Chapter 84: Don’t Look ♥️
Hilda woke me up on time, nuzzling me gently with her Blessings to rouse me from my deep rest.
I don't have long left.
Yawning with my body glued to her soft flesh, "Anything happen...?" My drowsy voice escaped cautiously while I nudged her breasts with my head.
"Nothing happened. You don't have to worry, little dummy." Hilda playfully pinched my belly. "Something bad might happen if you don't move, though~"
She used all of her courage for that one, didn't she?
Grinning, I turned my head upwards and eyed her flushed face, "Go on then, I'm waiting."
"Hng! Okay! Okay! Sorry..." Twisting her face aside, she poked my belly impatiently and nuzzled my body with the entirety of her own.
So cute!
Chuckling, I had to soothe my strained cheeks. I wasn't used to smiling and laughing this much in my day-to-day life.
Plus, there's something coming up soon.
And by soon, I mean...
30 seconds left.
"Alright, alright- That's enough messing around, Hilda."
Staring into Hilda's eyes, I observed those lovely ruby crystals shift shades of colour intimately between green and golden and settle back into a smooth red.
But, most obvious were the changes in her emotions.
Hilda can never hide from me.
"Is, is it happening...?" Hilda forced a strained smile as she loosened the grip on my belly.
"Mhm."
Shuffling off Hilda's embrace, I plopped onto the seat opposite her and smiled quietly.
"10 seconds left. Close your eyes, don't open."
"But-"
"Hilda."
My stern voice crushed her outburst.
"Close your eyes.
Biting her lips, the poor lass eventually shut her eyes.
Just as-
Tick.
-the time ran out.
A stream of shrieking Curses bellowed in thin air, coalescing and Manifesting a book bound from tip to toe in utter horror.
The Book of Heresy.
Staring at my Manifestation, I steeled my relaxed fists into balls.
It's happening.
.....
...Indeed.
That day, it happened.
That day, I received a taste of my future.
A taste of my power.
A taste of my power's backlash.
It was the faintest of tastes alongside a laughably pathetic level of backlash.
My Second Step as a Fallen was consummated that evening.
...And now, I only wish I could go back to those days.
Alas, that is but a fleeting wish.
A wish is a wish for a reason.
It's not real.
"Right?"
My burning eyes pierced through the window at the pitch-black, undulating waves lying far, far below this fragile home of mine.
And.
There.
Far below us;
Far below this flimsy home;
It stared back.
Stretching till the ends of the horizon, it stared.
Silently.
"...Alora." A pair of arms wrapped around my neck, tracing the petite contours of my body.
Their head came to rest on my shoulder, their lips touching my ears as they whispered:
"Stop looking."
Then, the Prophet covered my eyes.
.....
...
Curses burst out of the Book of Heresy; they pierced through the air and rushed into my body-
Into my skin;
Into my flesh;
Into my bones, tendons, organs-
Into everything.
They dug;
They peeled;
They exploded;
They melted;
They froze;
They massaged;
Bit by bit, piece by piece, my body began to fall apart.
The agony pricked my numbed brain; the pain is back.
All the pain that I had been free of in the past 6 hours returned to me in frantic, incessant waves. In an amplified, surging rain of hellfire.
My mouth opened up to scream, to release the pressure, but my voice box was no longer available for use. It shattered into pieces; instead, guttural, ear-grating noises belched out of my throat alongside peals of Cursed blood.
The noises caused the girl sitting before me to flinch; Hilda had to resist the urge to open her eyes.
Luckily for her, I was burning anything that attempted to hit her with Cursed Flames. Of course, only the bits that were approaching her.
The less I burned, the easier the recovery, as I could pull the exploded pieces back into my body to stitch it together.
Smiling beautifully with half my face shredded, a veil of Cursed Flames covered my eyelidless eyes; I shut myself off.
I didn't want to see Hilda.
Not in this form; not when this creature was torn apart.
---
Seconds turned into minutes.
And the minutes elongated like evening shadows, bathing the carriage with the 'dazzlingly' pungent scent of Curses.
I passed out somewhere along the way, but I'm awake now.
"Hoo..."
Releasing gritty, deep breaths through my broken throat, I started the process of stitching myself back together.
