Chapter 115: Lady of the Lake [Illustration]

[ Dream Realm - Viviane ]

"NO, NO, NO, NO!"

Viviane desperate denials pierce the thick air. Her knees buckle as her body collapses to the ground, partially degrading into its blue, gelatinous form. She shakes, hands twisting on top of her silver head as she tries to bend away from it all.

This place, a familiar, unwanted solitude, eats her as it has done for centuries. Although she wants to reject her presence within, she doesn't need a sense of touch to feel the prison she had been trapped in for the majority of her life, calling out to her like the devil.

How is it possible she's back here?

The surrounding fog chokes her while it dies the lake gray, taunting her with an empty basket always floats back, and worst of all, she can hear it again...

The wails of a small child, echoing from the distance.

Wasn't that just her past self calling out to her? She was saved by Nimue, so why does it keep calling?

Had she been living in a lie?

She holds fond memories of Daniel, Mary, and Anne, but her time on Earth seemed so short. Was it just a dream?

No, it couldn't be. The warmth had to be real, so what happened to it while she shared with Mary, holding their sweet child together in bed?

"P-please... Please... Don't let this be it... Don't let this be—"

"Mother!"

Viviane stops, inhaling. She doesn't care if she might be hearing things, her body solidifies instantly before she pushes off the ground.

She twists to the source. "Da—!"

Thankfully, he's already there, slamming into her back before she can fully turn, wrapping his arms around her with heavy breaths. In his momentum, Viviane stumbles forward, but they balance each other quickly. She stifles a sob, eyes narrowing with relief, as she claws over Daniel's hands on her waist.

"You're here... y-you're still here," she croaks.

Daniel shuts his eyes, recovering himself after his sprint. Taking a few more breaths, he nuzzles his face into her shoulders, squeezing her even closer.

"Yes, I'm here. It's okay... it's okay," he whispers.

He didn't have much time to think when he woke up, only separated some distance before he heard the elder slime's shriek. His heart throbbed, knowing how she would respond in such painful fog.

Viviane shivers, laughing dryly. "Yes, h-how silly of me to forget. This... this is just a bad dream."

Sadly, it's more than just a dream, but Daniel doesn't get technical. More than anything, he doesn't want her to forget her freedom, her new reality with them.

It does return to her as Viviane sighs, brushing his arm. "Oh, Daniel... My sweet child."

She rotates to him, slipping through his fingers thanks to her fluid form. In response, Daniel leans his head away from her shoulder, maintaining his hold across her waist while she moves to cup his cheek.

"J-just... let me connect with you for a little while. I need to make sure you're really here, okay?"

Daniel smiles weakly before nodding. Leaning forward, he presses gently into his slime mother's lips. Immediately, her goo connects to him, as does her hands gripping his back. She spills in micro-fashion around, inheriting his warmth. Needing it more than ever in this desolate gray world, her curves press against him, moaning into his cavity and hiding herself away from the surroundings.

Naked, Daniel's cock naturally revives, pressing against the elder slime's thigh. Her leg softens without question, engulfing his cock to compress against him further.

"Ooommgh..."

Groaning, Daniel tries to remain strong. Although he's become a pillar that Viviane relies on to move past her broken identity and loneliness, it doesn't mean they can ignore the past or surroundings.

His mother has to face this place.

After enough time passes, Daniel is about to break away, but...

"There you are! Okay, that's enough, you two!"

The elder slime snap-opens her eyes. Reluctantly, she pulls away, disconnecting from her child to meet Mary's approach. More relief washes through her to see the friend she was bonded to had come through.

"Mary..."

Smiling warmly, the artist receives her, burying her in the shoulder. "You okay, love?"

Viviane hums, closing her eyes as she hugs back her lovely host. "A little better now."

Mary's eyes drop. "It's my fault. I thought you'd have resolved yourself based on how we were feeling together."

The elder slime shakes her head, dipping away. "No, I thought I would be okay as well. I should have known that ending up here was a possibility, especially since you guys were surrounded by fog over in Anne's realm. I... I just hoped it would be even a little different from..."

Although left unsaid, Daniel understands, turning towards the water near them and narrowing his eyes. "So... this is the place, then."

