"But they never came."
"No," she said, "they never did."
"But," Vita said.
"I don't know."
Mikoto remembered yesterday's conversation at the hot springs. She was standing on the rocky edge of what used to be the sheer cliff face. And now was a series of stepped levels plateaus. Each one rose higher until it reached nearly halfway up the cliff face. She looked down to the bottom of the plateau, where the hot springs flowed into cooler pools and small streams that disappeared into the dark forest. People were moving along the forest trails, into the village, and beyond. It had changed entirely.
"Vita's been busy," little misaka spoke. Mikoto nodded. "Not the small village anymore. Looks more like a..."
"Growing medieval township," little misaka finished.
The devastation that Mikoto had caused had long since disappeared. Where once stood the towering trees, wooded buildings now stood. The half-trunks now supported an entire township. People worked and lived in what could only be called treehouses. Scaffolding had been built, giving access to the higher levels of the trees. Wooden planks ran through the trees like pathways on the forest floors. People were using them, moving quicker and safer. She could see hunters moving up the scaffolding and coming down with giant bugs. She shivered, seeing their legs moving and twitching. She could hear them celebrating, laughing.
"They're happy," little misaka said.
"Yea, they are," Mikoto said, "but I'm not."
"Still grossed out by the bugs. "Little misaka said with a grin. She knew Mikoto had a phobia of bugs. Not really a phobia. She just plain hated them. And being here, it went a little further. The villagers loved and survived eating bugs. "Nothing better than poached beetles." little misaka said with a laugh. Looking across, small fires dotted the area, pots boiling with the day's catch.
"Shut up," Mikoto said, shaking her head.
"You shut up," little misaka said. "Snacks?" she quickly asked.
"I'm not hungry," Mikoto said.
"Well, you should be. You've been asleep for ten years."
Mikoto stuck out her tongue and ran it along her lips. The sheen of blood still shined. Vita had made sure she had been properly fed. Being a vampire queen had its peaks and valleys. She needed blood to survive. Even though her body slowed to a near-death state. She still needed to be fed. And thanks to a specific pain in the ass, she had been given enough to survive for a very long time. The blood of Ronan. she still saw the grin on his face when she'd come to ask for it. That mix of condescending, know-it-all and say-it-say-it look on his face. It bit at her like an annoying mosquito or itch you couldn't quite scratch. And then that heart-melting smile would grow after she broke down and would say it. "Pretty please, OH great Ronan... the greatest of all greats, a human among humans... the... oh, that's it! Just give me it or..."
"Is this foreplay?" he'd always interrupt.
"it's ass-kicking time!" she'd say, followed by a quick blush and growl.
"Foreplay it is!"
"I'll bite your neck and drink your blood," she'd say.
"I'll bite your neck and suck your blood," he'd say. "And more..."
She felt the rapid beating of her heart, seeing his face in her mind, besides her love for Anastasia and her children. He was a close second. But she wasn't about to tell him that. A twisting pain followed in her belly, wishing she'd said that. Knowing she'd never be able to tell him that.
"What are you thinking about?" Vita asked.
"Ronan," she said before thinking. She blushed, caught her breath, bring her hand to her chest. She didn't deny it. Like usual. "When did you get..." her voice trailed off. "Here."
"he's dead. You know that, right?" Vita said.
Mikoto nodded, "I know." Biting her tongue, feeling the pain, and tasting it in her mouth." I was just admiring your..."
"Admiring my work!" Vita grinned. she chuckled, fangs showing, and the hard edges of her face softened, softening like a blushing teenager.
"Quick, say something else, or we will never hear the end of this. My Mistress gave me a compliment. We will never live it down." little misaka said, sounding almost panicking. "It drove the others in the houses crazy..."
"Sorry, sorry," Vita said, waving her hands. "The others kept trying to get me to help them with their part of the gardens. I mean, it was fine. But you know me best, Mistress." her smile getting wider.
"Ok... that's scary." little misaka whispered. Why was she whispering, considering she was an avatar taking up space inside her mind? She was born of the mixing of royal vampire blood and Mikoto's blood. Being an esper in Academy City, her brain functions differed from normal humans.
-Academy City, in Japan and west of Tokyo. It is a city of several schools and institutions of higher learning from kindergarten to university level that learn side-by-side with the scientists who researched psychic powers and higher technology. It is the world's most advanced city, and its technology is said to be 20 or 30 years ahead of the world. Academy City is composed of 23 School Districts, which are simply numbered from one to twenty-three, and each has a specific purpose. -
And they believed the scientist of the realm of the four kingdoms, which are ruled by Anastasia Von Alucard, is the reason Little misaka was created. Usually, someone bitten by a Queen vampire would just become a royal servant. But this had not happened. "Take that!" Mikoto pointed and yelled. Anastasia just grinned. "I love you."
"Yes, yes." Mikoto closed her eyes, taking a breath, "but can you explain those?" she slowly opened her eyes and glared. She pointed to a spot near the new waterfall and river that flowed. Along the sheer rock face of the plateaus, pathways and doors had been carved into the rocks. And people were walking along, going in and out.
Vita took a breath and quickly nodded. " Of course, my Queen."
"Oh, shit!" little misaka quipped. "She used queen instead of Mistress... the shit is going to flow."
