Chronicles of Eden - Act 2 (116 page)

“Now now, Daniel, I did come all this way to meet you, didn’t I? If it was a simple no to your question that was needed I wouldn’t have personally bothered with the trip,” she mentioned, with Daniel and the others looking to her curiously as she smiled slyly at the boy.

“You’re a special human, Daniel, the only one I’ve seen that genuinely surprised me the way you did last night. You actually took Alyssa the Wildfire Witch, of all witches, to bed with you of your own free will, and fucked her brains out. I just couldn’t believe it, I found the idea of anyone loving that
letchyask
simply too much to believe alone, and yet you did it, and I mean you
really
did it. So I thought to myself, could this human truly do what he promises? Could he really bring about peace between our races even though the odds are certainly not in his favor?” she questioned with a shrug. Daniel looked to Alyssa who was watching Charlotte with a mixture of wonder and remorse from that then watched as the alpha gestured for him to kneel before her, which he promptly did so.

“You wish to speak to your queen in Rockhelm about monsters and humans living together in peace, something that is likely to get you beheaded by your own kind for speaking such blasphemy. And you plan to bring as many monster races with you as ‘proof’ that we can all talk about this peacefully, something that is going to be nearly as suicidal to you as those siding with your beliefs in front of your kind,” she speculated before gently holding her wand under Daniel’s chin to keep his gaze on her.

“You will likely die by the very monsters you wish to speak to, raped to death while your friends are killed for being in your company, does that not scare you?” she questioned, with Daniel shaking his head while remaining silent.

“You’ll be met with ridicule and rejection by many, perhaps even by your own dear followers in due time, you do realize this, yes?” Charlotte taunted. The other girls opened their mouths to speak in protest before the witch glanced to them, all the girls then closing their mouths while shaking their heads with stern expressions. Daniel shook his head as well, with Charlotte then nodding slowly as she lowered her wand.

“Alright, Daniel, if you truly believe you can make your dream a reality, then by all means go ahead and try, I shall not try to stop you in the least. However you will need quite a loud voice to make your words heard to your kind as well as the world, that much is for certain, very certain indeed. Therefore, I will offer you my assistance only on one condition, and
only
this condition,” she stated decisively. Everyone watched her with wonder as she held up one hand with all her fingers and thumb spread out.

“Bring five monster races to Rockhelm with you to present your beliefs to your queen, five races that agree to side with you on such an outlandish idea…” she ordered, before slowly moving her hand forward and gently taking hold of Daniel’s chin as she gazed into his eyes.

“Do that, and I shall bring the sixth,” she finished, with Daniel jumping with surprise as the other girls looked to each other with growing smiles.

“You will? You’ll stand with us then?” Daniel asked hopefully.

“If you bring five other races of whom you managed to convince that what you say is possible, then I shall personally join you in Rockhelm to speak with your queen. However, any less than five just will not do, I shall not stand with a fool after all,” Charlotte answered as she stepped back and motioned for the boy to rise. Daniel stood up again as all his girls looked to him with amazement then to Charlotte, the alpha then pointing to Alyssa with a dull glare, with everyone watching her with concern.

“Make no mistake though,
Alyssa
, you are not welcome here in my land, you are by no means forgiven for your crimes against our kind, and it is only because I feel sympathetic for your dear mother that I offer you this chance to leave here alive. Only myself and my helpers here know of your presence in this land, and it will stay that way to avoid any riots in my village, but if you
dare
show your face here again, whether Daniel succeeds with his quest or not, you shall be put to death, understand?” she demanded sternly. Alyssa whimpered then bowed before her while closing her eyes.

“Yes, my grace, I understand,” she said softly. Daniel looked at her with remorse then to Charlotte as the alpha scoffed and turned away with discontent.

“My grace, should Alyssa help me with my quest, to bring about peace between witches and humans, could that help absolve her for her mistake in the past? She’s not a bad witch, she just couldn’t control her magic, isn’t there any chance of redemption for her?” he pleaded humbly. Charlotte glanced to him for a moment then to Alyssa, the frightened witch backing up a bit with a quiet squeak.

