"Subject Y47, experiment duration lasted a total of 54 hours, 23 minutes, and 48 seconds"
Drip, drop…
.
.
.
The ink of the pen manifests a dot, soon it scatters away into the piece of parchment with each scribble forming words that construct a detailed report.
“Subject inhibited increased aggression, non-stop salivation, and on top of that, it grew a new pair of limbs to make up for the loss of its wings”
Listing her findings, the sentences the woman initially wrote now became accompanied by sketches of the mutation, vivid tales of its grotesque transformation transcribed clearly unto the paper.
[12:30 pm, please repair the barrier immediately]
The pocket watch blares its warning, as the woman reaches unto her jeans to find it, the message soon begins to loop and she becomes slightly annoyed, covering her ears and letting out an annoyed huff.
Seeing the need for urgency, she hastens her writing and the ink begins to spurt, the once neat and clear handwriting turns messy and intelligible.
Finally feeling the cold midnight winds beginning to blow, the woman closes the notebook she wrote on with a snap, heaving a light sigh in her disappointment, she ended it with the following note.
"Project Ataegina, 3rd revision experiment resulted in failure, as usual, further variables need to be considered"
Throwing the notebook aside and leaving it in the hands of the grassy meadow below, the woman jumps down from the branch from which she once perched.
"Tsk, looking at it from this high up, it's no wonder I still haven’t gotten used to it"
Upon landing, she lightly tumbled her balance and staggered forward for a bit, albeit it didn't take her long to recover, the woman still let out a dissatisfied frown upon her tiny misfortune.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
"Hey, you stupid tree... you won’t suddenly stop working one day and drop the whole place down would you?"
Angrily stomping on the large tree's roots, the woman pouts, pushing her silky silver hair behind her neck, she rubs her temples tiredly seeing as there is no merit in venting her frustration at a being that won’t ever elicit a response.
"It'd be real nice if you don't, just thinking about the mess I'd have to clean up afterward makes my head ache"
Still receiving no response, the woman just sighed at the lack of stimulus, this was part of the reason why she preferred interacting with live subjects instead.
Even if it growls loudly or runs at her out of instinct, at least the stupid and stubborn amount of ways those things would resort to just to hunt her down would give the temporary amount of thrill enough to quell her ever-constant boredom for a while.
Of course, there was also the rare occasion where humans would come by and ask for aid or favors, accepting those requests was by far the most interesting stimulus yet.
Sadly, it's been millenniums since one actively went to seek her out, whether it be some troubled king of a nation, a magician driven to madness by magic, a bloodthirsty swordsman seeking a worthy opponent, or simply foolish mercenaries curious about the rumors.
"How utterly bland"
Resigning to her bleak fate of eternal boredom, the woman sat by on the edge of a cliff to enjoy a momentary change of pace, the view of the vast night sky in contrast to the lush forest below was at least pleasing to the eye.
"Wisterias are in season huh?"
Catching a glance at the colorful petals swaying by the wind, she reaches out her hand, perhaps to grasp her sense of time firmly again by engraving the current scene unto her mind, so that when they bloom once more, she would be properly reminded by the passage of years yet to come.
Because no matter what, there she always sat, on top of a tree centralized on a floating island, waiting for years to pass while hovering leagues above the clouds over the seemingly endless forest without a horizon.
"Another one has fallen huh?"
Shifting her gaze above the stars, she caught a glimpse of its momentary streak, short, vivid, and lost all within a single moment, its fleeting existence leaving without as much as a trail.
But she understood, that was just how things are, even the most concrete and stable of worlds would meet their end once forgotten, fated to drift in the cosmos and eventually disappear.
.
.
.
[Hey old hag! Where the hell are yah?! One just got through yah dufus! How long are yah gonna slack off!?]
Suddenly, her peaceful moment was utterly ruined by a loud booming voice originating from her earrings, its bellowing roar ruptured her eardrums, prompting her to rub her temples once more in dismay.
“Ah, come to think of it, I do have quite the appetite as of late~ perhaps grilled serpent would make for a nice dish hmm?”
Irritated, she spared no room for mercy by sharing her thoughts aloud, lightly tapping her finger which rested on her lips while giving a smile that wasn’t really a smile, making the one at the other end of the call shiver in fear.
[Eek! You said you don’t like scaly food since they’re hard to prep, right?!]
“Oh? But what can I do~ I’ve grown tired of cockatrices lately, would make for a nice change of pace don’t you think so?”
[Mistress, please stop fooling around, Belinda is frightened, the poor girl can’t stop shaking]
Contrary to the impatient and loud tone the one before exhibited, the voice present this time carried an aloof, gentle and soothing feel, calming the woman down before she let the intrusive thoughts win.
“It’s her fault for spoiling my fun, anyways Blanca, what’s all the fuss about?”
[One got through mistress, and it’s a newly mutated species]
“Fine, I’ll take care of it quickly”
Tuning the call off, a heavy sigh escapes the woman’s lips as she gazes at the forest below that is barely visible due to the height of the place she currently resides in.
The wind bashes against her face, and the clouds obscure whatever lies below, and yet nothing but a smirk escapes her lips, and without a moment of hesitation, she leaped downwards into the abyss.
‘It’s time to hunt’