Loyalties:
Mass Effect Trilogy is a Bioware game. For any reference to the Official Game All rights are owned by Bioware. The Fan Fiction "Mass Effect At Dawn Again" is fruit of my imagination and my work, it is a free tribute, passionate and personal to a great video game. It is not allowed any use partial or total for profit and not.
Chapter 30
Aethyta's secret!
… Aethyta's voice is excited, hesitant, reluctant, as she is looking for the words that slowly become a river. Thoughts follow each other, they advance, continuously flow through the most painful memories. Then, they come, streaming down all around some other wonderful times. Eventually, words scream impetuously, in the midst of emotions, galloping like a whirlwind, along a whole life …
A: Ha, to hell! Dammit! ... Karin, I ... I'm the last Athame's Priestess, and that was ... well, that was my fuck'n Temple!
Aethyta's voice strikes Karin from within. It invades her, like a stormy wave, breaking against the rocks, leaving just splashes of dismay inside her. Everywhere scattered like a thousand white foam sprays. Every word seems a breath of wind that whispers to the frost of the night, stroking in the darkness its stifling torment. In the bewildered tone of the same sounds, which scratch and then waver, dissolving in the fragile balance of the Karin's legs ...
K: What?! Gods of high Olympus! I think, I'm going to faint! ... Thyta, I can hardly believe my ears! So, I guess you might want to come clean with me, Sweetie! And, you need to be convincing enough because ... well, you know, I'm afraid this is one of the two or three things you can't just decide to hide me! Especially, when you look in my eyes, and ... you can tell me "I love you!"
Aethyta feels bumping against the same rock. She is striking violently, at the mercy of the same stormy wave. Aethyta feels the scream of the storm falling down her throat, turning into a frosty wind, which imprisons her breath, holds it for a long time blocked, like suspended in the grip of a myriad of tiny needles of stinging ice. She barely brushes aside the fear of fainting, as surrounds Karin's shoulders with her hands, and gently guide her to meet her own gaze. Aethyta's eyes are so sweet, and deep, and truthful that, Karin cannot help but indulge in, gently receiving Aethyta's lips that timidly touch her own lips, while Aethyta's silky voice whispers again, all the love she feels for Karin ...
A: I love you! ... I really love you, Karin, and ... I never lied about what I feel for you! Please, forgive me! I left the Temple for centuries, and ... well, better we start from the beginning! ... Do you remember, when I told you about my parents?
Karin can still perceive the wave of pain in her stomach. She feels back the same impulse of empathy, the identical urge of support. The loving zeal toward Aethyta explodes inside Karin, like the thunder of a thunderstorm, and she has to struggle hard, to resist the initial gut reaction to hug Aethyta, holding her tight. Karin's voice is still crossed by a shiver of compassion, as she says …
K: Oh, sure ... it was horrible!
The flash of tenderness in Karin's eyes come through the remorse of Aethyta, like a caress. It makes her tread less uncertain, more steady her voice ...
A: Yeah! You know, My love, when I lost my mother in ... in that damned crappy way, I went through a very tough time in my life! I dropped into a motherfucking black hole, which drew me deeper and deeper! The more I struggled to resist, the more the damn bastard inside me could suck my will, absorbed my strength, dragged lower and lower, head-down in that shit! I was weak, hurt, disaffected. I tried to resist for a while, to react, but I was just a foolish little girl, in the grip of an excruciating pain!
I didn't know, how the hell, to get out of it! I surrounded myself with a lot of people, yet ... I felt so bloody on my own! That damned discomfort never passed. There was nothing, in the fucking universe that, could give me any purpose. So, eventually, I fucked it up! You know, I wandered for years, adrift, at the mercy of myself, to my depression! I was trying to numb myself with anything I could get! Ha, sex, alcohol, and ... junk! Well, a lot of dope, and all sorts of shit you can think. Karin, I was completely lost! All I wanted was to feel befuddled ... not to be compelled to listen anymore! One day, I was stumbling around, in the desperate attempt to find some junk. Athame may forgive me! I was so mashed, I couldn't ... ha, I couldn't stand on my feet!
