and you're not like the others (part XLV)

(Continued from part XLIV.)

Oh, this would not do, this would not do...



She stood, fretting. Little Athena had nearly instantly fallen asleep next to her brother. She noticed she'd broken several claws, and she wondered when that had happened. All too soon, her attention was drawn back to her sick boy, and her sleeping girl, because--Athena was now kicking in her sleep.



She knelt down, because she'd now tossed and turned enough to end up across the floor by some distance. She was muttering something. She leaned in.

"...addy...lp...lp Daddy...HELP--"

The last was a yell, freezing her in place. She'd discovered she had one remaining bottle of vitamins in her inventory, and she'd just set it up, and was about to start the feed, when Athena startled awake.

"Darling," she murmured. "Are you--"

"You have to help, Mama!" Athena pawed at her legs.

The Duchess tapped the vitamins, watching Enoch's progress, and invited Athena into her lap. "How can I help, kitling?"

The soft ping of the bottle emptying drew her eyes back, breathing a sigh of relief that he was better, rolling over and snoring lightly. Athena snuffed and leapt off her lap.

"Mama!" she demanded.



"Yes, dear?"

"Daddy's in danger!"

She sighed, nodding. "Yes, darling, but--"

"No! You need to find him!"

"We're trying--"

"Mama!" Athena stamped her paws. "I found Daddy!"

She nodded. "You did."

"But we came back here."

"Yes..."

"So you need to help! We would have gotten Daddy back if he hadn't been here!"

The Duchess blinked, confused. "What?"



Athena rolled her eyes, going to the basket of toys, batting one angrily into the room, and flopping down on it, squinching her eyes shut. Emilly watched, perplexed, at Athena steadfastly ignoring her, even more puzzled by Enoch wandering behind the door and peering at the wall.

What on earth....



Athena refused to talk to her past that. So it was several hours before she could get away, changing--with some difficulty--back to her human face, pulling on a dress that didn't smell of sugar, metal and brick dust, and descended down to Darktow Island.


It's always darkest before the dawn, she thought hysterically, the deep of night just starting to burn off with hints of early cobalt blue, and...what was she looking at now? The Gray Area in pieces, arcs of lightning around new rifts opened, toxic fog, fire, and...who was on the shore??


As dawn broke, and the sky lightened enough to see what was truly happening, she was not at all comforted. And--were those--tentacles?? Floating tentacles?

(Continued in part XLVI.)