CH 19 - Sera's Mask

Gabriella's eyes flutter as she recites the incantation spells of protection. Her body hovers slightly from the ground as the black robe flutters softly, the dark mask protects her eyes, and soft wisps of air move through her body. Floating in just her silken black robe left open, she allows the spell to engulf her in soft armor. Her flesh is bare to the world as the smoke tints her pale skin softly.

Gabriella feels an alight disturbance as the trance breaks and her body returns to the floor. Even before securing her robe, she moves swiftly to her door and opens it, seeing Lily slump over, sobbing and kneeling before her door. Gabriella helps her into her room without thinking or pausing to understand, closing the door softly.

"Lily, what happened?" Gabriella asks as she pulls the young woman forward.

"I... I don't know..." Lily responds, stammering as her body interrupts her speech with hiccups.

Gabriella pulls her inside the room further, lifting Lily magically to spare her strength as she pulls her to the wash basin. Allowing her body to ease softly towards the stool, Gabriella picks up one of a few small clothes. There is the sickening stench of Sera in Lily's hair and skin that Gabriella begins to wash from Lily's body. The almost motherly touch makes Lily's sobs subside as she looks up desperately into Gabriella's eyes.

"What's happening?" Lily begs.

"I think that is my question..."

"Sera...she's dead."

"Finally," Gabriella sighs as relief washes over her.

"Finally?"

"She is a monster, always has been."

"I know this now. But she had a child. Lilith held my hand and looked into my eyes. I felt her... and now she is gone."

"Named after you?" Gabriella whispers as she continues to clean Lily's body intently. There is something poisonous about the diseased hearts Sera used as her weapons. A disgusting creature that attacks the notion of hope and love.

"She's a monster?" Lily trembles.

"She is a mimic. She easily shifts her shape to resemble a young mother you had once met. She erases their memory from your mind and slips into your unconscious thoughts. She usually targets expectant mothers who feel the purity of first love and are knowingly fearful of their children's safety. Mother of daughters who understand the villages and the society they are bringing the girls into."

Lily nods as she only imagines the fear of bringing a female child into society. Knowing the mother's torment and beatings will continue within the child. A slight shudder moves through Lily's body as she coughs.

"Sera preyed upon the young mothers, handing them her child that would slowly infect their bodies. Giving them a disease that would slowly kill the baby inside of them. Forcing the heart to be enlarged as the mother feels the baby, the life she fears dying within her. Sera took quite a gleeful delight in carving up the woman as she tore the enlarged and diseased heart of the child from the mother's womb. The last images of the mother's life are the venerated and diseased heart of a child they loved."

Lily gags as she turns her head, remembering holding the child. What had transformed into a heart in her hands? Seeping a disgusting rotten ooze across her flesh. As soft trembles move across her body, Lily realizes for the first time that Gabriella is carefully washing her. Deeply ashamed but appreciative, Lily whispers, "Thank you. But how do you know about Sera?"

"I've known her for a century."

"Century?' Lily asks in surprise.

Gabriella nods her head as she kneels before Lily, making sure to wash thoroughly between her fingers, holding her hand softly. Ensures that every lingering remnant of Sera's disgusting memory is passed from her mind.

"She is a monster! Was a monster worthy of destruction! Killing innocent children."

"Yes, she was."

"Why didn't you kill her?" Lily accuses angrily.

"I couldn't..."

"Why not?"

"The world isn't built like that. We can not kill without risking our own lives."

"Risk our lives? What about the lives of the children she killed?" Lily asks, sobbing once more but also clinging to Gabriella. She is terrified to know that such a creature as Sera existed and was allowed to live. Even though she is sure that Gabriella herself is a monster if she has known Sera for a century. She feels safe in her arms and wonders if that is a spell like the one Sera had over her.

"Every act of strength marks us as something powerful. Every creature we kill gives us strength and memories. We grow stronger the more creatures we kill or harm."

"Stronger? Strong enough to defend ourselves without Caesar?" Lily asks desperately.

"Yes, and no," Gabriella answers honestly.

"How can it be both? Could I be strong enough to defend myself without needing him?"

"For a time..."

"Then, for a time, I would be safe..."

"Until you weren't anymore."

"Please, Gabriella, stop talking in riddles. I can't take it anymore. Please, what is it you want to tell me? I need to understand."

Gabriella blows deeply momentarily and rests her head upon Lily's bare and tender thigh. This is but an act of submission, and while she doesn't feel weaker than Lily, there is a sense of comfort in the front. Turning her head to kiss Lily's inner thigh, Gabriella pauses to collect her thoughts. A small smile passed over her lips as Lily shuddered with the kiss. Caressing Lily's thigh softly, she begins to answer the question.

"There is a hidden power in this world that feeds every living creature. A power that balances the world and gives it strength. We used to exist apart from this waking world, where the destruction of the waking world compacted our earthly plane. Forests were dying, and black sickness was spilled into the oceans."

Gabriella pauses and kisses Lily's thigh again, using it as her safety net. The moment she feels safe, tender, and loved in submission. Lily isn't Caesar's yet, and when she is, they will become sisters under one lord, but for now, speaking the truth of the world, Gabriella merely tries to balance the power of her knowledge with the delicacy of her submission.

"When the world was dying, Caesar had tied the two planes so that monsters could walk among the destroyers of worlds. It was a feast that lasted millennia as celibate priests, epic warriors, and warlords fell quickly. They tried to drop magical spells encased in metallic balls as they tried to destroy the protectors. Those destroyers died quickly as monsters could easily move between planes of existence hidden in the red mist."

Gabriella feels Lily's body shudders as her mind slips into memories of the red mist. Gabriella reaches out, holding Lily's hand as she presses her bare chest against Lily's body. The connection bonds the two of them to the present moment.

"What about the red mist?" Lily sighs as she feels Gabriella playfully biting her inner thigh. Her mind is blank as she turns to the more pressing as a soft moan escapes Lily's lips, "Why are you kneeling?"

"Ste length of knowledge makes us targets and desired by the powerful. The more we know, the more we are haunted. The more strength you have, the more you are aware of the strength of others. Protection comes in submitting to the powerful and is marked with their protection."

Lily bites down on her lip and nods as she trembles, understanding some of what is said. I do not know why anyone would drop spells from the sky in encased metal tombs. Shaking her head softly, she wonders what she isn't being told. What more hidden truths are out there? "So why are you telling me all this?"

"To let you know that your greatest strength is in submission."

"Submission to a monster."

"We are all monsters..."

"Were you there when the spells dropped from the sky?"

"No, I am not pureblood. I am the gift of a God to a Seer."

"Your mother served the Oracle? You are his daughter?"

Gabriella laughs warmly, "Oh Gods, no."

"No?"

"From my dreams, with the Seers escaping the cave, it can only mean one thing."

"What is that?" Lily asks barely above a whisper.

"To preserve his life, the Oracle serves a God," Gabriella says as she closes her eyes at peace. Feeling the presence and tenderness at kneeling at her sister's feet. She can't tell for sure, but her heartbeat feels relaxed under Gabriella's hand. Without a sound, Gabriella feels Lily slip into a kneel beside her as both embrace deeply in a loving act of mutual submission, neither invading the purity that only Lily can give away.