I felt like crap! That cursed Hallex I'd gotten was "Varren shit". Bad stuff, who knows what sort of rubbish coursed through my veins! I thought my time had come. Suddenly, I saw myself like I was falling into hell, drowned in an ocean of shit even bigger. I was scared shitless! So, I came into the first public place I saw. Well, you know ... it was the Temple of Athame! At that time, it was very busy. A ceremony in honor of the Goddess was going on. I suddenly fell to the ground, and I ... I believed to die!
And instead, I blacked out. I woke up two days later, in a bed perfumed with flowers of Charn, under the eyes of some peachy Temple's maids, who were watching me worried. Ha, I was shit! However, they were very nice, kind and forgiving. You know, they cured me lovingly, for weeks, for months. They slowly straightened me out, tearing me off from all my addictions, all in a row! However, my wage as a dancer was no longer enough! I was a bloody junkie! I was high, drunk or both, for most of the time. So, for drugs, the drinking, and everything else, I racked up a ton of debts. On top of that, I was just kicked out of my room at the "Blue Temptation". Well, I was completely broke, and fucking stuck without anywhere to go!
So, long story short, I stayed at the nunnery! By necessity before. More for gratitude than for faith, later! Yeah, sounds crazy, isn't it! But, you know, the priestess Solhareis noticed me personally. She saw who knows what in me. A great biotic potential I guess, I didn't know I had. She convinced me to become a disciple of Athame! So, I started an internship, which lasted almost two hundred years! It was a damn long, hard and painful journey, during which, I often believed I went crazy for real, but thanks to which, finally I was at peace! With myself first, and then, even with the whole fucking Universe!
Over a never-ending period, I went deep into the recess of my mind, body, and spirit. Through complex mental techniques of meditation, I sharpened my biotic powers to the utmost degree, up to where no one Asari could get to. Evidently, my family's legacy was coursing powerful through my veins. You know, my mother was very skilled with biotics, and my dad had great powers too. I suppose the only thing I had left of my parents was the reason of the potential of my biotic powers, still latent, yet so damn special.
Well, even I couldn't believe it, but I was the most gifted of the whole Monastery! So, one day, I became the Predestined! The one who was entrusted with the great honor, to assume the position of Aethame's Priestess in direct line of succession. It was my destiny to take the place of Solhareis, who was about to be 1000 years old, and according to the Temple law, she had to leave her position. Basically, you know what they say ... "just flowers can birth from the shit!" To think about it today everything sounds crazy. However, my transformation from junkie to Priestess was about to be accomplished!
You know, the Succession Ceremony was amazing, and mystic a bunch. I must admit, it was even exciting as hell! Solhareis did pass the office of Priestess to me! At the end of the ritual, we remained alone, she and I, in the Silence Room, where Solhareis entrusted me the Three Secrets of Athame, as she bound myself forever to the Three Solemn Oaths.
You know, Sugary, it's called the Silence Room, because both Secrets and Oaths are spread from one priestess to another in the most absolute silence, just through a deep and intense mental merge. For millennia, they had never been heard from living soul, and they represented the very most precious thing kept in that Temple. For the law of Athame, "Secrets" belong solely to the Priestess, who has the obligation to keep them jealously within herself, defending the Temple, and the Goddess statues, even at the price of her own life. Throughout the course of her long existence, the Priestess will never reveal the Secrets to anyone, except in cases of the Temple life-threatening emergency.
The First Secret is called the Sacrifice of the White Merge. You know, the main reason I came here! The famous age-old ritual practice, of which I told you about when we met. An amazing "sleight of hand" that can cure any disease from within, through the vital energy of the Priestess herself. An extreme gesture, however, that she is able to use just once because so powerful, to cause her own death!
Well, to the first secret, what I had to swear was I would give my life, using the power of the White Merge, to protect the "Chosen". The one who, according to the holy word of Athame, we were waiting for thousands years. The one who should've to come and protect the Sanctuary, and our own Civilization, saving us from a terrible threat. Something so powerful, and damn scary, to cause the annihilation of our own species! ... Ha-ha ... I bet the legend rings a bell in your imagination!
