Meeting local people

Once she managed to achieve a comfortable posture against the bark of a tree, Amelia gave her the instructions for the meditative exercises to reach her inner sea

It took her over an hour to finally notice a different kind of ‘Wind’ than the one that was moving the branches around her, but no long after that, she started to fully perceive it… while also feeling that same wind moving something else inside her chest…

It didn’t felt like much, because it wasn't much, but she was supposed to visualize it as an enormous amount, it needed to be bigger than her, bigger than the whole planet

She couldn’t risk using all of it at once, so she needed to focus in the smallest amount of her moving mana that she was capable of using, in order to not be at any risk of harming herself…

It was moving very slowly…

And her mana was slowing down, as if it was magma that tried to become stone, because it didn’t wanted to move…

Sophie took a deep breath, focusing in the magma in her chest, and exhaled the air while visualizing it arousing those embers

Trying to have the fluid she was visualizing in front of her, heat up, and spread all over that “Enormous” ocean, not letting any of it freeze… slowly causing more to move. Breathing over and over, with an intense focus on the images in her mind

[Now, let’s use it in your body] Amelia had already told her all the steps she was going to take [Start with a horn, or, both of them, if you feel able to do so]

Taking another deep breath, she exhaled it once more, but this time she moved her head forwards, in a way that she could feel the heat on her face, and how that heat sunk inside both of her horns

Horns that heated up, slowly losing their consistency and sinking inside her… towards the magma in her chest… which made her wince, because her inner sea was still trying to cool down, making the process slow in general

She gasped once both of her horns sunk halfway inside her, and towards the molten sea, feeling tender spots in the skin surrounding them, and how every part of the core in her chest, was heating up further once her horns started to sink. This last thing, made her try to speed up the process-

[Slowly, there is no reason to rush] but Amelia noticed, and made Sophie, who had a small layer of sweat in her forehead and neck due to the heat, wince [Get used to this heat before continuing, but kept that feeling in the skin of your forehead to change your skin color, starting from those spots]

Sophie nearly whined once she heard that, but did her best to keep breathing and slowly finish with her horns it. Even if she really was getting annoyed by the amount of visualizations that she had to keep active in her mind…

-----

Luckily, she wasn't trying to change her body all at once. So the heat became a bit more manageable as she was done with each part, with some being easier to change than others, like her skin: after she just finished expanding the sensation she was holding on her forehead all over her body, Amelia told her that she had finished

For that one, she just needed to visualize the color that she wanted on her skin, while keeping her other mental images clear. Which was easier than her horns, because she wasn't trying to hide her skin inside her body

She still sweated a lot…

Amelia kept giving her instructions, but after that point Sophie already felt in control of the process. Meaning that soon she just needed to tell the girl when to take the many rests she needed to get used to the heat she felt from the wings, claws, and tail she had to hide, before she had finished

“Ugh…” her small wings were hidden nearly instantly, while her tail was the thing that tired her the most, it also took the most time to hide inside her. It felt surprisingly sensitive to heat…

[Less than two hours, that’s a good time. Twenty-seven percent better, than the recorded average in the Ark]

She just groaned, not really caring if that was the total time of her changing her body, or if it was counting since she started to use her magic. Sophie was annoyed by all the sweat that was sticking her clothes to her skin, and wanted a cleaning cycle, badly…

“Did I got the color right…?” but she didn’t felt bad after what she had done, even if she was left breathing through her mouth

[It’s in the human color range]

That answer made her groan again before she opened her eyes and looked down at her hands. She had changed the color of her skin, and nails, successfully, and now everything she could see was of a color she didn’t saw often

It wasn't the deadly white, and the one she was visualizing, that her skin had in the previous world due to her lack of exposure to natural light, but it still gave the idea that her skin wasn't accustomed to be outside, while having some color in it

“Looks nice…!” and far healthier than some announcements for colored synthetic skins that had become common around the slums “Did I got it everywhere?” she wanted to check under her clothes, but Amelia had already mentioned how she should do that once she was in a safe, and private, place in civilization

[The skin under your clothes is of the appropriate color] and she could check for her without getting undressed [But take a look at your tongue for a moment]

Sophie did so, first noticing her sharp canines, followed by her tongue, that was a long thing that reached a few centimeters below her chin, before appreciating the blue color of the organ…

“Oh…” the heat in her chest hadn't cooled yet, so she begun her attempt to change the color of her tongue and the feeling of her teeth, while looking at it…

Which gave her a headache, before she returned to her previous method

“Ugh…” eventually succeeding in the color change and with making her fangs shorter

[Good attempt at changing without meditation, don’t get discouraged by it, if you continue to work on your visualizations, you’ll eventually be able to do what you attempted there. Still, that should be all for now. Rest for a while before you start going to your left]

“What do I do with the heat…? Do I let it cool?” she was glad to hear that things were going to get easier with time, but started to worry about the mana she had

Less than half…

[You don’t have to worry about your mana right now. As you practice with it, the amount will increase naturally and accessing it will become simpler, to the point where you will need to focus in order to hide it. Besides, right now your priority should be into making contact with nearby humans, in order to integrate yourself to their society, being distracted in your way to them also has the risk of tripping and injuring yourself, even with how resistant your body should be]

Sophie had no idea of why she would trip… but with a glance to the ground around her, she started to notice the roots, twigs, leaves, plants, rocks…

“Y-yeah… makes sense… now I don’t have the bio-circuits to avoid trash in the ground” her mind went to the tunnel as she fled, and how similarly packed with stuff the floor of it was

She vastly preferred the nature around her though, even if she couldn’t help but compare how similarly cluttered things felt as she let the magma in her chest cool…

In the end, her head was left throbbing for a few minutes, but she could hear a faint breeze, and feel some movement, coming from inside her if she managed to ignore the discomfort. Amelia described that ‘Wind’ as her body’s new magical potential, with the movement of ‘Magma’ being her soul’s

[Part of your training will involve the balancing and use of these two energies, but it will need to wait until you have a certain amount of Lust Mana. Having three different kinds, will help with training control and other things]

“What’s the difference…? Between the two I have, I mean…” she was more focused into resting at the time, but she still liked to hear Amelia’s voice

[Basically, the one in your body is also the same mana as the world’s, and is slowly transformed into, and transferred to, the one that fills your soul. But taking into consideration the fact that this is a magic-less world, why do you think I want you to have three types of mana?]

Sophie flinched at the surprise question, flustering at the idea of making a mistake that early into her teachings

“W-well…! If…” thankfully, an idea came to her mind quickly as she compared it to some of the knowledge she had “For processing metals you need to: mine the rock and ice of an asteroid, send it to the planet where its melted and separated into its components, then those can be distributed and used for products. If in this place I can’t get ‘Rocks’ from the world, then I can get ‘Rocks’ from sex, melt them into ‘Magma’, and add it to my sea?”

