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A cold embrace welcomed Elinor, and upon opening her eyes, she saw the space she’d first met Butter.  The white light overhead was now split down the center, with one side tinted green and the other gold, representing their dualistic natures and phylacteries, yet it was a black-and-white holographic screen that stole her focus.

 

[Level 2 - New Feat Slot Open]

 

Elinor lingered on the illuminated text in front of her, and the confusing veil of scrambled information bouncing around her skull evaporated.  Meanwhile, dots strung together as her narrowed vision drifted to the golden goddess on the opposite side of the platform, back in human form—the level could wait.

“Welcome back, Priss,” Butter chimed, standing in front of a body-length mirror and examining herself as if this had been the plan all along.  “Hmm-hmm.  We’ve escaped death, it would seem, thanks to my quick thinking, no less!  It’s a shame I can’t take on my true glory outside of our little shared room, however.  Pity.”

Mouth opening, Elinor forced a short chuckle, tongue sliding across her drawn-in bottom lip as she ignored her blonde twin, currently engaged in cycling through imaginary gowns like she was preparing for a ball.

A deathly hand closed around her heart, flooding her veins with stoic ice as revelations bloomed within her, drawing a frosted smile to lift her eyes; she opened her status page like the games some of her friends used to play.  Even her powers seemed like some sort of fantasy, with them revolving around her Class as a lich.

Rationally, she concluded the Seed Butter had spoken about filling in any gaps regarding the undead class she’d been assigned, yet Elinor’s mind was fixated on her Feats and the part Butter played in where they’d ended up.

A lich’s energy source was Death Energy, which was collected into Death Orbs.  Her Death Pool’s current limit was five, and the optional Phylactery Feat required a daily maintenance cost—one per vessel—and she had two active while carrying the weight of the fatty blonde.

The time cycle for that price was exacted at midnight on whatever planet she resided on.  The problem?  She had not a single Death Orb in her pool, and Elinor’s tight eyes centered on the cause, preening herself not five meters away.

“Butter…”

“Mmh?  Oh, yes, Priss, would you look at me?  My wounds are healing!  Aren’t I gorgeous in silver?  Of course, I look good in anything, but silver does bring out my natural glow.”

“Heh…  Butter, if it weren’t for Imperial Majesty being maxed tier and grade… hmm-hmm, maintaining my poise, or this barrier between us, I would run over there and strangle you,” she stated with a vicious smile while walking to the divider between their sides of the pillar.

The blonde’s gaze lowered to the gold floor before releasing a soft sigh and turning a forced smile her way.  “Priss… we were both panicking… and you were all I had.  My proactive action worked out, did it not?  I did select specific Feats for you and take certain… liberties, but, in the end, I still ended up as your servant.  Is that not punishment enough?”

Elinor suppressed a snort, breathing out her frustration in a slow stream before clasping her hands behind her back.  “Don’t play this off as if we were in it together.  If it were possible, you would have left me to rot and taken on a beautiful body yourself.”

“I wouldn’t have left you to rot,” Butter grumbled, shaking out her discomfort as her aquamarine eyes mirrored Elinor’s glare, and she walked over to face her, unable to cross over into each others’ phylactery.  “We both hate each other, sure… but as much as you feel you cannot allow me to die, I cannot allow you to pass on, as well.  Did I want to be the one in control?  Yes.  Do you blame me?”

Locking gazes for a time, Elinor begrudgingly relented.  “Honestly, no.  I would expect nothing less from you, and I may have done the same in your position.  Still, you’re not fessing up to the ridiculous plan you concocted and the position you have placed us in.”

“What other option did we have?”  Butter snapped back, crossed arms tightening under her bust.  “I cannot allow myself to be touched by your Death Energy, and you are repulsed by my purifying force, so I did select a phylactery for us to have our own beds, so to speak.”

Elinor’s smirk didn’t touch her gaze, head tilting to the left as a black, spiked crown flared around her head, lighting with emerald flames; her Seed was now settling in with this obnoxious blonde’s influence leaving.

“I’m not talking about wanting your own bed, Butter…  All of the Death Orbs I had—my entire Death Pool—you purified it to heal yourself.  You realize that I am maintaining this bunk we share, and midnight will be upon us in no time?”

