Akirai left her hotel early and headed to the shop, her moth still held tightly in her embrace, she worried for it, as she felt the moth swell and feared the the moth was indeed pregnant, her face pulling into a frown at the thought, but what was done, was done.
Just like she´d told the Commander, she´d repay the moth in making sure her last days were comfortable, it weight on her mind as she knew her companion would soon perish.
It stung, but who was she in the face of Mother-nature? She would treasure the time she had, and let go with a smile- but she wondered how long one such moth was pregnant for?
She tried searching online, but found no concrete information, as for what she fed the moth with? Well, old Akirais clothes had to go somewhere, yes?
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She stepped into the shop and saw that the counter now had a chair behind it, it was positioned along the left side- on this side of the entrance was no glass panel, but a wall- the counter stretched from right next to the door to the side, seperating a small area from the shop, the stairs leading upwards were also positioned there, one could exit and enter the area by a slab in the counter that could be lifted upward to create an opening in the structure, behind the counter, on the wall, was a row of shelves, they were empty for now.
Akirai noticed that a part of the counter jad a wall on it that was raised completly to the cieling, it being next to the door meant it was likely to shield one from the cold- it gave even more privacy to the clerc and also gave a small space where customers couldn´t see behind.
The door had a bit of space from the counter, and Akirai made a note to get a big plant for the section.
The other side was empty, bar a few shelves, the only other touch of personality except the shelves was a bell that hung over the door.
The shelves were sparcely filled with Beast food, making the shop look desolated and abandoned.
Just like she had asked the workers, there was a door that led to the staircase, completly closing it off from the shopping area.
Another door was placed in the right corner, hidden behind the empty shelves, it led to a room in the back, where the empty cages were placed, it too was empty except for the cages and feeder in it.
The first story was only fully furnished because Akirai already knew what she needed, with the shopping-area though? Not so much.
Upstairs she had a bathroom, completed with a shower and bath in one combo, a Kitchen with the only thing missing being food and water, a Bedroom only missing her and Kuro in it and a rather large livingroom, she even had a small storage closet to keept unwanted stuff in.
Originally she had planned to go hunting as soon as the shop was done renovating, but with her little companion, lovingly named Kuro, and enough Credits to last her for a while, she would spend this time with her little moth and start operating the shop afterwards.
She sighed and hugged her companion close- Kuro resembeled the Polyphemus moth, a large, brown and most of all- quit fluffy moth, native in her world in North America, the only thing truly different from the moth she knew from Earth being the distinctive eyes on the wings- being green and bioluminescent and its general size reminding her of a cat more than a moth- but she still had standards from Earth, they´d fade with time.
Did this world have painkillers for Beasts? Better yet, Moths? And if they did, how much were they and where could she get them from, she wanted to save her little Kuro some of the pain- even if she didn´t like it- she had to prepare for the inescapable.
She played and fed Kuro, giving her all the affection she had and ignored what she knew was to come.
She slept in her bed with Kuro that night and sighed- she fell into a restless sleep, the inevitable haunting her dreams.
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Her sleep was invaded by a cold voice "Host, I am the System, do you accept?" It asked.
Akirai was puzzled, System? What System? What did it want? Was it something common in this world? She hadn´t heard of it before? Maybe it was rare and people wanted to keep it secret? Like with the beast Nests? Only those knowing who were in the situation, or strong enough?
"System? Like in the games? Can I ask what kind of System you are then? Because, no offence, but if you´re a cooking System then you´re better off without me and with another... Host was it? I can´t cook to save my live- as in I WILL set water on fire if you let me near a stove."
"No offence taken, Host, I am the Beast Master System, and you have the highest compatibility with me" It replied.
"Beast master? Yeah, sounds good to me- so will it be symbiosis between us? One helps the other survive?" She asked, wanting to know how this would work, should she agree.
"Yes." It replied courtly.
"Hmm... as long as you don´t harm me, I guess it´s fine... I hope that we work well together?" She asked.
It seemed the ... System was fine with this as it was silent afterwards.
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Akirai woke to movement in her arms and as she opened her eyes, she saw her companion had swollen- her belly looking ready to burst- she started to sweat, FUCK! She thought she had more time, what was she supposed to do now?
Kuro was giving birth now, and there was nothing stopping it.
Kuro started bleeding and writhing on the bed and it hurt, it hurt her to see Kuro in pain, but she was unable to do anything!
"Initialisation with Host complete, Hello Host." The same cold voice from her dream sounded in her mind, but she was in no mood to speak with it.
"You´re a System right? Can you help me with this?" She asked with urgency in her voice.
"I am not strong enough to stop it´s death, nor delay it, Host." It replied.
She pursed her lips, she wasn´t even dissapointed, she had no expectations, so she asked "Do you have something to numb the pain then? And if not, get lost?"
"Yes Host, the Elixier costs 2 Points." It said, she was looking at the moth on her bed, not caring for the blood on it.
"If you can give it to me, then do so! We´re running out of time!" She hissed.
"Host only has 10 initial Poi-" She cut it off "If that´s enough then god-damn give it to me!" She seethed.
Not a second after she said it did a Bottle of green liquid in a spray bottle appear in her hand, she didn´t need to see a discription to see how it was used and she sprayed the moth- Kuro with the substance, watching as the moth calmed immediatly after it´s use.
She had no time to marvel at the fact that the System was real-
She was unsure of what to do, so could only stroke it´s head as her beady eyes looked at her in thanks, she could only bring a watery smile on her lips and whisper pointless things.
"It´ll be alright, it will be over soon, Okay love?" She asked as she felt the tears burning in her eyes.
"I love you, okay? You´re doing great."
"You can do this."
She was so occupied with this that she didn´t notice the System announcing something, and if she did, she really, really didn´t care.
Night turned to day as Kuro finished giving birth, and next to Kuros bloody figure lay a large white-grey egg, Kuro was nuzzled against it and she could practicaly feel it´s pride at her offspring, by now Akirai was crying and crying hard, large tears rolling down her cheecks.
"You did it Kuro! I´m so proud of you love, it´s beautiful." She said trough her tears and smiled, Kuro turned to her, blood staining the sheets and waved her Antenna at her in happiness, Akirai sat next to the moth, patting her, Kuro nuzzled her hand.
Akirai was trying to force her tears back, but was failing, and smiled, Kuro was saying her goodbyes.
"Thank you for staying with me Kuro, thank you so much." She whispered, and for a moment she was afraid that Kuro hadn´t heard her, but she waved her antenna to show that she did.
The tired moth guestured to the egg by waving her antenna at it "Do you want me to take care of it in your stead?" Akirai asked, not sure if she understood.
Kuro didn´t answer verbally but Akirai had a feeling that she had hit the nail on the head with this one, and Kuro had always made sure she knew if she didn´t like something, so she was certain that she was correct.
"I will, and I promise that she´ll live a long live, I swear it to you." She said, dead serious, Kuro just nuzzled her more and Akirai finally couldn´t hold her urge back and took Kuro in her arms with care, as if she was handling glass and cried, playing with Kuro one last time as she bled out, whispering sweet nothings to her- she told no lies but reassured her instead.
She wiped her tears away with great difficulty and smiled at her as she too said her goodbye, but she didn´t say that- no - she said farewell instead, it didn´t sound so damn final, but did little to alleviate the stabbing pain in her heart.
Kuro died in her arms, Akirai hoped she had died without regrets.