Starting this super late in the week so I'm gonna have to get shit done if I want to have any chance of having it out on time. I can do that. Maybe. Possible.

I hope.

CHANGE LOG:

-When I change the POV it will now include a ':' at the end. Don't know why I didn't do that before.

-Gonna try to be more descriptive so I don't leave quite so much to the user. This should make it so you can relax more while reading and not have to think quite as much. Some of you might say 'but I don't want to relax because I don't want to miss hints at what is going to happen next'. Don't worry. I have something planned and I haven't hinted at it at all really. It's going to be fun (or the opposite, depends who you're rooting for).

-I'm going to try to vary the way character speak and think a bit more so they're more easily distinguishable just from what they are saying and how they are saying it.

And now the PUNNY-JOKEY I DON'T KNOWEY PART: Lee Sin walks into a bar. Then a table. Then a chair.

I haven't planned this chapter nearly as much as most so I'm just going to say it will be 9011% stuff and -22.983756174623% fluff.

Fun fact: there's not a single '1' in that second number.

Wait, that's not fun. It's not a fact either.

I'm bad at this.


Chapter 46: A large snake

Zoh's POV:

Ahri was practically beaming as we headed down the streets towards Cassiopeia's house. Despite all evidence pointing to it being improbable, we had stumbled across Bob while strolling around Noxus. He didn't seem any worse for wear and still wore that unwavering smile to prove it. I couldn't help but admire the little thing, even as he put so much effort into licking my arm that he fell out of my hand.

"Zoh don't drop the Poro." Ahri ordered sternly.

"It's not my fault. He basically pushed himself off."

"Yeah, I saw. You should've caught him." She retorted while leaning down to pick up Bob.

"In my defence, I am not that fast and he is a pretty study fellow."

"Fellow? You're calling him a 'fellow' now? Really?"

"Is there something wrong with the word?"

"No but it sounds real silly when you say it." Ahri stated as we continued walking with Bob safely in her grasp.

"Why?"

"Because you've got that dodgy accent."

"My accent is perfectly fine thank you very much." I replied with the twinge of annoyance clear.

"I'm not saying it's bad… it's not good but it's not bad."

"So you're saying my accent is mediocre?"

"Yeah. It's like you got most of the way to having the same accent as Caitlyn then got bored and stopped."

"My apologies for not trying hard enough to have an accent. This is the only one on my planet."

"Speaking of your planet, is it actually true that you speak the exact same language over there as we speak here? Cause I've thought about it since last time we spoke and it doesn't make any sense."

"Nope. I lied about that and I have no idea why. To put it simply, I used an automatic translator for the first few days here until I picked up enough of the language to discard it."

"You learned English in a few days? It's like, the most nonsensical language ever created."

"You're really asking me that?"

"Fair point. You probably found a way to cheat and learn it super fast."

"That is precisely what happened."

We strolled along for a few seconds as I stared at our surroundings. In the distance was our destination. Cassiopeia famously lived in a meteorite made completely of iron that slammed into the mountain-city of upper Noxus centuries ago. While Noxians were known for their ability to overstate everything, the story of the meteorite was something that seemed believable enough for most people to accept it. At some point before the founding of Noxus, the chunk of iron had fallen directly onto the mountain. It was the size of a large house and dropped from the sky at jaw-dropping speeds but when it hit the mountain it was stopped dead. Only the top few metres of rock were crushed before the iron was slowed to a halt. That story was part of the reason why Noxus was founded around the mountain. It showed perfectly that strength above all else could stop even the most powerful of things.

I wasn't going to begin thinking about the metaphors behind Cass living inside the thing as I moved my attention from the chunk of iron. We were on a very recently paved stretch of road that was a few metres across. A few people were out and about enjoying the terrible weather but it was mostly empty. On either side of the roads military buildings could be found in abundance. Everything needed to train, accommodate and entertain a soldier could be found along the road somewhere. They were mostly made of cinderblock with wooden supports and watchtowers on every corner, manned by archers. Other than that they were mostly unprotected. Not surprising, considering a direct attack on Noxus by anyone, even Demacia, would be defeated before it even reached the walls.

