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Description

[The House of Ecchs]

Belix and Clyde ambled into the house, wandering around a bit, genuinely lost for a few minutes as they searched for the kitchen. Along the way, they spotted Cryak wandering back and forth in a small room, muttering to himself. He barely noticed them as they walked by, but Clyde paused on the other side of the door, seeing an air vent set into the ceiling. He then took the spiders from his cuffs and whispered something to them before dropping them on the floor and moving on.

“You gonna tell me…” Belix whispered, only for him to shush her.

With a shrug, they continued their journey and finally reached their destination. Belix wasted no time in raiding the fridge and getting some cold chicken for them to munch on. Clyde ate, but stayed by the door, waiting. A few seconds later, one of the spiders appeared, dropping down on Clyde’s shoulder from a ceiling vent.

“So...now do you explain?”

“Yes,” Clyde nodded, bringing the spider over to her, “Get a cup.”

Belix came back with a glass drinking cup and the spider latched itself onto the bottom almost immidiately. Curious, she noticed the thread still extending from the tail of the spider and put it all together.

“They carry sound?” she asked, but Clyde only tapped his ear.

She put the cup up to her ear and could, amazingly, hear Cryak pacing around while muttering in the other room.

“I think their bodies are hollow, it makes…”

“Hey, shut up,” she waved him over and they both leaned together to listen to the cup.

In the other room they could hear a set of heavy footsteps stomping into the room.

“Well, you didn’t make me wait long,” Cryak commented before a heavy blow could be heard colliding with flesh.

“I have told you, again and again,” Rio commanded him, “And I will not repeat myself anymore, never, NEVER with my daughter!”

“I was Just Playing A Game!” Cryak insisted, “God, you’re so sensitive!”

“And I’ve had far more than enough of your so-called ‘games’!” Rio shouted, “You Will Not Ply Them On My Daughter!”

“How do you even know that little skinflint is even your daughter?!” Cryak shouted, a hard, meaty smack resounded, forcing the two eavesdroppers to pull away from the cup.

“Ow…” Belix complained, rubbing her ear, “You think that was a punch or a slap?”

“Definitely a backhand,” Clyde mentioned, leaning over the glass once more.

“All of your sins...you have long ago exceeded the realm of my patience!”

“Oh? But not the realm of protection,” Cryak mentioned, his voice arrogant and snide, “The council won’t like it very much if you kill me.”

“You’d be amazed at how much I can do without killing you,” Rio snarled back, “Little Brother!”

“I very much doubt…” silence reigned, a defining quiet only punctuated by the crackling of fire, “Heh, right, ‘my big brother the chosen’.”

“I don’t ask you to respect my position…”

“GOOD!” Cryak snapped, “The teachers pet can’t teach me a damn thing!”

There was a loud ‘fwoosh’ and Cryak was suddenly grunting in pain.

“But you Will,” Rio told him warningly, “Respect my house!”

“Like you respect mine?”

“Is that what this is about?” Rio demanded, his tone softening, “Brother, I didn’t choose this path for you.”

“You didn’t help either!” Cryak shouted, then sighed, “Can you really blame me for…”

“Yes…” Rio sighed, “Yes I can…. You… there was a time when I loved you my brother, a time when…”

“Spare me,” Cryak grumbled, “I trained my whole life over, I… I Bled for that right! And our teacher only gave it to you because she liked your dick better.”

Rio was silent for a time, neither said a word.

“Do you want me to apologize?”

“You mean do I want you to lie to me?” Cryak demanded.

“I give you your freedom brother, your every move unencumbered, an allowance that reaches as deep as my own accounts.”

“But not what I want!” Cryak shouted.

There was a sudden, odd tearing noise, like meat being pulled from bone, and Rio screamed. He kept screaming for a long time until he finally tapered off into ragged gasping. There was a loud ‘clack’ as something hard and solid was slammed against something else.

“Then take it,” Rio gasped, “Take it from me and leave my home, and let this wound be mended.”

Silence once again, then some footsteps, then a soft clack, and Cryak finally spoke.

“I had heard you were grooming your son to take over for you?”

“Yes…” Rio mentioned, still breathing hard.

“Am I to expect him to come to my door one night, and steal this from me?”

“No… he doesn’t know about it, not yet…”

“So he will, soon?”

“As is his right,” Rio agreed, “But I would protect you my brother, I would forbid…”

“No,” Cryak told him somberly, “Don’t you dare tell me this, that you will defend me, protect me…”

“You are my family…”

“No!” Cryak snapped, “I am your shame, your forgotten obligation,” he sighed, “I’d prefer to stay that way,” a pause, then, “I’ll stay away from the girl, since it vexes you so, and try my best to disappear until the next meeting.”

