Chapter 1086: Receding Tides(1)
“That nasty of a fortress, huh?,” Jin Fang asked, once she noticed the sour aura of Zhen Liu’s posture. She would normally read his face, but he was still wearing his [Stigma] and refused to take it off until battle was over.
“Yup,” Zhen Liu nodded. “I’m fairly certain the defenses they’re using aren’t meant to fire bolts of [Chaos] infused water at us, but it appears they figured out a way to do. How annoying.”
“Oh, it’s not too bad, honey,” Jin Fang said as she got in closer to Zhen Liu to comfort him. “I’m sure you’ll come up with something clever or reckless to win. You always do.”
“Thanks, Xiao Fang.”
‘Heh…like lord to lord and like mother and daughter, I suppose,’ Tortallion observed as he watched the couple interact with one another.
He had initially wanted to go over immediately to confirm that the young woman floating next to the current Kaijin Lord was indeed his progenitor’s daughter, but he lost his nerve part way there.
After all, it has been a very long time since they had actually interacted with each other. It took him some time to reconcile this young woman with a fierce aura around her, with the memory of the little baby girl who once called the kaijin her family.
‘Heh…has it really been that long?’
…Centuries ago…
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!”
[Welp, I think I can safely confirm that I do not want to go through whatever the hell the Queen’s going through right now,] Medusina commented to her fellow kaijin as they waited outside of the medical chambers.
[I don’t know. The end results might be worth it,] Clobstar added.
“AAAAARRRGHHHH.”
[Even with the screaming?]
[Even with the screaming.]
For the past nine months, the Storm Queen was carrying within her the child that she claimed was a product of her love with her people, and that this child will become heir.
Needless to say, the kaijin were a bit skeptical about that former detail, but not on that latter one.
[You got this my queen, just one more push!]
[Why is Viceshell he only one in there, again?,] Puffer asked.
[He’s the only one with any medical skills,] Grand Fang answered while his brothers, Saw Fang and Hammer Fang continued to snooze away right next to him.
THUNK
[And the only one who can take a bed pan to the face without flinching.]
[Fair.]
And now, after nine months of waiting, and feeling everything the Storm Queen was going through while pregnant, from cravings to aches, today was the moment of truth.
But the most that they could do to help, was to try and distract her from the pain of childbirth, via their strange conversations.
[So…what kind of sea creature ya think the Storm Queen’s kid is gonna take after?,] Marlancer asked in full seriousness to his compatriots. [A tuna? An angelfish? Maybe an angler?]
As soon as he posed his question, the other Storm Knights present looked at him like he was speaking complete and utter nonsense…which he was.
[What?]
[You…you do know how mortal reproduction works, right?,] Shockheel asked. [There are multiple books in the Archive about this.]
[It’s like how the Storm Queen makes us, but takes a little longer…wait a minute, why do you know that?]
[I got curious.]
[Huh…]
The Storm Knights continued to talk about everything and nothing for a little while longer until this strange sense of relief overcame all of them and put an end to their conversation.
[Wait a minute…]
[Is it…]
[Are they…]
“Wa…WAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”
[The baby’s here!]
Overcome by excitement, the Storm Knights practically busted through the door all at once, toppling all over each other.
[Aish! You young whippersnappers, what did I say about being patient?]
[Agreed.]
The only ones who weren’t caught up in this multi-body pile-up was Tortallion and Grand Blue, who both had the decency to wait until the way was clear before entering. The rest of the kaijin eventually managed to untangle themselves and get to their feet though.
Once they did, they were greeted by the sight of their creator, covered in sweat and looking tired as all hell, but with a smile on her face.
And bundled in her arms was the smallest human baby girl that they had ever seen.
Needless to say, the kaijin were spellbound.
[Well I’ll be…so this is our new princess huh?]
[She’s so small…]
[And pink!]
[I wanna boop her snoot.]
[Don’t. That’s bad for the health of babies.]
[D’awww…]
[Yes, yes, she is quite adorable,] Miavora humble bragged. [Now, would any of you like to hold her?]
[Oh!]
[Uh…]
The kaijin were nervous to say the least.
They had good reason to ask well, since all of them were made from sea creatures, none of their skins were particularly pleasant to the touch. Combined with their monstrous strength, they were worried about injuring their creator’s baby.
However, there was one exception to this issue.
Tortallion.
[Oi, you do it.]
[M-me?]
[Yeah! Out of all of us here, you’ve been by the Queen’s side the longest. It only makes sense that you’d be the first to hold her child first,] Grand Fang pointed out.
[Plus, you’re the only one among us who has the right combination of safe-to-touch skin and strength to not be an issue,] Medusina added.
[Are you calling me weak?]
[I’m saying you’re careful.]
[Come on, Tortallion. Go.]
[Well…]
Poke and proded by his fellow knights, Torrallion finally relented and requested Miavora to hold her child.
[May I…]
[Of course.]
As gentlly as he could manage, Tortallion took the baby from the Storm Queen’s arms.
Precious bundle in his arms, Tortallion felt a warmth in his being that he remembered feeling once before a long time ago.
In another lifetime as it were.
[She’s so…fragile,] Tortallion quietly commented. [What’s her name?]
[Jin Fang,] Miavora answered with a smile. [Her name’s Jin Fang.]
[Jin Fang…,] Tortallion repeated.
In this moment, he and all of the other kaijin present made a silent vow to do all in their power to not just protect their queen/creator, her kingdom and her people, but to also do all that they could to protect this little bundle of joy known as Jin Fang.
…Now, back to the present…
It was strange, to say the least.
Recalling memories like this used to be a massive pain to Tortallion. Not that it was inconvenient, but that it actually caused him pain to do so.
Due to his Lord being deceased, Tortallion’s memories were falling apart at the seams. So, whenever he needed to recall something, he had to force those seams back together.
But now, it seemed easier.
In the same way a receding tide can reveal things hidden in the sand, Tortallion’s memories seemed to uncover themselves.
‘Well, like the others say, you got to take the plunge to see the bottom anyways…’
Finally working up the nerve, Tortallion floated over.
[Pardon me, Kaijin Lord, but may I ask…]
…
=Huh…I guess you were right. Tortallion did get a chance to meet Jin Fang before it could as too late.=
=What’s up?=
=You mean the bolts of [Chaos] rending them to pieces? We will need to look into anti-[Chaos,] measures by the way, which is a weird sentence for me to say.=
=Something else? Like what?=
…Meanwhile, at the source of the weird readings…
“Matriarch! It’s good to see you safe and-”
“Status report on the troops, how many have returned?”
“Oh! Well, in terms of our regular soldiers, at least sixty-three percent of our original forces have returned in varying states of injuries, with the remaining thirty-seven having been killed in action or captured by the enemy.”
“That was within our estimations, what about the Grafted? Have they all returned as well?”
“Gao Kan and Gao Su have been captured after being defeated by the enemy kaijin. Alain and Sophita have managed to retreat safely, with the latter suffering injuries. Elder Gao Ao Long is manning our defenses as we speak.”
“What about Elder Gao Dau? Has he not retreated yet?”
“Not yet ma’am, he is currently engaged with the enemy and we are unable to get a clear reading on how the battle is progressing due to [Chaos] interference.”
“That’s not what I wanted to hear…what about the weapon? Is fully charged yet to execute Phase 2B?”
“Not yet, matriarch. By our estimates, it should be done within the next ten minutes or so. Five if we break safety protocol and use more of our resources.”
“Ten it is then. Just because we’re about to wipe a city off the face of the planet doesn’t mean I want to get caught up in it.”
“Of course, ma’am.”
