VOLUME SIX: UNDER LOCK AND KEY
“The Nail of Saigrim: a grave situation?”
The first place everybody headed to once they boarded the Dauntless was the washroom. Spending the better part of a week on a harsh planet, building up sweat and grime, forced away from perfumes and lotions, had caused some serious damage to the crew’s hygiene, and sadly, Kyrie was the very last to wash up (yes, even she had missed the cleansing touch of water), since she was required to keep the water hot. Twenty-two people showering at the same time really takes a toll on plumping. At least they were all alive and healthy, although it would be a stretch to say that any of them were well: Lyara, Rebecca, and Riene kept their distance from each other, and rarely even spoke to the other crewmembers. Sharyn’s heart went out to the Valar’s, and they shared another bath together in the hot springs, while Rebecca sought solace in Eve’s world-weary presence, and Riene battled against her demons alone. Her thoughts turned to Sati as she stood underneath the weeping spigot.
Most of the women were in high spirits, though, particularly Amy, who felt ten times better after Fuuka reexamined her foot. The crew was surprised to see their frail little friend in such great condition, particularly because she was the least accustomed to wilderness survival, and she had faced the elements by herself (she didn’t tell anyone about her “encounter”). Because Amy’s foot had to be examined for infections and further hemorrhaging, she had been one of the last to clean up, so the public shower room was all hers. She took off her broken glasses first, reminding herself to buy a new pair, and undid her braids until her bland brown hair was free once more. She disrobed, a monotonous ceremony, and set the water to a cooler temperature, stepping underneath it with a gasp. Ah, that felt better! She groped around for a razor and lathered her legs, embarrassed that she had let them “go feral” for so long.
When she finished shaving her right leg, Amy heard the washroom door opening, and wondered who her visitor could be. Kyrie was probably still at the boiler, and Fuuka and Athena were sharing a shower in their room. It wouldn’t be Rachel— she didn’t need to bathe— and surely nobody was so neurotic that they would shower twice. She looked up just in time to notice Chandra coming in, letting her terry cloth robe ripple down her skin as she explored the showers. Her eyes met Amy’s, and she made a beeline for the stall next to hers. In the few moments it took to make those few steps, Chandra soaked in the older woman’s simple, beautiful nudity.
For starters, she looked more mature with her hair hanging straight and her glasses abandoned, and was no longer merely attractive: Miracle could be beautiful as well. But she would never be stunning, arresting, or even gorgeous: she was pale from too many years spent in libraries and
classrooms, and though she was skinny, her body had some fat as well, since her tummy and hips bulged a little. There were no visible muscles on her limns, and her rear was flat and unappealing. Amy’s bosom was still in full bloom, albeit small, and she balanced like a turtle struggling to right itself as she shaved her leg. Hers was a very realistic, plain beauty, like a loaf of warm bread and butter, but Chandra lusted after her all the same.
“I can help you if you like,” she offered. Amy breathed a sigh of relief. Shaving her left leg had been difficult ever since she was inflicted with her injury, especially her upper thighs. Putting any weight on her right foot was usually out of the question; normally she just sat in a tub to perform this chore, or relied on Rachel.
“Oh, thank you! That’s so sweet of you. Ugh, here. Say, pleasure units don’t have to worry about that sort of thing, do they?”
“Thankfully not,” Chandra said as she knelt down to trim the rest. She was now enticingly close to Amy’s private area, a humble tuft of sweet angelic fuzz guarding her womanhood, and if she had any less restraint, Chandra would’ve leaned closer to fulfill her desires. But haste makes waste; she wanted to savor every moment, and right now, massaging Amy’s legs and washing the foam off was perfect enough.
“I wouldn’t be able to primp myself like that so much,” Chandra sighed. “I don’t see how you all can bear that.”
“Well, we don’t do it every day,” Amy smiled, “and I’m one of the lucky ones. This is as bad as it gets for me.” Chandra grinned sweetly and reached out to caress the silky smoothness.
“You are lucky…and unbelievably sexy.” Amy giggled.
“You’re just saying that.”
“No, I mean it. You’re petite but very pretty. There, that’s the last of it. It’s like velvet now. Would you like me to wash your back, or your hair?”
