Elementally Bound: Part 9
----- Removal -----
What bothered her more, however, were the thoughts projected into her mind as she finally did close her eyes. The dreams from Ember beamed visions of Demitra in her slumber. They crawled through her subconscious: Demitra's soft pouty lips, her alluring eyes of emeralds, the intricately stained patterns of runes along her long sultry legs... The two embraced, entangled in the throes of passionate love. Yet, as the exchange continued, Demitra's auburn hair changed to short and white, her voluptuous body grew taller, breasts smaller. She morphed into Valandra, herself. Her bright blue eyes looked up, staring back at Ember, who, although confused, gave into the desire to continue.
Valandra shoved a finger in the sand. She scoffed and drew a sigil design as water from her fingertip filled it as she traced. She couldn't quite understand why the dream upset her so much; why she had sought refuge from the embarrassment in the quiet dawn. Perhaps it had just been so long since she had felt wanted and desired for something other than the powers she possessed and the resources she brought to the lich. Other than that abomination's violations, she had only ever been with Demitra… back before she interfered.
A scowl came to the woman's face, a flash of anger from her own thoughts, prompted by Ember's illicit dream. "That's enough," she said. Standing, she held a hand toward the tent, calling forth the cold within.
After a moment, Ember emerged from the tent, covered in snow. "The… the hell?"
Valandra didn't hide her devilish grin. "You have a habit of sleeping in, don't you?"
Ember shook the snow from her hair, her internal core additionally melting and steaming the rest. "You… You could have just woke me up, like a normal, sane person!"
"Oh no! Your dreams were… much too involved for me to wake you. You may have tried to seduce me had I attempted to wake you from your libidinous dream."
"L-Libidi…." Ember's head was already on fire, her face as red as the flames. "Get out of my head!" she yelled.
"Even if we didn't share the tent… If we didn't share this bond, I would have still heard you moaning! Half the beach undoubtedly heard your cries of ecstasy."
Ember was beside herself, clenched fists and growled. "You really wanna be incinerated this early in the morning? Or do you wanna go about getting these damned suits off?"
Valandra glided to Ember, almost whispering in her ear, tauntingly. "If you're done dreaming of me, sure."
"I… I can't control my dreams!"
"Especially when you desire me so?" Valandra teased.
Ember sighed, her flames retracting. "Look… Let's just focus on… what we came here for." She cleared her throat, trying to get rid of the lump that had formed from her embarrassment.
The ice queen giggled slightly. Ember was so easily rattled, it was difficult not to continue the banter, but their priority was as she'd said: the suits needed to be removed, and nothing-not even Ember's ill-advised attempt at overloading them with an embrace-had worked yet.
"Just where is this little skritt at, anyway?" Ember changed the subject.
Valandra looked further down the beach, where a small Asura paced back and forth along the waterfront. "I… I hope that's not our contact," she said disillusioned. "I think we've both had enough interactions with Asura to last lifetimes."
"Not my first choice either, but…" Ember began walking to meet the Asura. Valandra followed with a sigh.
"Are you sure you left them here?" the Asura could be heard talking as the women approached. The only other occupant on this side of the beach was a chicken. "Okay, Okay, Calm down… I was just asking! What? No, I didn't take them! What use would I have for th- That was three years ago! And, I really needed to… Don't change the subject!" Apparently the one-sided conversation was with the chicken, and the Asura hadn't noticed the tall women of red and blue glowing outfits next to her.
"She's… She's arguing with a chicken," Valandra rubbed her forehead.
"Don't matter to me; as long as they can get us out of these things! Hello there!" Ember called out.
The Asura continued pacing, ignoring her. "We'll just have to make a new pair for you. What? Yes, I know they were your favorite pair, but what do you want me to do? We're days away from our lab. Besides, we're on vacation; that means no work! Remember?"
The chicken clucked.
Ember hesitated, then tried again, this time bending down slightly. "Hello there."
The Asura jumped and toppled back, startled by their seemingly abrupt appearance. "Oh! Hello!" she said brushing the sand off. She wore a black leather suit, complete with a cap and goggles all outlined with dark maude seams and lining. A practical ensemble for an adventure; impractical, perhaps, for a vacation (though it mattered little to the Asura).
"We need…" Valandra began, then was quickly cut.
"Whoa!" the Asura was already inspecting the suits. She looked at the chicken, then back to the women. "Yes! I see it. Are those… mhmm, indeed!"
Ember stood, placed her hand on the hilt of her weapon; Valandra folded her arms at the scene, convinced the batty Asura was a waste of their time.
"Amazing! Astonishing!" She paused, considering, then whispered to the chicken. "I know. I know it. They're incredible! Where did you get those?"
