Banished

Author's note: Special thanks to Ardon G. Fowl, Jack Gwen, Reversal, Swedish Millionaire, and VC whose contributions made this chapter possible.

Enjoy the chapter, and as always, please don't hesitate to leave a comment! I love hearing from my readers, so don't hesitate to tell me what you loved, hated, or what you'd love to see more of in the future. :D

***

"So, what's this plan of yours?" Francesca asked, and Casey eyed me carefully.

"You have a plan? To fight Ethan?" she asked, and I rubbed the back of my head.

"Well... sort of," I answered, and Casey stared at me.

"Sort of? We need more than 'sort of' here, Nate. Or did you forget how fucking strong Ethan was?"

"How about we hear him out, first," Francesca offered, and Casey took a deep breath in, massaging the bridge of her nose.

"Okay. What's this plan?" she asked, and I took a deep breath before answering:

"Aletta."

"Aletta? How do you even know her, by the way?" Casey asked, and I swallowed uncomfortably.

Bianca and Blair both knew who she was, didn't they?

Although Blair wouldn't have really known the implications of her real name... but Bianca surely did.

So, did she not tell Casey on purpose then?

"Um... let's just say she's someone that we all know... sort of?"

Casey's eyes narrowed on me.

"What does that mean?" she asked, and I took another deep breath in.

"She's Irileth," I explained, and Casey's eyes went wide.

"Are you fucking kidding me? We're harboring

Irileth

in our grove right now?

The

Irileth? Wait- who the fuck else knew about this? Bianca?"

I quickly shook my head.

"I'm probably the only one who figured it out," I lied, and she scoffed.

"And you want us to ask her for help? Irileth? The five hundred-year-old monstrosity?"

"I actually don't think she's quite so monstrous anymore," I explained, and Casey raised an eyebrow at me.

"You what? People don't revert from that. Not even regular humans who resorted to core-vampirism, much less actual monsters. No-one comes back from it!"

"Well... maybe Danica did something? Look, I don't have your company's inside knowledge, but I looked into her core. You did too, didn't you? It's just like ours; just like the baby aufhöcker that's running around here? Her core isn't tainted anymore," I said, and Casey shook her head.

"And we just ignore the five hundred years of terror that she spread from her domain? How many monstrosities do you think she created in that time, huh? How many minions? And how many people do you think they ate? You know she definitely ate too, right? Ate

people

? Not just their essence, but their flesh?"

I let out a sigh.

"I get it, I do. I'm just not sure that the monster that you're talking about is the same person in there," I said, gesturing to the tree that we'd designated for medical treatment, and Casey sighed.

"Let's say for a second that she isn't... why would she even help us?"

"For the same reason that she's stuck around," I said. "I think she needs us. Or, me, rather."

"You?" she asked, and I nodded.

"Yeah. I don't think she can track Danica on her own, and I'm one of the only people who she interacted with while she was here. So, Aletta probably views me as the only link to Danica she has left."

Casey shook her head.

"This is crazy, Nate. Even with a damaged core, she's completely uncontrollable! What's to stop her from going off and... 'fixing' her own core?"

"About that," I replied, letting the words hang a little, and Casey stared at me.

"What?" she asked, and I bit my lip, as I knew how Casey was probably going to react to what I was about to suggest.

"I'm actually not opposed to giving her a child," I said, and Casey's mouth fell open.

"Are you kidding me? You

want

to fix her core? The core of a

monster

who was able to subjugate a monstrosity like Hans? A monster who apparently even Danica, a five-hundred-year-old superhuman was unable to kill? Are you fucking

insane

?"

"Maybe, but... can you really deny how useful she'd be to us if she were on our side? I'd say in her current state, a child would be a pretty solid way of endearing us to her."

Casey turned to Francesca.

"You're gonna say nothing?" she asked. "Do you realize what he's suggesting?"

Francesca shrugged.

"She did fix his arm," Francesca said, and as Casey stared at her incredulously.

"And that means she's suddenly good?"

"No, but it doesn't mean nothing. Maybe she has her own agenda, but can you really deny how useful she could be? You saw her skills yourself. The kind of training she could offer might actually be the edge we need. Or do you want Nate to just walk over to Ethan and hand his head to him on a platter?" Francesca reasoned.

Casey was staring at her.

