While everyone else was lazing around, counting seconds until Iris came back, Lenmia grabbed her chest. Her core trembled. A cold premonition spread from her soul and into her slime body, dimming her golden colour. She immediately looked around the room but found nothing out of the ordinary. All her sisters were safe, except Iris, whose fate was unknown. Suddenly, she regretted letting her go alone.
"Something is wrong," she abruptly said. "Does any of you feel anything?"
At the table, staring at the map she drew, Varda raised her head and closed her eyes for a moment. Not getting any strange feeling at all, she shook her head lightly. After becoming a Monster Girl, she had become much more carefree and lightheaded. Maybe her senses had dulled.
Beside her, Reta was studying the map. When she heard her sister spoke, she shook her head and fixed her attention on Lenmia. She was a superb learner and listener, able to discern the tones of her sisters. Lenmia had something to say, not of good news, but not grave enough to announce immediately.
"Sister Lenmia, is something amiss?" she asked, raising her voice so that all her sisters would hear the question. "Did something happen?"
"Something definitely happened. We should prepare." Lenmia turned to all her sisters and nodded, affirming their expression. "I hope Iris will be fine."
Hearing the concern, Dulcie giggled as she played with Tardi, helping her tending the delicate flowers and plants decorating the cave. She didn't worry about Iris, for she had placed her blind trust in her second sister. It was impossible for Iris, who hid her shrewdness under her shyness, to meet with inescapable danger. Even the deities couldn't take her life.
"She'll be fine, Sister Lenmia. I'm more worried about her abandoning us after she becomes too strong."
"Sister Iris would never," Varda said, unable to silently listen to someone teasing Iris. "She promised. We're family."
"I'm just joking. Instead of worrying about her, we should prepare ourselves, right, Sister Lenmia?"
As Varda was about to talk again, Lenmia clapped her hands and stared at Varda, her eyes half-closed. Though she said nothing and remained smiley, a chill rushed through Varda, who grabbed onto her shivering tail and averted her gaze, afraid of getting reprimanded. Though she liked having her inside turned into a mess, Lenmia was too good, way too good.
"I think so too." She rapidly nodded. "I think I'll go with Sis Reta. Will you come with me, Sister?"
Not waiting for any response, Varda grasped Reta's hand and quickly slithered out of the room. Despite her smaller size, Varda was faster and stronger than Reta, who also didn't resist and go along with the flow. She didn't mind chatting with Varda, who was knowledgeable about the outside world. She had a lot to ask, and Varda also liked to flaunt her wisdom.
Listening to Reta and Tarda leaving the room, Tardi gradually stopped tending to the flowers and perked up. She looked at Dulcie, who was stroking her head, and at Lenmia, whose expression was getting more and more solemn. Though she was outwardly petite, she wasn't a kid. Knowing that it was grave, she properly set the soil before chuckling.
"It seems that I also need to go," she said, hugging Dulcie one last time. Her mud body tainted Dulcie, who playfully snuggled in it as if she was trying to steal as much of her mass as possible. "I'll be waiting at the entrance."
"Sorry. I just don't want you to worry too much," Lenmia said, averting her gaze in guilt.
"The seniority of the family must be followed, after all. I'll be the cutest youngest sister, so protect me, you all."
Tardi acted cutely like an innocent little sister and quickly ran out of the room. Her footsteps echoed, slowly fading until only Dulcie's breathing filled the room.
As the second oldest Monster Girl, Dulcie was the closest to Lenmia, the only one with whom she could share happy and sad news. They were alike, protective and playful, though Lenmia was a lot stronger than her.
"Dulcie, what should I do?" Lenmia said. "My core, it really hurts. I think we have to leave, but Iris is still in there."
"Don't think unnecessary thoughts. We'll power through this, like always. Even if we leave, Iris will know where to find us. Either here or Vilia's cave."
"What if she thinks we abandoned her? I don't want to be hated by her, by any of you."
"None of us hates you, Lenmia." Dulcie stepped closer to Lenmia and consoled her, embracing her as if she was a little girl. "Don't let your fear take over. It's just a nightmare, an apparition."
Whenever the subject concerned her sisters, Lenmia would dissolve into a pile of emotional mess. The scar of betrayal had never faded from her heart, and now she feared the loss of her new family the most. It was why she never let her sisters go out and hunt for themselves, never let them wander far from the cave, and never spoke of anything about her past. She feared that their innocent love for her would vanish once they knew her pathetic self.
"I'm selfish, aren't I?" she said. "Sorry for being a burden, Dulcie, but you're the only one I can cry to."
"I know. We're the losest, after all. You helped me then, and now, I'm helping you." Dulcie stroked Lenmia's back and felt her warm moist slime membrane. She coaxed Lenmia until she sobbed and let all her penned-up emotions out. "Sob all you want. Cry until your heart becomes strong again. Only then can you be our eldest sister."
Slowly, Lenmia collapsed on the ground, pulling Dulcie with her. She planted her face on Dulcie's soft breasts and bowled onto the leaves and vines, soaking the flesh with tears. Her poignant wail faintly permeated the room, echoing only for Dulcie, who soundlessly sat beside Lenmia. Though she had helped Lenmia several times, she still didn't know how to cheer her up and could only sit still like a doll for her to whisper her regret to.