Viviane hesitates before returning to the cursed waters as well. To her surprise, the basket had disappeared, and the baby's wailing had stopped.

Daniel had heard it as well. Glancing at her stunned silver eyes, he sighs. "Mother, if this is anything like what we saw, what haunts you will just reappear. I know it couldn't be helped, but it's important that you don't doubt what you have now," Daniel urges.

Shutting her eyes, Viviane lowers her head and clenches her hands. "You're right. I'm ashamed that I panicked so quickly."

"No, no, it's not like you were imprisoned for centuries or anything," Mary counters flatly, waving her hands. Switching to the lake, she huffs. "More importantly, how can this be the same place? I can't even imagine how that's possible, considering we're still out sleeping in the real world."

Viviane's forehead creases as she stares at the water with them. "I don't know how it all works, but this is definitely the same place. Everything from the shape of the lake to the ground is as I remember... or at least, from this angle, it is."

"Well, regardless of why, this is the first body of water we've seen in a fog," Daniel supports. "Within Mom, we didn't see any lake in the fog that appeared, although... there was a dried ditch that could've held water."

Mary groans. "Ugh, the one I fell in. Don't remind me about that." Straightening, she lifts to the sky, but the fog prohibits any visibility to know whether it's day or night.

She thins her lips. "Shame we can't see anything here. Do you think there's a magical tear above? There wasn't any in mine."

Daniel sighs. "Let's just focus on what we can see."

As they consider more of their surroundings, Viviane gasps, switching between everyone's hands. "Wait, what about the books? Did they come through?"

Daniel flinches. He was the closest to them within Mavi's "belly" but doesn't recall seeing anything on the ground. However, he also wasn't paying any attention, abandoning any awareness of his surroundings as soon as he heard his slime mother's cry.

"Shit," he mutters under his breath before knitting his brows. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention if they did. I only heard Mother as soon as I woke up and ran to her. I'm not sure how far I traveled, either."

"Well, I didn't see anything near me," Mary adds, but shrugs. "Look, it'll hard in this fog to find anything, so instead of looking for it, we should check out the lake in front of us. This has to be one of those memory lakes, right?"

"I would assume so," Daniel agrees, and turns his head to Viviane, who holds his arm with an anxious amount of jitter. "Mother, it'll be alright."

Viviane smiles weakly but lowers her gaze, trailing her fingers down to squeeze his hand. "I hope so, child, but I don't know if anything has changed. I've stared at the lake I was trapped against for centuries, but I never saw anything past the empty basket and wails."

"Something has changed, though," Daniel notes, chuckling. "You don't see or hear anything now, do you? And plus, we're here."

The elder slime widens her eyes for a second, lifting her gaze back to the lake and them. After staring for a moment, her eyes soften. "That's true."

Having resolved herself once more, Viviane draws closer with the two artists by her side. The sand softens their steps, filling the eerie silence of the fog. Indeed, it feels all too similar to be a coincidence.

The shape of the waters' edges.

The texture of the grains below.

She remains positive this is the same as her imprisonment, and yet, to Mary's point, it's also part of her domain. Is it possible to be trapped in one's self?

Viviane shelves these questions in her non-existent heart, hoping to find the reason for the solitude here. Upon the lake's shore, the three stare at its fill for the longest time. Daniel and Mary think of Viviane, believing it might conjure a wavy image, just as it did with other lakes.

Nothing happens.

The elder slime herself stares, but blank to it all. Instinctively, she senses a lack of belonging when she takes in the weak reflection of herself. Then again, she never held good feelings about it, so why should she feel any connection?

She furrows her brows. "Wait, what if..."

Daniel and Mary snap to the elder slime between them.

"Mother?" the former questions.

Silent, Viviane bends down and grazes the surface. She thinks back, recalling Nimue's words:

"Up to when he came to me in a basket, evading all that would've destroyed him, in the end I... I couldn't protect him."

The elder slime's pupils hold still to the visible range of the lake before them before inhaling silently.

"I see now... This lake was never mine."

The two artists raise their brows at the conclusion. Before either of them could ask what she means, a ripple grabs their attention...

