Guys.
C'mon.
I was so super stoked about finally uploading another chapter.. And compared to the amazing traffic I've been getting, I have NO new reviews.
Nothing. Zero.
SO bummed.
Really guys, please. After so long, I really want to know what you guys think, even if its something as simple as "Hey e+a+s, Jedah is hot", or "Boo, Jedah is a jerk". Just whatever! Please don't let me think that this is a dead story to you guys, because that is really how I'm starting to feel!
Reviews and feedback is this story's lifeblood at this point, and without any proper nourishment, it will die. No joke.
Okay, so I'm done ranting- but I do hope you guys enjoy.. And please.. Say something!
e+a+s
c h a p t e r. 4. s e a f o a m
The velveted wing beat of large, thick wings sounded behind her as she ran down the dark corridor, one wall encompassed entirely with tall floor to ceiling windows. They flung open as she passed, sending a spray of unruly curtains into her face, making her fumble forward to catch her balance. One of the windows shattered behind her, and the sound of violent tearing rang through the corridor, followed by an insistent knocking. It sounded again in staccato.
One, two…
Anita sat up bleary eyed in her tiny room once more, turning toward the persistent knocking. She got up, erstwhile smoothing down her unruly braids as she walked towards the door.
"Just a minute!"
Faint lantern light shone into the room as she cautiously cracked the door open and peered outside, the scent of something finely seasoned and prepared assaulting her senses. One of the shipmates stood with a tray, its contents covered to keep the food warm. Either way, it smelled nothing short of fantastic.
"Ye must be hungry, missy. Everybody has been making amazing catches all day today. Shoulda' seen ol' Ericson's catch this morning, phwoooar!" He sniffed, then beamed up at her. "But this was made special for ye. The cook insisted on only the finest for our fair guest."
She smiled and nodded at the kind gesture, he tipping his hat before turning smartly on his heel and heading back upward onto the deck. Shutting the door again with her foot, she set the tray down on a tiny desk adjacent to her bed and lifted the cover, her stomach growling in reply. Various seafoods were arranged in an attractive array on a bed of seasoned rice- it looked as if it was something more suited to the cuisine of the southern continents. Such a dish was far more exotic and savory than anything she had ever been used to, her palate accustomed to the far more simpler meals served in the convent. With growing despair, she also fancied it appropriate for somebody about to enjoy their last meal.
Glancing once more outside of her porthole, the sky had dressed into the lustrous gown of sunset, the moon descending into view from the heavens; not very far off. If she couldn't at least fight Jedah on his own level with a power of her own, she resolved to at least go with dignity- it sickened her to know that the thought of her possibly crying or cowering from him in terror would amuse him- greatly.
She ate in silence, with a strange calm washing over her, and was even able to enjoy her book whilst she did so. The bells on the ship began to ring in concert as a chorus of shipmates barking directions to one another sounded overhead, and soon she could feel the ship begin to set sail to a land that she would never hope to see.
Soon.
The Makai moon had fully risen by the time Jedah realized how long he had indeed been meandering about, still distressed about the dream he just had. Confused and desperate to clear his head, he had arisen and flew out the doors of his balcony into the cool night; flying somewhere, anywhere, away from his bed and the fresh sting of memory. How could something so simple trouble him so.. profoundly? It had been thousands of years since he had last seen his parents, even before he had gone into his deep sleep, and had already seen them off into the blessings of the eternal plane long before then.
Perhaps what had disturbed was that even thought he knew the story well, he had never imagined it so vividly. Nor in that fashion. Even as a child, he had trouble picturing his father so… well, so young. Such were the machinations of even a demon child. In his dream, Jedah could see that he had been a spitting image of the ruler of the Dohma house in his youth. Or perhaps what had disturbed him was the fact that he had not even had a cohesive dream in years.
Even as he lay dormant for all of those centuries while Ozomu wasted away upon the rotted throne of his birthright, not once did he ever have a dream, much less one so vividly.
