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When it came to prospering and growing the estate, marriage was common and expected among the Noble and Royal families. As soon as a lady reached flowering age, it was typical for her to be married off to a suitable house. But the young Lady Gabriella had flowered three years ago already, and until last harvest season, her father never really seemed pressed to marry her off. But that harvest season was particularly poor for the Dane house, and for the last several weeks, her father brought up another suitable bachelor's name every day.
"Perhaps i've spoiled you for too long...", her father scolded, watching her clutch yet another old withered book to her chest. "Aren't you too old to still be spending this much time fussing over old forgotten fairytales?"
Gabriella simply shook her head and loosened her grip on the precious tome, so as to appear more graceful. Her father sighed and waved his hand at her, letting her go off to do as she pleased before bed.
After being bathed and dressed down, she sent her handmaiden out of her bedroom and took a seat at her vanity. It was an impressive piece of furniture with a large, wide mirror that stretched almost up to the ceiling. Gabriella sighed as she brushed her long, auburn hair and thought about her life. If not for the constant looming marriage that her father brought up everytime he saw her now, she would be as happy as a person could be. She loved her life. She was comfortable, their family was respected and wealthy. There were always parties and celebrations to enjoy. And above everything else, her greatest joy in life was books. The old books, from before the current Genesis.
They were such fascinating fairytales to her. Stories about ever-climbing steel towers that reached up above the clouds. Flying metal chariots. Automatons that could think and move themselves. And the fantastic creatures! Those were her favorites. The fairies, demons, gods and monsters. It was so hard to find books that talked about them. She was in the middle of transcribing one such book right now, but she wondered if she'd even be able to finish with how strict her father was becoming...
As Gabriella paused her brushstroke to dwell on the somber thought, an unfamiliar voice curled out from behind her. "Please do not look so sad, Lady Dane!"
She gasped, raising her fingertips to cover her mouth, and stared into her vanity's mirror. There was... a man, floating behind her in mid-air. A man with long red hair - red like she'd never seen. He was smiling at her through the mirror, twisting and turning idly about. She turned around in her seat to look at him, but there was nothing there. Only when she looked in the mirror did she see him. He had such a pleasant smile, truly warm and gentle. So soon, her fear subsided and her curiosity grew.
"a-... Are you a fairy?", she whispered slightly. And with a playful little chuckle, the being replied, "I am Maku the Trickster!"
Maku. The name seemed familiar, but she couldn't place where she'd read that name. Only that it had come up in more than one of the old books she'd transcribed. "Maku... you won't be tricking me!", she asserted humorously. She was beginning to smile at what was happening now. "Shoo! You've got nothing that I want, fairy!"
The man's eyes narrowed as his grin spread wide and thin. "Are you certain? Your heart whispered to me! It told me that you wished for your life to stay just as it is."
She blinked brightly, her smile flattening a bit more seriously now. He continued, "I heard it loud and clear, Lady Dane. You do not wish to get married, do you? You want your father to forget all about the matter again." Gabriella clutched one hand over the other in her lap, tightening the grip as he spoke.
"...I can grant this wish for you, my Lady. If it will make you smile freely and at ease once more!", the floating thing promised with such flowery, sweet words.
"y-You can...? But why? Why do this for me? Surely there are others more in need of your magic... more deserving...", she sank a bit, lowering her gaze.
But as quick as a flash, Maku corrected her, "Not at all! Your name is known all throughout my domain, my Lady. My kind appreciates your kind thoughts and willingness to remember us.", he explained. Gabriella was a bit confused by this, but then her eyes fell on her current old book. "That's right!", the trickster clapped, "My kind can feel human memories and thoughts, you see. It hurts us to be forgotten... But you have always kept us alive in your heart and mind! So, I used the last of my stored magic to come and give you thanks."
Her eyes lifted with a new look of concern. She noticed now, the fairy did sound tired. And there seemed to be a well-hidden fatigue behind his smile. It was so sad, she'd wanted to meet a fairy her entire life. And now that she actually had, it was at the end of it's life? A sheen of tears began to well in her eyes.
"Please don't cry over a broken thing like me, my Lady...", it smiled softly, and pulled it's hands together. Maku cupped his palms over each other, and after a moment, opened them to reveal a simple little silver locket. He floated just behind her, and lowered the locket in front of her eyes. And it wasn't only a reflection this time. A real locket hung in front of her. She took it onto her palm, and gave a small gasp. "It's cold!"
The trickster nodded, "Open it! Take a peek inside."
