The first day of the week-long rest was predictable in nature. Yrix's students bathed, ate, enjoyed a bit of fellowship, and then proceeded to crash. The same went for both 'teams', who hadn't yet had the time to properly communicate, even after Ivy had explored the possibility of a growing rivalry.
All for one that is. Lunae loved to sleep more than any of the other girls. It was perhaps her favorite thing to do, even in her sprawling youth.
Hard to imagine a girl like her would rest easy, but the truth was that she had a calm mind when it came to lounging around. And with Sonera at her side, it would have been easy. But after whisking her companion into the depths of slumber with a massage and a lullaby, she stepped out of the bedchambers in a silent retreat.
So quiet was she, with her bare feet and light step, that even Yrix barely noticed. The Arch-Flayer simply chalked Lunae's behavior up to a restless night walk. But she was, for once, wrong in that regard.
Lunae looked at the floor somberly as she walked, thinking of her last moments with Sonera. That lullaby she bequeathed to her was from her people, and was more like a solemn hymn of sorts, referring to their lust for salvation.
If only Sonera knew what salvation really meant to the Infestare.
The girl avereted her gaze to the sky, where two silver moons gleamed brightly in the night sky. The Aerie was beautiful despite its sinister purpose. That made Lunae feel all the more ashamed as she thought of home.
She wandered for quite some time, enveloping herself deep into the local foliage where none could see her. When she finally happened upon a small pond of sorts, she came to a stop. Now was the time to let go of her reservations.
"I know you're watching." Lunae furrowed her brow, her markings glimmering with a bright azure light as she spoke. "Mother."
A single petal emerged from the center of the pond, wrapped in black scales and pinkish frills. The strange organism bloomed, spitting forth a cloud of black smoke that blotted its surroundings. What emerged was only an apparition, yet it was real enough to send shivers down Lunae's spine.
"Ohh...I'm sorry, was I interrupting?" The voice that called out to her was zesty and playful in nature, as if teasing Lunae's mere existence. "Too busy seducing lambs and bastardizing our culture, I see."
Lunae ignored the comment. "Why did you bring me here?"
"To see if Yrix could make something of you. So far she's failed spectacularly."
The smoke faded, revealing the ghostly image of a large, feminine creature that towered over Lunae. It walked on the water with scaly high heels, its frame covered in black chitin and sharp bone.
She was known as Lovatte, the Goddess of Life, and her pink eyes pierced Lunae's soul with their reptilian gaze.
"At least you've touched up on your sense of cunning." Lovatte snickered, placing a bony, spindly black finger on her skeletal lips.
Her mouth, if it could be called that, was more like a set of exposed teeth from a decayed corpse. Unlike Lunae, Lovatte had no supple curves and beautiful flesh to speak of, nor did she wield any luscious hair to hide her dreadful features. She was a monster in the shape of a ghoulish witch. Yet her royalty was unmistakable in the way she carried herself.
She was the Goddess of Life.
"I know nothing of the sort." Lunae crossed her arms.
Lovatte's eyes widened, her expression taking on a permanent grin due to her exposed teeth. "Oh? That's why you're all stripped down like a harlot, wrapping your tail around that girl's neck? Because your honest personality is just oh so enamoring."
"What I have with Sonera is real. I won't let you take that from me." Lunae fought back, guessing her mother's angle before she even stated it.
"Why would I take anything? You've already robbed yourself of the chance to prove me wrong. Seriously, does she even know what you are?"
Lunae faltered, clutching her own forearms. "I..."
Lovatte leaned, in. "How could your relationship, or whatever you called it, possibly be real if she doesn't know. Your identity is inexplicably tied to your actions, my sweet daughter. Your friend loves an illusion."
"I'll tell her. Just you wait!"
Lovatte began to cackle, first with a hint of feminine playfulness, and then with a deep, rasping voice.
"Tell her what? That you're an Infestare princess? That your people are on a genocidal campaign across the stars. Oh, I'm sure Lila will be happy to hear about what we plan to do for her planet. Once you tell them all of course."
"That's not fair! It isn't me!" Lunae balled up her hands into fists.
"Oh, don't forget to add the part where we rape those we don't eat, granted they have sufficient evolutionary traits we wish to add to our catalog. I'm sure that'll amuse your little friends."
"They won't see that side of me."
"But they will see our people." Lovatte pointed with an accusing finger. "It is inevitable. And they will see the way you resonate with them. The way they will bow before your majesty, oh daughter mine."
Lunae growled like a feral animal. "I'll stop us before I'd ever let that happen."
"Goodness," Lovatte chuckled, flexing her fingers as if playing an invisible instrument.
"Since when did you become so rebellious? I mean, I get it. I ate my own mother. But this is something else entirely."
"I'm glad to disappoint." Lunae huffed.
"No no, I'm PROUD." Lovatte boomed.
Using an invisible grasp, the apparition pulled Lunae in, holding her by the fringes of her hair as she dangled helplessly.
"Ah!" The young girl screamed in pain.
"Such ambition. The impossible desire to be an altruistic devourer. You'll make a splendid queen. More loving and caring than I am." Lovatte continued, her voice carrying her elated desires. "I mean...when you waffle on about defying me and loving that girl...I see your eyes...and I see worlds burning in them."
"I didn't..." Lunae stammered.
"What, say you love Sonera? I can read your mind, little one. I can read it as easily as those girls can stare at your exposed tits. Nice outfit by the way, I dig it."
Lunae threw out her fists, ignoring the pain in her scalp as Lovatte continued to hold her over the pond. "You won't even let me say it first!"
"Well, there's always next time."
"No! I won't let you take that from me! I do love her! I'll show you! I'll prove it to you!"
"Don't hold your breath, sweetie." Lovatte yawned. "Another Herald already has that girl in its sights. Enjoy the empty pleasures while they last. It would be foolish to be caught up in foolish dreams with someone that doomed."
"Sonera. Sonera is worth it. I can save her." Lunae gritted her teeth in defiance.
"Or...how does the Earthling say it?" Lovatte ignored her daughter. "She's cooked?"
"I'LL SHOW YOU!" Lunae screamed, her hatred for her mother shining brightly as her markings turned red. "YOU MISERABLE WITCH! I'll PROVE YOU WRONG!"
"Uh huh." Lovatte rolled her pink eyes. "Well, just don't say I didn't warn you. I'd say good luck in your fruitless endeavor, but...
We Infestare don't need luck. Only the blissful ever-present assurance that all things must die."
Lovatte dissapeared in a puff of smoke, dropping Lunae as she fell onto the surface of the pond like a rock. She didn't quite fall all the way in, using her Psionic powers to stay afloat. But as she simmered over her mother's words, she began to tremble.
"I hate you..." Lunae sobbed, beating her fists against the surface of the water. "Truly...I do..."
"Why?" She continued. "Can't you just love me?"
Lunae remained on all fours for some time, quivering over her endless misery. How ironic it was that the Aerie had given her some form of reprieve from her people's madness. And yet some part of her missed her mother's gardens, where she could pretend to be a princess who loved all things living.
She had lived her entire life in defiance of her mother. She would sing and dance with the flowers. And she would love, as much as her heart could manage.
That was why she crumbled at the seams when she took a life. She was a seed that had yet to bloom. And Sonera, her radiant knight, was the sun that would allow her to grow in the way she always dreamt of.
Or so that was her delusional wish. Luane was Infestare. She belonged to a race of parasites who only knew the rule of death.
And no matter how much she tried to deny it, she drew from their strength. Even now, she was at the precipice of something far greater. All it would take would be a single release.