A week had passed since they'd left the settlement behind and the journey north had settled into rhythm: wakeup, travel, camp, watch shifts, sleep, repeat. The landscape shifted between rocky outcroppings and grass plains while the timber beast pulled their wagon with steady determination, its jade eyes focused forward and massive gray body rippling with each stride.
Rem lay awake staring at stars she didn't recognize from her old world.
The night watch was Kaisen's turn, which meant everyone else was supposed to be sleeping. Elise and Altaria had managed it easily, both of them curled against Kaisen's sides in their bedrolls near the dying fire, faces peaceful in sleep. It was a pretty picture, actually. The three of them fit together well, their bodies naturally gravitating toward each other even unconscious.
Elise had one hand resting on Kaisen's chest possessively, her blonde hair spread across his shoulder. Altaria was tucked against his other side, copper hair mixing with his darker strands, her expression serene in a way it had never been back at the settlement. They looked right together. Complete.
Rem wasn't sure where she fit in that picture.
Not angry about it or resentful, just aware that whatever dynamic they'd built over the past week, she occupied a different space in it. Adjacent, maybe. Parallel. Close enough to touch but somehow still separate. She wanted Kaisen, that much was simple and undeniable, but she also didn't want him, not in the way Elise did with that open adoration and easy affection, not in the way Altaria had started to with those shy glances.
What Rem felt was more complicated, more contradictory. Wanting and not wanting tangled together until she couldn't parse which was which.
The quest timer sat at the back of her mind, always present. Twenty-three days to reach LST 25. She'd need more than just regular sex to gain those last five points, according to Aria's cryptic warnings about diminishing returns and trying kinks. The thought should have bothered her more than it did.
Exhaustion finally dragged her under sometime before dawn and she dreamed of things changing in ways she couldn't quite remember upon waking.
When Rem opened her eyes, something felt immediately wrong.
She blinked at the predawn sky, trying to identify the source of this strange feeling. Her body felt off, she was wearing clothes that didn't fit properly except it was her actual body that felt too big or too small or just incorrect somehow. She sat up, or tried to, and the motion came too fast, too strong, overshooting completely until she nearly flung herself upright before catching herself awkwardly.
Her arms were too long, her center of gravity shifted to somewhere completely different from where her instincts expected it to be.
"What the fuck?" she muttered, staring at her hands.
They looked the same though a little pale, still hers, familiar, but the proportions felt wrong when she moved them. Everything felt wrong. Standing up was a disaster. Her legs didn't respond the way they should, they were too long and gangly like she'd suddenly grown into limbs that belonged to someone taller, she made it halfway to vertical before her balance betrayed her and she stumbled sideways into the wagon.
Supply bundles crashed to the ground with a noise that echoed across their campsite.
"Fuck!"
The noise woke everyone else immediately. Kaisen was on his feet with his sword drawn before he'd fully processed what was happening, scanning for threats. Elise sat up rubbing her eyes, already reaching for her magic. Altaria came awake slower, blinking in confusion.
Then they all saw Rem.
Kaisen's sword clattered to the ground. His mouth opened but no sound came out, his eyes went so wide it looked painful. He just stood there frozen, staring at her like he'd forgotten how to breathe.
"REM?!" Elise's voice cracked on the word, scrambling to her feet. "What the FUCK happened to you?!"
Altaria made a choked sound, her face going pale. She swayed on her feet, one hand reaching out to steady herself against the wagon as her knees buckled. Elise caught her before she could fall completely.
"Breathe, Altaria," Elise said, but she couldn't stop staring at Rem either. "Holy shit. Holy fucking shit."
Rem looked down at herself, then stumbled over to where they kept the water barrel and caught her reflection in the still surface. The face staring back at her wasn't the one she'd been wearing for the past few weeks. It was sharper, more angular, higher cheekbones and more defined jawline, features that looked like someone had taken her original face and refined it into something that bordered on otherworldly, something that shouldn't exist in reality.
