CH 22 - Nica's Defiance

Nica wakes in complete darkness in a cold sweat, remembering the night she escaped the village. The terror as her father grabbed and groped for her and the knowledge that her sister Zoe was left behind. The way her stomach dropped as she heard her sister scream as she left the home.

She should have gone back to help Zoe. Why didn't she do it? It would have been the most natural thing for her. She has always protected her and kept her safe above anything else. But when the Guardian was mentioned, Nica abandoned everything she believed in.

Walling towards the water basin, she casts her spell and allows the water to warm quietly. She needs to do something differently. She had been avoiding Caesar as she knew she deserved punishment. She had gone against his wishes to observe and brought Sera and her daughter home. In doing this, she forced Lily to embrace a life of service.

Nica doesn't know what to do as she is torn. There is the knowledge that the Gods have saved her. They protected her at every turn but allowed her to run from the only person she loved. The one person she thought she would give her life up for. The tears readily stream down her face as she is torn between her faith and what she knows is right.

It could be wrong, as the Gods make their presence known to them. Nica sighs as she removes her robes and begins to wash herself. Moving the cloth first over her face hoping to pass the pain of the memories away.

As she lets the water drip over her eyes, she pauses as she washes her face and neck and slowly but methodically passes every part. Every delicate curve of her body as she wishes to let the horrifying dreams leave her mind.

The caves still return to her mind every night, but now it is about a lone girl and an older woman talking. Monsters crawl into the cave as they devour a girl, barely more than a child.

A promise to do something to serve the Gods. This dream that started just a few nights before terrifies her. What if the Gods were monstrous, and she left her sister in their defense? What if her sister was the girl, trembling, being devoured in the cave?

As an idea springs to Nica's mind, she doubles over, coughing. Realizing that these nightmares repeatedly playing in her mind is someone's child. The daughters they raised are haunted by the dreams constantly because it is what the Gods desire.

Nica stands defiantly, washed and prepared for her day. Realizing there is only one way to defy the Gods who torment her and torture women. One way to defy their wishes for purity. Purity for their conquest to feed them to monsters. She stands naked and defiant, ready to give Caesar what the Gods themselves desire, honestly.

Fuck these Gods and their desires, as she tosses the wash basin towards the corner where the Gods taunted her. They do not command her body. She does. Only she can decide what happens to her and fuck any other desires. Her body shaking, she curses, "Fuck the Gods! I abandoned my sister for you! For this? Fuck all of you!"

A growl booms in her defiance as she stands firm, filled with hate. The candles flicker darkly as deep breathing is heard just beyond the darkness in the corner.

The scent of the forest floats into the room as she feels the sense of wanting to slip into her dreams. Wanting to explore the memories of her childhood. Pushing the memories away by focusing on running from her sister, she feels the tension building in the room.

A worn white hand reaches forth from within the corner as a human form climbs through the solid wall. The darkness is a labyrinth as the creature is highlighted by flickering, unhindered candlelight.

The ghoulish face is a hole in a skull gnawing, breaking bones on bone as the gritty, sharpened, jagged teeth move forward. The creatures that haunted Nica's dreams for months are now here to feast.

Terrified but unafraid, she screams at the top of her lungs, "Are you so afraid that you send monsters? You fucking cowards! Why is it only women who are devoured?"

A significant boom comes from the door behind her as she hears muffled voices. Familiar voices tried to break into the room to help her. As Nica clenches her fist, she feels the monsters crawling and encircling her.

"I do not submit to you any longer! I am not yours to command!"

The creatures slithered around her as bones gripped the walls and the sounds of movement scattered above her. A sticky slime falls upon her. As she peers into the darkness, a creature falls on her forcing her to the ground. She shrieks in terror as the beast falls upon her with its massive body. In her defiance and desire to choose her path, she has given up the purity of the Gods.

Nica hopelessly fights against the monster as a claw scratches her arm as pins her hands above her head. Fuck the Gods and their focus on their sexual needs and desires, the perverse fucking beings. Nica kicks her legs forward but cries as her knees kick solid bone.

The growing growls haunt Nica's mind as she scrambles for a thought, anything she can do to escape. Focusing on the creature trying to conquer her, she whispers a spell and hears the creature scream in pain.

The taunt skin across the bones bubbling as in the moment of desperation reached out to the universe for strength and cast the water basin spell. The molecules within the creature start to bubble as it screams in horrifying pain, scurrying away.

Pushing to her feet, Nica stands in her defiance. Her naked flesh is cut and bleeding as the monsters circle her. Nica smiles as she sees hesitation in their movement. She has struck back against the enslavement of the Oracle's brides. Looking at the monsters, she whispers the spell, and all at once, they feel the burning as they scream in horror.