Chapter 6: the eye of the serpent queen
"Ugh...oh my head.." Armen groans rising from the hangover like throbbing headache ravaging his brain, it was only them he noticed the pair of slender arms wrapped around his neck, then looks down, for not to be mortified by the half naked body of Stella
"What the F-" Stella puts her finger over his lips
"Shhhhh, we're sleeping...cmon, lay back down~ it's comfy~"
"Like fucking hell I am?! What are you doing my in my bed Stella?! W-wait! More importantly how in gods name did we get back to my house?!"
"Oh yeah...that... well ya see, you kinda passed out after that dragon and the griffin busted in on us getting frisky! Could have been the fact that I may have injected my neurotoxin that stuns and incapacitates my prey, or maybe I drank a little too much" she explains, bonking herself on her head, which was not helping Armen's mood in the slightest
"Stella, I'm not in my right mind to say something unquestionably sarcastic in my defense, but, how much blood did you suck out of my neck?"
"Umm...1...maybe 2 pints? Ehhehe!"
"Oh good lord...you could have put me in an anemic coma!"
"True but I didn't did I? But now that you mentioned it...I'm a little thirsty~" she purrs
"Get the ever loving fuck away from me! And keep you're fangs to yourself!" Armen warns covering his neck from the advancing, drooling vampire
"C'mon just a little taste?~ I promise I won't take much!"
"Exactly what you said the first time and look where I am!"
"Don't be a stiff! A girl has needs~" she pounces on him and bears her fangs
"S-Stella stop!" Armen urges trying to pry her off holding her face away
"Hey pal! Hope your doin' alright! Me and Astraea were worried sick so we whipped you up an iron rich meal to get the blood flowing again! Surprising right?! Bet you thought we couldn't-" Ember boisterously proclaims, holding a plate with a steak and some sunny side up eggs. But her jovial fanged grin disappeared when she once again found Stella pressed up against him
"Hey new roomie! How's it hanging?"
Ember hurls the plate toward her head, which Stella dodges with little effort
"I swear to god...this is the second time I've caught you trying to take him from me you little slut AND THIS WILL BE THE LAST TIME!"
"Pft whatevs! What are you gonna do firespitter? Burn me to a crisp?" She jeers, holding Armen close to her bosom
"Get your filthy claws off of my boyfriend!" Ember warns
"How about you make me!"
"STELLA STOP!" Armen bellows
Stella immediately lets go of him and he jumps up
"Look I understand you like me and all, but you're new here and don't understand certain rules yet, the first is, no sneaking into my room unannounced!"
"Aww, but that takes all the fun out of it!"
Disregarding her playful statement Armen continues
"The second is no fighting! Otherwise I'll have you out on your ass faster than you can say wolf's bane! Is that understood?"
Stella stood silent, no man she'd met exuded such force and masculinity at such a young age
"Y-yeah" she said, blushing at the display"wow, no guy has ever been that direct with me before enough to tell me off...it's like when we met...that commanding personality mixed with that warm smile and caring demeanor..it's so...~sexy! Rawr~" she croons in a swooning manner, giggling bubbly
Armen was a bit unnerved by her words, but held firm in his resolve
"As long as you understand, now if you ladies will excuse me, I need to make breakfast for 4 liminals, Stella can you consume anything besides blood?"
"Yeah for the most part I can eat regular human food, unless you're offering~?"
Armen slammed the door shut in annoyance and was heard audibly stomping down the stairs
"Can't take a joke?"
Ember sneered at her
"Look vampire, let's get something straight-"
Stella stopped ember before she went any further
"I get it! You've staked claim on him since you were the first liminal here right? I can see why, a tender heart and a firm hand all in one, he's quite the little stud, and has some major balls to talk to a liminal that could roast him alive, drain him to a withered husk, or break him in half with they're bare hands, he's got some major balls for a human! And I respect that! So I'll back off for a bit, only because I respect you're dynamic, you two have something...and I don't overstep bounds. But, that doesn't mean I won't make goes for him! So you better watch yourself and him, I might just sneak up on you"
Stella states in an endearing fashion
Ember didn't know why to say, she had just told her that she respected her and her relationship to Armen, but at the same time warned her of becoming a possible rival, but in a way that she couldn't hate her, feeling mixed emotions, ember finally settled on endearment as well and pulled a faint yet visible toothy grin on her face
"Heh...you knocked me for a loop vampire! Gotta respect that! Maybe I'll tolerate you for a bit...but if I catch you so much as looking at my boyfriend suggestively, it's your ass!"
