3.3|Mothers of Mercy

 

3.3|Mothers of Mercy

 

Gertrude looked at the stars ahead, the large massive world they'd be soon

flying towards below.

"What, happened to me? What was that?" she was still shaking, the memory of

that bestial deceiver and, the horrific fate of Jewel fresh in her mind.

"Phammaxia Chepera. Also known as the Khepri." Amity folded her arms,

seeing the lights of shooting stars far out in space.

"Khepri?" Gertrude shirked back abit, playing with the two little ones.

"Khepri were a nomadic starfaring harvest race. They traveled from planet to planet, growing sugarcrops for delicacies and sweets. The agricultural method kept them from more, cannibalistic practices in their evolution." Byte laid back, kicking her legs up. "But at some point, a deadly rival invasive species devoured their entire cropworlds in a short blink of an eye, from the size of a mere asteroid. They eventually came here, from far far above and at some point disposed of the royal family of Glitter Kiss ages ago." Amity took out a fan with cryptic inscriptions on it, and began to fan the infant girl, she did likewise with the baby boy, then started laughing hysterically.

"The Khepri didn't know how to fight at first, so instead they started mining the asteroids for resources and using them in weapons. The Glitter Kiss of  the main planet was soon abandoned to the moon, and the moon was shielded from the rays of the sun, which caused a great expansion of solar wind, destabilizing planetary orbits around the star, causing massive explosions and supernovae. Khepri convert solar energy and sucrose into energy, but the distorted equilibrium of this event wiped out most of their race. The moon eventually settled into its current orbit, but the Khepri didn't come back, they were nowhere to be found. They are mostly extinct, but the small clan of them rules Glitter Kiss today. They disposed of the cybernetic queen that ruled mercifully at one point, disguising their heirs as her."

Gertrude listened as attentively as she could, even if most of this sounded like

a nightmare. The girl began to cry a little.

"Then, what are we to them? If they rule us?" She asked.

Amity scratched her head. "Oh Idunno... cattle?" She created a visage of a tiny

cartoon cow dancing atop her finger.

"W-what?"

"The members of your race have a 'Juice Sack' in your chest that processes high degrees of sugar, their food supply. It can allow access to magic, and when magic is taught, like say by the Meisters, this sack expands. Sweeter than a beat or plumb, and twice as plump - they were instantly in love. Feyslayer Capital is a city to you, but I've got some shocking news.. it's not a home, it's a farm. A slaughterhouse. They wear those pretty masks, but they're harvesting you. Your meat is eventually processed for its juice sack and residual sugar and converted into their food. Your skin, they use to make other products, like lotion, skin enhancers, and FleshMake Paste for their stretchy disguises."

"We're just, food to them? And beauty products?" Gertrude shook. Every word

chilled and haunted her. “How did I end up at a place like that?”

"Yeaaah. Here's where it gets interesting.. I was watching you as a baby, for an -ahem- friend, when some unsavory folks attacked me, and took you. Your father, or so I thought at the time. And he himself was taking you traveling for your mother."

"Ohh, so I was taken?" Gertrude said.

"With me? Yeah. Your father and I, left for to seek out allies, or perhaps a way of bringing you back from to the moon. He started an monastery order known as the Ladies of Dawn, they helped me infiltrate. I promised the Queen to make you my student and muse, and convinced her someday you could even replace her and takeover, if you were molded and modeled in her ideal. I'd planned on taking you away as soon as I assassinated her, but it took me longer than I expected. She kept you locked up and had her Meisters constantly on watch. They were very protective of you."

Amity took out a small lilac pill and placed it in Gertrude’s hands.

“Please, eat this. Swallow it without chewing.”

Gertrude did as she was told. When it went down and dissolved, her back felt strange. Her spine, so light and airy was pressing in back of her, the pressure forcing her to bend forward. Two bumps started to push out, stretching past her skin and creating tiny feathered wings which instantly flapped about. When she turned around, she had a pair of wings. “What- how?!”

“Your, uggghm father. He was so paranoid of the people of this world kidnapping you or distrusting you, that he injected you immediately after your born and grafted in the wings of a Santri to your body. But your Queen, worrying you could escape had them clipped and repressed immediately. Gotta keep an eye on even a caged bird if you want it to never fly.“ She said solemnly.

“What’s.. a Santri?”

The girl paused. “The Santri are a race that I helped create. They were attacked and oppressed for ages by this world’s natives, so they joined Theo and tried to fight back. Those that survived and still wished to rebel, joined a group called the Marauders under the Shadow King.“

"W-wait.. the one who wrote that last letter. That was you?"

Amity gave a thumbs up.