“Oh, both, please!” Chandra chuckled sensually and stood, placing herself directly behind Amy, focusing her eyes on the womanly treasure. Every millimeter of a lady’s body was an ode to beauty, and Chandra’s senses were tuned in to appreciate them to their fullest. She poured soap on her bare palms and massaged with the experience of a professional, caressing Amy’s bare back, shoulders, neck, arms…even slithering down to her bottom.
“Ahh! Hey! I can get that part just fine!”
“Sorry,” Chandra giggled, “it’s just so cute! And now for your hair.”
“Oh, this’ll be fun,” Amy sighed as she felt firm fingers clawing through her mane. She hadn’t felt this good since she was a young child, when her mother used to wash her hair in the kitchen sink. She became so absorbed in the purity of the moment that she failed to notice Chandra’s
kisses, jumping from her ear to her neck, over her cheek and finally, as silky hands touched her breasts, onto her lips, where they rested for one heavenly second. Amy backed away in surprise and revulsion, her eyes livid.
“Don’t!” she hissed. “I’m not like that, Chandra. Goodness, if I had known this would happen so many times, I would’ve just told everyone up front on the first day!”
“You mean you’re not a lesbian?” she giggled.
“No!! I’m sorry if you got the wrong impression, but I’m not like that at all! I just want us to be friends— that’s it.”
“That’s no fun,” Chandra pouted. “Aren’t you curious in the least? It’s actually very pleasant.”
“I’m sure it is,” Amy sighed, stepping out of the shower and heading for the towel rack, “but what’s fine for you isn’t fine for everyone else, and I hate that you assumed so much.” She covered herself so Chandra wouldn’t be tempted anymore, then ran a second towel over her hair, arms, and legs. “I love each and every one of you dearly, and that will never change. I don’t care if the whole lot of you are lesbians, I really don’t, and if you can do some real good and find some genuine happiness out of that, it’s wonderful. It’s your right and your life, but if you want people to respect that, you have to respect theirs as well.”
“Sounds boring,” Chandra sighed. She wasn’t quite as conservative and, after shutting the water off, she claimed only one towel and took her time drying off. “How can you know you really don’t like something unless you try it?”
“This isn’t the first time a girl’s kissed me,” Amy grumbled, almost comically. “Believe me, Chandra, I know what I want. If you can’t even respect people’s…” Amy interrupted herself, jerked her head around suddenly, and stared at Chandra with unalloyed pity. “Oh, Chandra, you’ve never loved anybody, have you?”
She knew the pleasure unit would laugh out loud. On the surface, it did seem like a silly thing to ask.
“Did that steamy kiss of ours really do so much damage? Or have you forgotten just what I was made for? I’ll admit, it wasn’t exactly my choice, but I’ll run with it all the same.”
“So just how many women have you been with? Just give me an estimate.”
“I’m not even sure I could do that,” Chandra sang proudly. “It’s definitely well over a hundred, maybe 275. And for your information, I loved every single one of them.”
“You didn’t love them,” Amy sighed as she combed her hair. “Can you remember any of their names?” Chandra’s face darkened.
“A handful, sure.”
“How about their personalities? What about their fears? Do you remember what their favorite food was, or what music they hated? How about their homes, or their families?”
“I see the point you’re trying to make,” Chandra groaned, frustrated and impatient. This inquisition had stopped being fun a long time ago.
“I don’t think you do,” Amy stated as she started to dress herself. She hid behind one of the stalls so Chandra wouldn’t see, not that the nymphomaniac was interested anymore. “You may have thought you cared about a few of them, but I promise you, Chandra, if we made a list of every woman you slept with, you wouldn’t be able to point out a single one you actually loved. Let me finish,” she gestured as Chandra protested. “In order for me to fully explain, I’d have to tell you what real love is, because I’m sure you don’t know. Love is more powerful and more painful than hate. It stems from unreasonable passion and leads to illogical tenacity. Love is about sacrifices, and doing what is best for your partner, even if that means giving them up entirely. Love is staying by their side even when it hurts. It’s patient and generous, and it will last beyond the limits of beauty and desire, beyond needing and wanting, beyond distance and measure. To love someone is to forsake yourself for them, and I do not believe you have ever felt that way about anybody.
