“Is he gone?” Sometime after Abeni’s vigorous training, the female ẹda poked her head out from out of the corridor and spotted Abeni’s loose limbs falling to her side as she sprawled out on a bare wooden chair.

Abeni dragged her eyes, sore from all that fake crying, down from the ceiling down to her house mate, her sparring partner…her friend and smiled. Finding the energy to jump up out of her seat and pull her into a hug.

Happy that she wouldn’t have to see her uncle until the next day and then not for a long while. Hopefully forever. Happy that soon she’d just be here with the female ẹda, protected by memories of her parents like before. And pushed forward by the memories they would make.

Together.

“Abe— My— My stomach! Abeni!” The female ẹda complained.

But Abeni’s happiness was not important right now.

“Oh right!” Abeni jolted back, guilt flooding her veins. The other being’s stomach had been growing oddly bumpy and round ever since the vomiting started and now it looked ready to burst at any moment. Between figuring out the chief’s plans and the birth of the female ẹda’s child or...children. The birth clearly took priority.

From the looks of it, today might be the day.

Abeni rambled, desperately worried, “Sorry…are you alright? Has there been a change in the symptoms recently? Should we check you over again?” Abeni was no doctor, but she vividly remembered being checked up by them when she was little and how her parents treated her when she was sick. So, though she was on house arrest and couldn’t physically go and ask a doctor for help, Abeni thought she could do a little first aid.

“Hey, hey! Slow down, your body might be stronger than before, but you still shouldn’t get yourself too excited,” the female ẹda laughed. “I’m alright. I’m just bored, as per usual. I feel close with my children. Especially since they shrink with my form, but they’re not very entertaining to talk to.”

“Oh…Sorry. We can…spar together again if you want?” But not where they went before since the chief and uncle apparently already knew that she visited that place. She’d had to give it a think. Maybe—

 

“I probably shouldn’t. The eggs, you know.”

“Oh,” yeah, of course, “I just thought you’d want to since you said you enjoyed it the last time.”

“I did, and usually I would but nah. You’ve been taking care of me and haven’t stopped training all week. We both need to relax,” the female ẹda looked down the hall with such a mischievous grin that Abeni was fleetingly sceptical that she really was around triple her age. “Your sorry excuse of an uncle is finally going tomorrow. Let’s have some pre-celebrations.”

Of course, Abeni had many questions – and concerns – about what they could do to celebrate her two-week house arrest finishing, but she needn’t worry because they were all answered the moment the female ẹda led her to her room and took out the Oware board. The same board that Abeni usually kept under the bed for late night games alone when she needed time to think about something she was stuck on, be it work-related, training-related or life-related.

So…the female ẹda knew about this, huh?

“How’d you know that the Oware board was there?”

“Er…” The female ẹda blanked as she slithered up next to the bed and dropped it onto the sheets. Pretending to be confident. “I have my ways! Don’t doubt me! Now...um...”

Abeni snorted as the other being stilled, clearly not knowing how to set it up, and proceeds to do it for them. “By ‘my ways’ do you mean secretly watching me when I’m playing?”

“…Shut up.”

Abeni giggled to herself. If this was what the other being wanted to do to deal with her pregnancy, she’d do it. Anything to make the process go more smoothly.

Plus, playing her favourite game with her could be really fun.

“Alright, so how do we play?” The female ẹda asked. But before Abeni could open her mouth with an answer, the same female ẹda’s eyes suddenly widened until a look of acceptance morphed her features. “Actually, sorry, Abeni…but, this…will have to wait. Something’s changed.”

Honestly...the first thing Abeni felt was hope. A fierce hope for some more time. A hope that the female ẹda could resist giving birth for just one more day, her house arrest would end tomorrow, after all. If only she could hold on—!

But then Abeni snapped out of her selfish thoughts and focused on the panicked expression her friend had on. No matter how frustrating that was, Abeni had to help her. She had to help her through this. No matter what.

Without warning the female ẹda started slithering around the room, holding onto her stomach with a pained expression as she tried to get through it. Avoiding Abeni’s gestures to help.

“Do you need pain medication?” Abeni gave all of the meds she had to the female ẹda throughout the weeks and they just ran out. But she… could go to the market. It was alright. It was! As long as she wasn’t spotted, there wouldn’t be any repercussions, right?

It’d been a difficult period. As well as doing relentless training exercises with her body and ability, she had to learn to manage their food and water to an insane degree. But despite her pregnancy troubles, the female ẹda offered to gather her resources, offered to help out whenever she could. Promised to stay by her side.

Abeni, wary of being spotted at the market, let her grab whatever fresh produce she could find using discreet passages and extra speed as the female ẹda rolled as a ball with her eggs shrunk inside her. Sometimes she was too unwell to leave and Abeni secretly skipped meals and cups of water in favour for letting the female ẹda have a proper fill as she had done for others before. 

But it was fine. Because she knew that when the other being felt better she would go out and she did. She was a fighter and she wouldn’t promise her to be there for her if she didn’t mean it.

“N-no…I’m fine. This is nothing I c-can’t handle…I won’t die like the others did…” But, the others? Did other ẹda die from this? No, no, no! Now the female ẹda was suffering and it’d likely get worse from here.

“You need pain killers.”

It looked like it was time to Abeni to make another sacrifice.

“Abeni, don’t go out—!” That was why Abeni ignored her, grabbed a scarf to cover her face and ran out of the house with her white money purse. Without a second thought, Abeni slipped in line and bought the medication for five zincs – half a nickel – at a stall laid out on the ground in the market. The shops nearby didn’t have it and she didn’t want to waste time browsing.

