Chapter 22:
"It's ok," Finn murmured, as he held Charlie's trembling body close to his. Stroking her long blonde hair, he whispered soothing words in her ear. "I'm sorry this happened," Finn murmured, as the pretty blonde gave vent to another wrenching crying jag. "Is your friend alright?"
Sniffing back tears, Charlie responded, "thankfully candy people no longer blow up when they get scared, but they took Rian to the hospital for a checkup anyway."
Gesturing towards one of the men who'd been standing nearby, Finn announced, "I have to go out of town. We'll talk more, when I get back. Mr. Hasselhoff will be looking after you. Garth? Please introduce yourself..."
Charlie stared at the stranger who stepped out of the crowd. "Y-you live downstairs," she burbled. "You're subletting the Sugarmans' unit..." Nodding at the King, the soldier responded, "my employer is subletting the Sugarmans' unit. Along with the Frank unit and the Baker unit..."
Charlie's face whipped around to her boyfriend. Finn's blue eyes were cold as ice as he said, "I wanted Charlene to have her autonomy, but I needed Charlene to be safe."
If anything, that brought back the water, and Finn found himself holding on, while Charlie cried every grain of mascara and eye-shadow that she'd worn for the last three days onto his jacket.
When she'd cried herself out, Finn turned to the guard and said, "please take Ms. Rainicorn home. Inform her sister of the new arrangement." Snapping to attention, Mr. Hasselhoff responded, "at once, sire!"
As her new bodyguard bundled Charlie into a car, Finn turned to the figure standing on the edge of the little circle he found himself standing in. Jake Jr had said not a word through the whole business. "Come along, Ms. Rainicorn," he said, as he turned for the car. As if she hadn't seen him kiss her sister, Jake hopped in the limo right alongside him.
"For the record, she came to me, and we talked about this," Jake announced, as the car began to roll. "I tried to tell her what this would be like, but she didn't listen." Glancing away, she admitted, "we have a problem with that."
"Your dad had a problem with that, Jake," Finn responded. Taking her hand, he said, "I have to leave you here." Her face whipped around towards him, showing alarm.
Twining his fingers with hers, Finn explained, "Talia has trust issues. While I've come to trust you..." "I'm a dangerous wildcard," Junior mumbled. "Ok, Finn. Won't you take somebody else...?"
"I'm married to a pile of princesses," Finn reminded her. "Peeps who were born to want power. I'm trying to sooth Talia's nerves, not drive her straight up the wall."
And if that wasn't enough, some of the princesses were irritated by Talia's antics. Bonnie in particular had gone into a towering rage to learn that the witch had been in her castle, messing around with her android and all without asking permission. It was the usual. The authoritarian busy-body simply disliked not being at the center of things.
Hurletta and Breakfast saw it as taking time away from the massive weight of work that Finn already had waiting on him for something so frivolous as lightweight 'home improvement'. Even Simone was a little cranky about the business because it was going to delay them getting out to Bee Kingdom to see Breezy and her kids. With Simone scheduled to head back to Wizard City, there was a real risk she'd miss the trip if Finn was gone too long.
Slipping his arm around her, Finn declared, "I'm going by airship to a place in the middle of nowhere. The only person who's ever had the power to push Talia is the Lich... and he's gone. I'll be safer at T's place than in my own home."
The shapechanger slowly relaxed. After a few moments, she lay her head against his chest. In the end, she spent most of the trip not so much focused on what was outside the car, but instead on the beating of his heart.
As the car rolled up to the airship Nadia had provided, Finn said, "there's something I want you to do, while I'm gone, JJ." Muzzily, the shapechanger looked up at him. "I want you to look in on Simone and Liz and spend some time on them," he said. "Mend fences. Make up for the moments where you weren't a good mom, ok?"
Face gone hot, the shapechanger nodded solemnly. And then, the pleasant moment was over. The King's bodyguards were unpacking the car, carrying the tools, the lumber, the plaster, and the half-dozen pizzas up the ramp and into the airship's cavernous hold.
Jake stepped out of the car and scanned the scene before allowing her boyfriend to get out. Sensing nothing, she motioned for Finn to come along. As she'd told him, emotions didn't matter. The King didn't get to stand out in an open field. Taking him by the arm, the shapechanger strode quickly to the ramp and up.
Finn was a little startled to find Katsumi there at the top of the ramp. With a frown of puzzlement, the big man asked, "shouldn't you be getting back to King's Island?" "We have some unfinished business with Talia," the Nine-Tailed Fox responded.
Frown deepening, Finn said, "I don't like forcing you to..." "That isn't your business, King of Ooo," she responded, "it's mine." Folding her arms under her breasts, the tall girl told him, "we made promises... promises I intend to keep. We haven't been making progress, so it's time now to roll up our sleeves."
