Conrad felt like anytime now he'd end up in someone's digestive system. He sneaked glances at the men behind him. He didn't mind taking the lead, but if the ones he was leading would stab him like lamb chops, he would prefer to stay at the back where he could see them.
"I think it would be much better if you guys take the lead, right?"
The little snake boy snorted. "So what, you could stab us in the back?"
So, they all had the same trust issues.
"Even if I do stab any of you, I don't have the chance. It's still 4 versus 1."
Kou walked ahead of him. "Do not be afraid, Conrad, Kou will go first for you."
Conrad didn't know if he should be offended or grateful. It wasn't as if he was afraid of what was ahead; he was more scared of the people behind him. Salem left his disciples, a humanoid sardine, and one female viel with his father and sister. He was concerned about leaving anyone related to the ex-convict in his house, but he was also worried that more monsters might come and he wasn't there to protect them.
The closer they got to Hiraeth, the more the viels spread out in different directions. Salem stayed behind him until they arrived in front of the gates.
"You're on your own now, Conrad. I might attract the knights and tamers, but I'll be watching you from afar."
"You sound like a dying relative, Sir Salem."
There was a wave of unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach that rose up to his throat. Conrad swallowed, roaming his eyes around to search for the others, but they vanished. Even Salem was gone. How do they even disappear like that? Do they walk through walls or dig up a ditch? He could never understand the powerful.
Conrad took a deep breath, easing his nerves and huffing out the fumes of dread. He waltzed inside the gates, holding his breath in preparation for a blood bath. His imagination was running wild. He had already thought of every worse possible scenario. His entire body tingled from anticipation. He kept repeating the spells in his head in case he'd get ambushed so that it would be the first thing he'd scream out.
"What? he murmured; he never thought he'd be disappointed at seeing peace and order.
There were no vessels using human fingers as toothpicks. The road was clean yet bustling with busy bodies. It was the usual Hiraeth. Didn't Sir Salem say that Asmodeus sent thousands of arrows here from the skies yesterday?
Conrad advanced forward, not letting his guard down for a bit. Anything could happen. They must be pretending to be okay, but they were brainwashed by one of the devils. Something has to happen.
He caught glimpses of movements on the roof. The women waved at him warmly. Little girls playing with dolls ran around him as they giggled with mirth. An old lady rocked back and forth in her rickety white chair beside her fruit stall. The chitter-chatter pushed and pulled back like waves of the ocean.
"Hi there Raddy, Old man Grant prepared a box of fruits for your ma," Mrs. Valentina said. Conrad didn't want to dwell in her words too much. Everyone in Hiraeth knew that their mother had passed away two years ago. It must be because Mrs. Valentina was nearly one hundred years old. She had grown senile.
Conrad waved at her. "Thank you ma'am. I'll pick them up later once I'm done with my errands."
Valentina smiled, her yellow teeth aged like old wood.
'She's just a senile old woman, Conrad, she's okay...' he told himself.
Nothing appeared out of place. He couldn't feel anything maleficent. The women were all safe.
But where were all the men? Old man Grant wouldn't leave his senile sister in the store alone.
Conrad stopped when he felt gazes latching on him. The hairs on his skin stood. There was an abrupt and complete silence. He twirled around, catching the uniform heads switching directions before the chitter-chatter resumed.
The moment he turned the other way, the noise died down once more. He was being watched.
Conrad walked fast. The loud gossip of women turned into buzzing bees. Hiraeth became a hive. The sound of footsteps started off as soft pitter patters. The moment he broke into a panic and ran, the footsteps turned into a storm, as if a battalion of heavy soldiers charged.
Valentina's hysterical laughter played over the marching.
"You can give these fruits to your ma once you cross the afterlife, Raddy!!!"
"SIR SAAALEMMM!" he screamed.
Conrad was about to run past an alley when he was grabbed by someone. A barrier was activated before his pursuers could turn to the alley, deflecting the frenzied women like a door was smashed to their faces. Conrad had to pry the hands that held him.
"Don't touch me! I'll drain your demonic bile from your rotten gallbladder you–"
"Conrad, it's me!"
Conrad stopped screaming. There were two women standing in front of him. The other one looked more of a man before mother nature decided to change her genital, but it was too late to alter the rest. The smaller and slimmer one was pretty cute. He never thought he'd find a girl cu—
"Theo?"
"Yes, you moron. Who else?" Theo queried, his expression growing relieved once his best friend calmed down. They took each other in a tight embrace. He nearly couldn't recognize him with the floral corset over a long white dress.
