Chronicles of Eden - Act 2 (35 page)

“So you
don’t
want to talk to Daniel? Now’s your chance for your words to really reach him, for him to understand you,” she said casually. Squeak glanced to Daniel worriedly then to Falla as she squeaked quietly. After a moment she slowly turned to face Falla on her knees, with the group watching curiously as Falla leaned closer to the ant girl. Squeak watched her with an uneasy frown as Falla got really close to her face.

“Calm down, I’m not going to kiss you or anything, just lower your head slightly,” Falla said calmly. Squeak hesitated then slowly lowered her head, with Falla doing the same. Their antennae touched each other and twitched a bit, with Squeak flinching slightly then squeaking while blinking a few times.

“Relax, this should work even though we’re not the same type of monster,” Falla said while glancing up at their antennae, the extensions twitching slightly while rubbing against each other.

“What is it that you’re doing?” Specca asked.

“I’m going to talk to her, or at least try to,” Falla said simply. The group looked at her puzzled as she tilted her head slightly one way then another, seeming to try to find the right spots for the antennae to touch one another. After a while she stopped and smiled confidently.

“Ok, now, for the test, and to make sure you all know this is real you’re going to help. Ask her a question that only she could answer, something that I couldn’t know of,” Falla said glancing to Daniel. Squeak looked at her curiously then glanced over to Daniel as well, the boy watching the girls with a raised eyebrow before holding a hand to his chin.

“Um, alright,” he said before looking to Specca questionably. The nixie pondered what to say for a moment then looked at Squeak carefully.

“Squeak, who’s turn was it with Daniel last night?” she asked.

“Turn with Daniel? What’s that supposed to mean?” Falla asked.

“Exactly, you don’t know, but she does. So, who’s turn was it?” Specca asked Squeak again. The ant girl squeaked a few times before everyone looked to Falla, the butterfly girl glancing to her then to Triska questionably.

“She said Triska,” she answered. The group stared at her with wide eyes from hearing that.

“No way,” Alyssa said softly. Squeak squeaked softly while staring at Falla with wonder, the butterfly girl looking back to her with a dull expression.

“No, I’m not using magic, I don’t know how to use magic,” she said flatly. The group watched with disbelief as Squeak tried squeaking at Falla again, with the butterfly girl just shaking her head slightly while keeping their antennae touching.

“Seriously, you still think this is a trick? How am I tricking you right now?” Falla asked plainly.

“I don’t believe it,” Specca said softly.

“She’s… she’s talking to Squeak like it’s nothing,” Triska said with disbelief.

“How?” Daniel asked. Falla glanced to him with a raised eyebrow.

“Before I tell you that, what’s this about taking turns with these girls? You
are
fucking them every night, aren’t you? I knew it, you have some nerve, doing it with them but not with me, and after you promised me too!” she snapped with discontent. Daniel jumped a bit then shook his head while waving his hands in front of him.

“What? No, no we’re not doing anything like that, it’s… well… it’s complicated, but that’s none of your business,” he answered shakily. Falla looked at him with a dull glance then at Squeak.

“What’s he blabbering about?” she asked flatly. Squeak started squeaking at her while the group watched with wonder, seeing Falla appearing to actually listen to Squeak and understand her.

“Taking turns just
sleeping
next to him? That’s it? Why?” Falla asked.

“She’s really talking with her,” Triska said in wonder as Squeak continued to speak to Falla with her squeaks. After a while Falla glanced to Daniel questionably.

“So he can pick one of you? That’s stupid, why don’t you all just have sex with him, problem solved,” she reasoned with a shrug. Squeak shook her head and started squeaking again, with Falla this time looking to her then up at their antennae as they broke contact.

“Whoa, hold on, sit still, I can’t talk to you like this,” she argued as she tried to move her head around again. Specca glanced to the antennae then looked at Falla with wonder.

“Oh my word, that’s it, that’s how she’s doing it,” she speculated while pointing to them. Squeak stopped and glanced to her while Falla repositioned herself so their antennae touched again.

“She’s touching Squeak’s antennae with her own, that’s allowing her to understand Squeak,” Specca explained. Falla smirked and nodded a bit as the group looked to her curiously.

