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✰—this is LONG and i will be editing this tomorrow, so i'm sorry for the typos, grammatical errors and missing words in advance! ^^

"get down!"

laios tackled senshi down just in time before a giant hand was slammed down on the ground, crushing the bricks upon impact.

he was completely right to assume the worst, [name] was not friendly at all this time. she's as aggressive as a wild animal.

"laios, senshi!"

marcille shouted, holding ambrosia up and pointing it at [name].

she was conflicted, laios could see that clearly.

"marcille, stun her!"

laios rolled away as a tail almost crushed him and senshi, which seemed to snap marcille out of her turmoil.

she shook her head, breathing in and out before glaring at the giantess who had began wreaking havoc, trying to crush the two under her.

"sperae yeptum rufermus alamandas, proju aslam!"

a huge explosion scorched [name], and she screams in pain while covering her face with her hands.

laios and senshi immediately stood up to their feet and grabbed their weapons, preparing for battle.

"don't hold back, everyone! we need to take her down no matter what, even if it means hurting her!"

laios shouted, grimacing from his own words.

marcille closed her eyes and bit her lip before casting a blinding spell, a bright light enveloping the room.

"close your eyes, everyone!"

when the bright light wore off, senshi ran forward and jumped with his axe raised in the air, bringing it down to slice through [name]'s arm, only for the blade to bounce off of it.

senshi jumps in surprise, and he was flicked away by a very angry [name], her vision blurry from the blinding spell earlier.

"arghhh!"

a shrill scream escaped [name]'s lips as she covered her face with her arms when chilchuck shot arrows at her, and she suddenly held her hand out, preparing to cast a spell.

"laios, aim for her chest and neck! her arms are as tough as her scales!"

senshi shouted, and laios nodded.

"hurry, before she casts a spell!"

marcille sent another explosion, hindering [name] for a second as she growls in anger but continued to chant an unknown spell under her breath.

"i'm sorry [name]."

laios took a few steps back before bolting forward, climbing up her tail and using her hair as leverage.

'i'm really not good at this!'

he yelps as he almost slipped on the smooth scales, holding onto the girl's hair.

[name] groaned and tried to flick him away, and laios used kensuke to stab through the palm of her hand.

"i hope you won't be too mad at me, [name]."

laios pulls kensuke out of her palm, and climbs on her shoulder as she started flailing around while shrieking in pain.

he brought kensuke up in the air before stabbing down directly at her neck.

'i did it!'

before he could even celebrate, a large palm smacks him away. laios rolled on the ground before landing on his back, and he propped himself on his elbows, struggling to keep himself upright.

"w-what? it didn't even have an effect on her..."

he groaned, watching as [name] simply pulls kensuke out of her neck, hissing at it with so much venom before throwing it in the farthest corner.

"stop it, [name]!"

marcille couldn't stop herself from running towards the girl, and chilchuck reached a hand out to her.

"idiot, what are you doing?!"

marcille stood her ground in front of the giantess, and [name] looks down at her.

the scowl on her face disappears, and marcille slowly smiled.

"yes, that's right! it's me, [name]... please, stop fighting..."

just as everyone thought they've calmed down the beast, she hissed and grabbed marcille, bringing her up to her face.

"marcille!"

"stop!"

the elf girl held an arm out to stop them from approaching, panting slightly.

"i got this."

marcille took a deep breath and faced [name] once again, gazing at her with a longing expression.

"[name], please stop it. this isn't yo—"

"nom."

"ahhh?! marcille!!"

the party began panicking once again as [name] puts marcille in her mouth, before raising her arms once again as they began to glow.

laios cursed and pulled senshi away as he began running to the nest.

"chilchuck!"

he called the half-foot who nodded, immediately understanding what he meant.

when they step foot on the nest, [name] stops immediately. her face scrunched up in annoyance, and laios points a finger at her.

"aha! i knew you'd avoid harming the nest at all cost!"

