This is a daily reminder: You have 112 unallocated stat points

  I hear Delores enter her deeper sleep. She is in a blood red hammock. I had offered my bed but she waved me off. Said she preferred the hammock. I smile. Time to try.

  -Are you sure, sister.

  Best to know now. Our life core wasn't struggling maintaining our form any more. Our body is what we want it to be. I stop my other attention cycling of blood. I will my [Health Regen] off. I don't gasp for air, my breathing has stopped. My mind remains sharp as my various organs begin to die. Our skin becomes ashen. I look at myself through our life eyes. Even my brain is atrophying, dying. My existence is more than this meat. My soul moves my body. I still feel my thirst. A part of my soul now. I cycle my blood again. The organs are slow to return to function but they do in time. My [Health Regen] repairing the damage I wrought on myself. As I revive my nerves flare in pain. I hug myself waiting for it to pass.

  One last test, sister.

  -Please don't stay dead, sister.

  I go to sleep, my [Health Regen] once again off. My body dies.

  -----

  I opened my eyes three hours later. My body is at room temperature. I did not begin reviving myself yet. I look over my body. Inert, dead. My vision is clear again but in grey. My emotions muted. My thirst still remains. I take a drink. The thirst lessen but I feel no joy in it. Just a feeling of being more. My status sheet still says Vampire.

  I need an alive body to feel the bliss, sister.

  -But we still feel the need. Our body is dead but something else feels the need.

  Time to see how long it takes to restart our body.

  You have gained [Soul Magic] Apprentice 2

  Intelligence raised to 647

  I will my organs alive, my blood moves. It alone was still alive. Is that where my thirst is? Is that where I am now? I know my blood exists in more places than this body. Even the dot of blood in Barbain remains. A permanent part of her.

  It feels like I could use my life core to revive myself faster or leave it to my [Health Regen] to restart it. My skin ashen, cold, I leave it to my passive skill. Curious how long it will take.

  -Sara the undead science experiment.

  Vampire science experiment. She titters at that. I smile. Her manifestation has all her emotions even if she tells me she is paler now. I suspect the skin tone is more mental than not.

  -I can hear your thoughts better now, sister.

  Well get a tan then. She gives me a mental raspberry.

  -----

  “Gah your hands are cold, Sara.”

  Delores looks at me closer. It's been four hours since I woke up. My body is still reviving from being dead.

  “You're so pale.”

  “Apologies mistress, I needed to understand myself better which damaged my body greatly. I'm letting [Health Regen] repair the damage.”

  I wince as another nerve flares alive.

  “It looks like you died.”

  I titter at that. My emotions are finally returning.

  You have gained [Health Regen] Intermediate 5

  Intelligence raised to 653

  “Sara…”

  A new secret for you, mistress. My race changed to Undead last night, when my missing heart became a permanent part of my physiology. I changed my race again by declaring what I truly am, now its Vampire. I let my body die last night to see if I could come back. I did, but my body is still reviving. Does this excite you?

  Her eyes widened at this. It does. I feel a bit sad about it. I did this to her and now I finally care again. I sigh.

  Mistress, I changed you to crave this more. Keeping my secrets. I hadn't cared before but I feel guilty about it now. I'll remove it. Trust should be more than control.

  I prefer you don't.

  But I changed you.

  You only fed logs to a fire that already burned. Why the change in heart?

  Ha, literally heartless now, mistress…

  Sara…

  …I'm unwell, my soul damaged. My sister and I almost tore our soul apart. It causes each of us to have become deranged in our own ways. I stop caring about how others would feel, doing things I found hilarious. As my soul has healed I gain more empathy.

  And your sister, how has this affected her?

  That's for her to tell you.

  You said this would keep her from eating me.

  I only give a sad smile at that. I only had thought of soul eating at the time. I wince as more nerves come alive.

  -----

  It wasn't till evening before I felt my [Health Regen] finish its work. I shift my current form, the scales and barbed tail are gone. I leave my lateral eyes but remove my skeletal sight. The grey sight always bugged me, too close to being dead for my taste. My body cramps. I narrow my eyes at the offending organ. I remove them too.

  -Sister…

  Our form is our to dictate sister, we no longer need it there unless we are ready to be pregnant.

  -But what about our development…

  I smile at that. I was a full B at the moment. Now a C.

  -Sister people will notice.

  That I am a life mage. Now a D. My sister titters as I jump another three cup sizes. I pull back her mania a cup size. I start to head out of my room. She adds three more. I pinwheel my arms at the shift in balance. I reduce myself to where they do not impede my arm motions. I started walking again as they grew back to their previous size…

  Sister…

  -That last one wasn't me.

  Barbain will never let us hear the end of this.

  -We are our mom's daughter.

  … I'm taller now, Cecelia height. Around six kings feet. Adult me… I breathe and my form reduces. It doesn't shift back.

  -Aw.

  Let's be eleven a bit longer, Sara.

  -Fine. But my manifestation is adult me now.

  I smile. Our soul comes closer.

