Sorcerer Hunters Fan Fiction ❯ Perpetual Thoughts ❯ The Mission To Euran Island ( Chapter 13 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Tabi
The Sorcerer Hunters are sent to the tropical island of Euran in order to seal some magic which resides there; however, the magic has already started to affect the locals of the island... Carrot, filled with bravado, decides to attempt being the hero, for once. However, are the women of Euran Island all that they seem to be...? Marron finds himself questioning his morals after his brother displays a marked lack of owning any himself.

Anime/Manga: Sorcerer Hunters Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Hentai / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 08.29.2005 | Updated On: 08.29.2005 | Pages: 29 | Words: 32.0K | Visits: 224 | Status: Completed

"Reports have it that the magical atmosphere around the Euran Island is increasing; the inhabitants of the island speak of strange sounds in the night, mystical shadows that flit by and are gone before they can be seen... I wish for you to reseal the magic, my Sorcerer Hunters. Seal the magic and cure the island of the ill effects of this magical seal fading."
 
Big Mama's words remained fresh in the minds of the Sorcerer Hunters. More or less a week after the Saint Mother's Day celebrations, things were more or less back to normal; it was time for missions to start up again, and a mission to seal some magic felt easier to the mind than a definite 'there is a Sorcerer you must kill' mission. There was that which Big Mama had mentioned, the strange sounds and mystical shadows, but once the Sorcerer Hunters reached the island, that was all but forgotten.
 
Euran Island was a tropical jewel in the sapphire seas of the Spooner Continent's southern reaches; the mainland stretched all around the island, but there was enough water on all sides of it to distance it from the coasts. The Sorcerer Hunters had travelled for quite some time, it seemed that the only nearby population was that of the island; by the time they were travelling over to the island on the boat they'd hired, most of the number were quite excited by the prospect of this island.
 
Chocolat was eagerly leaning over, her hands gripping the edge of the boat excitedly.
 
"Oh wow... you can't really see much from here, but it certainly looks good over there! That's gotta be a beach closest to us... man, whoever chose to hide magic here certainly knew what they were doing! Makes our job that bit easier, anyway..."
 
Milphey laughed, "Be careful now, Chocolat-chan. If you fell into the water here, you wouldn't even get to the island! But yes, it is a very nice place... I've been here several times before, so I can act as your guide. When there's magic involved you never know who to trust in these places!"
 
Carrot looked suitably glassy-eyed as he eyed the island with enthusiasm that matched Chocolat's, "Oh man... can you imagine what that island's gonna be like!? It's all hot and stuff... and I bet... I bet there's gonna be loads of beach babes there! Man... all those girls... all those skimpy bikinis! I bet they go swimming every day... oh man... oh-ACHGHAA!!"
 
Allowing her enthusiasm to be kerbed momentarily, Chocolat brought her fist down on the top of Carrot's head.
 
"Darling, this is a mission! We're here to seal magic, not to ogle the local wildlife!"
 
"But- but- we don't all need to be there to seal the magic! That's up to Marron!"
 
Marron sat at the back of the boat with Gateau, his arms folded. He smiled a dry smile, "It's nice to see you're taking such responsibility for the mission, niisan..."
 
"Hey, I'm not trying to load anything on you or anything, but it's not like I can do anything, is it? It's up to you! You or Milphey, anyway. So we get there, we find the magic - and it's not gonna take all of us to do that - and we go. Why can't we enjoy ourselves a little while we're there?!"
 
"I fear that which you enjoy almost always leads you straight into danger, niisan..."
 
"Oh, come on. It's a freaking tropical island, it's probably got a population of like, fifteen. What could go wrong?"
 
Milphey laughed, "With you, Carrot-chan, anything's possible."
 
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Milphey."
 
"Any time!"
 
After a relatively uneventful boat trip, the Sorcerer Hunters landed upon the island. The boat docked, there was only really one path to follow on the island; after a short walk, the Hunters came to the small village of Euran Island. The place had quite the tropical feeling to it; the ground was dusty beneath their feet, the houses and buildings were primarily built from wood. To their credit they seemed quite sturdy, but there couldn't have been more than ten buildings in the area... the place where the village resided was cleared, but the jungle beyond seemed to hover overhead. Tall trees towered over the village, creating quite an enclosed atmosphere. For all of that though, the village seemed quite empty... too much so. Milphey was the first to voice his opinion on the situation.
 
"Gosh, it is quite deserted around here, isn't it? I suppose we should try and find out some information, anyway. To the inn, then?"
 
Agreement from the group; they headed towards the largest building in the village, the inn. Most of the houses and shops of the settlement appeared to have only singular floors, but the inn rose up onto two; the trees above towered over even that building... on stepping inside the wooden building, the group were relieved to see somebody standing behind the counter there.
 
The downstairs floor of the inn was quite dark (though anywhere would have seemed dark after stepping out of the intense sunlight outside), but not unfriendly. The lobby area was made up of dark wood, not especially helpful to the eyes, but it gave the room a cosy, homely feeling. To the side of the innkeeper and his desk was a wide staircase, presumably leading up to the bedrooms of the inn.
 
The innkeeper, a middle-aged bearded man, looked quite surprised to see so many people visiting so suddenly. Milphey stepped forward first, "Hi, we're the Sorcerer Hunters. We heard there's some kind of magical problem on this island?"
 
Relief flooded the man's features, "Ah! Oh, Sorcerer Hunters... thank god you arrived so soon! The problem... the problem has turned so much to the worse! It's gone terrible! It's terrible!"
 
The rest of the Sorcerer Hunters walked in. Gateau cracked his knuckles idly, "What's so terrible?"
 
"The magic! The magic of the island... something... something's disturbed it and all of the... all of the girls of the island have gone missing!"
 
This, of course, incurred Carrot's attention.
 
"WHAT!?"
 
"Oh, it's a tragedy! This village used to be so full of the vibrant young ladies! Then one night, something summoned them to the jungles... nobody has heard from those poor young women since! Anybody who goes near to the jungles... all we hear are these strange growls! Nobody dares go forth in case of some monster... such a sad state of affairs..."
 
Carrot nodded sagely, looking deceptively serious.
 
"I see. Well then... I, as the leader of the Sorcerer Hunters, can only promise to bring back these fair young maidens from their imprisonment! I shall not rest until this village is bouncing and full of sexy women...! That is my duty!"
 
Gateau sighed, "Now he takes responsibility..."
 
The innkeeper looked overjoyed, "Oh, I'm so happy! Please... if you need somewhere to stay, please stay here! For as long as it takes to bring back our daughters and sisters and wives... for the sake of this village... please, help us!"
 
"You can count on I, Carrot Glacé! Team, let's go upstairs and, uh, discuss strategy. Yeah, that's it..."
 
Carrot quickly thundered up the stairs. The rest of the group stood there for a moment, then, a little slower, followed him up the stairs.
 
The top floor of the inn was reserved for the bedrooms; four bedrooms and a bathroom, to be exact. It seemed that there was nobody else staying in the hotel at the time, and the innkeeper seemed quite happy for the group to stay where they wished... he'd been so excited over the prospect of somebody volunteering to rescue the village women that he hadn't even asked for payment... Carrot, who'd been holding the wallet, wasn't going to question that. The group gathered in the first bedroom they came across to discuss plans for the immediate future.
 
Carrot sat down on one of the beds, "Well, uh... anyone want a room on their own? There's two beds in each room, so..."
 
Milphey smiled, "I'd prefer a room to myself, if nobody minds."
 
"Oneesama, I'll share with you, unless you wanted a room on your own..."
 
Chocolat shook her head, "That's fine, we usually share a room anyway. So darling, I guess that means you're sharing with Marron? Unless Marron wanted to share a bedroom with Gateau..."
 
A moment of silence. Marron and Gateau glanced at each other; perhaps Tira hadn't told Chocolat of their relationship status? Perhaps it hadn't come up in conversation... the air, for that moment, seemed far too heavy. When Gateau and Marron eventually spoke, they did so in unison.
 
"I'll share a bedroom with niisan-"
 
"I'll take a room of my own-"
 
Another glance at each other, then back to the rest of the group. Chocolat looked slightly bemused for this decision, but fortunately she didn't question Gateau or Marron further.
 
"Well, fine. Anyway... seems we've got to do a bit more than just seal the magic, then? I guess we're going to be heading out into the jungle, then... that's fine with me. Maybe the guys of this village are too scared to go out and rescue their loved ones, but no monster's a match for us! Besides, if it comes to the worst, we have a monster of our own we can use. Right, darling?"
 
Carrot didn't seem to be paying much attention.
 
"... just who would do something so terrible... I wonder where those girls are? I wonder how many of them there are? They'll be so happy when I rescue them... 'oh Carrot-sama!'... 'It was nothing, my dear... all in a day's work for a Sorcerer Hunter!'... 'Carrot-sama, you're so strong and powerful!'... 'If there's anything else you need, just ask me!'... 'I'd be so grateful if you'd take my virginity as thanks for rescuing us all! It's the least I can give you!'... 'I humbly accept your offer, miss.'... 'Kyaa!'... 'Ahhn!!'... GYAAAH!"
 
Once more, Carrot was disturbed from his daydream, this time by the combined fists of Tira and Chocolat.
 
"DARLING, stop being such a shameless PERVERT!"
 
"I can't believe you'd think such a thing! These girls are probably kidnapped and scared and all you can think of is that!? You disgust me!!"
 
"I'm just thinking ahead, you don't gotta beat me up just for thinking about what could happen, jeez!"
 
"Daarliing... if you wanted any girl to surrender her virginity to you, I'd happily give you miiine!"
 
"Ohh Carrot-chaan, me tooo!!"
 
"MILPHEY, YOU'RE A GUY!!"
 
"I'd still take your virginity if you wanted me to!"
 
"DARLING, STOP FLIRTING WITH GUYS!"
 
"I'M NOT DOING IT ON PURPOSE!!"
 
With a sigh, Marron left the room; Milphey, Carrot and Chocolat were too concerned with each other to notice and Tira was too busy trying to get a word in edgeways from her sister to notice either... Gateau heard the door close behind him, and realised that Marron was no longer in the room. He frowned; perhaps the activities of the others had got to him all of a sudden? He faltered for a moment. He wanted to go and see Marron - if anybody was going to figure out a calm, rational plan of attack in order to seal the magic then it would be Marron, but... would he really want to see Gateau?
 
Gateau regained his composure; this was a mission, this was duty, this was work. Marron was the kind of person who could keep work separate from his personal life, even if Carrot and the others were incapable of it... Gateau left the room, closing the door, still hearing the other four shrieking and yelling at each other from the other side. They'd probably notice his absence as much as they'd realised Marron's.
 
Marron had gone to the bedroom on the opposite side of the corridor to the one they'd been in previously. The door was open, but Gateau knocked before he walked in anyway, just to let Marron know he was there. Marron turned around on hearing the knock, looked at Gateau for a moment, then turned away again. He stood in front of the window of the bedroom, his elbows leant on the windowsill. Gateau supposed that Marron hadn't told him to go away or anything, so it was alright to enter the room... he closed the door behind him.
 
"Those guys, huh... they don't quit."
 
"Indeed."
 
"Thought it might be gettin' a bit noisy in there for you... I don't think they've even noticed we're gone, actually. Thought I'd come and find you, let them work it outta their systems for a bit. While they're all flirting and fighting, maybe we could come up with a plan or something? Seems there's more going on on this island than we thought there was."
 
Gateau sat down on the bed while he spoke. Marron let out a vague noise of agreement, turning around so that his back leant against the lower wall and he now faced Gateau.
 
"I can't help but have a sense of foreboding..."
 
"Mm?"
 
"When it's something to do with girls... my brother being involved... I suppose I can't help but worry. He often does stupid things just to impress one or two girls we might meet, but... so many at risk, he's even more likely to do something stupid..."
 