"wait, you're right! if we're near the eggs, she wouldn't do anything drastic!"

chilchuck gasped, hiding behind one of the eggs.

"she may be a monster, but she's still a mother. all we need to do is find a way to knock her out while we're in this nest."

senshi added in, and the group had a 'we did it!' moment as they sat there comfortably, painfully unaware of the giantess that started slithering her way to them as they laughed amongst themselves.

[name] tilts her head in confusion before snatching senshi, and the dwarf started screaming immediately.

"...how the hell did i forget she could just grab us?"

laios deadpanned, and chilchuck threw dead grass at him.

"of course you'd forget!"

"hey, you forgot too! we all forgot!"

"no time to be arguing!"

laios runs to grab kensuke, and chilchuck prepared to shoot an arrow at the girl, pointing it straight to her eye as she started squeezing senshi.

"c'mon, don't mess up now..."

[name] suddenly turns her gaze to him, and chilchuck jumps in surprise. she touched the ground with her unoccupied hand and a surprise shout left his throat as the ground he stood in began shaking and rising around him, enveloping and wrapping him up like a burrito.

"what the hell?!"

[name] holds a hand out to laios' direction, doing the same for him before he could even reach his sword.

'she caught all of us! this can't end this way...'

laios tried his best to wiggle out of the hard cement encasing him, but it was useless. the cement was molded around him.

he watched in horror as [name] tightened her grip on senshi who groaned loudly.

"stop it, [name]!!"

the young man shouted as a last resort, his heart dropping to his stomach at the realisation that this could be the end of them.

'this can't end this way... falin...'

once again, laios touden felt helpless. he couldn't do anything to save his friends, he couldn't do anything to stop [name].

all he could do was watch as she crushed everyone with her very own hands.

he lost all hope, but then... something happened.

[name] stopped, and she dropped senshi who immediately scooted away, catching his breath.

she was standing still for a moment before her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she fell backwards.

[name] landed on her back with a loud thud, and the three looks at each other in silence for a few seconds, trying to process what the hell just happened.

"...uh, hooray?"

laios shrugged, unsure of what else to say while chilchuck just deadpanned.

"get me out of here."

being the only one who wasn't trapped, senshi broke them both out from the cement mold and they quickly made their way to [name].

"we have to get marcille out. ugh, but her esophagus looks pretty long. we won't be able to get her out unless we—"

laios and senshi opened the unconscious [name]'s mouth, only to pause when they saw marcille holding onto her lower teeth.

the elf girl had a force field around her head, with ambrosia held in her arms and both of her hands desperately clutching onto [name]'s tooth.

"took you... guys... long enough."

"ew, you're covered in saliva."

"NOT THE POINT, CHILCHUCK. GET ME OUT OF HERE."

the three worked together to get marcille out of [name]'s mouth, and the girl sat on the ground while shivering, whole body covered in slick saliva except for her head.

"what just happened? she fell out of nowhere."

laios rubs his head as he studied [name]'s face.

"l-laios... sh-she... actually didn't try to swallow me.."

marcille say, stuttering from how much she's shivering.

"she didn't?"

"no. that's how i survived."

"huh, that's strange... maybe she didn't intend to eat you."

"either way, she attacked us without a problem. so what, marcille's her soft spot or something?"

chilchuck huffed, scratching the back of his head as marcille stuck her tongue out at him despite shaking like a newborn kitten, irking the half-foot even further.

"she must've recognised marcille since they've been together for much longer than with us... i mean, the last time she saw me, she was attacked. she didn't know senshi, and maybe she mistook you for another half-foot."

"tsk..."

laios went around, observing [name]'s form closely, touching her scales and wings before pulling his book out.

"there's no doubt about it, this is a couatl."

"you had a whole page about it this whole time?"

"no, it's just something i made earlier. now that i get a good look closely, i can write down details that i missed."

laios shares like an excited puppy, showing his drawing of a couatl and [name] in her current form.

chilchuck and marcille deadpans, and he slumps.

