Phoenix waved goodbye as Zevan followed Emrys out the door and left her alone to properly reunite with her best friend and cousin. As she met Uriel’s gaze, a part of her wanted to cross the distance and hug him again, half-afraid this was yet another nightmare he might vanish again.
Surprisingly, Camilla was the one to interrupt the silence, “I n-need to cast the ritual again.”
Uriel nodded and explained to the group, “My transfiguration got worse when I ascended.”
That confused her, how could it possibly get worse than needing to be silenced ninety percent of the time?
“It changed my skin to be like my aura. It destroys anything physical it comes into contact with, including my clothes,” he awkwarding added that last bit, and she noticed the soft glow of his cheeks as he blushed. “Camilla has been casting a ritual that conjures this armor for an hour and doesn’t count as physical since it’s a magical construct.”
“Powers not treating a person’s own equipment as a part of themselves is incredibly rare,” Saiya said in a tone of mild awe, “Even Ren and Bliss’ shapeshifting keeps clothing as part of them.”
Uriel gave her a flat look, “Thank you for reminding me how cursed I am.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just really surprised. What happened with your other Passives?”
Phoenix didn’t even wait for him to ask as she provided her book, and he lightly touched the open pages to share them. As she read over them, most seemed like great additions, except that last one…
Hesitantly, she reached out to try touching his cheek, but he pulled away from her. “What are you doing?”
“I want to see how it works,” she replied, trying not to let her fear show as her mind contemplated never being able to hug him or hold his hand again. Him holding her as they talked were some of her favorite memories, and it sounded like he was saying they could never do that again.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he replied with a pained look, “If you want to see the damage it did to my clothes, they’re in the bag Camilla’s been carrying for me. I only had them on for maybe a minute and there were already plenty of holes worn through them. They’re little more than rags at this point.”
“Please, let me see how it reacts to me,” she almost begged. She didn’t care about his clothes. She just needed to know if his touch would hurt her like he feared.
Uriel grimaced but began removing one of the magical gloves from a hand. As he held it out for her to take, she tried to tell herself to hold on no matter how much it might hurt.
It hurt a lot more than she was expecting.
She still didn’t want to let go, even as she felt her tears fall and a whimper escaped her lips. It wasn’t until Uriel pulled back his hand to show how it was coated in her blood now that the truth settled heavily upon her heart. He would never hold her again.
“See? It’s not worth it,” he quietly murmured and she wondered if he had been reading her thoughts as she knew they were thinking the same thing.
Saiya’s gentle touch over her hand became warm as the Healer recited, “Heal this life,” sending a wave of healing magic into her and easily repairing the lightly scratched up skin. She didn’t know what else to say as Camilla took the silent moment to recast her ritual and keep Uriel in the shimmery blue armor.
“I bet we can find a tailor somewhere here to make you some new clothes,” Rayna suggested, “There’s at least twenty floors of shops below us with a ton of options to choose from. I think I heard one of those noble brats mention there are also some more exclusive high-end shops located on some of the upper floors.”
“Daze mentioned once that Serenydi was almost a vertical version of Tulimeir,” Uriel said, giving a small smile at the memory, “He explained that the districts were divided by floors instead. Shopping for the Merchant. Galleries and museums for the Artist. Gambling halls and sports arenas for the Gamer and Gambler. Dining and dance clubs for the Socialite. Residential homes, inns, and brothels for the Lover. The beaches to the north and noble houses at the top for the Fainéant. I’m not sure if all that remains true, though. He had been planning to refresh my knowledge before the shipwreck.”
“What about the Cultivator?” Phoenix asked, recalling the pantheon list Zevan had explained.
“Oh, they’re mostly tied to the city’s Reality Rift here. It’s a bit special compared to most,” Uriel started explaining but Rayna interjected.
“Before we go explaining that, we need to get you some clothes big guy,” the bard pointed out, moving over to pat the back of his armor, “Clothes, then maybe we can ask that Emrys guy if there’s anything else we can do to help him, instead of wasting time with the brats downstairs? Or do like we originally planned and visit the temples here and see if one of the gods might point us in the right direction.”
