Eryl watched as Hecatolite, making no attempt to be subtle, stomped across the ship with staggering steps. 

"Hecatolite…” she paused as the small woman wedged herself between Eryl and the wheel of the ship. Using her tail to lift herself, though swaying to the point where she grabbed onto Eryl’s arms to steady herself, until she was sitting atop the wheel. “Can I help you?”

Hecatolite muttered to herself incoherently, bringing a tiny hand up to Eryl cheek confusing her even more as she felt a jolt of power though the touch. “We gotta talk.”

The strong smell of alcohol wafting from Hecatolite gave Eryl a hint of what was going on. “Go on.” She said bluntly as Hecatolite’s eyes opened wide, shining like rubies in the night as they scanned her features.

Hecatolite did not say anything as her eyes wandered over Eryl's features, her hand caressing her cheek as the tips of her fingers gently brushed one of her ears. 

Eryl could feel a warmth radiating through the touch, though it was clear the bands Hecatolite had created did work quite well as they dampened the effect of her aura considerably. She kept her eyes locked forward, refusing to look away as Hecatolite’s eyes darted around before seeming to focus on Eryl’s lips. Eryl would never admit that Hecatolite’s eyes made her uncomfortable, something about them seemed... strange. The red orbs always seemed slightly hazy, as if glossed over yet if one were to look, they would draw your complete attention. Deep endless wells of blood red hidden behind a thin veil of insanity that captured the mind.

Looking into Hecatolite’s eyes always felt like a strain for Eryl, as if something inside of her mind screamed at her to look away for no reason other than lack of understanding. How could someone who is so clearly mad have eyes so clear, deep with knowledge of countless lives, and somehow so unfocused. As if Hecatolite was always looking Though whatever was in front of her, past what was seen by the average eye..

The silence hung between the two for a long breathless minute before Hecatolite giggled, a large toothy grin creeping across her face. “Someone… who is your equal. Someone you can share the burden of the world with, all the pain and suffering; a shoulder to lean on in the darkest of times. Smart, and calculating. Who you can trust to do what is needed…” Hecatolite took another shuddering breath as she looked up into Eryl sky blue eyes, her entire body shuttering as her eyes flared inky black.

Hecatolite’s entire world was dyed blue as Eryl's soul exploded into her sight. Eryl’s soul was hard to describe as it was not human, an enormous solid blue crystalline ball polished to a glass-like sheen. The reflection shown not Eryl’s own power but the world around her, millions of moats drifted across the surface as veins of power radiated just beneath the surface in an intricate web of ever changing information. But if she looked closely, past the motes, past the wire like webs, and all the information flying about at blinding speed was a woman. Standing perfectly still in the center of the orb, skin a solid glowing blue as if illuminated by a terminal itself, her eyes opened wide with what looked like scrolling words flashing through them so fast that Hecatolite felt even Eryl herself could not read what was flashing through her mind. The woman herself was tall, vaguely like her elven body, though non-distinct. She had no discerning features outside of her long hair that webbed out behind her like wires, vanishing into the orb around her.

Hectolites breath caught as she looked at the woman, her own tiny white hand pressed against the glass-like shell around Eryl’s soul. A complex torrent of emotion flooding into her as she looked on in wonder. Eryl’s soul felt… uncertain, confused, and anxious, yet somehow it was… tentatively accepting. It was clear that she was painfully intelligent, but something deep within her soul hurt. A pain that throbbed in Hecatolite’s own chest as a single tear tugged at the corner of her eye.

“So… beautiful.” She barely managed a whisper, not realizing she had drifted forward. The sudden feeling of Eryl’s breath on her lips snapping her out of her trance.

“Hecatolite.” Eryl’s voice was as monotone as ever, yet Hecatolite could feel it, a rising heat in her own body as the words tickled her lips. Was… was it Eryl’s desire? Or her own? The faintest ember flaring between the two as a flash of pink from Hecatolite’s arms bathed the two in a soft glow.

Hecatolite inhaled sharply, filling her lungs with Eryl’s very breath stoking the fire within her… “Yea?” less than a hair between them. Her mind focused on one thing only, everything else falling away as she looked into the glowing blue eyes before her.

Suddenly nothing else mattered, Eryl was here. In her arms, right before her. and she was in pain… I… I was mad at her? Why though… Does it really matter? She’s so pretty… and she’s kind to me. She’s in pain… Did I hurt her? Her eyes are so beautiful. Hecatolite’s mind was a-light with thoughts all swirling around one thing, one person…

“I am trying to drive the ship.” Eryl whispered, causing Hecatolite’s mind to slam to a halt, her head physically recoiling as she nearly fell back off the wheel only for Eryl to grab onto Hecatolite’s arm to steady her. 

Hecatolite suddenly looked so small as she blinked several times… “Yea… I… umm sorry.” She quickly slid out from between Eryl and the wheel and ran down the stairs, the sound of a door slamming ringing out a moment later as Eryl let out a long-ragged breath.

