Vita took a breath and exhaled. For a second and third time in as many nights since she'd found her mistress. It happened. Like a jealous child or kitten, Kea tried her best to intimidate the old vampire. Her cat-like ears drifted back. Wide eyes, bright and yet dark, intimidating, showing no fear. Her fingernails sharp and dug into her small thighs. The corners of her mouth lifted, baring her small fangs
Vita bit her lower lip, fighting back her laughter. Kea growled softly as she knelled, looking at them. Vita was spooning Mikoto as she slept. Lying together, belly to back, arm over her hips. She pulled Mikoto tight. Vita's height was noticeable. A head taller than when standing next to Mikoto. Her naked, lean body is a cross between a ballerina and a volleyball player. Old scars are barely noticeable over near-perfect sandy brown skin. Her long black ponytail curled over her hips.
Vita rolled her eyes. "Here, little one," she said, tapping her finger. Wanting her to lie in front of Mikoto. Kea thinned her eyes, first ignoring her request. Like a kitten forcing her way into a pile, lifting her paw, she leaned over Mikoto, and pushed her fingers between their bodies, using her body's weight to slip between Mikoto and Vita. Her growling became louder.
She laughed softly, "oh, little one." She whispered, "you have no idea what your little attitude will get you into." She raised her head, put her chin on Mikoto's shoulder. Eyes glimmer as they narrow. "And I will be there and laughing."
Kea was doing her best to squeeze inside, pushing her hands between them, nose and face. Bringing her legs over Vita's legs, "There is no little mouse where you think you are going." She tried to wedge herself, pushing just above Vita's hip and Mikoto's lower back.
Vita freed her arm from underneath Kea and quickly bumped her over. Kea rolled over, landing in front of Mikoto.
Mikoto's eyes opened in sleep. She murmured as she reached out, put her hand on her hip, pulled her inside, and wedged her tight in a cuddle. And fell back asleep.
Kea shivered, her eyes wide and slowly closed. Vita plopped her arm over and poked Kea's hip with her nail. "Sometimes we can get what we want," she closed her eyes, "but we get what we need."
Two more days pass.
"What are you doing?" Mikoto asked as she stepped out of the jungle. Vita was standing among shoulder-high clumps of heavy grasses. She had her back to Mikoto, head down and whispering. She turned around, holding something in her hands.
It was a blank, a runt barely bigger than her hand. Its translucent skin was a dull gray, looking more like a child's stuffed animal, arms and legs hanging limp. "Come on?" She whispered, blowing a soft breath. "I can see you there." She put her finger where the slit of a mouth gently tapping. "There you are." She said, "smile for me?"
Mikoto rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "It's a runt..." she said uncaringly. "And no, it doesn't smile. Its eyes are just little black dots, and its mouth is nothing more than a straight line."
"Not... If you look closely, you can see the difference. "Vita said without looking over. Her focus on the little one.
She cupped her hand as if she was holding an actual baby. She cocked her head, arrogant and confident. In a see, I told you expression. The little one jerked as its dull gray became bright and clear. It quickly rolled and dropped. Vita dropped to her knees to catch it. But it hit the ground, feet first, and scampered off into the thick grasses. "Well, look at that, my mistress?" Vita walked over, pushing aside bunches of stalks, and bent over. "I got you," she said, standing up. She rubbed another one's belly with her fingers, then licked her fingers and traced a line around its mouth.
"You know? Mistress?" She said in simple conversation, "I have been walking around the village for the last two days." She said, concern filling her eyes.
She was someone who noticed the details. Asking questions, learning about what goes on here? She sighed, shaking her head, mouth going straight. She seemed disappointed. "I'm sorry, little one..." there was sincerity in her voice as she leaned closer, rubbing her nose across its forehead. "I will remember you."
It dissolved like thick water between her fingers into the clumps of grass.
"See..." Mikoto whispered, sounding like I told you so. "They are destined to..."
"Destiny has nothing to do with this," she said. "I had to choose between the one before and this one. Perhaps... if someone was with me." Thinning her eyes, "we could've saved both... Mistress."