Blub.

With water so frozen, it may as well be ice, nobody can overlook a change in its stillness. Both artists perk, leaning closer.

"Did you see that?" Daniel whispers.

"Yeah," Mary answers quietly, then knits her brows. "Why are we whispering?"

"I don't know, it feels kind of appropriate."

Is a memory coming into view? They all stare carefully, waiting for the nearby portion of the lake to speak to them as others had.

Sure enough, something is coming. A couple of meters before them, a swirling vortex of black and white churns against the water's surface.

Blub, blub...

Viviane's slowly rises back to a stand, her eyes widening in sync. Next to her, Mary wiggles her lips.

"H-hey, um..." she starts, unease gripping her voice. "Something seems different about—"

"Back, now!" Viviane's command abruptly rips through the air. Not waiting for them to register, her arms shoot out, shoving the two artists violently backward.

They stumble, breaths leaving them. There's no time to think as the area of ripple erupts, roaring out into a three-meter tower of force and pushing the nearby fog out. It sprays across the land, raining down more dressing than Viviane could've ever hoped to see within a familiar, dull containment.

Yet, amid the slow fall of the liquid pillar, a light shines through.

Viviane remains frozen in her outstretched form, staring it down as time slows. The light pulses, reflecting back growing intensity in her eyes amid the suspended droplets midair. Along the beacon, a silhouette forms behind the curtain of water that cascades down.

The figure doesn't wait, radiating forward in an explosive surge, bursting the water column open and spreading it further. From there, the source of the light follows from a glint flashing along the edge of a metal blade.

More blinding, however, is a lady bearing it, flowing along the water trailing her sword. Revealed among the thick fog, her dark hair swims forth, white gown floats, and blue eyes pierce as she streaks towards her audience.

Viviane can only stare as she is struck by the beauty that has come forth, both figuratively and very literally.

Splick!

The blade rings out before she can react. In a matter of milliseconds, Viviane's upper body floats upward while her bottom half stands, gooey strands stretching as it attempts to remain connected. She can hardly focus, her silver eyes immersed into the deeper blue ones of her attacker. It takes a quarter of a second further before Viviane registers the figure amid the droplets in the way.

Nimue.

The original Lady of the Lake, her caretaker, and remnant of Isis who saved her... transformed her. Viviane doesn't want to believe it, meeting her with more force than a memory had ever applied.

Possibly because this isn't a memory.

Viviane doesn't have time to process why her predecessor has charged them, nor how she exists within. She catches the dark-haired lady shifting her blue eyes towards Daniel after making her first cut.

Her body screams, jolted away from shock as her protective instincts flare. 'No!'

Molecular memory racing, Viviane's left arm lunges forward as her upper body descends. Her slime reattaches more quickly, preventing her from falling away.

Nimue's eyes briefly flicker, now recognizing the gooey nature of her counterpart. Although confused, her body moves on its own, sliding her sword vertically across her body, deflecting the shot of slimy appendage as it sharpens into a gelatinous, blue blade.

The sword cries out.

Viviane could've tried restraining Nimue from there, but retracts instead, only wanting attention to remain on her. She succeeds as her body is given time to snap back together while Nimue holds her guarded position, eyes locked to her silver counterpart once more.

The initial attack, counter, and defense happens in a total of about three seconds between the two lake dwellers. With no immediate follow up, time resumes naturally in their minds. By now, the water tower behind Nimue finishes crashing down, and the two artists had managed a few involuntary steps backwards from them, their faces draining as their lives had flashed before their eyes from the swiftness of Nimue's blade.

Nimue's glare sharpens as she adjusts the grip of her sword into a stance of observance. "You...?"

Viviane shifts her feet along the sand, her face gripped with many questions, but perhaps the most important one when attacked...

"Nimue... No, rather, it would be Mother, right?" she asks slowly. "You recognize me, don't you?"

The enchantress' pupils waver. For a moment, her stance loosens, as does her expression. "...C-can it be?"

Those are the eyes of a mother, no doubt.

Before hope can rise within Viviane, Nimue resumes her grip in a switch, her expression darkening.

