Demonic Po*nstar System

Chapter 408: Pictures and Decision

Varek assigned them a room inside his own home. It was spacious, though still built from rough timber and clay. The air inside was dry, heavy with smoke from an open hearth.

Kaiden laid Naira’s mother on the nearest cot. Her breathing was shallow and uneven. Bastet lifted Naira into her arms; the girl’s skin was warm with blood from the whipping she received. Her weak body was trembling even though the fire was close.

They didn’t have a dedicated healer among them, so potions would have to do. Diaz rummaged through his pack and handed over a handful of small glass vials while Thomas unpacked the rations.

Kaiden tilted the woman’s head gently and poured the drops between her lips. The bitter scent of the potion filled the room. Her throat moved weakly as she swallowed. Many more followed, of different kinds. Some were against poison, others against diseases, and more.

This was a government-created ‘care package’ to be given to people of sealed-off communities, such as African tribes or island dwellers. It would help their bodies combat the many threats that came from interacting with outsiders for the first time, such as bolstering their immune systems.

Though in the case of the two women and especially Naira’s mother, they served a much more important duty, namely, keeping her alive.

Both women received the same amount.

Diaz then handed the rations over to the girls, visibly uncomfortable with the idea of feeding the pair. He preferred that Kaiden’s lovers do it instead. Nyx smiled, seeing his awkwardness, then accepted the rations without saying anything to the guy.

She passed it along to the other three girls, and then they went to work, feeding the women.

Naira soon returned to how she was, the potions and food working wonders.

The teenager clutched her mother’s hand. Her voice was shaking. “Is she… is she going to be okay?”

She didn’t ask about herself. She’d just been hit with a mighty whip crack, yet she cared not for it. The mere sight of such a phenomenon made the others sad. It was clear the girl had been through so much.

Kaiden glanced at the woman’s arm, following the thin veins that stood out against her pale skin. “I’m no healer, but it looks like she’s been sick for a long time. Malnutrition, exhaustion, dehydration… and probably worse.”

Naira’s shoulders sank. She kept her eyes fixed on her mother, silent but heavy with worry.

Quinlan crouched beside them, examining the woman’s pulse and skin tone. “It’s bad, but she’s not dying. Not yet. These wounds and her condition won’t kill her right away, as long as we get her proper care soon. A professional healer should see her within a few days.”

Naira shook her head weakly. “I… can’t. I don’t even know what that means. We don’t have anyone like that here.”

Bastet placed a hand on the sorrowful girl’s shoulder and spoke gently. “Then don’t worry about it. We’ll take care of that. You just focus on your mother. She needs your help. Can you do that?”

Naira’s head snapped up, overcome with the promise of the felinid. They’d help her… All she had to do was hang in there… Was that really the case, or were they just trying to cheer her up?

The girl already knew this tactic; after all, her mom would often do the same. She’d make promises Naira knew painfully well would not come to be, such as ‘it’ll be fine. I’ll take care of it…’

Luna had been quiet through most of the exchange, standing with her arms folded while she watched Naira clutch her mother’s hand. Then, seeing the expression on the native girl, she suddenly perked up. “Yandere Princess,” she said, turning to Aria, “why don’t you show her the pictures?”

Aria blinked. “Pictures?”

“The ones on your phone,” Luna replied. “You know… Their situations are… similar.”

Her words were cryptic, but then Aria understood. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. The soft light from the screen reflected off Naira’s wide eyes.

The native girl stared at the device as if it were some relic from another world. “What is that?”

Aria smiled, keeping her tone calm. “I’ll explain later. Think of it as a very versatile little device.”

She opened the gallery, only to instantly regret not clearing it first. The first few images made her freeze, and she nearly died of a heart attack right then and there.

How could she not?

Those pictures… they were far too nasty.

Featuring her own face, flushed red, sitting between Kaiden’s legs while she blew him with outright worshipful focus. Those lewd eyes of hers… she treasured those pictures greatly, but it was meant for her own eyes only! And her boyfriends…

Not for a teenage girl!

Though to her credit, Naira didn’t seem to care too much. She only raised an eyebrow and sent Aria quite the meaning-filled glance, making the Moon Valkyrie sweat profusely.

Clearly, the girl was not born yesterday.

Aria’s breath hitched as her finger scrambled across the screen with lightning speed, almost making her look as if she were the Storm Valkyrie, not the serene Moon Valkyrie. During the whole time, she kept yelping in pure panic. “Ah! Ignore that, that’s – just training footage!”

Luna smirked. “Very thorough training, huh? When I asked for your pictures, I didn’t mean to give the girl a sex ed.”

“Shut up!” Aria hissed. Her ears were pink to the tips. She scrolled faster and faster with trembling hands until she reached the right set.

The first image she showed Naira was of Julia Levander taken right after Kaiden saved her.

Thin, hollow-eyed, her hair dull and her face sunken. Her clothes were torn, and she looked like she hadn’t eaten properly in years. “This,” Aria said quietly, “was my mom when Kaiden saved her.”

Naira leaned closer, and her breath caught. Her previous cheeky expression vanished as if it never even existed to begin with. The woman in the picture looked closer to death than life.

Aria swiped to the next one, featuring Julia again. But this time her face was rounder, her hair glossy, her arms wrapped around Aria in a warm embrace. Sunlight was pouring through the windows, painting the mother-daughter pair in beautiful illumination.

The difference was staggering.

Naira forgot all about the strange object in Aria’s hands or the questionable pictures she was showing off before. She stared at the screen, blinking several times as if her mind couldn’t process what she saw.

“That’s… the same woman?”

Aria giggled softly, pride swelling in her voice as she kept going back and forth between the two pictures for Naira to see. “Yep. That’s my mom! Isn’t she so beautiful?”

Naira’s eyes filled with tears. Her lips quivered as she looked down at her own mother, then back at the glowing screen. “Yes… She’s so happy…! Do you think… my mom will hug me like that one day too?”

“”””Yes.”””””

The answer came from all five of them, Kaiden, Aria, Luna, Nyx, and Bastet, spoken together without hesitation.

The room fell quiet. Naira’s breath hitched, and she pressed her palms against her mouth to hold back the sound trying to escape. Three hands, Bastet’s, Nyx’s, and Aria’s, landed gently on her shoulders, steady and certain.

They’d already decided it long before saying it aloud.

They would make sure she had that moment.

…

It was time to see just what this tribe and its eccentric leader had to show them.

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