"My wings? I manifest them; an extension of my power: ice shards ready, at my beck and call." Valandra half-heartedly shrugged. She knew to what the Asura referred, yet found it humorous to derail the pointless endeavor.
"I knew it was something vain!" Ember seemed to speak to the chicken. "'Oh look me... I'm the ice queen! Look at my at my ice-wings, they're so amazing and pretty!'" she mocked.
Valandra rolled her eyes.
"No, no… I meant the suits. Er… Wait. I forgot." the Asura paused, conversed with the chicken again. "Yes, yes, I will! I was just getting to that! Introductions!" She did a slight curtsy. "I am Jinx Fizzlespring. Yes, yes, of the Fizzlesprings! Oh, and this is my trusty assistant, Mister Cluckles!"
Ember played along, whether to placate Jinx or because she truly believed the crazy Asura could help, Valandra couldn't tell. "Hello Mr. Cluckles. I assume your work is… most delicious."
Jinx glossed over the joke. "Oh indeed! He is quite talented in his field. So what brings you here? Are you two on vacation too? You make such a lovely couple, paired in such attire!"
Valandra stared unscrupulously. "No. Most assuredly we are not on vacation."
Ember sighed. "I'm Ember, and the grumpy one there is Valandra. (She woke up in a foul mood.)"
"Disturbing dreams have a way of doing that. Shall I elaborate on the nature of it?"
Jinx shook her head, wanting to hear the story.
Ember blushed. "No, no… That's alright. Um, Jinx, we're actually looking for one of your kind to help us undo another skritt's work."
Valandra cleared her throat, corrected Ember. "Another Asura…"
"Oh trust me! You don't want to hire skritt to do work for you. It's utterly disastrous!" She looked to her chicken, then gasps at nothing. "No it wasn't! That was all you! I didn't hire them; You did! Nevermind. Nevermind, we can just discuss this when we get home. No, we're still on vacation. I mean later!"
The two women exchanged glances, both uneasy at the display. Valandra shrugged, arms still folded. "If she's just going to argue with the chicken, we should just go. I was told someone would meet us here; obviously it's not this one."
"Oh we can help! Definitely!" Jinx offered.
"We?"
Jinx ran to the chicken, placing both hands on either side of its head, to spare the bird humiliation. "Hey now, may not be the bravest, or the smartest… Or the most dependable… But Mr. Cluckles here is no chicken! You want things done right? You will find no better than a Fizzlespring, I assure you! (We have a reputation to uphold!)"
Valandra inadvertantly chuckled. "No chicken, huh? Well, if he can get us out of these damned suits, I really don't care."
Jinx's eyes widened, a huge smile on her face at the challenge. "You want out, huh? Lemme see…" She circled the women, mumbling incoherent technical jargon neither quite understood. "Oh yes. I see. Quite extraordinary!" Her eyes beamed.
"Yes; extraordinary. But there's the problem: we can't get them off ourselves. Show the little one what happens when we try, Ember." Valandra had an impish smile.
An attempt to remove the inhibitor was quickly met with a shock. "Damnit!" Ember swore.
"How peculiar!" the little Asura marveled.
"Do it again," the ice queen provoked, then smiled when Ember almost did so. She stopped herself and frown
"Wait no! Let me go get some equipment I brought! I can get some statistics; run some diagnostics!" Jinx scurried off, along with her chicken. "What? So I brought a few things; so what?"
With the same baffled look, the women watched the Asura run off. Before conversation could be exchanged, Jinx was already returning, a rather large suitcase in tow. "Seems like I'd already brought my stuff." The chicken clucked. "What? I know that Mr. Cluckles! I know! I promise we will afterwards." She plopped down in the sand, opening her case, pulling out devices and books. "I know it's in here somewhere," she muttered, her face buried in the case's interior. She emerged with a small handheld device, and an ocular apparatus affixed on one eye. "Aha! There we go!"
"What do you need us to do?" Valandra awkwardly asked as Jinx leaned closely into her bottom half. She inadvertently blushed at the scrutiny. Without warning, the Asura reached up and pulled a panel off at the woman's hip, revealing a mess of wires and a few receptacles. Expecting a shock, Valandra braced herself. To her surprise, the opposite effect happened: an almost tickling sensation came from it. Her face flushed at the feeling, tried not to let Ember see her discomfort.
"Okay, so, there must be a power device of some sort. With that much energy…" She paused, nodded to the chicken. "Yeah. I think so too," she said in awe as she connected two wires to Valandra's hip. "I would very much like to meet the designer," Jinx said as she unraveled the wires, hooking them into her pad.
Ember scoffed. "Yeah; I'd like to meet her again too! The Asura that put us in these things was a friend of hers." She gestured to Valandra.