"I can't "shaking her head, Mikoto felt a knot form in her belly.
"Do you know?" Vita said, moving through the heavy, tall grass. She disappeared and came back up, holding another. It was smaller, darker in grayness.
"Because I can and chose to... and..." she licked her fingers and rubbed its belly.
"Getting back to what I was saying," she smirked. "These little ones are like reptiles." She nodded, and peeked over at Mikoto.
"Why?" Sounding unsure.
"When a female gives birth. Or something like it. She squats down, and poof, a soft poached egg drops from, you know where," she grinned, "then they take the little poached egg and bury it in a small mound of soft dirt. And in a few weeks. Guess what?"
Mikoto sighed. "I... guess it crawls out?"
"Yes," Vita nodded, "like a little sea turtle." She laughed. "Hello, little one." Holding it in her palm close to her head with a mischievous selfie. It slipped out and disappeared. She didn't try to catch it this time. She chuckled, smacking her hands together as if in a job well done.
"What's your point?" Mikoto asked.
"If someone is near the mother, the newborn knows precisely which one is their mother. "She quickly sniffed. "Do you know how?"
"I take it by the hint of the quick sniffs. It's by smell."
Vita nodded, disappeared, reappeared, licked her fingers, and blew across the face of another little one.
"You seemed pretty adept at finding them?"
She nodded, "found quite a few more than not. They took off running" She laughed, hearing another running through the tall grasses. "This place is full of them,' she said. "There's one by your feet right now. My queen." She said without looking over. "Why don't you?"
"I can't." She looked down and stepped away.
It was hidden in the clumps of grass and the soft dirt. Unmoving, translucent, and fading. Its tiny black eyes and the small slit of a mouth looked up at her like a doll's expression. Fading black and emotionless.
"Look closer," she heard,
"No,' Mikoto whispered. Fear and uncertainty twisted and knotted in her belly, forming a lump in her throat.
"Why?"
"I can't... I just can't have..."
"More die?"
"Yes... I just can't be responsible for it?" saying quickly with an edge in her voice.
"Their deaths?"
"Yes," she quickly swallowed. She felt her jaw tremble.
"But you'll stand by and watch a little pass on."
"It's not like that? I just..."
"My queen once gave us an order," Vita chuckled halfheartedly, "well, one of very few. You see. 'Her cheeks softened. "She has a problem giving orders. Back when she was oh so much younger. Today?" She shrugged, "not so much. She told us to take care of the children. To save them. They are not responsible for what the adults did or do. "She laughed. "I remember the night before going into a battle. She challenged us to see how stealthy we were. The government official had sealed the city and hid behind the walls and the children. They knew we wouldn't attack. So, we snuck into the town and stole all the children. And in the morning, the city surrendered. "
Mikoto nodded slowly, still looking at the little one on the ground. "I remember," she whispered.
"Not because we had taken the children, but because we took them under their noses. Oh, of course, we returned them."
Mikoto nodded. "Yes, we did," she whispered.
"She also gave us another order. Though we argued this one alright." Her voice went soft and hard. "My queen was so afraid that it scared her to even talk about it. Anastasia screamed and yelled. Even fights broke out among the houses. Such an awful moment, a home turning on itself. Lots of bloodshed but no deaths."
Mikoto's eyes became blurry. The little one shimmering. She ached, hands trembling, fingers itching to reach down. Her lower lip shivered. "I did..." she whispered, "I remember." Felt a tear drift down her cheek and hang on her chin. "I can't because... I don't want to... feel that pain... again."
The blood-red tear dropped and splashed onto the little one, then another two and three.
"To kill my queen if she ever turned rogue. I still remember the anger I felt hearing those words. Bast was the first to say yes."
Mikoto buried her face in her hands, smelling the blood-red tears pouring over. "Yes," she whispered, sniffled, and remembered.
Vita raged at the command, denying she heard it. She attacked Bast. And the aftermath was a brutal display. Anastasia snatched Mikoto, arms around her, growling, saying she would never allow it. And would kill anyone who would. But the reality of coming back from being rogue was nonexistent. A painful, cold, black existence. No right, not wrong. Nothing more than killing for the sake of killing. No rhyme or reason. Anger, killing, madness.