"Hmm..fair enough, but you'll have to catch me first!"
Armen descends the stairs, only to find Astraea hunched over on the couch with her eyes glued to the flatscreen, and was also surprised to see Jones sitting there with her
"Jones?"
"Oh hey Armen! You sleep well?"
"More or less, wait...did you bring us back last night?"
"Yup, you were out cold too! I forgot to tell you that Stella was your new homestay that I said was arriving in a week, but seeing as she insisted on "sleeping" with you, I'd take a wild guess and say you already asked her to be your new homestay?"
"Uh heh...read me like a book huh? And you really seem to be forgetting a lot of crucial and pertinent information! Anyway what's going on thats got Astraea so invested on the television?"
"An unknown rouge liminal is causing trouble again, though this time, its no killer bee, or vampire or gang of orcs, gazers, blackbeards or echidnas, this one if far more dangerous by far..."
"Another liminal?! What kind?"
"Not sure...take a look at the panel..."
Armen tuned into the broadcast and turned up the volume
'Reports by mon state that that the gang of orcs and, some unfortunate couple were all frozen stiff in a stone like casing when found on the crime scene, luckily the casing wasn't thick and the crew was able to choose them out of the casing within minutes.
The rouge liminal was last seen fleeing the scene toward the hoshida district, local law enforcement as well as mon special operations have been deployed to scour the area, locals are encouraged to stay indoors until the rouge is found and apprehended, we will keep you updated as further developments come to light'
"Holy shit..."
"Yup, holy shit is right. I have a feeling it's a lamia type liminal...there was snake skin found at the scene, it could possibly be some type of medusa...maybe an aphopis..."
"Should we worry?"
"Well YOU shouldn't! After all, you've got three baddies watching over you! But more to the point, I think it best of you remain indoors and if you do go out, take one of them with you..."
"No probs!"
After Jones left, Armen decided to revisit the business of Stella, where would she sleep? Obviously she couldn't sleep with him anymore, lest something "unexpectedly" happen or Astraea and Ember get the wrong idea.
So Armen decided to head back up to his room where both ember and stella were just chatting it up...seems they both were getting along quite well...perhaps they reached some kind of consensus? Or perhaps agreed to disagree?
"Hey you two! Looks like you finally made up!"
"~Armen!~" Stella chirps fluttering over to him and tackling him with a hug
"Yeah we did Armen! We got a lot in common too! For one we're both madly in love with you!"
Armen blushed, and coughed into his hand
"Well at least you agreed on something...but anywho, Stella we need to talk!"
"~Anything you want big boy~ what is it?" She says enveloping his arm in her ample flesh
"U-uh...it's about where you're gonna stay...you obviously can't stay in my room forever"
"And why not? It's nice and cozy in here and I love your decorations...~plus I found your stash~" she croons deviously, flashing an 'I got you now' smile
"Your...what?" Ember growls
"Duahhehehehem! T-that's not important right now!"
"At any rate... I think I'll hang here for a bit...you're an awesome roomie!" Stella persisted, hugging Armen's torso
"Uh...I dunno"
"Armen..."
He looked at Humber who had one if the lost terrifying scowls on her face he had ever seen
"Tell her to get her own room before I tear her a new one..."
"Oh...tear me a new one? Someone gets jealous easily, what's the matter firespitter? Can't handle another girl feeling up you're man?" Stella jeered, stroking circles around Armen's chest
Ember began to snarl, and small embers began flying out of her mouth, she gripped the door of Armen's room and began squeezing, crushing the thick wood in her palm, Armen shuddered from the display, hoping he wouldn't be the next thing she did that to.
