"So, do you think you could get us home?" Grayscale asked Nillyna once everyone had finished their breakfast finally.
 
 
Nillyna took a second to run all the variables through her intellectual mind. "I believe it is possible. If my hypothesis about the mirror is correct, I might be able to work backwards from there and re-create the portal. After all, you wound up here in the first place, so there has to be a way to send you back.”
 
 
The Snerrets looked extremely hopeful.
 
 
"I don't suppose you have a pair of Ruby Slippers you could lend us by any chance?" Asked Grayscale, only slightly kidding.
 
 
Nillyna tilted her head in confusion. "Huh?"
 
 
Grayscale blushed, realizing Nillyna couldn't understand the reference. "Sorry. Was referring to a, uh, rather well known artifact back on earth."
 
 
"Ah, I see," said Nillyna understandably, briefly wondering what the properties of these "Ruby Slippers" were.
 
 
"You would have to be the one to wear them anyway, Gray," giggled Sonata, grabbing the top of her tail and waving it around. "Kinda lacking the necessary limbs, see?"
 
 
Grayscale blushed. He was an avid cosplayer like Sonata though he rarely did “crossplay” unless they both had a great idea for themed costumes that called for it, such as the current convention he and Sonata were planning to participate in back home.
 
 
"But back to the matter at hand," said Sonata, deciding to steer the conversation back towards the intended topic, internally hoping that Grayscale wouldn't jump on every opportunity to make a reference. The conversation had been delayed enough as it is. "You said the portal could be recreated. How long do you think that would take?"
 
 
Nillyna tapped her head in contemplation, her antenna twitching with her thoughts. "There are several methods that I can think of, but the only one that has the most clear cut chance of success is for me to replicate the exact process that formed the first portal, down to the smallest detail."
 
 
"How are you going to do that?" Asked Grayscale. "Didn't you say that the first time was a complete and total fluke?"
 
 
Nillyna smiled knowingly. "It's easier than you might think. While it is true that all this happened through a massive conglomeration of coincidences, there is a way for me to learn what really happened."
 
 
The Snerret grew more eager to learn, leaning in closer. Even Lily was paying rapt attention.
 
 
"If I can find a fragment of the mirror I can analyze it," Nillyna explained. Her audience became confused so she elaborated, "All magic, even magic that has been erratically altered, much like the mirror's had been, due to the lightning, leaves traces behind. If I can find even a small portion of the mirror I will be able to analyze the imprint no doubt left upon it by this ordeal. I should be able to devise a method that could open a portal identical to the one that brought you here and send you home."
 
 
It was the best news ever for Sonata and Grayscale.
A way to send them home truly exists. That fact alone made their situation more tolerable than the night before, for now they weren't plagued by uncertainty at least. And it also sounded so simple.
 
 
But doubt exists in even the most hopeful of situations.
 
 
"Wait, didn't you say that that mirror was blown to bits?" Inquired Grayscale. "After you threw it in the lake?"
 
 
"How do you intend to find a piece of it?" Asked Sonata, somewhat downtrodden. "That lake's fucking huge!"
 
 
Even Nillyna's enthusiasm diminished somewhat. "I admit, that will be a daunting task, even for someone of my skill. But rest assured, I will find a piece of that mirror, whatever it takes. I promised I was going to get you home and I intend to keep that promise."
 
 
"Hey, wait a minute…" Grayscale blurted out, this talk about the lake they had emerged in this world in reminding him about something. "This magic mirror, was it by any chance metallic with a large ruby set in it?"
 
 
Nillyna seemed puzzled, having never given a distinct description of the mirror. She nodded in confirmation.
 
 
"Aha! Cried Grayscale, leaping to his feet, his eyes sparkling. "Be right back!"
 
 
And before anyone could stop him he sped off out of the room.
 
 
Nillyna, even Lily, seemed puzzled by his reaction. Sonata on the other hand seemed just as enthusiastic as Grayscale, but had apparently decided not to act on it, having remained seated.
 
 
"What…what just happened? What's he up to?" Lily actually asked first, having not spoken up in a while due to the fact that she was still processing what had been discussed. Who would have thought lightning striking a mirror would lead up to all this?
 
 
"I agree," said Nillyna, looking at Sonata curiosily. "What is your friend up to?"
 
 
"Oh, we both just realized something," said Sonata, her eyes still sparkling with excitement. "You see, when we first got here, we stumbled upon a little shard of metal with a large ruby set in it after we pulled ourselves out of the lake. At first we thought it was the end of the handle of a big spoon or something, but now that I think about it I think it might have actually been a piece of the handle from that mirror!"
 
 
Nillyna couldn't help but get a little excited herself now. “That’s excellent! Studying the artifact itself is much more precise for learning its previous spellwork than trying to indirectly study it through anything it had affected. And if the ruby is still intact, that’ll yield even better results! The gemstone is the most important part of a magical artifact; it’s the core of the mirror’s power. We’ll find a solution for your return so much faster once he… Wait a minute." She suddenly inquired as certain facts became apparent to her, looking towards the direction Grayscale had scampered off too. "Does he actually know where he's going? I know my abode can be a bit daunting to those unaccustomed to it."
 
 
"Oh, don't fret about it, none," said Sonata reassuringly. "Old Gray has practically made the saying “follow your nose” an art. The only thing more skilled at it then him are bloodhounds."
 
 
"Uh, what do you mean?" Asked Nillyna.
 
 
"I'm saying that that boy relies on his sense of smell possibly more than his eyes even," explained Sonata as she reclined back in her seat, putting her hands behind her head. "Heck, every time I lose my cellphone or something, all I have to do is ask Gray and he can find it by following the smell I've left on it. All Gray has to do is follow our trail from last night and I’m sure he'll find his way back."
 
 
Nillyna had to admit, that was a skill worth admiring, especially considering how much self control one must have to be able to hone such a skill. Coming across pungent odors could be overwhelming to someone with an average sense of smell, what was it like for someone with Grayscale's skill? However, much as Nillyna would hate to burst Sonata's bubble, that wasn't the only problem she had become aware of.
 
