âBreathe in deep.â 1. 2. 3. 4. âOut.â 1. 2. 3. 4. âThere you go. Now, push.â
Dan Heng closes his eyes and pushes with another deep breath, gripping the chairâs arms as the egg slides lower in his womb.
âI can feel it. Push harder.â
Dan Heng opens one eye to look at the scholar in front of him. âThis isnât too strange for youâŚ?â
Anaxa scoffs. âWhile indeed gruesome, childbirth is a natural process and nothing to be ashamed of. BesidesâŚâ Thereâs that familiar mad glint in his eyes. âReviving an infertile speciesâs ability to reproduce? A challenge is a challenge, and I do so love challenges. Why shouldnât I be here to witness the end result?â
Fair enough. Dan Heng hums thoughtfully and pushes, feeling the egg slide into his birth canal and into Anaxaâs grasp.
With the small egg finally in his palm, Anaxa carefully pulls his hand out, taking the egg out of Dan Hengâs bleeding birth canal.
Dan Heng sighs in relief, watching Anaxa rinse the blood and membranes off the tiny egg at the sink. âAnd with this,â Anaxa murmurs, âthe first stage of this experiment is a success.â
Right. The first part of this project was to see if they could get Dan Hengâs cycle started. They can now move on to the second partâŚwhich isâŚ
Dan Heng feels his face and the tips of his ears burning at the idea of the projectâs second stage: fertilizing his eggs. He still hasnât decided who he wants toâŚinvolve.
Caelus is busy running around.
Mydei seems like the attentive type, but his position as crown prince would surely draw their hypothetical child into political conflicts.
No one knows who or where Phainon is.
Aglaea is absolutely out of the question. Dan Heng doesnât trust her one bit. Even if he did, she is far too busy running Okhema and dealing with the Eldersâ political schemes. Like with Mydei, their hypothetical child would be caught in politics. (Or worse, murdered by Caenisâs Cleaners.)
Hysilens is also out of the question, much as he admires her. Heâs not about to drag her into this while sheâs still mourning Cerydra.
Maybe Cipher? She and Dan Heng are practically strangers to each other. But then again, she might be disturbed and very uncomfortable with this, and rightfully so.
He and Caelus are cut off from the Astral Express, so he has no way of reaching Welt, Jing Yuan, or anyone else.
âŚThen again, this project is meant to be secret, anyway.
Who better than the mad scholar actively participating in it?
Dan Heng swallows and takes a deep breath. âAnaxagoras?â
âAbout the second part of this projectâŚâ
YES YES!! please we need to part 2 anon-