POV: Jill (halfling woman)

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I want to scream for real but then they'd find me...

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

At least I have that now mentally out of my system... Why are they everywhere, what did we do to deserve this!?

Please go away, please go away... just... leave us alone...

A handful of monsters here and there is... nothing out of the ordinary but they never got into our settlements, especially not in these numbers. Outside the window, I can't even see anywhere where they aren't...

And worst of all, the guards that should protect us have even joined them.

Why... did they do that. It makes no sense. Normal people and monsters are as irrevocably different as anything can be... Why did they betray us!?

I cautiously pull the curtain aside and look out of the window.

Another group of monsters marches this way. Seems like they were at the church previously, some of them are mockingly wearing habits or now-defiled holy garbs.

Great, they are storming the neighbors' house. I can hear Hans scream and try to jump out of the window, yet they catch him anyway. I can't... I can't watch this.

I avert my eyes and start crying, but soon after, the screaming stops. Curiosity gets the better of me and I dare to look once more.

Hans... is gone. Where he was just a moment ago is now yet another of these abominations. The horde of were-people, lizardkin, false humans and whatnot is now joined by a zombie bearing Hans' skin. He wasn't the most pleasant person to be around but even he didn't deserve this fate. May he rest in peace...

This reminds me, I never returned the lighter to him - I guess he won't need it anymore...

Two more monstrous figures leave the neighbors' house. I guess those used to be the two refugees Hans took in when the flood started. I never had much contact with them despite working at the same merchant, we were working different shifts. But now... it doesn't matter anymore... I'll never get to know them properly.

Bang Bang Bang

Someone is knocking on my door!? Shit, they are coming for me next! I have to hide... but where?

I'm not home! No one is here, go away!

Bang Bang Bang

Yeah, as if foolishly hoping would work... The door wouldn't withstand an angry human, much less a horde of monsters...

That what was once Hans groans, "CoME On jILl, oPEn uP! WE kNOw ~u'RE thERE!"

Stop trying to imitate us, you monsters! He's... dead. Hans is dead, I've seen what you've done to him. Let him be... Don't sully his memory like that!

It doesn't matter now, I need to hide somewhere. Where could I...? If these monsters retain enough memories of their victims as to know my name then... I guess fake Hans would know where I've kept my spare keys...

Click

With a creaking, the front door opens.

Shit! I just had to think about it!

Before they can find me on the second floor, I have no choice but to hide in the attic. I'm not good with cramped spaces but I have no other choice.

I climb the ladder to the attic and pull it up to me, then close the hatch. The air up here is a bit stuffy, but I can endure that for a while if I must. Still better than ending as monster food.

After a few minutes, I can hear a commotion in the room below me, the monsters have followed me this far.

Please go away, please leave... I, I don't want to die. I don't want to become one of you. Just piss off!!

Nervously, I fiddle around with Hans' lighter. If it wouldn't give me away I could totally go for a smoke right now.

A moment later, I can hear Fake-Hans from below, "WeIRd, shE IS nOT hERe."

Another voice answers him, "Just leave Jill be, Hans. She'll come around sooner or later, she doesn't have a choice."

The zombie asks her, "IF yA SaY soOo, JAnE. BUt ~rN't ya wORRieD AboUT YouR fRieND!?"

Jane is with them, too? Please no...

I start crying once more. Jane, she was...

Strength leaves my hands and the lighter slips out of them, it falls to the ground with a dull clang. Shit, I hope they didn't hear that!

Monster-Jane orders the others around, "Not in the slightest. I know she's a tough cookie. Now go, we've more work to do!"

Ex-Hans scoffs, "YEah, yEAh."

I hear some grunts and footsteps, then a different voice yells, "Hans, you idiot, you lost your arm!"

He responds, "WhoA, S'rIGhT. HaRD tO GEt usED to."

After a moment, silence sets finally in. I've made it through this mess, for now at least. But what can I do now? The monsters are everywhere! Forget about the inability to sleep, we were already short of food before, so even if they left me in peace I would starve soon.

Damn, what can I do? How could I escape or where to? Nowhere in this place is safe, and the flood hasn't ended either...

I mull some more but arrive at no conclusion. Finally, I give up and cautiously open the hatch again. It has been a while since I heard anything from below, so the air should be clean for the moment. Or at least devoid of monsters, there's now a disgusting stench in the air. They could really use a bath.

I carefully look around the room from my safe-ish position in the attic but see no one, it seems no monster is waiting for me. Despite an uneasy feeling, I put the ladder down again and climb down, I need some fresher air; the air in the attic was barely breathable.

When I reach the last step of the ladder, it cracks and I tumble around, the lighter falls down once again.

I can hear some kind of smacking noise as if someone face-palmed but no one is there. What was that noise? I look around once more but still find nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe I'm just hallucinating from sleep deprivation. Yeah, that must be it.

