Chapter 59: A Greedy Tale to Melt From

"...and that's how I first came to know of Merlin. Just from his voice, that's also how I was able to associate him to the figure in Anne's first vision," Viviane reveals, sitting at the table with the others after disclosing Merlin's message to her.

Thinning her lips, she watches the reaction of her fellow mothers and son carefully. There's some wariness in the air as the group processes the meaning behind the wizard's words: full of ominous inevitability, and yet, optimism.

"So you reveal this information only after escaping Anne?" Mary questions, frowning. "That's oddly convenient considering it sounds like you weren't intended to leave."

Viviane's gaze pulls down from guilt. "Th-that wasn't my intention. Had the opportunity not come from my sister, I was planning on informing after you had confirmed the book your uncle possesses."

The female artist sours, unconvinced. She's also bothered by the fact this Merlin used her in his plan to record himself for Viviane's eyes. Of course, it's written in old tales that the wizard could peer in the future; however, she never imagined it to be so evident in such an obscure, prepared manner.

Her thoughts drift back to the "antique store" owner who gave Marlin the book. The seller had to have known his niece would end up opening it, considering he disappeared along with the store. Could he have been Merlin?

It seemed silly as any medieval figure, real or fictional, should be well dead by now, but then again, a legendary enchantress was before them.

Supposedly, at least.

Sighing, Mary returns her focus. "Even if your intentions are well-meaning, how can we be sure you're not going to cause problems in the future like this Merlin suggests? From what I remember of old British myths, you weren't exactly a saint character in some of the-"

"Mary," Daniel interrupts, clearing his throat. "I get your worry, but let's not make judgments or accusations right now. We don't khow much of the stories are true, so we need to sort out everything with her properly."

"Wait, stories of me?" Viviane returns, eyes widening.

"We'll get to that later," the artist promises.

"I agree," Anne adds, flattening her lips. "I'm not happy either, but...I want to trust my sister. If I don't, it's akin to not trusting myself or Amy."

"That's complete bullshit, love," Mary responds, her gaze firming between the two slime girls. "You know well she's more than just Amy."

Anne smiles dryly. "Mary, whatever your concerns are, they can equally apply to me. Viviane and I were one, after all."

"Your choices are ultimately your own, though."

"Precisely," the slime mother pushes before smiling hopefully towards her sister. "That's why I want to trust you, Viviane. It's clear, despite whatever Merlin sees, he also would like to trust you. So, I will ask the same as him: Who do you want to be?"

The elder slime blinks before her gaze slowly draws to Daniel. Replacing her guilt, warmth fills her eyes and pride lines her sweet lips.

It doesn't need to be said, but...

"I want to be Daniel's mother, of course," she answers nonetheless.

Said artist turns pink, his heart racing at the amount of affection directed at him. Unable to take much of it without questioning his worth or sanity, he clears his throat.

"Th-that's not to say we should disregard your past, mother; however, I also want to believe in the current and future you, just as I do with Anne."

Hearing the two still retain optimism, Mary shuts her eyes and exhales. Although she's the most worried, she can't fault them for wanting to believe as well. Having been shared the same maternal love for Daniel, that common affection is more reassuring than anything.

"I won't apologize for holding doubts, but I shouldn't have come out so strongly against you, love," Mary yields.

Viviane hums, eyes closing into a smile. "It's quite alright! Besides, you were suspicious of Anne too in the beginning. I hope to merge with you and Daniel so that we're much clearer to each other!"

The male artist chuckles nervously. "Um, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. You just came into our world."

"Ooh, that's right!" Viviane claps. "Yes, before anything, Mommy should explore and have a date with Daniel too!"

'Dear god...' Daniel thinks, sweating as the weight of having three girls hits him again.

"Anyway," Viviane continues more seriously. "I'd like to hear what I missed out while I was unstable inside Anne. Even if they're not accurate, what are these tales that Mary mentioned?"

Everyone flinches before Daniel speaks first, raising a hand to prevent others from muddying the waters immediately. "What do you know so far?"

Viviane's eyes draw to the ceiling. "I figured since I'm related to Merlin that I'm somewhere in the tales of King Arthur. Most of my knowledge comes from Amy, though, so it's just pop culture and some basics."

