Mari:

  She stared back at the obstacle that had impeded her path to the bedroom she shared with Kris.

  Heterochromatic eyes bored into her intently, seeming to peel away her very soul like a fruit. The eyes saw beyond her, and Mari could sense Anise directing a cold fury towards Marielle within her, which felt odd. There was clear anger directed at her, but fundamentally, she just knew that the emotion was directed past her and into the manifested memories she’d been given.

  “Hurry and sleep.” Anise said, which caused some disorientation as the words were directed at her instead of the target of the glare.

  “Right…” Mari mumbled senselessly, then stepped past and into the bedroom.

  Soon enough, she had the bath filling with hot water while Kris spoke outside with their youthful housemate. Moments after that, Kris entered and began stripping off clothes slowly.

  Mari chose to stop washing the grease from her hands, instead opting to watch with a satisfied expression.

  Kris had slim shoulders, porcelain-pale skin, and charming lips grinning in her direction as she put on the show. Her curves were fit and tight, each limb hiding impressive strength in a slender body. There was a subtle sensation that radiated from her with unusual power—the only sign of her condensed mana-empowered changes.

  There had once been a small scar on Kris’ forearm from a lab accident when she’d cut herself on a piece of broken glass. It was gone. That was no minor sign of cultivation in general, though. Kris’ affinity for dismantling and reshaping things had borne fruit almost immediately with her body enhancement. Anything she didn’t desire, she unmade and redefined into her perfect self. As such, Kris’ first steps on the great dao had turned something sublime into peerless beauty.

  She would never wrinkle with age. Her own lifespan would be uniquely long, even if she stopped at such an early stage. Mari guessed Kris would live beyond one hundred years even in complete stagnation.

  Mari could admit to some minor jealousy at that. Her own body did have a few bruises and scars that hadn’t quite vanished yet. Her healing was not yet enhanced, sadly.

  Kris finally sauntered over, taking Mari’s hands and pulling her towards the shower. The falling water from the ceiling above stung with blistering heat, yet neither of them felt it, nor was it even remotely uncomfortable. The warmth spread between them as Kris pulled Mari to her and dipped her head until her forehead landed solidly on Mari’s chest.

  “You’ve got to stop doing reckless things, okay?” Kris said, barely audible over the droplets hitting their heads.

  Mari’s libido died with a shameful expression. “I’m—”

  “Don’t apologize. You’ve done enough of that. I know life won’t always be a happy, peaceful thing. I saw it in your eyes. You live for the rush and excitement. I’d never ask you not to protect others. Just don’t leave me behind.” Kris pleaded, both arms tightening around Mari’s waist to lock her close.

  She put her arms around Kris’ shoulders and hugged her in return. “You strike a hard bargain, princess. I suppose I don’t really have much of a choice.”

  Kris looked up, staring her squarely in the eyes. “Good. I’m not letting you out of that deal. If you die, I’m going to figure out four dimensional mana constructs and go back in time to kick your ass.”

  Mari almost laughed. Until she realized there was no joke in that expression.

  “Fine, I promise not to die.” She leaned in and finally kissed her lover, letting the heat of the shower finally sink deeper into her body.

  Together they enjoyed the rest of their bath in pleasure-induced bliss before heading to bed.

  The moment Mari’s head hit the pillow, she felt a thankfully dreamless sleep claim her.

  Marielle opened her eyes the moment after.

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  And stared into Kris’ open eyes, which were stern and intelligent.

  “Apologies. I need to have a conversation with my daughter, it seems. Without Mari involved.” The older personality rolled out of bed and stood, drawing the ties of a robe together as she cracked her neck slowly.

  “Just how much do you spy on?” Kris asked, suspicion lacing her tone.

  Marielle paused, glancing over with a frown.

  “How much privacy do we really have?” The girl asked, insistently.

  “You can enjoy your private moments in peace. I try not to intrude on her life when she’s with others. Unless the situation is combat-related.” Marielle assured.