And her hair, which had been simple blonde since arriving in this world, now gleamed silver-white with strands of blonde mixed throughout like someone had painted winter frost into summer wheat.
"Is that me?" she asked the reflection, touching her face with fingers that moved wrong because her arms were longer than they should be.
The reflection mirrored the gesture.
"Holy shit!!" she said, louder this time. "Why the fuck do I look like this?!"
She spun toward the others, nearly falling again from the movement, fear and panic overcame her as she tumbled around like a broken toy.
"What happened?" Kaisen finally managed to speak, his voice rough like he'd swallowed glass. He still hadn't moved from where he stood, still couldn't seem to look away from her face. "Did you, did you do something? Cast a spell? What..."
He trailed off helplessly.
"Nothing!" Rem said, still staring at her reflection in growing horror. She was taller, significantly taller, maybe five or six inches judging by how different the world looked from this new height. "I didn't do anything! Why am I so fucking tall now?!"
She tried to walk toward them and nearly faceplanted when her legs didn't coordinate properly. Kaisen finally broke from his frozen state and caught her arm, steadying her before she could fall, but his hands were shaking where they gripped her.
"Easy," he said, his voice still strange. "Calm down. Your body has changed, your mind can't function properly yet."
"Yeah, I'm getting that," Rem muttered, frustrated by her own lack of coordination.
She felt like a newborn trying to walk for the first time except she had muscle memory screaming instructions that were all completely wrong for this new body. She tried to pull away from Kaisen's support and stumbled again. He held her steady, his hands warm on her arms but still trembling slightly.
Up close she could see his pupils were dilated, his breathing uneven, and there was something in his expression that looked almost like fear mixed with awe. Like he was looking at something divine and terrifying in equal measure.
"Here, just..." He seemed to be trying to find words and failing.
He was close now, close enough that she could feel his breath against her face. His eyes searched hers with that concerned expression but also something deeper, something confused and overwhelmed. He leaned in like he was going to kiss her, probably meant as comfort, as reassurance.
Rem pulled back slightly, just enough to avoid the kiss, and smiled.
"Darling, you'll have to try harder than that~."
The words came out in a purr she didn't recognize as her own voice. She blew a soft breath across his lips, close enough to feel intimate but without actual contact, then tried to step away from him.
Kaisen's face went bright red, actually blushing in a way she'd never seen before, his expression shocked and flustered and completely thrown off balance.
'What the hell did I say??' Rem thought in sudden panic. That wasn't her, that wasn't how she talked, where had those words even come from? Her mouth had moved on its own, saying things she hadn't consciously decided to say, in a tone that felt foreign despite coming from her own throat.
But she couldn't worry about that right now because her legs still didn't work right and her balance was completely off and she was starting to get genuinely frustrated by her own body's betrayal.
"Okay so there's apparently a massive downside to whatever the fuck this is," she said, catching herself against the wagon again. "Can't walk properly. Can't control my own limbs. Great. This is just fucking great."
"How long does this last?" Elise asked, still supporting Altaria who looked like she might faint again at any moment. "The adjustment period, I mean. You can't travel like this. You can barely stand."
"I don't know!" Rem's voice came out sharper than intended, genuine fear bleeding through. "I don't know what this is! I don't know why it happened! I just woke up like this!"
She tried to take another step and nearly fell again, only Kaisen's quick grab keeping her upright.
"But I'm guessing we can't exactly continue north with me like this. I'd be useless in a fight, hell, I'm useless at basic walking right now!"
Kaisen was still staring at her, his expression complicated and overwhelmed.
"We should stay here a few days," he said after a moment, his voice steadier now but still strange. "Camp is defensible, we have supplies. You can take whatever time you need to adjust to... this."
"A few days might not be enough," Rem said, assessing herself honestly and feeling fresh panic rise. "I don't even know how or why this has happened, dammit! How am I supposed to fix it if I don't know what caused it?!"
"You need to calm down first," Kaisen said, still holding her steady. "Panicking won't help. Just... breathe. Figure out how to walk again. Then we can worry about the rest."