Unlike every other street, some trees were allowed to grow in rows along the sides of the roads. I watched on as they warned me that a gust of wind was headed our way. It washed over us and brought the scent of gunpowder to my nose. The sight of its source caught me by the throat.

The sound of synchronised gunfire marked the end of that firing squad's work. In Noxus, execution was reserved for the lowest of the low in their eyes. Cowardice was normally the reason.

I stared over at Ahri who clearly noticed the death sentence being carried out. She must have really wanted something else to focus on.

"So if you don't speak English back on whatever-the-hell your planet is called, what do you speak?

"Tiontese."

"Say something."

"Something."

"Don't be a twat, you know what I mean."

"Exa toll dak inta tor."

"What does that mean?"

"'The air is lovely this morning'."

"Alright say something else."

"Something else."

"I swear I will kick you so hard in the balls you'll need surgery if you do that again."

"Fine. Exa din rakta tor."

"I recognise some of that. 'Exa' was 'the' and 'tor' is 'morning'."

"You're half right. 'Tor' is morning but 'Exa' isn't actually a word with meaning. It is best described as a precautionary. You use it before you begin speaking so that people know you are talking so they should not start. 'Din' is 'you' and 'rakta' is 'lovely' in the context of appearance."

"Aww thanks. It's especially nice because you said it in a language that skips out words so it must be romantic."

"I've always thought it was a bit of a rough-sounding language. Doesn't really roll off the tongue as well as most."

"I like it. I'm never going to bother to learn it though."

"That's fair enough because I have yet to bother to learn all of it. It contains over fifty two million words."

"Holy fuck all of that nonsense."

"That was my reaction when I learned the total. Did you know English has one million, twenty five thousand one hundred and nine point eight words? What is the point eight? How do you make point eight of a word? Would it not simply be a full word that is shorter than expected?"

"You're making me want to give up on languages and just communicate using something easier. Smoke signals could work. Or maybe I could get a blackboard and some chalk. Then I could draw stuff to make people understand me."

"Unfortunately, Reddit would riot if your voice was removed. Then again, they will riot if your voice isn't removed. Now that I think on the subject, I'm beginning to suspect that Reddit may just like to riot."

"That is definitely the case." Ahri agreed while handing Bob over to a few of her tails. Surprise covered her face almost instantly and she splayed out her tails behind her to reveal Bob was gone.

"How does he keep doing that?" She wondered as we neared the end of the road. I stared up at the incredibly shiny block in front of us. It was dented with craters and small bumps littered the surface but, in general, it was an oblong. The meteor had stuck the ground on one of its ends at a slight angle. As was expected, there was no door. I peeked inside to see part of the reason why. Everything was simply carved out of the meteor. Tables, candle-holders, stairs, water fountains. I held down a chuckle when I noticed the metal plants in their metal pots that flanked all the doors. I would have strolled in, giggling like a twat had I not heard the stories of Cassiopeia. There was a reason Malphite was her only friend.

We stopped a short distance shy of the door. I wasn't entirely sure how much it would help, but I activated my recently-created armour anyway. It was essentially the same as my normal set but it didn't have gaping claw-marks in the sides and included a grappling hook that was attached to my right wrist. The helmet also included the newest version of my HUD and upgraded lenses in the eye-holes that allowed for infra-red, ultra-violet and night vision.

Ahri gave me a stare that meant I was going in first. I took a deep breath before knocking on the doorframe and stepped in, ducking the top of the frame. The ceiling was high enough for me to stand, though not enough for me to have the banner out. I got a few cautious steps in before there was a very loud, angry scream and my armour froze up. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ahri smiling nervously as Cassiopeia approached her. There was a definite feeling of weight being lifted off my gut when I saw Ahri move backwards freely. Cass backed her into a wall but kept approaching until only a few inches separated them. The snake-lady towered over Ahri but I was sure that it wouldn't matter if a fight began. It did not look it, but Ahri was likely in control of the situation even as Cass placed her hands on the wall either side of her head.

