FSE

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Revelations

By Felsune

She tried to force the scream, if for no other reason than to just know she was still in control of her body. If only to prove she was still herself; but she could not scream, could not force words past her lips.

"I know you are trying to speak, or scream, or whatever it is you feel is right for this situation, but it will not help. I cannot allow you to draw attention to yourself right now. You can communicate just by thinking something to me. I am in your brain after all."

Well, of all the things to say, that was probably not the best thing. As panic began to bubble up in her, like a geyser. And then just nothing, her mind went blank as she just screamed, over and over, in her mind. When she finally came back to herself, could finally see again, think again, the sun was moving towards the horizon. It had been about mid day when she went out, and now, it was setting towards evening. She tried to move, but found her body was to heavy, her limbs tingling, as if they had fallen asleep.

"Have you calmed down enough to talk?"

Oh...right, she had that...thing in her! The murderous monster that had replaced her blood!

"While a bit crude and rather rude, not inaccurate. Although, I find it curious how you are so quick to label me as such, when your own kind hunt mine for sport. Murdering us by the hundreds just to satisfy your own desires."

And that gave her pause, partly from fear, and partly from pure curiosity. It was true, the creature could hear her thoughts, could read her mind. Not to mention, in a twisted way, it had a point.

"There is nothing twisted about it, I am one hundred percent correct in my observation. Your kind view us as 'less' and 'lesser' because you cannot communicate with us, and have uses for our bodies. If you must ever wonder about something like this, the best idea is to reverse the situation. Does what you do sound horrible if it were your own kind? What if Slimes and Oozes hunted humans for their body parts. Would you find that it was 'twisted' to kill the slimes in self defense?"

Right, first things first, argue of ethics second. She focused her mind, trying to visualize her own voice. Soft, melodic...okay, not melodic or soft. How did she sound?

"Gruff, screamy."

Not helping! Okay, fine, gruff and...scratchy. She didn't have the voice her sister did, hence why she had preferred the brawler class. She'd always used her fists to solve her problems when she was in trouble.

[If we are to talk, can we please do it this way? Instead of you just reading all of my thoughts, can you wait until they are directed at you? So I can at least pretend to have some difference between our minds?]

There was silence for a moment, but soon enough, the reply came. {Yes, I guess this would feel...better for you, wouldn't it? A sense of individuality is important to your kind.}

[Yes, something like that, now, what am I going to do? Are you going to try and use me for some...evil deed? Are you going to make me slaughter humans in revenge for the killing of slimes?]

{No. I did not fuse with you to get revenge, I think I did that just fine before. No, simply want to survive. This cycle has continued for too long, and I grow tired of it. Your kind slaughter mine, I am reborn, I slaughter the immediate attackers, then more powerful versions of your kind come in and slaughter me. I then have to take time to rebuild myself to try and defend my home. I think it far more prudent to simply move my home. I am sure that...Dungeon, will fall out of use now.}

Okay, while she was still slightly freaked out about this, she was curious. It had gotten her into plenty of trouble before, but she had no intention of stopping now. [What do you mean it will fall out of use? And if you aren't going to get revenge, how do you plan to, well, live?]

{I am no longer in it. And without my essence, the magical items won't reform. Also, vicariously.}

It took her a moment, several long and embarrassing moments, before it all made sense. [You were ALL of the slimes?! And that doesn't make sense, how could the magical items 'reform'? You destroy them when you consume them, and those that don't, get taken out of the dungeon!]

{Yes, I was, although I had to leave the majority of myself behind, so I am not nearly as powerful anymore. You were not nearly large enough to hold the majority of my self. As for the magic thing, yes I did destroy them, but only their physical form. I kept the essence of them, but I cannot keep myself imbued with magic forever. If I tried, much like you humans, I would become corrupted or altered. I merely transferred the raw magic into other items after I finished off invaders. But you are correct, I was running low, why do you think your party had to go so deep to find any items at all?}

She blinked, not even thinking about the fact that she had just moved, and contemplated that. It...made sense. How the new magical items always seemed to show up, the slowly drying up supplies. Most simply thought of it as the dungeon wearing out. But if what the slime-

{Ooze.}

[I thought we agreed on you not reading my mind unless it was directed at you!]

{I can't, not, read your mind. I can only choose not to respond to it. But it is an important difference. Slimes have a core. They also can't hold a specific shape easily. Hence why they tend to look like puddles mostly.}

[Oh...well...]

{Sorry, I just dislike being called the wrong thing. It would be like me calling you a...Mudling.}

She stiffened, eyes narrowing. She knew that the Ooze was just trying to make a point, but it still worked just as well. Mudling was a term for a low level adventurer who was so useless they could only be used for bait. Often times, high level adventurers had no qualm about letting them die if it meant succeeding in their quests. And considering her level, she wasn't counting the Ooze's add on, it was a horrifying reminder of what could happen to her. Because it had been proven time and time again. In situations where lives were at stake, where even when monsters were the overwhelming threat, people had no trouble betraying each other.

Easily rationalizing it as, just a game, or saying if it really mattered, they would never do it. But it wasn't a game to the people who died. To the people left behind. It was a matter of life and death, where the true nature of mortals came out. When working together was the most important thing, all most thought about, was their own greed and agenda. No matter who got hurt.

Still, she could understand how they might come to view it as such, especially after so long fighting. The mind became desensitized to such things. But it was still a horrifying thing to understand.

{While this is fascinating to learn about, I think it's best to continue our conversation.}

[Right, sorry, I understand...]

{Well, either way, now that you understand, I think it's more important you go deal with your sister. We have talked long enough. I know you will not do anything stupid while your sister still needs you.}

And as much as she hated the creature for saying that, she couldn't deny it. And she could move again, easily, and without the sensation of her body being deprived of oxygen. That was still something she would have to worry about later. Pushing herself up, she moved towards the door, forgetting the bowl she had come out to clean. So much had happened since then, that she couldn't bring herself to remember it in the wake. It wasn't until she was sitting down next to her sister that she realized something was wrong.

Temerra was staring at her with something akin to deep concern. Enough that she blushed and looked away. Even as Temerra spoke to her, she couldn't bring herself to look at her sister.

"I know horrible things happened in there Iksa, and I know you don't want to talk about them. But I want you to know, if you need time, if it just...comes up on you, I will be okay. You don't need to spend all of your time focusing on me. Not when you've made sure I'm already going to heal."

And it was all too much, the tears welling up in her eyes as she rested her face against her sister's lap. Sobs tearing through her as she went through the memories of the past. Just feeling all the terror of the past welling up in her as she cried. Cried and cried as the fear leaked from her. All the while, her sister stroked her head, not saying a word. Deep into the night she remained there, just needing to be close to her sister. And all through the night, she told herself she would be all right. Everything would be fine, and for the next month, it was.