Curious, she clicked it open and it was black. Her eyebrows knitted and she brought it closer to her face. Closer, to her eye. And inside she saw movement. It was... grubs! It looked like a positively huge cavity full of grubs. Gabriella gave a little yelp, letting the locket spring from her hand and bouncing on the vanity's surface before closing itself. "wh-What are those!"
The crimson fairy chuckled gently, "Those are only Mandrakes, my Lady. They're the plant who dreamed of being human."
"Plant...", she murmured under her breath. They didn't look like plants...
"They will share your dreams, and do their very best to make only your happiest wishes come true while they are alive. All you need to do is give them a single drop of blood - once a day, Lady Dane", Maku instructed. Her eyes lifted once more to watch him, and widened as she saw the red fairy shaking now. She could see him breathing now, and he appeared to be fading away. A strange, pale red mist covering over him with each passing moment.
"m-My blood?", she quietly panicked watching the trickster fade.
"Yes... to keep them warm. They crave your warmth, my Lady. Do not... let... them go wanting...", and with that, Maku was gone. His voice faded and echoed like a person falling asleep as he vapored away.
- - - - -
Months passed, and everything the fairy promised her had been true. Her house recovered from the bad season, by some miracle. Her father pestered her less and less about marriage. She was even being recognized by the scholars in the city for her exceptional work in transcribing the old books. And she was stumbling across more old books than usual, all the time! She'd acquired three over the last two months. At this rate, she might never have to get married to anyone merely to strengthen her house's estate. She could be her own person. An independent woman! Like those she'd read about in her dear fairytales.
She let out a relaxed exhale as she entered her bath this night. Relaxing felt so nice after the particularly long day she'd had of transcription. She really let time get away from her. It was almost midnight now. As she realized this, her body tensed a bit. "Oh! I'd almost forgotten!" she started, looking around the bathing room for the locket. She hadn't given a drop of blood to it today yet. Then she realized - she left it on top of her bed.
She groaned at this. She definitely didn't like the idea of getting out of her wonderfully comfortable bath so soon. She'd been so diligent in the months since the Fairy thanked her... surely the mandrakes could wait just this once. They wanted her happiness, didn't they? What was the worst that could happen, she wondered? And with that, she sunk into her water with a smile, and drifted off to sleep.
By the time she woke more than an hour later, her water had cooled. Groggy, she rose both hands to either side of the tub and pulled herself up. Or at least, she tried to. Something was off - her middle was heavy and tense. She dunked a hand under the surface of the water and was instantly met with her own flesh. Her stomach - it was swollen. Very swollen.
Her mind was spinning and beginning to panic as she felt around herself. "What? What is this! I don't underst--" she stopped, eyes opening wide as she felt a response underneath her skin. Something fat and solid was moving inside her belly... A thick pulse rolled slowly down it's wide length. It reminded her of... the grubs. The mandrakes.
She gasped, hands over her mouth. And her eyes closed tight as she continued to feel the thing squirm about inside of her. Making itself comfortable. Her mind was spiraling, not knowing what to do. But there was no time to dwell on those kinds of thoughts, it seemed, as a new sensation brought itself to her full attention. She was now feeling her nethers begin to move... her tight rear end was stretching open.
Her hands darted off of her mouth and back to the sides of the tub, holding tight as she braced herself. She whined as she felt the alien body work its way into her, it was as thick as her leg easily, and the way it moved... burrowing so inhumanly up her hole. Not only was it so thick, it was easily as long as her leg as well. Inch by inch, it squirmed against her inner walls. Any struggling she did only seemed to help suck it in deeper, faster.
Her eyes had been closed while this was happening, but she opened them as soon as she felt cool air on her belly. "Oh m-...", she stammered as she saw her round belly begin to lift up over the surface of the water. It was like a big bubble inflating in front of her. Except, this bubble was warping and bumping along its surface. "a-Ahhnn...", Gabriella exhaled, she was trying to be quiet. She had no idea what would happen if she was discovered in this condition.
After only half a minute, it was all inside. She removed one hand from the side of the tub and clutched her belly. Breathing heavily, she could only quietly fret to herself as she felt the two alien bodies slide against each other inside of her. They stretched and knocked selfishly inside her belly. She looked like she was well past due in pregnancy at this point. It wasn't until now that her finally-awake mind remembered - the locket! Maybe it wasn't too late to feed the mandrakes?
With renewed gusto, she grabbed the sides of the tub, and tried to heave herself up. But her large belly definitely wasn't making that easy. Just trying to sit up required her to spread her legs much farther than usual. She couldn't find her center of gravity at all. And in just another moment, she was beginning to feel her hole stretch once again.