“I’ve probably said something that offended you, so I’ll leave you to your thoughts. But know this, Chandra: I am a long, long way from loving anybody like that. Sometimes, everyone on this ship infuriates me so much that I just want to throw them out and forget about them. But…they’re precious to me. They came here because they wanted to. The very least I can do is love them for their devotion. I hope one day, you understand what I mean. We’ll be arriving at Saigrim in a few hours, so I’m going to take a nap and get a bite to eat. If you’d like to talk, please wait until I get back.”
And thus, Chandra was left alone with those words haunting her.
……
Naja was impressed that Amy actually kept her promise, and finally gave the meek woman a rare measure of Elshyrin respect. The two of them were ready to descend ti Saigrim until they were stopped by the only other friends Naja had onboard: Lillianne and Aseria. This dangerous duo proposed to come along for the adventure, and vowed they would do everything they could to help Naja retrieve her item and ward away her fiancé.
“How sweet!” amy exclaimed. Aseria giggled, but Lil rolled her eyes.
“Don’t get the wrong idea, Miracle! Naja’s the only other person on this flying junk heap that actually gets me, and I’ll be damned if she wastes her life slaving away for some bastard.”
“You enjoy fucking each other too much,” Aseria sighed coldly. Lil was unperturbed.
“Hell yeah! Of course it’s a matter of sex! Even you have a tough time keeping up! Besides, the Mun worshipped snakes as gods, so it’s like a fucking dream come true!” Everyone laughed at the delightful entendre, even Amy, and agreed that at the very least, four would be better-suited for this mission than two. Since two of the most unpopular members of the crew were going along, nobody else decided to join them; on the other hand, the few that still doubted Amy’s strength and integrity were silenced at last. Anyone who could handle being around this terrifying triumvirate must have nerves of steel and a glacier’s patience. Amy just hoped she could keep those qualities as the Dauntless settled down and the four women disembarked.
Saigrim was unlike any world the crew had visited so far. The first thing the four women saw was a great wall of stone, a mesa that rose up like a mountain, amber in the afternoon light. The image of a gargantuan creature, a humanoid titan with the head of a serpent, had been carved into the mesa, welcoming them to his world. There were other colossi scattered around in very rigid formations, some even bigger than the first, others only about five meters tall. They had all been chiseled into (or out of) the same red stones: mighty gods with dozens of eyes, humble servants kneeling before lords and ladies, frightening demons with tusks and fire for hair, benevolent entities with seven heads, meditating sages waving a multitude of arms, solemn guards towering so high that they almost blotted out the sun, and finally, an entire garden filled with these idols, one of them boldly waving his oversized genitalia in greetings.
“Groos,” Naja snorted as she covered her face. Amy giggled.
“It’s a standard fertility symbol, Naja. The ancient races from Gaea did the exact same thing.”
“So they were a bunch of dick-worshipping cultists?”
“Not exactly,” Amy grinned as she pointed to another statue— a nude woman standing firmly on the ground, her legs spread apart and her breasts large with potential. “Fertility works two ways.”
“Not on my home world,” Aseria boasted as they made their way past the garden. “Homosexuality has been a practice of ours for centuries. For those couples who wish it, they can breed a child based on the combined genetic structure of both parents. It’s sort of like cloning, only much more refined.”
“Test tube babies?” Naja cringed. “Eww, now that sounds disgusting. I don’t ever want to have children.”
“Never?” Lil said as she wrapped her arm around Naja’s scaly shoulders. The Elshyrin was adamant.
“Ugh, no. For one thing, it’s custom on Jelrin for the children to usurp their parents, and siblings fight each other for their approval. Do I look like I want that shit thrown on me?”
“I wouldn’t mind having a few babies,” Aseria cooed. “I was actually hoping that Aria and I could conceive. Naja, are you sure? I’d love to have a Sindar-Elshyrin mixed son.”
“And a Mun-Sindar daughter, right?” Aseria smiled sweetly and licked Lil’s lips, the closest she ever got to honest affection. Naja groused angrily, and for once, preferred the company of (shudder) other people.
“You people are making me sick! Just…sick, sick, sick!! RRAAGGH!! Let’s go, Amy! You won’t gross me out with your parental instincts, will you?”
