Now that Agnes was back on her feet, Ringabel had thought she might stay in the lab, but she insisted on going back to her scheduled appearances at the temples, starting with the Earth Crystal. Then again, that was pretty Agnes-like: devoted to duty above all else, even at the risk of further harm. Still, that meant that it was just him and Lilia in the lab, and she had her own work to do.
Then Airy finally woke up.
"Here's what I remember hearing. Of course, this is all hearsay from humans, but some of it might be useful. One: celestials live on another plane. Two: Summons are a lesser form of celestial. Three: Only celestials can cross the barrier between planes to come to Luxendarc or the Infernal Realm. Why they do so, we don't know. Four: No one knows what a celestial looks like, possibly because they don't have physical forms for the most part. Five: What exactly a celestial can do is up for debate. Some people think they have unlimited power, but personally, I'm pretty dubious of that."
Ringabel tapped his pencil against the page. "Most of this is what we already knew. Nothing on how to call one?"
"A hundred thousand years, and I've never heard of it being done. It doesn't bode well, does it? Ah, but I did remember that entering the celestials' plane was Ouroboros's goal. I don't suppose you've got ten thousand worlds you'd be willing to sacrifice?" she said dryly.
"Of course not. But I remember the Sage saying it was much easier to send light and sound than it was to send a physical form. If we just had a way of getting our voices to the Celestial Realm, maybe that would work. You remember the Sage's spell to communicate with other worlds, right? Could we use that?"
"I could cast it, but I wouldn't know what 'direction' to point it at," she said. "I don't know the math of the space-time of the Celestial Realm."
"Hm. We'll keep it in mind."
A knock at the door of the lab drew his attention, and Alternis entered, a stack of books under his arm. "I found these in the libra-That's alive?"
"Huh? Oh, Airy," he realized. Belatedly, he remembered that Alternis, too, would know who Airy was. "Um, she's on our side, don't worry."
Alternis peered down at her, helmet inches away from her face. "Stop staring at me like that," she complained. "You're too close."
"You do realize that's the Evil One, right?" Alternis told Ringabel. "She's trying to destroy the world."
"Yes, she was," he agreed, "but we've put a permanent stop to that. Didn't Edea tell you?" He gave Airy a weary look. "I need to stop exposing you to people who know who you are. All these explanations are getting tiring."
"Sorry, Master."
Alternis let out a sigh. "Well, if I gave you a second chance, I guess I can give her one, too. I saw her sitting on top of Mr. Tiz's chamber and thought she was just a decoration."
"She's actually the one that helped me get here, believe it or not." Ringabel gestured for Alternis to have his usual seat at the table. At least, with him coming by with increasing frequency, things weren't as lonely as they could have been. "I've got a new bean from Harena, want to try it?"
He made a face. "No thanks. Their stuff is watered-down swill."
"Agreed, but it's the way they make it, not the bean itself. Here, I'll make you a cup. You might like it when it isn't filtered to death. How are things in the Council today? I haven't seen Edea yet."
"That's because she and her father are discussing strategy for the next World Council meeting."
"Ah. Father-daughter bonding time?"
"I suppose. I've actually got a different mission on my plate today." He took off his helmet at last, dissolving it into darkness. "Is Lilia around?"
"Last I saw her, she was yelling at the cats. Lilia," he called toward the back, not quite willing to leave the coffee unattended.
"Yes? Coming!" She came bounding out just as the coffee finished brewing, bouncing in place. "I see you took it off without prompting. Good boy."
Alternis let out a snort in response. "If you don't mind me asking, what is it with you and helmets and people's faces?"
"People have faces. Machines do not. If I can't see a face, how do I know it's a person?"
"Uh... Wouldn't the voice and the rest of the shape clue you in?"
She shook her head. "It's too hard without the face."
"Well, you did grow up in a labratory, so I guess that sort of makes sense. Coffee?" Ringabel poured a cup for himself and one for Alternis, passing it to the man.
"Sure. You make coffee really well. It's always so strong."
"You like your coffee strong?" Alternis asked in surprise.
"With some of the schedules I'm running, it has to be strong."
Ringabel offered her the other chair, leaning back against the wall. "So what mission are you on today, Alternis?"
"I'm testing an airship for the Eternian design team," he said. "We can't keep up with their production, so we've been focusing on efficient designs. They've brought me over a prototype to test."
"What kind of prototype?" Ringabel asked, interested.
"It's a smaller airship. Designed to hold not more than a dozen. We're thinking it could be useful for people like myself or Edea who need to move around, but don't always want to divert a whole crew to do it. it's designed to be able to pilot it with just one person. If these take off and we can bring the cost of production down, there are a lot of people in Eternia that could benefit from these, too."
"Agreed. That sounds great. I'm envious," Ringabel said. "New ships are awesome."
