“Yea…I can see why you are concerned tonight, Morgan. But we aren’t going to see much progress in thwarting whatever schemes that insect has tonight. It’s better if we get some rest and not be exhausted tomorrow.”
Morgan, always composed, felt herself relax a little inside from her fellow faerie’s words. Due to Altria’s and Oberon’s past amicable relationship, the Queen was worried that she would have been met with some resistance. Instead, Morgan now felt emboldened through this alliance that could be levied for her wife’s safety.
Oh~ my precious wife. You may have been foolish enough to summon that disgusting insect, but I don’t think there are many that I treasure more than you.
Morgan placed her feet back down restlessly. The Queen had yet to find that missing stress reliever she was looking for. Although, part of her focus was distracted by the fact that Altria hadn’t left yet.
How odd.
The reason being that the blonde faerie of paradise didn’t want to move. As she was still enjoying the vigorous spasms of the bug in between her sandwiched soles. A sign that it was nearing its death throes.
Hmph~ so weak. I thought that a bug that was able to survive in Chaldea would be made of hardier stuff.
Altria felt a bit saddened that the insect likely wouldn’t even live for the tomboy to shove her feet back in her blue boots, with it in tow.
Ah…it’s getting weaker.
“Altria…you wouldn’t happen…”
The tomboy, certain that she has elicited the most euphoria that she could from the insect, that was moments away from a death between her earthy soles, turned her attention to Morgan.
“Find a little trinket or toy…now did you?”
Morgan bit her lip after asking the question. She didn’t know why, but she felt a bit possessive of this mysterious object.
“Toy…oh you mean the bug. Yea, I have it sandwiched between my feet.”
Bug…one that was in Chaldea…this sterilized environment that is regulated in a fashion comparable to my Camelot…that can’t be.
Morgan’s expression paled. She felt a deep shudder reverberate through her body.
“Altria…show me that insect.”
The tomboy’s smile faltered at the request. She blinked before complying. More out of curiosity than anything else. The blonde faerie of paradise moved her tensed feet and separated them under the open air. Away from the table. A black worm was adhered to the Altria’s left foot. Without further requests from the Queen, the tomboy pressed the edge of her thumb and extricated the bug from her cooling sole. The black mass, with a discolored end which must have been its face, was idly twitching.
Is that…
Morgan hid her disgust, but she couldn’t hide her curiosity. The toy she thought was an inanimate object was in fact not.
“Here ya’ go…actually…I think it’s still breathing.”
Morgan sharply inhaled.
“Altria, I don’t think this is just some ordinary bug.”
The tomboy looked at the Queen questioningly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ritsuka had nearly been consumed by the void.
The shrunken woman was sure that she was about to cross the river Styx or whatever fate waited for her in the afterlife. However, the master heard voices. Voices of those she loved booming in her mind. It roused the shrunken woman’s consciousness. As Ritsuka, through many death defying experiences, had been engrained with a will to live for not only herself, but the servants that stood with her.
“HERE YA’ GO…ACTUALLY…I THINK IT’S STILL BREATHING.”
No…they know that I’m alive.
If Ritsuka could cry, then she would. As the shrunken woman didn’t know what to expect. Her bleary vision was able to see the two women seated in front of her. The open windows of Morgan’s dress that provocatively exposed her trim belly and thighs. The slight looseness of Altria’s dress that was topped with a cute bow. Looking up, the shrunken woman saw Morgan’s radiant sapphire eyes and Altria’s vibrant emerald eyes staring at her. The silver-haired faerie’s face was unreadable while the blonde-haired faerie’s face was colored with curiosity. Oh, how she wanted to embrace them at her regular size. For them to realize what happened and nurse her back to health.
“ALTRIA, I DON’T THINK THIS IS JUST SOME ORDINARY BUG.”
Many of the bones in Ritsuka’s body were broken, but she tried to move. This time towards the two faeries once she heard Morgan.
Yes…finally…
The Queen’s words that seemed to indicate that she realized that Ritsuka was not just some bug.
They figured out it’s me…
“IT’S ONE OF OBERON’S BUGS. ONE OF HIS SENTRIES.”
Morgan spat those vicious words. Her expression soured as her voice boomed like a divine decree.
…
Altria’s eyes blinked and she looked at Morgan. The tomboy not disagreeing with the other faerie of paradise but trying to figure out what the Queen was thinking.
“SO, YOU WANT TO DISPOSE OF IT.”
