Unconquered Pt. 13

"Well. She gets our passions," I said. Then, grinning, I whispered. "Wanna spy on the others?"

"Unconquered!" Ceaith scoffed. "Are you saying that we should spy on our fellow Lunars during their most intimate fantasies, as provided by a brothel of impossible and magical lusts?" She grinned. "Because this is the best idea you've had since trying out your she/her pronouns..."

And with that, Ceaith began to purr again.

We stood and dressed - and Ceaith found me a shift to wear, muttering playfully about how I had a rack that was a crime to cover up. "So, I should walk around naked?" I asked, grinning at her. Ceaith snorted.

"You're a straight dude most of your life, you know how awesome the titty reveal is," Ceaith short back to me. "Who first?"

"Chirp?" I murmured. "They blush the cutest."

"That was exactly what I was thinking," Ceaith purred.

The two of us crept from the room - Ceaith with effortless ease, me with a very faint flicker of golden light around my feet, dampening the sound of them as we walked forward. Tayar was nowhere to be seen in the main room - and we found why as we opened the doorway into Ceaith's room. Opening the door caused Tayar's voice to reach us.

"...see? He's not real," Tayar said, her voice gentle.

"I...but..."

We both exchanged a glance. Ceaith arched an eyebrow - and then crept forward. We found that the room was not what we had expected. Rather than a bedroom, it looked a great deal more like a training room. There was a large mat in the middle of the room, hanging punching bags, weapons along the walls. Chirp stood in the middle of the room before a man in a fancy set of priest robes. He had a large, broad brimmed hat, and a severe, stern looking face. His shoulders were draped with prayer beads, and he stood without blinking. Or breathing. Or moving. I focused my eyes upon him and, with even a small trickle of mana, I could see he was nothing more than a wooden log, cunningly concealed by the raw skill of Tayar.

Chirp was dressed in their black tunic and leggings, their red ruby gleaming as they stood beside Tayar. Taray sighed. "You have a great deal of emotion inside of you, Chirp. Locking it up is not healthy. But here, you can release it healthily and without harming anyone. After all. You are a Ruby. You feel those instincts..."

"No I..." Chirp looked away. "Okay...I can't lie to you, Tayar..."

Tayar smiled, then reached out and caressed their hair. "Chirp, there is nothing to be ashamed of in what you feel. I know everything about the Gyognor Islands..." She turned and glared at the false man. "Feeling what you feel about this man - about others like him? It's justified."

Chirp nodded. "Okay..." They flexed their hands. "Okay. Okay. I wanna do it." They smiled, shyly. "It's weird how excited I am about this?"

"Not at all! Again, it's not real," Tayar said, her voice soft.

Chirp nodded. Then they looked at the man - who I supposed was a priest? From Gyognor, the home islands of Chirp. I bit my lip slightly - and then Tayar clapped her hands twice. The man seemed to come to life, then sneered. "Sari?" he asked. "You're no-"

Chirp's hand lashed out. Their hand closed around the man's throat. His eyes widened and he gagged, his legs kicking as Chirp lifted him off the ground with one stick figure arm. Their fingers tightened and Chirp snarled. "No more. You don't get to say what I am anymore, no more!" They smacked his flailing arm away from their face as he reached for them. His face was turning purple. "I'm not your toy anymore!" Chirp clenched their hand - and claws burst free, deeping into the false skin. Blood flowed, pattered along their arm, dripped fro the floor.

"Fuck you! Fuck you fuck you!" Chirp shouted, then threw the guy into the wall right next to where I hid. I yelped and jerked away from the spray of blood. The man crumpled to the ground and Chirp panted. "Fuck all of you patriarchal, sexist piece of fuck!" Their hands flexed, their claws gleamed. "Wow, that..."

They saw me.

Chirp was pale, naturally.

But they had gone from pale to completely and utterly bloodless.

"No...no no no no!" Chirp whispered.

"Chirp-" I started.

Chirp exploded with a bright red flare. Something huge and fast sprinted to the left, rushing off - and the wall burst open. Brick and bits of wood went flying and bright light shone through from the day outside. There was a rustle of wings and I ran up to the hole in time to see Chirp - in their drakhul bat form - winging into the air.

