Chapter Six: To Chisel a Mountain Right

Kelart spied several passing human natives to Istannice, perfectly rowed and they stepped in synch as if they were in a military formation, but as they strode, bantered about themselves, smiling and looking about. Apparently, in their kind's sections of the city at least, they went about lighting torches on the streets, by why did they go about it armed? Maybe they were just a typical guard patrol? 'Certainly act like it.' Kelart considered, pursing her lips in thought before nodding to herself and approached the half dozen men down the street from her.

They almost instantly snapped their gazes as the woman made only a handful of steps in their direction, the comedy they once shared between one another gone like vapor and only now did the high priestess notice the severe, almost oppressive dusk light shine that reflected off their spears. "Good evening!"

They said nothing. Which gave Kelart the opportunity to stare at them with unrestricted fascination!

From not only her own and her queen's prior examinations of the human-folk that were brought over to the palace; both she and her ruler had noticed a startling lack of physical difference between them. Black haired, beards, tan, brown eyes. Occasionally one will look a little more scowly then the others, but Kelart was uncertain if this meant that one's individual set of brows protruded out more then most. But then she had to interrupt the men's silent calculations of what to do next with a question; "You people actually eat right?" A pause. "And drink?" Another pause. "And fu- fornicate? Like most life on this world, yes?"

One managed to look away from his vigil on her, between his comrades, before looking back down at Kelart and said, actually said, "Why? Are you offering one of those?"

Kelart gave the strangest mix between a startled gasp and a belly laugh.

The other five members of the patrol looked at the man out like he'd grown a second head.

The five others seemed to have had enough of the event, and started making disapproving sounds, pushing the man in question to the front of their patrol, handing him the torch, "You have duties to perform!" "You have chores to finish, boy!" Being amongst those Kelart managed to pick out from them.

Kelart, more then satisfied, didn't pursue them. She skipped along the street a little chipper then before though! While she was more or less given the idea of where the humans have made homes in the city, when she met the border of when the human's influence ended, she was more then a little startled at how abrupt it was. There was a relatively small gate, maybe the size of one of the nearby brick houses, which were not small to her eyes. Guarding it, however, was a massive minotaur, twice as tall as those she's encountered during a raid from the beastmen, nearly sixteen feet in height, and she instantly paused, taking an instinctive step back.

The minotaur, however, noticed her sudden guard, looked to his sides for possible threats, before concluding it was indeed himself she was so fearful of. 'She is a guest of the Prince, why should she fear me?' Instead, he sat. The dust beneath his post swept in all directions, laid his hammer across his lap, and gestured to the open gate, smiling as best and clearly as he could.

The act wasn't lost on Kelart, whom now no longer feared sprinting back to the palace in abject terror, but was reminded of how different these creatures were to those she and her countrymen were used to. Mindful, courteous, civilized. That brief moment allowed Kelart to see the beastman, his brass plated leather tunic, his brown spots against his white fur, and the doughy green eyes beneath bedazzled horns, coned in bronze. One of his ears even flinched away from a bug that bothered it, reminding her of the various cattle the populated the pastures she has seen.

Kelart gave a narrow nod, walking slowly towards the gate, but not having her gaze leave his as she did so until the open door was a few meters behind her. 'Why am I afraid of that one sneaking up on me? He'd barely be able to use the door!' But as she turned around, Kelart was given the strange, spectacular sight of one of the beastmen's wards in Istannice. It felt nearly like walking into a different world, instead of buildings of yellow and red bricks, marble statues and stone roads, she bore witness to massive tents of thatch, held up by equally large wooden logs, lush greenery saturated her vision, and where once a road was, now she walked on a dried mud path yet still had it had that same precision and grace of the way carved from the hands of man. As Kelart walked forward into the seemingly deserted area, she noticed the occasional glow from one of the larger trees she could see, a large thing she was surprised she couldn't spot from the other side of the gate, the light emanating from the center of the trunk of it.

