Misadventures Incorporated

Claire floated in the sky, her eyes half closed as she lounged atop a cloud. She was not in her humanoid form, but her tiniest one, as was sometimes the case when she went for her morning flights. Extending her tail and stretching out her arms, she basked in the dawning wind, allowing it to carry her to and fro.

The sun had yet to rise above the horizon. Even from high above the clouds, the most she could see were a few hints of pink and purple. But everyone was already wide awake.

She'd only really intended on bringing Sylvia, Rubia, and Boris along at first, but she ran into Arciel as she flew past the castle's roof. The queen's presence naturally demanded Chloe's as well, which then snowballed into the rest of the delegation joining her above the sky.

Somehow, even Marcelle had managed to find herself in the mix. The silly sea cow had accidentally warped into a nearby dungeon. After escaping and discovering the city's festive mood, she'd naturally wandered over to explore. Though not quite capable of speech, she was intelligent enough to understand other people's words, and as such, no one had really questioned her presence, even as she floated about. She blended in so well, in fact, that the delegation had only discovered her because she'd found Boris and challenged him to a duel of naps.

The manatee served as a sort of kickoff for everyone to begin extending invitations willy-nilly. Lana grabbed her sister, Arciel brought some of the other Vel'khanese royals, Rubia invited Beatrice, the maid that was in charge of taking care of her that morning, while Krail apparently decided that it'd be a great idea to summon his family. That nearly prompted Rubia to invite Virillius, but Claire stopped her short, kidnapped Mariabelle, and headed into the sky with everyone else transported through a series of vectors.

It was more so a factor of time than it was any other sort of resistance.

Sunrise was just a few minutes away.

That alone wouldn't have made much of a difference on any other day, but the solstice was special. Case in point, the many people who had gathered to watch the same event. Winged horsepeople pranced through the sky with lamia and elves on their backs. Thorae buzzed amidst the clouds whilst hoisting cottontails over their shoulders. They were all gathered to see the very same sight—the moment that the goddess appeared.

It started with a shift in the heavens. The rays that illuminated the horizon slowly began to spread beyond it. As if refracting through a prism, they broke into a whole spectrum of colours and ate away at the starry canvas. The intermediary stage lasted for maybe five minutes before the goddess finally poked her head above the edge of the world. She was not the usual bright sphere, but a giant fiery bird just dim enough to be observed.

She met each spectator's eyes in turn, burning the glory of her golden, ceremonial garb into their eyes before twirling up into the sky.

And then there was light.

The rosy violets that had dotted the furthest parts of the sky faded in favour of a brilliant orange, a gentle but all encompassing warmth that filled the world with colour.

The mixed reds and blues were painted over the fields instead. Flowers of all different shapes and sizes opened their buds in time with the solar ascension, creating a wave of colour that spread with the expanding light. The distant shades unified as they reached Valencia's immediate vicinity and blended into a brilliant gold.

Rikael's divinity flooded the fields, further enhancing the already aureate plantlife with its vibrant vitality. The observers too were basked in her infinite energy and filled with the essence of life. For some, that meant freedom from their curses, while for others, it was a moment of absolution—a time for them to confess their wrongdoings and seek the goddess' judgement.

Not all of the trialed were forgiven. Some were burned by the light, made to suffer for the pain and hurt they inflicted, while others were turned straight to ash and removed from the mortal plane. It was not always as punishment. There were certainly dozens upon dozens of criminals who were made to endure her adjudication, but many others had voluntarily sought the light so that they could be relieved of the burdens they bore.

In any case, it was none of Claire's business. She simply sat in the sky, mreeping quietly as she watched the goddess climb her celestial ladder.

Still staring, she thought back to the many times she'd watched the rising sun. When she was little, it was always with her mother. They sat together on the manor's edge nearly every year. That was probably why she'd gotten into the habit of getting up early to begin with.

It warmed her to know that Violet was likely watching the very same sunrise from her place in Aurora's castle, but only a little. They would surely be able to recreate their memories in just one year's time if everything went according to plan.

There was no guarantee that it would.

Claire had gotten much stronger, but she needed to grow far more powerful if she wanted to take down the hunter and perhaps even the goddess of war. She would need to set out again once the proxy war ended and spend as much time as possible further honing her strength. She didn't really mind the act itself, but it would probably be lonely.

It was strange how much she dreaded it.

It wasn't like she didn't want to sit down and grind. She liked the idea of reigning over the food chain and serving no purpose but her own, but at the same time, she couldn't help but see how it changed the way she was treated.

She had never quite integrated into the brigade. They did at least see her as an ally, but she was kept at arm's length. And sure, half that was the fault of her personality—she hadn't exactly opened up to them the way she'd opened up to Sylvia, Arciel, or Natalya—but the difference in their overall strength had played a part as well. She knew they considered her as more of an authority figure or a mentor than a comrade, and that they didn't really feel like she'd truly fought by their sides.

Perhaps sensing her melancholy, Sylvia floated over, paddling through the air like a dog in the water, and gave the tiny snoose a bit of a nuzzle. Boris did the same from the other side right after, which prompted Marcelle to pop up beneath them and put them atop her back.

Claire wanted to push them away. It felt like she was being squeezed a little too closely for comfort, but she breathed a bit of a sigh and allowed them to do as they pleased.

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The discomfort lasted for all of thirty seconds before it was interrupted by the crinkling of a paper bag. Claire didn't even need to look or listen more closely to know that it was the Penhorns, each of whom had already grabbed a snack from the floating basket and started nomming away. It was a wonder how they'd even managed to bridge the gap. They weren't exactly capable of flight and the food had been placed on the other side of the crowd.