"Chirp!" I shouted.

They were gone.

***

The deep deserts of the Burning Sea were vast and pitiless and shockingly cold. When the eye of the Sun closed and the moons overhead swept out, the heat fled with remarkable speed. The only moon out tonight was the lonely, bloody glow of Ruby. It was appropriate - turning shadows dark and making every dune seem to be a threat. I sprinted through it, not caring about the cold, not caring about the war, not caring about the training of the Legions. I sprinted through the desert, and I let mana flow through my body as I leaped from dune to to dune, my nose flaring as I scented for anything that felt out of the ordinary.

Every few steps, I felt the faint tingle of the musk I knew was a drakhul bat - they weren't native to the Burning Sea. And so, I followed those tingles, my feet pounding along the sand, kicking up behind me, sailing through the air in a smooth parabolic arc, then coming back down onto the sand. The infinite dunes before me began to change - a large mesa slowly forming from the shadows and the gloom of the Ruby lit night. I pumped my arms and started to rush even faster, heading for the mesa.

The last jump sent me flying into a high arc rather than a long - and I came down on my feet, panting heavily. Cold wind lashed against my burning muscles, while a glowing golden flare flickered along my skin. It felt so very pitiful compared to the deep, deep darkness of the evening. My skin rose with goose-flesh as the cold of the desert bit harder and fiercer.

But the thing that bit deepest of all, though?

It was the soft sound of crying.

Hunched over by a small boulder on the broad, flat, dark hued mesa was a tiny black lump, huddled up and shaking slightly. The crying wasn't just a soft sniffling. It was a deep, wracking sob. I walked forward - but a pale hand lifted up into the red light of the moon that shone pitiless and cold overhead. Chirp looked as if their fingers were still dripping with blood. "Don't!" Chirp choked out, their voice tight, their nose sniffling. "E-Ember, don't."

"I can't..." I whispered. "Chirp-"

"My name's not Chirp!" They shouted, sitting up. Their eyes glittered and their cheeks were streaked with tears. "You know it, I know it, my name is Chirdellen Pinerie. My father is Vasques Pinerie!" Their hand slammed down onto the mesa, cratering the stone and sending up a fine patina of dust into the night air. "Chirp's a stupid fantasy of being something I'm not, and I'll never be because I don't deserve it!"

I stopped. "Chirp-"

"I'm a murderer, Ember!" They shouted at me.

I froze.

"I'm a...I'm a murderer..." Chirp hung their head forward. Their hands went to their face and they began to sob again. Wracking sob.

I walked forward and knelt beside them. My arms slid around them, drawing them into my lap, against my chest. I had gotten my male pronouns again - and Chirp pressed their face against my chest as I slid my arms tighter around them. I stroked their back and whispered, softly.

"Tell me."

"Y-You'll hate me even more-"

"Never," I nuzzled the top of their head. I caressed their back and Chirp let out a quiet mewl, curling up even tighter against me. Their cool lips pressed to my neck. They settled, slowly, breathing in soft, ragged pants. I held them for what felt like an eternity, letting the love I felt for Chirp flow through every touch, every caress. My head tilted back, looking up at the heavens, watching as the moon that had chosen Chirp for their station glow down upon us. It was then that I wished the celestial beings that selected us for these tasks would be more vocal. That they'd walk among us, like the Gods did. That they'd do something more than just shine their light upon us and pick us poor, fucked up mortals to do their dirty work.

And after what could have been an entire Cycle, Chirp began to speak.

"My home, my island homes, are the Gyognorian Islands. There are many, actually. They're all...close together, connected by bridges of marble and glass. They're wealthy, so close to Mount Mahameru and the nexus of the world. They are where the rich people from Samsara go, to learn how to cipher and do magic. I was born there as Chirdellen - the daughter of the high priest of the True Sun. It's a cult that they worship there, in Gyognor. The Sun, they say, is merely an outward expression of the true Sun, who is masked behind the glare and the light. Only at night, can you see the True Sun."

