This is a super serious chapter.... maybe. 

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After Charlotte started feeling better the group of three reconvened. Now that Charlotte was back the mission to save her sister was ongoing. 

"So where exactly were they keeping you in the duke's castle?" asked Hannah. 

"There was a secret door behind the Duke's quarters where we were kept but they would take us out for the experiments and bring us to the laboratory which was in the dungeon," Charlotte replied while twirling her fingers nervously. 

"Hmm," thought Lily. "Slavery isn't illegal, right Hannah?"

"Right" 

"Then why would the Duke hide the girls in a different room? Maybe there is an issue with the king or someone else? It doesn't really make sense." Lily explained. 

"The Duke did occasionally mention someone named Marius, but I don’t know who he is," added Charlotte. 

The three sat in silence for a second before Lily said, "So Duke Scarlett is the head of foreign affairs right? Maybe he is colluding with another nation against the King?"

"That would make the most sense, but how do we know whether or not it's true, this is all just speculation," replied Hannah. "Well Marius certainly is not a name from this kingdom, maybe a kingdom out to the East would have someone with that name."

"Either way we have to save my sister, it doesn't matter if the Duke is a traitor or not. We have to get her back." Charlotte argued, getting a little worried. 

"Don't worry we will. What is the layout of the castle?" Lily reassured her. 

"From what I remember we would be on the west side of the castle because the sun would usually set where I would look out the window of the Duke's office. There were guard patrols constantly surveilling the cell area though so it would be hard to get in. As for the rest of the castle, I only know what I saw when I broke out, which unfortunately is only that there are two walls that serve as a perimeter to the castle."

Another moment of silence ensued as they studied what they knew. 

"Ok then let's try to get directly into the cell room and ignore the rest of the castle. We know that there is a window on the eastern side that leads into the Duke's office so why not go through there?"  Hannah thought out loud. 

"That could work," Lily said.

"Ok, then when do we leave?" asked Charlotte nervously. 

"The sooner the better right?" asked Lily. "I need. to evolve before we leave, that will take at least two hours, we leave then."

Lily quickly selected the humanoid slime of family and began evolving. 

After about 2 hours Lily regained consciousness to find that she was still at the inn with the moon now almost beginning to set. Charlotte and Hannah were sprawled over her and Charlotte looked slightly different now having red streaks in her hair and nails. 

"Guys," Lily shook them. "Guys!" she shook again, causing some drowsy movement from the both of them. 

"That wasn't enough sleep," pouted Hannah.

Charlotte wordlessly got up, turned around, and planted her teeth in Lily's neck. Lily froze for a moment before pulling Charlotte closer to her for easier access. When Charlotte was done and she detached she gave Lily a gentle hug. 

"Thanks," Charlotte said. Then she moved on to Hannah and did the same with her. But since it was Hannahs first time she let out a little yelp. 

They gathered everything they needed and proceeded to the castle where on the way Hannah explained all of the perks of being a slime to Charlotte, who saw no downside except for the slave aspect of it. 

They finally reached the castle after 30 minutes of traversing the town and noticed the window on the western side where they would try and gain entry. 

"Ok, let's stick together," Hannah said taking the lead and morphing into a slime while the others followed suit. They slithered up to the window where they peeked inside to find nobody there. They squeezed through the glass panes and into the room in a very slow manner. When they got to where the secret door was supposed to be they squeezed through for the final time and were in the cell rooms. 

They pushed forward to find many empty cells filled with blood until they got to the last room where Charlotte's sister was supposed to be. There was no blood in the room but no person either. 

"Oh no," Charlotte started hyperventilating. "Quickly, they have to be in the lab room."

Charlotte led them out back into the book-filled room.

"Wait!" Lily called, as she grabbed a book and used consume on it. 

Lily consumed all the books in the office, not bothering to look at their titles, gaining 47 books. 

"Ok let's go," Lily said exiting the office and going into the lavish hallway decorated with red carpets and drapes. They followed Charlotte downstairs where they had to sneak by the maids and finally reached the cellar door. They pulled it open and descended downwards. 

"Why are there no guards?" asked Hannah. 

"I don't know, it's not good" replied Charlotte. 

When they finally reached the lab room there was nobody there except a Kitsune in a lab chair with her hands tied down. 

"Sis!" Charlotte yelled and hugged the girl who just stared at her. The Kitsune had light skin fox ears, a tail, and long nails, but her eyes stood out. They weren't the usual hazel of the Kitsune but instead were emerald green and expressionless. 

"Charlotte gets back from there," Hannah said as Charlotte undid the girl's last limb. 

"Kira it's me, I came back for you as I said, let's go," Charlotte said while tugging the girl. The girl suddenly jolted into action, scratching Charlotte's neck which instantly healed.  The girl then launched herself at Hannah who quickly ax kicked her into the ground. The girl was relentless though and decided to attack Lily who was the weakest of the bunch. 

Lily used Hannah's dash ability to get out of the way and let the other two girls restrain her. Kira, as Charlotte called her, wouldn't stop thrashing and trying to attack them, but having no luck. 

"What did they do to her?" sobbed Charlotte.

Kira suddenly detached her arms and dashed at Lily. Charlotte and Hannah dropped Kira's limbs out of surprise which flew back to their owner allowing her to stab Lily through the chest. Lily coughed up blood as she felt Kira's arm go through her. 

"Lily!" Charlotte and Hannah yelled at the same time, pulling Kira off of Lily.