Eryls heart slammed in her chest as her entire body shook. What in all of creation was that! She screamed in her mind as she desperately tried to snuff out the burning in her own body. She had known Hecatolite could invoke lust in someone, but that… that was different. Something deeper, primal… desire. The image of Hecatolite’s eyes flashed through her mind, the crystal clear red eyes that pierced her very soul; they were not the hazy eyes of an insane woman, or the inky black eyes of her aether… No, they were clear, so clear that even the thought of them made her entire body quiver. When their eyes met the last time Eryl was so enraptured she nearly lost herself in them, something pulling her in as Hecatolite drifted closer… no not just that, she felt something. Something powerful hiding behind the veil, just under the surface looking out through the blood red pools… lurking. Waiting. Something that muddled the emotions of both women, making it hard to even think as emotions swirled between them making it hard to know what she was feeling… 

As the lust exploded into her body Eryl’s mind strained against whatever hid inside of Hecatolite, daring her to give into either the desire radiating in her abdomen or the slight pain in her chest. And she nearly had… Eryl was no stranger to mortal desires, having indulged once or twice in the past, and though the experiences were enjoyable she hardly saw a need to go out actively looking for it. But what Hecatolite invoked inside of her was different, it was not just sexual desire, it was so much more powerful than that. A desire to be held, to share with someone, to be… loved. 

Is… is that what I want? To be loved? Or is that what Hecatolite wants… love… or was it my pain that drove me to feel that way? 

“That was interesting.” Amethyst’s voice caused Eryl to jump, a slight yell of surprise escaping her, surprising the young woman more as she had never seen Eryl react in such a way. “You…. Ok?” Amethyst asked cautiously as she looked at the nearly panting woman who clutched her chest, a slight glimmer on her cheek as if she had been crying.

“Yes.” Eryl answered quickly, her voice higher than Amethyst though possible for the stoic woman as her face burned bright red, all the way to the tips of her ears her normally light sun-tanned skin resembling Saffron red hue in this moment.

“Are you sure? Looks like you are having…”

“I am fine, Amethyst.” Eryl snapped, trying to force her emotions back under her own control only for a sudden haze to fall over the ship. The embers of heat she had nearly snuffed out flaring to life as a wave of lust erupted from the depths of the ship. Eryl could only barely stop the noise that threatened to escape her as Amethyst shook her head.

“Well, looks like Hecatolite is having a time of it.” She rolled her shoulders, being no stranger to her sister’s proclivities it was… easier for her to ignore the side effects. That wasn’t to say she was unaffected, just a less immediate need for an outlet. “I am going to be sure no one gets any funny ideas, you sure you’ll be ok? I can take the wheel for a minute if you want to… situate yourself.”

Eryl gritted her teeth as she dug her fingers into the wheel of the ship. “I would hardly have a problem with something like this.” She managed to huff only for Amethyst to laugh.

“She really does like you, you know? Before I go,” Amethyst stepped beside Eryl with a thin devilish smile. “I have a theory about Hecatolite’s power. It seems to affect some people more than others, you know?”

“Your point Amethyst?” 

“Just that people who… would enjoy her company seem to be more susceptible. You know my offer still stands if you want to…”

“Leave.” Eryl did not mean for the word to sound so… hostile. Though Amethyst only smiled with a shrug. 

“Suit yourself.” She grinned as she made her way below deck. After securing Himari and the other female crewmembers in the cabin with Wolf as a guard, trusting the man to be a gentleman… though Saris seemed almost willing to consummate their “marriage” when Amethyst had dropped the women off. She positioned herself in front of the door to the captains’ quarters. Given Eryl did not need sleep, the twins had taken the room for themselves, not that either of them needed sleep either though both found the act relaxing. She knew Hecatolite’s aura would cause people’s inhibitions to fade away, which is normally only a minor hindrance to the average person. But someone who is unstable like Saris, or someone with already questionable morals… it may cause someone to do something foolish.

 The faint muffled moans from behind the door made Amethyst legs shake as waves of lust washed though the ship.

She sighed, maybe I really am a pervert…. no, I am simply… keeping watch, yes. It is my duty to be sure my sister is safe while she is… preoccupied. that's it. She reasoned with herself as she peeked through a crack in the door to be greeted by the sight of Hecatolite laying face down in the bed with her ass raised into the air, her tail wrapped tightly around her body as she frantically tried to relieve herself. Amethyst couldn’t help but smile as Hecatolite let out a long quiet moan, her wife’s name hanging in the air as her tail suddenly violently shot out wrapping around one of the bed posts as the first of many nearly overwhelming waves of pure ecstasy rocked the very sea around them.

Amethyst had to peel her eyes away from her sister as the sounds of someone approaching captured her attention. “Well, that was to be expected I guess.” She nearly hissed as she summoned her sword and drove it into the wooden floor before her. “I am warning you now,” she cracked her knuckles, wanting to get this over with quickly but not wanting to hurt someone who was not exactly in their right mind. “You're not going to enjoy this.”