The forest seemed quieter now, the tension from before dissolving into an uneasy stillness. The creature shuffled back a step, still unsteady but standing on its own. Rava watched it carefully, her arms crossed and her expression unreadable.

  Vivieilted her head, her gaze lingering on the creature for a moment longer before she turo Rava. “I suppose that’s one crisis averted.” Her tone was light, but her words carried a weight she didn’t care to expin.

  Rava huffed. “Crisis barely averted,” she muttered, stepping closer to the creature. “Are you sure you’re alright? No lingering... whatever that was?”

  The creature nodded hesitantly. “I… I think so. It’s quieter now.” It gnced down at its bark-like hands, flexing them experimentally. “The pull is gone. I feel… more like myself.”

  “Do you have a name? Do you remember it?” Vivienne asked, her voice steady but soft, a curiosity bubblih her words.

  The creature’s form flickered, a mix of fusion and something deeper that seemed almost like regret. “I-I don’t remember it. I don’t even know how mue’ I am now.” They spoke with a dejected toheir body folding in on itself as if weighed down by their own uainty.

  Vivienne’s eyes softened, but her expression remained unged. “I’ve been there,” she murmured, her voice cool but with a note of uanding. “New you, new name. Sometimes the old name o be shed. You don’t o remember it. What matters is who you choose to be now.”

  The creature looked up at her, its glowing eyes filled with fusion, but there was a flicker of something—maybe a glimmer of hope—too. “You... shed your name?”

  Vivienne gave a small, almost imperceptible nod. “I did,” she said, her tone hardening ever so slightly. “My first wasn’t me anymore. It was a mask I wore, tied to someone I wasn’t. So, I let it go. It’s... what happens when you realise you’re not the person everyohought you were. When you start being who you really are.”

  She paused, her many heads shifting, each of them fixing the creature with a different look. “I’m sure you choose somethiake it from someone who’s had to start over more than once.”

  The creature’s shoulders slumped, its bark-like form trembling. “Looking like this?” It gestured to its splintered limbs and jagged edges. “I’m a monster!” The words came out in a wail, the pain behind them raw and unguarded.

  Vivienne’s many eyes blinked in unison, her grin turning razor-sharp. “So am I,” she said, her voice cutting through the creature’s despair like a bde. “And it’s w pretty well for me.” She spread her arms theatrically, her tendrils writhing in a mock dispy of menace.

  The creature flinched but then stopped, its eyes narrowing as it looked at her more closely. There was a strange kind of vi in her words, an odd reassurahat seemed to steady it, if only slightly. “You’re... not like me,” it murmured.

  “No,” Vivienne admitted, taking a step closer, her many faces softening just a fra. “But that doesn’t mean you’re nothing. Being different doesn’t make you any less deserving of finding your pce. You might be surprised what you get away with if you stop g what they think.”

  Rava crossed her arms, her eyes dartiween them. “Not everyos away with things the way you do, Vivienne.” Her voice was steady, a firm uohreaded with passion. She took a slow step toward the creature, croug slightly to meet its eye level. Her grey-white fur gleamed faintly in the dim light, her expression calm but resolute. “You survived something terrible. That says a lot about you. But surviving isn’t the same as living. If you want to make it through this, you’ve got to take the step—even if it’s hard.”

  The creature, a tangle of translut flesh and faintly glowing veins, shifted unfortably. Its gaze flitted between Rava and Vivienne, uaiched into every twitch of its malformed limbs. The faint shimmer of tears pooled in its alien eyes, its voice trembling as it spoke. “Where... where should I go?”

  Rava gnced back at Vivienne, who offered a nont shrug, her many maws pulling intrins.

  “Perhaps a dryad grove would take you in,” Rava suggested, turnitention back to the creature. Her tone softened, but it didn’t lose its edge of practicality. “You may be aherbeast, but you aren’t mindless. Dryads value life in all its forms, everange and broken. It might take some ving, but it’s a ce. Better than wandering aimlessly.”

  The creature recoiled slightly, its lumi veins pulsing with a flicker of hesitation. “They won’t... attack me? Call me a monster?”

