Authors Note: We have a light timejump but nothing too crazy. Some content info for the future of this fic in the end notes.
Chapter 20: Mother
After the discovery of the E-001, Eveline, Iris had held onto her Heisenberg as if he would break without her keeping him together. They'd gone to bed in silence, held each other in the darkness, as if a single movement, a single sound, would destroy the peace they desperately clung to.
The laptop remained on the desk, untouched for the next few days. Iris didn't mention it, didn't touch or hide it, and made no show of surprise to see her boss sat at his desk, typing away on the thing as if he'd never gone a day without the technology.
"We need to ramp things up, this war's bigger than we thought and we're far behind schedule."
Iris got to work.
That was two years ago, they'd now dissected and documented every single item on that laptop. They'd even rigged it up to the security system, had all of their surgery notes and experiment documents on there. Although Heisenberg still loved to chirp into his blasted voice recorder.
They'd set up a sort of automated line, cadavers would be implanted by themselves then put onto the line to be suited and stored. All via the power generated by the rapids that flowed through the depths of the factory, or the back up generators whenever Moreau decided to have a swim day and hog all the water for himself.
In the now three years without Miranda the village had thrived, the Lycan population had dwindled, winter taking more and more away, villagers becoming bolder in their defenses. Some people left, more people arrived. New families, new blood breathing life and information, although limited, to the village.
Every home now had a reliable supply of electricity, crops were better, less people were dying of malnutrition or unsafe work conditions, with new tools and equipment being brought in to ease the load. They hadn't had an accident in Moreau's mines or damn in months!
Without Miranda choking the life out of the area, clouding the minds of the people, the village thrived.
Iris had been checking on Sturm, who'd had an… accident during a test run with a new version of Soldat, and lost both of his arms in the process. Honestly, both her and her boss were surprised he'd lasted this long without chopping his limbs off.
"You're going to be ok big guy" She gently patted the things bulging arm, Sturm had been sulky ever since the incident, and was often found waving his new stumps around in frustration. Heiseneberg had suggested reattaching the mangled remains of his arms if he was going to be such a baby about it, but Iris had insisted that the thing just needed time to adjust.
"Stop mothering them, they're soldiers for our army, not your pets"
Iris had ignored that, knowing it was already too late with how attached she was to her haulers. Hell, just the past winter she'd insisted on making scarves and hats for them when the mine's heating system blew out.
"Stop babying the oaf and get up here, we have a meeting"
Her boss's voice was off, robotic. A pit formed in Iris's stomach.
She's back.
She felt sick, nausea causing the floor to move, walls to pulse, she stopped and swallowed bitter bile down her throat.
She couldn't do this. They weren't ready.
She didn't know what she'd do if Miranda arrived with that little girl.
Eveline.
Her boss pulled her into a tight hug the moment she stepped into the room, breathing deeply into her hair.
"We've got this." There was a shake to his voice, she squeezed him back even tighter.
"What if she's got the kid with her?" Iris whispered, although she knew the answer already.
"We play dumb, we plan, and we wait for an opening to gut her and grab the kid."
"Karl I don't think I can do this"
Karl raised her chin to look up at him, still held in his arms. He looked terrified.
"You have to."
They left immediately.
It was as if the whole village knew, maybe they could feel something the Lords didn't, the oppressing force of her control over them, suffocating whatever meager life had grown in the few years she'd been away. Children ran from the streets, shutters were closed, radios silenced as Lord Heisenberg and his assistant walked the path towards their sacred meeting place.
Dimitrescu was the only person waiting as they arrived, frantically puffing on her cigarette. She had been pacing, awkwardly stopping in the middle of the room as the two entered. She froze, so did Karl, as if by muscle memory, gearing for a fight without any idea or care on the topic.
Automatically, Iris curtseyed to her stressed Lady.
Dimitrescu's shoulders sagged.
"Not today, little brother."
They sat in silence.
Donna appeared next, Angie in her arms mumbling something that Iris couldn't quite catch, she seemed upset, worked up and was wringing her tiny wooden hands through Donna's veil. Donna sat oddly close to Dimitrescu, usually each Lord took their own pew, Donna choosing one at the far corner or at the very back. This time she chose one right next to the giantess.
Moreau could be heard long before he arrived in the church, he was giddy, singing.
"MOTHER IS BACK!" He burst into the church smiling, arms wide and high in the air. His cowl, an old rag, had been replaced by a larger cloth that appeared cleaner, longer and was fastened by his usual crown of bones, with some daisies fastened to them.
"Yes Moreau we know, now sit down" Karl snapped, only spurring on the mutated fish to stumbled over, laughing giddily. He grabbed at Iris's hands, shaking them with excitement.
"I've missed mother so much! Prayed every night for her return!"
Iris smiled gently, patting his slimy hands, "Thank you for praying for Mother Miranda's safe return my Lord"
That sent him on a whole new tirade, shuffling around the church in a lap of pure joy.
At least someone was happy.
Moreau had just finished exhausting himself, collapsing onto the pew behind Karl and Iris, when the sound of feathers fluttered throughout the church.
Iris forced herself to breath normally, to not grab Karl's hand. She bowed as Mother Miranda appeared in all her ceremonial glory.
The Lords waited in bated breath, the silence crushing, weighing down on Iris as if she was being buried alive.
