Now that Scourge is here, outside of the Horrib Lair, it has to decide whether to turn back or become Nicora again. There is life inside, but it isn't very clear to the sussing sense, which detects minds. There just isn't that much to the mind of a horrib. But at least there aren't any Eeee minds ahead to indicate live victims.
"Good, no live victims in there. Hm, is the fungus child I birthed in there?" Scourge thinks as it paces around outside, focusing on the contents within.
There doesn't seem to be any indication of Hosheb's special worm-child inside the hive. It's never been clear just where the Sabaoth Seven dwell in the physical world. Only Rugharo seems to have a fixed home.
"The child has to be somewhere," Scourge thinks. Why it is worrying about a monster that sprout forth from the loins of a related form is ... well, no one said Scourge was sane. It proves this even more by circling three times, sitting down, and focusing on shifting back to Nicora to see how she sees the creatures within.
It's always a bit swampy down here in the bowels of the city, so that Nicora doesn't feel a chill against her bare skin. But there's still a certain clamminess that clings to her. Once she's fully herself again, the dark blurry world becomes.. confusing. There are horribs ahead - she can see the glimmers of their dim auras - but she herself isn't sure of her own position. There is an occasional sense of being somewhere else, only lasting for a moment.
Nicora rubs her head. Though what she is about to do is extremely risky, the Eeee enters the passage into the trial tower. She's having to feel with her hands, toes, and wings as she takes one slow step after another. She can barely hear after all, so has to try and move by touch alone. The sensation is ... unnerving to say the least. At least she can see th horrib auras, so should know if they start towards her. She should be safe, though; she is known to them.
There's another moment of.. off-ness. For a few heartbeats, Nicora sees a pale corpselike figure before her, with a horrib riding its back.. and then it's gone, replaced by a flickering sense of something behind her.
"Wait, am I sensing the things I birthed through the spores in them?" Nicora thinks, feeling rather uneasy about that. Her slow walk pauses while she gets her bearings, then steps forward again. She also starts thinking of ... the tattoo on her back, the image of a horrib in perpetual sting of her body.
And so, she stops and 'looks' behind her.
Some of the auras are brighter, either because they aren't being obscured by the ruins or because those horribs are different somehow. One of them is hovering in the passage behind her when she turns to 'look' - from the outline, it's bigger than a typical horrib adult.
Nicora pauses and waves to it? Then takes a few steps towards it. "Are you ... ah, my child?" she asks, knowing full well it is unlikely to be able to answer her.
The monster-bug moves back.. then lunges forward and knocks Nicora over! She feels the stinger in her thigh, and the expanding coolness of its toxin.
"Ow! Why did it sting me?! They're not supposed to sting me!" Nicora thinks in a panic. Her breathing rises rapidly and she starts to try and drag herself back the way she came!
Another giant joins the first, flying from the heart of the hive. It stings Nicora in her left shoulder, then settles down on the floor to block her path.
Nicora actually cries out! "Why are you stinging me?! I'm supposed to be safe here," she cries towards the insect. Her right wing snaps, trying to push the horrib out of her way before she goes too numb.
More arrive, and with six of them on her the Eeee's limbs are soon completely numb. But she still gets impressions from the horribs. They are excited. Nicora is placed across the backs of two of them, and thus carried towards the central core of the building.
Nicora only her head. She feels nothing in her limbs, just her torso retains some feeling. Well, that and her emotions! Right now she just feels terrified. This should not have happened. The horribs are supposed to sense that she has already hosted and leave her be. "Why are you doing this?" she asks those which she realizes must be her children now. She's blind; only outlines, and she can see that she's moving closer towards a cluster of more lights.
Nicora con only barely move her head.
She gets more information from the senses of the horribs themselves. The rotting corpses at the bottom of the chamber look like.. something appetizing. The grubs that bore through and crawl over them are the most adorable things in the world. The other horribs are ignoring her though, including the queen high above, surrounded by her drones.
"Ah, the queen isn't coming. That is ... something?" Nicora thinks, feeling at least a little less terrified. The fact she is finding the corpses appetizing is a bit stomach-turning, though. She is definitely linked to these other horribs.
Three of 'her' horribs take to the air, and the other three take up something like a defensive perimeter around Nicora, their scorpion tails held up in a warning gesture. Two of flyers break off to suddenly grapple with the just-as-big royal drones, while the third goes for the queen!
"/What are they doing?!/" Nicora thinks in a panic. She strains with her neck, trying to lift her torso up somehow and get her limbs to respond. "/Maybe if I can contacts the shadow I can shift and free myself,/" she thinks, then tries to focus on /finding the shadow in a numb limb.
