Chapter 44: Noon

“Y-y-you p-p-piece of sh-sh-shit!” chattered Mica as she sat huddled into a small ball on the floor next to the large tub in the master bathroom “I c-c-can’t b-b-believe y-y-you r-r-really f-f-fucking w-w-w-water b-b-boarded us!”

“You’re going to figure out pretty quickly that I’m actually a very honest person.” said Anton as he dropped a set of thick bath towels on the counter-top “I don’t believe a person’s word is worth anything if it can’t be trusted. So I strive to be as truthful as possible.”

“ ... Th-th-that’s n-n-not th-the f-f-fucking p-pro-problem!” exclaimed Mica as she raised her head just high enough to glare up at Anton “Y-y-you th-th-think I g-g-give a sh-sh-shit ah-b-b-bout y-y-you b-b-being on-on-honest!”

“I think you should.” mumbled Anton as he glanced down at the quaking shinoccubus “I know I would appreciate having a Master who I knew was going to be honest with me.”

“ ... F-f-fuck y-y-you! Y-y-you ba-ba-bastard!” snarled Mica “Y-y-you e-e-even t-try an-anything f-f-f-f-funny l-l-like th-th-that on-on-on m-m-me an-and I’ll s-s-slit y-y-your th-th-throat!”

“No, you won’t.” said Anton as he narrowed his eyes “Though the fact that you will try is exactly what makes restraining you so necessary.”

Seething, Mica hissed through her teeth as the coils of her bound tail began to vibrate around her waist.

Shaking his head, Anton dismissed her as he turned away and began to unfold a cushioned deck chair that he had brought in from the patio.

Incensed at being disregarded, Mica tightened her eyes at him before quickly shifting her gaze over to the open doorway.

“G-go ahead and t-try it.” grumbled Kianna “L-let’s s-see how f-far y-you g-get th-this t-time!”

Cowed by the dark elf’s threat, Mica hunched back in on herself as she dropped her eyes to the floor. After a moment of hesitation, she slowly raised her head back upwards and tentatively looked up at the two dark elves.

Sitting up on the edge of the large tub, Fiona and Kianna sat huddled together and shaking in each others arms as they both glared down at the shivering shinoccubus.

Grimacing at their hostile expressions, Mica glanced away and glared at nothing as she began to speak.

“D-d-don’t f-f-fucking st-st-stare a-at m-me l-l-like th-th-that!” she grumbled as she hunched down into her shoulders “I-I’m n-n-not th-the s-s-s-psycho! Wh-who t-t-tortured y-y-you!”

“N-no! B-but y-you’re s-still the r-reason it ee-even h-h-happened!” snapped Kianna.

Blinking as she took in Kianna’s words, Mica looked back up at the dark elf and returned her glare with her own.

“Y-y-you c-c-can’t b-be s-s-s-serious!” she seethed “D-d-d-don’t ee-ee-even t-t-try t-t-to bl-bl-blame m-me f-f-for th-th-th-this sh-sh-shit!”

“W-w-why sh-shouldn’t I!” countered Kianna “It’s all y-your f-f-fault!”

“Mm-mm-mm-my f-f-f-fault!” cried Mica “I-I’m n-n-not th-the f-f-f-fucker w-w-who ah-ah-most f-f-f-froze u-us t-t-to d-d-d-death!”

“N-n-no! B-b-but y-y-your s-s-still th-the l-l-little sh-sh-shit! W-who m-m-made it ah-all h-h-happen!” chattered Kianna as she pulled Fiona along with her as she loomed over Mica “An-and it’s n-n-not l-l-like y-y-your ee-ee-even t-t-trying t-to apo-apo-apol-apologize! F-f-for an-an-anything!”

“F-f-fuck! Y-y-y-you!” growled Mica as she raised her middle finger and flipped the dark elf off “Th-th-th-there’s y-y-y-your apo-apo-apology! B-b-b-bitch!”

“ ... W-w-why y-y-you l-l-little!” exclaimed Kianna as she went to rise to her feet.

“Alright, Kianna. That’s enough.” said Anton as he turned back towards them “Our kiochi is in no condition to be beaten up right now. She can barely even move as it is.”

“A-a-ass! I-I’m n-n-not y-y-y-your n-n-n-nothing!” screeched Mica before dropping her head down and huddling back in on herself as a massive wave of shivering rolled across her body.

Gazing down at her, Anton’s expression softened into one of light sympathy.

