The Uncertain Future That Laid Ahead

Suckle...suckle...

On the couch near his kitchen, Daniel nuzzles his face into Anne's right breast, drawing in her milk as she secures him close. His muffled moans reverberate through the slime mother's gelatinous form, easing him into contentment as her fingers stroke the back of his head lovingly.

"Isn't that refreshing, sweetie?"

"Mmm..."

The overlaying slime giggles to her hard-working son's contentment, feeling his cock...no, their cock twitch within her spilling mass that connects them. As he drinks the milk her body has learned to copy, she strings her fingers down to his neck and shoulders, kneading him further into her.

It's more than effective as the defenseless artist shivers to the cool touches. Drawn into her maternal depths, he lost how much time had passed.

This feels dangerous.

Forced to take one final gulp, he grunts and removes his lips. "I...I think that's enough, Mom."

His slime mother's eyes gleam before she lowers herself, receding some of her mass across her son's body while keeping their torsos inches apart. Face to face, her hands slide from behind to his cheeks, spreading her thumbs evenly against them.

"You certainly drank a lot," Anne notes, her lips rising slowly. "You're not becoming more addicted to Mama's milk, are you?"

Caught, Daniel flushes but doesn't look away from her knowing smile. Unwilling to be teased further, he coughs. "And if I am, whose fault is it?"

She draws a long hum, rubbing her son's face, then shrugs. "Yes, I wonder who could it be~?"

Daniel wants to tug her cheeks back for being so slippery, but abstains. Shaking his head, he slides her hands off his face with a sigh. "Well, I know I'm partially to blame for allowing it. Forget about that, though, can we get start being serious?"

"Surely, we can have a serious conversation with some milk?"

"Any further and I might throw up."

Anne titters. "Alright, fine. Before any of that, do you really think Mama would let you go without handling what's pulsing between our bodies, hmm?"

Stretching away, she forms more of herself but leaves her lower legs connected to his hips. Like a seesaw, her ass shapes up, then promptly slides into place against the rod behind.

Phlap!

Daniel jerks, one eye closed. His hands automatically wrap around her solidifying back as she wiggles in place. "Sheesh... Well, I can't object to it when you're already there."

"Hehe, that's my oh-so-accommodating baby~"

Anne leans forward to lock lips while her hips gyrate behind, washing away and squeezing the throbbing cock shared. She can feel the pressure building and the accompanying pleasure overwhelming as her baby groans into her mouth, eyes rolling up.

'So cute~'

Chu...chu~

Splack...splack!

The artist groans, feeling as if being struck by an ocean. With each squeeze, Anne's generous chest jiggles against his own, riling him further.

"Ungh, I can't...!"

Not even a minute goes by of this stimulation before Daniel explodes into her unyielding mass, his shoulders slumping as he moans into his slime mother's squishy chest.

In his post-orgasm, Anne inhales all of him between her slick lips, squirming as she takes his warmth as her own. His beating heart adds to the mess of love jolting through her gooey goodness.

If there's anyone addicted, it's her.

"Ngh..."

So, Anne keeps her lips on him, her goo seeping into his pair, binding him further to her. The reconnection shocks Daniel, but he isn't able to resist it while her tongue dances with his. With it, she lets air from the outside pull in, helping him to breathe and keep the momentum going.

Her hands slide behind him, locking him further.

"M...Mo...!"

Not yet. Against his twitching body and muffled objections, she increases her hold on him, hungry.

Slurp! Chu! Shlip!

His seat vibrates to the sounds above before Daniel manages to tap his goo-covered leg, sending the pleading signals for his slime mother to cease. Reluctantly, the slime mother draws away, letting bridges of slime and saliva draw from their lips.

Her son's eyes swirl as his lungs draw slowly on their own volition. Although oxygen forcefully flowed into him, he's still taken away by Anne's needs.

"Fuck me..." He breathes out slowly, then swallows with a crooked smile. "Er... A—are you okay?"