“She’s a
letchyask
, Daniel, there is no path to redemption for her,” she condemned, with Apoch and Astreal nodding slowly in agreement as they watched Alyssa with harsh glares.

“Never say never, my grace, after all you yourself once believed a human could never love a witch,” Daniel reminded hopefully. Charlotte smiled slightly and looked to him with a simple amused murmur.

“Daniel, I dare say the odds of you succeeding with your radical dreams are greater than her ever being forgiven for what she did. If you truly care about that witch, keep her far away from my land,” she reasoned before turning to walk out of the home. As she got to the door she stopped and glanced back to Daniel with a raised eyebrow.

“By the way, I have a little favor to ask all of you. Should you come across any of those fragments of Eden, bring them to me, I’ll be sure to reward you handsomely for each piece you find,” she mentioned. Daniel’s group looked to each other then to the alpha with curiosity.

“My grace, what exactly
are
those things anyway?” Triska asked.

“Nothing for you to be concerned about, you have enough to be focused on, what with Daniel’s quest and all,” Charlotte replied with a shrug. Specca nodded then stepped forward.

“My grace, may I please ask you one more thing?” she requested as she got down on one knee. Charlotte just waited for her to speak while still facing towards the door. Specca looked down for a moment then to the witch with a cautious expression.

“Last night, you called Jovian and Jacqueline ‘gemini’. What are gemini? I couldn’t find such an entry in our monster guide, though I’m certain I’ve heard that name before. Please, what in Eden were they?” she asked. Charlotte turned to her with a solemn expression then to Daniel as everyone listened carefully.

“They are Darker Ones, most foul as Darker Ones go. However, they are a Darker
One
, not two,” she said cryptically, with everyone just staring at her with confusion.

“I don’t get it,” Luna said shaking her head.

“Don’t feel bad, neither do we,” Triska mentioned. Charlotte smirked a bit and looked down as Apoch and Astreal closed their eyes and listened to their alpha.

“They are a special kind of Darker One, a monster with two bodies, but only one soul. You cannot kill one without killing the other, and you cannot kill either by normal means. There is only one way to kill a gemini, though I suspect you’ll never be able to, right now nobody can,” she explained.

“They survived all manner of harm the other night, how can they be killed? How can they truly be stopped?” Specca asked. Charlotte walked up to the girl and held her wand to the nixie’s heart, with Specca looking to it then to the witch as she showed a grave expression.

“The only way to kill a gemini is for each to be struck through the heart by the hands of heaven and hell, at the same time,” she explained.

“I still don’t get it,” Luna whined.

“None of us do. Please, you’re not making sense, how can we put those bitches down if we come across them again?” Triska asked urgently. Charlotte rolled her eyes then looked to her with a dull stare.

“I just told you. There are supposed swords of legend, one forged from the heavens above and another cast from the fires of hell. One must be struck through the heart of a gemini while the other’s heart is pierced by the second mythical blade, only then will the Darker One truly die,” she clarified. Specca looked at her curiously then jumped with a gasp.

“The Archlight’s Blade! That’s where I’ve heard that name before, it’s a sword made by angels themselves!” she exclaimed.

“The Archlight’s Blade? Wait, you mean that sword Daemon was using last night?” Triska asked. Specca nodded as she recalled the magical sword that the mysterious traveler wielded, how it was able to fight against both a succubus and a deathmare while being capable of unleashing magical spells of bright light as well.

“That’s one of the swords, I heard tales about it belonging to the angels in heaven, but those were just stories, I had no idea it was actually a real weapon,” she said looking to Charlotte with wonder, the witch nodding to that.

“You and me both. The swords are that of legends, nobody has ever actually seen them before. When I saw that he did indeed possess that weapon,
that
was the single most surprising moment of my life,” Charlotte agreed.

“But wait, if you knew that gemini were real, then surely you had to have known the swords were real too, how else could anyone have known that such weapons were needed to kill them?” Triska asked with confusion. Charlotte breathed out and looked to her with a solemn gaze.