No…no this can’t be happening.
“YES. THE THOUGHT CROSSED MY MIND THAT OBERON MIGHT HAVE SPENT A SPY TO LISTEN IN ON US, WHEN YOU MENTIONED THAT BUG BETWEEN YOUR FEET.”
Please…Morgan…Altria…it’s me. Ritsuka.
“BUT WE CAN’T JUST CRUSH IT. WE HAVE TO BE THOROUGH. ALL IT WOULD TAKE IS WHAT YOU WERE DOING BEFORE ALTRIA BUT ADD AN ADDITIONAL REINFORCEMENT OF YOUR FAE MARKINGS IN THE BOTTOM OF YOUR FOOT. TO EXTERMINATE ITS EXISTENCE.”
Altria cupped her chin in contemplation. She stared at the immobile insect. Its posture defeated and face pleading. Not as if the tomboy could discern such features from a small organism from far away. It was just what the blonde-haired faerie of paradise liked to imagine that the existence was going through. She enjoyed imprinting emotions and values, that coincided with the people that tortured her as a kid, with the insects she played with.
Yet, according to Morgan…this existence has thought. That thought being a brewing maelstrom of ill intent. Towards Morgan, master and possibly even her. By, Oberon, the ugly moth that brought Faerie Britain to its collapse by swallowing it up. Making it such that the faeries of that land could only be punished and not judged. The blonde-haired faerie of paradise brought her hand down to her abdomen. She felt a little drool pool in her mouth.
“ACTUALLY, IF IT’S OBERON’S PET, THEN I THINK THAT I WANT TO EAT IT. PUT IT THROUGH A SIMILAR MISERY THAT HE DID BY HAVING SO MANY FAERIES AND LAND BE SWALLOWED UP BY HIS NEBULOUS BLACKHOLE OF A WORM.”
The tomboy smiled deviously at the mischievous thought of feeling that putrid mess dissolving into oily butter and liquid protein in her stomach.
Oh god no…why!? Is..is this some sort of nightmare.
Morgan looked at her fellow faerie with disapproving eyes. A step up from when the wintery queen would gift that tomboy a disparaging look, back when the two would try to kill each other.
“I UNDERSTAND THE DRAMATIC FLAIR, BUT I THINK THAT IT’S AN UNNECESSARY EXPENSE. AND YOU WOULD BE PUTTING THAT THING IN YOUR MOUTH.”
Morgan pointed at Ritsuka. Her face showing nothing but disgust. The Queen not seeing her wife in the insect that was nearly crushed underneath the faeries’ feet.
“HEY. IF YOU ARE SO GUNG-HO ABOUT CRUSHING IT UNDER A FOOT, THEN YOU DO IT. I’VE HAD PLENTY OF BUGS WHEN I WAS BORED IN THE STABLE. IT’LL BE A NOSTALGIC TASTE FOR MY PALATE.
Altria shrugged her shoulder and offered a whimsical grin. The Queen shuddered to recall her own past experiences that somewhat mirrored Altria’s own upbringing. If she were still of that age, and had not become a Queen, would she be of the same disposition. That mattered not. The silver-haired faerie of paradise had suffered a great defeat in the past because of the master of this insect. Now that Oberon stood in the path of her wife, this was merely the first step in protecting her.
“YOUR CHOICE MORGAN. I’M FINE EITHER WAY.”
Altria stood up and looked down at the bug hungrily. She licked her lips at the thought of reliving those bitter fall memories. Memories that held some tincture of sweetness within them. Of course, the fact that this joy would be derived from eating a bug would be hidden from Chaldea’s master. Whenever Altria met her next.
No…no…something has to happen…I can’t die like this…
Morgan stood up resolutely as well. Her mind emboldened by the new domain that she had to protect. The new connections that she made. Especially the strong bond that she formed with her wife, Ritsuka. The Queen was, in fact, bothered that her newest possession was not in bed with her this night. She just didn’t want to admit the degree of her feelings so openly to her tomboy contemporary.
However, Morgan would do what she could at this moment. A self-assuredness matured by a wealth of experience, had become even stronger. As the Queen felt a sense of intimacy with the Tomboy, not romantic like with her wife, but a platonic one. A relationship that had a lot of potential to develop from this point forward.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What does Morgan Decide? Who deals with the bug?
•Morgan - Proceed to Ending: Queen’s Foot Oil
•Altria - Proceed to Ending: A Tomboy’s Late-Night Snack