"What brings you to my domain?" She whispered seductively while looking Ahri up and down. All the while I was struggling against the confines of my armour. It would take a few moments to reboot everything and activate the matter-replacement process.

"We were going to have a friendly chat but you seem to have frozen my boyfriend so that's probably not going to happen anymore."

"Why do you say that? We can have a 'friendly chat' by ourselves." She flashed a smile before continuing: "Although I suppose I should warn you, I can't stop myself from getting a bit 'physical' with guests as fetching as yourself."

"Normally I wouldn't mind swinging that way but I'd have to make sure it's alright with Mr. Statue over there."

"Are you not put off by the venom dripping from my fangs or the slithering of my body on the floor?" Cass almost seemed surprised for a tenth of a second but she was clearly very good at hiding that sort of falter.

"I don't think I can judge someone for not being entirely normal with nine tails poking out of the back of my waist."

"Considering your friend's inability to grant permission, I suppose that means we can go have that… 'chat'…"

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure of his incapacitation if I were you." Ahri cooed as the lights flared to life and the layer of stone fizzled into nonexistence. It was soon replaced by a new layer of metal composite that melted then hardened to attach itself to the rest of the armour. I stretched to make sure none of the joints were stuck then pulled out my axe and pointed at Cassiopeia with it.

"Freezing me was a rather mean thing to do. Care to explain?"

"Oh, I just wanted you out of the picture so we could have some privacy. Apparently you're a bit more tenacious than I expected."

Ahri dashed to my side and crossed her arms. It took Cass a second to realise what had happened and remove her hands from the wall.

"Our reason for being here is to ask your assistance on an important matter."

"What would make you think I can help in any way?"

"Swain indicated that you hold some sway with the residents of this city."

"You don't get to make a house of a historic and cultural monument without knowing a few people. Tell me now, what do you want help with?"

"We plan to launch an attack the League of Legends. They have lost access to most of their Noxian soldiers and all of their Demacians so we need only kill the Summoner army they have amassed to make everything right again."

"You shall need the assistance of at least a few champions to have any chance of killing an army of Summoners. Don't forget how the League gained its power in the beginning."

"It is a good thing we have more than a few. On the outside and the in."

"While I always have enjoyed watching people die, I am quite bored today. Tell you what, if you two can clear my dungeon and live then I'll help in any way I can."

"Dungeon?" I queried milliseconds before the ground beneath me flipped open. The snake-woman waved as myself and Ahri disappeared into the trap. I hit the ground on my back with a thud and opened my eyes in time to see the cave we were in light up. Magical orbs floated in the air, illuminating the rocky interior and beast I supposed we had to defeat.

It towered over us even as I stood up. A living Rashyk Abomination. Shen had told me tales of how they once devastated towns and villages with casual ease before the League was formed. The magic expelled in the wars that proceeded the formation of the League had given sentience to many objects which then rampaged across the lands. They were only stopped when the armies of Noxus and Demacia drove them to supposed extinction. The one before us proved they didn't finish the job.

Physically, it was as imposing as any creature could hope to be. At least twenty foot tall and made of primarily obsidian and lava that leaked down the cracks in its body. A rocky arm sprouted from the top of its body, holding a perfect orb of lava that I guessed functioned as an eye. It had one arm on its left side with a three-pronged gripper at the end. Three separate arms poked out of its right side; one formed to work as a spear, another dripped lava from a hole in the end and the last held a whip made of dozens of small rocks held together by, presumably, magic. Five legs protruded from its base.

It made a low-pitched groaning noise as its stepped forwards, crushing the bones of one of the many that had perished down there. The orbs of light floated out of its path as it slowly closed the distance between us.

"I really hope you've got a plan cause I sure as hell don't."

"The only thing I have that resembles a plan is to hit it until all we have to do is clamber over the rubble."