"Armen...why do you bring such forward and aggressive girls into our home?! It was supposed to be you and me! Where did our beautiful life go?!"
"I...have no idea"
"I know what happened! Stella arrived!...and she took you're man" she whispered
"THATS IT!" Ember bellowed and lunged for her knocking her off the bed and flinging her and Armen out into the hallway
"Owww! Armen she's hurting meeeee! Please make the mean dragon go away!" She sobbed, feigning innocence
"Guh...uh ember I think that was a little extreme..."
"Grrrrr...now you're taking her side?! She's lying!"
"Tch! saw right through me huh? Fine you want a fight firespitter you got one!"
It was happening again, the fighting and the shouting, Armen had dealt with enough of this when Astraea and Ember were at each other's throats, and he wasn't gonna take it anymore, but his rationale would tell him to diffuse the fight, but sensory overload...had other plans
"AAAAAAGGGHHH ENOUGH!" He roared
Both stopped and stared once more
"Well, you can certainly make yourself known when you want to-" ember says
"SHUT UP!" Armen snaps" All I want some peace among you girls, ember I honestly thought you'd get over this and be the mature one on this situation, you know me and how I feel about you damnit! This fighting shit is not gonna continue! And I will...Not...Take it! You are not sleeping in here Stella! I will get Jones to design a room for you..is that clear?!"
"Y-yes..."
Armen calms down but is still pretty pissed off, yet he manages to utter an exasperated
"I'm going out to cool my head, and if I find you two fighting when I get back...out you go.."
The two liminals actually feel a could shiver go down their spines, this guy could seriously be intimidating when he wants to be.
Armen flung the door open and stomped down the stairs once more, blind with anger he grabbed his keys and briskly walked through the living room
"Master...Armen? What's the matter?" Astraea asks, with a concerned frown on her face, but Armen didn't answer her, Stella and Ember slowly walked down the stairs, keeping as quiet as possible like two scared children who heard their parents fighting
"I'm going out Astraea...I'll-ill just be back later"
"O-ok...but wait you can't go out by yourself! Remember what Jones-" the door already slammed before she could finish
"Said?..."
Armen strutted down the street, headed toward the city...not really sure where he was going...but started to slow down when he realized what he'd done, he had just left, leaving the girls worried...and acting like he didn't care about them, he really had to get his anger under control, but sensory overload was a bitch.
He sighed as he continued his trek...it was when he just entered the city that he began hearing quiet sobbing...it sounded like a girl, as he stepped further in something crunched underneath is feet, they were small purple scales, too small to be a dragon's or lizard's more that likely they belonged to lamia type, he follows the trail and finds a golden face mask with an eye in the middle
"What is this?" It was then he heard the crying again, it was even closer this time, and sounded like it was finding from the next alleyway. He slowly walked toward the dark passage and people over one of the walls, there he saw the source, it was a lamia! But unlike any he'd ever seen, her tail was a vibrant shade of lavender and had something that resembled a fur tuft on the end, she wore a royal blue dress with gold colored accents that draws over her arms and exposed her shoulders, her arms were slender and human but her hands had long contracted claws. He hair was a mixture of magenta and purple and was bob cut.
Next to her was a stone statue of a squirrel she had apparently frozen, so this was the liminal Jones was talking about
"H-hello? Are you alright miss?"
She gasped when his voice chimed in, which made her scramble to a corner and hide her face
"W-wait I'm not going to hurt you!" Armen walks closer
"Go away! Don't look at me! All I do is hurt people!"she cries out, choking back her endless tears
"You're not hurting me..."
"When I look at people I freeze them...I can't even talk to people without looking at them, and I lost my mask..not I can never look at anything again..."
"You mean this thing?" Armen holds out the mask, she slowly turns around, her hair covering her eyes, she snatches it away from him and puts it back on her face, then turns around to reveal a creamy white face with visible cherry red blush and streams of tears going down her cheeks
"Hey, it's alright...I'm not frozen, see?"
