No one knew what flashed through little Elfe’s head; she saw Ling below, and like sworn rivals crossing paths, she jumped from the floating island’s cloud-bright rim without a blink.
Ling was still marveling, heart drifting like a kite, at a floating island sharper than any game render; Elfe’s falling silhouette, a leaf in the sky, didn’t even register.
Only when Elfe’s shadow skimmed her face, like a bird’s wing dipping, did Ling jolt, eyes wide as moons at the girl dropping straight toward her.
She could’ve dodged, but for some reason she froze, rooted like a young tree; the two little terrors collided, in the truest, bone-to-bone sense.
No brakes, no clever spell, just a plunge from maybe ten thousand meters; they hit, and the ground took the blow, blooming a fresh crater like a dark flower.
“Get off! Don’t crush me!” Ling’s voice sparked like flint.
“Hah? Being pinned by the great Elfe is a joy, isn’t it?” Elfe’s laugh rang, bright as bells, cheeky as a cat.
“Hah?! What do you think you are? A pint-sized brat trying to tease me? You clearly haven’t met the fury of Lady Ling!” Her words lashed like a whip.
“Eh? Ah! Wait—don’t touch there!” Elfe yelped, voice hopping like a startled sparrow.
Even Newton couldn’t make them bruise; gravity slid off like rain off lotus leaves, and they still had breath to tumble and bicker in the dust.
Alicia watched the two roll on the ground like two cubs in spring grass, helplessness rising like a tide; her hand went to her brow on reflex.
At some point Amelia had blinked in by teleport and appeared at Alicia’s side; she mirrored the gesture, fingers to her forehead, and sighed like a soft breeze.
“Hey, Amelia, why stir up such a big scene?” Alicia’s tone dropped like a pebble into still water.
Alicia chose to talk to Amelia to steady her mind, and, whether fate’s thread or simple timing, Amelia leaned into the same rhythm.
“You mean this spell? It’s loud by nature, like thunder in a bowl of sky; I can’t help that.”
“No, just teleporting isn’t much; people forget smoke after it clears. I mean, why leave the forest hanging in the sky, a banner bigger than a storm?”
“You know the Elvenfolk dislike humans,” Amelia said, voice cool as shade under pines.
Alicia thought, then smacked her palm, a spark catching on dry tinder. “So it’s to stop humans from walking in from the ground, right?”
“Mm, that’s it. If it’s for trade talks, fine; this is more to screen out humans with bad intentions, like a sieve catching grit.”
Alicia understood Amelia’s worry; among humans, dark thoughts breed like weeds, and she’d seen Elves enslaved before, chains like winter frost. That Amelia could set that aside at all was a balm, but still—
“But the thing is huge,” Alicia muttered, eyes lifting; it loomed like a whale adrift among clouds.
“Sure. We Elvenfolk love freedom; a bigger home is just a bigger sky to breathe.”
“Can you throw a masking spell on it?” Alicia asked, the idea glinting like a fish in clear water.
“Why make it that troublesome?” Amelia tilted her head, calm as a lake.
“Think about it. Won’t humans fear a sudden island overhead, like a sword in the clouds? You can’t cover that up; the Empire can’t blind a city with a curtain. People have eyes, not shutters; mass panic would spread like wildfire.”
“So you’d like me to hide it, give the Empire room to maneuver?” Amelia’s gaze settled, level as a horizon.
“Yeah, that’s the gist,” Alicia said, voice steady as a held breath.
Amelia spread her hands, leaves letting go of light. “No need. The whole city’s seen it; hide it now, and you seed more suspicion, more dread, and rumors will run like wolves. One mouth to ten, ten to a hundred, and the panic could howl louder.”
Alicia froze for a beat, thoughts circling like swallows; Amelia was right. Human suspicion is a thorny vine, and in the end it would scratch the Mystic Realm.
Better to show it openly, let it hang like the moon; if they want to gawk, let them, and let it die down into dinner talk and idle smoke.
“Alright, since you put it that way, then this matter—”
“Besides, even if you begged me, I couldn’t do it,” Amelia cut in, voice light as drifting pollen.
“Why not? Don’t the Elvenfolk handle most kinds of magic?” Alicia asked, brows lifting like drawn bows.
“We do. Even the invisibility spell you’re thinking of is on the shelf.”
“Then why not use it?”
“I’m out of mana~” Amelia smiled as she said it, sweet as dew on petals.
If you’re truly out of mana, you’d faint like a candle in wind, not grin and open a portal, Alicia thought, doubt flickering like a moth.
As if reading her, Amelia explained, tone gentle as moss. “I only lack the mana for those big spells; I have enough to keep myself moving and to toss a few lights.”
“Oh, I see,” Alicia murmured, her breath smoothing like a calm pond.
“But… I do have bad news for you,” Amelia added, a cloud drifting over sun.
“What bad news?” Alicia’s heart tightened, a drumbeat in her chest.
“I made a teensy calculation error on the way here~” Amelia sang, like a lark pretending innocence.
“And then?” Alicia asked, voice thin as a drawn thread.
Amelia lifted one finger and pointed at the floating island, tilting her head; a sweet smile blossomed like a peach flower on her face.
“Mana came up short, the array can’t keep running, and the floating island’s about to lose its tether and fall~”