The blonde’s challenging gaze faltered, and she stepped back, fussing with her liquid-like locks as she half-turned to focus on the mirror.

“Okay, look, I’m not sorry that I did take the two ability slots you had for Butterfly and Phylactery…  and didn’t you gain another level from the experience of abandoning your body?  I needed those two Feats to survive… to purify your Death Orbs by attaching a Link Skill that gave me access to your Life Tap and, thereby, your Death Pool.”

Closing her eyes, Elinor breathed, allowing Imperial Majesty to cool the ice building within her that wanted to throw this Tinkerbell out of the room entirely.  Reality was sinking in, and she would be a blubbering mess if it weren’t for the tempering Feat.

Butter did save them, yet she had also placed them in a precarious situation, among other things she wasn’t admitting to.  No matter, she would just have to make up for the extra weight her goddess-like bunkmate placed on her.

“Priss, eh-heh… you okay?  I’m trying…  I do want to help you succeed now that, well, we’re in it together…  Right?”

“Right…”  A light smile lifted the corner of Elinor’s mouth, and she opened her eyes to see the blonde nervously rubbing her arm.  “Let’s just… move on to what we can control.”

“Yeah…  Meaning?”

“Hmm-hmm.”  Elinor’s grin grew fangs.  “You patched yourself up and have your butterfly body outside… something I unfortunately lack.  So… where does that leave us now that I’m trapped inside this ‘bed’ while you have wings outside of it?”

Butter took her hint and groaned.  “Yes, Priss… I’ll go do the Death Orb gathering.  I’m sure you’re aware at this point, but your butterflies can only hold two before I have to return, and if destroyed, it returns to the owner.”

“Oh?”  she pressed, letting her politely savage tone tell the blonde to expand on what Elinor already knew.  “Pray tell, Butter… what would happen if that, heh, tiny, delicate body of yours was to be destroyed… after consuming all of my Death Energy?”

A lump dropped down her divine twin’s throat with a short shrug.  “Uh, hehe… well, we’d be trapped in here until someone picked us up.”

“You mean, picked me up,” Elinor corrected.  “Can you draw out life force?”

“Ahem…  Not without the butterfly.”

“Right, haha.  So… don’t get caught, or we’re stuck here for eternity—actually, we’d just die because this bunk requires daily maintenance,” Elinor dully returned, creating a rather amazing undead throne of metal, cushions, and bone to rest on.  “I’ll be here studying exactly what we are because… I have to somehow explain this to my parents without them burning me at the stake or calling some exorcist or something.  I trust you’re capable of handling it,” she lied.

“Oh!  How kind of you to say, and here I thought you saw me as nothing but dead weight.  Hehe.  I can be more than just… fat, Priss.”

“I look forward to seeing you burn a few calories,” she chimed.

“Ugh.  I hate this nickname…  And you have parents?”

Elinor lifted an eyebrow.  “Obviously.”

“Charming…  I can’t wait to meet them,” Butter whispered, rubbing the back of her hand.  “I don’t recall having any connections to anyone… other than you, so…  I look forward to where we go from here.  Umm-yeah.  I’ll be back shortly, My Broodish Priss,”  Butter chimed, waving as she vanished in golden light.

Butter’s essence was technically still here, but her consciousness had transferred to the shimmering butterfly outside.  Elinor had no clue how her radiant twin was going to manage to sneak up on anything to suck out their life force when that bright and weak, but she was all they had at this point.

We’re doomed…  Elinor internally cried, letting her emotions settle to focus on what she needed to do to move forward.

Trying not to get lost in the depressing thought, she went over this new way of living that had been thrust upon her; it certainly changed her course, and she had no idea how she was supposed to deal with it or break the news to her parents.

She was a Mythickin Lich Empress, which basically meant she was a glorified upper-tier necromancer, summoning legions of the undead to do her bidding.  Maybe she could come up with some kind of business plan in the future for that, but it wasn’t hard to imagine how the government would react to a lich girl—typically not well.

Elinor’s gaze lowered to her side of the platform, studying the jade flooring.  Lingering on things that she had no control over would get her nowhere, she chastised herself, so she compartmentalized the unsettling prospects of this transformation for later.

