The Mantis Queens Reign

Awakening

I open my eyes, and I see a white ceiling stained yellow through the candle sitting beside me.

I hear a light voice from beside me speak

 "Go get Shigure, she's awake!"

Now a door slid closed, it sounded light.

"I'm here, thanks for watching her, could you get her some water please? Thank you."

The door slides open, then closed.

"Are you awake?"

I get up, and a short lady is sitting next to my bed looking down at me. She has a soft face, a pink flowered kimono, and a pair of flowered ribbons in her hair.

"yeah... where am I?" My voice is raspy from lack of use, and my throat hurts from lack of water.

"We found you outside of our bakery, with the body of a family friend in your arms. That was a week ago, we've been taking care of you since."

"right... Zeanne..."

"So, what happened to her?"

"it's... a long story, and I don't wanna say it more than once."

"That's fine, I could gather the girls, and we could all listen. We'll be patient, if you need some time to freshen up."

"freshen... up... right, yeah, that would be nice. Where's the bathroom?"

"Let me take you. Come."

...

...

I look in the mirror, and I look like crap.

My soft, caramel skin has turned scarred, and I've got a scar on my right cheek, and two across my stomach. My shoulder length hair is now burned at the edges, and up to my mid-neck.

My hands are calloused, and my arms hurt to move, but not as much as my legs. My feet are calloused from the walk, and my legs are scratched up, burnt severely. I test my claws, and they still work, though stained with blood. his blood

I'm still around average height and build, at around 5'10, and 160 lbs, which, mind you, some of the weight comes from my implants. Solid steel weighs a lot. Well, I might weigh less now, I don't really know.

I put on the black kimono she had placed in the bathroom, before I walk out to tell the story, and meet Zeanne's family.

...

I step into what I assume to be the kitchen, and everyone is sitting around the table. I look at the stove, and Shigure is cooking breakfast.

The air is energetic, strangely so.

When they see me, they invite me over to sit with them, and I oblige.

The tallest one, with coconut shaving colored hair reaching her waist, and a rack I'd normally be jealous of, is coconut. She had a pair of short shorts, what could only be considered a thong coming out to meet her hip, and a crop top. She pulls it off well. She also has a silver bell attached to a purple choker. She has a long bushy tail, and ears that curve slightly down at the tips.

The shortest one, with brown hair and no rack, is Azuki. Her hair is just at chin length, and is tied into twin tails on either side of her head. Her outfit is in the style of a sailor suit, with no sleeves, and a blue skirt. Her bell is gold, attached to a red choker. She has regular cat ears, and short, striped tail.

The one about the same frame as me, if a bit slimmer, is Maple. She's got blond hair, white T-shirt covered in a brown waistcoat, with a matching plaid skirt. Her hair is long, flowing a bit past her shoulders, and smooth. She has a gold bell with a red ribbon. She has curled ears, and a matching fluffy tail.

The final one is Cinnamon. She's shorter than me by a few inches, a wider frame, a huge rack, and purple hair that reaches her shoulders, tied into a high ponytail by a long ribbon. It's reminiscent of a bowl-cut at first glance. She has a light blue and white magical girl dress paired with matching knee-length white socks and a pair of gloves with light purple frills on the hems. Her bell is silver, on a pink choker. She has a normal cat tail, and her ears droop down completely, nearly blending into her hair.

Coconut turns to look at me, "How are you feeling?"

I go to speak, before Azuki chimes in. "She's obviously not feeling well, she was asleep for a week!"

"I was just trying to break the ice!"

"Well maybe you should try in a less-stupid way!"

Maple speaks up, "Could you please not fight first thing in the morning? As you said, she's probably not feeling well. Don't make things worse by starting fights early in the morning."

"fine" "fine"

"good."

"Breakfast is done!"

Shigure comes over and places down a tray with several plates on it. They each grab one, and I follow suit.

It's a masterfully cooked plate of eggs, and a small bowl of rice.

"Sorry I didn't give you a drink, I wasn't sure if you preferred tea, or if you would want coffee like Maple."

"It's alright, do you have a coffee maker I could use?"

Maple chimes in. "Let me take care of it, I already got the coffee going, so I'll pour you a cup as well."

"Okay, thank you."

"You're welcome!" She has a self-satisfied grin on her face.

Once I take a sip of my coffee, I take another moment to look at the plate in front of me. Everyone else has already begun to dig in.

Azuki stops eating for a moment to chime in, "Start eating, you need the food after such a long sleep."

"...yeah, you're right." I sound dead, the same as I feel. Emotionless.

I start to slowly eat my eggs, bit by bit, before moving on to the rice. None of it had any flavor.

Coconut looks at me, "So how was it? Great right?"

"...yeah, it was good."

It was obvious I didn't mean it.

Everyone puts their plates in the sink, so I follow suit, while continuing with my coffee.

Shigure pops up next to me, "So, could you please tell us what had happened?"

"...yeah, sure."

We all sit down in the living room, Coconut and Shigure on the floor, Maple and Cinnamon on the couch, and Azuki and I one the opposite couch. They're all facing me.

...

"Wow, I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"It's fine, nothing you could've done."

Everyone is silent, and the air in the room is thick. Shigure cuts through it.

"Well, with that out of the way... we should host a proper funeral for both her, and your family. Does that sound good?"

"If you'll do it, yeah."

"Of course. So just try and relax, I'll get everything prepared."

"okay."