 
"Where is the shard?" She asked. "I didn't see it when I searched you both last night."
 
 
Sonata opened her mouth to give an off handed retort when her lips froze and her eyes widened. She actually didn't have an answer to that question. The last time she remembered Grayscale was holding the shard as they made their way to Nillyna's house, hoping to use it to barter for assistance, and that's when…
 
 
"Oooh shit!" Swore Sonata, sitting up and face palming in aggravation. "The last time we had it was in the forest, just before Lily tried to make a snack out of us." She gave Lily a semi apologetic look. "No offense."
 
 
"Um, none taken?" Said Lily, wondering why Sonata was apologizing for something that was entirely true.
 
 
"Should we go try to explain this to Grayscale?" Asked Nillyna.
 
 
Sonata thought about it for a second before shaking her head. "Nah! He'll come to the same conclusion himself probably before too long. As much as I love the little goof, he's prone to tunnel vision. I just hope he realizes that that tunnel has a dead end soon."
 
 
—
 
 
Eventually these facts did dawn on Grayscale too.
 
 
He had been attempting to navigate his way back to the room that had been lent to him and Sonata through scent, but had wound up at the door where he and Sonata had entered this place to begin with. It was here that he realized himself that he had lost track of the little handle shard during the skirmish with Lily.
 
 
"Oh, damn!" He cursed, opening the doors and stepping out onto the porch that was bathed in the early morning blue sun of this world, looking out at the expansive estate that was owned by their host, taking in its impressive size, realizing that finding a little piece of metal out there was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack, even if Sonata, and perhaps Nillyna, helped.
 
 
"Why couldn't we have wound up in a world where we're living an RPG?" He lamented. "If I had had an inventory, something as mundane as dropping something that could be important later wouldn't be an issue, but no, we wind up in a world where it's just as likely you'll drop something as it is back home! You don't see the Dragonborn dropping Dragon claws on the way to the puzzle door! At this rate the stupid thing would have to come flying at me and hit me in the face before we'd have to spend days searching for it. And, to make matters worse, we left the water running. God, I don't even want to imagine that bill!"
 
 
Unbeknownst to him, however, as Grayscale was ranting his hands began to sparkle the same color as the sunlight, the bizarre phenomenon he and Sonata experienced earlier acting up again as soon as he stepped outside. Without warning Grayscale's left hand sprung up and pointed out into the distance, his palm opening wide as it continuously sparkled. And none of it transpired through Grayscale's own volition.
 
 
"What the hell?!" He gasped at the sporadic behavior of his arm, trying to pull it back down, but to no avail. "Hey, whatever's doing this, knock it off!”
 
 
He grabbed his wrist with his other hand and tried to wrench his arm back down, but after a few tries he heard ruffling in the distant trees. Just as he looked up, something diminutive crashed through the trunk of one of the trees growing along the treeline, leaving a visible hole, glistening in the sun as it sailed through air towards Grayscale at a remarkable speed. Grayscale didn't even have time to attempt to dodge the income projectile, not that he could, with the state of his arm, only having enough time grow a wide eyed expression, just as the flying object impacted into his outstretched palm.
 
 
And said palm then erupted in sharp pain.
 
 
"YEEEAAAGH!"
 
 
–
 
 
Sonata’s ears perked up, along with Nillyna’s antennae. Lily’s ears stayed put, though the petals of the flower on her head seemed to flutter in surprise. “Did you hear that?” Sonata gasped. “Crap, I really hope Gray didn’t hurt himself… or break anything.” She turned to Nillyna, who had now stood up and started walking towards the doorway Gray had run through moments earlier. Sonata quickly got up and followed, though neither of them had reached the exit by the time Grayscale came sprinting back in, his arms crossed and body hunched in obvious pain, like he had just taken a heavy gut-punch.
 
 
“Gray! What happened? Are you alright?” Sonata gasped, forgoing any sarcastic quips for genuine concern.
 
 
“I did warn you not to touch anything magical, didn’t I?” Nillyna snapped.
 
 
Sonata hissed as she slithered closer to Grayscale almost protectively. “Hey, you don’t know if he touched one of your things! Um… did you, Gray?” She leaned down closer to him, noticing he had one paw tucked under the opposite arm… and there was blood seeping out from between them!
 
 
Grayscale looked up at them both, teeth clenched and eyes watering. As he presented his injured hand he explained, “More like… one of her things touched me.”
 
 
Sure enough, in Grayscale’s hand was the shard of the mirror they had found in the woods last night, though it was quite literally “in” his hand, with the broken end embedded deep into his palm, just barely poking out the other side. Blood was seeping out from the wound and running down his arm and side, leaving a trail of little red dots along the floor in his path.
 
 
While both Nillyna and Lily reacted with wide-eyed concern, Sonata’s face went pale as she beheld Grayscsle’s severely injured paw. Shrinking away in horror, she slapped her own paws over her mouth and eyes, quickly turning away in disgust while making muffled retching noises.
 
 
Grayscale retracted his paw, tucking it under his arm once more with a pained hiss. “Nnngh… sorry Sonata… should of warned ya.”
 
 
“It’s alright…” she squeaked, still averting her eyes as she got her breathing under control. They were both well aware that Sonata hated the sight, smell, or taste of blood, as any one of those made her instantly nauseous. Which was ironic, as she normally enjoyed over-the-top gore effects, be it ripping zombies apart or disemboweling demons in games and movies, but getting blood drawn at the doctor’s office or seeing any real-life injury more bloody than a paper cut made her queasy. “Uh, Nillyna? Can you like, heal him or something? Please?”
 
 
“Of course…” Nillyna reached out to Grayscale with all of her arms. “Allow me, dear.” Reluctantly, he held out his bleeding hand shakily, which she gently cradled in her lower hands. Without warning. she suddenly grasped the metal shard and yanked it free of his hand like she was uprooting a carrot, a sickening wet sliding noise accompanied its removal followed by Grayscale screaming at the top of his lungs once more, making Sonata and Lily jump in shock.
 
