This chapter is rated M for sensitive subjects, such as mentions of torture and rape.
Chapter 26: Explanations
As Arthur watched Lilly fly away towards a giant pirate ship in the sky, he took a deep breath with his hands on his hips. He wasn't sure what to think or feel at this point, so he bowed his head and chuckled before wiping his face with a groan of frustration. "Great. Now my wife is a crocodile," he said sarcastically.
Babd laughed and nudged his arm. "That was funny," she snickered.
"Maybe so, but humor weren't intended," he said lowly before looking at Babd. "Why didn't she tell me?"
"Rose and I advised against telling you," Babd replied. "We had a reason."
"And are you going to tell me that reason?"
"Only if you promise not to kill Mallacht."
Arthur blinked in confusion. "Ain't we supposed to kill him?"
"Yes, but how and when we kill him is of the utmost importance." Babd looked towards the sky at the battle that was playing overhead. "If he dies while still connected to this place, and we're still in here, we all die. Do you understand?"
"Not really, but...I promise I won't kill him until you say it's okay." Allan and O'Callaghan stared at the sky as well, and then Arthur did, watching as his wife and her dragon children burned and tore the kraken to pieces. "What was the reason?"
"You saw the scars on Crimson, yes?"
"Yes."
"Lilly's are way worse."
Arthur looked at Babd in shock. "Scars never bothered her before."
"Her scars were never words."
"And what words are those?"
"Property of Mallacht."
Arthur's eyes narrowed as the weight of Babd's words hit him. He stared back at his fire breathing dragon wife and frowned. "Can they be removed?"
"I hope so. We don't have the materials to get rid of them yet but just be happy it's just in her mind and not her physical form that bears the scars. O'Callaghan, would you mind helping me with something?" Babd asked her before handing Allan Rose's key device.
As the two women walked back into the observatory, Arthur kept his eyes on the fight. "So Lilly's a shapeshifter after all," he said.
"I suspected as much," Cernunnos said into the ear com. "And I also suspect she is...something entirely new."
"Cernunnos, you-"
"Relax, everyone left the viewing area for dinner, it's just me at the moment. Lilly is a princess of Tír na nÓg and therefore, I am duty bound to protect her, even if she is considered an abomi-"
"Don't you even finish that fuckin' sentence," Arthur growled angrily. "You ever use that word or any like it when referrin' to her, I'll break your god damn antlers off."
Cernunnos laughed into the ear com. "I'm not saying I think she's...that word, but a lot of people will think that about her if they find out."
"That's why no one else needs to find out," Arthur grumbled. "I would appreciate your silence on the matter."
"Of course," Cernunnos said.
"Uh...so..." Allan said, clasping his hands together uncomfortably. "I'm just gonna..." he looked around for Lilly's suit and head dress before locating them, walking to them and picking them up in his arms. "I'll just wait here for Aynaet to get back."
Arthur narrowed his eyes at his doppelganger. "Her name ain't Aynaet, it's Lilly," he growled before walking up to Allan. "And I'll be the one waitin' for her."
Allan rolled his eyes and sighed. "Alright, man, look. I get it. You're obviously pissed and want to display dominance to try and intimidate me, but since I'm just another version of you, it don't phase me a lick. How 'bout we skip the pissin' contest part and get down to the root of the problem you have with me so we can focus on the top priority?"
Arthur raised a brow at the calm looking man before him and he crossed his arms...at the exact same time Allan did. "Alright, I'll bite," Arthur said, tilting his head. "You slept with my wife."
Allan shrugged. "So did Mallacht."
Arthur felt himself get a little angrier at that comment. "And for that, I'll cut him into pieces. Should I do the same to you?" he asked, stepping closer into Allan's personal space.
The sex doll chuckled. "I hope not, but Lilly already started cuttin' pieces off him this mornin'."
"Whatchu mean?"
"He tried to get frisky with her so she cut his cock off and threw it from her bedroom balcony."
Arthur raised his eyebrows before looking up at the sky again, then he started cackling hysterically. "Are you shittin' me?" he laughed, glancing back at the sex doll.
"If I'm lyin', I'm dyin'!" Allan chuckled. "But look...would you have preferred that she had no one down here at all to...provide some comfort, at least? I reckon you don't know much about what she had to put up with, so when I tell you she needed some relief from the things Mallacht did to her, you can take that to the bank."
