Oof! Finally able to finish this part. Honestly, I was very tempted to post it in two times (and enjoy double the comments 
), but the last part features a lot of plot and action, but few uniform stealings, so I thought it'd be bette to pair it with the first part that contains a lot more uniform stealings. Enjoy!
Chapter 4: Part 4
**************
“Here they are…” a woman of Safiye’s squad whispered.
“Now, remember that they must not see your faces under any circumstance.” Safiye reminded her small squad. “They must think that they were attacked by bandits.”
Through the foliage of the bush behind which she was hiding, the brown-haired green-eyed woman was watching her targets.
The patrol they were about to ambush consisted of twenty-one soldiers and an officer.
The foot soldiers were each wearing brown calf-long boots, thick black trousers, brown leather protections on the forearms and the legs, a grey padded tunic, and a brown leather breastplate, as well as a leather helmet. A stylized rose was carved at the center of the breastplate. They were each armed with a spear and a small wooden shield, and a small sword was strapped onto their leather belt.
These soldiers were working for the Order of the Thorn, even though they weren't knights or squires. Indeed, this order of knights was maintaining a regular army of light infantry to back up its mounted fighters.
The soldiers of the patrol were also all women. The Order enforced a ‘no mixed-gender groups’ policy when it came to its foot soldiers. The women’s hair were tied into ponytails of various lengths, which wasn’t surprising since in the Vassal Kingdoms it was the fashion for the women. Nine soldiers had brown hair, six had auburn hair, three had red hair, and three had dark blond hair. They all had a light skin. Their eyes were either brown or blue. Their officer was a tall athletic-looking woman with a light skin, an aquiline nose, sharp cheekbones, honey-coloured eyes and auburn hair tied into a shoulder-long ponytail. She was wearing the same uniform, but her padded tunic was bright blue instead of grey.
“Do we have to go this far?” Astrid intervened.
Safiye resisted the urge of rolling her eyes.
Their guide, Astrid, fancied herself as some kind of knight-errant. A naive do-gooder who wanted to help the poor, and thought that Yuka and her team were evil criminals. Given the fact that they mugged the blond knight to steal her appearance and her gear in Dun Merida, she wasn't entirely wrong. However, the truth was a lot more morally grey than the blonde thought...
Safiye didn't care about Astrid. For the brown-haired spy, the blond knight was a naive noblewoman who had way too much free time. However, she was very useful as a guide and as a fighter. Her naivety was also making her easy to manipulate. Safiye intended to keep the knight around as long as she was useful. Therefore, she had to be careful to not let her true nature show, as she knew that Astrid wouldn't appreciate to learn what kind of person Safiye truly was.
“The Order is hampering our efforts to find our criminals. They didn't leave us the choice.” Safiye said, pretending to be saddened by this turn of event while in reality she didn't care that she had to get her hands dirty
Though, when it came to the attitude of the Order of the Thorn, she was telling the truth.
The Order of the Thorn was indeed very jealous of its autonomy. They didn't like receiving orders, even from the Empire. They wanted to deal themselves with the women who humiliated them, and didn't want other people to interfere in their business or in their mountains. Of course, they would never dare to openly defy the Mages. However, they were clearly dragging their feet to communicate information and were finding insincere excuses to prevent Safiye and her troops from exploring the mountains in which Yuka and her friends had gone.
“I don't have much sympathy for the Order of the Thorn.” Astrid admitted. “They are greedy and they despoil peasants of their lands. But the low-ranked foot soldiers have no say in the decisions of the knights. I don't want to harm them more than necessary.”
“I've told you that I don't kill. In fact, I came up with this convoluted plan just so we can take their uniforms without having to kill them.”
Thanks to Tsuki’s dreams and visions, Safiye knew in which mountains were located the ruins where Coulter and Yuka (her two targets) were. However, since she was short on time and the Order of the Thorn was hampering her search, the brown-haired spy chose to select a smaller force of women among her squad to be more mobile and discreet: seventeen soldiers and their lieutenant.
And she chose to steal the uniforms of a few foot soldiers of the Order of the Thorn to be able to fool the guards watching the access to one mountain road.
Now, of course such an action could lead to a diplomatic incident between the Order and the Empire, as even though Pakal was a lot more powerful, the Mages knew that they couldn’t allow themselves to make an enemy of the Order of the Thorn while they were waging war on two different fronts. However, Safiye was a crafty person. The women she took with her to ambush the patrol were all wearing the dark green hooded cloaks, dark green scarves, brown tunics, dark green trousers, brown gloves, and brown boots that were worn by the various groups of bandits of the region. The Pakal women would of course use the cloaks and the scarves to hide their copper-coloured skin and coarse black hair.
The irony was that, in order to get these clothes, they captured a real band of female outlaws to steal their outfits…
The capture went without a hitch. The real outlaws, stripped down to their white, beige or grey sleeveless undertunic and underpants, were currently being escorted to the nearest fluvial town by the soldiers of Safiye’s escorts that weren’t part of the ambush. The prisoners were roped into a long coffle. They were walking in a straight line. Each woman was cleave-gagged by a thick piece of cloth, with her wrists tied behind her back and her shoulders bound together with ropes.
Safiye intended to have the outlaws shipped to the Empire to be sold as slaves. She of course neglected to mention that little detail to Astrid.
Well, the capture of the bandits also allowed Safiye to wrap the blond knight-errant around her finger by pretending to care about helping local peasants.
Dumb generous fool. She really deserved to be assaulted and divested of all her belongings…
Safiye waved at Itzel.
The mage-woman nodded, then casted a spell.
There was a lound ‘BANG!’, and a ball of light exploded in front of the squad, temporarily blinding the women.
“Witchcraft!” the officer commanding the squad shouted.
Safiye made another gesture of the hand.
The smaller team of eighteen women that she personally selected among the squad that was accompanying her jumped out of their hideouts in the bushes, and charged.
The foot soldiers were still temporarily blinded by the light. They couldn’t defend themselves, let alone see the faces of their assailants. They were barely able to vaguely discern their clothes. Which was the point, as Safiye wanted them to believe that bandits were the ones who were attacking them. She even asked Itzel to use a spell similar to the ones used by the local rogue witches.
Safiye’s women were armed with small wood truncheons, weapons designed to knock out a foe in close combat. Of course, the foot soldiers were wearing leather helmets. However, since they were temporarily blinded by the light, they weren’t able to defend themselves with their spears. Safiye’s soldiers could take the time to aim at this very specific spot between the neck and the shoulder that wasn’t protected, as it was between the leather helmet and the leather breastplate.