“Because the way to kill a gemini is also a myth.
Nobody
has ever slain a gemini before,
ever
. They don’t breed, they don’t die, rather they seem to appear out of nowhere and then vanish again after killing all those they come across, commonly brushed off as folktales of the insane and confused. However, their eyes are the giveaway of their true appearance, what reveals them for what they really are. That is how I knew what they were, how I knew that a gemini had arrived here,” she explained.

“So the only supposed way of killing them, if it’s even possible to kill them, is to strike them both through the hearts at the same time with each of the swords of legend,” Daniel said curiously.

“If that is indeed true, what is the other sword needed, the one cast from the fires of hell?” Kroanette asked.

“The Hellfire’s Edge, a sword forged from the demons and dark spirits of hell, the opposite of the Archlight’s Blade,” Charlotte replied solemnly. Specca thought for a moment then looked at the alpha carefully.

“My grace, I do remember reading about that sword as well, how it was only in tales told by humans, a sword capable of using the most powerful of dark magics. And… there was something unique about each blade as well, how only certain people could use either one, though I question whether or not those were just silly conditions made up by humans,” she mentioned, with Charlotte nodding with a smirk.

“Yes, what you read about those two legendary swords was true. The Archlight’s Blade can only be used by a virgin, while the Hellfire’s Edge can’t be used by a virgin,” she confirmed, with Daniel’s group looking to each other curiously.

“The swords are limited by whether their wielder is a virgin or not?” Daniel asked with confusion.

“So, wait, you’re saying that if I had the Archlight’s Blade, I couldn’t use it now?” Triska asked looking to the alpha with puzzlement. Specca nodded then looked to her with concern.

“That’s right, only a virgin may wield that sword. You’re not a virgin anymore, Triska. Should you try to hold the sword it’ll set you ablaze with the fires of heaven, it’ll kill you,” she warned, with Triska jumping in surprise to that.

“It’ll
kill
me?” Triska asked with disbelief.

“Should you not drop it right away, yes, only a virgin may wield that sword. The same goes for the Hellfire’s Edge, the legend for that sword states that if a virgin tries to use it they shall be burned alive by the fires of hell,” Specca clarified. The group looked to each other curiously then to Charlotte as the alpha turned to walk towards the door again, the witch thinking about Daemon from the night before as a faint blush appeared on her cheeks.

‘So you’re still a virgin, my dear Daemon. I promise to help fix that next time we meet.’

“So the only way we can kill Jovian and Jacqueline is to have those two swords to strike through their hearts,” Daniel concluded while looking down with concern.

“And none of us can even use one of the swords now,” Triska pointed out shaking her head.

“Not to mention there’s no telling where the other one may be, or if it’s even real as well,” Alyssa added with growing concern.

“What will we do if we come across the gemini again?” Specca asked nervously.

“You’ll die,” Charlotte said simply as she got to the door, and then glanced back to them with a smirk.

“I’d stay away from the wastelands to the east, that’s where we sent them off to. You cannot kill those two; you can only run or die from them. Now then, Daniel, my generosity with you and your companions has ended this morning, so please leave my land, or else we’re going to have a problem,” she reminded expectedly. Daniel jumped a bit then smiled nervously and nodded a few times.

“Yes, of course, we just… um, need to figure out how we can do that first,” he said, with Charlotte slowly raising an eyebrow to him.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Not to dig Alyssa in deeper, but she sort of broke our caravan getting us here,” Triska mentioned while glancing to Alyssa, the witch looking down with remorse and closing her eyes.

“It was an accident,” she whined.

“You
are
the accident,” Apoch and Astreal hissed at her.

“Hey, we’re not blaming her for what happened, she just made a little mistake, that’s all,” Daniel reassured holding his hands up defensively.

“Mistakes that cost lives often come from her being nearby, are you sure you wish to travel with that witch while on such an important quest as yours?” Charlotte questioned. Daniel looked to her with a firm expression and nodded as he stepped closer to Alyssa, holding her close at his side as she looked up to him with wonder.