"The True Sun has no shadows to hide untruth in. No gray areas. Nothing but what is and what must be. And so, on Gyognor, you have to be as you were born, as your soulgem was cut. The priests foresee your future by reading of your past, place a gem upon your forehead, and you're there. I was born to a priest, and they made me female by decree and fixed me in that place with my soulgem. I would raise babies and be a stern wife."

"My father had such expectations for me...he wanted a son. But he was willing to train a daughter to be proper, to follow the codes of our lands. And I wanted to be a good daughter. I wanted to please him. I wanted a smile. I wanted something more than..."

I didn't ask. I simply caressed them. But I felt their muscles tightening.

"More than the yelling. And the hitting. And the shattered crockery. I wanted him to love me, Ember. I wanted the man who beat me for messing up my calligraphy to hug me." Chirp buried their face against my belly, laying across my lap. Only with great effort did they begin to speak again - their voice husky from unshed tears. "When I was eighteen, I was betrothed to a man that my father had chosen for me. He was just as stern. During the tea ceremony, I was so nervous. I...spilled a single droplet. He flew into a rage. He snatched up the tea set and threw it on the ground."

"My father came in. He began to berate me. He beat me again. I could feel desperation in those blows - they were harder than they'd ever been before. I realized...I realized he thought...if he showed that he had tried. That he had...that he...that his daughter was truly broken by him, that might the man would relent. Would marry me."

It took every bit of will in my body to not growl. To not snarl. To not burn with an incandescent rage. The story felt as fragile as a soap bubble - and Chirp didn't need me to beat my chest. They needed my silence. And so, I remained silent, my hand caressing along their back. Up and down. Up and down.

"And...I...snapped. My hand grabbed onto my father's. I squeezed. His hand popped like a fruit and blood flowed into my mouth and I changed. My body was wreathed in red flames as my father screamed and screamed - until I tore his throat out with my bare hands. My husband to be was next. But then the guards were coming in. They were Legionaries, from Samsara, and they called me a blasphemy, an abomination, an anathema. A false Ruby. So...I killed them. Then I killed the second wave. And the third. And the fourth."

Chirp turned their head. Their face pressed to my thigh.

"And I liked it. By then, s-sky ships were fleeing, carrying women and children, and more Legionaries were coming - and I kept killing and ripping. And then one of the Imperial Dragon class battleships fired a full barrage of mana-cannons on the island. The whole world seemed to end in white fire and shocking cold - the ground itself came apart under my feet. I fell - and then flew through the cloud."

"I crashed somewhere to the east of Samsara, in one of the hunting grounds of the nobles, all virgin wilderness. I passed out. And when I woke, I dragged myself to the river and saw...myself. Just...me. Still in my black robes, my body soaked with blood. Blood everywhere. Blood under my fingernails. And I realized what I had done. I saw every face, every terrified, horrified, angry, furious, face. A-And...I scrubbed it off. B-but it never comes off, E-Ember. It never ever comes off."

They lifted their head, their eyes gleaming, tears streaking down their cheeks. "I-I wandered for months, in a daze, fleeing from anyone who looked my way. I didn't eat. I didn't drink. I just walked and I let my mana sustain me - and I walked into the Wildfree forest to die. If anything could kill me, I'd find it there. A-And then...I saw you...riding a horse...looking terrified."

I caressed their head.

"And...and...you looked so...brave and determined and terrified and in over your head and...I guess...I was just sad and alone and I hadn't met anyone in months. S-so, I..." They leaned into my hand. "So, I followed you. And I saw you be Chosen. And I fell in love with you. I...I went to talk to you. But then you woke up, and I fled, and...and..." They paused. "And I started to lie. I acted like some...cute...waif..." They snorted. "L-Like I'd never hurt anyone. A-And I...I almost started to believe it..."

They trailed off, then leaned their head down. "And that is my story, Ember. That's why I don't deserve any of this. Why I don't deserve you."