 
“GAAAAAH! What the Hell?!?” Grayscale swore as he reflexively tried to pull his bleeding hand away, but found Nillyna’s grip surprisingly strong as her two of her remaining hands clasped his own. She clicked the fingers of her final hand and from down the hall her talisman cane came flying from the room she had left it the night before, sailing through several pillars of sunlight emanating from windows along the way, replenishing its dwindled energy. Nillyna caught it and, after twirling it a couple times, her hands gripping Grayscale's arm began to glow with a warm red light. The white-hot flares of pain Grayscale felt surging down his arm were swiftly and smoothly replaced with a calm, pleasantly cooling sensation, akin to a gentle rain shower after a long day in the hot sun. His breathing slowed and the tension in his body dissipated as Nillyna’s hands finished their healing spell before letting his newly-formed paw free.
 
 
Grayscale looked at his paw- the injury was totally gone, replaced with soft, natural skin and fur. Were it not for the still-wet stream of blood running down his arm, there was no evidence of his injury. “Oh… oh wow! That was amazing!” Grayscale said. “Though, please do warn me next time?”
 
 
Nillyna shrugged. “Healing spells work best the sooner they’re administered. Now, let’s get you cleaned up…”
 
—
 
 
After all the blood was cleared away with a bit of magic and both snerrets had calmed down from the previous ordeal, they all returned to their respective seats. "So, do you think you can get what you need from that?" Asked Sonata, gesturing towards the shard.
 
 
Nillyna bounced the little shard in her hands, a contemplative look in her eyes, "it's a reasonably large piece, and it has the gemstone to boot. It should contain the necessary data for me to open the portal once."
 
 
"Groovy," said Grayscale, hopping up and clapping his hands. "How do we proceed?"
 
 
"By letting me get to work," answered Nillyna, also standing up, but with an elegant poise. "I mean no disrespect, but I don't think you can help with this."
 
 
"No problem, we kinda figured that from the start," said Sonata, also standing up, supported by her coils. "So what do we do in the meantime?"
 
 
"My home is open to you. Feel free to explore. Oh!" Her cane flashed suddenly as she pointed it at them.
 
 
"Hey, what did you do?" Asked Sonata, looking herself over. If there was one thing she hates, it's spells being cast on her without her consent.
 
 
So she beat a warlock at a cosplay contest. That didn't give him the right to turn her favorite rhinestone nipple rings into rock candy.
 
 
"It's a literary translation matrix," explained Nillyna. "Now you can read any book in my library."
 
 
"You have a library?" Asked Grayscale.
 
 
Nillyna nodded, "Quite an extensive one if I do say so myself."
 
 
Sonata and Grayscale exchanged a look before Sonata playfully tapped Gray with her shoulder. "Think she would let us use her observatory if we ask?"
 
 
Nillyna frowned. "You could use my observatory, but it's pretty useless during the day."
 
 
Sonata and Grayscale's jaws dropped. Was she serious? Sonata hadn't been. How rich was this woman?
 
 
"I had better get started if you want to get home as soon as possible," said Nillyna, approaching where Lily sat on the sofa. "Come on love, we have work to do."
 
 
"Wait what?" Inquired Lily as Nillyna scooped her up bridal style with her upper arms, her lower arms carrying the shard and her talisman cane. "Why are you bringing me for?"
 
 
"Yeah. She actually had nothing to do with how we got here," commented Grayscale.
 
 
"Oh, her involvement actually has nothing to do with how I intend to send you home," said Nillyna, turning to the Snerret's, her girlfriend in her arms. "I simply have a promise to keep after all. Don’t worry, it won't take long. I've already done the bulk of the work devising the spell; it won't take long for me to finalize it, then I'll be able to get to sending you home."
 
 
"It's alright, we actually understand," said Grayscale, watching how Nillyna cradled Lily. "You really love her, huh?"
 
 
Nillyna and Lily looked at each other, smiling lightly. "Yes, I do."
 
 
"Then, as Gray said, we don't mind," said Sonata, winking at Nillyna. "Get your girl on her feet."
 
 
—
 
 
Nillyna and Lily were in a secluded, sizable room, brightly lit, but bare of anything other than a chair, a blackboard on the left wall, a small table, and…something else.
 
 
It was less of a bench and more like a huge slab of crystal, about nine feet in diameter, levitating about five feet from the floor. Lily was lying on the smooth surface on her back, occasionally focusing on how the gleaming material was surprisingly comfortable to lay on. Though it looked as though it would feel as hard and as cold as a giant block of ice, it felt more like a warm bath made solid.
 
 
"What exactly is all this going to do?" Lily asked, the tranquil feeling doing nothing to dissuade her curiosity about the strange object.
 
 
"It's analyzing you," explained Nillyna as she sat in the lone chair, looking at a two foot slab of crystal identical to what Lily was lying on that she held between her hands. "It's taking every aspect of your being, processing it into information and relaying it to me on its smaller twin."
 
 
It was true. Every now and then small, glowing gold glyphs would trace over the surface of the smooth surface of the crystal, during which Nillyna would add something to the weaving formula she had been drawing on the black board. Lily looked at it, taking in its complexity.
 
 
"How is this supposed to help me walk?" she asked. "The way you described it, I thought you were going to cast a spell that would turn my stem into a pair of legs.”
 
 
"That's precisely what I am doing," said Nillyna, adding more information to the formula. "I can't just wave my staff around and make something I want happen. Despite what a lot of folks think, magic doesn't work that way. It has rules and limits, and can be easily overwhelming. I have to know exactly how your body works, inside and out, in order to reshape it into something functional. If I just try to do this willy-nilly something could go terribly wrong."
 
 
"What do you mean by 'terribly wrong'?" Asked Lily, wondering just how much of a risk she was taking with this request.
 
 
"Best case scenario, nothing happens. Worse case scenario, I wind up accidentally unraveling your entire being," Nillyna explained without hesitation, waving one of her free hands in the air for emphasis.
 