There were footsteps, and then more silence, a sharp, sliding noise, then Rio screamed again and he left the study. Clyde tapped against the glass and the spider detached itself, tugging on the near invisible thread it had trailed behind itself. The thread went slack and the spider latched onto his cuff to be joined by its brother moments later.

“So…” Belix wondered, returning to her chicken-leg snack, “What the Hells was that about?”

“Blackmail,” Clyde suggested, “They had a falling out, they hate each other, can’t forgive…”

“He did something,” Belix nodded.

“Something he might be doing again,” Clyde agreed.

“Wait…” Belix paused, “You’re not… I mean… He’s not… you don’t think he fucked Drucilla do you?”

“Huh…” Clyde considered it, scratching his chin, “You don’t… maybe… does Rio seem like the type of guy who would let that go?”

“Fair point,” Belix nodded, offering him the other drumstick, “But, if this is blackmail or, some kind of recompense…”

“Revenge? Odd way to go about it…”

“Hey, if you can’t kill the man, cuck ‘im,” Belix shrugged, “I mean, it’s round about, but it gets the job done.”

“Are you really sure…”

“Yes Godsdamn it!” Belix shouted, shaking her head, she put away the plate of chicken and headed towards the exit, “Come on, let’s check on the kid.”

She left and Clyde followed her. They visited Rin in her room and made sure that she was alright. Time moved forward, the sunlight began to fade, replaced by a honey-colored glow. Belix stood in front of the doorway and Clyde knew better than to argue with her as she walked out, so, instead, he pulled the spiders from his cuffs and dropped them on the hem of her dress. Left alone, he decided to stroll through the house, back towards their assigned room.

He had almost made it there when he noticed something off, a subtle rhythmic breathing and moaning, a repetitive vibration that he could feel being transferred through the walls and floor. It wasn’t his business, it had nothing to do with him, he knew that, but something in his mind couldn’t be dissuaded, perhaps he simply needed a distraction, but, at any rate, Clyde decided to follow it, moving through the house in silence until he came to the room where the noises were coming from.

No knowing what to do, after arriving at the location, Clyde simply stood there, staring at the door. He was about to leave, when something drew his attention.

“Why do you always have to cry?” he heard Ecchs whisper.

“Just...get it over with…” a woman muttered back.

“Be quiet,” Ecchs hissed at her, “You know I can’t finish if you’re…”

“Could… you… just… Stop…” she practically wept, “Just please… stop…”

“Don’t wimp out on me now,” Ecchs chuckled, “I’m so close…”

“Stop it!” the woman shouted, “Stop!”

“Shut Up!”

Clyde burst through the door without thinking, and stood there, framed by the shattered wood and plaster. He saw Ecchs in the room, his pants around his ankles, his hands around Greta’s neck as she lay naked on the bed. Ecch’s head snapped around incredulously and a knife slid out of Clyde’s sleeve and into his fingers.

“Get out!” Clyde ordered him.

“Isn’t that my line?!” Ecchs demanded, still hunched over Greta’s prone frame, “I’m kind of busy at the moment.”

Wasting no more words, Clyde rushed him and shoved Ecchs into the wall. As his shoulders collided with the plaster and marble, Clyde jammed the blade into his ribs, it met resistance and got stuck halfway in.

“You know…” Ecchs snarled, clawed fingers snapping out of his human-seeming hands, “I’m really starting to dislike you.”

Clyde dropped the first blade and pulled another, trying his best to drive it into Ecchs’ eye only to be blocked. The both of them stood in a clench, each trying to overpower the other, until they heard something, a quiet sniffle, and noticed Greta silently crying on the bed. Clyde took a breath and stepped back, knife still in his hand.

“Leave,” he warned Ecchs who haughtily glared back at him.

“Fine…” he finally snapped, bending down to pull up his pants, “Can’t keep my dick hard with another guy in the room anyway.”

“Self-conscious?” Clyde whispered at him as Ecchs pushed his way out of the room.

“We’ll finish this later,” Ecchs spat over his shoulder, and Clyde honestly couldn’t tell if he was talking to him or Greta.

Sheathing his blade, Clyde walked over to the other side of the room where Greta lay, unmoved and staring at the ceiling. At a loss, he grabbed the edge of the bedsheet and pulled it across her body to cover her up. With a sigh, he walked to the other side of the bed and sat down, waiting for her weeping to stop. Even when she finally fell to silence, Clyde gave her a minute or two to collect herself before he asked his question.

“Can you explain this to me?”

Greta sniffed loudly and sat up on the bed, barely even noticing the bed sheet as it fell off of her body.