With a sigh of relief, I pick up the lighter again. Then suddenly someone grabs me from behind and takes me into a chokehold. I'm pretty sure this is Jane who presses a scaly arm against my throat, "Hey, Jill, did you miss me?"

I have a hard time breathing in her stranglehold, "J-Jane? No, you're not, you... Why..."

Since when is she so strong? Neither of us is a trained fighter but we were close enough that I could fight her off. But now? I can struggle as much as I want but her arm doesn't move an inch. I'm completely helpless against her now...

That must be because this isn't Jane but a monster imitating her. I can... do nothing anymore. Only death awaits me now...

Jane doesn't weaken her grip on me in the slightest, "Why? Because I want to be reunited with you, Jill, you dummy! I couldn't bear you dying on me! And you know as well as I do, that regular people can't survive in this wannabe-dungeon, only our master's blessing allows us t-"

Before she can finish her monologue, I pass out from the lack of air and only faintly hear Jane comment on me passing out, "Whoops..."

...

When I come to again, I'm tied to a chair in my kitchen and the mockery of Jane stands before me. It looks just like her except for a few spots of scales on her face and arms. Same short, blonde hair, green eyes and the scar on her cheek...

My panicked attempt to breathe again rattles her out of her thoughts, "God, I thought I'd have lost you. I'm sorry, Jill, I didn't mean to-"

Angrily, I interrupt her, "Save yourself this theatre. You're not my friend Jane! You're just an abomination wearing her skin!"

My words have seemingly hurt her, "...why do you resist so much, Jill? I swear I'm really me, no tricks to it. The only thing that may have changed, is that I got a few skills extra and well, some... minor disfigurements... Ask me anything, I'll do what is needed to prove that I mean you harm, that I'm still the same person I was before!"

You can talk all you want. I've seen Hans, he was always scared stiff at the mere mention of ghosts or undead, and now he's a walking corpse himself while none the worse for wear? Who'd believe that crap!

Full of anger, I yell some incoherent crap at her, I don't even know myself what I say anymore. I just want to vent my anger, get out of here, away from this nightmare, and forget this ever happened...

But I have no hope, only frustration. At this whole situation, at my own weakness, at everything!

Jane grabs my head, "It may not have been a closet but the attic gotta count", then forcefully kisses me.

My heart skips a beat, "Jane, what's the big idea!? We-"

Wait, did I just... No, this isn't my Jane, she can't be...

She smirks, "Oh, now you call me by my name again. Hmm~ But jokes aside, please cease your resistance at once. I don't want to lose you, not again."

"Jane..."

"Jill, I see your doubts written on your face, but you don't have to worry about us. I have...", she trails off and goes silent for a moment, "Before I became a willing follower of our mistress, I asked her for permission to stay together with you. I was ready to die if I had to give up on you but to my surprise, she gave her permission. In fact, she would even personally give us her blessings if we'd ever hold a... what did she call it? A wedding? Well, anyway, the only condition is that you join us, alive that is. And well, as you know, the only alternative is that you die in this dungeon atmosphere. So...", she turns a bit red, "what do you say, Jill? Can you give us another chance?"

My thoughts run wild, I could be together with Jane without having to hide, this time for real, accepted...

I'd only have to resign myself to being a monster... What? No, no, no! I don't want that!

...but it is already too late, somewhere in my heart I had already accepted Jane's offer, even if for just a fleeting moment. That was all it took...

Suddenly a burning shiver creeps down my spine, and while that happens, Jane tells me, "Well, there was one minor detail I didn't mention..."

I start feeling... something, a prickling sensation, some kind of slimy drag plucking at my very being. Breathing feels hard again, and I'm overcome by a strong fever.

I can barely muster the strength to speak, my voice sounds hoarse, "That we're becoming monsters...?"

"Not... quite monsters, those are still hostile to us. No, instead, we become something... different. Something better. You know the difference between a human and a catfolk, right? Well, my status still lists me as human but I've clearly some animal parts to me now", she points to some scales on her arm.

Suddenly, I feel... stronger. While Jane fails to explain, I easily tear the ropes apart that bind me to the chair. She doesn't seem surprised in the slightest, as if she knew that I would become able to.

Despite the sudden surge of power, I'm still feeling sick and can't hold myself upright, but Jane catches me and takes me into a hug, "Please endure, dear Jill. In a moment, everything will be fine again, I promise you. Then... we'll be together forever. As it should be."

I don't have the strength to speak anymore, I try to talk but no sound leaves my mouth. I just try my best to endure, for Jane's sake. For my own.

The previous prickly feeling quickly spreads throughout my whole body, my entire soul. It starts foreign, creepy, slimy, and then quickly turns warm, pleasant... familiar. I'm feeling at peace in Jane's arms.