“I’ll do my best,” she muttered feebly. In all honesty, Amy wanted to be a mother as well, but she wasn’t going to admit this with Naja the way she was. Another time.
Moving along, the four women left the garden behind and ventured into what was once a courtyard. The tiled roads were cracked and broken, and grasses sprouted freely, some slithering up the sides of ancient pillars. There were three small shelters in the courtyard (nobody knew what else to call them), their domed roofs supported by columns that still stood against time and disrepair, and a fountain was in the center, rusted and filthy with algae. A few rodents, rabbits, and snakes were seen, and birds, insects, and spiders flitted in and out of the ruins, but on the whole, the area was totally deserted. Soon, the women learned the fate of the world’s inhabitants, as they moved from the courtyard into a temple. Naja shrieked as she recognized the Elshyrin’s ancestors on the relief— but what was most startling was the revelation that they had been slaughtered and forced to abandon their world: there were pictures of war and great flying machines on the temple walls, and the very last picture was most startling, something that chilled even Naja’s blood:
A victorious Kitsune holding the fabled Nail aloft.
“That solves a few riddles,” Lil whispered as she touched the image. She gave Naja a look that bordered on sympathy, and she even reached out in an attempt to comfort her. “You want I should defile this piece?”
“Leave it,” she murmured darkly, turning around to explore the temple’s inner lair. “If another member of my kind…of our kind comes here, they’ll want to know how this happened. Come on, this isn’t what we came here for. Amy!”
“I’m coming,” she sighed, hobbling along helplessly. The Elshyrin are a fast species, and Naja was almost going to full speed, brimming with righteous anger and determination. She had to remind herself that Fuuka, and the Kitsune in general, were the least of her concerns. Right now she had to secure her freedom, even if that meant teaming up with others.
……
“I’m here,” Amy gasped as she finally caught up with Naja (she was only able to achieve this because Naja had stopped). Gracious, you…shouldn’t go quite…so fast! It’s hard…for us to keep…up!”
“Sorry for storming off like that,” Naja mumbled. Her entire being had softened, from her relaxed shoulders to her loosened fists, and even her voice was low and civil. She had learned a secret about her ancestors and allowed her rage to explode, but also wanted to be focused and pure— a metal to be shaped after being smelted. Because Amy was now one of the few people she honestly respected, Naja could afford to be remorseful.
“You know, you’re being very sweet by coming along. I know it’s partially my fault we’ve been delayed so long, and I know…I have no right to tell you what to do. It’s your ship and your rules— you just gave us all a lot of freedom. And even after all the shit I put the others through, you’re still willing to come along. Hell, you even went through a week of survival by yourself in that godsforsaken world! You know, when I first signed up for this stupid road trip, I didn’t think a pussy like you would last three days. Heh…gods, I couldn’t have been more wrong. You’re the toughest bitch I’ve ever met…and the nicest. Ahh, I wish we had met sooner, Amy.”
“Please,” she beamed, “don’t put me on such a high pedestal! You have no idea how frail I really am! It takes everything I have just to walk, for pity’s sake. And confidentially, I didn’t even think I’d last three hours, let alone three days. It’s only because I have the best crew in the galaxy with me that I got this far.”
“The best?” Naja coughed. “Ha! Maybe four or five of us. Ah, and speaking of, here come the lovebirds. Don’t you two realize we’re on a deadline here?”
“I wasn’t aware of any deadline,” Aseria said innocently.
“Yeah, you never told us we were in a hurry,” Lil huffed. Naja glared like a woman scorned.
“Duh! My arranged marriage! Hello! I’m not the one who set the time, and if I’m not there for the ceremonies, I’ll lose all my wealth, titles, status, everything! Shit, they might even kill me! So you’d better move your lazy asses if you wanna keep me around! I mean, damn! Even Amy got here faster than you two! What the hell kept you, anyway? Don’t tell me you snuck off to have a quickie!”
“Actually, we thought we saw somebody,” Aseria muttered stiffly. “We were delayed because we investigated.”
“And?” They shook their heads. Nothing. “So you just wasted your time. Fine, be that way. I’m not going to allow you to hold me back! Come on, Amy: at least you can keep up with me.”
“Barely,” she squeaked as she started to limp again. Aseria and Lillianne followed at a distance, nursing their pride. “So how do you know where to go?”