[Correct] she smiled brightly at hearing that her comparison worked [You just need to be aware that by using your magic, some mana will leak back to the world, then, the world will be using that mana to move its own mana, that you could use after the world uses it for a spell. Additionally, remember that every source of mana has a different attribute, so you’ll want to be aware of the difference of the three kinds in order to be efficient, for example: a Healing spell will be more efficient with Nature Mana, than with Fire Mana]

“Wait… a feedback loop? That’s what we are going to do during my training…?”

[Not exactly, this planet will be using the extra mana for its own goals, which might or might not, involve the creations of its own feedback loops, in order to create more mana just for those goals]

“These are the changes you mentioned…?” Sophie blinked upon realizing something “Wait. This planet has a soul…?”

It made a small amount of sense, if she considered the magical things that had happened to her… but… it was weird for her to wrap her head around the idea… even with all the magical things that had happened to her…

[Correct, its mana is static and nonreactive plus it’s a relative small amount that can’t start a loop on its own. Now that you are here, your mere existence changes this, and with enough time magic will become more common]

“And the more magic I use, the less time it will take?” she tilted her head as she said that

There were two seconds of worrying silence

[Using this conversation as guidance, I have changed your training slightly. Rituals will be taught and used in order to increase the speed in which the world gains magic, but we require many suitable locations for those. There is also the possibility of using knowledge about magical species in the Ark, to propagate them and further speed this up]

“Why…?” this change really felt out of nowhere for her

[I didn’t took rituals into account at first, but now that I’m analyzing the things the world might do with more mana and magic available, it has come into my attention the possibility that the world itself will fight back against your enemies if given the chance]

That made her squeal in happiness and Sophie stood up with shaky legs

“Let’s go! And find those places!” pointing forwards with her right hand, while her left was resting on her hip

[That way to civilization] but Amelia made her hand point to her left [One of the locations should be a Home Altar, used mostly for protection spells]

“Oh~ sounds good!” the words ‘Home’ and ‘Protection’ made her smile, and she took a more relaxed posture as she looked at the trees in that direction, moving her legs in place for the first time, before she was truly going to use them

[But first, check your pockets]

Sophie did that with some confusion, her hands entering completely inside the pockets of her pants and pulling out two kinds of items. One was a clip made of silver, and the other were two fabrics, one white, the other black, that were a little over twice the length of her arm, with about three fingers in width

The items seemed boring, until she realized that she couldn't see through the fabrics in one direction, and the other side of each had some transparency to it

“Ah…?”

[These are to hide the Ark, while leaving me capable of observing. The items were made with extra energy gathered in the star and have a small enchantment in them. Both fabrics will hide the light emitted by the Ark, while the clip will magically keep them wrapped until you, or someone you have allowed, remove it. These enchantments are weak, so, if you meet someone with magic, they might be able to see through the fabric and, or, remove the clip]

“Is there is a way of me meeting someone with magic?” she sounded amused by the idea “Also, enchantments?”

[There is a Ritual of Summoning, and while it’s currently impossible for you to gather the mana required to use it, in thirty years it might be possible for you, or to someone else that is more attuned to that kind of rituals. Enchantments are spells integrated to an object or applied to living beings, duration of these spells can vary from one to the other]

She hummed and nodded, with no idea what ‘Summoning’ was, while quickly following Amelia’s instructions as to how to wrap the black fabric and secure the disguise around her palm and wrist. The clip was left hidden under the sleeve of her shirt, an additional, if unintended, safety, while the other bandage went back to a pocket

‘It… looks like I got an upgrade in my hand…’ like the Ark, the bandage didn’t get in her way at all, but seeing it made her remember the bandages that she had on her torso many years ago, and she started to rub that shoulder with her other hand

[I apologize for making you uncomfortable] hearing that, made Sophie jump, she forgot about Amelia being able to hear her thoughts [By accelerating the production of mana in the world, physical changes in humans are possible, after those start to happen, you might remove it without problems]

“Thanks~ but don’t worry about me” she smiled “I just need to make better memories, this is nothing, in order to feel safe”

[Understood, then while you move to civilization I shall tell you small things that you might need in the way]

She laughed

“Let’s begin making memories then~”

-----

One of those things she was taught along the way, was about how to walk

Amelia figured out that her brain was made with the idea of having a tail, since her body was made with one in the first place, which meant that she had some troubles with keeping steady, but slowly managed to pull it off. Still, they talked about how much her hips moved from side to side as she walked and Sophie's most efficient way of walking, both with and without a tail, among other things

Like brooks, rivers, and the water circle. It was a topic relevant to their discussion about clouds, which came up while she walked under the canopy of leaves turning from greens into crimsons, yellows and browns, and one that became useful once they found a brook

Amelia had to remind Sophie that her body was far healthier than before, only then was she convinced into drinking some of the brook’s cold and refreshing ‘Wild water’. She needed it because her new body still needed water to live, and since they were alone, she had been talking aloud with Amelia instead of mentally

Wherever it was because Sophie now liked the sound of her voice, or just because it felt rude to not talk aloud, she didn’t knew… but Amelia had warned her about doing it on public, which she understood and agreed with

After drinking some water, and waiting for Sophie to stop gushing about how much she loved the color of her hair, Amelia realized something: a gradient from blue to white, wasn't a natural coloration for hair in a magic-less world

“Ugh…” which is why they had stopped there for a while, until it was turned into a pitch black color

[It’s done, even if it grows further with time, now it will grow in a black coloration. This is another thing that can be changed once physical changes happen in the surrounding humans, or you can buy dyes for your hair and pretend that you used them]

“Thanks…” once she heard that, she let her inner sea start cooling, and wondering how a dye for hair worked, she crawled towards the water again to look at her heart-shaped face “Hmm… I like it…” one of the things she had done with her hair was making it somewhat longer, so it now framed her face slightly

It was dirty because she had slept on the ground, and using magic made her sweat, but she still found herself pretty

“Hehehe~” which made her smile with pure euphoria every time she thought about that “How do you think I’ll look with yellow hair?”

[Do you mean as a blonde?] Sophie had no idea if what she said had a specific name, and told her so [Blonde means having a fair color in the hair. But I do not know if it will suit you, how about you discuss that with a local woman? Perhaps there are traditions related to hair colors]

“Traditions?”

[Those are situations often related to rituals, for example: a celebration every time a new year starts, can be considered a tradition]

“That sound like entertainment, so…” she shrugged her shoulders and stood up “Straight ahead, right?”

Once she got the confirmation for the route, she steeped on a rock to cross-

[Careful with the moss]

“WhaaAHHH-?!!!”

She slipped, but part of her managed to twist her body as she fell to stop her fall with her hands

Splash!

Right into the brook, splashing water and some wet dirt all in the front of her shirt, while her pants sunk into the water

“HYA?!!!” getting cold water right into her sensitive chest and between her legs…

Sophie wasn't hurt by the fall, no bruises, nor cuts-

“COLD!!!” but the sudden temperature change was definitively unpleasant…

To the point where she scrambled to cross to the other side, and tried to squeeze the liquid out of her clothes, making an even bigger mess of her clothes

[Moss is a plant often found in damp places, and the presence of water, or algae, or lichen, on, or near it, often makes the surface where they are, slippery. You didn’t suffered any injury in that fall] Amelia informed her

“G-good to know!” a breeze started at that moment “S-shit!” making her shiver a bit, just before she started to walk away from the brook “Ugh…” before stopping

[Yes?]

