"W-wait, hold on now!" Lila's voice quivered as she tried to crawl back.
"It's okay." The heiress cornered her against the edge of the bed, pinning Lila with a powerful yet gentle grip. "I'll be gentle."
"B-but."
"You can't take it like I can," Ivy's voice followed through like a weightless feather. "It's okay. We'll ease into it."
"I-I'm," Lila sputtered, unable to explain herself. "N-never done this-"
The Earthling's flowing hair obscured her freckled cheeks as she peered up at Ivy with an innocent gaze.
Hazelnut.
She smelled like hazelnut.
Of course I love her.
"What was that you called me?" Ivy brushed aside her bangs with a sly finger. "Baby girl?"
Her partner gulped, unable to resist the heiress as a circlet of small diamonds wrapped itself around her throat. She had never worn Ivy's jewelry before. Yet she understood its meaning.
Ivy leaned in closer, whispering into Lila's ear with a devious smirk. "I'm going to fuck you for that."
Lila was completely naked by then, her flat chest heaving with each breath. With a flushed face and parted legs, she began to expect the inevitable. It was well and truly her first time.
"Just focus on your breathing." Ivy's soft cadence resembled Lunae's. "Let your voice out."
She had already manipulated the mindscape once more, using what could only be described as the proper tool to inspect her partner.
"B-b-bah!" Lila's expression shrunk as she gritted her teeth. "Bah!"
"Is that your sound?" Ivy snidely remarked. "I'm not even in yet."
True to her word, the heiress was working at a snail's pace, making sure not to injure Lila in any way. But the Earthling had proved tighter than expected. It soon became clear what Ivy had to do next.
"Baa-ah!" Lila's lower back sprang into a beautiful arch.
Ivy's smirk widened. She just loved the way her little Earthling relied on repetition. It was almost as if that shrill bark was the only word she knew.
"That's a good girl," Ivy pressed forward slowly, then pulled back, allowing Lila to absorb every inch of her passionate love. "Let it all out. Don't hold back."
Realizing her partner's body had successfully adapted, Ivy began to hasten her efforts, lunging forward with rhythmic precision.
"Bah! Bah! Bah!" Lila's voice became increasingly shrill.
Her scrawny legs wrapped around Ivy's torso as her eyes finally opened wide. Time itself had frozen for the Earthling, her world shattering with each spasm. Pleasure alone could not describe what she felt in that moment.
"Got anything else to say, funny girl?" Ivy panted, putting every bit of effort into her Lila. "Well, it's my turn now. I will speak. And you will listen!"
Lila was reaching her limit. In truth, Ivy didn't anticipate the Earthling would last any longer than a minute before her legs went numb. But she wasn't quite finished.
One more.
"B-!" Lila's voice cut off with a sharp whimper.
Ivy lunged forward, finishing her off with a flattening kiss. She could feel Lila's last, shallow breath reverberate through her lips. Only then did she allow her partner to go limp.
"I love you," Ivy muttered. "I love you more than you'll ever understand. My dear Lila."
- - - - - - - - - - - -
"Do you envy them?"
Lunae was pretending to be asleep, her face pressed against Sonera's upper thigh as she lay in bed. She was well aware of the kiss that had been planted on her lips, and the solemn vow that came with it. Yet even as her Psionic mind caught wind of Lila's venture beyond virginity, Lunae remained in a state of false slumber.
"I mean, them bitches fucking."
The princess remained unusually calm, given who she was speaking to.
"They earned it," Lunae replied with her Psionic voice. "I'm happy for them."
Unbeknownst to Sonera, the queen of all Infestare was looming overhead, once more berating her daughter with all the virulence and trickery Lunae had come to expect. But this time was different. For neither party seemed particularly upset.
"No, really, that Earth-girl is going to pound town," Lovatte snorted playfully. "And still you nose into it? Atta girl."
"If you've come to call me a coward," Lunae sighed. "Then I won't protest."
There was no need to discuss her shameless fantasies. What Lila and Ivy had, Lunae wanted. All of it and more, she dreamt of with Sonera. That much was obvious.
"You've been chosen, darling." Lovatte lifted a bony finger. "That's a big deal for an Infestare. We don't just go around letting anyone claim us. Not even a promiscuous girl like you."
The princess raised her eyebrow, nearly alerting Sonera. "You've come to...advise me?"
"Honey, that's all I've ever been doing," Lovatte sighed, wagging the same finger. "This Sonera girl, who I must admit is growing on me, can't be left out to dry. I mean, you of all people, acting prudish?"