At the very least, the Seed gave her answers on the latter two parts of what she was, but Mythickin was left a glorified mystery.  She had a total of eight ‘Core Feats’ that she likened to a tree trunk with its two branches being Lich and Empress; the two changeable Feats she had been able to select at Level 1—[Phylactery I] and [Butterfly I]—had been chosen by Butter.

A curious tilt moved her lips as she saw her recent level had granted her a third changeable Feat Slot, but she pushed the enticing new Feat possibilities she could select from to understand what she currently had.

Instantly, her attention was drawn to the only two S-tier Feats—the max tier—that she’d been granted.  At the base of this structure was her only Mythickin Feat [Primal Force X], which was both maxed in grade and tier, symbolized by the Roman numeral for ten.

So… Mythickin gain increased EXP growth.  Well, you can’t go wrong with that, and why was [Imperial Majesty X] important enough to get the same treatment as Primal Force?  No answer, hmm.  I suppose tempering four of eight emotions allows me to think rationally.

Butter hadn’t been the one to give her these Core Feats that came with her Mythickin Lich Empress status; the Seed gave these.  Questioning to see if it would give her answers as to how she came by this cryptic death item was met with silence, making her sigh.

You’re beyond my comprehension, I guess.  Her tight eyes drifted to the shimmering mirror her blonde twin had left.  And, tragically, Butter is my current champion… of the highest degree.  For such an impressive title as the Celestial High Monarch of the Evening Star, she certainly leaves much to be desired.

Scrolling down her rather barebone Feat List, Elinor hummed, deep in thought as she waited for her glorified twin Barbie doll’s return.  Most were fairly self-evident, such as [Darkness Vision I], [Death Pool I], and [Life Tap I], yet [Monarch of Death I], [Minion Pool I], and the [Raise Dead I] Cluster Feat drew her in.

A crown on my head that symbolizes my power as an empress, she mused, fingers rising to slide her fingers across one of the spike-like nails that made up the item on her head.  Monarch of Death gives me a Nexus Point where I can communicate to all my undead telepathically within one kilometer.  Quite the useful Feat.

Her Raise Dead and Minion Pool Feats were the centers of her reign; they were quite complicated compared to everything else she’d studied thus far, including an entire hierarchy system of Royal, High, Military, and Serving Courts, functioning across various duties.

Elinor tapped her leg while studying the branching topics regarding her new empire abilities.  Intelligent and Unintelligent minions… and the former costs double the Death Orbs to create, yet it’s obviously far more capable.  Unfortunately… I’m currently limited to three intelligent and twelve unintelligent…  A four times difference.

Grades range from [Poor], [Common], and [Uncommon], and if it’s double the price, intelligent uncommon would cost eight.  We’ll have to test that, and I can raise Lower-Grade units to higher when creating them, such as [Poor] to [Uncommon] with the appropriate Death Orbs, yet they will not be nearly as powerful as one who begins at that level…

I can’t do the reverse, which likely means I have to complete these Grade II advancement quests to upgrade these Feats.  It should probably be my priority at this point…  Wow.  What a challenge, though; raise 60 Unintelligent and 15 Intelligent Undead when my limit is 12 and 3, hmm?  I guess I’ll be stuck with Uncommon for a bit.

Elinor adjusted the black dress she’d been given in this void space, mouth tightening upon seeing all she could summon were skeletal or partial skeletal units at the moment.

No zombie option?  That’s criminal.  It’s probably Butter’s fault.  She lifted her focus to the mirror as she felt her fatty High Monarch struggling with something and dismissed it to continue her internal reverie.  We’ll have to fix that at some point because that would be an excellent way to reach my Unintelligent requirements for advancement.

Her ‘Stats Page’ came up beside her Feats, leaving much to be desired as she tested her theory, lingering on each primary stat: Strength, Defense, Dexterity, Energy, and Tenacity, all of which had secondary stats and grades.

Elinor’s attention was on Energy.  She had ‘Average’ Endurance—a stat that dealt with mitigating the cost of one’s Stamina and Constitution—interestingly, it had a multiplicative effect on the Feats she could gain to reduce the cost of all her abilities.  Of course, that was only useful if she had one such Feat; it was something to keep in the back of her mind.