“I can smell it!” Naja hissed. “The Nail has a distinct aroma; I read about it in an old book. It’s supposed to have a unique odor that any Elshyrin will recognize at once. I caught it right away when we landed, and I’ve been following it ever since. It’s very strong now. Hey, lovebirds! Maybe you can be our lookout since you’re already accustomed to jumping at shadows!”
“Bitch,” Aseria sighed. Lil grinned.
“Yeah, but that’s what makes her so gosh-darned sexy.” Aseria sighed and pressed on, lighting torches the deeper in they dove. Unlike so many of their previous adventures, there were no traps, tricks, switches, or levers to worry about, and nothing guarded the Nail of Saigrim except the emptiness and stillness.
“That makes sense!” Naja crowed proudly. “If my ancestors really did build this place, they wouldn’t need such lowly subterfuge! They’d just swarm the invaders with superior might! There must have been piles of Kitsune bodies during the last battle!”
“Ssh,” Aseria hissed.
“Don’t shush me! I don’t interrupt you when you’re bitching about your people, do I?”
“I think I heard something, too,” Amy whispered. Naja sighed and came to a halt, but only because she liked the older woman and trusted her judgment. Elvish ears are sharp, but if Amy heard it (over Naja’s raving, no less), that meant the disturbance was close. Everyone put their guard up and waited, listening and watching carefully. The shadows at the end of the room danced, and a figure emerged from them, silent and dark as the void itself, limply carrying a sickle-and-chain in its hand.
“Not such a waste of time anymore, huh?” Lil muttered. Aseria rolled her eyes.
“Shut up. I recognize this person. Look!” she thrust a beam of magical light at them, causing the figure to shirk from the glare. It was a young lady, completely covered with a black cloak, and a hood was cast over most of her face. The women could see her mouth and nose, but the eyes were hidden. Gradually, the memory of this entity began to surface, until everyone realized who this was.
“Aw, shit! You’re the psycho reaper chick we saw on that planet! Uh, uh…damn, what’s its name?”
“Rajani,” Aseria said. “If memory serves, she calls herself Grave, the New Angel of Death.”
“That’s right,” the entity whispered, her voice raspy and distant. “We have all come a long way since our last encounter, but I shall not fail today. Lillith of Mu, your time has come. Accept your fate and follow me to the other side.”
“Like hell I will!!” she roared, moving into a fighting stance. Aseria stood next to her partner, unveiling a much larger scythe, glowing blue with magical energy.
“You will have to get through me first, demon.” She expected Naja to pop up and join the defense, but the Elshyrin was running in the opposite direction, laughing and shrieking.
“Okay, have fun with your new friend! If I don’t see you again, I’ll avenge your deaths! Let’s find that Nail, Amy!” Miracle’s integrity kept her from bolting, even though she knew she didn’t stand a chance against this creature.
“Sorry, Naja, but I can’t abandon them. I want to confront her as well.”
“Confront?” Aseria snarled, her muscles tensing as she prepared to pounce. “I’m going to kill the fucker!” Aseria flew into the air and swung, but the grave woman was blindingly fast, and delivered her own stroke in a single, fluid flash, cutting deep into the Sindar’s abdomen. Aseria fell to the ground, coughing and bleeding; Amy hopped after her and stood directly in front of a stunned Lil, arms stretched out and eyes defiant. Grave merely slapped her away, sending her to join the elf; Naja saw her new friend going down, and an unfamiliar boiling rage, the kind many cold-blooded Elshyrin never know, filled her up and sent her shrieking.
“You’re gonna regret that, you fucking psycho! I’ll send you screaming back to Hell!” Before Naja could perform any heroics, however, Grave thrust her sickle and chain out, wrapping it around Naja’s waist. She stumbled and coughed, the blade coldly tickling her scales, and screamed as Grave flung her makeshift whip around, slamming her victim into the wall, where she collapsed and laid still.