"No, I don't; but-"

"Hold on- could you give us a sec?" I asked Francesca, and the girl nodded, moving off to rejoin the training group.

Casey's face was red with anger and close to tears, but as I pulled her along with me to the grove tree with our rooms she followed wordlessly until we were in my room.

"Look, Nate-" she began, but I cut her off by pulling the door shut, and closing the space between me and the door.

She shifted uncomfortably, biting her lip, but continuing nonetheless:

"Please don't go to fight him. This group needs you, Nate. I need you. Please..."

I shook my head.

"You know I can't do that."

"Nate..."

"You need to understand. I'm not choosing Cameron over you," I said. "If Ethan had taken you from me, I'd be doing this exact same thing."

She lifted her gaze to meet mine, and I held it as she studied me.

"Choose me," she said. "I don't care if it's selfish. Choose me..."

I shook my head.

"You aren't asking me to just choose you; you're asking me to renounce everything that I believe in. Everything that makes me the person you care about. I can't just-

She cut me off with a kiss, and I tried to resist; but I'd tasted her so rarely since our fight, that I quickly found myself melting into her arms.

She pushed me, guiding me as we kissed to the bed, but as she pushed me onto it, climbing over me and straddling me at the hips, she looked down into my eyes, a determined look there.

"I'll give you a baby," she said, and my eyes traveled instinctively to her stomach, then back to her face.

There was an impressive look of resolve there, and for a moment, I even felt like testing it.

But as she leaned in to kiss me again, I placed a hand against her chest, and she made a soft whimpering sound; almost like a wounded animal.

"So, it's her, then..." she said, but as she made to get off of me, I stopped her, pushing her onto her back on the bed and climbing onto her, trapping her under me.

"I am choosing you, Casey... just not in the way that you want me to," I said, and she turned to look up at me.

"How? How can you say that when you're going to fight him? You can't win, Nate. High tier fighters like that don't lose to low tiers, no matter how many you throw at them... no matter what you scheme or come up with."

Her reasoning was sound, but I shrugged it away, studying her with a smirk, and she eyed me warily.

"I'm not gonna lose," I said, and she studied me.

"You really have that much faith in Aletta?" she asked, and I shook my head.

"No. I have that much faith in you. Aletta is the tool; but I need you to help me utilize her to the fullest extent of her potential."

"Nate..."

"Look, Casey. I know this is scary, and there are no assurances; but for all we know, if I don't go out there and face him, he'll just come back here and murder me and everyone else to boot. Just... trust me for once? I know that this is what I need to do; but I need you. Help me to do what I need to do."

She stared at me for a long time, before letting out a sigh as she turned her gaze over to the window by the far wall.

"Cameron would have let you come for me, wouldn't she?" she asked, and I nodded, smiling as I did. "I couldn't replace her if I tried, could I?" she asked, and I shook my head.

"No one can replace her. But no one can replace you either."

I got up off the bed and pulled her up, but as she moved for the door, I kept my hand on her, and reeled her back in, resting a hand against her cheek as I leaned in for a kiss.

"By the way, my answer is yes," I said, and she shook her head, blinking a few times, her confusion evident on her face.

"Yes? To what?" she asked, and I smirked at her.

"'Yes' to having that baby," I said, snickering at the shell-shocked expression on her face. "Don't worry," I reassured her, "I'm gonna make sure you're smiling when we're making it," I said, and as she stood there, rooted to the spot, I moved past her to the door, and shot her an expectant look as I held it open.

She quickly shook off her stupor and headed through the door, but as we walked down the corridor and made our way out of the tree, she seemed a bit skittish to my amusement.

"Nate!"

It was Bianca, and Casey had a flustered look on her face as the girl approached us.

"I'm gonna go find Evie," Casey said, and I nodded as she headed off.

"What's up?" I asked, turning to Bianca as she followed Casey out of the room with her eyes.

I snapped my fingers, and she suddenly spun around.

"Right! You probably need to see this," she said, grabbing my hand and dragging me outside.

She pulled me quickly along to the training area, and as I got there, I suddenly noted that Francesca seemed to be on alert for some reason, a tense expression on her face as she watched over some sparring.

It looked like Blair was engaged with someone, but I couldn't quite tell who, as there were just flashes of movement obscured by the bodies that stood between us and the scene.