Marron seemed too worried about Carrot to even make any scathing comments to Gateau; Gateau noticed this, and sighed. Outside of anything else, Marron really was concerned about Carrot...
 
"Well, isn't it always like this? You know just as well as I do that Carrot seems to make it his habit to get into as much trouble as he possibly can. What's different about this mission? You'll just have to keep an eye on him like you usually do. Use a spinner trace."
 
"I put one on him before we set out, that's just common sense."
 
"So what more can you do? You gotta admit, even when he gets into trouble, that trouble usually leads us to the heart of the matter... so..."
 
"I know what you mean... I suppose I just wish he'd have some mind for the mission in hand rather than being almost entirely focused on his libido..."
 
"Should try get him doing some of your meditation then I guess. Mmm, let's look out of that window..."
 
Marron looked behind him, realised that he was standing in front of the window that Gateau was indicating towards; he moved away from it, Gateau stood in front of it.
 
"Really is a thick jungle out there... I mean, this island didn't look too big when we were on the mainland, but if we're just hacking through the undergrowth trying to find where the magic's kept..."
 
"I don't think it's an unreasonable assumption to say that somebody's already got hold of the magic, Gateau... this island only very recently has become a dangerous place, it seems. Things have progressed since even Big Mama sent us... we should be careful."
 
"I guess so. You don't know anything about the magic, do you?"
 
Marron glanced across at Gateau, "Didn't Big Mama say it was called 'Seiren' or something...? It was probably magically engineered, to be in a place like this... it's not something I recall reading about, unfortunately. If the magic were still sealed the knowledge would not be necessary, but for the moment I fear it's put us at a distinct disadvantage..."
 
The room fell to silence, Marron not finishing his sentence, letting his point hang in the air. Gateau's ears pricked at the silence, "Oh, sounds like the others have quit it for the time being. You wanna go back to see where you and Carrot are gonna be sleeping? We may as well start getting rest now, be up early tomorrow and everything. We travelled today for quite a while."
 
"You're right..."
 
Still sounding somewhat distant, Marron left the room. Gateau watched him, slightly confused. Marron's moods seemed to change so much... sometimes he'd be calm and reasonable, sometimes he'd seem to pick arguments just for the sake of it... at the moment, he seemed almost depressed... he was such a strange person. It was easy enough to try to think 'that's not my problem anymore', but thinking that and putting it into practice were two entirely different things.
 
The mood Marron was currently in... Gateau just wanted Marron to relax, cheer up a little. It was natural for Marron to be worried about Carrot, but it was also just as natural for Carrot to get into whatever trouble was going in the immediate circumstance; all the will in the world couldn't prevent that, not even from Marron.
 
From outside, Gateau could hear people moving around, doors opening, doors closing. Probably the others making their way into their bedrooms... Gateau looked up to the ceiling. So this was to be his bedroom for the night? Fine enough. One bedroom was as good as another.
 
Quietly, Gateau set about preparing himself for sleeping. The room was quite warm, the atmosphere of the entire island made it that way... he stripped down to his underwear, supposing that he may as well keep those on. Little difference between sleeping with them on or off but if something mission-related came up in the middle of the night Gateau didn't want to be running around trying to put underwear on in the middle of a panic.
 
Getting into bed and staring up at the dark ceiling, Gateau closed his eyes and tried to will himself to sleep. Sleep. Sleep was good. Sleep was important to a Sorcerer Hunter; getting as much sleep as possible was important, because you could nearly always guarantee that there'd be a disturbance before too long. One couldn't afford long naps as a Sorcerer Hunter.
 
Somehow, the thought of Marron just kept popping up in Gateau's head. He growled softly and rolled onto his side, as if the change in position would change the direction of his thoughts. He'd made it for several days without having annoying thoughts of Marron before he slept, he wasn't going to break his personal record now...
 
He had seemed so quietly sad as he'd left the room just a short while ago. Bearing the burden of caring for his brother... he didn't need to always act like that, but Gateau knew he just couldn't change... if Marron didn't look after Carrot so intently, then who would? Tira and Chocolat certainly took themselves on as Carrot's moral guardians (and punished him heartily for anything immoral, anything at all), but... when it came to consensual care, Gateau couldn't shake the feeling that Carrot was quite, quite lucky indeed. If only everybody had somebody to care for and worry about them as much as Marron cared and worried for and about Carrot...! Gateau still had to question just what it was about Carrot that made him so loveable, but supposed that was a question that could only be answered by the connection deeper than blood. Not one that he could understand.
 
He'd been stupid, really. Stupid to think that Marron would be able to turn his attention from Carrot for long enough to notice anybody else... and to take on a lover?! Well, that would only be a distraction. There had been all of that about the person Marron loved, and everything, but... just recently, Gateau couldn't help but wonder...
 
What if all of that had been a lie?
 
What if there wasn't actually somebody who Marron loved...?
 
It was entirely possible. Marron, caught between his desires... in the end he decides he doesn't want a lover, but doesn't know how to let said lover down... so he creates this elaborate lie about this other person he loves so much, so much that he can't give himself to anybody but that person... even more crafty, don't tell anybody who the person is. Leave everybody guessing. Perhaps nobody'll ever guess, especially if there's no correct answer... maybe there was never anybody in the first place. Maybe Marron's emotional tirades came from his frustration at the lie moving deeper on into itself. You could only lie to disguise a lie, after all...
 
The more Gateau thought about it, the more plausible that line of thought seemed. Either Marron was in love with Carrot or he was in love with nobody at all, and Gateau still didn't know what to think of the first one. Marron certainly loved Carrot, that was obvious, but... deeper than that? Not just love, but being in love?
 
If anything, Carrot seemed a strange person to be in love with. More than that, what was it about Carrot that drew people to him? Chocolat was in love with him, Tira was fiercely protective of him, Marron was devoted and obsessed with him, even Milphey wouldn't stop about Carrot's cuteness...
 
Just what was it about Carrot Glacé that made everybody trip over themselves to get his attention? Gateau didn't understand it, didn't understand it at all...
 
It had already been more than a month since that whole time with Marron... that time when Gateau had accused Marron of sleeping with Milphey, when things had become somewhat heated... Gateau still thought of that time, occasionally. He felt deeply guilty for his actions, but even moreso he felt guilty for the times his fantasies unravelled and his mind delivered a scenario where Carrot hadn't picked that moment to return... in Gateau's mind they were undisturbed... and while it was in his mind, Gateau could do anything and wouldn't be stopped, Marron would consent to anything Gateau's frantic mind could think of. Such intense feeling, but always such guilt afterward...
 
Currently, the Marron in Gateau's mind was lying beside him in bed, looking hot and bothered but comfortable with the situation... whispering Gateau's name in that way, he was so damned irresistible... how could anybody hear their name whispered in that voice and refuse it? Marron would let himself be overpowered, but only fractionally so; he'd wrap his arms around Gateau's shoulders and his legs around Gateau's hips, but thoughts of bondage would be far, far away... who needed bondage when they had each other? The force of passion was all they needed to bind them...
 
Gateau rolled over back onto his back, growling a little louder. No! He wasn't going to let his thoughts take such a direction...! Sleep was important, they were on a mission... if anything, it'd been a long time since anything at all had happened between he and Marron. Such thoughts were only useless to think about - Marron wasn't going to be returning to his side to say 'sorry' anytime soon.
 
Still, that thought was an attractive one, so deeply attractive... the Marron of Gateau's dreams, calm and dignified and beautiful and willing, the kind of Marron where the word 'manipulative' hadn't even crossed his mind... a Marron who was comparatively normal...
 
That Marron didn't exist, but Gateau couldn't help but dream of a scenario where he did. A Marron who was sane and rational when it came to personal matters. A Marron who didn't keep secrets. A Marron who didn't turn into a rabid beast when faced with any sexual situation. A Marron who could admit when he'd hurt somebody, and apologize for it.
 
Gateau didn't like to think about it, but Marron did come across as being quite arrogant at times. Only very rarely, only in those certain situations, but there didn't seem any way that the Marron he knew would have apologized. For anything.
 
So thinking of scenarios where he did was pointless. Thinking of Marron at all was pointless - there was no way he'd compromise his twisted ideals, Gateau felt. Gateau wasn't going to give up on his thoughts, either. If he was going to have a relationship with Marron he wanted it to be as comfortable and perhaps even a little romantic as they felt it should be. Not mind games and power trips.
 
Marron was a mind game in himself... so... thinking about him was pointless. No point at all.
 
Gateau sat up. Even though he knew it was sensible and rational to keep his thoughts of Marron at arm's length, that it would be a good idea to see Marron as a team-mate and maybe even a friend but certainly nothing more than that - even though he knew all the arguments against being attracted to Marron were good ones... somehow, he just couldn't help himself. Maybe there were millions of people on the Spooner Continent, and no doubt out there there were more pretty, beautiful, wonderful kind people than the mind could comprehend, but there was still only one Marron Glacé, and that seemed reason enough to be enamoured with him. Nobody else on the Continent could be like he was.
 
(Maybe that was a good thing.)
 
Maybe it had been a mistake to try to get close at all. One of the good things of Marron had been that he was always around, that he and Gateau lived in the same building, that they were always on missions and things together, supporting each other and working together... all during that time, Marron had seemed distant and mysterious. The mystery had attracted Gateau, and so he'd tried to get closer, but looking back on it perhaps that hadn't been a good idea at all... rather than solving any of the questions he'd had about Marron, a million more had cropped up in their place - so many questions that Marron wouldn't let be answered. He'd moved from being 'mysterious' to 'frustrating' in so few steps... and still there were just simple things that Gateau still wanted to know about Marron.
 
Thinking about it, Gateau wasn't even sure that he knew when Marron's birthday was. Had such a thing ever come up in conversation? Probably not...
 
Gateau took comfort from the fact that probably nobody would ever be able to understand that damned Marron Glacé; it was hard enough to understand a person in day to day life, but to really understand somebody and to understand somebody like him... surely that was a battle that couldn't be won.
 
Still was the niggling thought in the back of Gateau's mind, "I want to understand him."
 
Something like that was easy enough to say, though. In practice... in practice, Gateau was quite sure that was impossible. The more he tried the less he seemed to succeed.
 
Was there any way at all to get closer to Marron? Get closer to him in a way that didn't involve such heartbreak and frustration... was there any way to convince Marron that Gateau would be a good friend if Marron would only give him the chance, that he would sit and listen if Marron just spoke to him...?
 
To be close didn't have to involve sex. It was a nice thought, a very nice thought, but it wasn't entirely necessary... just trust would be nice. Throughout the entire... thing that they'd shared, Gateau didn't know if he'd ever felt that Marron really trusted him. That, had been part of the problem.
 
Looking up to the window to the side, Gateau realised that it was getting quite dark outside; the trees and jungle outside obscured much of the sky, but through patches where sky was visible, he could see that night was already fast approaching.
 
Rolling over once more, he decided to try and blank his mind once and for all; if it was already night-time, he really didn't have time to be lying back and moping about how weird Marron was. Now was a mission and now was time for sleep, nothing more than that.
 
Elsewhere in the inn, the other Sorcerer Hunters seemed to be taking the same kind of advice; Chocolat and Tira had been the first to sleep, Milphey had eventually dropped off to sleep... Carrot had seemed to find it hard to sleep and therefore Marron hadn't been able to sleep either, but now, finally, Carrot appeared to have dropped off. Thankful for that, Marron had also closed his eyes and prepared himself to sleep. Tomorrow would probably be an active day, it was best to sleep.
 
"... Help..."
 
Carrot's eyes snapped open.
 
"Mmn... Marron?"
 
Marron sighed; maybe he wouldn't be sleeping just yet.
 
"What is it, niisan?"
 
"Did you just say something?"
 
"No, niisan... we've already been through this, we've got a busy day ahead of us and we should concentrate on sleeping. Alright? Just close your eyes and think of something calm and relaxing."
 