“I… I’m sorry…” Greta muttered pathetically.

“Why?”

“I… I shouldn’t have…” she started to weep again, “I messed up, I shouldn’t have complained.”

Clyde glanced back at her, face buried in her hands, and he repeated his question.

“What were you doing in here?”

“I was trying to get pregnant,” Greta finally responded.

“I thought you were married,” Clyde mentioned and saw her hand drift up to the ‘x’ shaped brand on her shoulder as she began to sob once again, “I only mention it because you seem to be in the room with the wrong man.”

“...Kyo knows,” she told him pathetically, “He… I asked…”

“Right,” Clyde nodded, remembering something from the lunch earlier that day, “’Your children will never be legitimized, but a first wife must bare children’.”

“I did, four,” Greta whimpered, “All of them still-births.”

“You think Ecchs could make for a better father?”

“No,” she admitted, “But they’ll kill me if they find out, and Kyo… he’d be exiled, he’d be…”

“Let me see if I can piece this together,” Clyde told her somberly, “Rio’s shooting blanks.”

“That’s a bit of a leap,” Greta looked at him incredulously, “What does that have to do with…”

“I overheard a conversation between Cryak and his brother, I think… I think that Rio couldn’t have a child, not at first anyway, so he turned to Cryak to get Drucilla pregnant,” he glanced back at Greta, “Does that sound familiar?”

Greta blinked at him, curiously.

“What are you getting at?”

“Did you approach Ecchs, or did he come to you?” Clyde wondered, “Did he ever express any kind of ‘unreasonable knowledge’, as in, that he just knew what was happening even though you had been trying to hide it?”

“I… maybe…”

“Have you noticed your food tasting differently, or, maybe some new staff members handling your meals.”

“I… I…” Greta looked like she was about to throw up, “Please… please tell me you’re not saying…”

“Rio treats his children differently, he’s harsh with Ecchs, abuses him, Rin, however, he dotes on, and he seems far more even tempered with Kyo.” Clyde continued to muse, “I think… I think Cryak poisoned Drucilla, to try to make Rio think he was sterile, it was his revenge, Rio took something from him, and Cryak took his first born son, I’m speculating,” Clyde admitted, “But I think Ecchs is doing the same thing.”

Drucilla could only blink at him, disturbed beyond belief and horrified.

“That… no,” she whispered, “That actually makes some sense,” she paused, thinking it over, “You’re sure?”

“Why are you doing this?” Clyde wondered, “I mean, I know what you’re doing… but why?”

“… Kyo… he gave me a life I could only dream about, something… something I truly cherish…” Greta mentioned, her voice somber, “But the council doesn’t care, it… they… they’ll take me away from him, unless I can prove I’m capable of being a mother.”

“They won’t punish him?”

“He’s still one of their own, they’d keep him alive, pair him with other breeders, wait and see,” Greta looked back at him, “If you’re done with your questions, could you give me a chance to get dressed?”

“Of course,” Clyde nodded and left the room, making certain to keep his back to her the entire time.

Greta emerged from the room, in a nightgown and robe, and tapped him on the shoulder as she passed.

“I’ll talk to Kyo about this,” she told him.

“It was just speculation,” Clyde reminded her.

“It makes sense though,” Greta nodded, “I’ll talk to him.”

Clyde bowed as she left and, when he stood upright, he didn’t even need to look around to know that Ecchs was standing in the shadows.

“Are you ready to finish what we started?” Clyde asked, a blade quietly slipping into his hand.

“Please,” Ecchs tossed a bloody knife at his feet, “I could split you in half without even trying,” he folded his arms, sighing as he leaned against a nearby wall, “Why’d you have to go and ruin this for me?”

“Is it true?” Clyde demanded.

“As much as anything is,” Ecchs had to duck away when Clyde threw the blade at his eye, “You sure about this?”

Clyde said nothing and used his shoe to kick the bloody knife into his hand before he rushed Ecchs down. They exchanged blows, Ecchs was far to dense to hurt with mere blows, and slicing him did little damage, but stabbing, with effort, Clyde could punch through Ecchs’ thick hide. The cost, of course, was that the knife would get stuck, which Clyde learned after testing the theory. Pulling his other knife from the wall, he decided to be more careful with where he put the next one. They tussled in the dark a bit longer, until they both heard a piercing scream.

Clyde paused, his knife raised, aimed for Ecchs’ neck, the momentary distraction cost him, and Ecchs quickly shoved him to the floor.

“Priorities?” Ecchs demanded.

“We’re finishing this later,” Clyde huffed.

“Sure…” Ecchs had already turned to race down the hall.

