The Creators Ch. 10

"...and the Holy Mother spoke kindly to those who peddled themselves like wares, but her judgement was still firm. 'Your flesh is of my flesh, and so it is divine. To sell it is to sully it, and when you trade virtue for coin in this life, you trade your soul for damnation in the next.' When the sinners protested, the Holy Mother..." Jade Tao read from the Maternal Bible, her voice echoing in the vast chamber. The Breytan High Guard probably hadn't read a passage from the holy book in her life, but she delivered her sermon with the solemn confidence of a seasoned preacher. She would be one of my most prominent disciples as the world moved to the next era. My era. She'd shed her kimono for a red habit, marking her as the head sister of my new order. All the other Breytans wore black robes over their armor, with the crescent symbol prominently embroidered in white across their chests. Night Eyes had anticipated my needs perfectly, which had allowed me to skip the awkward step of waiting for two-thousand black robes to be ordered from the textiles.

"Diamond, Lucilla, God," I muttered, unaware that I was saying it. Jade finished her sermon with a solemn 'amen.'

"Bring the innocents forward," Jade called. The Breytan sisters stepped through the rows of prostrating whores, inspecting the upturned hands of the sinners. When they found what they were looking for, they tapped the shackles, and dragged the innocents forward. The girls were presented to me, weeping and blubbering, begging with teary eyes.

"Those who kneel before you are those who bare slave's marks on their palms," Jade said to the prostrating congregation. "The Good Sister believes these women are innocent of the sins they've committed. The rest of you willfully reveled in the degradations of Satan, so you will not be forgiven."

A chorus of terrified cries sounded in response. A few cracks of the whip from my black-robed disciples quieted the captive congregation into whimpers and moans of terror. I stepped toward the kneeling innocents, smiling compassionately. They looked into my black-rimmed eyes, and I saw their faces pale in horror, but I wasn't insulted. If anything, I was delighted by it. I caressed the face of a teenaged girl, my thumb turning her gaze upward. My, my, she was a pretty thing, made even more so by the tremble of her lips, the wetness of her cheeks, and the puffiness of her eyes. I suppressed the urge to violate her, and instead reached down, took her hand in mine, and burned her tattoo from her palm. She screeched, but I kept our embrace firm, and when I was sure the mark had been seared from her, scorched the crescent symbol in its place, and let her drop spinelessly into an awaiting Breytan's arms. I did this to all the innocents, and when I was done, they were carried from Night Eyes's temple.

"Though the mark of your sin has been removed, the scar of your purification remains as a reminder," Jade called after them. "A reminder to stay on the virtuous path of the Holy Mother. For if the Good Sister finds you in squalor again, you will suffer as these women will suffer." The doors slammed shut behind the fortunate women, and echoed through the deafening silence of the atrium. I grinned beneath my cowl, and dimmed the red candle light to a darker shade of crimson. Now, I would have my fun.

"Diamond, Lucilla, God," I whispered once again.

LUCILLA

I sat alone in the circular room where Freydis had been tortured. Light reflected off the metallic surfaces of the walls and floor, giving the penthouse of the northwest tower an even more spacious feel. Yet, I felt like the walls were closing in on me. Loneliness and dread formed a brooding mixture in my belly, and left a bitter taste in my mouth. How had I become so isolated? I knitted my fingers as I looked out the window. The gods were gone, and their field had returned to its grassy origin. Everyone had left, but no one had come to me. Not Julia, not Diamond, not Brandon, not Tera. Not even Astrid. They were all with each other while I sat alone like some tucked-away disgrace nobody wanted to look at. I used to be the life of any party I attended, and now I wasn't even invited to the party. Now I was plotting the murder of the host. I turned away from the window, biting at nails I'd worn to stubs. Sara was hardly the kind of company I wanted, and Freydis had left an hour ago. It was just me and my footsteps echoing against the sterile metallic surfaces.

"Bound One?" Sara's voice called from the other side of the door. I hadn't appointed her my personal body guard, but she'd insinuated herself as such. Either that, or my prison guard.

"What?" I asked. Please don't tell me Freydis is back.

"Her Holiness is here to—" and I flung open the door before she could finish, my heart leaping joyfully into my chest, my smile practically splitting my face.

Willowbud stood in front of me, that sardonic grin stretching across her face, those knowing, teasing black eyes staring up. I felt my heart drop in my chest, and my throat close behind it.