"Aren't they, though? Actually..." Alternis fidgeted in his seat. "We're not close to the target weight, but since we're doing testing, maybe you'd like to ride with me and help me test its capabilities? Lilia, too."
"Would I ever! When do we leave?"
Alternis looked at Lilia, who thought about it. "I don't think anything's time sensitive right now," she said slowly. "I mean, why not? I've never been on an airship before. It's good to try new things, right?"
"That's the spirit," Ringabel said. "Let's go see this ship! Airy, can you keep a watch on the lab?"
"Sure thing, Master."
"Good girl. It's going to be cold out there," he told Lilia, "so bring some gloves and a hat."
Out on the central command's dock, the ship was as described, but even more beautiful, with gold-colored railings against a black background, and silver detailing. "Oh, it's so pretty," Lilia said in surprise. "And so cute. What's it called?"
"Easbi," Alternis told her. He added sheepishly, "Edea named it."
Ringabel approached it, taking his time as he walked around it. Lilia was just eager to get on the deck, swinging at the railings. "We're trying charged mythril in the engine," Alternis explained to him, "since orichalcum is at such a premium. There's a downstairs room, but most of the space below deck is the engines. There's some seating at the back of the deck here, with safety harnesses, and the center console here has everything you need. And the awning keeps everything in the shade."
"It holds up under the wind?" Ringabel asked, poking the fabric.
"Don't know. That'll be one of the things we'll be testing." Alternis unlatched part of the railing, folding down a ramp. "Ladies first?"
Lilia ran up the ramp with enthusiasm, the boards creaking under her feet. "Well," Ringabel observed, "ramp works."
"It smells a bit like my lab," she said in surprise. "All oil and metal and electricity."
"All airships smell like that," Alternis said with a quick smile. "You don't really get rid of that until you get into the ships the size of the Grandship."
"And that's mostly due to the division between the machinery and the living space," Ringabel said, sliding open the door to the lower area.
"You've been on the Grandship before?" Lilia asked.
"I've piloted it before."
"Now I'm jealous," Alternis said. "I'd love to try that, just once. How does it handle?"
"Surprisingly light and fast on its feet, so it can catch you unawares. Once you're used to its speed, it's quite smooth."
Alternis folded back up the ramp with a lever, refastening the railings. "The engine operation is pretty simple. You have to prime it, like this," he explained as he jumped down into the engine area, flipping open some switches and valves before starting to pump on a hand lever. "It's a little stubborn, though. If we want to market this to civilians, that part has got to be easier."
"I'll take some notes," Ringabel said, flipping to the back of his journal for a spare page.
Alternis pulled himself out of the hole. "I wouldn't mind a better seating arrangement down there, either. And some storage. And some separation for the engine. Right now it's pretty much all engine room. There's not really a spot to duck and cover in case of bad weather."
"There's also not really a place for it for the pilot, but that's nothing unusual."
"True. I could use something like a windscreen."
"Are you going to put back on your helmet?" Ringabel asked. "It's going to get windy."
He looked at Lilia, then said, "I anticipated that, so I brought goggles."
Ringabel grinned as he took a seat at the back with Lilia, watching as Alternis began the liftoff. Getting off the dock was a bit jolty as Alternis tried to feather it out, but then they were off the ground and in the air. "We're getting so high!" Lilia cried in delight. "Whee! More!"
"As you wish," he said, sending the ship above the level of the Central Command tower.
"I can see everything!" she gasped in surprise. "There's the city! This is the whole tower! That must be the temple! We could go visit Agnes."
"We could, but let's not do that just yet," Ringabel said. "We have time, so let's enjoy the flight. How's the handling, Alternis?"
"A bit rough, as you can probably tell. I think it needs some fine tuning to be really good, but the power's there."
"Do you think it can handle the full twelve people?"
"I'm not sure. They'll be putting it through some more thorough weight tests. It's great that this charged mythril seems to be holding up well, though."
"Yeah. How'd they come up with the idea for it?"
"Just thinking about orichalcum. They are similar minerals, after all."
"What's that?" Lilia asked, pointing. "That house all the way on the edge of the cove."
"Ah, that's Lord DeRosso's castle," Ringabel said after taking a look.
"Oh, so that's where he lives. I was wondering because I've never seen him at home. Maybe we can pay him a visit, sometime, too."
"I wouldn't count on it," Alternis said. "He doesn't like visitors. You'd do best to let him know you're coming out, first."
"Have you been to visit him before, then, Alternis?"
"Just on Council business. He doesn't like getting involved in the business side of things, even though he's a member," Alternis grumbled.
"I don't blame him," Ringabel said. "Someone that's lived that long usually isn't worried about the details. Ask him about his paintings if you're feeling bold sometime, Alternis."
"I'm not sure I'm that bold."