The Second Secret is called the "Deception of Faith"... The Goddess Athame was never really existed! At the dawn of our civilization, when Protheans came on Thessia, they fobbed us off with a bunch of bullshit! The goddess was a ruddy trick which they invented, to offer to my people technological gifts could make us progress quickly. Well, the Prothean turned out to be shit! However, in the our case, I must say, they had a good reason to take the piss!
Anyway, to the Second Secret, what I had to swear was I'd worshiped Athame, promoting her faith, and collecting new disciples in all our Systems. I had to agree to commit myself, perpetuating her worship among the Asari over the centuries. In order that, the Temple legacy was preserved.
The Third Secret is called the "Beacon of the Knowledge" ... As you know well, when the Protheans went away, they left us that precious artifact. While the thousands years went on, it brought us countless technological advances. So, Protheans really pulled our fate out of our asses! That's why, we've been for a long time the most evolved race of the Galaxy, and we're still one of the most influential ones! Here's a reason more than enough because, over time, the existence of the beacon has became a closely guarded State secret, known to the usual unscrupulous higher-ups, and of course, even to the "poor" Priestess of the Temple in office!
Ha, we Asari might be also civilized, but for sure we've nothing else to learn about snooty and fucking all wind attitude! A very real possibility to screw up the near universal idea that we were so advanced, just thanks to our extraordinary intellect ... well, you know, unfortunately, until a few months ago, this was scary to my species, more than the Reapers! That huge and opulent Sanctuary was erected when the cult of the Goddess was still very strong. It had the sole purpose of concealing inside it, the very secret Prothean's artifact. So precious, to keep it hidden by any means necessary. Of course, nothing better than the religious pretext, could serve its purpose!
So, they built the fucking Temple! At the center of which, just behind the high altar, the three huge statues of Athame were erected. They represented the Goddess' three earthly manifestations. Of course, the central one concealed the Prothean's beacon. It was protected by the Holy Seals of Faith, which never for any reason whatsoever had to be broken into!
Thus, to the Third Secret, what I had to swear was I'd protect Vendetta with my life, and I would keep the disciples' training, without sparing myself, choosing a Predestinate who could, one day, have my own inherit to lead the Temple!
When we left the Silence Room, the Priestess Solhareis hugged me warmly with tears in her eyes. She told me: - "Aethyta, think about your task like a mission. Your sacrifice is the most loving act you can commit to our people!" - Then, she turned her shoulders, and went away forever. As, I was stuck in her priestly side of the crapper!...
I felt both pissed down and depressed, like a whipped Varren! Those revelations were shocking for me! I was deeply disturbed, upset, disappointed. For over 200 years I busted my ass in that damned Sanctuary! Suddenly, I figured out that, nothing of what was happening over there had really to do with religion! It has been just dirty politics, nothing but shit and state secrets! So Karin, what do you do when you know that!? Well, as for me, I fell for it hook, line, and sinker, and in spite of myself, there was no way I could get away, anymore!
Karin is very shocked, touched. She won't give up on her tears, which are crowding impatiently, hidden beyond the invisible border of her eyes. All the resentment that had crossed her heart like a storm, scratching her soul in deep, is suddenly dissolved like a blowing wind. Annoyance vanishes in a distant fog, so evanescent that Karin cannot feel it heavy on her heart, anymore. All how she feels now is empathy ... infinite empathy with Aethyta, endless compassion. Karin would like to soften every faint trace of pain in Aethyta's eyes, and then ... she feels Love! Nothing but a strong and uncontrolled burst of love! So intense, so boundless that she cannot hide it in the delicate solace of her voice ...
K: Hey, My Love, I'm so sorry! Sometimes, we don't have control over our destiny! Unfortunately, things happen to us, they change our existence without we can do anything to avoid it. Aw, I know, Sweetie, I know! You couldn't pick the music ... you only had to dance!
Aethyta dives into Karin's eyes, in that ocean of love, where she finds the will to go on ...
