they're gone. Either way, sending out so many will only get more soldiers inside the wall, killed by those outside the wall. Please, Cardinal, believe me." Montec urged with desperation in his eyes, he reached out and clutched the Cardinal's robes and pulled the sinister looking, thin leader close to him.

Yvon staggered for a moment as he was drawn close, but as he looked into Montec's desperate face, he searched for any hint of fear or disloyalty or doubt. 'No. He's not lying, he really believes this, and... damn... he's right, he's got to be telling the truth, there's no other explanation.' Yvon felt the color drain from his already pale face.

"Alright, I'll cancel it, at least we'll have the slaves from the warehouse, after the gods return we can find out what happened at the labor camps. For now, we'll need to harvest these, a few thousand slaves will feed those worth feeding, at least, and I can even put up a reward for Dominic's head." Yvon remarked pleasantly. "Everything will be fine, you just rest here for a few hours and get your head right again."

Yvon put his hand on Montec's shoulder and as he disentangled himself from the grip of the man, he lightly pressed him back to lying down on the cheap bed.

"Sir, thank you." Montec replied quietly, and rolled onto his side and closed his eyes, hoping desperately to find that when he woke up, everything he went to sleep to was only a nightmare.

...Home of Kasa...

They walked the streets with confidence, Nua wore a rich, thick green cloak with a hood up, and wrapped her face tight for added measure. So dressed, she was effectively 'disguised' as a human. The winter weather aided the camoflauge, nobody gave her a second look. Beside her, Solution was dressed in a cloak of black, though she allowed her hair to fall forward to the front, a tiny concession to her vanity that was revealed for what it was, by the smirk she wore whenever someone paused to look at it with envy.

In this way, Solution, was also her disguise. They tramped through the snow to the location Illal had provided them, where her estate sat. The snow crunched underfoot, and the heavy cloud cover, like a silver blanket in the sky, dimmed the light even more than winter did on its own. Nua's hand caressed the blade that had come into her possession. Her fingers twitched and steadied by turns and a shiver came over her that had nothing to do with the cold.

"You alright?" Solution asked casually.

Nua nodded slightly. "Yes." She added after a moment's hesitation.

"People alright with their choices, don't hesitate when asked about them." Solution replied before adding, "If you can't kill her, I will." The Demon Maid then offered a sadistic smile that was just 'barely' human to Nua's eyes when the elven woman looked over at her.

"I can. This is... I think this is my last one, I'm just not a killer, I can't enjoy it like you and Raymond do." She whispered quietly.

"So don't." Solution said indifferently. "Leave it to monsters like he or I."

"He's not really a monster, though, just a man." Nua responded, no longer looking at the beautiful monster at her right hand, instead focusing on the passing desperate people digging through garbage looking for rotted food, bones, and in one instance, she saw someone run away with a prize of a worn leather shoe, only to be tackled and kicked in the head several times, and lose the 'meal' to the attacker.

Nua's eyes followed the fleeing figure, a teenage boy from the looks of him, until she had to crane her head and then he rounded the corner and vanished.

"Oh yes, he is a man, and he is a monster. The way he cut up some of those, they didn't die easy deaths, you don't kill like that when it's just business. Either it's personal, or he loved it. And judging by how he cradles his knife, he loves it." Solution said emphatically and pressed herself close to the uncomfortable Nua.

Nua squeezed her eyes shut and allowed Solution to lightly guide her with one hand on her arm. "What will happen to him? In the end, I mean?" She asked as she felt Solution take her down another street.

"He'll get to meet with Zesshi, then... who knows? He didn't ask for a pardon, so I doubt he'll get one. Prison if he's lucky, Neuronist if he's not." Solution's familiar shrug of utter indifference went along with the statement. "I'm going to ask that he be given to Demiurge, maybe turn him into something useful to us. It's just such a waste to destroy a gifted killer just because their current form is weak." She said somewhat poutily.

"Isn't Raymond your friend? I thought the two of you got along well?" Nua asked as, behind her half wrapped up face, her lips parted a little with her surprise.

"Yes, but that's why. It would make him a worthwhile being, it might hurt a lot, but in the end, he'd be a Nazarick creation. Why? You want him for yourself? Are you 'in love' with the human who bought you?" She asked in a sly, conspiratorial voice.

Nua blushed red, "No. Not that way... I don't ever want to lie with a human again, too many bad memories, too many bad thoughts. But still, he matters to me. I don't want him hurt."

They walked in amiable silence as the slow moving wind began to pick up. "Alright." Solution said as the demon maid's light touch on Nua's arm briefly tightened, and they stopped in front of a low stone wall. "I'll tell you what, this bitch has to die anyway, but you torture her first... and I'll ask His Majesty for leniency on his behalf. But the catch is..." Solution turned Nua bodily so that they faced one another, and that inhuman smile that reminded the little elf girl that she was walking beside a monster, "you can never... ever tell him what you did for him."

Nua looked at her uncertainly, "I don't understand... how is that a problem?"

Solution's hands came up and cupped Nua's face beneath the hood and she held her close, "You'll understand, little elf girl, when you find that sweet tempered little you is looking down at a helpless, terrified face, one that is begging for mercy... and your gentle conscience demands you give it to her, even if that just means a quick end... but instead for his sake... you have to just keep skinning." Solution laughed lightly, and Nua felt her hot breath as an icy wind.

"I'll... I'll do it. If it might save his life, if there is even a chance... I will do it." Nua said with determination and gripped the knife tighter in the loose folds of her cloak.

Getting in proved easy. Solution withdrew a scroll, used it, and then they simply 'ceased' to be noticed. "Are we invisible?" Nua whispered as the gate opened and people passed by without a second thought.