Therefore, for each foot soldier, the process was the same: A swift precise hit of the wooden truncheon, a small grunt, and a woman falling unconscious on the ground.
The auburn-haired officer was desperately trying to protect her soldiers, but since she was still temporarily blinded because of the light, she couldn’t do anything.
Safiye attacked her from behind and used her favorite technique. She wrapped a viselike arm around the tall auburn-haired woman’s throat, and squeezed. The officer squirmed, gurgled and groaned, but didn’t break free of Safiye’s hold. After a few moments of pointless struggles, her eyes rolled back and she slumped into the brown-haired spy’s arms, out cold.
Holding the auburn-haired officer under the shoulders, Safiye watched around her.
Her troop of seventeen soldiers was standing victorious next to twenty-one moaning groaning unconscious women.
“Perfect work. Now, quickly drag them behind the bushes, and pick up all their discarded equipment. Don’t remove your hoods or your scarves before they’ve all been secured and blindfolded.”
Her instructions were scrupulously obeyed.
A few moments later, the trail was devoid of any clue of human presence. Any trace of the patrol had disappeared.
**************
Safiye watched appreciatively her squad of women remove the gears and the clothes of the unconscious foot soldiers. They were methodical and efficient.
First, they confiscated the weapons and shield. Next, they removed the belt and the protective gears: leather helmet, leather breastplate, and leather limb protections. Then, they pulled off the grey padded tunic while lifting the upper-body and letting it fall back. Finally, they removed the brown boots and pulled off the thick black trousers.
Their victims were all wearing the same sort of underclothes: a beige short-sleeved undertunic, matching beige knee-long underpants tied around the waist with a string, and grey woolen socks.
At the same time, Safiye was stripping the auburn-haired officer. The woman moaned slightly as she was left clad in a red undertunic, white matching knee-long underpants, and grey socks.
The foot soldiers and their officer were thoroughly bound, gagged and blindfolded. Each woman’s wrists was tied behind her back with rope. A rope was wrapped and tightened around her thighs, another was around her calves, and a third one around the upper-arms. A thick piece of cloth was shoved into her mouth and tied behind the neck as a cleave-gag. Another thick piece of cloth was tied over her eyes as a blindfold. Finally, they were bound with ropes to trees in a seated position, by groups of three or four.
Now that their victims were blindfolded, and therefore unable to recognize them, Safiye’s soldiers removed the hoods, scarves, and clothes that were concealing their identity. They quickly got dressed. Soon, they were looking the part of a patrol of foot soldiers.
Astrid put on a uniform as well. She glanced at the defeated soldiers. A few of them were coming to their senses. They moaned in their gags and moved their heads when they realized that they couldn’t stand or see.
“I hope that no harm will befall on them…” the blonde commented.
Safiye shrugged while putting on the officer’s uniform and protective gear. “These lands belong to their Order. They will be found and rescued soon enough.”
This time, Safiye wasn’t even lying. It was in her interest that no long-lasting harm befell on these soldiers.
They would get rid of the stolen outfits in the mountain, and pretend that they were allowed by one of their checkpoints. As Itzel was constantly communicating with the Mages thanks to her magic, the knights wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the situation to organize a little ‘accident’ for the group of women.
As long as no soldier was killed, the Order of the Thorn wouldn’t dare to openly defy the Mages once presented with a fait accompli if they had no proof… They would play along to not lose face.
Safiye grabbed two spare sets of uniforms, then went to a more concealed part of the forest a few feet away from her squad.
Itzel had returned at the bedside of Tsuki after the short scuffle with the soldiers. The shapeshifter was lying on a stretcher and was deeply asleep.
“I brought you your disguise.” Safiye said to the mage-woman. “And also one for Tsuki, in case she wants one when she wakes up.”
Itzel nodded and grabbed the set of clothes to put them on. "Well, we're certainly making this more complicated than we have to..."
“Things would have been easier if you were able to cast a full illusion to mask our appearances.” Safiye retorted.
“I’ve already told you. Casting an illusion big enough to conceal everyone’s entire bodies would have required too much efforts. Thanks to these uniforms, I can concentrate on concealing only the faces.”
“Then why don’t Ce-Acatl send a few more Mages as backup to help us? Why did they say a rookie mage-woman?”
“Mages are busy people. They are needed to run the Empire, and to watch the borders. They can’t just spend months on the road to track down a few rebels!” Itzel retorted. Given how red her cheeks was, Safiye easily deduced that Itzel’s low rank was a touchy subject.
The brown-haired mercenary chuckled ironically. “Yes… Instead, they send us to do the grunt work. I guess they’re waiting for us to confront the red-haired shrew… They’ll be able to locate her when she uses her powers to fry us alive.”
“Why are you complaining? They gave us catalysts to protect ourselves from her spells.”
“These things only protect from a direct hit. The redhead is not stupid. How long will it take her to figure out that she’ll be able to bypass our protection by simply making the mountain collapse on us? The Mages want to minimize the risks for them, they don't want to confront the Moon Child without assessing her strength first. That's where we come from. I’m not stupid, Itzel. I know that the main reason they sent us is because we’re both competent but also disposable.”
Itzel remained silent.
Safiye looked at the sleeping Tsuki. When she was in a deep slumber, without her unhinged smile and her glimmering eyes, the woman actually looked adorable.
Tsuki had been asleep for days without once waking up. Itzel pretended that, thanks to her magic, the shapeshifter was able to interfere with the artifact their targets had found through the realm of dreams. Safiye couldn't care less about the practical details of this little miracle of magic. She was simply delighted by the fact that a sleeping Tsuki was a lot easier to control. The spy was secretly hoping that they would be able to keep the shapeshifter in that state for as long as they wanted, but she suspected that they were only able to put Tsuki to sleep with magic because the latter was allowing it. Her body was so imbued with the power of the Black Star that she was immune to drugs and mind magic…
I can’t help but wonder what she’s doing...
**************
The realm of dreams was a strange oniric place, made of unfathomable colours, rivers of power, and constant changing.
Tsuki was feeling angry, which was a feat in itself. The Black Star’s blessing was indeed constantly overflowing her mind with a multitude of sensations. Sorting them out was difficult. And remaining focused on one was even more difficult.
But this time...
How can she do it?! How can she renounce the perfect world I allowed her to reach?! I gave her everything she wanted! I gave her back Hinata! And she turned her nose up at my offer?!
They were once about to use the artifact. She could feel it.
Tsuki needed to reach them before they could come back to their potentiality! She wasn’t worried about not getting to them on time though. Time was flowing differently in the realm of dreams. What was taking a few seconds in the real world felt like an eternity here…
However, Tsuki’s journey through the oniric realm was making her come across other people’s dreams.