With no further word, Katsumi turned and went prancing up the length of the cargo bay, round ass wig-wagging sensually. "Why does my son pick women who're trouble," Finn muttered?
"Like father like son," Jake Jr. retorted. "There's a lot of Finn in him. I ought to know." Standing on her toes, she kissed him passionately. Breaking that kiss, the skinny girl turned and walked away, putting an extra spring in her step to make that round little butt dance. With a chuckle, the cyborg attendant said, "take your seat, please. We'll be leaving soon."
Jake watched from the limo as the King's airship rolled out to the takeoff point. As the machine soared into the sky, the slim woman smiled in fondness. She was already imagining their reunion. In spite of being the 'sidechick', the love felt strong.
Dragging her back to the moment, the driver asked, "where to, now?" The shapechanger thought about that. With Finn gone, she was kind of at loose ends with nothing really to do. He did say that I should go look in on Simone and Liz, thought JJ.
She'd honestly been guilty of ducking her kids. She wasn't a good mom, and she knew it. A lot of it was her illness, but a lot of it was that she'd given up. Like dad, she thought.
The thought brought a tear to her eye, as she saw what Finn was trying to say. Don't give up. Don't lose your family the way your father lost his. She still had a chance to be part of her daughters' lives. Turning to the driver, she said, "just need to get dropped off somewhere..."
The duo was out, when their mom reached their home. Letting herself in, Jake Jr took a good look at the mess and realized just how little had changed from the days of her life in Jungle Kingdom. Much as they shared with their dad, her kids shared a lot with her too.
Moving around the common room, she picked up the discarded panties, the forgotten shorts, the half-washed stockings that Simone had likely forgotten to finish washing. All of that got bundled up to be washed.
After that, came the laborious task of sweeping up the piles of hair that tended to accumulate in a dog's house—silver and brown and tan and even a little of JJ's own. And then finally came the job of cleaning the kitchen, eliminating the small worm infestation behind the sink, and wiping out the various new life-forms in the fridge.
When Simone and Liz arrived home, they were astonished to find their apartment spic and span and their mom in the kitchen presiding over a dinner of meat-pies that smelled heavenly. Liz's stomach growled at the smell. It had been years since she'd eaten one of her mom's meat-pies.
"I thought you'd still be busy," Simone murmured. "His Majesty's gone east," JJ responded. "Why don't you get cleaned up?" Liz immediately moved to the bathroom to get out of her waitress uniform and get washed.
"Why didn't you go with him," Simone asked? There was an edge to her voice, telling JJ that some of those bad feelings were still there. "Because I'm a fuck-up, babe," JJ responded, "and where your grand-dad's going isn't a place for me to be hangin' around. Politics. Delicate stuff."
Taking up one of the pies, JJ moved to the table and laid it down, announcing, "your favorite kind. Sweet pork." "Why did you drop in," Simone murmured? "We're doing ok." "Because I'm your mom," JJ murmured. "I'm a fuck-up, and I didn't do good with that, but your dad couldn't come, so I'm looking in on you. One of us has to look after you."
The tall blonde glanced away. "I can't fix things in a day or a week or even a year," JJ muttered, "but I'm trying Simone. I'm trying to be a mom. Just... I wish you'd give me one more chance."
"You had an illness," the blonde muttered. "I'm not asking you to justify it," JJ responded. "I'm... I got used to making mistakes. I can't pretend that it was all me being crazy. Some of it's just me being lazy like my dad was and giving up on trying to do better. I... want to turn over a new leaf, if you'll let me."
Emerging from the bedroom, announcing, "man, that smells good!" Without a further word, she moved to the table. Reaching across to the kitchen, Jake grabbed Liz's plate and set it in front of her. "Fried rice and orange chicken," Liz squealed!
Walking over to her mom, Simone threw her arms around the shapechanger and hugged her. "Mom," she whispered. "I wanted to love you," JJ sniffed, "but I didn't know how... I used to dream of the family your dad and I were going to have..."
Shaking off the emotion, Jake stepped back. "Your food's gettin' cold. Eat up." With a sigh, the tall blonde sat herself.
With a glance at her sister, Simone dug in. A tear came to her eyes at the taste, as she remembered a moment years ago, when she'd been barely a year old and half her current height. She, Liz, and Lady had sat around the table near the New Year holiday, eating meat-pies just like this. Her mother had been moody and hostile. Yet, at the time, the taste of her pie made Simone feel loved. Dabbing her lips, the tall blonde leaned over and kissed her mother on the cheek, surprising the older woman.
