Chapter 28

Celia had been dragged the whole day when the snake tossed her and slammed her back against a giant boulder. She grunted, feeling the boulder behind her as the woman slithered towards her. "Why is your blood the one that gave me a new look? What has Laonn been up to?" A smirk grew on her face, staring at the little girl who was like a magic youth fountain in front of her. "Why don't you tell me about what he has done and what creature he has used upon you?" She brought a hand closer to Celia, using her index finger to push up under Celia's chin to look directly into her gaze.

Celia did not look fazed, and it was quite normal for her to look up at someone—she was small. 'I do not think that my blood is in any way special. It is just due to the mix of Daise's blood in me. I did not even know that I would have it in me. I never asked for it to begin with.' There was a look of annoyance at the woman who assumed that Laonn had done something more special for her case.

"There is just no way that Laonn would use or find something more extraordinary than me. Why don't you tell me?" The woman wanted to know, but it almost made her angry, and she wanted to find out what Laonn was hiding behind her back. She had been seeking ways to keep her youth for years. It was the reason why she accepted to become one of Laonn's guinea pigs, but it only worsened her looks. Now, her looks were revived again, drawing her curiosity about what Laonn had discovered. There was only anger that grew more, bringing her entire hand to grab Celia by both cheeks with heavy pressure put on both that it actually hurt Celia's bones in her face. "Why are you so quiet? Are you one of his spies who was taught to remain quiet your entire life?"

Celia's mouth was forced open, and the woman stared at her tongue to see that it was still intact. 'I simply choose not to speak even if I did; I doubt that I know exactly what type of shit Laonn had given me through all of those experiments.' Her face pushed off; she kept her gaze on the snake woman who kept moving around with her lower half slithered.

"It seems I need to get into contact with Laonn. I will have him tell me; if he does not, he will lose his best asset." The woman giggled, looking at Celia, who bit down on her jaw. She despised having to be mentioned or be a part of Laonn. Everyone made it seem like she was just an item, nothing important, with no life or soul within the body that she was in. The woman went on to pull out a glowing crystal, waiting for some response. "Laonn, answer me, or else you may lose one of your so precious experiences." Slithing and turning her back on the little girl.

Celia remained quiet. She had been waiting to know if Laonn would come and get her back after he assumed she was a failure and left her for dead in the forest of fire. There was only silence. The woman was gritting her teeth, and her snake tongue came out to smell. Celia would then glance around, seeing if there was anything she could do or find a weapon.

"How are you, Selenial?" Laonn's voice was loud and clear within the crystal, and it was clear that he had given the snake a name.

"Oh, do you not recognize how much younger I sound?" Selenial could not be happier about her youthful look, but inside there was still a burning fire of anger.

"Hurry up and tell me why you decided to summon me." Laonn did not give care about why Selenial sounded much younger. He had been tampering with one of his gadgets there while his other three experiments were fully under his command.

"So boring of you. Yet, here I thought you would love to see this experiment with quite the sharp claws and ears. She has the scent of neither human nor beast. I can tell that she was one of your experiments when I first spotted her. Do you not want her back?" A long silence was before Laonn's gaze looked through the crystal to spot Celia. His gaze was rather shocked to see that she was still alive when she should have died in the fire.

"Where did you find her?" Laonn asked.

"Oh, you know, just stumbling in a forest and coming into my abandoned territory. Are you going to tell me what magic vial you used this time?" Selenial lied about how she met Celia, knowing fully that Laonn would never tell or come to her if she did.

Laonn did not think that one of his experiments was alive; most of the time, he would handle them in a manner that required him to burn them to ashes. Hiding all of the evidence and witnesses, but Celia surviving through it only intrigued him to know if his vial was taking effect. 'I must find out if it is still working.' He stood up from where he worked on his gadget. "Hold onto her. I am on my way to bring her back."

"What if I choose not to return or stay still?" Selenial smirked; she was not at all afraid of Laonn. Laonn paused on his steps, looking back at the crystal since he knew that Selenial was always the one experiment who would do anything at all costs to achieve her goal. "Aren't you going to give me something in return?" Her eyes would glow in the dark night.

"Whatever you want, you will have." Laonn ended the connection as the crystal ball shattered as if to leave no trace of evidence to be found.

"Always going to act that way, huh?" Selenial laughed, turning her attention back on the little girl who did not look at all fazed or frightened. "Why are you not afraid? Are you not afraid that Laonn will cut you up and find what the vial in your body has been doing?"

Celia breathed, "What is the point of being afraid when it has already happened? I have felt it happen more than once. What is the point of being afraid of pain now?" Celia shocked Selenial this time. Her voice was that of just a little girl but very monotone.

"So, you can speak. Why do you choose to be that of a mute?" Selenial kept her eyes on Celia, sitting across from the little girl who stood up but was no taller than her.

"Why do you wish to remain youthful?" Celia kept herself facing Selenial while her back faced the boulder behind her.

Selenial gave in fast, "Why not? Every person wishes to live and remain forever youthful. Do you know how many people seek out to live on for ages like that of a dragon?" She had thought about what she wanted to say, but the little girl was going to die eventually. "Laonn had promised that I would live forever, and so I agreed to be one of his experiments, but the vial slowly started to reject me, and it then destroyed my beauty. I would have never guessed that you would have the blood to let me live with this youth again. I have been longing to look this young again."

"Does this mean that you have been consuming and eating the fetus from mothers?" Celia did not know if she could even ask such a thing.

"Answer my previous question about being mute." Selenial did not forget. "Why do you prefer to be a mute?"

Celia sighed, "Being a mute just feels more to my liking, as if I were living like a dead person. I was never supposed to be alive."

Selenial was a bit caught off guard once more before she thought about what the little girl had asked earlier. "I do eat the fetus from the mothers. They were the only things that would keep my youth and the only things I could eat. Over the years, human food has become harder and harder to consume. The monster within us will slowly start to crave more, and it goes to the point where you cannot even withstand it as if it were hell itself. There was a time when I wanted to stop, but if I stopped, then no one would care or even cry for me." Selenial spoke out; it was strange, though. When did she last speak to someone without intending to eat them? It had been so long since her hunger ceased.

"Do you want someone to cry for you?" Celia did not know why, but there seemed to be a moment of understanding between them.