Trade: Slime Sisters (Part 2)

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 and the character of Feza; story is written by me.

[Story Listing]

[First Part]

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The next several hours were a blur to Celes as she weaved in and out of consciousness. Visions of an alien reality chilled her, but her brain didn't fully process the images flashing beneath her eyelids.

Another unsettling vision of some distant, alien reality, though one that seemed to resonate with Celes. She felt herself standing before an otherworldly tree, one mighty and tall that loomed far above her. Her eyes focused on what she could only describe as a face, moulded into the bark as if clay. It was frozen, contorted into a snarling scream. Its branches unfurled wildly in all directions.

It was a chilling look. While Celes rather enjoyed nature, the creepy visage of this tree disturbed her. Not to mention the stench. The air reeked of death.

It was then that Celes noticed the figures among the leaves and branches. Celes initially mistook them for dangling vines, but as the blood red moon reflected light onto their visages, Celes croaked a gasp.

These were people. Still, sullen, dead people. Their deathlike pallours contorted into shriveled up grimaces. It wasn't enough that they looked like they were hanging enmasse; it looked like they were drained of all their vitality. In the faint moonlight, Celes spotted thin, gossamer threads supporting their limb, skeletal bodies.

Fwishfwish...

Celes croaked as the tree rustled and shifted, more gossamer threads shifting through the air like snakes. Wide-eyed and panicked, Celes tried to escape, but she only collapsed to the ground, her legs already ensnared by such threads.

The world inverted as she was raised up in the air, legs first, the thin threads weaving around each other, coalescing into a point, and rushing for her head!

Celes didn't have time to scream.

---

CYAW! CYAW!

Celes was brought back to reality by a strange sight. A flock of seagulls flooded her vision, crooning loudly. In her dazed, dreamlike state, mostly jostled by their uproarious outbursts, she dully realized that, even now, she was still roughly the size of a lighthouse; the gulls seemed interested in pecking at her slime-coated skin, picking at her seaweed form dress.

"Ugh, get lost, you sky roaches."

Celes heard herself say something, though it wasn't something she was thinking of saying. Her massive body seemed to move on its own, her massive palms swinging at the flock of gulls, keeping them away from her chest. A couple were caught in the purple membrane of her bus-sized fingers.

Celes felt strange. She was awake, and she was moving, and she was speaking, but she felt like she wasn't in control of anything she was doing. She felt like she was watching her life play out like a movie, independent of her own input.

"Shoo, shoo!" Celes uttered again, with a contempt in her voice that didn't sound like her. Celes could perceive herself through her limited vision, and what she saw was rather strange. Across her arms, and through her hands and fingers, yellow threads wove through her viscous form like silk. Celes, in her head, likened them to mannequin strings...

She couldn't tilt her head around to examine the rest of her, but she could make out the faint sensation of a hundred other threads such as these—penetrating deeper inside of her, weaving in and out like silk. And as far as she could see, the ocean went on to the horizon. Perhaps the ocean went on in all directions.

Where am I? Celes thought to herself, still feeling as though she was in another bad dream.

"...Huh? Who said that?" Celes heard herself mumble.

Celes' internal monologue froze up, her voice hijacked by some other power. Feeling a chill, like she had done something wrong, Celes clammed up. Mentally, at least.

"Did Feza go and learn how to talk?" Celes spoke aloud. "Hey, speak up again!"

...Hello?

Celes' body slowed to a halt; Celes' body shuddered as the myriad ropes coursing in and out of her body seemed to tense up at once.

There was an unpleasing oozing sensation as something seemed to spill from the top of Celes' head, slipping down her slimy bangs... and dangled in front of her eyes. Celes couldn't perceive her own stone-faced, dumb-struck expression, or the strange yellow glow within her eyes... but her half-open eyes did see the sight of a bright, translucent slime woman sinking into her sightline, supported by ribbons of yellow slime that cradled her like a hammock.

