1. Once More

Agony's middle name was Motherfucker.

She had been just fine floating alone in this dark spacious cavern up until awhile ago. Now, the walls were closing in on her and Lyra struggled with everything she had not to be crushed.

She was already dead... can you die again when your dead? What came after dead-dead?

The walls shrunk again and earthquakes shook her world as she wiggled, trapped. A sudden flood of blinding light hit her square in the face and she grappled with claustrophobia to claw her way towards it. As she pushed and shoved her way through the luminous tunnel towards day, someone else was doing the same.

- - -

"My lady I know it hurts but PUSH!" A birthing maid yelled to her lady.

A young woman of spectacular beauty lay with her long hair mangled and matted to her face and back as she screamed and pushed again. The screaming lady though she didn't look it now, was a woman of privileged blood through and through. From her perfect manners to her graceful practiced steps. She had mastered being a perfect woman of poise since she was young. At the moment though, elegance be damned-

The young lady cursed every swear word she knew from the servants and sailors like an old practiced pro.

"My Lady!" One of the nurses cried aghast at her mistress's choice words.

The lady didn't even pause in her tirade as she started hurling insults and obscenities at the nurse who had spoken. Not even a minute later the door banged open and a nurse was seen scrambling from the room in a sobbing wreck as she wailed through the castle hallways.

Just beyond the open doors two men could be seen pacing. Their handsome faces heavy with worry. At the doors sudden opening they had both caught a glimpse inside. When the beautiful woman saw their faces from the bed she was on she let loose a new string of insults cursing the men's manhood and threatening to cut off their pricks among other things. The men felt their ears go red but they offered only doting as they tried to talk soothingly to her from outside the door.

The head wet nurse screamed "PUSH!" again and the young woman's held fell back as she screamed like a banshee. There was no one in the castle that day that hadn't heard her. Both men called encouragement and praise to the lady through her wailing and she took the opportunity to throw whatever she could reach at them starting her ravings anew.

The head wet nurse didn't care who these men were anymore as she sent them a glare that could peel layers of skin off their thick handsome faces. Another wet nurse took the chance to close the door on the men's faces muffling the shrieked curses and rude name calling from the beautiful woman.

The men glanced at each other a little shell shocked and unsure of what to do with themselves now. They quickly settled on pacing again as a scream that lasted a full minute tore through the solid oak doors like it wasn't there. A half hour of this passed until the room suddenly became quiet.

Soft sobbing could be heard from inside the room but it was hard to tell who it was coming from. The men's hearts sunk in fear as they tried to prepare themselves for the worst.

Time ticked on and the room became even more quiet, there were no noises of stirring from the wet nurses or the young woman inside. Both men's hearts broke further, fear clawing up their throats and making confetti of their hearts as with trembling hands, they reached for the door handle. Just as calloused fingers touched the cool gold knob a soft wail echoed through castle walls stopping everyone's hearts.

The men's eyes widened and they pushed through the doors eagerly banging it against the stone walls in their haste. When they had scrambled inside, there on the crumbled wet bed laid a pale, sweaty but glowing young woman leaning propped up against the detailed headboard.

She spared no glance at them as she held a small bundle close in her tired arms. Soft white towels obstructed the men's view as they slowly stepped closer to the lady's bedside. She smiled, flushed from her effort and joy down at the small wonder she grasped. Her wet hair hung in curtains behind her ear as she offered her long finger to a fisted hand no bigger than a walnut.

The men watched captivated as small pink fingers curled reflexively around the woman's pale slender finger. The smile the woman wore on her face grew warmer. Her eyes flashing with love and delight as her heart soared high inside her chest and she gave a light chuckle.

Tears gathered at the edges of both men's eyes, though they would never admit it and the woman's joy filled laugh as she hugged her baby closer to her chest infected their every reasoning. A dam broke and rain fell from their eyes as they gathered both the woman and the babe into their arms and rained kisses down upon them. The woman laughed again. Her mean words and rude behaviors forgotten as she soaked in the men's love recharging herself. In that moment she felt more loved and cherished than ever and an uncapped pride at her rough delivery flooded her every other emotion.

"It's a princess." The woman's voice was soft and her throat sounded horse but her words were calm and steady.

She lifted up a corner of the towel the baby had snuggled into and gave the men their first look at their daughter.

They gasped, both awed at the sight of their little newborn baby girl.

Just a tiny slip of a thing, hardly even the size of their powerful forearms, she slept oblivious to the world in her mother's warm, possessive embrace. Her small new body was flushed a gentle pink that was especially endearing on her delicate translucent skin. Thick curls of pale baby tuft framed her head like a hallo. The color was hard to describe because it looked to be not quite white or silver. Instead, it held colors reflected back like a crystal prism reflecting light into rainbows. The luscious short hair shone and sparkled like diamonds even in the dim birthing room. Though she was tiny, petite, slip of a babe her limbs were pudgy with baby fat. She was a picture of health, her cheeks chubby and full dominating her face.

She was a picture of health, her cheeks chubby and full dominating her face

She was too stunning for words. The perfect babe, the most beautiful babe, like an angel had been born instead. This was the men's daughter. This was their little girl.

At the realization the men's hearts swelled and nearly burst. More tears swam around their eyes as they gazed lovingly at their newborn child. They both took turns kissing the mothers head and cheeks and lips and only then did she finally relinquish her hold on the baby. The men were delighted.

They each took turns holding her carefully to their trim chests like she would fall apart and break in their arms. They were astonished to discover for themselves what exactly a baby felt like in their hold and just how much the child weighed. The men were reduced to puddles, she weighed as much as a cat. By the time she was back in her mothers arms her sleepy eyes had started to flutter.

The three adults all shushed each other and held their breath as they waited expectantly. It took a minute and appeared to be a struggle but when the baby's eyes finally peeled open, it was all the adults could do but melt.

Peerless eyes with no real distinguishable color peered at them curiously

Peerless eyes with no real distinguishable color peered at them curiously. They looked like mirrors. Not quite blue or silver but similar to her hair. Her eyes swam with different hints of color that reflected in and out of her irises with everything new she spotted. Like kaleidoscopes turning and spinning as they danced within her eyes. If the adults weren't enamored with her before they fell completely, totally, and helplessly in love with her now.

This was their perfect daughter and right there and then they loved her more than life itself. The woman clutched her baby close again burying her nose into her child's fluffy hair. She smelled of warm sun beams on a hot day, of faint dancing grasses in the breeze, of sweet magnolias and dew in the crisp mornings. The woman's heart burst with love overwhelming her as she giggled rubbing her nose against her child's fat cheeks.

This was hers.

She made this.

This stunning little white lotus flower too wonderful for words.

"Mmm..." She breathed, still cuddled deeply into her child's side. "That is what I'll call you."

The men perked up excited and anxious to know.

"My beautiful baby Lotus." The woman sang flashing little Lotus a smile that could collapse cities and fell empires.

The men wrapped their arms tighter around the now two ladies in their lives, pressing them close to their warm bodies, their hearts beating fast and strong and proud.

"Lotus it is." They echoed satisfied.