He had already flown back to the castle, alighting into the main courtyard with the gardens behind him. An early autumn was already descending upon the Makai landscape, and the thick fragrance of the apple orchards starting to blossom behind him hung heavy in the air. Apples in his world made for far more sultry, succulent fare than the watery, crisp bite of fruit borne of the mortal realm.
Indeed, such an apple could possibly seduce another Eve he could think of…
He would watch her with growing interest as the juice ran as a sanguine jewel down from her lips to her chin, her eyes shining up at him in satisfaction. He would pluck the fruit from her, running a finger around her reddened lips, the other hand gently inching its way up the sheer fabric of her skirt, letting him lay her down right there before taking her; amongst the grass, the dirt. He would let her writhe, aroused and wanton beneath him as he sensually took his time peeling off the chaste white robes from her immaculate body with the adulation of the fanatic before the visage of his goddess. "Anita.."
She would look upon him, running a nail down the length of his broad chest and Jedah had undone and torn it off in an instant, desperate for the same treatment upon his bare skin. Anita was perfect, her body and curves soft and delicate upon an expanse of silken skin. His lips, his tongue explored her as she mewled softly and he held her fast, so as to not let his little nymph escape. He finally undid his pants and kissed his way up her legs, placing himself securely between her thighs. She began to plead with him in her impatience, and he kissed her lips, drank of her deeply. The shy, nervous blush that painted across her cheeks as he fingered the soft velvet of her thighs, her folds was exquisite. Absolutely exquisite.
His hand briefly brushed over her feminine pearl, and he stole a breathless kiss as he took her lips once more. His hands slid their way over her tummy, upward to gently caress her ripe breasts. The fallen blossoms from the apple trees above them were mingled within her luxuriant wave of hair beneath her body, and he nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck, intoxicated in the gentle and sweet smell of her.
Jedah smirked as she gasped in surprise as he separated her thighs a bit wider, raising them to hug snugly against his hips in preparation to finally claim her as his own. He felt her heartbeat suddenly pulse her fragrant blood within her veins, and his fangs grew in an instinctive response. She cried out throatily as he began to push himself into her, the smell of her virginal blood rich in the air awakening an uncontrolled beast within his being.
His restraint, in that instant, was utterly destroyed.
The dark messiah's fangs simultaneously marked her as his as they sank into the sultry curve of her vulnerable neck; her back arched to brush her rosebud nipples against him. The Sovereign; Naked and beautiful and crying in sheer pleasure, in exaltation of him…
…and Jedah was suddenly back by himself- clothed, sadly -furiously aroused and gripping one of the apples in a vice-like grip.
Oh yes. He was going to go collect his pet at this very moment.
He had stood, secreting away the tempting apple within his pocket and frantically trying to leash his lustful heat when the fluttering of a rich cape sounded in the air above, finely crafted boots landing deftly in the grass behind him.
How infuriating. Jedah coolly composed his temper and turned toward his visitor with tepid regard.
"Lord Maximoff. It is a pleasure."
The muscled vampire raised his arms in a harmless gesture, then bowed lowly from the waist, earning him a sneer from Jedah. Though Lord Maximoff was certainly one for pomp and circumstance of the nobility, his arrogance was outstandingly irritating. "Come, come!" Demetri seemed to be in a chipper mood this night. "It has been ages! Lord Dohma, when I heard that you were to inherit the Makai throne, I was.. Overjoyed, to say the least." That certainly wasn't the word he would have chosen for it- Demetri's smile tightened at the thought of the tirade he threw at the Maximoff estate only days earlier, slaughtering his human females and attendants unfortunate enough to get in the path of his blind fury.
Jedah smiled. The sheer waves of anger from Demetri struggling to hide his obvious displeasure was nothing short of delicious.
"Yes, well, I thank you for your commendations. If I may be so bold, perhaps something else has brought you here at such a late hour?" Jedah gripped the apple within the pocket of his thick coat, eager to leave the vampire lord with his vexation so as to collect his little Eve. "You must be very busy as of late already."