The scream had originated from outside and they both, soon found themselves hustling through the dimly lit garden.

“Thank God these sky gems have a sense of ambiance!” Clyde complained, trying to search through the foliage.

“Hey, don’t ruffle anything,” Ecchs warned him as he searched the edge of a shrub, “Do you know how long it takes to plant and groom…”

“Do you?” Clyde demanded, “There might be a body, they don’t usually fall in the most considerate places.”

“Right,” Ecchs searched through the dark, trying to see if there was anyone waiting in the distance, “You know I’m not just trying to cuck my brother right?”

“Do you need to talk just so your eyes can work?” Clyde demanded, moving on to shift through the next area.

“It’s not cut and dry is all I’m saying,” Ecchs insisted, “Look, you know about my uncle, my real father?” when Clyde remained silent, Ecchs pressed on, “That means I’m not the legitimate heir, if Kyo wanted, he could out me, take everything that I worked for.”

“So you lied to him and plowed his wife,” Clyde grumbled as he moved deeper into the garden, “Are you looking for a pat on the head?”

“I didn’t know…” Ecchs sighed, “I thought the drug was contraceptive, I didn’t know it would cause still births, and, well, in for a penny and all that…”

“You’re disgusting,” Clyde muttered.

“I was trying to give him a gift!”

“You murdered his children!”

“Okay, so maybe I could’ve thought it out better but… hang on…” Ecchs pointed down to the shrubs, “What’s that?”

In the dim light, Clyde saw a slight glint of gold and reached his hand down to collect the spiders who eagerly ran up his arm.

“Where?” Clyde asked, and they pointed the way for him.

Following their directions, Clyde and Ecchs found themselves in a small paddock, segmented off from the rest of the garden by a stand of trees. There, between the ornate benches and the glistening black lake, Belix stood, her hand clasped nervously over her mouth.

“You alright?” Clyde asked, rushing up and checking her for wounds.

“Yeah, yes, yes, I’m fine…” Belix responded, her voice hurried and awkward.

“I thought I heard you scream?” Ecchs put in.

“I did,” Belix admitted, “Not my proudest moment, but, uh, consider the context.”

She pointed and both men took a step back in surprise. There, half submerged in the lake, lay Rio’s unmoving body, his chest torn open, a faint, almost invisible waft of smoke emerging from the gaping wound. Ecchs fell to his knees, tears, freely rolling down his cheeks.

“Father…” was all he could manage to whimper before letting out a baleful shriek that vibrated off the cavern walls until it sounded like a chorus of damned souls had arrived to pay their respects.

Clyde walked beside him and removed the blade he had jabbed into Ecchs’ side, cleaning it on his sleeve as the other man barely seemed to notice.

“Something I missed?” Belix wondered.

“I’ll tell you later,” Clyde whispered, “You’re sure you’re not hurt?”

“Yeah...no, the filthy uncle never showed, and you know I hate to waste a good strut but…” she eyed the body with abject horror, “Yeah, I thought I’d take a break out here and then…”

“Figured you’d seen your share of dead bodies before,” Clyde tried to joke.

“Yea, yes, I have, it’s just… he… he was so, fucking strong… it’s like… I don’t know,” she rubbed her arms, still transfixed on the body, “Like pulling up the edge of a mountain only to find out it’s hollow, like somebody shot the sun in the face… and it actually died.”

“It’s alright,” Clyde assured her, putting a hand on her shoulder, “It’s gonna be alright.”

“Can you…” she asked pathetically, “Can you give me a hug, please?”

Clyde nodded and pulled her close, then, looking over her shoulder, he saw a pair of lights in the distance. He separated from her gave her one last chance to collect herself, then met their new guests. The trio, Drucilla, Cryak and Kyo were led by a pair of Gremlins who lit the way for them with a pair of staffs that supported two burning oil lamps. They stopped at the edge of the clearing and all of them pulled an expression of horrified surprise once they noticed the body. They seemed stunned, but Drucilla was the first to move, noticing her boy kneeling in the grass, she rushed to his side.

“Son,” Drucilla snapped at him, slapping his cheeks, “Son!”

Ecchs seemed to come back to himself and looked back at her through bleary, tear swollen eyes.

“...mom…” he whimpered, unable to do anything else.

“Are you just going to leave him there?” Drucilla demanded.

Quietly, Ecchs nodded, and with much shaking and jittering, managed to pull himself to his feet. Not bothering to roll up his pant legs or even caring when he had to dip his arms into the freezing cold lake, Ecchs emerged seconds later, cradling his father’s dead body in his arms. Without making eye contact, without saying a word, Ecchs carried his father back to the mansion, everyone else followed close behind.

