"F… fly? Frieren, what are you talking about?" Lucy said, her hand flying to her mouth in confusion.
Frieren stepped forward, holding her hand. Lucy didn't resist, her steps dragging as if something were tugging at her ankles.
"L… Lucy! Don't you dare go with that suspicious creature!" Lucy's father shouted, spreading his arm out.
"Wh… why won't my body listen to me?" he thought as sweat dripped from his temple.
Frieren didn't respond; her gaze shifted to the clouds.
The siren carved through the street like a blade of sound.
I should move, or another blue army will come, she thought.
Pink light gathered around her legs in a soft, dangerous bloom.
Lucy's heart hammered against her ribs, not purely from fear, but from the way Frieren looked at the sky, calm and determined, as if flight were the most natural thing in the world.
A faint pulse throbbed under her feet, humming against the floorboards.
Mike ducked behind the counter, shaking so hard the bottles rattled beside him.
"Mommy, help!!!" he shouted, covering his head.
Lucy's fingers tightened instinctively around Frieren's hand, fear and wonder tangled in her breath.
Both of them hovered in the sky.
Lucy didn't shout or resist; instead, she closed her eyes as if it were the last moment of her life.
She felt the world peel away beneath her feet.
Frieren relaxed her hand, and it slipped from Lucy's.
"D… don't leave me!! I'm going to drop!!!" Lucy cried as wind pressed against her cheeks, tears falling.
Frieren's arms opened with a softness that didn't match the chaos around them, letting Lucy fall into them.
"F… Frieren!!" she said.
The sky swallowed their silhouettes as they rose.
The city lights blurred into streaks of color as they steadied in the air.
A small gasp escaped her lips, then she relaxed and hugged Frieren, her head digging into her chest.
Her breath warmed Frieren's chest as she held on.
"Are you sure, hugging me like this? You're not going to see the city from above?" Frieren asked.
Frieren held her as if she weighed nothing at all.
"I don't mind… I already feel good," Lucy said with a smile, her eyes closed.
Frieren's eyes softened for a brief moment, a tiny, almost imperceptible flicker of reassurance, before her expression returned to its usual calm.
She kept staring forward, silent for a moment.
"Uhm… do you know where the closest inn is?" Frieren's voice floated through the wind, soft.
"Inn?" Lucy stared at Frieren's face in confusion.
Oh right… she's not from our world. I bet she means a hotel, Lucy thought.
Lucy lowered her head toward the ground; the whole city spun beneath her like a living map.
Lights blurred, cars merged, and then she lifted her head again in fear, her fingers curling into Frieren's clothes instinctively.
Lucy swallowed hard, her pulse thudding against Frieren's shoulder.
Frieren glanced down at her, unreadable, but her thumb shifted slightly, just enough to steady Lucy's hand without drawing attention to it.
"Try again," Frieren said, her voice soft but carrying a strange authority.
Lucy lowered her head again; this time the image settled.
"Turn to the right, next to that red building," she said, pointing her finger, but her smile vanished as soon as she did.
Frieren didn't hesitate, she moved like someone who had already judged the danger.
She rushed like a bullet toward the red building, the air cracking around them as she accelerated.
Lucy's breath caught as the world tilted and blurred.
Once she spotted an empty alley, she threw Lucy.
The wind swallowed Lucy's scream before it even left her throat.
Her body spun once, weightless, before gravity dragged her downward.
I didn't believe you would do this to me, Frieren!! she thought.
So my father and that policeman didn't lie ?… you're not a good p—
Thud!
Frieren caught her with a precision that felt almost inhuman.
She found herself in Frieren's arms before she even realized it.
"I made you float a bit in the air before you dropped so you wouldn't get hurt,"
Frieren said, gently laying Lucy on the ground.
Lucy grabbed her head.
"It was fun," Lucy's laugh coming out shaky, the adrenaline still buzzing under her skin.
"So that's the inn? The one beside the red building?" Frieren's gaze shifted directly to the green hotel.
"It is…" Lucy said.
Frieren blinked slowly, as if replaying the moment in her head—not out of concern, but to verify the physics of the catch had gone exactly as she intended.
Lucy's legs trembled slightly as she tried to stand.
Frieren tilted her head, studying the hotel's lights. "I see," she whispered.
Lucy brushed dust off her clothes, still dazed from the fall and the catch.
Lucy's arms wrapped around Frieren before her mind could catch up.
"Frieren, let's do it again!!"
"Sorry, Lucy…" Frieren's refusal landed heavier than her tone suggested.
"W… why?! Unfair!! Frieren!!"
"But not until the blue army stops following me. You know that well…" Frieren said, her hand slipping into her cloak's pocket.
Huh? My golden coin is gone, the missing coin nudging a tiny crease into her brow.
It was the only one I had left… besides the dwarf's one.
Never mind....
This paper may have some benefit, she thought as she pulled the bill out.
Lucy leaned closer, curiosity sparking despite her lingering dizziness.
The hotel's neon sign buzzed faintly, washing them both in green light.
"Humans use these now… instead of coins? A man told me to get some food with it," she murmured, placing the bill into Lucy's hand as if it were already hers.
"A-a 100?!! That's too much!! I'm not taking it!!" Lucy waved her hands.
Frieren's fingers enclosed Lucy's, gentle but unyielding, stopping her frantic hands.
"I don't know if they'll give your father those eyes… but I hope he doesn't get mad," Frieren said softly.
Then she turned, adding, "Bye for now, Lucy."
Lucy's lip trembled as Frieren stepped away. Then she shouted, bowing slightly,
I hope she really comes back… I don't want this to end, Lucy thought.
"This is not the first and the last time we fly together, right? Right??" Lucy asked desperately.
Frieren paused mid-step, her hand rising in a slow, deliberate wave.
Lucy's smile broke fully, bright and unrestrained, and she waved back.
"Goodbye!! Frieren!!"
From atop the building, a stern-looking bird held a paper in its beak, its eyes following Frieren's every movement.
Curious… a messenger, or just an observer? Frieren had already noticed the bird with a side glance, but she kept walking through the hotel's door anyway.