 
Lily gulped in worry, her mind quickly conjuring up all kinds of unpleasant mental images of being “unraveled”, none of which were painless or pretty.
 
 
"But you needn't worry about that," said Nillyna supportively, watching more runes weave across her crystal. "As long as I gather the necessary data and input it into the spell nothing can go wrong. Everything will go smoothly."
 
 
—
 
 
Outside, Sonata and Grayscale had gone for a stroll around the grounds of Nillyna’s estate, taking in the sights and smells of the magnificent foliage. In the daylight, the colors and textures of the leaves and trees looked far more appealing than they did during the night, and far less threatening too. Grayscale was simply walking along listening to the sound of what he presumed to be buzzing insects when suddenly he noticed that Sonata had stopped to look straight up at something- it was a massive tree, far taller than the rest, that stretched up into the sky almost as far as some of the towers of the mansion. Its branches grew in a strange fashion that almost looked artificial, sticking almost straight out perpendicular to the trunk in a spiraling pattern like an organic staircase that gently grew wider the higher it went, making the tree’s overall shape like that of a giant green trumpet.
 
 
"What are you up to?" Asked Grayscale as Sonata slithered closer to the tree with a gleam in her eye.
 
 
"I’m gonna head up and get a lay of the land," said Sonata as she hopped up on the lowest branch and started winding up around the trunk of the tree, looking more snakelike than usual as she used her tail to cling to the trunk rather than its natural steps. “Come on, maybe we’ll see another town or something!”
 
 
Grayscale shrugged and followed suit, clamoring up and over the branches of the tree behind her. Climbing the tree was as easy as it seemed at first, and somewhat entertaining too as Grayscale got a lovely view of Sonata’s ample rump, her hips bobbing and swaying as the lithe yet powerful muscles in her tail gripped and slithered up the tree with ease. His entertainment was soon spoiled, however, as after a few turns around the trunk it began to dawn on Grayscale that each step was getting noticeably farther and farther apart from each other the higher up he climbed. Soon he found himself stretching his arms out to grab the next branch, then his whole body, and around the halfway point the poor snerret found himself stuck on an isolated limb, clinging tightly to the trunk of the tree. Above him, Sonata was winding around the trunk unimpeded, but stopped to look down at the now helpless Grayscale.
 
 
She snickered a bit at the sight of him hugging the trunk of the tree, his tail wound around the branch beneath him for extra security as he desperately tried not to move, shivering nervously as his eyes darted around for a solution. Amusing as it was, Sonata was not cruel. She knew she had to help her poor friend… though she wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to have some fun first.
 
 
Grayscale flinched a bit as he felt something tap his shoulder, his head snapping to the left to see the tip of Sonata’s tail pulling away from him only to dip down towards his rear, slipping under and around the base of his tail, scooping up his legs, and then winding up and around his waist to form a sort of living seat of coils that effortlessly lifted him up into the air. Grayscale released his grip on the tree as he was pulled up to Sonata’s level, the larger female theatrically smacking her lips as they met each other’s gaze.
 
 
With a gleeful grin, Sonata brought their faces closer together, their foreheads touching as she flicked her tongue out to tickle Grayscale’s chin. “Trusssst in meeeee… jussst in meeee…” She sang in a sultry voice.
 
 
Grayscale’s previous anxiety was quickly snuffed out and replaced with bemusement as he playfully pushed Sonata away with a boop to the nose. "Nice try, but you know you can't hypnotize me."
 
 
Sonata stuck her tongue out again. "Oh really? You seemed pretty entranced by my butt on the way up… don't think I didn't notice." She shook her hips in a teasing fashion.
 
 
Grayscale blushed, chuckling bashfully. "I was just uh, watching your back, for safety! Not my fault your ass is so distracting… no wonder I got stuck!" He immediately regretted that last bit as the tail around his waist suddenly wrapped up around his upper body, pinning his arms to his sides before coiling around his neck firmly, not to choke but simply to remind Grayscale of his current predicament. He barely had time to open his mouth to say something when suddenly his face was shoved in between Sonata's large breasts once again.
 
 
Sonata put a paw on the back of Grayscale's head, holding him there as he wriggled uselessly in her coils and cleavage. "How's that for being stuck, smartass?" She laughed, looking down at her captive flatmate. "I was just gonna carry you in my tail the rest of the way up… but I got a better idea."
 
 
Grayscale finally managed to tip his head up to catch his breath, his face still wedged between her tits as he looked up at Sonata. He had no need to ask what she meant, as the next thing he saw was her open maw descending upon his face.
 
 
Yeah, he should have seen that coming.
 
 
An all-too-familiar HOMPH filled his ears as Sonata engulfed Grayscale’s head with practiced ease, her powerful throat muscles seizing his muzzle and pulling him up into the dark confines of her throat. As she slid her jaws down his slender neck to stretch around his narrow shoulders, copious amounts of slick drool ran down Grayscale’s body, soaking his green fur and making his scales glisten. Grayscale continued to writhe about in Sonata’s gullet, but not to escape- rather, he was simply trying to get comfortable as his body was squeezed and bent around inside her neck and down into her upper torso. Sonata, meanwhile, began to slowly tip her head up to let gravity assist her swallowing, her coils slipping down Grayscale’s body to hold onto his legs and tail while his paws flapped around outside the corners of her mouth before being flattened against his sides and swallowed down, his hips now held tight in her jaws as Sonata’s long, slimy snake tongue slid about to lubricate her living meal.
 
 
Grayscale could only moan and gasp as his body was squished and squeezed all over, though even his loudest cries were muffled by the layers of flesh separating him from the outside world, as well as the delighted moans of satisfaction that Sonata was emitting through her throatful of flatmate. Normally by this point he’d be moaning a lot louder, as Sonata would usually take this moment to taste and tease his twin dicks with her talented tongue, but this was not one of their usual moments of carnivorous sex, where casual fucking would turn to Sonata slowly and sensually savoring and swallowing Grayscale down a bit at a time. This was simply one of those moments where she’d simply grab and gulp him down for whatever reason she saw fit (usually after he had made an especially terrible pun), then tuck him away in her belly for a while until she decided to spit him back out again. As annoying as it could be sometimes, Grayscale didn’t mind at all: aside from being an unadmitted preyslut, Sonata was always gentle with him, no matter how savage she acted when she got in a predatory mood.
 
