Chapter 35

When Nicole woke up in her house, the sun was already high. Stretching, she scratched her back. "Ugh, how did I even end up here? All I remember is that insane shot of pain, and then what...? Man, my back still aches. I hope it passes soon." Nicole muttered. She tried to stand up, but her vision blacked out for a second. "Wow, it seems I need more rest than I thought. No adventures for today, it seems."

After breakfast and feeding Mignon, Nicole looked outside and noticed that the pool of dark-green slime had gotten smaller and thinner, so she decided to approach it. "Looks less… slimy and wet?" She poked it and found out it really wasn’t the same soft material as before. Instead, now it was more like smooth, slightly glistening leather. "So this happens when dead slime dries up? But if it’s leather-like now and still pretty big… Time for new clothes. Or at least I can try."

Nicole absorbed some of the material, though first she had to get rid of some slime already stored, as it was taking the same storage slot. As she looked into her storage, she found that the Bonewolf bones were back in their place. Great. It seems my ability isn’t burning through the resources. I was afraid I’d have to restock after every transformation. But I should continue training later, I really want to see if I can make clothes out of slime.

Back in her home, Nicole dumped out the slime leather. She made scissors out of bones, as it was her best and sharpest material for now. She also made a needle and used Bonewolf fur to make gray threads. Now, let’s see what I can do with this.

Before she started making clothes, Nicole decided to test the material’s properties. Okay, what could go wrong? Anything. Fair. But no need to be pessimistic. I need to check how good its defense is.

Nicole took a piece of leather and tried cutting it with her scissors, which had a hard time chewing through the material but slowly did the job. Next, she tried to pierce it with her spear and barely made a scratch, and the lightning charge died on its surface. Makes sense. Leather is good at stopping electricity. Then, Nicole went to the river and, just in case, tested it against the water, but nothing unusual happened. Great. I was afraid it would absorb the water like a sponge and turn back into normal slime. Now the last test—fire. Nicole tossed a piece into the bonfire and watched as it quickly scorched and turned to dust. The smoke turned black and smelled awful. Okay, I need to remember to stay far from fire. Well, time to start working.

It took her over two hours to learn how to work with it, and the number of times Nicole stabbed herself with the needle was so high that her fingers were all bleeding. At first, for a test, she made small pants, like for a doll. Then again, and again, to be sure she knew how it should be done. Only after that did Nicole take her measurements and start working on the actual pants. After over an hour more, she was done. Nicole held in her hands dark-green leather pants. She made them perfect for her needs too—four pairs of pockets, two normal ones and two bigger ones on the sides of her thighs. Finally. Having my ass at the mercy of air was an interesting experience, but I’m done with partial nudism for now.

She quickly dressed and looked at herself in the river. Not bad, not bad. Maybe a little tight, but it’s okay. Nicole was stretching and posing to see how it felt, then turned. Oo, it hugs my ass really good. She licked her lips and playfully slapped her butt.

Returning to her house, satisfied with the result, Nicole looked at the dried slime on the ground. While I have a chance, I should upgrade my shirt and jacket. And remember to grab as much of the leather as I can, so I can make proper clothes for Soi. And Iloe, too.

But before she could continue working, Nicole’s body was pierced by pain again, coming from her back, and her vision blurred, forcing her to drop to her knees and hold the wall to keep from falling further. "Aaghh!" After a second, it passed. Fucking shit, this again? It was nothing compared to yesterday, but still… I’m getting concerned about it.

Ignoring the strange pain recurring again, Nicole got back to work. In a few hours, she covered her jacket and shirt in the slime leather on both sides. By the time she finished, Nicole’s eyes were hardly staying open despite it being only evening. "Why am I so tired already? I still have things to do." Despite her words, she quickly fell asleep, sitting on the floor of her house, leather and scissors in hand.

The next morning, Nicole woke up with a headache. It was mild, but it made her reconsider her actions. Alright, this is getting awkward. I guess I’ll have to head back to the village sooner than expected. What if it’s some kind of disease? Ugh. Alright.

As she got up, the world around her went dark for a few seconds. Okay, I need help. With haste, Nicole packed her belongings into her backpack and absorbed part of the dried-up slime. After a quick breakfast, she left the house behind, following the same route as before. Mignon walked beside her, glancing at her from time to time with concern.

