(Earlier...)

"Ai'er! Ai'er! Answer me! Please!"

Mei Wu didn't know what to do. Didn't know what to feel beyond sheer anguish that was consuming her heart.

Holding the human body of her lover as she sobbed, tears racing down her cheeks as she desperately tried to stop herself from breaking down.

Ai had taken a fatal injury to protect her, her huge monstrous body pierced so easily, leaving a painful wound that didn't seem like it would heal anytime soon.

The large hole that the alraune's nectar was trying so desperately to heal kept leaking blood as it felt like there won't be any life for much longer. Mei Wu had no illusion that the nectar could heal her beloved, but time...

At this rate, Ai won't make it. Mei Wu could sense as the life seemed to leak out of her lover, the first person she could truly call a friend, and she could feel as the Qi of Nature was trying desperately to persist, to never leave her alone.

Mei Wu through her teary eyes as Ai smiled, as if she didn't currently have a mortal wound and experiencing intense pain, though the woman felt the sensation all the same.

"... Sorry, for worrying you..." the alraune almost whispers, her voice fragile, sad yet seemingly content that Mei Wu was alive, as her eyes seemed to have long been so exhausted, starting to close as Mei Wu felt the feeling of nature she so loved become muted, as if it was about to vanish for real.

"Ai'er! Don't you dare die on me! I'm begging you! Please, don't sleep!" Mei Wu broke down, pleading, begging for Ai to stay awake. To stay with her. To stay alive.

She was already trying do do anything to help Ai's body heal faster. Using her Apoptosis Qi to target and forcefully turn the remains of the poison and acid from the Venomous Viper's attack inert, to negate whatever Qi of Xie Yao that was still clinging to the gaping hole.

Having her Impurity Eater extract these foreign energies and any possible anomaly and impurity in Kasumi Ai's body as quickly and safely as possible while enhancing the purity of her lover's own energy.

Not even in the vain hope of restoring her to full health anymore, but to be able to even stabilize and stop the continuous fall of her beloved's energy and the very sound of the heartbeat that was getting weaker.

Yet, as these emerald eyes closed, and Mei Wu's senses were unable to register almost any Qi that could sustain life, lower than even a normal mortal could have, and the echo of a once-beating heart seemed to stop, the woman could only look at the smiling face, empty of any sign of life or movement.

She had felt it before, too many times in fact, how the feeling of life slips away from the mortal shell, leaving an empty husk that would never move again. She felt how people died, some having their lives snuffed so quickly it felt like an illusion, others tried to latch to life so badly and futilely, whole others simply died resigned and uncaring.

She had felt all of that before, long before she joined the Xie clan, long before she was tormented by the nature of the world. She had thought that she was used to it. Yet now, she loathed how the feeling of life had already left Ai. The feeling of nature withering, ceasing to exist, returning to zero... It was the most painful thing she felt in her life.

"Ai..."

Her hands trembled as the tears flowed anew, and she sobbed, clutching the lifeless body as she only wailed, lamenting her misfortune.

She had no more thoughts in her mind beyond loathing her fate, and hating everything that resulted in Ai's demise. A part of her craved nothing but to wipe out the Xie clan for what they did, to rampage and murder all of them down to the last person. Mei Wu felt the white-hot hatred growing in her heart, as deep as the sorrow that was already threatening to consume every part of her being.

It felt like ages as she just cried and sobbed, tears falling from her face onto the dead yet still warm body of the alraune that did so much for her, though it might have been only a minute at most in reality.

Mei Wu certainly didn't care, ignoring all the scents of honey and poison, ignoring the Qi of the Queen Bee as it seemed to shine and rise like a torrent of rage.

The woman could only think about how the Qi of plants and nature was withering, disappearing, ceasing to exist-!

And then there was pain.

Pain, so small and insignificant, invaded her body. So small she barely noticed it, compared to the sheer torment of having the first person she ever called a friend die at all. The fact that the attacker's presence was so weak that she barely felt it, and the fact that she barely felt any emotion emanating from them was also a factor on why she didn't notice it for the first few seconds.

And then, she noticed it. A feeling that something, a foreign yet strangely familiar sensation, had barely pierced her body yet stayed there, similar to how Kasumi Ai did the same during their fight with Xie Yao and Xie Xiu to heal her.

'No.' she found herself think, even as the tears didn't stop falling, as she focused deeply, or as deeply as she could in her broken and miserable state, 'Not similar. But exactly the same!'

Suddenly, she felt it. Her power suddenly dropped to nearly a quarter of what it was. So swiftly and suddenly that her body instinctively stiffened in response to it, panic flooding her mind wondering what just happened, and then rage following.

How dare whatever this thing is harm her, and harm her friend and lover's corpse? In her mind, this whatever that was trying to drain her was also planning to defile Ai's body as well.