Ahri turned to me with doubt in her eyes.

"It is better than nothing."

"I wouldn't say that so soon buddy."

I glanced at her then back to the Abomination. By then it was raising its arms to crush us, removing all choice on the plan. Ahri was already well out of the way by the time I dived under its legs. There was a crash behind me as I gave it my best overhead swing. My axe smashed a hole in it that elicited another groan from the creature. Forgetting the amount of legs it had, I was caught by surprise when I was kicked out from under it. I barely managed to land on my feet as it attempted to run me through with its spear-hand. It didn't do any damage to my armour but the force knocked the wind out of my lungs. When I stared up at the creature, Ahri was doing a very good job of dismantling it. Two of its legs and its whip-wielding arm lay on the floor and large chunks of its body were missing.

Despite clearly being the lesser threat, it insisted upon going for me again with its spear-arm. I managed to drop my axe and catch it mid-swing. Another of its arms soaked me in watery lava as I wrenched backwards. The heat was not a problem as I soon enough had its arm in my possession. Being twice as long as I was tall, it was not the easiest thing to turn around and grip in one hand. I checked quickly to make sure my way was clear before firing the grappling hook into the ceiling above the creature. It broke through enough to hold tight when I tugged it.

My actions were getting hurried from the heat surrounding me but I couldn't move or my aim would be off. Plus, it looked damn cool when I activated my grappling hook. I flew out of the stream of lava and into the air with the Abomination's arm at the ready. When I was just above eye-level with the creature I detached my hook and gripped the spear-arm with both hands. I dropped onto the monster, leaving a trail of lava behind me, and plunged the spear into it. A final groan filled the cavern as it was split down the middle. It was barely staying together but when I stomped the final bit of arm down the monster crumbled like any other rock would. Being on top of it, I fell to the ground just as quickly.

"You're not dead, are you?" I was asked while the questioner nudged my head with her foot. I'd landed front-down but I didn't need to see them to know exactly what kind of smug expression was covering her face.

"That thought swirling around in your mind right now. Don't say it."

"You'd think such a smart guy would realise that you can't stand on a pile of rocks when it's about to crumble."

"I told you not to say that."

"I ignored you."

With a sigh, I pushed myself up while asking:

"Could you at least go grab my hammer? Please?"

To my surprise, Ahri went over to my axe and reached down for it. She pulled suddenly, putting all of her effort into it, but the weapon barely even budged. A few strained attempts later I stepped over to her and picked it up with ease.

"How heavy is that damn thing?"

"Three quarters of a ton."

"What the fuck how do you drag that thing around all the damn day?!"

"I was just kidding. From my helmet I can change the weight of it on a whim. Feel it now." I suggested while holding it out for her to take. She tried to hold it but when I let go it immediately fell to the floor, sending a clanging sound through the cavern. She glared at me while throwing her hands in the air.

"I may have set it to be a few tons again. It is normally about as heavy as a normal axe."

Ahri frowned at me and crossed her arms over her stomach.

"Aww, you are so cute when you're angry." I chuckled before ruffling her hair.

"Oh my god you are just the worst human being right now!"

"Yep, still cute."

Ahri's POV:

Zoh gave me a cheeky grin before turning to the door on the other end of the room and making his way there, climbing over rocks and avoiding pools of lava as he went. I could have very easily gotten to the door before him but I stayed back as I followed just in case he planned on irritating me more. We got to the door without any incidents and he opened it cautiously. I couldn't see past Zoh's bulky figure as he stepped past the doorframe and into a tunnel. It only went on for a few metres before he entered a new cavern. Carefully, I crept through the tunnel, avoiding the occasional drop of water and the many spider webs. When I emerged out of the other side I was pleased to find that the spider webs were no indication of what we had to kill next.