She'd managed to lift herself up onto her knees in the water, but her legs began trembling as she felt the next body pushing itself into her. She moved both of her hands back to her stomach, stifling a groan as her supple skin bulged against her arms and palms. She was afraid and repulsed, but it was feeling undeniably pleasurable...
She panted deeply, her body going a bit limp after the third mandrake finished entering her. The added girth to her abdomen forcing her to sit up a bit straighter now. She could feel the bottom of the tub on her underbelly. Now that she wasn't splashing about, she could hear sounds coming from her stuffed gut. It was the same sounds her belly made when she was hungry. Slick inner-walls rubbing against each other, gurling and jostling.
She knew she had to move quickly, before she got too big to support herself. But number four was already making its entrance... It was happening faster and faster with each new mandrake. Before she knew it, four were inside her. Then five. Six. Seven...
"Oh god... no... Someone! Anyone! Help!", she didn't care at this point. There seemed to be no end to this. By now, she'd counted at least 30 of the fat grubs had made a home inside her gut. And at this point, her belly was squeezed hard against the sides of the tub. The water was spilling out across the floor as the space was taken up by her engorged stomach. But nobody responded to her pleas. She hadn't even heard any servants walk past her door in some time.
She'd also noticed, her belly was constantly growing, even during the brief second or two when she wasn't being invaded. The grubs were plumping up inside her as time went on. And her taunt skin was so warm to the touch by now - it made the bath water as warm as when she'd gotten in. Her overstuffed mound of a belly was much too large for her body now. There was no way she'd be able to make it out of the tub - let alone reach the locket on her bed. And it seemed nobody in the house was coming to her aid... Gabriella was running out of time and options.
In a moment of baffled desperation, she cried out to the only kind soul she could think of - "Maku! Please help me!", she pleaded with a moan, feeling her bulged-out belly button press against the far wall of the bathtub.
- - - - -
Soon after, Gabriella watched as a fine red mist began clouding around her. It grew thicker and thicker until she could see nothing past it. It blocked out not only the dim light from the lantern in the bathroom, but the sound as well. It muffled the whole world out for just a few seconds, before dissipating once more.
Taking a few deep breaths as she recovered from the most recent mandrake, her eyes focused ahead of herself. There he was! It was Maku, her sweet red fairy. He was floating over what looked like a throne. Except the throne was made of weathered stone, carved out of the very floor itself. And... he was transparent. His body hung mid-air, motionless, as if from invisible strings. And she hadn't noticed before, but his legs were completely gone. Everything from the knees down.
As desperate as she was, she was still so concerned to see him in this state. "m-Maku? Please, I need your help! The mandrakes... They're--"
She stopped, tugging her arms. She looked up, as both of her arms were being held up above her. Tied with... roots? To the ceiling. At least, she assumed they were stretching down from the ceiling. She couldn't actually see up there, as it was pitch black up there. The entire throne room was only lit by some torches attached to a few support columns.
She couldn't even try looking at her feet - her belly was simply too huge, but they were bound too, beneath her. "...what's happening?", she tugged with her arms in vain, feeling yet another fat grub stretch into her.
"What's happening...?", the weary fairy spoke. "Punishment. Judgement. A game. Who are you to question a God?"
She froze. His voice - it was so cold now. Not angry, but entirely apathetic. "wh-What? What do you mean G--", she stopped, remembering her books. Maku... yes, his name had come up several times in the fairytales that spoke of the extinct mythical creatures. Just bits and pieces here and there. But all built up - things were beginning to click in her mind. Things she'd read were beginning to make sense now.
"You're... one of the Old Gods. y-You're the one... that caused the current Genesis...", her body was going limp as new realizations washed through her mind. She stared down at her enormous gut as it blimped larger and larger. She understood what was happening, and she understood that she would spend the rest of her days here. Like this. He was shaping her into nothing but a vessel.
"I give thanks for your bountiful sin, Lady Dane...", Maku's voice was still quite weak. But it was beginning to sound a bit stronger now. "The saccharine-sweet dreams of those guilty of Sloth do well to encourage growth..."
The light began to brighten in the throneroom. Gabriella could see more with each passing second. The entire wide, open floor was nothing but mandrake grubs. And every one of them were impatiently waiting for their turn to plant themselves inside of her, and grow in her warmth.
"Long have I dreamed of our union, O beloved Queen of Dreaming..."
The lights began to fade, and the sound of countless long bodies shifting and snaking against each other filled the chamber - joined in twisted harmony with the guilty moans of one Gabriella Dane.