The yellow slime woman folded her arms. Curiously, she didn't have a mouth of her own, but even in her disoriented state

"Don't tell me the mute dumb-dumb finally found her voice." Celes' voice snarked again; again, the words weren't her own. "Long time no see, Feza."

Feza? I'm not... I -know- a Feza, but I'm not Feza.

"I know you were never the brightest star in the galaxy, but don't play dumb with me." Celes spoke aloud again. "You're big like Feza, you're green like Feza, you reek of her slime too."

Who are you? Why are you speaking with my voice? I can't move my body...

"...I'm feeling a little put out right now. Don't tell me your little sabbatical made you forget all about me. Astra? Your sister?" Astra tilted her head as she kicked her feet up. It seems her attitude matched that of Celes' sardonic voice.

I don't have any sisters! What're you doing to me!? W-why are you talking through me like this?? Celes' mind raced with questions, which betrayed her dazed, hypnotized expression.

"Hah... this is annoying, you ask too many questions." Astra stretched her arms over her head, as if to yawn. "Really wish you would just give up already, it'd make things so much easier."

Give up?? Give up on what!? Celes wondered internally. As Celes looked, she noticed myriad tendrils of thin yellow strings rising from Astra's hair.

"And what's with this weird getup?" Astra muttered. Celes could feel her arms moving outside of her control, sliding down her seaweed-form dress. Her fingers clenched to get into the tearing seams of her outfit. "This is way too tight, so constricting-"

LET GO!!

A sharp burst of emotion gripped Celes as she realized immediately that Astra was motioning to strip her of her clothes, and her modesty. For a moment, Celes raised her arms, on her own accord. There was a sluggishness to them, as if she was trapped in tar, but still she slowly batted her hand at Astra's swaying figure; Astra easily dodged, contorting her yellow slimeform body to avoid the slow swings, before her eyebrows furrowed.

"What the heck was... ugh, you need to calm down."

Astra responded in turn as more strings shot out from the tips of her hair tentacles. She directed them towards Celes' face, into her cheeks, her forehead, her chin... Celes' momentary sense of control was quickly relinquished, her arms falling limply to her sides.

What are you doing to me!?

"Taking control, mostly." Astra played with her bangs. "These little strings search for the soul, consume it so there's left... and then I leave a little piece of myself, so they get to be my little puppet."

...What?? A chill crawled down Celes' trembling body. Her body stirred and tingled all over. She could feel the ropes searching her form, twisting inside of her.

"It's easier with people, since I just gotta go for the brain, but you're annoying about it." Astra ranted. "You're a slime monster, your soul's everywhere in your dumb, ginormous body, and it keeps regenerating, so if you could just cut that out and let me take over, that'd be-"

I'm not a slime monster! Celes objected obstinately. I have a NAME! It's CELES! Now let me go this instant-

OooooOOOooooo~

A familiar, haunting melody overcame Celes' senses, and her body went slack once again, her enraged thoughts vanishing like a puff of smoke. Her eyes glazed over. The melody, the foul siren song, came from Astra; the smaller slime woman waved a hand in front of Celes' eyes.

"That'll shut her up until I can figure out what makes her tick..." Astra muttered to herself, in Celes' voice. "Celes, huh? Is she new on the block? Whatever she is, I can't let her go without knowing exactly what I'm dealing with..."

Astra continued to sing that haunting song as the colossal, zombified Celes continued to effortlessly surge through the ocean. All the while, as Astra continued to possess Celes, unbeknownst to her, trickles of her own yellow slime began to be absorbed by Celes, blending with the purple and green hues of her seaweed form dress. Astra, too absorbed in trying to dissect Celes, didn't fully realize this, or where they were going, focused on her sonorous melody to keep the titanic purple woman in a trance.

This state of affairs continued for about an hour, with Astra making no progress on her designs to make Celes a flawless extension of her own will, until something brushed against Celes' lower body...

BWAAAAAAAAA!! Astra and Celes alike were startled by an emergency siren blaring. Astra's siren song came to an abrupt halt as she glanced down.

"What could be making such a racket?" Asta squinted. "Is that a boat?"