"I know why she said it. What better sign of loyalty than to ease the pain of blood rage? The icy fire burns you up from the inside. To die but not to die. But it doesn't mean I have to like it."
She felt Vita's hand around her wrist as she gently pulled them away from her face. Her palms glisten blood red. Vita's eyes were cold and meant business. She smiled, not a warm smile by any means. And put a little one in her hands. Mikoto looked down at her feet, and it was gone. She had picked it up and placed it in her blood-stained hand.
Vita blew her breath across the little one in her red palms. A chill flowed. And Mikoto watched. Her eyes shifted from soft browns and flakes of crimson, becoming full of dark crimson and focused. The eyes of a predator told her everything she feared.
The little one, dull gray, covered in her blood, flickered. Pale eyes glimmered, and the small slit of a mouth curved ever so. It twitched, rolled, and dropped, landing and scampering away in the grasses.
"My queen," she said softly, talking all this time like a teacher giving a lecture. Her face stilled in discipline, eyes cold, yet deep inside, she was crying. "You smell sour."
Mikoto looked up as the little one disappeared into the grass. Vita's hand clenched tight, "forgive me," she said, voice cracking.
Everything went black, frenzied uncontrolled weightlessness and the cracking of bone against wood. Mikoto gasped, breath gone from her lungs. Her ribs broken and pained. She struggled, rolling on the ground, and raised her head. Vita was already on top of her. She kicked her in the ribs as the pain rifled through her body, slamming trees, and heard the wood crack and explode. Felt the mist of her blood falling over her. She smelled it as she struggled to breathe. "I've got... too..."
"Not get your ass kicked." Little misaka quickly shouted. "Arms up!" she quickly said.
Mikoto crossed her arms to defend herself. A fist crashed against them. Bones cracking and quick healing. Another strike and another.
"Relentless..." little misaka whispered. "Of course she is."
She smelled tears, and rolled onto all fours. Vita turned, blood-red smears covering her face. She snarled. "Quite the contrast!"
"I'll say."
Mikoto growled, "shit!"
She was already on top of her, throwing her next strike. Mikoto reached out, caught her fist, and held it.
"Why? Why?"
"Because, my queen, you have been spoiled. And you need to be reminded of that."
She twisted her own arm, breaking it, cracked her arms like a whip, setting the bones, and quickly grabbed Mikoto's ankle.
"What the!"
"She always was mercenary," little misaka said. "She and Bast could go days."
"Yea, and now we are..."
"I'm thinking the blood of my queen will do nicely for the next few turns and twists!"
"What?"
She felt Vita grabbing her other ankle and the sky spinning. Trees and grasses rushed past as Vita spun around, dragging her through the tall grasses and hard ground. She slammed against a tree. Then another and another. Bones breaking and healing and blood spilling. The smell hung like a heavy mist. The tall grasses splattered and spotted blood red, dribbling down onto the ground and all it concealed.
"Gotta get control of this..." the sky was becoming blurred. Round and round.
Mikoto twisted like a gymnast, hearing both of Vita's arms breaking, hearing the scream of pain and anger. "Cheater!" she yelled.
She tumbled along the ground, kicked off into the air, tapped a tree, and landed on the dirt in a crouch. "I don't know what this is about, but you will..."
Vita was rushing towards her, fist clenched as if in a challenge. Mikoto answered, kicking off the ground, and rushed forward. A flurry of hard crashes of fist and flesh. Bone cracking and healing. Vita slammed against the tree.
A soft crunching of grass. Mikoto blindly turned to attack.
"Mistress... Mikoto, no!" Vita screamed. Ragged terror filled her voice. A horrified reaction.
Screaming, paralyzing pain ratcheted over her body. Mikoto frozen, face scrunched and scary. Her fist tight and bloodied. The surrounding air exuded heavy black anger. Deep and cold.
A wild mane of hair and golden eyes were wide, shaking. Terrified, mouth trembling, "ma... ma... maka..."
