Forever Night
Chapter 13
Deep, Blue Sea
She was panting before she got a mile. This wasn't magic she often used. And it wasn't so much the magic as the physical exertion. Passive, she wasn't actually fueling the wings with her power. She had to use her muscles, her small muscles, to keep herself aloft.
She was in shape. But she was no Gajeel or Elfman or Natsu. She wasn't sure she could manage to lift Wendy, but these wings demanded her to lift herself.
And herself was a bit larger than Wendy.
She'd tried decreasing her weight, but for some reason she'd never managed it. Or at least never been able to keeping it going. She wasn't really capable of changing her physical being. Limiting, but there it was.
If only she could. She could turn her legs into one of the merfolk's long, lovely tails. She could grow gills on her neck.
But she couldn't change herself like Mira, Lissana, and Elfman. She could only create external things. So she had the wings.
And the wings were huge. They had to be, considering the weight they had to keep aloft. But they worked, which was the important thing. They were made to fly, in that it was hard to make them still, hard to land once she'd parted from the earth.
They would go into the furthest recesses of her endurance until she either willingly dismissed them, or until she passed out from sheer exhaustion. In practice, she tended to dismiss them. She never wore herself out to the extent that it endangered her health.
Now? In the field?
She expected she might get very, very close to the end of her strength. But not past. Not beyond. Not to the point where she lost consciousness. That, she couldn't afford. She had to retain enough strength to do all the important things that came after she located her destination.
That worry was for later, though. Now her thoughts were primarily on what hovered under the glistening surface of the water.
So far, very little. She recognized several small, single-family dens, which housed merfolk for the most part, but there were a few that appeared capable of housing hippocamps or selkies. She saw little else outside of those dens.
She was lucky – so far – that most of the Sea King's subjects were staying indoors and, more importantly, below the surface. Seemingly unconcerned with what flew in the sky.
For hours she searched before she found it.
There, she thought, triumphant. The palace of the Sea King. Now all I have to do is invade, find Gajeel and Lily, and escape with all three of us unharmed.
No problem …
She tried to smile. Her lips stretched out, but not up. Not succeeding in a smile.
No problem. I'll smile after.
Author's Note: So here's the second of today's uploads. Formatting seems to be working better, but at this point, who can say? :D Again, hoping for the best when it comes to feedback. Please review, and continue reading! Hugs and kisses and all that other mushy shit! Next part, if you're watching the anime and not reading the manga the below has minor SPOILERS. Beware! Though I tried to be general enough that it wouldn't give anything away to those not reading:
And might I just add that today's update ... for those of you reading the manga and not watching the anime ... WTF. That was some awful shit with the girl, right? Like some SERIOUS shaming. I don't know what exactly's up with them, but I do NOT like grape-dude. He's a jerk. But it looks like Rogue might actually be okay. Thoughts?