Description

[The House of Ecchs]

Belix and Clyde ambled into the house, wandering around a bit, genuinely lost for a few minutes as they searched for the kitchen. Along the way, they spotted Cryak wandering back and forth in a small room, muttering to himself. He barely noticed them as they walked by, but Clyde paused on the other side of the door, seeing an air vent set into the ceiling. He then took the spiders from his cuffs and whispered something to them before dropping them on the floor and moving on.

“You gonna tell me…” Belix whispered, only for him to shush her.

With a shrug, they continued their journey and finally reached their destination. Belix wasted no time in raiding the fridge and getting some cold chicken for them to munch on. Clyde ate, but stayed by the door, waiting. A few seconds later, one of the spiders appeared, dropping down on Clyde’s shoulder from a ceiling vent.

“So...now do you explain?”

“Yes,” Clyde nodded, bringing the spider over to her, “Get a cup.”

Belix came back with a glass drinking cup and the spider latched itself onto the bottom almost immidiately. Curious, she noticed the thread still extending from the tail of the spider and put it all together.

“They carry sound?” she asked, but Clyde only tapped his ear.

She put the cup up to her ear and could, amazingly, hear Cryak pacing around while muttering in the other room.

“I think their bodies are hollow, it makes…”

“Hey, shut up,” she waved him over and they both leaned together to listen to the cup.

In the other room they could hear a set of heavy footsteps stomping into the room.

“Well, you didn’t make me wait long,” Cryak commented before a heavy blow could be heard colliding with flesh.

“I have told you, again and again,” Rio commanded him, “And I will not repeat myself anymore, never, NEVER with my daughter!”

“I was Just Playing A Game!” Cryak insisted, “God, you’re so sensitive!”

“And I’ve had far more than enough of your so-called ‘games’!” Rio shouted, “You Will Not Ply Them On My Daughter!”

“How do you even know that little skinflint is even your daughter?!” Cryak shouted, a hard, meaty smack resounded, forcing the two eavesdroppers to pull away from the cup.

“Ow…” Belix complained, rubbing her ear, “You think that was a punch or a slap?”

“Definitely a backhand,” Clyde mentioned, leaning over the glass once more.

“All of your sins...you have long ago exceeded the realm of my patience!”

“Oh? But not the realm of protection,” Cryak mentioned, his voice arrogant and snide, “The council won’t like it very much if you kill me.”

“You’d be amazed at how much I can do without killing you,” Rio snarled back, “Little Brother!”

“I very much doubt…” silence reigned, a defining quiet only punctuated by the crackling of fire, “Heh, right, ‘my big brother the chosen’.”

“I don’t ask you to respect my position…”

“GOOD!” Cryak snapped, “The teachers pet can’t teach me a damn thing!”

There was a loud ‘fwoosh’ and Cryak was suddenly grunting in pain.

“But you Will,” Rio told him warningly, “Respect my house!”

“Like you respect mine?”

“Is that what this is about?” Rio demanded, his tone softening, “Brother, I didn’t choose this path for you.”

“You didn’t help either!” Cryak shouted, then sighed, “Can you really blame me for…”

“Yes…” Rio sighed, “Yes I can…. You… there was a time when I loved you my brother, a time when…”

“Spare me,” Cryak grumbled, “I trained my whole life over, I… I Bled for that right! And our teacher only gave it to you because she liked your dick better.”

Rio was silent for a time, neither said a word.

“Do you want me to apologize?”

“You mean do I want you to lie to me?” Cryak demanded.

“I give you your freedom brother, your every move unencumbered, an allowance that reaches as deep as my own accounts.”

“But not what I want!” Cryak shouted.

There was a sudden, odd tearing noise, like meat being pulled from bone, and Rio screamed. He kept screaming for a long time until he finally tapered off into ragged gasping. There was a loud ‘clack’ as something hard and solid was slammed against something else.

“Then take it,” Rio gasped, “Take it from me and leave my home, and let this wound be mended.”

Silence once again, then some footsteps, then a soft clack, and Cryak finally spoke.

“I had heard you were grooming your son to take over for you?”

“Yes…” Rio mentioned, still breathing hard.

“Am I to expect him to come to my door one night, and steal this from me?”

“No… he doesn’t know about it, not yet…”

“So he will, soon?”

“As is his right,” Rio agreed, “But I would protect you my brother, I would forbid…”

“No,” Cryak told him somberly, “Don’t you dare tell me this, that you will defend me, protect me…”

“You are my family…”

“No!” Cryak snapped, “I am your shame, your forgotten obligation,” he sighed, “I’d prefer to stay that way,” a pause, then, “I’ll stay away from the girl, since it vexes you so, and try my best to disappear until the next meeting.”

