Slime Sister Saga: Part 7

Summary: Following the events of A Giga-Sized Glow-Up, Celes wakes up with powers she has difficulties controlling,  coinciding with terrible, otherworldly visions. She meets more strange slime girls like Feza, but are they friends or foes?

A trade with MRGIllusion45, who provided the illustrations; story is written by me; characters belong to their respective creators.

[Story Listing]

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Celes was enamoured with the sights of the ocean, so much that she hadn't even noticed Marin's firm grasp on her arm as she pulled her along at rapid speeds. There must've been claws digging into Celes' skin, to go with the iron grip that could shatter bone. Celes' eyes wandered all over the place, her mermaid tail flailing behind her as she went; with every kick of her fin, some of her purple slime flecked off, swirled into an itty bitty fish, the size of a guppy, and flitted about to get into all sorts of nooks and crannies. And the sensation of Celes seeing and experiencing multiple things at once was disorienting, definitely, but rather exciting! 

In a matter of moments, Celes' little guppies swam into some anemone, and quickly died! And then they would explore along the sandbank, only to get gobbled up by a flounder, and died! Celes's entire body rocked with shock as one of her offshoot guppies was utterly obliterated by the pistol-loaded punch of a mantis shrimp! Every encounter startled and terrified Celes, as if encountering some new movie horror monster, and she frequently yelped aloud, as if startled. 

Marin slowed to a stop, glancing over her shoulder as she looked over Celes with concern. Celes stirred sheepishly, her fish tail swaying anxiously. "S-sorry, I was just, um... taken by the fragility of life down here."

Marin smiled blankly, taking Celes' hand and gesturing towards the sandbank below, out in an open clearing. 

"Look, look!" Marin called out. Celes watched, wondering what was kicking up the sand; there were little things buried underneath, but what?

Some dozen light blue shelled oysters wriggled up from below. Celes connected the dots between their colouration and Marin's own; she drifted closer to examine one in particular. She tapped the top with one fingers, and it opened up to reveal... a beautiful, iridescent pearl!

"Oh my gosh!" Celes cooed; she reached down to pluck the pearl free, peeling back small tendrils of blue slime. She turned it around in front of her, admiring it from all angles. The way its smooth, pearlescent surface shone, reflecting the rays of the sun, was positively stunning.

Marin swam past her, reaching for another oyster, turning to Celes with a wide smile. Celes watched with astonishment as the oyster sunk into Marin's palm, leaving only the similarly perfect pearl.

"That's amazing, Marin!" Celes exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. "These are your... they came from you? I-I guess it makes sense, given your powers, but I didn't realize-"

CRUNCH! Celes' train of thought was derailed by Marin, who plopped the pearl into her mouth; Sharp fragments of the pearl drifted through the water as Marin gnashed her fierce looking fangs. 

"Mm, tasty~" Marin beamed as she swallowed, patting her belly. She turned to Celes, staring expectantly... at least Celes figured she was staring, but she couldn't get a good look at her eyes. Celes watched with a perplexed expression, followed by dawning horror, as she turned the pearl in her hand. 

She slowly raised it to her lips and into her mouth like a gumball. She grimaced, glancing at Marin, faking a couple delighted grunts as she moved it around in her mouth. The pearl clinked against her teeth, as she closed her eyes. Celes winced, closing her eyes to concentrate. She attempted some tentative bites, but worried that she'd break her teeth. She was so focused that she hadn't noticed the inside of her mouth tingling...

Crack. Celes' eyes bulged as something gave inside of her mouth. Immediately fearing she broke a tooth, she spat the pearl into her hand, only to find it was split cleanly down the middle... which would've taken a fantastic feat of strength. Half of the pearl rested in her hand, while the other half was caught up in her tongue.

She chewed experimentally, biting through the calcified material with ease. Her tongue felt longer in her mouth, swirling around and ensnaring the shards as she swallowed instinctively. Celes opened her mouth and raised a finger to examine her teeth. They felt bigger, longer... sharper? And her tongue was positively serpentine. 

"Big teeth!" Marin beamed; Celes glanced to Marin's hand still grasping hers, currents of light blue slime flowing into Celes' body. Putting two and two together, Celes relaxed and withdrew her grip, closing her mouth... she could feel her teeth gnash together, before the points shrank down to their normal lengths, her tongue shortening in turn. She massaged her jaw carefully.

"Uhhh... w-wow." Celes gulped, feeling a couple more sharp pearl fragments slide down her throat. She presented the half-pearl to Marin. "I-it's an acquired taste, but, um... w-would you like the rest-"

CHOMP! Marin lunged at Celes' outstretched stretch palm, biting off not just the pearl, but the hand that offered it. Celes cried out in surprise, recoiling her hand. She gawked at the nub left behind at the base of her forearm, wagging it wildly, before her hand bubbled forward and reformed in front of her eyes, like a baby's hand growing to an adult's size in rapid sequence. She experimentally wiggled her fingers, and sighed, running her hand through her long, wavy slime hair. 