Given that the shadow is a bit numb to begin with, the numbing of Nicora's right arm makes it feel as if the limb ends completely at the elbow. But there's something. The shadow is sluggish. Either it is somehow also affected by the paralytic venom or the recent transformation from Nicora to Scourge and then back again over a short period has left it tired. The impressions from the horribs don't help with focus either. The third horrib is doing things to the queen: not attacking her, but stimulating her with pokes and prods and buzzes and chemical sprays.
"Come on, you need to get out of here. Your children are not being very friendly," Nicora thinks as she strains, still trying to get her body, or the shadow, to do something. One thing she can be thinkful of, she has no sense of smell. She can't smell the rotting meat in here.
While her right hand seems to squirm, there's a powerful impression from the queen-massaging horrib: Success! It's left her, and is flying back down towards Nicora. She looks ghastly to horrib-vision, since her veins and arteries stand out more than usual, even with the faint greenish glow they produce. The other two fliers abandon their wrestling matches, and the royal drones rush back to their queen.
"What have they done? What are they doing?" Nicora thinks. She draws in and actually whimpers. "Please don't harm me, I gave you life," she murmurs to the horribs that surround her and the one that also approaches. That image is far more terrifying than Hosheb is to her now.
The six reunite, and the queen molester holds out.. a jewel. At least, that's how it appears to them, an amber gem that is the most precious thing in the world. But Nicora knows that it's really an unfertilized Horrib egg.
"An egg? Just one? What is that for? Nicora thinks. She rolls her back, trying to inch her way away from the horribs.
Two of the horribs press down on her chest, and one of the stingers hovers over Nicora's throat menacingly. "Did-a-chick," the egg-holder chitters, and the others echo it.
Nicora's movement immediately stops. "They wouldn't stab my neck, would they?" she wonders. The only movement of her now is to ... swallow in fear.
There's activity down between Nicora's legs. She can feel the egg being pushed into her, and she's loose enough to make this easy.. but then there's a rush of frustration from the horribs. "Dud-a-chum!" they lament. Their claws are too big.. the egg can't be pushed in to where it needs to be.
"They're trying to implant me? Why?!" Nicora thinks in a panic. Normally she likes feeling things pushed into her, but this is not one of those times. And worse, even if she clenches her muscles, they're so weak and stretched she couldn't force the egg back out. When they can't get it in any further, she breathes a sigh of relief. If it just stays where it is, she can recover ... and reach in and remove it herself.
Two of the horribs leave, and there are scavenging noises. "Did-a-chick!" One returns, clasping a broken, hollow femur bone. It's still coated in rot, with a few cleaner bugs managing to cling to it.
Nicora's eyes go wide. "They have to be kidding me!" she thinks in horror when her mind sort of makes out the outline of what they hold from the rot and the bugs on it. "That will rip me up!"
The bone is passed to the 'leader' and Nicora feels the nob end make contact. Before it can be used to push though.. the other horrib returns. "Did-a-CHICK!" it clatters loudly, holding aloft.. a fat maggoty grub.
"Wha...?" Nicora thinks. She wishes she could shrink into nothing right now; she's used to nasty but this is nasty. "Can I leave?" she asks the creatues weakly, hoping maybe they'll change their mind.
"Dud-a-chum," is the answer. Nicora feels the knob of bone push the egg in a litter farther, only to be retracted. Then the grub goes in. Apparently it won't eat the egg, but it has an instinct to burrow into things, so it pushes the egg ahead as it squishes forward. The horrib still has a firm grip on the larva's tail though, which has hardened into a proto-stinger.
Nicora is disturbingly used to things squirming inside her; but this is worse somehow. "Please stop," she asks her 'children' around her. "If it goes too deep I won't be able to remove it. If it embeds..." And what makes her feel even worse is the fact she's so loose from her almost daily birthings she can't generate enough grip to push the grub out, or even stop it. Slow it? Maybe a little, which her insides are so slimy there just isn't much friction.
The little grub is determined. When it hits the 'barrier' of the cervix it just keeps pushing, forcing the walnut-sized egg to pop through. Then the horrib holding its tail starts to drag on it.. which the larva resists of course, expanding and contracting its body to try and keep its place.
Nicora makes an undignified grunt when she feels her insides flex and something hard pass through a small opening. "Oh Gods, it pushed it into my womb!" the Eeee thinks in a panic. This sets of a series of panicked clenching from her pelvic muscles as if it would help expel the egg somehow. All this ends up doing is caressing the grub inside her. It feels better than it should.
There's also a gurgle inside. The sort that precedes a worm event! Nicora's belly begins to swell, while the larva keeps struggling and pressing against all of the Eeee's sensitive internal spots. "Did-a-chick!" the horribs exclaim.