"alright, fine fine... i'll focus on the important task first."

"she's foaming at the mouth."

senshi points out, grunting as he lifted the tip of [name]'s tail and placed it somewhere away from the eggs.

"oh no...!"

marcille, chilchuck and laios immediately gathered around [name], and sure enough, she was foaming at the mouth.

"...she looks dead. did we kill her?"

"don't say that, chilchuck!"

"what? i'm just stating what i see!"

"no, i don't think that's it. there's still a heartbeat."

laios had his head leaning against [name]'s chest, and he could hear her heartbeat very clearly from where he pressed his ear on her skin.

"get off."

marcille huffed, narrowing her eyes at laios who raised his arms up in surrender, a small blush on his cheeks.

a loud grumble of a stomach suddenly fills the room, and they all look at marcille who began swinging ambrosia at them.

"why is it always me?! my stomach cannot growl that loudly!"

"hey, you never know."

chilchuck teased, and marcille groaned.

"...i think i know what's going on."

laios frowned, reaching out to touch [name] lips. her saliva was dry and sticky. he then made his way to touch her scales, before coming to a conclusion.

"she probably hasn't eaten anything at all ever since she got turned into this. not to mention, the last time we saw each other, we were all starving..."

laios held a piece of dry skin that she shed in hand, showing it to the others.

"incomplete shedding and dehydrated skin is a sign of starvation for a snake. you would think that she'd eat the people she killed but i don't think that she actually did..."

"[name]..."

marcille whimpered, crawling closer to pat [name]'s cheek.

"and i don't see any of the injuries that were inflicted to her earlier with that party that attacked her, so my best guess is she healed herself."

"healing takes up a lot of mana... she must've had mana sickness."

marcille frowned, her lip quivering as she tried not to let her tears fall down her face.

"and the lack of food made her body give out. hmm..."

senshi hums before nodding to himself, grabbing his pot and pointing to marcille.

"elf girl, can you set up a fire?"

"huh? you're gonna cook at a time like this?"

marcille had her brows furrowed in confusion, but laios grins when he realised what senshi was doing.

"you're gonna make a healthy meal for her, aren't you?"

"no one deserves to starve, even if you're a monster girl."

was all senshi said before he began chopping up some vegetables.

he boiled water on the fire circle that marcille started, before putting the vegetables in and adding some seasoning on it, topping it off with the very pieces of the basilisk bacon they had and letting it simmer for a while.

"it's done."

senshi held a pot full of the vegetable soup he made, setting it in front of [name].

"now... how do we feed her this?"

trying to come up with a way to feed the girl didn't really take long for the party, as [name] began sniffing the air and her eyes fluttered open.

marcille backs away as [name] sits up and rubbed her face, before looking down at them.

the animosity in her eyes were gone by now, and she looked much calmer than earlier.

she then gazed down at the pot with the vegetable soup, her eyes flickering over to look at the group, then back at the pot.

her stomach growled loudly again, the girl practically salivating from the scent of the soup.

"you can have it, [name]. it's yours."

laios says, crouching down to push the pot closer to her.

[name] lowers her head and took another whiff of the pot, before taking it in hand. she stuck her tongue out, tasting the broth before her pupils dilated, getting larger as if she had just ingested the mosr delicious food in the universe.

"ah, she likes it— wait no, don't eat the pot too, [name]!"

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"i'm not in the mood to eat."

"no."

[name] is a stubborn girl, she'd flat out refuse to eat even if her stomach is begging her to, or at least that's what you'd see in plain sight.

it's easy, really. all you have to do is follow what marcille is doing— grab the elf by her shoulders, sit her down on her chair and spoon-feed her the food.

she'd refuse you, but she won't fight back once you've made an action to force her.

"is it good?"

marcille asked, smiling slightly as she got a thumbs up from the girl.

"see? it's not that hard to eat..."

[name] looked like she wanted to say something, but didn't. she just swallowed her food as marcille raised another spoonful to her lips.