A boat? What kind of boat? I-I can't see, what's going on?? Celes, jostled from her trance, panicked slightly within her internal monologue; without control of her body, her gaze remained focused on the far horizon.

"Uhhhh... piddly little thing, looking from up here." It didn't seem that Astra was keen on letting Celes see what the commotion was about. As the siren continued to blare, something strange and unexpected happened.

Celes glanced downwards. There wasn't a visible reaction on her blank expression, but that didn't mean Celes wasn't shocked. It seemed that a battleship was carried on one of the ginormous waves Celes was creating, bumped aside and falling to one side.

...At Celes' scale, the enormous vessel looked like a toy for a child's bathtub playtime. But the acrid stench of diesel and the emergency sirens bellowing were very, very real.

There are people on that boat! Celes exclaimed in a panic. They're falling overboard! We have to help them!

"Help?" Astra muttered, through Celes' voice. "That seems like such a hassle. Not sure why I have to get involved when it was your giant ass that sent them over!"

YOU'RE the one piloting MY body! Celes shot back. Turn me around, right this instant!

"Aggghhh... mmmm... naaah, I think we're too far now, to turn around all of a sudden." Astra muttered. "Takes a lot of energy to reverse a big vessel like-"

QUIT MAKING EXCUSES!!

Celes' body shuddered and rumbled, her surging body slowing to a stop. Astra's marked indifference turned to concern. She felt her myriad rope tendrils begin to tense up, the monolith slime woman slowly turning towards the capsized ship.

"Uhhh, purple lady? This is a really bad idea." Astra muttered, trying to strengthen the grip of her ropey tendrils. But they were stretched to their limits, the glazed look in Celes' eyes tightening with focus, determination... an agitated fire.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!!"

In a matter of moments, snaps and tears resonated throughout Celes' body. As she shifted and flexed her biceps, threads upon threads of Astra's unpleasant ropes snapped free, and trickled down her form. Celes scooped up Astra, still hanging in front of her head, dangling her as she glared towards the diminutive slime woman.

"THERE! I'm no longer your plaything! What do you say to that, huh!?" Celes boomed. Astra mutedly flailed about, trying to wriggle free... this invited a scoff from Celes.

"Not such a loud-mouthed jerk now, huh? Ooh, you make me so... o-oh no, don't have time for this, brace yourself!"

Remembering the situation, Celes drew her hand back and threw Astra in the direction of the battleship, which threatened to flip upside down entirely. Celes hurried over to the ship and took it in two hands, carefully raising it from the water with both hands. She gingerly lowered it to the ship upright once more, pausing as she spotted Astra clambering up the side of the hull. Celes leaned in, squinting to make out Astra's expression...

Yup, she was ticked. Celes grimaced.

"Sorry about that... w-wait, I mean, no, serves you right." Celes stuck out her tongue and lowered the boat back to the water.

Her attention lowered to the water itself. There were dozens of little people stuck in the water, tossed about by the massive waves both Celes and the battleship were kicking up. Celes studied the water with hesitation. She worried about crushing any one of them like ants in her grip, or sending them deeper underwater. The slightest movement she made kicked up massive waves...

And the chorus of panicked screaming... Celes grimaced, frozen with indecision. She needed to calm down the situation, she had to do something.

She froze up. It felt like a lump had caught in her throat. She parted her lips...

OooooooOooooOoooo~

From deep inside of her, a sonorous melody began to play... a duplicate of the one that Astra had bewitched her with. As Astra clambered to the deck of the ship, she gawked upwards, eyes wide with muted surprise. From her vantage point, she continued to study Celes as she robotically lowered her hand towards the water...

Fweeeee... from her outstretched fingers, purple threads twisted and unfurled, seeking out sailors in the water. Celes grunted as the ropey threads, barely perceivable to the naked eye, began to seep into the sailors dumped into the water. One limp body rose from the water. Then another. Then three more.

Astra was astonished, watching as sailors were pulled from the water and dropped onto the deck. The sight of thin purple threads, not unlike her own, spooked Astra. What was this power Celes had that could emulate her own? Was she preparing to use it against her too!?