It was a pretty average cavern like the last one. Water dripped from the muddy ceiling that was covered in roots. Stalactites and stalagmites were scattered around the cavern, ranging in size from smaller than a mouse to larger than a horse. Balls of light floated in the air above our heads, illuminating the room in a light blue glow. The air was damp, cold and filled with the smell of dried blood. I was expecting it to be coming from bodies, but there were none in the room. In fact, I couldn't see anyone or anything but me and Zoh. His stance made me guess he was as confused as I was.

"Hello? Any monsters hanging around?"

There was no response so I slowly walked forward. The room suddenly filled with darkness from the corners inward until it was pitch black. I couldn't even see my nose between my eyes until, a few seconds later, the darkness dissipated as quickly as it had appeared. The room was all the same except for a few important details. Zoh was no longer next to me and two portals had appeared at the other end of the room.

"Zoh! Where'd you go?!" I shouted but there was no response. If he was pulling another trick on me then every part of him would hurt by the end of the day.

Seeing as I couldn't rely on him for any help, I strolled over to the portals. I noticed that I could see through them to get an idea of where I would end up. Both of them were terrible beyond reason in their own way. One held an image of me and a group of friends standing around Zoh's grave and the other showed me and Zoh staring down at the graves of our friends.

The idea that I would choose either was stupid. Options A and B sucked so I was going to find C.

When I couldn't find any other exits and walking around didn't bring the darkness back, I decided to go for something else entirely. After picking up some adequately-sized rocks, I went over to the portal on the right and chucked them through at the other me and Zoh. I actually managed to hit them both on the head and, as I congratulated myself on the perfect accuracy, they turned to look at me. To my surprise, they actually did see me, although they both appeared very confused. I motioned for them to come through the portal. After a bit of apprehensiveness from their part, they came over to the portal and joined me in the cavern. It closed behind them with a flash.

"Hello." I began while waving to myself and Zoh.

"Uh, hey me. We're not doing clone storylines again, are we?"

"Nah, it's fine. I'm pretty sure this is just some dimensional stuff. Luckily for you, there's another dimension over there that won't suck as much if you both go through it."

The other me and Zoh peeked through the other portal.

"Wont the universe rip apart or something if there's multiple copies of me in the same place? Or what if we touch and it makes a black hole?"

"Hmm…" I wondered before stretching my arm out and poking the other me in the cheek. Nothing happened so I assumed it was okay and so did she.

"Well that's one less thing to worry about. But there's still the problem of two of me and, by the look of it, one of Zoh."

"Sounds like it's going to be a really fun time for him." I concluded before shoving them both through the portal. It collapsed behind them and my eyes opened to realise I was on the floor. The dusty rock was not very comfortable so I pushed myself up and looked around. I was in the same room as before but now Zoh was on the floor and there was a small creature in the centre. It was basically just an upside-down cone of flesh with a brain on top and some teeth-looking things at the bottom of the cone, clamping it to the floor.

As I patted myself down to get the dust off, Zoh woke up. He sat up from the floor and pulled his helmet off while turning to me:

"Option C?"

"Of course."

"How did you manage it?"

"It's difficult to explain but there's probably going to be a threesome at some point. What about you?"

"Blew up the universe. Accidentally, of course."

"I think mine is better."

"I agree. Though, I do not think any of that happened."

"Do you think that thingy over there put us to sleep?"

"Yeah. Probably."

"I'm going to kill it then; that was annoying."

Zoh stared around the room for a second. Quite a few skeletons were laying on the floor.

"It does not look to me that this creature is friendly in any way. Let's blow it the fuck up." Zoh exclaimed before handing me a stick of dynamite. I stared at him for a second as he put his helmet on.

"Are you not going to give me something to light it?"

"I am almost certain you can create fire out of nothing."

"Oh yeah." I laughed at my own incompetence for a moment before lighting the cord and chucking the explosive at the creature. I stepped behind Zoh and waited for a few seconds as the sound of fuse fizzling spread through the room. It wasn't going to help much, but I covered my fox-ears with my hands a few seconds before the explosive went off. Zoh didn't budge as the shockwave knocked me backwards and the blast filled the room. When the explosion ended I stepped out from behind Zoh and stared around the room. Some bits of creature were splattered against the walls and ceiling and the air was filled with dust to the point it made me cough. Zoh patted me on the back until my throat cleared up.