The shapeshifter noticed one in particular.
In the bedroom of a castle, a curvy woman with an ivory white skin, ocean blue eyes and waist-long loose honey blond hair was looking at herself in a mirror. She was dressed as a princess. She was wearing a tight but full scarlet red regal-looking dress with pink sleeves and gold threads. The cuffs and the collar of the dress were made of white lace. A stylish red veil fell down from the head, completely covering the neck.
“What a boring naive predictable dream…” the shapeshifter commented to herself.
Tsuki couldn’t help it. She entered the woman’s dream.
The blonde frowned. “Who are you?! What do you-”
Snap of finger. Puff of smoke.
The gorgeous princess dress was gone. The honey-blond-haired woman was now only clad in her undergarments: a white long-sleeved ankle-long undergown.
Tsuki was now the one clad as a princess.
The blonde opened wide round eyes. “My clothes! You stole them!”
Snap of finger. Puff of smoke.
The honey-blond-haired woman was now tightly hog-tied with ropes on the floor. A thick piece of black cloth was gagging her.
“Mph?! Mhhhh! MHHHHH! HHHHLPHHHH!” she tried to shout, but the gag was muzzling her. She squirmed on the floor. Her dream was now fully under Tsuki’s control.
The shapeshifter’s face and body contorted until she took the woman’s appearance. The blonde’s eyes widened when she saw that she was now facing a perfect copy of herself.
However, it was at that moment that, to her horror, Tsuki realized that she barely took any pleasure in the process of stealing this woman’s clothes. It didn’t even quell her anger.
What is going on?
Tsuki took back her default appearance, and left the blond woman to her nightmare.
She jumped into another dream that caught her attention.
The woman had an athletic body, brown eyes, a dark skin and short black hair. She was adjusting the pink clothes she was wearing. With her foot, she closed the door of a small cabinet. Inside, there was an unconscious bound-and-gagged woman with red hair, stripped down to her underwear.
The black-haired woman had just stolen the clothes of the redhead, and was now locking her victim out of sight.
Tsuki saw the infiltrator’s eyes, and she understood that the black-haired woman was like her. That she took pleasure in the process of stealing a woman’s identity. Tsuki did it for the fun and the thrill, this woman for the power rush and the feeling of dominance, but there was the same logic behind it.
Tsuki glared at her.
As if a mere human could even so much as come close to understanding the true beauty of stealing someone’s appearance. Poor imitator.
Tsuki couldn’t help it. She pounced on the woman in her dream.
“What?!” the black-haired woman exclaimed.
She desperately tried to fight back, but the shapeshifter was several times stronger.
Tsuki immobilized the woman and choked her until she was unconscious. She frantically removed her victim’s clothes one by one, including the underwear.
A snap of the finger allowed her to make a few coils of rope appear. She used them to tightly ball-tie the naked woman into a seated position, with her knees pressed against her exposed breasts. Another snap of finger, and two thick rough rags appeared in her hand. Tsuki cleave-gagged and blindfolded the infiltrator. She threw the woman into the cabinet.
Since this was a dream, the redhead was gone. The black-haired infiltrator was alone.
Then, Tsuki put on her victim’s clothes.
The woman woke up while the shapeshifter was closing the door of the cabinet with her foot.
“Nhhhh! Whht!” she tried to beg.
Once in the dark, the infiltrator started to panic. The cabinet was airtight. The woman was locked. She couldn’t breathe!
The shapeshifter ignored her muffled calls for help, just like this specific uniform stealer always looked down upon the women she mugged.
Still no rush... Tsuki thought to herself.
She barely took any joy in taking down this woman.
For the shapeshifter, it was a horrible feeling. It was like losing the taste for a gourmet, or losing the hearing for a musician.
Tsuki cursed.
How could she NOT feel anything when taking someone else’s appearance?!
Was it because of her anger?
What is wrong with me?! This is who I am! This is what I do! Why can’t I feel any pleasure in it anymore?!
“Hhllp! Hhllp!”
The woman’s muffled pleas were getting on her nerves.
“Shut up…” She kicked the cabinet. “Just take it in silence, like all the people you harmed…”
Tsuki was trying to concentrate. She needed to think of something. She needed to find a solution.
“Plhhhsh! Plhhhsh!” the gagged woman tried to beg.
Tsuki teared out the door of the cabinet.
“I said: Shut up.”
She grabbed the woman by the hair and pulled her outside.
“Shut up!”
She backhanded her.
“SHUT UP!”
She grabbed the bruised woman by the cheeks.
“SHUT UP!!! You think you have the right to overpower other people to steal their identities?! You think you have the right to overpower them to feel strong?!”
The infiltrator whimpered.
“Well you don’t! This is not YOUR nature, it’s MINE! I’m a shapeshifter! This is who I am! Not you!”
She hit the woman’s face a second time.
“THIS IS WHO I AM!"
hit
"ME!"
hit
"ME!"
hit
"ME!”
Tsuki threw the woman upward until she became a twinkle in the sky.
The dream shattered, as the woman woke up brutally.
Tsuki let out a long shrill scream and teared off her hair.
The Black Star’s essence that was flowing through her veins reacted to her emotions, and sent waves of intense pleasure. Tsuki felt a warm sensation overrun her entire body, as if she had just entered a hot bath. It was how the Black Star worked. The more in distress, the more in pain Tsuki was, the more the Black Star’s essence was overflowing her mind with sensations of pleasure.
Tsuki… I can’t allow my vessel to feel bad… We’re supposed to reshape this world...
However, this time Tsuki was too angry to care.
Tsuki. The artifact. This time it was Itzel’s voice, talking to her thanks to her magic.
The mission...
Tsuki couldn’t care less about the mission right now, but a part of her remembered WHO they were looking for.
Yu’.
Of course! The root of her problem was her anger.
The root of her problem was Yuka.
Tsuki understood what she had to do.
It was time to set things straight with her clan sister…
It was time to bring Yuka back where she belonged…
With me.
One way or another…
Tsuki allowed the power of the artifact to draw her, like a moth to a flame.
**************
Yuka and her friends were once again in the nothing between the potentialities. Coulter was trying to send them to their own potentiality, but something was still hampering her efforts.
Or more precisely, someone.
“YU’!”
Yuka winced.
Of course, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to avoid another confrontation with Tsuki while trying to return to their own potentiality...
This time, it wasn’t only her voice though. They could actually see Tsuki appear in front of them. Or, more precisely, a giant translucent reflection of the unhinged shapeshifter.
“Coulter… Hurry up please…” Yisüi whispered to the mage-woman.
“Easier said than done…” the redhead retorted between gritted teeth.