For reasons unknown to Celes, Astra unfurled ropey tendrils of slime as well, plunging them into the water to pull up drifting sailors. With the two slime girls working together, it wasn't long before all hands were on deck once again.

"Is that everyone? Phew..." One male sailor, a middle-aged veteran, uttered with a heavy sigh.

"How'd you do that?" Another male, younger cadet asked.

"Do... do what?" Yet another sailor, a blonde-headed female, chimed in.

"Celes, right?" Another grey-haired senior sailor tilted their head. "You were using my powers, right then and there. How did you do that??"

"...How do you know my name...?"

It was then that some dozen sailors raised their heads in unison, following trails of yellow thread that seemed to connect to another dozen sailors. Their expressions followed the draping threads above, curious as to how they tangled with another thread like streamers... purple threads.

Celes looked down, finding not her own familiar, slimy body, but the sights of various uniforms and body shapes, communicated through over a dozen sets of eyes. The sensation of existing in so many other living, breathing, human bodies...

They all sharply gasped in unison, feeling their bodies over.

"WHAT IS THIS!?" Celes shouted across a chorus of panicked voices. "Why am I in another body!? HOW MANY BODIES IS THIS!?"

"Easy!" The other half of the crowd shifted forward. "You're just mind-controlling a small platoon! Basic stuff!"

"MIND-CONTROLLING!?" Celes blusted. Each of the figures felt around for the small, purple threads connecting them all to Celes' outreached palm. "Nononono, I'm not like this, I didn't mean to do this! This sucks out their SOULS right? I can't do that, I'm not a-!"

"Relax, humans are a dime-a-dozen! Just cut the cord, you'll be fine!" Astra's crowd chuckled. "First time doing this sort of thing, I guess?"

"Do you just casually strip free-will from people you meet as, like, a hobby or something!?" Celes panicked, the soldiers quickly getting tied up in strings. "You're awfully casual about all this!"

"I don't wanna see you freak out like this!" Astra reassured her. "It's exhausting to watch, believe me! Let me show you the ropes, okay? Heh, get it? Ropes? Get it?"

"I GET THE JOKE! IT'S NOT FUNNY!" Celes shrieked.

RATATATATATA! The sound of gunfire interrupted Astra and Celes' charged back and forth as marines spilled out onto the deck from below.

"Unidentified hostiles have taken soldiers hostage! Open fire and secure personnel!"

Several soldiers opened fire, aiming for the threads connecting the soldiers to the slime women; it was Celes' half of the squadron that let out a particularly panicked shriek, as some of the people she had taken had their strings severed. They collapsed to the deck, as if knocked out cold.

The colossal Celes snapped back into focus, feeling the purple threads slipping from her outstretched fingers as she felt her connection with the soldiers she had momentarily possessed sever one by one. She looked over herself, for once feeling thankful to be back in her own body... even if it was too big, too slimy, and in an outfit riddled with bullet holes. Celes covered her eyes as the AA guns opened fire on her colossal form; she didn't feel any pain (it tickled more than anything), but her seaweed form dress was taking a beating...

But as she looked towards the deck, she saw Astra surrounded by soldiers, clambering up a massive exhaust pipe to get away. Celes paused, momentarily considering what to do. She could get away on her own, quite easily, and leave Astra to get what's owed to her. But Astra's attitude had changed once Celes had displayed those strange, terrifying powers. She had offered to help.

Celes needed answers. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she surged forward.

"ASTRA! Over here!" Celes called out, reaching forward. As her fingers trickled with energy, more thin purple threads unfurled, and danced through the air, towards Astra.

Astra gawked up and, with a quick nod, flung herself from the battleship and towards Celes' embrace. Wrapped up in purple threads, Astra was pulled into Celes' grip. Celes turned her back towards the battleship, wincing as gunfire and explosions peppered her backside, before surging off rapidly in the opposite direction, making for a hasty escape!

[Next Part]