Chapter 116: One’s Origin

[ Dream Realm - Viviane ]

Every life has a mother.

Whether that mother is good, bad, or gone is irrespective of the fact that one's origin comes from another.

However, a mother does not need to be a person. It can also be a concept, item, place, or time that settles within one's heart, nurturing them or corrupting them. Thus, one's origin is not merely the seed from a flower nor the soil of where it grows.

One's origin is not merely singular, either.

It is simply a beginning where a person finds themselves anew—changed. For many, that means having multiple "mothers" over the course of their life that greatly impacts them.

War, drugs, love, death...

God.

These are examples of "mothers" that forever change.

Daniel is in a special predicament where this stretched idea exists as a literal and conceptual web.

It begins with Amy, the loving astronomer who brought him into the world among her passion for the stars. He's fortunate to have her influence, as not all true mothers are engraved in people's hearts.

The next "mother" is art, a passion of his own planted by his high school teacher, Lizzie, that drives his path in the world. Without it, he might not have grown into the exact person he is today.

Sharing this art and Amy is Mary. The quirky British girl has become his "Mummy" by embracing these ties, although one could say she was already his "mother" before Amy was engraved. It might not ever be admitted, but Daniel's passion for art grew because of her. She nurtured his strokes just as he did for her, even when they weren't together. Now, she nurtures him in more ways than one.

Then, sharing Amy more literally, is Anne. This cheeky and slippery "Mama" started it all, opening Daniel's world further, for better or worse. Her slimy impact on him in such a short time could not be overstated. On the flip side, she too has a "mother". While Viviane started what would become Anne, it is Amy who becomes truly etched into the slime's figurative heart, igniting her origin to succeed the astronomer.

Finally, there's Viviane—a source of greater history.

She also engraved Amy within, thus becoming Daniel's "Mommy" in line with Anne. However, unlike her unintended split, the silver lake dweller holds another origin that broke amid her centuries of imprisonment.

Who did she originate from in the past?

Although unexpected, she now warily stares at the answer, both as the only real mother figure that held her close after birth and the one who had shaped her after death.

Nimue, the Lady of the Lake.

It's a title that Viviane carries as well, according to literature, yet she barely knows enough of her past life to feel it warranted. On the other hand, it feels more than appropriate for her predecessor, one who can actually manifest a sword with unwavering steps.

So, it's no surprise that Viviane and her clone raise their guard as they protect Daniel and Mary behind. Although she failed to keep up with Nimue, she wouldn't let it stop her from trying.

As the fog treads through their feet, Nimue raises her hands up in peace towards her understandably cautious daughter.

"I know this isn't an ideal meeting," she begins before smiling. "Still, it's good to see you, my child."

Viviane and clone open their eyes wider in sync before one of them grits their teeth.

"Good to see me? Is that all you have to say after—"

"Hoooah!"

The wary group stiffens to a bellow, reverberating from within the fog. Nimue doesn't bat an eye, instead only knitting her brows. Before anyone can question the noise, a silhouette of a person fades in within range behind her, holding what appears to be an axe, charging towards them.

There's little time to warn before Nimue shifts her eyes when the attacker pushes through, their form agitating the fog around. Instead of becoming clearer, they whisk through like a phantom, features undefined, with black smoke enshrouding as it jumps with its weapon.

Nobody has time to process the strange being as a sharp whirl cuts through, but not by its swing. Instead, a slime tendril shoots out from Nimue's back, cutting the creature in two before it can even reach. There's not even a cry that echoes as her charger's form dissipates into the fog before everyone's eyes.

The surroundings return to an eerie hum for a few seconds until Mary fills it.

"Wha... wha... What the fuck was that!?" she cries, stumbling away from Daniel's hold.

Perhaps it is good timing for her excuse, but Nimue regrettably lowers her head as her slimy appendage recedes.

"That is what I've had to normally deal with. Occasionally, there are these vestiges that slip through. It's obvious from before that you are all different from these corruptions, but I couldn't trust just appearances."

"C-corruptions?" Mary repeats, remembering she called them that. She switches to the two silver-haired slimes in front of them. "Did you see something like this?"

Blinking away from shock, one of the Viviane duplicates shakes her head. "I... I think I would remember."

Groans shake the surrounding air, chilling Daniel and Mary to the bone. It could be their eyes, but some areas appear to whirl more with gray, making it unclear where these shadows may lie.

Nimue's eyes narrow. "We've stirred them somehow."