"Gods, not now! Not now!" Nicora thinks in a panic. But ... at least it might also push the egg right back out! It won't remain in her! Why does that bother her? Why does she want it to remain?! And then the horrib larva rubs just right and she cries out! Only this cry is one of enjoyment.
As the belly bulges larger, one of the horribs rears up. The hypodermic appendage it sprouts is similar to the one Hosheb uses for supplying nutrient goo.. but on a drone it likes has a very different function. The insect plunges it right into the un-numbed bulge!
Nicora cries out in pain! That hurt A lot. "Is it fertilizing me?" she thinks in agony, swollen, it is easy to get into her womb from the outside.
The possessed worms should only react to spirit essence.. but these horribs weren't fed the goo from the queen - they were fed by Hosheb. Something of the demon must have transferred to them, to make them so.. clever. The first horrib finishes and withdraws, and the next takes the plunge, creating a new wound in the process.
Nicora cries out, again! This really hurts and she has no idea if it is the egg inside her swelling, or just a worm. Either way what the horribs are doing will ensure it will be fertilized. If it is the egg, this will at least be quick? She won't have to fear for weeks while something grows slowly inside her.
The grub finally gives up, but not until four of the horribs have had their way with Nicora's belly. They're quick, at least: stab, pump, withdraw. Once the last two have made their donations, the six retreat to form a ring around Nicora. "Did-a-chick," they seem to chant, over and over.
Each stabbing causes Nicora to cry out. The injection points hurt, those tubes are huge, and therefore so are the holes they make. Her head arches back and she cries out again and shudders. Pain rolls through her body; one all too familiar to her now; contractions. "Why did I come here again?" she wonders as her body burns as it instinctually bears down.
There's a lot of squirming in there. How long are the horribs planning on keeping her here? And what happens after the birth? Something hisses in the darkness, and the horribs stop their chant.
Nicora bears down again in agony. It's hard to focus on anything, any sense. But ... she tries to find the source of the hissing.
It's coming from many directions, and close by. The horribs are getting agitated, clicking their claws and buzzing their wings. Something drops onto Nicora's belly. It's hairy, and hard.. and it's spinning around.. There's a grabbit on her, and it's trying to bandage her wounds with silk. More are arriving, rearing up and hissing at the horribs.
"Greve?!?" Nicora thinks. She's being rescued by one of Greve's minons?!? That means she might survive this! And the silks are helping stop the oozing wounds, which is ... well, a very good thing. Pity it hurts something awful still.
The horribs are backing away now, despite having size and weapon superiority. The entire hive seems agitated.. and then goes quiet. Wings stop, claws go still. "You didn't call," Greve notes. "Good thing I watch over, yes?"
"I'm a little busy," Nicora says in a lot of pain, "But there still might be time for you to, ah, bless the child before my body forces it out. Please, help me get this child out of me."
Nicora is lifted up.. and flipped over, so that she's facing the ground now. Thick, hairy limbs hold her up against Greve, while four others propel them through the ruined hall to the entrance. Aside from being able to control so many limbs, Greve also seems capable of doing many things at once, since he's also mating with Nicora on the run. Grabbit minions hurry to secure the Eeee's dead limbs to Greve with silk.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow," Nicora thinks as the is carried along while something abuses her down below. It isn't remotely pleasant, but it is better than where she is so she's not about to argue with the demon. It has actually been rather nice to her! And she remembers something else, the horrib egg won't trigger anyway without the right treatments, and she isn't sure the fertilizing was enough. So, if she is lucky, she'll just expel it with the Greve's child!
Once outside, Greve takes to the air. An archway is his target, and Nicora is laid out atop it. Then the demon really focuses on the mating aspect. His member is.. well, it has fingers. Or is made of fingers. Different parts seem to move in opposite directions, all sliding together. "I like this," Greve says. "Yes. More room. More slick. Can take time.. Shrine Maiden makes me erupt so quick.."
"And I'm stretched like a rhian mare," Nicora remarks weakly. Still, the fingers help her too enjoy some of it since she can only feel the largest to any degree now. It doesn't help her gut skin feels painfully stretched again, and that she has four oozing puncture wounds in it on top of everything..
It's a bit like experiencing Fluffer's machine. Except Greve keeps changing the shape and motion, there's no 'groove' to fall into. She can tell when his release comes at least, since everything seems to expand for that. The demon lets out a hiss as well. Greve doesn't seem to be in any rush to make way for the squirming worm-child yet, however.
Nicora joins in hissing when he releases; for some reason she has the urge to; perhaps to signel some sort of thanks to her partner? When it becomes apparent he isn't moving out of the way, though, Nicora finally says, "You have to withdraw for me to deliver your child." And part of her is thinking, "And please, please, let the horrib egg come with it."