People who have power were almost always that arrogant and self-centered after all, weren't they?

The Apoptosis was unleashed to find the source of this drain and delay it as much as possible, or even kill it if it was too weak-

And yet, she didn't feel anything new being suppressed and negated. There was nothing different. Nothing was weakening that she was purposely excluding from her Apoptosis Qi, except...

Mei Wu's heart started beating faster, as she noticed the body that she was holding, what she expected to be a lifeless corpse, had restored some of its qi.

"Ai...! Ai! Ai'er!" Mei Wu shouted, hope blossoming in her heart, faint as it was. "You- you"re alive? Please, tell me you're alive! I- I..."

Mei Wu choked a sob as she noticed her beloved's mouth moving as if trying to smile, a soft voice barely able to leave.

"Wu... chan... give... energy..." it was such a soft yet weak voice, so fragile it felt like the sound of a leaf falling would be many times louder. Even more so, it was filled with need, a strange and barely-hidden yet intense craving for energy, almost primal in fact.

Mei Wu though didn't even care about such a thing at all. Her senses didn't feel any foreign entity, her Apoptosis Qi didn't find anything wrong, nor did the Impurity Eater tell that anything was amiss.

As far as she was concerned, this was just survival instincts kicking in, a rather unusual thing that happens when one was so close to death, and their body's desire to survive takes over the rational part and decides to do whatever it takes to survive as long as it isn't severely against the dying person's morals.

Thus, Mei Wu didn't even think of anything strange regarding that desire, in fact, it strangely reminded her of the time where Ai decided to 'train' her speed to summon her Grimoire.

Mei Wu, not even having the ability nor time to blush at the sudden memory, simply nodded. "It's fine. It- yes! Take all what you need! All of it!"

If her being drained by her lover would keep Kasumi Ai alive, she would do it in a heartbeat. The near-loss she just experienced made the choice even easier to make.

Ai's smile grew wider, almost too wide for a simple happy smile, yet Mei Wu didn't care. All what she cared was Kasumi Ai returning to the land of the living. That was the only thing she cared about.

Mei Wu only shuddered as her energy was being drained, as in only half a minute, her Qi kept dropping at a rather rapid rate as she felt the Nature Qi blossoming once more.

The alraune's bodies, both her human and beastly ones felt more vigorous, though definitely nothing that would allow Kasumi Ai to live long enough to survive without quick help, Mei Wu felt as she started to feel tired.

"Ai'er... Ai... gkh!? Ah?" she mumbled, about to fall unconscious, when the sensation of the Natura Qi suddenly started to enter her body, and she noticed as her energy was replenishing at a faster rate than it was being drained.

"Ai'er, you-!"

Had she been able to think clearly, she wouldn't have been so surprised when she felt the healing nectar being injected in her body, refilling her reserves and making her relax even slightly despite her intellectually and instinctually knowing about the Xie clan's party still being a threat. Mei Wu though only felt hope and a sick sense of relief.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Kasumi Ai was no longer so close to death's door. She will finally heal and be able to stay alive now! How could she not be happy about that?

"I can feel you, Ai'er. You so desire to crush them, don't you?"

Mei Wu ignored the primal feeling of a cruel predator that was slowly waking up as she asked gently. She didn't care one bit about it as it intensified, emanating of her lover's body like a wave. To her, this was just a sign that Kasumi Ai was simply wishing to deal with Xie Xiu and Xie Yao personally, and her senses told her just as much.

She could feel the overwhelming desire, the all-consuming craving that was almost exploding from the depth of her friend's soul, wanting to tear and rip apart the Xie Clan's elders, and to even utterly break them if she could.

Not that Mei Wu minded. If Kasumi Ai needed such instincts to be satisfied, then this was the big chance. Her lover was healing rather quickly, and Xie Yao is severely injured by Mei Wu's Tumor Mandala and Impurity Eater, while she could feel that the Queen Bee was not allowing the Xie clan's search party to leave. This was the perfect opportunity.

Kasumi Ai gave her a wide smile at that, one that sent a shiver down Mei Wu's spine. Strangely, there was something unsettling about it... The alraune opened her mouth to speak, a strange sensation of lust making itself known through her Qi and yet it felt rather different than the usual lust and desire Ai showed whenever she kissed her (or more)...

And then, the alraune stopped before speaking, eyes blinking as if she saw or felt something utterly strange, before her expression turned into a disappointed one as she sighed.

Mei Wu felt the sheer disappointment and... annoyance? What was that about?

"You know what, Wu-chan?" she asked, a strange mix of reluctance and honesty in her voice, a tone that Mei Wu somehow realized felt way too off for Ai to make, in her opinion. "I had planned to trick you into thinking that she and I are the same, until certain requirements were met..."