"Ah..." Anne blinks. She considers an excuse while her slime recedes away from his lips, but sticks her tongue out instead.

"Sorry, Mama can't get enough of you!"

Silence hangs in the air before Daniel slumps, sighing. "Let's not love me to death here, okay?"

"N-nonsense, don't be so dramatic!" Anne dismisses, glancing away. "I even made sure to give you air!"

Daniel snorts. "Yeah, a real comfort. Look, as much as I appreciate such gentle care, can we actually take a physical break from each other?"

"...Phooey," Anne mutters before squinting her eyes. "Fine, but don't forget you said we could rejoin later!"

Regretting such a promise, Daniel gulps. "I...it depends on how the day goes. Why are you so eager now, when you weren't sure about merging with me before? I know that was partially because of Dad, but still."

Flinching, guilt crosses Anne's face as she's reminded of the memories she tried to hide from him.

Schlip!

She rips away, reforming her naked self in front of him. When fully by herself in human colors, she returns her gaze back to him with a sad curl of her lips.

"I see you're already calling him Dad."

Daniel blinks, then inhales softly. "Oh shit, you're right. I wasn't even thinking, I just..."

Raising a hand, Anne shakes her head. "No, it's fine. If you acknowledge the idea he was ready to be your father, then what right do I have to object when I'm just a poor copy of your mother?"

The artist rubs his neck shamefully. "Maybe..I don't know. To be honest, I think it's easier to say, knowing he's gone. Still, I might be giving away too many parental passes here."

Anne perks up at such a notion. "Hold on, what makes you say that?"

"Surely, not the fact I have three figures wanting to be my mom?"

"Really?" Anne questions, feigning clear ignorance. Smirking, she leans forward and drags a finger along his thigh. "Well, I don't think you're giving us enough passes, mister. If you had, you'd be calling me Mama already~"

Flushing a bit, Daniel waves her away. "Look, once was more than enough. Back to my question, why do you want to reconnect so badly?"

The slime mother pouts for a second but doesn't dwell further on her son's reservations. "Well, for starters, it felt so much better sharing a body and hearing each other! Don't you agree? I'd like to see if I can replicate our state; maybe even apply it with Mary when we become Marianne."

"I'm not sure if I share your enthusiasm."

Undeterred, Anne fakes a clearing of her throat. "Okay, then more importantly, we have to check everything in my dream realm after that strange memory with Merlin. No way am I going to miss any chance into my world with you or Mary again."

Daniel sighs, nodding. "I can understand that. We do have to check your dream world after that implosion. On that note, shouldn't we discuss more of what we saw and heard in there? I know we're in sync, but there's plenty we haven't thought about."

The slime mother hums and steps back, crossing her arms. "I suppose we should. Do you really think it was Merlin who dragged that line into the ground?"

Daniel wiggles his lips as he moves to slide his pants back on. "I can't be completely sure, but considering we saw that Merlin expected Mother to view the memory we were in, I feel like the trail to lead us to him was intentional."

"But...how? Wouldn't that mean he's actually there in my world?"

"Maybe not," Daniel muses, lowering his gaze. "Memories manifested within Viviane's mist, right? What if the bubble and drag into dirt was a product of some magic he set up for her?"

Anne widens her eyes. "That...might make sense? Ugh, whatever it is, I don't like how he's been leading us: first through Mary, and now this? If Nimue was really going to pose a danger to humanity, and Viviane was meant to be sealed to delay the danger, why would Merlin gamble on a future with his apprentice and allow for her release?"

That's the biggest concern. What exactly went wrong with Nimue?

"Technically, we helped release her through you," Daniel reminds.

"Wrong, she released herself through me!" Anne corrects, then wiggles her lips. "Not that I'm not happy I get to have a sister. I just...I don't know. I want to believe she's not carrying any danger. Hell, I could be the one carrying something ominous, too."

