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what the... i can't hear anything.

all i hear is an annoying ringing noise... oof, i feel like i'm being rag-dolled around by something.

am i dead? surely not, right? that was a pretty lame way to die...

ugh, now i feel like raw steak is being slapped on my face.

...wait—

"ahh!!"

jolting awake, laios immediately sat up and looked around frantically, touching his face.

"what the- where am i... wha-"

"laios! thank goodness you woke up. what happened here?!"

laios looks to his left, surprised to see his party members. senshi was holding a piece of wet cabbage.

'...was that the thing that was slapping me?'

marcille suddenly shook him by his shoulders, snapping him out of his thoughts and reminding him of the current situation at hand.

"laios?!"

"ah, right! where's [name]?!"

marcille visibly froze at that, and her face contorted into a look of shock.

"what do you mean by that?"

"[name]... she..."

laios held his head, releasing a breath which prompted senshi to place his hand on marcille's arm.

"missy, let him recover first. i'm sure he's still in shock."

marcille backs away at that, but her gaze on laios remained serious.

"this place is a mess..."

chilchuck says, standing not too far from them as he held his bow and arrow, looking around the room that was now filled with spikes protruding from the floor.

"this is no doubt the cause of a magic spell. this is one of those types that are used in war..."

marcille says, her eyes narrowed at the spikes that are twice their size.

"who is [name]?"

senshi asked curiously, and marcille frowns while looking down at the ground, her hands that are resting on her lap now clutched onto the fabric of her pants.

"she's one of our missing party members... and if what laios said was true, then i guess we found her earlier than expected."

"does that mean she caused this?"

"no, that's unlikely."

chilchuck was the one to answer this time, turning to the three of them.

"she was very vocal about not knowing how to cast spells ever since we first met. right, marcille?"

the elf girl rubbed her arm, looking hesitant.

"that's right... but [name] was also a very exceptional mage. i don't know how to explain it, but i feel like she knew things that i didn't. the head mage of the school i attended was very insistent on having her as a student after all."

the corner of chilchuck's lips quirked down, and he rubs his nape.

"so what you're trying to say is she's been capable of casting spells this whole time? then what was all that crap about only having knowledge in alchemy for?"

"i-i don't know... i didn't say she could—"

"she can cast spells."

laios confirmed, and everyone glanced at him in surprise.

"i saw it with my own eyes. she was the one who did it."

"so she's really here?"

marcille covered her mouth in shock.

"what for though? don't tell me she attacked you?"

chilchuck approached laios with a look of concern, and the young man quickly shook his head.

"no! that's not it at all. she did it to wipe out the party that came across us."

they silently stared at him, and laios cursed himself for wording his thoughts out weirdly.

"no— not like that... what i meant to say is, she was trying to defend herself from the party that suddenly started attacking her..."

"okay, so many questions here— first of all, why are they attacking her? second, where is the party that you're talking about? and last, why the hell were you knocked out if she was attacking somebody else??"

chilchuck questioned, and laios rubs his head as he tries to remember everything that happened in the correct order.

"you guys aren't gonna believe this but..."

laios told them everything that happened, starting from when he snuck out and began exploring in his own instead of following marcille back to the room, to when he first saw [name] and finally, when she casted a spell to fight back.

"... say WHAT now?!!"

marcille shrieked, holding laios by his shoulders and practically shaking him to oblivion.

"this is not funny, laios! get serious for once! i'm not up to your monster jokes right now!!"

"...so you want us to believe that our party member turned into a giant snake and has magically learned how to cast spells out of nowhere?"

chilchuck crossed his arms, unimpressed.

"i'm serious, guys! i'm not even trying to joke!"

laios tried to defend himself, moving from side to side to avoid getting poked to death by marcille's staff.

senshi was silent as he watched the three's interaction and out of nowhere, something caught his eye. a nest tucked away into the darkness of the corner, hidden behind some broken crates.

he made his way to the nest and climbed in, weaving through the dead grass and stopping dead in his tracks when he spots something that made his eyes go wide.

"i think laios is telling the truth."

he says, and the other three turns to him curiously.

they followed suit, stepping in the nest and standing next to senshi when suddenly, something came in to view.

"those are...!"

chilchuck gasped, and laios immediately rushed forward, almost stumbling over himself.

he placed his hands on the surface of it, eyes going wide at how soft it is.

"laios...?"

marcille calls out hesitantly, and the young man didn't respond for a while. he had his head down for a moment, then he suddenly spun around to face them with his face red in excitement, a huge smile on his lips.

"these are python eggs! giant python eggs!"

laios shouted, holding his arms out as if to prove his point on how large they are.

"there are giant snake monsters in this dungeon, but this is different! this is—"

he suddenly paused, as if realising something.

marcille's face fell upon sharing the same realisation, along with chilchuck who's face literally wrinkled. senshi was looking at all of them in confusion.

"am i missing something here?"

"OH NOOO!!!"

"OH YESSSS!!"

"why are you saying yes, dummy?!?"

"what the hell do you mean 'yes'?!?"

marcille and chilchuck began shaking laios again, and he raised his hands in surrender.