Arthur nodded and dropped his arms. "Alright, you got me there. But why the hell did she marry him in the first place? All anyone's told me is she took a gamble and lost."
"I believe it was around the two hundred year mark when she finally agreed to marry him," he replied, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and lighting one up before offering a different one to Arthur, who took it and thanked Allan after he lit it for him. "Lilly agreed for two reasons: one, she was tired of being tortured. Two, to trick him into lettin' her go, but on their weddin' night, she got cold feet. They fought, Lilly lost, Mallacht ripped her wolf from her, he raped her, then Violet was born the next night."
Arthur nearly choked on the cigarette smoke he inhaled and hacked a little before glaring at Allan. "He did what?!" he yelled.
Allan puffed on his cigarette. "I don't believe I stuttered, Mr. Morgan. Your hearin' is just fine, so you know you heard what I said. Do you want me to go on or is this too much for you?"
Mr. Morgan grumbled before coughing and smoking from his cigarette. "Continue," he said, trying to harden himself in preparation for what Allan was about to tell him.
"Good, because the next part is goin' to make you feel worse and better at the same time. Lilly had a hundred forty children with that asshole, and what Cyan was tryin' to explain earlier is that the twins, Crimson and Magento, were the only ones born from consensual relations."
Arthur gulped and closed his eyes tightly, taking a few deep breaths in and out. It was really hard to hear that Mallacht had violated his wife so many damn times. "How the fuck is that supposed to make me feel better?"
"Lilly refused to love Mallacht. If anythin', she'd grown fond of the bastard...which is how the twins came to be, but she never loved him. She never even pretended to love him. You wanna know why?"
Arthur blinked a few times before straightening himself, not even realizing how tense and hunched over he'd been just now. "Yes."
"Because she never stopped lovin' you," Allan answered with a grin. "She made you into a god, she had Valentine make me based off you...point I'm tryin' to make is every course of action she's taken in the last five hundred years was to get back to you, so now I hope you see how miniscule it is that she cheated on ya."
Arthur narrowed his eyes at Allan. "You really think I'm angry with her? That's the last god damn thing on my mind!"
The sex doll took a drag from his cigarette with a smirk. "Good. Try to keep that same energy for the next part."
Arthur groaned and rubbed his face. "What now?"
"Things came to a head durin' an argument between the king and queen and Mallacht accidentally killed Magento when the boy tried to intervene, but Mallacht blamed Lilly to save face. Beset by grief, she put her heart into Morgan, somethin' not even Mallacht knows about, so she wouldn't feel nothin' anymore. In doin' so, she became deaf, blind and mute, just like Morgan, and was found later wanderin' around the swamps of Saint Denis."
Arthur vaguely remembered seeing the scar on the queen's chest in the "threat" he'd gotten, so that explained that. "I see. Then what?"
"Lilly started a rebellion and Valentine became her general. She lost, her children who sided with her were executed or had their dragons taken from them and imprisoned. He charged her for treason and as punishment, had a bunch of his loyal brood put her in the suit so that people would fear her and see her as a monster. But seein' as how she didn't have her heart, Lilly didn't really give a damn anymore at that point."
Arthur sighed before slowly lowering himself to the ground, smoking on his cigarette still as Allan joined him. "So where were you durin' all this?"
"I wasn't made until after all that. Lilly got drunk one night and told Valentine about "the perfect man", so...that's when he made me."
Arthur barked with laughter. "Lilly thinks I'm the perfect man?"
"Absolutely," Allan chuckled before puffing on his cigarette. I don't know why you're surprised. What more do you need to realize how much she idolizes you?"
Arthur nodded, taking a drag from his tobacco as he saw the ship flying overhead, the battle with the kraken finished. "When you put it that way, I guess I don't need more. The three dragons she killed just now...were they the ones who put her in the suit?"
"Them and many more." The ship changed colors and its sigil to a black rose and a red lily, and as it sunk into the shield, Arthur and Allan stood and discarded their cigarettes. "Lilly's been through a lot, man. Go easy on the poor woman."
