The Spinstress's Dilemma Pt. 1

"I'm afraid we cannot oblige."

Illia stepped in front of Cress, groceries still in hand. Her voice was colder than dry ice and Cress could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She fought to uncinch her purse, shoving her hand in and digging for her pepper spray as soon as the opening was big enough. She hadn't felt Illia's murderous aura since the day she met and she hated that she wasn't sure if she was getting the spray for her or the mugger.

"I ain't joking, bitch. You think just cause you're tall you're tough?"

A crushing pressure that almost brought Cress to her knees filled the air. It stole Cress's breath and froze her racing heart. Her hands were trembling and her instincts told her that if she moved, she would die. The mugger seemed to feel it too, though to a lesser extent which Cress attributed to the drugs he seemed to be on.

"I warn you, human. Leave. Now." Illia's last word was a growl. Several inhuman clicks like rocks tapping together accompanied it, forcing Cress to take a step back.

"W-Why don't we just g-give him what he wants," Cress said meekly, her body so tense it felt like it would snap in half. "I-It's not a b-big deal."

"No."

"Illia, please," Cress said, grabbing onto the bristling woman's arm. It was her first time touching the princess and she was surprised how hard it felt. Though her skin looked soft, it felt closer to metal both in hardness and texture.

Illia looked down at Cress, her expression mixed between concern and rage. Her extra… brows twitched in the orange evening sun, her ponytail fluttering in the late autumn wind behind her.

"Step back, Cress."

"W-We can just leave. It's not like he's a real threat."

A dark aura seethed from Illia and Cress let go of her arm, retreating.

"And what of his next victim? He is just like the humans of my world; a violent beast concerned only with his own welfare. As General and Princess of the-"

"We're not in your world!" Cress yelled, fists balled at her sides. Her glasses slid to the edge of her nose and she looked up at Cress with quivering hazel eyes. "I'll call the police."

"Don't fucking ignore me!" The mugger lunged forward, thrusting his knife at Cress. She fell back with a cry onto the ground, scraping open her palm against the rough concrete sidewalk.

Time seemed to slow around Cress. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears one beat at a time and though she was breathing, she felt like she was drowning. The nippy evening air caressed her flushed cheeks and she could only stare in shock as time returned to normal.

The sky rang with the man's pained scream, the clear sound of his arm snapping under Illia's crushing grasp. All eight of her eyes were open wide, salivating with venomous blood lust. The kitchen knife clattered to the ground and the man fell to his knees… or at least tried to. Cress couldn't be sure, Illia seemed to grow in front of her like a demonic beast and he dangled a foot off the ground held up by his limp wrist.

"Please!" he started to beg, tears streaming from his face. He reminded her of himself when she'd first met Illia and she wanted to beg along with him. Her body refused to move and even though she wanted to scream and crawl away like before, she couldn't even manage that. If she was comparing the two situations, Illia had been at most annoyed when they first met. This was simply Death.

"These are the consequences of your actions."

Illia's long arm raised the man higher until his feet were where Cress's head would have been if she was standing. Illia's monstrous figure flickered in the sun's final rays, her hair broken loose and standing on end behind her. An eight legged shadow as large as an elephant spanned behind her which Cress could only assume was the monster's true form.

"Stop her. Stop her! STOP HER!"

The echoing thought surprised Cress. Even though her heart felt ready to burst and she hadn't taken a breath in almost a minute, her instinct wasn't to run anymore. There was no magical warmth in her chest, nor had she taken her medication. So why was the gut wrenching fear she'd lived with all her life fading?

"Illia, stop!" Cress yelled. She was on her feet before she realized and she wrapped her arms around Illia's waist, squeezing tightly and burying her face in white ends of her hair. "Let him go. He's learned his lesson." The dark puddle on the concrete below the man was evidence of that.

"Cress…" Illia's rage dampened and she closed her extra eyes before she looked down at her. "Why do you insist on protecting this malefactor?"

"If you kill him we'll have to deal with the police and we won't be able to find a way for you to return to Illia!" Cress squeezed her eyes and arms tight, burying her face in Illia's hard back. She could only pray Illia accepted her logic.

"Tsk. So be it." Illia tossed the man to the ground, making him hit his head against the wall of the building behind him.

Illia's body loosened and shrank in Cress's arms, but she continued to cling to the woman, whether that was from fear of seeing Illia's body change or fear of Illia changing her mind. She didn't loosen her grip even when she felt Illia's knife-like fingers rest on her arm. Now that the worst was over, her own trepidation was growing and she could feel the painful precursors of a panic attack.

"Illia," Cress said, her throat tightening. "C-Can you use your magic for me."

A soothing wave swallowed Cress's panic and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Will he be alright?"

"His life is not in jeopardy."

"Can we go home?"

Illia pried Cress's hands away and knelt down, picking up her purse. She reached inside and a moment later held the bottle of Cress's medication out to her.

"Take this first."

Tears dripped onto Cress's cheeks and she sniffled, wiping her nose with her sleeve. She didn't bother resisting the smile or the small laugh that wedged its way into her confused emotions.

"What is she doing," Cress chuckled in her mind. "How are you going to go from a bloodthirsty monster to an angel? She's been so nice since we started living together, but I thought she was being polite at best. Yet here she is actually worried about me."

She still had her doubts, though she had no way of arguing the facts in front of her so she took the pills and washed them down with one of the drinks they'd bought at the store. Her heart ached. Her palms felt sweaty. It was still hard to breathe. She felt all the signs of a panic attack, but she knew there wasn't one coming.

***

"Rest for now," Quelurillian said, guiding Crescent to her bedroom. "I shall stow the provisions."

"Are you sure?" Crescent asked. She had been calmer than Illia had anticipated on their way back to the condo.

"I am. You deserve respite after this evening's altercation."

Crescent nodded and entered her room, closing the door behind her. Though Cress was unaware, Quelurillian could hear the girl's exhausted sniffles through the door. It had been an issue of debate for Quelurillian whether to tell Crescent or not; she was not to blame nor did she feel the need to apologize for her heightened senses. She had decided to refrain from addressing the issue.

"Were it not for the lack of mana in this cursed world… I barely recover any when resting and my failure to regulate my emotions has caused me to squander what I have left. And for what? That frail human?"

Quelurillian's sharp nails pressed into her palms, fighting to pierce her rigid skin. She had chosen the girl assuming fate had chosen her, yet the greater part of her time had been spent assuaging her fears. Had she known before… Yet her sense of responsibility refused to let her leave.

"What am I doing," Quelurillian muttered to herself. She unpacked their acquired rations and stowed them away with the exception of a thick cut of red meat that reminded her of fresh Calfenell. She listened for Crescent and was pleased to hear the young woman's soft breathing. She did not have to worry about her rousing unexpectedly.

Walking out onto the balcony, she opened the six eyes on her forehead she was forced to seal the majority of the day and let out a hiss of relief. She detested having to close them; it was uncomfortable and narrowed her vision. More than that, she despised staying in her humanoid form continuously. It was like being wrapped in a stiff, scratchy cocoon she yearned to break herself from. Why didn't she?

"Perhaps I have been too accommodating. Why am I, once known as the Demon Spinstress of the Southern Sands, bending to the whims of a human? It's utter foolishness."