"I help it," Greve notes. The 'fingers' begin to pry open Nicora's cervix. As soon as the opening is wide enough, something starts wiggling through. Then Greve begins to pull out, bringing the newborn with him.
The help of stretching the cervix open is not pleasant! Nicora's jaw clenches and she lets out a long and pained hiss. This induces spasms as muscles inside bear down to push the child out along with the help of the pulling.
As births go.. this one wasn't as bad as having her belly torn open. The child isn't oversized (Greve being fairly small for a demon) after all. What emerges is covered in hair, and has even more tentacles at the head than usual. The foot also has ten 'toes' instead of five, and the body even has a narrow part like a join between the thorax and abdomen of a Grabbit. It is also covered in silk, which is still connecting it to Nicora's birth canal. "I have child!" Greve says happily.
"Greve? Can you check something for me? Those horribs ... pushed one of the queen's eggs into me. Is it part of your child, or can you find it in me and remove it?" Nicora asks the demon weakly as the muscle cramping eases once she has expelled the contents of her womb. "And ... thank you. I enjoyed birthing your child."
Spindly arms with tiny hands at the ends spin and twirl and rotate the child in examination. Then the demon begins to eat the birth webbing, right up to Inala's Gate. "No, nothing not part of baby on baby," he finally reports.
"More like Gorphat's horror now," Nicora thinks, "I cannot look remotely attractive there anymore. She is grateful it removed the silk, though. And so she focuses her aura now and tries to find that jewel.
As usual, her womb is a morass of chaotic impressions. The problem lies with things needing to generate a spirit of some sort, and hibernating eggs just don't seem to do that to a useful degree. It must still be in there... unless the Fungit (or whatever you'd call a fungus-grabbit-demon-worm child) ate it.
"/If it didn't eat it, I still may have a solution,/" Nicora thinks, though she feels ... honestly afraid. She can't be sure it is there or isn't. And if it is even active or not, or will grow. Growing required some sort of treatment from other horribs, after all. Was what her children did enough? "Can you take me home, Greve? I cannot move and I am helpless here,/" she admits.
The baby is bundled up in a silk papoose and stuck to Greve's back. "Through front door?" he asks, as he starts to wrap Nicora in his limbs.
"Back door may be safer," Nicora admits, "And scare less people."
"Sometimes I enjoy the back door," Nicora thinks in a moment of perverseness.
"They fun to scare," Greve notes, flying Nicora back towards Mt. Gorphat. "Screams are tasty-tingly. Why you visit horribs?"
"I should have been safe there. I was looking for Hosheb and my child. Plus to see what they have been up to. I am not supposed to be appealing to them anymore," Nicora explains, feeling rather ... stupid about the whole thing. "Instead my children grabbed me and shoved another horrib egg in me."
"Your children? But not ones you look for?" Greve asks.
"No, the ones I carried for two weeks inside the tower and used to devour a cult," Nicora admits, "Horribs."
"Ah, so not like real children," Greve notes. The mountain is in view (as a blurry blob on the skyline) when the demon heads towards one side of it. "Children can be insensitive. Eat their mother. Tip over trash."
"I don't know what they were trying to do with me," Nicora says, "Just one egg. Why just one? Why attack and threaten me?" She looks to the mountain now, seeing only vague outlines. "When I can move, maybe I can use one of the slime worms to make sure the egg isn't in me, it can eat it or help me get it out."
"Oh, you not hear their chatter?" Greve asks. "They want queen of their own. Special queen, from wife of god."
"Wait, they put a queen's egg in me? A queen?" Nicora asks in panic. "I don't know what those are like. I know how the drones are born, but not the queen. Do you know anything about them?"
"Prettier, bigger," Greve notes. "Eat more. Golden maggots."
"Will it try to eat me? How long to they, ugh ... gestate?" Nicora asks, feeling sick.
"You have special one though," the demon notes. "Drones remember.. born from you. So this is queen of queen, from god-touched drones. Not like others. Want it to be born, not burst out. That makes them different and special and divine."
"I can't make it be born, though," Nicora points out, "They usually try ti eat their way out." She takes a breath, remembering something else. "Do I smell like I am with a horrib?"
"Yes," Greve notes. "Smell the queen in you. It will attract a new harem." He sets down on the back of the mountain, next to an old shrine with a hidden entrance. Nicora's arms and legs are beginning to tingle (and burn a little) while her stomach injuries are just a dull ache now. "You have stinger too," Greve notes, probably referring to the left-hand of the Wraith.
"A new harem? Wait? Horribs will flock to me?" Nicora asks in horror as she is glad to be clone to her home, even if it is just a horrible cess pool. "I'm not sure I want to know the answer, but can having the queen inside me somehow change me? I remember that the eggs sometimes burrow and link into the hosts body and blood vessels."