Soon the ship hovered to the flat area near the observatory before wooden stilts appeared from the hull and settled the ship down. People with all sorts of different colored hair and eyes came piling out of the ship with three of them in chains and shackles. Rose knocked one of the big prisoners over with a kick, a man with six black pointy horns growing out of his head like a crown, long, gray colored hair and eyes and was built like a brick shithouse. She cackled, her black hair tossing in the wind.
"That was fabulous!" she sang happily with her arms up high and a bright smile on her face. "C'mon, Aynaet! Let's get yer suit back on!"
Lugh and Sir Jack descended from the boat next, then Lilly followed...but she was covered from head to toe in black smoke and oil. Arthur could see that she no longer had hair, but bare tree roots sticking out of her head. Her eyes were white with tiny black pupils and he sighed with a shake of his head. As Arthur and Allan started walking towards the ship, Rose blinked as she stared at Allan.
"When the hell did ya get here?!" Rose snapped with a laugh.
Allan smirked as he and Arthur approached Lilly. "Not that long ago." Arthur stared into Lilly's eyes, wondering what she was thinking. Allan set the head dress down and fluffed out the skin suit before holding it out to Lilly. "Alright, go ahead."
Lilly made no movement, only staring back at Arthur with a cold expression. He knew what she was doing and he understood why she was doing it. Lilly was waiting for Arthur to say something, but he wasn't sure what to say.
"Can you see me, honey?" Arthur asked.
Lilly nodded before signing with her hands. [I use sonar to hear and see, but I can't talk.]
Arthur smirked. "Sonar, huh? What's...what's all this on you?"
[Dark magic residue.]
"Oh," Arthur said with a nod. "Can you...can I see you? What you look like?"
Lilly shook her head before inserting her arms into the skin suit, then it wrapped around her and conformed to her body shape, then Allan secured the head dress on and locked it up before giving the key to Rose. The suit still had its clothes so they fit perfectly. Lilly pulled on a few parts of the suit and wiggled a little, rolling her eyes to adjust before clearing her throat.
"It's best if you don't, mo chuisle," she replied in a low, deep voice before walking towards the observatory.
"Now hang on a god damn minute!" Arthur shouted before turning to glare at her, making her pause in her steps. "We need to talk."
"Yes, we do," Lilly said. "But we'll have time for that after I debrief my children on the situation. Babd has made food for you all, let's go."
The kids started walking with their mother, eyeing Arthur and Allan strangely, but Rose stayed by the men's side as Lugh, Jack and Scotty followed the large brood. "Dunna take it personally, Arthur," she said. "We have a lot of shit tah do and she's prioritizin'."
"I still canna believe me daughter married that bastard," Jack said with a growl. "What the hell was going through her bloody skull?"
Lugh, Arthur and Rose all raised their eyebrows as they looked at Jack. "Seriously, Father?" Rose scoffed.
"What?" Jack asked with confusion.
"Did ya not hear what ya just said?"
Jack blinked, then he huffed and closed his eyes. "Apologies, love. I'm tired, if I'm being honest." He rubbed his face with a groan. "Mind projection is quite exhausting and...all these revelations are wearing me down."
"How about we go in, fix ya up some grub, and then ya can take a nap?" Rose offered.
Sir Jack nodded tiredly. "Sounds good."
The rest of the group went wandering back into the observatory, staring at a very rambunctious crowd of princes and princesses fighting over food like a bunch of rabid dogs.
"That's my spaghetti, Ruby!" a woman with short, dark, muted green hair yelled at a man with fluffy, dark red locks.
"There's plenty to go around, Glade!" Ruby snapped. "You're not the only one who likes spaghetti!"
A man with medium length, wavy dark blue hair was fighting with another man whose hair was a shade lighter than blue and longer over a bowl full of frosted pastries. A woman with light yellowish tan hair that curled down to her shoulders had a man with dark red-purplish hair in a headlock as he tried to keep a pie out of her reach. Lilly was standing next to Babd with a sour look on both their faces as they stared at the crazy ass children.
"Yeah, they're Lilly's kids, alright," Arthur chuckled.
"They're yer kids too, Arthur," Rose giggled. "Step kids, I mean."
Arthur's face paled suddenly when he looked at Rose, then he looked back at the unruly royals. "Oh shit."
