When Simbad dismantled the floor, it caused a chain reaction, making the whole spire tremble, and it began to collapse. They only had time to grab the golden, shining disc and jump off the heavily wobbling, spinning rock, landing on another randomly. Looking back, they watched it lose its balance and go berserk, ripping itself into multiple pieces, fully destroyed in minutes.
"That was not in my calculations." Hajna's voice came from the disc that flashed with yellow light every time she spoke.
"How are you?" Ceiline asked, watching Simbad intently, who shook his head.
"Fine. I feel nothing wrong, but keep your eyes on me." He answered, lifting the perfectly circular object and studying it.
"Marvelous…" Ceiline whispered, leaning close and checking out the complex magical diagram etched right into it. It was something she had never seen before, and if her own formations were hard to master, this one was like something alien.
"You can copy it. Our Empire had already fallen. No use in keeping secrets or withholding anything. If some of our legacies can resurface, I think I… I mean, Empress Hajna would be happy."
"Thank you." She smiled at the formation plate and copied it straight into her memory using her mana, recording a still image.
"Where to?" Simbad asked, looking around. They were standing on a pretty big chunk dotted with corpses of trees, making it look like a pincushion.
"This was the royal garden, I think," Hajna answered a little later. "I can't really tell for sure. We should just… walk around. If I feel one of the obelisks, I can point you in its direction."
"Will it even work?" He asked, suspiciously raising an eyebrow.
"It will, as long as this world exists, it is connected to the outside. No matter where the pillars are, they can't be destroyed. They can be damaged only if everything else is gone." She said, materializing and pointing towards the sky. "It is still there, which means the obelisks are, too, and you can activate them. When finished, you will be ejected! Seeing how ruined my home is… I think everything that is living will be sent out at once."
"You think. That is my main issue." Simbad added, but he had no better idea.
"Let's go!" Ceiline chuckled, nudging him, "It's best if we start looking!"
…
….
…..
"I feel something…" Hajna's voice interjected after more than two hours of searching, the first time she broke her silence.
"Is it an Obelisk?" Simbad asked at once.
"Maybe."
"Maybe?" Ceiline frowned, standing at the edge of a meteorite that was extremely ragged at the edges. They aimed at it precisely as they saw a colosseum-like ruin in the middle of it while it was floating over and above their previous location. It was seriously disorienting, jumping up and simply landing down on it, wholly scrambling their sense of direction.
"This place was part of the Avenue of Heroes with our Arena of Champions. We used to host martial tournaments here between our most promising fighters and settle grievances if any popped up amongst the ranks of nobility. We had a few occasions where an Emperor was also challenged to fight to the death and for the throne!"
"Really?" The two asked, surprised, but Hajna simply chuckled.
"Yes. It was rare, and never once they lost their position. Being an Emperor or Empress did not come freely! Anyone who managed to earn the title was not someone you wanted to trifle with!"
"What happened to you? I mean, to your original body?" Ceiline asked as they started walking, heading towards the half-collapsed arena.
"My guess is she died. She was a proud woman and someone powerful. Our magic relied on the stars, on the energy of the Cosmos. Watching your two, I realize that today's world focuses on the elements. Magic that is natural to Meriath, something that has been a part of it since its inception. Another clue that the Realm had been sealed shut."
"What is the big difference?" Simbad asked curiously.
"Using the cosmic energy for spells lets you adapt to different realms more easily. That is why ours had the most vassals! We could enter them much more easily and adapt our styles to their laws! To explain it in terms you would understand easily… our spells were most similar to yours, Simbad. It shared the most traits with light-based magic; only its color would have been… on the violet hue."
"Could I learn… spells like that?" He asked, intrigued by it even if he did not really trust Hajna yet.
"Maybe. I have the knowledge of the Last Empress. I could teach you… the problem is, you are untrusting, so I don't know if you would truly be willing to learn from me."
"True." He nodded, not denying her observation.
"Let's see how this plays out," Hajna answered for him, not angry at all; she fully understood his wariness. "I'd like to leave from here and spread the knowledge of the Eternals. So our proud Empire is not lost to time forever."
"See? This is why…" Simbad shrugged, glancing at Ceiline, who was much more trusting towards Hajna, "You are using words like 'leave' and 'spread.' Just so you know, we are very much raised to stop things from… spreading. We have enough problems already!"