"I'm sure I heard something, though..."
 
Marron tried to keep his voice soothing, keep the hint of annoyance out of his voice, "It was probably your imagination. Try to get back to sleep."
 
"Mmmn..."
 
Carrot wasn't convinced by Marron's line of reasoning, but... what else could the voice have been? Probably had just been his imagination. Still, he'd been sure he'd heard a voice, and even more, he'd been sure that the voice had been female... no, Marron was probably right. Just a dream or a figment of his imagination, or something.
 
"... Help... me...!"
 
Carrot sat up abruptly. There was no mistaking it, he'd definitely heard something...!
 
Marron heard the sound of Carrot sitting up. He turned over to look at Carrot, saw his silhouette sitting up on his bed. He sighed again, "Niisan, please get back to sleep..."
 
"No, I'm sure I'm hearing something! Don't you hear anything at all? Like, a woman's voice, or something. 'Help, help me!'... something like that!"
 
"No, I haven't heard anything like that..."
 
"Ssh, listen..."
 
Carrot held up a finger to indicate silence; as requested, Marron remained silent... the silence of the entire island seemed to bear down upon the room, but no voice was heard by either Carrot nor Marron.
 
"I don't he-"
 
"Wait a bit! She's gotta say something again!"
 
Another few minutes of silent waiting. Marron lay back on his bed, his eyes closed... if Carrot was going to hear things in the night that was all well and good, but there was no reason why figments of the imagination should have to keep them both awake. Eventually Carrot would lose interest and go to sleep, Marron supposed. Or at least hoped.
 
"Somebody...! Please come and help me...! Outside... I'm outside... you just... you just have to come and help me..."
 
"Marron, you can't say you didn't hear THAT!"
 
"I didn't hear anything, niisan..."
 
"Yeah, well. Stay here, okay? I'm just gonna... I'm gonna just go outside for a bit."
 
"Niisan, I can't let you wander around in the middle of the night. What is it?"
 
"That voice! There's some chick, she's outside, and she's asking for my help! Maybe she's talking 'specially to me or something, 'cause you can't hear her... I'll be back as quick as I can, okay?"
 
Carrot was already getting out of bed and pulling his trousers on. Marron frowned as he sat up, "Niisan...! If you're going to go anywhere then I'm going to go with you, I can't let you go on your own!"
 
Marron was shaken by the serious note in Carrot's voice when he spoke next.
 
"Marron, please. Just wait here. If there is something dangerous out there then I'd rather you didn't get tangled up in it, okay? I promise I'll come back if there's the first sign of any danger at all. But stay here and wait for me, okay?"
 
"Nii-niisan...!"
 
"Marron, do you promise?!"
 
"Ah-! Y-yes... I... I'll wait for you, then..."
 
Carrot's tone was a little warmer, "Good. Thanks. I'll be as fast as I can..."
 
"Be careful, niisan...!"
 
Carrot stopped at the door and smiled at Marron, though he knew his expression probably couldn't be seen since the room was becoming so dark...
 
"I will."
 
With that, he closed the door and quickly scaled down the stairs.
 
Once at the bottom, Carrot quickly left the inn, and chuckled to himself. It was a little cruel to fool Marron like that, but... what else was there to do? If there was a girl waiting for Carrot to rescue her, then surely she wanted Carrot to rescue her... and once Carrot rescued her, perhaps she'd want to give a special kind of reward... and there wouldn't be any way for that to happen if Marron was constantly hanging around! No, it was all for the best. Carrot would be able to satisfy his libido, and Marron would... Marron would probably fall asleep after a while, anyway. Though, he said he'd wait... Carrot didn't have any doubts that Marron would wait for him faithfully. Whatever Marron decided, anyway.
 
"The jungle... the jungle! I'm in the jungle!"
 
There was no mistaking the voice. Now that Carrot was outside, the voice seemed to be louder, clearer... and most definitely female. He rubbed his hands together. This was exciting! He'd get to play the hero... Chocolat and Tira were fast asleep and totally oblivious to his night-time adventure... Marron wouldn't come after him, there was no reason for Milphey or Gateau to either... he was his own master! He could do what he pleased and he had a hankering for one of the island ladies!
 
Needing no further encouragement than that, Carrot sped off to the dark jungle entrance closest to the inn. That was annoying; it was already dark in the sky, the village area itself seemed dark for the night but the dense trees and vegetation of the jungle meant that the jungle, if possible, seemed even darker...
 
"Please help us! We need your help...!"
 
Carrot was trying to feel his way around the jungle. He'd progressed a little way, but it was difficult...
 
"Jeez, if I could get through these damned bushes it'd help... still, nothing like this will get between Carrot Glacé and a pretty lady in need! I'M COMING TO SAVE YOU, PRETTY LADY!"
 
"Oh, we're so happy! Please hurry, though... the longer you take, the more desperate we become!"
 
"Desperate, eh..."
 
With renewed determination on wondering just what might be making these women so desperate, Carrot continued to pull himself through the undergrowth. He wished he'd brought some form of creating light, a lamp or something, but it was too late to think about that now; in this case maybe Marron would have been useful to have along, he could have used one of his ofuda to light the area and Carrot wouldn't have had to have worried at all... but every time he heard the voice, Carrot was sure he was getting closer. He just had to be heading in the right direction! If he carried on straight forward, there couldn't be much deviation to the path...
 
Remembering that he had his sword with him, Carrot quickly pulled it from it's sheath and used that to hack at the branches and plants with. That made things much easier.
 
"Oh, but you're so strong and powerful...!"
 
"Hahaha, I try..."
 
"You're so close to us... so close! Just a little further, and you will find us, oh brave Carrot Glacé... please, you simply must find us!"
 
"Hey, whaddaya think I'm hacking through the bushes for if I'm not gonna find you? I'm definitely definitely going to find you and save you!"
 
"I'm so glad... we're all so glad!"
 
"All... how many of you are there?"
 
"We are the woman of Euran... there are many of us here! We've been waiting for such a warrior as yourself to find us... the men of the island, they won't even come to find us... those who have just get lost in the jungle! So we need somebody like you, Carrot Glacé... somebody brave and masterful..."
 
Carrot paused in the hacking and slashing for a moment.
 
The women of Euran... all of the women of Euran? All of the missing ones? And they needed him so badly... but it seemed as if they hadn't been kidnapped as such, else why would they be sitting around in the jungle so peacefully wanting brave warriors? Unless there was a monster or something eating the men of the village, but Carrot hadn't heard anything like that... it seemed a little strange, but Carrot was willing to forget that in order to praise his good luck. All the women of the village would be in his debt! And oh, how might they want to repay that debt...?
 
That thought working it's way through his mind, Carrot put on an extra burst of strength. He was determined! He would find these poor needy women, he would rescue them from whatever plight they were in... he'd do what he could and be hailed a hero for it! He wouldn't need the others... they'd only get in the way and prevent him from really enjoying himself... yes... they'd only get in the way... the magic that had to be sealed, that was probably something different entirely. Marron could deal with that in the morning.
 
"Oh, just a little fuurtherr!"
 
Carrot let out determined cries with each wave of his sword; there'd been something about that tone of voice, just then... a gasp of desperation... he couldn't keep the women waiting any longer!
 
After what felt like far too long, Carrot eventually sensed space around him; he'd managed to get through the undergrowth, he was in some kind of clearing. It was too dark to really see anything, though... Carrot really wished he had brought a light, by that point. Still, there was nothing he could do about that now... feeling slightly nervous, Carrot walked forward and sheathed his sword.
 
"Uh... hello?"
 
"GRYAAAAA!!"
 
"AAAAGHH?!"
 
The next thing Carrot knew, something large - and furry? - had him pounced to the floor; any will or determination Carrot had had previously failed him. It was dark, he couldn't see, and there was a large panting furry beast on top of him. He struggled to get away from whatever it was that was on him, but the thing was too strong... then it licked him, right over the face. Carrot shuddered and tried to get away, but it seemed impossible... even if he did get away, where could he get away to? A monster like that could probably see in the dark, or something... it probably knew the jungles far better than Carrot did...
 
Now Carrot really did wish he'd agreed to let Marron come along. This monster was probably going to kill him or eat him or both, and Marron was probably still awake waiting for Carrot to come back... oh god, and what if Carrot didn't come back? How would Marron react then? The others too, but...
 
Carrot struggled against the monster again, "I... won't... make... Marron... wait...!"
 
Abruptly, the weight of the monster left Carrot's body. He frowned and sat up; was the monster playing with him? Had it given up? Carrot was distracted from those thoughts by a decidedly human hand taking a gentle hold of his chin.
 
"Carrot-san...? Who's Marron?"
 
That voice...
 
That voice was female...
 
Previous heroic mindset restored somewhat, Carrot regained his composure.
 
"Oh, just my brother, you don't have to worry about him... now, fair maiden... what can I help you with? Didn't you need rescuing, or something like that?"
 
"Well, my friends and I..."
 
The woman stood up; the pause in her sentence seemed to trigger the fires around the glade to be lit. That was much better, now Carrot could see...
 
First thing, there was no sign of the monster from before, anywhere. That was both a good and bad thing; if it was gone then it was gone and that was good, but was there a possibility of it coming back? Carrot hoped not, he'd been quite scared for a few moments there.
 
Second thing... the women.
 
The clearing was full... of women.
 
Pretty women.
 
Carrot looked around him; there was the woman that had been talking to him. Now that he could see her... she was a little taller than Carrot was, and her skin was tanned. Looking around the circle of seated women, most of them were, in fact... well, that probably came from being on such an island all the time. They all wore simple cloth garments of various pastel colours, but the light colours offset their dark skin nicely; Carrot just stared at them all for a few moments, speechless. There had to be... he couldn't even count at that moment, his mind was so frazzled, but... fifteen? Twenty? Maybe more than that?
 
Obviously this was to make up for all the times Carrot had almost got his end away but failed in the end, usually due to Tira or Chocolat's interference.
 
"Ahahahaha... h-hello, ladies..."
 
On that, the ladies greeted him enthusiastically, cheering and waving in his direction. Carrot flushed deeply; these women were all so pretty, and for once they didn't seem entirely disgusted by him... what amazing luck!
 
Carrot felt the woman that had spoken to him pat him on the back, encouraging him to walk a little closer to the rest of the group. She spoke again... her voice was so soothing and kind, Carrot was quite sure he could get used to this island. Quite sure indeed.
 
"You see, Carrot-san... this island... it is a beautiful island, don't you think?"
 
"Oh, oh yeah, reeeally beautiful..."
 
"However... the village men... they just wish to stay on the edge of the island, they do not dare venture even as far as you have done... we wish for this island to be our tropical paradise..."
 
"I, I see..."
 
"However, we cannot prosper with the children of those weak men who won't even step further than the beach... only men who feel they can come forth no matter what the cost... only brave warriors, such as yourself, are the men we will allow...!"
 
"Riiight...?"
 
Carrot wasn't sure about the 'brave warrior' description, looking back on it he didn't feel he'd really handled the situation with the monster too well, but... the ladies didn't seem to have even noticed the monster, even though they had to have been so close by while that had happened... that struck Carrot as being a little strange, but if they weren't going to mention it then he wasn't going to either. Maybe it'd just been a kind of test to prove his bravery... he hadn't run screaming, which was good, but he hadn't exactly managed to beat the monster, either... oh well. That was in the past.
 
"I am afraid that we may have to... use you, in a way... you see, we need somebody brave and strong such as yourself, somebody who can give us brave and strong children... so... we must take you for our own...!"
 
"Wai-wait, what?"
 
The woman hugged Carrot tightly, "We request the use of... of your lifeforce..."
 
Carrot was just staring incredulously at the pair of breasts that had been squashed to his face. Very nice! What was that she'd just said?
"Uh, uh, you mean...?"
 