"I need to relearn everything from scratch!" Rem's voice cracked slightly. "Footwork, balance, combat techniques, all of it's based on a body I don't have anymore! Do you understand how fucked that is?!"
"Then we stay as long as it takes," Kaisen said simply. "We're not leaving you behind because you... changed."
He seemed unable to find better words for what had happened to her.
"A little?" Elise snorted, though her eyes were still wide with shock. "Rem, you gained like six inches in height overnight and you look like... like..."
She trailed off, unable to finish.
"Does it hurt?" Altaria asked quietly, finally finding her voice though she still looked pale and unsteady. "The changes, I mean. When they happen. Does it hurt?"
"Not physically," Rem admitted, some of the panic fading into exhausted confusion. "It's more disorienting than painful. Like a freaky friday"
She looked at all three of them, seeing the shock and confusion and something like fear in their expressions, and realized she needed to give them some kind of explanation before they decided she was cursed or possessed or something equally problematic.
"I think..." she started slowly, improvising as she went. "I think it might be some kind of inherited change? Like my parents had some weird genetics you know? I don't know much but, I've heard this happening to some distant dead cousin of mine?"
It was a weak excuse but it was all she had. Better than admitting the truth about her system.
Aria's voice suddenly whispered through the mark, amused in a way that made Rem's skin crawl.
"Finally! I was wondering when you'd notice. Congratulations, toy, you've reached a milestone. LST 20 comes with physical changes, didn't I mention that? Your body is reshaping itself to match your rising corruption. More beautiful, more alluring, more perfect for what you're becoming."
'You didn't fucking mention the specifics!' Rem thought back furiously. 'You said there would be changes in a few days, not that I'd wake up completely different!'
"Where would be the fun in warning you properly?" Aria's laughter echoed through the connection. "Besides, this is much more entertaining. Look at how they're staring at you. That boy can barely form coherent thoughts right now. The priestess nearly fainted from seeing your new face. Even the mage looks rattled. You're becoming something beyond human, toy. Something irresistible."
'And the behavior changes? Why did I say that to Kaisen? That wasn't me!'
"Oh, that?" Aria sounded pleased. "Your personality is shifting along with your body. You're adopting some of my mannerisms, my way of speaking. Of course most of this is just the real you but, the corruption isn't just physical, darling. It goes deeper. You're becoming more like me with every level. More confident, more seductive, more... predatory. Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Or you won't. Either way is entertaining. "
Rem felt cold settle into her stomach at those words. The corruption was changing her mind? not just her body. She was losing pieces of herself without even noticing until it was too late.
"Rem?" Kaisen's voice pulled her back to the present. "Are you okay? You zoned out there."
"I'm fine," she lied automatically. "Just trying to process all this. It's a lot."
That at least was true.
"Altaria, can you stand?" Elise asked, still supporting the priestess who looked ready to collapse at any moment.
"I... yes, I think so," Altaria said weakly, though she kept her hand braced against the wagon. Her eyes hadn't left Rem's face, wide and almost fearful like she was looking at something that shouldn't exist. "I'm sorry, I just... you look so different. I've never seen anyone change like that before."
"Join the club," Rem muttered, attempting another step and nearly falling again.
Kaisen caught her automatically, his movements almost mechanical like his body was operating on instinct while his mind was away. He was still staring at her face, his expression cycling through emotions too fast to track.
"We need a plan," he finally said, forcing his voice to sound steady and practical. "Rem needs time to adjust. We can't travel with her like this, which means we're camping here for at least a few days. Maybe longer depending on how quickly she adapts."
"I'll get better faster than a few days," Rem insisted, though even as she said it another stumble made her look like a liar. "I just need practice. Give me today and I'll be functional by tomorrow."
"You can barely walk," Elise pointed out bluntly. "Don't push yourself too hard and make it worse."
"I don't have a choice," Rem snapped, frustration bleeding through. "We have limited time to reach the capital and I just lost however many days to this... whatever this is. I need to compensate by learning faster."