"That's because I'm wearing the mask..."
"Well let's see what you look like without it!" Armen says reaching for it once more"
"NO, I'll accidentally kill you! Please don't look at me!" The girls says grasping at the mask
"I'll be fine, just let me see those eyes, what's so dangerous about them?" Armen manages to pull the mask off of her face, revealing the lost beautiful pare of ruby red eyes he had ever seen so colorful and full of highlights...mesmerizingly entrancing, at the very sight of them he stood stone stiff
"I knew it! I told you!" She says beginning to sob once more"I...told...you"
"They're beautiful..." Armen said
"What?! You're not a statue?! How is this possible?!" She asks bewildered
"I don't know..."
"Wait, I know why...my gaze only affects men who easily succumb to the seductive nature of my species, lamias, but it has no affect against those who are strong of will and aren't easily swayed by a woman's charm"
"Well that sounds about right..."Armen took out a handkerchief he somehow had in his pocket and dabbed her face dry"there all better, those pretty eyes should shine"
She blushed and looked down"t-thank you..."
"Of course, now tell me...what's your name?"
"My name is Ariya, I'm a Basilisk, a medusa subspecies, it's nice to meet you..."
"Well Ariya, my name is Armen"
"A pleasure Mr. Armen"
"Just Armen is fine...so what are you doing out here by yourself? This place isn't exactly the safest for liminals without host families
"I-I am aware, a strange man brought me and several other refugee liminals to this country to save us from the prying eyes of an odd liminal trafficking syndicate that surfaced just recently, enslaving us and selling us to the highest bidder, I tried to hide out here, but some mean and perverted gang of orcs tried to take advantage of me...and I..accidentally froze them all...then a mean couple of people making fun of me for the way I look...I didn't mean to do it, it's just...they made me so angry...and when I get angry it happens unintentionally! I-I don't know how to..." she chokes up once more
"Hey, hey it's alright...look your safe now that your with me...I won't let anyone hurt you again, I'll protect you"
"You? How?"
"I'm taking care of a dragon, a griffin and a vampire! I think I can handle a snake woman that can turn people into stone, plus your powers have no effect on me"
"this is true...but-" just then a police vehicle and a MON van show up
"There it is! Surround it!" They shout
"AAAGGH!" Ariya squealed, and covers her eyes with her mask once more
"STOP! What are you all doing?!"
"Armen?!" Jones asked getting out of the blue limo
"Jones?!"
"What are you doing here?!i told you not to leave by yourself! And why are you with this liminal?! She extremely dangerous! Get away from her!"
"She's only dangerous because you're making her that way! She doesn't want to hurt anyone and she didn't mean to hurt those people, plus if she really was dangerous she would have frozen me as well! But she didn't! I'm still alive!"
"Armen don't be foolish!"
"No if you're going to hurt her! You'll have to hurt me first!" He bravely proclaimed, holding out his arms in a defensive posture
"Armen..." she then lols at the liminal curled up behind him and muttering"please don't hurt me..." over and over again
Jones reluctantly gave into Armen's demand"Lower your weapons men! Place her under arrest!"
"WHAT?! Jones what the hell?!"
"I'm sorry Armen, but she's too dangerous to be allowed here.."
"But...please"
Ariya puts a hand on Armen's shoulder "It's ok Armen, I don't want you to get hurt because of me, you were very brave to want to stand up for me, and you have my gratitude and my life as your own, even though I may never see you again...I thank you from the bottom of my heart"she gives him a tender kiss on the cheek, and slithers toward the truck climbing in, the men shut the doors and she gave him a brave smile as they drove off
"I'm sorry Armen..."
Armen gave her a disgusted glare
"No you're not...I though you had my back Jones..I thought you trusted my judgement...but you're no different from those other assholes, seeing these girls as nothing but monsters"
Jones felt a sting with his sharp tongued words, but maintained her stoic expression
"If you think giving chances to monsters who could easily destroy our world is part of the job description they maybe you're not meant for this program" she snapped back heading for her limo
Armen just growls and walks back home, even madder than before
"I hope master Armen is alright..."
