As Iris lost her connection with the slime amulet, she commanded the hidden blob of slime to emerge from the ground and peeked at the map. She quickly tracked her position and found an optimal path to Vilia's cave.
Instead of heading straight to Vilia's cave, Iris broke off and, using the technique Fugria taught her, cut through the thick wood, heading to a lake nearby. Because of the knowledge, she noticed the disturbance and details she overlooked before. The crumbled leaves and broken branches told her what kinds of animals or Wild Beasts, or even Monster Girls moved about here.
After ascertaining that the surrounding was safe, Iris approached the still lake and tossed in a drop of her slime. It merged with the smooth surface, slowly permeating the cold, deep body of water. The undercurrent caressed her mind as the fish and the water plants swayed and drifted.
If Dulcie were there, she would have already messed with Iris. She would meet her sisters soon.
Iris shook her head and flung all the tools and flasks and weapons stolen from Fugria into the lake. After they sank, she jumped into the pool and cleansed her body from head to toe, caressing every bit of her body, feeling every place, inside and out.
Though it was akin to taking a bath, Iris felt tingles rising throughout her body as her mind shivered. The Shadow Heart Core inside her rapidly exuded the Corruption Energy and converted the natural water into her slime body, condensing them under her fair, smooth, bouncy membrane. If she could stay inside and rest, she should be able to increase her power even more.
Springing from the lake, Iris felt refreshed and energetic, having replenished her body mass and washed away the filth and dirt. Though she could easily force them out with her fine control, taking a cold, naked bath in the middle of the forest was just much better.
Drying herself and the tools, she neatly put everything back into the chest, then she planted an explosive flask on the ground in the obvious place, where anyone who followed her track would see and feel its threatening, looming presence.
Staring at the lake, she raised her hand and conjured a mirror image of herself. The water condensed and shifted into another Iris made from natural, pure water. The fake Iris ambled to the real one, who offered her a dagger. She gratefully accepted it and took the original's hand and kissed its back, smirking.
"You look amazing, Me," she said. "Good luck; say hi to all the sisters for me."
"Have I always been this vexing?"
They parted way, each going their direction. Using Fugria's technique, the fake Iris carefully made a path for herself, leaving her artificial traces as she headed off somewhere far and random. Meanwhile, the original Iris merely strolled through the wood and continued her path to Vilia's cave.
With her liquid body, she passed through the gap between the branches and rocks, leaving no traces, using no technique. By sending the water double somewhere else, she would mislead whoever tailing her off chasing an empty trail, for the water body would disintegrate when she lost connection with the main body.
Along the way, she didn't find much except some Wild Beasts, which lingered around the boundary between the inner and the outer area of the forest. Because of the human patrols, Iris had to slow her advance, making the journey that usually took a few hours expanded into half a day. She almost alerted a patrolling group in a rush, though the knowledge from Fugria helped her narrowly evade it.
When the sun had already set and the moon started to rise, Iris arrived at a neat cave filled with decorative vines and clay pots, where shrivelled flowers rested. According to the memory Iris gained from absorbing Vilia, the cave looked just the same but with a hint of melancholy in the air.
"Sis Vilia, we're home," Iris whispered and caressed her hands, feeling another memory resting inside it, smiling, comforting. "Your pottery looks as good as I imagine. No wonder you are so good at moulding my body that night."
It was peculiar for Iris to feel nostalgia for things she had never seen. She knew the cave like the back of her hand, yet she had never seen it, only from the emotions and the memory of Vilia.
Inhaling the stale yet scented air, Iris sauntered around the cave, gazing at the pottery and the dried flowers. She wasn't sure if it was her who controlled her body or Vilia, but she never resisted. Her eyes swept across the ceiling where vine patterns merged into a sculpture of a beautiful Snake Girl, Vilia.
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She remembered carefully carving the ceiling with her magic, spending hours on end picking and choosing the right type of vines and flowers to decorate her cave, hoping one day she could show it to someone whom she could call family.
"You have a family now," Iris said as she stared at the phantom of Vilia carved into the ceiling.
When Vilia first stumbled to Lenmia, she envied the intimate bond Lenmia and her sisters shared; she wanted one, one that would admire her creation, praise her mastery, and love her for who she was: a small, insignificant pottery girl.
She wasn't sure when her jealousy turned into admiration and yearning, but before long, she regularly visited Lenmia and mingled with them, gradually getting accepted into the family.
Shaking her head, Iris ventured into the bedroom, where Vilia kept her most prized possession, her diary. Though she had Vilia's memory, it wasn't all clear and sequential. She needed some references to make out the chaotic information in her mind. The nostalgia also compelled her.
