“And how would you feel knowing you inflicted that same suffering, pain, and torment onto another? How would you feel knowing you were just as bad as Emily?” Daniel demanded. Falla looked at him with wonder as she fell silent, with Daniel then holding her close. The girl looked over his shoulder at everyone as Daniel closed his eyes and held her gently.
“Please, try to understand, the monster that Emily was, the horrible things she did to your sister, you would be just like her if you raped a human. If you tricked a man into having sex with you, if you tied him down and took him by force, if you used him just as a tool for breeding, then you would be no better than the very monster that raped your sister,” he said honestly. Falla shook her head and looked down while closing her eyes.
“No, that’s not the same, we have to do that to get pregnant, we have to!” she yelled out.
“No you don’t, that doesn’t have to be the life for you or your sister,” Daniel said gently.
“Liar! No human would ever willingly do us! Look at us! We’re freaks to you humans! Just because we have wings and antennae on our heads and eat insects you think we’re abominations!” Falla shouted out with frustration.
“Um, what was that last thing?” Triska asked with a raised eyebrow. Daniel glanced to Falla with a slightly disturbed expression then slowly shook his head with a sympathetic smile.
“You’re not an abomination, you’re very attractive and beautiful,” he reassured gently.
“You said that to me before, though I still don’t believe you, Daniel. How can I?” she said softly.
“Please, give me a chance to save you, Falla,” he kindly requested, with Falla then leaning back and looking at him with confusion.
“Save me? From what?” she asked. Daniel backed up towards the other girls while watching her with a caring smile.
“From becoming a Darker One in this world, from turning into the kind of monster that Emily was. Please, I don’t want that for you or your sister,” he said shaking his head. Falla slowly looked around at seeing the other girls nodding to that then crossed her arms and turned her head away with a grunt. After a while she growled with frustration then looked back to Daniel while setting her hands at her hips.
“Fine, I’ll show you the way to our grove, but I’m not helping you preach your beliefs to anyone. Once we’re there you need to convince them yourself that you’re not bat shit crazy,” she snapped. Daniel nodded with a smile before Falla pointed to him accusingly.
“And you’d better take responsibility for what you did to my sister. Either you actually help her find a human to get pregnant with without having to rape anyone, or else I swear I’ll make you fuck her myself,” she threatened.
“Don’t worry, Falla, by being kindhearted girls and caring about others Daniel will love us and then knock us up himself, you’ll see,” Luna said with a happy smile.
“What?” Triska, Alyssa, and Specca shouted out at her, with Squeak merely squeaking loudly at the butterfly girl. Luna giggled then hugged Daniel tightly from behind with a twisted smile on her face, the boy showing weak expression as she laughed crazily into his ear.
“I CAN’T WAIT UNTIL WE MAKE BABIES TOGETHER! I’M GOING TO BE YOUR GOOD GIRL FOREVER! HAHAHAHAHAHA!” she screamed out with wide eyes, with Specca and Triska then struggling to pry her off while Squeak tried to pull Daniel away from the lunatic butterfly. Alyssa groaned tiredly at the sight then glanced to Kroanette as the centaur was watching Daniel with a curious smile.
“You just want him to have sex with you now too, don’t you? That’s why you’re being so nice to him, isn’t it?” Alyssa accused dryly. Kroanette glanced to the witch for a moment then looked away, casually fluffing her hair and brushing down her shirt.
“I don’t know what you mean. I merely wish to help a noble man like Daniel with his quest, that’s all,” she replied while avoiding eye contact with the witch. Alyssa drummed her fingers on her staff briefly before looking back to the scene in front of her with a dull expression.
“Sure you do.”
In the world of Eden, traveling with others made things not only safer but more enjoyable. Being with friends or even lovers on a journey through the land was much more preferable, and advised, rather than traveling alone. One would have help should they run into trouble, company to talk to about similar or varying interests, hopefully at least one person in the group who knew how to cook a decent meal, and would feel a sense of empowerment or courage when braving the outerlands with those closest to them. When faced with the mystery and danger of what lies before them, having those that mean so much close by could make all the difference in the world.
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? You’re not four you know,” Falla scolded.
“It’s so bouncy and comfy! I can’t wait to sleep in it with Daniel!” Luna cheered as she dropped onto her back and rolled around on the bed.
“Keep dreaming, Luna, you and your sister are sleeping outside, only those Daniel actually
chose
to be his mates are sleeping in the bed with him,” Specca mentioned while seated at the table, her tail swaying about gently behind her as she was working to add the Gemini entry into the monster guidebook. Luna looked to her with a pout while Falla scoffed and set her hands at her hips.
“Hey, 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,” she argued sternly.
“Please? I promise to be good,” Luna whined. 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. 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,” she threatened while pointing to them accusingly. Luna looked to the couch then smiled happily at Triska.
“Ok, thank you, Triska,” she said with a nod.
“What? Why do I get stuck sleeping on the floor? This is bullshit!” Falla argued while standing up and stomping her foot.
“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 her and yanked her down onto the bed with her.
“Don’t be so grumpy, Falla, we’re all going home together! This is going to be so much fun!” Luna cheered as she held onto her sister, with Falla struggling to break free as she kicked about.
“Let me go, Luna! They’re treating me like an animal and all you can think about is going home, what kind of sister are you anyway?” she barked out.
“Isn’t this bed so soft and comfy? We have to try our best and be nice to Daniel so we can sleep in it with him one day too,” Luna giggled as she started rolling around on the bed with Falla in her arms, the two tumbling 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, I managed to procure these for you and all your friends,” Kroanette said kindly.
“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. Where did you find all these?” he asked with a curious smile at her.
“I found a lovely apple tree near the edge of town and I thought to myself, Daniel would surely love these juicy looking things,” Kroanette said with a coy smirk at the boy, her arms crossing below her bosom and perking it up slightly. 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,” she said gratefully. 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,” she said simply. 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. They nearly had the witches of Rystone on their side, with their leader Charlotte saying she would help Daniel under the promise that he find five other monster races to join him as well. Squeak’s nest was already the first for that quota, and if all went well then perhaps they could convince Luna and Falla’s home as well as Kroanette’s to join them as well. Knowing they had two promising leads with monster races that would be at least safe to approach and talk to Daniel felt even more confident that he could help instill peace in this world along with his friends.
No, not just friends, but lovers, he reminded himself. He had finally come to understand how he truly felt about Triska, Alyssa, Squeak, and Specca, that he actually loved them all equally and couldn’t bear to part with any of them. And on top of that, it appeared the girls themselves had developed a loving bond with each other as well, going from competitive rivals for the one they loved to wishing to share him with each other equally. It was almost too good to be true, he had all four girls, and they all had him and each other. At last, he felt the fighting between them was finally over, and they could all enjoy their long journey together.
“Alyssa, why don’t you go double check the map with Specca and Falla, I want to make sure we arrive at Flairwood as soon as we can,” Daniel suggested to the witch. She looked to him with a happy smile and nodded as she handed him the reins.
“Ok, 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 gentle smile then looked to seeing Kroanette watching him with a smirk, her breasts bouncing heavily with each gallop she took alongside him.
“You know, 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,” she mentioned. Daniel smiled weakly and nodded then looked ahead.