Chapter 69 (1/2)

“Hey. These aren’t done yet?” a fairy with purple hair asked as she hovered above four writhing humans. She turned towards the fairy next to her, who looked like an identical twin except for her green hair.

“Ah. We were short three worms, so I split one into four,” she said and scratched her head. “Logistics error higher up in the chain, it’s not our fault.” She shrugged.

“Ehhhh.” The other fairy grumbled and pouted. “That means we have to wait here for another twelve hours. I’m going to go check on the two primaries. Maybe they’ll be ready.”

“I checked on them yesterday. They still haven’t converted,” the green-haired fairy said and grabbed the other fairy’s ankle before she could fly away.

“Still?” she asked as she leaned back and sat on the air. “It’s been almost a decade.”

“Yeah, well their birthflower’s gone missing a few centuries ago,” the green-haired fairy said and crossed her arms. “It’s not too surprising that the process is taking forever.”

An orange-haired fairy flew into the cave from above. “What’s taking so long?” she asked. She saw the squirming humans. “Oh. Did you misplace the worms again?” She turned towards the green-haired fairy.

“It wasn’t me this time!” the green-haired fairy said while pouting.

“Ah, whatever. I don’t want to track them down,” the orange-haired fairy said as she yawned and sat next to them. “The queen’s too busy to notice. What’s a few missing worms anyway? We can let the tertiaries handle it.”

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A guard marched through the streets. He looked up at the sun and sighed. Just a few more hours and I can go watch the competition with my kids, he thought. It’ll probably be over by then. Man, no one would dare to rob the noble’s houses anyway. Why am I here? He hung his head and dragged his feet through the empty streets. A sobbing sound caught his attention and he looked up while facing towards an alley.

He saw a girl who was leaning against a wall while hugging her shoulders. She was hunched over and her body shook as strangled sobbing noises escaped through her lips. “Hey!” the guard called out and started walking towards the alley. “Are you alright?”

The girl continued to shake as her face snapped towards him. Her eyes were snake-like and shifting in colors. “Aren’t you that warrior girl? Stella?” he asked as he walked next to her. “Did something happen at the competition?”

He put his hand on her shoulder. “Ah, right. You had to fight the prince. It’s understandable to be scared after that,” the guard said and sighed while shaking his head. “But isn’t it too early for t-. Eh?” He looked at Stella and watched his hand fall off her shoulder, along with his arm. He looked at his shoulder and saw blood gushing out of his now residual limb. He shrieked and fell backwards, clutching the stump where his arm used to be. A red blur shot out of his severed arm towards his face. It stopped before it collided with him and a worm wriggled in front of his nose.

Stella chuckled as she grabbed the other end of the worm with her left hand. A hole, leaking black liquid, could be seen on her forearm. Her right hand held a sword that dripped with the guard’s blood. “So that’s why I felt like I was losing control,” she said as she lifted the worm above her and ripped its head off with her teeth before swallowing. She continued to consume the remainder of the worm in a similar fashion. “Naughty little worm. Splitting yourself in half to try to overtake my body,” she said as she smiled at her belly. She turned towards the guard who stared at her with wide eyes.

“I think you’ve seen too much,” she said and smiled at him. “You did help me though. Promise me you won’t say anything?”

The guard nodded his head as tears formed in his eyes. “I didn’t see anything,” he said as his voice quavered. “I swear. My arm just fell off on its own.”

A crunching noise echoed through the alley. “Too bad,” Stella sang. “I don’t trust humans.” She smacked her lips and smiled. “I should go play with the prince before they disqualify me. Wouldn’t want to be late.” She left the alley while licking the blood off her sword, oblivious to the two worm-sized holes left in the wall behind her.

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Rudolph stood at the center of the stone arena with his arms across his chest. Johann laid on the grass behind him. The referee stood outside of the stage, looking at the sundial on the ground.

“She probably ran away,” someone from the spectator seats said and grumbled.

“Just move on to the next match,” another person said. “We all know who’s going to win anyway.”

“Stella still has two minutes to show up before she automatically forfeits the match,” the referee said, ignoring the murmurs from the crowd.

“I’m here. I’m here,” a voice called out. “I just needed to get a snack before the match.” Stella walked onto the stage.