"Indeed young prince, indeed!" He slipped his hand within his breast pocket, and with the flair of a magician performing a feat flicked his wrist and produced a envelope, presenting it before the dark messiah. It was a gaudy thing, the parchment inlaid with gold pressed script lettering and a thick wax seal embossed with the Maximoff family crest; very fitting for the proud vampire lord. "A ball, milord, in your honor." The entire sentence was practically grated through his clenched teeth- he may have very well been better pleased eating sand.
"How.. generous of you." Brown-nosing, sanctimonious pig. "Really, I am quite honored by the gesture. I hate to be so rude as to excuse myself so suddenly, but I really must attend to some very pressing matters. Adieu, Lord Maximoff."
"Please wait, Lord Dohma. One more word?"
Jedah bit back a cry of frustration and swiveled back around on his heel. "Yes?"
"Of course, all of the information is included therein. I would appreciate it if you sent reply of your acceptance posthaste. Including," His smile became slightly venomous, "Any escort you deem fit to bring. But yes, I shall pardon myself and shall not keep you any longer. But I believe I shall visit you again." Demetri's wings emerged from beneath his grand cape, and he ceremoniously alighted into the air. "Good eve unto the morrow, young prince."
"All I ask is but a single rose!" cried the merchant, cowering away from the monstrous form of the Beast, who shook his head. "I will forgive you on one condition -- that is, that you will give me one of your daughters."
"Ah!" cried the merchant, "if I were cruel enough to buy my own life at the expense of one of my children's, what excuse could I invent to bring her here?"
"No excuse would be necessary," answered the Beast. "If she comes at all she must come willingly. On no other condition will I have her. See if any one of them is courageous enough, and loves you well enough to come and save your life. You seem to be an honest man, so I will trust you to go home. I give you a month to see if either of your daughters will come back with you and stay here, to let you go free."
"BRACE YOURSELVES!!!!"
Anita's head snapped up from her book at the sudden shout, then shrieked as she was thrown from her bed onto the floor in a heap, as if slammed by an invisible wall. She felt, even more so heard as the ship was tossed about on malevolent waves; Sheets of icy rain pounding on the hardy wooden deck overhead. The room jerked violently again, and the lamp on the table thrust itself from the beside table to shatter upon the floor. Lightning flashed, tearing a jagged seam across the black skies and highlighting the spectacle in horrific detail; waves roiled angrily outside of the porthole as she struggled to get back up onto her feet. The inevitability of her fears had been realized: She had been wrong about him being able to traverse the ocean, and innocent people were going to suffer because of her stupidity.
Her previous plans of going with him with an air of dignity fled as horror coated her tongue, drying it up. Jedah was going to take her or kill everyone on the vessel, or both.
Anita threw the door open, and was instantly assaulted by the icy winds streaming in from above deck. Batting her hair wildly out of her face, she was already shivering and soaking wet by the time she made it out onto the deck, gripping the rails as the boat rocked in the tumultuous waves- at this rate, the ship would capsize and drown them all.
"Jedah!" She called out, her voice drowned out in the howling winds. "Please! Please, just.. I'll go! Don't hurt anybody..!! I'll go willingly!" The rain was coming down so hard now it stung against her face. She twisted up her hair into a sopping knot and braved walking away from the rail out onto the wooden deck. Some of the sailors had noticed that she had wandered up onto the deck, and began gesturing wildly toward her as one of the sails tore away from the mast and was stolen by the wind.
Anita began to make her way toward them, straining to hear against the chaos around her as another sail was torn asunder. The wooden deck bucked beneath her feet, and she was thrown into the side of the stern, and held onto dear life as articles on the deck began to shift and were thrown around. She closed her eyes and tried desperately tried to calm the waves, protect the ship, the people onboard- something, anything.
Please, please, please, please, PLEASE-
The sound of something heavy grating against wood suddenly broke into her frantic prayers, and she opened her eyes only moments before the bulk of a crate slammed into her, sending her over the side of the boat and into the frigid sea. Her mind slowed to a delirious crawl as the waves of ink closed in over her head, and the cold embrace of oblivion took her.