In the background, the women were bringing forth some kind of wooden platform; several of them worked to lift it up, it hit back against a tree. The platform seemed to have four leather straps affixed to it, one on each corner. The fires of the glade were arranged in front of the area, it seemed to hold some significance...
 
"We can only ask that you consent to our ritual... you will be bound, but it is for the good of the island! It is for all our sakes! Please tell me you accept!"
 
Carrot broke free from the woman's hold and ran quickly to the platform. He held his arms up, "I can only do what you ask!"
 
Several of the women then set to work, binding Carrot's arms against the wood. Not too tight, but tight enough for him to be bound... Carrot didn't mind, though. Places and peoples and tribes... they often had little rituals and things like that, this was obviously just one of them. Whatever they felt they needed to do, but... his lifeforce? That could only be one thing, and when it came to that...
 
Carrot realised his belt was being unfastened, and his trousers removed. He gulped, "Ah, that is-"
 
"Carrot-san, we cannot extract the lifeforce if such garments are in the way!"
 
"I seee..."
 
Naked from the waist down, Carrot couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Like this... wouldn't the ladies more appreciate somebody like Gateau? He was really big and strong, and he had a really big penis too... not that Carrot liked to recall that, but somehow he couldn't help but remember... would he be big enough for all those ladies? Would they really mind how big (or not) it was, against their need for the 'lifeforce' that came from it? Carrot just remained still, hoping that his attributes would be adequate. It'd be just his luck to get this far, then be laughed from the island for such a thing...
 
However, the ladies didn't seem to mind; three of them came forward, cooing and stroking at Carrot's skin... their hands were so soft, and they didn't seem to be put off... Carrot yelped when he felt hands at his groin, stroking between his legs, teasing at his thighs...
 
"Oh, but see! It has grown!"
 
"Our saviour... our saviour!"
 
"Carrot-san... please... we simply must..."
 
Carrot trembled, glad he was supported by his wrists and ankles; had he been standing, he felt he would have collapsed to the floor already. These women were so demure and submissive and soft and kind and nice, and they were stroking at him and tickling at him and he couldn't stop shaking... they'd seemed only pleased to see his erection, but none of them touched it yet... maybe this was part of their ritual?
 
The three girls who'd helped 'prepare' Carrot stepped back from where he was bound, smiling so cutely...
 
"See, the warrior stands tall before us!"
 
"So big and so strong..."
 
"Now, Carrot-san... we must perform the sacred dance... please enjoy our performance."
 
"A-ah, y-yea..."
 
Feeling like he could barely speak, Carrot could only watch while, as if as one, the women in front of him all dropped their garments; those twenty or so women were now in front of him, and naked... Carrot's eyes opened wide on seeing this. So many pert breasts! Breasts... breasts... lots of breasts... breasts and nipples and Carrot dared to look a bit lower, there was so much more than just breasts...
 
Had he died and gone to heaven? That was the only explanation Carrot could think of. What other place had so many naked women in one place solely for his benefit? Screw the mission. Screw the whole Sorcerer hunting thing! He'd never been good at that anyway. He had a higher purpose, a more important duty to fulfil! Marron and the others could kill Sorcerers and whatever they felt like. Carrot had all these ladies to satisfy! That was job satisfaction that hunting Sorcerers just couldn't bring...
 
Carrot felt quite giddy and light-headed by this point. The women were dancing and singing in a tongue Carrot wasn't aware of, but the repetition of the sound was calming, soothing. There was something deep and sensual about their voices in unison in such a way, and the way they danced... what kind of sacred dance involved that amount of groping and pressing and rubbing and - oh, Carrot wasn't going to complain. He was the sole audience to a sacred lesbian tribal dance or whatever, and that, that wasn't something to complain about.
 
"Carrot-san! Carrot-san, are you watching us?"
 
"Can you see me?"
 
"Is this pleasing to you?"
 
Nodding rapidly, Carrot could only continue to watch.
 
"Ohhh yeah... that's... that's very pleasing..."
 
Such beautiful women. They all seemed to shine under the firelight... their skin looked so soft and inviting, and as they gyrated and shimmied, their breasts shook alongside them... such perfect breasts... such perfect bodies... Carrot couldn't believe that they'd chosen him as their brave holy warrior or whatever, but he wasn't going to argue, no way.
 
At last, his own harem! Something he thought he could only dream of... all these beautiful women, seeming so dependant on him and him alone... none of these girls would dream of whipping or hitting him like Tira or Chocolat did!
 
The thought of those two echoed over Carrot's mind. Tira and Chocolat... they really were quite hung up on him, weren't they? Chocolat, at least, was in love with him. She'd probably be pretty pissed off if she knew what was going on right now. She'd probably be pretty hurt, too...
 
The girls were all cooing and winking at Carrot. They were so cute!
 
Well, if Chocolat wanted to get anywhere she'd have to take a leaf out of these girls' books. Demure and kind and soft and nice was the way to go, not 'I'll tackle you to the floor and rip your dick off if you so much as think of another girl'... okay to be possessive and all, but Chocolat was just scary. Tira too. So what if those two got hurt? They'd certainly hurt him a lot over the years, physically!
 
Well, that wasn't an excuse and Carrot knew it, but... the Misu sisters were not his keepers! Wasn't any of their business what Carrot got up to... he was young and he was horny and these women seemed perfectly happy to satiate Carrot's libido with no strings or whips or wires attached; true love or whatever could come later. For now... sex! Lots and lots of sex! Besides, wasn't this the dream of every red-blooded male on the Continent? No way could he pass up such an opportunity. Carrot wondered if he should feel guilty, but... no man could feel guilty with that amount of naked female flesh bouncing around in front of him.
 
The dance seemed to wind itself down, and the girls all gathered in front of Carrot, looking up at him with wide, innocent eyes... no, Carrot decided. He'd only feel more guilty to turn all of these women down! This was his duty. His duty as a man.
 
"Carrot-... san?"
 
"Y-yea?"
 
"You still wish to surrender yourself...?"
 
"Oh, oh yeah! Do what you must to me, I can take you all! Uh, it all...!"
 
The girls had Carrot surrounded once more, all making such lovely little feminine sounds, little gasps and oohs and aahs... Carrot could feel warm flesh pressing against him all over, breasts pressing against his chest and his arms and his legs... he felt his skin be nipped and kissed, he let his head fall back with a moan.
 
"Mmnnn, such delicious skin!"
 
"I wish to ingest him... I wish to ingest all of him..."
 
Teeth nibbling against his shoulder, "I could just eat him all up...!"
 
Carrot trembled powerfully, "Please do..."
 
How had he managed to find himself in this situation?! The prospect still seemed amazing to Carrot. For so long he'd tried to chase the occasional girl under the watchful eyes of the Misu sisters... today, his luck had turned so much for the better! None of them would know... none of them would find out what the warrior of love, Carrot Glacé was doing with his night!
 
"NnnnHY-NNGH-!!"
 
Suddenly, Carrot felt a warm wetness around his erection; looking down amongst all the breasts and other things, he saw one girl's head moving up and down over his crotch, corresponding with feelings that seemed to want to make him freeze and melt both at once... then one girl pulled back slightly, and there were tongues, several more tongues kissing and licking at his manhood...
 
This had to be heaven!
 
****
 
Marron sat quietly on his bed in the inn, still. He'd lit the small oil lamp to the side, so the room was lit somewhat... he stared intently at the door. Carrot had said he'd try to hurry back... it'd been a while. Marron wasn't quite sure how long it'd been since Carrot had left, but... with each advancing moment, the length of time since Marron had last seen Carrot seemed far, far too long.
 
He said he wouldn't be long, but... he wouldn't be long doing what? Maybe even Carrot hadn't known what he'd set out to do. Wasn't this usually the kind of situation that brought Carrot nothing but trouble, when he went off at the behest of a woman? Maybe Carrot was in trouble right at that moment... heading off in the middle of the night, how could Marron have let Carrot do such a thing?
 
Though, Carrot had made him promise to wait...
 
He couldn't break a promise...!
 
That said, did Carrot even have any intention of returning...? The room seemed so quiet, oppressively so. Marron felt torn; he'd promised to stay and wait for Carrot, but... that foreboding feeling of earlier had only grown, especially now that Carrot was gone and he didn't know where... Carrot was almost certainly in trouble, Marron just knew it.
 
There was the spinner trace. Marron had been holding the thread in his hands for the past little while, staring down at it... if he was going to go and find Carrot, then all he had to do was to follow the trace, and it'd take him to where Carrot was.
 
The silken thread shone slightly in the lamplight as Marron held it tightly; his connection to Carrot, this was what kept them together. Marron held it so tightly, and on the other end of it, was Carrot... nothing would sever the magical little invention, and Marron was pleased for that. No matter where Carrot was, Marron could find him. Perhaps always using spinner traces was somewhat deceitful, but... Marron felt it a necessary deception whenever they were on a mission of this kind.
 
He felt a little stupid for even having let Carrot go in the first place; had Carrot been so sneaky to know that Marron would do whatever was asked of him? If Carrot said 'stay' then Marron could only stay, but Marron's morals were conflicting deep within him...
 
Marron sighed deeply, walking over to the window of the room. Where was he...
 
Outside was only darkness, of course. The jungle, the night... there really was nothing to see out of the window.
 
Though...
 
Was that...
 
Marron frowned. For a moment he thought he'd seen some kind of light outside, a vague glow coming from one of the jungle areas... he chided himself, there was little chance of that. It'd probably been a reflection on the glass from the oil lamp. Yes, that was it.
 
Still... Marron watched that area of the jungle for a few moments... to make sure, he reached over and extinguished the light of the oil lamp. If it was just a reflection then that would mean that nothing would show up on the window now, but... the more Marron looked, the more Marron was sure; there was something out there in the jungle, something or someone out there creating some sort of light...
 
Maybe it was Carrot? Something Carrot had done? Or perhaps somebody else...
 
Marron folded his arms, quietly mulling things over. There was obviously some kind of disturbance in the jungle, and knowing Carrot he'd probably barged straight into the undergrowth without any regard to his own personal safety... surely he'd heard the innkeeper's words as much as anybody else had, about the monsters that could roam the jungle...!
 
Of course, it was far more likely, unfortunately, that Carrot's ears had tuned out after the whole business with the women of the village going missing. Who cared about monsters when there were women out there?!
 
Mind made up, Marron quickly and quietly left his bedroom. He had to find Carrot... he didn't particularly want to disturb the others during their sleep, but it seemed as if at least one of their number hadn't been able to sleep in the first place. Marron left the room and walked downstairs only to find himself joined by Milphey when he got there.
 
"Ah-!... Mi... Milphey! You startled me."
 
"Sorry, Marron-chan... but, it's quite late. I heard some moving around earlier, and now you going downstairs in the middle of the night... what's happening?"
 
"My brother, he... earlier on, he spoke of hearing some kind of voice talking to him... a woman's voice... he went outside in order to follow it, I fear that something may have happened... I can never relax when he does such foolhardy things..."
 
Milphey folded his arms, a slightly reproving tone to his voice.
 
"So you thought you'd follow directly after him without telling anybody else? Maybe Carrot-chan's not the only foolhardy one. In any case... do you know where he went?"
 
"N-no, but I saw a light coming from the jungle when I looked out of the window. I can only assume he's gone into the jungle... and I have a spinner trace on him, so that can be followed."
 
The two of them left the inn, "That's just like Marron-chan, always keeping tabs on his beloved niisan..."
"Milphey, be quiet..."
 
Outside of the inn, all was silent and still. Marron couldn't help but marvel on the quality of the silence... he could hear his own movement and breathing, the same from Milphey, but that was all... the only light that Marron could see was from the stars in the sky above, and even then only precious few of them were visible through the overhead canopy of the trees...
 
Milphey seemed similarly amazed, "It's... so quiet..."
 
"Mmm..."
 
"Feels like we're the only people in the world..."
 
"Indeed..."
 