She draws her gaze to the two humans, only briefly locking onto the book in Daniel's hand that repelled before focusing on Viviane. "I understand there's a lot to discuss, but we should return to the lake first. From what I've seen, they usually avoid coming near, but regardless, it might be easier to protect these two humans if you carried them inside of you."

Viviane's eyes flicker. "Is that safe to do?"

Nimue's lips rise. "Well, when you were human, I used to carry you inside me all the time, whether we were in my domain or out."

"That's..."

Another howl interrupts. This time, a shadow comes charging closer to the Viviane behind Daniel. The slime doesn't hesitate, extending her blade arm in the direction of the silhouette before it could even be fully seen. From the center, it explodes outward, disappearing into the air with a gasp.

"Or, we could all walk our way there," Nimue adds, raising her brows.

Sweating, Mary swiftly edges closer to the first Viviane, pushing against her back. "Yeah, no. Love, let me in! Let me in!"

The slime mother hesitates before sighing, her body loosening. Like quicksand, Mary sinks into her, filling her form like a suit.

Schlip!

The other Viviane opens up as well, twisting to Daniel, who remains more calm if not stiff. She especially wouldn't risk his safety, as her inner goo wiggles encouragingly. "Come on, child."

Daniel thins. "I-is this wise?"

"It's fine and cozy!" Mary is heard, muffled within the first Viviane.

"I have to trust it will be. Don't worry, I won't be connecting to you like we've done before. Just try not to resist my movements," the second Viviane assures.

"Well...alright," Daniel gives, moving to be wrapped with the book close to his chest. As he follows inside his slime mother and is snugly fitted in, Nimue doesn't miss Viviane's addressing for Daniel.

Her eyes smile sadly as she takes a moment to look upward. In this gray realm, time is undetermined.

But it seems a lot of it has passed.

...

..

.

Splick! Splick!

Daniel and Mary are pushed out of the two instances of Viviane as they return to a portion of the lake's shore. Indeed, fewer shadows and noises filled the fog as they moved closer. Although they were dispatched easily with a single whip of slime between Nimue and Viviane, the latter hadn't asked how these "corruptions" might harm as she struggled with other pressing questions and doubts.

Managing the juggle of emotions, Viviane draws her clone back, rejoining together as one with a flick of her arm. Once finished, she focuses on Daniel and Mary, forcing a light smile.

"Are you two okay?"

"Never better," Mary answers flatly, eyes dead to the area. She shivers, crossing her arms together. "I'm also never going to enter a fog again."

Daniel snorts. "I wish I could say the same."

"Okay, so maybe not anytime soon, but I'll at least never paint anything foggy again," Mary amends, although silently weeping.

Nimue faces them, aware to keep some distance before lowering her head. "Although it's not much, I apologize for the trouble I've caused."

Once raised, however, her eyes receive them warmly. "I am Nimue. May I ask for your names?"

Daniel and Mary hesitate. Besides being unable to forgive straight away, Nimue's lack of knowledge confirms she's more isolated as opposed to how Viviane was seen within Anne. Her actual presence within the domain is certainly suspicious, but there's an unquestionable aura about the Lady of the Lake that makes it challenging to complain. With her beauty and smile, she's not considered an enchantress for no reason.

One might even forget where they could've been pierced by bladed whips.

Mary clears her throat, deciding to take point. "Well, if you're not going to chase us anymore, I'm Mary, and this is Daniel. We're basically all one big happy family, you could say."

'Happy? Is that the right term?' Daniel doubts in his mind, squinting at his girlfriend.

Nimue switches to Daniel with a light chuckle. "Yes, I heard you're her child, so I suppose that makes me your grandmother."

Daniel flinches. Before he can respond to this worrisome expansion of the family tree, Viviane steps forward, clearing herself.

"That is not your decision. How are you even here?"

Unfazed, Nimue straightens before her eyes follow downward. "I'm not sure. At some point, I suddenly woke up from within this lake."

She lifts back to her daughter. "If you're here with others, could this be your domain?"

Viviane blinks a few times, lurching back. "I...yes? Shouldn't you know?"

"Ah..." Nimue's eyes widen before she shuts them. "I see now... you were sealed as well."

The area tenses around Viviane. Although physically cool, emotions boil as her gaze darkens. "So you do know what happened! Have you... have you any idea of what I've gone through?"

Reopening, Nimue's eyes soften with guilt. "Child..."

"Stop with that! Am I really your child after all this time?" Viviane snaps, her voice echoing through the thick air. At the same time, Mary and Daniel stiffen, coming to witness a family conflict that was centuries in the making.