Unlike the two dark elves who, although uncomfortable at the moment, were still fully functional, Mica had become nearly incapacitated by her treatment. Which was the reason why, for the time being at least, she didn’t actually require any form of restraints. In fact, even when first released from her bondage she had simply laid limp across the picnic table and had refused to budge. When picked up to be brought back inside the house, rather than attack or attempt to gouge out his eyes as Anton had expected, she had instead grudgingly curled up against him in an effort to absorb his body heat and had allowed herself to be carried back inside without so much as a word. Her current huddled position and inability to move was far from an act on her part, as with just a quick glance it was easy enough to tell that the miserable looking little creature’s nearly frozen condition, was indeed legitimate.

Mica’s entire body had paled to the point that she seemed to have taken on a blue cast to her skin tone.

The dark saturation that existed around her horns and eyes had deepened and spread out across her face so that it now appeared as though she were wearing an actual mask, and this was matched by her quivering lips which had become a dark grayish blue in color. The digits of her appendages had also followed suit, becoming their own shade of blue that was deeper than the rest of her limbs.

Though extreme in appearance, Mica’s condition was neither life threatening nor permanent for her. Since, as an Infernal, her body could recover from being so thoroughly chilled without any actual damage being done to her. This meant that as soon as she was allowed to absorb enough heat to rewarm her core, she would be able to return to normal without any lingering effects.

Anton was of course aware of this and would be taking advantage of her immobilized state to address her. First however, would come the dark elves.

“ ... Girls.” said Anton in a flat tone.

Sitting huddled together as they continued to shiver and glare at Mica, both of the dark elves went still the moment Anton spoke to them. Although they had already had their ears pressed in against their heads in an effort to keep them warm, they both lowered them even further and pointed their tips downwards as, in unison, they slowly looked up at him.

Wearing identical expressions, with their faces scrunched up in unease and their large ruby colored eyes pinched in worry, the dark elves were both visibly tense as they silently stared up at Anton and waited for him to speak.

Gazing at them for a moment, Anton sighed through his nose before shaking his head.

“W-we’re s-sorry!” cried Kianna as a light sheen of moisture formed in her eyes “W-we d-didn’t know s-she was g-gonna t-try t-to k-kill y-you!”

“Th-the l-l-little sh-sh-shit l-lied t-to us!” exclaimed Fiona as she went to glare at Mica “Th-th-this is h-her f-f-fault! Sh-sh-she s-s-said sh-sh-she’d l-l-leave! An-and n-n-never c-come b-b-back! Sh-sh-she s-s-said sh-sh-she di-di-didn’t w-w-want re-v-v-venge! B-b-but th-th-then-!”

“That’s enough.” interrupted Anton “She’s already been punished for what she did. It’s over. We’re past that ... But you two! ... How could you!? What you two did! ... I don’t even know where to begin!”

With a heavy, frustrated sigh Anton suddenly deflated in front of them and fell to land in the chair he had just finished setting up.

The dark elves breaths became caught in their throats as they watched him slump forward, rest his elbows on his knees and cradle his hanging head in his hands.

Too afraid to even breathe, neither Fiona nor Kianna said a word as a frustrated groan rumbled out of Anton’s chest and he began to slowly rub his temples with his fingertips.

“ ... I don’t want to ever have to do anything like that to either one of you two, ever again!” said Anton as he stared down at the floor between his feet “And I mean it! Never, again! Do you understand me!?”

“Y-yes!” chirped both of the dark elves in unison.

“Good! ... I did not enjoy that. Not at all.” said Anton as his fingertips slowed even further.

“ ... We-we’re s-sorry!” whimpered Kianna.

“Mica could have hurt you, or even killed you...” chastised Anton as he shook his head while his voice dropped down to a whisper “And I thought she had ... When I saw you both ... Just laying there ... Not moving ... I...”

The dark elves both involuntarily cringed back as Anton suddenly raised his head to glare angrily at them.

“What were you thinking!? Do you even realize the mistake you made!? The risk you took! Do either one of you even have any idea, how terrifying it was to see you that way!?” exclaimed Anton as he looked from one dark elf to the other “Do you!? Do you have any idea how I! ... I! ... I thought she hurt you. Both of you ... I thought I lost you...”

Fiona and Kianna’s eyes widened to their fullest as they registered not only the pained look in Anton’s eyes, but the rising tears born both from his frustration ... and his fear.

Dropping his head back into one hand, Anton blinked the moisture from his eyes as he again looked down at the floor below him.

“What’s wrong with me...” he mumbled as his shoulders slumped in on themselves “What was I even thinking? How could I have done this. How could I be so horribly selfish ... I’ve put your lives at risk. And for what? Just to see if I could!? ... What have I done to you ... I’ve made you criminals! ... I need to fix this ... I have to find a place for you to go...”

“ ... W-wha? Go?” whispered Fiona in a soft, questioning tone.