There were footsteps, and then more silence, a sharp, sliding noise, then Rio screamed again and he left the study. Clyde tapped against the glass and the spider detached itself, tugging on the near invisible thread it had trailed behind itself. The thread went slack and the spider latched onto his cuff to be joined by its brother moments later.

“So…” Belix wondered, returning to her chicken-leg snack, “What the Hells was that about?”

“Blackmail,” Clyde suggested, “They had a falling out, they hate each other, can’t forgive…”

“He did something,” Belix nodded.

“Something he might be doing again,” Clyde agreed.

“Wait…” Belix paused, “You’re not… I mean… He’s not… you don’t think he fucked Drucilla do you?”

“Huh…” Clyde considered it, scratching his chin, “You don’t… maybe… does Rio seem like the type of guy who would let that go?”

“Fair point,” Belix nodded, offering him the other drumstick, “But, if this is blackmail or, some kind of recompense…”

“Revenge? Odd way to go about it…”

“Hey, if you can’t kill the man, cuck ‘im,” Belix shrugged, “I mean, it’s round about, but it gets the job done.”

“Are you really sure…”

“Yes Godsdamn it!” Belix shouted, shaking her head, she put away the plate of chicken and headed towards the exit, “Come on, let’s check on the kid.”

She left and Clyde followed her. They visited Rin in her room and made sure that she was alright. Time moved forward, the sunlight began to fade, replaced by a honey-colored glow. Belix stood in front of the doorway and Clyde knew better than to argue with her as she walked out, so, instead, he pulled the spiders from his cuffs and dropped them on the hem of her dress. Left alone, he decided to stroll through the house, back towards their assigned room.

He had almost made it there when he noticed something off, a subtle rhythmic breathing and moaning, a repetitive vibration that he could feel being transferred through the walls and floor. It wasn’t his business, it had nothing to do with him, he knew that, but something in his mind couldn’t be dissuaded, perhaps he simply needed a distraction, but, at any rate, Clyde decided to follow it, moving through the house in silence until he came to the room where the noises were coming from.

No knowing what to do, after arriving at the location, Clyde simply stood there, staring at the door. He was about to leave, when something drew his attention.

“Why do you always have to cry?” he heard Ecchs whisper.

“Just...get it over with…” a woman muttered back.

“Be quiet,” Ecchs hissed at her, “You know I can’t finish if you’re…”

“Could… you… just… Stop…” she practically wept, “Just please… stop…”

“Don’t wimp out on me now,” Ecchs chuckled, “I’m so close…”

“Stop it!” the woman shouted, “Stop!”

“Shut Up!”

Clyde burst through the door without thinking, and stood there, framed by the shattered wood and plaster. He saw Ecchs in the room, his pants around his ankles, his hands around Greta’s neck as she lay naked on the bed. Ecch’s head snapped around incredulously and a knife slid out of Clyde’s sleeve and into his fingers.

“Get out!” Clyde ordered him.

“Isn’t that my line?!” Ecchs demanded, still hunched over Greta’s prone frame, “I’m kind of busy at the moment.”

Wasting no more words, Clyde rushed him and shoved Ecchs into the wall. As his shoulders collided with the plaster and marble, Clyde jammed the blade into his ribs, it met resistance and got stuck halfway in.

“You know…” Ecchs snarled, clawed fingers snapping out of his human-seeming hands, “I’m really starting to dislike you.”

Clyde dropped the first blade and pulled another, trying his best to drive it into Ecchs’ eye only to be blocked. The both of them stood in a clench, each trying to overpower the other, until they heard something, a quiet sniffle, and noticed Greta silently crying on the bed. Clyde took a breath and stepped back, knife still in his hand.

“Leave,” he warned Ecchs who haughtily glared back at him.

“Fine…” he finally snapped, bending down to pull up his pants, “Can’t keep my dick hard with another guy in the room anyway.”

“Self-conscious?” Clyde whispered at him as Ecchs pushed his way out of the room.

“We’ll finish this later,” Ecchs spat over his shoulder, and Clyde honestly couldn’t tell if he was talking to him or Greta.

Sheathing his blade, Clyde walked over to the other side of the room where Greta lay, unmoved and staring at the ceiling. At a loss, he grabbed the edge of the bedsheet and pulled it across her body to cover her up. With a sigh, he walked to the other side of the bed and sat down, waiting for her weeping to stop. Even when she finally fell to silence, Clyde gave her a minute or two to collect herself before he asked his question.

“Can you explain this to me?”

Greta sniffed loudly and sat up on the bed, barely even noticing the bed sheet as it fell off of her body.

