CHAPTER 24

Date: March 8th, 111 P.A. / 2115 C.E.

Within a month of Mew's visitation, Arei fell ill. At first, the signs were small, easy to dismiss things, such as vomiting up an early morning meal, or a moment of dizziness that came of rising too swiftly. The need to have naps truly began to worry Mewtwo, who feared she was being poisoned…the matter coming to a head when she fainted in an audience with the merchants who had come for the annual gathering to compare stocks and prices, exchanging trade listings and debating of which wares would be the most essential in the coming season. When Arei had swayed, holding herself up on a pillar, Byron had immediately gone to ask what was wrong…noticing her faintly pale, sweaty appearance…she gazed at him a moment, and then crumpled to the floor. Mewtwo had appeared at her side immediately, not allowing his worry to show on his face, though was well aware that Byron would sense it in his movements.

"Do no worry, my lord. We'll get her to Zered immediately. You finish the meeting, and then come to hospital way. I think she'd okay…her pulse and breathing are normal…Marie, would you help me with her?"

Byron picked up the girl into his arms with some help from Marie, then proceeded to carry her away. Mewtwo stared after them, more aggravated than ever at the restrictions that his position had placed him in, as well as his feigned exterior of not caring one way or another. He could not allow his fondness to show, and it restricted him as much as the system he had helped to set up.

The hours passed far too slowly to his tastes, and his people could easily tell that he was aggravated. He snapped at their bickering, and when reasonable arrangements were met, he left, letting them bicker out the specifics, dismissing himself from their presence as soon as was possible. As he appeared before the conversing Byron and Zered, they immediately stopped talking. Both looked distinctly uncomfortable, but not distressed, so Arei was not dead with certainty. Growling, he demanded them to tell him what had caused her fainting.

"Well? Answer me!"

His glare made Byron pale, but Zered merely stepped to him, and answered, quite bluntly and simply. "Priestess Arei fainted because it is a symptom of her recent medical condition."

Mewtwo felt some anxiety lace itself through him at that, and narrowed his eyes at the man. "And that is?"

The man, as though aware of something the God and Arei had been trying to hide, looked directly into his eyes and said, "She is one month with child. She is pregnant, God Abaddon."

To say Mewtwo was stunned was like saying a dust mite is tiny. It was a vast understatement, and for a full second, Mewtwo stared at the man in shock, flabbergasted to say the least. His lover…was with child? They were going to have a child? Yet how? They were of two different species, as different as water and oil. How could they have possibly mixed enough to conceive a new life? The chimeras were one thing…they had been genetically manipulated, and then bred with their own kind to keep from loosing the half and half hybridization. It was doomed to destroy them with inbreeding…but that was beside the point. Naturally, they shouldn't have been able to conceive a child. Their seeds weren't supposed to successfully merge…!

But then he reminded himself to gauge his reaction. As far as anyone knew, this child was not his. Though where that left Arei was a tricky spot indeed. Yet, at any rate, thinking of her fully, he pushed past them, entering the private infirmary she was within, closing the heavy door behind them. They would not be overheard. It had been designed that way. Arei lay in the bed, under the covers, and when he entered, she opened her eyes, gazing at him. She swiftly sat up, grimacing, and gave him a nervous sort of smile as he approached. He suspected her edging away from him was not only to provide room for him to sit at the edge of the bed, facing her. The motion stabbed at him as much as her evident fright.

She wouldn't look at him…instead, she clutched handfuls of the sheets tightly, her eyes downcast…he reached over, tucking some of her hair behind an ear, cradling her face, lifting her head. She took his wrist, making him pause, and he sighed.

"Doctor Zered tells me we're expecting."

She nodded…shivered. His concern grew. Then, she spoke, "Mewtwo…what do you wish to do?"

"What do you mean?"

She met his eyes with equal fear and futility. "About this. If you don't wish for it, I will not fight that. But…."

He knew exactly what she was suggesting, and dragged her into his hold, shushing her. "Don't be foolish…. We have made a life, Arei. I will not see it destroyed. I do not wish to. And clearly, that is the same for you. Arei…?"

She had begun to cry…he was so shocked that at first, he was uncertain of what to do. It was the first time she had wept in his sane presence…but he continued to hold her close, nuzzling away her tears. It distressed him to see her like this…and he wished to know why she wept. She…she should be happy. Why then did she weep?

Before he even asked, she began to choke out, "I'm…I'm not suppose to be able to…get pregnant. I got sick…. I became barren, I…I…."

Later, the entire story would be told to him. During one of the nights in her occupation, and customer was too hurried to bother with a condom…. Later, when he came again, he bit badly be a friend, then promptly kicked out for what he had given Arei. The disease had been swift running, with a high fever among one of the symptoms. As treatment had been at a low with limited supplies, it rendered her incapable of getting pregnant. This in itself did not so much affect Arei as it might have other females…she hadn't thought of having a family, and so did not give it much thought. But after a time, long after the illness had passed, she began to understand all that had been lost to her…and so grieved the opportunity, perhaps near to be taken anyhow, that was lost to her….

In the present, she gazed up at him. "…What do we do now?"

"I do not know," he admitted.

And so, he held her, letting her weep, both thinking of the unborn child growing now in her core, fragile but infinitely precious. They knew they would go to whatever lengths necessary to defend it…and such ancient, understood vows, if Mew had her way, would be the thing to destroy them both. But only if she had her way. Only if….