She quickly turned and rushed into the underbrush, the high-pitched squealing of terror burrowing deep into Mikoto. She was terrified, afraid. And scared.
Little misaka dropped to her knees, hair damp and clinging, drenched in blood-red sweat, black vein spidering through her alabaster white skin. Each breath was deep but ragged, exhausted, and painful. "I couldn't let you... I couldn't stop you..." she gasped, wiping the spittle hanging from her chin. Staring down in a terrifying expression, she watched the ripples in the blackness. Blood-red sweat dripped and splashed into the blackness, rippling out, changing, rolling around her hands smothered underneath. She thought it was a beautiful, oily glistening surface, but she knew it wasn't. Ugly, more like it. The blackness was pain, fear, and rage. It was something horrible. With each breath, the stench of it curled her nose, tasting foul in her mouth.
"She is ours," her voice muffled in the blackness. "I will not deny her... she is ours. get over it..." Little misaka gritted her teeth and growled like an animal trapped. "No more of this. No, more of this running away. Everything dies eventually, but we live on." biting her lip, her lips turned red, dribbled, and spilled into the blackness., glimmering like rubies, only to fade into the rising blackness. "You made them promise, and so did we," she said in a tired whisper. "Vita has done well..." she said, "crafty as always." pulling her hands out of the blackness. Thick black ropes of black goo dripped from her fingertips. The ripples travel a few meters, only to stop in the thickening blackness. She was on her knees now, the blackness rising like a river about to overflow the levy.
Mikoto lay on the dirt, unable to move, her arms and legs trembling in a seizure. Her eyes darted back and forth, and an empty fear filled them. "I can't…move. I can't..."
"That little one deep inside you..." she heard Vita's voice. Heard her walking toward her. "She wasn't about to let you hurt a child. "she said.
Mikoto saw her boots as she stood in front of her. She knelt and gently moved and turned her over onto her lap. She brushed the hair from her face, cupped her head, leaned her head close, and looked deep into her eyes. Blood-colored Tears stained her dirty cheeks, and pain filled her soft eyes. And she spoke soft and warm. "You are my queen. I will guard you. I will protect you, and I will kill for you." She nodded and smiled. "It seems we have spoiled you, my queen." Rubbing her nose across Mikoto's nose. "The weight of their deaths is too much for you to bear alone. Rin, Brym, Scarlett, and that prissy Chloe." She smirked mischievously. "And the others. To close..." she whispered. "Princess class, all of them and those under them. To close." She stroked her cheek and kissed her forehead. "You need to share the burden, my queen. Build your house over again." She said, knowing how Mikoto felt.
She spoiled her houses, especially the children who'd been taken by force so long ago. "You are not replacing those who have died here in this place so far from home. You are adding them to continue their houses here in this world. They gave their lives to protect you and the others. There is no shame." She growled. Shaking her head.
"She's right?" taking a deep breath, little misaka answered.
"I had planned a really dramatic ass-kicking while I said these things. "Something like... blames those that started this fight. And then punch you... or how that prissy Chloe griped about how the insides of that damn dragon smelled and how she apologized for breaking her promise. And detonated her explosives. I'd hit you twice for that one. Or how..."
"Huh? She is such a deva."
"I know about the son of the king." She sighed. "I could kill him for you?" She shrugged. "Maybe not... think that would be kinda bad? I guess?" she shrugged.
"Ah... yea!" Mikoto exhaled, exhausted, arms and legs no longer trembling. She reached up and put her hand on Vita's hand. "I'm scared," she confessed. "I know." Vita nodded. "You are a baby after all..." she added. Mikoto rolled her eyes and closed them. "Why do I put up with this?"
"Because it's true." Little misaka spoke. She was tired, exhausted to the point of..." we need to sleep," she said.
"I know," Mikoto whispered, "but the dreams are...?"
Vita gently but a little aggressively gave Mikoto's cheeks a two-hand smack and squeezed. "They are your dreams, so take control of them." and gently let go.
"You don't understand." Mikoto rose, rubbing her cheeks, and glared.
"Are they wet dreams?" Vita cocked her head, puckering her lips. She shrugged. "I don't see a problem with that."
