"Yes, it was mean, just that you can rebuild the house and make dinner." I then face-planted the floor, I was completely wiped after that last barrier and was standing on sheer bravado as I delivered my smug closing.
Once again I didn't see the one claiming to be Idir, as if whatever it was was hiding. I wasn't complaining though, when you don't have to worry about brain-damage, oblivion is quite relaxing.
When I came to I was laying in bed. "You really went all out for me, didn't you?"
"Eve I will never give you anything less than everything I can." I tried to sit up and she was there to help me, then she passed me a bowl of soup.
"I need to apologise, now my head is clearer I can see how weird I was being, I must have worried you a lot."
"The slap was more concerning, not because of the violence I'm used to that, but because of the reason. It was like you were bewitched or enchanted and I suspect you were, I couldn't study the wall after you obliterated it, but I think she enchanted it to make you behave irrationally." I said before spooning some soup into my mouth.
"How? I'm a god, I should be immune to that kind of thing."
"I don't know what she is, but it isn't human, she certainly was back then, but now I have no idea. She is both like us and completely different to us, not mere reflections like the creators of The White... Sil... What are you? How do I kill you?..." I lost myself in thought for a moment.
"Love... Eat... Then we rest, we both need an early night."
"Why are you so tired? We should be able to go days or weeks without sleep maybe not even require it at all, was one night under that witches spell enough to drain you?"
"No, I think it's emotional, everything's been a whirlwind of emotional stress lately for everyone and I think it's just been a bit much."
"Makes sense, tomorrow we won't try to make up lost time, we will just take it slow."
"That sounds nice, now if you're done scooch over so I can get in bed." I passed her the bowl and then she snuggled into my back. "I've been so distracted with the front of you lately I forgot how comforting your back is..." She sighed, before she started to snore gently almost immediately.
"If it's so comforting, then please stay behind me, I don't want you in-front where the danger is."
The next day Eve arose with unnatural grogginess, the girls decided to try and help their mum feel better with breakfast and juice, but they weren't expecting her to be so sleepy when she usually awoke with me instinctively.
"Sorry Mum, we would have waited if we knew how tired you were."
"Don't be silly, we'll just stop a little earlier and I'll get you girls in the morning so I can sleep in, deal?" The girls nodded as they ate, happy with the plan. I was just happy to see them happy.
"Looks like rain today, hopefully it will stay light, the area needs moisture so we shouldn't stop it." If it rains we will just play indoor games for the day, this is a honeymoon as well as a hunting trip remember.
As we moved the girls told us that Bell was leaving on the opposite shore of the river from Babylon, there was a small dispute about Babylon's bonfires but after Asrael explained the ash was good for soil, Babylon was pardoned.
We managed to make a fair bit of ground until we had to stop, but it wasn't rain that stopped us, it was a device that Quatal was carrying. "Oh no! Mama, Mama, it's time.. I'm gonna be a Mama now, I'm too young. Mama help."
I opened the portal and pushed her through unceremoniously, a brief while later she popped her head through. "Err, Papa, I may have forgot, what was this supposed to be again... I got exactly what I wanted, but I don't think it's what it should have been."
Massaging the space between my eyebrows I followed her through the portal. It definitely wasn't what it should have been, what had hatched was nothing I had ever seen before. It was a small dragon-like creature with fur instead of scales, except for the wings, it also had cartoonishly-large eyes that seemed to be filled with a starry pattern.
I was a pretty observant guy however and one thing was clear... The monster appeared exactly as she wanted it to, in a form no one had ever seen before. I crossed the incubation chamber to where Quatal was tickling the little fur-ball and picked up a piece of it's shell converting its energy into fire.
The fire was a strange purplish colour. "So that's it, congratulations, it seems your baby is a spiritual beast and we only know this because you get your memory from Papa."
"Hey, that's mean Papa. I just got distracted, by Mama being sad."
"Quatal, do not use people's sadness as an excuse. That is wrong, okay?"
"Sorry Papa, I'll apologise to Mama to..."
"Not yet, first you need to name your baby."
"Flookuro" The name was given without pause or hesitation.
"Flookuro?"
"Flookuro... Floofy-Kuro... Flookuro."
"Yep, that's a name, good job sweetie." I apparently wished to vent some pent up judgemental tendencies and that hypocritical opportunity was the first to arise.
We returned and introduced Flookuro to the others.
"So what is it?"
"It's a spirit beast. It seems that monarclaws are actually just a self-fulfilling prophecy with claws and fangs... the rapid evolution makes more sense now to."
"Pretend I'm an idiot..."
"I... said...they..." I was struck hard and multiple times, for my sarcasm and laughing about it after ward, but she did give me permission so she only watched as Quatal and the Little One beat me. "Ahem! Spirit beasts are actually mana dense atmospheric life form that are shaped by thought energy. They more often than not take on the shapes of guardian deities and local legends and the such."
"So shouldn't they be rare and why eggs?"
"The eggs bit I honestly have no clue, I will try to figure that out but it will be difficult. Yes they should be, but as Bell pointed out, the atmosphere has been filled to the brim lately with life force and absorbing mana."
"Ok... What about the random evolution?..."
"That, I do know... It's my fault and Doran's... Mostly Doran's."
"You better explain real quick."
"A while ago, we fought a monarclaw that turned out to be acidic and filled with highly corrosive gasses, we took it back to the guild and that made people think they were evolving and their imaginations done the rest."
"Right, ok, so not actually your fault per se, just a side effect of good behaviour. Wait, shouldn't a creature that takes the shape expected of it be more varied?"
"That is very generous and you would think, but no. Long ago some one goes into the woods, they have a dream of slaying a fearsome creature and becoming a hero..."
"Believable, sounds like every young adventurer."
"Well, the nearby spirit senses that intense vision, takes shape as the young man envisions. Probably kills him, because he was dreaming and those things are a beast. Well after that, that one is spotted, its trail of destruction is found, rumours spread."
"...And people walk into the woods expecting to see a big black feline beast..."
"Exactly. Over time they change slightly, one guy spreads rumours about one being a real monster after he got careless and needed an excuse for his injury..."
"And they get exponentially more powerful and linear as time goes on and the image is cemented. Until one of two people pictures one with highly acidic features and they restart the gossip train while the high life force and mana density is causing a population spike."
I nodded, as I waited for the final judgement on my level of guilt, then Eve asked whether it was me or Doran who thought of the acid. "It was me, I was thinking of maybe making some acid traps to help other deal with them and then the ideas got jumbled in my head and then it came to life as the "acid-monarclaw" but it was entirely my fault, I sho-"
"Should have what? Known more about a creature than people who had been dealing with them for centuries? This isn't anyone's fault. How do we deal with it?"
"We don't tell anyone." The statement left them dumbfounded. "Every new discovery is met with disbelief, some will oppose it consciously simply because they didn't notice it."
"So we just let these poor misunderstood creatures get slaughtered? That's cruel"
"No, I didn't say that. We overpower their idea of a monarclaw with base desires, humans are the enemy in this fight not the threat itself. It is time for monarclaws to die, but only mentally."
"So you want to send people out with a different idea of what they are expecting to see."