It was so comfortable, here.
Fever, hot and thick, devastated her world. Often, she would feel hot a searing in her arm, followed shortly after with a thick, tasteless liquid being forced past her lips, and burned her throat with renewed vehemence. She would often relent, weakly turning her head away and letting the venomous liquid dribble down her chin as she pursed cracked lips away from the onslaught. It would usually stop after that.
She would cough so violently, it would be as if her very ribs were threatening to break themselves in two. And always, always, there was the palpable darkness.
She was always hot, always in pain, and always blind and bound in this senseless, maddening hell. Jedah had her now, and was torturing her for her insolence. She did not care.
Try as he might, he could not find her. At all.
The weeks went by as Jedah spent countless hours on his throne, searching the entire realms for her unique mental signature only to find absolutely nothing. He spent so much time in these intense meditative episodes, he was frequently awakening in the empty throne room, realizing that he had spent the entirety of the previous day- which soon encompassed weeks -in his attempts to locate her.
The hunger of bloodlust gripped him, and it had begun to show. His skin had become translucent, thin and coarse as paper; the tiny spider-webbings of his blue veins began to show through. He regarded his reflection with disgust, his temples pounding from the immense toll on his body from his neglect to nourish and properly rest himself.
But more than the hunger, more than the crippling fatigue and the uncertainty of what he was to do now that the final piece of his puzzle had seemingly fallen off the face of existence; he felt resonant, unyielding, rage.
Had he not indulged himself in that trite nonsense with Lord Maximoff, he would have found her as she had fled, he was sure of it. He had raked his subconscious over her room, the convent, and the adjacent roads and meadow countless times, and he unwillingly accepted that her aura had begun to stale in the empty space- Indeed, he had barely missed her by a few hours' time. Hiding a psychic signature period was a feat in and of itself, and not a trivial trick to be learned in the span of a day. With a dim horror he realized that she must have realized her power.. instantaneously? Impossible, he berated himself.
Something drastic had to have happened. Either she miraculously came into her right as the Sovereign overnight…
Or she had been dead all of this time.
Had it been… a suicide?
He felt a sick feeling creep through him at the thought. He had not wanted to drive the poor girl into killing herself. Such a sad, piteous waste- he had not wanted to deprive the realms of the bright Messiah and the salvation that he so sought, that these desperate times so needed; Merely own and command it for himself.
Jedah smirked, and chided himself. He was waxing poetic about the one single being who was to be the only known obstacle between himself and creating his beautiful new world. He closed his eyes, and contemplated. He forced himself to radiate patience, faith through his being. This, too, could be easily remedied.
The world that so loved and needed her would not let her go so easily. Gaia would not relinquish her only precious daughter with such reckless abandon.
Or so he had hoped, for both his sake and hers.
For the time being however, other matters pressed. He spread his great wings and was soon flying like a shot out of the Dohma castle, laughing aloud as the cool air lapped at his skin and awakening his dulled senses into new vigor. In the distance, he could smell young blood, and the fresh Makai apple blossoms sang in the air- the world was fertile, and there was sustenance, pleasures, to be had tonight.
Anita opened her eyes for the first time in what felt like years, taking a shaking breath and timidly observed her surroundings. A world entire opened before her wearied senses, magnificently furnished with rich brocade and cherry wood furnishings, rose embroidered windows were pulled open to look down upon a wide oceanside view full of bright morning sunlight. A steady insect-like thrum sounded beneath the picturesque view, and when a fat little body powdered in a down of pollen droned lazily past her window she realized that there also must have been a capable beekeeper on the premises as well.
The room was a soft pink, and smelled wonderful: luxurious scents, like toiletry water, scented talcum and potpourri. A fire had been lit in the little hearth beside the four-poster bed she sat in; a beautiful cloisonné vase filled with the most extraordinary flowers sat atop the mantle. It was like nothing she had ever experienced before. It was all so soft and lovely.. worlds apart from the tiny room she had in the convent, or on that shi-
The ship.