This was much more than a disturbing chain of events for Lillianne Markus. Naja and Aseria were two of the strongest people she knew (the third being herself), and yet this devilish monster had defeated them effortlessly. She remembered fighting Grave on Rajani— how futile all her efforts had been— and she wondered if now, after growing and learning a little bit about the world, she could win. Grave didn’t wait for her to approach any realizations: she stepped closer, her pace casual, materializing a scythe as large as she was from a pillar of shrieking white fire. Lil gnashed her teeth together and charged, feinting her directions randomly in the hopes of throwing this abomination off her guard. Grave simply stood back and watched patiently, waiting for Lil to tire herself out. Her foot suddenly lashed out, but Grave was amazingly fast, and snapped her weapon with such intense precision that it carved right through the leg. Lil screamed and rushed at Grave with her whole body, trailing pools of pure sapphire blood that would have Fuuka screaming.
What happened next was really too fast for the eye to see, so words are best to describe it. Lil threw a hard punch that was guaranteed not to miss, but Grave whirled around once again, digging her scythe right into the knuckles and cleaving the arm in two. Before a single drop of azure blood could touch the ground, Grave spun around, winding her scythe up, and lopped off Lil’s head with a magnificent gesture, standing victorious as her foe’s life-force spewed out. The body fell to the ground and Aseria screamed; Naja balled her fists up, still too beaten to put up a decent fight; Amy covered her mouth and shut her eyes, shivering with fright.
“How many was that?” Grave whispered absently. “She said it was ‘number four’ the last time, so that must’ve been five. She’s halfway there.”
“Mother-fucking demon!” Aseria struggled to stand, and threw her strongest spell of devastation at the murderous scum. Grave shrieked— she knew even she could not survive that— and flew out of the spell’s path, narrowly avoiding destruction. A clean, perfect hole was punched through the wall where the spell landed, and a shaft of light poured in, striking the Angel of Death
“Why in Heaven’s name did you do that?!” Amy shrieked as she climbed to her feet. Naja was slowly recovering as well, but her anger was gone: there was nothing she could use it for anymore. Grave removed her hood, revealing a very normal-looking girl’s face, sunken with a depression too great to imagine.
“Because I’m the new Angel of Death, and as much as I hate it, I still have a job to do. If you want to kill me, you’re more than welcome to, but I must warn you: it will only bring you even greater suffering. I was assigned to take this woman’s life because it is her time to die, nothing else.”
“But who gives you the right?” Naja growled, dizzily standing up. She leaned against the wall and shook her head, regaining her senses. There was no malice in Grave’s eyes or words: she truly felt horrible for what she had been forced to do.
“Unfortunately, the last Angel of Death did. It’s too long a story to tell, and anyway, she’s coming around.”
“Coming around?! You’re even more insane than you look! She’s dead, you fucking idiot!”
“Not yet,” Aseria moaned. What happened next was beyond shock or horror: it was something abominable and even vulgar. Lillianne’s body started going into mild seizures, and her severed body parts, leg and head, flopped and bounced around on the floor, slowly being drawn back towards the body. All the blood she had spilt began pouring back, and gradually, flesh, skin, muscle, and bone were grafted together again. The leg flew back into place, sewing up the seams quickly, and the arm repaired itself, clasping together with a grotesque slurp. Amy couldn’t watch the rest; she turned away and moaned. Aseria looked like she had seen this before, however, and a grim look of determination flashed in her eyes. Finally, Lil’s body recovered itself, and a flash of light gave the woman back her existence.
She gasped desperately and coughed for about thirty seconds before focusing her rage on Grave. A sinister smile curled on her lips: “Well, isn’t this a funny show? Nobody’s ever managed to kill me twice. Think you got what it takes to make it an even three?”
“Don’t tempt her, Lillith,” Aseria barked. “This creature is one of the most powerful entities I’ve ever faced. If Aria were here, maybe we could win…”
“Bah, we don’t need your bitch of a half-sister here to save us! I’ll just plow through her next attack and rip that pretty little head out!”
“You’ll lose, fool!” Grave snapped, swinging her sickle and chain around. “Just surrender! Why waste your remaining five chances in a pointless battle?”
“Pointless?!”
“Five chances?”
“That’s enough!” Nobody expected Amy to come running in— yes, running— least of all Grave, which was why her guard was down. Amy took that rare opportunity and actually kicked the woman in the jaw with her bad foot, spewing blood everywhere. Most of it was hers— she almost tripped as she regained her bearings— but there was also a trickle running down Grave’s mouth, and she wiped it off in amazement. Naja nearly had babies.
