Guilty x Creatures Ch. 24

"I see that you have acquired new charges..." groaned the giant as it leaned forward and focused it's huge eyes on the sisters as it doused the dark elves in it's shadow.

The dark elves both pressed themselves into each other as the air around them instantly became thick with a heavy sense of dread and malice. Looking straight upwards at the now looming giant, they both lowered their ears in fear as the white lights that made up it's eyes dimmed and began to shift to an angry looking shade of red along their edges.

"Would you like me to place these two in containment, Master..." rumbled the giant as it menacingly lowered it's head and preceded to glare threateningly down at the trapped dark elves "So that I may tame them for you..."

Kianna made a panicked sound and fearfully wrapped her arms around her sister, who immediately returned the gesture by hugging her back as tightly as she could. As the giant continued to lower it's faceless head towards them the dark elves both dropped down to their knees together and made tiny fearful sounds as they cowered beneath it.

"Hm... Well... No, probably shouldn't do that... I appreciate the offer Earlivi!" grinned Anton as he casually watched the giant terrorize the cornered dark elves "But these two have been tamed down enough already, so there's no reason to place them in your, "containment". At least not at the moment."

"Are you sure..." growled the giant as it began to tighten it's box-like hand "They don't look very tame to me..."

The dark elves both began to whimper pleadingly as the walls that surrounded them began to move inwards and close in around them.

"Yes, I'm sure these two have become very tame at this point." chuckled Anton as a bright playful smile stayed fixed to his face "Isn't that right girls? You've both become very tame now, haven't you?"

All four of the bright rubies that were the eyes of the dark elves darted to Anton.

"Yes!" they cried out together as they flattened their ears back submissively and nodded frantically in agreement.

"We're tame! Very tame!" exclaimed Kianna as Fiona continued to nod her head nonstop "We're good girls! We promise!"

Anton went to speak but stopped short as the dark elves both looked upwards and raised their ears back up to a merely lowered state.

"Uh-...Huh?...Girls!?" questioned Anton.

The moment they brought their eyes back to him the dark elves once again immediately flattened their ears back submissively.

"...Girls, can you look back up at Earlivi, please?" said Anton as he pointed up at the giant.

The dark elves blinked in question but did as instructed, and once again raised their ears as they did so.

"...Hm. Well that's interesting." mumbled Anton as he arched an eyebrow "...Anyways. You see, Earlivi! I told you they were tame! They've even become pretty obedient little things!"

"Yes... It seems they have..." mumbled the giant as it's eyes seemed to tighten and become a deeper shade of red "How very fortunate for them..."

The dark elves both whimpered as they cringed down even lower and tightened the grips they had on each other.

"Yes, it is..." smiled Anton "Anyways! Would you mind condensing yourself down Earlivi? It's a little hard to have a conversation with you when you're like this!"

"Of course, my Master..." rumbled the giant as it lifted itself back upright and began to ease itself backwards "Give me just a moment..."

The dark elves both clamped their eyes shut and hunched down in panic as the walls that surrounded them were suddenly whisked up and away into the air above them. After a second of cowering they tentatively blinked open their eyes and were just in time to see the giant curl itself backwards and then start to fall towards the ground as it's body broke down into a wave of living black tar which came crashing in on itself as it began to swirl into a miniature typhoon.

"So do either of you need a change of underwear yet?" teased Anton as he watched the whirling mass that was once the giant grow smaller and smaller.

"Seriously!?" growled Fiona as she pointed her ears straight back in anger "You know a heads up would have been really fucking nice!"

"There is literally nothing I could have said that would have been better than "stay still" Fiona." smiled Anton as he glanced back at her "There was no way for me to predict what was going to happen. You both did great though! Better than most people would have."

"Yeah right!" snarled Fiona as she shook the tension from her shoulders and got to her feet before helping her sister back to hers "What the Hell is that thing anyway!?"

"Mind your manners, Fiona! Calling someone a "thing" is very rude!" chastised Anton as he turned his attention back to the swirling mass "Now, both of you come up here so we can do some proper introductions."

Glancing at each other in uncertainty, the dark elves both hesitantly made their way to stand right behind Anton.