Kelart thought about turning back, who knows what she'd come across in the homes of these beastmen? While different, they undoubtedly shared a degree of savagery with their cousins in the Albion Hills, and wasn't willing to tempt it by intruding onto whatever this area was to them.

Sharply walking to the left of the big tree down another path, Kelart met a smaller, unguarded gate, and passed through it. She knew it was directed more to the center of the city, to the palace and aeries, her exploration of the city without a guide becoming a bitter act in the possibility of further gathering the ire of her queen by making a hasty choice of feeding her curiosity. Not to mention, the night was beginning to creep on what light that was provided to her, and she would rather not be stuck in this strange city after dark.

The High Priestess sighed happily at seeing the palace, but when she was walking, noticed a strange opening in the rocky foundation, like a wound in the island itself. Curiosity couldn't be denied, and she approached the stony gash cautiously. "Hello?" They could be using the area for something afterall. "Anyone there?" Taking a step closer, noticing not only carved steps leading further down into it, but a dim light at what was a greater depth to this passage then she anticipated. Kelart took only a handful of steps before she immediately stopped, hearing something move in the dark. She focused in on the blackness, and saw three faces staring back at her, one weeping, one bestial, the last with large joyous eyes and a smile. Initially Kelart thought that maybe they were accessories to this strange opening, wall carvings especially since she couldn't see a body of theirs in the dark.

That was until she saw the happy one move slightly.

She didn't scream, she didn't whimper, she didn't blink and she most certainly didn't look away. Kelart took cautious steps backwards, not wanting the remote possibility of tripping in her retreat. When she saw the cave's opening out of her periphery, she strode to the side, finding her way back to the path to the palace proper. Only when she heard the crackle of a streetlamp being barely a knuckle's distance from setting her hair on fire did she risk turning around.

Kelart returned to her quarters, shared with the Archer of Black and her Queen, sitting down on one of the cushions and staring ahead.

"Custodia!" Mad-Eye Archer yelled almost directly in her ear, causing her to rub it.

"What?!" She yelled back on impulse.

"Are you alright?" Pavel asked softly, clearly concerned. "You haven't said anything since you got back and look so pale I thought you turned into a ghost. You just… sat here."

'Whatever those things were, they must've used some kind of magic on me. I've explored dungeons far more ominous than that, but they did it without me knowing they were doing it.' Kelart rose her eyebrows at her own thought. "Y-yes, I encountered strange… things that happen to live nearby."

"What? Beastmen? Demons?"

Kelart shook her head lightly. "I uh don't know actually." Smiling, regaining herself. "I apologize, I was a bit put off by what I saw."

The archer laughed, "Well whatever it was, something tells me we should be getting used to it soon. One of their elves took me on a flying carpet, and from what I saw, this place is bigger and crazier than we initially thought."

"Not only from the air, I think they might also have a network of tunnels in these islands." Kelart grinned wryly, "The one tunnel I saw led down quite a ways, and something tells me they have more then one."

Pavel coughed as he sipped his beverage, "G-great! At this point, they might well exceed Hobum's total population, neighboring villages and street urchins combined! But something crazy I noticed;" He wiped his mouth with his sleeve, "The humans here? I haven't seen any of their women."

Kelart narrowed her gaze suspiciously at the man as she smiled, "Aren't you married?"

"In the name of the gods, that's not the reason, nor the point; these 'graeci' don't have women! At first I thought they might sequester them at home or something, but how can they do that while their leader was a woman, and all the elves, angels, demihumans and even a few of those ushabti had women."

Kelart scrunched her brows in thought, surprised she didn't notice it herself earlier. "Strange… then, how did they…? Are they a band of warriors then? Maybe their true civilization lies elsewhere? This strange, massive city being a solitary outpost in comparison?"

Pavel held up both of his hands, eyes wide, "Good thing they're friendly then!"