Amid the silence that arrives, the silver lake dweller shakes, glaring through her stunned guardian. Until now, she never had any outlet to blame for her isolation. Memories couldn't talk back, yet here was someone who took her in—a lady that Merlin loved but a source of threat if his fears were right. Whatever problem Nimue would bring according to Merlin's cursed visions, Viviane rightly despises being involved in it all.

"Right now, being your daughter doesn't feel real enough when I've only begun to remember you," she continues, her sharp tone cutting her predecessor more than any actual attempt. "I was trapped in this place for ages, knowing only my name, constantly haunted by what I've recently learned was your loss, not mine."

Nimue winces, especially as Viviane triggers a prior child's cries to echo in the distance.

One that could've been a valiant sword that shines.

She shuts her eyes again. "Yes, that's right."

"Then, what about me?!" Viviane pounds, motioning with her hands. "I was lost too, but you weren't anywhere when I needed someone, anyone!"

No physical tears were needed to hear Viviane's spill it, adding to the distant wails of the past. Hearing such pain, Nimue forces herself to meet her daughter's resentment. If she had a heart, it would be in a twist about now.

"I'm sorry. Nothing more I say will ever be enough to make up for what you've had to endure... what came out of Merlin's desperation."

"His desperation?" Viviane scoffs. "Don't act blameless. I may have lost memories, but since being released, I've learned he sealed me to stop you. He said you would change and bring something bad for all of humanity. If he predicted wrong, then why was I even sealed? Why are you here within me?!"

"Because I shared a part of myself with you!" Nimue bursts back, the ache in her voice breaking the area into quiet again.

The fog brews to uneasiness.

Nimue slides a hand across her face, quivering. "Yes... you're right, it is my fault. None of this had to happen if I protected you better so you could live out your human life."

Viviane narrows. 'You could've let me die as well.'

However, she can't say that as much as she wants to. If she were in the same position, could she really let her child, Mary, or anyone in this life go?

She sighs.

"Just tell me, was Merlin wrong?" Viviane pivots, more leveled.

Nimue takes more time to recover herself before lifting her head to the sky. Slowly, she drops her hand.

"No... I'm not saying his fears were unfounded."

The two observing artists raise their brows unsteadily by this admission, all while Viviane lowers her own.

"Does this mean that you—"

"I don't know," Nimue insists, understanding the suspicions against her. With a bitter smile, she returns to meet her daughter's worried gaze. "The problem is that this lake and I won't reflect reality if I did undergo a change."

Viviane can't hold on to her frustration as Nimue's words seed worry. "What do you mean?"

"I only remember everything up to that last time you and I were joined."

Everyone's eyes flicker. Having merged and synchronized memories, they understand that a lake only carries up to that point before unlinking.

"The reason I know something changed is that Merlin once confessed what he saw to me," Nimue continues. "He said I'd bring a flood that would unite the world, but it would also eliminate any potential for humanity to grow on their own."

Daniel and Anne heard Merlin say he wanted to avoid revealing this to Nimue, so any confession had to have happened after the meeting at Stonehenge.

"Um...care to elaborate more on that?" Mary presses, swallowing. "Couldn't you have seen what he saw if you joined with him?"

Nimue shakes her head. "I tried, but he wasn't as open as I wanted him to be. As remnants, we carry flames of Isis that are unpredictable, even to us. Merlin was the first person to dedicate his life to studying our nature and the flames that we pass on. It's what marked him to visions, and even though I was the one who imbued him, I couldn't see past those flames."

She lowers her head and clenches. "I... I didn't know, Viviane. I trusted him to do what needed to be done for me, but he never told me that you'd be a part of this!"

"Or, as far as you know," Viviane adds.

Nimue shuts her eyes. "Yes, that's true."

Viviane lowers her gaze. So far, everything Nimue says sounds reasonable, but even if she comes before any darker change, how can she be trusted if she ends up posing a threat later?

Can she even trust Merlin?

As Viviane quiets in contemplation, Mary closes her arms together and sighs. "Well, that magic man certainly told us after the fact."

Nimue gasps, reminded of the book held in Daniel's hand. "That book... I can tell it's from him, but I don't recall ever seeing it, at least as far as my memories go. What does it say?"

"That's what we were hoping to...!"

Mary pauses as Viviane holds out a hand and shakes her head. She turns to her confused counterpart, her eyes firming.

"I want to believe you, but how do we know you're not lying?"

The enchantress blinks, then motions to her lake. "If my lake is here, you should have access to everything I know since I'm a part of you."

"Only of your loss," Viviane notes before snorting. "As I said before, I've only begun to remember since the seal was undone."