“I… I’m sorry…” Greta muttered pathetically.

“Why?”

“I… I shouldn’t have…” she started to weep again, “I messed up, I shouldn’t have complained.”

Clyde glanced back at her, face buried in her hands, and he repeated his question.

“What were you doing in here?”

“I was trying to get pregnant,” Greta finally responded.

“I thought you were married,” Clyde mentioned and saw her hand drift up to the ‘x’ shaped brand on her shoulder as she began to sob once again, “I only mention it because you seem to be in the room with the wrong man.”

“...Kyo knows,” she told him pathetically, “He… I asked…”

“Right,” Clyde nodded, remembering something from the lunch earlier that day, “’Your children will never be legitimized, but a first wife must bare children’.”

“I did, four,” Greta whimpered, “All of them still-births.”

“You think Ecchs could make for a better father?”

“No,” she admitted, “But they’ll kill me if they find out, and Kyo… he’d be exiled, he’d be…”

“Let me see if I can piece this together,” Clyde told her somberly, “Rio’s shooting blanks.”

“That’s a bit of a leap,” Greta looked at him incredulously, “What does that have to do with…”

“I overheard a conversation between Cryak and his brother, I think… I think that Rio couldn’t have a child, not at first anyway, so he turned to Cryak to get Drucilla pregnant,” he glanced back at Greta, “Does that sound familiar?”

Greta blinked at him, curiously.

“What are you getting at?”

“Did you approach Ecchs, or did he come to you?” Clyde wondered, “Did he ever express any kind of ‘unreasonable knowledge’, as in, that he just knew what was happening even though you had been trying to hide it?”

“I… maybe…”

“Have you noticed your food tasting differently, or, maybe some new staff members handling your meals.”

“I… I…” Greta looked like she was about to throw up, “Please… please tell me you’re not saying…”

“Rio treats his children differently, he’s harsh with Ecchs, abuses him, Rin, however, he dotes on, and he seems far more even tempered with Kyo.” Clyde continued to muse, “I think… I think Cryak poisoned Drucilla, to try to make Rio think he was sterile, it was his revenge, Rio took something from him, and Cryak took his first born son, I’m speculating,” Clyde admitted, “But I think Ecchs is doing the same thing.”

Drucilla could only blink at him, disturbed beyond belief and horrified.

“That… no,” she whispered, “That actually makes some sense,” she paused, thinking it over, “You’re sure?”

“Why are you doing this?” Clyde wondered, “I mean, I know what you’re doing… but why?”

“… Kyo… he gave me a life I could only dream about, something… something I truly cherish…” Greta mentioned, her voice somber, “But the council doesn’t care, it… they… they’ll take me away from him, unless I can prove I’m capable of being a mother.”

“They won’t punish him?”

“He’s still one of their own, they’d keep him alive, pair him with other breeders, wait and see,” Greta looked back at him, “If you’re done with your questions, could you give me a chance to get dressed?”

“Of course,” Clyde nodded and left the room, making certain to keep his back to her the entire time.

Greta emerged from the room, in a nightgown and robe, and tapped him on the shoulder as she passed.

“I’ll talk to Kyo about this,” she told him.

“It was just speculation,” Clyde reminded her.

“It makes sense though,” Greta nodded, “I’ll talk to him.”

Clyde bowed as she left and, when he stood upright, he didn’t even need to look around to know that Ecchs was standing in the shadows.

“Are you ready to finish what we started?” Clyde asked, a blade quietly slipping into his hand.

“Please,” Ecchs tossed a bloody knife at his feet, “I could split you in half without even trying,” he folded his arms, sighing as he leaned against a nearby wall, “Why’d you have to go and ruin this for me?”

“Is it true?” Clyde demanded.

“As much as anything is,” Ecchs had to duck away when Clyde threw the blade at his eye, “You sure about this?”

Clyde said nothing and used his shoe to kick the bloody knife into his hand before he rushed Ecchs down. They exchanged blows, Ecchs was far to dense to hurt with mere blows, and slicing him did little damage, but stabbing, with effort, Clyde could punch through Ecchs’ thick hide. The cost, of course, was that the knife would get stuck, which Clyde learned after testing the theory. Pulling his other knife from the wall, he decided to be more careful with where he put the next one. They tussled in the dark a bit longer, until they both heard a piercing scream.

Clyde paused, his knife raised, aimed for Ecchs’ neck, the momentary distraction cost him, and Ecchs quickly shoved him to the floor.

“Priorities?” Ecchs demanded.

“We’re finishing this later,” Clyde huffed.

“Sure…” Ecchs had already turned to race down the hall.