"Alright then, girls. I'd like you to officially meet, Earlivi!" exclaimed Anton as the two dark elves partially hid themselves behind him and peered around his sides at the mass of living blackness "My homunculus."

As Anton spoke the swirling mass began to split apart, and as it did, it revealed a hollow space within it. And standing at the very center of this space, was an incredibly imposing figure.

The homunculus standing among the still swirling bits of his mass was in all truthfulness, no less intimidating now in this form than he had been as a giant. Although far shorter than he was mere moments before, he was still a very tall being and easily stood head and shoulders over Anton.

He was dressed in an elegant, yet imposing outfit that appeared to be a hybrid between a body hugging three piece mens suit, compete with vest, and a set of plate armor. The armored aspect of the outfit was subtle enough that it didn't clash in anyway with the elegance of it's suit-like qualities and was, for the most part, regulated to the homunculi's limbs and shoulders. Thick, armored boots covered the homunculi's lower legs. And these stretched upwards to just above the knees where they shifted seamlessly into what appeared to be cloth pants. Matching arm guards stretched from his wrists to just past his elbows before being replaced by the same cloth-like material on the upper arms. A set of smooth pauldrons rested over the homunculi's shoulders and these were connected to each other by a leather-like neck piece that crossed over both his upper chest and back before rising upwards to encase his entire neck. The vest that wrapped tightly around his torso fanned slightly outwards over his hips before tapering to sharpened points in the front as well as at the sides and back. The entirety of the outfit was colored in a series of alternating, monotone grays, blacks and whites, save for the vest which was a deep, nearly black shade of purple.

The only portions of the homunculi's body that could be seen around his encompassing outfit were his hands and his head. Neither of which appeared to be biological in any way.

The homunculi's hands were human-like but were so smooth in appearance that they seemed to be made of some kind of pliable metal. They were colored a pale metallic-like gray at the wrists and palms but this began to darken to a solid black down the length of his digits. His fingers were long and dextrose in appearance but belied his otherworldly nature by ending in sharpened claw-like points, rather than traditional fingertips.

His head was also human-like in it's general shape and had thick, black-colored hair covering the top and back in the same manner as it would on a human. This hair however was completely motionless and was spiked back in a way that gave it a solid, almost unnatural appearance.

In the place of ears, the homunculus instead had two broad, spike-like horns that pointed straight outwards from the sides of his head.

His face, for lack of a better term, was nearly nonexistent, as the front portion of his head was made up of four smooth, silver colored, metallic looking plates that fit together in a way that gave him the appearance of having a mechanized skull in place of a face.

The homunculus had no mouth or nose of any kind as the only openings in his mask-like face were two empty, almond shaped holes that were located at the points where his eyes should seemingly be.

As the dark elves watched from their guarded vantage, the last of the swirling waves of black mass that had hidden the homunculi's transformation, swept themselves up his back to connect to the neck piece that crossed over his shoulder blades, and become a thin caplet-like garment that flowed out behind him. This caplet came complete with trailing coattails, but rather than only having two, as would be traditional, it possessed eight in total. And these not only flowed about listlessly behind the homunculus but curled and coiled themselves around his body as though they were living, tentacle-like appendages.

"Hello again, Earlivi." said Anton as he smiled at and casually approached the motionless figure with both of the dark elves following closely behind.

Responding to the sound of his Master's voice, the homunculus balled his hands into fists and folded his arms behind his back as he stood straight and at attention.

The dark elves swallowed nervously as they watched two tiny points of light appear in the dark hollows of the homunculi's seemingly empty eyes. These tiny lights quickly grew into two, perfect circles that glowed with the same whiteness that they had when this being had been in it's gigantic form.

"Yes, greetings to you as well, my Master." spoke Earlivi as his voice began to emanate right out of his mouth-less being "You were correct when you assessed that this form would better suit our conversation. It is far more comfortable to speak with you while at this height."

"I figured it would be." nodded Anton as he narrowed his eyes "We'll get to the inductions in a moment, but I'd like get the most glaring questions out of the way real quick. First, are you okay? Does anything feel off, out of place or even missing?"

"No, my Master." answered Earlivi as he squared his shoulders "As I have said, I am fully restored and completely functional."

