Chronicles of Eden - Act IV (61 page)

And in most cases, having even more than that couldn’t hurt either.

*****

After the group finally separated Luna from her embrace with Daniel, which involved all the girls pulling on each one to break the butterfly’s tight hold on the poor boy, everyone prepared to leave Eston for the butterfly sisters’ home located to the south. Daniel and Alyssa were seated up front on their caravan, with the witch holding the reins to her horse while Daniel was taking in one last look of the surrounding village before they left. Looking back behind him into the spacious cabin they now had he saw Triska working to hook up their black curtain over the entrance to act like a doorway for privacy while Squeak was watching with a dull stare as Luna was hopping up and down on the bed, the butterfly girl giggling happily while Falla was sitting on the edge of the bed and glancing back to her with growing irritation.

“Would you stop that?” Falla scolded. “You’re not four you know.”

“It’s so bouncy and comfy!” Luna cheered before rolling around on the bed. “I can’t wait to sleep in it with Daniel!”

“Keep dreaming, Luna,” Specca mentioned while seated at the table and writing in the monster guide. “You and your sister are sleeping outside. Only those Daniel actually
chose
to be his mates are sleeping in the bed with him.”

Her tail swayed about gently behind her as she was working to add the Gemini entry into the guidebook, making sure to document everything Charlotte had told them about the two near-immortal monsters. Luna looked to her with a pout while Falla scoffed and set her hands at her hips.

“Hey,” Falla sternly argued. “I’m showing you the way to my home so Daniel can talk about his stupid idea to everybody there. You can’t tell us to sleep outside while you all get a nice bed to sleep in. And like hell I’m sleeping next to your horse again.”

“Please?” Luna whined. “I promise to be good.”

Specca rolled her eyes then glanced to Triska, the teen finishing putting up the curtain above the doorway before she looked back to the butterfly sisters with a sharp eye.

“Fine, Luna can sleep on the couch and Falla gets the floor,” Triska said before pointing to them accusingly. “But if either of you so much as goes near the bed without his permission I swear to god I will kill you where you stand.”

Luna looked to the couch then smiled happily at Triska.

“Okay, thank you, Triska,” she said with a nod.

“What?” Falla yelled while standing up and stomping her foot. “Why do I get stuck sleeping on the floor? This is bullshit!”

“It’s that or outside, take your pick,” Specca said plainly as she turned a page in the monster book. Falla growled while crossing her arms in discontent before Luna grabbed and yanked her down onto the bed with her.

“Don’t be so grumpy, Falla,” Luna giggled. “We’re all going home together! This is going to be so much fun!”

“Let me go, Luna!” Falla barked out while struggling to get free. “They’re treating me like an animal and all you can think about is going home, what kind of sister are you anyway?”

“Isn’t this bed so soft and comfy?” Luna cheered while rolling around with Falla in her arms. “We have to try our best and be nice to Daniel so we can sleep in it with him one day too!”

The two sisters tumbled about together while Squeak and Triska watched them with dull expressions.

“She still doesn’t get it, does she?” Triska asked flatly, with Squeak and Specca both shaking their heads to that.

Daniel watched with an amused smile as Triska and Squeak walked over to the couch then looked over to see Kroanette trotting towards them while holding a large brown bag, the centaur then holding it out towards him with a warm smile as he and Alyssa looked at the sack curiously.

“Here you are, Daniel,” Kroanette kindly presented. “I managed to procure these for you and all your friends.”

“We’re his lovers,
you’re
just his friend,” Alyssa corrected with dull glance at the centaur while Daniel took the bag and looked inside, seeing it filled with fresh red apples.

“Wow, thank you, Kroanette,” he said with a curious smile. “Where did you find all these?”

“I found a lovely apple tree near the edge of town,” Kroanette said with a coy smirk at the boy, her arms crossing below her bosom and perking it up slightly. “And I thought to myself, Daniel would surely love these juicy looking things.”

Daniel struggled to keep his eyes on the centaur’s face and not her large breasts that she was so obviously flaunting to him, giving a shaky nod with a nervous smile as he closed the bag up again.