Stamina was useless to her at a ‘Below Average’ grade since it handled her physical aptitude and she was designed as a summoner; she would sooner go into the sorceress route than focus on something that would see major diminishing returns, and it showed ‘N/A’ currently due to not even having a body to exercise.

No, Constitution was where her smile landed—Extremely High aptitude—it handled the mental fortitude of an individual.  This was her Stat.  The only thing rivaling its Grade was Control Resistance in Tenacity’s Secondary Stats.

She used the single point she’d gained from the level on her Constitution.  Instantly, her Death Pool increased to eight Death Orbs, and Uncommon Intelligent Undead opened up—something else caught her eye—her theory regarding something higher than Uncommon in the Unintelligent branch proved correct unless the price was far greater than she expected.

No new grade, hmm, and three DO from a single point; isn’t that too generous, Seed?  Hmm-hmm.  No upgrade until I get [Raise Dead II], I see.  Fascinating.

Swapping to her Core Feat Tiers, she learned they increased by use until S-tier; therefore, Passives would rank up the fastest, but once raised to a new grade, the tier went back to F.

It’s obvious I gain experience from accomplishing certain tasks or achievements, such as when I abandoned my body for this diamond.  So, why not when I rank up, I suppose?  I have a lot of minions to summon…  Minions?

Elinor’s amusement fell at the thought, reflecting on everything drilled into her skull at school and from her parents.  If they are intelligent, then I’m a slaver, shackling their souls to this world, yet most would serve me nonetheless…  Most, hmm?

She reflected on the hierarchy her Empress Subclass assigned her; naturally, she was at the pinnacle, holding absolute control over her empire, including her vanity-obsessed High Monarch, which acted as her right hand.

Below the High Monarch was the Royal Court, where her Monarchs took their thrones and enacted her desires for the direction of her kingdom.  Generals, majors, captains, and lieutenants all had their place and grade, yet Elinor couldn’t give a unit the Monarch Title unless it was above some gibberish numbers and letters she hadn’t unlocked yet.

Well, at least I’ve learned Butter is the real thing if she can have the title with the most authority beside me.  What a mess.

Time wasn’t quite easy to track in the space, but she didn’t sense it had been that long when her fatty butterfly returned, sounding like someone tired,  making Elinor grin as the shimmering goddess of a twin dropped into a throne.

“How was it?”

“Ugh… war.  It was cramped, and I almost died twice,” she cried, combing through her liquid gold locks with agitation.  “I had to crawl through the dirt back to you, Priss!  Am I just a slave—a body for you to use until it is torn to shreds?!”

Elinor giggled and shrugged, feeling energy surge into her as she went back to studying her sheet.

“Heh-hehe.”  Her twin got up and began to pace, arms held tightly under her bust.  “Of course, you just laugh at my struggles, Priss…  My efforts at battling those… those furry, filthy devils in their waste and piss for what?!  You just couldn’t care less…  All I’m here for is to spill blood over your bed; well, you can choke on your own tongue!”

“Butter…”

“What?!”  she said, silver tears in her eyes.

Elinor dismissed her status sheets to examine the blonde goddess; unlike anything else that had touched her since Imperial Majesty dampened her emotions, the new rips and wounds on Butter’s radiant skin plucked at her heartstrings.

Rising from her seat, she went to the edge of their ‘bunk’ and held out her arms with a soft smile as her twin’s watering turquoise eyes widened.  “Thank you, Butter.  I’m glad I’m not alone in this…  It’s nice having a partner I can count on.”

“Priss…”

The goddess almost tripped as she stumbled over to hug her.  It was a little uncomfortable with her purifying energy, and she was sure Butter felt the same way about her, but the warmth that passed into Elinor’s chest made it worth the prickling needles.

Being careful with the cuts on her back, Elinor whispered, “I thought you wouldn’t get hurt in your butterfly body…  Where did these come from?”

Butter puffed out a long stream of air, pulling away and regaining her elegant posture to return to her mirror to examine herself.  “I’m just… deteriorating.  I need to purify Death Energy to beat this hand of death seeking to claim me as his own, it seems.  It will only get worse.”