"Well, apparently, Viviane is the second most popular name for the 'Lady of the Lake'."

The lake dweller widens her eyes for a moment before her face falls with disgust. "D-don't say that to me, Mommy is sick of water as is!"

"Well, that's what was written."

"Urgh...well, it makes sense. From Amy's knowledge, I understand the story that I helped Arthur to unite Britain, although I don't remember anything about it personally. What about Merlin?"

"Merlin? Um...well, that's..."

Anne coughs, taking charge away from her son to break the news. "Sister, if there's anything that matches Merlin's message, he did love you; however, he was also consumed by you depending on how we choose to interpret it."

Stiffening, Viviane crookedly smiles. "O-oh...there's no need to downplay it, Anne. Mary noted I wasn't a saint in some tales, so I'm okay knowing there's a possible reason for being sealed away."

"Alright, but don't take these to heart though; that is, unless you happen to remember something," Anne warns.

Seeing her counterpart nod, she starts, "Well, for one, I read you sealed Merlin into a tree."

"W-what, a tree?!"

"Huh?," Mary sounds, raising her brows. "I wasn't exactly a fan of British literature in school, but I thought it was written as being put to sleep for eternity?"

Viviane squeaks, her blue jello body jiggling faster.

"Is how he ends relevant, though?" Anne returns to the female artist, recalling what she researched. "The main points that are clear to me was that this 'Lady of the Lake' takes advantage of Merlin's love, gets her to teach him his secrets, then throws him away once she's learned what she can. Is there a different version of telling?"

"Huh...well, sort of. I guess the version I read said she did it out of fear rather than greed. Still, it's quite shitty."

"Both of you, stop!" Daniel shouts, his eyes wide with panic as he raises an arm towards a shaken lake dweller. "You're exchanging history as if she isn't here. Look, your sister is literally melting!"

"G-guh..."

Indeed, the now sagging and dripping Viviane can only take so much shock as she melts into the chair. Having gained modern sensibilities from Amy, it's frightening to imagine what she may have been like in the past, even if the tales might not be true.

It does beg the question of how much of these tales are true? With only her mind racing, the possibilities melt the lady down further with shame.

Gurgle...gurgle...

"Aah, Viviane!" Anne screams, standing from the table.

"Love, what are you doing?" Mary snaps, turning toward Daniel. "I'm sure I saw you still have some fruits. Grab your bananas and shove them in, hurry!"

"What the-I mean, yes, I'll go check!"

Farther out, Rachel sits in her lab at the Keystone observatory; however, her usual job is disrupted as she stares at the photo Lecia sent to her phone. Reflecting in her eyes is the circular drawing found in Daniel's studio.

'This...has to be a mistake, right?'

The astronomer still refuses to judge, but it's true she didn't pay enough attention to Daniel's home when she visited. Still, why would a symbol from the Stonehenge book be discovered by him?

Rachel knows she'll have to speak with Lecia soon to get more details, but her stomach twists to see how this search for an unknown creature has devolved. There's nothing she can do to mitigate investigations around Amy and Daniel now.

"Fuck..."

As she mutters through her breath, the door to the lab slams opens. One of her colleagues runs in, turning her head to scan before locking onto the older woman.

"Rachel! Were you monitoring the Aquarius constellation recently?"

The called astronomer blinks before composing herself.

The constellation in question was observed during the night of the ritual the Stonehenge group performed. She previously revealed to Lecia that all stars in the constellation dimmed together for a short period of time. Such synchronous behavior had never been seen before. Against such coincidental timing, plus the fact the main stars match the figures' positions in one of the pages of the Stonehenge book, Lecia surmised the stars were associated with a sealing arrangement.

A dual of the ritual performed, basically.

However, that was all speculation. There hadn't been any activity since, unless...

"Yes, I was," Rachel answers, maintaining her voice. "I was just checking some measurements about the systems nearby there."

Her colleague inhales sharply before swallowing. "Well, the...Albali star has disappeared from the main constellation sequence."

Rachel furrows her brows before tilting her head. "What?"