"You wouldn't" Mikoto thinned her eyes and growled. "I just can't..."
"Feeling guilty? Huh?" Vita stood up and held her hand out. Mikoto took her hand as she helped her up. She wobbled and collapsed into Vita. Vita wrapped her arms and held her tight, and steadied her. "You've slept with the entire household and elites. I don't think sleeping with a dream lover would matter.
I didn't sleep with them that way." "Sounding close to tears. "And that wasn't my fault. You can blame Heidi and Elaina for that. They said a queen needed to bond with them... so," she quickly blushed. Thinking of her days at Academy City. The ten-story building, the sewers, and the underground city. "I did," she whispered.
"And It became the norm." Vita grinned. "That's why that one... Kea? she sleeps with you?"
"I have done nothing with her..."
"Physically?" Vita said, looking deep in thought. "She seems familiar." Pausing, "I don't know why but..." she shrugged, "Hey Mistress!" She shouted.
Mikoto looked over. "Shit!" And quickly snatched Vita's fist. She held it tight. Vita's arm shaking, "What are you! I thought."
She sighed, quickly bringing her fist down. "Too quick," she said, "need to get you a little closer to exhaustion..."
"What?"
"So, you can sleep deeper." She said, "the more exhausted, the deeper the sleep. If you're not going to enjoy the dream sex, then... and I don't know why you wouldn't..." she sighed, "so disappointing."
"Shut up!" Mikoto growled.
"If it was Bast and me." She rubbed her chin. "We can go for days."
Mikoto took a breath, listening to what she was saying.
"We can do this..." little misaka's tired, whispered voice spoke. "That'll work." She nodded. "Exhaust her, exhaust the blackness. It was one thing to go, rogue while fully powered, but another if they could exhaust her energy. It would focus all her energy on keeping her alive and sleeping."
Mikoto looked up at the sky. The winds were kicking up and roaring like a speeding train. She had a tired grin on her face. Vita followed her gaze.
She walked over to a tree, leaped high, and grabbed onto its side. Her nails dug deep into the bark. And crawled up.
"Take care of the runts for me," she yelled, disappearing higher into the canopy.
She poked her head through the leaves. The wind was black now, filled with sand and debris. The tops bent and waved, thrashing, tossed into the wind, and gone. Something soft tapped her legs. And she peered down. An antenna was tapping the branch she was using. She slipped down. Thinned her eyes and growled. What it was wasn't important. Multiple dark, gleaming eyes, pinchers, claws, and glisten outer shell. Bluish white sparks flickered, lighting up the canopy's green underneath. The bluish-white glow rolled towards her in a thick mass.
"I hate bugs."
The black wind roared, and the tree tops flashed, flickered like a distant thunderstorm. Branches shattering, breaking, and tumbling. Black charred steaming shapes of different sizes dropped and crashed and thudded in the ground like a hailstorm.
The villagers stared up, lightning flashing in their eyes, waiting for a lull, and then would grab baskets and run into the jungle. Quickly retreating with their bounties as the flashes started again.
Vita grinned, watching the display like fireworks. A large pod exploded on the ground, inside bright yellow and stringy. Steams rose with an intoxicating smell. She walked over, kneeled, scooped a handful of pale-yellow strands, and took a bite. She nodded, finishing her handful. Something hit the ground and rolled out of the jungle. It slowed and opened halfway. Steamy creamy white belly, legs twitching and still. "Pillbug?" She spoke with a confused intrigue on her face.
One of the villagers rushed over and stabbed it with a spear. A little one by her side, watching with delicious intent.
Aya, Gullah, and Nya waited by the front of the longhouse. Vita had told them Mikoto was blowing off some steam and waited to be surprised. The young ones watching the display. Each had large sacks waiting to be filled. Kea stood by them, a worried expression fighting back the desire to run into the jungle and find her. Vita walked over, the electricity flashing, "I'll watch them," she said, "it won't be too safe for them." she patted the petite black-haired cutie. Gullah and Nya nodded.
The electricity slowed and faded. A stillness in silence. As the villagers stepped forward, the anticipation showed, ready to rush into the jungle again.
