We stepped out from the narrow, secluded cave where Evelyn had hidden me, venturing back into the damp, echoing expanse of the lower ravine.
Because I was still actively using the shape-shifted body of Oksana, I was currently a physical mismatch of traits. Both of my arms were fully intact, and my vision was wide and clear through two eyes. However, my massive, blood-red wings were completely absent. To call upon my wings, I knew I would have to shed the genetic mimicry and return to my true form… but doing so would mean Oksana's tongue would dissipate, rendering me mute once again.
For now, I chose utility over flight. I gripped the heavy steel of my Death Chant Shotgun, racking the pump handle with a solid, resounding clack-clack to ensure a shell was chambered. Beneath the tight, latex-like bio-slime bodysuit, my heavily damaged intestines were still tightly compressed and sealed. As the shape-shifting stabilized, the localized numbness began to fade, so I instantly channeled my Pain Manipulation skill, forcing a cold, artificial barrier over my nervous system to completely block out the agonizing internal trauma.
Standing side-by-side on the uneven stone, I noticed that Evelyn was a few inches shorter than me in this form, standing at roughly 5'3". If I were to shift back into my true appearance right now, our striking facial similarities and matching jade-green eyes would make us look like Irish twins.
Evelyn walked close to my flank, her translucent slime wings folded neatly against her back, their bioluminescent pulse casting a soft glow over our tight bodysuits. She glanced up at me, her expression a mix of lingering guilt and quiet wonder.
"I'm sorry for the fight earlier, big sister, I didn't know I would happen to stumble onto my own sister like that. When we first crossed blades, I thought my hive-senses were just jammed or playing tricks on me... but now I've confirmed it. We are deeply related by blood. And yet..."
She looked down at her glowing, pulsing hands, her tone turning contemplative.
"...I have three parents. My mother, Linera, the hive-mind slime, and the core blood that was mixed within me to create this body."
Hearing her acknowledge the monstrous part of her heritage brought a sudden, heavy question to my mind. I slowed my pace slightly, looking down at her profile.
"Well... what about your slime family, Evelyn? Before I reached this ravine, I ruthlessly slaughtered your bio-slime siblings throughout the upper mineshafts. You told me yourself that you felt them dying in agony. Do you... do you feel the need to avenge them? Even though I'm your sister, I'm the one who took them from you." I asked, Oksana's deep voice carrying a serious, grounded weight.
Evelyn stopped walking for a fraction of a second, turning her head to look up at me. Her twin jade-green eyes were completely clear, devoid of any resentment or anger as she dismissed my question with a sharp, matter-of-fact tone that blended the tactical intellect of the devoured knights with the simple honesty of a child.
"I don't care about my slime family, slimes can be easily rebuilt by Master. They are just mindless drones, cells multiplied in the dark. If they pop, he just brews more. But humans... humans cannot be rebuilt. Once they are gone, they are gone forever."
She stepped closer to me, her tight slime bodysuit brushing against mine as she looked at my face, her expression softening into pure, unadulterated awe.
"And my hive-senses are so incredibly strong, Eirene. When I felt my slime siblings dying on the upper floors, it was just a faint, annoying buzz in the back of my mind. But when I saw you dying in the ravine… when my claws tore through your flesh and your life force started pouring out… the resonance was deafening. It completely overwhelmed the hive-mind. Unlike my family slimes, the blood connection to you is the strongest thing inside me. It broke Master's leash entirely."
Hearing her say that… knowing that our biological bond was powerful enough to shatter six years of absolute parasitic brainwashing… sent a wave of profound pride through my chest. The guilt of the slaughter vanished. I wasn't fighting a sister who secretly resented me, I was standing next to a fiercely loyal Rynd who had finally chosen her true bloodline over the plague.
A profound wave of relief washed over me. Her human blood… the Rynd blood… was fundamentally stronger than the parasitic programming of the hive.
"Good, then let's go make sure Master never builds another one of them again."
She turned back toward the path, stepping forward with total confidence. Having lived nearly her entire life in this suffocating darkness, she knew the exact layout of the lower sectors by heart. She knew the secret, unmapped paths to the fifth mineshaft perfectly. For the first time since I had descended into the Caria Mines, I didn't need to open my map or rely on guesswork; my little sister was the ultimate guide.
As we crossed the threshold of the deep ravine and entered the mouth of a massive, pitch-black lower mineshaft, I knew I couldn't face the building-sized Master without my full, capabilities. I needed my mobility. I needed my flight.
I let go of Oksana's genetic code.
[DNA trace depleted. Shapeshift deactivated.]
My flesh violently rippled and churned beneath the tight, latex-like bio-slime bodysuit. The illusion shattered. My facial structure morphed back into that of a young, tanned girl. My left eye socket collapsed into a hollow, scarred void as my right eye dissipated, leaving me with only my lone, sharp jade-green eye. The horrific, jagged lines of my Glasgow smile split across my cheeks once more. My fully intact left arm shrank and withered, transforming back into the raw, mutilated stump where my blood arm usually manifested.
Inside my mouth, Oksana's tongue dissolved into nothingness, rendering me completely mute once again.
SKRRRRT!
With a wet, tearing sound, the organic slime bodysuit split perfectly across my shoulder blades as two massive, bat-like blood wings erupted from my back, unfurling into the damp air of the tunnel and dripping with volatile crimson energy. I was back in my true form… the Winged Demon of the Caria Mines.
Evelyn watched the gruesome transformation without a single hint of fear or disgust. Instead, a warm, bright smile broke across her face.
"Good to see you, big sister," she whispered softly, her eyes locked onto my true features.
She didn't care about the scars, the missing tongue, or the missing arm. To her, this was the face of the family she had been waiting six years to find.
I couldn't speak to tell her how much those words meant to me. Instead, I stepped closer and gently raised my right hand, softly stroking her brown hair once again. My lone jade-green eye crinkled with deep, silent affection. The executioner and the guardian were gone… we were just two sisters, standing on the edge of the abyss, ready to tear our mother's killer apart.