"God why do I always have to explode like this?! Why do I make him so mad?!" Ember chastised herself
"You're not the only one at fault, I'm a bit to clingy for my own good...I guess I made it worse by egging you on ember, I-it's just, he's awesome and I can't help myself around him, it's like I have to have him..."
"I know, it's the same way with me...I'm very possessive of him, he really gets us, but I don't understand how he does it..."
The door opens and Armen slowly walks in
"A-Armen! You're back" ember happily exclaims, but her frown returns when she sees he's in no better a mood than when he left
"He looks worse than when he left" Stella mumbled
"Master? Are you alright?"
Armen held the doorknob, he squeezed it in a fit of rage and gritted his teeth, huffed and puffed alike a mad dog, then bellowed an infuriated.
"FUCK! SON OF A FUCKING WHORE!"
The girls where taken aback and mildly frightened by his sudden burst of anger.
"Armen are you alright?" Ember asked, putting her hands on his shoulders
He sighed heavily and responded
"I couldn't help her..."
"Help who?"
"That liminal that was on the news this morning"
"There was a liminal on TV?" Stella asks
"You found her?!" Astraea asked
"Yeah...she was a basilisk"
"A basilisk?!" Ember asked "how are you not a stone statue?!"
"I don't know..she said something about me being strong of will and chasity, that her power have no effect on those kinds of people, but it doesn't matter-" A knock was then heard at the door, Armen opened it to reveal Jones
"What do you want?"
"Still cold to me huh? I don't blame ya, look Armen what I said was true, whether you like it or not"
"Tch!"
Jones sighed and giggled to herself
"I'm glad you find this shitty situation funny!"
"Oh get over yourself!" She handed Armen a new set of papers"what I said is true, if giving second chances to dangerous girls like her is your idea of how this works you aren't meant to be in this program...is what I'd say to a normal host, you on the other hand..." she motions the driver of the second blue limo to open the door
"Well it's your job to take care of the dangerous girls isn't it?"
Out of the limo slithers Ariya, looking happier than she did when Armen met her
"Armen!'~" she squeals with elation as she slinks up to him and tackles him to the ground
"You're alright!" He says
"Of course I am! They just took me to the exchange to get me registered!"
"Oh, hahahahaha! Great! Well welcome to the family!"
"Heee I'm so glad!"
"Well seems we'll be needing to renovate you're home won't we?"
Armen gets up and rubs the back of his head "yeah I guess so..."
Jones's expression switches to a scowl in seconds and she grabs Armen by the collar
"But just so were clear, I'm doing this because I like you, but if you ever speak to me like that again...let's just say a dragon burning you alive will be the least of your worries when I'm done with you~ are we clear?" She dangerously and almost sensually remarks
"Y-yes ma'am!"
"Good! You have fun now!" She bids as she and her counterpart take off
"Well shall we go inside?"
"Mhmm!" She chirps
"Girls, we have a new member! This is Ariya, our newest tenant! Ariya, this is Ember, Astraea and Stella!"
"H-hello everyone! I hope we can live peacefully together!" She bows
"She's very polite and beautiful!" Astraea says
"Yup! And another one gunning for Armen's affection too!" Stella realized
Ember had that trademark look on her face, the look she had when she felt betrayed or cheated on...
"Ember?"
"Y-yea?"
Armen smiled and asked"Are you ok with this?"
She felt overjoyed, her eyes lit up for the first time since Armen comforted her that night, he had acknowledged he was someone of great importance to him, she felt her heart swell...but would admit she was really happy that he asked.
"If it's ok with you Armen, then it's ok with me..." she confirmed with a bright smile
"Alright then! It's official! The Mahoney household is now your home Ariya, think you'll like it here?"
She look around to the three girls, seeing character and unique stories on each of their faces, as well as the same adoration she had for the boy as well,then smiled once more and looked at Armen.
"Yeah! I'm gonna love it here..."