"I know," Hanja replied after thinking briefly, "The Undead, you mentioned… yes? They do sound like something that the Soulbound leaders would have cooked up. They were… unique. We didn't really get along; my honest guess is that is why they did not come to help us when the Beast broke in. We were a good… sacrifice."
"That DOES sound like something an Undead would do." Ceiline snorted.
"Well- Danger!" Hajna warned them, interrupting her own sentence and shaking the two. Simbad hurriedly tossed the formation plate aside while Hajna materialized above it, pointing towards the Colosseum.
"What… is it?" Ceiline looked, trying to make out if what she was seeing was real or not.
"A remnant of the Beast's flame!" Hajna whispered, her voice filled with real, tangible fear. "Don't let it consume you!"
What they saw was a ball of white flame floating in place, burning silently. It was camouflaged into its ashen background, and weirdly, it produced no heat. It looked like a human-sized ember was frozen in time, stuck in between existence and illusion.
"I feel nothing coming from it…" Simbad whispered, but they did not dare to go closer. Hajna's tale of the destruction of her home did have an effect on their mind.
"It's best not to do anything but…" Hajna told them, recollecting herself, "But I do feel an obelisk inside. My guess is the flame is here because of it. It was a cornerstone of our sub-realm; the Beast must be guarding the exit!"
"Let me try!" Ceiline produced a little peashooter, patting its head, giving its instructions to sneak by and enter the Colosseum.
As it hurried along on its little, vine-like legs, the moment it tried passing by the white flame, it immediately reacted. Without warning, the flame trembled and morphed into the form of a little girl with white and black hair worn in pigtails. She chomped loudly, swallowing the peashooter in one bite and turning towards Ceiline and Simbad. Her chubby little body was made out of fire as she licked her lips, watching the two.
"Nyaaah, I knew some of you would come back!" The girl made out of flames giggled, patting her stomach.
"Is she… the Beast?" Ceiline asked, but Hajna shook her head. "No… She was much bigger and animalistic. Looking like a bear. A black and white bear."
"That is my real form!" She hopped closer, and with every step, the land cracked below her, and the old ash caught on fire once again, starting to glow in a sick color.
"We are not them!" Simbad shouted, his hands raised, making the girl stop. She leaned forward and sniffed a little, tilting her head left and right.
"You do smell different, although I can't be sure... I'm just a spell-body!"
"She is like an autonomous spell, left behind its creator," Hajna whispered. "Probably made from the residue of that monster's flame!"
"I am not a monster; I am Kyu!" The girl protested, stomping and making the cracks below her feet spread throughout the broken piece of land, collapsing the rest of the arena behind her. "You are the monsters for hurting my little sister!"
"We don't know what happened; we just… it was eons ago!" Ceiline tried to defuse the situation, but she wasn't listening.
"I will decide if that is true or not! But I know that woman!" She pointed at the image of Hajna with a savage grin, patting her chubby belly, "I ate her! She tasted… spicy!"
With that, the fiery girl flashed, blinding them, aiming to beat down Simbad first, deeming his fluctuation of mana more dangerous than Ceiline's. His battle experience was what saved him, dodging Kyu's body and surrounding himself in a golden light simultaneously. Stretching his hands out, he replied to her attack with a beam of his own light, but Kyu simply spun around, opened her mouth, and swallowed, sending white flame crawling up his spell, aiming to consume him just the same.
"Hmf!" Simbad quickly canceled his attack, gaining distance, while Ceiline summoned vines, trying to get a hold of her.
"Yummy!" Kyu giggled, unbothered by Ceiline's interruption, as her plants simply burst into flames and became part of the ashen world just the same.
"I'm at a severe disadvantage here!" Ceiline shouted as the fire was her worst enemy, and by going what Hajna told them, she wouldn't be able to fight her with her claws either. However strong her scales were, looking at this strange sentient residue of a world-ending spell, she would risk being consumed by it.
"That is why we are a group!" Arrived a shout while Lia appeared from a distance, wielding her sword, blasting through the air like a meteor herself.
With a slash, she let loose a swath of crimson flames, aiming at Kyu's body, who laughingly welcomed it, and, with a deep breath, she consumed her flames like a vacuum cleaner.
"Yummy! I like you!" She roared, growing in size, ignoring everyone else, focusing on Lia only.
"Eat this!" A second voice came from Keily, who arrived from a different angle, throwing his electricity-covered fireballs at her.
"More! Give me more!" Kyu chomped at them, eating his spells like tasty treats. "Nyahahaha! Yum-yum! I am still hungry!"