As the sun set in the mountains northwest of the Candy Capitol, a group of sinister figures emerged from a row of vehicles beneath the walls of a battered castle. Castle Lemongrab was infamous in the lands around the Candy Capitol. Though the evil old Earl that was the castle's namesake was long dead, folk still made the sign against evil when they passed the place in memory of his reputation.
Still, with the highway to Turtle Kingdom having been rebuilt and straightened years ago, few folk had reason to come this way, with the youngest generations of candy folk having mostly forgotten the Earl.
"I banished the servants," rumbled Melosia. "Only the caretaker in the gatehouse should remain. I don't want him or his family harmed. Tie them up. Blindfold them. Then bring me the woman and her child."
The sinister leader of the group rumbled, "and if there are any... others...?" Voice gone hard, Melosia responded, "kill them. Kill any hangers-on who might remain. Scrub the place clean of evidence. My master wants this business swept away."
With a mocking little bow, the leader of the group turned and started walking up the driveway to the castle entrance. The others quickly followed.
"Well," murmured Carmen Gomez, "Reverend Blood is very skilled. It will be just as you asked, though it would've been cheaper if you'd let him film..." "I don't need publicity," Melosia muttered. "I'm not here for one of their damned snuff productions. I just need that woman out of the High Lady's hair."
"Well, Blood could've taken care of that... permanently," Carmen chuckled. "I hear videos with mothers make a lot of coins..."
Melosia shuddered. As far as she was concerned, such a vile creature didn't deserve life. She had done her share of ugly things for the High Lady over the years. She'd had her hands in the abductions of inconvenient nymphs, selling them to the pirate isles or to the sadists in the Kingdom of Hearts. At the same time, this was a little beyond the pale.
"Just like I asked it," Melosia muttered. "I'm not here trying to make money. I'm solving a problem.
The trouble came to Tallulah's world with the surprising loss of the electricity. The young nymph had been laying on her side in bed, watching a video on the terminal the King had gifted Astartes. Of course, the point had been for Astartes to have educational videos for little Mireya as she grew older, but the device had quickly become a toy for Tallulah and her friends.
"What the hell," the nymph muttered, as she sat up? Power going off in the middle of the night or the middle of the day, that was some bush-league shit you saw in the southern kingdoms or out near the bandit lands. Bonnibel Bubblegum wouldn't stand to have the lights go off in her perfect little paradise.
Melosia, thought the young nymph. What did you do to piss them off? That was the only way she could explain it. Melosia had somehow managed to hack off that man's coven of princess-sluts and Bonnie Bubblegum had simply turned off the lights here.
Howling in frustration, the young nymph kicked the video-machine over, causing it to smash on the floor. As she sat on the edge of the bed, she pondered her next move. Melosia's in charge, she thought. Anything has to go through her. Or does it...
As she was pondering what to do, a scream rang out, sending a chill down her spine. The volume and tone of that scream sounded as though a woman had just expired in the most hideous way possible. It went on and on and on, seeming as though it would never end.
There was more than one reason that the lights would go out, just as there was more than one reason that Melosia would be here, taking control of things. They're cleaning house, Tallulah thought.
She'd skated on the deadline for moving out, dicking around for over a day, and when Melosia failed to return, she'd simply assumed the bitch wasn't coming back to enforce her edict. Now, she realized that her nemesis was simply making preparations.
Terror filled her heart, as she realized that Melosia had no plans to spare anybody still in this house. She banished the servants, Tallulah thought. No witnesses. No collateral damage.
Staring around her, the young nymph pondered if she had time to gather her things. Get out, Tallulah, she told herself.
Moving to the window, she glanced out to find there were several people out in the courtyard, dressed all in black. The raiders had control of the courtyard, and they stood between her and the gate. Main gate, Tallulah thought. There was a hidden entrance in the rear of the castle. If she could reach it before the kill-squad, she could get away.
Easing the window open, she climbed out onto the ledge in her panties and bra alone. Even though it was spring, the chill nearly stole her breath. Edging along the ledge, she experienced vertigo at the sight of the sixty foot drop to the courtyard below. One slip, and she was done for.
Don't slip, the nymph told herself. Don't slip. Dontslip. Dontslipdontslipdontslip! Edging along the ledge, she finally reached the suite at the end of the hall, with its ornate balcony. It was a room that nobody ever entered or used because rumors held it to be haunted by the late Earl Lemongrab.
What few suspected was that there was a secret door in that dusty old bedchamber that let out on a secret spiral staircase which led down to an old guard room in the basement. That guard room was just steps away from an armory, and that armory looked out on the old rear entrance.
As Tallulah fumbled with the ugly painting of old Earl Lemongrab, searching for the hidden switch it concealed, downstairs, the Reverend Blood licked his fingers clean of the blood on them. It was strangely sweet—almost cloying to his tongue. The people of the Red Palace had heard of the strange Candied People of the west, and Blood had hungered to taste one.