"Are you injured?" He asked.

"I'm fine, thanks. Let's just move on."

"Okay, but if you start feeling ill or anything similar then tell me and I shall do my best to help."

The cloud of dust wasn't even nearly settled as we went out of the door on the other end of the room. We followed the same tactic as we did for the last door and emerged into a new type of cavern. The room was mostly the same as the last ones; however there was a large pool of water that filled everywhere in the room save for small areas around the tunnel we came from and the door on the other side.

"Oh yay, it's going to be a water monster." I sighed while putting my hands on my hips.

"I do not particularly want to deal with that."

"Me neither. We already had a fight scene like, a few hundred words backwards."

"I know how we can deal with this unfortunate situation quickly and efficiently." Zoh stated before diving into the water. Nothing much happened for a little while until suddenly the water drained away. It was all gone in seconds and when I peered down into the hole it left behind I saw Zoh putting a plug back into a hole in the floor.

"Where are all the water monsters?"

"Well I did encounter a rather large fellow while swimming around but he got sucked down the drain along with everything else."

"What did it look like?"

"Wh- I don't… why does it matter?"

"I want to know how much effort we saved."

"Right well it was about yay-big. Peachy orange scales. Same shape as a squid but with buzz-saws at the end of all its tentacles and it had one big eye with a few smaller ones surrounding it. Also, it spoke in fluent Russian."

"Either you're lying or Cass keeps some very strange pets."

"There are many things I am willing to lie about. Squids are not on the list."

"Any particular reason?"

"Ahri can we please let this conversation wait until I am not shouting at you from the bottom of a lake?"

"Yeah, I suppose."

Zoh pulled himself out of the hole on the other side of it to me. Before I could say anything, he shot his grappling hook at the wall behind me. It smashed into the dark rock next to the door at waist height and Zoh waited a second before motioning at it.

"What am I supposed to do here?"

"Climb across."

"Why?"

"It is that or go down the thirty-foot hole and then come back up again."

"Point taken."

I put a foot on the wire and composed myself as well as I could before stepping fully onto it. Without delay I started fast-walking across it. To my credit, I got halfway without issue. After that, I fell.

"Oh shit!" I exclaimed as I dropped through the air. It was definitely going to hurt so I shut my eyes.

Suddenly, I didn't feel the air rushing past me anymore. I didn't hit anything. Nothing was touching me, but I wasn't falling.

I opened one eye to peek at the situation to find I was just floating in the middle of the hole. Around that time I noticed the odd warmth all over me. I opened the other eye and looked myself over, noticing that I was glowing slightly.

"Ahri, why are you floating?"

"I don't know. I was hoping you would."

"Well. Fuck. How do we proceed here?"

"Uhm."

I waved my tails around in the air until I was mostly upright.

"That seems to work." I muttered before thrusting myself forward like usual, dashing up to the platform. I didn't stick the landing too well and ended up on my butt as Zoh retracted his grapple. He helped me up and took his helmet off so I could see his very confused face.

"We both know that I am just as confused, if not more, than you are right now buddy." I explained while patting him on the chest-armour. As I opened the next door and went through, Zoh stared at me, looking ever more confused.

"Wait, you can't simply continue on as if nothing of import happened. You just flew! Do you have any idea how difficult it is to describe you with any level of detail? Fox-woman who is incredibly hot, can create fire from nothing, can fly, can throw this orb-looking thing around to kill people, can do all kinds of different sports better than almost anyone else without ever practicing and on and on! It's just… urgh! God damn."

"You've never dealt with being confused very well. So I'll tell you what, once we've finished here and talked to Cassiopeia we can go back to the room and figure this out before we meet up with the guys."

"I'd appreciate that."