It wasn't an interesting scene.
I've done something similar many times before, but never to this extent.
It was harrowing.
It hurt a lot.
All I wanted to do was throw myself into Hilda's comfortable embrace, but I can't do that either.
I've lost the strength in my body.
This creature's body is useless now without the Book of Heresy.
...Anyways.
After a few minutes, I released the veil of Cursed Flames and opened my newly stitched eyes.
The carriage was clean of any traces; they were either burned or pulled back into my body.
Hilda was shivering with her palms wrapped over her ears, but she looked relatively okay; thank the light-
Thank what?
A terrifying feeling gripped my poorly stitched neck, but I could only take a couple more deep breaths to calm my wildly beating heart.
With everything back in order, I opened my mouth:
"Hilda."
...The big dummy froze.
She slowly relaxed the grip on her ears and lowered her arms.
"It's fine now."
Hilda's eyelashes fluttered as the ruby crystals hidden beneath revealed themselves.
Then, she finally caught sight of me.
I was leaning back on the carriage with my arms limp at my side, my legs hanging quietly, and my neck slumped to the left, allowing my left cheek to rest on the cushion of golden hair lying on my shoulder.
I moved the only thing that could be moved on this useless body, my mouth.
"Pick me up."
Warmly smiling up to my eyes, my hoarse voice beckoned the sorrowful girl over.
I could only apologise endlessly to her, but I could never stop relying on her. She's my Sword Maid, she exists for me, and I can only do what I do because of her.
Without Hilda...
I'd have failed years ago.
Hilda stood up solemnly. Her eyes were hidden beneath loose bangs while she patted her maid uniform down and sat by my side.
The warmth oozing from her body soothed my aching chest.
Forcing my eyes upwards towards the left, I pushed my vision as far as possible to catch a glimpse of Hilda.
And.
As I did so, I watched both of her tender hands enter my vision.
Squish.
They clasped my cheeks and gently squeezed my frail flesh. Hilda slowly lifted my slumped head and turned it towards her.
Towards her stiff, sad, smiling face.
Then, her left hand released my face and wrapped around my waist, pulling me into her body as she tilted my head up-
"Mmf!"
-and layered her supple lips over mine.
I instinctively shut my eyes.
The wet, soft lips pressed deep into me while I felt something else slither out from within.
Hilda's tongue.
My heart screamed as I peeled my lips open, allowing the hot tongue to enter my mouth. The wet, spongy tongue toyed with mine. It searched and prodded at every corner of my mouth.
Her kiss grew fiercer as she vacuumed the saliva out of my mouth; heavy breaths pulsed out of our mouths and noses, intermingling with the tingly sensations in my heart and stomach.
My whole body was numb at the moment.
The only piece I had a semblance of control over was my mouth and tongue, yet, at the same time, the only functioning part of me was exchanging fluids with the one I loved.
In a sense...
Hilda was absorbing all of me.
After a few seconds of our tongues and lips sensually mingling, Hilda pulled her head back. We opened our eyes simultaneously, and both our gazes lay dazed as we stared at the string of saliva connecting our mouths.
Biting her lips, Hilda, "I, I'm sorry..."
But I-
"I love you."
-I smiled.
Brightly.
Joyfully.
All the negative emotions were long gone.
"I really, really, extremely love you. You big, big, little dummy." Giggling, I instinctively tried to prod at her sensitive belly, but my limbs wouldn't follow through.
"But next time..."
I grinned.
"...I'm not letting you go."
Staring into Hilda's ruby-red eyes, I received her stunned, shameful, yet happy gaze in return.
"Okay, little dummy."
Hilda, chuckling, picked my disabled body up and laid me on her lap. She positioned me gently with my head tucked between her breasts, but this time around-
"Chu. Chu. Chu."
-she puckered my scalp full of mini kisses.
Hehe.
I didn't mind in the slightest.
While I enjoyed the kisses, the warmth bubbling in my chest wasn't necessary because of the kisses.
It was because of the meaning behind them.
The meaning meant a lot more to me than the physical aspect.
She's trying to keep me in a good mood.
She's taking care of me.
She loves me.
And it felt amazing.
All of it felt amazing.
The affection, the love, and, most importantly, the care.