"Give it a moment," Vita yelled, watching the treetops. She slowly smiled, seeing a flickering blue spark. She spoke, standing, as the electricity exploded like a giant firework. Shock waves rushed forward, the trees bending and groaning. "NOW!" she yelled.
They rushed into the jungle and disappeared.
"Looks like a feast tonight,"
Four days passed. Mikoto returned. She used her body more than her arms and hands. She pushed or fell out of the jungle. Her willpower pulled her out of the jungle and into the beating sun of the twin suns. Her arms hanging dead at her side. Each boot dragged as she walked. Her eyes strained, peeking through the mangled, dirty hair, seeing only the longhouse. Each tired step was unrelenting. The village smells of cooked and steamed bugs and vegetables. Resisting the urge to throw up. Her cheeks puffed as she blew out a breath.
Vita watched, with her arms over her chest and head tilted. She had that look of hers that only she could have. Annoying, I've been expecting you expression, arrogant. She didn't move at first. Watching, counting each of her steps. When she stumbled, nearly succumbing to gravity, Vita flinched, dropping her arms, eyes opened wide in a moment of oh shit, she's going down. There was a reason for that. No queen shall fall before her vampires.
Mikoto struggled to smile, breathing through her parched mouth. Her armor showed signs of battle damage. Fresh and dried blood and other viscous material clung to the fabric.
Without a telltale sign, Vita held her arm out, catching Kea before she could rush out and help her. She growled and glared at the much taller Vita. Who only shook her head. "She has to come to us... not the other way." She whispered. Kea fretted her brow at Vita's indifference. But Mikoto knew why. It would make it easier for her to fall asleep. Tired was nothing. She needed to be exhausted, nearly depleted. Despite the indifferent stony expression etched into her face, her eyes glimmered, wanting to rush out, pull her into her arms and carry her if need be. "What a tsundere." Little misaka whispered. The black lines that had appeared were thinner and lighter in color. But still there. Like a hint or warning of what could happen.
Each breath was harder. With every inhale and exhale, the air felt warmer and heavier, straining to fill her lungs. Feeling as if she was drowning. And her boots dragged her underwater as she walked.
She stopped, smelling everyone. Kea, Aya, Gullah, and Nya, waiting, anxious and worried. Vita had told them what was going to happen.
Vita, the edge of her mouth, rose as she slowly reached out. "I am tired," Mikoto spoke, but her mouth didn't move. Vita nodded, "I know, Mistress, and I am sorry." Taking a step, Kea quickly barreled into her, her thin arms wrapping around and squeezing her like a vise. She felt her warmth, pulling her tighter and rubbing her back. Mikoto dropped her head, struggled to raise her hand, and gently, too weak to pat her head and just let it sit. Vita smirked. "Looks like we've got you, Mistress."
They guide her over to where she slept. They had brought in additional blankets and piled them high. Once she'd fallen asleep, the blankets would provide a sense of security and emulate the body heat of others as she slept.
"Time to undress," Vita whispered.
Mikoto closed her eyes and painfully raised her arms like a child being told. Vita unsnapped the buckles, taking off her utility belts. Smirked, seeing the compartment containing blood and plasma vials untouched. "Going old school," she whispered, hanging them on the wall. With another few snaps, she took off the upper portion of the armor. "This will need to be cleaned?" she said, curly her nose.
Mikoto growled.
"Just saying," she spoke with a playful grin. Reaching her waist, she unsnapped the belt, unzipped the side zipper, and pulled down her dragon-scaled armor pants. "Always knew you went commando underneath."
Kea was already knees on the ground, taking her boots off. Put her hand behind Mikoto's knee, lifted her leg, and slipped off the boot. And did the same with her other, taking both and setting them against the wall.
Mikoto dropped. Her right hand snapped forward, catching herself before she hit the ground, becoming more of a predator about to attack, and waited. "Still quick..." Vita whispered.
Mikoto turned, sitting down, her long messy hair covering much of her naked body. Vita crouched behind her, leaned closer, and whispered.
"The king is dead."