A: Yeah! You know, at the Temple I was fine! I found emotional clarity, my balance, some well-deserved peace of mind! Somewhere along the path, I thought, I've found my calling! ... Ha, the "bang of faith!" To the point that, all I wanted was to stay forever in that place. Yeah, I know, I had just turned into the mother of all the dickheads! I felt proud to be part of a higher plan, and divine. I was honored to take the role of the leader of the whole damn shack! Aw, that was before I knew, I was swimming in a beautiful sea of shit and piss! By Athame! When I think that I even had cleaned my tongue for you!
Well, it turned out not to be easy at all, and I can hardly believe it myself. However, I tell you, from my manner of speaking, you could take me for Liara! However, the beautiful castle was crumbling around me that night! I sank in despair, and consternation. Holy shit! I wasn't willing to sacrifice the rest of my life, protecting a fucking beacon! If I'm lying, I'm dying! I had no intention at all! So, I decided that my whole species could just kiss my ass because, I'd gonna get out of there, somehow! My first thought was to cut and run, but those damn secrets I knew were a serious threat. Obviously, in the corridors of power, they would unleash their Commando, getting to take me out, sooner or later!
I was pretty confused, and increasingly pissed! My heart was broken, my brain had just been killing me. So, I chose to act in the Asari manner, to reflect thoroughly, as long as it took. Perhaps, taking advantage of an unexpected opportunity, or maybe some piece of good fucking luck! Meanwhile, I began to look for my replacement, hoping not to be forced involving another poor wretch in my own shit!
Karin is captured by the wave of emotion that emerges from the memories of Aethyta. Empathy transforms Karin's heart, forging, and blending it with Aethyta's one. She feels Aethyta's words penetrate deep into her own emotions, cross her like a blade, ripping her heart, projecting within her the same deal of pain. Karin grabs Aethyta's hands tighter, tenderly intertwines her fingers, no words, as she feels more than ever like she is a part of Aethyta.
A: Many years passed! I found a Predestined, who could take my place. I had no intention to involve her, but I figured, maybe if we were two, it might've been easier to escape. So, I taught her with great dedication, helping her handle every mental technique, to expand beyond the limits of already powerful her own biotic skills. Even if I couldn't disclose her the real reason. When she was finally ready ... I realized, I had spent nearly four hundred years in that fucking Temple!
Meanwhile, the young Asari seemed less and less interested in a bunch of religious hooey! They ignored the faith, deserting places of worship, more and more often, the Athame's Temple, including. So, the Sanctuary was no longer as popular as in the past. We stayed in a few, but I had not yet found a safe way to go.
Anyway, one day, has been the luck which found me! I saw some broad, who was creeping around with caution. She was secretly recording some footage of the various artifacts, placed in the Hall of the Goddess. She meticulously cataloged all in her omni-tool, as she wrote copious notes. Since it was strictly banned, I went and told her she should stop doing. When she turned to me, she said - "Oh, please, let me keep my notes!" - Aw, she was so beautiful, that I was completely floored! Well, of course, she was Benezia. She told me to be a historian, who was working on a project, to define the weight of religion in the Asari civilization development, and determine its current importance in our contemporary culture.
She knew who I was, and implored me, to let her come to the Temple, to continue her research, under my supervision. She begged me to ask myself a few questions. She said, she was excited to better understand the position of the Athame's Priestess in our contemporary social reality. She was wondering about the weight of the rituals in our culture, and blah, blah, blah! Well, she was so gorgeous that, she could have asked me to pose naked under the Goddess' statue, and I'm afraid, I would've accepted! So, from the following day, we began to meet frequently. Initially, we met in the Temple, then outside in the park, or drinking something in a bar.
Benezia was very exciting. She was clever, intriguing, and so devastatingly charming! Especially for whom had spent the last 400 years like a damn hermit! So, we soon began to speak less and less about religion, and more often about personal things. Well, what can I say ... in the blink of an eye, I was madly in love with her!
