Maternal Slime

[ A Weird Dream Space ]

With Anne on the other side of the hospital room, Viviane and Daniel stare blankly for a moment. Before they might follow up on the slime mother's strange assumption, the door rattles against their silence.

"H-hello? Okay, I'm coming in regardless of what you two are doing in there!" Anne warns, then huffs. "Seriously, Mama was looking all over for..."

Creak.

"...you?"

As the door swings open, Anne finishes with her mouth agape. Evening rays fill her view, colors etching lightly against her. Opposite of her, Daniel and Viviane's brows rise, especially as the expected hallway is replaced with a bedroom.

The EKG beeps fill the following silence.

"Uhh..." Anne breaks, her eyes glancing around. "This is a... big closet." A few beeps pass before she squints. "Seems kinda sad and familiar. I don't remember anything like this in our home."

Viviane snorts. "Very funny. Glad to see you're safe, dear sister."

Daniel's posture relaxes as well, a weak smile lining his face. "Looks like we've been in different spaces."

To that end, his eyes drift to the bedroom behind Anne, now replacing the hospital hallway they had come from. He can't be too surprised given how they're in some sort of half-memory, half dream setting.

"By home, you mean..."

Anne hums, tilting away to provide a better view. Her eyes shine brightly. "This is your old bedroom, Daniel! Mama used to... I mean, Amy used to tuck you in so many times. Look, it even has your Harry Potter figurines on top of your drawer!"

Daniel's shoulder slumps. "I see... So we're all facing recreations of the past. Any ideas why?"

"Your guess is mine. I only found myself here in the last few minutes, and I wasn't sure whether I'd see you guys." Returning her attention to the hospital room, her eyes soften. "Then, on your side, this must be where Amy..."

Daniel nods, and leans against the door frame. "Yes, after learning the cancer had progressed too far."

"Oh... sweetie, I..."

"It's fine," Daniel reassures, raising a hand. His gaze lowers as he smiles fondly. "I got to see her again... well, in some sense, I guess."

Anne's pupils shrink. "You... saw her?"

"It wasn't her, not really," Viviane clarifies.

"Wha...? Okay, step back." Anne's eyes swirl as she points at Viviane. "First off, why are you sitting on the bed where she should be? Also, what's with the scrubs?"

Viviane tilts her head and harrumphs. "I could ask you the same: Why are you wearing Amy's old clothes?"

"I don't know, this is just how I arrived into this place!" Anne growls. She stomps closer to Daniel's side. "Don't change the subject, sister. Something big occurred here, didn't it?"

Daniel and Viviane glance at each other again. Soon, the latter's eyes widen as a smirk crosses her son's face.

"Don't you dare—"

"Mother ate my poor mom again."

"Ugh, child!" Viviane throws her hands up. "Of course you'd frame it like that! I mean, technically it's not wrong."

Anne gasps, quivering. "S-she ate Amy!?"

"You're the last person I want to see shocked!"

Daniel allows himself a chuckle, his eyes lighting up more as the banter returns to drown the sickening beeps. They eventually settle enough to catch up.

Apparently, while Viviane and Daniel found themselves in a hospital, Anne "woke up" in the kitchen downstairs. It didn't take her long to recognize the layout of the old home, north of Keystone. Nostalgia slowed her from rushing through, but she called out many times, hoping to find the others.

"So, Mary is probably somewhere else," Viviane suggests as she and Daniel follow Anne into the connecting room. She takes in the navy walls with a warm giggle. "It really does feel like home."

Meanwhile, Daniel's lips flatten as he stares at the figurines on the drawer. Specifically, his eyes line the model of Harry Potter, its arm up as it holds a wand into the air. His fingers rub against the details of the plastic.

It all feels real, just as if he had taken it out of the box in the closet of his studio.

He snorts. "Too much like home."

"Daniel..." Anne's soft voice tickles his ears. Without further warning, she squeezes him from behind. "Please, don't be sad."

Daniel closes his eyes, taking a small breath. He lays a hand over her own, patting it. "I'm fine." She pulls away after a few more of his urging, then faces his two slime mothers. "So, what now?"

Viviane crosses her arms. "We should find Mary. Maybe another door will open to an entirely different space."

Anne frowns. "I've scoured the entire home except the front door."

"That's where we'll head then."

"Before that, are you two sure there hasn't been any changes?" Anne presses, narrowing her eyes. "If there's a hidden piece of Amy that hasn't been assimilated, shouldn't we get immediate access to that now?"

Viviane sighs, cocking her head to the side. "You would think. Then again, I never thought I'd be absorbing someone in... well, whatever mess we're in now to cause all of this."

"Ah... right." Anne lowers her gaze. "This is all because I wanted to join you and Mary to meet Nimue."

"Too late for regrets, sister. The fact that we've met up with you is a good enough sign."

Daniel nods, but his brows knit in thought. "What if the changes are around us?" He turns to Viviane. "If you've obtained my mom's dreams, couldn't it show up like it does in the fog? Not only that, we only started hearing Anne after you took her."

"Hard to say," Viviane answers. After a glance around, she threads out of the bedroom into a corridor. More open doors line against the walls, leading to the bathroom, guest room, and Amy's bedroom.

"You didn't find anything else strange?" she asks Anne.

The slime mother shakes her head as she and Daniel step closer. "Besides the hospital room, no."

"Well, doesn't hurt to check again."

Nobody argues. They tour the rest of the home, retreading Anne's steps. Heading into Amy's bedroom, Daniel catches the several picture frames of him and Amy, all preserved with detail. He doesn't get lost in them, moving to open cabinets, drawers, and anything that might reveal something. Nothing appears out of the ordinary, however.