Marron thought about what Milphey had said; that was true, once he really thought about it. In such a quiet, isolated place... the whole Spooner Continent might just not exist, and nobody would even have noticed. There were people asleep in the buildings of the village, but... the houses were so quiet with not even wind to stir the branches of the trees above, they may as well have been empty.
 
"It's almost a little... romantic, isn't it?"
 
"Milphey...?"
 
Milphey laughed gently, "You, me, no~body else... see, we're whispering, even though there's nobody around to hear us... isn't it an interesting atmosphere? It feels like we could do anything on this island... nobody around to see or hear, nobody to even know... I can see why people would choose places like this to live..."
 
Quietly, Marron lit an ofuda. Interesting as the atmosphere was, it was quite hard to see anything in the darkness. In the enclosed space the ofuda's light was powerful, lighting up the clearing of the village. The light didn't seem to disturb anything, however... the village remained still and silent, the only people to notice the light seeming to be Milphey and Marron.
 
In the light, Marron noticed that Milphey was standing quite close to him... Milphey had a length of Marron's hair held up in his hand, and seemed to be contemplating it for reasons Marron wasn't sure of.
 
"Milphey?"
 
Milphey quickly dived down to kiss Marron's cheek, "What is it?"
 
On that, Marron took a few steps back, "Milphey, what are you doing?"
 
"It's an interesting atmosphere, and I always like to appreciate Marron-chan..."
 
Marron glared slightly at Milphey, unable to believe how frivolous he could be in such a serious situation; anything could be happening to Carrot...!
 
"Milphey, we're here to rescue my brother. We should find him quickly."
 
Without another word, Marron turned his back on Milphey and started to follow the path the spinner trace led him on. Milphey followed a few steps behind Marron, watching him carefully.
 
Of course, it was nothing to Marron to be up half the night waiting for his brother, to go out into a possibly dangerous jungle in the middle of the aforementioned night... no, Carrot certainly wasn't the only foolhardy one. It was almost impressive how determined Marron was to find Carrot, but if he found Carrot only to also find one of the monsters of the island, then what was he going to do then? In a fight between Marron and a monster, Milphey couldn't help but be unsure as to who the victor would be...
 
Despite that, Milphey didn't suppress a little smile. Those Glacé brothers... they really were two of a kind, weren't they? Carrot could always be counted on to do irrational things, and Marron could always be counted on to dig him out of whatever hole he'd got himself in... Milphey was quite sure that, if it hadn't been for Marron and his diligence, Carrot would have been dead long ago.
 
However, that was just the kind of burden Marron bore upon himself... he obviously saw his brother's well-being as his own personal duty, and would follow that unceasingly... Milphey still couldn't say that such behaviour was healthy, but when it came to Marron and Carrot... that was just the kind of behaviour they were used to, wasn't it? It was almost as if Carrot went headfirst into things just knowing that he had Marron to fall back onto as a kind of safety-net... and Marron fulfilled his purpose with vigour. It was all well enough trying to wean Marron away from Carrot, but then on the other hand, there was Carrot himself...
 
Still, Milphey did what he could.
 
"Né, Marron-chan?"
 
The two of them, now in the jungle, talked in hushed tones.
 
"What is it?"
 
It was far too obvious where Carrot had been; leaves and branches were all over the place from where he'd messily made his way through the jungle undergrowth... at first it was just a matter of trampled plants and pushed-aside bushes, but as they advanced the vegetation became more mangled; Carrot had obviously been through this area with his sword...
 
"How's Mi-chan these days?"
 
Marron was amazed that Milphey seemed to think this the time and place to talk about the kitten. The jungle was dangerous, surely it was best to remain quiet...!
 
"Milphey, please... we don't know what's in the area, we should only talk unless we have to."
 
"I was just curious..."
 
Marron sighed, "He's fine..."
 
"Good, good..."
 
Milphey supposed Marron spoke the truth; they could be quiet enough walking through the jungle, but perhaps talking was superfluous for the time being. While they remained quiet, it meant that they could concentrate on their other senses... and as they carried on, both Milphey and Marron couldn't help but be aware of the strange noises coming from up ahead... somebody in pain?
 
"UNHH... nnHH... n-NNNN... ah... ah... y-ye-OH GOD... YESSS..."
 
Somebody not in pain?
 
Whatever the circumstance, the voice was all too familiar to Marron and Milphey. Milphey could almost pinpoint the moment where Marron's rational thought left him; Marron ran forward, "NIISAN!"
 
"Ma-Marron-chan! Wait up, it might be-... it might be dangerous, but you don't care, do you..."
 
Milphey put on a burst of speed to catch up with Marron. He caught up with him, finding him standing on the edge of a clearing, suddenly speechless and motionless. Looking to what had caught Marron's attention, Milphey could understand Marron's sudden silence.
 
The scene was a strange one, there was no mistaking that. Obviously this was the glade that Marron had seen the light in the jungle from... there were firebrands positioned around the outside of the glade, lighting it up. This was fortunate, for the ofuda that Marron had held up for light was discarded to his side.
 
The glade itself was filled with strange blue-furred creatures. Each one the size of a human, but crouched... they were walking around the glade, watching Carrot intently. Carrot was strapped to some kind of board up against a tree, and at least six of the monsters were gathered around him... the creatures could only be demonic, from their fur and golden slit eyes and their massive claws and those teeth, but somehow, Carrot didn't seem to have noticed such a situation at all; the monsters were licking at his body, and he seemed only capable of moaning his pleasure... three of the monsters around him were gathered at his crotch. Milphey raised his eyebrow, wondering if that was connected to Carrot's sighs and moans... he turned to face Marron, unsure of what to say.
 
"Well, ah... we found him, at least..."
 
Milphey's words seemed to have fallen upon deaf ears; Marron didn't seem to care about the monsters gathering around his niisan, all he could see was Carrot himself... tied up like that... moaning like that... just what was going on!?
 
"Nii-... NIISAN!!"
 
"Marron-chan, WAIT!"
 
It seemed that Marron's blinkered view allowed him to leap straight into the lion's den with no concern for his own safety; on that shout Carrot indeed looked up, as did the twenty or so fanged demons in the glade. Nobody looked too pleased for Marron's interruption.
 
"Marron, wha-... whad-... whaddaya doing here...? Thought I told'ja to wait..."
 
"I couldn't let you go into the jungle on your own-! Niisan, how can you-... can you not see these demons!?"
 
"Nuh-uh, I'm only seein' pretty ladies! So like... uh... I mean... not trying to get rid of you or anything, but-"
 
"GYRAAAAAAAHH!!"
 
Before Carrot count finish his sentence, one of the monsters made a leap for Marron; Milphey managed to dive into Marron and push him to the side before the monster could attack him, but the monster only landed behind where Marron used to be. It slowly advanced on Milphey and Marron, growling ferociously.
 
"Marron-chan, we should have been more stealthy..."
 
Marron already had an ofuda raised; rather than throwing it, Marron watched the demon through it. He quickly crumpled it and threw it to the side before getting up and running to the edge of the glade.
 
"Milphey! These monsters... they're the missing women!"
 
"Marron-chan!?"
 
Quickly producing another ofuda, Marron whispered a spell and threw it at the monster charging towards him. The monster howled in bestial fury as the ofuda did it's work, drawing out the magic from the body of the beast. As the magic vanished, the illusion was shattered. A woman was left in place of the monster, and the other demons had fled from the clearing on seeing what was going on. For the time being, Marron and Milphey were left with Carrot and one of the women to deal with.
 
Marron knelt next to the woman, "Can you speak?"
 
"Uh-nn...? Ah-... I-... oh my god, THANK YOU!"
 
She made a leap for Marron; he almost toppled over, but managed to retain his balance.
 
"Ah, you're welcome... but, if you may... could you please tell us what's going on on this island...? Do you know what the demons... do you know how they came into being?"
 
"The demons... it's the magic! The sealed magic... it... it started having strange effects on the jungle, we could feel the very atmosphere change... as shrine guardians, we wished to seal the magic, but it appears that we were too late, and it's power became one we were enslaved by, rather than able to seal... the magic... Seiren... the others, it's... you must save the others...!"
 
"Y-yes, we'll do that right away... you should return to the village quickly. There's an obvious path that we came here by... take one of these torches, you should find your way easily."
 
The woman nodded, taking one of the firebrands and quickly running to the entrance to the glade.
 
"Thank you... thank you, thank you so much!"
 
With that, she was gone.
 
Milphey picked himself up from the floor, where he'd ended up after diving for Marron. He dusted himself down, and looked around the clearing. It seemed that the other monsters were gone, for the time being... he turned to Marron.
 
"So, the magic is Seiren magic..."
 
"So I believe, though I know little on the subject... is there anything that you know, Milphey?"
 
"I don't know how helpful it is, but... when I hear that name, I can't help but think... have you ever heard a legend about 'sirens', Marron-chan?"
 
"Sirens? I'm not sure..."
 
"Beautiful women who exist at sea, entrancing sailors to their deaths with their beautiful voices and bodies... usually they're wayward spirits, trickster demons... you say that Carrot-chan heard a voice that only he could hear? I can't help but wonder if it's connected, somehow. These demon things, enticing him to his, ah, 'death'..."
 
On that point, Milphey and Marron turned to notice Carrot, who was looking quite shamefaced.
 
"... Um..."
 
Marron was purposefully looking away from Carrot, unable to help a slight blush. Milphey was just eyeing Carrot up and down, one eyebrow raised... Carrot was now quite obviously naked below the waist, and now that he didn't have any demons obscuring the view, he was also quite obviously erect, to Milphey's eyes...
 
"Milphey, can you not stare at me like that..."
 
"I'm just taking in the view, Carrot-chan! Here, let's get you free. Marron-chan, would you like to help me?"
 
"Aa, mm."
 
Still trying to look anywhere but at Carrot, Marron helped Milphey undo the leather straps that had kept Carrot bound to the board. Unable to support himself and now quite exhausted, Carrot almost fell forward, but was caught by Marron, who couldn't help but remain attentive to his brother's state. Marron held Carrot for a moment, feeling awkward.
 
"Niisan... niisan, just what happened here?"
 
Carrot, slumped over Marron, sighed.
 
"Well... I followed that voice... followed it t'here... saw all those ladies you just chased away... n'they were going on about how they needed my 'lifeforce', and that I was a brave warrior... n'stuff... so... they, uh... they got me up there, and they were doing this weird lesbian dance... n'then they were like... kissing me and stuff all over... and... uh... um..."
 
Milphey clapped his hands together, "Carrot-chan got oral sex from a gang of demons! Well, that doesn't happen every day!"
 
"Milphey, they're not demons!"
 
"Carrot-chan, they are demons! At least, the magic has turned the women into demons. Obviously they managed to trick Carrot-chan into not seeing the blue fur and the fangs... and you just saw what you wanted to see, hmm? So, what was it like? I'd never trust my penis in the mouth of something with so many fangs!"
 
Carrot remained silent, unsure of what to do or say. As it was, he felt so exhausted he could barely move... those girls had been insatiable! The first time, fine, all good. They hadn't stopped, though; he'd never come more than twice when he'd masturbated on his own, but the girls were so insistent...! They treasured the second time as much as the first, and acted just as enthusiastic to get Carrot hard again... that, that had been difficult. At that point the girl on him had turned into some kind of vacuum on his groin, not letting him even think about softening... Carrot couldn't remember much after that, just that he had been on the brink of yet another orgasm just as Milphey and Marron had appeared... fine for mad orgies with so many girls, but Carrot felt he'd probably have to exercise his stamina before doing anything like that in the future, if he ever got the chance. He couldn't help but feel a little relief at being disturbed. Rest... rest was good. Falling asleep sounded even better.
 
Marron just held Carrot, feeling strange. Carrot felt heavy and he looked quite drained. Just what had he let those girls do to him...? Obviously Carrot had had no inhibitions at all on letting all those girls molest him in such ways... well, of course. That was the attention Carrot always dreamed of. Those girls, though... those demons... touching Carrot like that, being able to taste Carrot, tempt him, tease him... and he fell for it all entirely...
 