“W-w-w-wait! W-w-what d-do y-y-you m-m-mean g-g-go!?” cried Kianna “G-g-go w-w-w-where!?”

Anton went still for a moment before sighing quietly.

“Someplace, safe...” he said softly “Someplace where you can keep learning ... Where you can be free again. And away from me, and all of this-”

“Wh-what!? N-no! Y-you c-can’t do th-that!” exclaimed Kianna as she began to frantically look back and forth between Anton and her sister “Wh-what are y-you s-saying!?”

“ ... I’m saying, Kianna. That I don’t want you to get hurt.” said Anton as he raised his head and looked her in the eyes “That this was wrong. The risks are too great ... And that I made a mista-!”

“No!” screamed Kianna as she leaped up from where she was sitting and dived forward.

Surprised to find the dark elf suddenly flying towards him, Anton reacted automatically by leaning fully back in his chair and catching her by planting his hands around her waist. Grabbing hold of his shoulders, Kianna screamed out in anger as she was held in the air above him.

“Wh-what’s wrong with you! Don’t say th-that!” she cried as she pointed her ears straight back and dug her nails into his shoulders as she tried to pull herself in closer to him “D-don’t say that! Don’t ever say that!”

Shocked into silence, Anton’s eyes were wide as he stared up at the raging dark elf and watched as turmoil slowly spread across her face.

“Y-you can’t do th-that!” sobbed Kianna as her eyes instantly welled with tears “Y-you c-can’t l-l-leave us b-b-behind!”

With her anger suddenly resurfacing, she pulled her arm back to herself and gripped the collar around her neck.

“You see th-this!” she shouted as she pulled on her collar and brandished its gems at Anton “Y-you made this! For m-me! Y-you g-gave th-this! To m-me! ... And y-you can’t have it back!”

Speechless, Anton’s eyes became fixated on the bloodgem mounted to the collar.

“It’s m-mine!” whined Kianna as she pulled her legs up and folded them onto Anton’s lap “It’s mine ... It’s mine, it’s mine, it’s mine! ... It’s mine! And it means, that I’ll n-never be alone again ... Remember? That’s what you said! ... Remember what you promised? ... What you promised me?”

With everything going still for several long moments, Anton remained silent as Kianna laid her ears back submissively and began to ease herself down until she was laying across his chest.

“ ... Right here.” she whimpered around a sob as she pressed herself against him “You said, I could stay right here ... You promised me! ... You promised ... You promised...”

Without a word, Anton wrapped his arms around the softly sobbing dark elf and held her gently.

“ ... I’m your little dark elf. I am. Me. That’s what you said ... I’m your little dark elf ... I’m your little dark elf.” chanted Kianna as she wrapped her arms around him as well and rubbed her face against his shoulder “I’m your little dark elf...”

“ ... Yes. You are. You’re right.” breathed Anton as he hugged her tightly to himself “You’re right. You are. You’re right, I promised you’d stay right here ... And you will...”

Kianna whimpered happily as she nuzzled her head in under his chin before going limp from her spent adrenaline.

Again, everything went still for some time before Kianna tilted her head upwards under Anton’s chin and began to speak.

“ ... Why would you even say that!? That you would leave. Why!?” she whined as she blinked the moisture from her eyes.

“I don’t know...” sighed Anton “I’m sorry, I was wrong to say that ... I just, I got worried ... I just want you to be safe...”

“ ... Well then just keep me safe then!” pouted Kianna “Like you were always going to...”

“ ... Right. Okay.” sighed Anton as a soft grin spread across his face “I will. I promise.”

“Good!” said Kianna “ ... You were really stupid for saying that.”

“Yes, I was.” nodded Anton “I’m sorry.”

“Good! Now don’t ever say that again!” commanded Kianna as she adjusted her legs into a more comfortable position “ ... And if you do, I’m gonna bite you.”

Anton paused for a moment before chuckling around a smile.

“Don’t laugh. I’m serious.” whined Kianna as she pointed her ears straight back “I know you hate it. So I’ll really do it!”

“Oh really!?” teased Anton as he reached up and began to gently tug on the tips of her ears.

“Yes!” pouted Kianna as she twitched her ears up and down in an effort to drive away his fingers “I really will too! Cause you’ll deserve it!”

“Well ... You’re right. I would deserve it. So I guess I just won’t do that again then.” smiled Anton.

“Good...” said Kianna as she took a deep breath and let the irritation fade from her expression “You’re still stupid though ... You ass...”

“I know. And I’m sorry.” chuckled Anton.

Humming in response, Kianna took in another deep breath and closed her eyes as she began to doze. Sighing, Anton held her for a few more minutes until he felt her begin to lightly shiver.