"What is this thing?" Lia asked, surprised and now wary, noticing that the moment this weird being ate their spells, it grew in size and strength.
"We will tell you later, but we must do something about it now!" Simbad got back into position, and now four Misfits were surrounding Kyu.
"The rest?" Celine asked as they again bombarded Kyu with spells, but she just gobbled them up the same way.
"We appeared in separate places! I landed with Keily, but we didn't meet the rest yet, but they should be here somewhere!"
"Boss, this thing is creepy!"
"You are the creep!" Kyu retorted angrily.
"Let me handle her… I am good against fire!" Lia stepped forward, not holding back as her crimson flames turned blue in a snap, freezing the ashes around her, and turning them into a field of marble-like ice.
"Oh…" Kyu watched it, her face devoid of the previous cheeky playfulness. "Toobu would be interested in ya…" She licked her lips with a nostalgic smile. "Gimme a taste!" She jumped at Lia like a kid wanting to hug her, but everyone knew if she managed to do so, Lia would be set ablaze and turned into ash.
"Gladly!" She laughed, meeting her head-on. She wasn't about to risk her sword, so she let it burst out with all her strength, resulting in a sea of blue flames exploding out of it. It came forth so violently it pushed Lia back dozens of meters and engulfed Kyu as if she was standing before a tsunami of flames, trying to stop it with her bare hands.
"Ah, how cold, how yummy! I like desserts like this!" Her voice echoed out of Lia's flames, scaring the Misfits that it would even survive something that could freeze souls. "When we meet for real… let's have real fun! Nyahaha!"
Her laugh lingered for a long time in the air before Lia's flames died out, leaving behind nothing but a frozen boulder, encasing Kyu's spell-body like how mosquitoes get trapped in amber.
"Maybe," Lia answered her, slashing down, smashing the ice into thousands of pieces, destroying it for good. With a deep sigh, she put away her sword, turning towards Ceiline with a beaming smile. "Finally found you! What is happening here? This place is like a spooky underworld!"
"No joke!" Keily agreed, "And it is filled with ghosts like this one? Brrr!"
"It was a remains of a spell that destroyed this place." Simbad nodded, relieved to join up with Lia. "But she could tell you more!" He pointed towards Hajna, who was bound to her golden disk, unable to move from there, only watching the newcomers with interest.
"Really?" Lia asked, intrigued and measuring her figure before Hajna cupped her hands.
"My name is Hajna; I am the construct of the late Empress of the same name. I am the last known member of The Eternals… although I am not a living being, just a magical device, mimicking my Master."
"The Eternals…" Lia whispered, and the changing light in her eyes did not escape Hajna's eyes.
"You know about us." She stated, sounding a bit surprised and also hopeful.
"I do… A bit." Lia nodded, but when she wanted to say more, she couldn't.
"I see…" Hajna frowned, noticing the change in her sentence as she was forcefully stopped from saying anything. "A forceful Oath of Secrecy?" Hajna murmured, thinking loudly, surprising the rest, but Lia was now even more excited, hurrying before her, waiting for her to continue. "I have no knowledge about soul-based spells. I can't lift it for you…"
"Boss… you are under a spell?" Keily asked, looking gobsmacked, and Simbad immediately thought about the worst.
"Mother knows about it." Lia looked back over her shoulder, "It was placed on me to guard some… secrets. It is… troublesome."
"It was customary for every big power to have a method of stopping people from babbling out our secrets. Everybody used different methods! Yours was preferred by the Golden Claw Sect. If it were the Soulbound Sect, your soul would have been mindwiped or destroyed."
"What was yours?" Lia asked, feeling like she had hit the jackpot with this trip.
"The moment you wanted to betray our secrets, your body would erupt in starlight, burning you away," Hajna answered immediately.
"Ouch…" Keily and Ceiline drew a sharp breath simultaneously.
"I'd like to hear more!" Lia giggled, picking up the golden plate and studying it.
"It is a long story… but I'd happily share it!"
"Lia…" Simbad stepped up to her, but she just smiled at him reassuringly.
"Relax! Everything is fine~! Trust me!"
"Yes." Simbad nodded, returning her smile. There were only a few people who he truly did trust. Reyra and the Misfits were amongst those few.
Corty
Cameo of the most gluttonous panda ever~
Oh... and as Iamnotabot's request, here are the feet pics! Although AI also has the same issue with it as it has with hands, so it took a lot of generations to get some okay ones~ Expect some... weirdness!