Azeneth tightened her grip on Jinora’s and Yisüi’s hands.
“I’ll try to buy us some time.” Yuka intervened.
She turned to face the reflection of her former clan sister.
Tsuki glared at Yuka. In her eyes, there was a mixture of anger and incomprehension.
“HOW?! How could you do it?!” she shouted. “How could you renounce them?! I gave you what you wanted the most! And THIS is the thanks I get?! How UNGRATEFUL can you be?!”
She was sounding furious, but also incredulous. She pointed at Azeneth, Jinora, and Yisüi.
“How could you chose these… these HUMANS over your own CLAN SISTERS?!”
Yuka shouted a retort.
“My place wasn’t in this world, Tsu’! I could have been happy with them, but it would have been fake!”
“SO WHAT? You’d still have been happy!”
“There are people who are counting on me in our world, Tsu’! I can’t just give up on them to pursue my selfish wants!”
Tsuki glared angrily at her.
Then, suddenly, she started to laugh.
Her brutal mood-swing was even scarier than her anger, because Yuka could see how artificial her joy was. It was a result of Tsuki’s mind being overflown by the impious energy of the Black Star.
“You know, it doesn’t really matter…” Tsuki commented. “Soon, we will be reunited. Whether you want it or not.”
“What do you mean?”
“We are currently looking for you!” Tsuki explained with an impish smile. “The time flows differently in our world and in here… In our world, time flows a lot faster. While we’re busy having fun with your artifact, Safiye and her squad are heading to the ruins where your physical bodies are.”
“Our physical bodies? So… All that we’re living… This isn’t real?” Yuka asked.
“Oh no, no, no... It IS real! Let’s just say that your wonderful toy is simply allowing you to be in two places at once… But make no mistake. If you die in another potentiality, you’ll also die in our world. And for good…”
“But our main bodies are still in the ruins.” Coulter deduced.
“Exactly! And you’ll probably guess HOW comical things will become if the Mages’ agents manage to get a hold of your main bodies before you can return to them… That would be quite the nasty surprise, wouldn’t it?”
Yuka looked at the red-haired mage-woman. “Coulter. Bring us back to our world. NOW!”
“Oh no, no, no!” Tsuki interrupted them. “I shall make you visit INTERESTING places… To keep you occupied, the time for us to arrive… Don’t worry, Yu’… Soon, we’ll be reunited...”
Coulter glared daggers at Tsuki’s reflection. “And you think that I will let you-”
A flash of light.
**************
A flash of light.
Yuka blinked.
They were in another potentiality.
They had appeared inside a building made of wood. The room was looked like some kind of tavern. There were several wood tables and chairs.
Unfortunately, Yuka and her friends weren’t alone. Four women were in the room in which they had appeared. They were lazily sitting on chairs, while sipping glasses of rum. Yuka immediately understood that these girls were trouble.
The first woman was wearing a white ample long-sleeved blouse, light brown loose pants cut off just below the knee, white woolen stockings, and brown shoes. She had an oval-shaped face, black hair and brown eyes. Her haircut was made of several collarbone-long braids adorned with stone beads. A red bandanna was covering her head.
The second woman had neck-long unattached sandy blond hair and dark blue eyes. She was tall and lanky. She was clad in a beige blouse, faded blue baggy trousers, grey woolen stockings, black shoes and a black bandanna tied over the head.
The third woman was wearing a red mantle over a white tunic, brown loose trousers, black shoes, and a black tri-cornered hat. She had ginger red hair tied into a shoulder-long ponytail, and green eyes. Her chin was pointy and her face was angular.
The fourth woman had short chin-long brown hair and hazel eyes, as well as a round face. She was shorter than her companions. She was wearing a dark grey blouse and black loose trousers. An orange headband was tied around her head.
The women all had the tanned skin of people who were often outdoors, and they were all rather young, in their late twenties and early thirties. However, their clothes left no doubt about their profession.
Pirates.
“Yarr! Who are these harlots?” ‘Red Bandanna’ exclaimed.
“Little mouses trying to spy on us?” ‘Black Bandanna’ added.
“Who cares? Have you seen the blond one? The slavers will pay good money for a girl with such hair!” ‘Tri-Cornered Hat’ commented.
“Yarr! Let’s grab them!” 'Orange Headband' concluded.
The four women threw away their glasses of rum, jumped on their feet and grabbed their weapons, either a saber or a cutlass.
Now, when armed women were threatening her and her friends, Azeneth didn’t waste time asking questions.
On the contrary, she struck first.
The metis jumped into the fray and took the pirates by surprise. They weren’t expecting her to take the offensive.
Azeneth socked ‘Red Bandanna’ in the left temple before the latter could even think of raising her saber. The woman let out a grunt, and fell unconscious on the floor.
‘Black Bandanna’ tried to slash the metis with her cutlass. Azeneth dodged and punched her in the stomach, before finishing her off with an uppercut. “Urk!” The woman was out cold before even falling backwards.
‘Tri-cornered Hat’ tried to assault Azeneth from behind with her saber, but only managed to end on the wrong end of the metis’ spinning kick. Azeneth hit her in the right side, and she fell on the floor.
‘Orange Headband’ hesitated one second too many. Before she could decide between attacking or fleeing, Azeneth was on her. She kneed the pirate in the stomach, then grabbed her by the neck and hit her forehead on the nearby table, sending her to slumberland.
‘Tri-cornered Hat’ tried to get up. Azeneth towered over her and smiled.
“Yarr.” the metis mockingly commented.
“Wait-”
Her fist collided with the woman’s forehead, right between the eyes, and put her out of commission.
Standing in the middle of four half-conscious moaning women, Azeneth stretched her fingers. “Well, that takes care of them!” she happily exclaimed.
Jinora and Yisüi chuckled.
“Az’… We may have needed one of them conscious to answer our questions…” Yuka commented.
The metis shrugged. “Well, they started it.”
“By the way… Don’t you feel like we’re short one person?” Yisüi intervened.
Indeed, they hadn’t heard anyone complain or rant during the past minute.
“Coulter?”
They all shared a worried glance. The redhead wasn’t with them!
“I’m here.”
They jumped in surprise.
“Gah! She’s invisible!” Yisüi exclaimed.
“I’m talking in your head. the voice retorted with an annoyed tone.
There was no doubt. Only Coulter would talk like that.
“But how?” Yuka asked.
“I’m still in the nothing between the potentialities. Can’t talk to you for long. I’m in… a battle of willpower with Tsuki… to take control of the artifact… She’s attempting to- attempting to send you to random potentialities... Just go along with whatever’s happening… I’ll try to bring you back-” Coulter’s voice was interrupted.
