Memory, A Friend and Perfect Stranger Alike

--04.

In a dark den, the walls pulsed with a rhythm one would associate with an organism's innards.

They were alabaster in hue and warm to the touch; the room they enclosed similar in temperature.

The tiles that made up the floor had been alabaster too, long ago. 10 crimson ovules sprouted from rouge splotches half-part fleshy and tender, half-part brilliantly gleaming like a gemstone and as hard as a rock.

The oblong shapes were slightly over 2 meters in height and arranged in a misshapen circle. At their center was a figure that could loosely be considered humanoid if one covered enough of their sight.

The upper half of its head was a ruby red five-sided prism, the frontmost face of which had the number 0 and letter J engraved upon the jewel-like substance. Under that, the figure diverged into a maroon humanoid that appeared to be female.

The lower half of her heart-shaped face was sculpted by gently curved yet prominent outlines, the features containing a concave, graceful nose and plump, well-proportioned lips. She looked quite beautiful.

Her body was womanly and buxom with prominent curves, full hips, and ample cleavage. She sported two arms and maroon skin patterned by subtle rufous red swirling patterns that were a shade darker. The skin's texture appeared to be fleshlike from the lower half of her face to her haunches.

She lacked legs. Instead, her hips emerged from a gemstone mass connected to the basis of the den, similar in color and touch to the pentagonal prism that was the upper half of her head.

These crystalline portions had a hard, metallic texture, though these parts radiated the most warmth.

This was a Broodmother. She was currently preparing for the hatching of her Clutches, the ovular shapes with wriggling red exteriors engraved with lines. No two sets of lines were the same, all of them unique.

This was the first Brood of the newest generation; as such, their Serial Names would have to include 2 zeroes at the beginning. The first for her, the second for the generation, and the last being the order in which they hatched.

2 long years had passed in subtle quakes and squirms, and today was the culmination of all that time. The Broodmother wore a smile on her face as she stared lovingly at the ovules in eagerness and anticipation.

Truthfully, this was not their mother. Rather, the Broodmother was more of a caretaker designated Presence, the lowest in the hierarchy of the Vermillion Court. They were not even considered Nunally; their positions were respected but not revered.

The ovules themselves were held in higher regard by the Nuns of Nunally than the Broodmothers themselves. They were constructed in batches with much care, their contents based on the genetic data added during the ovule's creation.

The metahumanoid growing inside the ovule could be of any race, though they occasionally failed to form. The Broodmother was experienced, she had watched the growth of three generations, and this was the very first Clutch of her fourth.

Every Broodmother desired to mother each and every metahumanoid of their Clutch, leaving no wonder as to why she watched the trembling ovules with bated breath. She desperately hoped that only two or three would fail to hatch.

Www, www, www.

The first Clutch slowly squirmed as it released a low, buzzing pitch. The initially crystalline surface became far more bulbous and organic as the exterior visibly dried out, darker indentations forming a unique pattern as the Clutch's writhing intensified.

The Broodmother caressed the patterns with gentle strokes, her gaze peeking through the faintly transparent ovule as she took her guesses.

Kkkr...sha...

The topmost part of the ovule struggled before crashing downwards, showering the newly born Broodspawn in meaty, viscous internals and dry gristle. Red splotches of amniotic fluid dotted hair as white as freshly fallen snow, dripping down and pooling beneath the small shivering figure.

Its hair was long, covering its face entirely and pooling around its waist--a good sign of vitality. Brushing aside the thick veil of white locks, the Broodmother ignored the little one's wailing and stared at the body beneath as if to determine something.

First, she checked the Broodspawn's physiology. Male.

Next, she seemed to scan the Broodspawn's body composition, scrutinizing the face and any other details on his body as a soft red light washed over it.

"You little thing." She said with a warm yet faintly cordial smile, confirming something as she analyzed the pattern on the scattered shards of the ovule's exterior shell before continuing with an air of certainty.

"A Numerus...Quinque, judging by the number of your shadows. You will be S#000-JU. Next should be..."

The next ovule warbled and hatched shortly after as if it was merely waiting for the Broodmother to acknowledge it. With a simple glance of the red light, the Broodmother quickly concluded that the Broodspawn was a female Human.

The warmth of her smile was subtly stronger as she regarded the second Broodspawn, who was quickly designated as S#001-JU.

Next was a female Bodian, a race easily collated with demons despite always being of metahumanoid origin. Her skin was yellow, and she had two spindly horns; all she wanted to do was cry.

S#002-JU.

...The Broodmother whipped her head around, leaning over her apodal heap as she peered at the third clutch with a slightly trembling bodice. The tears of the Broodspawn were ringing in her ears, and yet all she could hear was silence.

This was usually the sign that the Clutch had failed to hatch, yet she could sense something intently gazing at her. Through the translucent ovule, she peered, catching a glimpse of two orbs exuding a laguna yellow glare.

She could not help but shiver. Still, she leaned over towards the Clutch and rubbed her fingertips over the noticeably complex pattern, waiting until it hatched.

Kkkr...shhh...

S#003-JU stared through his long, tumbling locks sharing the same pitch as a black widow. The Broodmother checked his physiology in great shock before gazing at his face in even greater astonishment.