Spoiler[collapse]
When Simbad dismantled the floor, it caused a chain reaction, making the whole spire tremble, and it began to collapse. They only had time to grab the golden, shining disc and jump off the heavily wobbling, spinning rock, landing on another randomly. Looking back, they watched it lose its balance and go berserk, ripping itself into multiple pieces, fully destroyed in minutes.
"That was not in my calculations." Hajna's voice came from the disc that flashed with yellow light every time she spoke.
"How are you?" Ceiline asked, watching Simbad intently, who shook his head.
"Fine. I feel nothing wrong, but keep your eyes on me." He answered, lifting the perfectly circular object and studying it.
"Marvelous…" Ceiline whispered, leaning close and checking out the complex magical diagram etched right into it. It was something she had never seen before, and if her own formations were hard to master, this one was like something alien.
"You can copy it. Our Empire had already fallen. No use in keeping secrets or withholding anything. If some of our legacies can resurface, I think I… I mean, Empress Hajna would be happy."
"Thank you." She smiled at the formation plate and copied it straight into her memory using her mana, recording a still image.
"Where to?" Simbad asked, looking around. They were standing on a pretty big chunk dotted with corpses of trees, making it look like a pincushion.
"This was the royal garden, I think," Hajna answered a little later. "I can't really tell for sure. We should just… walk around. If I feel one of the obelisks, I can point you in its direction."
"Will it even work?" He asked, suspiciously raising an eyebrow.
"It will, as long as this world exists, it is connected to the outside. No matter where the pillars are, they can't be destroyed. They can be damaged only if everything else is gone." She said, materializing and pointing towards the sky. "It is still there, which means the obelisks are, too, and you can activate them. When finished, you will be ejected! Seeing how ruined my home is… I think everything that is living will be sent out at once."
"You think. That is my main issue." Simbad added, but he had no better idea.
"Let's go!" Ceiline chuckled, nudging him, "It's best if we start looking!"
…
….
…..
"I feel something…" Hajna's voice interjected after more than two hours of searching, the first time she broke her silence.
"Is it an Obelisk?" Simbad asked at once.
"Maybe."
"Maybe?" Ceiline frowned, standing at the edge of a meteorite that was extremely ragged at the edges. They aimed at it precisely as they saw a colosseum-like ruin in the middle of it while it was floating over and above their previous location. It was seriously disorienting, jumping up and simply landing down on it, wholly scrambling their sense of direction.
"This place was part of the Avenue of Heroes with our Arena of Champions. We used to host martial tournaments here between our most promising fighters and settle grievances if any popped up amongst the ranks of nobility. We had a few occasions where an Emperor was also challenged to fight to the death and for the throne!"
"Really?" The two asked, surprised, but Hajna simply chuckled.
"Yes. It was rare, and never once they lost their position. Being an Emperor or Empress did not come freely! Anyone who managed to earn the title was not someone you wanted to trifle with!"
"What happened to you? I mean, to your original body?" Ceiline asked as they started walking, heading towards the half-collapsed arena.
"My guess is she died. She was a proud woman and someone powerful. Our magic relied on the stars, on the energy of the Cosmos. Watching your two, I realize that today's world focuses on the elements. Magic that is natural to Meriath, something that has been a part of it since its inception. Another clue that the Realm had been sealed shut."
"What is the big difference?" Simbad asked curiously.
"Using the cosmic energy for spells lets you adapt to different realms more easily. That is why ours had the most vassals! We could enter them much more easily and adapt our styles to their laws! To explain it in terms you would understand easily… our spells were most similar to yours, Simbad. It shared the most traits with light-based magic; only its color would have been… on the violet hue."
"Could I learn… spells like that?" He asked, intrigued by it even if he did not really trust Hajna yet.
"Maybe. I have the knowledge of the Last Empress. I could teach you… the problem is, you are untrusting, so I don't know if you would truly be willing to learn from me."
"True." He nodded, not denying her observation.
"Let's see how this plays out," Hajna answered for him, not angry at all; she fully understood his wariness. "I'd like to leave from here and spread the knowledge of the Eternals. So our proud Empire is not lost to time forever."
"See? This is why…" Simbad shrugged, glancing at Ceiline, who was much more trusting towards Hajna, "You are using words like 'leave' and 'spread.' Just so you know, we are very much raised to stop things from… spreading. We have enough problems already!"
