Lack of Control

Frein followed Elizzel’s directions. He didn’t have the time to calculate his strike, lest the Da’bloop become aware of his presence, but he was lucky enough to miss the Deep Nightmare’s core.

“I’m so glad it’s in the head,” the faunel pointed out.

“It’s not like you’re the one walking through innards and soon-to-be digested sea creatures,” Frein said aloud.

“No, but I’m sure you’ll send the feeling through the Tether just to irk me.”

“True.” He stared at the Da’bloop’s head, from its point of decapitation down to where half of its bloody innards were either slowly dropping or still eerily pulsing, pumping out black blood. “Just the innards then.”

Elizzel groaned. “We suffer and enjoy all the things,” she told herself before taking a deep breath.

“Correct.” Frein sliced away everything he could manage with his Fulgurblade, beginning to carve out a tunnel. It was odd to see bits and pieces of it keep floating on the ocean surface.

Can’t quite remember if they should float or not…It’s the sea, so maybe.

“Watcha doin’?” Katherine asked as she peeked from above the Da’bloop’s head.

“I’m looking for the Nightmare core,” Frein replied, unsurprised by his girlfriend’s arrival.

“You’re going to eat it?”

“Ideally.” He remembered his promise to her. “I know, I’ll let you watch. I need you to make sure I stay sane, anyway. Where’s Kristel?”

“Yeah?” asked the Princess, showing up beside the Lady. “Gross.”

Frein observed her with Mesiffera. “Did you ask Evanclad how to unlock your meiyal marks?” he asked as he continued to cut off fibrous muscle tissues like they were branches in need of pruning.

“What do you—” Kristel gasped as she realized. “I have ninety marks!”

Katherine was surprised as well. She Drew Mesiffera and quickly counted. “You’re right! There’s only ten left!”

“I guess that’s a no, then, huh? He wouldn’t tell me either.” Frein had to invest some meiyal to strengthen the Fulgurblade now that he was dealing with bone. There was no Meiyal Art involved, and he was being careful not to accidentally destroy important parts of the skull that held the integrity of its form. Though he was just eyeballing and guessing most of it.

“It’s not about the marks,” Kristel said, repeating the mantra that all three of them had heard numerous times already.

“It actually is, believe it or not,” Frein rebutted. “If my theory’s correct, the amount of marks you have is related to how much Brymeia favors you. It has nothing to do with training or emotions aside from showing your dedication to her.”

He realized they were not in private company.

“Actually, we can talk about that more later. I wanted to actually ask you to make sure none of the Jumpers disturb the head while I’m here.”

“Alright,” Kristel said. “We’re trying to salvage what we can from the Jump anyways.”

“You can harvest the Da’bloop, too,” Katherine added. “Eating it can improve your tolerance against Nightmare influence. Some of the chefs should be able to cook it, if not, Jam can help.”

“Before you go,” Frein started again, not bothering to look at the two. He was quite deep in the skull now, near the jaw. Elizzel pointed him up towards the bottom of the brain. “I wanted to say, great job out there, Princess. What you did back there didn’t look like anything a Meiyal Art could achieve.”

“Evanclad said I shouldn’t use it again.”

“Did we have some casualties?” he asked. “Any of the Jumpers, I mean.”

“None,” Katherine answered. “We might need to decommission some people now that we know those who can’t fight against Deep Nightmares, and I imagine this would be traumatic for some of them. Usually, we try to ease them to stronger influences, but what’s done is done.”

Frein stopped his work and walked out of the skull, making sure he could see the two ladies. They’ve descended the roof of the carcass, waiting by the opening of it. He nodded towards Kristel.

“If the same thing happens again, and the lives of many people are once again on your shoulders, would you let the words of a dead Monarch stop you from doing it one more time?”

Kristel didn’t even process the question. She quickly shook her head. “I’ll do the same thing twice over if I have to.” She stopped. “But it’s broken now, the material that lets me use Leviathan.”

Apt name.

“Is it gone?” he asked. The Princess shook her head again. “Good. It means you can fix it. I’ll get back to work. Make sure no one disturbs us. If anyone asks, just tell them I’m doing Visitor-only things, and I’ll turn them to Nightmares myself if I see them here.”