The strange boy had screamed so very sweetly, as Blood cut him. The woman had simply gone catatonic. "The pictures," Blood hissed. "Take the pictures. We don't have much time to play!"
His assistant rushed forward with the camera, taking pictures with joyous abandon. The two lovers, with their throats slit, engaged in one last act of coitus! The blood-stained sheets as a beautiful canvas! It aroused Blood's senses like nothing else!
One of his soldiers stuck his head in the door, announcing, "we have the woman and child. There appears to be a party in the basement. There's a dozen people there." Blood responded, "take the woman to the client, Pierce. I'll deal with the basement."
Outside, Melosia paced out her agitation, striding up the dusty driveway and back. This was taking too long. Her mind screamed that this was all taking too long. It was so easy in the Confederation. With the sea so close, doing dirt was easy. Could you get the mark out on the sea, they were gone and done for, with no-one able to guess which way you'd gone.
I have no way of knowing if they look in on Astartes, she thought. I should've asked more questions of Catalina before sending her home. It was too late to worry, though. All she had was her nameless fears that they'd be found out here and put hard to the question. Where Royal Blood was involved, kidnaping was a very dangerous endeavor.
As she was making what was likely the fiftieth circuit there on the dirt road, the sound of footsteps and the soft cries of a child announced that victory was in sight. It took all she had not to rush forward to meet her confederates as they dragged Astartes down the road to her.
The wizard was disheveled. Fresh marks on her arms suggested she'd been indulging her ugly hobby of mutilating herself. Melosia couldn't help a surge of pity for the madwoman. She hadn't asked to be involved in the council's schemes. She'd merely been acting as a go-between.
I almost wish Tallulah stayed there, Melosia thought. It would serve her right to find herself as that creature's guest.
"Astartes," Melosia greeted the plump wizard. "Lady Melosia," the plump woman responded. "The High Lady sends her greetings and blessings," Melosia announced.
Those words had the wizard staring at her in abject puzzlement. Nodding, Melosia said, "the High Lady swore that you would not be harmed. You did the High Lady's bidding. You served the Confederation well, going to the limit for our people. High Lady Margarida won't reward that with butchery."
Resting a hand on Astartes' shoulder, Melosia declared, "you'll go into exile. We have a place for you in the Kingdom of Hearts. You'll be kept there for a few years until you're forgotten. When the High Lady's heir has risen to her place, your freedom will be returned." Smiling, Melosia added, "you may well grow fat on good cooking."
Meanwhile, Tallulah came creeping past the pool room windows. Finding the lights on, she vaguely remembered giving Glennis permission to have a party with her pals down here, as long as they cleaned up after themselves. Now, as she stared through the windows at the scene beyond, she was confronted with a vision of utter horror.
A dozen tall entities were in the room. One had just finished ramming a steel lance up the ass of one of the young men who'd been previously frolicking in the warm water. As the dying man struggled and kicked and screamed, a second monstrous creature repeatedly ducked a woman under the water, holding her there until her struggles grew feeble, only to let her rise to the surface once more. Much to Tallulah's horror, she realized the girl in the pool was Glennis!
Don't stay, a voice told her. If you stay, you'll be down there with them! They mean to kill everyone! Shaken by the horrifying sights she'd just seen, the young nymph tore down the hall and out the door. Half naked and barefoot, she ran headlong down the trail beyond, struggling to outrace death. As she ran, those words repeated like a litany. Don't stay. Don't stay here. Get as far away as you can!
As the sun rose over the Candy Kingdom, Hurletta Mertens woke from a restful sleep, expecting to find her sister already long gone. Restless as anything, Blargetha had been sleeping less and less lately and spending nearly every waking hour down in the laboratory in the basement. She'd so immersed herself in working on the rocket project that it was shocking she found the time to get pregnant.
Sitting up, 'Letta tapped the control next to the bed, causing the light to spring on. When she stood up to stretch, the plump woman got the shock of her life.
The slime princess's screams brought servants and guards both running to her quarters. When they arrived, they found Hurletta standing over her sister's limp body. Blargetha's eyes were wide and staring, her eyelids twitching, and a strange foam was trickling from her lips.
"Get her on her side," a voice shouted! "We don't need her breathing in whatever that is!" One of the butlers turned the pregnant woman on her side, while one of the maids tore out of there to go find one of the palace doctors. And Hurletta? She crouched in a corner, trembling, as the tears poured down her face.
Sorry if it's felt like things have been slow. I've been trying to set up for the climactic events of the final part of this story. Hopefully, this is interesting enough. :)