"Hey, Bound One," Willowbud grinned. Sara's concerned eyes touched mine, then she was gone behind the door as Willowbud closed it.

"What do you want?" I asked, grateful that my anger overshadowed my terror.

"To talk," Willowbud's smile broadened. She knows! My heart rose again, this time thumping with panic. I bit the inside of my cheeks to keep my teeth from chattering, and clenched my fists to hide that my hands were shaking.

"What do we have to talk about?" I said through a clenched jaw.

"Careful, Princess," Willowbud chuckled, tapping her bare foot against the steel floor, "if your blood pressure gets any higher, I'm going to have to call Brandon over here." Willowbud walked around the room. She inspected the studs where the two stockades had been removed, kneeling to look at the screws. She smiled up at me like she knew exactly what had been there, but she didn't say anything. She nonchalantly looked around the sparsely-decorated and furnished room, then she conjured a steel chair, and sat in it. She slid over to me, and beckoned for me to sit in the chair she'd formed behind me. I thought of all the ways she could kill me in a room like this, and realized there was no reason not to sit, so I did.

"Has Sister Julia told you about what she and I are doing?" Willowbud asked.

"Yes," I said simply.

"And you don't have an opinion?" Willowbud raised an eyebrow.

"I don't care if she fucks you, just so long as she kills you after," I hissed.

Willowbud cackled like I'd just told her the funniest joke in the world. She clutched her belly and bent over, hacking mirth at the ground. Any doubts I had about my fate were quickly dashed; I was going to die here.

Willowbud sighed, wiping a tear from her eye, "It's so good to hear some real hatred, Lucilla. I really do miss it."

"Why are you here?" I asked, not wanting to be subject to a drawn-out monologue that ended inevitably with my gruesome death. Best just to get the gruesome death out of the way first.

"I want your help," Willowbud said. My jaw clicked open.

"You... want my help?"

"Your beloved is such a tough nut to crack," Willowbud inclined her head ponderously. "I want you to help me bust that nut."

"How about you go fuck yourself instead?" I growled, the anger returning now that the fear had gone.

"I could always ask Diamond," Willowbud's eyes widened a bit.

"And Julia could always kill you."

"Sister Julia's not too interested in killing me right now," Willowbud's grin turned darker. "Well, that's not entirely true. She's actually very interested in killing me, just like you want her to, but she won't. Do you know why?"

"Because she's too devout for her own good."

"Something like that," Willowbud said it like it was a joke I was supposed to get. She leaned forward slightly, and hissed, "Sister Julia bit off more than she could chew, if you get my meaning."

I stared at her, the implication teasing the back of my mind, sinking slowly into realization. Willowbud nodded with my slackening jaw, her eyes brimming with malice, her mouth curling with hate. She was on me in a second, her hands smashing into the steel beside my head, her face a hair's width from my own, her breath hot on my lips. I startled upright, kicking to get away, but there was only the back of the steel chair behind me, and in front of me, was death.

"She's mine Lucilla, MINE!" Willowbud snarled into my face, and the words she was saying were spoken with two voices. One was hers, but the other was gravely and low, feminine, but feral. I stared with quivering, wide eyes, shrinking beneath her. "I told the bitch not to touch him! I told her to keep her fucking hands of him, but she WOULDN'T LISTEN!" Spittle flew from Willowbud's mouth and speckled my face, her hands pounded against the steel, the whole tower seeming to shake with her strikes. "Now she gets what's coming to her!" Willowbud's grin was manic, her eyes were fevered. "Now she'll understand!" She reached out like she'd grab my chin, but her fingers hovered just short as if something was stopping her from touching me. "I beat her, Lucilla," she hissed. "She tried her best, but I was better. I raped her soul into submission. I turned her into... I turned her into..."