"I know," Hanja replied after thinking briefly, "The Undead, you mentioned… yes? They do sound like something that the Soulbound leaders would have cooked up. They were… unique. We didn't really get along; my honest guess is that is why they did not come to help us when the Beast broke in. We were a good… sacrifice."
"That DOES sound like something an Undead would do." Ceiline snorted.
"Well- Danger!" Hajna warned them, interrupting her own sentence and shaking the two. Simbad hurriedly tossed the formation plate aside while Hajna materialized above it, pointing towards the Colosseum.
"What… is it?" Ceiline looked, trying to make out if what she was seeing was real or not.
"A remnant of the Beast's flame!" Hajna whispered, her voice filled with real, tangible fear. "Don't let it consume you!"
What they saw was a ball of white flame floating in place, burning silently. It was camouflaged into its ashen background, and weirdly, it produced no heat. It looked like a human-sized ember was frozen in time, stuck in between existence and illusion.
"I feel nothing coming from it…" Simbad whispered, but they did not dare to go closer. Hajna's tale of the destruction of her home did have an effect on their mind.
"It's best not to do anything but…" Hajna told them, recollecting herself, "But I do feel an obelisk inside. My guess is the flame is here because of it. It was a cornerstone of our sub-realm; the Beast must be guarding the exit!"
"Let me try!" Ceiline produced a little peashooter, patting its head, giving its instructions to sneak by and enter the Colosseum.
As it hurried along on its little, vine-like legs, the moment it tried passing by the white flame, it immediately reacted. Without warning, the flame trembled and morphed into the form of a little girl with white and black hair worn in pigtails. She chomped loudly, swallowing the peashooter in one bite and turning towards Ceiline and Simbad. Her chubby little body was made out of fire as she licked her lips, watching the two.
"Nyaaah, I knew some of you would come back!" The girl made out of flames giggled, patting her stomach.
"Is she… the Beast?" Ceiline asked, but Hajna shook her head. "No… She was much bigger and animalistic. Looking like a bear. A black and white bear."
"That is my real form!" She hopped closer, and with every step, the land cracked below her, and the old ash caught on fire once again, starting to glow in a sick color.
"We are not them!" Simbad shouted, his hands raised, making the girl stop. She leaned forward and sniffed a little, tilting her head left and right.
"You do smell different, although I can't be sure... I'm just a spell-body!"
"She is like an autonomous spell, left behind its creator," Hajna whispered. "Probably made from the residue of that monster's flame!"
"I am not a monster; I am Kyu!" The girl protested, stomping and making the cracks below her feet spread throughout the broken piece of land, collapsing the rest of the arena behind her. "You are the monsters for hurting my little sister!"
"We don't know what happened; we just… it was eons ago!" Ceiline tried to defuse the situation, but she wasn't listening.
"I will decide if that is true or not! But I know that woman!" She pointed at the image of Hajna with a savage grin, patting her chubby belly, "I ate her! She tasted… spicy!"
With that, the fiery girl flashed, blinding them, aiming to beat down Simbad first, deeming his fluctuation of mana more dangerous than Ceiline's. His battle experience was what saved him, dodging Kyu's body and surrounding himself in a golden light simultaneously. Stretching his hands out, he replied to her attack with a beam of his own light, but Kyu simply spun around, opened her mouth, and swallowed, sending white flame crawling up his spell, aiming to consume him just the same.
"Hmf!" Simbad quickly canceled his attack, gaining distance, while Ceiline summoned vines, trying to get a hold of her.
"Yummy!" Kyu giggled, unbothered by Ceiline's interruption, as her plants simply burst into flames and became part of the ashen world just the same.
"I'm at a severe disadvantage here!" Ceiline shouted as the fire was her worst enemy, and by going what Hajna told them, she wouldn't be able to fight her with her claws either. However strong her scales were, looking at this strange sentient residue of a world-ending spell, she would risk being consumed by it.
"That is why we are a group!" Arrived a shout while Lia appeared from a distance, wielding her sword, blasting through the air like a meteor herself.
With a slash, she let loose a swath of crimson flames, aiming at Kyu's body, who laughingly welcomed it, and, with a deep breath, she consumed her flames like a vacuum cleaner.
"Yummy! I like you!" She roared, growing in size, ignoring everyone else, focusing on Lia only.
"Eat this!" A second voice came from Keily, who arrived from a different angle, throwing his electricity-covered fireballs at her.
"More! Give me more!" Kyu chomped at them, eating his spells like tasty treats. "Nyahahaha! Yum-yum! I am still hungry!"