"I do not know," Greve admits, clicking a bit. "You are special. Egg is special. Drones are special. You have god-juice in you, maybe it leak into egg too, like worms. Do they change you?"
"Kind of? Look at my stomach and Inala's gate. They have made me look horrible," Nicora claims, sighing. "Not that I can see it. I'm blind. Blind and almost helpless, Mother Gorphat made me like this."
"Do they talk to you?" the demon asks next, it's odd face hovering close to Nicora's, so that she can make it out better.
Nicora does grin slightly. "I have to admit, I like you, Greve. You have been kind to me. You are welcome to mate with me when you desire it," she says, "Since you said you enjoyed this body more." She also nods slightly to answer the question, "Yes, the do in a sense. I can understand them."
"Then maybe queen talk to you," Greve says. "You understand her. Make her yours."
"Convince her to not eat me?" Nicora asks, "If she does root herself into me, I may not have a choice. They can attack me with my own body if threatened and risk to the growing is felt."
"Maybe Hosheb help," Greve suggests, and gives an elaborate multi-shoulder shrug.
"All depends on if she roots, and how deeply. If it is shallow, I could remove it," Nicora claims, then sighs. "I will ask Hosheb. I don't have much choice at this point." Then she thinks, "Well, if my worming attempt doesn't remove it."
The pins and needles are still apparent, but the paralysis is mostly worn off. The shadow is there again, feeling less 'sluggish' now.
Nicora tentatively lifts her arm and places it behind Greve's head. What she does next would give most people nightmares, she kisses the demon. On the mouth. At least Nicora doesn't drool like Gorphat; though her breath may be pretty bad. She hasn't lost any teeth, too. Small blessings.
"Do you want me to feed you?" Greve asks, likely misinterpreting the kiss. How often could he have ever been kissed, anyway?
"Uhm, sure?" Nicora agrees? Who knows why.
And so.. Greve regurgitates on Nicora.
And in a disgusting moment, Nicora actually swallows some of it. Maybe being around all that decay did affect her. She's gagging a lot afterward though. "I think it is time I return to my Mother," she wheezes.
"Say hello for me," Greve says. "She a grandma now. Needs to take it easy."
At least the goo doesn't taste any worse than.. the other goo Nicora has dealt with so far. It's warm for one thing. And a little spicy. Who knows what Blakat feeds her demon.. but at least it isn't chunky.
Reeking of vomit, Nicora pats Greve's shoulder and makes her way into the temple. Blind, she at least knows her way around in here. She ... makes her way through the passages, heading not for her bedroom, but for the slime pools.
Nicora also feels her gut, where she was punctured, to see if they are healing.
The slime pools.. have been tidied up. The slime is actually confined to the pools, and the columns and other bits of architecture have been cleaned. It looks more like part of a temple again. Under the silk bandages, the entry wounds are no longer oozing or bleeding, and there's no feel of scarring yet. They ache but there isn't any sharp pain.
Nicora kneels down beside the pool and focuses on it, trying to sense movement within it without getting too frustrated. Can she find a large worm? And more to the point, does she have a prayer of catching it?
They seem to be down deep. Maybe clearing some of the scum off the top wasn't the best thing for Sil to do, if that was their food source.
Well, a slime bath will get the vomit off. So, with a sigh Nicora slides her bare and hideously pale body into the slime pool. "This is a long shot," she thinks to herself. But, she is terrified of the though of a horrib queen growing inside her. The last grubs were pretty large, a queen would be moreso.
The worms begin to stir, and swarm around Nicora. At the moment though, they're more concerned with cleaning off the vomit (and nibbling a bit at the silk, but not able to chew through it). Some of them even try crawling up the side of Nicora's face to get to the nutritious goo. Some of the worms feel large, and at least one of them is a foot long.
Nicora actually ducks into the slime, completely immersing herself in it. She focuses on her aura while the worms feed ... and she tries to get a hold of the largest worm she can. "Ugh, can't believe I'm back in there. And why does it have to feel nice?" she thinks.
The slime does, momentarily, let Nicora forget that her hair and fur are gone. The big worm is slippery, of course. It doesn't want to be grabbed, but seems fine with being nudged or guided.
Nicora can't believe she is going to do this, but she is desperate. She actually spreads her legs in the slime pool. One hand goes down to ease apart Inala's gate, which is easy given the condition she's in. She can feel the pool ooze slowly seep into her, mixing with her own goo. Her free hand, well, that she tries to nudge and direct that large worm between her legs and the opening the Eeee offering.
The curious worm takes the bait.. for a short while. After an initial foray, it backs out again!