The high priestess didn't even believe her own theory, 'No, this feels more settled and less militarized than that, but the question of why them alone and not the others?'

[]

Vehuel stopped his flight, landing harshly onto the ground, enough to stir the dirt beneath his feet, shaking the ground for who knows how fiercely. Nearly forgetting himself, Luis quickly muttered, "「His Feet, Part of Iron, Part of Clay」." His angelic form quickly turning into his human one, which quickly saw to distancing himself from the more then favorably sized crater from his landing, heading directly to the night shrouded village, keeping an eye out for the carriage he had grown increasingly familiar with, desiring to be amidst its hold at least once more before returning it and its occupants home. The small mark of human civilization seemed to be moderately awakened by his arrival, the scant handful guards patrolling the area at night already beginning to panic. "Uh oh… what do I say?" Luis pondered this; his panic only being dulled by the Aura as the guards closed in on him. "Um, hi!" Luis stated, waving a hand at the pair of spear brandishing, armored humans. "I assure you; I didn't want to make such a large- huh?"

The pairs of guards ran past Luis.

Luis kept in his same posture, palm out and fingers splayed. "Did they just… ignore me?" The idea annoyed him deeper than it should have. The fact it annoyed him at all, however, was extremely problematic.

His vision filled with the orange glare and he turned around, growling at the pair of idiots, "You mortals dare pass over my arrival?!" Yelling it out so violently he squatted slightly from the recoil of his own voice.

The outburst did have the desired effect, however. The pair stopped, looked back, confusedly one asked, "Wait, you made this?" Gesturing to the rather large impact Vehuel had made, "The witch set you up to take the fall or something, didn't she?"

"He does look a bit pale… maybe he's a walking corpse she rose from the grave?" The other inquired, pointing vaguely at Luis.

Luis scoffed, "I assume this is Felrrin's doing? When had the carriage arrived?" 'Didn't even think she could raise the dead.' Strange as it was, Luis considered. Istannice and the Gilded had a very narrow view when it came to the Undead of any variety, mostly due to the early and vicious competition they faced from another Guild in the form of the Grave-Robbers and their exclusive membership of Undead only players. Istannice had won, but the conflict was so intense and, ashamedly, petty that Vincent had barred any access of that particular kind of heteromorph. 'Save Shiehk,' He recalled the NPC having only mild abilities of such a category, but she was made some time before the conflict occurred and perhaps Felrrin fell within that same time of creation.

"Carriage? With the strangers?" One of the guards asked, looking to his fellow confusedly, "They've been gone for nearly two days now. Ever since they… why are you here?"

Luis scrunched his brows in confusion, "What? They left? I-I was in charge of it, I told them to wait here for me to return."

"Ah." One of the guards grunted, "So you're the 'grey fool' the adventurer has explained."

The corner of Luis's lip twitched slightly. 'I'm going to turn that knight into a grey corpse.' He concluded, "Did he say why the carriage left?"

"You can ask him yourself." The guard nodded, gesturing some distance away from the village, "We thought whatever this was…" Pointing vaguely to the ground, "Was involved with our local spellcaster, whom is less then reputable in town. Experiments and the like."

Luis stared aback, "What'd he stay? Didn't any of the others?"

One guard yawned broadly, "I'm going back to my post."

"I'll be back soon." The other nodded as his colleague departed, before looking back at Luis, "The witch's hut is over that way, but don't be surprised if she turns you away. She's overcapacity tonight." He explained as his joined his fellow back towards the village.

Luis glared at their backs as they departed, but did follow their directions. Half a mile of walking, and he saw a sharply sloped, triangular… he was actually sure if it could be called a 'house' by the definitions he was familiar with, but did show use as a dwelling, the single window at the cusp of the houses's highest triangular point showing the burning crackle of a fire, smoke softly venting through it.

Striding towards the door, Luis noted several large 'mounds' coming in, like little hills the size of a man or so. He did not sense magic nor danger from them, but Luis did feel wariness from them as they passed. Walking to the door, he knocked against it.

