Chapter 1274 1274 The Calm Inside the Storm
--- Nixilei ---
The contrast was stark. Asteodia had caved and pressed the button forcing the plane to travel perfectly straight despite the weather raging around them. From the outside looking in, it was a scene of perfect calm amidst the storm. Inside the plane it was a different matter. The pair were now huddling together shivering and trying not to let the weather get to them. Asteodia was tempted to start using her mana to warm them both, but was holding off. For now.
"I'm freezing my tits off here," hissed Asteodia.
Nixilei let out a low chuckle and said, "While I can't disagree with the sentiment I find my toes are doing much worse. Not only are they cold, but they're wet as well. The water working its way down my back and legs is just pooling at the bottom of this damned suit and my feet are soaked. I don't think it's cold enough for frostbite to be an issue but I'm monitoring it closely,"
lightsΝοvel.cοm "Wait frostbite?" said Asteodia suddenly wondering if warming them both up might not be a waste of mana, but completely necessary, "H-how big of a concern is that?"
"Eh… I'm not entirely sure. The wind and the rain aren't helping matters. The real issue is how high up we are alongside the fierce winds. We didn't live in a particularly mountainous region and frost monsters were rare so I don't know the specifics of frostbite, just how to detect the symptoms with my magic and how to go about healing it. Which is… only somewhat possible," explained Nixilei.
"What do you mean 'somewhat possible'?" asked Asteodia. "Is Thyme going to be able to heal us? Should I be keeping us warm?"
"While keeping warm would be nice, no, Thyme should be able to heal us just fine, especially if they can heal Gareth after his earlier idiocy. It's just… hard for someone at my level to heal it properly. The effected area essentially freezes and dies. You need to warm it up and heal it along the way… but it's a delicate balance. If you warm the foot up too quickly the effected area can explode as the ice expands back into water…
"And if you unfreeze it too slowly then permanent damage is being done to the nerves and I'm not really able to heal that specifically. Sure I can heal lesser damage, but that's usually just prodding the body to fix the damage itself. With frostbite things are a lot worse and it's almost all manual on my end. So that combined with the exacting restrictions on heating the effected area means I'd really just rather avoid the whole thing,"
"So… should I be warming us up?" asked Asteodia.
"No, it should be fine, I can let you know if things are getting dangerous, and even if I get it wrong, Thyme should be able to fix the damage, like I said," answered Nixilei.
"Yeah… but I'd really rather just… avoid the whole issue if I can, so I'm just making sure. Not that I don't trust your judgement… just… well…" Asteodia was cut off from her rambling as the plane flew through the centre of the tornado and entered the eye of the storm.
Only a few stary drops of water were in sight, and somehow the sun was shining straight downwards illuminating everything greatly. That little detail about the sun was especially suspect considering it was past mid-day already, but Nixilei wasn't going to complain. No, she was too busy enjoying the view.
The few droplets of water all reflecting the sunlight magnificently making it seem like they'd stumbled into a pile of diamonds. The heat from the sun was already driving away the oppressive chill that had invaded their bones, even if the water was still around. The clouds at the top of the cyclone blunted the sun's light just enough that you could look upon it for a few moments without hurting your eyes.
In the centre of the eye, was a stack of whirligigs, in a mating dance. It was breathtaking to see. Whirligigs were a species of bird monster that summoned extreme weather for their mating rituals. They looked like giant puffballs with wings. They had long, thin legs that could be hidden completely in their puffy fur that made up the bulk of their body.
That's right, it was fur and not feathers. The fur made for excellent pillows… if you could acquire some. Whirligigs were quite rare and hunting them was massively frowned upon because while such a creature did occasionally summon up a controlled storm for a mating dance, that didn't mean it was the only reason they could call a storm for. Numerous cases of overhunting whirligigs had lead to storms that devastated cities enough times for it to be ingrained in cultural memory.
What further complicated the issue of hunting them, was their fat. Under all that lovely fluffy fur that could be any colour of the rainbow, with a rare few containing stripes, was their fat stores. When part of the whirligig their fat could somehow store massive amounts of mana… not so after they died. It was still an exceptional amount, and was great for enchanting inks… but nothing compared to when the whirligig.
It was a shame then, that as adorable as they were they made horrible pets. The adorable balls of fluff got really lonely by themselves and would either run away or pass away in a short time unless you made one a familiar. Though running was still on the table for whirligig familiars. That's not even taking into account the fact that might decide to try and move the weather on their own at some point, causing lots of damage and probably killing themselves, unable to sustain a storm with just the one.
As Nixilei and Asteodia looked out, they could see the whirligigs fluttering around. They were all different colours, and the biggest one right in the centre, twice as big and extra fluffy, was golden with one solitary silver streak vertically cutting it in half. The little floofs had long thing beaks that were used to dig into trees and suck the sap from them and their wings were the same colours as their fur though in this case, none of them had their wings out. Instead relying on their magic, and their fluff to keep them in the air.
The pair were so distracted that they didn't even hit the button again once the minute timer ended. Not that they needed it. The inside of the storm was so calm due to the whirligig's influence and they wouldn't need it… for a few more moments. Storm riders ducked into the serene atmosphere for a second just to recover from the Thunder Hawk attacks before diving back into the storm, called by what, neither woman knew.
Nixilei found her brain screaming at her to kiss Asteodia again. Stronger this time, and insistence that she couldn't while wearing a helmet simply had her mind prompt her to remove the obstacle instead of waiting for a better time. For as they stood in this gleaming paradise, Nixilei couldn't think of a better one.
So against her better judgement she carefully pulled her hands away from Asteodia's midsection. This action was promptly met with a hiss as Asteodia grabbed onto the loosening hands with her own before her mind could catch up. Asteodia, mortified by her gut reaction retracted her hands.
Nixilei didn't want to waste time. She quickly pulled the helmet off while Asteodia was looking away, face burning with embarrassment. Nixilei kept the helmet in one hand as she leant across and put a light kiss on Asteodia's temple. Asteodia froze at the action, and didn't have time to react before Nixilei put the helmet back on.
"Um… but… err… did you just…" mumbled Asteodia her wits having left her and refusing to return.
"I did," said Nixilei firmly. "Maybe it's just the fact my team seems to be made up of couples, maybe it's the atmosphere, or maybe I just think you're cute. Could be any of those, or a combination of them all. It's not terribly appropriate, and perhaps it's best to wait until the tournament is over to… properly discuss and explore things." The words hung in the air for a few seconds so Nixilei added "I don't regret it though,"
Asteodia swallowed heavily, before she was forced to grab the controls of the plane and press down on the button. A moment later they were back out in the wind and cold. "I… I sort of agree, but I feel like we should… should at least have a conversation over lunch," insisted Asteodia.
"Alright," said Nixilei with a grin. The pair continued flying forward through the wind and rain. Huddled together, and feeling quite a bit warmer. With their newfound fondness for each other out in the open, they didn't even hesitate when the clock gave the one minute warning.
Nixilei scooped Asteodia up onto her shoulders and together they flew the plane forward, right up until the clock struck zero. It was sure to be a tie, and if it wasn't, they both knew the other would complain. *And I was worried she'd betray me in the end. How silly I look now.*
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