Nicora frowns. "No, no, inside!" the Eeee thinks desperately. She tries to guide it back in to her body. She knows she's horrible-looking, perhaps the most vile Eeee that lives, but it's a worm.
The result is the same! The worm goes in most of the way, but then reverses direction as if encountering something foul.
Nicora frowns. She'll have to check if there is something worse oozing from her. She comes up for air, then dives back under the slime and decides to test the worms one more time, only a different way. She eases her snake-tail out of the way and tries to relax her other passage, then directs one of the large worms there instead to see if it wants to be more willing that direction. Disgusting as it is, she's making sure it is her womb repelling them.
This time the worm is happy to go spelunking, even if Nicora's liquid diet doesn't provide any goodies for it.
Nicora makes a face! That is a sensation that's truly bizarre. Soon she/s climbing out of the pool while her insides squirm! Soon she's on her hands and knees, dropping slime everywhere and gasping. Worried about it still, she tries to reach up inside herself and feel around for what repelled the worm since it didn't go that deep.
It's disturbing how easy the access is. But there isn't anything foreign in there. Even the silk is gone. It could be something chemical then; an odor or pheromone. Or even something spirit-based.
Nicora pushes as deep as she can manage, then draws her hand out. She tries to smell the slime on her hand. Then worse, she tastes it.
It tastes like.. well, slime. Without being a worm, it would be hard to tell what was repulsive when it's frankly all repulsive.
Nicora gets up and tries to extract the worm squirming about in the other passage. "Hosheb!" she calls out mentally to the demon. "To me!"
It's a worrying amount of time before a voice from the shadows responds. "Mistress," Hosheb rasps.
"Hosheb! the blind Eeee says, "Our .... children attacked me! They grabbed me. They poisoned me! And then they held be down ... and forced the egg of a queen inside me!" She grabs her loose and distended gut for emphasis. "I have a horrib queen inside me and I can't get it out!"
"Is this a problem?" the demon asks.
"Can you smell it? Where is it? And yes, because it could kill me," Nicora says as she wipes slime off her body. "I don't even know how long it takes for it to grow, or how big it will get. And didn't you tell me once that it has to be feed by something to even start?"
"It will be the queen for the Temple Hive," Hosheb says. "It is a great honor. You will not be killed. This is Gorphat's will."
Nicora rubs her neck. "Gorphat's will?" she asks. The next call is for Gorphat herself to come to her.
"I am not some grok to be summoned to your side, my daughter," Gorphat whispers in her damp voice.
"I know. I need you. I am faltering," Nicora admits, shivering slightly and clutching her stomach. "I have been chosen to carry a horrib queen. I am terrified," she admits, then bites her lip. "But, I need your help. You once helped horribs within me through a kiss and made sure they bound to me so I could not remove them easily. I am asking you to ... help this new egg bind to me, become part of my flesh. So even in my moments of fear and doubt, I will bear it. It will be part of my by Your wonderful hand and I will .. give it life in your name." Her head bows. "Will you grant this request from your Daughter?"
A green-furred head appears over Nicora's shoulder. "Hmmm," Gorphat gurgles. "No, I wish for you to overcome your fear on your own this time. You should show no weakness or doubt in the face of such things by now. You will bear it, daughter. Without my aid."
Nicora sighs to herself softly. "If that is your will," she says and bows her head. "I will do as you ask and try, Mother Gorphat."
"You will not fail me," Gorphat says. "Or yourself."
"Time will tell me on that; I will try my best. I apologize for how I summoned you, it will not happen again," Nicora says quietly. "Hosheb, you may also go. Thank you for answering my summons."
And then Nicora is alone, except for the worms in the pool and the eggs inside of her.
Nicora spends a few minutes pushing what slime she can back into the pool, then leaves the chamber and makes her way back towards her room. The bat feels utterly frustrated, but that is nothing new. She became this to protect Babel, but is coming to regret it more and more. At least she can shift forms, and maybe it is high time she spends much less time in this body. Just needs to clean up first.
Sil is in Nicora's chambers, setting out fresh bandages. "Welcome back, Yodhgorphat," she says, bowing.
"Hello, Sil. I will likely be taking a trip soon and will not be at the temple," Nicora says as she nods towards the glow. "Your services will not be needed until I return."
"Is.. is there anything you need done outside the Temple?" she asks. "I can serve in the kitchen or the hospice if you wish."
"That is your choice to make, Sil," Nicora says as she feels for, and grabs one of the few meager towels to clean herself off.
"We will try to handle what we can in your absence, mistress," Sil promises.
"Also, be prepared that I may not return. I most likely will, but the world is a dangerous place, especially for one such as I," The Yodhgorphat says, "If I do not, please do not wait too long. Go, have a life again. You have done great service."
"I will pray for your return," Sil says. "Do you need anything more from me now?"