"Oi!" A woman cried from inside, the hag Luis was told of. "Ain't a single lass tha can not fall weirdly a-sleep?"

From the harsh tone of her voice, Luis imagined what would greet him at the door would be an old, wrinkled crone, corrupted both physically and mentally by her magics and old age.

The idea didn't survive a moment after the door was pulled open, Luis vision filled with lustrous orange.

The 'witch' stood a sliver only over five feet, barely coming up to the middle of the seraph's chest in his human form, but what she did not have in height, she supported in curves. While her dark grey robes were heavy, they did nothing to hide the hourglass she had, and her choice of attire made her pale skin contrast sharply but did fit neatly with her unkempt, raven black hair. She had large, almond blue eyes that at first reflected annoyance, looking up at Luis, was replaced by fascination. "You're a pale one, aintch yee?"

Luis's smitten mood was only dampened by his new nature and he stuttered, "Um, yeah I guess I am… I'm here for Garuda. I was told he was here."

"Him and half the lass's in the village… even the one he came with." Her eyes looked back inside the house, "What're you called boyo?"

"L-Luis, ma'am." He replied instantly, "You?"

"Tala." She smiled briefly and nodded, "Now, what do ya want with the knight? He cares for an adventuring companion while I find the cure for this strange fever that has effected a few of the town's folk."

"I was in command of the trading carriage that brought him here." Luis grimaced, "Maybe they left to avoid this… what it is?"

Tala narrowed her gaze at the man, "Strange. This arrived only after they did."

"I'm sure there is an explanation, may I see Garuda?"

Tala rolled her jaw, but it was difficult for Luis to see her severe suspicion as he stared at her ruby lips. "Wait here." Almost closing the door, leaving it slightly ajar.

It gave Luis time to turn around, look at his hands, 'Wow she's cute!' Disturbed by how she was able to affect him, even after Felrrin's flirtation fell on deadened desire when the Mortal Fruit ran its course. 'What the hell does that mean? By what facet can she- not important!' Vehuel forced his own mind on track, 'Find Felrrin, Reynold and Azimuth you fool!'

Tala returned a moment later, looked at the disguised angel before throwing the door wide enough for him to enter.

Luis saw not only Mira present, but Hare and Garuda over her, the sorceress was laying down on the floor along with three other women he could not recognize.

Garuda looked up at Luis and nodded, "Good for you to join us."

"Sorry I had to leave at all." Luis replied, "What happened?"

Garuda shook his beaked head, "I don't have any idea. When Mira took sick, I begged Felrrin for something to help her. She…" He paused in all things, speaking and motion, "she just didn't say anything, told us to leave her and packed up. When I took her to the witch-"

"Oi!" Tala called out, "Don't speak of me like I'm not here!"

"Four other women were afflicted with whatever had happened as well and she was taking care of them."

Hare walked forwards and grimaced, "No one else has taken ill, but we're afraid that the fox-man brought some kind of plague with him, these women were in close contact with him."

Tala sighed, "I sampled some of their blood, this wasn't a disease, they were outright poisoned." She pointed between the knight and his child. "Get that straight already! Unless the demihuman was a walking alchemical distillery in disguise and they were sniffing his hair for fumes, this wasn't brought about by some ill-kempt beastman's disease."

Luis breathed out slowly, "Guess it's my turn now." The prince strode and knelt next to Mira, placing his hand on her forehead, "「Cure All Hindrance」."

Tala was going to quickly inquire about the spell he used, unknown to her, but was taken off guard as the room briefly was filled with light. The spell familiar hermit hadn't a clue how large of an area of effect it had, but she felt that mild indigestion she was suffering from her break of fast hours ago fade away in moments. After a moment, Mira and the other women groaned and turned without tones of pain or poison, opening their eyes and bolting up right. The village women instantly began to sob, then scream and wail for their husbands, suitors, mothers or fathers, but Mira rotated her gaze stiffly towards Garuda, Hare and then Luis and Tala, eyes blank and shocked. "It wasn't a dream?"