One evening I got a call from Benezia. She begged me to reach her at the park, as darkness fell. Of course, I run over there, but I found her in a river of tears. I immediately tried to understand why, but before I could ask... Benezia pulled me in her arms, desperately clung to my lips. She dragged me amorously into our first kiss!
Holy tits! I ... well, I had never felt so involved with anyone in my whole life! You know, one thing is sex, but ... I'd never fallen for real, before! I had all those incredible emotions, so extraordinary that I ... I was out of breath, and I let myself overwhelm! Benezia was crying, and she couldn't calm down. She said, she had to speak with me immediately, about a very serious matter, but we had to find a safe place!
Benezia was beginning to scare me too. So, we went to her hotel room. She told me she loved me, but confessed she had lied to me! She wasn't a scholar of the religion's history, but she was a ... secret agent! She was working with the political front in opposition with our central government, and she was investigating the Temple. Her bosses smelt a rat! They thought the Shrine wasn't at all, what it sounds like!
She said they found evidence of some government secret funding to the Temple of Athame. Some hot stuff, indeed. Level nine documents. You know, the highest security clearance of the Asari Intelligence. Of course, oppositions always have a weakness for the governments' dirty business. You know, whatever crap on this scale, good to be used to take the power!
However, Benezia told that if the Temple had a secret it was very well hidden, and she didn't find anything useful. However, her bosses were losing patience. They ordered to beat a confession out of me, no matter how, finding a way to keep my mouth shut! Benezia wasn't an assassin. Torture and murder wasn't in her plans, and she would never take the job, if she knew the truth!
I could see clearly in her eyes the great deal of despair for having lied to me. She didn't plan to fall in love, but this had happened, and she was afraid, I didn't want to hear about her anymore. Actually, I felt an excess of tenderness! She suggested a mental merge, to show me her heart was genuine, but ... well, Nenzy was so sweet when she was crying! To be honest, no matter how bloody hard we had fought, I couldn't resist much longer to her tears. Anyway, I didn't need any merge because, in the depths of my heart, I felt she wasn't lying, and I was sure her feelings were true. I felt fucked up excited, like I got caught in a wave. So, I told her, I would never be able to hate her, even if I wanted to because, I too was in love with her!
However, we were both in serious danger, and if we wanted to get out alive, we had to find a quick solution. I told her that, her bosses were right, the Temple hid some truly shocking secrets, and I swore to protect them with my life. Of course, I couldn't reveal to Benezia about the Beacon. I just said that religion had little to do with the Temple, and more to do with stinking politics. Ever since I found out the truth, I said, I was desperately looking for a way to get away from the Temple, and I was still there because, I just haven't found a way which not included even my death!
Thanks to the Goddess, Benezia was extremely clever, and she had a keen mind. You know, Karin, Nenzy is the only reason if I'm still alive! We studied a plan for ... well, all night long or ... or something! Anyway, the next day, we had a rag of hope! Precisely, those secrets so precious that I had in there, ironically, were about to become the only one thing able to save our asses!
You know, Benezia had a dear childhood friend that she was so close to. A government secret agent with top-level access, who could peek behind every door, open any desk, sniffing around all secret documents. A certain Tela Vasir! Of course, that bitch had not yet become a Council Spectre! For some mysterious reason, Benezia trusted her blindly! Thus, she contacted her, revealing to Tela that the opposition front was absolutely sure the Athame's Temple was hiding something, and they sent her to investigate. Benezia told, she had just found such a big deal that, in the opposition hands would've not only destabilized our entire System, but would've drawn on our species a large number of enemies throughout the galaxy!
Of course, Vasir knew about the classified funding. So, she drank the whole story up to the last drop. Benezia made her believe, she could avoid the damn mess, but ... only under specified conditions! She offered to set up a smokescreen, handing over to her bosses some fake Intel poor in political relevance. She promised to play double agent for the government, by transmitting regular reports concerning on the opposition next moves. This was a big hook for Vasir who, showed very willing.