"Haah... you're enough of a handful as it is." Celes smiled, beleaguered. Marin snickered, covering her mouth. 

"MARIN! CELES!" A familiar, coarse voice called out to the both of them. Celes glanced around, wondering where that was coming from. Her attention turned to a clamshell still nestled in the dirt, its top half flapping exaggeratedly. Celes reached down to pick up the clam, holding it in front of her.

"Astra?" Celes tilted her head. "Are you... a clam?"

"I'm not a clam!" Astra responded. "I'm speaking through you through one of Marin's animals. You saw this trick already, you should know what's going on!"

"Eh? But... where are you?" Celes glanced around. "I don't see you. Are you hiding in the kelp?"

"Ugh, hopeless slime stack. Obviously I'm back on land. All of Marin's animals are connected through a common hive mind, so when I tap into the mind of all of them, I can speak through the voice of any other, and see what they see." Astra explained, a tingue of impatience in her voice. "Think of it like a telephone, talking from one headpiece through to another..."

"...A clamshell phone..." Celes turned the clam around in her hands. "Incredible. Though... clamshell... hehehe~"

"Stop laughing like a ninny and come back to the surface!" Astra snapped at Celes, the clam rising from her hands and clattering at her cheeks, before fluttering away. Celes gawked as the light blue slime drifted away.

"...Hmmmm..." Celes wagged her tail, and drifted closer to Marin. "Hey, Marin, I have another idea for those pearls you came up with. May I...?"

Marin paused, tilting her head. She shrugged, and gestured to the sandy clearing. More lightblue clams rose to the surface, opening up to reveal a bevy of pearls.

"Omigosh..." Celes' eyes glittered. Such rare, beautiful specimens... the ideas were swirling in her head!

---

When Celes breached the surface (self-indulgently emulating a movie she saw as a kid), she was surprised to find Astra standing along the shoreline, as if waiting for them. Celes waved to Astra exuberantly, which was not reciprocated. Celes lowered her hand when Marin leapt from the water atop a blue-slime dolphin lunging at Astra, trying her best to stifle a smile. Leaving the rocks, Celes arrived to the shore, her mermaid features receding back into her as she restored her human figure. 

Astra was flailing under Marin; Celes slid over and took Astra's hand, before hoisting her to her feet. 

"Astra!" Celes cheered. "I was looking for you! Marin's incredible! I learned so much about being a slime, and I got to be a mermaid!!"

Yes, I saw the whole thing. Astra's voice echoed in Celes' mind, the mental link established once more through physical contact. Did you forget everything I said?

"Telephone fish, right right." Celes nodded reflexively.

You literally admitted to not getting it. Astra's eyes narrowed. I can read your thoughts like this, you know.

"Agh, details." Celes shrugged. "Anyway, Marin taught me something! Look, watch!"

Celes hurried over to the tide. She glanced into her palm, forming an oyster, one made from the same purple slime as her; she was momentarily disoriented, seeing the world through dozens of little eyes, and it looked like she'd stumble into the water, but she held firm. 

"Just a little sand..." Celes kneeled down to grab a pinch of sand, sprinkling it into the open clam shell. She grunted with exertion as the clam shell closed, her eyes wincing shut.

"Mmmmm.... Mrgh... ah!" Celes' eyes shot open, as she presented the oyster to Astra. The top opened to reveal a shining pearl! One a quarter of the size Marin had produced, but a pearl nonetheless!

"Tada!" Celes beamed with pride. "A homemade pearl!"

It seems rather half-baked. Astra looked, rather unimpressed. Marin, meanwhile, clapped enthusiastically. 

"W-well, I didn't have a lot of time, okay?" Celes plucked the pearl out. "And, and, it got me to remember something about my encounter with Feza!"

Feza? Astra's attention was immediately piqued when that name came up again. Celes oozed over to some palm trees along the shoreline.

"My slime.... well, our slime, is such a versatile material." Celes explained feverishly, her arms elongating to pick up and pluck palm leaves and fronds. "When I was restoring an outfit for Feza, we exchanged our slime; they seemed to bind the materials together, as part of a woven outfit. And I reckon I can do it again..."

Dollops of slime adhered to the fronds and leaves, stringy tendrils of ooze twisting from component to component. As Celes focused, her skills as a seamstress rose to the fore, as she focus the flexible material into points, swirling strings that pierced through and sewed through the natural fabric. Celes chuckled as sticky, web-like strands of purple slime adhered to the fronds and pulled them closer to her, her form twisting as it was wrapped by leaves. Her body twisted over and over, her neck elongating so that she could get a good view of her handiwork; at this moment, Celes was both the designer and the model; her hair stretched around her in long tendrils, serving as extra hands to her work. 