She pulled away from Kaisen's support again, determined to stand on her own. This time she managed to stay upright for almost five seconds before her balance gave out and she had to catch herself against the wagon.
Progress, technically.
"I'm going to practice," she announced. "Away from camp where I won't be destroying our supplies every time I fall over. Which will be frequently."
"Rem, you should rest first," Kaisen started.
"No." Her voice came out sharper than intended. "Resting won't fix this"
She took another shaky step, then another, each one requiring intense concentration just to avoid falling.
"At least let me help you get to wherever you're planning to practice," Kaisen said, moving to support her again.
"Fine," Rem conceded, because trying to walk a hundred yards in this condition would probably take an hour and result in numerous injuries.
With Kaisen's assistance she made it to the same clearing she'd used for practice before, flat grass surrounded by scattered rocks that provided reference points for distance. He helped her settle onto the ground where she could at least sit without falling over.
"Are you sure you'll be okay out here alone?" he asked, concern evident in his voice.
"I'll be fine," Rem said, though she wasn't sure she believed it herself. "I just need time to figure out how this body works now. Go back to camp, I'll return when I've made some progress."
Kaisen hesitated, clearly wanting to argue, but eventually nodded.
"Shout if you need help. I'll be listening."
He left, though Rem noticed he kept glancing back at her until he was out of sight. Once she was alone, Aria's voice returned, still amused.
"He can barely think straight around you now. Did you see how his hands were shaking? How his pupils dilated? Your new appearance is affecting him on a primal level. He wants you so badly right now he can barely function, and he doesn't even understand why."
'I don't care about that right now,' Rem thought back. 'I need to know how to fix this coordination problem. How long does the adjustment period usually last?'
"Depends on the person," Aria said casually. "Some adapt in a day or two. Others take weeks. You're stubborn though, so I'd guess you'll force your body to comply faster than most. Just don't break yourself in the process, that would be boring."
'Very helpful, thanks.'
"Oh, one more thing." Aria's voice took on a teasing tone. "Those little personality quirks you're noticing? The teasing, the purring, calling him 'darling'? That's going to keep happening more and more. You're absorbing my mannerisms, my way of interacting with people. Fight it if you want, but it's inevitable. The corruption goes deeper than just your pretty new face."
The connection faded before Rem could respond, leaving her alone with that disturbing information.
She pushed the existential crisis aside and focused on the immediate problem, trying to stand again without support.
The first day was worse than disaster, it was humiliating.
Rem spent hours just trying to relearn basic movement, falling more times than she could count and acquiring bruises on top of bruises from constant impacts with the ground. Walking felt impossible, her legs too long and her balance completely wrong. Every step was a gamble that usually ended with her face-first in the grass.
By midday she'd graduated from "falling constantly" to "falling frequently," which felt like progress even though it was pathetic compared to what she should be capable of. Her combat training was even worse. The first time she tried to swing her sword, the blade went so wide it nearly hit a tree fifteen feet from her target.
Her reach was completely different, her strength distribution shifted, everything about how her body moved had changed and her muscle memory was worse than useless, it was actively sabotaging her attempts by insisting movements should work in ways they simply didn't anymore.
"Again," she muttered to herself after her hundredth failed strike.
The blade went wide again.
"Again."
Still wrong.
"AGAIN."
By sunset she was exhausted, covered in dirt and sweat and grass stains, and had made barely any measurable progress. She limped back to camp well after dark, every muscle screaming in protest.
This was much different from when she had came into this world, her original body in this world felt like it was made for her, sculpted to match all her needs, this one was purely and fundamentally different
Rem had to sit down before she fell.
Her legs still felt slightly wrong under her, longer than they had any right to be, so she decided to rest a bit, breathing hard as she finally took a proper look at herself.
The first thing she noticed was her skin.
It looked tighter now, like someone had taken a brush and smoothed away every imperfection. The faint marks she remembered having were gone, erased completely, leaving pale, flawless skin that almost seemed to catch the light differently, softer and cooler when she ran her fingertips over her arm.
Her shirt, on the other hand, looked like it had lost a war.
