I do not own anything but my characters (Iris, Amon, Axel, etc), the Galileus (but sadly I do not own the creature design) and Cryal.
Quotes and meanings below.
"Speaking aloud"
'Speaking telepathically'
Subconscious thoughts, deep in the mind and cannot be heard by others at all.
My fanfiction & Wattpad: VivicaNight
My deviantart: Horrorgir1
Chapter 21: Music
Axel's POV:
Allowing Iris to rest, the hours pass while she sleeps against me.
Amon has been keeping me up to date with Gabby's progress regarding her survival training, she has become quite an impressive female Galileus.
She is intelligent, learns quickly and is fast on her feet, she no longer feels fear as much as she used to.
Soon she will be coming into estrus as well, like the rest of the females are and will be for the next few decades.
Mating season only comes around once every century, if we are lucky. At times it only comes around every other century.
While the females aren't in estrus, they want nothing to do with the males and often become aggressive toward them.
Looking down at Iris, I am thankful for finding a female that will stay and remain mine until death finds us.
I begin to wonder how her species ages, if it ages similar to a human, or ages slowly like one of us.
While thinking I continue to keep my senses peaked, the only thing I have been picking up is the movement and whines of the canine.
There is no reason for me to waste my energy on killing such a creature, as an adolescent I surely would have killed it for the amusement.
Moving my focus to Iris, I focus on her irresistible scent, waiting for it to change once conception occurs.
Her scent does not change. Long after the time I had predicted it would, she remains receptive and fertile.
Something may have went wrong, both of us are healthy and fertile, I can sense it.
Smelling her quietly, I can pick up that my seed is still inside of her.
The whole situation confuses me, Galileus are extremely fertile creatures, there is no possibility that it is because of me.
I know nothing about her species...she has yet to learn about it either.
My thoughts get interrupted by the scent of her fear, moving my attention to her I realize she has begun to sweat. Her breathing picks up and the strong emotions of sadness and agony flow through her.
Part of me thinks I should wake her, while the other is curious about waiting and watching.
I decide to observe her, whines and sniffles begin to come from her intensifying distress.
Feeling her claws bury themselves into my flesh from her emotions, I begin to smell blood escaping from my body, I remain observant.
She begins to cry out in agony, repeating the words 'No' in a begging, heart wrenching tone.
At this point I have seen enough.
'Iris!' I shout into her mind, she continues to cry and I shake her, making her awaken with a start.
Iris's POV:
Screaming out of fear I feel someone shaking me, half asleep I force myself away from them.
Axel grabs me before I fall off the bed, a loud roar erupts from him in a final attempt to wake me, making my eyes open and consciousness to return to me completely.
Sitting up fast I stare at him, he watches me in interest before comforting me, 'You are safe.'
He pulls me against him again and I grip onto him tightly for comfort, beginning to cry while recalling my nightmare.
Axel begins to purr soothingly, sitting up to comfort me further, soon succeeding.
Feeling the need to tell him about the nightmare, I begin to consider the possibility of it being a memory.
I explain my dream to him, "I was in a room, somewhere I felt safe...a group of scientists came in and made me sit in a chair across from a girl I felt strongly for...like a motherly figure...I don't remember who she was or why I felt so strongly for her...they wanted me to kill her so they could see how my powers worked..." My voice becomes shaky with sadness, recalling the intense emotions I felt.
Axel listens, I continue, "...B-but I couldn't get myself to kill her...I couldn't do it...I knew what the men would do to me if I said no, but I said no anyway...they shot her in the head right in front of me...I didn't even have enough time to feel the pain of losing her before they took me to a different room and...hurt me..." I explain the memories through a grieved tone, trying to hold back tears.
He listens to my words before pulling me closer, 'It was a nightmare, you are safe...'
"It wasn't just a nightmare...I have been having strange dreams for a long time..." I explain to him.
He doubts my belief, 'It is time to leave.'