"What is this thing?" Lia asked, surprised and now wary, noticing that the moment this weird being ate their spells, it grew in size and strength.
"We will tell you later, but we must do something about it now!" Simbad got back into position, and now four Misfits were surrounding Kyu.
"The rest?" Celine asked as they again bombarded Kyu with spells, but she just gobbled them up the same way.
"We appeared in separate places! I landed with Keily, but we didn't meet the rest yet, but they should be here somewhere!"
"Boss, this thing is creepy!"
"You are the creep!" Kyu retorted angrily.
"Let me handle her… I am good against fire!" Lia stepped forward, not holding back as her crimson flames turned blue in a snap, freezing the ashes around her, and turning them into a field of marble-like ice.
"Oh…" Kyu watched it, her face devoid of the previous cheeky playfulness. "Toobu would be interested in ya…" She licked her lips with a nostalgic smile. "Gimme a taste!" She jumped at Lia like a kid wanting to hug her, but everyone knew if she managed to do so, Lia would be set ablaze and turned into ash.
"Gladly!" She laughed, meeting her head-on. She wasn't about to risk her sword, so she let it burst out with all her strength, resulting in a sea of blue flames exploding out of it. It came forth so violently it pushed Lia back dozens of meters and engulfed Kyu as if she was standing before a tsunami of flames, trying to stop it with her bare hands.
"Ah, how cold, how yummy! I like desserts like this!" Her voice echoed out of Lia's flames, scaring the Misfits that it would even survive something that could freeze souls. "When we meet for real… let's have real fun! Nyahaha!"
Her laugh lingered for a long time in the air before Lia's flames died out, leaving behind nothing but a frozen boulder, encasing Kyu's spell-body like how mosquitoes get trapped in amber.
"Maybe," Lia answered her, slashing down, smashing the ice into thousands of pieces, destroying it for good. With a deep sigh, she put away her sword, turning towards Ceiline with a beaming smile. "Finally found you! What is happening here? This place is like a spooky underworld!"
"No joke!" Keily agreed, "And it is filled with ghosts like this one? Brrr!"
"It was a remains of a spell that destroyed this place." Simbad nodded, relieved to join up with Lia. "But she could tell you more!" He pointed towards Hajna, who was bound to her golden disk, unable to move from there, only watching the newcomers with interest.
"Really?" Lia asked, intrigued and measuring her figure before Hajna cupped her hands.
"My name is Hajna; I am the construct of the late Empress of the same name. I am the last known member of The Eternals… although I am not a living being, just a magical device, mimicking my Master."
"The Eternals…" Lia whispered, and the changing light in her eyes did not escape Hajna's eyes.
"You know about us." She stated, sounding a bit surprised and also hopeful.
"I do… A bit." Lia nodded, but when she wanted to say more, she couldn't.
"I see…" Hajna frowned, noticing the change in her sentence as she was forcefully stopped from saying anything. "A forceful Oath of Secrecy?" Hajna murmured, thinking loudly, surprising the rest, but Lia was now even more excited, hurrying before her, waiting for her to continue. "I have no knowledge about soul-based spells. I can't lift it for you…"
"Boss… you are under a spell?" Keily asked, looking gobsmacked, and Simbad immediately thought about the worst.
"Mother knows about it." Lia looked back over her shoulder, "It was placed on me to guard some… secrets. It is… troublesome."
"It was customary for every big power to have a method of stopping people from babbling out our secrets. Everybody used different methods! Yours was preferred by the Golden Claw Sect. If it were the Soulbound Sect, your soul would have been mindwiped or destroyed."
"What was yours?" Lia asked, feeling like she had hit the jackpot with this trip.
"The moment you wanted to betray our secrets, your body would erupt in starlight, burning you away," Hajna answered immediately.
"Ouch…" Keily and Ceiline drew a sharp breath simultaneously.
"I'd like to hear more!" Lia giggled, picking up the golden plate and studying it.
"It is a long story… but I'd happily share it!"
"Lia…" Simbad stepped up to her, but she just smiled at him reassuringly.
"Relax! Everything is fine~! Trust me!"
"Yes." Simbad nodded, returning her smile. There were only a few people who he truly did trust. Reyra and the Misfits were amongst those few.
Corty
Cameo of the most gluttonous panda ever~
Oh... and as Iamnotabot's request, here are the feet pics! Although AI also has the same issue with it as it has with hands, so it took a lot of generations to get some okay ones~ Expect some... weirdness!
Spoiler[collapse]