As I moved through the gathering, however, I realized that Blair was practically seething, and the person she was engaged with was none other than Lucia.

"What's going on-?"

Francesca raised a hand, silencing me, and I noted that her entire body seemed tense, ready to leap in at any moment, and as I turned my attention to the sparring bout, I quickly realized why.

"You little fucking-"

Blair was making slashes at Lucia with a wooden axe; and pressing her with a flurry of swings that seemed to prevent her from even getting a proper counter attack in.

But Lucia seemed to be moving with a strange kind of ease, and as I watched the exchange, I quickly realized that despite not making an attack, she was in complete control of the fight; dancing around Blair with her fluid movements and leading her along to a rhythm that she dictated, and while she hadn't yet landed a strike on the older woman, Blair seemed quite clearly at her mercy.

This seemed to completely piss Blair off; though to her credit, she still maintained her sense of composure well enough to keep up the assault, but there was no mistaking that when she did strike, there was a venom in those blows that made me worry a slight bit for Lucia's safety.

Then it all came to a head when Blair miscalculated one of her fiery swings, hyperextending just a little, and as Lucia nicked her on the knuckles, she yelped, juggling the weapon to her weaker hand as she shook the other hand gingerly.

She gritted her teeth, then threw the axe into the ground.

"Fucking... fuck this!" she yelled, storming off, and Francesca relaxed her guard, letting out a sigh of relief.

I shot Bianca a quick look, and she nodded, slinking off after Blair.

As Lucia spotted me, however, her eyes lit up, and she let her wooden dagger slip to the floor as she ran to me, leaping into my arms.

"Nathan!" she cried out, and as I picked her up, she wrapped her arms around my neck, crying. "Nathan, Cammy's gone..." she continued, and I patted her back comfortingly as we hugged.

"I know, kiddo. But we'll get her back. We'll get her back."

She sniffled a bit, wiping at her nose, and as I held onto her, Francesca shot me a worried look.

"How did that conversation go?" she asked, and I smiled.

"Well enough," I said, as I took a look around. "How do you really feel about my plan?"

"To talk to Aletta?" she asked, and I nodded. "I'm all for anything that improves our chances. And not just in this fight. We'll need to be stronger collectively going forward."

I nodded in agreement.

"She could be a very worthwhile investment," I agreed, but as we spoke, I suddenly felt an unnerving presence, and as I turned, I spotted Aletta approaching us, her 'puppy' in her hands, and a slightly uncomfortable looking Casey at her side.

"You and I have things to talk about," she said, smiling, and I set Lucia down, and cast a quick sideways glance at Francesca.

"Come on; let's get you depleted," Francesca said, and Lucia nodded, shooting me a slightly reluctant look before letting go of my hand and heading off with her.

Is it just me, or is she like... three or four inches taller than I remember?

I shook the thought away as I returned my attention to Aletta.

"I've heard some interesting things," Aletta said, smirking at me a little suggestively, and Casey scowled.

"There's something I need to know first," I replied. "Why did you seek me out?"

Aletta smiled, shooting me an impressed look.

"Caught onto that too, huh? Guess there isn't much sense in keeping anything from you; especially if we're going to enter

that

kind of partnership," she said, winking. "I sought you out because I know that Danica is gonna come looking for you one day," she explained, and I nodded.

"You still want to fight her?" I asked, and she quickly shook her head.

"God, no. I want to see her again. Properly make my peace with her for everything."

"And why do you need me for that? You tracked her to me from her smell, right? Why can't you just track that to her?"

"Because, she doesn't want me to. She extinguished her presence, so you're all I have."

I eyed her.

"So, you want to see her again. That's all?"

She nodded.

"Prove it then," Casey said. "Pledge to him."

Aletta turned and scoffed.

"Pledge to him? He's got some potential for sure, but sweetie, do you know who I am?"

"Who you were, you mean?" Casey asked. "I was told you left your monstrous days behind."

Aletta turned to me and smiled.

"I did. But I've got enough fight left in me to take him by force if I wanted to," she countered, a daring look in her eye, and I smirked at her.

"Can't see Danica being too pleased with that. She might be less inclined to hear you out if you go that route, won't she?" I countered, and Aletta studied me.

"Feisty little one, aren't ya? Danica must have loved that," she said. "Fine; I'll take a limited pledge."

"A limited pledge?"

She nodded.