  The truth was, Marielle spent most of her time on the beaches of the upper levels of Mari’s mindscape, either basking in the sun or surfing on the waves that rolled in. It had been one of Medjay’s annoying qualities to watch over everything she had done in her prior life, with subtle judgements and jokes at every turn.

  Marielle could forgive it, in retrospect, since she’d been alone for so much of her life that Medjay saw fit to persistently keep her company. Instead, the soldier who’d loved rock concerts so much was gone, still anchored to a corpse.

  She mounted the stairs to the upper floor’s garden in silence, not a single joke or crass comment to fill the void.

  “Hello mother.” Anise said in frigid tones that didn’t fit her tiny, youthful appearance at all.

  Marielle could sense she was about to be dressed down quite firmly, so she found a cushion and settled onto it without a word, crossing her legs and straightening her spine.

  “Hmph. Now you want to ignore me?”

  “Apologies. Please, continue.” Marielle said simply.

  Anise looked her up and down, clearly not seeing Mari at all despite the state of their shared body. “You nearly killed her. Even with that sword being as masterfully crafted as it was, your actions nearly killed Mari.”

  Marielle nodded.

  “And I thought mom was bad at communication.” Anise growled with obvious annoyance. “Nothing to say for yourself?”

  Marielle only offered flat, monotone words in reply. “Why would I offer excuses for my actions? Do you want me to admit I lost composure after seeing you lose a leg? Do you want me to say it was thoughtless and excessive? It seems a bit pointless to say something we both already know.”

  Anise massaged her temples as if dealing with a headache. “So you feel no remorse for your nearly suicidal choice in killing that creature?”

  Marielle shuddered briefly, trying to stifle a bit of laughter. “You know, Kris seems to worry about the same things. Mari attempting creative forms of suicide at every turn. Seems it’s in my nature to do things like that, if even my clone has the same tendencies.”

  Anise glared harder, not finding any humor in the situation. “I almost lost my other parent the moment I met her. To something reckless and without any meaning at all.”

  “You’re wrong.” Marielle stated pointedly. “None of your weapons were capable of killing it. You injured it, but not a single person present had the ability to kill that monster for certain. Leaving it alive to further wound or kill Mari’s friends or lover would’ve been the truly meaningless thing to have done. It isn’t failure that bothers me; it’s inaction that does.”

  Anise’s expression went stiff. She paused, thinking over her words. “Despite how I look, remember that I’m hundreds of years old. I hope you keep that in mind, and don’t write off my wisdom.”

  She paused, waiting until Marielle finally nodded.

  “Sacrificing yourself is the end. The moment you do that, it means that all the other strategies we can come up with are off the table. Worse, it crushes everyone else around you. Don’t you dare make a choice that takes Mari away from Kris. Takes you away from me. You’re not just ruining your own life.”

  Marielle looked down at the ground between them. At length, she considered the feelings of everyone she was bonded with. Comrades and family alike. Finally, she nodded.

  “Good.” Anise’s expression changed to a more satisfied one, then she continued with the same annoyed tone. “Now, why are you lying to everyone?”

  Marielle frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “About your cultivation path. And about your affinities. About why you desperately have to find and kill the original Marielle?” Anise narrowed her eyes.

  Marielle froze. Stopped even so much as breathing. What is she saying?

  You truly don’t know? Everyone has two affinities. It isn’t just unique to you that your cultivation is different. It’s not possible. Based on what I see, it’s like a piece of you is missing. A piece I’m betting still exists within your old body. Anise’s words conveyed to her telepathically, full of accusation.

  Marielle frowned even deeper, her senses turning inwards and feeling out the qi pathways she had helped Mari to open and cycle through to internalize. The framework was the same as before, creating a network of yin and yang, with a sensation of hollowness she had attributed to her own unique ability to harmonize with her companions and empower them.

  Unless that hollow sensation was just her missing something.

  She tried to dig into her own memories and find anything related to that hollow feeling, and found nothing.

  Not just nothing to explain it, though.

  No hollow feeling existed in her memories at all.

  “Can you join me for a bit?” Marielle asked finally.

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