Mei Wu blinked at the random phrase. Yet, her instincts started feeling something very strange, now as Ai's body was healed enough and now that she was focusing most of her attention on her, lover while making sure to watch out for the Xie clan with her sharp senses.

"But it seems that she loves you that much, huh? So much it reaches even me. Even with me being me, her love for you still touches me so deeply. If only she didn't fall in love so early in her life..." What... what did that even mean?

And then, Ai looked at her, almost gently, yet strangely holding a hungry look that seemed to pierce Mei Wu's very soul...

'What is this? What is this? This is different than how Ai'er feels, so bizarre and so... beastly. And more importantly...' Mei Wu stiffened as suddenly, the vines piercing her body left, as Ai stood up so carefully yet swiftly, almost gracefully and a second later, the alraune was already inside her protective flower wall, on the top of her beastly plant body.

"Ai'er..." Mei Wu asked, a strange feeling of dread and worry appearing in her heart, as she understood that what her senses weren't playing tricks on her. Her Apoptosis Qi was ready to work at a moment's notice if the answer wasn't to her liking. "Why do I feel like a 'terrified part' of your being is somehow 'sleeping'? And why do I feel that you don't completely seem to be like yourself for real?"

What is this feeling of growing hunger and lust that was growing and growing, rising as if it wanted to consume everything around the alraune? Just what happened to her love when she almost died?

Ai- no, the person taking control of her friend's body, only sighed at that, yet the feeling of pride was clear in that expression. "As expected, you would have noticed it anyways, huh? To answer your question with another question... do you know the concept of one person having multiple personalities? Or, more precisely, multiple egos that govern certain parts of a being's physiological, psychological, and biological needs?"

"Multiple... wait, you mean...!?"

"I am, if I wanted to be pretentious, Kasumi Ai's Narcissism, the embodiment of her desires as an alraune. I am all her suppressed cravings, to consume, to break, and to enslave. And even more so, to stay alive to do these things..." with every word, the waves of lust and hunger deepen and rise even higher, so much that Mei Wu almost got lost in them, as the alraune's face turned into a sadistic grin, these green eyes looking at her body with such unrestrained desire making Mei Wu feel like a fragile prey finding herself in front of a predator.

And it terrifies her.

"Please, call me Jiko Ai, for now, Wu-chan~!" Jiko Ai, now identified, gazed at her, the sight of these green predatory eyes seemed to stick in Mei Wu's mind, her body unconsciously retreating, before she noticed something in what Jiko Ai said.

Despite how every instinct of her was telling her not to open that can of worm, and how it just felt as if she would be facing a horrible truth, she wanted to know the answer. No, Mei Wu needed to know the answer.

"Wait, if you are mostly focused on keeping her alive, then you will let her wake up after this, right?"

"..." Jiko Ai only gave a smile, one filled with amusement yet reluctance. It felt rather bizarre, that smile. And then Mei Wu felt as if the sleeping ego of Kasumi Ai fell into a deeper sleep, and she only choked in fear at the feeling, her stomach churning as she looked at the unsettling eyes that showed both terror yet defiance.

No... This can(t be it, right? This can't be true. It must not!

"... Right?" she whispered lowly, as if already predicting the answer, yet fearing it all the same. She so wished that Xie Xiu, or even the Queen Bee would suddenly appear to derail the conversation. Yet, no such luck, as the feeling of a lump in her throat intensified.

Jiko Ai only smiled wider, yet there was a feeling of defiance in it. "No. I won't." she spoke in a soft voice that belied her nature. Confidence rising as her mouth opened, her smile vanishing as a serious look became more and more visible on her face.

"Why would I let that idiot that always suppressed me simply get back to control now that I have finally gotten to actually live, when I wasn't even supposed to even grow a consciousness at all? Why should that woman be allowed to use me, now that I finally exist, no longer a mere instinct that she resisted without any real reason, just on a whim, then on purpose when she fell in love with you even though she shouldn't have done that so soon? Why, then should I let her lock me in there, just after I helped her survive, when I was the one who craved to live more than she did, because she would have been happy dying to protect you? Instead of resisting the lull of the eternal slumber, crawling her way out of it to save both of you?"

Jiko Ai's tone, despite never rising, definitely felt that way. And Mei Wu could only find herself both shocked yet reluctantly agreeing against the sheer passion and raw feeling of desire in it.

Mei Wu couldn't also not notice the sheer spite Jiko Ai showed at the fact that her lover was happy to die for her sake, while Jiko Ai treated it as an idiotic idea. Maybe an insult of the highest order, even.

Why should I die to protect you, when I can live to do so? If I died, I won't enjoy being with you anymore, nor would you like me dead as well, so let's just be as selfish and live as we crave until life truly ends us, if it ever could.