Luis briefly spared a glance towards Tala, "What wasn't?"

"Reynard he…" Mira stilled once more before vomiting.

"Ah shet! On me good quilts!" Tala cursed, covering her face with her hands.

Garuda quickly approached, "You alright? What happened? Who poisoned you?"

"Poisoned?" Mira thought aloud, wiping her mouth with a forearm, "That… would explain a lot. He…" She turned her gaze away from them and hissed, clenching her teeth.

"Boys." Tala looked to the men and one boy in her hut, "Get your arses out and fetch us some more water. It's gunna be a long day, and I better have lots for tea."

Luis was annoyed at the order, but followed the other two out, fetching nearby buckets and filling them in a stream not too far away from where the hut was. It was completely silent. Neither Graruda, Hare nor Luis said a word as they did their chore, but on the way back to the hut, Luis's senses tingled, feeling the gaze of one unknown to him, spying on the three from nearby.

The Prince considered it may have been one of those he left Hoburns with, most likely Azimuth who was more adept at stealth, but his superior stats likely was able to circumvent those with her lower level.

Luis and the two others set the water near the front of the door, when they heard one of the women let out a massive, terrible cry that set them even more on edge then they were before.

Yet, the feeling of another peering at them persisted. Luis considered how to act, feeling the newcomer to be not too far away. 'Likely behind one of those small mounds.'

Focusing on his senses, he gave the most confined though still quite broad encompassment of where this observer would lie.

Luis gave gave a quick, sharp inhale of air before leaping from the front of the hut to one of the farthest mounds at the beginning of the witch's property.

The seraph heard a startled gasp as he made his way around in a heartbeat, and Luis looked down at the one whom made it: a squat, brown, curly haired human. He would have expected it to be a child if he didn't clearly have a goatee and very hairy hands and massive feet for its size.

"Halfling?" Luis asked aloud out of surprise.

The creature didn't waste a moment of the angel's hesitation, whom dashed to the side of the tiny hill, whereupon as Luis gave chase, but the diminutive being had disappeared, without a trace. That was when Luis looked at the mounds with an estranged vigor, reminded of those halfling-homes often dotting Midgard's biome, built into the living earth itself.

"What's wrong?" Garuda had ran over to Luis, as the latter stared at the mound.

"What do you know about halflings in the area?"

Garuda seemed shocked by the question, "Weren't they all dead? Between the demihumans in the Albion Hills eating 'em and the Slane Theocracy turning anything vaguely non-human into dog-meat, there shouldn't be any left in human territory."

Luis gave a shallow nod, rolling his jaw and looked back at the hut, considered, 'Has she kept these beings hidden? For what purpose?' More then tempted to simply swipe the side of the mound and investigate further, or use a magic nulling spell to remove a possible glamour which disguised the blisters of dirt, Luis reframed from doing so if not out of avoiding rudeness, but out of payment towards Tala for housing his mercenary adventurers during this debacle.

Luis turned back towards the hut, knocking on its door once again, feeling the air settle from whatever event had befallen the victims the witch took care of.

"Come in." Tala called out, the witch not paying them mind as they stood around inside her hut waiting for her to say something, anything as she continued to attend the women.

So, Luis thought of breaking the ice. "Need someone to make a few meals for the evening?"

It was enough to force the hermit magic user to look away from her de facto patients and look back at the angel with suspicion. "Don't trust men that think they can cook."

Luis crossed his arms and smiled, "You'd be missing out in this case, believe you me."

Tala tilted her head at that, but gave a small shrug, pointing to the pantry in a corner. "Larder, don't touch the herbs in the labeled vials."