Narrowing her eyes, she continues. "I don't believe this Merlin completely blind to this future, though. After all, he anticipated Mary's involvement at some point, so what isn't he telling us?"

Daniel hums, tilting to the side. "This is my guess, but the memory and his message we saw were only with the visions he had accumulated at that moment. He could've gained more visions later that would've changed some things."

"Ugh," Anne groans. "What if our future is worse than letting this seal, or whatever magic he performed, to naturally break?"

"Let's not try to overthink it," Daniel urges. "Our first step should be understanding what happened to Nimue, and what changed in her. Whenever you synchronize with Mother, maybe that'll get her to remember what Merlin had to do and why she had to be sealed."

The slime mother smiles bitterly. "I hope so, but I can't shake off this worry. What if whatever risk Nimue posed applies to us?"

The artist blinks for a moment, then holds himself. "Oh, come on, I don't want to believe you or Mother will turn for the worst."

"But you can't be certain," Anne counters. "It's obvious that, whatever we are, we're the same as Nimue: these remnants of Isis. If she had predecessors, my guess she's held different personalities in the past, similar to how I've already inherited pieces of yours, Amy, and Mary's memories and personalities."

"That's..."

Remnant of Isis.

As much as Daniel wished there was an alternate connection, there wasn't anything else to go off to describe the origins of his slime mothers now that they heard the term between Nimue and Merlin.

Perhaps it all began with Cleopatra's rumored revival.

Anne steps forward and takes his hand amid her son's thoughts, her eyes softening. "Sweetie, I just don't want to downplay the possibility. Maybe not now, but what happens in a decade? A century? When you're long gone, how do you know that Viviane or I won't change?"

The artist thins his lips, closing his eyes. It's only fitting that Merlin's first message to Viviane echoes with higher clarity than before:

As I predict from these damned visions that never let me sleep, your seal will come undone one day by the ignorance of others.

When that time comes, you will love others as you have loved me.

You will consume others as you have consumed me.

I can't stop it.

Despite knowing the future, I still can't stop you.

Because, as always, I want to believe in you.

What I then shall raise is: Who shall you be?

Who shall you protect and love this time?

How far will you go?

I can only hope it becomes a good future for you and all, my lady, who lost so much.

Your friend, Merlin.

'I think I understand now,' Daniel thinks. 'Is he hoping Mother will turn out better than Nimue? If that's the case, maybe the sealing involved replacing her.'

Which would be fitting as both are considered the "Lady of the Lake".

It's only speculation, though. Opening his eyes, Daniel smiles weakly at Anne. As she holds one of his hands, he raises the other to cup her cool cheek. "You're right, it'd be weird if you didn't change. No matter how, though, I hope you remain bright like Amy did."

Anne's eyes widen. Feeling such admiration for her astronomer part, she can't help take the praise as her own. Taking a few moments to thaw from her son's sweet words, she raises her chest and grins. "To hell with that, Mama will be brighter than her!"

Daniel chuckles sadly. "And there's her problematic drive. Let's not flash bang people here, mom."

Anne frowns and promptly nudges him. "Oh, whatever, you. Why don't we get going with some of your backlog? Maybe later, we can check out this local bookseller that Viviane sent you?"

"...We'll see how much time we have."

Daniel's hesitant on digging into anyone who might hold a copy of Victor's book. While it might not react the same way as it did for a stranger compared to Viviane and Lecia, he's wary of other people like Victor.

Speaking of the Lecia, he wonders what might be occurring between the former archaeologist and Victor. It's troubling how close she's approaching them, especially now that they know Merlin buried a book of his at Stonehenge for someone like her to uncover.

Could she try re-sealing Anne and Viviane, taking them away?

Daniel shakes his head, refusing the thought, and proceeds to finish redress as he heads into his studio. With Marlin, about to meet with Mary and Viviane, then a dinner with Rachel, the worried artist feels like he has enough on his plate.

No amount of painting will sadly fix it.