"I can't-."
"You sure can jiggle your way around half-naked, showing off your goods. But a kiss is too much?"
"We both know what I could do to her," Lunae whimpered, her tail coiling around Sonera's leg. "An Infestare's love."
"It can be a curse," Lovatte nodded. "Yes. Finally. That's the right kind of selfishness I wanted from you. Perhaps Yrix has taught you something after all."
The princess paused. "You know her?"
"We have an understanding. Like me, that fine lady is something of a revolutionary mind. We're like star-crossed rebels, Yrix and I."
"Then-," Lunae found herself stumbling over her words. "Our own people-."
"I knew you'd figure her out faster than me," the queen huffed, sounding awfully proud of herself. "An alternative perspective works wonders, I've always said. Go ahead, call dear mommy a genius."
Lunae held onto Sonera tighter, something the assassin had come to expect from her sleepy partner.
"How could a queen hate her own people?" She phrased it not at all like a question.
"Same way you can. Now, do be a good girl and don't let Sonera slip. Tomorrow is a big day, and Neirophen loves a good infight."
Lunae's perspective had already begun to shift. She still detested her mother, of course. But her words carried far more weight.
Like me.
Against that thing.
"I'll do my best," Lunae promised.
"It's never enough for us." Lovatte turned to leave. "But when the time comes, don't make a decision you'll regret."
Lunae wanted to say thank you. Yet the words receded from her tongue. At the very least, she managed to delay her mother's disappearance.
"What changed?"
Lovatte smiled out of view. "I needed to know if she was more then just crazy. We Infestare can't resist someone with burning ambition. It's the lure of hopelessness that always gets us, that idea that maybe, just maybe, we can save them as they start to burn."
"I will save her." Lunae frowned, her eyes narrowing into that serpentine gaze. "Mark my words."
"Oh, you'll be marking something," Lovatte chortled before vanishing in a puff of smoke. "Too bad she's flat."
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Are you...sore?"
Sonera caught Lila in the corner of her eye as she inspected herself. True to form, her voice was eerily frigid, with not a lick of nerve. The same could not be said for the rest of her family.
"N-no," Lila cringed. "I'm just like...you know, that thing that happens to people who lose their limbs but they still feel it?"
Bad joke.
"Okay, never mind," the Earthing coughed. "I'm good to go."
"But where are they?" Lunae peeped with fear in her tone.
In typical fashion, Yrix had altered the sparring arena with a center screen, perfectly obscuring the other team. It was the perfect way to build tension.
"Planning, like we should be doing," Ivy complained.
"We have a plan," Sonera whispered with her Psionic voice. "We take the heavy hitters; Lila and Lunae rope up anyone caught flat-footed."
"I'm just worried that's not enough."
Sonera raised a hand to comfort the heiress, only to clench her fist in anger as a familiar voice broke into her mind.
"Students," Yrix strutted into the room. "I just spoke with your adversaries."
"So let's hear the catch." Ivy rolled her eyes as she turned away from the Arch-Flayer. "Lay it out and save some time."
"Will they have to kill us?" Sonera added with a scowl, dying to know the answer.
"My, my, aren't we getting fast?" Yrix chuckled. "It's a good thing your finals are soon. But no, death remains entirely optional."
"Well, that's good." Lunae blinked. "Right?"
"No, no!" Lila exclaimed. "That's the catch! You won't make us go that far; but you're hoping we will anyway, and you'd never bet on that unless there was good reason!"
"As I said," the Arch-Flayer shrugged. "Getting faster. Still, it doesn't change anything."
Ivy spoke up. "It's the final trial, isn't it? You told them fewer of us will make it easier."
Yrix crossed her arms. "Maybe I said nothing at all. Maybe I just stared at them. Either way, the fate of this trial is in your hands. In thirty seconds, I'm dropping the screen."
Something was wrong. Lila could feel it. In no universe would Yrix allow the possibility of a friendly match. She had already given her students the chance to frolic and flirt. Like with every milestone in her curriculum, there would be a culling.
"Ready yourself, Lila." Ivy gripped her partner's hand one last time before taking her place in the planned formation. "This is it."
The Earthling was too busy catching up to Yrix.
She planned everything.
All of it.
But for what?
"If anything goes wrong," Lunae brandished her crook, whispering to her allies with a Psionic voice. "Call for my aid."
Yrix's countdown was already nearing completion.
Ten.
Nine.
Eight.
"Oh shit." Lila's eyes widened.