Ettyn Origins - Interlude

The sun had long set in the Forests of Elleon. Much like forests back on Earth, the hum and chirps and croaks of nocturnal insects, amphibians, and other creatures filled the air with a calming song. At least for Akito and Lailah. To the Earth-farers, every sound was foreign and alien. They’d been through so much that even noises that sounded gentle and harmless kept them on high alert. Lailah assured them that the fire would keep them all safe...that she and Akito would keep them all safe. That was the goal, at least. 

While not near the campfire like the Earth-farers, its flickering glow still managed to bathe Lailah as she sat silently on a fallen tree. She gazed intently, almost resentfully, at the women around the fire -- Gwen, Charlotte, Naomi, and Dr. Cassidy. Their presence, for some reason, rekindled ancient furies and poked at timeworn scars deep within her heart. 

Akito was setting up camp next to Lailah and she could feel these heated emotions emanating off Lailah more than the actual flames. “If brooding could set up tents, we’d have a village by now,” Akito snickered. 

Lailah blinked, as if snapping out of a trance, lightly shaking her head. Her disposition changed almost immediately. “Oh. Right. Sorry. I should be helping you.”

“It’s okay. You need your broody sleep,” Akito’s snickering erupted into full blown laughter while Lailah’s fiery glare immediately returned. 

“You should’ve left me in that cave,” Lailah grunted. 

The air around the two instantly turned from lighthearted to bitterly tense. Akito slowed her tying together one of the tents and averted her eyes from Lailah. “Seriously,” Lailah went on. “I know it was you. You’re the only one who could’ve broken these chains,” she accused, alluding to the shackles she still wore around her wrists and ankles. 

Akito took a deep inhale. “You didn’t want to be in there any longer than I wanted to be inside of Grisham. And that’s saying a lot,” Akito returned, unable to stop herself from letting out a small smile at the thought of the internals of her dragon. A shiver of pleasure crept up her spine.

“You know full well that’s not true. I was supposed to stay there. Forever.” Lailah argued. 

“Yeah, well, there’s no such thing as forever,” Akito said matter of factly. She finished tying up the last of the tents and took a step back. Her arms spread out in appreciation of her work, “Tada!”

Akito’s hands moved to her hips and she turned her attention back to Lailah. “As much as I love the inside of almost everything, I can’t exactly enjoy it if there’s no world left. As the last two Goddesses in Ettyn, it’s our duty to protect this world. Even if you don’t want to.”

Akito sat down next to her fellow goddess, looking out at the Earth-farers. “I get scared too, Lailah. The one belly I don’t want to end up in is Vindessa’s. If there’s a way to stop her growing power, then I want to do everything I can.”

Lailah let Akito’s words sink in. There was a short silence between them before Lailah spoke again. “I let the world down once. I don’t think I can do it again.”

“Then don’t,” Akito said before turning to Lailah and giving her a twinkling smirk. 

Lailah huffed out a tiny chuckle and shook her head. “Always so bright.”

Akito gently pushed her shoulder into Lailah’s, giving her a little shove. “Goddess of the Sun and all things light. Kinda my thing.”

“Why are you so nice to me?” Lailah asked abruptly, her sadness returning. “I’m the reason we lost everything.”

Akito took a moment, letting out a small breath. Akito’s bright light had a hint of sadness herself. “You’ve suffered enough, Lailah. And you punish yourself far more than anyone would be capable of doing, so it’d be kind of pointless for me to try. Besides...everyone deserves a chance for forgiveness.”

Lailah did her best to prevent any tears from showing. “And,” Akito added. “I never blamed you for what happened.”

Lailah bit her lip hard. Keeping those tears in was hard. She rubbed Akito’s back, and Akito in turn gave her a great big hug. “Do we tell these women what we are?” Lailah asked. 

“Everyone in Ettyn knows. Should probably just be honest with them,” Akito suggested.

The hug ended and the two goddesses looked back out to the strangers. “What the hell are they doing here?” Lailah questioned out loud. 

“That’s what we’ve gotta find out,” Akito answered. 

