So apparently that tree that the Spirit had me make is actually some kind of conduit or tap or whatever, that lets me directly access its power. Sounds super overpowered, honestly. Makes me wonder if the other Spirits are able to make something like this, or if this is just special because of the Forest Spirit’s power to directly grow things. Well okay, apparently it’s not as crazy amazing as I think it is really, because what the Spirit actually fed me through that branch was just the concentrated life-energy of all those hundreds of trees in the area that turned to ash just a little bit ago. Makes me feel a little guilty, but oh well. C'est vie, as they say! I needed it more than they did, I’m sure~!

  Anyways, now that I was all full up on energy, there wasn’t really much of a reason to stick around anymore, so I decided to keep going on my way to the east towards the Fire Spirit’s territory, while making sure to keep my eyes peeled. And what was it that I was looking for, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you!

  I need a pond!

  A super super big ke of a pond, to be exact!

  Now that I have all this power flowing inside of me, it’s time I finally put it to use and stop looking like a walking tragedy! And if I wanna do that, then I need to find a ke to change my appearance in, just like how mom did. Don’t ask me for the details, because I don’t know them at all! The Spirit promised to let me know the rest of the details once I finally found what I was looking for, so that I wouldn’t forget it! How thoughtful. And uh, maybe it’s a bit concerning too, that the Spirit thinks my memory is so sucky. But whatever! If that’s how the Spirit wants it to go, then I’ll take whatever I can get, so long as I get to be pretty again~!

  Am I just trying to rush this makeover out because I’m feeling a bit frazzled? Maybe! Am I starting to feel a bit worried because of the story that the Spirit just told me? …Well, uh, wouldn’t you? I mean don’t get me wrong, I’m totally great and amazing and everything! But still, there’s nothing bad about a bit of healthy fear towards danger, right? This big bad predecessor of mine, full of elven steroids and strong enough to beat two others of its kind at the same time, still managed to get wiped out by the guys in the Fire territory in only a matter of days… The very same guys that I’m also probably gonna run into and fight! Sure, maybe I’m a bit better equipped and have some more of my kind on my side, but… Well, it’s fire, ya know? Fire! It only makes sense that I’d be at a disadvantage here, elementally!

  The most that wind can ever do is cut me. I can definitely heal up a cut, you know? But fire…? Fire burns. And burns are much more worrying to try and heal… It’s like bringing sticks to a fmethrower fight and trying to fix it by throwing in yet more sticks! There’s no way I’m gonna be able to make it! The more I think about it, the more I’m totally and completely fucked!

  [...Child? Are you alright?]

  Oh don’t try to act coy all of a sudden now; I know you can read my thoughts! Don’t you already know how I’m feeling?! I’m absolutely freaking scared!!!

  [Hmm… It’s true. I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed you this scared before.]

  Mhmm, that’s probably completely right! Not even being in the presence of that giant snake from the Water Spirit scared me this much… Maybe because we were allies.

  [How odd… You shouldn’t have access to such a strong emotion.]

  Huh?

  [Perhaps consuming Cythia has negatively affected you.]

  Oh…? Is… Is that so…?

  [It certainly seems to be the case. I should have thought as much when I saw you cleverly negotiating with the Wind’s Avatar. …How foolish of me to not have noticed sooner.]

  Ouch.

  Um, but is it such a bad thing…? Wouldn’t it be good if I gained a couple of mom’s skills?

  [Skills? No. Emotions? Yes. Having to experience the depth of Cythia’s negative emotions will not be helpful for you; After all, you witnessed for yourself the kinds of bad decision making the emotions that she kept caused for her.]

  Well, but… I’ve been angry and scared before, haven’t I? It’s not like I’ve never experienced having bad emotions in the past!

  [Yes, but they weren’t as intense as they could have been, as they were only a copy of the original’s. The only true emotions that you could fully feel were the ones that Cythia was willing to give away to me. Now that you’ve swallowed the original, I fear that these new, fully fleshed feelings might overwhelm you and cause you to make an error, just as she did.]

  Mmm, yeah, you've got a point… But wait, I’m not mom though, I’m me! She may have been the base tempte, but by the end she was only a shell of her former self. I’m me and I’m whole, so I won’t make that kind of mistake like she did! So neither of us have to worry about it! I’ll never end up like her!

  [...I pray that you’re right, child. All I have left to trust in is you.]

  Hey! Can you maybe say it in a way that doesn’t sound so doubting?!

  ~~~

  I’ve been in an awful mood since that stupid talk with the Spirit. I already don’t like being compared to mom, but the thought that eating her might have corrupted me… Or that I might end up making a mistake just like her is just-!

  [Child, make a slight detour northward.]

  Huh…? Can’t you hear that I was busy brooding?! Why would you just interrupt me like-!

  [Northward, child. March.]

  Hey! I know you might have made me and that kind of makes you like a parent to me, but that doesn’t mean-!

  [March.]

  Ugh, fine! I’m going, I’m going! Geez, all these things I do for you all the time, and yet you just keep on treating me like I’m some kind of servant! Poor me! Poor Mellily, forced to go around like this! I’ll cry! I’ll really really cry! And it’ll be all your fault, Spirit, for making a pretty pnt like me, who can’t even really shed tears, feel like this! I’m telling you-

  Oh, hey! What’s that over there?

  Off in the distance I could juuuust about make out something at the edge of the trees. I think… Yeah, I think there’s a bunch of people nearby! Was this what the Spirit made me detour for? Oh man, it’s been so long since I st got to see people just milling around, minding their own business! Without them being attacked by my mom a short while ter, that is. Honestly, it’s kind of really nice to see! You never think you’d miss mundane everyday human life until suddenly you have to live as a giant menacing pnt monster wandering through the forest. Makes you really miss society after a while.

  Well okay, that’s bullshit if I’m being honest!

  I really only find this interesting because I’m bored!

  I could use a little distraction from all these trials and tributions I have to deal with all the time.

  If there’s no TV or internet to be had here, then people-watching will definitely suffice!

  Hmm-hm-hmmm, let’s see~! I’ll get juuuust close enough so that I can see the humans without them catching sight of me. What’re all of you humans doing here, so far into the woods~? From what I can tell, you’re all a pretty good distance away from your homes, aren’t you? What brings you all here~?

  Okay, yes, I see, so you guys have a little shrine here, do you? How interesting, how interesting! Or, well, at least I think it’s a shrine; Everyone who goes there seems to be bowing and treating it reverentially, even though nothing living seems to be inside. It’s quite the mystery that there’s a little hole in the top to let in the sun, though, if that’s the case…

  What’s inside of the shrine, huh? What do you guys got in there? Is it maybe some sort of memorial thing to a dead hero? Or maybe they’ve set up something to worship the Forest Spirit in there? If it is, then I wonder if maybe they have some kind of statue or something that depicts it! Ooooh, I wonder what the humans use to represent the Forest Spirit! It’d be so cool if they thought up some kind of corporeal form or symbol or something for it! I wanna see, I wanna see~!!!

  If I can just get a bit closer, then maybe my roots can give me a picture of what’s inside the shrine… Just a bit closer, a bit closer. You don’t see me, humans, I’m just a weirdly ginormous pnt that’s crawling near you in the forest! No no, you don’t hear the trees creaking from a gigantic pnt accidentally pushing them around. Nothing strange is happening~! Nothing at all~!

  Okay, I’m finally close enough! Time to solve the mystery! And the answer is-!

  Oh. Oh… my god. Am I… Am I seeing things right?

  Why the heck is that in there?!

  _____

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