"wait, no! don't get me wrong, i'm shocked and horrified too—"

"saying that while smiling like you won the lottery is diabolical!!!"

marcille slaps him, and laios dramatically fell to the ground like an abused mistress, holding his cheek.

"but... just think about it, guys."

he pouted as he rubs the slap mark.

"these are no normal monster eggs. these are [name]'s monster eggs. she actually layed eggs! there's a possibility that her children are gonna come out like her!"

"laios, your line was "let's figure out what happened to our dear friend first and foremost" AND NOT TALK ABOUT YOUR WEIRD FETISH!!"

marcille is the one to hold back chilchuck from slapping laios, and the young man stood back up while patting his hand over one of the eggs, which is almost half of his size.

"it's not a fetish. it's just a fascination. i told you i have a very strong passion when it comes to monsters."

"we're talking about our friend here, laios."

marcille huffed, and laios turns to her with a much more serious expression this time.

"yeah, i know. i'm not treating this lightly at all, so please hear me out."

the group settled down near the nest, huddling around each other as they began discussing the current events.

"there's no doubt that it was [name] that i saw, and these eggs belonging to her are no coincidence either. when she was attacked, she tried her best to defend instead of attacking first hand."

laios explained, glancing at the nest.

"any other creature that has nothing to lose will just attack the moment they sense a threat approaching, but she didn't do that."

"so she was prioritising protecting the the eggs."

senshi hums in understanding, and laios nods in confirmation.

"that's right. when i was the one approaching, i immediately made it known that i wasn't a threat. but i didn't know that she had something she was protecting in the first place."

marcille suddenly sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"this is all giving me a headache..."

"that still doesn't explain how she got turned into... uh, what was it again? a lam..."

"a lamia. a half-serpent, half-human monster."

chilchuck rubs his head, still struggling to understand what's happening just like marcille.

"right, right... a lamia... and she's huge?"

"yeah, the eggs are enough proof of that."

"laios... do you have any theories as to why she's that way?"

marcille asked, her expression stern and glum. her mood has drastically changed after he started telling them the details.

"well, at first i thought it was a shape shifter, trying and failing to replicate her. but shape shifters need to read their victim's mind in order to get their perception of the other victims and replicate them."

laios cups his chin in deep thought, sweating slightly. this was stressing him out.

"and then i thought of changelings... those mushrooms are capable of changing one's appearance completely. if you think about it, it's the most logical explanation..."

he groaned, rubbing his nape.

"but that still doesn't explain her lower half. and the spell casting too. marcille, has she never actually used any spells before? even during your time together in magic school?"

marcille shook her head at that.

"no, never. i've never seen her use any spells, and she just flat-out refuse anyone who tells her to, even the head mage. she focused more on alchemy, which is a root of magic, yes... but it doesn't really require spell casting, just mana and a broad knowledge of different materials."

"that's basically how she has always been with us, right?"

chilchuck chimed in, and laios hums in agreement.

"...i do have one last theory."

he says in a grave tone, releasing a heavy breath.

"maybe this is the work of the mad mage."

"what? what would the mad mage even want from [name]?"

"i don't know, okay? i'm not saying this is a fact, it's just a theory after all... but with the lack of proof of other theories and less knowledge about the mad mage of the dungeon  and their capabilities, it's safe to speculate about it."

as the party reflected on the conversation, the loud growl of a stomach interrupts the moment and everyone looks at marcille.

"what?!? what are you all looking at me for?!"

"well, we better get back and whip up something for now. everyone must be hungry."

senshi stood up, brushing dirt off of his hands.

"what about the eggs?"

chilchuck nods his head towards the nest, and laios grins like an excited child.

"let's take 'em back with us!"

"absolutely not!"

marcille moves to poke laios with her staff again, and the young man falls backwards trying to dodge her.

"are you trying to get us killed?! she'll definitely slaughter us if she found out we stole her babies!"

"i don't think she will. she didn't attack me after all."

laios pouted, rubbing his butt in pain.

"even though i said she was pretty much a monster, i still think [name] is in there. i knew she recognised me."

marcille turns her head away, gripping her staff with a frown.

"...i'd also like to believe that, but if your theory of the mad mage having something to do with this turns out to be true, then we have to be cautious. not to mention, i think no matter who it is or what the situation is, any mother would react appropriately with their eggs getting stolen by anyone! and when i say appropriately, i meant trying to kill anyone who stole them!"

"fine, fine... we won't take them with us. but can i at least visit them after we eat?"

"ughhhhh....."

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"aghhhhh!!!"

stumbling down the stairs, the (h/c) haired girl held her head to protect herself from the impact. her wings fluttered and stretched in frustration, and her lower half began wriggling around as if she's in constant pain.

well, it would make quite a lot of sense. a puncture wound on her neck, huge gashes on her waist and stab wounds further below that. one of her wings were broken, the pristine white feathers covered in crimson blood with some feathers falling out.

she screams in agony, clutching the bleeding wounds as an attempt to stop the blood from gushing out.

it was a fruitless attempt, as the crimson fluid continues to flow out of the wounds without a stop. there was a puddle of her own blood around her by now, and a trail that she left behind after strutting all the way to the lower floors.

a small shuffle was heard behind a corner, but she doesn't seem to notice it at all, too focused on her own pain to hear anything at the current moment.

behind the wall was currently a shivering finn, his face literally so tense that he looked like a stone sculpture.

he doesn't know how the fuck he ended up in the same place she's in right now, like damn sneaking out during the brawl that was happening earlier and running all the way here just for him to end up with the same monster that captured him?