"By the way, the fridge is stocked," Anne notes as they roam downstairs. She grins at her son. "I can make some dreamy food if we want."

Daniel snorts. "Sounds fulfilling, but let's not."

"Why not? Unless, you're in the mood for Mama instead~?"

"I think I'm full on that end, too."

Anne pouts. Passing her, Daniel's eyes drift to said fridge where a calendar is mounted. His brows rise as he steps closer.

'May... 2040?!' Eyes wide, he swallows. "Uhh... did you notice the calendar, mom?"

"Calendar?" Anne repeats.

She and Viviane look over his shoulder to view. Taking in the squares and crossed out days, Viviane narrows curiously.

"If this is right, today would be May 13. The second Sunday of March would also be... Mother's Day?"

Daniel clears his throat. "I think the year is more important here. Besides, every day feels like Mother's Day with you guys."

"Huhu, good answer, child."

Anne hops, clapping her hand. "So we're in the future?! Forget about food, let's check outside!"

The enthusiastic slime mother leads Viviane and Daniel, the former shrugging and the latter sighing. They haven't found anything out of place beyond the "closet", so there isn't anything left to do. Entering the hallway leading to the exit, Daniel takes one last peek at a few more picture frames hanging on his wall.

He smiles by the memories with Amy as Anne opens the door.

Fwoo!

A cool wind spins through, sending fresh nightly air. Breaths hold as their eyes reflect to sparkling stars beyond. As they wander into the front patio, however, such wonder falls into unease.

A familiar green plains stretches before them, marked with glowing lakes in the distance. Five lakes, to be exact.

It's obvious where they've returned to.

"Ugh." Viviane winces. "I'm back to this place."

Anne snaps to her sister, waving her arms. "I-it should be fine! With all of us merging, we had to end up in one of our domains. This should be expected, right?"

"And what if I end up trapped within you again?"

"Then I guess you'll just have to break through me like before!"

"You say it so easily, but we don't—"

"Mom, Mother," Daniel interrupts. Having stepped out of the patio during their exchange, his gaze is pulled to his left. "Not to mention this house here, but... I think there's been some other renovations since the last time."

Joining their son, the two slimes stiffen. Above, the magical tear vibrates in the sky, commanding their attention as it had before. They can't hold their stare for too long as their eyes drift to the fog below.

The misty piece of Viviane that dressed the land has grown. More than that, worn down modern buildings and ruins stand within, shrouded like a ghost town.

"Whoa..." Anne sounds. "Keystone?"

Daniel thins his lips. "I sure hope not."

A low wind whistles through as they process the expanded views.

"Considering it's 2040, maybe this is the future," Viviane notes.

"Or, it could be related to Amy's dreams," Anne adds. "I've always wondered why my dream realm is the way it is."

Daniel racks his brain harder, hoping to find a better reason. Of course, it's probably not the best use of time to make any sense of the dream realms or abstract memories.

"2040...!"

Despite that, there is something that tingles his memories. With the city ruins gathering within Viviane's fog, the year on the calendar, and the apparent Mother's Day, too many details exist to be a coincidence.

"Daniel, I'm sorry, but that movie was dumb. I'll be embarrassed if I end up dreaming about that plot because of you."

Anne and Viviane hold to their son's mutters, seeing how he's remembered something. "What is it?" Viviane presses.

Daniel swallows. "Uh, well... A couple of years before mom died, I took her to a movie on Mother's Day."

Like a switch, Anne and Viviane flinch. Through their collective memories, they immediately recall such movie from Amy and their son. Slowly, their heads turn back to the ghostly buildings that rise within the fog.

Taking another look, the city outline rings some bells.

"Don't tell me... The Temporal?" Viviane guesses.

Daniel nods. "Yep, I think that's it. I know that it was a post-apocalyptic movie set in the future, maybe 2040?"

Although he doesn't remember the details, he does remember ruins, time travel, and warlords. It was a tortuous movie for his scientific-brained mother, but he didn't think it was bad. His mother just couldn't turn off her brain regarding the physics and premise.

From what he can remember, the plot overall follows some sort of global resource depletion, resulting in the collapse of civilization. Pretty standard trope seen one way or another by movies nowadays. The main scientist at the center of the movie discovered a device was unfinished, meant to go back in time to prevent the downfall. Of course, the unique twist was that, while the device worked, it had limited uses. It could only revert the time within a limited range, allowing for some interesting special effects and camera work. Thus, "temporal", the scientist had to work out the crucial locations and people beforehand, all while running from a warlord who wished to use the device for their own gain.

"If Amy really did dream after that movie, that means that all of this could have been recently added after I absorbed her." Viviane clicks her tongue. "I feel like I got scammed."

Anne frowns. "Does this mean we have to go there? I was really hoping to meet Nimue."

"Might have to, especially if we want to get to Mother's realm which is also in a fog," Daniel answers. He turns to the other side where the "memory lakes" reside. "Maybe we check out the lakes first, especially the new ones if we're already here. They could—"

"Gwaaaak!"

A dull echo pierces from afar, dripping with British fever. Daniel and his slime mothers jerk toward the foggy landscape where the misty air seems to waver.

Anne shuffles first. "Uh, did you all hear a bird?"

Daniel shuts his eyes. "That was clearly Mary."

"It... it could still be a bird."

"Damn it." Viviane clenches her hands. "We should hurry. There's no telling in what way our realms has changed."

Daniel blinks. On "hurry", he turns to the left side of the house where the garage lies. They had already checked the area, but more notably within...

"Do you think we could drive my mom's old car here?" he questions.

Anne and Viviane raise their brows.