 
As his shins slipped in between Sonata’s teeth, Grayscale could hear her heavy swallows being replaced by her softly thudding heartbeat, gently pulsing around his head like a scalp massage as he approached the opening of her stomach. As if it knew exactly who he was, the tight sphincter of muscle opened up with little resistance to let the half-swallowed snerret slip down into the stretchy chamber. With one long, loud sssssslurp, Grayscale’s tail vanished down Sonata’s throat and into her stomach along with the rest of his body, curling up into a tight spiral like a tape measure. With a bit more squirming to orient himself upright, Grayscale finally settled into the tight, slimy stomach with a sigh, resigning to his state of being a temporary snack.
 
 
Outside, Sonata leaned back against the tree trunk, her tail curled around a nearby branch for support as she licked her lips and rubbed her taut, bulging tummy, patting the Grayscale-sized bulge that hung from her middle. She laughed triumphantly, stretching her arms out and waving her stuffed belly from side to side, relishing the feeling of the extra weight swaying in tandem with her breasts. Oh how she loved the feeling of a full stomach! “Ahh, I know I say this every time, Gray my dear… but you are such a scrumptious little thing.”
 
 
“You were planning to do this the whole time, weren’t you?” Gray said, his voice partially muffled as it echoed up through Sonata’s body.
 
 
“Oh hush,” She snapped, slapping her stomach firmly before turning to continue slithering up the tree. “If I didn’t do this you totally would have asked me to do it. Don’t deny it.”
 
 
“I only asked you to do that once!” He grunted back, feeling the swaying of Sonata’s stomach as they ascended. “And that was only because I didn’t have enough money for a movie ticket.”
 
 
Sonata laughed as the memories of that moment came back. It was amusing how she could tell so many people were wondering if she was pregnant not just by her massive belly, but by how she bought twice as many snacks at the concession stand. It didn't take long for Sonata to scale the rest of the tree, despite the added weight, and once she reached the surprisingly broad peak she spat Grayscale onto a thick limb, his noodly body slipping smoothly out of her gullet and across the branch like toothpaste from a tube. It helped that he was lithe, even by male Snerret standards.
 
 
"Y’know, with how often you do that to me, you could at least carry around a towel," commented Grayscale as he propped himself up on his elbows.
 
 
“You’re welcome, by the way,” Sonata replied dismissively. Grayscale retaliated by getting up on all fours, shaking his whole body like a dog, his tail-rattle hissing as he splattered Sonata’s front with drops of her own drool, making her yelp in surprise and disgust. She was about to curse him out, only to instead snicker at the sight of Grayscale with his fur all standing on end momentarily before it finally settled flat once more. A Snerret’s pelt was quite water-resistant and dried out quickly, so wet fur was rarely an issue for them.
 
 
With both of their sour moods relieved, and after Grayscale rubbed a saliva out of his eyes, they finally took in the view. They discovered rolling hills, wide planes, and acres of thick forest carpeting the land below, as well as the single lake they had previously crawled out of the previous night. Nillyna's mansion gleamed in the distance, a great opalescent structure that took up a good portion of view, the windows and spires gleaming in the blue light of the sun.
 
 
But, despite what an overwhelming sight this would be on its own, Sonata and Grayscale only had sights for one feature of the view. It wasn't hard to tell how much of this land belonged to Nillyna, for at one point all the ground simply ended. Every direction they looked, the grass or trees would stretch out from beneath them before suddenly stopping, as if there was a steep cliff just beyond the treeline. And it had to be quite a ways down too, as a far more massive landscape could be seen immediately behind that border, stretching out in every direction towards the true horizon, lined with a sizable mountain range. They must have been incredibly high up as well, as the great swaths of forest and grasslands below were so indistinct they appeared more like a green patchwork shag carpet.
 
 
Drinking in all these sights made their pupils grow so wide their eyes were rendered almost completely black. Maybe it was their imagination, but Sonata and Grayscale could swear that the horizon rounded a little. Several emotions budded inside them, admiration, incomprehension, disbelief…fear.
 
 
Gulping simultaneously Sonata and Grayscale looked at each other. "Holy shit, you seeing this Gray?" Mumbled Sonata.
 
 
"You mean the fact that if we were any higher up in the air we could probably pull down a star?" Inquired Grayscale, giving a nervous smile. "Yeah, I noticed."
 
 
"I…thought I had seen everything when we met our host and her girlfriend," said Sonata, looking back to the horizon. "Are we…floating? Is this entire place floating in the sky?"
 
 
"Naw…no, no, no," insisted Grayscale, just as much to himself as to Sonata, the thought of the idea that this places base ending just as suddenly as the ledge's do greatly unnerving him. "I bet Nillyna's crib is just built on a plateau." He gulped as he looked at the view only comparable to what passengers of a 747 have seen. "A…very very high plateau…" As he said this, he noticed a flock of birds off in the distance, flying much lower than their own vantage point. “Too bad we’re not one of those birds, we’d find out right away-”
 
 
—
 
 
The next thing Grayscale knew the tree beneath had vanished, replaced by empty air, the ground below a long drop down.
 
 
"Hey, what the hell!" He cried, but with thought only. He could still feel his body but nothing would respond, it was like he was frozen; not even his eyes would move from where they were looking, as if he were watching a video recording. But how did this happen?
 
 
Before he could dwell on it, Grayscale's sightline shifted without his own mental input, craning to the right. Immediately he saw a graceful white wing adorning a muscular, feathered shoulder which, judging from the point of view, belonged to him, though like his eyes, it moved of its own accord. But what really caught his attention was the sight in the distance.
 