"Good, very good... That's a load off my mind..." nodded Anton as he looked the homunculus up and down "Okay, so, do you remember anything that happened!? Anything at all!?"

"Apologies, my Master. But I am afraid I do not." said Earlivi as his eyes dimmed in a seemingly sorrowful manner "It is merely blackness. At least until now, when you spoke to me."

Anton nodded with a sigh.

"That's alright..." he said as he gave the homunculus a reassuring smile "The most important thing is that you're okay, and that you're back to normal!"

"I appreciate your sentiment, my Master. But I'm afraid I disagree." said Earlivi as his eyes dimmed even further and shifted to a shade of red as they began to pulsate "I feel that the most important thing now, is vengeance."

"...That, is a close second." agreed Anton with another nod "And I am working on that as we speak."

"I am very pleased to hear that." said Earlivi "If there is any way that I may be of assistance to you in your efforts, or in the clean up of the aftermath. Please, do not hesitate to employ my services."

"Oh, I won't!" smiled Anton "In fact, I have a small job for you here, and once it's done I'd like you to go home and go over everything! Top to bottom! And if you find anything, anything at all! I want you to let me know immediately!"

"It shall be done." stated the homunculus as his eyes returned to their purely white state.

"Good! Well then, lets get these introductions going. Shall we!?" exclaimed Anton as he twisted at the waist and grinned at the still cowed dark elves "Girls, this is my homunculus, Earlivi. And Earlivi, this is Fiona and Kianna Vale, my new dark elves!"

"Greetings..." rumbled Earlivi as his eyes slowly shifted back and forth between the dark elves "Which of you is which..."

"Oh, sorry. That one is Fiona." said Anton as he nodded his head at the dark elf and twisted back to his left "And this one is Kianna!"

Kianna made a small sound as Anton placed his hand at the small of her back and pulled her forward.

The hesitant dark elf went stiff as she was made to stand next to Anton and just in front of the imposing homunculus. Lowering her ears she slowly looked up at Earlivi and then went completely still.

Earlivi showed no signs of life as he stood towering over the clearly nervous dark elf and stared down at her with eyes that seemed to bore into her own.

"...Say, "hello" Kianna!" teased Anton after the silence dragged for a moment.

Kianna jumped as he playfully drummed his fingers against her spine. Quickly recomposing herself, she clasped her hands in front of her hips and bowed her head.

"Hello! I mean! Greetings! Mr Earlivi, Sir! My name is Kianna! Vale! Kianna Vale! I, I'm a sex slave! I mean, slave! I'm a slave! I'm my Master's, I, I mean! Our! Master's, slave! But, well! I'm a sex slave too! I, I wasn't lying to you about that! But, I'm just, for our Master! I'm his sex slave! That's, that's what I do! For him! And, um I, I'm also gonna learn how to cook too! For him! And you too! If, if you want some, too! But... I, I don't know what you eat!? Or what you like! So you need to tell me! Okay! Please!" exclaimed Kianna as her eyes began to tear up in embarrassment "It's really, really nice to meet you!...Please don't squish me! Or, or put me in containment... Please!"

Earlivi's expression never changed as he continued to stare down at the bowed and trembling dark elf.

"...It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Kianna Vale." he said once he was sure she had finished speaking "I do not consume traditional foods. So you have no reason to worry yourself on my behalf."

"Oh, okay!" chirped Kianna as she raised her head part way out of it's bow and kept her eyes on the ground "If, if you change your mind though! Just, let me know!"

"...I will do that." said Earlivi as he shifted his gaze back to Anton "She is a, charming, little creature."

"Isn't she!" smiled Anton as he wrapped his hand completely around Kianna's waist and pulled her in close to his side "She's such a good girl! My funny little dark elf!"

Clasping the hem of his shirt, Kianna pressed herself against Anton and blinked away the light tears of nervousness from her eyes as she looked up at him, smiled sheepishly and laid her ears back submissively behind her head.

Anton returned her smile and gave her a gentle squeeze before shifting his attention to Fiona and Earlivi.

The second dark elf had a stoic expression on her face as she blatantly stared up at the homunculus. Though her ears were lowered, her demeanor came off as almost challenging as she silently assessed the strange being before her.