I hope I won’t meet another monster drinking from the river. With this headache growing stronger, I don’t think I could fight anyone right now.

Morning turned into afternoon, and afternoon into evening. Nicole had to use her spear as a support to keep walking. It sure would be great to find Tiralie again and get escorted by the spider. When she felt that her legs would soon riot against taking one more step, Nicole decided to rest for the night. She made a small shelter with the last of her strength and went to sleep immediately after.

As the sun slowly reached the horizon to start a new day, Nicole got up with an ever-increasing headache. Despite having no appetite, she forced herself to eat a little before getting back on her way. After hours of walking, she looked up at the sun. Hm, did it always look so… violet? Wait. She blinked a few times with her only working eye. Violet? What’s happening? Panicking, she looked around. Everything was slightly violet-shaded—even Mignon and her own hands. Oh no. I need to move faster. I don’t want to die out here, not after everything.

After another blink, everything turned back to normal and Nicole hurried forward. As she moved on, from time to time the strange violet visions appeared and disappeared again, each time lasting a bit longer. By the third day, Nicole reached the beach and could see the village’s wooden wall far to her left. Just a little more.

She was panting hard the whole time as she walked, staying on the border between the forest and sandy beach to remain in the trees’ shadow and avoid potential predators. When Nicole was halfway to her destination, she started feeling watched—the sensation growing stronger with time. After half an hour, the rustling in the bushes and Mignon’s constant anxious glances around made it clear to Nicole that either she gets to the village soon or she’d be eaten by whatever was stalking her.

Nicole pushed all her strength to move as fast as possible, and by that time all she could see was a violet and blurred mess. Her ears were filled with the sound of her heart beating rapidly and blood pumping in her veins, and she could barely focus her thoughts on moving forward, step after step.

Fuck, how far is the village? It feels like the road is stretching forever…

Then, suddenly, the violet tint slowly disappeared. She could see the village gates—still far, but already close. But after another step, Nicole froze, leaning on her spear for support. In front of her stood a person.

W-what...?

A human. A woman in her early thirties stood still as the air toyed with her long, pitch black hair. She was looking directly at Nicole with a small, casual smile. The woman raised her hands toward the girl.

"Nic… Come here. Don’t you want to hug me, after all those years?" She said with a slight Japanese accent.

The spear slipped out of Nicole’s hands onto the sand as she took one step, then another, until she fell into the woman’s embrace. A tear formed in the corner of her eye as she felt a firm hand stroking her hair gently, just like many years ago. When she finally pulled back to look at the woman again, Nicole was speechless. The light-blue eyes, almost identical to hers, looked back at her.

"You’ve grown up so much, Nic. You’ve had a lot to overcome, both on Earth and here." The smile slowly faded and the woman grew visibly sadder. "I just wish we could have been there for you. Both me and Dad couldn’t see you growing… because of you!" The woman’s face twisted in anger and hatred in a sudden shout.

"M-mom? What do you mean?!" Nicole took a step back.

"You know what she means." A male voice came from behind. She turned around to see a tall, ginger-haired man coming closer until he stood a meter in front of her.

"Dad?!" Nicole looked at him and back to her mother. "I don’t understand!"

The woman grabbed Nicole by one arm while the man took the other. "You’ve already forgotten about us?! What happened that day? We both died because of you!" They shouted together, their voices blending into one. The sky turned gray as heavy clouds blocked the sun.

Terrified, Nicole shook her head, eyes shut tight. "I’m sorry! I was just a kid!" Then she felt a cold hand tighten around her throat. Her mother’s face had turned into something awful and inhuman, filled with disgust and malice. The usual calm gentleness of her eyes was gone, replaced by a raging storm. "Do you think the dead care!? That car should have hit you, not us! You were the one who ran across the street first!"

Feeling the grip tighten, Nicole’s breathing grew fast and ragged. Suffocating, she felt her legs give out and she fell to her knees. Looking up at her parents’ faces, the world lost all color except for her mother’s eyes, still burning brightly even as everything else turned black and white. Then, as Nicole struggled for air, everything went black, and she felt herself falling—falling as the two stormy eyes grew smaller and smaller, turning into dots before disappearing completely, leaving her alone in the darkness, still falling.