"My children. It has been a long time." Her voice was tight, her mouth a thin line, eyes piercing. "I shall be brief. During my absence I have been enlightened, for so long my mind was narrowed towards the potential my children possessed. I was closed off, ignorant. For that I am sorry."
Miranda moved towards the pews, pacing slowly, first Dimitrescu, then Donna, then turning towards Karl and Iris, with Moreau behind them, leaning as far as he could towards Miranda without toppling over, his damp breath tickling the back of Iris's neck.
"Eva can be brought back. Will be brought back. I have seen the results myself. She just needs more care than what could be provided outside of the village."
She rounded back to the front of the church, wings outstretched, chin high, eyes brighter than ever. The last time Iris had been in Miranda's presence the woman had appeared almost downtrodden, someone on their last leg desperately reaching for whatever help they could find. The woman in front of them now was manic, determined. Whatever she had gone looking for in the outside world, whatever knowledge gained from the experimentation with the E-line, with Eveline, she'd had a breakthrough.
"My Eva needs a vessel, that has always been the case. But I believed that vessel needed to be one that already existed on our mortal plane. This is incorrect. My Eva cannot be resurrected."
A tiny breath escaped Iris, was she… was she giving up? Miranda's eyes locked onto her own. She wondered if she could see how insane she looked in Iris's empty gaze.
"My Eva must be reborn." Miranda's wings extended further, her arms outstretched, her head tilted as if proclaiming this revelation to the world itself, not her lowly children, in this poor, dilapidated church. "My daughters, you may have failed in being vessels for Eva. That is not your fault. But, you can help bring for my child. Bring forth holy life. For me. Your Mother. Your God."
"Mother, what do you mean?" Dimitrescu's painted lips were parted in shock, in the pew beside her, Angie was curled in on herself. Iris was… numb.
"My dear Alcina, motherhood has suited you beautifully. Your daughters, raised with such grace, so intelligent and talented. If capable of bearing a child - do not fret, I will be testing you for fertility - you would be a wonderful surrogate for my Eva."
"Mother I-"
"And my sweet Donna, I see how you care for your dolls, each and everyone treated like a precious babe. Who wouldn't entrust you with their own?"
Miranda's eyes once again fell on Iris.
"And you, Iris. it is time that I officially granted you your right, as a Lord of this village. It is clear my Karl is besotted with you, even with my time away. As a mother, no matter where I am in the world, I will always be able to sense what my children are going through. It is a mothers power. Your mothers power. What better vessel to bring my Eva back to life within, than one blossoming with young love?"
Iris felt like she was choking, she was drowning on dry land, and no one was helping her.
"W-what of the father, Mother Miranda?" She stammered, already knowing the answer but needing to hear it out loud.
Miranda smirked, "Who else but Karl? He was the closest to being perfect, you all know this. There couldn't be a more suitable sire."
A choking noise came from somewhere on the other side of the church, likely Dimitrescu trying not to cry or vomit, Iris couldn't tell for sure. She couldn't move. Miranda must have paralysed her somehow, infected her, her limbs were lead, her lungs were hardening. Soon she'd be a statue, she hoped for it, then she'd be safe away from this monster.
"We have little time to spare, I expect each of you, my daughters, to arrive at my lab promptly. This is a blessing to you all. It is your right as Lords of this village. The successful surrogate will be rewarded greatly by the Black God for bringing forth his child, my Eva."
In a flutter of feathers and darkness, she was gone.
The church was silent, no movement, not even a breath. As if a single motion would coax Miranda back.
"You will not touch me ManThing." Dimitrescu spat, glaring at the floor. Her voice was rich with a contained sob, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "I will Not. Be. Touched."
Beside her Karl sighed, "You won't have a choice." The sob escaped her, a pure white hand covering her face, in all of her time in the castle, Iris had never heard her Lady cry, no one had.
"For what it's worth, I really hope you're sterile" Karl stood up, lugging his hammer over his shoulder, grazing Iris's face with a finger.
"I'll see you back at the factory. Be… Be ok."
"I will."
As he left he stopped in front of his two sisters, Dimitrescu was no longer hiding her sobs, her giant body wracking with them, her cigarette holder clattered to the floor, causing Donna to jump out of her skin.
"I'm sorry" He whispered to them, then gestured for Moreau to follow him, "Hurry up tadpole brains, this is a woman's thing."
"Will I be an Uncle?" Moreau's childish excitement further spurring Dimitrescu's tears.
"Fuck no" was the last thing heard as the church doors shut on the men, leaving the three shell-shocked women alone in the empty, dank church.
"I wish I never left your castle my Lady" Iris murmured, the giantess laughing hysterically.
"I'm scared" The voice was low, as quiet as a breath. Iris had never heard Donna speak before. Angie was barely moving, limp on her mistress's lap.
"Me too" Iris admitted.
"Me too" Dimitrescu groaned, lurching up off her pew and wiping her eyes delicately, "But it is our duty. Come now, Mother awaits"
Authors Note:
Some may say this is OOC for Karl and Alcina but don't worry they'll be back to fighting soon enough.
For anyone concerned on the future of this story:
1. There will be no rape scenes, nor any forced pregnancy in this fiction. But Miranda will threaten it and there may be an unplanned/accidental pregnancy later on (I'm not sure yet but am tagging just in case).
2. There will be descriptions of a Hysteroscopy in the next chapter (a womb examination).