Axel gets off the bed and gets prepared to leave the room, I think of something to get his full attention.
"...I spoke to your mother..."
The moment I finish my sentence his full attention shifts onto me, no longer caring about leaving.
He begins to think I am lying and using his mother in a negative way, he begins growling loudly at me, snarling slightly, 'She is dead. You will not speak of her!' His voice full of anger.
"I did...her name is Amber, she told me your last name. It's Cyneric." I force the words out of my mouth quickly before he becomes more angered.
He listens to my words, his attitude softens, knowing there is no way I would have known her name or knew his last name, neither Amon or him ever bring either names up in conversations.
He watches me for a moment, 'How.'
Now that he is willing to listen to me, I walk over to the door of the room, "I will tell you once we leave, we have to clean up our messes first." I tell him while beginning to walk to the door.
Axel suddenly slams the door shut, cutting off my exit before roughly grabbing one of my arms and pinning me against the wall with his hands roughly gripping onto my arms.
'You will tell me how, right this moment!' His serious, slightly angered and emotional voice demands.
I look into his eyes, seeing aggression on his face, knowing he is only trying to look pissed so he can get the answer out of me, at this point he would never truly harm me.
I speak slowly to calm him, "We. Need. to. leave..." My soft voice tells him, looking into his eyes.
Out of frustration he snarls and lets go of me, holding himself back from doing something stupid out of anger.
I watch him and leave the room, cleaning up the upstairs to hide any evidence of us being here.
Axel leaves through a window he unlocked, waiting for me on the roof while thinking about what I've told him, gathering his thoughts.
Once finished, I fill the dog's food bowl and give it water, making sure it will survive until someone shows up.
Leaving through the front door, I leave it unlocked and fly onto the roof.
Axel looks at me, seeming to have calmed down. He begins to purr at me, I smile and turn back into my crow form, the storm has passed.
I fly over to him and land in his hair again, he takes flight and I begin to explain everything I've learned through my dreams, about the man, his mother, the Cryptsin and pretty much everything else I haven't been telling him about.
Within the time it took to get back to the factory, I have finished summarizing everything up and have officially caught him up on everything I know, including the details about people trying to find me.
We get inside and I turn back into my real form, now that I'm technically trying to get pregnant, and from what Axel told me, it didn't work out while I napped, I don't have to use anything to block the smell or stop my flow.
Though I'd prefer to have underwear with a pad on at least, that would require leaving, and after what I've told Axel about humans looking for me, the containment and all that, he absolutely does not want me to leave for any reason.
"I'm hungry..." I tell him as we walk through the halls to wherever Axel is taking me.
'I will find us food.' He tells me, leading me to the room I almost reached earlier, the room with the lights.
Entering the room, the first thing that grabs my attention is the ancient looking record player, causing me to gasp and move my hands to my cheeks out of excitement, "A record player!"
I run over to it and look over it, a large excited grin on my face, Axel proceeds to do whatever he is doing while I freak out.
"What is this?" I wonder aloud, picking up the needle and pulling the record off.
"Jeepers Creepers? This is the kind of music you like? Ancient stuff?" I tease, laughing while looking at him.
He smirks, 'Music is nice. I prefer silence, but the record player was left here, forgotten.' He tells me while messing with some of his newer weapons laid out on the table.
Looking at the record again, I look at him, "Where did you find the record player and music?"
After he tells me, he gathers one of his knives before leaving, telling me adamantly to not leave.
Once he leaves I venture through the wet factory, having to run through dirty puddles and dripping pipes to find the room he told me about.
Entering the room I discover it is flooded all the way up to my ankles, the cold water sending shivers through my body.
Walking through the water I approach a large pile of broken, moist and cobwebby cardboard boxes.
Looking through them, I end up finding a lot of cool things. Lots of old gadgets, nuts and bolts, pipes, and worker clothes. That's just the boring stuff, I found an old notebook, a pencil and lots of other cool things to keep me busy.