“I know that I look like a mess right now…” she looked at herself and confirmed it, breathing in a way that made her magma heat up “Should it try to clean my clothes…?” she had no idea how to do that, but the old man had said that in the past, things were cleaned with water

[Since there are no records of you existing in this world before, if you pretend that you escaped from somewhere, but can’t say exactly from where. Then there is a chance of you being helped to become a citizen. Your current appearance reinforces that image]

Sophie felt doubtful about that plan, specially since it depended in others…

[If things go wrong, then I’m prepared to burn knowledge in order to fix the situation]

“H-how…?” and the cold wasn't helping, even with the heating produced by her moving mana

[If you don’t end captured somewhere, then by creating some gold, be it temporal or not, it can be sold for local currency, afterwards, that currency can be used to acquire a fake identity. In the case of you being captured, then I’ll help you to escape and knowledge will be burn in order for you to flee and live as a hermit. Details of how you are going to live as a hermit Succubus, are in the planning stage, but I’m assuming that things will go well, before dealing with those details]

Those plans made her uneasy…

[Of course, this is assuming that you don’t want to kill someone, take their appearance, hide the body, and attempt to live their life]

“I don’t!”

The only people she could see herself killing, were the Shitheads and their pigs of the previous world, and even if her current world had their own equivalent to the Shitheads, she didn’t wanted to take the appearance of a man…

She sighed

“Let’s assume that things will go well…” and continued walking

The next thing that happened to her was seeing a flower, which prompted a few explanations from Amelia… and she slipped again as she was walking away from it, staining her back and butt with moss…

Luckily she didn’t hit her head… even if she wouldn't have suffered any damage from that fall either

-----

Sophie didn’t needed to walk for much more than another half an hour, while hearing how her body had the equivalent of eighteen years of age, and some other plans about what to say about her past

She was just rejecting another violent alternative, when she heard something in the distance and stopped

‘Laughter…?’ it was at least one girl laughing, not a sound that she was familiar with

[Seems that way. Remember that only you can hear me, and that you should try to avoid speaking about technology, we don’t know how they compare to your enemies, nor we want to give them ideas to mimic them]

‘Then I hope they don’t think I’m dumb…’ she resumed walking in that direction

[Don't worry, if I feel like they are trying to take advantage of you, then I’ll mention it]

She nodded as she slowly moved forwards, trying to not make too much noise on the fallen leaves and sticks, as she reached the edge of a small cliff from above, where she noticed the reflective glint of light on glass and metal, far into the distance and down past the forested hill…

“I’m serious!” but a cute voice from a group of humans, on a clearing right below her, called for her attention. Three girls and a guy, the smallest of the girls was the one that was speaking with her back towards Sophie and the cliff, while the tallest of the girls still laughed in front of her, with the other two to her sides looking at the first

They looked young, as if the girls just got released from a growth center and the guy was of the same age as them, just… without any upgrade, all four of them had completely natural and attractive bodies, and were obviously from different batches and manufacturers…

The tallest girl not only was almost as tall as the guy, her short hair was black and wild, while the other girls were: a blonde (As Amelia made sure to let her know, to clear up the yellow comment) with her hair in two bundles at each side of her head (Twintails as Amelia also informed her), and the short girl was a brown haired girl, also with short hair, but hers looked smooth. The guy was tall, with brown-reddish hair that was longer than Sophie's previous haircut… the bags under his eyes were noticeable at the distance, and felt familiar to her…

But her attention didn’t latch onto that detail, she had rarely seen different models of people, not even in the slums, and never had seen such variety in the same place…

‘Ah~’ and while she couldn't see the face of one of the girls, or their eye colors, they all looked attractive… making her heart speed up…

Even the guy’s smile looked cute, if a tad sad, with the somewhat over-sized hoodie he was wearing

“According to this book, a falling star is a good omen to try to do a summon!” the short girl had something in her hands, that she opened and showed it to the others, that looked at the thing with smiles on their faces

[She has a Grimoire? I don’t detect any kind of magic from either her or the book]

“Is that a magic thing-?” Sophie distractedly spoke aloud…

“KYA?!!!” making the short girl snap the book-thing shut, and hid behind the blonde girl, while the other three looked up to her

They all looked surprised from her sudden appearance about four meters above them

“Ah… hi…!” and she could only think about waving at them

The short girl’s face became red (Blushing) once she looked at her, but the guy was the first to react

“Are you all right…?”

“Oh! Yes!” she beamed and pointed at the way were she came “I just fell on some water-” [Brook] “Ah… a brook-thing of water… and then on some moss…” she looked back at her clothes and whispered “I’m starting to dislike that thing…” being a bit annoyed by how she looked at that moment

“Are you from Barus?” the blonde girl crossed her arms and glared at her from her position shielding the short girl

Sophie tilted her head in confusion

“What’s that?” if Amelia was going to say something, her question didn’t gave her the chance to do so

“I don’t have the will to memorize the whole accolades they shoved in front of their country” the blonde said with annoyance “The kingdom of Barus, or whatever that bunch of… idiots are calling themselves now” he looked at the blonde with an expression that Sophie couldn't distinguish at their distance

“What’s a kingdom…?”

But her next confused question made all of them flinch and look at her again, as she looked at the cliff

‘I’m going to climb down, objections?’

[None, I don’t see moss, and the rocks looks solid enough]

“Are you seri-? What are you doing!?” the blonde spoke again just as she sat on the edge and moved her legs to the right positions

“I’m climbing!” she called out ‘Good thing I have practice from avoiding those elevator’s taxes… twenty thousand credits per floor…!’

[That sounds awful]

“You are going to get hurt!”

The concern in the voice of the short girl gave her shivers, that for some reason also made her happy, but she had already started to go down

“It’s nothing I haven't done before!” of course, she had done that in the metal shaft of elevators with a mechanical arm, and the shoes she had, weren't the best for that kind of activity, as she quickly realized this…

But she reached the ground without problems, it wasn't that high after all. As Sophie turned around, she saw that the guy had moved closer in order to help her, the three girls remained in the middle of the clearing, but now the brown haired girl wasn't hiding behind the blonde, and instead she was hugging the book-thing

“Hi! I’m Sophie!” and she confirmed that the blushing guy was, surprisingly, cute…

And shorter than her…

“T-that’s a beautiful name…” he didn’t seemed sure of what to do with his hands, or look at with his brown eyes. The tallest girl laughed before walking closer, followed by the other two

“Thanks! I picked it myself~!” it was the same name, as one of the closest stars to the world where she was before, from a time where names were pretty

“Damn~ you are tall!” by then, the girls got close enough for Sophie to confirm that they were gorgeous

The tallest girl had green eyes, that were lighter than the green on some of the leaves she had seen. She also was wearing a white and red outfit: an open jacket, thin-looking pants, flashy shoes (Which she later found out were called Sport Shoes), and a small shirt that let her stomach exposed despite the cold, which Sophie tried to not stare at her exposed skin and the hollowed area in that place (Her bellybutton), but her eyes kept wandering there for some reason…

And she also had a plastic devise held by a plastic belt on her left wrist: a circle with four colored sectors (Black, blue, yellow, and pink) with a red arrow pointing at the yellow one. It seemed that to move the arrow, she needed to press a button in it, to be able to rotate it

The blond also had green eyes, of a darker tone than the other girl, and had a similar outfit than the black haired girl, just in a green and blue combination with her jacket closed to not reveal what as under it. She was glaring at Sophie…

The brown haired and brown eyed girl, that was blushing up to her ears…

‘Cute~!’