“I’m not a liar, Frein, but I get what you mean. I’ll leave you two to it. Thanks again.” Kristel jumped off with enthusiasm.

Katherine joined him at the base of the tunnel he had made. “Big words,” she commented.

“Ultimately, I want to make sure everything’s settled before I’m done here,” Frein started. “But in case I fail, you and the Princess will have to—”

“Skip,” Katherine said. “Next dialogue.”

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He could only sigh. “Alright. Sorry.”

Frein glanced at her. He could see a thin film of blue surrounding the outline of her body. It was so subtle that he almost mistook it for a weird reflection of light.

“What’s that around you?” he asked as he resumed cutting away nerves and muscles.

They were bloody. He had to position himself at correct angles every time to make sure each cut he made wouldn’t shower him with black blood. The squelch in every step, in every touch, joined by the repulsive smell of decay and half-digested food, made his stomach twist unreasonably. It took all his will and Siffera to keep himself from hurling.

“Imbelia,” Katherine replied simply. “I don’t want any of that around me. Plus I had to use it during my dive. My clothes aren’t exactly fireproof, so I had to layer it over my Siffera to make doubly sure they don’t catch on fire.”

“Good thinking. I’m the only one allowed to see you naked.”

“Too late for that,” she giggled. “Kristel and Frill already saw me naked. Jam, too. And my dad when I was a baby, obviously.”

“You know what I mean, Kat.”

“Yeah, I know. Do you need help with that?” Katherine pointed at the tough membrane above Frein.

“No, I think I just about got it. You might want to step aside, though.” He returned the Fulgurblade within the Shinemoon Scabbard and climbed on it, utilizing its ability to stay affixed in space.

With a strong Siffera-empowered push, he pierced the membrane with his arm, reaching within the squelching brain matter. Black blood dripped from the opening, flowing down the length of his arm down to his shoulder. It was invasive. Drops of it fell on his face.

Frein decided to go all-in, commanding the scabbard to inch higher. He reached inside the membrane, shoving the entirety of his arm. Blood showered him completely black.

Elizzel’s shivering echoed through the Tether while she continued to guide him. They had to go further.

Frein took deep breaths in rapid succession, preparing himself to enter head fist. With one command, he ordered the scabbard to push him all in.

Darkness.

Frein was surrounded by nothing but squirming flesh, suffocating him and pressing him with its weight. He pulled himself deeper, reaching into handfuls of meaty, bloody, brain muscles as he struggled to crawl through the darkness. He was navigating solely on Elizzel’s instructions, despite how irked she was with the process.

“It’s in front,” she said, “just reach out and find a crevice. It’s lodged in there.”

Frein didn’t have the time to question why the core of a Deep Nightmare would be lodged inside its brain. It wasn’t even about the crushing weight on all sides of him. His Siffera could withstand it easily. It wasn’t about suffocating either. He just wanted to get out as quickly as possible.

He stuck his hand into the crevice and immediately touched something solid for once. Only, this one grabbed back. He felt it wrap around his forearm and pierce his wrist where his meiyal core was located.

Quickly, Frein made a firm grasp of it and Sword Stepped out of the brain. He appeared beside his Shinemoon Scabbard that was waiting patiently beside Katherine.

He didn’t try to process anything else. He put aside the fact that his Sword Step allowed him to bring along something else that wasn’t surrounded by his Siffera. He made sure to remember practicing with Katherine later, but for now, he wanted to take advantage of his high tolerance for disgust.

Without saying anything, he chomped down on the thing on his arm.

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Katherine didn’t know what to do. While she had dealt with numerous Deep Nightmares before, it had always been under the context of annihilating them. Harvesting had always been done by the trainees along with the Void Mothers.

None of it prepared her with whatever Frein was doing.

He shoved his face with the thing he acquired from the Da’bloop’s brain, presumably, its core. Then he gagged as if he was running out of air before vomiting. He hurled out not the core, but blood and his breakfast, probably. He hacked, doubled over, and coughed out more blood.