He'd left Marron awake, nervous and waiting for his return when he obviously hadn't had any inclination of returning. He'd gone off with the hopes of having sex, saying whatever he could to make sure he wasn't followed.
 
Those girls could have had sex with him.
 
They could have taken his virginity.
 
As far as these things went, they'd already had their hands all over him, done wicked, wicked things to his precious body... and Carrot had willingly let all of those things happen...?
 
Carrot's body felt heavy, to Marron. He hadn't even wanted Marron to come after him. He could have ended up eaten by those demons and probably wouldn't even have realised it through his orgasmic haze... why did he have to obey his libido so entirely?! Why couldn't he just leave well alone?!
 
Why couldn't he realise that if he so badly needed to satiate his libido then there was one person who'd remain by his side forever who wouldn't dream of refusing Carrot if he'd just ask!?
 
Feeling an irrational sense of betrayal, Marron stepped back and let Carrot fall to the ground. Let him sleep outside all night if he wished, that could be his punishment. Wordlessly, Marron turned on his heel and lit another ofuda, heading off deeper into the jungle, away from Milphey and that disloyal brother of his.
 
"YARGH! A-aaghh... I... Marron, whaddaya-... Marron!?"
 
Milphey looked quickly from Marron to Carrot, and supposed that Carrot should be dealt with first. Trying to figure out what was going on in Marron's head could take half the night, but it didn't take three guesses to figure what was needling him this time. Milphey sighed, "I think you should leave him be for a little while."
 
"I... I fell awkwardly..."
 
"Come on, let's get you up. Should I take you back to the inn?"
 
"What about Marron...? We can't just let him go off like that! He might... he might... something might happen!"
 
"Oh, you mean like how 'something happened' to you?"
 
Carrot just glowered, "Can you at least find me my trousers... those chicks took them off me... dunno where they went..."
 
Milphey glanced around the clearing; the dust on the ground was scuffled and fire still burnt in the torches, but there didn't seem to be any sign of Carrot's missing garments.
 
"They don't seem to be around..."
 
"Oh, crap... how the hell am I going to explain it to everyone tomorrow when we all wake up and I don't have any trousers?!"
 
"That's your own fault, Carrot-chan!... Here, I know. Wrap this around your waist. Probably not as good as trousers, but it'll at least keep you covered."
 
Milphey undid his shawl from over his shoulder, unwrapped it, and handed it to Carrot. Carrot picked himself up off the floor, swaying slightly. He still felt so tired and woozy from what had just happened... he sighed, supposing that his chance at paradise was gone. Okay, so the girls had been under some kind of magical influence and were actually demons or something... that didn't matter, it'd still been good at the time...!
 
Sighing, Carrot tied Milphey's shawl around his waist, "I guess I don't get my boots back either..."
 
"Probably not, probably not. Are you okay for walking? I'll go after Marron-chan, you can head back to the inn and get some sleep. Best to go back quietly, though. You don't want to wake up Tira-chan or Chocolat-chan, after all... I don't know how they'd react to finding you wearing something of mine rather than trousers!"
 
Milphey was already heading off to the direction Marron had disappeared in.
 
Carrot stared at the floor intently for a few moments, hearing Milphey rustle through the undergrowth. He was going to find Marron. Marron had come... to find him... Marron had wanted to rescue Carrot, had obviously used that weird sixth sense of brother-trouble-detection to find him... had even been able to find him in the jungle... now he was going off deeper into the jungle to do the mission they'd decided not to do until after they'd woken up.
 
Then there'd been that look on Marron's face before he'd taken off into the jungle. Carrot had looked up just before he'd ended up falling to the floor... Marron had seemed almost so sad... and it seemed weird for Marron to just let Carrot fall down like that in the first place...
 
Of course, the situation had been a little bad. Keeping Marron awake like that... how could he have assumed that Marron would eventually fall asleep? This was the devoted and obsessive little brother who wouldn't let himself rest until he knew his brother was safe... who needed sleep in a time like this? Obviously not Marron.
 
Suddenly, Carrot remembered the demon from before, the one that had attacked him just before he'd seen all of the women.
 
A demon... a furry demon...
 
Had that been the kind of demon that Marron and Milphey had seen? Was that the true form - or whatever - of the ladies that had been treating him so nicely?... Just the thought of having a swarm of those demons at him... Carrot shuddered, that was not a nice thought. Though, they'd definitely been pretty women when Carrot remembered seeing them... obviously they'd bewitched him or something, but... oh, he wouldn't have known until it was too late... when they'd been all on about how good he tasted, and all... perhaps they had planned to eat him!?
 
Carrot quickly ran off into the jungle after Milphey and, more importantly, Marron. Marron had only come out in the first place because he'd been worried about Carrot; surely it was only fair that Carrot stay out and make sure that Marron was alright...
 
Fortunately, Milphey and Marron hadn't got too far away from the initial clearing before Carrot was able to catch up with them. Marron led the way, silent and apparently uninterested in Carrot's presence. Milphey noticed Carrot, and smiled.
 
"Oh, Carrot-chan! You thought you'd come with us, hmm?"
 
"I'm not letting Marron go anywhere like this without me."
 
Carrot spoke quite purposefully toward the back of Marron's head, but Marron just continued to walk on, lighted ofuda held high to light the path ahead. Both Milphey and Carrot noticed Marron's complete lack of response... Milphey just thought it a bit strange, supposed that Marron was still angry from before... Carrot was less accepting of Marron's silence, it seemed.
 
"Marron, wait up."
 
Sounding determined, Carrot quickly stepped forward and grabbed Marron by the shoulder.
 
"Marron, what's up with you!?"
 
To the shock of both Carrot and Milphey, Marron turned around and pulled away from Carrot's hand. He stood still, just staring at Carrot... Carrot didn't know what to say, and so stared back. Milphey paused in his walking, then took a step back. Perhaps those two had things they wanted to say to each other? He remained respectfully quiet.
 
"Niisan..."
 
Something about Marron's tone of voice, almost a... heavy tone. He was... upset? Carrot frowned, "Marron, what's wrong?"
 
"Niisan - why do I even bother?"
 
"Uh?"
 
Marron shook his head, not looking directly at Carrot. How could Carrot act like that? How could he even talk to Marron after happily running off like that in the middle of the night? He'd run headfirst into a trap, as he usually did... a trap he hadn't even been aware of... he'd been in such danger and he hadn't even realised, he'd been in such danger and he hadn't even cared! Those girls could have taken Carrot's virginity, and Marron wouldn't have been able to stop them. He didn't even know if they had done already - so there was oral sex going on when he and Milphey had arrived, but how did they know that other things hadn't happened beforehand...? It wasn't as if Carrot was in any mood for recollection.
 
"I..."
 
"Marron, uh... look, I'm sorry, okay? I... I shouldn'ta run off, I guess you're upset about that... I mean... it was stupid, okay? M'sorry."
 
"I could almost accept that... but how long will it be before something similar happens?! When it comes to a pretty lady... even if something's so obviously a trap... you'll go off on your own in the hopes of satiating your hormonal desires, you - even if it was a demon in disguise, you wouldn't even notice! I... I could accept your apology if I felt it meant anything..."
 
Carrot had had his hand reached for Marron's shoulder while he'd apologized, but as Marron spoke, he retracted it. He felt terribly guilty, all of a sudden; after all, what Marron was saying... it was true, all of it. Carrot couldn't control himself when it came to his libido, he knew that, but... even if he was apologetic now, then... the next time... and there'd almost certainly be a next time...
 
"I... Marron, I..."
 
"You do things with no concern for others...! If Tira or Chocolat knew you were outside like this, how do you think they'd react? I was worried about you, niisan...! I didn't want to let you go in the first place, but how could I hope to stop you? You told me to wait for you... I was waiting for you. If I'd waited for an hour, two hours... you still wouldn't have returned, would you? So don't admit that you've done something stupid unless you intend to modify your future actions, even if only a little..."
 
"Hey, don't say I don't have any concern! I really didn't want you coming outside 'cause it mighta been dangerous, okay? If someone was gonna get hurt I'd much rather it was me than you...! You're always getting hurt and stuff for my sake, it's not fair if it's always you..."
 
"You didn't want me to come with you because you knew it'd reduce your chances of... of meaningless sexual relation!"
 
That one hit Carrot where it hurt; that had been his exact reason for keeping Marron in the inn. Of course, he really hadn't wanted Marron to be hurt by a monster or anything, but... Carrot's reasons for leaving the inn in the first place had been far from monster hunting.
 
"W-well... that is..."
 
"You really would sell your soul for the price of your virginity, wouldn't you..."
 
That comment had been a little too caustic for Carrot's liking; his anger flared up somewhat once more, "Yeah, well! Even if it is with a demon it's not like I'm gonna get laid any other way, is it?! It's not like... it's not like there's anybody else!"
 
By that point, Marron couldn't take any more. He grabbed Carrot quite roughly by the shoulders, shaking them slightly, standing so much closer to Carrot than he had been previously. The ofuda that had lit the area dropped to the floor as Marron made his move, and the area dropped to darkness.
 
"Niisan, there-... there are people who'd accept you...! There are people who would... let you... if you'd only... let them..."
 
Marron's words were heavy with unspoken meaning and the silence that followed was even heavier. Marron stared up at the shadow of his brother's face, knowing he was losing his composure. How much more blatantly did he have to put it for Carrot to understand? Carrot didn't have to run around after random women... he didn't have to risk his life just for the prospect of a little gratification... if he really was so desperate, then... there were other people... a person in particular... the person tightly holding Carrot's shoulders at that moment, willing him to just understand...
 
Carrot shrugged Marron's hands away, "If you're on about Tira and Chocolat, then don't bother. With them, I... how much do you think everything would mess up if I were to go to Chocolat, 'I'm horny, sleep with me!'? How much do you think it'd change everyone in the group? Chocolat would get all possessive over me... I dunno what Tira would do but I don't think she'd be pleased... I mean, you know how possessive of me she already is, right?"
 
A sigh. Carrot looked at Marron with a deeply sympathetic stare, though he knew that, through the darkness, he couldn't be seen.
 
"I mean... you should know, right? Even just you and Gateau... that was only between you two, and there are still uncomfortable silences when someone says something meaning you two... like Chocolat earlier, I mean, it was probably something she said without thinking, but... you know what I mean?"
 
"Things between Gateau and I... they're... tense, somewhat..."
 
"See? Everyone thought you guys would get together, and look how that turned out. How unbearable do you think it'd be for me to mess with Tira and Chocolat? Maybe I'm just being a coward, but I'd rather things stayed like they are right now than risk having everything mess up with them. Maybe it doesn't seem like it, but I do care about those two... I'd rather piss them off and have them always beat me up than really hurt them. So... I couldn't just use them. That'd be too hurtful."
 
Marron's mind raced. He hadn't meant Tira and Chocolat... obviously they were the initial guesses but Marron hadn't meant those two! Marron understood not wanting to hurt the Misu sisters; the four of them were so close, and he knew it'd irreparably damage the group morale for something, anything to happen between Carrot and those two...
 
So how much would it harm the same morale if Marron were to try to step into that space? If Carrot were to accept Marron in that way, surely it would only damage things further? The secrecy, the inevitable shame that would come forth from such a relationship...
 
If Carrot wasn't willing to risk Tira and Chocolat's emotions, then he probably certainly wasn't willing to risk Marron's emotions, even more so. Not least if anybody were to discover such a thing...
 
Feeling empty, feeling hopeless, Marron looked up.
 
"Niisan..."
 
"What is it?"
 
"I... I didn't mean Tira and Chocolat."
 