All of a sudden, everything looks different, distorted. Every color is replaced with dark shades of green or grey and a disturbing black fog raises from Jane. I feel like this should disturb me but to me, it suddenly seems frighteningly normal.

After blinking a few times, the view returns to normal.

You're welcome, master.

Wait, why did I think that just now? What was that?

Jane pats my head, "There, all better now?"

Still confused, I reply, "Yeah, I think so."

Jane tugs at my antennae, "Ya know, I'd have preferred if my hal-fling GF would've become more a chameleon like me but your changes look cute on you, too."

Wait, antennae? "What...?"

Finally, I check my status.

No wonder I suddenly felt so strong. I had like 180 STR before. Not only did I get a strange extra class out of nowhere, but it is already at level 7, what is that? What's going on here?

That tells me about as much as Lea's recipe book, "What the heck is a Hybrid? I've never heard of that word."

Jane explains, "Jill... we don't know, the mistress doesn't know either. All of us got this extra class but it seems for everyone it does something entirely different. I seemingly got parts of a chameleon-like creature, like [Invisibility]. It made Hans more ghoul-like, though to be honest, he was already quite old so that's not that big of a change. And you... well, you tell me. Even with the Hybrid bonus, I don't have the stats to use [Appraise]. If I had to guess, maybe some kind of mantis?"

So much for not becoming monsters. But for some reason, I don't mind that - is that also part of the change? Being conditioned to just accept it as the new "me"?

"No clue, I'm just a clerk, not a monster expert. And what's with that weird empty class?"

She answers, "Oh, that? That means you can add a proper class without needing any Class Core items, you just need to meet the stat requirements. The mistress said everyone should at least take one class that grants [Create Food and Water] or something similar to help us get better through the food shortage. Everything after that is up to us. She urges us to put it towards the role we want to fulfill in the future, not necessarily the one we currently have."

This is absolutely absurd! Additional classes are for soldiers, not for simple civilian workers like me. And even they usually only get one or rarely two additional classes, not a whole FOUR. ...if they can grant us that level of power with such ease we never had a chance, had we? Ignoring the rules of the gods just like that... What kind of monsters are we dealing with here...

Speaking of monsters, Jane pointed out earlier that I had antennae. By now, they feel like I've always had them. But what about those [Wings]? I don't feel like I have any-

Rip

Suddenly, I feel something coming out of my back.

Jane sounds sad, "Did you have to ruin the shirt I gifted to you?"

"Sorry... I... still don't know how to control these new appendages."

She scoffs, "Yeah, yeah, that totally sounds like the clumsy you. But what kind of wings are those? I don't think I've any idea what creature they could belong to. Some yellow, red, black... the pattern is pretty though."

I'm disappointed with Jane's deception, "So despite what you told me, we are slowly turning into monsters after all... Do we... do we now have to kill everyone else? Or turn them into monsters like us? I don't want that... Can we... can we leave them in peace, please?"

She pokes my forehead, "Jill, we're not killing them! We're saving them! You should've already understood that without the [Sleepless] skill our mistress has granted us we'll die in this dungeon-like environment! It is just a matter of maybe days until..."

I shake my head, "We will not do it like you did it for me. We'll give them the choice, and if they say no, we'll respect that, got it?"

"But the mistress-"

I interrupt Jane, "can go to hell for all I care! Say, why do you refer to that monster as 'mistress'? I don't feel like calling her that at all."

Try as I might, I can't get myself to hate that person, not anymore, but that doesn't mean I have to respect her as much as Jane seems to. It is her fault we're becoming some kind of abomination, I won't... I don't want to forgive her for that!

Hesitantly, Jane answers, "She's... doing a lot for me, for us. When I confronted her, I expected to get killed for defying her but instead, she was... quite supportive. I'm grateful for that, probably a bit too much, and I feel like the Hybrid thing is not doing that sentiment any favors either. I feel like... it strengthens any form of loyalty I experience toward them. So... please don't do anything stupid to get on their bad side. Just stay out of trouble, please. I don't want to have to choose between you two, I couldn't..."

Tears well in my eyes, "I understand... it would force you to go against me..."

We spent a few more moments embracing each other in silence.

After a while, Jane teases me, "Sooo... not gonna let go? Just a moment ago, my hal-fling GF was quite averse to this."

"Nn~, I wanna stay like this. If I already lost my humanity that's the least you can treat me to."

"Eh, the thing with the attic was mostly a joke..."

"Well, too late now. You already knew what you were getting into with me."

Finally, she sighs and frees herself from my hug, then turns and is about to leave, "So you coming? We have more people to rescue."

I teasingly pout, "Oh, come on, you could've at least given me just five more minutes! Urgh, fine! But not because she ordered it! I'm doing that only because otherwise, my friends would needlessly suffer!"