A fuzzy warm carpet, black leather sofa, and nice-scented candles are just a few of the components that makes this lounge area a glimpse of heaven for Klia.
In front of her is a large screen that she watches with pleasure, the same kind of pleasure someone who is watching a good movie would experience.
The "movie" in question? If it had a title, it would be called something along the lines of, "The Chaos Chronicles"; there is so much turmoil befalling Fraus that even the news is reporting it live nonstop in the midst of it.
An unidentified person clears his throat, seeking to get Klia's attention politely. Without taking her eyes off the screen, Klia takes a sip from her glass to lubricate her throat.
"What is it, darling? If it has nothing to do with my instructions for you, then it can wait."
"I would never waste your precious time. He's here, that Dark Mercenary."
Without hesitation, Klia rapidly swallows the remaining drink that was in her mouth and leaps over the sofa, finally facing the man–a young doppelganger of Zateon.
"Oh? Bring him in!"
"Will do, my love. Ahem, please step through the entrance, Mr. Six."
Taking his cue, the Dark Mercenary enters the room, but while glaring directly at "Zateon", who shrugs his shoulders in response.
"It's six-TEEN. Please uphold the professionalism on your end."
"Eh, accuracy doesn't really matter–you aren't the real person, after all."
Klia shoves "Zateon" aside carelessly, as though he did not exist. In reality, he really did not exist in this moment from Klia's point of view; her eyes are drawn to 16 and absolutely nothing else. It would not be inaccurate to say that she's in a trance.
Klia places her hand out with no regard to 16's personal space nor "professionalism" he just complained about.
"Hand. Him. Over."
"..."
With a low grunt of acknowledgement, 16 rolls the orb from his sleeve and places it into Klia's twitching hand. The second it made contact with her skin, it snapped shut, almost trapping 16's fingers. The longer she stares at it, the brighter her smile gets.
"Thanks! You're one of my best clones yet!"
"I'm honored to receive such praise, Ms. Klia."
"What about that dog? Did you follow through with her?"
"I made sure not to touch her as instructed, although she did not seem to follow me immediately as I hoped."
"So she didn't take the bait? You didn't lead her here?"
16 shakes his head.
"In her stead, there was a human male–a Dark Mercenary–accompanying her. I don't know much about him, but I reckoned that he posed a threat to your operation, so I compressed him while he was chasing me."
"You even did that? Perfect! I'd love to use him too. If he's even half as capable as you, I'll get lots of usage out of him."
Klia holds her free hand out, the other is still tightly gripping Zateon's orb, not budging in the slightest. Her open palm is anxious in anticipation, yet relaxed.
"I threw him into the bottom of the river. I prioritized bringing Zateon as requested–I wanted to avoid getting sidetracked–now or in the future."
"Really? What a waste! Bah, whatever. At least you brought me the one that matters. Now shoo, remain on standby!"
16 slightly bows his head and quietly walks away, leaving Klia, "Zateon" and Zateon alone. Klia lifts the orb into the air, holding it up towards the light with a big smile.
Sporadically, she brings it close to her lips, giving it a big smooch that narrowly avoids turning into her sucking it into her mouth.
"Oh Zateon, I know you're in there and I know you can hear me! Don't be shy, let's talk, old friend. We have so much to catch up on!"
Her voice unexpectedly bears no malice or hidden motive, but a friendly casualness.
Zateon's orb faintly glows, giving the appearance that he was waiting for his turn to respond. For a brief moment, Klia lightly presses the orb against her earlobe.
"Hmm? It seems like you have a lot to say too, don't 'cha? Too bad for you–I can't hear a single sound. Sooo you will just have to listen to me do all the talking, but don't worry–I'll make sure to keep you very close so that you can hear every single word clearly. Just. Like. This. Okay?"
Klia brings the orb only millimeters away from her moist lips; her breath completely engulfs it like a fog. The orb's faint glow becomes dimmer and dimmer.
"Thanks for your understanding, best pal! Right this way."
Skip,
Skip,
Skip,
And a hum.
Klia gleefully makes her way to the lounging sofa; once there, she does not hesitate to dive into it and make herself comfortable.
"It'd be quite dull if I were to just chat in silence, no? So I'll turn up this broadcast. I think you'll find it interesting–I certainly do!"
Without bothering to pretend to wait for Zateon's answer, Klia repeatedly taps a digital slider, turning up the volume to its maximum.
…
…
…
…
Howling news reports play one after another, nonstop. There is not enough mental space within the average person's mind to keep up with the rapid pace. But of course, Klia is the exception.
Every single reported detail enters her ears and remains there, and every single one causes her to softly giggle–the same kind of giggle typically heard in response to a comedy bit.
…
…
…
The orb stops glowing with no trace of light left.
_____________________________________________________________________
"Well, this is a first…"
Here I am, trapped in a fleshly, humid, navy blue "cave". I can hardly see two inches in front of me–there's no source of light at my convenience.
My body feels slimy all over, like I'm in a mixture of saliva and "soup". The putrid fumes make it incredibly hard to breathe without gagging, not helped by the fact that there's a lack of air.
At least it feels spacious.
"I'm used to being in her mouth, so that was sort of expected…but her stomach? She has never come close to swallowing me before…as far as I know."
Needless to say, something feels off. Perlina herself seems to act as she normally does, but her distaste for eating men is suppressed apparently…
Oh.
