Viridi was steadily making her way through the flying metal city’s hallways and passages, following the directions given to her by Zoey. She was focused on her task, but she was also thinking.

Viridi had recently gone through a significant change. This change had occurred when she had tried to help Zoey when she had been trapped inside that strange place. Viridi had called out for help, and someone had answered.

She vaguely remembered someone speaking to her and to Zoey, someone that had taken form inside of her own body to do so. Viridi did not know what had changed after that moment, but she knew things were different now than they had been before.

She could understand things now better than before. In the past she had to rely on Zoey to teach her things and send her information when she was confused, and even then much of it didn’t make sense. Now she was able to understand a lot more on her own, and her thoughts were considerably more agile.

Viridi found the change refreshing and intriguing, and she was actively using her newfound mental capabilities to their full capacity.

For instance, her current task was to find the crew members that had been killed and recover their Eves, while punishing the ones that had killed them. Before she would have only understood that she was to go somewhere guided by Zoey, find some bracelets and get rid of anyone she was told to.

Now however, she knew that Zoey was upset, and she knew why. She understood where she was supposed to go and why. Those men had killed people that were important to Zoey, and therefore important to her. As a result, Viridi was also angry.

It wouldn’t be long now, she was getting close to her destination.

A few more tunnels and turns later and she emerged into an open area that reeked with the stench of blood. Bodies were strewn across the ground, glazed eyes staring into the empty air. Viridi knew that these people were once part of their crew, and now they were dead.

Viridi looked around the room, but the culprits that had committed this act were gone, leaving behind corpses stripped of their belongings, even the Eves had been taken by them.

Viridi could feel Zoey’s sadness and anger through their link. She regretted that they had not found them in time to save them. If only they had been faster…

Viridi sent Zoey a commanding thought, telling her to snap out of it and focus on what they could do now instead of what was in the past. Zoey agreed after a moment, thanking Viridi through the link. They had to focus on what they could do.

Zoey quickly sent the directions to where the noble soldiers had headed, but before Viridi left she turned back to the bodies of the fallen. Closing her eyes, wisps of shadow suddenly started to flow out from her form, moving across the ground and wrapping around the bodies and forming a cocoon around them. A moment later, all the bodies had been wrapped in shadows, and Viridi opened her eyes.

In a flash, the shadows dispersed into the air, disappearing along with the bodies and leaving nothing but blood on the floor. Viridi had taken the bodies and made them a part of herself, storing them inside her own flesh until she could bring them back to Zoey and they could be properly put to rest. It was an ability that Viridi had from the beginning, but only now that her mind and thoughts had been sharpened could she actually use it actively.

FInished, Viridi took off again through the halls and passages of the flying city, her emerald eyes glowing with a dangerous predatory light as she closed in on her target.

Before she had changed, Viridi had mostly been influenced by Zoey’s emotions and feelings while only able to display simple emotions on her own. But now she felt her own anger at the ones who had done this to their people. They would not escape her claws!

She smelled the scent of blood ahead, and with a low growl she increased her speed and two shadowy wings bloomed into existence on her back as she prepared to pass down justice upon the guilty.

The group of noble soldiers were making their way through a dark hallway when Viridi reached them. She moved so fast, that the man responsible for watching the rear of the formation only had time to take a breath before a Wing Shadow Blade split him from crown to groin.

The rest fared no better as Viridi sliced into them like a typhoon made of shadows and blades, her wings slicing through flesh and bone as id they were paper. Her claws ignored the armor they wore for protection, easily slicing into the soft tissue beneath and drawing screams of terror and pain from the victims before rows of vicious teeth ripped their throats out.

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The leader of the noble soldiers was a weasel of a man, using tricks and manipulation to get his way in life. When he realized that his troop had been attacked from behind, he instantly ordered his men to form a defensive line, then he took off, running desperately for his life while the screams echoed through the metal halls behind him.

He knew his limits, and the limits of mortal men, and whatever had attacked them was a horror far beyond what they could match. All he could hope to do was run and hide, praying that he lived long enough to get of this hellish city so he could sell the loot he had been able to collect.

He ran till he was gasping for breath, nearly certain that he had escaped danger for the time being. A moment later he staggered to a sudden stop, shock on his face as he looked down to find a blood-covered spear protruding from his chest. Seconds later he went limp as death claimed him, his face twisted by the horror that he experienced with his last breath.

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Viridi retracted her tail from the final soldier’s back with a wet sound, letting the body fall to the ground. She approached and claimed the pouch that held the missing Eves, using her shadows to store them away before she cleaned the blood off of herself by shedding the outer layer of her physical form, dispersing the filth into particles with her shadows in a very efficient manner.

Moments later Zoey contacted her. She was to go and protect a group of crew that had no protection as they made their way back to safety.

Viridi quickly headed off, a breath of silent darkness in the hallways that she passed through.