Chapter 195 - Skyreach Spire VII

Retiring to her room, Claire closed her eyes and laid in her bed with her face buried in her pillow. Her body was heavy and her motivation completely drained. Smiling was exhausting, and she wanted nothing more but to spend the rest of her life with her face hidden away. Even veiled, it had gotten her into an unnecessary, fruitless clash.

When she next rose, it was to a violent jostling. The sun was gone; the fluffy clouds and violent galewinds saw the light goddess’ radiance completely obscured. Within the swirling gloom, it rained heavily; cold, wet drops mixed with chunks of hail, falling every which way as the sky thundered with brilliant flashes of electricity. They slammed into the ship on occasion, but the carrier’s protective barrier saw them repelled. Tzaarkus’ wrath was warded off just as easily as the monsters and stray objects caught in the storm.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.”

A pair of arms grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her back into her bed as she tried to escape the sheets. Sylvia, who was in her humanoid form, snuggled up to the other halfbreed and nuzzled her cheeks against her back.

“What are you doing in my bed?” Pushing the other girl’s face away with her tail, Claire sat up again and woke her arms with a big, overhead stretch.

“Huh? What do you mean? This is my bed too.” Sylvia raised only one of her ears as she looked at the moose as would a puzzled dog. “We’ve been sharing for like weeks!”

Claire paused for a moment before shaking her head. “But you were a fox. It isn’t the same.”

“Not this again…” Sylvia sighed. “You know what? Whatever! I don’t care if you think it’s weird! It’s always felt the same for me, person or fox.” She stuck out her tongue before diving into the sheets and rolling around. “And plus, it’s super obvious that both of us use it anyway. It smells as much like you as it does like me.”

Claire twisted her lips into a frown. “Don’t smell it. That’s perverted.”

“No it isn’t! Foxes smell things. It’s just what we do!” Sylvia wrapped her arms around Claire’s waist from behind. “Don’t worry. You don’t smell weird. Actually, you smell really good.”

“Stop smelling me.”

“Not until I figure out why you smell so good.”

The horse frowned. “I don’t sweat. Nor do I need to use the bathroom.”

“Hmmm… maybe, but I don’t really think that’s it.” said Sylvia, as she buried her face into the half-snake’s neck.

Ears twitching, Claire grabbed the fairy by the face, but though she had been intent on removing her at first, the moose soon breathed a sigh and leaned back into her embrace. “How do I smell anyway?”

“Uhm… like a Claire?” Sylvia tilted her head. “It’s kinda hard to explain, but you smell like you and it’s nice.”

“This is why foxes aren’t people,” muttered the lyrkress. She flicked her tongue through the air, but failed to pick up anything of note.

After spending a few moments with her eyes closed and her focus on the various smells in her surroundings, she changed out of ner negligee, stood up, and walked out onto the veranda with the touchy-feely fox still attached to her back. While the sky was dark, the front yard was illuminated by artificial lights, present to guide the ship’s passengers to the lunch buffet. Service appeared to be slowing down; few guests were still eating and the number of servants in attendance had dwindled, likely to enjoy their own midday meals.

“Where are all the others?”

“Uhmmm… Boris is napping in the garden, and I think Lia’s come to check on you a few times, but I dunno where she is now.”

“I see.” Claire leaned over the railing and looked down into the garden, briefly searching for familiar faces before suddenly shrinking to half her previous height. Once small enough, she slipped out of the fox’s grasp by pulling herself to the ground and dashed between her legs.

She made it halfway across the room before she was tackled. “Gotcha!” said Sylvia, with a giggle. “Wow! You’re so tiny and cute! When did you learn to shrink?” She pressed her cheeks against Claire’s, nuzzling them as her tail wagged with wild abandon.

“When I ascended.”

“You should’ve shown me earlier,” complained the vixen. “Wait! This means we can be backwards now!” Holding the tiny moose to her chest, the half-fairy stood up and hoisted her off the floor.

“Let go.”

Claire tried to struggle, but to no avail. The fox had locked her arms in place, her legs were too stubby to prove useful, and her tail was simply missing, gone from her tiniest form. Her desperate attempts at resistance amounted to little more than prodding Sylvia in the chin with her ears.

“Don’t wanna.” The fox tightened her grip. “You do this to me all the time, and I’ve always wanted a chance to do it back.”

After trying one last time to move Sylvia’s arms with her cheeks, the lyrkress breathed another sigh and, once again, leaned back into the fox’s embrace. “Fine. But just for a bit.”

