Bai Lian's eyes blinked open slowly.
The thick golden syrup that coated her body shimmered in the light of the World Tree's canopy, sliding in slow rivulets down her bare body and pooling at strategic (ahem) sensitive regions of her body and then hardened to create an amber-sap coloured bra and matching skirt.
She pushed herself upright on trembling limbs, strands of syrup-slicked hair clinging to her face, shoulders, and the subtle curve of her back. Her breathing was shallow but even, and her barely covered chest rose and fell in a rhythm that seemed to echo the ancient, grounding pulse of the World Tree itself.
Kain stepped closer.
She looked… nearly the same. The same delicate facial structure, the same pale skin, and the same straight, shoulder-length brown hair—though now it gleamed with a richer, almost sun-kissed tint.
But her eyes—
Her eyes had changed the most.