"next, we're taking a bath. no buts or excuses, you smell like an old sock."

"...i need to go back to my studies."

"there's plenty of time for that! bath first."

now that marcille thought about it, she had never seen [name] do anything on her own except for working on her alchemy skills.

she never saw her eat on her own, never saw her sleep, never saw her read a book, not even something as simple as brushing her hair.

she never knew her origins, [name] never talked about her past. she's either not in a mood for it, or she just plainly says she doesn't want to.

marcille figured that the head mage took pity on [name], and that's why she was in a magic school to begin with.

nonetheless, marcille loved taking care of [name]. even when sometimes, she's just like an empty shell of a person, she's still [name].

she's still the same person marcille adored for... well, being herself.

there's one thing that marcille was right about [name] though.

"i... don't feel like living anymore."

but of course [name] wouldn't say that out loud. not in front of marcille.

marcille knew she wouldn't lose [name], unlike her other friends that had shorter life spans. well, at least there was one person that would stay next to her no matter what, right?

"phew... it took a while before we could get that pot out of her throat."

chilchuck rolled his eyes from marcille's remark, glaring at [name] who blinks obliviously.

"you idiot, you almost died for the third time today."

marcille was patting [name]'s forehead as she lays on her side, staring at the group curiously.

she had become docile after eating her fill, much to the party's relief. it wasn't how they expected things to go down, but they're not complaining.

"looks like the lad enjoyed the soup, huh?"

senshi says while wiping his pot clean, relief evident on his face.

"she's really picky, but once you feed her yourself, she wouldn't complain at all."

marcille chuckled, a noise of surprise leaving her lips when [name]'s large hand pulled her closer, squishing her against her face.

marcille felt tears building up her eyes as she fully relaxed, laughing in amusement as [name] pulled chilchuck and senshi along too.

"wha— let me go!"

chilchuck struggled, while senshi just let himself be pulled, still cleaning his cooking utensils. marcille just enjoyed the moment, relieved that she was reunited with one of her dearest friends.

'i'm not losing you again. never.'

a soft smile graced her lips and she leaned against the girl's cheek, closing her eyes.

"woahhh."

"...somebody get laios,,."

the group had to tie laios up with rope before he could attempt to squeeze himself in between [name]'s curled lower half. he actually tried to peek in her ears the first time.

"i was just checking for research purposes."

laios frowned, wriggling round like a worm.

"you know you're lying."

laios just sighed, watching as [name] slowly got up and crawled her way to her nest, curling around her eggs.

"aaaand... there she goes."

marcille sighed with a small grin.

"so what's the plan now? we got her back, but she's stuck like this. what now?"

"we can take her with us. she'll be a huge help especially with monsters."

laios didn't hesitate with his answer, sitting up properly.

"well, yeah... easier said than done. how exactly are we supposed to take her around when she literally has children? uh, unhatched children, might i add."

chilchuck points to the three eggs on the nest, and laios looks up in thought for a moment.

"[name] seems like she understands us, so bringing her with us doesn't seem to be a problem... but like chilchuck said, she probably won't go anywhere without her children."

marcille added in, and laios closed his eyes with his brows furrowed in concentration, perking up when he finally thought of something.

"maybe we can make a big pouch for her or something? or maybe even a giant bag to put her eggs in? so she can come along no problem."

"that's actually not a bad idea. i think i have enough spare leather we can use in my base camp. i found those from old materials that some adventurers left behind."

"that's great! we can just sow 'em up and make a bag for her."

laios gave a thumbs up as best as he could, since his hands are still tied in front of him.

marcille then makes her way to sit next to him, hugging her knees close to her chest.

"now that we have her back, about the other stuff..."

"i swear i'm not gonna try to eat her!"

the elf girl stares at laios, unimpressed.

"that's not what i was talking about. i'm talking about finding a way to turn her back to normal."

"oh... well, you probably already know my first solution. if we can't find a type