“Yes! Thanks Claire, you’re the best.” A smile stretching from ear to ear, the oversized fairy twirled around the room with the tiny lyrkress in tow. She continued until she got bored and plopped herself down in the bed, humming a tune as she held the child-like abyssal horror captive in her lap.

“Are you done yet?” asked Claire, as the second song came to an end.

“Just five more minutes!”

Claire struggled against the other girl’s grip. “No.”

“Oh, come on!”

“There are people coming.”

“It’s just five more minutes!”

Twisting her lips into a pout, the tiny scalewarden opened one of the eyes hidden by her hair and paralyzed her captor, just long enough to break free.

“Woah, what the heck was that!?” Sylvia sprang from her seat right as Claire grew back to her usual height.

“Nothing.” The longmoose lightly tugged on the fox’s cheeks, got up, and walked across the room. Pressing her hand against the door, she swung it open just before the visitor had a chance to knock. “Lia.”

“O-oh uh, hey Claire.” Smiling awkwardly, the Paunsean moved her hand away from the knocker and hid it behind her back. “Good morning.”

“It isn’t morning anymore. Stupid cat.”

The light forehead flick that followed left the victim giggling. “I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

“I was never feeling bad. Just tired. I didn’t get much sleep last night,” she invited the cat inside and closed the door behind her before stomping on her shadow. “And you. Stop trying to be sneaky.”

Her head tilted, Natalya spun around to find Arciel emerging from the ground behind her, lips dressed in a mischievous smile.

“What a shame. I was hoping to catch you off guard.”

“Hope harder.”

“Oh, hey everyone!” Sylvia turned back into a fox as she waved. “Why are you all here? Is something happening?”

“Sir Pollux has announced that we shall soon be arriving,” said the vampire squid. “Lia and I arrived at the conclusion that it was time for us to gather.”

“I was going to wake you up if you were still asleep,” said Natalya. “You were going to miss the storm breaking if you slept any longer.”

“Wait, the storm’s gonna break?” Scampering to her feet, Sylvia dashed out onto the veranda and climbed up onto the railing. Her tail wagged with such speed and force that she hovered into the air.

“Calm down.” said Claire, as she led the others out onto the balcony.

“I can’t! The whole reason I left home in the first place was so I could see stuff like this!”

“Flying through it on the ship is boring.” The ship-averse moose tugged the fox’s cheeks. “If you really wanted to see it, then you’d just fly through it yourself.”

“Yeah, but then it’d just be me doing it by myself! It’s more fun with more peop—” The fox stopped mid-sentence and looked towards her mount. “Hey Claire.”

“I’m not doing it.”

“Pretty please? For me?” The dog put on her best puppy dog eyes and pressed her front paws together. “We can take the whole party and get a head start on everyone else! And plus, it’s what we were always planning in the first place!”

“I’d really rather we didn’t!” interjected Natalya. “Can we please just stay on the ship, where the ground is nice and firm?”

“Oh, shut up Lia! Last night, you were literally drea—”

“Okay, fine! But not another word out of you! I swear to Tzaarkus, Sylvia! You start telling people my secrets every time I turn my back on you! Can you please at least ask me first!? Please!?”

“There’s no point! Claire’s just gonna overhear, even if I whisper.”

“It’s a matter of principle. It feels like you just like embarrassing me, I swear!”

“I suspect that the solution you are discussing is not one to which I have been made privy,” said Arciel, while the cat chided the fox on matters of privacy. “I am unable to lurk within your shadow in the midst of a storm, and If I recall, your other form had enough room to seat only one.”

“You’ll see.” Claire placed both hands on the railing, “Call your knight. Meet us on the landing platform,” and hoisted herself over it. Her skirt fluttering in the air, she landed in the garden before turning around and gesturing for the others to follow.

“I’ll be there in a second! I need to run a few last minute checks!” Natalya ran back into the room as she pulled out her notebook and flipped through it, her watch held in her other hand.

With Sylvia floating after Claire, Arciel was once again left out of the loop, her questions unanswered. Still, she did as instructed; the princess called for Matthais with a loud whistle, and leapt after the lyrkress. She hopped from shadow to shadow, melding with the darkness as she made her way across the thirty-acre plot.

Their group was not the only one to have gathered near the landing platform. There were a number of mercenaries and adventurers hanging around the exit, but none were as foolish as the lyrkress; they stayed far away, so that they would not have to endure the storm. She alone stood outside the barriers, as if completely oblivious to the cold and unconcerned with the razor winds that nipped at her clothes.

“Where’s your knight?” The scalewarden spoke as Arciel finally caught up. Though it was the same volume as usual, her voice was clear, easily heard through the roaring storm.