"Damn that woman! She got her too…"
"Got whom? You…weirdo."
"?!"
Out of nowhere, a feminine voice addresses me from the void, startling me. Even though she sounds completely exhausted, there's one person who comes to mind.
"?! There's another person in here? Don't tell me, it's you isn't it?"
"Your one and only favorite bunny girl mercenary!...apparently. Don't even try to pretend that you didn't say the things you said–I heard it all. You are used to being inside this creature's mouth? This experience is nothing strange to you? Just how perverted are you?"
For some reason, Flenn calling "Perlina" a creature irks me the most out of everything she just babbled. But only a little…it's best to move on. It's not worth the energy.
"Don't worry about my particular relationship with 'this creature'. In fact, it's because of you that I even met her in the first place. So in a way, this situation is an indirect consequence of your actions–your betrayal."
"Sigh, that topic again? I hate even thinking about that! It…it gives me migraines…"
"...so you do have a conscience after all and it only took you getting swallowed. Took you long enough."
"Look, I don't have the energy to deal with you…or anything anymore. The last thing I want to do is waste my breath as I slowly digest. Just let me die in peace first, then you can rant to yourself all you'd like without judgment…"
"Remember what I told you? You cannot die until you help fix this mess you helped create."
"Oh yeah, I'll be sure to keep that in mind in the afterlife. You don't seriously think there's anything we can do in this situation, right? The limited oxygen is getting to your head, Vex."
"..."
My mind is blank. Not that the issue is that I can't think of anything–it's that there's too much for me to think about. So, there's really nothing that I can say now…I need a soft reset.
…
…
…
In the midst of these minutes of silence, the soft sounds of gurgling and stomach churning is surprisingly relaxing…
…
…
…
If I continue like this, I might find myself falling asleep–for good.
"...well since nothing much is happening, I'll tell you something. It's about…your predicament…with Zateon–"
"Don't bring him up. There's no point…my mind couldn't possibly give my mouth the words you want to hear about him–"
"He's the one who placed you under his curse–his authority as he calls it. To be blunt, he essentially brainwashed you into abandoning us on that islet with the water nymphs. Beyond that, the entire reason you came to Fraus in the first place–"
"Was to complete his bidding…"
"..."
Slosh! Slam!
"?!"
The sound of subdued banging–likely due to the fleshly stomach walls–reverbs all the way over to me. The problem isn't the noise, which is slightly annoying yet manageable, but the "aftershock".
Whatever Flenn is doing, she is causing ripples of goop to splash towards me!
"Knock it off, you are sending bile all the way to my face!"
"Is there anything else I should know about before killing myself? No use in holding back now! Right? Right?!..."
"..."
At this stage, it's better to just hold my breath and wait it out. If she burns through the rest of her energy right now, that only benefits me later.
So while she continues to bang, I'll keep my mouth closed; that'll also prevent any of the liquid debris from flying onto my tongue.
It only took a few more huffs and puffs before Flenn finally slowed down. Everything within this stomach gradually settles down once again.
"...all of my party is dead. They're dead while that hideous dragon who killed Edd and Miffy is flying free. Sylow…that stupid hare is dead because of an even dumber bunny not realizing that she was just a tool. A disposable tool, at that."
"Tools, no matter how disposable, have more than one use. Do you really want your final usage to be at the hands of that man?"
"I don't want it to be by your hands either."
"As if I would stoop to such a level. No, how about you use your tools for your own purpose. I know your heart burns with vengeance, even if your body doesn't have the energy to reflect that…"
...I know that feeling too well…
"We're Dark Mercenaries, but here we are with such a sappy moment with our final breaths…so pathetic…"
Bang!
"That's why I can't let my life end this way! I might die soon, but I will at least fantasize avenging my mates and come back as a ghost!"
For some reason, my brain tingled; the word "ghost" tickled something within me. What is it…what is it…?
"A ghost?…!"
I never thought I would ever let this come across my mind again, but maybe…
There's a chance that the ability Shinash forced upon me is useful for getting us out of Perlina's–the fake Perlina's–stomach.
"Flenn, the goal has changed from confronting Zateon to stopping his deranged acquaintance from his past. That woman, Klia, and her minion clones don't care about collateral damage–the best way out is to take her down completely."
"I'm well aware of that deranged psychopath. I'd like to get back at her too, but I can't stand the thought of helping Zateon even just a little bit! He deserves whatever destruction she has planned for him. Heck, they could take each other out for all I care."
"But at the cost of everyone else in the country?"
"...tch."
"I know it's going to leave a bad taste in your mouth–I don't really want to help that apostle either, but I made sure to tell his servant that if I assist, Zateon will be held accountable for what he did. If you join forces with me, that would include you as well. All your grievances, the rage within your heart, can be saved just for him."
"...you'll have to leave him to me alone. I won't accept any other compromise."
"I'm sure Emma would understand."
"Okay genius, don't get ahead of yourself with promises you can't keep. Reminder in case you forgot, we are still being digested."
I'll just ignore her snarky attitude that she somehow still has energy to retain.
Closing my eyes for maximum focus, I swallow every remaining ounce of disgust and position myself against the stomach wall…the slimy, oozy, undoubtedly messy…stomach wall.
It requires me to lean more into the digestive juices, but I press forward and slow my breaths…
Okay, I'm all set.
"Leave that to me."