  -----

  “Did your chest get bigger?”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Barbain noticed that I had left myself as a full C.

  “Growth spurt.”

  “All centralized at your chest? Bleeding life mages always adding more.”

  Lindur's words get an annoyed look from Barbain. Too close to home. I take another bite of three meat meatloaf. It makes me smile.

  “You seem to have adjusted to Barbain and Beatrice appearances, Lindur.”

  “Considering they are multiplying, I better get used to seeing more in the next fifty years.”

  I can hear the thudding of her heart. She always faced her fears head on. She watches as Xena is skittering around the table. Barbain keeps her coralled to where we are sitting. I was fearful Xena had more of my vampire abilities, a one year old supplicant maker. But given that Barbain can't do so yet, I am hopeful Xena will have that choice to make when she is older.

  -----

  “What happened to the spider half?”

  I cross my legs on my throne. I'm in the conference room with Peter. He has seven cages with him.

  “I got rid of a mental lock that was preventing me from changing. I felt like sitting so I am.”

  I lounge in my throne tailless and spider abdomenless. In a purple silk suit. Peter says nothing to the oddness of my clothes. I kept the cat ears.

  “I see.” He clears his throat, “We have caught seven iron horned rabbits as you requested. Five females and two males.”

  “I will get on making the mithril hares then. Thank you for covering the cost of the request [Guild Master].”

  “Yes well, I prefer it not to be in the records that you opened the request. Too many questions”

  “I suppose that's fair. I'll be placing them past the blood lake, wouldn't want them to escape.”

  “About that, the guild will be certifying you as a tier two dungeon soon.”

  “O? I thought it would be something that I gained through my skill.”

  He shakes his head, “There are plenty of tier ones that are larger than you with more instances, the designation is more based on how dangerous you are.”

  I laugh at that. The dungeon does too. No titter this time. He winces.

  “Sorry, I haven't killed a single adventurer and yet I am considered dangerous.”

  “To be honest, that you can move the entrance would actually warrant a much higher classification. Perhaps the highest. But I left that off my report at the Lord's request. Your real monsters warrant a tier two.”

  “So what does that mean?”

  “A wall enclosure around your entrance and a knight garrison.”

  “Am I to be a new citadel dungeon?”

  “I hope not, the knights tend to confiscate the keys and take ownership at that point.”

  Inevitable then, the hydra growing in me will become too powerful after a certain point. Not to mention the dryads.

  -----

  “What do you mean I need to fill two fucking glasses, Mourns.”

  “Barbain dear, show your teeth to the [Guild Master].”

  She does and Winctal rears back.

  “Shit Mourns, does that mean she can curse blood too?”

  “Noooo, that's apparently a higher tier in the skill that Sara is gatekeeping.”

  Barbain was annoyed she could not yet pull off my hydra trick.

  “Gatekeeping?”

  “It requires my blood to tier the skill, you only need to drink a bottle for me, Barbain will need two more.”

  The guild master laughs at that. Lindur interrupted.

  “Wait, are you the one who changed them into this? Where are your extra legs?”

  I smile as I get my glass, “I seem to have become more fluid in my form.”

  Literally true if I am my blood now. I sip from my glass and warm from it.

  All stats increased by twenty temporarily.

  You have gained [Blood Alcohol Intolerance 2] Apprentice 7

  Constitution raised to 389

  You have gained [Alcohol Tolerance] Apprentice 8

  Constitution raised to 395

  “I'd show you ‘She who Mourns of many legs’, Lindur. But I feel the table is crowded.”

  Exposure therapy is only working so so for Lindur. Not sure she would like to see my big Tibyder self. I wonder if I even have to be that big anymore. I try to adjust myself to be smaller.

  “Um Mourns, you're bleeding from your ears and nose.”

  I return to my previous size, pulling in my blood. This gets more stares from the guild master.

  “Explain that.”

  “I can control my blood. To be honest, it kinda feels like I am the blood. I think while I can change my body it has to have enough room for my blood.”

  She gives me a skeptical look and just drinks her third bottle down. She provides Barbain her treat. She got the same silly skill I have. I sip more of my wine infused blood.

  -----

  This is a daily reminder: You have 112 unallocated stat points

  I follow Delores into her carriage. Her letter to her father had finally returned. So now we can return. Yosef was in the carriage waiting. I give a slight head nod to him.

  “[Head Attendant].”

  “[Dungeon] Sara.”

  … Did you forget to tell me something sister?

  -O right, I brought my manifestation out of the dungeon when you got too far away, found out the entirety of the dungeon was enough to bring me crashing down in weight and inadvertently was discovered by both our lord and the town itself. Did I tell you we are getting a wall and a garrison of knights?

  “I am still the mistress [Attendant] am I not?”

  He smiles, “I believe you have proven yourself capable of protecting our miss.”

  I return the smile.

  -----

  The midday happened and I am in my body again. The attendant form. I feel it start to die. I cycle my blood with my other attention. The carriage is only half way to our mistress' home. I smile. Our range is further. I think I know a way to increase it even more.

  Sara, you swapped.