Had an adorable outfit that she didn’t knew the name of (A cardigan buttoned up to her neck, a big purse, and a shin-length skirt), she only knew the name of the kind of shoes she was wearing (Boots), but Sophie loved the colors and flowers that were drawn in her outfit. It was very similar to the colors the forest was taking

Autumnal, according to Amelia’s explanation of ‘Seasons’ that she had given her while looking at the flower

“Your eyes are awesome!” it felt good to heard that “You know how tall are you?!” the tall girl asked with a smile, but the guy placed a hand on her shoulder after looking at the plastic thing on her wrist

[1.9 meters] Amelia quickly said

“Her name is Lisha” before what he said made Lisha flinch and look apologetic, then he pointed at the blonde and then to the last girl “They are Lily and Alexis” Lily nodded at her (Still glaring) while Alexis waved shyly “Ah… call me K…”

It didn’t escaped Sophie's notice, that the three girls winced and looked at him, when he said that… with Lisha rubbing with her thumb the plastic ring of the thing on her wrist…

“Just K?” still, she wanted to ask without prying… if such a thing was possible…

“Y-yeah… I dislike my name…” he looked away with a haunted look on his eyes

“Oh. I know that feeling…” she nodded and smiled at him, making him blush a bit “Sadly I can’t help with that, it took me a while to find mine~!”

Only one of them didn’t had a smile when she said that…

“What was your name before?” and Lily earned a pointed stare from the rest of them with that question, as she kept glaring at Sophie…

“A bunch of letters, a line, then a bunch of numbers, a line, and thirty-three…” she answered with nothing more than a frown in her face and a monotonous voice “Please, call me Sophie” but she tried to not get angry at the girl, she understood that she was a stranger to her

Still, she didn’t expected all four of them looking at her with astonishment, especially Lily…

“That sounded like the truth to me… Lily?” Lisha asked with her hands opening and closing rapidly… she looked… disquiet, compared with the others…

“It was…” and the blonde confirmed what she said…

“Why would I lie…?” which made Sophie confused, again, while Alexis and K grew paler

“Things in Barus must be getting worse…” he said while rubbing his face “Do we take her to your mom?” before asking that while looking at Lily

And Sophie got even more confused

“Yeah… we should…” while the blonde now looked embarrassed, and looked ready to say something else…

“What’s a mom?”

““““Eh…?””””

But Sophie dropped a bomb…

‘Did I said something wrong…?’

[No, I don’t think you have made a mistake by saying that]

Even after hearing that, she couldn't help but get worried at how they were looking at her…

“W-what do you mean? You don’t know who your mom is…? Or…?” Lisha was the first to recover while looking anxious, snapping the rest out of their shock

“Who my mom is…? I thought you were talking about an object” but Sophie, once more, made all of them flinch

“What the fuck?!” this time Lily reacted loudly, making Alexis flinch again, and hug her book tighter “What are those idiots doing?! Are they pretending that only the father matters now?!” she glared at Sophie once she tilted her head again “Don't tell me that you don’t know that word either!”

And trembled once she heard the answer…

“But I really don’t know…?” at that point Sophie was getting distressed, she had no idea why all of them were reacting so strongly to her questions…

“Y-you don’t know h-how babies are made either…?” Alexis asked with her face showing shock at her questions, the other two girls grimaced at what she said and stared at Sophie while he just groaned and looked horrified…

“I have never seen a baby…” she started, but hesitated while remembering the ban on talking about technology “I just know that sex is involved…? Somehow…”

Now all four of them was looking at her like she let her horns suddenly appear…

“Y-you really don’t know?” Lisha’s breathing was a bit fast as she gestured to her stomach “About…?”

“No…? Oh!” but with her gesture, she noticed why she kept staring at her stomach “Can I ask why you don’t have the scars?”

““Scars?!”” both Lily and Lisha had the same reaction, which made Sophie flinch

[Just in case you need this information: you don’t have any scar in your body] Amelia added in the moment of silence that followed

“Erm…” which didn’t help her figure what she was supposed to say “Every… er… every other girl I have seen, as a scar here…” she traced a horizontal line on her shirt… “And two others here and here…” followed by two vertical lines at each end of the first one…

Right on top of where her womb was…

All four of them knew what those scars were pointing at, even if Sophie had no idea…

“Or those are the result of the egg removal tool?” she truly had no idea, of why what she said caused their reactions

Lisha choked a scream, before she snapped the arrow on her wrist to the black sector of the ring and ran away from her. He, while looking horrified, managed to barely reach her as she was about to exit the clearing and kept her from leaving

They were too far away for Sophie to listen to what he was saying to her… but both of them looked nervous…

Lily looked green and had closed her eyes while trying to control her breathing. She also was covering her mouth and looked ready to puke, but was managing to held it back

Alexis was frozen… her eyes wide open as she looked at Sophie's face, it was as if she had forgotten how to breath…

And while looking lost and afraid…

“I’m sorry…” Sophie only could think about apologizing… “W-what did I do wrong…?”

Repeatedly

-----

It took a while before any of them managed to recover, with Lily guiding all of them to a nearby part of the cliff with flat stones that could work as seats, she had to guide Alexis by the arm, with Lisha and K being the ones that took longer to get close near them

Sophie noticed that the arrow was aiming back to the yellow sector once they got close, but still had no idea of the meaning of the colors and didn’t wanted a repeat of what had happened before…

Alexis was still hugging her book-thing and looking to the trees with a lost stare, Lily was holding her head with both hands, Lisha sipped her jacket up and was hugging herself while looking at the ground between her shoes, K was standing and kept looking over the cliff every now and then. And Sophie was hugging her legs while sitting in her flat stone

She had no idea of what to do…

[This place could be a good location for a ritual spot] Amelia said [We just need to know how far away civilization is from this place, or rather, how difficult is to reach this place. Depending on the answer, this place can be used as it is]

“Do… do you all come here often…?” which made Sophie figure that it was a way of making a topic to distracting them

Lisha snorted and glanced at her, with K having a weird expression on his face…

“Not really… it’s a bit annoying to reach this place, but it’s Alexis mystical place since she was eight, so we come here every time she notices something supernatural. We finally managed to convince her of moving these stones last year” there was a hint of amusement on her voice as she patted her seat

Which made Alexis pout-

‘Cute~!’