"No!" she rejects, angling her blade. "I can't be swayed by another invading memory. You'll disappear in the end, like everything else here!"

Nimue jabs forward, pulling the blade to cut from the shoulder. Opposite, Viviane has no time to counter in words beforehand, so she meets the blade inwardly with her blade-arm, throwing it off. With her mother open, Viviane takes the chance to press forward.

"Please, stop! We're not...ah!"

Shlip!

However, Nimue backs up before the successor can reach, except, not in the way anticipated. For the first time, everyone witnesses her human form regress into a blue, gelatinous outline. She thins into an arch, flowing like a fountain until she's gained a few meters of distance.

It was known that the first Lady of the Lake had to be a slime, but to see full confirmation of her gelatinous constitution doesn't make it less surprising.

However, something else breaks Mary out of her stupor as Nimue reforms.

"Guys... Is it just me, or did I just see her sword turn into goo as well?"

"No, I saw it. Her gown, too," Daniel adds, sweat building behind his neck.

They can't even imagine the implications as Nimue silently raises the sword in front of her face, the glow of her blue eyes radiating off from the edges of the blade that is more than it appeared.

Truly, a sword that is forged from within.

"I won't allow this corruption," she declares.

Splick...splick!

And now, there are three of these swords along with three guardians to hold them. It took no time for two clones to split from the original, like walking out of a door. The bridges of slime thin quickly between them as they spread evenly, their faces equal in determination to clear out the intruders.

With the lake behind them, these "intruders" tense to the triple dangers, watching the fog swirl ominously around them.

Mary swallows slowly, smiling crookedly. "Well, fuck."

That was an understatement.

"Run, both of you! I don't care where, just get away!" Viviane orders, breaking forward and splitting off her own clone. As she has only ever developed herself to maintain one copy, she regrets not taking more time to push herself in solitude.

She can only do her best now, meeting the third Nimue to her left, while her clone tries to hold off the other two copies.

Left behind, Mary doesn't dawdle, twisting towards her artistic counterpart.

"Daniel, we should go!" Mary shouts, grabbing her boyfriend's hand. In turn, the artist reluctantly follows, his face creasing as they head into the direction he came from. Farther into the fog, it doesn't take long for them to fade, but he can hear metal and slime ringing as if they're still right next to them.

Daniel squeezes Mary's hand firmly. "Isn't there's something we can do?"

"Not if this Nimue doesn't listen to any reason! Damn it, maybe Merlin was right about fearing her. Worst case, we'll get kicked out of this dream!"

That's not the worst case, but neither wanted to imagine what would happen if they got hurt.

Maybe only ten meters away from the fighting, however, a high pitch whirling sound tears through the air.

"I won't allow any of you to taint this land!"

Nimue's voice echoes through their souls. Before they might look back, a long string of slime with a sharpened curved circular blade at the end crashes into the ground a meter in front of them, spreading the fog out in equal distance for them to see their feet again.

The artists' eyes bulge out as they break, forced to take in the odd weapon that is thrown like a sickle. None of them had ever seen the amount of power that could be mustered from a slime girl, much less a being of British mythology; however, seeing the synthesized metal heavy enough to embed itself into the ground while also being whisked sends them cold.

Crick... Cling!

In their horror, Nimue's show of adaptable weaponry breaks out of the ground with a crack and retracts swiftly into the fog behind them in a blur.

Forget the cold, it would send them crushed and dead.

"AAH!"

Marked by their screams, Mary and Daniel resume booking it faster than before, dread fueling their instincts as one or more clone draws upon them. They can't be bothered to check, only knowing that at least one must have slipped past Viviane.

The area booms around them, sand and dirt spraying against them as the heavy and slimy whips cut close, inching them towards a pain neither wants to take on, especially naked. With each swishing sound, their hearts skip, having no way to tell where the lake dweller might strike and if when they'd be hit.

"Fuck this! Let's just wake up now!" Mary screams, her eyes shut tightly.

"Just keep moving!" Daniel urges through his teeth, his jaw clenched.

"Leave them out of this!"

Viviane's demand echoes in the distance as more clashes louder. It would seem the slimes had moved closer as the impacts of the far-reaching bladed throws have stopped.