"...A Herloph...male. How...rare."

Herlophs were simply possessors of transcendent beauty, and this child was no different, emerging as one of the best the Broodmother had ever seen. Gazing over his features, her sight was transfixed on the image of his deepset eyes.

Fine, graceful brows that held a subtle curve. Lining his eyelids were soft, long, and elegant eyelashes. His sclera was white, like most Herlophs, and his irises were clearly the origin of the laguna yellow glare she could tell was peering at her. The most notable part of his eyes were the pupils--they interchangeably shifted in three shapes, the first of which was a four-pronged star, the second a W shape, and the last a simple rounded pupil.

The pupils constricted and contracted in a disturbing rhythm, causing the lustrous laguna yellow irises to subtly pulse and quiver for a while...until they settled on the four-pronged star shape.

...The Broodmother quickly reeled back as she noticed another Cluster began to intensely quiver. Just as she looked away, S#003-JU grabbed a hunk of quivering red flesh and brought it to his lips, chewing while watching.

S#004-JU, a male Naga with round pupils, a forked tongue, bipedal legs, and hooded hair that indicated a lack of venom due to the dullness of its colors, being neither bright nor having a dangerous luster to it.

S#005-JU, a female Troll with sea-salt-colored skin, bright blonde hair, and three smooth horns on the rightmost side of her forehead that curled towards the back. Her crying was slower, and her face had a somewhat dopey vibe to it.

S#006-JU, a female Bugbear Goblin with a thick brown mane and lime green skin. Her crying warbled as she flailed her arms angrily, revealing the highest segments of her fingers that were composed of enamel and topped with nails...a Bugbear Goblin's feature characteristic of their subdivision.

S#007-JU, a male Human who clung to the furthest portion of his broken ovule, though that could not stop the bright smile on the Broodmother's face...which grew even wider as another set of trembling filled her waiting sense of hearing.

S#008-JU, a male Elf without any real defining features that would place him into a further specified category. Perhaps he had a trace of the Firstblood? The Broodmother wasn't interested in such things, though, patting his head before moving on to the final Clutch with sheer giddiness in her expression.

Kkkr...shhh!

The final ovule hatched, letting the Broodmother witness the rare and highly sought Perfect Clutch. Lines of ruby-red tears trailed downwards from the ends of the pentagonal prism, her smile affectionate and filled with love.

...S#009-JU, a female Darkdweller Orc with deeper green skin, black sclera, purple irises, and measly little tusks jutting from her lower lips. She was a bit thinner than the other Broodspawn, which S#003-JU noticed as he was effortlessly biting through the hunk of red flesh in his little palms.

Unlike his fellow Broodkin, he was completely unbothered by the contents of his ovule, eating his fill without much fanfare. In an environment like this, however, his general calmness was quite abnormal and drew ample attention.

He shuffled forward, climbing out of his broken Clutch while filling his hands with pulsing red chunks. His footsteps were unsteady and long as his feet dragged on the tiles, the soles of his feet getting subtly scraped as he forced his way forward.

His dimmed eyes that had settled on a form were scaling up and down, working their way left and right. Sigils that were charcoal black and almost burnt in appearance were systematically read by him. In fact, they were the impetus for his movement towards the youngest of the Brood.

[A young orc who looks quite frail, she is unlikely to last long. She needs to be fed as soon as possible.]

With that, the diminutive little boy with pale brown skin the hue of milky earl grey tea brought his chunk-filled hands over as he climbed around and up from the back of the Clutch's base.

...Before dropping the red muscle-like substance directly onto S#009-JU's face, her crying intensified as a result of this as she opened her mouth wide.

The noise caused the Broodmother to jolt upwards, the upper half of her head accidentally smashing against the ceiling as she recovered from her stupor. She whipped her head around as she leaned for the Broodspawn, clutching S#009-JU in her own embrace before letting the red light wash over the last of her clutch.

"Ah...you're starving, aren't you? My, I've never seen a little one that was so thin...come, eat, eat." The Broodmother pushed the hunk into her mouth and clasped her fingers around the young orc's jaws as she forced her to chew, slowly letting a soft hushed whisper flow from her own lips as she rocked S#009-JU back and forth.

S#000-JU stared at this sight with wide eyes, the tears quickly drying as his eyes began to lose their moisture. There was a glimmer of disdain within the depths of his irises, which were only slightly less white than his sclera.

S#003-JU clambered back into the ruins of his ovule, still hungering for more sustenance. A wet yet crunchy noise resounded in the cove as he feasted away, eventually filling his stomach and slaking the subtle thirst lining his throat.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

S#003-JU slowly blinked as he let the memory fade, his attention redirected to the world beneath his feet. The time in the Broodcove wasn't one he cared to look back on when there was something more important at hand. And besides...

What bonded S#003-JU and Mala together was nothing more than a coincidence. He only decided to look after her because she was more than incapable of doing so herself...not when there were many who wanted to end her life.

"S#009-JU. You should switch bases for now." S#003-JU looked at the orc as he recovered from his contemplations, his voice disrupting Mala's own thoughts.

"That might not be necessary since..." Sparkles entered her eyes as she looked hopeful, inching closer to S#003-JU all the while.