Nicora rubs her forehead for a moment, then says in a measured voice, "No, Sil. Please leave me."
The woman leaves, her aura a bit muddled.
Nicora fumbles for her dagger and eyes metaphorically speaking for a minute. There's always an easy way out of things and it is one the bat has considered many times. She rolls the dagger in her hand, then places the tip between her upper breasts. She draws a deep breath and her arm tenses as if she's about to drive it into her own heart. Then she just drops it and it lands blade down between her legs, embedding into the meager bed. "Sil, come back," Nicora calls to see if the Eeee is still in range at all as she collects the knife and sets it back aside where it had been resting.
There are rapid footsteps as Sil returns, "Yes, Mistress?" she asks hopefully.
"Please clean me off and inspect my stomach. I was injured earlier," the Yodhgorphat instructs as she rises. "Also, I need to to clean ... Inala's gate for me, and tell me if I smell any different to you." That's a rather unpleasant request, really.
"Yes Mistress," Sil replies, and begins washing and examining Nicora. "There is fresh silk on your belly," she notes as she wipes over the area with a cloth. "I can smell blood and something else.. but I don't see anything out of place. Should I be looking for something specific?"
"What else?" Nicora asks, "Please describe it to me. And, can you check under the silks?"
Sil tries pulling the edge of the 'new' bandages up. Unlike the other 'outfit' these haven't absorbed any of Nicora's fluids. She manages to peel one away, and feels over the spot it covered. There's still some ache, but no pain. "I.. I think your skin might have been broken? I can feel a slight ridge. But it is on your horrib-larva tattoo, so I cannot tell if there is any bruising."
"It was, but it has healed. This is ... good," Nicora says and nods her head slightly. "And what about the other smell? Can you describe it? If not, that is okay."
"It is difficult, I don't know how to describe it," Sil says, frowning. Her aura tinges green when she tries inhaling the scent further. "It is a bit.. acrid? Not sour or acidic.. and very faint. Not a diseased odor.. at least not one I am familiar with."
"From all of me?" Nicora asks next, "And I am sorry, I cannot smell otherwise I would not be asking you to. I ask too much of you as it is. I know I am ... disgusting."
"Just from your belly and lower," Sil says. "I can prepare your douche now if you wish?"
"It is probably not a bad idea. It has been a trying day for me in that respect," Nicora admits as she blindly looks at the ceiling.
It takes some minutes, but the solution is prepared and applied. "Mistress, there is no bruising or changes that are obvious to me," Sil notes, "but the smell is still there, even after vinegar."
"More or less pronounced?" Nicora asks next. She even rubs the back of her bare next again. She almost wishes she was back in the slime pool, if only because it helped her forget being completely bald.
"More pronounced than your belly, but unchanged since before cleaning you," Sil explains. "It fades with distance though.. I must be close."
"Is it unpleasant? Or tolerable?" Nicora asks.
"Mistress?" Sil asks. "Well.. it is no more unpleasant than.. everything else," she says, trying to be kind. "I'm sure if someone has their head in your lap, there are other considerations at work."
"You can be honest if you find me disgusting, Sil," Nicora points out kindly. "If I could see and smell I probably would find myself disgusting."
"Disgust is a physical reaction, mistress," Sil claims. "It is.. it is the challenge we must overcome in order to serve."
"I could order you to tend to me sexually for a real challenge," Nicora remarks a bit dryly.
"Fon would be very challenged if such a thing occurred, Mistress," Sil notes. "We have been together through many hard times. It is because we have been stronger together that we have survived. And that is why we serve here, Mistress."
"I know. I am teasing you, Sil. You put up with more than you should," the Yodhgorphat notes. "Thank you. Perhaps some day I will have an acolyte to mold into a Yodhgorphat instead of trying to tempt you."
"There are many hopefuls in the hospice now," Sil notes. "You took the burdens away from many in the tents."
"I doubt many would take the trials, though. I am an end result," Nicora points out as she sits back down. "I both fear what I am, yet often would not wish to be anything else."
"I could talk to some of them," Sil offers. "See who is suited for work in the Temple, and who can help elsewhere. Gorphat was never very dependent on her Yodh for most things.. outside of the purges. But She is the only Kindly One that offers... protection.. for those who have nothing."
"If you wish to talk to them, you may. If some wish to speak to me, let me know and I will have an audience with them. After a good bath," Nicora notes, then smirks. She then pats the Eeee's head lightly. "And where is Blarf? I may require some ... milking soon enough. My teats are aching."
"I moved him out for a bit.. to be honest, Mistress, he is very helpful in cleaning certain areas, and is able to move on his own better every day."
"There is nothing to apologize for. It is my child and serves the temple," Nicora notes. "Do you wish me to ... birth more to help you?"