Jinora, Yuka, Azeneth, and Yisüi shared a glance.
“Well, you heard her.” Azeneth then commented.
She grabbed the nearest pirate, the sandy blonde with the black bandanna, and pulled out her blouse.
“You sure this is the best thing to do?” Jinora intervened.
“These ladies probably aren’t alone. It’s best to disguise ourselves, in case we come across other pirates before Coulter can transport us…”
“I suppose it’s the best we can do in the meantime…” Yuka admitted.
She, Yisüi, and Jinora each grabbed a woman and removed her clothes. Yuka grabbed the black-haired pirate with the red bandanna; Yisüi, the brunette with the orange headband; and Jinora, the redhead with the tri-cornered hat.
They stripped the four pirates down to their undergarments, which were the same for each woman: a beige short-sleeved chemise and thigh-long white open drawers. While the four friends were still worried about their situation, the process of divesting the pirates of their clothes helped ease their mind, and made them feel better and more confident.
The four friends then took off the Pakal soldiers uniforms they were still wearing after their former adventure, and cut them into strips. The makeshift ropes were used to hog-tie each pirate. A few more strips were used as gags and blindfolds. Yuka, Azeneth, Yisüi, and Jinora each dragged one woman. They hid them under a table.
Finally, each woman put the clothes of the pirate she stripped. Including the headgear. Azeneth tied the black bandanna as a headband, since she didn’t want to remove her high-braid.
“There you go!” the metis exclaimed with a smile. “Now, we’re ready to fool the other pirates. Because I know that we will come across a few more of them before we are transported elsewhere.”
They all felt a warmness surround them. It was magic.
“Oh come on! I bet she’s doing it on purpose! Just to prove me wrong!” Azeneth complained.
As they were rising into the air, drifting away and disappearing, Yuka saw the captain of the four pirates enter the building.
She saw her hog-tied women, who were starting to come to their senses.
“What?! You four landlubbers were humiliated once more?! And who was it this time? What’s your excuse?! Another Cryomancer?”
Another flash of light.
**************
Another flash of light.
Yuka blinked.
The place looked like the workshop of a painter, though for some strange reason there were no windows. Dozens of lanterns were lighting the place. It was a vast room filled with easels, paintings, and canvas. On several tables, there was a plethora of painting material: pigments, inks, brushes, rags, paints…
The painter herself was standing in front of a gigantic mural.
The four women’s arrival hadn’t gone unnoticed however.
“How dare you enter my workshop?” the artist barked. “Who are you? How did you find me?”
Just by the way she looked, Yuka could tell that something was wrong with this girl.
The painter was a young woman with a white skin, a soft round face, short dark brown hair and brown eyes. Sure, she was shorter than average, but she still clearly was an adult. And yet, even though Yuka didn’t know anything about the fashions of this potentiality, she could see that the painter was wearing childish clothes. On her head, there was a white painter hat adorned with a cute red pom-pom. She was wearing a long-sleeved dark grey knee-long one-piece dress with a white collar, dark grey trousers, and black shoes. The front part of her body was covered by a grey apron stained with paint.
In the painter’s eyes, there was an unhinged look.
However, the scarier part of the room wasn’t the painter herself, but the mural she was painting. The thing was unnerving, with bizarre perspectives and grotesque forms. Worst of all, the color lines were moving by themselves, as if the mural was alive.
Impious magic was at work in this workshop.
There was no doubt left. Tsuki was the one who chose this potentiality.
Next to Yuka, Azeneth couldn’t help but exclaim. “Who are YOU? And what is THAT?” She pointed at the mural.
The painter glared daggers at her.
“My name is Gloria, and I do not expect you simpletons to be able to understand my art.”
“You shouldn’t stand next to that mural… This thing is oozing with dangerous magic…” Yuka commented.
Gloria stomped on the floor with her foot. “How dare you? I am a genius! This is my masterpiece! It is I who infused this painting with magic! And once I give it the finishing touch, she shall lay waste on this town, and teach a lesson to all the fools who refused to see my talent!”
Yuka didn’t understand what was going on. It was as if she had turned up into a completely different story.
Trust Tsuki to choose a completely bonkers potentiality at some point...
“Coincidentally, I can’t let you leave now that you have found my hideout.” Gloria added. “I can’t let you warn the talentless fools that are searching for me...”
Gloria put her brush and her palette, and grabbed a knife.
“Therefore, I shall use your BLOOD to get the red paint I need to finish my masterpiece!”
She lunged at them.
With a scornful expression, Azeneth dodged her attack and knocked her out with one clean punch to the temple.
“Ouch!” the mad artist grunted.
Gloria dropped her weapon and collapsed face first on the floor like a sack of grain. Out like a light.
“Yu’… Your friend is SICK!” Azeneth commented. “What kind of world is th-” She was interrupted by a loud voice.
MISTRESS?! WHERE ARE YOU?
The four women gagged.
The voice was coming from the mural! Several yellow eyes made of paint opened.
MISTRESS? WHO ARE THESE WOMEN?
Yuka was terrified. This thing was the kind of eldritch abomination that brought the Black Star to her mind. Still, she reflexively did what she did best to try to get out of this situation.
She stole another woman’s appearance.
Her facial features and her body briefly blurred. She became shorter. Her skin turned white, her hair became short and dark brown, and her eyes became brown.
“But it is me, your mistress. Can’t you see?” the shapeshifter answered while using Gloria’s voice.
The sentient mural fixed its attention on Yuka.
At the same time, Azeneth was dragging the real unconscious Gloria by the legs to put her out of the sentient mural’s line of sight. She concealed her in a corner of the workshop, behind a bunch of easels and canvas. Yisüi and Jinora hid with her.
MISTRESS… YOU ARE NOT WEARING YOUR USUAL CLOTHES…
“That’s- That’s because I had to go out incognito…” Yuka improvised while hiding her fear. “I am going to put them back on right away!”
Azeneth, Jinora, and Yisüi got the picture. The three of them worked together to take off Gloria’s hat, paint-stained apron, and other clothes as quickly as possible. Luckily, her one-piece dress was easy to remove. Jinora and Yisüi took off her shoes while Azeneth unclipped the belt of the trousers that the artist was wearing under her dress. They pulled off the trousers, then threw all the clothes to Yuka. Gloria was left clad in white thigh-long bloomers, grey socks, and a childish-looking white sleeveless undertunic adorned with pink lace at the edges.
Yuka dropped her current outer clothes to the floor, and put on the artist’s outfit faster than she ever did with any other clothes before.
“You see?” Yuka asked while adjusting the white painter cap with the red pom-pom.
THERE YOU ARE MY MISTRESS.