They all nodded in agreement and moved to go explore the shopping district. Phoenix made sure to request an additional room near theirs for Uriel to sleep in, also making a mental note to find some Void-resistant blankets and pillow for him. She could only imagine what lengths he might go to in order to not destroy the furniture in his sleep…
The clerk at the first clothing store they arrived at laughed in their faces when she asked if they made Void-resistant clothing at all. They didn’t even bother to point her to someone else who might have as they were overtaken by the laughing fit.
The next called them Voidsworn sympathizers and banished them from their shop outright.
The third one said if they provided the Void-attuned materials and shards then they would be willing to attempt the endeavor, for a fee and no guarantee that they would actually succeed.
The store after that pretended like they suddenly couldn’t speak Nightish, to which her translation ability adapted to whatever they had tried to switch to, and suddenly they forgot how to speak at all, simply waving them towards the door.
It wasn’t until after they visited nineteen more stores that they finally got a lead on someone who might be able to help them, and this tailor wasn’t located on the bottom floors. The snow white voxen who reminded Phoenix of Everin before he became a colorful Avatar, had overheard them asking and explained there was a very eccentric tailor on the one-hundred-and-thirty-eighth floor who could do extremely custom work in any magic type.
It was a challenge to even get to that floor at first with the uneven jenga-like style the tower had. There was no elevator that went straight through every floor and they would often have to change at certain connecting floors to find the way up through the maze-like city.
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Ren had eventually decided to be a scout for them, flying over the crowd to find the stairs or elevator they would need next and eventually to the storefront they were looking for.
Phoenix thought the exterior cobblestone was fairly plain at first until she got closer and noticed it wasn’t stone but some kind of three-dimensional crocheted fabric lining the wall. The more she stared at it, the more the cracks in the stones actually became detailed embroidered pictures of various beautiful things but most prominently of flowers hiding little kitsunes playing.
She couldn’t even imagine how much work creating something this detailed must have taken. She had gotten into embroidery for a while and it had taken her ages to make a simple little picture of a dragon with a pattern guiding her. She doubted there had been a pattern for something that acted as a wall covering.
Looking into the first display window, it looked like a large shadow box with plush lining behind the pure white robes and sash on display. Something about it tickled at her memories and she narrowed her eyes at it. Aside from the missing sigils that she had recalled, she swore this was exactly like the Emerald Caste garb of that Renseres Priestess of the Purifier she had assisted Paul with killing back in Tulisuda.
At his urging, she had sold those pieces off, but there was no way it could have gotten here right? It must have belonged to some other Renseres or something, she decided and glanced up at the sign over the door.
“Teal’s Adaptive Tailoring Emporium,” it read, and she noticed a smaller sign off to the right that announced, “NO CLOTHES, NO SERVICE,” in large letters. Below that in a finer print she read, “Paint and solitary strings are not fabric, and do not count as clothing. Opaque illusions may be acceptable. If it is an emergency and you do not have clothing, please visit ‘The House Won’ down on the third floor.”
Phoenix glanced back at her friends and asked Uriel, “You mentioned there were gambling halls here?”
Rayna snickered, “I wonder how often people literally bet the clothes off their backs.”
She shook her head at the sheer idiocy of doing something like that and pushed open the door, noticing the feel of it was also a soft fabric, and she had to wonder just how eccentric this tailor must have been to have a fabric door as well.
As she stepped inside, the first thing she actually noticed was that she sank slightly into an extremely plush carpet instead of the smooth marble most of the shops had. She assumed the marble was easier to clean normally considering the foot traffic and how many people seemed to carry around food and drink as they shopped.
The next thing she noticed was that it was dimmer inside than in the main thoroughfare they had been walking along. Despite being more nocturnal, the walkways were normally well lit by starry illusions and neon signs during the night as people went about their errands and had fun.
A little bell signaled their arrival and a large man came over to greet them. A brush of their auras in greeting and Phoenix knew he was an Emerald Caste human, but she noticed something else odd coming from… everywhere. It almost felt like she had stepped into someone else’s aura that was emanating from all around them.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the need to socialize, however, as the man said, “Welcome to Miss Teal’s Adaptive Tailoring Emporium where all your nuanced needs are met! Are you looking for something specific or just here to browse? We currently have a sale going for the flying carpets,” he happily announced, gesturing to the ceiling where some patiently floated in the air waiting to be called and then to a large box holding ones that were rolled up.
“One of the best legal ways to explore the skies and view the stars with a special someone here. It also provides easier access to the floating obelisks should you desire to visit one of the more exciting clubs and entertainment venues,” he added, with a wink toward Phoenix and she blushed crimson at the idea of pretending to be Princess Jasmine with someone on a magic carpet.