“Okay, c’mon now, Kianna.” he whispered softly as he started to rise back up to a sitting position “We need to get you warmed up.”

Groaning in annoyance, Kianna curled her legs in further as she tightened her arms around him.

“5 more minutes...” she mumbled as she hid her face in the crook of his neck “Please...”

“No, we can’t wait. You’re still shivering, and so is Fiona, and also Mica.” smiled Anton as he ran his hand up and down her back “And we don’t want Mica to succumb to hypothermia and die on us. So we have to get things moving along.”

“Speak for yourself. Right now I don’t care if she kills over...” grumbled Kianna “She’s still the idiot who started all this shit. She’s just as stupid as you are...”

“That’s true. She is. But we can’t just let her die like that, Kianna.” chuckled Anton as he sat up straight and glanced down at the shinoccubus “She’s going to be very useful to us after all. So we don’t want to let her go to waste like that.”

Still huddled in her spot next to the tub, where she had apparently been watching them this entire time, Mica locked her eyes with Anton and angrily bared her clenched teeth as she scowled up at him.

Ginning at her, Anton shook his head as he continued to rise from his seat. As he moved to stand up, he grimaced and then chuckled as Kianna made no effort to make things easier for him and instead did everything she could to remain right where she was sitting. Hefting her up with him as he rose, the dark elf grumbled in annoyance as she was forced to drop her legs down to the floor. Even as they both made it to their feet and were finally standing upright, Kianna stubbornly kept her face hidden as she stayed pressed up against Anton’s chest and held her arms wrapped around him.

“Such a spoiled little dark elf...” teased Anton as he gently ran his fingers through her damp hair and grinned down at her.

Protesting his statement, Kianna pointed her ears straight back and grumbled in disagreement as she pressed her forehead into his sternum and lightly pushed back against him.

Chuckling, Anton’s expression immediately shifted from amused to stoic as his gaze landed on Fiona.

Though she wasn’t shivering anywhere near as badly as Mica was, the second dark elf still had her arms wrapped around herself as she stared at her sister. After a short moment of stillness, her eyes lifted upwards and met Anton’s. Realizing that he was watching her, she grimaced and looked away while pointing her ears straight back behind her head.

“ ... Fiona-.” started Anton before stopping short as the dark elf began to speak.

“Stop! Just, don’t even say anything! I don’t want to hear how you’re so sorry!” interrupted Fiona as she closed her eyes and lightly bowed her head “Seriously, don’t even bother. I already know that if Kianna isn’t going anywhere than I’m not going anywhere either ... So fuck it! It’s whatever! ... Answer me one thing though, please ... If it had, if she hadn’t, ... would you seriously have let us go? For real?”

Anton stared at her for a moment before slowly nodding his head.

“ ... Yes.” he said in a soft tone “Yes. I think I would have.”

“Fuck...” sighed Fiona as she scowled and shook her head “So close! ... Dammit, Kianna!”

“Humph! Oh, please!” mumbled Kianna as she glanced over her shoulder at her sister “Quit trying to save face over there. And quit acting like you wouldn’t be scared! You know you would be ... Hell, we all know that even if he’d let you, you wouldn’t want go off all by yourself anyways. So just stop it!”

Narrowing her eyes into a glare, Fiona shifted her gaze to her sister.

“Only because I was worried about you! You dumb bitch!” she growled before dropping her eyes to the floor “Like I could just leave you behind with a bunch of assassins ... And this tyrant...”

“Yeah right! Whatever...” muttered Kianna as she nuzzled her head back in under Anton’s chin and closed her eyes “Say whatever you want ... It doesn’t matter anyways...”

Scowling at her sister’s back, Fiona’s expression slowly shifted from angry to sorrowful as her eyes drifted back to the floor.

Watching her, Anton’s face remained stoic as he gave Kianna a gentle squeeze and softly breathed out through his nose.

“ ... Fiona,” he began as he kept his eyes on her “I do owe you an apology.”

“Pfft! No, you don’t! I don’t want your apology! I just said that!” muttered Fiona as she gave him a look of annoyance “I’m not going anywhere. So there’s no reason to keep talking about this shit! ... Let’s just fucking forget it already...”

“This isn’t about that though.” said Anton as he shook his head “This is about you and me. And all the mistakes that I’ve made with you ... None of what took place today would have happened ... None of it should have happened! And it more than likely wouldn’t have, if I had done things differently. If I had handled things better ... Especially with you...”

Blinking in surprise, Fiona pointed her ears straight upwards as she creased her brow in confusion.

“What are you talking about?” she questioned as she narrowed her eyes at him.