“Holy shit! You kick ass, Amy!”
“I just want your attention,” she gasped, wincing from pushing herself too far. Amy showed Grave her wounded foot, which was apparently a startling revelation, for she shrieked and backed away, clutching her weapons greedily. “Aha, so you do know what this is! I didn’t want to do this, but you’ve pushed me too far! In the name of Maleldil, I command you to listen to me!”
A paralyzing sensation washed over the group, and even if a gorgon had slithered by, they would not have been able to tell the difference between these women and an earlier victim. Strange, horrifying emotions stabbed their hearts, and they felt like cowering, running away— but not before obeying what the bold woman had to say. Grave was the first to move, and she snarled with alarming respect.
“Your masters have given you dangerous toys to play with, woman. Very well, I shall listen to what you have to say, but know this: I cannot go back on my duties.”
“Nor would I ask you to,” Amy said gently. “But Lil is my friend, and she’s a member of my crew. She has the name Dauntless forever etched upon her soul. We are on a mission, dearest Arine— that is your real name, isn’t it?— and we cannot have our crewmembers perishing before the mission is complete. I promise that once we are finished, you may fulfill your oath. But not a moment sooner.”
“An arrogant request,” she muttered darkly— but there was no mistaking the look of joy that fell upon her. She even smiled. “None of you will be able to escape me in the end. I promise to stay my touch until you are finished, Miracle, but you had better be prepared to see me when this is all over. I pray I shall not have any excuse to meet your companions beforehand. Until then, doctor— and Lillith. Do treasure those final five lives of yours. No doubt each one will be more precious than the last.”
She saluted and vanished, naturally leaving everyone with plenty of questions. Naja decided to put them aside for later, since she really only cared about getting the Nail, and with no further obstacles, she sniffed her way to the treasure. Saigrim’s most famous treasure was a curved fingernail protruding out of a skeletal finger, sharp as a saber and potent enough to silence the most stubborn Elshyrin. Now Naja just had to hope her family would accept this treasure in exchange for her freedom. If not…
……
Amy Miracle sighed wearily as she ducked underneath the cool spray of water: she had forgotten how messy adventures could get. She promised to “fill in all the blanks” once she was out; she just needed some time to herself before the interview. As she washed her body free from worry and anxiety, she heard the washroom door opening, and feared that Chandra had returned, ignoring Amy’s advice. Really, though, it might have been better for her if this were true. A happy, inquisitive, nude Naja greeted her instead.
“Hey, need someone to wash your back?”
“Oh no, not again!!”
Preview of next chapter
Kyrie: I deserve to be the star next time since all I did in this chapter was work!
Lyara: Yes, but you did such a marvelous jobs with the baths!
Sharyn: Aye, Lyara and I were very cozy.
Lyara: You should invent a system that replicates the sensation of being in a hot spring. You’ll make a fortune!
Kyrie: Really? Well, I have been wanting to study heating and cooling…
Alala: Hey, slackers! None of this has anything to do with the next chapter!
Sharyn: But milady, we’re so warm and toasty in this bath! Prithee, won’t you join us?
Alala: Myow, NO, too many prying eyes.
Yenae:
Alala: I SEE YOU HIDING BACK THERE!!
Kyrie: …Uh, ahem. Anyway, the next chapter has the crew visiting…HUH? A world made entirely out of corpses?!
Sharyn: Pleasant.
Lyara: That means we’ll have to take another toasty bath when we get back.
Sharyn: Huzzah! May our sexuality be ever ambiguous behind the mists of our open-air baths!
Kyrie: Um, okay, maybe I DON’T want to be star next time. Somebody else can have it!
Alala: Ooh, me, me! I heard that Marsa Rosemont will be returning! She’s my hero!
Yenae: All the more reason for us to go down there, lemon pie! A beautiful priestess and a chance to take a nice, hot bath afterward!
Lyara: And corpses! More than you can shake a stick at! But see for yourself in, “Corpse World: the morbid, the merrier!”
Sharyn: Is this stick big enough? (she whips out a big stick!)
Kyrie: KYRIE MUST BURN WOOD! FLAME ON!!
Yenae: Quick, Alala! Take off your clothes so they don’t burn, and jump into the water!
Alala: …………I’ll take my chances.
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