Eva walked through the skiff, going slowly so as not to fall. She held a bundle of towers in her arms, all damp and cold for the seven death knights under her care. Eventually, she reached the room where they were being held and opened the door. Inside, she found the death knights exactly where she had left them, all lying on a makeshift rack of beds that kept them in comfortable positions.

She passed by each of them, placing a towelette on each of their heads. For whatever reason, they had begun to heat up drastically within the previous few days and it was getting to the point that she was worried about them. She knew she could have asked that VII lady what was happening-- she seemed to be very knowledgeable about pretty much everything--- but she did not want to interrupt them while they were literally fighting for all of their lives.

Placing the towelettes on every death knight's head, including her Desire, she went about wiping down all of their bodies with the towels she brought. As she wiped them down, she steered clear of the groin area, as well as the place where their scales and their shell met-- they came to the decision that it was a private place-- but made sure that they were all clean. Throughout the days, however, she came to notice something odd about them. Their bodies, far from appearing like that of undead, only grew more and more ‘alive.’ The dry hide covering their bodies had turned springy, like a living lizard’s. The places where bone stuck out, like with their spike-arms and second pairs of legs, were being rapidly covered in hide and scales.

The changes were not only physical, but they also reached the ‘feeling’ they gave. The feeling in the back of head, that simply let her know that the death knights were indeed undead, was growing less and less pronounced with each passing day. To her, they were simply fantastical people who, were she not to know of their true nature, would put her off. Knowing the source of odd feelings, though, made her easily accept them.

After wiping the rest of them off, she finally came upon Desire. With her, she took every liberty and made sure to wipe her well. Once her task was complete, she simply sat upon Desire’s bed and stroked her lover’s head, thinking about how she got there.

For a moment, she wondered why she followed Mori and her undead to the ends of the world. That question was brutally crushed when she gazed upon Desire’s face, her strained visage, and the subtle, minute movements that showed something of the changes happening within them. She loved Desire. That was for certain. It was in everything she did, from her amazingly wholesome goal in life to her snide remarks to Fury. Her little gestures that, to her, were nothing, but were signs of her love to Eva. Even her stubborn reluctance to fight was something that necessity would not take from her.

As she stroked Desire’s head, she felt something shift in the air. It was mana, and it was bounding into Desire’s body at an alarming rate. Eva jumped up in response, failing to account for the sloped floor and stumbling into the wall. From her place in the corner between the wall and the floor, she watched as Desire’s body began to glow. Her scales and skin glowed blue and orange, and they began to morph. 

Her body, spindly from the modifications that Mori had made, began to fill out with muscle and fat. Her scales and skin became even more lifelike. Her head enjoyed the same benefits, as did her limbs, but the makeshift limbs made of bone were the most interesting. The bone clattered together and began to grow into legs for her lower two rib-spikes, while the two arm-spikes pulled themselves inward  and disappeared into her body. Eva watched as the changes continued, enthralled, and scooted closer to take a better look. 

Even then, there was a final change that came. It came in the form of two pairs of wings. They were wings like Fury’s, but larger. More powerful. Eva watched, coming closer, just as Desire woke up. Her eyes fluttered as she sat up, “Eva…?” she asked hazily. Eva grew a wide grin and launched herself into Desire’s arms, “Oh! I missed you too!” she said, hugging back with her soft arms, “What happened to my arms?” she asked.

“I don’t know, and I don’t care. I’m just happy you’re awake,” Eva answered, hugging tighter. She had missed hugging her lover so much it hurt. The only thing that could have topped it would have been if Mark was there as well.

“Alright, alright, I’m here, I’m here,” Desire said soothingly, rubbing Eva’s back, “So, what did I miss? Things seem…” she stared at the floor, which was at a literal forty five degree angle, “Different? Why are we going downward?”

Eva pulled away from Desire, smiling shyly, “Well, it’s a long story…” she said.

Desire smiled, “Do you have time to tell it?” she asked sweetly, “Besides, I have a few… uhm… interesting tidbits to share with you too.” Eva nodded and proceeded to explain the entire story to her. She started from the gift from the dragon, going to the testing of the zombie mech, the attack of the Cyst, the flight from the battlefield, the journey across the desert, and finally ending with their falling into a dwarven cavern. After a moment of thinking, Desire nodded, “Okay, well that makes sense, then…” she muttered, “Okay, Eva, I don’t want you to freak out, but hear me out here…”

Eva nodded, “I’m listening. I won’t panic, I promise.”

“Thanks, Eva,” Desire replied, “We… um… don’t have the system anymore. The gods took it away. They told us that the mistress knows why, but… we’ll have to ask them. I also… umm… was told to ask you this: do you want to leave this world? Granulous? With… with us?”

