The Mother of Monsters

Teyva and several of the eldest members of the newborn Akurai race met quickly in the courtyard after what had happened. Ira, the little girl who had changed her appearance to that of a miniature Teyva stood next to Teyva and Paraklytus while the others looked down at her with a mixture of alarm and curiosity. Ira took a step backward from the gathering, pressing herself against Teyva’s leg as they murmured amongst themselves. Teyva looked down at the girl, she was so frightened. She sighed and knelt down to the girl’s level, placing a hand on her head and stroking her hair.

“Did I do something wrong, Queen Mother?” Ira asked, her big eyes filled with tears.

“Not at all dearie,” Teyva assured her, “We’re just a little confused about what happened is all. We didn’t know you could do that.”

“I didn’t either!” Ira proclaimed, trying to defend herself, “It just kinda happened!”

“That demands a question,” One of the elders, a shorter Akurai with a receding hairline and deep-set eyes said. The older man’s name was Horus, and as a member of the University he was an expert in the study of the aspects. “How did you acquire this ability, young lady?”

Ira looked up at the old man with fear in her eyes, “I don’t know master Horus!”

Teyva turned her head to Horus and frowned, giving it some thought. The ability wasn’t dissimilar to her [Alter Self] ability. In fact, it very well could be [Alter Self] but if that was the case, how? [Mimicry] the ability that allowed her summons to use her aspect abilities only applied to her summons. She rubbed her chin and pulled up the description of [Embrace Monster]. Perhaps she’d overlooked something when she was reading the description last time.

“Ah,” Teyva said, and looked up at Paraklytus. “Well that answers that.”

The Archlich turned to her, “What is it?”

“The ability I used to create the Akurai, [Embrace Monster], counts as one of my summons. If you combine that with my [Mimicry] ability, it pretty much explains what’s going on here,” She said, turning to Ira who looked up at her in confusion. The little girl couldn’t follow the conversation at all, but that was fine. She turned to look at Horus who had a perplexed look on his face.

“All of us, then?” He asked, turning to the other elders who shook their heads, “We have not exhibited any such abilities.”

“Have you tried?” Paraklytus asked, dubiously.

The old men looked at one another and then at Teyva. One of them frowned and tensed his body, concentrating. He grit his teeth until a vein began to bulge in his throat. Then, just like Ira, his appearance began to change. Soon he was the spitting image of Horus. Horus looked aghast, “Dekar! By the walls what have you done with yourself?” He demanded, looking the man up and down. 

Dekar looked himself over, touching his face and finally looking up at Teyva. “The Queen Mother has given us life, and now she’s blessed us with power,” He said breathlessly.

Teyva blinked, her eyes going wide as a sudden uncomfortable feeling came over her. Next to her, Perry turned his head away and raised his bony hand to his face. Did she just hear him snort out a laugh? She narrowed her eyes, You bastard. She looked back at Dekar who had reverted back to his original appearance. “Aha, It’s just the synergy of my-” Teyva began.

“Like a goddess,” One of the other elders breathed.

“Woah now,” Teyva held up her hands, “Easy there bucko, Ixnay on the Goddess thing,” She’d been called a godling on more than one occasion and now this guy was about to go full religion on her. She did not need that on top of everything else. It wasn’t like she could actually answer prayers or anything. It was a coincidence! Her abilities just happened to work together in such a way to have this effect.

“But my lady! There can be no doubt!” Another elder chimed in. The others began to talk among themselves, coming to their own conclusions instead of listening to a damn word she said.

Teyva covered her face with her hands, “Oh man how am I going to explain this one to the King?” She muttered.

A gentle tugging on her leg drew her attention back down to Ira who was looking up with wonder in her eyes. “Queen Mother, are you really a g-goddess?” 

Teyva looked up at Paraklytus who had to physically turn around and walk over to speak with Batel rather than burst into laughter. She swore to herself she’d get back at him. She looked down at the child and took her cheeks in her hands, “I’m just your Queen Mother, dearie, nothing more, these powers you got from me were just a…” She didn’t want to say accident, “...a little bit of me in you!” She said and then froze, “Wait, no, that came out wrong.”

“The Queen Mother is in all of us, indeed,” Horus said reverently, “Perhaps we have other abilities as well! I’ll convene the family heads to discuss this!” Horus declared and hurried off into the University before Teyva could command him to stop. She hung her head, things were getting more complicated by the day.

Teyva glared at the prompt; “You too? Really?”

Teyva hung her head, there was no getting out of this was there? She sighed, at this point if she told them she was going to let them start exploring Osan just as they were learning they had these abilities it was going to cause a whole lot of trouble. She’d have to rethink moving up the schedule. She felt a pair of tiny arms wrap around her neck and squeeze, a tiny little kiss planting itself on her ice-cold skin. Teyva blinked and looked at Ira who pulled away and gave a delicate curtsy before looking up into Teyva’s eyes. “Thank you, Queen Mother, for everything you’ve given us.”

With that, the little girl turned and ran away, hurrying to her friends who were waiting with their families just out of earshot of the conversation. Teyva sat down on the ground and sighed, Paraklytus and Batel coming back over to join her. The Archlich, without a face, was the visage of impassiveness though she could practically feel his mirth as he loomed over her. She looked up into his glowing pinprick eyes and frowned, “Whole lotta help you were.”

The Archlich laughed, “Forgive me, Queen Mother, but does it not benefit you to have them revere you as such?”

She narrowed her eyes, “Excuse me? As far as I can see it just makes things more complicated!”

“Ah, but now every time they use these powers of theirs, they will think of the being that granted them. It goes without saying that simply living their lives they will be constantly reminded of their devotion to your holiness,” Paraklytus said, his voice trembling a little as he contained his laughter.

“Never call me holiness again, as far as I’m concerned I’m the opposite,” She ground out, getting to her feet, “But,” She sighed, “You’re probably right. It couldn’t hurt, and with how often I might be away having something to remind them of me would be nice. Though I kinda wish it hadn’t manifested like that.”

Paraklytus turned on her and looked her in the eyes, “You must learn to take a compliment, Majesty,” he said firmly, “Your people adore you and to scorn their adoration is to plant doubt of your love in their hearts. Learn to accept their love with grace or be doomed to lose it,” He warned. Teyva shrank a little and shifted towards Batel.

Batel, for his part, remained remarkably silent during the conversation. She turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow, “Thoughts?”

“I am not sure what to think, my lady,” He said, “The Gods that the Labyrinthians once worshipped failed us, so while it is heartening to have such an entity that one can see and touch, I do not put a lot of stock in the whole business of the divine.”

Teyva smiled, “At least someone has sense. While it’s useful, it’s not something I want. Just to be very clear.”

“Understood,” Batel said with a smile, “You are my Queen Mother, nothing more.”

“Thank you Batel,” She said, giving Paraklytus a sidelong look that said she liked Batel more than him right now.

“That said, if the Queen Mother would be willing, I would like some of your time to learn more about these abilities. If any of the powers we inherited from you are useful in combat, it would be wise for me to understand them so I can instruct the others of your guard,” Batel said.

“Sure! We can talk about it while we go inside, we still have some business to take care of, don’t we Perry?”

Paraklytus’ eyes flashed, “Ah yes! With all the excitement I’d almost forgotten! Let us proceed, Divine Mother,” He teased.

Teyva groaned, so much for her cool-headed queen act.