“Are you alright, Aria?”
Aria turned dazedly towards her master, berating herself for letting her feelings show on her face. “Wh-what? Of course I’m fine! There’s nothing to worry about with us guarding you, after all!” Aria silently prayed that he would believe that, because her plan would have no chance of working if he knew what she intended.
Aria let loose a sigh of relief when her Tamer nodded, accepting her answer. She knew he knew she was bluffing about her confidence, but the blonde Bombshell was certain her master thought it was because of her nervousness about the coming day, rather than her true concern.
And he had cause to believe that! The Tamer All-Call had gone out three days ago, but despite the urgency of the All-Call, only two other Tamers had shown up at the town. She knew—they all knew!—that there would be deaths. Many deaths.
Gruesome deaths.
After all, there were no other kinds when fighting a Widow.
According to the authorities who had sent out the All-Call, the Widow had appeared four days ago. It had been found in the wilderness, some ways away from the town Aria and her Tamer now found themselves at, but was headed towards the town at a frighteningly fast rate. It would arrive tomorrow.
Which meant she had to move tonight, in order for her plan to work.
* * *
Aria laid perfectly still in the bed as her master rolled off of her. She had put more effort into this Taming session than she ever had before, as had everyone else in her master’s harem. Perhaps they had done it because it might be their last. That wasn’t why she had been so wild. No, she needed him to sleep, as soon as possible so she could get more time.
Still lying on the bed, Aria stretched out to grab the bundle of Pokeballs lying on the small table beside the bed. As she moved, her harem-sister, an Ice Princess, began to stir.
Damn! She’s always been a light sleeper. Sorry, but I can’t let you interrupt this, the Bombshell thought as she quickly snatched up her Pokeball. A quick beam of light later, and the Ice-type was safely in her Pokeball. Aria used the opportunity to ball her other harem-sisters, lest they too interfere.
She sat on the edge of the bed as she looked over her Tamer, her harem-sisters, her life, for what may have been the last time in her life.
Her Tamer murmured in his sleep as she reach out to brush his cheeks with her hand. Oh, the times they had had! She remembered, so clearly, how she had met him. Truth be told, it was something that rarely left her mind. She had been owned by a Tamer in the Indigo League when her master had first found her. When he had seen how her Tamer had treated her, he had been incensed. The man who would become her master had challenged the man on the spot, and had soon claimed her for his own.
And then… she knew not the words that could explain how wonderful life had been since then. Her master was a traveler. She had gone all across the world with him, seeing beautiful sights and exploring caves and forests she didn’t think anyone had ever seen before. He was so… kind. The times that she had needed to take a life in their journeys, usually to protect them from Ferals, he had been distraught. She smiled softly as she remembered the endless hours of care and love and affection he would lavish upon her and her harem sisters.
Aria reluctantly removed her hand from her master as she picked up the Pokeballs. This one held the Ice Princess, who had been her master’s starter Pokegirl. The Enchantress was in this one. Aria lifted the Enchatress’s ball to her lips as she remembered when the Thresholder had first joined the harem. She had seemed so frail, so fragile… and she had grown into a beautiful young woman. Much like I did, under the man we love so much, she thought to herself as she reached for the ball of the last of her harem-sisters, her master’s newest acquisition. It had been difficult to learn to deal with the Edo Moon Bunny, as she was possessed of every bit of the clumsiness one would expect from a Bunnygirl, but she had quickly snuggled her way into everyone’s hearts.
Aria placed her harem sisters on her master’s bed and walked as softly as she could to the door. It was simple enough to close it without waking him. In truth, it was almost too easy how effortless leaving the town was. As soon as she left the town boundaries, she broke into a run, trying to get as far as she could in as short a time as possible.
A tear ran down her face as she thought of never seeing them again. They had been family, they had been her companions. She couldn’t remember the times she had saved their lives, and been saved in return. She could hardly comprehend never sitting around the fire with them again, with her master’s arms wrapped around her. The thought of never being able to embrace him again, of never sharing another meal with him was agony.
It was ironic, really. She and her harem-sisters had again and again bemoaned their master’s Blood Curse, which prevented the formation of a Delta bond, but now she found it a blessing. If her master had the mental closeness a Delta bond would bring, she would never be able to succeed at this. She would never consider doing this, really, had the Delta bond been present; it would be far to painful to her beloved master to make him feel the agony that was sure to come.
* * *
A sudden shriek made Aria pull to a stop.
It couldn’t be… no. It can’t!
The area she was in was rocky, mountainous; supposedly, it was uninhabited, as no Pokegirl had ever been seen in the area. But if that scream was what she thought it was…
Aria rushed to top of the overhang next to her, despite the fact that she had been running all night. The sight she saw once she reached the top horrified her.
What she saw was unmistakable. She had, after all, spent the last day researching them, and since before she had been born they had been the boogieman mothers threatened their children with to make them behave. It was pitch black, covered in the jagged, lethal-looking chitin that made the breed so invincible. Aria could feel her heart race as she gazed upon it. The head that would be human were it not for grotesque spider-like jaws was thankfully turned away from her, but she could still see the rest of it. The bulging abdomen, the vicious, scythe-like pair of arms, all showed it to be something much crueler, much more terrible than any normal Pokegirl. It—for calling it female was in no way appropriate—exuded a feeling of madness, of absolute, unstoppable destruction. To call it nightmarish would be false, for no nightmare could be so utterly terrifying as the Widow.
But that was not what was truly frightening to Aria. Before the Widow lay the mangled body of a Pokegirl. Aria could not tell what breed the young ‘girl was, but she could tell the Widow was mere moments away from eating the body. And that would ruin everything.
Aria pointed her left arm at the monster and concentrated. A small explosion later, and Aria’s hand went flying towards the beast, the ensuing blast doing no damage whatsoever but successfully drawing its attention. The fear that she had felt before returned tenfold.
Before she had time to shake off her fear, however, it was upon her, moving at that impossibly fast speed that helped make the Widow so lethal. In desperation, she made her feet explode, quickly rocketing her back a full twenty feet. But she was not fast enough—the spray of liquid from the beast caught her on the legs.
Aria had made a plan for that, of course; she was Alpha for a reason, after all. She didn’t feel pain, so she had assumed she could simply detonate her legs and thus remove the poison. But what she did not expect was the incredible potency of the foul substance known as Hyper Venom. It made even her, who did not feel pain, keel over in agony, easy prey for the arachnid monster that was slowly approaching her.
The pain was… unbearable. Yes, that was the word. It was all-consuming, terrible, burning away reason and purpose and everything as it ate at her. So great was the pain that she never noticed the Widow tear off and eat her arm. Soon, the acidic properties of Hyper Venom began to dissolve her body, melting first the magnetic spine that allowed her to reform after she exploded, as though the poison had some twisted sentience.
But the pain was not so great that she could not see her Tamer approaching at the head of the force made to kill the Widow.
The pain was not so great that she could not look into his eyes.
And, a mere moment before she would detonate her entire body, including the arm in the monster’s mouth, with a force powerful enough to fry the Widows brain, she smiled. With her smile she tried to say everything. I’m sorry to leave you. I’m sorry we couldn’t bond. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I’ll miss you. Goodbye.
But all her Tamer saw was,
I love you.
And then, she was no more.