At her, before her eyes widened and opened her book-thing again, moving the things inside it until

“Person needs help!” she pointed at something in it and showed the fully occupied page to the group “Another meaning for a falling star!” her words made the other three look amused

‘I can read those letters… how?’ Sophie became confused once she noticed that ‘How can I…?’ she had never seen those characters

[I’ll explain later] but Amelia couldn't answer her

“Did you noticed something weird last night?! I’m sure that the glow I saw was related to you!” because Alexis was talking and looking at her with interest, which gave her the urge to hug her…

“Alexis, she comes from Barus, they can’t walk at night…” Lily said that as if she was reminding her of that fact…

“Why wouldn't I…?” but Sophie ignored her urge, and asked that

Once more making all of them look at her…

Thankfully, this time Lisha laughed briefly while the other three just became amazed…

“You didn’t came from Barus…?” Lily asked that…

“I don’t know the name of the place where I was before” for an answer which made her frown…

“How did your room looked like?” and asked that next…

“A three by three box of concrete, that had cleaning space and food dispenser in the same wall, while the mattress was on the opposite wall”

A two rooms place was forbiddingly expensive…

“How did you escaped…?” Lily and the others made an anguished expression…

“Tunnels filled with trash?” that was the truth by a technicality: she hadn't escaped from anywhere in that world, but the latest escape she had done, was through the tunnels until the tank found her…

K asked her if those tunnels were dark, and she answered with a yes. Which prompted the question about what direction she had been following since then, and Amelia told her to point to the star and said ‘From where it appears’

That answer made K tell her the name of the four cardinal directions, before he looked at Lily

“Barus…?” he asked unsure

“Or someone else, inside Barus pretending to be Barus…?” she asked back with the same tone… making Lisha eyes go unfocused for a moment

“S-should I tell Ellie about that plot? Or do you want to use it…?” and she asked that to Lily

K sighed, while Lily and Alexis looked confused

“Since we are talking about someone’s life…” he got the attention of the rest, making Sophie lost once more “Let’s not write about her circumstances for now…”

“Ah…” Lisha looked a bit mortified for a moment, but after she glanced at Sophie and her confused expression… “Sorry, I asked something silly. Your mom then?” and finished by asking Lily again

Who pulled out something out of a pocket (that Sophie could understand it was electronic, but not its function), nodded after a groan and put the thing away, but didn’t moved beyond rubbing her eyes

“I don’t have signal here. Are we going to use the biology book this week…?” and asked something that sounded like nonsense to the succubus

“We can skip these last four days…” K deadpanned “We are basically graduated, only Lisha has to go for sports, the rest of us finished yesterday and just need to go if we missed too many days this year… or needs to go and beg for a plus one…” followed by more nonsense…

But his appearance turned sorrowful…

“And all of you will go to New Horn after winter…” which made Sophie's heart, hurt…

‘Wha…?!’ making her distressed

[I’ll explain later] but she tried to held it back

“You can go too…!” Alexis pouted, poking him in the arm

“Not with him threatening to come back…” but she stopped quickly once he said that with a sad expression that made Sophie's heart hurt again

Lily stood up

“If Ke-” and coughed “If K doesn’t want to go, we can’t do anything about it” she stared at him, giving to Sophie the idea that she was of the same opinion as Alexis, before clapping her hands “Let’s go to my mom…” after hesitating for a moment, she looked at Sophie “If someone other than my mom ask, say that you came from Barus… or just let us lie for you…”

She had a glare on her face once she said that word, which made the others smile at her… but Sophie didn’t felt like the glare was related to her, so she nodded and gave the blonde a smile of her own

-----

Getting out of the forest was slow and mostly quiet, but it wasn't because Sophie had more troubles with the terrain due to her lack of a tail

Alexis was the one that had problems with the, fairly difficult, route, partially due to her clothes, but it was her physical aptitude what slowed the group the most

Sophie smiled as she heard Lisha offering to train her, which happened a lot of times before according to K, just to make Alexis say an out of breath ‘No’ every time, something related to the suggestion was said

She, and Amelia, had been particularly interested in an old, dead tree they passed on their way down the slightly cragged forest, and not long after pushing back the urge to carry the cute girl in her arms, again

[I have recorded a route to that place, it should be safe for your use in rituals] Amelia spoke after the others were quiet for a while, as some buildings became visible past some trees

It happened at the same time a dirt path on the ground also became visible, but the path moved north to south, instead of towards the west where they had been

“A lot of people like to run along this path, even if there aren't many cars in Silvermist” K told her once he noticed where she was looking “But only Alexis likes to go further west, even if she can’t handle it”

“H-hey!” her out of breath pout was really cute to Sophie

“Silvermist?” but she managed to push the hugging urges once more…

She didn’t wanted to taint her cute clothes with all the dirt on hers

“The name of this place!” Lisha said as they got out to the cobblestone streets, with Lily getting out her device once more, this time she did something with it “Don't ask if it’s a town or a city. It’s either too big, or too small to be either…”

Further discussion about that topic was interrupted by a loud sound

Woof!

“Cutie…!”

“Ah!?” that surprised Sophie and made her look at… “W-what’s that?!” a haired thing that came running to rub against Alexis and Lisha’s legs

“You have never seen a dog?!” prompting Lily to glare at her in disbelief, before turning back to her devise

The dog-thing made that sound again as Amelia started to speak to her

[That’s one of the Canidae I mentioned before. She is barking because animals can’t talk, in this instance, she is most likely asking about you, because this is the first time she sees, or smells, you]

The dog was brown, and near Alexis’ small height she looked enormous, even if compared with Sophie the dog wasn't that big…

“C-come here so Cutie can smell you!” Alexis, while scratching the dog behind the ears, suggested that to Sophie

“She is harmless” K said before moving near the dog and grabbing a belt on her neck to held her there, as he waved to a woman jogging towards them

“Yeah! She is just a homosexual dog that fell for my cheating cat” Lisha added before laughing at Sophie's confusion

And she tried it, Sophie walked a bit closer extending her left hand towards the head of the creature…

“Thanks for holding her!” the woman arrived at that point and was greeted by the others, while Cutie started sniffing her hand “At least she didn’t went looking for her girlfriend” she joked with Lisha before attaching a leash to the collar, and noticed Sophie “Who…?”

“She is from Barus…” Lily said. By then, Cutie started to rub her head against Sophie's hands while she was crouched, making her giggle at the soft feeling of her fur and the happy noises she was making, wondering why her tail was wagging so much

“She avoided the patrols?!” to the point where she didn’t noticed what the woman was saying “For this long?!” it would be a long time until she learned that Silvermist wasn't particularly close to the border with Barus

“Sophie walked at night” K said, sending the woman into a stunned silence

That she didn’t noticed because she was rubbing the belly of the happy dog

“S-sophie…?” she only noticed when Alexis called for her “What happened to your- ah?!” and tried to touch her bandaged hand

“Eek!” which snapped her from her fun moment with the animal, quickly clutching her right hand against her chest, trying to hide it with the other one…

Cutie reacted to her yelp by standing up and looking around in alert, but after an awkward moment where everyone looked at Sophie, she went back to ask for rubs and head-pats

“S-sorry…” which Sophie gave with her left hand “I… I…” even if she trusted Amelia’s enchantments, she had reacted by instinct

“N-no! I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have!” and made Alexis a flustered mess, until Sophie deliberately grabbed one of her hands with her right one

“I shouldn’t have reacted like that, but… I can’t…” seeing her blush, she let go of her hand and pressed it against her stomach, while assuming that she was making her uncomfortable…

Making the following silence another awkward one…

‘I messed up…’ Cutie made a whine at the lowered amount of affection

“Ah! Right!” but the woman reacted and pulled a bit on the leash and looked at Lily “Your mom works for that department now! I still remember her working as a lawyer” she whistled and Cutie obediently moved to her side, confusing Sophie “I’ll let you all go on with that. Call us when Pickles gives birth!”