"...So, you're really a homunculus?" she questioned as she squinted her eyes.

"Indeed." answered Earlivi in a flat tone.

"You don't look like any homunculi I've ever seen before..." mumbled Fiona as she let her eyes rove down the homunculi's length.

"My design is unique." answered Earlivi in the same flat tone.

"Humph, right!" muttered Fiona as she turned to Anton "So did you actually make this thing?"

"What did I tell you about calling him a "thing" Fiona!" chastised Anton as he narrowed his eyes at her "Do not do that again!"

"Uh, right! Sorry!" mumbled Fiona as she too flattened her ears submissively behind her head "I didn't mean it like that!"

"Mm hm." mumbled Anton as he turned back to the homunculus "Anyways. No, I didn't create Earlivi myself. Making artificial beings is another thing that I've just never had a talent for. Every time I've tried to make a golem or a homunculus they've always started falling apart almost right away"

"Seriously!? They just fall apart every time you make one!?" exclaimed Fiona as she smiled mockingly "Well that sucks!"

"Yes, it does..." grumbled Anton with a sigh "Earlivi here was actually created by a friend of mine named Fillola. You could say she's a kind of researcher, or a scientist. And she had originally intended for him to be an assistant with her lab work. Unfortunately, Earlivi ended up being a little too... rough, around the edges, and also with a few of her living test subjects. So it didn't really work out."

"I was merely removing unneeded clutter." explained Earlivi "That woman is far too unorganized, and sentimental."

"...Right." said Anton as he and the dark elves all stared at the homunculus for a moment "...Anyways! At one point while I was visiting Fillola I met Earlivi, and we hit it off pretty well. And since things weren't working out in the lab and Fillola thought it would be a waste to just dispel him or demana him into a crystal and leave him on a shelf forever. She gave him to me, and he's been my faithful servant ever since."

"And this arrangement has without question been a far more entertaining and fulfilling experience." said Earlivi.

"I agree!" nodded Anton as he turned back to Fiona "Earlivi is in all actuality an experimental prototype. He's sort of like a chimera, and was intended to have the mixed traits of a shoggoth, an immaccubus and a gargoyle. So his design is a combination of all 3 of those species... I also suspect some umibozo may have possibly gotten mixed in there as well, though I don't know that for sure... Anyways. That's why he doesn't really look like any of the more traditional homunculi, who're generally modeled after only a single species."

"Oh. That makes sense..." nodded Fiona as she gave the homunculus another look over "...So is being mixed also why he's all... evil, and shit?"

"Probably." said Anton as he too looked back at the homunculus "I'd be surprised if that wasn't a factor..."

"Master, is it your intention to bring these... "things"..." said Earlivi as the lights of his eyes shifted to Fiona "Home with you..."

"No, for the moment I'll be keeping them here." answered Anton as he looked from one dark elf to the other "And I'll be staying here as well, so for the next little while you'll have the house all to yourself."

Fiona and Kianna both again laid their ears back submissively whenever Anton looked at each of them.

"I see..." said Earlivi as he nodded his head softly "Very well..."

"I figured you'd appreciate the peace and quietness of having the house to yourself." smiled Anton as he turned back to the homunculus "Of course, if you'd rather stick around here you're more than welcome to stay!"

"No." said Earlivi immediately "I will see to it that all things in your home are maintained correctly."

"That sounds like a plan!" chuckled Anton as he nodded and turned to the darkened design still laid out across the yard "Do you mind cleaning this up real quick before we go inside?"

"Of course..." said Earlivi as he turned completely around to face the octagons and jars.

The dark elves eyes went wide as the tentacle-like coattails that had coiled themselves around Earlivi's middle, suddenly came to life and stretched out across the yard. The ends of the tentacles widened into funnel-like shapes as they all worked together to hoover up the crushed glass that made up the lines of the diagram. As each tentacle finished with it's particular section, it's tip would return to it's pointed shape and snatch up a glowing jar before coiling itself back to Earlivi's side.

Once he was holding all eight of the glowing jars, Earlivi opened a small, manhole sized portal in front of himself and sent his tentacles through it one by one. As each tentacle passed into the portal, it would almost immediately come back out without the jar it had just previously held. This entire set of events was finished in less than a minute.