Willowbud's fervor faded, her expression slackened. She withdrew her fist from the hole she'd made in my chair, and stumbled backward, collapsing to the ground. She collected her legs like a child collecting a blanket, and she tucked her knees beneath her chin, and began rocking slowly back and forth. She looked at me, and there was terror in her eyes. "I don't know what's happening to me, Lucilla," Willowbud whispered, and it was only her voice speaking now, but it sounded different than I'd ever heard her before. It was soft and weak, almost child-like. "It's like's there's fingers in my head, and they're grabbing and ripping, tearing out memoires I thought I'd killed!" Willowbud buried her head into her knees. "I just want to forget, but Sister Julia won't let me! Why won't she let me forget?!" Willowbud fell to her side, shaking in the fetal position. "I almost killed a child today. I looked into her eyes, and I saw me staring back; me before everything happened, me when I was still... me. I hated her for having a future; Willowbud hated her for having the future I should've had! I wanted to kill her, but Night Eyes showed me the better path." Willowbud wiped her nose on her hand. "I turned her into me, I stole her future, and I gave her my past, then... I lied about why I did it! Why? Tell me why!" Willowbud's head jerked up, her body twisted behind her, and she crawled to me. I pushed myself into the back of their chair, trying vainly to get away. Willowbud reached for me, but once again, she wouldn't touch me. She stopped, and instead knelt at my feet like a dog. "Why?" she pleaded, "Why am I feeling these things? What's wrong with me?"

"I... think... you might have issues," I said breathlessly.

Willowbud blinked, and a single tear rolled down her cheek. Then she smiled a small, almost pleasant smile.

"Issues," Willowbud grinned like it was our little joke. "What a delightfully harmless word for such a broad range of horrors. Issues." Willowbud seemed to test the word in her mouth, "I've got issues. I've got a boil on my ass, I've got a shithead boss, I've got an ancient spirit inside my soul; I've got issues. Yeah. I like it." Willowbud stood up, her trademarked grin back on her face. She held out her hand, then withdrew it, and awkwardly wiped it on her pants. "Come on, Princess. Sister Julia won't stop saying 'Diamond, Lucilla, God,' and since Diamond's nowhere to be found, and God is in short supply, that just leaves you. Disappointing, I know; no one likes getting their last choice."

I was actually relieved that Willowbud was back to being a complete cunt.

ANGELA

Brandon had finally calmed down enough to notice the room full of books, posters and notes. Justina and Tera had given him a plausible explanation about 'researching the enemy,' and Brandon bought it without much thought. Unfortunately, it didn't look like Tera and Justina were too interested in continuing the research anymore. They somberly packed their goods and donned the cloaks they'd been made to wear when they first arrived in Drastin. They were leaving with Brandon, but I wasn't.

"Are you fucking crazy?" Tera growled in my ear.

"I can't leave her," I mumbled.

"Angela," Justina hissed in my other ear, "if Julia burns you, you don't just lose this body; you die."

"I'm already dead!" I hissed back.

"You're bodiless; there's a difference!" Tera growled. "Angela, you have to come with us!"

"I know Julia in ways you don't," I said, staying firm. "She's strong enough to get through this, but her strength comes from those she loves. If I run away with her daughter's body, then I am dooming her when there is still hope!"

"It's over. She lost," Tera sighed as she put her hand on my shoulder. "But we're not giving up hope. We've still got Diamond. Maybe if we find the secret to Corruption, we can save Willowbud and Julia, but we can't do that if you're dead."

"If Julia turns dark, we won't have a chance," I whispered. "She's the most powerful thing on earth, and she's much, much more dangerous than Willowbud. Willowbud is an anarchist at worst, but Julia is a true believer. I can't just let her turn if there's even the smallest chance that I can save her. It's not just about her, and not just about us. It's about everyone." I looked from Justina, to Tera, trying to keep a brave face. Inside, I was practically pissing myself. Ninety-nine percent of me wanted to just cut and run with my brother and the succubi, but that one percent, that morsel of courage, wouldn't let me. Justina sighed, and dropped her head onto my shoulder.

"We'll stay until sunset," Justina whispered, her voice thick with tears. "If you're not back before then, we're leaving you, Angela."

"That's a resounding vote of confidence," I laughed humorlessly, trying to hide my fear.

"Good luck," Tera whispered, and threw her arms around me. Justina wrapped her arms in turn, and I was encased in their sensual warmth. It didn't seduce me, but invigorated me, reassured me. I shared a parting kiss with both women, then marched toward the door.

"...if Freydis Skyborne is headed for Iona, then my scouts will find her," Bianca was saying to Brandon. "They'll inform her of the new development. We'll need Iona on our side."

"Arbortus should be a good place to base ourselves out of," Brandon mused. "If I can fix the womb, then I can bring the nymphs back. They'll swear themselves to me, and that should swell our numbers."

"Are we going to war, Your Holiness?" Bianca asked.

"I don't know, Bianca," Brandon sighed. "I'm just preparing for the worst."