He followed me through the tunnel as I went on. It twisted and turned until its abrupt end where we were met with a ladder. A short climb later we emerged at the end of a long, marble hallway with a stairway at the end. The hallway was short enough that Zoh had to get out of his armour and I felt my ears brush against the top occasionally. It was unnervingly featureless yet still bright as day.

Subconsciously my movement became more cautious as we approached the end of the hallway. The stairs led up to an iron door. We hadn't sprung any traps up till that point so I was pretty confident that I could open the door without incident. I turned the handle and pushed it open to be sent tumbling down the stairs when Cass jumped around the corner. Zoh caught me, despite his hysterical laughter, and put my back on my feet as Cass giggled from the top of the stairs. I allowed myself to join the laughing for a bit:

"Okay, you got me."

The laughing died down pretty quickly until it was nothing but the occasional giggle. Finally, Cass sighed:

"Ah, well, it has been entertaining watching you deal with my minions. For that, my support is fully yours."

Cassiopeia slithered away and we followed her to the door where she stood at its side and beckoned for us to leave. I gave her a kiss on the cheek before leaving on:

"It was nice meeting you. We should do this again sometime. Although, maybe without the monsters if we do."

Zoh shook her hand behind me while saying his goodbyes:

"You should consider investing in a pet trainer."

Thirty minutes later (15:40):

Zoh stood aside as I prepared to jump, writing on an electric note-pad he'd thrown together moments before. I stepped to the edge and turned to look at him.

"Any idea how I'm supposed to make this work?"

"Jump then do what you did in the cavern."

"But I don't know what I did in the cavern."

"Well that is unfortunate but the foundations for all great scientific discoveries are made of failed attempts. So, jump away."

I closed my eyes then jumped. My feet hit the floor immediately after and I figured that jumping off the bed probably wouldn't be good enough.

"Zoh, can we really not just put this down as being magic and leave it at that?"

"No. I've spent days of my life working out how your other abilities work within the confines of the laws of science and this one shall be no different."

"You're explaining magic with science? Somehow, you are the most interesting and most boring person in the world at the same time."

"I will take that as a compliment. Back to the subject at hand, we need to reproduce the conditions that made you float in the first place."

He stared around the room for a few seconds before concentrating on a wardrobe in the corner, next to the door to the bathroom.

"Maybe if you stand on that and jump it will be enough distance to 'activate' the ability."

"You're going to get me hurt. I can tell." I mumbled while stepping over to the wardrobe and clambering up its side. Once up I waited a second before jumping off. Again, I hit the ground without anything happening despite focusing everything I had on bringing out all the magic I had.

Zoh sat on the end of the bed and rubbed his chin, clearly in deep thought. It barely took him a second to declare:

"I've got a new plan! When you fell before, you did it suddenly and it was not planned. There was also an element of danger. I'm willing to bet that this flight ability is connected to a self-preservation instinct of some sort. We just have to detach it from those instincts somehow for you to be able to use it at will."

"You make it sound so easy."

"It should be easy. And probably painful."

"You really don't know how to inspire confidence."

"I can try to if you want. Yeah. Do the thing. Don't die. Woo."

"That's making things worse." I pointed out while climbing back onto the wardrobe. After some thought back to when I fell in the dungeon, I realised it was not a controlled fall in the slightest. I tumbled through the air for most of it and had to correct myself before dashing. With that in mind, I asked:

"Zoh, can you stand down there to catch me? I'm going to try something new."

"Well actually I- no, you know what, we will go with your plan. Do whatever it is you intended to do."

He got up from the bed and came over to me, positioning himself where I had fallen last time. I closed my eyes and slowed my breathing until it was comfortable. A short delay later, I threw myself off the wardrobe. I flailed in the air for a moment before stopping.

"Zoh I did it!" I exclaimed while opening my eyes to realise that I was close enough to the floor to stick my tongue out and lick it.

"What the hell man!? You'd have let me fall on my face."

"Yeah. For science though."

I glared at him for a second before he admitted:

"And a bit of personal enjoyment but that's not important."

"Well it's not right now. Me floating is the important thing right now."