Claire slowly shook her head, but cast a spell and floated a whole mountain of brunch-time treats out into the air around them, far more than what could have been held in the container—there was a portal into the castle's kitchen at the very bottom, and the chefs had readily agreed to help with Rubia thrown into the mix.

That was all it took for the party to explode into a ball of noise. Arciel beguiled her cousins and aunts with a recount of the many battles she fought on her way up north. It was a stark contrast to Krail, who stayed uncharacteristically silent while lazily floating around with his family in peace. Lana was catching up with her sister, Mariabelle was chatting with Beatrice, and Jules was off floating around, sharing drinks and snacks with all the other parties nearby.

Claire and her animals were the only ones that mostly sat silent. For a second, she couldn't help but wonder if it would've been so quiet if Lia was still around, but she quickly dismissed the thought and returned her eyes to the sun.

The next four months were going to be rocky. But everything would be settled by the end of the year, one way or another.

Claire shook her head, mreeped, and bit into the nearest sandwich. She'd brooded for more than long enough. There was no point in lamenting the future with the brightest day of the year ahead of her.

"Want to try racing to Vel'khagan and back?" She briefly glanced at Rubia as she made the suggestion. There wasn't going to be any real way they could include her in the activity, but her sister didn't seem to mind and even returned the silent apology with a bashful but gentle smile.

"I thought you'd never ask," said Sylvia, with a giggle. "Oh, wait! Actually, let's make this a little more interesting. You get on Boris and I'll get on Marcelle."

"That won't even be a contest. Boris is an aspect. Marcelle is a dumb potato."

The dumb potato vibrated and crooned in protest.

"Marcelle says she's fiercely intelligent."

"I'd say she's more of a plagiarist. Because that's my line."

"Oh, come on! They're just words," said Sylvia with a giggle. "Anyway, are we racing or not?"

"Maybe once you get all that tuna off your snout."

"Oh, shush!" Sylvia quickly wiped her face clean of her meal's remnants. "Are you ready?"

"What is it that you are preparing for?" asked Arciel as she floated over.

"We're racing to Vel'khagan and back," said Sylvia. "You're welcome to join if you can find a mount! Maybe you can convince one of those flying centaurs or something?"

"That shan't be necessary. I have just the candidate," said Arciel, with a laugh.

"You do?" Sylvia tilted her head.

"Of course." The queen nodded. "Chloe."

"Yes?"

"I don't like where this is going," said Claire.

"What do you mean?" asked Sylvia.

"You don't want to know."

"Uhh… okay?" Sylvia blinked thrice before redirecting her curiosity towards the squid, who only shook her head and laughed.

"I do believe I owe you a reward?"

The maid's eyes lit up, gleaming as bright as the sun. "Right now?" she squeaked. "In front of all these people?"

"Does that pose a problem?"

"Not at all. In fact, that might be better," said Chloe. A disturbing, eerie laugh escaped her throat as she wiped the drool leaking from her lips. The accompanying laughter was low-pitched and vulgar, almost irritating enough for Claire to smack her.

"Then your reward shall be to serve as my mount."

"Right away, Mistress!" The half-vampire flapped her hip-wings excitedly as she floated in front of the queen and got down on all fours. To Claire's dismay, Arciel soon got on top, as would a child playing horsey.

"I don't know if I want to be a part of this anymore," Claire mreeped, quietly.

"I had long promised a reward for her service and loyalty." Arciel frowned while Chloe produced a pair of reins from out of thin air and fastened them around her face. The queen was slightly hesitant to accept them, but eventually gripped them in her hands and gave them a bit of a tug. "And it is not as if I had another choice of mount."

"You could always ask Panda," said Sylvia. "He's probably got a few decent ones tamed."

"I would rather not," said Arciel. "While I certainly do not believe my current circumstances to be... sanitary, they are certainly preferable to owing Panda any more than I do. He is far too cunning to be trusted."

"Acting serious doesn't really work when you're sitting on that," said Claire.

"Hey, calling her 'that' is mean!" said Sylvia. "I know she's kind of a weirdo, but she's still our friend!"

"You can only say that because you're desensitized."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you already forgotten that you were raised by Alfred Llarsse?"

"Oh, right..." Sylvia stuck out her tongue and scratched the back of her head. "I mean, sure, Al's a little weird, but that's not the point."

"Right…"

Chuckling at the exchange, Arciel turned to Rubia. "Could you please give us a signal to begin?"

The tiny homunculus nodded and raised her hands in front of her. All three racers turned towards the horizon and ordered their mounts forward as she clapped. Marcelle's first leap was the most impressive. Twirling through the air, she teleported nearly five full kilometers away. Evidently, she'd at least developed some degree of control over the ability, even though she'd moved in the wrong direction.

Chloe was a close second. Fueled by some sort of ungodly motivation, she rapidly beat her tiny little wings and darted across the sky. Her speed was high enough that she was at risk of breaking from the planet's orbit. A few seconds of directional mismanagement could very well have turned her into a shooting star.

And then there was Boris, who summoned his god-given pillow and planted his face atop it.

Claire wasn't too worried. He was the only one that had caught onto the trick—he'd spent a few moments eyeing the portal in the middle of town before yawning, making himself comfortable, and promptly going to bed. In reality, the nap was a feint. He was going to teleport to and from the goalpost the moment that the others were out of sight. Or at least that was the goal.

There was only one problem. He had really fallen asleep.

Claire wrapped her tail around him and gave him a solid shake after Marcelle vanished beyond the right side of the horizon, but after yawning for just long enough to bestow a glimmer of hope, he immediately closed his eyes and passed out again. Claire frowned at first, but eventually dismissed all hopes of competing with a sigh and joined him atop his blessed bed.