Alarm bells were going off in Carrot's mind. If Marron hadn't meant Tira and Chocolat, then who else was there? The tone of Marron's voice, that horrible emptiness... Carrot had a terrible sense of foreboding. Somehow he recalled conversations in the past - things he'd said to Milphey, things he'd said to Gateau... remembering the jealousy of seeing Marron kiss Gateau. He hadn't known why he'd felt that jealousy, but it'd always given him a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach just to speculate on such feelings... he felt the same feeling now. Carrot felt he could only question Marron's words... and what was there that Marron could reply with? Carrot was speechless and unsure, Marron spoke again.
 
"... Those two... I wouldn't... I wouldn't want to suggest... them..."
 
Milphey listened with rapt attention. Could Marron be on the brink of a confession? The atmosphere between the Glacé brothers felt so thick... why, earlier on they'd even been arguing! If anything, that was a rare occurrence. Marron, actually questioning his devotion to Carrot? Only because Carrot seemed blithely ignorant to said devotion, but even so...
 
The silence continued. It seemed that both Marron and Carrot had run out of things to say, either that or they were scared to continue... Milphey didn't know if he wanted to interrupt, or not. He was half convinced that the Glacé brothers had all but forgotten about his presence in the first place... and was standing in the middle of a dense jungle where evil creatures roamed the best place to be making such life-changing decisions?
 
"Ma-... Marron..."
 
"Niisan...?"
 
Milphey clasped his hands together.
 
"... We should find that magic, right? I mean... that's... that's why we came here in the first place, isn't it? It's late... if you do the magic now then we can sleep in tomorrow, right?"
 
"A-ah... y-yes. You're right, niisan."
 
Milphey felt like he could fall over. Way for Carrot deflating the mood... he sighed, nothing else for it. He bounded forward and threw his arms around Carrot in an energetic glomp.
 
"Oh, but CARROT-CHAN!"
 
"YARGH! Mil- Milphey, what the hell!?"
 
"If you wanted anybody to have sex with then I'd have sex with yoou! You mustn't forget all about me, after all. I'm your wuv!"
 
Marron just stood to the side, hearing his brother struggle beneath Milphey's hold; of course, that would help to throw Carrot off the scent. Marron hadn't been talking about Tira and Chocolat, but... yes, Milphey was also theoretically a contender.
 
Silently, Marron lit an ofuda, "Niisan's right. We should find the shrine where the magic is kept quickly... we wouldn't want any of the others to worry about us being missing if they woke up in the middle of the night."
 
Milphey slowly let go of Carrot, knowing that neither Carrot nor Marron would appreciate him being too touchy-feely for too long. The atmosphere had returned to normal, somewhat... it seemed that if Marron was going to make any kind of confession, then it wasn't going to be today. Milphey sighed; it'd probably take something a little more for Marron to tell Carrot just what he was feeling.
 
"Ah... it seems as if there's some kind of path here..."
 
From Marron holding up the ofuda, it seemed as if he was right; grass wasn't growing along part of the jungle floor, and it continued along up ahead... obviously, if there was some kind of shrine where the magic was kept, and the women of the island where shrine maidens, then this was the path to the shrine. Perhaps the undergrowth had just grown over the path, since it probably hadn't been in use for a little while...
 
There was little to be said during that short journey, so the group remained quiet. Milphey and Marron at least were keeping their ears open for the growls of the island beast women, but after the disturbance of earlier, they seemed to have gone into hiding... Carrot just followed behind the other two, his determination from before diminished somewhat from Marron having taken lead of the group. Now, he really was starting to feel tired... just how much further away was that shrine? How much longer would it take? Would it be okay if he napped now and waited for the others to come back? He knew that wasn't a good idea, that perhaps one of the beasts would make a snack of him while he slept, but... his body felt so exhausted that that only seemed a minor risk.
 
Eventually, the three of them came to a small clearing, with a larger one clearly beyond it; the smaller clearing, however, held some items of interest. Carrot was the first to notice, running forward happily.
 
"AH! It's my clothes! One of the beasts must have run off with them and left them here, or something! Man, that's a relief. I still couldn't figure out how I was gonna explain to Tira and Chocolat tomorrow morning why I didn't have any trousers."
 
Exhaustion forgotten for a few moments, Carrot quickly ran forward and grabbed his trousers (with his underwear still in), belt, socks and boots. He was in the process of dressing his lower half once more, when he noticed the items that his clothes had been sitting on; realising this caused him to jump backwards with a slight cry.
 
"YAH!"
 
"Carrot-chan?"
 
Milphey and Marron approached, to see what Carrot had found so shocking. It seemed that Carrot's clothes had been on the top of a pile of bones; most of them were broken and unidentifiable, but at least two of them seemed to be skulls of some kind... curious, Milphey knelt down and picked one of them up. It was broken at the jaw, but still... he turned it over in his hands, looking thoughtful, and not fazed at all to be holding what seemed to be, a human skull.
 
"Well, I suppose this is what would have happened to you if we hadn't found you in time, hmm?"
 
"Mi-Milphey, don't say things like that!"
 
Milphey could only laugh, "Sorry. Still, it seems like they were making a little collection, here... at least two skulls here, and other bones... maybe they have other little piles in other places? We don't know how many people went missing from the village, but you know how people get when their loved ones go missing..."
 
Standing up, Milphey let the skull drop to the ground. It made a hollow sound as it did so, hitting against the other bones on the floor.
 
"Not very nice, is it? Men from the village, only trying to find their loved ones... I wonder if, perhaps, these two were eaten by the very women they were trying to save? Such painful irony... and the flesh has been entirely stripped from these bones, too. Look, not a trace of flesh or even blood on them... these monsters really were out for their supper."
 
Carrot just stared at the bones that Milphey was nudging with his foot. Could he really have ended up like that, had it not been for Marron and Milphey's arrival? The beasts of the island... surely they were capable of such a thing... and he wouldn't even have realised until it was possibly too late. He'd been taken by surprise by that initial monster... it surely wouldn't have taken anything more for the monsters to have swarmed him, maybe knocked him out - maybe they wouldn't even have given him that grace - and to have consumed him, then and there...
 
Now fully clothed once more, Carrot felt somewhat nauseous, and all too aware of his own mortality. As pleasurable as the events of earlier had been, that had been too close. And even if he wouldn't accept it, Carrot still felt he owed Marron an apology. An apology, and... his gratitude, too.
 
"Uh... Marron?"
 
Marron had been watching Milphey turn the bones over. He looked up at Carrot addressing him, "Yes, niisan?"
 
"Um... I know you probably don't wanna hear it, but... I am sorry I came out and told you not to follow me and stuff. Uh, and... uh... that is... I know I wanted you to go away, but, uhm... I... I'm glad you came and rescued me, even if it was pretty embarrassing. So, uh... yeah. Thanks."
 
At that point, Marron smiled. Carrot was slightly surprised to see such a warm smile, especially after they'd been arguing beforehand, but... to see that smile, it almost made it all worthwhile. Marron could speak such happiness without saying a word with an expression like that.
 
"It's alright, niisan. I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if anything had happened to you."
 
"Yeah, well... I did feel bad... I got attacked by one of those monsters when I first went through the jungle, actually. I didn't make the connection between it and the island women, but... it had me pinned down at first, and I couldn't fight against it, and... that was what I felt worst about. If I'd been killed by that monster, you woulda sat up all night waiting for me, wouldn't you? And if I was dead, I really wouldn't have been able to come back... I mean, I didn't mean to get totally wrapped up with those chicks like I did, but... I did feel really bad. I... I still do..."
 
"Well... I think we're both somewhat exhausted from earlier, for different reasons. I think that the shrine is just up ahead... we should hurry and seal the magic. The events of earlier... we don't need to remember them. We both felt intently about things, the circumstances were... unfortunate, but we're both alive and we both forgive each other for our actions."
 
Carrot grinned, "So we're even!"
 
Marron's smile lost none of it's warmth, "Indeed, niisan. We are."
 
Dynamic restored, the three of them made to move forward, but Carrot was stopped after a few steps by Marron's outstretched hand.
 
"Niisan, please wait here."
 
"What? But the shrine's only up ahead! I came along 'cause I didn't want anything happening to you, now you're saying you're gonna go off on your own!? I won't let you!"
 
"No, it's for your own good! You can't... perhaps you can't feel it in the air, but... Milphey, can you feel it? The aura of the magic up ahead... obviously it leaked from the seal enough to affect those women. Niisan, if you were to get too close to where the magic was kept, you may transform into a beast yourself... and not through the will of the kinju."
 
"Might it not happen to you too though? It happened to those women, you might turn into a man-luring monster too!"
 
Marron laughed softly as he made to walk forward, "I'm sure Gateau would testify that I am already something like that, niisan. No, but... I have... resistances, against these things. It won't be any trouble to avoid the magic and seal it... but please, just wait here for me."
 
"Well, if you're sure..."
 
"I'm sure, niisan. But thank you for being worried about me."
 
Marron went off to the shrine, Milphey and Carrot remaining at the edge of the glade that contained it, Marron's thanks still warm in Carrot's mind. How could somebody seem so distant but so close both at once... his little brother always seemed to know what to do with these magic situations, while Carrot usually just got tangled in the effects. Carrot couldn't understand how Marron always acted, always so amazingly devoted, devotion to the point of obsession... but Carrot knew he'd regret it if Marron ever decided to change.
 
éThe shrine itself was a stone building, perhaps twice Carrot's height, though maybe not even that. It seemed that it would only have one room, and Marron didn't seem to have any problem entering the place... from where Milphey and Carrot were seated, they vaguely heard Marron's soft chant, and then watched as a bright light emanated from the shrine. There was a silence, then Marron stepped out of the shrine, smiling.
 
"There, that should keep it steady for another few decades. Since that was where the magic originated, I'd say that it was what was powering the forms of those women... the influence of the magic shouldn't take longer than a week to fade, if the effects are not immediate. The women will hopefully return to the village once they have dispensed of their fur. I think our work is done here, now."
 
Milphey patted Marron on the back on his return, "Well done, Marron-chan. It's fortunate that you know about such things!"
 
"I just do what I can, Milphey."
 
The journey back to the inn was quiet and uneventful, and there seemed to be little more to say. Though once they returned to their bedroom, Carrot couldn't help but confide in Marron.
 
"I'm glad you found me rather than Tira or Chocolat... I mean... if they'd found me, then... uh..."
 
Marron just laughed, "I know, I know, niisan. I'm glad I found you too."
 
****
 
So the mission was, theoretically, over. Milphey, Carrot and Marron had returned to the inn, and fortunately their return hadn't disturbed anybody else sleeping in the inn. Even if it had, nobody else came through to check what the noise was.
 
The day had been tiring in more ways than one, and Carrot had had a good idea with the whole suggestion of sleeping in. Obviously the events of the day had taken their toll on Carrot, and now, several hours later, he was fast asleep, snoring without a care in the world.
 
Somehow, however, Marron just couldn't bring himself to sleep. All he could do was sit in bed and stare over at where he knew his brother to be... Carrot's breathing was rhythmic and his snoring was regular. Usually Marron drew some comfort from such things, but... at the moment, he only felt more confused.
 
He'd argued with Carrot.
 
Looking back on that, he couldn't quite believe that... he'd brought up such subjects in front of Carrot, and he and Carrot, they'd-...
 
He sighed heavily. He hadn't meant to argue with Carrot, he just... he'd just wanted Carrot to know that he wasn't happy, more than anything else. He knew he could only protect Carrot until the end of his days, but if Carrot really was going to be so inconsiderate... Marron didn't mind protecting Carrot, but he couldn't help but feel slightly resentful at feeling he was being taken advantage of.
 
Though hadn't that been what his mind had been saying to him all along? That he wouldn't mind being taken advantage of if it was Carrot taking the advantage?
 
