A fragment of memory flashed before Belly's eyes.
"I am going to bathe," child Denu said.
"Why are you announcing it?" Belly formed a disgusted expression through her slime flexibility.
Denu stepped into the pond in his half-naked body. His gaze shifted to a girl in the pond who was making water bubbles, eyes closed, unaware of the chaos.
"Denu!" Belly called.
"Yes?." He turned toward her.
"I was curious about cities," she said. "Wanted to go there."
Denu decreased the proximity. His chest tightened.
"But?" he said quietly.
In the present.
"Belly, remember me?" She moved closer.
"Huh?" A flicker of confusion crossed his face.
"Step aside," Shishuki interrupted. "She's my target."
Denu turned backward.
"How could that be? Belly alive?" He positioned the sword to his head. "You are worth saving. I have questions for you."
"I said step aside," Shishuki ground her teeth in anger.
"Save yourself." He glanced at Belly from the corner of his eye.
Belly rolled herself on the ground. She ran and ran.
"How pathetic," Shishuki mocked Denu. "Protecting a Rot-Human." She clenched her fist.
Shishuki stared at the moving slime over Denu's shoulder.
Belly glanced at them.
"Her mind has adapted to the urge."
Elsewhere.
Denu's smirk widened.
He aimed for her neck.
A mistake.
She was already behind him.
"So fast, like you."
He admired her speed. Too late.
Her kick landed on his waist.
Fatal.
He crashed into a building.
Darkness. Dust. Silence.
A single cough.
Elsewhere.
Shishuki ran. Her gaze searched for Belly.
Above her.
Denu drifted midair. A faint blush on his cheek.
"Chains of justice," he whispered.
A honey-brown outline glowed.
Inside his veins. Red. Black. Honey-brown blood cells ran. Honey-brown glowed.
Chains erupted from thin air.
Shishuki lost her motion.
She got struck by chains.
Too tightly. Unbreakable.
Denu landed beside her. Effortlessly.
"Never expected you to side with a Rot-Human," she laughed.
"I have questions for her." He placed his hand on her shoulder.
"So, you do know her." Her face flattened in realization.
"How could I forget her?" His gaze found the ground.
"Colorful world." His gaze shifted to Shishuki.
The chains got swallowed into thin air.
She aimed a punch at his head. Instantly.
Unnecessary.
She was already somewhere else.
"What the..." she stood, shocked.
She moved forward, her gaze cautious.
"Nothing is happening," she whispered.
Her foot struck something heavy and liquid on the surface.
She looked downward. Her eyes widened.
"Blood." She glanced forward.
It was an ocean of red, sticky liquid.
"Where am I?" She circled around, finding nothing except the redness.
She increased her pace.
"Did he seal me?" Her gaze shifted to the distinct sky, opposite of the surface. It was beautiful. Complete blue, no sign of the sun. Still, it glowed brightly.
"It's a masterpiece." A voice echoed there.
"Denu!?" she questioned.
"Look behind." Denu's voice echoed once again.
Shishuki turned behind.
Everything had disappeared.
"Understood something," he added.
Shishuki cautiously moved backward.
As she moved, the area behind her disappeared.
"A loop." Realization hit her.
"That explains you do have a brain," Denu said.
"You can't maintain this forever," Shishuki brushed off.
She stood there, guard down, carelessly.
Beside her, blood boiled; bubbles formed.
A beam of blood aimed for her head.
Her palm blocked it.
Instinctively.
A fatal wound.
Her palm regenerated in the blink of an eye.
"It's unnecessary, you know. I can regenerate forever." She positioned her fists; her eyes scanned the area.
Then...
Her palm burst.
Her eyes widened.
"What the..." Her voice cracked.
In Beauty in Hollow's alley, Denu moved, barely breaking his composure.
"Regeneration is no use if there are no cells left to regrow."
He moved his index finger.
And blood in the Colourful World sang with his finger's movement.
Shishuki dodged and blocked.
No use.
It pierced through her flesh.
Boiled inside her veins.
"What is happening?" Confusion crossed her face, with no sign of desperation or fear.
Her legs and hands burst.
Her remaining body fell into the blood.
It regenerated almost instantly.
"You can't kill me," she warned.
"I can." Denu's voice echoed.
Blood beams pierced through her body.
Her body boiled.
"You can't." Desperation flickered.
Her whole body burst, except the head.
She regenerated once again.
"You can't face the consequences," she added.
"You are bound by Laws."
In another moment, she fell to the ground.
"Geez." She was disgusted at the sticky blood on her outfit.
"You aren't hunting Belly," Denu demanded.
"Fine." She agreed, still disgusted.
Shishuki disappeared.
Denu moved forward.
He coughed.
Blood.
"Right. I can't maintain it forever." He moved into the alley, his eyes darting for Belly.
Meanwhile,
the slime was hiding behind a wall.
"He doesn't remember me," Belly whispered.
"It's my fault." Her voice was barely above a whisper.
A memory flashed before her eyes.
She entered Beauty in Hollow.
"It's so beautiful." She hid behind walls to avoid getting caught.
People were moving; some brought clothes, hairpins. Most of them women. Lights made it look more impressive than it truly was. Large buildings covered the area like boundaries.
"They wear these. It's so beautiful." Amusement crossed her face.
She moved forward; her eyes shone.
"But I can't wear any of it. I am not a human."
She moved to another wall.
"You can be a human if you follow my instructions." A voice came from behind.
She almost jumped at the sudden sound.
"Did I get caught?" she thought.
She turned around, too slow.
A man in a well-designed suit stood before her; his suit almost glowed in the lights. A smirk on his face.
"I sense potential in you," he said.
"If you control Beauty in Hollow, you might become human." He stood unfazed.
"Really?" She moved closer.
"If you do as I say," he demanded.
"What do I have to do?" she questioned.
Silence stretched.
"Imagine walking like them, wearing clothes, smiling, feeling the touch of someone. You just have to control them through your ability." He knelt before her, his hands resting on his knees.
"I can be a human? I will look beautiful like them. But I don't have any ability," she said in disappointment.
"Oh, you aren't aware of it." He stood. "I will teach you."
Denu's face flashed before her eyes.
"But Denu will be waiting. I can't stay here."
"But imagine if he sees you as human. All the wait would be worth it." His smirk grew.
In the present, before she could think more a portal erupted beside her from mid-air, shattering the memory.
A letter fell from it.
She moved toward it.
To be a Human again. To be loved again. To wash your sins. To experience love and care. Let the paw decide it.
- Fate
A purple paw radiated purple energy from it.
"It's another scam. I don't think I can be human. Everyone just takes advantage of me." She was about to throw it.
But
a flicker of hope lingered beneath her logic.
"I know I might be wrong." She formed a hand through her slime flexibility.
"He forgot me. So, even if I get scammed again, there's nothing to lose." Her hand touched the paw regardless of the doubts.