"Then, there really is no beautiful Prince or royal life waiting for me.."

She looked out the pod, seeing the planet below, her destination and new home, the only place she'd ever wanted to be now, but not for reasons she thought. The stars were far away. She blinked, and her vision was blocked by a screen. The lyrical words "You'll Never See the Stars in Glitter Kiss" popped up in her head, spoke thru her mother's voice and faded away. The pod was set to an altitude of 500km, the lights and sounds of Glitter Kiss still visible above, a small yellow sun illuminating her eyes, as she watched it shrink to size.  "Mother lives.. on the world of bigworlders. But they're evil! Sinful, mother always said Bigworlders are monsters! Mother always said!" She sighed.

Amity patted her shoulder, and threw her arms around her hugging her closely. "I know it's hard.. I missed my mother too when I left my home. Even with all her difficulties, but I promise, if us Bigworlders are monsters then, what does that make your Monster mom?"

Gertrude paused. "A Momster!"

The two rested as they sped towards the surface. When the pod reached the

ground, she was greeted by a white light, an open path through the city.

Protlyn smoked a cigarette in a dirty shack, barely bigger than a mismatched series of concentric, connected huts. Her home was far in the marsh, away from the rest of the village, some said she was a witch or wicked enchantress who lived in isolation. She wore a pitchblack bathing robe and a large cloak, her hair was wild, unkempt and free. She turned her head, squinting and bending forward at the  same time, in order to look at the stranger. Her eyes were like two small white spots in her face.  Her lungs coughed as she took the cigarette from her lips and blew a cloud of smoke into the air. The women tilted her head to one side as she studied her, but still said nothing.

"You're my, daughter?" She asked, looking closely at the girl's blond mop of

hair. "Huh."

"And you cannot, you cannot possibly be my mother, bigworlder!" Gertrude

 said. "My mommy wouldn't be some lonely women, some tired dirty hermit!"

Amity stood behind the young girl and shrugged. 

Protlyn sighed, tugging at her neck's dual pearls. "Lonely you say?" She slowly removed them, becoming a brief specter of light before Protas and Raelyn stood in front as a pair. "Not so lonesome are we.." Protas said, Raelyn chuckled. The latter leapt forward with a tackle and hugged the girl to the ground, pulling her warm and close. Raelyn looked at the young girl with elated eyes.

"It is you, I'd recognize our own anywhere.."

She kissed the girl on the forehead. "I've missed you, Mercy!"

"M-mercy?" She asked.

Protas walked over to the young girl and took her hands, standing her up.

"That's your name. What we named you."

She was welcomed warmly, although somewhat tearfully. Her mother and mother were very happy to see her and hugged her close. Mercy was getting emotional. "O-oh." She blushed. "So, you're my mom?" Mercy asked.

Protas gave her a glance and threw her arms up.

"Sadly.. yeah. Apparently, are are."

Mercy was touched. "O-okay. And I brought someone..

um, my brother and sister with me."

Amity held a basket and showed the two women the children within.

"This is Torayl, and Anne."

"Oh." Protas's cigarette dropped. "Oooooooooh..." She covered her mouth, lipping the gentle 'f' sound and retreating her head to the sky. "Did you seriously take- those are, aren't they?"

Amity nodded. 

Protas was silent for a time, looking down at the two small, sleeping children in the basket. Mercy's brother and sister were only one year old, they were sweet and innocent, like their Rainboyal mother's innocent public face.

Mercy was happy to see them, but worried about them. Would they be taken care of? Would they survive? She was unsure of how to best protect them. She hugged Raelyn tighter.

Protlyn took the basket from Amity and placed it on the ground. She opened the door,  but stopped.

"A-anyways.."

"What?" Protas asked.

"I have some business to attend to, but I'll be back. If I'm not, well. Just. Keep each other safe, okay?" She placed a small package on the ground. "This is a gift for you, you two, look out for the children, okay? I need you to promise me you'll protect them."

Protas slapped her own head, rubbing her sore tired eyes.

"I promise. What's in the box?"

Amity whispered in her ear.

"For that wedding you've been planning for ages now..

I didn't forget that you lost your engagement ring."

"I need coffee, Raelyn.. come on.."

She pulled away and turned back to the girl and the two babies.

"We'll take you back to the house. Come."

(My love.. I don't know how I feel about this..) she whispered to Raelyn.

(We're parents now sweetheart, we're going to be just fine.

What else can we do?) Raelyn replied.

Protas took a deep vast sigh.

"Could send them to auntie Grahim down the river.."

"Oh stop it.." Raelyn chuckled, taking her new family inside.