Elinor pulled up her sheet to select one of the new Feats she could select from, scanning through their information one last time as she spoke to her bunkmate.

“How many do you need to fully recover?”

“…A lot, Priss…”

“How many?”  Elinor pressed, eyebrows furrowing as she caught the blonde tracing the damage to her body; silver speckles could be seen across her side of the floor.

“2,500…”

“Ahem.  Hmm.  Well, hehe, okay.  2,500,” Elinor repeated, focus shifting between everything else she needed her energy for; her current pool only held eight, as well.  “I suppose that doesn’t include the tax—so to speak—of trying to keep you from falling apart?”

“No…  I require about ten a day to remain even.”

Elinor went back to her seat to breathe out a long stream of air.  “Butter… Hehe.”

A melancholy smile lifted the edge of the goddess’ lips as she stopped on one particular gash where her heart was.  “I understand, Priss…  I stole six from you already without your permission…  A parasite.”

“You did,” she said, rubbing her temple while thinking about the trouble this was going to cause.  “What a fatty, glutinous bunk bug I have…  Well, at least you’re not a slob, or we would have problems.”

Butter turned, confusion crossing her annoyingly perfect face—minus the cuts.  “It’s not like I want to be your burden.  Heh… hehe.  I just wish I knew how I ended up in this mess!”

“You and me both, sister…  Well, I need to bulk up if I’m going to feed you, baby bird, so we need to start now before we both die, you insufferable stick of fat.”

“I hate you…”  she snarled, staring at her as Elinor laughed.

“The feeling is mutual.”

“Humph.  Did you discover a way out of your prison while I dealt with those giant rodents?”

Elinor smirked.  “Those were rats, probably, not giants, but I suppose everything looks that way when you’re a delicate little glow ball, and how many did you actually kill.”

“Ha-ha.  Dozens… in their filth.”

“Sounds pleasant,” she snickered.  “As for a way out, there were a few interesting options, but one stole the cake…”  Elinor used one DO and activated her third changeable Feat, [Artificial Body I].

Her thoughts died as the heat rose within her core; it wasn’t anywhere specifically, but she knew it was somewhere within her expanding mind.  White light filled her vision, and she tried to shut it off by somehow closing her nonexistent eyes; she felt a tad stupid after realizing they hadn’t formed—obviously, the light wouldn’t fade.

A pressure began to form at her back, and slowly sounds filtered into her brain.  A wet sensation permeated her mouth, making her swallow, and a dusty scent birthed into her now awakening senses with color exploding around her.

Momentarily stunned, she laid still for a time, and a snickering golden butterfly landed on her nose as her newly discovered faculties overloaded her mind.

“That’s certainly one way to show me your new Feat, and it is wonderful I don’t have to be your only set of hands.”

She stared up at the floorboards of the basement, hearing the men shouting at one another again, all in Spanish, and she couldn’t be sure, but it sounded like more had joined them.  The general conversation wasn’t anything Elinor hadn’t expected, and she leveled a dull stare at the gold light blinding her.

Butter… is it standard practice for you to stand on your Empress and savior?  Also, I still have many uses for your six legs and four wings.

“Hmm-hmm.  Only when I’m feeling particularly rebellious, Priss,” Butter mused, swapping to her shoulder.  “Two more men showed up while you were playing mental stone breakers.”

Not wanting to know what that was and not caring, Elinor rose to her feet to study her new—and quite naked—body as the four men screamed at one another.  Suddenly, their shouting match took a turn that drew her focus.

“You don’t think I didn’t see it?”

“What the hell happened to her?  She’s a damn half-rotting corpse, Vincente!  How do we explain that to Armando?”

“You don’t think I didn’t see that, Paul!  It was your information we got that she’d go through this town!  What the hell is happening?”

Raul—seemingly the superstitious one—broke in.  “I checked, guys!  I checked!  Everyone’s saying there’s no way out of the dome!  You know Yesenia—that one prison warden lady—she’s here, and she turned into this massive snake woman!  Toads!  Giant toads!  They’re coming from the jungle!”

“What the hell is he talking about, Vincente?”  Paul growled.