Elizzel emerged as well. There was urgency in her steps as she quickly forced Frein to lie down on his back on the black pool of blood. She reached for his wrist where his meiyal core was.

“Resuscitate him, quick! Don’t let him reach Art fatigue, and stay on top of him.” The faunel didn’t wait for Katherine’s confirmation. She immediately started sucking Frein’s wrist, spewing out its contents as if she was drawing poison from him.

Katherine didn’t bother to ask. Frein was convulsing in all directions, making it hard for Elizzel to do her work. So she sat on his stomach, anchored his legs with her feet, and pushed down one arm with her hand. She used her other hand to guide his lips, bloody and putrid as it was from all the gore, to hers.

Katherine couldn’t hide her disgust. She gagged as her tongue explored his teeth, finding remains of whatever that stupid thing it was that he ate. But she quickly found herself enjoying the process.

She was forcing down the man of her life, saving him by taking advantage of his vulnerability. His convulsing body had gradually focused on his hips, humping on her like a mad dog. His hardness was barely shielded by his shorts, and her bikini did nothing at stopping him.

Katherine let out a moan. She was no longer focused on just providing Frein with her meiyal. They were dry humping each other while half submerged in black, inky blood. And Frein was on a mission of piercing through whatever thin fabric was preventing him from entering her.

“It’s too much,” Elizzel whispered as she collapsed on Frein’s shoulder. “He’s too much!”

The faunel’s clothes began to dissipate into pure meiyal, showing her entire nakedness. She reached down between her legs, trying to take control of herself. Katherine could only imagine what was going through them in between their Tether, but she knew what to do.

She slipped off her bikini and Frein’s shorts and took him inside. At the same time, she reached for Elizzel’s face and gave her a deep kiss. The Lady’s hands worked overtime as she reached down in between the faunel’s legs and began to pleasure both her man and her faunel at the same time.

Only then did Katherine realized she was giving meiyal resuscitation to Elizzel. This process only worked between lovers. So was it because of the Tether? Or was it the faunel’s ability? She did regularly feed off Frein’s meiyal for nourishment. The Lady of the Void didn’t have the time nor the mental facilities to consider those questions. She desperately placed them at the back of her head before pleasure completely overwhelmed her.

Elizzel took her meiyal with a ravaging, insatiable hunger. And Katherine gave it all to her. She trusted their Tether, assured that the faunel would provide Frein whatever he needed.

The Visitor had climaxed inside her, but he wasn’t done. Because Katherine had to adjust her position to compensate for Elizzel, Frein was able to let loose. His head found the back of the faunel’s thigh and he chomped on it.

She reacted with a suppressed scream but she quickly took control by sitting on Frein’s head. Elizzel didn’t let him take the pace, rubbing herself all over him while she took Katherine’s intimate kiss.

The two of them worked on Frein while they pleasured each other with their tongues and lips. Katherine lost count how much she had reached ecstacy, or for how long they had been there, or if anyone saw them. She was too busy with Frein and Elizzel. Too busy with herself.

“Don’t let Frein out until he regains control,” Elizzel whispered as the final strings of her consciousness left her, exhausted from too much pleasure.

So Katherine focused on Frein. Of course, she knew her man. His pleasure points and triggers, how to satisfy him and how to keep him on edge. She knew Frein like the back of her hand. This version of him right now, drowned in the influence of Nightmare, with nothing but depravity in his mind, was boring. He did nothing special to pleasure her other than the virtue that it was him doing it.

It only made her ask for more.

“Please, Frein,” she whispered. “Come back and fuck me properly.”

His movements stopped.

“Kat?” Frein looked around, confused. “What?”

“Don’t ‘what’ me, Frein.” Katherine’s breathing intensified, her excitement growing.

“We should get out of—”

“Not until you push me down and treat me properly.”

“What are you…” Frein looked down and around some more. He saw Elizzel unconscious in the bloody pool with her clothes off, and then realized his position underneath Katherine.

“Please?” she asked once more.

If there was one thing Katherine loved about Frein the most, it was that whenever she said ‘please’, he would never let her down.

He pushed her down instead.

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