"You're just a coward!" I snapped at him.

Brandon inclined his head toward me. "I'm sorry about your mother, but I can't save her."

"What about Willowbud, huh?" I growled. "Are you just going to abandon her without a word?" I couldn't believe I was actually standing up for the cunt.

"You can see what's in her, Diamond. What the hell would you do?" Brandon asked. His voice bore no anger; it was like he was asking for advice.

"Stay with her, Brandon. If you can't stay with her, then why should anyone stay with you?" Then I grabbed my brother by the collar, and forced his face against mine. His mouth opened in surprise, and I drove my tongue into it. I reached behind him, and pressed his body into the curves of mine, feeling his heart thunder against my own, his legs interlock with mine, his crotch grow stiff against my rubbing pelvis. He kissed me back, his shocked tongue finding its bearing in my mouth, his lips finding their seal against my own. His stubble was coarse against my cheek, his breath was hot in my mouth, his hands were firm against my back, against my ass, squeezing, pressing, pulling me closer to him. My eyelids fell in the pure bliss of the moment, and in that moment, everything was perfect. Time stood still in the space between humming breaths and smacking lips, then I pulled away, and ran as fast as I could. It wasn't fear or awkwardness, but exhilaration that propelled me. My heart was as light as a feather, and my sprint turned to a skip as I rounded the corner.

LUCILLA

I had wondered why the usually-busy steps of The Pussy Palace were vacant when we arrived, and now I knew. The scene that played out before me was oddly familiar. It was like my mind had taken my memory, and twisted into a waking nightmare. It was reminiscent of the orgy I'd been greeted to in my father's keep, but calling what I saw before me an 'orgy' hardly did it justice; it was industrial-level rape. Every whore in Willowbud's brothel had every hole forcefully filled. Their sporadic screams and wails interrupted the steady hum of muffled sucks and exaltations, all laid over a polyrhythm of slapping flesh. Crimson light bathed the rows of violated women, catching the droplets of sweat that ran like dew down their exerted bodies and glistened blood-red from their flesh. Some of their eyes were wide, stuck in an expression of perpetual shock at what was being done to them; some of their eyes were rolled back in a fugue state of hedonistic surrender; and some of their eyes were closed in bliss, succumbed to the manhandling they were receiving. All around, the Breytans watched implacably, cracking an occasional whip, but mostly just standing cross-armed. For many of them, this would be their introduction to sex, but the samurai didn't show their shock or horror if they felt it. Waiting at the perimeter of the atrium, were men stroking themselves. In the dim candlelight, the figures were but shadows with glinting eyes, making their silhouettes oddly demonic. My eyes ran to the front of the atrium, where Julia stood before a squatting Jade Tao. Both their robes were slit from the waist down, front and back, and while Julia was exposing her front for Jade to consume, Jade was exposing her ample back for everyone else to see that she plugged with lit candles in both holes. Julia looked up, and I had to swallow the scream that clawed at my throat.

"You don't like it? I thought it looked good on her myself," Willowbud chuckled. Behind us, Astrid stood with her fingers knitted, surveying the room with a mixture of excitement and apprehension, as though she were eager to join in, but was not sure if she was allowed to. Julia smiled at me from across the atrium, and gestured with a beckoning hand. I forced a smile on my own face, and stiffly walked toward her, my heart beating faster with every step.

"I can feel your terror, Princess," Willowbud said beside me as we circumnavigated the debauchery. "You know that woman is no longer your Julia, so why don't you just leave? I won't stop you."

"Running away was never a choice," I hissed back. "And why did you bring me here if you just want me to flee?"

"I wanted the Good Sister to see you run from her," Willowbud chuckled, "but I guess you're dumber than I thought."

"You just don't understand." I stopped, and looked down at the nymph. "It's why Brandon will never bind with you, Willowbud."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Willowbud snapped. I didn't answer her. I just turned on my heel, pushed past Astrid, and strode toward Julia. The smell of sex filled my nostrils, the heat of it radiated onto my flesh, the sounds of it played in my ears. The closer I got to Julia, the denser the debauchery, and the thicker the air became. Screams and moans, the stench of sweat and hormones, the sight of bodies writhing, a mass of arms and legs, splayed hands and grabbing fists. Julia watched me as I approached, her cock buried in Jade's neck, her hands holding the High Guard's face to her pelvis, making the woman choke.