NOVEL NEXT Life 35 - Chapter 55 - When Life Gives you a Crystalline Biology
The summit meeting lasted for two days. [Kings] had places to go and edicts to issue. Arista took the airships to the Scorched Continent through the Ethereal and I took the airships to Auvanini in the same dimension but in another direction.
Each ruler received a personal airship of the same model we promised Elizabeth. Something that could be used for fast personal travel but not for war or trade. They didn't even have the Adamantite hull our warships had. It was plain wood. Not plain. Enchanted.
During the trip, I returned the journals of the Auvani Royal family to the King, along with some important tomes and all the enchanted items in the treasury of the palace I took. I had copies of all of them in the [Lost Sage's Encyclopedia] anyway. That helped shore the remains of the burnt bridge between us. But the fact that I killed his sister remained, regardless of guilt. What he didn't see was that I spared him. My hope was that history would delegate that episode to a sobering tale about usurping divinity. Yes, that's how I will steer the narrative through the Church.
They left some people behind as liaisons. For Espero, it was Eleanora, to Barbara's delight. Renyn, the eternal wanderer, took a fairy ring to wherever. I had no idea but I knew we would meet again. Perhaps Clovehaven was too happy for his tastes. Not that he finds delight in suffering, it was the opposite. He was one of the most empathic elves I knew of and his whole gimmick gravitated around sharing the pain.
After my return from the escort quest, which gave me fuck all Experience points because it wasn't a real Quest, we had a hard work ahead of us. We needed to craft more airships, copy hundreds of books for the Academy libraries, and train more [Priests].
Clovehaven island was officially open for business. Airship trips around the world started to be offered for wealthy individuals. It couldn't be helped. Airship construction was expensive, and the crew needed to be highly specialized. We weren't making a profit out of these trips yet. All the money went into wages and supplies to build more airships.
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I found myself lying on a rock at the fairy forest at the edge of Clovehaven's territory. It sprung up in the human lands that were lifted when the massive chunk of moon we were on top of was hauled into the sky. I was in my book form, doing what mimics do best, with Miriel lounging on top of my cover.
"Brother Nethe, do you think it will take long before more Crystal Fairies spawn?" She asked.
Yes, if I called the Goddess my mother, it was obvious Miriel was my sister. I guess Sariandi was too but who cares about her?
"It's boring to be the only one of my kind."
"Oh," she raised her head and stared down at my cover. "I'm sorry."
I brought up a ribbon to pet her head.
"Can you make me a friend? Can mom make another Crystal Fairy?"
Her plea struck me deeply. Could mom make another Crystal Fairy? Yes. If she had a soul willing to become one. The Matriarch could create any of her creatures and breathe life onto them. It was no different than weaving a new Silk-Folk. It was very expensive as the body wouldn't be spun out of whole cloth. Well, except if she was making a Silk-Folk, but that was not the case. Out of thin air, there. A better metaphor.
She blew me a raspberry. "Boring! You are my brother!"
I then used my shapeshifting ability to transform myself into a Crystal Fairy. I had the power to assume the shape of any creature I've ever been born as or helped bring forth into this world. I could probably imitate the shape of other creatures as well but it would be exactly that. A poor imitation. No, this transformation was the real deal. I wasn't a book mimic transformed into a Crystal Fairy. I became one. Temporarily.
But I wasn't made of diamond. I chose a vivid mandarin garnet as my gemstone, a bright and strong orange. The Truesilver wings on my back were those of a dragonfly and not a butterfly like Miriel's. The delicate wire lace patterns inside the frame were also different.
I glanced down at my chest and didn't see the pearl I expected in there. Instead, I could see the Truesilver wires of the wings bent in the shape of a ribcage and then the whole skeleton, with a ruby cut in the shape of a heart in the middle a bit to the left. The [Living Silk] mesh spread all around my insides, forming what seemed like a circulatory system albeit invisible because it had the same refractive index as the gemstone. The ruby heart pulsated, sending vibrations and Mana down the Living Silk like blood.
Miriel flew and hovered in front of me. "Brother?"
"Yes, that's me," I spoke with my garnet mouth.
She grinned, then poked me in the belly, "You look more like a sister now!"
"I can be your sister, then. When I'm in this form."
She squealed and hugged me. "You are so pretty! Your gemstones have color! I'm transparent!"
I guess it was people's nature to envy what was different and exquisite. Miriel suffered a lot with the dignitaries' gazes during the summit. That's why I took a break and came here with her while Barbara went to the surface for some shopping with Eleanora and Elizabeth.
But why would she think being transparent... "You shine with all the colors. I can only ever be orange."
"Uh, I guess it's an advantage."
"And you might get a Perk to change colors later on. It's rather (Uncommon) only."
"Nice!"
I could feel that my form was how the Crystal fairies were supposed to look. Not only wings but a Truesilver skeleton... wait, did I have a Truesilver skull? That would be weird.
I conjured a mirror and looked at my face. My eyes were blue sapphires and my hair was a light purple. But no, I didn't have a metallic skull. Instead, the gemstone of my head was fuzzy, the insides milky although the skin was still shiny gemstone.
The skeleton part was hard to swallow. I flexed my will a bit and made the rest of my body the same fuzzy milky opaqueness as my head, concealing the bones. The few millimeters around the surface of my gemstone body were still clear and shiny just like the head. It also hid my ruby heart but the red glow still pierced through.
"You look better now," Miriel said.