The scream had originated from outside and they both, soon found themselves hustling through the dimly lit garden.

“Thank God these sky gems have a sense of ambiance!” Clyde complained, trying to search through the foliage.

“Hey, don’t ruffle anything,” Ecchs warned him as he searched the edge of a shrub, “Do you know how long it takes to plant and groom…”

“Do you?” Clyde demanded, “There might be a body, they don’t usually fall in the most considerate places.”

“Right,” Ecchs searched through the dark, trying to see if there was anyone waiting in the distance, “You know I’m not just trying to cuck my brother right?”

“Do you need to talk just so your eyes can work?” Clyde demanded, moving on to shift through the next area.

“It’s not cut and dry is all I’m saying,” Ecchs insisted, “Look, you know about my uncle, my real father?” when Clyde remained silent, Ecchs pressed on, “That means I’m not the legitimate heir, if Kyo wanted, he could out me, take everything that I worked for.”

“So you lied to him and plowed his wife,” Clyde grumbled as he moved deeper into the garden, “Are you looking for a pat on the head?”

“I didn’t know…” Ecchs sighed, “I thought the drug was contraceptive, I didn’t know it would cause still births, and, well, in for a penny and all that…”

“You’re disgusting,” Clyde muttered.

“I was trying to give him a gift!”

“You murdered his children!”

“Okay, so maybe I could’ve thought it out better but… hang on…” Ecchs pointed down to the shrubs, “What’s that?”

In the dim light, Clyde saw a slight glint of gold and reached his hand down to collect the spiders who eagerly ran up his arm.

“Where?” Clyde asked, and they pointed the way for him.

Following their directions, Clyde and Ecchs found themselves in a small paddock, segmented off from the rest of the garden by a stand of trees. There, between the ornate benches and the glistening black lake, Belix stood, her hand clasped nervously over her mouth.

“You alright?” Clyde asked, rushing up and checking her for wounds.

“Yeah, yes, yes, I’m fine…” Belix responded, her voice hurried and awkward.

“I thought I heard you scream?” Ecchs put in.

“I did,” Belix admitted, “Not my proudest moment, but, uh, consider the context.”

She pointed and both men took a step back in surprise. There, half submerged in the lake, lay Rio’s unmoving body, his chest torn open, a faint, almost invisible waft of smoke emerging from the gaping wound. Ecchs fell to his knees, tears, freely rolling down his cheeks.

“Father…” was all he could manage to whimper before letting out a baleful shriek that vibrated off the cavern walls until it sounded like a chorus of damned souls had arrived to pay their respects.

Clyde walked beside him and removed the blade he had jabbed into Ecchs’ side, cleaning it on his sleeve as the other man barely seemed to notice.

“Something I missed?” Belix wondered.

“I’ll tell you later,” Clyde whispered, “You’re sure you’re not hurt?”

“Yeah...no, the filthy uncle never showed, and you know I hate to waste a good strut but…” she eyed the body with abject horror, “Yeah, I thought I’d take a break out here and then…”

“Figured you’d seen your share of dead bodies before,” Clyde tried to joke.

“Yea, yes, I have, it’s just… he… he was so, fucking strong… it’s like… I don’t know,” she rubbed her arms, still transfixed on the body, “Like pulling up the edge of a mountain only to find out it’s hollow, like somebody shot the sun in the face… and it actually died.”

“It’s alright,” Clyde assured her, putting a hand on her shoulder, “It’s gonna be alright.”

“Can you…” she asked pathetically, “Can you give me a hug, please?”

Clyde nodded and pulled her close, then, looking over her shoulder, he saw a pair of lights in the distance. He separated from her gave her one last chance to collect herself, then met their new guests. The trio, Drucilla, Cryak and Kyo were led by a pair of Gremlins who lit the way for them with a pair of staffs that supported two burning oil lamps. They stopped at the edge of the clearing and all of them pulled an expression of horrified surprise once they noticed the body. They seemed stunned, but Drucilla was the first to move, noticing her boy kneeling in the grass, she rushed to his side.

“Son,” Drucilla snapped at him, slapping his cheeks, “Son!”

Ecchs seemed to come back to himself and looked back at her through bleary, tear swollen eyes.

“...mom…” he whimpered, unable to do anything else.

“Are you just going to leave him there?” Drucilla demanded.

Quietly, Ecchs nodded, and with much shaking and jittering, managed to pull himself to his feet. Not bothering to roll up his pant legs or even caring when he had to dip his arms into the freezing cold lake, Ecchs emerged seconds later, cradling his father’s dead body in his arms. Without making eye contact, without saying a word, Ecchs carried his father back to the mansion, everyone else followed close behind.