It was a perspective so self-centered it bordered on becoming a selfless one. It completely ignored, or more precisely, rejected any possibility where one must die for the other to survive. Even if the root of it was nothing but primal lust and hedonism, a craving to enjoy one's life, it admitted that the only way for one to enjoy them is to be so determined to live, yet so self-absorbed and self-loving to the point that they would not accept anything but both them and their loved ones being alive.

Any other option wasn't even registering to Jiko Ai, from what Mei Wu could sense from the sheer hedonism and primal glee exuding from her lover's alter ego.

The abnormal feeling of nature augments and the craving in Jiko Ai's very spirit intensifies, and Mei Wu needed to take sharp and long breaths as the Narcissism grew so large and dense to her senses it almost consumed her along with the Apoptosis. A part of her knew, deep in her heart, that if Jiko Ai decided to fight her, Mei Wu would definitely lose.

"Never. I say never! I would not let that idiot who has no idea on how to use all her abilities, who had no clue on how to see the sheer power she could use, if only she accepted me more than she did instead of locking me inside her mind. If only she embraced me a bit more, then she would have not been in such a sorry state. This much I assure you."

"You will still release her at some point, right? And is there a way to have you both coexist in harmony, or close to it?" Mei Wu, metaphorically walking through the wave of confidence and determination, didn't try to argue about the alter ego's points at all. Instead, she asked the simple and obvious questions.

Despite the fear she felt in her heart, she had to ask this question. She just had to do that. Not to mention, there was something very odd about Jiko Ai, something very strange and confusing to her senses.

... Why does Jiko Ai feel like a she's a child? Even younger than Kasumi Ai? Mei Wu didn't really question it before, but when she dual cultivated with her lover, the age that Ai must have felt way bigger than a mere two or three months, but now, this alter ego... why does that age of mere two to three months feel so fitting, even for a beast where age almost never matters?

No matter what, she needs to get an answer to these questions, and more importantly, she needed Kasumi Ai to be the one with her. Mei Wu won't deny that she understands Jiko Ai's points, and she understands that Jiko Ai was most definitely just another part of Kasumi Ai as a whole but...

What kind of person would she be if she just accepted that? To let what is essentially a different person take control of her lover's body for who knows how long, even if she supposedly existed in it since birth?

No, if Mei Wu knew the one thing she wanted, it's that she will do anything to be with her friend. If there was a way to compromise with Jiko Ai, then she might at least try it.

"... If we had more time on our hands, I would have given you a longer explanation. But to keep the explanation short, alraunes, like many beasts, aren't supposed to be sapient until they either reach Holy Beast status, or be close to it. Yes, I'm saying 'sapient' instead of 'sentient', because damn, how can one mix these two words? Honestly, it's insulting everyone's intelligence that they still keep making this mistake, you too." Jiko Ai looked at her with irritation for a second, "And your admittedly sexy girlfriend was sapient from the moment she was born. Go ask her about why she feels older, and yes, she didn't notice your thoughts about it while dual cultivating, but I did. Frankly, I'd like to just cut this angstfest and to tell you later..."

Mei Wu had to remind herself that this was still a serious situation where the Xie clan elders were most likely recovering and unable to escape thanks to the Queen Bee, to stop the blush from appearing on her face.

Jiko Ai only shook her head, as a grin made itself clear, "Normally, we both won't be separate, but grow as a single being, unless there was a specific evolutionary path that would have us separate as two different beings. As for releasing her, that would happen naturally the more our rank and level increase. And then, maybe we will become one like we should have been from the start? Ah, it's so hard to think about what might happen..." she spoke as Mei Wu felt a feeling of disappointment emanating from the woman when she spoke about becoming one with Ai.

As if Jiko Ai didn't like the idea that much. And then, Mei Wu shivered as the alter ego's eyes looked at her, lust and hunger returning with such vigour that it felt physical to the pink-haired woman's senses.

"And as for your question of whether there is a way for me and her to coexist, I assume that you mean a way for me to relinquish the control to her while satisfying my, no, our desires? Oh, Wu-chan. There's indeed a way. But I need to ask you this question first..."

Mei Wu felt her hair standing up in fear, unconsciously stepping back as the alraune's whole body walked towards her, Jiko (Kasumi) Ai's human face literally looking down at her.

"You had no problem satiating her desires, that much is clear, since you so liked her 'training' regarding your Grimoire summoning speed... so can you do the same to me?"

A creepy sensation of lust sent a shiver down Mei Wu's spine at these words, as she realized their meaning. Jiko Ai wasn't even bothering to hide or sugarcoat what she was asking for.

Jiko Ai only grinned even further.

"Let's make a deal. The choice is yours, after hearing it..."