Hare and Garuda followed him, uncertain of what to do other then wait, where, the seraph recognized that he now had kitchen staff and gave them specific orders. Looking to Hare, "You, take that corn and clean it, then skin the potatoes." Then to Garuda, "You, get the armor off and get ready for cutting the meat." Denoting the small sides of what looked like pork to Luis, "I'll debone them and use it for the broth, but before you two do anything: wash your hands."

"And now that they have a job, you and I must speak privately." Tala eyed Luis, pointing outside.

The two left, and Tala gave a deep, weary sigh, "You do know that the Adventurer's Guild and the Temples have a big issue with magic users using healing spells without their say so?"

Luis was tempted to inquire further about this, but apparent ignorance was not going to be something that built confidence, instead Luis smiled, "I won't tell them if you won't."

"You're not the one I'm worried about." Looking back at the hut, "Garuda isn't… what he says he's been, and I do not know what the kid will say, he could talk about you until he gets blue in the face, but that will likely lead them to checking out what I've been doing and how I may be involved." Crossing her arms. "I'm not liked by the temples and their priests at the best of times, but this could be enough evidence for them to try to burn me house down."

"I'd stop them. Or pay them. I think I may have some coin to lean upon in the latter case." Luis affirmed, "Besides, I'm on a diplomatic mission!" He gave a smile, trying to relieve the tension.

"Really?" Tala gave a look between him and the village, "Mind using that to try and get the bastards from your carriage back here? There's a lot the fox has to pay for."

Luis thought of the absolute worst thing instantly when it came to such human, er, mortal violations upon one another, but didn't outright ask. Even as sorrow and regret overtook his mind, he was still sober enough in thought from his growing melancholy that he looked down at his hand, removed the ring from his finger, and showed it to the hermit beauty, "They're wearing these. All three of them. Even if we wanted to scry them with spells, it wouldn't work, I sent out a bit of parchment for them to come home to here because I thought they'd stop and wait for me. If the bloody magical seagull even managed to deliver it all. We used them to escape a notable mage of our own after an embarrassing issue I may have made." Feeling his heart lessen and his body react to it, Luis looked around for somewhere to sit, quickly moving his way there to rest his weakening body, finding the foot of a mound and setting his rear on its grass. "If I didn't leave I… this wouldn't have happened. I did things too quickly… the people I came with are… people. At first I thought it would only be innocent, they had desires, thoughts of their own, that they were changing… a new babe to the world… but they are more then that, they are ambitious, they… crave, and when either element is denied, they act unpredictably or try to accomplish it regardless." Luis cupped his hands and rubbed his face, feeling suddenly a century older then he should be, and considering how Tala first was staring at him with apathetic interest, and now a quiet concern, he may look different as well. Luis could feel it in his mind's eye, wrinkles forming and sagging skin, his eyes sunken in, teeth yellowing. 'Hm, strange. At least someone in the witch's presence would match the stereotypical attributes.'

Tala thought a moment, not sure what to say, "Then what do they want? Where would they go?"

Luis looked up, "I have one more place to visit, a few ruins the knight in your home has been trying repeatedly to get me to turn away from. After that, I do not know what to do."

Tala nodded, "Garuda told me of this place."

"When my strength returns, I'll head there with all speed."

Tala waited a moment, before tapping the end of his foot with her own. "Not until you finish cooking." Smiling down on him.

While the topic of cooking again did regain his heart some, looking back up at the woman did more then he would have expected. Nodding, "Agreed." Picking himself up, returning to the inside of the kitchen, briefly chastised Garuda for still having his armor, sans gauntlets, his fingers practically covered in bandages. It was a relatively simple stew, but it filled the bellies of all the denizens of the cramped hut and Luis managed to cook it to perfection, and as the Prince took his own portion, he left the hut and placed it in front of the mound where he last saw the halfling before returning back, the gaze of Tala turning to terror in the knowing that Luis was at least somewhat knowledgeable of the denizens that hid on her property.

Luis strode over, took out a scroll of Message and handed it to her. "Call me if you need me."