Nimue widens her eyes. "Oh dear..."

She stares into the whirling gray past the visible edges of the water. "I've never seen this fog before, but it must be the reason you're limited. Still, if you can remember even a little of yours and mine, then your lake must exist somewhere."

She perks and turns to the humans. "What about them? Surely, they've added to your domain for them to be here."

"I can access their memories fine," Viviane confirms, but her forehead creases. Although they are in a fog, Mary and Daniel's lake could exist outside, just like it does with Anne; however, she's hesitant to point it out and reveal her slime sister at this time.

"Strange," Nimue muses. "Well, it's even stranger that our lakes would even be here after centuries."

Viviane pauses. "Why do you say that?"

Seeing how much her daughter has lost, Nimue can only smile bitterly. "Because our lakes are supposed to dry up."

Her guests lock up, but Nimue continues as a matter of fact. "As a remnant of Isis, it's in our nature to change. In a way, it's also our only way of dying."

Pausing, Nimue switches her gaze to her still waters near them.

"You already know, but what do you think of these lakes, Viviane?" she asks anyway.

The slime mother joins the lady into staring at her lake, grimacing to be so familiar with it. "They represent the people we connect with."

"Yes, of those who are alive or dead. While we assume and retain these lives better than humans do, they will evaporate over time, mostly after a century or two. When that completes, we cease to remember those we connected with. If it's a lake we extend, then we cease to be that person. From there on, we have to assume a different identity or regress to find a new bond."

With open eyes, Daniel and Mary collectively recall the basin the latter stumbled into within Anne after Viviane left. Although it was found within the fog, now they can only wonder if there was a lake that had been a part of Anne or a leftover from Viviane?

The latter slime mother, although shocked, finds herself not as perturbed by the inevitability. Most would be gone from her life by the time she would be forced to change. It certainly beats remaining near identity-less for centuries.

"I...see," she says slowly, only somewhat sad.

"What I then shall raise is: Who shall you be?"

It's now clearer from a part of Merlin's message that he knew this would happen; except, she didn't lose herself completely, seeing how he also addressed her.

Yet, this nature of change only makes Viviane more worried about her guardian. She slowly knits her brows.

"Merlin said you'd change due to the greed of others. If you're meant to change for the worst, isn't this unavoidable?"

"No."

The firm answer causes everyone's eyes to rise before Nimue elaborates. "If it is meant to happen during Merlin's time, then that would make it too early to lose myself naturally. That being said, it's not impossible for us to change origins willingly."

"Change origins?" Viviane repeats.

Nimue nods, her blue eyes fading into a mellow acceptance. "That had been my case for how I started."

Silence follows for a while until she smiles weakly to Viviane. "It would be better if I showed you. Even if you don't trust me, and even if you don't wish to be my child anymore, I still want you to find your way. Through my lake and my words, let me help you remember. Perhaps then it will clear the way to your regaining your origin and its waters."

Viviane breathes in before wiggling her lips, conflicted.

Does she even want to open access to such waters? What will that reveal about herself?

"Uh, before that, what about those corruptions we saw?" Mary asks, raising her hand.

"Oh, of course!" Nimue switches between artists and Viviane before frowning. "Unfortunately, not all lakes dry out cleanly. There are old memories that refuse to fade and end up manifesting like you saw."

"So... like vengeful spirits?" Daniel suggests.

Nimue sighs, placing a hand on her cheek. "I wouldn't know. Not only are they annoying, they can be harmful to one's domain by eroding the lakes. Sadly, I have only my predecessors to blame."

Squinting, Viviane stares pointedly. "Meaning, I have you to blame."

Nimue freezes, her lips crooked as she glances away. Only with a feigned cough does she continue. "I will say, there are a lot more here than I remember. The fog might be helping prevent damage to you in that regard by hiding the lakes."

That doesn't reassure Viviane as she flattens her lips. Beyond troubling circumstances, she recalls one of Merlin's instructions from the last memory Daniel and Anne watched:

"Find the book that I will bury here, and of which will have unsealed you. By that time, I hope to have written a way to cleanse you."

'Wait... could this be what he was referring to?' she thinks.

It could also be Nimue herself.

Whatever the reason, it's obvious that Viviane is in an abnormal state with the fog, corruptions, and Nimue laying about within her.

Ignore her past with all of this? How silly of her to even consider it.

Resolving herself once more, Viviane sighs and motions to her lake. "Very well. Please show us what you remember."

Nimue's eyes hold steady as they soften. With a nod, she steps forward, holding on to the hope that she and Viviane will be able to reconnect after this.