Benezia trusted Vasir, but certainly not the Central Government! She told Tela, she had just activated a secure VI, to handle a sensory grid of bio-detectors able to receive, at any time, and indefinitely, my vital signs via bio-nano-transmitters that she injected me. So, just in case I was dead, the VI would pour the truth about the Temple on the extranet, everywhere throughout the galaxy, along with the evidence that the Asari Government was involved! Moreover, on condition of silence, she demanded an indisputable commitment, to get myself ousted from my post as a priestess, and from all my religious duties. Just my oaths as my commitment to the future. Tela Vasir accepted Benezia's offer, quickly and without a fuss, by guaranteeing us the status of governmental protection, indefinitely. That did, in fact, our lives saved!
Ha, I couldn't believe it, for days and days! At last I was free! I could barely remember the freedom pleasant feeling. Moreover, the creature most stimulating and fascinating of the entire galaxy had fallen in love with me, and... just wanted to be together! I felt like I was dreaming, but I was aware to be no longer forced to wake me up! Well, after so much pain, loneliness and sacrifices, I was about to come through the most beautiful period of my whole life! Holy Tits! I was buzzing with excitement!
You know, sometimes I really think my fate went out of its way with me! It acted like an asshole, for a while, but just when I stopped being who I was, it allowed me to find back myself! Other times, it acted like my best friend ... it has been there for me, it made me grow up, and when I thought it was over, it gave me everything back!
Well, I think, a thousand years are a lot of time to take stock of your life. Maybe that's why, when I look back, just one moment of joy, can make disappear whole years of pain! Sugar, you're right, you know. There are times when life will rain on you, out of control, like a damned storm! No matter how great your umbrella is, you already know you gonna get wet! But, if you are lucky, and you can live long enough, you can be sure that, sooner or later, in the midst of that damned smelly dung heap, a beautiful flower to pick there will always be!
I've got an extra lease on life! My romance with Benezia was amazing and went on for nearly 200 years! We were happy together, she and I, and we received the most precious gift of our lives ... our Little Wings, Liara! You know, I would live back a hundred times every second of pain, of the whole thousand years of my lifetime, if that was the real path that brought me to my kid!
Karin feels as if awakened from a bad dream, with the surprise that all emotions triggered in her soul from Aethyta's tale are true, and still crossing through her heart. She feels close to Aethyta, as never before, and relieved for how things ended. Karin is grateful to fate because today, Aethyta is right there in front of her. Yet, she cannot ignore a hint of disappointment just there, in a hidden corner of her heart ...
K: Oh Thyta, I'm so happy it's over! That you've lived so many years with your Benezia, in love and happiness, but ... well, you know, I thought to be worth your trust, your sincerity! So, why have you never brought this up before?!
A wave of real regret flows through Aethyta's voice, as she gently holds Karin's hands in her own ...
A: Karin, forgive me! You're worth more than that, Sugary! I'm sorry, and you're right, I should have to, but ... I didn't know where to begin, and ... I was afraid of losing you! You know, I really tried many times, but every day, I felt more and more attracted to you, and ... I simply couldn't do! Well, I never dreamed, in having the great privilege of falling in love again, with the same addictive intensity with another so special creature, and wonderful like you are! But, it happened, Karin, indeed! My heart belongs to you, now. Completely, as well as your soul is part of me! Well, Babe, I must say, sometimes I wonder what you see in that old mummy like I am! But, since you like antiques, my feelings are true, and I really love you, Little Nugget! ... You know ... now I could die, if you just go away!
There's an ocean in Aethyta's eyes. So dark, and deep, and mysterious. But, her hand is sweet, her touch is confident, her heart comes over her wings. Karin feels pervaded with warmth and love, while a flight of emotions runs deep through her soul. She feels the happiness rush, flowing through her veins. An internal explosion, like if every cell in her body is shivering. Aethyta tells the truth, Karin feels her heart could never wrong about! Her voice sounds still touched, as she says ...
K: Oh, Thyta! I love you too! And, I've no intention of going away!