"Being trapped in this suits was not my doing; if you hadn't blown up the machine…"
"Oh my gods! Will you just let it go, already? You put on the suit yourself. No one forced you into it! You put it on willingly!" Ember was tired of the accusation, tired of the situation, and furthermore, tired of being trapped.
"Oh my! Not good. Not good, at all. 76.54… Carry the three… Are you seeing this?" Jinx held the device up. The Asuran writing was filled with numbers and jumbled to both women. "When did you notice you couldn't get out of these contraptions? How long have you been in them?"
Valandra thought a moment. "We… We didn't notice until a few days ago that neither of us could remove them without injuring ourselves."
"Mmhmm… mmhmm." Jinx was busily inputting calculations, then jarringly stopped. "You've been in these things for a few days?" She looked appalled. "Where did you... You know... Go to the restroom?"
Both women blushed.
"Look, that's um... Not important, but there is this other thing you should see." Ember launched a fist at her own face.
Valandra staggered backward, nearly knocked off her feet at the unexpected invisible punch. "Th-The hell?" An icy glance was cast at Ember, followed by a retaliatory strike upon the ice queen's own chin.
Ember almost fell over. "Don't do that! I was just showing her!" She took a breath. "These damned things like… transfer the impacts we each feel," she explained to Jinx.
The Asura's eyes were bigger than seemed to be possible. "That's fascinating!"
"You say fascinating; I say annoying," Valandra huffed.
"Well, it's fascinating that they are completely independent, yet… somehow connected. Oh my, this complicates things, doesn't it Mr. Cluckles?" The chicken was busy pecking at the sand.
"Complicates things how?" Valandra asked, certain she wouldn't like the response.
"Well, it… It just does!" Jinx nodded, as if this explained everything. "Mister Cluckles can give you more details, if needed. Hey!" She slapped Valandra's hand away from the wires connected to the suit. "Don't touch those!"
Valandra looked extremely agitated. "Just get these things off if you can't help, before I freeze them and the damn rooster!"
Jinx looked shocked. "He's a chicken, ma'am!" She waddled over to the opened suitcase and began to look for another device. "And I thought you were crabby, Mr. Cluckles!" After a minute of rummaging, she stood upright holding a larger electronic pad, connected the wires to it, then slid down a set of goggles to shield her eyes. "Okay, let me try something…"
Valandra looked worriedly at Ember. A zap was sent into the woman's hip and she suddenly shrieked from it. Ember felt the need to reach out, but refrained from doing so.
"Oh sorry; wrong button! See? Let me tell you: I don't know who designed these things, but it's nothing a Fizzlespring would cobble together, let me assure you! Okay, let me just adjust this," she tapped a few commands on the pad.
"So, these suits are linked. You wanna know how they got that way? This one was trying to steal my magic," Ember explained to Mr. Cluckles.
"Yeah, keep talking to the chicken. That'll help," Valandra rolled her eyes.
"Well, I dunno, he could be an engineer turned into a chicken, for all we know!"
"Calibrating to 9.35… and…" Jinx was suddenly knocked to the ground, a small zap of energy, feedback from the suit. "Woah! Okay… Okay, I didn't expect that! I mean," she stood, dusted herself off. "All according to the plan!"
Valandra shook her head in disbelief. She didn't know who the Asura was trying to convince, but was almost ready to pull the plug - literally. The sun had finally risen, and standing on the beach while this Asura experimented on them further added to her annoyance and discomfort. And then, there was the chicken...
Jinx shook her head at what was presumed an idea given by Mr. Cluckles. "Okay; that sounds good. Okay, I'm going to stand way over here and tell you what to do, mkay?" The Asura moved quite a distance from the women. "Okay, so, You see the green wire inside the panel, next to your hand? The green one? The one that's the color green? Inside the panel?"
"Arg. Yes, I see several green wires!" Valandra was exasperated.
"Yeah, no! Don't touch those!" Jinx yelled.
Valandra pulled her hand away, her brow furrowed. "Just tell me what to do then, not what I shouldn't do!"
"Just past the green wires, there should be a small crystal!" Jinx lowered her voice so only the chicken could hear, "No, the blast radius shouldn't be that big. We're safe, but you'd better come closer to me." The chicken wander in her direction, came to stand beside the Asura's three-toed foot.
"What?" Valandra struggled to hear the tiny voice.
"Nothing; nothing. Okay! You see the crystal? Good! Don't touch it!"
Valandra cried out in frustration. "Damn it!"
"Oh, you know what? I have an idea! You there! Red one! You need to reach in and take that crystal out. On her suit; not your own! Okay? Just reach in there and take it."