"Well.. I could also choose helpers from the faithful," Sil says. "It wouldn't do to have a child of Gorphat doing too much labor, after all."
Nicora chuckles, then coughs, at that. "Well, I don't mind birthing them at this point. At least not so much. I'm just ... quite loose now; I get a breeze in places I used to not," the Yodhgorphat says and skews up her lips.
"I will fetch Blarf back to you, Mistress," Sil says, as she gathers up the cleaning and hygiene supplies. "And thank you, for the Gift."
"Thank you for accepting it, faithful of Mother Gorphat," Nicora replies in kind.
Sil bows, and leaves to find Blarf.
Nicora settles back down onto her bed and rests her head in her hands. "I am a mess. A horrible, hideous, smelly, mess," she mutters to herself. Even cleaned, her skin feels ... off. Rubbery-almost.
Soon, Blarf shuffles back into the room at Sil's prodding, and makes its way over to Nicora's side, caressing her with tentacles until they latch on to their favorite spots.
Nicora actually guides them all into place. Then tests something; will Blarf still feed off her slime-oozings or will the horrib pheromones repel it too? So, she guides a tentacle to that spot too. She's cleanish anyway, but the smell test may be telling.
The strange creature doesn't seem to react to the odor, even though that is part of how it communicates. Blarf's aura is happy.. or at least pink. It's spirit seems brighter as well, more real.
Nicora actually lets out a sigh of relief. The regular milking does help. If she goes more than a day and something excites her, the pressure gets rather uncomfortable. She even pets the strange monster. "You love me, right?" she asks it.
Blarf farts in a semi-melodic way in reply.
And Nicora laughs. She seems to decide something, then nods once. "Sil, you may wish to leave for a bit," she notes, then lets the Eeee leave before she says, "Hosheb, to me."
After the woman has left, a figure looms in the shadows, outlined in silver. "You have accepted Gorphat's Gift, I see," Hosheb says.
"The Horrib Queen?" Nicora clarifies.
"No, the gift of choice," the demon clatters. "To surrender to hardship, or struggle to overcome it, even if the only reward is more struggle. It is the only freedom granted by any of the Kindly Ones. The only freedom in Babel open to everyone. You made your choice."
Nicora considers, then nods. "I also chose this; I want to be the best host for the queen I can be. Therefore, I ask that you mate me regularly to ensure it is strengthened by you, and that you feed it with your tube until it firmly roots itself into my body. Even though it scares me, I want it to be deeply integrated into me so that I provide it sustenance. I want to give part of myself to the queen for Gorphat. Sacrifice," she says. She sounds nervous, but firm on this.
"Not sacrifice," Hosheb says, as the creature lays next to Nicora, opposite Blarf. "Sacrament."
"I want to show my faith and dedication to the temple. Unlike when Inala's placental gift helped protect my body, I want the queen's egg to become part of me. Like the first eggs tried to do," The Yodhgorphat says as she reaches over to stroke along the horrifying creature next to her. "Is this possible?"
"Your womb will make it happen," Hosheb claims. "It is a special place now, with it's own nourishment to add." The demon pushes aside one of the tentacles, and mounts Nicora. "I will provide the rest. Your will is key. You must welcome the egg."
Nicora hisses loudly when the creature mounts her. Little of Hosheb is comfortable to touch. "I understand that ... it may make me feel weaker, tired at times. I will use my will to over-come this and serve in spite of it," she hisses, promising, "No matter how it will affect me. If need be I will use the shadow to help the egg find the wall and help old it there in the slime until it roots."
"I want this," Nicora adds as she embraces what of Hosheb that she can.
"It will find its way," Hosheb says. The demon is.. well, he attempts to be tender. Hosheb has been evolving with continued contact, possibly. And once he releases, he penetrates her again with his other tube, filling her with nutrient for the egg.
"Aaaaaa," coos the Yodhgrophat as she feels the release, then the feeding. And that's when Nicora also taps the shadow to see if she can send it into herself and do her small part, and her faith, to find the walnut of an egg and push it upward against the top of her womb. The slime and other pressures may help hold it there. That is if she can even find it.
There's a sense of contact, and.. stickiness. The womb is inflated a bit from the nutrient goo, so there's an actual 'top' to move it to.
Nicora is careful with her shadow. She doesn't want to damage the walnut sized egg. So, she spreads it out like a pillow and slowly, gently, pushes it upward until she can feel something hard pressing gently against the uterine wall. Then the shadow is withdrawn as she thinks, "Bind to me, my horrib queen. Bury deep your tendrils and find sustenance from my body. Though the risk to me is great, I want to be your host," the Yodhgorphat thinks, and actually smiles.