'i either have the worst sense of direction, or the worst luck ever!'

he mentally shrieked, covering his mouth to stop himself from screaming when he heard sudden footsteps.

"so... this is where you ran off to, huh?"

raising her head with a scowl, the (h/c) haired girl hissed at the newcomer like an animal, warning them to not come any closer.

"oh, you poor thing... i told you, didn't i? those damn humans won't be so kind to you. come on... let's go back."

they took a step forward, and the girl pushed herself up and backed away.

the stranger stops, and released a soft sigh.

"dear, why are you so stubborn? i have no time for this. stop trying to escape, people from the surface will only hurt you."

finn knew better than to try and peek out and look at times like this, curiosity kills the cat after all.

well, cats have nine lives anyways.

and so he peeks out to try and see what was happening, and there he saw it. an elf with dark skin and platinum blonde hair stood there, holding what seems to be a golden book with carvings in his hand.

"come on, [name]. let's go back."

the elf says once again, holding his hand out to the giantess who recoiled with a groan, glaring at him.

'is that... the mad mage? no way, that can't be him... but... what if...?'

finn thought to himself, before a horrible shiver went down his spine and he ducked behind the wall once again.

'wait, what am i doing?! nine lives?! i'm not a cat!'

he could only hope that the unknown elf didn't notice his presence yet, or else he's done for.

"do i have to take you back by force?"

the stranger says with a growl, and [name] hissed at him again, starting to chant under her breath.

the stranger clenched his fist in anger, then started scratching his scalp.

"ughh!! why can't you just be obedient, [name]?! you're always so stubborn, even back then! this is why you keep getting hurt! fine, stay on this floor if you wanna die so badly!"

then, there was silence. finn refused to peek over again, simply waiting for anything to happen.

there was no noise at all. nothing that could indicate that the stranger was still there.

there was a sudden loud thump, and he flinched. his stubbornness got the best of him, and he peeks over the wall once again.

[name] was lying on the floor, bleeding out of her wounds while taking quick, shallow breaths. her wings had gone limp, her body seemingly losing control of her lower half as it slowly went numb the more blood she lost.

her hair covered her face, but finn could hear her gasping for breath.

'this is my chance...'

he takes a deep breath before taking careful steps towards the stairs right next to the bleeding girl.

just as he reached the stairs, he stopped.

there was a soft whimper of pain from the girl, her fingers twitching as she tried to move them.

'...what the hell are you thinking, finn kilian galliard? why are you stopping?! no, stop feeling sorry for her! she's a monster that killed your friends!'

finn began sweating, turning his head to look back at the girl and groaning when a wave of sympathy washed over him at the sight.

he was too soft hearted for his own good. one of the few reasons why he tends to get killed in the dungeon, that's why his friends always make fun of him.

but he couldn't do it. he couldn't leave something to die, knowing he could've helped.

so with his hands shaking and his knees almost buckling, he made his way to the dying girl.

finn could see her eyes through the strands of hair blocking her face, and she was now looking directly at him.

he gulped, his feet stepping on the puddle of blood.

"please, don't hurt me. i'm here to help..."

he kneeled down, the blood soaking his pants as he held his hands out over her scales.

"this will hurt, but i promise to make it quick so please don't bite my head off...!"

he takes a deep breath before chanting a spell under his breath, his hands starting to glow.

it took quite a while, and by the time her wounds were completely healed, finn was almost on the brink of passing out.

'lost... too much... mana....'

he almost stumbled back when a hand caught him, wrapping around him whole and holding him up.

'oh no, this is it... this is what you get for being stupid, finn!'

he closed his eyes, preparing himself for his impending doom.

that didn't happen, however. instead , he was released and placed against a wall.

[name] then began writhing in pain, curling into a ball as the side effects of healing magic finally took a toll on her.

finn sat there for a while, not really having the strength to get up so he just chose to watch as she slowly calms down, lying on the floor silently.

'she's staring at me...'

he hugs his knees close to his chest, staring right back at her.

finn couldn't help but wonder why she hasn't killed him yet. from what he overheard earlier, he could safely assume that the stranger talking was the mad mage, and this is his creation.

or friend... whichever one of those.

does she have human empathy? if so, why did she kill his friends? it doesn't make sense to him for her to keep him alive and kill everyone else.

'but then again... there was that man that she didn't attack.'

he thought back to the man who approached the giantess so gently, as if he wasn't even scared of her.

'so she has a name, huh? [name], was it?'

"so... [name], right?"

he felt stupid for trying to talk to the monster, but was curious if she'd actually reply back.

silence was all he got, and he sighed.

"should've expected that..."

after a while, [name] then pushed herself