Inside the space of a dimly-lit sanctuary, a young woman kneels at an altar with her hands tightly closed together.
"My goddess, Anava, I came here as you requested. I humbly ask you for the purpose that you would call me here at such an hour."
The apostle of the goddess, Nazz, calls out for the goddess she devoutly worships. Though not physically present, the goddess' spiritual presence lingers within her mind.
"You will have special guests arriving at the temple soon. They will be looking for you, so you must be in position to respond."
"Special guests? Who could they be…that man. It's that man, isn't it? "
"...If by 'that man' you are referring to Vex, then yes. In addition, his traveling companion, the demi-human feline girl. "
"So after all this time, he is finally coming back to meet me. Whatever could he possibly want from me? I honestly don't want to see his disgraceful face ever again!"
"No matter how you feel, you must subdue your personal gripes and adhere to their request."
"But Anava, what am I supposed to do for them? Vex deserves nothing from me, not after he belittled my image!"
"It's not about necessarily doing them a favor, more so about you undoing what you have caused."
"What have I–"
"Don't feign ignorance, Nazz. You have abused the curse that I have blessed you with."
"But Anava, you have blessed us apostles with these curses to use at our discretion. I cannot allow anyone to look down upon me ever again! My curse will teach offenders a lesson, which benefits everyone involved."
"Well this time, your so-called discretion was incorrect. Your foolish actions put that man's life at risk. I need him to stay alive."
"Goddess, why are you so particular when it comes to that pair? I have never seen you like this before…"
"In due time, you will understand. Right now, those details are of no concern to you."
"Anava, I have a request for you. Would you please consider…"
"..."
Nazz, who could feel the goddess' warm presence envelop her, now feels a shiver run over her body.
"Drat! It feels like I can never get a straight answer sometimes! What's her deal?"
"Nazz, are you okay? I don't usually see you so frustrated, at least not in public."
"?!"
Out of nowhere, Aisha, Lily, Gene and Thena appear in the solemn sanctuary behind Nazz. Transitioning from her frustration to surprise, she quickly gets up from her knees.
"Sister Aisha?! What are you and these children doing here? How did you get in unannounced?!"
"Long story short, we were teleported here. But never mind that, we have an emergency request. Lily, go on, show her."
Aisha gestures towards Lily to step forward in front of Nazz. Nested inside her hands, a dead shrunken man. Recognizing his identity, Nazz's eyes widened.
"No, it can't be…is that–"
"It's true, this is Vex. He's no longer breathing…he's dead."
"That should not have happened! All my curse did was shrink him down to size, but it was never fatal. What happened to cause his death? "
Aisha turns her face away while she quietly whistles a tune. In her place, Thena decides to speak up.
"Apostle Nazz, I take full responsibility as party leader. I'm the one who sought out revenge and told my sister to swallow him. He never would have been in this state if I weren't so narrow minded."
"No, Thena…I can't let you take full responsibility for this. I'm the one who desired to taste him and swallowed him in the first place. He must have been in my stomach for a little too long, and suffocated. I intended on releasing him before he could be digested, but our expedition took longer than expected."
"Sis, it's probably my slime that suffocated him, so it would still be mostly my fault."
"That's true to an extent, but–"
"Sister Aisha, sister Thena, this is not the time to fight over who is to blame. Lily, would you please give him to me?"
"Can you fix him? Can you really fix him?"
"I will see what I can do."
"Not just revive him, but fix his size? Lily wants Vex to be his normal self."
"...I promise I will give it my best."
Lily carefully hands Vex over to Nazz. She inspects him, until suddenly she places her hand on her forehead, as if experiencing a headache.
Cough Cough!
"?!"
"Nazz! What's the matter?!"
"It's…it's nothing. Please don't worry about me, I'm…fine. Please excuse me for a moment."
Nazz politely speed walks past the others, taking a left exit out of the sanctuary. As she enters her office, she rubs her heated forehead.
___________________________________________________________________________
Inside Aisha's mind:
How long have I been stuck in this place, and for how much longer will I remain? I want to move on with my life already, dang it!
Vex momentarily pauses his internal tantrum and looks over at Shinash, who looks captivated by something. A river of drool leaks from her lips.
"Do I dare ask what the heck are you thinking about?"
"Your body looks even tastier without all that slime covering you. I really want to persuade Aisha into eating you again, this time savoring your full flavor…slurp."
"Just how greedy are you? You've already eaten my arm!"
"That's your soul's arm, not your physical body. I can't try it for myself, so I want Aisha to do it so that I can see how it makes her feel."
"Even with your twisted logic, what's the point of doing that? My body has already been swallowed and is rotting in Aisha's stomach."
"Nope, not anymore. Aisha regurgitated you not too long ago."
"What?! My body has been freed from Aisha all the time?! Why didn't you tell me?!"
"No particular reason, I simply didn't care to."
"It's not about whether you care or not–I want to return back to my own body! If my body is outside of Aisha's stomach and free of that suffocating slime, then I should be regaining my consciousness. So why am I still here instead of my body?"
"It's because you're dead. Completely dead. Your soul can't return to your body in such a state."
"I'm…dead? No way, not like this!"
Refusing to accept his reality, Vex lifts his head and inhales deeply.]
"Hey, Aisha! It's me, Vex–the guy you swallowed like a maniac! Listen, my soul is inside your mind right now, but I need you to–"
"She can't hear you, you know. My presence overshadows you, so her consciousness can only hear my voice in her thoughts. That's also why you haven't been hearing her thoughts like I have."
"Then what else am I supposed to do? Stay trapped here with you?"
"Hmm, that's actually an interesting proposal…"
"Don't actually consider that!"
"At the moment, your body is in the hands of a girl named Lily…"
My corpse is being handled by that kid? That can't be good for either of us…
"...no, that's no longer accurate. You seem to be in the hands of someone called Nazz."
"Nazz?! That so-called apostle has my body in her grasp? After what she has done to me…this whole mishap is her fault!"
Vex grits his teeth and clenches his fist at the mere mention of that woman's name. He is getting so heated, even his soul is fuming red.
"You seem to be very angry at Nazz, aren't you?"
"Do I really need to say it?"
"Well, now's the best time to let your grievances be made known to her directly."
"And how am I supposed to do that?"
"Have you forgotten already? I bestowed upon you the power to transfer your soul into the mind of others."
"Oh, you mean the power you forced upon me without fully describing its functions? Jeez, I wonder how I could forget such a thing."
"If I were you, I would try using it now. I mean, you do want your body back, am I wrong?"
"..."
Wasting another second here in frustration will accomplish nothing. By any means necessary, I must press forward. My fate depends on finding those crystals!
"Shinash, how do I activate your ability?"
"It's easy, you just have to follow the stream to leave Aisha's body, then follow another stream into Nazz's body, right into her mind."
"Stream? What stream?"
"An air stream. Souls are like air, so you can travel through Aisha's air stream that flows out of her body, then travel through an air stream that leads into Nazz's."
"...isn't that just their respiratory system?"
"That's a fancy way of saying it, in mortal terms I suppose."
"Even still, I can't see air flowing and I don't feel any either."
Shinash places her finger between Vex's eyes, wiggling it to ensure that she has his attention. Once her "trance" is complete, she points upward directly above them; invisible currents of wind calmly flow high above.
"Look closely. Up there, all the air streams flow. They aren't strong down here, but you will be able to feel them if you go up there."
"All the way up there? How am I supposed to–"
"You're a soul, remember? You can float around like a ghost."
"...ah."
I'm an idiot sometimes.