Regardless, the two artists wouldn't stop running.

"I'm... Haah, I'm losing it!" Mary begins, panting as her legs hit their first stumble.

Or at least, that was the idea.

Daniel squeezes Mary's hand tighter, trying to help her keep momentum. At the same time, he feels they're only delaying the inevitable when Viviane is facing difficulties behind them. Against a being that has no need to breathe and can form weapons, they're just prey.

It's no wonder how the cult members were massacred to save Viviane in that fateful memory.

"Gwak!"

To that end, Mary finally breaks, tripping to the ground with a familiar squawk. As her hand slips away, Daniel immediately twists around, but shakes, seeing the silhouette of their pursuer already close behind.

"Shit! Come on, Mary!" Daniel urges, supporting the girl up. In his lift of her to one shoulder, he touches where she fell and inhales deeply. His fingers make out an unmistakable book that she caught.

Raising it along with his girlfriend, he finds it to be the Book of Isis that Marlin carried.

He's not sure of the chances or where the other book by Victor laid, but this shows items can be projected inside a realm. Sadly, it might be too late to figure out what it can offer as Nimue shows through the fog in a brisk step, sword ready as she enters the visible range of the two artists.

The fog around them wavers while Viviane struggles with the other clones some distance away. It's too late for the humans, however, as Nimue raises her sword above, her blue eyes steady.

"Begone."

Holding Mary on one side and the book on the other, Daniel has limited options to dodge. Gritting his teeth, he yells out, raising the book in front, just as Nimue's sword strikes.

The book erupts!

On contact with the swing, the magic book's pages flare to life with brilliant blue flames. A palpable force pushes outward, creating an unseen shield that deflects the edge of Nimue's blade, holding it suspended. The enchantress watches, her pupils contracting with familiarity as they reflect the magical fire and book.

"M... Merlin?" she whispers, her grip weakening on the hilt.

Her blade remains levitated against the leather cover, which rises higher in flames, shaking and brightening the area to a blinding degree. Against such vibrations, Daniel considers dropping it right there as he senses it reaching a crescendo.

Instead, it falls off.

In a disappointing hiss, the flames extinguish so suddenly, Daniel and Mary feel like they've been slapped as the surroundings break into silence. The two artists stare, dumbfounded, while Nimue holds, frozen in her own way. With the book in between, the three stare for an uncomfortable amount of time.

Mary snorts. "Well, that was sh...!"

THWOM!

The book finally hits off as if needing time to charge, leaving Mary's words to hang as an invisible force expels outward from its pages, carrying forth blue embers that rolled in the resultant wind of impact. It sweeps the fog in a circle a few meters wide around Daniel and Mary while throwing Nimue away from them, her body disappearing outside the clearing in a gasp.

Daniel and Mary remain unaffected, except shaken as their heads rebound from the sound and apparent protection. Despite the reprieve, their eyes hold empty in the direction where Nimue once stood.

The fog returns to silence, and not even slime clones can be heard fighting.

"Daniel, Mary! Are you okay?"

Fortunately, of the slime clones, Viviane call in the distance thaws them. She and her split race to them, spilling into the clearing and immediately moving to guard them.

One of them glances back, noticing the Book of Isis in Daniel's hand. "So it did come through! Then the sound we heard was because...?"

Daniel swallows and holds Mary closely. "Y-yeah, it... saved us, at least for now. What happened to your fight?"

"As soon as we heard the noise, the two clones I was trying to hold back just stopped and retreated."

Shlip!

It was too soon for a celebration. The group flinches as three shadows in the distance grow more prominent until they coalesced into one. Viviane and her clone raise their bladed arms again as Nimue returns to them, her sword pointed to the ground.

As the clearing regains its foggy cover, Nimue stares with mixed emotions twisting her face. Nobody says a word as she reevaluates everything, taking in Viviane, the book, and the two artists. After a long period of silence, she closes her eyes.

The sword she holds loses form, reabsorbed into her hand.

Her lips rise weakly to Viviane as she reopens her eyes, more softly.

"It seems... I've done you wrong again, my child."