Aethyta's heart struggles to find its own beat. The blast of emotion comes on into Aethyta's veins like a flash that lights up the whole sky. She feels her stomach climbing wildly, as she gently pulls Karin in her arms and kisses her long, with the same emotion of their first time. The tender and passion bond them together, once again. Finally, Aethyta's voice becomes a slight whisper, which drags Karin higher and higher, until both caress the sky ...
A: Aw, Sugary, sure you're worth my trust, and ... a great deal more! Oh, how I wish I ran into you 20 years ago, at least! Although, you know ... technically it'd be still possible, and ... well, I must be out of my bleeding mind! However, I ... I'd like to have a daughter with you Karin! ... If I weren't too old to!
Karin is feeling faint, breathless, and she clings tight to Aethyta's body not to fall. Here's one of those moments when she doesn't want to be a doctor, not to know how serious could be the risk that is taking her heart. Karin cannot think, moving, talking. She feels confused and happy ... so happy that she could die! She is staring at Aethyta, deeply into her eyes, mouth wide open, for what seems like a very long time. Finally, Karin finds a whisper, like a little sigh escaped from her heart ...
K: Thyta, are you serious?! Oh, that would be great!
Aethyta feels Karin's heart closer, knocking wildly at her own heart, like it suddenly gets inside her chest. She hugs Karin tight, all their senses are drunk with excitement. Aethyta's voice is still shaking, while she feels like she is drowning in a sea deep of emotion ...
A: Well, Karin, I'm a crackpot, old fool Matriarch, and completely nuts! Wishing for another daughter at my age, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, I know! … Well, I'm too old to be a grandma, let alone to be a mother! ... What's worse, I'm a terrible father, indeed! However, I've to admit that ... yeah, I was damn serious, Little Nugget!
Karin feels dragged, like a butterfly to the fury of the hurricane. Her senses ride the wind, excited by tons of emotions, beyond words. They vibrate, like the strings of a harp to the sound of a sweet melody.
K: Well, Sweetie, you know, my Grandpa used to say, "A branch of madness can embellish the tree of wisdom!" Oh, Thyta! I wish that too, my love! So much, I've never wanted anything more in my life! However, I'm afraid … you're not the only one adorable, old mummy, in our family, Sweetheart! I myself might be more grandma than mommy, or ... daddy! I don't know, at most, I might look like a "lovely auntie!"
Although Thyta, since we're together, I feel like I'm back a girl! Thanks to heaven, physically I'm fine! You know, barring accidents, I've a good perspective of life ... I would say, not less than sixty years, and ... and you too! Well, you know ... at night, while you're sleeping, I've examined you many times! I can safely say that, in spite of your age, you're still in excellent health! I guess, you should thank your special biotic powers indeed. So, as a doctor, I don't see any contraindications for a possible pregnancy. However Sweetie, the odds that you get pregnant at your age, are pretty much slim to none. I would say roughly one in a thousand! Anyway ... well, let's just say that, it wouldn't be the first time that fate dazzles me with some sort of miracle!
Aethyta feels overwhelmed by a limitless will to live, so intense pleasure she staggers to her feet. However, she can no longer ignore the unpleasant feeling of shame. A subtle sense of guilt, growing in the most hidden corner of her mind, where no one except her own conscience might watch. At first, it's like a slight annoyance, which knocking, then scratching, then bursts out, becoming noise.
Aethyta cannot help but listen to! She quite reasonably says to herself, she is hoping with all her heart and soul that Shepard will come back soon, without the help of the White Merge. When she first came, she did not care, she had to leave, but now ... she just wants to stay! Aethyta stares at Karin, who smiles back, and suddenly, she is afraid to die! All she wants tonight is to be happy, keep dreaming, close her eyes, and ... let herself go!
A: I suppose the real miracle is how you make me feel, Sugary! Well, you know, it's highly likely that in sixty years, our daughter would be old enough to look after herself, and then ... I'm sure her big sister will always be there for her. So, I'll tell you what, why don't we leave it all up to fate? You know, I love to be dazzled!
Exactly what Karin wants, too ...
K: Oh, so do I! You know, little "Blue Chocolate", it sounds gorgeous! So, why don't you come over here, and you try to dazzle me?
To be Continue ...