Petra left the combat hall with light steps, practically skipping away.
The distant echoes of the automatic repairs faded behind her as she stepped out onto the pathway leading to the main mansion.
The air felt cooler, refreshing, open, and familiar, carrying the faint scent of soil and grass.
The farmland stretched out ahead, both sides of the road expanding into layered fields filled with a countless number of fruits and vegetables, all thriving with vitality. Irrigation channels flowing with condensed spiritual energy stretched out underground, occasionally surfacing to shimmer softly in the bright afternoon sun. A few rune-marked 'posts' hummed quietly as they regulated the moisture and growth of the surrounding crops, each 'tuned' to a unique environment, allowing even unorthodox crops to grow peacefully in this place.
Petra walked past this all without thinking…
This path had become routine, because she often checked the garden for any new crops that the female servants planted. She wasn't in charge of gardening, so she naturally had no idea what was planted—
Mm, either that, or she was lazy and just wanted to take a look…
Author: "..."
Rose & Lira, Soryn, and the 'lost-in-thought' Noah followed behind.
They were all smelly, covered in sweat, and exhausted. The emotions from the spar had already drained away, and they all just wanted to return home to relax, before it was time to leave.
Rose rolled her shoulder, clearly sore. That was the downside of fighting hand-to-hand with a female body. Lira stretched, overflowing with a restless energy. She hadn't had enough fun in the previous fight before getting 'pancaked' against a wall.
Soryn walked in silence, her expression calm and reflective, seemingly engrossed in self-assessment.
They passed the farms and moved through the poison garden.
The dirt road darkened slightly, and the air changed immediately.
Thick-leaved purple plants lined the path, some glowing faintly, others overgrown and pulsating with a slow, toxic vitality that seemed to almost spill out across the path in a haze.
Noah looked around, brows furrowed.
She couldn't imagine how the others had gotten used to this place so quickly, because just standing in Petra's Poison Garden made her skin crawl with an overwhelming sense of danger. And she was right in thinking this, because if a normal person were to step foot in this place, they would probably melt…
Over the past year, it had gotten so bad that Petra patiently prepared a second wave of poison resistance for all the girls! What joy, what fun! It was very traumatizing, and far worse than last time!
There were a lot of crying flowers…
Mm, anyways… moving on—!
In the center of the poison garden rose an enormous open-style bathhouse. Steam drifted out lazily from its open frame, with warm mist curling out and spilling through the surrounding garden, turning what was already a relatively terrifying place into a spectral abyss.
Petra had not planned for this kind of special effect, but sometimes things just work out!
The sound of running water was softly carried on the wind, signifying the pre-prepared bath that was already filled by a team of female servants in advance.
Soryn was the first to stop.
She pointed.
"I'm heading there," she said, already turning away. "I need to wash myself, does anyone want to join me?" Her eyes looked from Petra to Noah, then to the two 'wet cats'…
Friendly reminder – Ice magic melts!
Lira grimaced, but was quickly dragged away, pulled by the tail loop towards the bathhouse by Rose, who didn't have the same irrational fear of water. Growing up as a savage, Lira had quite a few irritating habits that needed to be fixed, and bathing was just one of them. She had inherited these from her feline heritage, and unlike Rose, she had never had the chance to break them.
She was dragged, kicking, and screaming, towards the water, quickly disappearing through the thick canopy of the poison garden and towards the white building that poked out from just above.
Soryn followed them, already starting to strip.
There were no outsiders here, so she didn't care about being seen.
That left Noah with the pudgy Petra. She looked at her, then sighed. Noah followed Petra through the labyrinthine garden that, for some reason, seemed to almost create its own maze. They continued following the path out, then moved along the inner ring that circled the Emerald Ghost Trees' tree trunk.
The air here was calm, steady, almost reverent, a stark contrast to the unseen oppressiveness of the poison garden. They didn't continue into the grand plaza, instead, they followed the path around its circumference.