In seemingly no time at all, Celes had twisted, binded, and assembled a collection of palm fronds and leaves into a tropical ensemble, complete with leaf bracelets, a top, and a dress! She performed a dainty little twirl and curtsied. 

"There we go! Something breezy for the tropical climate!" Celes admired herself, before turning to the other two; she tugged at her leafy bracelets. "And see? The slime adheres the outfit to the body; it's practically an extension of the self! What do you think?"

"..." 

Celes had actually broken off contact with Astra while assembling the outfit, but judging by Astra's folded arms and annoyed expression, Celes surmised that Astra was none too impressed.

"Wow!" Marin beamed, shooting two thumbs up; she hurried over to Celes' skirt and tugged the hem. "Cool!"

"Thank you Marin!~" Celes beamed. 

"Now Astra?" Marin gestured over to Astra; the yellow slime woman turned to her, an eyebrow raised.

"Ooh, thanks for the reminder!" Celes snapped her fingers. "Go find Astra's favourite flowers to accessorize, I'll get the base down."

Marin nodded, rapidly morphing and splitting off into six mongoose, which scurried off into the jungle. It was then that Astra extended a hair tendril, connecting with Celes' upper back.

What are you planning? Astra's voice echoed in Celes' head once more as Celes approached.

"Oh, well, we figured the pearls would look better on you," Celes flexed her wrist, a collection of large pearls, the same ones Marin produced, emerging from her slime. She must've been carrying them the whole time, within her slime. "But I figure, why stop there when we could make you a whole outfit to go with it!"

Hey, wait- Astra objected, her body stiffening up anxiously as Celes approached; she had rapidly slimeweaved  a thread from the palm leaves to bind the pearls together, wrapping them around Astra's neck. 

"Could you stay put for me?" Celes asked. "Just want this to look perfect~"

Astra's body froze up, seemingly of its own accord. She tried to move and put some more distance between herself and Celes, but her body didn't obey her commands. This was bad; was Celes using her own Unique, to enact mind control against her!? It didn't seem that even Celes was aware of the influence she was exerting, because she was more interested in the ongoing makeover.

"You kind of give off stern librarian vibes, Astra." Celes thought aloud. "Soooo an island librarian look? An island-brarian?" 

Celes paused, overhearing the bushes rustling with activity. Celes glanced over just in time to see the Marin mongoose return, rapidly merging back into one another. Marin beamed with pride, a gorgeous tropical flower in her mouth. 

"Tadaaaa!~" Marin grinned, emulating Celes' earlier flourishes of pride. 

"Ooh! That's perfect!" Celes accepted it gratefully as her hair tendrils extended to grasp more leaves and palm fronds. Her hands worked quickly in wrapping them around Astra's figure, her slime weaving it together into a colourful outfit. And the pearls and flowers really accentuated the look. Celes was immensely happy with her work.

This is quite enough!

Astra's voice was so loud and sharp in Celes' head that she recoiled backwards. Marin tilted her head, pouting at Astra's swelling anger. 

"Eh? You... don't like it?" Celes frowned. 

You're -ridiculous-, do you know that!? Astra clenched her fists. All the myriad powers at your disposal, as a powerful slime, and all you care about is dress-up to act more like a human!

Celes grimaced. That touched a nerve but, upon retrospect, perhaps Celes had come on too strong about the makeover. "I-I'm sorry, if you don't like the outfit, you don't have to-"

You're hopeless! This obsession with pretending to be something you're not is utterly inane! The sooner you get that through your thick head, the sooner you can make yourself into something USEFUL!

"...But... but this is important to me." Celes clutched her chest. "I-I thought you'd be happy that I made a breakthrough-"

This whole day has been an utter waste of time. Come find me when you're ready to take your slime training seriously. Come on Marin!

Astra disconnected from Celes' mind and oozed away, still wrapped up in her dress. Marin watched Astra head off, glanced over to Celes with a pensive frown, before hurrying to catch up with her. 

Celes collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. She stared blankly at the lapping waves, the sunset slowly engulfing the sky in an orange glow. 

Celes's thoughts drifted to her true nature. It was true that she fixated so much on her seamstress skills, maybe now more than ever, before she had been turned into a monster against her will. But she still had her humanity. There was no reason she couldn't embrace her powers while not shying away from what made her special, right? But these slimes were a whole other situation. How could she avoid alienating them like this?

...Celes sighed, rising to her feet. Her mind was heavy, and weary with exhaustion. It was getting late. She'd have to find a place to sleep and take shelter for the night.