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The Slime Queen stood alone.
Her beautiful - yet unseen - silhouette rose silently from the depths of the spring. Silvery and pale moonlight bathed her translucent blue form, its rays penetrating the surface of her slime, then refracted through Erubetie’s jelly in a visual spectacle that was performed for no-one.
Least of all herself.
The cool water of her birthplace lapped around her ankles - whatever counted for those in a slime - its surface an inky black. Even as a legendary source of pure, untainted water, in the dead of night Undine’s Spring was a vast, black expanse. Taking a brief moment to look down, Erubetie vaguely made out the outline of her face cast in the light of the waning moon - her features distorted by the gentle ripple of the water in the bracing breeze.
Her attention then returned to that which had summoned her from the depths - that which had forced her to rise from the hidden cave, to stand upon a fragile sandbar that had long ago lost its battle to remain above the spring’s surface. Far upon the opposing shore, brief twinkles of light flickered in the darkness, instantly catching the eye of the Heavenly Knight as a surge of anger pulsed through her.
“... Humans. ”
She spat the name - their name - in a chilling whisper that’d stop a man’s heart cold in his chest.
Even on such a night, black as pitch, she could see them clearly. Not just the far-off glimpses of torchlight beating back the darkness, but the shadows of the insidious creatures that hid behind them.
Erubetie glared at the encampment, her red eyes barely pinpricks of light against the backdrop of the night sky.
"Coming here, to the spring of all places... They dare…?"
It had been a slow, almost imperceptible invasion. A small campfire and caravan one evening, a few more turning up the following day. By the end of the week, caravans spilled forth entire families... and the humans showed no signs of stopping.
"…Then why have none of them yet set foot in the spring?"
She pondered, her form slowly churning. None of the outsiders had ventured out upon the water - not to fish, not even to explore. An uncharacteristic courtesy from humanity, given their relentless expansionism... Perhaps a calculated one?
Erubetie took the opportunity to examine the encampment once more, in case she'd missed anything. She was met only with the sight of smoke rising into the night sky, curling from campfires in faint wisps - carrying an aroma that was rarely present in the wilderness around the spring. Yet even with her heightened senses, Erubetie heard none of the mindless revelry or drunken brawls that normally accompanied human settlements.
By all accounts it appeared to be just another quiet night, even with the enemy upon the shore.
"Could this settlement be the first to exist harmoniously with the land… With us ?"
A fleeting thought, carried on the current of the cool night air, sent a tremor of something unfamiliar through her form.
Something seemingly impossible.
And yet -
"Don’t be fooled. It’s all just a facade. "
- A scowl replaced the small glimmer of hope she’d felt. Erubetie had long since given up on hope.
"It’s not a question about if they’ll overstep… Only when . "
For as much as she wanted to remove the invaders personally, each one of them melting away within her slime into nothingness… Erubetie knew her hands were tied.
The Monster Lord's orders were absolute .
[Only in self-defence are you allowed to exert power.]
Deep down, Erubetie was confident that she could get away with interpreting Alipheese’s diktat to suit her own ends - much like how some of her fellow Heavenly Knights had done.
Granberia had been proactive, launching a one-woman assault on the source of the Hero ‘threat’. Her zeal was admirable - but her hot-headed shortsightedness wasn’t. Alma Elma had conjured up a storm to block any crossings between the two continents - but Erubetie knew the flying obscenity had only done so to sate her own selfish desires.
Tamamo, meanwhile, had stepped in as acting Monster Lord while she embarked on her own quest. The Slime Queen could tell that her nine-tailed counterpart was perfect for the job, as she showed exactly the same aloofness and indolence for her plight that Alice had shown.
No, too much laid upon Erubetie’s shoulders for her to act rashly, like Granberia - or to focus on satisfying her own vengeance, indulging her personal desires like Alma Elma. Yet, she couldn't simply stand by and do nothing, like Tamamo. Too long she'd been idle, unsupported by her colleagues - by those she’d once considered her close friends.
Hence why she surfaced - night after night - to monitor the enemy forces, unbeknownst to them. Her plan was simple, yet precise; Erubetie would let them fire the first shot, before directly responding.
Acting in haste was always such a human affliction, after all.
As soon as the humans overstepped - a fishing expedition too far out onto the spring, or dumping waste into the pure waters - only then would she act, in adherence to the Monster Lord’s order of self-defence.
Until that inevitable transgression, Erubetie would observe her one-sided truce to the letter.
A cold chill, a reminder of Sylph’s fickle nature, blew across the surface of the spring - Erubetie’s own blue skin rippling in the powerful gust. Satisfied with her surveillance, the slime slowly slipped back under the waves of the spring, her form effortlessly merging with the fluid around her.
Before her head vanished beneath the depths, Erubetie threw one final scowl in the direction of the settlement, as the water of her birthplace swallowed her up entirely.