“Will do!” Lisha answered to that last thing and the woman and dog left

“This way, and before you ask, Pickles is the name of her cat” Lily said as Sophie stood up to follow all of them, with Alexis still blushing and not looking at anyone

“And cats are furry little assholes…” Lisha continued with a giggle…

That turned into a confused look towards the small girl, because she didn’t reacted to it

“What? Hand holding turns you on…?” and said something that turned Alexis into a blushing mess, that started to chase her to hit her with the book

-----

After a few minutes of playing around, as K called it once Alexis got tired of running, they walked for some time while telling Sophie a few stories about their life in Silvermist, with the succubus getting just a few stares on the way

“Pickles!” when Lisha called out at a black and white little creature, coming out of a small passage between two walls surrounding two different houses

Meow

“You hag! Why aren't you home?!” the cat just repeated the same sound as Lisha moved closer and carried her, touching their noses together before bringing the animal towards the group “Let her sniff you, but just touch behind her her ears, or under her chin. The belly is a good way of getting clawed”

The way she spoke, made the cat sound as something dangerous to her, but since Alexis got closer to the fat cat and showed her how to do it, she tried it

“Oh~” making the soft creature purr like a machine that was running smoothly

“Well~ she likes you…!” Lisha huffed after a moment “Or she can smell her girlfriend on your hands. Anyway, I have to take her home, can you girls finish with Sophie?”

“I should leave too…” K said with a frown aimed at Lisha who smiled widely back at him “I can feel a headache incoming, and I think I’m going to be working a shift tomorrow, that idiot hasn't made the calendars for the week yet”

Sophie assumed that he was talking about a Shithead, or a manager, but would learn about how much of an idiot that man was, later…

“Don't you have a medical checkup?” Lily asked, she looked, and sounded, annoyed since the mention of that man

“Got delayed, the machine needs repairs due to a hair pin that someone forgot to remove…” he deadpanned and all three girls groaned

“Let’s go then” Lisha gestured with her head “I’ll give you water or juice at my house” then she turned to Sophie, who had become sad due to what they had been saying “See you soon~ and good luck with getting your papers!” she gave her a small wave while holding the cat, and started to walk away once Sophie finally stopped petting said cat

He also waved at the three of them and walked away next to Lisha

Which left Sophie with a weird pain in her chest…

[I’ll explain later]

‘How did you know…?’ she looked at the other two girls, and started to follow them once Lily kept walking on the directions they were going on

[You facial expression is similar, to the previous time I said that]

She didn’t know how to feel about that…

So she focused on the houses that they were passing by…

‘Small…? Or big…?’

If she compared the structures behind the walls to the skyscrapers, or to the slum blocks between landfills, then they were small, but if these ‘Small’ building were the place where an individual sleep, got clean, and ate, then these ‘Houses’ were huge…

“Are these for just one person…?” she pointed at a house while they passed in front of a gate, making Alexis giggle, and Lily huff

“No~ in these, a family lives… eh…” but the giggling cute expression, turned into a pained one “You know… eh… well, you might not…”

“An average of four people per home” Lily intervened, patting her friend on the shoulder and calming her with a smile

‘Families…?’ she wanted to ask… but she didn’t wanted to make them suffer with her questions anymore…

But they did confirm that the houses were big… and definitively expensive…

-----

They had been walking north for a while, reaching a series of apartment buildings that Sophie felt similar to the ones in the previous world. Shorter, by a lot, but she understood the idea behind them with just seeing them

To her small frustration, since she wanted to see the insides of one of them, they didn’t enter them from the front door, but instead Lily guided them to the vehicle storage under the apartment building. Sophie only recognized those metal boxes as vehicles, because they had wheels and visible seats inside them, but had no idea of how they worked

“Hello you three” and she was more interested in the… ‘Mom’ that was waiting for them near one “Nice to meet you, I’m Calypso”

“Hi…?” she was confused by her, and compared her with Lily “Ah… I’m Sophie…”

“What’s wrong now…?” Lily didn’t look happy by how she was looking between them, and Alexis looked nervous, as if she was bracing for another shock

The woman was just like Lily… she just kept her hair short, had a pair of square things in front of her blue eyes, held by something synthetic (Glasses), and had a gray suit that looked great on her. The height, and gorgeous appearance, of the woman and the girl were the same

‘She looks… is “Mom” another word for prototype…? Or it’s for base model…?’

There were some other details that looked different, like the fact that the woman wasn't glaring at her, but… to Sophie, they looked as if the same batch had been made twice, with a few years happening between them

“You two…” she really wanted to ask… “Similar…?”

But just by saying that, she could see that both of the girls were getting stressed, and the woman arched an eyebrow

“Now I understand what you said in your message…” Calypso’s words helped Sophie realize that the device Lily used was for communication “Can I ask you a few questions?”

“Sure…?” she had no idea of what Lily had said on her message, but didn’t saw any problem with doing what she asked

Which ended with her repeating some of the things that she had said to the girls, said girls wincing a lot as she mentioned some of them again

The egg removing tool caused a similar reaction in them once she mentioned it again, and she could feel the fury radiating from the woman…

“How old are you?” but she did her best to not show that anger

“My body is eighteen” even if Sophie knew it was there… just as she was becoming aware of the feeling the girls had “But my soul is older than that” that awareness was distracting her, to the point where she didn’t realized what she said

“Barus doesn’t talks about souls, usually…” until Calypso mentioned it, making both girls look at Sophie with curiosity “Is there a requirement for the use of this tool…? And who told you about souls?”

“Eh…” but even if Sophie felt stupid for saying that, she pushed on “Girls need to be of a certain age? And the one that taught me that, was the old man that pulled me out of…” until she realized that she maybe shouldn’t be talking about flying transports… so, she pointed at a vehicle “The collapsed vehicle, that’s my earliest memory and not long after that he told me that I was seven, so I have been counting my age since then”

Alexis tried to say something, but Calypso made a gesture that silenced her

“Was he your father?”

“I have no idea what that is…” she groaned in frustration “How was it…?” [Assigned female at birth?] “Right! He was assigned female at birth” all three of them were shocked by what she said “And he was too old to kept me hidden, when the Shitheads came for me a year later… ah…” at this point she realized that she was rambling close to a potentially dangerous topic “Sorry, what I’m trying to say is, that he never taught me what those words meant, or if he even knew them”

Calypso sighed and rubbed her forehead

“An old trans-man in Barus…?” she sounded impressed “How old was he?”