Besides that, I found the records. Most of them are cracked, or broken, but a few of them are in fine condition.
Looking through the titles, a few grab my attention and I gather them along with the rest of the stuff I've found.
Lugging all the items back to the room, I almost get lost in the maze of hallways and rooms, but the scent of the few dead bodies in the room lead me back safely.
I lay out my loot on a side table, grabbing and looking at the records.
We've got Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Pink Floyd and the Beatles.
Thinking about the album names, I look through the music and pick out which one I like the most.
I begin listening to Pink Floyd, jamming out and acting silly, although I prefer more modern rock/metal, I'd have to get something else to play those songs.
Once the album is over, I hear the door to the factory open and close while picking out a new vinyl.
Becoming excited, I eagerly await Axel's return, starving.
Axel enters the room and drops the body of a woman onto the cement floor, a gaping hole in her chest from her heart being removed.
"Yay!" I cheer, running over to the body to devour her meat, Axel smirks at my excitement.
The only thing I have been able to smell is the sweet scent of my estrus thick in the air, possibly beginning to be carried throughout the factory.
Axel keeps his body under control, but the fact that it is coming from me, his mate, makes it much harder to resist now that his brain and body recognize how special I am compared to other females in estrus.
To distract himself, he goes over to work on his weapons and prepare to hang the body.
Hearing strange clicking sounds and sharp scraping from him, I move my attention to where they are coming from, my eyes widen.
Axel's feet have suddenly changed into feet just like Amon's, instead of the human-like feet he had before he left.
"Woah! Excuse me, when did you get an upgrade?" I laugh while watching him.
He grins at me, 'My body was ready for a natural modification. Evolution takes slower depending on diet.' He tells me, now able to pick up prey like a hawk.
"Wow, that's awesome!" I exclaim before finishing my buffet.
Once finished, Axel takes the body and begins working on it, I clean myself up and walk over to the vinyls, picking out the Nirvana before running to the player and switching the vinyls.
The first song that begins to play is 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', I watch Axel excitedly, waiting for a reaction while it plays.
He listens to it, stopping to look at me, 'This is the music you enjoy?' He teases.
"You don't like it?! This one is so good! You seem like you would like rock or metal music, just my opinion."
He smirks at me, listening to the music, words and creativity, he looks back down at his work, 'It is good.' He admits.
I cheer and smile wide, "I'm glad! Hey, can I see that knife yet?" I ask, running over to his weapons.
'No.' He plainly says into my mind.
Looking all over for the tiny bit of detail I saw last time from it, none of the weapons are the one I'm looking for, telling me he hid it.
"Whyyyyyy" I drag out, looking at a few of his new weapons, a number of throwing stars made of bone and some kind of black rubber-looking metal.
'It is not ready.' He tells me, not even looking at me while talking.
"It looked ready last time I saw it..." I complain, touching a few of his weapons carefully, finding a tooth on the back of one of the throwing stars and a belly button with a tattoo one of the others. His craft is absolutely stunning to me, but the random tooth and skinned belly button confuses me.
'Blade was not strong enough for my liking. I am working on a new blade of obsidian.' He explains.
One of his weapons catch my eye, the design on it looks like a human is panicking in a field with a look of pure terror on its face while being chased by Axel in the sky. The details look amazing, picking it up I look on the back of it to discover some kind of serpent with razor sharp teeth and its mouth open wide while its tongue runs along most of the knife's length in the center.
A yipe escapes my lips the moment the knife suddenly flies out of my hands fast, flying to and getting caught by Axel.
My eyes wide, I stare at him as he gives me a grin.
"Uh, what was that?!" I blurt out at him.
Axel continues to grin before throwing the knife, only for the knife to quickly fly back to him like a yoyo, 'A trait given to me by my mother, I may not have as much angelic blood as Amon does, but what I have been given proves itself useful to me.'
