Palla flew faster and faster down the corridor, determined to escape with not just her life, but the lives of all of her friends. She had mastered her own flight, now traveling at quite a speed. The hall widened before her, signaling that she was getting closer to the exit. Ahead, a piece of rock broke off the ceiling, falling into her path. Unable to dodge, Palla quickly shrank herself and her passengers, now an expert at unconventional evasion. Narrowly evading the debris, Palla grew herself back, not stopping her flight. The light welcomed their arrival in the hall of the scales, and Palla steered herself upward. As she flew up into the light, the ruins crumbled around her tiny body. Part of the ring of stone around the opening fell, one final obstacle to the tiny woman. She spiraled round the rock, now out of the ruins. Below her, the rest of the structure collapsed.
A low rumble sounded through the mountain.
"You hear something?" Saber asked, standing upright from his slouch, hand on weapon.
"Yep, something is happening," Boey answered, not looking up from his writings.
"Sheesh. Hope they're all doing ok..." Saber wondered.
They were free in the sky, but Palla's job was not over yet. She knew there were many dangers out in the world for inch-tall humans, speeding down towards the path at the bottom of the mountain. Palla landed, setting them down amongst the gravel. She giggled as she saw the speck-sized ladies stumble about, even smaller than the stones that lined the path. Flying up about a foot, Palla cast her magic, Growing her friends.
"Woo hoo!" Mae cheered, stretching.
"Absolutely ravishing," Sonya commented, relishing in her regained height.
"I thought I'd be tiny forever..." Catria said, looking around the now much smaller world.
"N-now everything isn't so scary..." Genny noted.
"Um, guys?" It was Celica's voice, but higher pitched than normal.
The rest of the women looked down to see Celica, merely half their size!
"My, my. You really are a little girl," Sonya sneered.
"Aww, cute little Celica!" Mae cooed.
"Oh my," Palla gasped, floating near the small Celica. "I forgot you were still small from earlier."
"Yes. Could you grow me back all the way, please?" Celica asked. Palla nodded, casting another spell on Celica as she requested.
"So we're all back, right?" Mae asked.
"Except Palla," Catria noted.
"Oh no, Palla!" Est cried, holding out a hand for her sister like she was offering grain to a small bird. Sighing, Palla landed on the big hand.
"I wonder if this is to be my height now..." Palla mused.
"I hope you grow back," Catria said.
"Yeah! It's weird having you be the smallest sister!" Est cheered.
Palla was surprised. Had their adventures made them have a change in heart?
"Thank you, girls," Palla smiled, "but I'm sure I'll be fine, so long as I am with my lovely sisters."
Just as she finished saying that, a strange feeling came over Palla. She suddenly lit up, the glow intensifying until she was bathed in white light.
"P-Palla?" Est stuttered, amazed at what was happening on her own hand.
The others leaned in as the light faded, revealing the inch-tall Palla now clad in her pegasus knight uniform.
"Oh, she turned back," Sonya observed.
"But not back to full size..." Celica noted.
"Do you still have magic?" Mae asked.
Palla gestured, but nothing happened. She couldn't fly anymore either.
"It appears I've lost all of my abilities," she revealed.
"I guess you're stuck at that size, then," Sonya said, "not so useful without magic."
"Maybe her abilities were connected to that witch," Celica suggested, "perhaps when we killed her, it all started to fade away."
"That makes..." Palla squeaked, stopping mid-sentence when she felt another odd feeling.
"Palla? What's wrong?" Est inquired, looking curiously into her hand.
Palla looked up to her sister, only to see her face getting smaller. At the same time, she seemed to be moving closer. Est seemed to realize what was happening, her eyes widening.
"Put her down! Quickly!" Catria commanded, her older sister now a foot tall.
"R-right!" Est stammered, quickly placing her sister on the ground. She quickly grew in size, reaching her original height.
Palla looked down at herself, not quite believing what she saw. "I'm back to normal." She observed.
"Hooray!" Est shouted, jumping towards her sister and giving her a big hug.
"Oh my," Palla smiled. Catria joined in too.
"We're all back to normal again!" Catria cheered.
"Yes," Palla said, looking around over her sister's heads. She had been so small for so long, that she felt like a giant back at her normal size.
"So in the end, we didn't get anything?" Mae asked.
"That's not true," Celica said, "we did what had to be done. If that magic got out, there's no telling what would have happened."
"Yeah, I guess..." Mae mused.
"Shrinking enemies would certainly turn the tide of battle," Sonya said, "well, it would make clerics, pegasus knights and most mages harmless, anyway..."
"S-sounds like it would work against us more often than not..." Genny shuddered.
"Besides, we're all much stronger for the experience, right?" Celica asked.
"Yes!" The whitewings answered, nodding.
"With all of us together, we will bring peace to Valentia!" Celica declared, raising her sword. Her allies cheered.
"I feel like we're forgetting something..." Mae wondered aloud.
Deep within the mountains, Valbar stood, still following the orders he had been given what seemed like an eternity ago.
"I wonder what's keeping them?" He yawned. He was sure they would be back eventually...