“He shall be arriving shortly.” Arciel held down her hat as she allowed her head to rise from within the shadows. Even with a hand pressing it against her head, the leather triangle was nearly blown away. The violent winds tore it from her grasp and smashed it into the bubble that formed around her. The magical sphere did nothing to filter the sound; she could still hear the typhoon roaring in the background, but no longer did she feel it on her skin. “Do you truly believe this to be the best option?”

“Yes. We’ll need a head start if we want to stay ahead of Pollux and his men.”

“How is it that you intend to break through the storm?” The witch looked around the platform and noted a distinct lack of airships. “I have heard rumours of your ability to fly, but I doubt that such a venture shall prove worth our time should you exhaust yourself ferrying us back and forth.”

“It’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, Claire can get really big so you don’t need to worry. And plus! I doubt she’d get worn out anyway,” said Sylvia. “It wouldn’t even be that many trips.”

“They’d be more boring than exhausting,” admitted the lyrkress.

“Is she capable of turning into something along the lines of a giant?”

“Uhmm… not exactly? I think it’d be faster for her to show you.”

“Not here. The guards are still watching,” said Claire. “We’ll jump off first and board after.”

“I am not exactly fond of this idea of yours,” said Arciel, “but I suppose you would have already seen me slain if that was your goal.”

“Exactly. Now stop asking questions.” The lyrkress crossed her arms and looked back towards the manor, where Natalya was running down the path with a large metal lizard in tow.

“Sorry we’re late!” The cat handed Boris to her owner with a smile. “I realised that we forgot Boris when I was checking all my things.”

“I could have called him when we needed him.” Claire set the lizard on the floor. “Is that everyone?”

“Didn’t Arciel have an escort?”

“He’s already here,” said Claire. The empty spot she stared at shimmered to reveal a tiny knight. He was dressed in full plate, a plume sprouting from his helmet and a mantle draped around his shoulders. Like Natalya and Arciel, he was already in a bubble, just large enough to fit his body.

“Afternoon.” The mantis replied with a curt nod, his eyes glinting from beneath his helmet.

“O-oh, hello,” said the cat. “Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

“Most shouldn’t,” grunted the insectoid. “My cloak’s got an invisibility effect.” Though his words were directed towards Natalya, his eyes were fixed on Claire. His scythes were itching for a challenge, but a glare from his master cut him short.

“Let’s go.” Lifting Sylvia in her arms, Claire walked right off the edge of the platform and fell into the sky. Her frame vanished almost immediately, obscured by the dark clouds below. “What are you doing?” Still, her voice was heard. “Hurry up.”

Boris obeyed the command and dove into the aether with a running start. He even struck a bit of a pose as he fell and left a distinctively lizard-shaped mark in the sea of clouds. The remaining skydivers-to-be, however, were not as enthused. The three took a moment to look at each other hesitantly. Arciel and her escort had turned to Natalya in hopes of some words of reassurance, while the catgirl looked for the others to jump first, as a means to confirm the venture’s safety. And it was precisely during their uneasy staring contest that the three cowards were ripped from their places. The man turned stone faced, while the girls screamed as magical vectors yoinked them off their feet and sent them flying into the storm.

“Shut up already. It’s not a big deal.” Claire grumbled under her breath as she caught all three victims in her giant claws and pulled them towards her chest.

“At least give us a warning first!” shouted Natalya.

While the feline recognized the scalewarden’s true form, the others were not as well versed. Arciel pulled a staff out of her shadow and started casting while the knight readied his scythes. Both their attacks, however, were immediately snuffed out. Their bubbles conformed to the shape of their bodies and locked them in place.

“Geez, guys! Calm down,” said Sylvia, from atop the qilin’s head. Boris was sitting beside her, already dozing off. “I know Claire looks kinda freaky but that doesn’t mean you should stop being nice!”

“I don’t look freaky,” said the lyrkress. “I’m majestic, graceful, and beautiful enough to be divine.”

“Uh huh, sure.” The fox breathed a sigh. “Anyway! Get them in their seats so we can go!”

“I am.” Claire placed Natalya onto her head with a vector, while raising the other two up to eye-level. “Hands off the ears. No touching my legs or tail either.” And after a brief word of warning, set them behind the catgirl desperately hanging onto her neck.

She began accelerating without waiting for anyone to grab ahold of her mane, dashing through the sky and cutting through the wind.

“Wait! Claire!? At least slow down a bit!” Lia’s screams were, of course, readily ignored, as Claire did her utmost to further boost her speed.