That situation was a very different one, though. Marron also felt angry with those women from the island. Obviously they'd been swayed by the influence of the magic, but... it just felt strange, knowing that all of those women had seen Carrot naked, been able to touch him... they'd heard his gasps and his cries, they'd been able to see his orgasmic face... surely such a thing wasn't important, not to them! To those demon women, Carrot had been just another victim, another man to suck dry then dispose of... they wouldn't store every sound Carrot made, every twitch of his brow, every movement of his body to mental record, they wouldn't treasure the experience, knowing that they had brought Carrot to climax...!
 
Marron felt pained by such things. Those women hadn't cared about Carrot. Other than the sexual side of things, Carrot hadn't cared about them, most likely... if it hadn't been for thoughts of being able to have sex, Carrot probably wouldn't have gone outside in the first place.
 
It was supposed to be even just a little bit special...
 
Shifting over so that he sat on the edge of his bed, Marron was tempted to turn the lamp at the bedside on. He wanted to look at Carrot... be able to sit and just stare at Carrot while he slept, be able to study every feature of his beloved niisan... his... beloved niisan... the brother that belonged... to him...
 
Marron held his head and fell back onto the bed. Such stupid, possessive thoughts. Carrot didn't belong to him any more than he himself belonged to Gateau! Carrot was his own person, so... he was allowed to do his own thing.
 
Even if his own thing involved having random sexual experiences with random women he hadn't even known for more than an hour.
 
If that was what he wanted to do, then Marron was powerless to stop him.
 
They could have had sex. Probably their bestial forms had been the only things preventing them... that would have been difficult to hide, even for such a complex illusion. Or maybe they just hadn't got that far, but... what if they had had sex?
 
So what? Carrot would have lost his virginity and no longer would he mope around Eden whining about how he couldn't get laid. He'd have to be careful with what he said in front of the Misu sisters, but at least Carrot wouldn't be a virgin anymore; he would have proved his masculinity to himself. He'd be a man at last!
 
Carrot obviously didn't think that such things should be special. Obviously it didn't really matter who his first time was with, just so long as it was with someone, right? Not Tira and not Chocolat, though. Carrot seemed to have morals when it came to those two, even though they were a little strange... he didn't want to hurt them, but surely it'd hurt them terribly if he had sex with a random girl!
 
Perhaps such a thing would be a secret, and Carrot would never let on that he wasn't actually a virgin anymore. After all, if Tira and Chocolat were asleep while it was all going on... how would they ever know?
 
Marron supposed that it was an unrealistic dream, that Carrot would somehow want to keep himself pure. Marron didn't like the idea of anybody else getting close to his brother in that way, but he didn't really have any authority to tell him what to do.
 
Even if he did want to say things like that to Carrot, he would only have been hypocritical. After all, just how many times had things happened with Gateau? They'd never actually had sex, but one could do sexual things without actual sex. Marron had brought Gateau to climax more than once, and there had been so many occasions where they'd almost had sex... usually it had been circumstance that had prevented them from doing so. So if various things hadn't got in the way? If Marron hadn't had magical fits in Gateau's direction? If Carrot hadn't come back at inopportune times? If it hadn't been for various things in the past, then undoubtedly Marron would have found himself having sex with Gateau. So how hypocritical was it to think so possessively of Carrot? Carrot was just grabbing the chances that he could, as Marron had been doing at the time. Of course, Carrot had no strange inability to reach climax, but... that was Marron's own problem, he knew that, he'd have to deal with it somehow and he still wasn't entirely sure how.
 
A slight curious feeling drifted over Marron's mind.
 
He assumed he still had that problem, in any case; his meditation had been more than effective and he'd managed to keep his mind away from such troublesome things for quite some time now. He hadn't even had any strange dreams to trigger orgasm in his sleep for a while, either... perhaps... perhaps if now, he tried...? It was late, he couldn't sleep... perhaps... perhaps...
 
Marron chided himself. No, that would just be letting himself into temptation. If he did so and found that he wasn't able to, then surely that would only be even more frustrating? It was late and he couldn't sleep, but that could be solved by sitting back and really clearing his mind in preparation for sleep. However, if it was late, he couldn't sleep and moreover he was aroused, that would make sleep even harder to reach...
 
"You're a teenager. It's perfectly normal to feel such things."
 
"It's not natural to feel that way about someone related to you by blood."
 
Rolling onto his back, Marron stared up at the ceiling. His blind determination towards his brother really had backed him into a hole, hadn't it? Carrot felt fine enough to go after anybody he felt like, but Marron's problems were only caused by him himself...
 
Honestly, Marron wasn't sure how Carrot could so happily go off after such random people. Surely part of the attraction was the connection between two people? The knowledge of experience past... the feeling of knowing a person, then being able to bond with them in a deeper way...
 
Carrot seemed more concerned with the physical. That was alright, sex and sexual experiences were certainly physical in their own way, but... surely it would be more thrilling... if there were a connection...
 
Marron's mind was making it's own connections, and he felt powerless to stop it. The connection between two people was potent enough, but the connection between two brothers... their shared blood was something Marron treasured. He and Carrot were brothers, and that was something nobody else could be. Nobody else could be Carrot's brother, nobody else could be Marron's brother - it was a position that only they could fulfil.
 
People could be joined in mind and could be joined in body, but... to be joined in mind and body and blood... that was something so sinful, something so taboo in society... but how could you get closer? That was what Marron desired. The physical... the mental... deeper than that...
 
Their bond was potentially deeper than any other...! How many could hold their lover close and say that the blood that ran through their veins was shared...? To know that the very title of 'brother' afforded a closeness that no other did?
 
So perhaps it wasn't natural to desire a blood relative in such a way, but who decided that? Perhaps the person didn't have a relative of the kind. Perhaps they did, but the relationship was fraught... in any case, who could feel as much or as closely to Carrot as Marron did? Whoever decided it was wrong had obviously never felt anything like what Marron afforded for Carrot. Their relationship could be special, it really could. If only Carrot would open his eyes and realise...
 
Marron sat up again, feeling terribly awake. Carrot still snored, still sleeping soundly.
 
"I want you."
 
Marron stood up.
 
He wanted Carrot. He wanted him so much, so deeply... those island whores wouldn't feel anything of the kind for Carrot. Carrot had almost surrendered the physical, but the mental, the fraternal...
 
The thought "They will belong to ME" almost occurred. Almost. Marron took a step back from where he'd been standing between the two beds of the room - good god, what was he thinking? Just where were his thoughts going? He was perfectly aware that thoughts tended to unravel during sleepless nights, but that... that was... he had no right to feel so possessive!
 
Carrot's snores, eversoslightly tainted by his voice, continued to fill the room.
 
No, he had no right to feel so possessive... no right, but he did so anyway. He felt affronted that Carrot could have sexual experiences so easily - after all, it wasn't as if they came easily at all to Marron, at any rate... Carrot obviously had a flair for embracing the physical. The mental was separate and the fraternal was unheard of... Marron felt a stir in his body.
 
To separate the mental and the physical...
 
To embrace the physical...
 
To go back to sleep was such a sensible idea, his mind argued. He was thinking about pointless things again, he was thinking about things that he really shouldn't be thinking... the longer he thought about those things, the more attractive a prospect something like, oh, going to Gateau's bedroom and waking him up for a specific purpose seemed... if there was anybody to embrace the physical, then... who better? Just sex. Nothing deep or meaningful... just the race of two people to reach their respective climax.
 
Carrot was obviously perfectly capable of doing such things, anyway.
 
Sex could be special, it really could. The right person, the right atmosphere, the right circumstance...
 
That said, Marron couldn't fight another argument rising up in his mind; sex didn't have to be special to be good...
 
Marron found himself standing at the doorway to the bedroom before he really even noticed; he didn't know if he exactly felt aroused as such, but... he knew of Gateau's feelings, he knew that Gateau still found him attractive, maybe still had feelings for him... if somebody had feelings then surely it was alright to...
 
To what?
 
To take advantage of those feelings?
 
To use those feelings for your own ends?
 
Marron's hand wavered over the doorhandle. What was he doing?
 
Just because Carrot felt he could easily go off with other people... that didn't mean he had to...! And going to Gateau, of all people... their relationship was fragile, at best. Surely it was the night visits that just complicated everything? Marron remembered what Carrot had said, about such things affecting the entire group mentality. He was right, of course; he and Gateau had gone for at least a week without any cross words (though they hadn't really spoken deeply during that week, either)... to go to him now would be to throw petrol on the fire. It was late, Marron's mind was taking strange directions. He decided it best not to risk it... no matter how attractive the prospect was.
 
If nothing else, there was nobody else in the inn, and the entire island was more or less silent. Surely if he were to go to Gateau, then everybody would hear him... and the thought of people such as Tira and Chocolat listening in to his sexual habits... that thought wasn't an attractive one, not at all.
 
"Uh... nn...?"
 
Marron turned around, as if by reflex. Carrot had stopped snoring, Marron had noticed; he hadn't spoken, but his tone sounded questioning...
 
"Niisan? What is it?"
 
"Yuh... you're... going some... where?"
 
"Ah..."
 
"Thought you'd go somewhere without me knowing this time...?"
 
Carrot's voice was sleepy, but Marron felt the razor-sharp emotion beneath the lethargy. He walked back over to his bed, "I just... had to go to... the bathroom, niisan. You're really that suspicious...?"
 
"Hmnf."
 
It was hard for Marron to continue what he'd been thinking of previously, now that Carrot was awake (even if only just) and speaking to him. Before anything else came the duty of the attentive younger brother.
 
"I won't leave the room if you don't want me to, niisan."
 
"Nnn, if you need to go then dun let me stop y'h..."
 
Marron sat himself back down onto his bed, "I don't really need to, it's alright. I thought you were tired, though...?"
 
"Mmmn, I heard you walkin' around..."
 
"I'm sorry for waking you, niisan. Let's both go back to sleep, then..."
 
"'Kay. G'night."
 
"Goodnight, niisan."
 
Silence in the room once more. Carrot had obviously just woken up momentarily, or something... and to leave the room would of course make him suspicious. Marron sighed, feeling annoyed with himself. If he'd gone out of the room and Carrot had woken up... that would have been hypocritical. To be angry with Carrot for going off in the quest for the satiation of his libido, only for Marron to do the near exact same thing just a little while later...
 
Of course, Marron wouldn't have been risking life and limb outside with strange demons or anything, but that wasn't the point. He would have jeopardised his respect with Carrot and his current somewhat-easy relationship with Gateau, for little reason other than that to prove he could.
 
Marron fell back onto his bed. It wasn't a good idea to think about Gateau. Events in the past had only proved that they were entirely incompatible, even if that incompatibility only sprung forth from Marron's stubborn feelings... if nothing else, wasn't it best to let go of failed relationships? Nothing could be gained through stringing everything out.
 
"... You just gotta do something about that damned attitude problem of yours. That's what I don't like about you."
 
Gateau's words seemed loud in Marron's mind.
 
'Attitude problem'? Oh, if only Gateau realised the roots for said problem. If he knew, if he really knew... then surely Marron's attitude would be the least of the problems. Marron had been shocked and surprised enough that Milphey had been so accepting of Marron's feelings for Carrot - he felt that Gateau wouldn't be as accepting. Milphey was just... Milphey was just strange like that, he could accept anything with a smile and not question things at all... he was concerned towards Marron's welfare, but never once had he frowned and told Marron that lusting after his (very heterosexual, it seemed) brother was wrong, or sick, or disgusting, or anything. That in itself seemed strange... Marron wasn't arguing, but it did seem strange.
 
In a world that seemed full of secrets, Milphey was his ally, and somebody he could tell his feelings and secrets to. He hadn't wanted anybody to find out about his feelings for Carrot, 'for one person to know is as bad as the whole world knowing'... but Milphey was an exception to that.
 
Marron found himself looking upon Milphey strangely fondly as he felt himself drift away to sleep. Somebody he could trust with his feelings... somebody who could diffuse awkward situations... he was glad, now, that Milphey knew what nobody else could.
 
His feelings would only multiply on the return to Eden.