“Of course, we are insect class monsters. We can use these to communicate privately with one another should we so choose,” she answered. Squeak started squeaking again, with Falla then looking to her before laughing a bit.

“Well, as a matter of fact, I
could
read your mind by doing this, but only if you think hard enough. At the very least, when we’re touching like this anything we say is relayed through our antennae right to our brains, sort of like a universal translator,” she replied with a hint of arrogance. Squeak blinked then glanced to Daniel, the boy just watching with awe as Falla was able to perfectly understand the ant girl.

“I don’t believe it, she can really understand her,” Alyssa said while watching Falla closely.

“I told you I could, now would you mind? I’m not going anywhere after all,” Falla said while holding her hands out to the side. Alyssa narrowed her eyes then glanced to Triska, the teen watching Falla carefully while breathing out slowly in discontent.

“Fine, untie her. But if you try
anything
with Daniel, so help me, Falla,” Triska threatened sternly. Falla chuckled and shook her head slightly.

“I’m not trying anything with anyone, I’m being a good girl here,” she replied innocently. Alyssa held in her scoff then waved her hand around, causing the ribbons around Falla’s wrists to unravel and drop onto the floor. Falla rubbed her wrists then gently held her hands to Squeak’s head, holding the ant girl in place while glancing to Daniel with a smirk.

“There, now then, what would you want to talk about with her?”

In the world of Eden, sometimes one may need help with a difficult or daunting task. They may require another’s expertise, bravery, fortitude, knowledge, or perhaps even their trust in order to complete their goal. When traveling through the outerlands however, finding help isn’t always an easy thing. Often times one may have to rely on strangers or those that appear deceitful, having no other choice but to trust them to help. Of course, a way of smoothing over any trust issues was to help with a problem they had in return, to offer your own skills or knowledge in exchange for theirs. Although this didn’t guarantee the second party would make good on their word, sometimes it was enough to form a temporary alliance with them.

And sometimes, in doing so, their goals may even become the same.

*****

Inside the caravan Daniel and Specca were trying to think of what to say, along with Triska and Alyssa who were sitting up front in the driver’s seat of the ride. Everyone was watching as Falla was kneeling down in front of Squeak, the butterfly girl gently holding the ant girl’s head still while their antennae were touching. Although the group was skeptical of Falla’s story about Luna and a human child missing together, they at least knew she wasn’t lying when she claimed that she could understand Squeak, which she proved by literally translating for the ant girl before their very eyes. With Falla offering to act as a mediatory between herself and Squeak, the group wondered what questions to ask now that they could actually communicate with the ant girl.

“I’m not sure what to say, anyone else have any ideas?” Triska asked.

“I’m not sure either, to be honest I never thought of what to actually ask her once we overcame the language barrier between us,” Specca said with a shrug.

“Well, let’s start with something simple. Squeak, how old are you?” Alyssa asked. Falla glanced to her with a raised eyebrow while Squeak just watched her since she couldn’t turn her head to look at her friends.

“Really? You can talk to her about
anything
, and you’re just wondering how old she is?” Falla asked dryly. Alyssa shrugged while the others just remained silent. Falla rolled her eyes then looked at Squeak, the ant girl squeaking at her before the butterfly girl glanced back over to Alyssa.

“She says she’s twenty years old. Anything else? Maybe her boot size?” Falla said flatly. Alyssa glared at her while Daniel looked down with a thoughtful expression.

“I have a question for her. Squeak, what was life like for you back in your nest?” he asked. Squeak glanced to him then looked up thoughtfully while Falla waited for her answer. After a moment she started squeaking something while the group watched curiously, with Falla just staring at the ant girl as Squeak continued to squeak again and again. After a while she finally stopped, with Falla looking at her for a moment before glancing over to Daniel.

“She says life was life for her. She worked in the tunnels, she slept with her sisters, she raped men for her queen, nothing special,” she said simply, with Daniel and the girls looking at Squeak with surprise from that. The ant girl jumped a bit then started squeaking quickly at Falla, the butterfly girl glancing to her with a raised eyebrow.

“Raping men, testing a man’s sexual prowess, is there a difference?” she asked. Squeak opened her mouth to squeak then looked down nervously. She bit her lip then glanced to Daniel, the boy then smiling weakly at her and shaking his head.