The mural seemed satisfied.
Of course, Gloria chose this moment to start to come to her senses. She moaned, groaned and frowned as she was regaining her consciousness.
WHAT IS THAT NOISE MISTRESS?
Azeneth hit Gloria on the forehead with a forearm blow, right between the eyes, to ensure that she would stay in slumberland. The mad artist grunted and saw stars, but her body relaxed once more. She went silent.
“Nothing.” Yuka answered.
The metis pointed at a cleaning cloth used to wipe paint. Jinora grabbed it and gave it to her. Azeneth immediately shoved it into the unconscious woman’s mouth. Luckily for Gloria, it was one of the few (mostly) clean ones.
Yisüi found a few more cleaning clothes, as well as a coil of sturdy strings. She, Jinora, and Azeneth worked together to cloth-gag Gloria withthe pieces of cloth, and to bind her wrists and ankles with the strings.
ARE YOU GOING TO PUT THE LAST TOUCHES TO ME, MY MISTRESS? I AM IMPATIENT TO LAY WASTE ON THIS TOWN...
“Coulter… Be quick please…” Yuka whispered through gritted teeth.
Maybe the redhead heard her plea, or maybe it was a stroke of luck, but suddenly she felt a warmness surround her.
Just as she and her friends were rising into the air and disappearing, she saw a group of people burst into the place. Some heroes had come here to put an end to Gloria’s insane projects…
… and were about to discover that mysterious people did half of their job, since the mad artist herself was already all trussed up, like a nice package ready to be sent to the prison.
Another flash of light.
**************
Another flash of light.
Yuka blinked.
She and Azeneth were in a town. Its tall angular buildings were made of beige or yellow stones, and its streets were cobbled. They were standing in an alleyway, away from prying eyes. Thankfully, since the few people who saw Yuka’s paint-stained clothes were giving her funny looks.
Wait a second... Azeneth and I?
She and the metis exchanged a panicked look.
“Coulter! Yisüi and Jinora aren’t with us!” the shapeshifter exclaimed.
They heard the redhead’s voice.
“I tried to bring you to a- to a normal-looking potentiality… But Tsuki managed to separate you… within a few seconds of each other... It- It means... they actually arrived- arrived a few hours before you... They’re in the building- the tall building nearby… with the blue banners...”
“Why can’t they go out?”
“This is some kind of- of university… The scholars who saw them appear refuse to let them go… They want- want to know how they managed to do that… They want to- to study the phenomenon… They are fine, but they-” Once again, Coulter’s voice was interrupted.
“I bet Tsuki’s trying to have fun at our expense. She’s putting us in situations where we have to steal clothes.” Yuka commented.
“Who cares? We need to enter the building! We have to be close to each other if we want Coulter to transport us!” Azeneth exclaimed.
Yuka put a hand on her friend’s shoulder to calm her down. “Then let’s find a way…”
Even though they were anxious to rescue their friends, Yuka and Azeneth knew that they had to wait for the right opportunity. They were trained experienced people, who knew how to keep a cool head, as rushing without thinking wouldn’t help them reach their goal. They went to an alleyway closer to the building with the blue banners, and observed it from afar.
The place indeed was some kind of university or academy of research. A part of Yuka was impressed by the diversity of the people leaving and entering the building complex. So many ethnies. So many hair colours, skin tones, and eye colours. She could even see physical types that were unheard of in her home world, such as people with white hair, other people with a red skin, or with amethyst purple eyes. The shapeshifter wasn’t used to see so much diversity in her home world, except in a few port towns.
Yuka quickly noticed that there was some sort of hierarchy in that academy of research. The students were also working part time as apprentice or as assistant for the scholars. Their clothes were indicating their status.
“We need to grab the ones wearing the brown jackets and the beige trousers. They’re the low-ranked assistants.”
Azeneth nodded. “Got it.”
And sure enough, one suitable assistant finally passed near their hiding spot.
She was an average-sized young woman with a white skin, white hair and eyebrows, and blue eyes. She had a chin-long straight square haircut with a straight fringe.
She was wearing grey long boots that were covering her calves, beige pants, a black belt with a grey buckle, a white tunic and a brown opened jacket over the tunic.
The young assistant was too busy complaining to herself to notice that she was being watched.
“And now they’re sending me to fetch their new books… I can’t take this anymore. Tia do this, Tia do that… And for what? Never any thanks… Am I just good enough to be their lackey? And Bran who STILL hasn’t made his move on me… When will he take the hint?! Gods! It’s really one of those days…”
Now, to be honest, Tia didn’t say out loud that ‘This day can’t become any worst.’ However, she thought it very hard. And it was enough to tempt fate...
Once the assistant was within reach, Azeneth jumped out of her hiding place in the dark alleyway and pounced on her prey. She grabbed Tia by the shoulders and pulled her inside the alleyway.
YANK!
“Eek--!” the girl shrieked.
The white-haired young woman disappeared in the shadows, with no one the wiser.
Azeneth immobilized and hand-gagged her victim.
Tia opened big frightened eyes.
Yuka stood in front of her. “Don’t scream please, we won’t hurt you. We will just ask you a few questions. Do you understand me?” She was talking softly to put Tia at ease.
The white-haired assistant nodded.
“You won’t scream if my friend removes her hand?” Yuka asked.
Another nod.
“Az’, please.”
The second the metis removed her hand, Yuka realized that Tia was going to scream. She had learned to notice the little breath that her victims were always taking when trying to call for help.
Yuka was faster than her. She pinched a specific part of Tia’s body, right between the neck and the shoulder, and infused a small fraction of her power in her fingers. Her thumb and her index finger glowed.
The white-haired young woman opened her mouth, but only let out a: “Ah… oh… uh… mh… oof.” Her body had a few spasms, then her eyes rolled back and closed. She slumped into Azeneth’s arms with a vacant smile on her lips. Out cold.
“I hate it when they do that…” Yuka commented. “I mean, I don’t blame them for trying to scream, but still… It’s annoying.”
“Well, it looks like we have no choice. Yu’, remove your dress. We’ll use it to make ropes. You’ll put on her clothes and take her appearance.”
Yuka was delighted to have an excuse to remove Gloria’s clothes. She didn’t need to be asked twice and she quickly dropped the painter’s outfit.
At the same time, Azeneth was removing the assistant’s clothes: she pulled off the boots, unclipped the belt and slid down the trousers, unbuttoned the light jacket and pulled off the tunic. As undergarments, Tia was wearing beige socks, faded blue thigh-long undershorts and a light grey sleeveless top.
Azeneth used one of her knives to cut the painter’s dress into strips while Yuka donned her disguise.