“I… I think he was forty-five?” all three of them stared at Sophie… but she didn’t let those stares stop her “I’m guessing there, one of the Shitheads that was there to take me away, asked him if he was going to kill himself now that he was near the end of his useful age”

“Can you elaborate on that…?” the mom asked, making her confused

“People die at fifty? One way or the other?”

That was the breaking point for Alexis, her eyes teared up, and with a sob she hugged Lily

Making Sophie regret everything she had said… with her eyes filling with tears as she heard the awful sound of her cries, that squeezed at her heart painfully…

“Crap… Lily take her up, I’ll take Sophie to the police to-”

“NO!!!” that word triggered Sophie's flight or fight reflex and jumped backwards, making distance between them “WHY?!!!” scaring all of them with her reaction

Her heart hurt… with that awful feeling of betrayal…

‘NOT AGAIN!!!’

“Sophie, calm down-”

“WHY?!!! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!!! WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THAT?!!!” her screams echoed loudly in the concrete place

She was about to run, and all of them looked worried by how she was acting, Alexis breathing heavily wasn't helping her own feelings that were starting to run out of control

[Sophie, please wait. If their explanation is not satisfactory then I’ll pull us out of this place]

Sophie shivered, feeling her tears falling from her eyes… she knew that Amelia’s ‘Pulling them out’ was likely to be a violent affair…

But even while faced with an imminent betrayal, she didn’t want to hurt them…

Calypso’s face was one of pure focus, but after seeing that Sophie wasn't running away, yet. She looked at Lily, who was looking between the two crying girls for a few seconds until she noticed her mom’s stare

“Ah… my mom works for a law department that deals with immigrants from Barus, she makes sure people like you, finds a place to live all over Lost Pearls. But the law-”

“Isn't this place Silvermist?!!!” she didn’t understand where did that name came from, and took a step backwards, but none of them moved from where they were

“Yes, Silvermist is a town inside the country of Lost Pearls…” Calypso explained, before gesturing to Lily to keep going

“The law…” which she did after taking a deep breath “Doesn't applies to criminals, which is why mom will take you to the police to give them your fingerprints, and make sure you aren't in a list of criminals-”

“I’M NOT!!!”

Her scream made her throat hurt, and Alexis flinched and trembled when she did it. Which made Sophie felt even worse…

‘Only the Shitheads think I’m a criminal! While the only thing I have done! Is try to survive! Or does that applies here too…?! I’m…! The one… betraying them…?’ she really couldn't understand what she was feeling anymore… and things were getting worse by the second…

The magma in her chest was heating up… and she was terrified of what would happen if she let it spill by accident…

“And I don’t believe that you are one” Calypso said, raising both hands into what she assumed was an attempt at a calming gesture “But…” she hesitated and shook her head “Since you really don’t want to do this today… ah! How about this?” she turned towards Lily and Alexis “I’ll take her to Selene’s for today, what do you two think?”

“Selene…?” Lily was unsure… “She lives with three other women already…”

“But by accepting Sophie, she would be receiving a stipend which I’m sure all of them would appreciate”

Getting credits for letting Sophie live with them…?

That was an utterly bizarre idea to her…

‘No Shithead would allow something like that to happen…’

“I k-know them…” Alexis said, her tone making Sophie feel guilty from how she had acted “They are nice people, and Anastasia is a cute baby…”

“Right, Theresa’s… four other women then…” Lily amended her statement

“Good bonus, that way she can learn what a baby is” Calypso opened a door of the vehicle next to her and pulled a book with ‘Biology’ written on it “Without just depending on this…” she offered the book to Sophie “What do you think?”

She was breathing heavily, trying to find a way to relax, while most of her focus was on the tip of her tail, that was preparing to reappear in order for her to run faster… she was terrified…

[I believe that she can be trusted, for the moment. She is also offering knowledge that might not be present in the Ark, this, and you seeing a baby, seem to be good things that you need to experience]

Hearing that… wasn't as calming as she hoped when Amelia started to talk… but she managed to take a step forwards

“Don't betray me…” her voice was surprisingly clear, even if her body was shaking slightly “That’s all I ask…”

“All of us want to help you”

That’s what the mom said to her, with both girls nodding…

Which Sophie did too as she hugged herself… hoping that it wasn't a mistake

-----

The drive to Selene’s was a slow one, mostly for Sophie's benefit, just to make sure she saw that there were only houses around them

Houses that became a bit smaller, and instead of walls, they had fences separating them from each other

The other reason was for Calypso to call Selene on her phone (The same kind of device Lily had used before), with the speaker mode turned on, for Sophie to hear the whole conversation

Selene sounded like a good woman, and Amelia agreed with that statement, so that did helped her to calm down…

Just not to the point where she opened the book on her hands…

Alexis and Lily had remained behind, and she had accepted that: she was feeling awful for making Alexis cry, and the two of them promised that the four of them were going to visit her soon…

Which she needed to believe on…

“Just so we are clear on something” Calypso started in a neutral tone once Sophie had managed to calm down a bit “Fifty is not the age where most people die of natural causes…” there was a moment of silence, where Sophie just looked at the woman that was looking at the road, because it was obvious that the world wasn't as contaminated as the previous one “For example, I’m forty-five and-”

“That’s impossible! You look fantastic!” she just couldn't stop herself from saying that

The mere idea of the old man and her having the same age, was ridiculous beyond belief…

And she was the one had found a magical crystal, that took her to a new world, and gave her a new body to start her life as a succubus…

Which meant that Calypso’s winced silently at the honesty on her words

“Did he have troubles with getting food?” her tone now was sympathetic

“Every day he managed to get something for me to eat…” as she was saying that, she understood the point that Calypso was trying to make “I’m sorry for screaming…” she looked down to the floor of the car

The seat and floor were covered with a plastic sheet, that she was happy about, because she didn’t want to stain the most comfortable thing she had ever sat on

“Don't worry” Calypso continued “It’s not your fault, the police involvement in this process has been happening for years. This is just the first time where Barus as attempted to mess with the thing, by making its people be scared of our police”

“So all cops aren't bastards…?” she didn’t want to say that it was the old man the one that taught her about the pigs…

The mom hummed with an amused expression

“For as long I’m with you in that place, the cops are going to be scared of me” after saying that, she stopped the car in front of a house and turned off the motor “And don’t worry, I’ll move some strings to make the process faster” she opened her door and climbed out

That was the first time Sophie heard that expression in a positive way…

She nodded before opening the door, even if that action wasn't seen

Once she was out she noticed the door of the house opening and the beautiful woman that came out jogged excitedly to hug Calypso

“Been so long~!” the gesture caught Sophie out of guard, she wasn't used to see that kind of affection, much less so openly

“Sorry~ I have been busy” the mom returned the hug and eventually they pulled away, with her gesturing to the succubus “This is Sophie, the girl from Barus that I mentioned”

“Wow you are tall… I’m Selene! And of course she can stay here” Selene had long, wavy, brown (Caramel) colored hair, with green eyes that looked at her warmly

Sophie smiled a bit, feeling at ease with the woman

“Hi”

“The rest are waiting inside~” she turned to Calypso “You are going to stay for a bit?”