"No, this is just a common sixth tier scroll of distraction. People 'know' we're here, but they just don't 'notice', they can't register our significance in any way. It's like when your eyes see something but you run into it anyway, it just isn't part of what you recognize." Solution explained patiently, "Even if we're somewhere we're not supposed to be, we could walk by a guard while singing a song praising the Sorcerer King, and nobody would think twice about it." She tittered and covered her mouth with her hand.

"It's kind of insidious, that's why it's one of my favorites." She remarked as they simply opened the front door and walked in. As they walked through the small estate, they passed by elves with haunted, traumatized eyes. Like they were dolls that moved, they ceased to notice anything around them, only moving like golems going about their tasks. They were heedless of their almost total nakedness, heedless of the chill, and they did not even speak to each other.

Solution strode confidently up the stairs, leading the way by several steps. The creaking of the smooth, polished tan colored wood under their feet drew not even a hint of interested eyes, and Nua ran her hand along the dark wood banister that was polished enough that she could see the shape of her face in it. A blurry shape, but clearly her own, while also featureless to the point of being disturbing.

She turned away from the 'almost her' reflection and followed Solution the rest of the way. Down the hall to where Illal said that Kasa would most likely be found. Nua looked at the beautiful art along the walls, humans, animals, nature scenes with great trees, even a cityscape of Kami Miyako, all flawlessly represented. "Beautiful work she has here." Nua remarked as if to distract herself.

Solution didn't answer, she reached for the knob of a door, turned it, and opened it inward. Kasa sat at a desk writing, though she looked up when the door opened, it was evident she did not truly comprehend the presence of the two women, as when they entered she neither questioned nor greeted them. Instead she only got up, closed the door, then sat back down to resume writing.

Solution went to the front of the desk and pointed with her left hand to the spot beside her. They stood squarely in front of the woman, who seemed still to take no notice of their presence. The maid demon then withdrew another pair of scrolls, and used them one after another.

"That will keep the sound from leaving the room, and keep any possible magic defense at bay, so... want to say anything to her before I dispel the [Distract] spell?" Solution asked with her sweet, sadistic voice.

"Will it matter, if she can't really grasp our being here?" Nua asked thoughtfully.

"It'll be in her head, and she'll remember it soon enough. Say what you want, then I'll secure her and get rid of the magic, and you can get to work." Solution rubbed her hands in greedy anticipation.

Nua let her hands fall at her sides as she straightened up, she cast her eyes once up to the ceiling as she took in a deep breath. The woman just kept writing whatever document was so damned important to her. The faint scratch of quill on paper was the only sound in the room, until Nua spoke.

"You make my people suffer. You're a blight on this world, and I have to get rid of you. The only good thing about the next few hours, is that hurting you gives someone precious to me a 'chance', however slim, of living out the rest of his life. I hate you, but... even before I begin, I also pity you for what I'm going to do. And you know, if you were capable of that same pity, you wouldn't be in the situation you're about to find yourself in. So this is all your fault, and... and I just wanted you to know that." Nua said gently, and withdrew the knife from the inside of her cloak. "Alright, teacher, do it."

Solution was about to do exactly that, then paused, "Hey, you've never called me 'teacher' before, even though it's true, how come now?"

"Because I think I'll learn more about at least one subject from you in the next few hours, than I ever have before. Please, let's get started." Nua said and pursed her lips tight.

"Alright, student." Solution said as she dispelled the distraction spell and Kasa snapped her eyes up in shock as she 'registered' their presence in front of her. Before she could scream or shout, Solution had her head drowned in slime, she pounded at it, but could do nothing, her mouth opened in a scream that went nowhere, until her body twitched and fell into unconsciousness.

When the woman fell, Nua looked her over more closely, a woman in her fifties, she was past her prime but still had striking features that, in her youth must have marked her as beautiful. Faint streaks of gray were in her hair as time slowly extracted its price. 'I'm sparing her from those ravages at least, I suppose.' Nua thought to herself as Solution bound the woman and stripped her with a sick, 'tearing' sound, of her fine clothing, until she lay naked under their eyes.

As Kasa slowly started to come to, Nua got down on her knees beside her, the woman looked up in alarm, and when she met Nua's eyes, she started to speak. Nua spoke first.

"Do you remember what I said to you?" Nua asked with quiet, resolute, acceptance.

The spark of recognition in the woman's ice blue eyes told Nua that she did.

"Then there's no need to say anything else." Nua said, and taking her knife, she began to peel Kasa like an apple under the critical eye of a monster who was only too happy to instruct her pupil.

It was four hours before Solution answered the blood soaked Nua with, "Yes, she's suffered enough, you can kill her now," after neither knew how many times that permission had been sought and denied.

Kasa's body was shaking in agony, "Please... kill me... kill me... hurts... hurts... p-please... n-no more... no more..." She blubbered at the center of a large stain of blood that had covered the floor.

Nua's knife went to the brutalized woman's breast, right over the heart, and pressed down, straight to the hilt, and a moment later, Kasa stopped begging and shaking, because she had stopped living.

Nua's eyes were hollow and staring at the corpse, while behind her, Solution was lightly applauding, "I didn't think you had it in you, good job. Now I'll handle the cleanup." She said, touching her own breast proudly with the tips of her fingers, she moved over the body, and drew it into herself, consuming it whole with horrific 'sizzle' sound, and then she ran her hands over every bloodstained surface, and drained that into herself as well.

"Now 'that' is good eating." Solution remarked greedily and licked her lips, and began to move her hands over Nua's bloodsoaked skin and garments, until at least on the outside, Nua was completely clean.