“It’s ok Squeak, we all know you… had your job back at your nest, you were just following your nature,” he reasoned. Squeak nodded slowly and looked down with remorse while the others watched her with sympathetic eyes. Triska looked down for a moment then to Squeak with a small smile.

“Say, Squeak, did you ever do anything else back home? You know, for fun?” she asked.

“She had sex with men every day, that doesn’t count?” Falla said dryly. Squeak huffed then squeaked at her sternly, the group watching as Falla just stared at the ant girl who was squeaking over and over again at her. After Squeak finished talking Falla just shook her head slightly.

“That’s the same thing,” she argued. Squeak put her hands at her hips and squeaked with a stern expression before Falla rolled her eyes.

“Masturbating counts the same as having sex,” she pointed out. Squeak looked at her curiously then glanced to Specca, the nixie nodding slowly while the group watched Squeak with troubled expressions.

“Um, I believe she has a point, pleasuring yourself would fall into the same category as having sex with men,” Specca agreed. Squeak blinked then looked up thoughtfully.

“Wasn’t there anything else you did back home?” Daniel asked with concern. Squeak thought for a while then looked down with remorse, shaking her head slowly.

“So sleeping, eating, digging, and having sex, that was your entire life?” Triska asked with wonder. Squeak nodded once before squeaking some more and closing her eyes. Falla listened to her then glanced to Daniel.

“She says that was all she knew,” she relayed. Daniel looked at Squeak with a mixture of wonder and concern, stunned to hear that the only thing Squeak grew up doing was digging and having sex with men. She literally had nothing else in her life to do, nothing else that she thought she could do.

“Oh, Squeak, I’m sorry,” Daniel said softly. Squeak shook her head and started squeaking again, with Falla listening to her while the group watched curiously. After the speech was done Falla glanced to Daniel with a blank expression.

“She says don’t be sorry, it wasn’t a bad life, she was treated very well by her family, but she enjoys being out in the world with you much more. She just hopes that you won’t see her any differently now knowing she was a whore,” she said calmly. Squeak jumped with a squeak then slapped Falla with a scowl on her face, the butterfly girl recoiling before growling at the ant girl with annoyance.

“What? You were, I’m just paraphrasing,” she snapped. Squeak shook her head then grabbed Falla’s and held her close so their antennae touched again, the ant girl then squeaking sternly while Falla was trying to get the strong girl to ease up with holding her head.

“Fine, she meant knowing she was just an innocent tester for her royal que- oh c’mon,
innocent
? You were fucking men every day, how does that make you innocent?” Falla barked out while trying to get the ant girl to loosen her grip, with Squeak shaking her head and squeaking more while applying pressure with her hands. Daniel and the others watched with weak expressions as Falla and Squeak began arguing back and forth, with Falla speaking normal words while Squeak merely squeaked hers.

“Ow! Knock it off, I’m just telling them the truth!” Falla barked out.

Squeak shook the girl’s head while squeaking at her with frustration.

“It’s the truth whether you want to admit it or not, if you were fucking men every day for your whole life then you
really
fucked a lot- OW! Let go, you’re hurting me!” Falla shouted out as she tried to pry the ant girl’s hands off of her head. Squeak kept squeaking frantically at her while tears were forming in her eyes, with Daniel and Specca watching with concern as the ant girl was starting to break down.

“Don’t get mad at me just because you were doing what monsters do, there’s nothing to be ashamed about- OWWW! Stop it, you’re crushing my head!” Falla yelled out with a cringe. Squeak threw her back then held herself while looking down with watery eyes, squeaking and shaking her head while Falla groaned while holding her own head which was aching. Squeak looked to Daniel for a moment then quickly curled up into her ball, hiding her face as she trembled while crying and squeaking to herself. Daniel and Specca looked at her with remorse then to the others, with Alyssa and Triska watching Squeak with concern as they saw how upset their friend was. Alyssa looked back ahead and helped turn Lucky onto the right path at a crossroads then looked down with a sigh, knowing how Squeak felt about having a history with using men against their will. Triska went back into the cabin and sat next to Squeak, gently brushing a hand through the ant girl’s hair while watching her with sympathetic eyes. Falla growled then sat up while rubbing her head, glaring at Squeak with a scowl on her face.