The fabric clung to her torso like it was hanging on for dear life, seams protesting with every breath she took, it was a wonder how it had survived this long. Her chest, which had already been more than enough to be a hassle in a fight, had somehow grown even fuller. The buttons that had closed comfortably a week ago were now strained to the point of surrender, one already torn loose and hanging by a thread while the fabric gaped between the remaining ones.
"Great," she muttered, watching the way the cloth stretched over her breasts. "Like these weren't annoying enough before."
Her waist had narrowed too, drawing her eye down. Her entire figure had sharpened into something unreal. Hips flaring out into a perfect curve, stomach flat, every line of her body flowing into the next like some sculptor had decided "hourglass" wasn't good enough and pushed it further until it hurt to look at.
She shifted and her trousers pulled tight across her thighs and ass, the fabric digging in where there used to be room. She was lucky to have bought loose clothes or else these would not have survived her transformation, though she can't continue to train in them, that much was obvious.
"Fuck," she breathed, tugging at the edge of her shir "Everything is too small now."
She leaned forward slightly and caught a glimpse of her face in the polished metal of her sword. The angle was bad but it was enough.
Her face really had changed.
Sharper cheekbones. Jawline more defined. Lips fuller. Eyes somehow more striking just from the way the new bone structure framed them. Her old features had been pretty. This was something else entirely, something that would give any woman she had ever seen a run for her money, something that felt like it belonged on a statue in a temple rather than on a person who had to eat and bleed and fight.
Her hair, silver-white with streaks of blonde threading through like sunlight caught in snow, fell around that face in a way that made the whole thing worse. Or better. Depending on what angle she looked from.
Her skin was a shade paler than before too, not sickly, just cooled a step closer to porcelain. It made the contrast of her eyes and lips stand out more, and made every expression sharper.
She sucked in a breath and froze when she felt the pull of cloth across her back. Carefully, she turned and lifted the ruined shirt up enough to see over her shoulder, twisting until the polished metal caught the reflection of her back.
The divine mark was still there.
Same intricate lines. Same dark, ink-like color. Same faint sense of pressure when she focused on it. It sat between her shoulder blades exactly as it always had, untouched by whatever had reshaped the rest of her. The only thing that looked unchanged, ironically, was the one thing that had never been human to begin with.
"Of course you stayed the same," she muttered at it. "You started this."
She let the shirt drop, or tried to. The fabric barely fell, stuck against her new curves by sweat and the fact that there was simply too much of her for it to hang right anymore.
She tugged at it again and heard another thread give way.
"Perfect," she said under her breath. "Absolutely perfect."
The others had already eaten but they'd saved food for her. They all stared when she walked into the firelight, still clearly not used to her new appearance. Altaria's face went red and she looked away quickly. Kaisen seemed to physically force himself to focus on something other than Rem's face.
"How did it go?" Elise asked carefully.
"Terrible," Rem admitted, too tired to lie convincingly. "But I'm making progress. Slowly."
She collapsed onto her bedroll and was asleep within seconds.
The next day followed the same brutal pattern. Leave at dawn, practice until exhaustion, return after dark looking marginally less destroyed but still clearly struggling. The progress was agonizingly slow but present. She could walk now without falling every third step, though her gait was still awkward and wrong.
Her sword work remained abysmal. Every strike missed by inches, every stance felt unstable, every movement required conscious thought where it should have been instinct.
When she returned to camp that night, Elise was waiting up for her.
"You've been gone fourteen hours," Elise said without preamble. "That's not healthy, Rem."
"Has it been that long?" Rem glanced at the stars, genuinely surprised. She'd been so focused on training that time had become meaningless. "Lost track."
"Rem." Elise's voice held real worry. "You look exhausted. You can't keep pushing yourself like this or you'll collapse."
"I'm fine," Rem said, and it was closer to the truth than yesterday. She was tired, yes, but not dangerously so. Just thoroughly worked over by constant physical activity. "I'm making progress. Slowly, but it's there."
Elise didn't look convinced but didn't push further.
