Arad opened his eyes and found himself asleep on a pile of gold with something heavy on his back. The memories of what happened before slowly crept into his mind, but he felt strangely calm. The dangling thread of magic in his head was a clear indication that someone had cast a calming spell on him and a powerful one at that. But after a short inspection, he realized that wasn't a spell but a curse, one that eats away at emotions.
^Doma…what happened?^
^[You already know. I cast that spell on you when you started raging, I hope you can think a bit better now.]^
When Doma heard his calm voice, she waved her hand and lifted the spell off him. ^Please try to control your emotions better. Yuwaku and Zephyr are both fine, they'll be fine. It's only a matter of time before you get Zephyr out of that cube and she'll be running around annoying like did before.^
^Yeah. You're right.^ Arad turned his head to see what is this heavy thing on his back, only to find Meryem asleep on him in her monster form.
His clone opened his eyes in a different place, he was still stuck in the body of a rat, not knowing when did he even take such a form. The last memory the clone had was standing before Lydia and Jack, but now he was stuck beneath a blanket, pressed down by something soft.
"Why…Can't I shift back?" He growled, pushing at what pressed him down. "Sena, did you do something to me?" He could tell immediately due to the smell and magic.
The blanket got slowly pulled back, and Selica stared at him, "Shhhh! Lady Sena is asleep." She pointed at her.
Sena was hugging him on her bed, wearing a blue pajama with stars on it. "Get her off me!" He tried to scream but in a whisper.
Selica stared at him with a smile, finding his angry rat face to be adorable. She pulled him out of Sena's embrace and took him to hers. "Lady Sena is the only one who can let you shift back. Stay put until she wakes up."
Hearing those words, Arad tried to shift back but couldn't. His efforts only resulted in a rat squeezing himself trying to change his form. ^I can't shift as I'm separated into two by Gemini. I can overpower her magic if I am whole, but in this state, I can't.^
Selica stared patting him, "You're soft and fluffy, isn't this better than your draconic form?" She lifted him up and stared at his glowing eyes.
Sena yawned as she slowly woke and sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Selica, you've returned… Lydia brought Arad here in his wild shape…" She saw Selica holding him and smiled. "You've already found him."
Selica looked at her, "I mean you were hugging him while asleep, he almost choked beneath your chest."
Sena giggled, "He's too soft and fluffy, I couldn't help but use him as a pillow." She stood out of the bed and stretched, "Selica, do we have water? I want to take a shower."
"Hot water is in the massive barrel beside the tub. Use it carefully, it took a while to heat it up." Selica replied.
Sena approached her and took Arad from her hand, "I'll wash you with me, want to join?" She asked with a smile.
"I want to return to my normal shape. Stop your magic." Arad said in a deep voice unfit of his form.
Sena stared at him silently for a second with a smile.
She started walking with him toward the bath and he started flailing his arms left and right. "Let me go!" He started flailing his little arms, trying to escape.
"What are you afraid off? You're already naked. I'll just pour some water on your back and give you a gentle rub. Look at all the dust still stuck to your beautiful black fur." She said with a smile.
"Let me shift, it'll get clean by then." He said and stopped moving.
"Nop." She kept walking with him.
"SELICA! Stop her! STOP HER RIGHT NOW!" He screamed.
Selica looked at him. "What exactly are you afraid of? You're not going in the bath with her, she'll give you a rub first and bath on her own."
"Not that! I don't like the stare she's giving me…"
Sena stared at him with a grin, "What exactly do you not like about me? It's only that you don't like not being in control. You're helpless in this rat form, aren't you?"
Arad looked at her. "I already do have wives! I'd like to avoid unnecessary suspicions. It has nothing to do with who's in control now."
She giggled, "A dragon says that? How about being honest for once, you're just afraid of me since I'm controlling the situation now."
"Don't underestimate me. I might be a rat, but I'm a dragon- rat." Arad said in a calm deep voice, staring straight at her. This clone can't use magic as it's calibrating the void to heal Zul, and he can't use his draconic strength due to his rate form, the two forms of strength that he had are sealed, so what could he do?
"What could you do? Even with powers, you can't beat me now." She smiled. "But fear not, I mean you no harm, my Arad."
Arad sighed, "Well, you gave me no choice." He opened his mouth unleashing a water jet at her face out of his stomach.
Sena gasped, trying to protect her face but Arad's aim was perfect, shooting the water straight into her nose and mouth. She fell on the ground and he landed on her, waterboarding her.
Sena tried to push him away so he hid behind her chest so she couldn't hit him. He then pulled a paralyze scroll out of his stomach before she could stand and hit her with it. Merlin wrote that spell.
As Sena's body got paralyzed, she stared at him with one eye; Such spells shouldn't work on her. "What… did you add to the water?"
"Several sedatives at the highest dose possible, I know how strong you are." He smiled, standing over her breasts on his hind feet. "Even a being like you would need some time to get over the poison, you aren't a burning furnace like Eris after all."
From his mouth, he pulled the nipple knife. "Shall I cut your nipples off right here and now?" He pointed the knife at her. For his size as a rat, it looked like a whole sword.
Selica caught from the back and lifted him up, so he stabbed him in the forearm with the knife. "You asked for it." But to his surprise, her nipples didn't explode.
"What?" He gasped, "Did this lose power or something?" He stared at the knife.
By that time, Sena had already recovered and stood up, "Selica doesn't have nipples. Or should I say she has one, but her internal body structure is forging to any creature that knife might recognize."
"What?" He gasped a gain.
"She made me from a slime and a partially melted rock. I don't even have a heart, I have a monster core and I can breathe from my nose and skin like slimes and frogs." Selica explained and Sena touched Arad's head, allowing him to shift back into his humanoid form.
Sena, Arad, and Selica sat on the ground, looking at each other. "You've seen my true form in the abomination fight, didn't you?"
"That black tentacle monster." Arad replied with a nod, "Just what are you?"
"The daughter of a human and a unique monster. Father had an affair with her when he was younger and I was born." She replied with a calm face, lying as naturally as she breathed. Cain was her father and what power she had was a mere fragment of what was inherited from his eldritch blood.
"Grandpa Cain…He told me once that he had a lot of women in his young days." Arad mumbled and his eyes shifted toward Sena, "So you're a unique monster as well."
"A perfect being to be exact. I control life force and can conjure the abilities of all living beings in the world, anything from ants to dragons. You can say I'm in the same bowl as the Tarrasque that Nina has her blood." She smiled, her eyes turned purple.
Arad immediately gasped and looked closer at her face, shifting her neck and shoulders, "This smell, a void drakaina?!" He gasped.
She giggled, sprouting two small void wings. "Yes, whatever disease or curse that's forcing the void dragons to repel each other, it's either genetically transmuted or a curse cast upon the whole race." She approached Arad, hugging his chest.
"You might never be able to get a void drakaina beside me in your life as long as that disease stands… want to consider me as a wife now?" She pushed Arad down, glaring at his eyes as dark purple scales started emerging on her body.
"You've never felt a void drakaina before. Are you sure you can handle it?"