Awakening

I slowly opened my eyes, a task that was far harder than it should have been.

"Hmm… What a nightmare…" I muttered as I groggily tried to sit up. "Dreaming that I was a slime..."

But I realized that I wasn't in my bedroom. I was in a room I didn't know. It looked like a hospital room, judging from the furniture around. My body was bandaged in multiple spots. These spots were the same as where I was injured in the nightmare…

Wait…

As fear started to build up within me, the door opened, and a nurse walked in. She was a nekomata, judging from her cat ears and tail. A rare kind around here.

"Ah, Ms. Jade, you're awake!" She said, visibly relieved. "Let me call the doctor!"

She left as quickly as she entered, leaving me alone with my thoughts again for the time being. I got out of bed and approached a mirror nearby.

"I… I am Jade… right?" I hesitantly questioned my reflection.

Somehow, this body felt both right and wrong at the same time… I was slender and thin, not very active physically, but quite pretty nonetheless. My skin was pale, as I rarely spent time in the sun, preferring the company of books and alchemy cauldrons. My chest was small, something I've always felt complexed by.

Why does my body feel almost… foreign?

Even my name, Jade, seemed wrong, even though it has been my name since birth… I vividly remembered this nightmare, where a slime entered my body and took control of it… but I also remembered blurry memories of a life as a slime, alongside memories of my own childhood…

"Ms. Jade, you shouldn't leave your bed for now, your injuries haven't healed enough yet." A male voice spoke from behind me.

I turned and saw an elder dwarf, with a majestuous gray beard.

"What… happened? Why… am I here?" I asked, praying that he wouldn't confirm what I dreaded.

"You don't remember? The laboratory you were working at was raided by a group of mercenaries. It was an attack from the nation of Elindra. As soon as the duke heard of it, he sent some troops to help. I'm sorry, but we only found two survivors, you and a nekomata, who woke up yesterday."

I looked down, lost in thought. The attack really happened… Did… Did this nightmare with the slime happen too…? Was… Was I… the slime?

I shook my head. No… It can't be… I am myself… I am Jade… It'd make no sense...

"The captain of the troops who rescued you wants to see you as soon as possible to ask about the events. Do you feel like you're able to answer his questions?" The dwarven doctor asked.

"I… I think…" I shyly said. "I just… need to rest a bit more before…"

He smiled. "We'll bring you some food and a potion shortly, it'll help you recover. I'll tell the captain to visit before sunset."

The doctor left, and I went back to bed, laying on my back, staring at the ceiling. A small part of me wasn't used to speaking… It wasn't able to, before…

I closed my eyes, doing my best to feel it, this slime inside me. I felt something move in my head, towards my throat. My real body… I quickly moved it back where it was, afraid of any consequences. There was no denying it anymore… I wasn't truly Jade… I was just a slime… A slime who somehow possessed her body and stole her memories, losing myself in them…

Gods… How did this happen…?

I sighed, unable to really come to terms with this revelation. What was I supposed to do? Leave this body and return to the colony, at the risk of becoming a mindless slime again? No, that question didn't even need to be asked. I would never return to the state I used to be in, now that I had a taste of what true sapience meant. I could think clearly, plan things ahead, discover the world, feel so many more emotions…

I will never give up on that, I am now so much better than a simple slime… I won't be a mindless blob again…

I wasn't really sure what to do afterwards, but for the time being, I needed to lay low and get used to this new world that opened to me. Jade would most likely be under surveillance for a while after the attack, and the last thing I wanted was to get caught and experimented on again.

I looked at my hands, smiling slightly. "These experiments were painful, but I have to thank you for giving me the opportunity to expand my horizons like this, Jade. You and your colleagues gave us the tools to become far more than just slimes."

I went to the window, observing the view. This hopital seemed to be near the walls surrounding the city Jade, no, I lived in. I could see the streets brimming with life. Most inhabitants were elves, but there were also some dwarves, nekomatas, kitsunes, and other races living here. A few humans, too, but they were rare, as human countries tended to often wage wars against nonhuman countries. It made it hard for humans to integrate, they were always treated with suspicion.

The sun was still high, there was some time before the captain would visit to interrogate me. I wondered what I should do for the time being. I could just rest, as this body really needed it, or I could maybe check on this other researcher who was rescued.