The metis tied the young woman’s wrists behind her back. She wrapped a second makeshift rope around her elbows, also tying them behind the back. She bound Tia’s ankles with a third strip of cloth and her knees with a fourth. Finally, she seated the assistant in a corner of the alleyway. She wrapped a strip of cloth over her eyes as a blindfold, shoved a few pieces of cloth into her mouth, then cloth-gagged her with one final strip.
Once fully clothed, Yuka took a deep breath. Her hair became white, her skin lightened, and her eyes turned blue.
“Perfect.” Azeneth commented. “Now, go without me.”
Yuka incredulously looked at her. “What? There’s no way I’m leaving you behind! What if Coulter transports me when you’re not around?”
“And there’s no way I’m leaving Jinora and Yisü’ behind!” Azeneth retorted. “We don’t have the time to wait for another stroke of luck! You have to rescue them! I hope they’re not too scared… I will-”
“Az’! Wait!” Yuka interrupted her. “I see two more assistants approaching…”
Indeed, two women were leaving the academy, and were going to pass in front of their alleyway.
Azeneth and Yuka shared the same hopeful look. They got ready.
“Almost within reach… Almost… Wait! That’s…”
“Jinora! Yisü’!” Azeneth shouted.
“Not so loud, Az’! Don’t forget that we’re standing next to a bound half-naked woman we just assaulted…”
Azeneth was too relieved to listen however. “Jinora! Yisü’! We’re here!”
The two women dressed as assistants were indeed Jinora and Yisüi. They ran to their friends.
Azeneth embraced them.
“To think that I was worried sick! And while I was here wasting my time biting my nails, you two just stole a few outfits and walked out of the building as if it was nothing! These jokers didn’t know who they were up against!”
“You’ll have to accept that we’re becoming better than you…” Jinora commented with a smile.
Azeneth blinked. “How… How dare you tease me?” she playfully retorted.
“I trust that things went without a hitch.” Yuka intervened. She was feeling relieved.
“We asked for a meal, that’s how we grabbed the first one.” Jinora explained. “Then, we pretended that I was sick, that’s how we lured a second one.”
“They weren’t exactly good at keeping people against their will… Most of them are old scholars. If we hadn’t been in a hurry, we may have let them finish their studies.” Yisüi added.
"Though I can reassure you that we didn't bind and gag any poor elderly scholars. Only young women." Jinora concluded.
"Stop joking like that, Jinora, or I'll start to think YOU are the one who was replaced..." Azeneth commented.
"I'm just relieved to see you. I thought this was going to be Lord Devingshae's fiasco all over again." Jinora confessed.
The metis simply hugged her a second time.
Yuka nodded. Now, they simply needed to walk away and-
“Oh shit- I think that your escape’s been noticed!” Azeneth suddenly exclaimed.
Indeed, a group of white-haired scholars surrounded by a swarm of assistants had exited the building. A few of the old men were brandishing their canes.
Of course, Tia chose this moment to wake up, and she immediately started to try to call for help through her gag. Plus, with the commotion Azeneth made when she reunited with her friends, the pursuers knew exactly where to look.
“Great… After a group of pirates and a painter, I’m going to beat up a bunch of elderly professors…” the metis commented.
The epic fight was going to be postponed however.
Suddenly they felt a warmness surround them.
Once again, they rose into the air and started to disappear.
Yuka had the time to see one assistant release Tia while everyone else was trying to comprehend how they disappeared.
“My hero!” She jumped into his arms and wasted no time giving him a long passionate kiss.
Judging by these two’s behaviour, they had been turning around each other for months without being able to declare themselves...
“Well, this is one girl who knows how to make the most of a bad situation.” Yuka commented.
Another flash of light.
**************
Another flash of light.
Yuka blinked.
She heard Azeneth comment. “Well, it looks like we’re not the ones who stole the clothes this time…”
They were in the room of an inn.
And indeed, a woman with a copper-coloured skin, coarse black hair, a lanky figure, a tall forehead, and an oval face was lying unconscious in front of them. Her haircut consisted of three shoulder-long braids adorned with red stones. She was stripped down to a red loincloth and a brown strip of cloth wrapped around the chest and the back. Her hands were bound behind her back with ropes. Her ankles and her knees were also bound. She was gagged with a thick rag.
“Girls-!” Yisüi pointed at a nearby scene.
Two young women were currently busy restraining a second copper-skinned black-haired woman with a shoulder-long braid, clad in a black loincloth and a grey strip of cloth covering her breasts. The two muggers were wearing Pakal pilgrim clothes: comfortable brown hooded traveling robes with rope-belts, matching trousers, and thick comfortable traveling boots. Yuka easily deduced that these were stolen outfits though. The first young woman had a tanned skin, shoulder-long dark brown hair, and green-hazel eyes. Her face was angular, and she had a pointy chin and an aquiline nose. She was slightly taller than average, and her body was athletic-looking. The second young woman was of average size and build, had round sky blue eyes and soft neck-long light brown hair. Her skin was light-coloured. Her hair were tied up into a small ponytail. Two locks were falling on her cheeks, one on each side.
It was strange that they didn’t react to the four friends’ appearance, given the fact that the inn room was rather small.
“They can’t see or hear us, and probably can’t touch us either.” Jinora understood. “It’s as if we don’t exist in their world…”
Yuka was starting to realize what this ‘potentiality’ was in truth.
“I recognize these stripped pilgrims.” she blankly commented.
Azeneth pointed at the fake pilgrims. “So these two impostors are…”
“Yes.”
“No no no!” Yuka’s counterpart was saying. “Don’t knot the ropes like that Tsu’, do it like that…” She grabbed the ropes and bound the woman’s wrists behind her back.
“Sorry…” Tsuki meekly replied. She was nervously fidgeting with the jade earring of her left ear.
“Don’t be sorry. Be better.”
“I’ll try…”
Yuka’s face softened and she embraced her clan sister. “Don’t worry. I’m here to help you. I'll teach you. With these clothes, we’ll be able to travel the Empire unnoticed.”
The scenery blurred.
**************
They were now in the docks of a Pakal port town.
“We’re not in potentialities.” Yuka commented. “We’re in memories. That’s why we can’t interact with anything.”
“Tsuki can do that?”
“The boundary between the nothing between the worlds and the realm of dreams is thin. Of course she would try something like that!”
They saw Yuka’s counterpart drag an unconscious woman by the legs to conceal her behind wooden crates and barrels. Her victim was a docker. She had short chin-long dark brown hair, a short burly body, and a tanned skin. She was wearing a black bonnet, an ample light blue blouse with ample sleeves rolled up to the elbows, striped red-and-yellow ample trousers, a dark red cloth sash tied around the waist, and black shoes.