"Obviously. Now, I'm not really sure how to proceed here. What I suggest is you take your time to get an idea of exactly how you're feeling right now and how you could replicate that while I do some sciencifying."

"Is that even a word?"

"Uh… no. Why did I say that…" He wondered as I tried to wiggle myself around. No amount of flapping my arms and legs did anything but moving my tails seemed to have some sort of effect. I got a bit more comfortable then focused on why I was floating off the ground. As far as I could tell, the heat all over me was the main thing keeping me up somehow.

I couldn't make any sense of it so I looked up at Zoh and asked:

"Any idea what's going on because I am very confused."

He turned up to look at me and furrowed his brow before staring back down at his tablet then back up to me.

"Ahri, your eyes are blue."

"Pretty sure they were gold last I checked."

"Not anymore. They're very blue. Like, all over. What I'm trying to say is, your eyes are like two blue lightbulbs. I'm not entirely sure if that is healthy."

"Doesn't sound like it is. I guess this has something to do with the hovering."

"That's probably safe to assume."

He wrote something down on the tablet then threw it behind him while stepping over to me. Zoh knelt down and put a hand on my belly before standing up, bringing me up with him.

"Hmm. What I've been able to work out so far is that this is caused by your magic swapping your mass with the mass of something somewhere else. The only parts of you that move your body as a whole through the air are your tails. I haven't worked out why but this should mean you can move yourself through the air and sustain the elevation as it seems your dashing removes the effect."

"So I can move around and stay hovering but I can only move properly with my tails?"

"Yeah, until we discover how to use this ability at will. Then you'll be able to float, dash, float, dash and so on. For now, I'm going to need you to see if you can move yourself over to the other side of the room. It's only a few metres so I'm sure you can do it."

Some experimenting later (16:15):

"Now that doesn't sound too difficult, does it?"

"It does when you put it like that. I didn't even understand half the words you just said!"

"Sorry. What I'm trying to ask is, jump then try to use your magic to move yourself to the other side of the room while also using it to stay where you are."

"Got it. I can do that."

I kept repeating "I can do this" under my breath as I did a few stretches to prepare. After hopping a few times to get an idea of how long I would have, I jumped in the air. As quickly as I could, I went through the motions of dashing forward and backward at the same time. For a moment, it felt like all my flesh and organs wanted to move forward but my skeleton wanted to move back. It wasn't painful. Just kind of tickly.

The world got a bit fuzzy for a moment before it all went back to normal. A few seconds later, I realised I was floating off the ground. A familiar warmth surrounded me and an overwhelming sense of pride joined it moments later. I turned my head to Zoh who had a big, dumb smile on his face.

"I do love a good bit of levitation." He stated while sitting up from the bed and coming over to me.

"Do you need me to do anything else or do you think you can work out the rest alone?"

"I believe I have enough data to develop some sort of levitation technology. However, there is one more thing you can do that might give me some… 'Inspiration'." He replied while putting his hand out for me to take.

"Science got you in the mood?" I questioned in my most sultry voice while taking his hand and dropping to the ground.

"No, but the glow that comes from you when you use that ability does a fantastic job of showing off how perfect your body is."

Zoh sat on the side of the bed so I sat on his lap with my knees on the bed. My hands found their place behind Zoh's neck, pulling him into my lips. I pushed him onto his back and rubbed my crotch against his. I broke up the kiss to let him ask the question I knew he had:

"When did you take your panties off and how did I not notice before?"

"I dunno… maybe you'll find some clues to what happened if you investigate the scene of the crime." I began before leaning in close to his ear.

"Make sure to be thorough."


No lemon here. Just a tease.

But, you know, I might be so kind as to put one at the start of the next chapter. Probably not, but maybe. You'll know beforehand anyway because there'll be a warning and such so don't worry about that.

That's all. I hope you've had a wonderful time reading this thing and I hope you get to enjoy all your waking moments up until the next time a chapter of this comes around and I wish you the same thing again.

Cya.