“I have to stay” she deadpanned “That way Sophie can take a shower, while all of you get up to date with her situation”

Selene smiled happily at that, and guided them inside without giving Sophie too much time to appreciate the decoration

“They are the girls living here with me” before she started the introductions of the beautiful people inside “Antonia, she is a nurse currently in vacations” she gestured to a muscular woman with short black hair and brown eyes that looked at her clinically, before greeting her “Polly, she makes clothes and is going to make you work as a lingerie model”

“Hey…!” the platinum blonde woman, with glasses on front of her green eyes, protested… “Hmm…” but after pushing her glasses up and staring at Sophie for a few seconds… “I ask, never force…” her words made Antonia snort, but Selene continued

“And they are Theresa” she gestured to a woman with red hair that reached her shoulders, with tired blue eyes, that were a bit nervous “And her baby, Anastasia”

Sophie froze once she saw the pink clothed, tiny, human that Theresa was carrying

There was a singular word that was bouncing ceaselessly inside her skull, the moment she saw those chubby cheeks, tiny nose, closed eyes, glove covered hands, and the little hat she was wearing

She looked back at Calypso, who was staring at her

“Yes, she is a baby that will grow to become a woman”

Those words were understood by her, but the word that kept bouncing in her head didn’t let her do more than nod and look back at Anastasia

“C-cute…” she wanted to carry and hug the baby… badly…

“She has never seen one…?” Theresa’s voice was incredulous, both Antonia and Polly seemed to be of the same opinion

None of them seemed to be aware of the battle inside Sophie's mind, between the ideas of getting closer to the baby, and carrying the baby, but Calypso’s words made her snap back into reality-

“Yes, but I’ll explain while she takes a shower. We don’t want the dirt in her clothes to be in the same room as a baby” because both ideas got smacked to oblivion by the possibility of dirtiness being dangerous to a baby “Selene?” she asked after taking the biology book

“This way!” and the woman gestured to Sophie to follow after her

“Don't use all the hot water, please…” with Antonia making that comment as she passed

“Hot water…?! For cleaning…?!” she whispered, but the astonishment in her voice was obvious…

And made all four women look at Calypso for an explanation

“Bath first…” but she made a gesture with her hands to hurry Selene along

-----

It was a small house (Sophie strongly disagreed with that descriptor), but it had two bathrooms with mirrors inside them, and enough rooms to fit the five (Anastasia slept in the same room as her mother) of them… once Polly’s tools were moved to her room to clear some space for Sophie, according to Selene

The woman was already saying things like that, as she showed how things worked in the ground floor bathroom. She also had to explain things like soap and shampoo, because Sophie was absolutely lost (And wasn't sure if the handheld devise she used to clean her body in the previous world, had an equivalent in this place), but Selene didn’t seemed to mind, and instructed her to leave her dirty clothes in a basket by the door for her to wash

“Getting cute clothes for you, can wait until you get out~” Selene had said…

And that wonderful idea got stuck to her mind once she was alone in the private cleaning room. She got naked in mere seconds and observed her body…

With her face making the widest smile she had ever done, it was as Amelia had said: not a single scar anywhere in that smooth, hairless skin-

[Yes, you are naturally hairless, except for hair and eyebrows. This can be changed, but I suggest more practice with the fine details of your Formless side] that Amelia confirmed once she asked about it

And big pale nipples, that mixed with the tone of her skin, which made difficult to see the edge between them… she was happy…

But as she began exploring her new body-

“What?!” the alarmed voices coming from the outside, reminded her that she couldn't afford to get aroused at that moment

So she did what Selene said, and placed her clothes, with the exception of her bandages, in the basket and got inside the shower, making sure the curtain was perfectly shut before she started the thing like she was told to do-

“Ahhh~♥” and a rush of euphoria washed all over her as she felt the hot liquid cleaning her… “Shit~ this feels so good~”

She was just enjoying the water for a couple of minutes when she heard the door open. Which made her freeze, while hearing the basked being dragged out of the room, and how something was placed on the floor, before the door closed again…

A bit of fear made her look behind the curtain to confirm that she was alone, but once she did so, she relaxed again and actually followed the instructions to clean her body

Also cleaning the black bandage while she was at it, hoping that the soap worked on it

[If there is a need to make more of them, then I’ll add self-cleaning to them]

“That…” she shook her head ‘That’s a waste of magic, if I can clean them like this, then we are fine’

[But your time can be used in more important things]

‘Counter point! I like the smells all these products have…’

[Understood]

With that discussion finished, she shut the water and squeezed the bandage, and started to dry herself. It was then, that she noticed the items that were left behind while she was taking the bath, a pair of shoes (That later she was told were called sandals), that replaced the ones she had been wearing so far

The idea was obvious, so she covered her body like Selene taught her, one towel for the body the other for the hair, wore the sandals after bandaging her hand again

And got out…

Only to get hugged instantly by Selene… she managed to hold the scream she almost made at being surprised like that, but what she saw of her face before she moved closer, reminded her of the pain in Alexis’ face…

Theresa and Anastasia weren't there, and before she could ask Polly joined the hug for a moment

“To my studio!” she declared “We need to get her clothed! And measured!”

Much to her confusion…

“The food will be here soon…” Antonia said while Calypso moved after the three of them

“Don't rush me!” and Polly answered back as she pulled Sophie and Selene up the stairs

Eventually reaching a room that was bigger than Sophie's previous one, but was full of fabrics with some machines, and plastic humanoid models

“Release the boobies!” there was barely space for the four of them in there, but Polly moved with ease between the piles of stuff, coming back to the spot where she left them with many strings and different kinds of measuring tapes “Go on! We are all girls here!”

“And you are homosexual…” Calypso’s deadpan was brushed away with a gesture

“I am a professional” and a comment that made Selene giggle as Sophie's confusion grew…

Everything had been so fast that she didn’t realized what they were talking about, until Selene explained that Polly wanted her measurements for clothes

“Ah…” and she felt somewhat embarrassed about it, but she still removed the towel

“Oh…! Don’t tell me…” Polly’s eyes widened and quickly moved around Sophie's body, using the different tapes nearly simultaneously all over her torso and back, ignoring the other two women that were in the room with them. Her movements and touch had an almost clinical feel to them “Eight point eleven?!” even if her words weren't…

““What?!”” the two other women got shocked by a number that meant nothing to Sophie

“You are bigger than Selene!” until the woman still taking measurements said that aloud

Making Sophie blush with pride, even if she had been trying to not paid attention to how similar her size was to the woman’s… quickly adapting to Polly’s indications about the postures she wanted Sophie to take

“Hey the food is…” until Antonia entered the room and froze for a moment “Why does she lacks a bellybutton…?”

[I have made a mistake]

She felt a shiver run along her spine at Amelia’s words…

With a growing feeling of dread as the confused women looked at her smooth stomach

[To fix this, all of them must be killed-]

“NO!!!”