"My subjugation skill is much

much

higher than yours. It allows me the option to offer myself to you with clauses."

I studied her.

"So, what are you pledging to me?" I asked, and she smiled.

"A non-deceit agreement. I won't lie; won't trick you. Won't manipulate you. That sort of thing."

"But you have free reign otherwise?" I asked, and she nodded.

"Yep," she said, and I shook my head.

"Won't do. I want full control," I said, and she eyed me.

"That's a pretty huge ask, hon. I mean, I'm pretty vulnerable in this state. What if you order me to go fight that little friend of yours? I might want to see Danica again, but I can't have you getting me killed before then."

I eyed Casey for a second, before returning my attention to Aletta.

"I understand your concern; but I don't think my people would feel comfortable about you staying on with us after your core is repaired without some kind of assurance that we can stop you from murdering us all," I explained; but to my surprise, she laughed.

"Oh hon, you think I'm gonna be big bad Irileth again when my core is fixed? That would take another five hundred years," she said, and I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Come again?"

"A damaged core doesn't just revert back to the power it once contained; my capacity will be what it is now until I develop it all over again. And as I am; I'm no stronger than this one," she said, gesturing to Casey, and my mouth fell open.

"So, Danica...?"

"Yep. Though, God knows that won't stop her from holding her own in a fight. She was always a skilled fighter. Reminds me of that one," she said, gesturing to Francesca in the distance.

I bit my lip, then turned to Casey.

"What do you think?" I asked, and she thought about it.

"Can the terms of the pledge be altered once made?" she asked Aletta, and the girl nodded.

"Sure can."

Casey nodded.

"If she breaks the terms, we'll just kill her," she said, and Aletta laughed.

"Don't think I'll make it quite as easy as that," she countered, and Casey shrugged.

"I didn't think it would be easy. But we could manage it," she said, kind of matter-of-factly, and Aletta pursed her lips a little.

"Alright then."

She walked up to me, and taking my hand she brought it to her chest, but as her gaze flickered to Casey, she shifted my palm over to one of her rather full breasts, and she pressed my hand into the mound, forcing me to squeeze it a little.

"Nathan. I pledge myself to you," she offered.

"Leti," I said, and as the blue wave pulsed out from her, I found myself experiencing a new sensation, though, this time... I had no clue whatsoever what it was.

By reflex, almost, I transmitted the feeling to Casey, and from expression, I figured that she was pretty confused by it as well.

"Whew! Well, then. We might as well get to it," she said, and Casey glared at her.

"Get to it?" she asked, and Aletta shrugged.

"What? This baby isn't gonna put itself inside of me," she replied, and Casey cut her off.

"Who said we were gonna give you

his

baby?" Casey asked, and I smirked a little, as Aletta studied Casey with a slightly shocked expression, and she put her hands on her hips.

"I'm not settling for anything else. If Danica's having his child, then I will too," she said, and I stared at her.

"What did you just say?" I asked, and she turned to study me.

"You didn't know? Oh my god... I get it," she said grinning a little as she did.

"Get what?"

"She made you pump her real full that night, huh? Guess she knew that having her core damaged was a possibility," Aletta said, and I stared at her, my jaw slightly agape.

She conceived a child on purpose to survive?

"Fine; even if it's him, we can't just have him expending energy randomly like this. You'll wait until he's ready to deplete," Casey said, and I shot her a slightly impressed look, which for some reason, still seemed to annoy her.

"Fair enough. I just got a little excited," Aletta admitted. "I've never had a child. I mean, unless monster spawning counts."

Casey swallowed uncomfortably at this, and I chuckled.

"I understand. But, about our training..." I began, and Aletta cracked her knuckles.

"I've been watching your youngsters. There's a few that have some potential and are already developing some decent signature skills. They just need a push to figure out how to utilize them," she explained, and I nodded.

"Will it cost you a lot of energy to train them?"

She shrugged.

"Training their skills by actually training with them would have been much more efficient, but it can't be helped. Even if you impregnated me now, my natural regenerative ability isn't gonna return for at least a few days anyway, so I'll just have to offer what guidance I can."

I nodded, turning to study the group.

"Guess I should start with the brown-hair. She's by far the second-best fighter you've got."

I turned to study Aletta with a look of surprise.

"Second-best? I was sure she was more skilled than I am," I began, and Aletta laughed.