It was more expensive than the vendor Abeni previously went to, but she wanted to avoid the area where Yousef was at all costs. She didn’t need him and his probable anger right now. Plus, he might tell on her. No, what she needed was to be discrete and focus on the task at hand.

Helping the female ẹda give birth however she could.

Once she returned less than thirty minutes later, Abeni walked down the corridor to see the other being just writhing around on the floor, two round bumps down her body and a white bump just underneath her tail. Those must be her…eggs? As in...more than one? And according to what the female ẹda told her, they must be ready to be laid.

Perhaps it was because of the pain or because of the new experience but the female ẹda absolutely refused to take even a tablet. Arguing that while it wouldn’t harm her body, it’d harm her ego. So, Abeni sat down next to her, held her hand and did what she thought was best…forcing her to. “Please calm down and take the medication.”

And just like that, her commands visibly eased the other being and made her reach out for the pills in Abeni’s hand with a torn smile, taking a moment to rest. “…I can handle this without…the help. I don’t know whether to thank you for that.”

She was right, maybe Abeni jumped the gun. The white-haired girl had never seen a baby be born nor a mother before it happened. But if she knew anything about her own body and what she had learned from relentless swinging those swords… “I know you can. But I don’t want you to be in pain in the process.”

“I’ll be in pain regardless, I will! But...I just don’t know what it wants me to do. What do I have to do?”

“...I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, just…’s it white under there?” The female ẹda asked, so Abeni crawled around her body to look at the white spot just under her tail. This was not the first time she had ever seen an egg, but it was the first she’s ever seen one this big. From the look of it, it needed to come out and soon.

“It looks white to me.” She nodded, then suggested. “Push?”

“No, I’m not going to do that…” The female ẹda caught her breath. “All my body is telling me to get this out. That’’s how the others did it. Heh. I’m sure I could just be quicker than them. I’ll use my nail and—”

What the—? She wasn’t thinking straight! If the others died using that method…“No, what you need to do right now is…push!”

“I know that! Fine, but…urgh! It hurts, I’m trying—”

“Just push!”

The female ẹda’s coral eyes snapped open, something like betrayal flitting across them as she started pushing out against her will. “Stop…ugh! Stop commanding me! I can do it myself.”

Abeni watched as the first egg started to move out of the hole…only to go back into it soon after. “Can you?”

“Well, maybe a little help wouldn’t hurt. But…!”

“Then push then!”

“Argh…I’m pushing already! I’m trying!”

“Harder!”

“I am!”

“Push harder!”

“You damn eniyan!”

And though it looked painful. Though the female ẹda threatened to kill her many times during the process. With many minutes of pushing and commands, the first egg popped out and laid on the ground with the second and third soon to follow.

It was a success!

The trio rested on the ground like little white balls of fire. Brightening up the hall more than a torch ever could. They were colder to the touch that the usually cool ẹda but despite the hard surface, Abeni felt soft looking at them. Soothed by them. She smiled.

“These…are my babies…” The female ẹda whispered to herself, tail wrapping around them as she brought them out of Abeni’s touch and into the air with a shout and a wide grin. “These will be the strongest babies in the entire underworld!”

“Put them down, put them down!” Abeni protested with a perplexed laugh. Would the female ẹda ever learn to be careful? Jeez.

“They’ll be fine, don’t worry,” the other being chuckled, still out of breath with sweat on her flower face as she brought them back down. Instinctively tightening her tail around their bodies, which confused the white-haired girl. But there must be a reason. A reason why she instinctually held the cold eggs as big as female ẹda’s ball form close, like she had to do it no matter what. Like she’s trying to keep her cold babies both figuratively and physically warm….

So, that was it!

“When you’re asleep or out, I’ll make sure to move them to somewhere where there’s heat.”

The female eda blinked her way. “How did you know?” It seemed Abeni had guessed correctly.

“Gut instinct?” She tried.

“Hm…smart girl. Yes, we must keep them warm.”

Abeni shook her head as both of their gazes simultaneously returned to the eggs, and an odd sense of pride brewed inside of Abeni the longer she looked. As if, she too, had a responsibility over them.

The white-haired girl couldn’t help but be curious. Not knowing if ẹda had any rituals for this. “Are you going to name them now?”

“No. Not yet,” Abeni heard a chuckle from beside her. “How can I name them when I don’t even have a name? That’d be weird.”

But instead of jolly, she sounded sombre when she said it...too sombre.

Then let’s change that too. Because, to Abeni, this was just another way she could help her. “I could…give you a name.”

But those words made the other being freeze and tension seep into her voice. “…Really? What kind of name?”

Abeni hesitated, looking around the bedroom for a second. She scanned her memories for what word could possibly encapsulate the trust, the comfort, the companionship she felt for the ẹda when she spotted the game of Oware they never got to play on the bed and her mind zoned in on it. Smiling as she made her decision.

She always thought the female ẹda’s ball form looked like an Oware bead anyway.

“Oware.”

“...Oware. You’re suggesting that my name should be a game I don’t even know how to play properly,” Abeni sat with a bated breath as the other being looked down at her eggs which would soon hatch as mini versions of herself. She sat for a long moment on her bedroom floor with a gaze far, far away...until a smile crept up on her face as the female ẹda’s voice let out a soft, “I like it.”

That’s good, Abeni beamed back at her. “Me too.”

That’s really good.

 

[Current Total Beings In ‘Abeni’s Army’ – 1]