  “Maybe, maybe not. The biggest obstacle will be finding your way there.” Rava shifted on her paws, her tail swishing absently. “Though, you’re practically made of Loam Aether. If anything, that might work in your favour. Dryads have a soft spot for... earthy types.”

  Vivienne’s heads coiled closer, her smoky forms twisting in a nguid motion as her sharp eyes studied the creature. “Rava has a point. They might see you as one of their own... or at least something worth preserving. You already look like part of the forest after a fever dream.”

  The creature blinked, fusion and faint hope warring in its expression. “But... how would I vihem?”

  “You might not o,” Vivieerjected, her tohoughtful. Her many heads tilted in unison, the first time in a while she had looked truly serious. “If Dryads are as curious as I suspect, they’ll e to you. Your aether reeks of renewal and decay—like a sapling g its way through ash. It’s the kind of thing they’re drawn to.”

  Rava’s ears perked slightly, and she gave Vivienne a surprised gnce. “Not bad, Nightmare. You’re starting to think like someone who knows how to deal with people.”

  Vivienne flicked a long inky to pyfully, her dark humour resurfag in an instant. “Careful with that praise, Rava. I might start thinking you’ve developed a soft spot for me.”

  Rava smirked, but there was a glimmer of genuine respe her eyes. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

  “Oh, but we should!” Vivienne chuckled, her many heads swaying with amusement. “I do so enjoy the idea of making you squirm.”

  The intelligeherbeast gnced betweewo of them, their fusion deepening. “Doesn’t it scare you?” they asked, their wooden fingers gesturing nervously at Vivienne.

  Vivienne’s eyes narrowed, and she tilted her head slightly. “That’s a bit rude, don’t you think? I’m very nice.”

  Rava snorted in amusement, crossing her arms. “At first, sure. Maybe even at sed. But now? She’s more annoying than scary.”

  Vivienne gasped dramatically, pressing one of her heads to her chest as if wounded. “Annoying? Me? I’m a delight!” She grinned wickedly. “At least, I think I am.”

  Rava chuckled. “Oh, you’re something, alright.”

  The aetherbeast’s gaze softened, and they let out a low, hesitant sound that might have been a ugh. “You’re both strange. But... in a way that’s... not bad.”

  “Strange is just another word for ‘unique,’” Vivienne said brightly. “And unique is far more iing than ‘normal.’”

  They paused, pting. “You’re right. I suppose... being normal would be b.”

  Vivienne leaned forward with a mischievous glint in her many eyes. “Exactly! So, embrace the weirdness. It’ll make things far more fun.”

  Rava rolled her eyes but grinned heless. “I’m still deg if that’s the best advice, but I guess we’ll see.”

  "So!" Vivienne said, her tone far louder than it o be. "Rava, I’m going to go out on a few limbs and guess that dryads have a deep e to loam aether?"

  Rava bli her, her brow furrowing for a moment before she nodded. "Yeah, that’s right. They’re tied to the nd, to the earth itself. They practically breathe it in."

  Vivienne’s grin widened, her heads tilting in various dires as if calg something. “Right, well, if you are anything like me, you should be able to taste the aether around us.”

  The aetherbeast blinked again, clearly fused. “Taste it?” they asked, tilting their head further, a gesture that seemed more curious than wary now.

  Vivienne nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, taste it! That swirling, almost tangible stuff that coats the air. It’s not just there to look pretty. If you focus, you practically feel its texture, like it’s lingering in the air, waiting for someoo cim it.”

  Rava looked down at the ground thoughtfully, her gaze trag the uneven scatter of darkeh and wild foliage. “Is that the swirling stuff all over the ground?” They asked, pointing to a patch of grass.

  Vivieurned her gaze toward the same patd paused, narrowing her eyes slightly. “Huh, I don’t see it there, but yes, sure. That’s the idea.” She gave a light chuckle, amused by the aetherbeast’s serious manner. “Well, if you feel it, you could probably follow its density, right? Presumably, you’d find a grove—or something dense in loam aether.”

  The aetherbeast’s eyes narrowed with tration as they focused on the air around them. Slowly, they began to nod. “I think... I feel it. It’s there. Subtle, but it’s pulling toward something. I’ll think… I’ll follow it.”