Meanwhile, the Earth-farers sat silently around the safety of the campfire, its light and warmth their guardians. There was an awkward tension in the air. Nobody quite knew what to say or where to place their gaze, but for Gwen, Naomi, and Dr. Cassidy, their eyes found themselves mostly on Charlotte. The short-fused CEO could sense this, and she was brimming in her seat. “WHAT?!” she shouted, unable to hold it in anymore.

“What is it? Spit it out -- the fuck are each of you staring at me for?” she barked. 

Dr. Cassidy raised her finger and opened her mouth to speak, but she stopped herself, putting her hand back down. Charlotte squinted her eyes and almost snarled. “You think this is my fault, is that it? I didn’t do this!” She snarled, standing up to defend herself.

Dr. Cassidy managed to find the confidence to speak up. “Miss Redd, respectfully, as the CEO, any and all mishaps do actually fall into your responsibility. Respectfully.”

Charlotte turned to Naomi, who just kind of shrunk into her shoulders and gave Charlotte a sheepish grimace as if to say “She’s kind of right and I don’t know how to argue with her.”

“GrrrrrrrRRRRR...” Charlotte clenched her fists and began to pace. She pointed at Dr. Cassidy, “Well, as head of R&D, it’s your responsibility to figure out HOW WE GOT HERE AND HOW TO GET US THE FUCK HOME!”

Gwen nervously raised her hand. Everyone turned to her, and Charlotte placed her hands on her hips and pursed her lips. “I’m sorry, I meant to ask, who the fuck are you?”

“O-oh. Uh, I work -- worked? I worked at the park before, y’know, this,” Gwen answered. “I...I spin signs. For the feedings. It’s fun! Er, it was...fun.”

Gwen’s answer was followed by nothing but the crackling of the fire and Charlotte’s unimpressed gaze. “That does sound fun!” Naomi perked up. 

Charlotte whipped her neck around to pierce Naomi with her gaze. Naomi nodded in understanding. “Sorry.”

“So you’re a minimum wage peon,” Charlotte spat. 

“That’s...really unnecessary--”

“At least these two have some value to me. What exactly do you bring to the table here? Explain to me how you’re not just dead weight that we should toss to a Draeg?”

Cassidy shivered and had to close her eyes at the mention of a Draeg. 

Gwen took a deep breath and tried not to let the hurtful words get to her. She stood up, readying to defend herself. Charlotte wasn’t just imposing because she was gorgeous, or because she held such a commanding personality, she was also a couple inches taller than Gwen, even without her heels. “Look. I know we’re all scared. I’m petrified. But...we can make the best of this right? You three know each other, you must hold some sort of care for each other, right? I know I’m the newbie, but I’m looking forward to getting to know you. This situation is awful, regardless of how we got here, but it makes the most sense to be friends to get through it, doesn’t it? We’re in a brand new world, and all we have from back home is each other. If we stick together, and work together, we can do it. We can survive and find a way home! And...I dunno, this place is gorgeous, we’re in another world. How cool is that??”

Dr. Cassidy, Naomi, and Charlotte all stared at Gwen with varying levels of cringe. Gwen stood there awkwardly and had to avert her eyes from their gawking. She patted her fist against her side before sitting back down, defeated. “Or...or we could just keep fighting too.”

“No,” everyone heard from Lailah as she and Akito joined them around the fire. “We stick together. I don’t know why you’re here any more than you do. But that’s our first and immediate step. We get you acquainted with our world, and we set forth on finding the answer. Ettyn is indeed beautiful, but every single foot of it is deadly. There’s a case to be made that you all are of some importance, so it’s my and Akito’s duty to make sure you don’t get eaten within the first day of you being here. And that’ll be a lot easier if we try to keep the fighting to a minimum.”

Lailah stepped closer to the fire, closer to where Charlotte was standing. Lailah was also shorter than Charlotte, but her confidence was much taller. “You got that?” Lailah said specifically to Charlotte, a clear warning. 

The two stared each other down, not breaking eye contact. It was extremely uncommon for anyone to stand up to Charlotte, so Naomi and Dr. Cassidy’s eyes were wide at the sight.

“Sit down,” Lailah commanded. 

Charlotte harrumphed and almost immediately conceded. She kept her head turned away, her chin up, trying to keep her dignity. 

“We have a lot to discuss,” Lailah announced, sitting down around the fire with the rest of them.