The storm.
Where was she? What if this was some ploy by Jedah? Those insufferable nightmares sent a horrified chill up her spine. However, this was worlds apart from the ceaseless, choking darkness; Perhaps he had created this room to mollify her, make her complacent. She had been frantically glancing around for something to possibly use as a weapon when the door opened and she snapped attention toward it, instantly alert and on guard.
Something crashed to the floor, followed by a startled gasp. "O…o-oh my! Young master, please come quick!"
A young girl dressed in a finely tailored maid's uniform now crouched upon the floor, blushing furiously. "I apologize, miss- you were up so suddenly, you frightened me!" She was quick to pick up the pieces of shattered glass and spilled sugar- a tea set, without a doubt -fishing a tea towel out of her apron pocket and wiping up the rest of the liquid.
A man wandered into the room, and Anita realized how tall he was as he crossed the room in three strides and sat in the chair beside the bed, setting a small kit down beside him. He hard dark, curly hair, and looked up at Anita with such a mirthful smile she couldn't help but shyly smile back. "I hate to burst in so suddenly into the boudoir of a young lady, but.. Well, I certainly wasn't expecting you to be so alert so soon! They had said that Warburg's Tincture was an unreliable medicine, but this borderlines on miraculous!" He began to busy himself fumbling about in the little leather case as she timidly reached up to feel her hair, realizing that it all had been braided up tightly into a masterful Dutch crown about her head. "I, um… excuse me? Please forgive me for being so blunt, but could you tell me where I am? Why I am here?" She glanced toward where the maid had been stooped, but she and the mess were already gone.
He chuckled, smiling at her once again, his apple-green eyes gently regarding her worried face. "I am sure that you are a bit confused, my dear. Please allow me to introduce myself and explain." The young man pulled a stethoscope from the medical bag, and rolled up the sleeve to the embroidered nightgown she wore and avidly began to listen to the pulse in her wrist, exclaiming softly to himself in amazement once more.
"I am Cecil VonGraven, and you have been the honored guest here in my mansion for nearly two months now. My family and I are all physicians, and it is very lucky for you that I am so!" He tenderly rolled her sleeve back down, placing it back against the bed and patted it. "You had us all scared here for quite a while- our steward had spotted you out on the beach from the lighthouse in the dead of the night while on watch and brought you here. Excuse me," He placed the stethoscope against her chest, asking her to inhale, and a light blush crept along Anita's face as he continued.
"You were as cold as ice, and it was obvious that you had gone through quite a lot, dear mermaid. Sadly, even after getting you bathed and changed, your condition had quickly elevated into fever, and we all feared for the worst. I thought that I may lose you." He earnestly looked into her eyes, and Anita bit her lip. "You had been quite sick this entire time, and here you are this morning, sleeping beauty after her one-hundred year slumber, as fresh as spring rain. Simply astounding. But please, tell me yourself how you are feeling?"
It had been a lot to take in, and Anita was quiet for a long moment before she spoke again.
Cecil took a deep, labored breath as he stepped outside of the room. Something strange was going on, that was definitely for sure: She had miraculously recovered in an incredible amount of time, and when her condition was dire enough to ensure death.. And the way she made him feel was unmistakable. It was overwhelming- like standing in a direct ray of luminous sunshine. It was beautiful.
So was she.
And yet.. Being around her made him feel something almost clouded and forgotten arise to the surface of his subconscious. Small fragments of something important, long ago..
He was running about in tatters, a small child, ambling about after something large, monstrous. It was something archaic, and was by far the most marvelous thing he had ever laid eyes on, an orphan who knew nothing else but the pain of dwelling on the streets. Gun smoke. Oil. Gears. It should have been anything but the companion of a child.
But this monstrous being.. It made him feel warm, though. Warm and safe.
Suddenly, the name of it emerged within his mind- How on earth could he have forgotten?
"Huitzil."