 
A great landmass hovered in the air, silhouetted against the lime green sky, tapering down to a point like an inverted mountain flying in the heavens. Even miniaturized by distance, Grayscale could still recognize the spires of Nillyna's mansion.
 
 
—
 
 
Grayscale snapped back to his being as swiftly as inhaling a breath. He was still in the tree with Sonata, but, at this point, he could no longer comprehend that fact.
 
 
"Gray, WTF?!" Proclaimed Sonata, literally spelling out the acronym. "You went all quiet and spaced-out me there for a second. What's the deal?”
 
 
Grayscale remained silent however, his expression glassy.
 
 
"Hey, Aquasa to Gray!" Said Sonata, tapping her friend on the shoulder. He still didn't respond.
 
 
"Hey, I mean it! Don't go catatonic on me here!" Said Sonata frantically, sticking her barbed tongue deep into Grayscale's ear.
 
 
That seemed to be enough to snap him out of his funk, jerking awake, almost stumbling backwards off the branch.
 
 
“Well that got your attention! What the heck were you doing?" Snapped Sonata as she helped steady him. Grayscale didn’t respond right away, instead clutching his head and groaning like he was having a hangover. Sonata suddenly grew more concerned. “Gray?” she inquired, more gentle this time.
 
 
Finally, Grayscale said something. “I… I was a bird.”
 
 
“What?”
 
 
“I mean, I was in a bird… I was in a bird’s head! I could see through its eyes!” He cried out, his voice getting steadily louder. “You were right! We’re floating in the sky! That castle, the lake, the forest…everything around us is on a giant floating island! We’re on straight-up Farum Azula here!” He panted hard, staring straight ahead at nothing while barely registering Sonata’s presence.
 
 
Sonata’s pupils shrank at the revelation, her whole tail suddenly feeling numb with unease as she imagined being atop a flying island. Sure, in games and movies they were a fantastical bit of scenery, but the idea of standing on something high above the ground with absolutely nothing underneath? There was a reason she couldn’t sit next to the window on an airplane. She suddenly felt very unsteady, and judging by the fact that Grayscale was still ranting aimlessly, he wasn’t doing any better.
 
 
“Or Castle Laputa… Fuck, what am I talking about? This is real! We’re on a giant rock floating on fuck-all! This is-” His babbling was cut off by a pair of long pink arms suddenly wrapping around him and pulling him back towards the trunk of the tree, Sonata now clutching him tightly to her like a teddy bear. Grayscale drew in a deep breath and tipped his head up at Sonata, whose own head was resting atop his skull, lips tightly clenched as she softly whimpered.
 
 
Grayscale’s anxiety turned to concern. “Uh… Sonata? You alright?”
 
 
Sonata’s nose flared as her whole body shivered. “I… I would like to get down now.”
 
 
Gray nodded, suddenly feeling that same unease as he noticed her tail was gripping the tree branch so tight the bark was starting to splinter. “Uh, yeah… let’s head back down and get our bearings.” He wriggled a bit, loosening his arms from Sonata’s grip, though Sonata herself didn’t seem to budge. He had seen this sort of thing happen before with Sonata, freezing up with anxiety from uncertainty or something of the sort. He was feeling anxious too, but the knowledge that his best friend was doing worse overcame the fear he felt in favor of wanting to help. Turning around in her arms, Grayscale looked up at Sonata and placed both hands on either side of her face, pulling her head down to look at her eye-to-eye once again. Her eyes were wide, watering, and quivering with nervous fright like a cold chihuahua. He knew had to snap her out of this spell… and what better way to break a spell than a kiss? Because that’s precisely what Grayscale did, pressing his lips to hers and holding them together tenderly. His tongue slid out from his mouth and in between her jaws to slip into her mouth, though it wasn’t until she felt the male snerret’s head wedge itself into her maw that Sonata suddenly snapped out of her frozen state. Through a mouthful of his head, Sonata yelled out “HEY! WAH YAH OOIN’?”
 
 
Grayscale replied by grabbing onto her shoulders and pulling himself up and inside her throat deeper, almost diving into her gullet. Once past his upper torso, Sonata’s predatory instincts kicked in and muscle memory took over, throwing her head back to swallow down the rest of her roomie in a series of rapid-fire gulps, sending Grayscale down into her belly once again.
 
 
Sonata leaned against the tree, feeling the softly shifting dome of her gut as her breathing became more stable. She looked down at the stretched-out, sky-blue scales of her middle, rubbing her paw along the outside and feeling the shifting shapes of the snerret now snug in her stomach. Before long, she actually laughed.
 
 
“Y’know Gray…” She mused, playfully slapping her belly. “Most folks don’t force-feed themselves to others to help them snap back to reality.”
 
 
“What can I say? I didn’t bring my smelling salts.” Grayscale replied through the layers of flesh surrounding him.
 
 
Sonata laughed again, harder and longer as she curled around the tree trunk and began her descent down to the ground. “Well, let’s not linger around here. If I have to think about… what you told me before, I might just throw you up prematurely and you’ll be heading down the fast way.”
 
 
On the way down Grayscale pondered on a few things. "Hey, Sonata?"
 
 
"Yeah Gray, what's up?" She responded, finding climbing down with a full stomach to be less taxing than climbing up with gravity working with her, rather than against her.
 
 
"We should mention this sparkling magic malarkey to Nillyna," he said. “First the Freddy Krueger claws, then the big blade of light, then I got impaled by the mirror shard, and just now I ended up mind-jacking a bird! What the heck is going on with us? Did we pass through some kind of magical field or something on our way here?”
 
 
“Beats me,” Sonata replied as she corkscrewed down the length of the tree, “Nillyna used that staff of hers to cast spells, but you didn’t even say any kind of magic words. What were you doing differently when those spells happened?”
 
 
Grayscale shrugged, despite the gesture not being visible to his predatory carrier. “I dunno, I just sorta… wanted something to happen, and it did, I guess? But it seems kinda random. And why am I the only one slinging spells around?”
 