Eva paused to process the question for a long, long moment, “What!?” she cried, “What are you talking about!? What happened? Are you alright, did they threaten you? Did-”

“Eva,” Desire said, putting a finger to her lover’s lips, “Calm down. Please. I’ll explain it the best I can. Basically, from what they told us, we are going to have to leave this world soon, and they need to know who is going. They wanted to know if… you’re going. I have to. I will serve the mistress. It’s what I was created to do. Will you… will you follow me?”

“Of course I will!” Eva instantly answered, “But do I get to bring Mark? I do love him as much as I do you,” she asked. She felt a bit bad asking that of her. While she believed that polyamory was possible and quite good for many people’s situations, she still had a niggling feeling in the back of her head that made her feel like she left Mark to run off with Desire. She did love them both equally, but Desire was in the most danger at that point, so she did what she could for her.

Desire worked her jaw, “I think? I’ll have to ask the mistress about it,” she answered, “Oh, I have something to show you!” she said. She stood, barely keeping herself from falling, and spread her arms. A white light engulfed her and, in an instant, reappeared. She was not, however, her normal self. Instead, she took the form of a human woman with long, black hair, pink irises, her two pairs of wings behind her, and pale white skin. Much to Eva’s amusement, however, she had also forgotten about her state of undress.

Desire looked down at her nude form and shrugged, “I know, I know. Can you hand me my robes?” she asked. Eva, begrudgingly, obliged, handing her the very much oversized robe. In spite of that, however, she was happy with it, “See? I think my disguise form came out well! I hope my dragon form is just as good!” she gleefully remarked, shaking with excitement.

Eva held up her hands, “Woah, woah, what do you mean by… disguise form and dragon form. Also, can’t you call it something a bit less… I dunno, childish? No, that’s not the right word… A bit more specific to you. Like small, medium, and large sizes?”

Desire gave Eva a raised eyebrow in response, “I’ll think about it. But, for my forms, it’s a part of being a dragon… Or at least a part of being a dragon ascended from a smaller being. I have three states. This one, my smaller state, and my larger state. My larger state is the expression of the power I have, growing my body through mana and…” she paused, looking at Eva’s confused visage, “You don’t know what I’m talking about, do you?”

“Nope,” Eva answered, “All I know is that, once we leave this cave, you can let me ride on your back and you can fly around with me,” she said, grinning.

Desire’s face went red as an apple, “H-Hey, that’s very personal! It’s like saying that we can have… uhm… intimate time together now that I have this form.”

“Oh yeah, we can have sex now!” Eva shouted, smiling and wrapping Desire into a crushing hug.

“E-Eva!” Desire shouted back, even more red in the face but not resisting her hug. They stayed like that for a long time, Eva taking in breaths of Desire’s hair. It smelled like roses, grown from the wild. Eventually, Eva backed away and smiled to Desire, “You’re going to be the death of me, one of these days…” Desire mumbled, “Come on, let’s go and leave them to it. I want to find the mistress and show off a bit!”

Eva followed her up the stairs and to the top of the deck. Desire walked through the gate of the skiff and, picking Eva up in a princess carry, floated off of the deck and down onto the ground. “That’s a neat trick” Eva remarked as Desire put her onto the ground.

“It has to do with the mana in my wings and you’re not getting it again, are you?” she accused.

“I’m not,” Eva admitted, “Alright, let’s go find Mori.” They walked towards the tower and, as they walked, Eva began to worry about Desire’s unprotected feet, “Hey, Dessy? Are your feet alright? You’re walking on solid rock, there. It can’t be the most comfortable.”

Desire smiled and continued walking, “I’m still undead, Eva. I don’t have to worry about that stuff,” she said, stamping into the ground. The stone did not crack, but there was no mark of the action on Desire’s feet, “Come on, now!” she said, running off. Eva ran to catch up, but they did not run far.

Mori walked out of the tower with a corpse in her arms, but she was… different. Her armor had become twisted. Woven into a million knots. Her helmet had become a crown and a skull all at once, and it reflected her mood. Armor twisted in time with her steps, and the helmet grinned. Mori caught sight of Desire running towards her and, in a moment, tilted her head, “Desire!?” she shouted, “What kind of transformation did you go through?”

Desire did a little bow to Mori before looking at her with excitement, “My evolution did it! I became a dragon!” she said, still grinning, “I can even become a real dragon, but I don’t know if this is the right place for that…”

Mori paused for a minute, “You mean like, dragon-dragon? Fully dragon? Wings, fire breath, sharp claws in all?” she asked. Desire nodded and Mori became very excited, praising Desire like a mother. For a while, Eva thought that Mori was someone her death knights loved like pining lovers, but, after her relationship with Desire, she realized that Mori was like their mother. And what mother would she be if she did not praise her children? Eva watched in happiness as Desire basked in Mori’s praise, their happiness shared. In more ways than one.