"That's so awesome!" I exclaim, taking the knife once Axel hands it back to me.
"Here, do it with this one!" I tell him, putting down the knife and picking up a random one with a similar design on it, but it is mostly covered by the serpent.
'Not with that one, I can't' He tells me, making me confused, he resumes working on the body.
"Why not? What's the difference?" I wonder, looking at the weapons.
'The knife you picked is new, I have yet to bind it to me.' He tells me, looking at me.
"How do you bind it?" I ask curiously.
He smirks and walks over, taking the knife he slowly slides the blade into the center of his hand, his blood coating the blade coming out of the back.
Watching, I wince but remain curious.
He slowly pulls his hand off the blade, his hand dripping blood for a few moments before healing itself.
His blood on the blade begins to do something unusual, to my disbelief the blood soaks into the blade, disappearing completely.
"Uhh. Where did the blood go...?" I rhetorically ask, was not expecting the blood to do that.
He grins in amusement before throwing the knife at a body, then recalling it back to him like he did with the other, 'Happy?' He teases, handing me the knife again.
Taking the knife I look over it all over, not seeing any sign of the blood at all, "That's crazy!"
He smirks, enjoying my reaction before getting back to work.
Within about 20 minutes, the intense smell coming from me begins to affect Axel to extensive levels, to where he can barely control himself, constantly getting distracted by it and my presence. The only thing I have been doing is sitting at the small table and drawing, not doing anything to tempt him, yet I can feel his hungry gaze on me almost constantly.
"Can we go get Valkyrie?" I ask, hopefully distracting him from the desire.
He takes a moment to respond, possibly thinking about the risk that can come, knowing I will have to be in my true form to come back home with the weapon.
'It will have to be quick. You're scent is very strong.' He reminds me, I begin to think of a temporary solution.
Moments pass, an idea comes to mind.
Gabby.
.
About an hour passes before Gabby was able to collect what I need from her house, although she is no longer human, she still uses her home, for now.
I was sent to my room before Axel lost complete control of himself, my scent everywhere inside the factory, even covering Axel's thick, natural male scent that is usually all I can smell when near him.
I pick up Gabby's scent once she enters the factory, becoming excited I climb off the hammock and wait for her to come to me, yet to see her full transformation.
Hearing her clawed feet walking down the hall to the room, I run out of the room and surprise her with a hug, making her drop a suitcase full of whatever she brought for me.
"Woah! Hey there!" She laughs, hugging me back, "Whew...man Axel wasn't joking about your heat getting intense..." She tells me, giggling.
Pulling away from her I look over her in the darkness, "You look amazing! You're so beautiful!" I tell her, holding my hands to my mouth in awe.
She smiles before spreading her beautiful leather wings, having a beautiful faded red between her wings' fingers.
Her wings give me the same effect the rest of the Galileus wings do, making me watch them in awe.
"Okay okay don't start drooling." She teases, folding her wings.
"It's so weird how Galileus wings make me get lost in the sight of them. I don't get it..." I tell her, walking in the room with her.
She grabs the suitcase and brings it with her, "Maybe it has to do with your body adapting or whatever." She tells me.
"Probably.." I conclude, watching her open up the suitcase.
"Alright we got pads, tampons for days, clothes for days, hopefully my size fits you, and lots of brand new underwear and bras, razors, and soap." She informs me, smiling.
"Oh wow...thank you so much! Once this heat thing passes, or when I can go out in the open again I will repay you." I tell her, looking through the clothes.
"You don't have to. Like I've said before, I have connections." She grins.
My eyes widen, "...Have you told any humans about you turning...?" I whisper very quietly.
She watches me and slowly shrugs.
"...Gabby...!" I snap quietly, worrying, knowing how bad things could get because she said something.
"Come on...they are trustworthy, they can keep secrets..."
"They?!" I scream through my teeth, knowing Axel would probably kill her if he knew. "You think they can keep secrets, but you have no way of knowing whether they WILL keep it!"