Inside the bedroom, there was a pile of pottery on one corner, some unfinished, some ruined. Beside it was a small clay table with a pair of clay chairs, one unused. Iris walked to the weary chair and sat down, closing her eyes as she leant onto the backrest. Her damp body soaked the clay, which gradually darkened and loosened its shape.
She could almost feel the pain and pleasure of working inside the cave, moulding the clayware, decorating the walls, writing the journal. Vilia zealously decorated her place, hoping someday to impress someone who would visit it daily. Iris couldn't be that person.
"I'm sorry, Sis Vilia, but I don't want the other chair to crumble because of me," Iris murmured as she opened her eyes and got up. "I'll keep the cave the way it is, just for you."
At the other corner was a small bed coated in dry yet soft leaves, elevated slightly above the ground, not too high that a Snake Girl would have trouble getting up, but high enough to separate the floor and the bed. Iris glided her hand across the bed, feeling Vilia’s nonexistent warmth. She knelt in front of the bed then bent down, taking in the snaky air on the bed.
After a moment which lasted an eternity, she reached under the bed and took out a worn-down diary and a grey leather sack. She intensely focused the slime in her hand not to soak and ruin the book, making her palm fleshy and smooth.
The diary had Vilia's name carved onto the cover. It was starting to get dusty from the lack of care. The sack was filled with unusual and valuable items Vilia found in her many adventures.
Placing the sack on the bed, Iris sat down and read the diary. She knew most of what Vilia wrote, but she still carefully read it all, absorbing the crude yet lovely handwriting, written using a quill and the black ink she stole from a group of wandering humans. She really enjoyed writing the diary.
An hour later, Iris reached the end of the diary, where Vilia told herself she was worried about the strange events that were happening and would visit Lenmia.
On the last page, a detailed outline of the Sinking Dark Forest and the optimal path to reach the Labyrinth of Love. It was deep within the inner part of the forest, but the detail was dense and organised enough that Iris would never get lost following it. There were multiple areas where Vilia and Lenmia marked down the names of what Iris might encounter and ranked how powerful or violent those Wild Beasts were.
"Note to future self," Vilia wrote, "don't forget the identification crystal, and don't ever accept any invitation to join any group!"
Iris chuckled and put the diary inside her chest. She had a faint memory of the Labyrinth of Love, but it was fuzzy and full of strange, obscene thoughts and scenes. Even as playful as Vilia, she was still a mere plaything for the Monster Girls that resided there.
Iris didn't want to go there, but that place was the safest place for the weak Monster Girls to be, as long as they stayed away from the centre of attention. The Transformation Phase Monster Girls congregated around there, staying together as a formidable force, for the even stranger things in the innermost part of the forest were too much for them to handle.
Stopping her mind from wandering, Iris opened the leather sack and found a few colourful crystals and some scrolls of unknown languages. From the memory, she knew Vilia got them from the mages and rangers and warriors she attacked. Though she never knew anything about magic, she could sell the scrolls and crystals on the black market.
Placing everything in the chest, Iris surveyed the cave for one last time and sighed, knowing it would be a long while to return to the cave. She decided against covering the entrance. She wanted everything to look the same as before, and if anything happened, so be it.
"Farewell, home." Iris wasn't sure who was saying those words.
...
Kalender followed the trail until he found Fugria standing in front of a lake, watching the cold water rippling. He was about to walk to her, but she raised her hands and stopped him, then waved her hand down. He traced her movement and found an explosive flask on the ground.
"She took your flask?" he said. "Where is she now?"
"Not here." Fugria turned around and walked to Kalender. "She came here, took a bath, and went somewhere else."
Kalender surveyed the area and found a hidden trail, concealed with Fugria's technique and knowledge. "Are you going to track her down? You’re dead broke now."
"You think I’m waiting for you?" Fugria casually kicked the ground and disarmed the explosive flask in a swoop. "She knows. It's a waste of time now."
"A fake path?"
"You can try."
"You look satisfied."
"We traded." Fugria laughed. "Let's go back before someone else takes all the Soul Tree Branches."
If not for the branches of the Soul Tree, Fugria and Kalender might try to trail Iris, but Iris had left them with more wealth than just the tools she took. Logic dictated them to return. She was truly a cunning Monster Girl.
Before she left, Fugria turned to where the original Iris went, then shook her head and discarded her idea. It was better that both wouldn't see each other again. Getting involved with a strange Monster Girl was too risky.