Behind the crates, Tsuki finished binding a second docker’s arms behind her back. This docker had neck-long dark auburn hair, a white skin lightly tanned due to her exposure to the sun, and a slim body. She was clad in her undergarments only: a white short-sleeved linen chemise and matching thigh-long underpants. Her legs were already wrapped with ropes and she was gagged with a thick scarf.
Tsuki was wearing the clothes of her victim: an ample white blouse with ample sleeves rolled up to the elbows, light brown ample trousers, a blue cloth sash tied around the waist, black shoes, and a red bonnet.
Yuka let go of her own docker’s legs and smiled when she saw her friend’s ropework. “There you go! You see? You did everything on your own, this time! And without my help!” Yuka commented.
Tsuki blushed slightly. “I feel… stronger now… like you...”
Yuka briefly embraced her and caressed her cheeks, a display of strong friendship for her species. “I’m so proud.”
Tsuki smiled. “I couldn’t have done it without you… It was thanks to your lessons...”
“We will keep on improving. It’s the two of us against the world, but as long as we’re together, we WILL prevail…”
Then, Yuka started to strip her own docker.
The scenery blurred.
**************
They were in an alleyway. The architecture was still bringing the Empire to the mind, but there was also a clear influence of the Vassal Kingdoms. They were in the westerns provinces, near the border.
“What is Tsuki trying to do?” Azeneth exclaimed.
“She’s trying to buy some time.” Jinora answered. “Yuka, we have to do something!”
But Yuka had a hard time stopping looking at her past.
Tsuki and Yuka ambushed the soldier when she tried to bring round her unconscious comrade. Both women had short coarse black hair, muscular bodies, dark brown almond-shaped eyes, and a copper-colored skin. They were each wearing a black long-sleeved tunic and matching trousers, brown leather shoes, and a leather belt tied around the waist. They were each armed with a polearm and a small wooden club.
Yuka tackled the soldier from behind, and made her lose her balance. The black-haired woman fell face first on the ground.
Tsuki immediately grabbed the woman’s neck. Her palms glowed.
“Ah… ah… ah…” The soldier’s body had a few spasms, but Yuka was still pinning her to the ground. The black-haired woman kicked the floor a few times. Then her eyes rolled back and she fainted.
Tsuki and Yuka shared a smile and a fist-bump. “We did it!” they happily exclaimed.
They wasted no time stripping the two soldiers. Tsuki wasn't hesitating anymore.
Both black-haired women were wearing a brown loincloth and a red strip of cloth wrapped around the breasts and back, and tightened under the armpit with a brooch.
The two young shapeshifters blindfolded and gagged the soldiers, tied their wrists and ankles, then bound them together while facing each other with ropes. That way, they would take up less space and would be easier to hide. They tightened the ropes to press the two unconscious bodies against each other as much as they could. Tsuki and Yuka concealed their victims in the small gap between two buildings, then used their powers to steal their appearances. They slipped into the warm uniforms.
The scenery blurred.
**************
They were in the bedroom of a manor of the Vassal Kingdoms.
“I- I won’t try to scream… Don’t hurt us, please…” the woman said while showing that her hands were empty.
She had light red hair, light green eyes, and a light skin. Her hair were mid-back-long, and tied up into a ponytail. She was frail-looking, with a skinny body and an angular face. The redhead was wearing the clothes of a servant of the Vassal Kingdoms: a faded brownish red ankle-long dress belted at the waist, with an overskirt forming an apron, grey shoes, and a white linen bonnet.
Tsuki jumped the servant from behind and hung onto her back. She wrapped her legs around the woman’s waist and arms, wrapped one arm around her shoulders and clamped a hand over her mouth. Unbalanced, the servant fell backwards, with Tsuki still hanging onto her. The terrified woman reflexively struggled, but she couldn’t break free and her frightened cries were muffled by the palm clamped over her mouth. Tsuki’s hands glowed.
The servant had a few spasms, then she let out a long muffled sigh and fell asleep.
Tsuki moved the unconscious woman away and put her on the floor. She was beaming with pride.
“Hey Yu’, did you see that?”
“You were fantastic, Tsu’!”
Yuka was holding under the shoulders an unconscious noblewoman. The woman had brown hair, a light skin, and a voluptuous body. She was wearing a deep blue form-fitting bliaut over a pure white full chemise with tight sleeves. The bliaut had a flaring long skirt and sleeves tight to the elbow and then widening to wrist in a trumpet shape. It was adorned with golden threads. The brunette was also wearing a silver-plated long belt that looped around the waist and was knotted over the abdomen.
“That was flawless!” she added.
Present-Yuka was now realizing that, to knock out a frightened physically weak woman who had already surrendered, such a method was overkill. But at the time, Yuka could only see how strong and confident her friend had become. She was refusing to see how eager, how addicted to the feeling of dominance and to the power rush, Tsuki was becoming.
The Black Star didn’t create Tsuki’s addiction. It removed her inhibitions and amplified feelings that were already there.
Feelings that were born because of Yuka. She was the one responsible of the birth of Tsuki’s obsession. She was the one who made her friend steal other women’s clothes and identity. Again and again and again...
By the time they reached this noblewoman and her servant, how many pairs of women had they mugged and impersonated? She had lost count…
Tsuki stripped the maid while Yuka divested her mistress of her clothes.
The red-haired servant was wearing a white linen smock and grey socks as undergarments. The brown-haired noblewoman was clad in a lavish blue undergown.
They cut some bed sheets into strips, and trussed up the two women. They bound the ankles, the calves, the thighs, the wrists, and the upper-arms below and above the breasts. Rolled strips were used as cleave-gags. Finally, they laid the two women on the aristocrat’s bed, side by side. They covered the bound unconscious bodies with one thick sheet to conceal them.
Yuka and Tsuki started to disguise themselves.
The scenery blurred.
**************
They were in the Yr Widdfa, in a small cavern that was offering shelter from the cold. The wind was howling.
Tsuki and Yuka were huddled together, in front of a campfire and under a thick blanket. Each was holding the other’s hands to warm themselves.
“You will see… It will be worth it.. It will be worth it… We’ll be unstoppable… We’ll change the world…” Yuka was repeating to her friend… and to herself.
The truth was that, after weeks of searching the mountains, Yuka wasn’t so sure of it anymore. However, she kept repeating it to herself, to silence her own doubts.
“It will be worth it… It will be worth it...”
Present-Yuka couldn’t take it anymore.
“Tsuki! I got it! Stop playing mind-games and let’s finish this once and for all!”
Another flash of light.
)
