Slimantha’s black shoes pressed down into the lush green grass of Spider-Lily Park as she came to a stop. A big tree stood in front of the slime summoner. Its branches swayed gently in the breeze. Its leaves rustled. A multitude of lovely red blossoms adorned its branches. Slimantha pressed the tree’s doorbell. The tree was not just a tree. After a moment, the tree’s door swung inward.
A woman with short black hair and black feathery wings came into view from behind the door. The woman’s golden eyes, each containing the likeness of an upward-turned sword, lit up upon seeing Slimantha. The ivory-skinned woman was Latril the Crow, a swird woman.
“Hi,” Latril said, her lovely golden sword eyes meeting Slimantha’s beautiful brown eyes. “How have you been?” Latril gave the slime summoner a smile.
“I’ve been good,” Slimantha said and then gave Latril a smile back. “Can’t really say the same for Mimi though. She’s missing.” Slimantha fiddled with a lock of her long brown hair. The dappled light filtering down through the big tree’s foliage danced on the tan skin of her fiddling hand, her right hand. “Actually”—she lowered her right hand—“I wanted to talk to you about the Mimi thing.” She blinked. “Wait.” She glanced over Latril’s outfit. “Are those your pajamas? They’re cute.”
Latril glanced down at herself. She was, in fact, in her pajamas. More specifically, a black tank-top clad her top, and black hot-pants clad her bottom. She looked back at Slimantha, the swird woman’s cheeks burning. “You think so?” Latril said and then did a little spin to better show off the combination of tank-top and hot-pants. Her eyes returned to Slimantha. “You look good too.” Her cheeks were burning again. She glanced back into her lair—glanced back into the steel stairway leading down. She still blushed. Her gaze returned to Slimantha. “You know?” Latril said. She leaned closer to Slimantha—close enough for Slimantha to feel her warm breaths. “Do you want to, like”—she glanced away from Slimantha for a moment before her eyes returned to the slime summoner—“head to my bedroom with me? I’d like to put on a little show for you.”
“Little show?” Slimantha blinked. She brought her right hand to her chin. “You mean”—she lowered her right hand, her beautiful brown eyes sparkling—“like juggling?”
Latril pulled back and blinked, her blush dying away in an instant. “No, I don’t mean like juggling.” The swird woman sighed. “I was thinking of something a little more …” A sudden quack cut her off.
A duck—a lone duck—stood beside the two women. His feathers were a pristine white. Black pin-hole glasses covered his eyes. The glasses-wearing duck looked at the two women and quacked again.
Slimantha turned to the duck. “Oh, hi, Duckton,” she said and then flashed Duckton a smile. She got a quack in return from him. “Who’s this?” She glanced at Latril and then brought her gaze back to Duckton. “Allow me to introduce you. This”—she gestured to Latril—“is Latril the Crow. You may know her as the baddie from the whole bird-pocalypse thing, but she’s actually a good person.” Slimantha then turned to Latril and smiled. “This”—the slime summoner now gestured to Duckton—“is Duckton the Mighty Duck. He helped us kick your butt during that whole bird-pocalypse thing. Don’t hold it against him though. He’s a good”—she blinked—“duck.”
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“Nice to meet you, Duckton,” Latril said, her golden sword eyes on the white-feathered duck. “Sorry about that whole bird-pocalypse thing.” She got a quack from Duckton and then smiled.
Duckton gave another pleasant quack and then stepped back. He ruffled through his feathers and pulled out a pair of folded letters. He held the pair of letters out—one to Slimantha and the other to Latril. Clearly, Duckton was here on business of some sort.
The two women took the offered letters. Slimantha unfolded her letter. Her beautiful brown eyes promptly scanned over its contents. In her hands, she held an invitation from the Duck Collective—an invitation to a celebration.
Beside Slimantha, Latril read through her own letter. A drop of sweat rolled down the swird woman’s right cheek. Her golden eyes—her golden swird eyes—turned to Duckton. After an awkward moment of silence, she finally said, “Should I really be receiving this?” Her eyes returned to the letter she held—the letter that most certainly was addressed to her. She looked at Duckton. “Why am I being invited to celebrate my own defeat? This just seems wrong.” She got a friendly quack from Duckton the Mighty Duck. “An olive branch? I see. Guess that makes sense. Still feels wrong though.”
“Hey, Latril,” Slimantha said. She held her letter up, her eyes on Latril. “You want to go together?”
Latril froze. Slowly, she turned to the tan-skinned beauty standing beside her. Latril’s letter rested against her right hip, held via her right hand. “Yes!” she blurted. A blush quickly tinged her cheeks with red. “I mean I’d love to.” She glanced down at her pajamas. “I”—her gaze went back to Slimantha—“need to get ready.” She transferred her letter to her left hand and grabbed the door with her right hand. “Come pick me up before the celebration.” She flashed a dazzling smile at Slimantha and then slammed the door shut.
Slimantha blinked, having been left by Latril in Spider-Lily Park. Her eyes were on the now closed door. Overhead, the tree’s blossoms showed as beautifully as ever, but … She blinked again. She never actually asked Latril about that scream.
A quack sounded from beside her, and she looked at Duckton. She crouched down to get closer to her ducky friend. “What do you think?” she said. “Should I ring the doorbell again?” Duckton quacked in response. “You’re right.” She hung her head. “Latril seems busy. I wonder what got into her all of a sudden. Seems kind of sus.” Another quack came from Duckton. “You think she’s into me?” She stood up. “Well, that would explain a lot.” A slight pink came to her cheeks. “Her eyes are rather pretty.” She shook her head, the long locks of her brown hair swaying. “Anyway, you didn’t hear a scream last night, did you?”
Duckton brought his right wing to his chin as he thought. A moment passed, and then he lowered his right wing. His gaze went up to Slimantha’s face. He quacked.
“So you neither then.” Slimantha sighed. Then her eyes went to the tree’s door. “I so need to ask Latril about that scream later.” She reached into her left pocket and pulled out a cheese sandwich. She took a bite.