"Just take care of yourself, okay? We need you functional, not broken."
"I will," Rem promised.
Next day was when frustration really set in. Her progress had plateaued. The footwork that had been improving yesterday had stopped getting better today, she'd hit some kind of wall where her movements were functional but still wrong, lacking the natural flow and rhythm that actual combat required.
And her sword work remained stubbornly terrible no matter how many thousands of practice strikes she executed.
"Why isn't this WORKING?!" she snarled at her practice dummy after her thousandth strike went wide by three inches.
The blade should have bisected the improvised torso, instead it whistled past completely missing. Her hands were blistered from gripping her sword for hours on end, her shoulders ached from repeated swinging motions, her legs burned too, and she had absolutely nothing to show for it.
She kept pushing anyway because what else was there to do? Give up and accept being useless? Her pride wouldn't allow it.
When she stumbled back to camp that night, later than previous nights, Elise was waiting again with obvious concern.
"I know," Rem cut her off tiredly before she could speak. "I've been gone too long again. But I'm close to figuring something out, I can feel it. Just need a bit longer."
Elise studied her face for a long moment before sighing.
"Alright. But seriously, if you collapse from exhaustion Kaisen's going to be insufferable about making you rest. Don't forget that i will be your death"
"Noted," Rem said, managing a smile. "I'll try not to."
Day four started the same as the others, wake up at dawn, go to the practice clearing, beginning the endless cycle of failures, except something was different today though Rem couldn't immediately identify what had changed.
Her body felt lighter somehow, more responsive, like the disconnect between her intentions and actions had narrowed slightly during the night while she slept.
She started with her usual footwork drills and the movements came cleaner than they had yesterday. Still not perfect, lacking that natural flow she was chasing, but it was noticeably better. Her pivots were smoother, her weight transfers more balanced, her stance adjustments requiring less conscious thought.
Maybe [basic strike] was kicking in?
Encouraged, she moved to sword work.
The first strike landed exactly where she'd aimed, bisecting her practice dummy at the precise angle she'd intended.
The second strike landed perfectly. The third. The fourth.
Everything was connecting properly now, her body finally responding correctly to her intentions. The sword's weight felt right in her hands, the reach making sense, the balance point working with her instead of against her.
"There!" she breathed.
She increased the complexity, combination strikes, footwork integrated with attacks, defensive movements flowing into counters, and everything clicked. Her body moved like water, each action flowing naturally into the next without conscious direction. Mind and intent synchronized with physical execution, it was more fluid than before, much more.
Notifications appeared in her vision but she barely registered them, too focused on the feeling of everything finally working correctly.
An expression of pure joy came over her face as some semblance of control finally settled into her mind, her smile was as beautiful as her strikes, imperfect yet enough. Rem was afraid, she was afraid of what she had lost, what she was and what she had in her fate. She had no control over any of them, this small but significant part of her was also lost, and she had though that freedom was truly achievable.
She wanted to be free, to have no one controlling her actions, making her do things she never intended to do, so this was hope for her. Rem thought about all the stories she had written, the things she had made her characters go through, did they spite her? Was she just like Aria for her? She was lost in thoughts.
She practiced until the sun set, her mind was detached from her body but in a sense it helped her. By the time she headed back to camp she was exhausted but satisfied.
The group noticed the difference immediately when she walked into camp. Her gait was smooth and natural now, each step placed with perfect balance. She moved like she'd always been this height, like this body had always been hers.
"You figured it out!" Elise said, relief evident in her voice. "I was worried you were going to drive yourself insane out there."
"Hm? Oh yeah," Rem said, settling by the fire. She was still lost in her thoughts but replied "I guess i only needed a few days" a small smile appeared on her face, highlighted by the fire of the campsite, it was surreal. She closed her eyes, thinking of nothing, basking in the silence of her usually chaotic mind.
The group went silent, staring at her peaceful expression, they shared the same thoughts "She was heavenly"
"You seem differently now," Kaisen finally managed, watching her with a deep gaze. "More calm, I guess? Like a sage or something."