“Well… thank you, Kroanette, they really look huge- I mean great!” he said, trying to quickly correct himself before he shut his eyes and nodded with a weak laugh.

Alyssa watched Kroanette with a dull stare then waved her hand back, causing the bag of apples to fly into the cabin and right into Falla as the butterfly girl was approaching the entryway, promptly knocking the girl down to the ground with a thump.

“Yes, thank you,” Alyssa muttered.

“
Ow
! What was that for?” Falla barked out as she sat up while rubbing her head with aggravation.

“Alright, we’re off,” Alyssa called out as she snapped the reins, with Lucky neighing before taking off along the road with a quick gallop. Kroanette ran alongside the horse without any trouble, watching Daniel with a gentle smile as her breasts bounced around heavily, something Daniel was trying not to stare at as he struggled to keep his eyes straight ahead of him. Alyssa glanced to Kroanette with irritation then looked back to Falla as the butterfly girl was looking inside the bag to see what had knocked her to the ground so abruptly.

“If you want one help yourself, otherwise put them away,” Alyssa said before looking ahead with a dull expression.

Falla scowled at her before she reluctantly took out an apple and dragged the bag over to the side corner where the belongings were set, muttering something to herself as she took a bite out of the fruit. Walking over to the table she sat down across from Specca and just looked down with a dull expression as she chewed her snack, with Specca glancing up to seeing the butterfly looking at the apple with a raised eyebrow.

“Just my luck, no worms,” Falla muttered before taking another bite.

Specca watched her with a disturbed expression to that then smiled a bit.

“By the way, I never got a chance to thank you,” she said kindly. Falla glanced to her while chewing her food as the nixie tilted her head slightly. “You saved my life, twice. First when Jovian was going to eat me alive, and then when Charlotte almost made me strike Triska’s dagger into my own heart. You could have run away, you could have let me die, but you didn’t. You saved me. Thank you, Falla.”

Falla just looked at her for a moment before swallowing and looking away to avoid eye contact.

“I keep telling you people, I’m not some Darker One. I just want to have a daughter.”

Specca nodded then returned to her work with the monster book.

“You and your sister are certainly not Darker Ones, you can rest assured of that,” she agreed, with Falla glancing to her before taking another bite of her apple.

The group made their way out of the village of Eston, with Daniel, Alyssa, and Kroanette seeing half the town having been reduced to charred debris and ash from the fire last night, and traveled along a worn path to the south as they set off towards the grove of the giant butterflies, Flairwood. As the caravan’s sturdy wheels rolled along the ground with Lucky and Kroanette’s hooves galloping almost in rhythm together, Daniel looked up and around at the blue sky with renewed spirits. Knowing they had two promising leads with monster races that would be at least safe to approach and talk to he felt even more confident that he could help instill peace in this world.

“Alyssa, why don’t you go double check the map with Specca and Falla,” Daniel suggested to the witch. “I want to make sure we arrive at Flairwood as soon as we can.”

She looked to him with a happy smile and nodded as she handed him the reins.

“Okay, Daniel, anything for you,” she said with a wink before hopping up onto the seat, kissing him quickly, then hopping into the cabin. Daniel chuckled with a smile then looked to seeing Kroanette watching him with a smirk, her breasts bouncing heavily with each gallop she took alongside him.

“You know,” she mentioned. “I can get us to Flairwood in no time if you let me lead the way. I know several shortcuts that can get us there very quickly.”

Daniel smiled weakly and nodded then looked ahead.

“I’m sure you do, but I’d rather follow the map, just to be safe,” he reasoned, not wishing to comment about the centaur’s horrible navigation skills. He glanced back into the cabin and watched as Alyssa unrolled the map on the table, with Specca and Falla looking at it curiously while the butterfly girl traced her finger along the route to her home. As they discussed the best way to get to the grove Daniel noticed that although the caravan rocked and tilted now and again on the bumpy trail, the inside of the spacious cabin never appeared to move around at all. The vase of flowers on the table never swayed nor slid about, the flowers themselves in the pot and also near the back corners remained still and serene, and the girls themselves were able to move about while never struggling to remain balanced. Triska walked up to the front of the ride and looked around at the cabin with wonder before she turned to Daniel with an awkward smile.

