D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

--- Kat ---

Kat was shooting across the darkening night sky. Even leaving more or less as soon as the message had come through, just before lunch, she still hadn't quite reached the dome in the centre of the forest. On the one hand, Kat understood that it had taken the others multiple days of trekking through the forest… on the other hand Kat could tell she was moving at a blisteringly fast pace.

With Rank 4 speed and a simple straight line to move Kat was covering massive amounts of distance every few seconds.

*I don't think I properly considered how large this forest is. Like, I get it we were 'walking' but even then, we were moving at an easy clip for Rank 2's. We weren't taking a casual stroll at a mortal's pace… and I guess there just aren't many landmarks. At least, none that I can pick out from up here. The mist obscures basically everything.*

[It probably doesn't help that we're used to distances back home. We know how far away everything is because we have maps with solid numbers on them. Here? It's just 'head vaguely in that direction for a day or two and you'll get there eventually. It makes it really hard to tell, especially when you account for how much your max speed has fluctuated over the last year]

*I guess you're right. Everything still ok back at the base? No random attacks since I left?*

[It's all been fine Kat. Nothing has bothered me at all. I even set up a few basic shadow traps, not damaging ones, ones that are basically just there for detection and yet still nothing. I'm keeping on guard because I know you'd worry otherwise but nothing has attacked while you've been away. I wonder if it's because I have my mana spread out 'looking' for stuff?]

*It's possible? I don't really know.*

[Well you'd think in a world with mana at least some monsters would develop a sensitivity to that sort of thing. I'm sure I could come up with a way to hide my actions if I really wanted to… but right now that wouldn't be useful at all. If they're staying away because of it, that means I'd just be making more work for myself. Of course we weren't constantly attacked before so maybe it's just luck.]

*Who knows?*

Kat felt herself calm down now she had further confirmation Lily was fine. It was ridiculous really. She could feel Lily constantly through the link and it hadn't so much as fluttered while she'd been flying towards the meetup point. Lily was calm, if a little tired from keeping watch for so long without a proper break. Nothing approaching true fatigue.

Lily was quite capable of staying up for days at a time now if she really wanted to. She didn't, and sleep was quickly becoming a way to just enjoy time passing, but for cases like this? Lily would happily forgo it to ensure Kat didn't need to be worried. Lily might be confident in Kat's defensive construction but Kat clearly wasn't.

The pair continued chatting, partly to pass the time and keep from being board and partly to keep each other reassured for the duration of the journey. Eventually though? Kat made it to the edge of the dense mist that encapsulated the compound. Meg was rather obvious as she'd taken out a giant spotlight from her storage ring and was pointing it directly upwards.

It had only been turned on for ten minutes or so and Kat wasn't sure if that was great timing or if Meg was just lucky.

Landing in front of Meg was easy, and Kat snapped her wings shut to take in the scene. Meg was relaxing on a chair with the drake piece on the ground on one side with the spotlight on the other. "Good evening Meg," said Kat.

"I can't say it's good but I suppose I can say it is an evening. Welcome Kat. Hopefully once we've dealt with this you can help manage the people inside and I can find some more time to hang out with Lil Sis. Please attempt to lift both myself and this crystal," said Meg as she packed everything up into her storage ring before sitting back down on the crystal.

Kat did as asked and easily lifted them both… but when it came time to fly there was a problem. Kat found that she could fly, barely. Getting off the ground wasn't impossible but her speed was horrendous. "Why is it like this? Just based on how fast I can travel I should be capable of lifting more right? I can feel my wings burning but they aren't working overly hard… am I missing something?"

Meg nodded, "Yes you are. I suppose it's something you wouldn't know because you didn't go to a Hub school but certain innate magics don't quite operate the way you'd think they should biologically. You're wings speed and carrying capacity are completed divorced from many other forms of logic.

In fact, even though you could theoretically jump and glide at a good speed… you'll find that if you attempted something like that you'd be slowed down anyway,"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"Urgh that's not what I wanted to hear. So what's the plan then?" asked Kat.

"Get ready to move quickly," said Meg, who waited a few moments for Kat's nod and then crushed the drake piece she was sitting on. This dropped her down into Kat's outstretched arms and let chunks of crystal fall. Kat shot off and was able to avoid crashing into some trees due to knowing ahead of time.

Continuing the angle upwards Kat eventually asked, "Ok what's going on?"

"Well you can't carry that much weight… but what about a good deal less? What I did was break the crystal in such a way that it will try to pull itself together at roughly the same pace as you can fly. It's a touch faster, so we'll need to repeat the process a few times, but essentially? It's reforming behind us and will chase us all by itself.

This way you can fly at close to top speed despite 'carrying' everything," answered Meg.

"That… that really shouldn't be how this works," grumbled Kat.

Meg just shrugged, "Eh it works,"

"Was there a chance that it didn't?" asked Kat.

Meg nodded, "Yup there was indeed. Nothing catastrophic of course. If you were seriously injured it would mean spending less time around Hunter. The two main bits of worry would be the crystals not reforming at all, or reforming much too fast. Another minor worry would be that your flight mechanism counts the entire crystal as being 'carried' for some reason.

I didn't think it likely but it's still possible,"

"And how did you manage to calculate something like that?" asked Kat with narrowed eyes.

"Testing of course! Do you think I was just sitting around waiting for you all day? I spent a good chunk of the evening while Lil Sis was sleeping testing out how fast I could move while keeping the pieces connected. It did mean I couldn't watch Lil Sis sleep but that's not nearly as interesting as when she's awake so it is an acceptable loss for returning swiftly," answered Meg.

"You do realise that sounds a touch creepy don't you?" asked Kat.

Meg shrugged, "Yeah but you don't really care about that do you?"

*Well… no. I do the same with Lily and she does the same with me. I could probably argue it's different because Lily and I are dating but I seriously doubt Meg cares. Better for my sanity to just accept it and move on I suppose. Hmm… do I have any other questions I want to ask Meg while she's a captive audience?

I DO sort of want to know why she's so obsessed with Hunter… but I get the feeling she's got plenty of answers that would be 'true' without being THE truth. Is it worth going after them though?*

[I mean… might as well? We've got time and if Meg causes too many problems you can just threaten to drop her. It'll delay your return to me… but unlike Meg and Hunter we have a mental connection so we can afford the delay. Besides, I'm sure Meg would love the chance to talk about Hunter.

We might not get the answers we really want but it should put Meg in a better mood and… honestly that's what we want isn't it? Meg not messing with people too much?]

*Ok yes, that's a much better reason then just curiosity. If Meg is enjoying herself speaking about Hunter then it means she won't be trying to find another avenues of enjoyment. I shuddering to think of what she might try while sitting in my arms. Sure she wouldn't push me too far because of the threat of being dropped… but I can still see her messing around if she was bored.

Especially because she knows I can put up with a good deal. Yeah safest just to ask her questions.*