Ember came to stand by Valandra, who was a statue. She knelt down to examine the opened hatch. Contained therein were a wide variety of wires, different sizes, different colors, further beyond was a small crystal with a soft blue hue. "So, I can touch the other wires though right?" She began to reach in.
"On her suit? Yes! Sure. Well, the red ones. No wait. I mean green! Green wires!"
Ember already had a hand in the suit, navigating the maze of wires. She was convinced she'd touched the green wires more than once, but concentrated on getting to the objective. Her fingertips slightly touched the crystal, then reached out and grasped it. At once, a wave of pleasure crashed onto Valandra and she let out a loud moan, unexpectedly.
"Well, that was certainly unforeseen; at least they didn't blow each other up, right Mr. Cluckles?" Mr. Cluckles squawked.
Ember looked up as Valandra's yearning eyes met hers. "Oh it doesn't take a bond to know you love this," she said seductively.
"Okay! So, slowly take out the crystal. Do it slowly; that means not fast!" Jinx instructed.
Ember began wiggling the crystal gently with an impish grin as Valandra gasped and whimpered. She enjoyed the control.
"Sl-ow-ly." Valandra said through pants.
Without warning, Ember yanked the crystal out. Valandra cried out in pure orgiastic ecstasy, dropped to her knees, head landing on Ember's shoulder as she tried to catch her breath, bodily spasming.
Ember whispered in Valandra's ear. "Was it good for you?"
"Y-you knew it would do that, didn't you?" The woman was done convulsing, not yet able to stand. The neon of the suit began to dim and fade.
Ember softly giggled. "Oh you loved it."
"Okay, you can do her now!" Jinx called out.
Valandra grinned at the realization, while Ember blushed.
"Now then… You don't have to do it so…"
Jinx had already opened a panel and returned to her safe spot; Valandra already weaved her hand into Ember's suit. She found the crystal, wrapped her fingers around it, staring up expectantly at the woman. She lightly caressed the top of it, to gauge Ember's reaction.
"J-just d-do it…" Ember's face flushed.
She ran her fingers around it a few more times, grinning. Ember arched her back, bit her lip to stifle a moan. "Just… P-pull it… out!"
Valandra yanked the crystal from Ember, a wild smile splashed on her face as Ember fell to her knees, a moan escaping. Valandra stood, watched the woman tremble in the sand with a smirk. "Oh come on now, we both know you loved it."
Ember tried to catch her breath. "I… Shut up."
"Now, you two… This is the important part. Are you paying close attention? There is still a large amount of energy and charge built up in these suits. If you touch your own, you could cause a… Well, let's just say that big of an explosion would ruin everyone's vacation here. So, you will have to carefully, slowly, methodically take each piece off of the other's armor. Okay? Very careful-like."
"Sure," Valandra had a mischievous grin. She clearly had no intention of following the instructions.
"Oh no! This time I mean it. Carefully and slowly! Well, not too slowly! 'Cause, you know… KABOOOM! Balmo! Kaboom!" Jinx flailed her hands in the air, walking in a circle. "Ahhh! Fire Everywhere! Gahhh!"
Ember's suit dimmed; Valandra stared at the power source. "What do we do with these crystals?"
"Whatever you do, don't throw them in the salt water!" Jinx hurried over with a small bag. "I'll take them; you know, as payment! Yeah! If anybody can put these to use, it's a Fizzlespring!"
"So, now we have to dismantle thse things; and you say I must deconstruct her suit as she does mine?"
"Yes! And quickly!" Jinx exclaimed.
"Or… Kaboom. (Yes; I heard.)" Valandra handed the crystal to the Asura.
Ember was trying to stand. "I… I thought you said slowly."
Jinx bobbed her head up in down. "Yes! So slowly. Piece by piece!"
Ember was extremely puzzled to find Valandra helping her to her feet. "Um… Thanks," she said awkwardly.
Jinx was almost done packing her things back into the case. "Now, once you start, you're going to have to keep on going. Slowly! But, just… you know, don't stop, or we become another Bloodstone Fen, mkay?" She started to walk off, then called to Mr. Cluckles, who inexplicably came to his master.
"Huh. What do you know? The chicken actually listens to her," Ember mused.
"Crazy little Asura; she's probably going to make us blow each other up, you know?"
"Well, she's gotten us further than we were. But, I feel no different… yet. Other than… you know… What just happened." Ember rubbed the back of her neck.
Valandra nodded, also cheeks a bit flush. She turned, began walking to the tent. "We… We need to get started."
Ember looked at herself. "I'm… Not sure if I have anything on under this."
Valandra blushed profusely. "I know I don't," she said, as her wings melted away and she entered the tint.
Ember gulped, following her in.
To Be Continued...