She hears me, at a loss for words. I frown at her, "...Axel could kill you for this...you know how serious something like that can get!"
The scent of her fear reaches my nose, I frown more.
"...Please don't tell him..." She begs.
I sigh heavily, "Please don't put this on me...I don't like holding things from him...especially something so serious..."
"Please! He will kill me...you can't just let him..."
Sighing again, I tell her, "If you are lucky...he might just let you off with a warning..."
A rush of anger can be seen in her eyes out of fear, but she is smart enough to not threaten me.
Letting out a last sigh, I cave, "...Fine. I won't tell him...but if he asks, I will have no choice but to tell the truth..."
She sighs in relief before hugging me, "Thank you..."
Hugging her back, I think of a solution that would possibly eliminate this issue, "...To ensure you are safe, I am suggesting that you kill those you have told...otherwise if Axel finds out, he will hunt and kill every one of them right after he kills you."
She stops hugging me, a shocked expression on her face, "...I-I can't just do that...I've known one of them my whole life..."
Frowning, I respond, "...You made the mistake...you are the only one who can fix it..."
She shakily sighs, looking down, "...I know..."
"...You should probably leave..." I suggest.
She nods before slowly leaving.
Frowning, I look through the clothes again, taking a tampon before using it.
Finding a nice pair of clothes, I put on a pair of panties, a bra and some jeans and a tank top.
Feeling good about myself, I take a brush out from the suitcase and brush through my hair.
My hair has gotten a little longer since I was with Emma, to the point my bangs dangle past my eyes, having to move it away a lot.
"...I need a haircut..." I tell myself before looking at the brush.
Memories flood my mind, remembering everything that has happened up until this point.
Figuring I should get Valkyrie before the sun rises, I get to my feet, dropping the brush onto the contents of the suitcase before leaving the room.
Walking toward the exit, I call out for Axel, "Hurry up! I'm ready to go!"
Knowing he heard me, I soon get to the exit and try pushing the door open, whining in defeat.
A deep chuckle of amusement comes from behind me, turning around I see Axel smirking at me, 'Weakling.' He teases before shoving the door open.
"I am not!" I exclaim, leaving the factory with him, watching him close the door.
'You are.' He tells me before taking off into the sky, quickly I follow him.
"Do you want me to turn into a Cryal again so you can test that theory?" I tell him.
He smirks, 'That is not your true strength, as that is not your true form.'
I growl in frustration at him, "Remember when I threw you across that cavern without touching you? Making that cave collapse in on itself? Yeah, I did that." I gloat.
'We are no longer speaking about the same type of strength.' He informs me.
Realizing Axel is getting too far ahead with his stronger wings, I speak, "It's still strength! Hey can you slow down...? Just a little?"
He looks at me and smirks, 'I thought you were strong enough to keep up?'
I growl loudly at his words, not wanting to admit it, "Shut up...!" I joke.
He quietly chuckles in amusement before slowing down to where I can keep up.
"...Thank you..." I mumble under my breath.
Soon we come across the wreckage of the mansion, the town has already begun to tear the mansion down the rest of the way so kids don't treck inside and hurt themselves being stupid.
Landing on the ground before the wreckage, I am unable to recognize anything or even know where to begin.
Axel lands in the wreckage before moving things around, seeming to know the general area of where it is.
Stretching an arm out toward the wreckage, I use the link between the weapon and I to make it glow like I have done in the past.
Without even seeing the glow, I now know where it is beneath the rubble, underneath where Axel is looking.
Axel moves large pieces of stone, cement and other heavy items with ease while he slowly descends into the rubble.
Time passes and soon the weapon is uncovered, Axel leaves the rubble and lets me get it.
I squeal in happiness before flying into the rubble and picking it up.
Valkyrie gives off a vibrant violet glow, along with my eyes for just a moment as our energy equalizes.