Taking it slowly, running a finger over one of his, "I may at that." Smilingly coyly.

Luis gave a gasping cough as his vision filled with orange, turning away from Tala and leaving the hut quickly, pulling out a scroll for Gate.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?!" Garuda called out as he followed the angel.

Luis didn't turn around, instead saying loud enough for him to hear, "There is to be a reckoning on what has been done here. Worse are then the sins that occur, are the sins that are allowed."

"Good!" Garuda said back, "And I wanna get a piece of the bastard too!"

Luis clenched his jaw, "No. This is my responsibility. Besides, I can't get there as fast as I can while I have to wait for you."

Luis heard a clank, metal falling to the ground. Curious, the prince turned and was shocked by the visage the knight now bore. More bird then man, every corner of his head save his beak and eyes were completely covered in feathers, his eyes were wide on his face, and when Garuda sighed, his mouth moved in such a way that even Luis could feel the confines of the helmet disappearing from his breathing.

"I don't care what I have to do, or make you do. If you're going back to the place where I was made into this for fixing a wrong," Pointing firmly at the beak, "I'm sure as bloody hell am coming to make sure it's done."

Luis digested this after several moments, before stating, "I have… sooo many questions."

Garuda continued to strip armor off his arms, unwrapping the bandages that hid taloned hands and feather arms. "I was condemned to this form when I took up my master's armour. Cursed, though I am, it has given me the strengths and skills of all those who wore it before me. But in my explorations to return to human form, I found no cure, no hope of returning to a life I knew. I did, however," Taking off the armor bellow his knees. "find that the armor only needs to be the cuirass. The rest my forebearers added to hide themselves." Knocking a fist at the chest armour, "And while I wear it, I know how to fight better then I should, so much so that it allowed me to become an adventurer of my current league. I can keep up with you, Luis. Please, the sorceress in that hut may be the most annoying person I've worked with, but she's my friend and I will do anything to make sure she gets the justice she deserves."

Luis paused once more before questioning, "So… Hare…?"

"He's my best friend." Garuda nodded, "We're actually close to the same age. Grew up in the same orphanage too."

Luis sighed, "Weird… but I wasn't going to go running. Unless you're also hiding a pair of wings under there?"

Now it was Garuda's turn to be confused.

"「All Flesh is Grass」." Swiftly shedding his mortal cloth for his angelic form, Garuda stood in awe, staring up at the angel that now towered over him. "Still want to come?"

Garuda was stunned only a second more before he stared the angel down and nodded. "Yes."

Five minutes later:

"PEOPLE WEREN'T MEANT TO FLY!" Garuda yelled out while holding his arms around the angel's neck.

While the efforts to strangle him were in vain, the complete humiliation of having this birdbrain on his back screaming like a fool was most certainly a damper to his want to bring him.

Then again, they were high up.

"Yes, yes, just tell me when you see we're close, I don't know what I'm looking for."

"I CAN'T LOOK DOWN!"

'Then I'm dropping you.' Vehuel was tempted to say. Then do. He bit back his rage, however, knowing that Garuda was needed. "You must!" Vehuel ordered.

Garuda squawked on his back in response.

'Liked him better in the armour.'

[]

Happy New Years!

Been trying to roll around this chapter for MONTHS now. Work was very busy over the last four due to the plague having a most dreadful union with the various holidays and have had only a modicum of motivation to do anything beyond eat, sleep and occasionally breathe.

Expanded a bit more of the Gilded on my side of the desktop, which I hinted at a couple times in this chapter. Specifically, with Bethany/Percilia. She might appear to be a friendly, North American country bumpkin, but uh… let's just say if she and Peroroncino met and had started talking in YGGDRASIL, they would have had a remarkably close relationship. While a lot of the Gilded were more or less aware of this element, Luis may or may not have the cognitive functions to process it if its uncovered.

Sorry for rambling.

Anyways, until we meet again be safe and happy!