“Ugh.  Ignore him.  Eduardo, we gotta just bring him the body…”

The group continued to argue over what to do with her, Raul saying the most interesting stuff about the Crystal releasing lights that branched off into various areas, bringing monsters.  According to him, the whole sky cracked like a stained glass window, showing countless places across the heavens before vanishing.

It was a bit after that when the dome formed from a beam that rose from the ethereal Crystal, and everyone noticed they were receiving powers.  Elinor certainly could believe that part, but she was confused as to what granted them these abilities; was it the Crystal or the full sky fracture?

In any case, she learned her parents were fine, out in the town and looking for her, which eased her undead heart.  Moving to look through the tiny gaps in the boarded window, she saw the crazy-looking fantasy dome encompassing a large section of the town and jungle.

She could imagine Raul’s explanation now, and the sun’s rays could barely be made beyond the transparent shell, the heavens tinted by the various colors.  They really were in some kind of fantasy, end-of-the-world event.

Butter hummed as Elinor went to the mirror, scanning her new figure; it mostly kept her same features, excluding her now silvery hair, which did look good with the crown.  She grimaced upon finding her black earrings in their proper places; her body formed around them, as if taken away would cause its collapse.

“How’s the new fit?”

Decent.  All my scars are gone… but at least I have my tattoos still.

The golden butterfly’s half-torn left wing shivered with laughter.  “You call that a tattoo?  I saw better in tiny villages.  In fact, I was covered head to toe in tattoos at one point, I believe.”

Oh?  What villages?  Elinor challenged.  Please, enlighten me on your totally tatted body.

Butter was silent a moment.  “I can’t remember…”

Convenient.

“Believe what you want!”

Okay, Ms. perfect skin and vanity queen.  Let’s get dressed and some more Death Energy.

“Oh?”  Butter lowered herself on her collarbone to not get blown away.  “We’re killing the four men upstairs, and what of these creatures roaming about…  Can you?”

We’ll deal with it, Elinor calmly stated, pausing as she knelt before her former body; it had stopped decaying after her corrupted spirit left.  I… don’t feel that bothered by murder.  That has to be concerning.

“Why?”  the goddess questioned, testing the stability of her wings.  “Everything kills in one form or another, and only the powerful can be picky about such moral stances in a world of conflict.  Also, that’s not what I meant.  I was asking if your weak arms could do anything, but… on second thought, I do feel like you’re capable.”

Elinor nudged her head to the side; it was a valid point, and she certainly wouldn’t lose sleep over a bunch of kidnappers who were now talking about leaving her body to be discovered by her parents.

A compliment?  You’re slipping, and that view is fair.  Hmm.  I do need clothes, she sighed, grimacing while picking her nightwear off of her corpse.

“Priss!  Look at you.  I’m so proud,” Butter snickered.  “So, you have one Death Orb left, which I so valiantly obtained, might I add…”

Of course.

“So, all there is to do is march up there, slay a few fools—maybe a light snack for two—and raise the others to do…”

Elinor’s fingers froze as she snapped her bra back on, gaze rising as a sharp thud kicked open the door.  The men shouted, and gunfire went off; Raul’s scream told her all she needed to know.

“Toad!  It’s the toads!  It’s the end of the world!  I told you!”

“Shut up, Raul!  Where’d it go?”

“Did you hit it?!”

“I don’t think so…”

Shattering glass came from the right of the house, followed by something heavy hitting the ground.

“Paul!  Is that… living vines?  Aww-hell no!  I’m out!”  Eduardo cried, running through the back door of the abandoned house.

“Sounds like a party,” Butter chimed.  “Are we joining or listening in?”

Setting the golden butterfly to the side as she slipped on her shirt, Elinor resituated the goddess and went to the stairs, only having time to put on her underwear.  They’ll be dead soon anyway, so might as well try to get some Death Energy, and if there are supernatural creatures running around, then I need to get my parents to safety.

“To battle!”  Butter cried, pointing one of her arms at the door as she walked upstairs.

Let’s see what madness we’re dealing with…  It’s not like I can die, and if anyone picks up my diamond I can drain their life, so… YOLO.  Well, kinda, I guess, seeing as I died already.

Opening the door, her inconvenient butterfly mumbled, “You know diamonds aren’t indestructible?”

Well… thanks for the warning, you useless inflated insect.

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