"Yep,"
"When word spread of what happened? The defeat of Bahamut and his bad guys, and the destructive remodeling of the garden exterior boundaries by a certain someone who shall not be named." She held out her hand towards Mikoto. "Mikoto Misaka... more and more people arrived. So, we had to, shall we say, create more living space. So," she crossed her arms over her chest and pulled her shoulders back, "well, I am my father's son..."
"Excuse me?!" Mikoto thinned her eyes.
"Yes," she said with a nod. "When I was born, long before you were even a twinkle in your father's eyes, and the midwife asked him if he wanted a boy or a girl... he just said, is the baby healthy?" she nodded, " it didn't matter. Perfect is as perfect does."
"Ooh, crappp... it's a back story!" little misaka screamed, "quick, zap her before!"
"And as time passed, I grew up. I was trained in mathematics, languages, building methods and..." she said.
"Is it getting deep?" Mikoto spoke and sighed.
"No, no.." Vita said, waving her hands. "You have to understand to know." she said.
"Fine."
"Then let me continue."
"Go ahead,"
"I lived in an empire that valued education and training of male and female. It was a time of great expansion and growth and violence and cruelty. And so, I, being the oldest, was schooled in the arts. I followed my father into the family business. We were builders. Projects large and small. Bridges, buildings, and temples. City planning, farming, etc." she stepped closer to the edge, looking down at everything. Eyes following the river, "water wheels to make bread," she pointed, "canals to make transportation easier, boat building, winches to move product up and down from the trees. Scaffolding to climb higher to help with the harvesting. Stone masonry, tools created, people trained, and dwellings built.,,"She held out her arms, "all of this because of..."
"You were bored?" Mikoto murmured, "maybe finding something to do between canoodling with Kea's mother."
Vita quickly covered her mouth, coughing. "Yes..." she whispered silently. But Mikoto, being a queen vampire, could hear her. Vita couldn't and wouldn't lie to her Queen. But that didn't mean she didn't embellish, exaggerate, or put on a show.
"Anyway... after a time, I felt restless. Like something was missing. I wanted to feel what it was like to be human and not just a vampire. I wanted to be a part of the world around me." looking up at the two large waterwheels at the top of the falls. The tips of sails flapped in the wind.
Mikoto, catching the motion of the sails, fretted her brow. "Not to change the conversation, but what happened to the winds?"
With the change of the seasons, the winds would grow violent and stronger. Strong enough to tear the ground to bare rock. Something she'd noticed. The way tops of the trees whipped and tossed high and were shredded. Something that had changed the landscape. It usually occurs after the little ones have come back from the forest.
"It seems a certain someone blew up the mountains," Vita spoke flatly. "Was that some shade?" little misaka puffed out her cheeks.
"Huh? blew up what mountains?"
"Oh, sorry, did you hear that?"
"You know I did."
Vita motioned with her chin, "I had a few ships built, and Nya volunteered to lead an expedition to see where the river, which we call the Isle of Mikoto, went. And a few months later, she returned. And said it looked like an entire mountain range had been blown away."
"The Isle of Mikoto? What the..." Little misaka slapped her forehead "no no no... it should be something grander."
"I am not listening to this." Mikoto knew better than to answer, but "How'd she know it was blown away?" feeling a little uneasy.
"Oh, the charred edge along the edges and the glassy edges of the bits and pieces. Seems the range was shaped to gather the wind and direct it to a single point.,"Vita said, "I'm thinking Bahamut, during the previous war, used nature as a weapon."
Showing her disbelief at the statement, Mikoto shook her head. "How would you know that?"
"Beyond the mountains, it was green." Shaking her head, "I'm pretty sure much of this planet is rich in vegetation and animal life... but in his vengeance for the war, he practiced slash and burn."
"That doesn't sound like a god of nature."
"I don't know if it was him or not. But that's what I think happened." Vita frowned. "But nature can pretty much recover as long as the human problem is taken out of the equation."
"That's... kind of scary." Mikoto spoke and sighed, "but that doesn't explain those!" she growled, shaking her fingers at the two colossal statues. One on each side of the waterfalls. They were images of her.
"Those are larger than the Leshan Giant Buddha statue and Guan Yin in Chin!" little misaka rolled her eyes.
"Oh, yea...you see those? Hee, hee." she grinned appreciatively. Vita took a proud breath and gently put her hand on Mikoto's shoulder, "took five years to build," shaking her head, "but well worth it."
"Huh,"
"it was the Queen or head priestess's idea."
"Rae?"
"oh, yea... she thought you'd love it.. especially after all the stories I told her, especially the ones when you were younger. She insisted that one be built." She pointed to the one on the right side of the waterfalls. It was her, the young small chested version of herself. Mikoto clenched her teeth, squeezing her fist tight. "Everyone really likes that one. Nya, Gullam, Aya, Rae, and Kea... especially Maka... she really likes it... she says that it gives her hope that she'll be bigger in the future."
"Well... I guess I should be happy then." Twisting her mouth.
"Yea," Vita smiled, "you're not the only one who sees much of yourself in those statues." Vita turned and pointed to the one on the right side of the waterfall. The more well-endowed older image of her. "Oh, to be that small again." She peeked down at Mikoto's chest and took a breath.
"I really hate you sometimes," Mikoto whispered, yet it was loud enough to make Vita smile.
"I told you to stop her!" little misaka growled and covered her small chest.
"Oh, shush... I'm just enjoying myself." Vita winked and walked over to the edge, holding out her hand.
"Do you mind?" Mikoto pouting, walked over, bumped Vitas' shoulder, and dropped over the edge to the next level. "No, go ahead."