 
Sonata had to admit he had a point. Grayscale seemed to be the only one of them thus far that started involuntarily slinging spells, yet she herself seemed unaffected by whatever it was affecting him. She wasn’t sure if she should be grateful or jealous, considering he didn’t seem to have much control over the spells he was casting. It was a mystery she would have to unravel later with Nillyna; right now all she wanted was to be back on solid ground. She had to admit though, it would be nice to get down from this tree through magic, like a “Feather Fall” spell or something like-
 
 
It was then Sonata suddenly realized her body was slowly being swarmed by tiny, twinkling azure sparkles, glowing brighter as her entire body loosened itself from around the tree and began to hover weighlessly in midair, wobbling about like a ribbon caught in a breeze.
 
 
"NO! NO! I WAS JUST THINKING ABOUT IT! I DON’T WANT TO LEVITATE DOWN!" Sonata screamed, flailing around like a beached eel, the aura of blue sparks flying about as she waved her arms in panic.
 
 
In her belly, Grayscale could suddenly feel her stomach lurch about in random directions, as if he was in a slimy tumble dryer. "Sonata? Sonata, what's going on out there?" Grayscale shouted from within her gut, shifting in unease.
 
 
The subtle movement proved to be the final proverbial nail in the coffin for Sonata's self-control, and Grayscale found himself unceremoniously upchucked from Sonata's innards yet again. It wasn't something Gray wasn't unused to- Sonata's belly was practically a second home to him- what he wasn't accustomed to was being greeted with a ten foot drop upon emergence.
 
 
"YAAAGH!” he screamed as he plummeted to the ground. He might have landed somewhat gracefully on all fours if he had anticipated this fall, but in this case, Gray indignantly landed flat on his face with a splat in the mud, his arms splay out, his rear hanging comically in the air, his tail arched over his back in a big green letter “C”. A sizable snapped branch was coiled tightly in his tail, the result of his failed attempt to slow his fall.
 
 
He moaned painfully as his lower body plopped to the ground with the rest of him, more stars dancing in his eyes than were in the sky the night before. It only took a second to gather his wits and once he did he looked up just in time for Sonata to gently touch down before him, her coils softly piling up on the ground as the blue sparkles danced about her pink fur.
 
 
"Ugh, Really could have used a warning there, Mary Poppins," he said indignantly, brushing himself off as he looked up at her. “And what's the big deal? Did the hovermelons suddenly take effect again or what?"
 
 
However Sonata wasn't laughing, or responding in any meaningful way. Instead, her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she keeled forward in a dead faint, almost mirroring his own pratfall moments before. Grayscale was quick to respond, leaping to his feet and hoisting her up by her shoulders.
 
 
"Sonata? Sonata, are you alright?" As he said this he noticed the sparkling nimbus slowly dissipating from her body. He had noticed it before but had assumed he was still seeing stars, however, now he recognized it as the same phenomenon that had shrouded their hands earlier.
 
 
"We have got to get back to Nillyna, pronto!" He said, heaving Sonata up bridal style into his arms, draping her coils around his neck like a scarf and running off towards Nillyna’s estate, letting the rest of her tail drag on the ground behind him.
 
 
Were it not for the circumstances, Grayscale would normally be enjoying carrying Sonata like this. He rarely ever got the chance partly due to the sheer size difference between them, but mostly because Sonata considered herself a tomboy and found the act too “girly” for her liking. Sure, she had some more traditionally feminine tastes, like her sizable plushie collection or her love of the color pink, but she drew the line at anything she dubbed “pretty princess crap”. Grayscale, meanwhile, relished the feeling of carrying a lady in his arms. It made him feel… useful, appreciated. Not that Sonata appreciated it in the past, as pretty much every time he ended up carrying her it was because she had one too many drinks while they were out on the town. It was those times he wished he had a camera to capture those moments, both to get a rise out of Sonata for shits and giggles, and to reminisce on how nice it felt to hold her like that.
 
 
But, positivity aside, there were more pressing matters to attend to.
 
 
“Ugh, dammit How am I supposed to carry her and find Nillyna at the same time? Maybe I should set her down somewhere, or get a-” His out-loud thinking was interrupted as a ball of sky-blue light suddenly materialized in front of him, hovering with a soft humming sound. Grayscale tensed up, worried that he had involuntarily cast a spell again.
 
 
His worries vanished when the ball of light suddenly spoke in Nillyna’s voice, the light pulsing with each syllable. “Sonata, Grayscale, this is Nillyna. Please follow this messenger spell, it will lead you to my location. There are things I must discuss with you.”
 
 
Without another word, the ball of light began to drift off into the trees at a walking pace, pausing briefly as if waiting for him to catch up. Grayscale kicked up his heels and following the light, Sonata’s tail dragging behind him as he went.
 
 
—
 
 
"Hmm, now this is interesting," said Nillyna as she examined a scroll she had been running a quill across non-stop for the past hour.
 
 
"What is it?" Asked Lily, reclined on a futon that Nillyna had magically teleported into the room for her, lifting one of her new legs up and examining it.
 
 
Nillyna had been successful, Lily now sported a pair of long, slender, elegant green legs, and, according to Nillyna, as long as she wore her choker, they were here to stay. And that wasn't all. Rolling over on her chest, Lily looked down her back. She now had a pair of pert, round buttocks, just as elegant and slender as her legs. Lily had been gluttonous in her life, but if she was ever guilty of envy, it would be how featureless her “bottom” had been up until now, when compared to women of other species. In fact, whenever a woman had been drawn to her in the past, judging by how how well fed she was, she would often hold them in her plant mouth with their lower portions sticking out, any clothes they had been wearing removed, just so Lily could savor the sight of their bare asses for as long as possible, wishing hers was like theirs.
 
 
Now her wish had been fulfilled. She reached back and gently rubbed one of her smooth green cheeks, giving it a soft, experimental slap and giggling at the sensation and sight of it briefly wobbling.
 
 
"I think I might have solved the mystery of your intelligence," said Nillyna, turning away and blushing as Lily admired her own bottom. She wouldn’t admit it, but the shape of Lily’s bountiful botanical booty was a “custom-made” feature to her new legs, Nillyna sharing Lily’s admiration for ample rear ends.
 