  Vivienne’s voice took on a pyful, teasing tone, but there was a flicker of something genuih her words. “Very good! I hope you find new friends! Or at least people who won’t hunt you down. That was supposed to sound more reassuring, but it didn’t, did it?” She gave a mock sigh, clearly amused with herself. “Well, at least I tried.”

  The aetherbeast, still unsure of Vivienne’s mixed iions, blinked slowly, its glowing eyes searg her expression for any sign of mockery. When none came, they nodded. “I... think I’ll manage. But thank you.”

  “Well,” Vivienne began, her voice almost pyful but ced with an undercurrent of something darker, “you’re stable. Didn’t lose too much of yourself. Probably not the happiest of endings, but better than it could’ve been!” Her many heads tilted slightly, giving the creature a scrutinisi almost reassuring look.

  The creature, still rec from their emotional whirlwind, looked up at Vivieheir faintly glowing eyes seemed to search for something in her expression, though it was unclear what they hoped to find.

  Vivienne’s gaze softened, and she allowed herself a moment of quiet refle before responding. “Sometimes, enough is all we ask for. If you’re still here, still breathing, still thinking—then there’s more to you than just your past. That’s what matters now.”

  Rava, who had been listening in silence, gave the creature a reassuring smile. “She’s right. I don’t think I know anyone who’s seen aherbeast created. I ’t fathom keeping your sense of self through it. Vivi here is a special case. You did. That means something. You get to decide what happe.”

  The creature seemed to absorb their words slowly, their form pulsing faintly, as though testing the weight of their newfound thoughts. “And... if I’m not ready to decide yet?” They asked quietly, a touch of vulnerability slipping through their stoic facade.

  Vivieone softened further, no longer mog, but uanding. “Then you wait. No one expects you to have it all figured out in a day, or a week, or even a year. The world doesn’t stop moving, but that doesn’t mean you o rush.”

  “Taking your time is the only way to go,” Rava chimed in, her ears flig ba a gesture of empathy. “Trust me, I’ve learhat the hard way.”

  Vivienne smirked slightly at that, gng at Rava. “Some of us never learn that lesson.” But the lightness of her words was tempered with something menuine—something almost approving.

  The creature stood still for a moment, as though weighing their options, their eyes shiftiweewo of them. They seemed to e to some silent clusion, nodding on a small gesture of determination.

  “Good,” Vivienne replied, her many heads tilting in a satisfied way. “That’s all you do. But remember this: you’re not defined by what you’ve lost. You’re defined by what you choose to bee .”

  Rava added with a teasing grin, “And hopefully, it’s something less grim than a thing that mothers talk about to scare their children into behaving.”

  Vivienne chuckled softly, her form shifting slightly, her presence growing more pyful. “Maybe I’ll leave the s-walking to you, Rava. I’ve got bigger pns.”

  The creature’s lips twitched upward, as if they were trying out a smile but unsure if it would stick. “I’ll keep moving,” they murmured, “and maybe... I’ll find my name along the way.”

  Vivienne’s eyes glinted, a glimmer of something sharper in her gaze. “A name, huh? Just remember, it’s yours to choose. Not someone else’s idea of you. You’re free to be whoever you decide.”

  Rava watched the creature as they hesitated once more before beginning to walk away, their movements slow and disjointed, showing how uo their new form they are. But each step urposeful. The faint green glow from their form flickered like a fading star in the early m light.

  Vivieood still for a moment, her eyes following the creature. A brief pause passed before she let out a low, thoughtful hum. “I wonder what they’ll bee,” she murmured, more to herself than anyone else.

  “Does it matter?” Rava asked, her tone casual but curious.

  Vivienne looked over at her panion with a smile, her eyes gleaming with something inscrutable. “I suppose not. But it’s always iing to watch the ones who still have the ce to choose.”

  Rava gave a snort of ughter at that. “You’re a lot more seal than you like to let on, aren’t you?”

  Vivienne shrugged, the movement almost imperceptible, and grinned. “Maybe. But don’t tell anyone. My reputation’s on the line.”

  Rava chuckled under her breath, her pace quiing. “Let’s keep moving, then. We’ve still got a long way to go.”

  SupernovaSymphony

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