Side Story: Inanos
*** Inanos ***
Could I just pretend to be a baby and sit in Alzi's lap? I feel bad complaining when Vanya has twice my count in her womb, but I'm like half her size. If only things were that easy.
"You can talk to us," Vanya says.
"Shimmer gets to run around with Alzi, and we're stuck here," I say. "Are we worse than her?"
"No," Vanya says. "I don't know if I would say that we're better, but we can't be as bad as her. But we both know this isn't the right way to think about this. All of us need to improve our relationship with Alzi and her lovers. Come on, get out of your room. The kids will like you. They latch on to anyone who is nearby. They're a lot like Alzi probably was before the brothel, and we got to her."
"I know," I say.
"Come on," Vanya says. "We all know you're not that gloomy. You just look like you are. Come on, we've got a few others joining us. There isn't much else for us to do right now, and the rumors say Elora is going to marry Alzi. We need to make sure Alzi knows that it isn't a mistake. That we'll be here to help with all her kids. I'm pretty sure my job is going to be guarding the nursery for a while after the pregnancy. I'm going to be putting enough kids inside for it to be a good match for me."
"Pregnancy is hard for us," I say. "Most Death Elementals are accidents, not naturally born. I'm sorry."
"Then it's a good thing you're small," Vanya says. She scoops me up, and it seems I don't have a choice in where we go. "You already know you don't have to do much. Some of the kids are crawling now, and they would love to have some people to crawl between. You shouldn't be alone when you're sad. At least, not for too long."
I really am a baby. A pregnant baby. Soon, we hear the nursery. Is she going to drop me off in one of the play pens or by the door?
She doesn't stop at the door and wanders deeper in. It isn't fair that she can even carry me with all her kids. She has to be using a lot of mana to keep me up. Or is her womb so full that my weight doesn't hurt it?
"You can put me down," I say.
"Yes, these kids only have maids around. I'll be on the other side. There are a few kids who seem to want out of their crib."
Fluvis's kids. Make sense, I am the other elemental of the harem. Will I have a rainbow of elementals as well, or dragons?
"Oh, hey, didn't know you were coming down," Lottie says. "Glad to have the help. The kids are much better than I thought they would be at using their element than we thought they would be. They really like you. How are you doing? I'm finding out pregnancy really takes a lot out of you."
"How is a death elemental normally during pregnancy?" I say.
"Fluvis has hinted about it," Lottie says. "Fluvis doesn't have the same issue."
"This and how I treated Alzi make things difficult," I say.
"Yes, that part we have in common," Lottie says. "I wish I could give you help, but Fluvis had to fix things for me. Not even fix things, make it so it isn't as bad. But look at Alzi. She's doing better."
"This isn't her real body," I say. I don't need to look at Alzi. I don't want to. I'm sure this is how she would be if the nobles weren't such pieces of shit. All of us are working to drag her down. "Her main body is a lot worse. She just has things to do and people pushing her to stay busy. She'll crash when it stops. The kids can only do so much."
"It probably is hopeful thinking on my part," Lottie says. "We can only do our best to help. Come on, the kids want some attention from us."
"Ok," I say. The kids are surprisingly good at kicking us out of our funk, but only for a bit before we get tired ourselves.