They walked around the trunk's wide base, then continued straight toward the western wing's entrance, one of the newly formed, smaller, tower gates that were built in the image of the main tower, only slightly smaller.
Petra was followed by Noah through a side entrance, the heavy doors parting at her approach. Inside, the western hall stretched in a long and wide curve, vaguely following the wide circumference of the Emerald Ghost Tree.
When they entered, the sound of the outside disappeared.
Their footsteps echoed faintly as they moved forward, passing dozens, no, hundreds of unique rooms, as the quiet corridor led them deeper into the mansion.
Noah stayed close by, hands in his pockets, unusually quiet.
At the 'end' of the western hall, they reached the heart of the mansion and the main tower.
The space opened up immediately. The floor of the main tower greeted them, filled with busy voices and packed bags. All the girls, named or not, were running back and forth, preparing to leave. Imagine your household before leaving on a family camping trip, it was like that! Mm…
Petra walked in—
She looked around, squinting her eyes dangerously. "It looks like… we're missing one…"
-
A short time later.
Petra slipped her way through the mansion, stepping around luggage, extra supplies, and the girls who argued over who had stolen whose stuff…
Petra swiftly ascended the tower, seeking 'the straggler'.
Soon, she reached the fourth floor, the laboratory.
inside the laboratory—
Jillian was still hard at work…
The black-haired elf was hunched over a rune-engraved table, sleeves rolled up, and hair tied back into a messy knot. Her eyes were sharp, unfocused, completely absorbed in the diagram that hovered in the air around her. Strange, soul-threaded constructs twisted above the table, appearing as half-formed entities stitched together from translucent light that connected to Jillian's ten fingers, a bit like a puppet.
What was she working on?
Who knows!
Author: I know…
Mm!
Several small jars floated nearby, each holding something that definitely shouldn't be alive. These were the experiments of a necromancer…
Petra blinked rapidly, a mischievous smile creeping onto her face as she stealthily approached.
"…Jillian~" She called out softly…
Jillian didn't respond.
"...Jillian~"
Jillian: "..."
Nothing…
"Jillian~" Petra tried again, slightly softer… but way louder!
The elf finally flinched.
Jillian: Slowly turns…
Petra: '^'
Jillian: "!!"
There was a pause, then—
She let out a high-pitched, startled squeak, spun around, Bang! and nearly fell backward onto a rack of tools after tripping over her comically large purple scarf. Her face smashed into the ground, but she shot back up in a blink, blood running from her nose.
Her eyes widened in 'pure, over exaggerated terror'.
"You're here!?" Jillian yelped. "Y-y-y, ah! W-what b-brings you here, l-little master!?"
Petra crossed her arms, snorting cutely. "It's time to go! Pack up!"
The words hadn't even left Petra's mouth—
Before Jillian screamed! "No—no—wait—I-I-I'm busy—!" She spun on her heel and bolted, running away into the unfathomable depths of the fourth-floor lab.
Petra watched in awe as the elf dove behind a stack of elemental stabilizers, knocking over a rack of magic beast bones, ignoring them as they clattered loudly, before disappearing into the library of experiments deeper into the space. If one didn't know, then perhaps they would mistake this shut-in for an award-winning gymnastics medalist!
"So…We're playing this game," Petra muttered, then stomped forward with her tiny little boots!
"Brat! Don't let this old lady catch you! Her little cursing was cute, in a very terrifying way…
What followed could be described as a cartoon-style SD chase...
Petra chased around tables and shelves as Jillian darted between workbenches, slipping under hanging arrays, and vaulted, er, tried to vault, over a large crate labeled 'EXTREMELY UNSTABLE', then hid behind a half-finished experiment, shrinking herself. After Petra's head extended around the corner like a horror movie villain, the ridiculous researcher ran even harder.
This continued for some time—
A glass tank filled with twitching soul-vines.
An insect prototype that waved politely with its top hat.
A living skull wearing googly goggles.