I drew a slow breath, then sighed. "Chirp...you were being attacked, you defended-"

"It was like stabbing a child!" Chirp pushed themselves up, glaring at me, their eyes glowing in the moonlight. "They couldn't hurt me! I was a Lunar. I am a Lunar! Not just any Lunar. I am this Cycle's Ruby, Ember. I could murder armies." Their fingers tightened, their claws digging into the top of the mesa. "And I will. If we go after Samsara, if we try and depose the Regent, it'll happen. It's why I was chosen. I was chosen to kill. For you. And I hate it. I hate it. I hate it I hate it I-"

I cupped their cheek.

"No, you weren't," I said.

"I-"

"I don't give a fuck what any goddamn moons have to say about it..." I whispered. I stood. "You hear that!" I pointed up at Ruby, which shone overhead. "You hear that you red bitch! Not this Cycle! Not this time! Not this sari! Chirp is never harming another person in their entire life! Not on my watch! Not again!" I panted, my voice having raised up to a scream, a bellow. I shouted it at the heavens, at Ruby, at the stars themselves. The cold, pitiless stars. My voice echoed off the infinite dunes - returning to me in warped, twisted tones. Mocking.

Chirp gaped at me.

"Talk to me!" I shouted. "Say something! Manifest in a pillar of fucking light, do something, you fucking Incarne!"

I grabbed onto the rocky surface of the mesa under my feet. My golden anima flared and I roared with the effort as a boulder of solid rock crunched up and out of the dark black ground beneath my feet. My anima flared even more, golden lights flickering along my spine, glaring along my biceps. I tightened my grip, then hurled the rock as hard as I could. It shot into the air, whistling as it picked up speed, then cut a smear of red light across the heavens. A shooting star, aimed at the distant Ruby.

The smear faded.

My anima flickered.

Chirp gaped at me.

And Ruby...

Began to move.

Slowly, but surely, the moon shifted in the heavens. The stars wheeled over my head as the moon settled into her new spot, directly over my head. It seemed larger than it should have been and Chirp and I both gaped up at it. A brilliant shaft of red light plunged down from the moon, surrounding me. I tensed, clenching my hands.

There was a flare.

Then darkness.

***

My eyes opened and I groaned. I was laying on my back, my body completely wrapped in bandages - bandages that were themselves inscribed with thousands of small runes that I recognized as healing magics. My body felt numb - from the top of my scalp to the tips of my toes. My brow furrowed and I realized that I was suspended in a set of harnesses, keeping me from actually touching the bed under me. Xora, Jaquline, Tayar, Chirp and Ceaith all were sitting at chairs that ran along the wall of the ornate room - each of them snoring softly as they laid with their backs against the wall, underneath a huge statue of one of the more popular gods of healing.

"Mmphmm?" I asked.

Each Lunar sprang to their feet. Their heads clustered around me, Chirp looking down at me, their eyes gleaming with tears. "Ember!?"

"Wow, you have balls," Ceaith said, grinning.

"It's okay!" Xora said. "You'll be okay!"

Tayar blushed. "I feel somewhat responsible for this."

"Nnhh!" I tried to shake my head. I saw that one of my fingers could move. My thumb. I forced it up into a thumbs up. "Hmmg ghhhd!"

My mouth was wrapped up in the same bandages.

Chirp sniffled, then whispered. "I love you. I love you so much, Ember. Y-You were willing to take on an Incarne for me." They ducked their head forward, then leaned against me. Pain flared - dully, distantly.

"Mmhh!" I squirmed.

"Wow," Xora whispered. "You took on a moon?"

I gave Xora a thumbs up as well. "Mmmhmm?" I tried to ask.

"How long?" Ceaith asked.

I nodded as much as I could.

Ceaith snorted. "Well, on the one hand, you're the Unconquered. On the other, you tried to fucking fight the moon. The moon of slaughter. The moon of fucking people up." She grinned. "So...it'll take you a few months."

"Mmhhns?"

Ceaith's grin was wicked.

"Which...you know what that means?" she purred.

"You cannot be serious," Xora whispered.

"I mean, she didn't burn his dick off," Jaquline muttered.

"Oh, right, nevermind," Ceaith said, tossing her head. "But then again...she didn't burn his tongue off...and under those bandages, I could imagine Ember's in his her/she pronouns..."

"Mmmmh!" I tried to call for a nurse.

None came.

TO BE CONTINUED