...
"How is Sister Lenmia?" Varda said as she leant against the cave's entrance, her eyes alternating between the majestic Soul Tree and Tardi, who had just come out. "She looks almost pale when I left the room."
"She'll be fine. Sister Dulcie is having a heart to heart with her. Give her some time."
"The scar never left, huh? Thankfully, my childhood is quite boring, and my only friend is already dead." As a mage, Varda never had too much attachment to worldly matter. Becoming a Monster Girl further alienated her from her humanity, which she deemed as a good thing. "I don't have any regret, but do you?"
Tardi looked down at her muddy hands and reached out but couldn't quite touch Varda. Though she never regretted becoming a Monster Girl, she wished she could turn back time and redo her other mistake.
"I have one. That day, I shouldn't have let her go. We could still be together if only I had asked her to stay."
"I'm sure your sister is looking for you. The question is, what will you do when you meet her?" Varda slightly quivered at the thought of such an imaginary scene. She licked her lips and slithered around Tardi, watching her expression. "She will fall, right?"
"Maybe. The last time I saw her, she was already strong. She must become stronger to avenge me. That's the problem." Tardi rubbed her own hands, trying to remember the sensation of her sister's touch. "Maybe only Sister Lenmia can make her fall."
"Then pray we won't run into her any time soon. And that we'll become stronger faster than she could. And, if all else fails, you can save us."
"She is a doting sister. We only have each other, after all. It must hurt when she found that I was caught in the Sinking."
Tardi gazed at the sky, where the great sun burnt brightly, enclosing the world with warmth hope, just like that day. There was no sign, no announcement, no premonition. Suddenly the Sinking Dark Forest erupted a dark wave of Corruption Power, and those caught in it fell.
"Unfortunately, I wasn't there to witness it. You all fell during the Sinking, didn't you?"
"Only I and Sister Reta were the victims of the Sinking. The rest had their own circumstances."
"Well, are these circumstances related to those people?" Varda said and turned to the opposite of the cave.
Across the Soul Tree, in the dense bushes of leaves and flowers, a series of steady footsteps echoed. The greenery rustled as Pallorn and her followers cut through the thick vines and bushes, emerging from the forest into the grass plain. They had followed the faint trail of Corruption Power and arrived at the cave.
"So this is the place," Pallorn said and turned to Senan. "Can you feel it?"
"I can't detect anything, but my heart is racing. This might be more serious than I thought." Senan sent a wisp of magic into the air but failed to deduce anything further. Aside from the gigantic Soul Tree in the middle of the plane, everything was perfectly normal.
"Two Monster Girls are staring at us. Be careful. There might be more in that cave."
"My Lady, should we retreat?" the follower behind Pallorn asked, their hands already preparing their weapons. They only needed one word to fall into the formation. Though they were individually weak, their teamwork allowed them to properly support Pallorn and Senan.
"Let's probe their strength first." Pallorn unsheathed her sword and swung it carelessly. "I'll handle the Snake Girl. Senan, you take that Mud Girl."
Not waiting for the affirmation, Pallorn dashed across the plain, passing the Soul Tree, rustling its leaves and branches with her high speed. Her shadow flashed in a black streak, pushing the grasses in her place to the side. When she reached Varda, she swung her blade upwards, its tip heading straight at the Snake Girl.
Sensing the aggression, Varda snapped her fingers and fell back. Beneath her, a magical circle manifested and spewed out particles of light, which spiralled around Pallorn, who felt sluggish as she inhaled the exotic perfume. She instantly pulled her sword in and jumped back, anticipating a counterattack from the Mud Girl, but nothing ever landed.
Surprised, Tardi merely stared at Pallorn with her mouth slightly ajar. Her eyes gaped at every inch of Pallorn's body, piercing the silvery armour, ogling her curves and beauty. Though altered by time, the silhouette in her memory superimposed against Pallorn's bigger build, almost entirely a perfect copy. Her manner, prideful yet whimsical, also matched.
"Pallorn?" Tardi said, unintentionally stuttering. Her expression instantly melted into a bashful shyness, which her past self knew best.
Hearing a familiar voice, Pallorn halted her movement, her mind spinning rapidly. Questions manifested in her heart, which throbbed at the wildest imagination that connected the dots. But before she could confirm her theory, Varda jauntily hissed at her and cast more spells. Her Corruption Power seeped out between her scales and joined into a black fireball.
Smiling, she pointed at Pallorn. The black fireball swelled and pushed through the atmosphere. Its dark heat poisoned the atmosphere into clouds of green aromas that numbed the nerves. Surprised, Pallorn raised the sword to block the impact, closing her eyes, bracing herself.
From the distance, away from Pallorn, Senan tore a prewritten magic scroll and threw it towards Varda. The paper crumbled and released a surge of magic into the formation, which broke out of the page and floated in the air. It spun and extended forwards, enveloping Pallorn under its barrier.
The black fireball crashed against the magical protection. The impact engulfed Pallorn in the darkness of the black flame. When she opened her eyes, Tardi had already closed in, her hands reaching her long-lost sister.