"And Cardinal Rorik, why are you–"
"Not another word, boy," Rorik cut off.
His face was as bright as a cherry tomato. His muscles were tearing the sides of his barmaid dress. If he so much as twisted his torso to stretch, it'll all be over for the stitches. His legs fully invaded the lower part of the dress. He wore a wig with curly brown locks; lipstick was smeared over his mouth as if he had just made out with a horse's hoof.
"What happened here, Theo? Where is the king and the pope?"
The possessed women of Hiraeth continuously hurled themselves against the barrier, causing cracks to spread out on the transparent barricade. Their skin scalded from the holy element, melting the fat and muscle and leaving a fractured bone in display on areas that got in contact with Theo's seal.
"Let's not stay here like gossiping housewives. We need to find a place to hide, now!" Rorik barked.
…
…
…
Queen Briar stared blankly outside the arched window of her room. Tallulah poured her a cup of tea, watching her queen swim in her deepened thoughts. Eros was playing with his wooden king and queen. The queen doll was dressed in a red ball gown with the skirt designed into numerous sprouting layers of rose petals.
Tallulah had heard of what occurred in the coliseum. For the king to hire a criminal to murder the prince, a child that Her Majesty dreamed of having, was not of a surprise. The king was a swan. He was never meant to rule this land as he could never be a man to his wife. To be called a man, he must produce an heir. He was a scumbag unfit for the throne. He was even seduced by one of the seven princes in hell. If her queen wills it, Tallulah would have no hesitation staking a knife to his rotten core.
"How does it feel to hold power, mother?" the prince queried, not sparing her a glance. The prince's chocolate-dipped biscuits remained untouched.
"It feels…strange," Briar answered.
Eros chuckled, his pupils shrinking into a diamond slit.
"With my evil father deemed insane, you are the only one suited to lead this nation, mother. Perhaps it would be better if father takes a break forever. He doesn't appear to be enjoying the power of sovereignty. He is a man. He is prone to temptation. He will lust for more…except for you…"
Tallulah's eyes widened. Her jaw tightened from the prince's harsh words. This boy was not an ordinary child. He was too crafty. Where did her queen find this boy?
Briar turned around. Her eyes were wide awake from rage. Her shoulders trembled as her hands gripped one another too tightly.
"Your father shall only love me from now on. I shall rule over him, I promise you that, Eros."
Queen Briar lifted her skirt, storming out of the room to visit her detained spouse. Tallulah stared at the prince with how he innocently played with his dolls. Eros looked at her from under his lashes before grinning.
"What are you waiting for, you hyena? Don't you want to mount my mother before my father grows the balls to do it?"
The royal maid was taken aback by the prince's perverse language. Tallulah ran outside, leaving Prince Eros to cackle in levity. He slammed the dolls on the table, both decapitated. The heads had rolled out to the floor.
"In this game…no one wins but me."
…
Boota stared at the corpse lying in his own pool of blood. Kou was the one who found him because of his strong sense of smell. They managed to avoid the unwanted attention of the women here, but Basil was itching for a fight.
"What is the cause of his death?" Kou queried.
This man only died recently. The blood was still fresh. His eyes weren't clouded. The cause of death was simply because of a large laceration from something that came out forcefully from his behind.
"I never thought people could die from shitting," Basil commented.
"More so bleed to death from it…" Boota added.
"It appears as if he has given birth through that tinnie winnie hole. Basil, Kou is afraid that if you don't change your diet, you'll end up with the same fate."
Basil grimaced, lifting his fist to Kou. "Shut up!"
"Where is the child that he gave birth to?" Boota questioned.
This one was indeed a man. The mammary glands were flat, the genital remained intact, and his build was definitely, without a doubt, a man's. Perhaps he was merely infested by a level 1 vessel. He couldn't have possibly carried the child. This was just another infestation of a parasitic neonate. Even in death, this man's mouth was held open by one last scream prior to his end.
Salem jumped down from one of the roofs, avoiding the pool of blood that would leave his garments soiled for Karma to stress over since he was permanently assigned to do Salem's laundry. He tried assigning the task to Jinx once, but somehow, Jinx made his clothes dirtier than before they were washed.
He brought out a piece of paper, handing it to Basil, who read the writing out loud.
"Pregnancy shall no longer be under femininity, but shall now be a responsibility of the ones who represent patriarchy. Women will no longer suffer from bearing the product of a man and a woman's chemistry, and thus– childbirth will no longer be a part of their forced destiny. All of Hiraeth is invited tonight in the Temple of Eros to celebrate the redefinition of what it means to be a man and what it's like to be a woman of today."