"It suits you," Altaria added quietly, still blushing whenever she looked directly at Rem's face. "You look graceful."
Rem accepted the compliments without really processing them. After dinner, once the others had settled into a quiet conversation, she pulled up her system interface.
[NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: MIND-BODY UNITY]
Rank: Apprentice
Type: Passive
Description: Your mind and body are a single bridge, without one the other is useless, forming a deep connection between them, they now have gotten closer to being truly one. Reduces reaction time, increases connection between intent and action
Eliminates disconnect between mental intention and physical execution
[SKILL UPGRADED: BASIC STRIKE]
Previous Rank: Apprentice
New Rank: Master
Description: Complete mastery of fundamental combat techniques
New Effects: All basic strikes execute with perfect form automatically. Weapon pool expanded dramatically (proficiency with any bladed weapon) Advanced technique variations unlocked, Foundation for weapon-specific mastery paths, Weapon manifestation available at next milestone
Master rank. From Apprentice directly to Master, That wasn't supposed to be possible, skills normally progressed incrementally through Journeyman before reaching Master level, but the Mind-Body Unity skill had compressed what should have taken months into less than a week.
She dismissed the interface and looked at her hands. They looked the same as they had this morning, but she knew they weren't. These hands could execute techniques she'd only dreamed of before, could wield weapons with precision that bordered on supernatural.
Combined with her existing skills, Mutilate, Shadow Step, all the lust system abilities, she was becoming something formidable.
—---------------------------------------------------
The evening after her breakthrough felt different from the previous nights. Everyone was more relaxed, the tension that had been building while Rem struggled with her transformation finally dissipating now that she was clearly functional again.
They sat around the campfire eating dinner, dried meat rehydrated in broth, hard bread, some vegetables that were starting to get withered but were still edible if cooked properly.
Rem ate slower than usual, savoring the simple pleasure of her movements
Kaisen reached across the fire and took her hand, the gesture casual and affectionate without being demanding.
"I'm glad you're okay," he said simply. "I was worried when you were gone so long each day."
Rem let him hold her hand, her fingers intertwining with his. She still liked him, that hadn't changed despite everything else that had. The warmth of his palm against hers, the calluses earned from years of sword work, the way his thumb unconsciously stroked along her knuckles.
"Of course I'm okay," she said, squeezing his hand gently. "Did you think a little growth spurt would break me?"
"That wasn't a little growth spurt," Elise snorted. "You completely transformed. You look like a different person."
"I think she looks even more pretty," Altaria said quietly, still subdued. "Not that you weren't pretty before! Im sorry i-"
"No offence taken Altaria" Rem said, stopping her mid track "Plus i think i look much better than before, dont you agree?"
Ataria slowly nodded.
They talked for another hour or so before exhaustion started claiming people. Elise was first to give in, crawling into her bedroll with a yawn. Altaria followed shortly after, murmuring goodnight to everyone.
That left Rem and Kaisen sitting across the fire from each other, both still awake but neither speaking.
"You really are different," Kaisen said eventually. "Not just the height and the hair. Something else changed too. The way you talk, maybe? Or how you carry yourself?"
He studied her face across the fire.
"It's like you're becoming someone else."
Rem felt cold settle into her stomach at those words because he was right, wasn't he? She was becoming someone else. The corruption was changing her piece by piece, replacing her original self with something that resembled Aria more and more.
"Maybe I am," she said quietly, and meant it more than he could know.
"Get some sleep," she told him. "We should move on tomorrow if I'm functional again."
"You're sure you're ready for that?"
"I'm sure."
And she was. Her body worked correctly now. She could fight, could travel, could do everything required of her.
Kaisen nodded and headed to his bedroll, settling between Elise and Altaria like he had every night for the past week. They gravitated toward him even in sleep, both women unconsciously seeking his warmth and presence.
Rem watched them for a moment, the three of them tangled together peacefully, then settled into her own bedroll a comfortable distance away.
She pulled up her status one more time before sleep.