  So we have.

  I touched the blood red rose on my head. I see it tinged with streaks of black. No longer a dryad flower by default. The one on Delores head matches my sister's color.

  “Oh my, the flower changed color. You are looking rather garish, Sara.”

  “It is as you say, sir.”

  I look at the mistress and she shakes her head. She wishes to remain ultra violet. Guess she became attached to my sister. They spent a lot of time together. I watch the landscape pass. We stopped for the night and when they settled in to sleep. I walk into the forest. I enter our dungeon.

  As my attendant form, I feel my body is just a vehicle for my blood. It takes so little of our life core to maintain this now.

  My clothing willed away and I morph into my true self. Not just blood now. The body feels real. Not a manifestation. I had denied this of my sister for so long. I won't ever allow it to happen again.

  -----

  Sister is in our instance. I teleport to her. She was in our true form. The spider centaur with a scorpion tail. More than a Tibyder. She is scanning herself. She must have missed it, being away from being real for so long. I run up and pull her into a hug.

  “I missed you so, sister.”

  She smiles and wiggles her arms free from my bear hug and cups my face. Her smile was wistful. Blood on her lips…she pulls me into a kiss. Her blood goes into me…what is she d…I begin to become more. No… but if she does this. The line between manifestation and real begins to blur. I start feeling the bliss from drinking her blood. I stop fighting her.

  -----

  I feel myself diminishing, my immense body shrinking, but that's alright. I continue to push more of my blood into my sister. My body becomes less real as hers becomes more. Her body is becoming the spider centaur as mine grows smaller. No more will one of us be real while the other waits. One soul, two bodies. I can feel our soul etching. I can feel myself become intune with the dungeon as she begins to form real organs inside herself. I stop pushing my blood into her when she had half of it. We fall apart, twin Tibyders chimeras, twin Vampires, twin dungeons. Both our bodies are smaller.

  “Acceptance.”

  -----

  I look at her, a smile on her face. I set my blood moving in my body via my other attention. My heartless body that needs it to live…

  “Acceptance.”

  Our soul shudders, the etching she carved into our very being becomes smoothed out. No going back now.

  “So now we both are half real, half manifestation now?”

  -I guess so sister.

  She throws me the blood skin after drinking from it. She shudders and I feel the bliss from her. I drink from the same and it is as if I was real. I feel the bliss myself as I see her shudder again.

  “You are real, sister.”

  I cry, she was only the manifestation for three weeks. I was the dungeon for months. She wished to make sure I never had to do that again. I go and pull her into a new hug. She rubbed my back as I cried. I feel our soul become closer to being whole again.

  -----

  “So are we now stuck in these bodies?”

  My sister is silly. She hasn't noticed that we can see through each other's senses. It was like we were before we were a dungeon. Just two bodies instead of one. It will take some getting used to having half my senses moving on their own.

  “Sister, we can switch whenever.”

  We do.

  “See.” I smile at her.

  “So I do.” The dryad flower on her head becomes ultra violet. Even as we are twinned, there are differences between us.

  She then frowns.

  “What is it?”

  “While I can feel being a part of the dungeon, I can't change where I am beyond this instance of the dungeon.”

  “Ah, of course.” I walked up to her. “This is going to hurt, sister.”

  She understands what I intend and I plunge my hand into the ribs of her body. I heat the metal and extract the rib that was this dungeon's key. The pain is immense. We both feel it. Our bodies, our pain shared. I begin to heal the carnage I had wrought. As I heal, she takes the bone and pushes it into the ground. Into our very soul space. We lock the instance to us once again, but we are now free to be anywhere in our dungeon's many instances. I smile. We hadn't lost a drop of our blood.

  When the pain subsides. I go and give her a tour of the changes I made.

  -----

  This is a daily reminder: You have 128 unallocated stat points

  I yawn. I look at the notifications we had ignored.

  You have gained [Soul Etching] Advanced 1

  Advanced - You can etch your soul into anything

  Gain 160 exp

  You gained 16 unallocated stat points

  Is that what we had done? Etched our soul into our own manifestation. It doesn't really matter how.

  “How is this not a rancid solidified blood clot?”

  Sister was looking at the blood lake I had made in her cavern.

  “I mean why wasn't it a massive clot in your well?”

  “I don't actually know.”

  “Well me neither, perhaps it's because we want it to be this way. Look up sister, our babies are beautiful.”

  She does and sees the myriad colors our spiders weave with.

  “You promised these silks to the tailoring guild? Exactly how are the adventurers supposed to get it with it being all up there?”

  I shrug, smile, and yawn again. She had been acclimating to my memories since our midday swap yesterday. I was avoiding her memories, wanting to experience the coming lives myself. That I wasn't avoiding… She hugs me.

  “Come, let's put you to bed. The next one will be sad. But we can talk about it after.”

  We are in the back of my blacksmith. My massive web feels all the bigger. Our bodies that used to be scrapping nine kings feet were now half that height.

  “Don't forget to cycle blood in both our bodies.”

  She gives me a sad smile as I drift into sleep.