Frankly, she had thought the girl had been insane for going on that thing with a dude she just met… Not that she was much better now that she thought back to her first meetings with strangers in this world, but she had been lost and desperate unlike the literal princess trying to avoid getting married off.
She glanced over at Uriel and wondered what he thought about that kind of magic carpet ride. Would he and Dazien like something like that? It would be more private like they seemed to prefer…
“We’re looking for someone who can make Void-resistant clothing for our friend here,” Saiya explained when she failed to answer quickly enough.
The attendant gave a jovial laugh as he replied, “Then you have absolutely come to the right place! Miss Teal is amazing with Void-attuned materials and very rarely does she get a request for it.” He leaned forward as if to share a secret and whispered, “Too much negative stigma around it if you ask us. People often believe rumors over evidence, but in my personal experience those who are Void-attuned are no different from you and I!”
Phoenix grinned and nudged Uriel’s armor with an elbow, “That’s what I keep telling him, but he never listens.”
Uriel rolled his eyes and gave her a flat look, “We’re here because I’m literally different from you and need special clothes that won’t disintegrate from me simply wearing them.”
“It disintegrates?” a new voice asked from behind them, causing all of them to jump in response and turn to see a tall voxen that looked partially made of Phoenix’s portal.
Her hair and six very large tails looked like holes in reality that showed the night sky. She wore a dress of layered strips of wispy silks that reflected those cool galaxy colors of blues, purples, and greens and had a dark gray torc woven from stiff thread with a cord of white and purple threaded through it.
Phoenix was surprised to see the white as this was the first one she had seen so far aside from herself. It made her instantly feel an odd sort of kinship with the stranger, and she suddenly realized that others must have experienced the same thing with their own. Despite feeling like an outsider by not wearing the torc, she immediately felt that warm sense of inclusion for finding others who matched.
The other main thing she noticed about the strange voxen, were the slightly glowing silver freckles and bright eyes that matched which stood out in stark contrast to her skin that was the darkest purple she had ever seen. It made her seem like she was meant to be a part of the night, a reflection of the space beyond their world.
After a moment of collecting themselves, Uriel managed to reply, “Yes. I just ascended to Sapphire a couple of days ago and my Passive deals constant Void damage to anything physical I touch,” then with a slight shift of awe he asked, “Are you one of the Starfall Voxen? I first met some back in Tulim when they came to salvage Soul Reaper ships and stayed to help upgrade our defenses but they didn’t have that kind of hair… illusion?” He said the last word as a question, as though uncertain if it was actually a portal of not.
The woman shook her head, making it obvious that the portal-like hair reached all the way to the floor where it seemed to vanish into the plush carpet as she spoke in a soft alto, “Transfiguration. And yes, I am. And they are there.”
Phoenix was slightly confused by the answer, “Who are there?”
She tilted her head, sending an ear-shaped portal tilting to the side as she clarified, “My clan? In Tulim cleaning up stuff and upgrading things?”
“Ah, right. Well, um, are you Teal the Tailor that we were told could help Uriel?”
The Starfall voxen eagerly nodded in an almost adorable way as she excitedly replied, “Yes! Probably. I may need to stab him…”
“I’m sorry?”
“She meant just poke him just a little bit with a very tiny needle!” the attendant interjected in a rush, nervously laughing.
“Yes. That,” the tailor confirmed with a gesture to the merchant man.
Uriel hesitantly looked between Teal and Phoenix before asking, “Right here? Or is this something to be done with getting measurements like they had me do for that suit I got back in Tulimeir?”
“Oh. That. Come back here.” Teal answered before gesturing to the back of the shop with a few tails.
Phoenix nodded for him to go as she reassured, “We’ll just look around the store while she helps you. No rush at all,” she turned to Teal with a slight grimace as she added, “Though, I think there’s only another half hour left on that armor before Cami needs to recast it.”
The tailor’s body stiffened and nose wrinkled slightly before she grabbed his arm with a tail and abruptly dragged him toward the back, obviously not wanting to waste another minute while muttering, “So you need need clothing…”
Phoenix chuckled at Uriel’s slightly exasperated look before refocusing on her remaining companions and asking, “So, what does everyone want to get while we’re here?”