“This is weird, right?” she questioned.

“Yeah,” Daniel commented while scratching his head with puzzlement. “It looks like everything inside remains perfectly still even when we’re on the move.”

Triska nodded and looked around at seeing everything in the cabin remaining perfectly in place despite a few bumps the caravan’s reinforced wheels rolled over just then. None of the girls even seemed to notice any sudden movements or thumps from the caravan. In fact what they did notice was that they couldn’t even hear the caravan’s wheels below them. It was as if they were all inside a normal house and not on the move at all.

“How did they do that?” Triska asked herself as she walked along the floor while looking around in puzzlement. She looked over to Squeak who was kneeling down by the flowers near the back corner with a curious eye then over to seeing Alyssa, Specca, and Falla looking at the map on the table.

“Alyssa? How is it that this place isn’t moving around at all when the caravan’s in motion?”

“Magic, how else?” Alyssa replied with a shrug as she kept her eyes on the map.

Triska nodded slowly, figuring that answer, as simple as it was, was enough, and then noticed that Luna was still bouncing around on the bed like a giddy child.

“Hey, Luna, stop bouncing around like that,” she said walking over to stand before the bed, watching as the butterfly girl kept hopping around while giggling to herself. “Luna, enough. Stop bouncing on the bed.”

“It’s so bouncy and soft! Hee hee hee!” Luna giggled as she bounced on her knees then her butt then her knees then her stomach, laughing and hopping about while Triska growled with growing ire.

“Dammit, I said knock it off,” Triska ordered. “This is starting to get very annoying.”

“Weee! I can’t wait to sleep in this! It’s so comfy!”

“Luna! I’m talking to you!”

“This is much more fun that flying everywhere, I like this a whole lot!” Luna cheered as she kept hopping about on the bed.

Triska growled loudly then yanked her sword out with a swift ring, everyone looking to her with a jump as she aimed her blade at Luna with narrowed eyes.

“I said stop bouncing on the bed!”

Luna slowly stopped bouncing and stared at her with a nervous whine, her wings drooping low behind her as she trembled slightly.

“I’m sorry,” she squeaked out.

“Triska Raylight!” Specca scolded loudly as she quickly stood up from the table.

Triska jumped a bit then looked back to seeing Specca, Alyssa, and Squeak watching her with discontent and their hands at their hips.

“You know the rules,” Specca asserted sternly.

“No swordplay in the caravan,” Alyssa reminded while pointing to the teen.

Squeak nodded and squeaked something with a stern expression while Falla watched Triska with a dull stare.

“I know she’s difficult to talk to,” Falla mentioned dryly. “But unless you want her peeing in your bed out of fright, please don’t threaten my sister with your sword again.”

Triska looked to Luna who slowly backed up and whimpered then over to the other girls as Specca slowly adjusted her glasses as she watched the teen with discontent.

“
Triska
,” Specca lectured in a knowing tone.

Triska gulped then dropped her sword with clank onto the floor, showing a worried expression as all eyes were on her.

“Um… sorry?” she said with a nervous smile.

Daniel watched the girls with a quiet sigh then looked back ahead, realizing that perhaps the fighting between them wasn’t entirely over just yet.

“Everything alright in there?” Kroanette asked as she looked at the caravan curiously.

“Yeah. Same old, same old,” Daniel said with a small shrug.

After a while Falla came out and sat next to him, leaning back against the caravan while her wings folded slightly behind her. Daniel glanced to her then smiled weakly.

“Are they still fighting in there?” he asked. “Don’t worry. It usually doesn’t last too long.”

Falla glanced to him with a raised eyebrow then peeked back into the caravan.

“They’re doing
something
in there,” she replied, with Daniel looking at her curiously then back into the cabin before jumping with surprise.

“Bad girl,
very
bad girl,” Specca scolded as she spanked Triska, the teen behind held across her lap as the nixie sat on the edge of the bed. The human’s pants were pulled down, exposing her naked cheeks as Specca slapped each one sharply while lecturing the girl. Squeak was holding Triska’s legs down as they tried to kick about with each slap while Alyssa was holding Triska’s hands together in front of her, the teen yelping and blushing more with each hit.