Some experiments were fascinating, others, mm, not so much, and some could even be described as deeply concerning! These weren't Petra's work, no, they were all Jillian's! If Elena had seen these, then she would cry knowing Petra had corrupted another very important future character!
"Jillian," Petra called flatly, stepping over a rune-carved trap that the elf had set for her.
"We're going on vacation! If I have to go, so do you! Thats the rules!"
"I don't need a vacation," Jillian cried from behind a bookshelf. "THE LAB NEEDS ME! Can't you understand! I THOUGHT WE WERE SOUL MATES!"
Petra clicked her tongue.
"I do, but it's the teacher's orders! Levy said something about bathing with capybara's or something, I can't afford to offend her! Don't you know that!?"
"What even is that!" Jillian yelled.
"I don't know!!" Petra yelled.
Some time later, Petra found her curled up under an inconspicuous desk, arms wrapped around a stack of 'very important notes'. Her eyes were watery...
"I have so much work to do," Jillian sniffed. "So many experiments! So many breakthroughs!! The soul research doesn't rest just because that psychopath wants to soak in some hot water!"
Petra sighed.
"Don't call Levy a psychopath… she'll hear it…"
Jillian: "…"
Mm, oh yeah, she forgot!
Swoosh! Petras hand flew over! She grabbed Jillian by the scarf and started dragging.
Regarding her complaint, she was right…
But it was Levy's orders! So… End of story!
She probably needed a vacation anyway, so it wasn't such a bad idea to go and relax a little. At least, a few days at a resort—
Couldn't hurt…
Right…?
Sigh! For a supposed salted fish, Petra was really busy!
It was all for the sake of never having to leave home again! Soon! Soon she would perfect 'that thing!'
When she did, she could do whatever she wanted without leaving!
Jillian clung to the floor, nails scraping the ground as she wailed, grabbing onto furniture, knocking over jars, and just generally being a menace to evict.
Petra kept walking.
Jillian kept resisting.
"Maybe," Petra muttered to herself, hauling the struggling elf towards the door, "my last poisonous beast could be a tentacle monster? Something with lots of tentacles to make stuff like this easier?"
The words echoed nowhere, but regardless of where—
Every girl froze, then trembled.
A collective shiver ran through the residence of the Verdelith Castle, even Soryn and the two pink cats.
Jillian stopped struggling.
"…D-don't," she whimpered weakly.
Petra smiled tiredly and kept dragging her toward the door.
-
Time passed slowly.
By the time Petra returned to the first floor, Jillian was already concussed, unconscious, and muttering things like 'you can't make me' and 'for science!'
Spoilers, she could…
The mansion had shifted into departure mode, and the majority of everything had already been moved outside, while Petra was fetching the black-haired shut-in elf.
She pushed through the main doors and stepped outside.
The front plaza was already crowded. Many of the girls were gathered near the map, with bags packed, and their chatter filling the air. Everyone looked eager, casually dressed in their unique outfits, and already prepared to take a break for a few days before the arc truly began to spiral downwards.
They all seemed to need a vacation anyway…
Petra noticed it too…
She wasn't 'that kind of boss', was she…? Mm, probably not!
Petra turned her head.
There, off to the side, was a large structure. Upon closer inspection, it was a long row of large 'carriages'. They had wheels, but they appeared more for decoration than anything else, a total of eight, stacked front to back, and pressed tightly together like the links of a chain. Below, each carriage had a unique structure, like a loop or a band, clearly meant for 'something' to slide inside. It was a heavy ring, reinforced with dark plates and an unusual 'locking mechanism' down its sides.
From afar, it appeared as a long caravan, only with slightly larger carriages, and a bit more style!
Petra stopped, examined it, and nodded.
She stared for a moment, then…
She whistled! Fweeeee—! Everyone looked towards the sound!
The wind blew. then—
With a soft 'poof', a small black centipede-shaped doll appeared beside her in a cloud of light.