A stray thought went through my head. Why haven't any Crystal Fairies spawned yet? And why wasn't my shape and body structure well defined? "Miriel, fly with me. Let's check the cave they made to spawn more Crystal Fairies.
We flew to the cave where the Elders decorated with gemstones. It was like the inside of a geode but instead of a single quartz crystal, it had all of them. Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, some of them uncut but a few polished facets catching the meager rays of the sun and bedazzling any looking into the cave.
I could feel the magic of the ambient and tell it was perfect to spawn Crystal Fairies. Why weren't they coming out? This grove was still way under the population limit for fairies. Something was missing. Miriel landed behind me and touched my wings. Despite them being made of solid metal, I still had a sense of touch because I could detect vibrations and disturbances in the Mana circulation inside them.
"This place is so beautiful but so lonely. The pixies and nixies don't come here. They don't want to disturb this place."
It was incomplete. I felt Miriel's touch on my wings and then it clicked. This cave didn't have Truesilver enough to spawn the fairies. This is what was missing from it. I had some Truesilver cylinders with me but would they work? They weren't "natural". But on second thought, we use household items to spawn brownies and silkies. I went back to where I left my silk cover and took one such cylinder from my storage.
Miriel tried to help me carry it but the cylinder was too heavy for her. I slid the metal rod into my cover and put the strap over my neck. With some effort, I hoisted it and flew back to the cave.
I searched for a good place, trying not to think how stupid I was. I could've stored the cylinder back and just flew here with the empty silk... well, it's done now. I found a good spot at the back where the metal would be hidden by some crystal formations and put it there.
I felt a rush of magic as the Mana of the cave was drawn to the Truesilver and then spread out into the gemstones. Miriel squealed and I felt it in my own body. The magic entered her body, then flowed into mine, and back to the gemstones.
A ruby shook and cracked, sending some red powdered gemstone around. Flakes fell and vanished as they converted into magic. silvery wires spread from the gem and unfolded, forming a shape like bee wings. The newborn Crystal Fairy shook the ruby dust off her body... and was immediately tackled by Miriel.
"Sister!"
The two tumbled down the crystals, laughing. I felt proud. I also collected the ruby dust and slivers that broke off from the newborn fairy's crystal.
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They eventually climbed out of the crystal forest, laughing all the way. Miriel didn't let go of the new fairy but the latter didn't seem bothered by it.
"Hello," I told the newborn Fairy. "Sorry about my sister, she was rather anxious to see you."
"I was! Oh, I waited so long for you!" Miriel cheered.
"It's... it's fine. I'm glad I could cheer you up." The new fairy told to Miriel.
"Hum! You are the same color as my eyes!" Miriel rapid-fired. "But your eyes are green."
"Like emeralds," I added. Her hair was green too.
The new fairy's body structure was like mine. A diffuse opaque inner body and a clear gemstone exterior.
"What's your name? Did you choose one already? I'm Miriel!" She unilaterally shook the fairy's hand like she'd seen the dignitaries do.
"No, I didn't pick a name yet. I mean, my outside name."
Fairies had a true name they never told anyone.
"I can't think of a good one, darn it!" Miriel struck her head, causing a tinkling sound.
"It might be a bit on the nose," I hedged, "but since you're born from a ruby, how about Rubina? Carmine? Carmen?"
"All boring names!" Miriel protested. "Don't take any of those."
I summoned the [Lost Sage Encyclopedia], the book almost crashing into the gemstones on both sides. This was a grotto for fairies, not people.
"Mom's book!" Miriel screeched in joy.
"Search all given names references for red." I asked the Encyclopedia. "Here's a good one. Rao. It's the name of a star from where a superhero came from."
The two fairies were leaning on my wings, looking over my shoulders. "I know what a [Hero] is, but what is a superhero?"
I explained to them about Superman, reading from the book because my memories of Earth were locked. The fairies were excited with the story and the concept of superhero, which didn't seem that alien when one had deities and [Wizards] and people who could actually pull that off wandering around.
"I want to be called Kal-Rao-El," the ruby fairy decided. "And I want that symbol here," she waved a hand over her sculpted Barbie doll chest.
"Nice to meet you, Kal-Rao-El," I bowed.
"That name is a mouthful. Why not shorten it to Kalael? It sounds like mine!" Miriel protested with a cute pout.
We both laughed at her funny face.
"Okay, then. You may call me Kalael! But I still want the emblem. And the cape."
"A cape will get in the way of your wings, silly!" Miriel, now in a bad mood, grumbled.
it was ridiculously easy to weave a shirt for our new fairy friend. In no time Kalael had a blue and red sleeveless dress with the iconic "S" emblem in the front. The dress had an open back and tied around her neck to allow her to don and doff the dress around her wings.
Kalael flew around and did some twirls, causing her skirt to balloon. And now that she was wearing clothes, I had to also make her wear some shorts underneath. She had nothing going on down there but it felt right.
"Wait. Stop. Pause. Halt!" Miriel shook out of her stupor.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Yes, what's wrong, sister Miriel?" Kalael landed next to us.
"What do you think you're doing?" She pointed at Kalael.
"Flying? Enjoying my new clothes?" The red fairy answered, confused.
Miriel covered her Barbie doll anatomy with her hands. Her **transparent** hands. "Yes! That! Since when we're allowed to WEAR clothes?"
Woe is you, innocence lost.
The jump from allowed to required was a surprisingly short one. After we recovered from our fit of laughter, I wove her a yellow floral dress with an M for Miriel in the front. And then a night dark blue with tiny shooting stars streaking all over the fabric for me.