 
When she turned back, Nillyna noticed Lily was glaring at her in response to her remark. "Oh! I don't mean that disrespectfully, far from it," insisted Nillyna. "You have to admit, Lily, your intellect is perplexing, given your origin. You can speak, read, and write, despite being practically feral all your life."
 
 
Lily’s scowl softened, and she nodded silently. It was true that in the past when Lily was alone with her thoughts (as she often was), she occasionally wondered where her knowledge of the world came from.
 
 
"Are you saying… you know how I came to be as I am?" She asked.
 
 
"I believe so," said Nillyna, looking back to her scroll. "While my examination spells were gathering information on your body, they detected a perplexing functionality of your digestive tract. If my deductions are correct, your system not only breaks down ingested prey for sustenance, you also assimilate a tiny piece of their intelligence as well. To put it simply, whenever you eat someone, you become a little bit smarter."
 
"Ah, that makes sense," said Lily, understanding now. "I have eaten quite a lot of people in my life, especially after entering that arrangement with Shadow." All this brought a question to the forefront of Lily's mind. "How long do you suppose it took me to become as smart as I am now?"
 
 
"Couldn't say," said Nillyna, looking over her research again. "The assimilation only extracts a very miniscule amount of intelligence from each victim. I wouldn't be surprised if it took a millennium for you to get from what you started out as to who you are now."
 
 
"It is rather intriguing," said Lily, sitting up on her new bottom and placing her hands on her cheeks making a cutesy wootsy face. "Can you imagine someone with a face like this was once feral?"
 
 
"Given what you did to me when we first met, I could definitely say yes," Nillyna shot back, much to Lily's embarrassment. "But, if my readings are to be believed, you most likely didn't have your humanoid body in the beginning."
 
 
"Wait, really?” Inquired Lily, astonished that she might have not always had this beautiful face at one time.
 
 
Nillyna nodded. "You were probably nothing but your plant mouth and vines when you first grew, then you most likely adapted as you ingested more intelligent prey, probably sprouting this demure, secondary body as a means to lure sentient prey into a false sense of security."
 
 
This was all very fascinating to Lily, it explained so much about her.
 
 
The sound of a door opening was heard, Lily and Nillyna looking to the nearby stairs.
 
 
"Oh, good, seems they found my messenger spell," commented Nillyna, hearing footsteps.
 
 
She only heard one set but then again, Sonata didn't have legs.
 
 
"Am I really not allowed to eat them?" Lily pouted.
 
 
"Lily, please don't start this again!" Said Nillyna, rubbing her forehead in irritation.
 
 
Lily, however, giggled, "Just kidding."
 
 
Nillyna shook her head at her girlfriend's antics. Grayscale finally appeared in the stairwell on the other side of the room, however neither Nillyna or Lily were expecting his current state. He was ragged and dirty with a sizable branch coiled tightly in his tail, but the most noticeable feature was the limp Sonata in his arms.
 
 
"What happened to you?" Asked Lily, the sight perplexing, even for her.
 
 
Nillyna, however, had a different reaction. She waved her talisman cane and, much to Grayscale's surprise, the massive four poster bed appeared in the left hand side of the room.
 
 
"Quick, lay her down!" She said, assisting in settling Sonata down.
 
 
Grayscale stumbled towards the bed, dropping the tree branch on the floor behind him. "Um, is it really sanitary to lay her in this bed? I mean we… didn’t exactly clean up after ourselves this morning. Uh, sorry about that."
 
 
"I know," said Nillyna, scowling at the memory of a certain odor, Grayscale blushing at the obvious at her irked tone as he gently draped Sonata’s body across the mattress. "But don't worry, the sheets should be nice and clean by now."
 
 
"Really?" Grayscale inquired, draping the comforter over Sonata's body. "You got your own housekeeping service or something?"
 
 
"Housekeeping? What do you take this place for, a cheap inn?" Said Nillyna, obvious annoyance in her voice. "No sorceress of my caliber would even think about purchasing a home without having the latest self-service spells in place."
 
 
Now that was something that Grayscale hadn't seen coming. But oh the possibilities. He and Sonata could be as naughty as they wanted without any fear of leaving an awkward mess.
 
 
"So, what happened to her? How did your friend get this way?" Asked Nillyna.
 
 
"She and I fell out of a tree, though… her fall was a bit different then mine." Said Grayscale, grabbing Sonata's hand and stroking it worriedly. "She's not harmed, is she?"
 
 
"No, she's only in shock," explained Nillyna, having examined Sonata whilst laying her down. "She'll be fine once she wakes up. Now, what happened?"
 
 
"Well, for starters, you got some explaining to do, lady," said Grayscale sternly, crossing his arms.
 
 
Nillyna was slightly taken aback by his accusatory tone, however, her girlfriend reacted before she could.
 
 
"Watch yourself, Snerret!" Snarled Lily from the futon. "I may not be able to swallow you whole in this form, but if you try to bite my girlfriend I’ll bite you twice back!” Lily emphasized her threat by sitting up and baring her teeth like a guard dog, though her lack of fangs diminished the threat she posed.
 
 
Grayscale looked at her with an arched eyebrows. "Hey, settle down, flower girl! I’m not trying to pick a fight with anyone. Besides, I used up all my venom on you last night; it’ll be at least two weeks before my venom refills." He gave Nillyna another stern look. "However, I would still like answers."
 
 
This time Nillyna crossed her arms, though her expression was inquisitive. "Alright, what do you want to know?"
 
 
"First of all, why didn’t you tell us this place was floating in the sky?" Asked Grayscale. “I mean, why settle down, or rather, up here of all places?"
 
 
Lily settled back on the futon as Grayscale went on, silently amused by his reaction. It was actually the first time she she could actually agree with him. The first time the true nature of this place was revealed to her she almost couldn't take it.
 
 
"Oh, that," exclaimed Nillyna calmly. "Well first of all, I didn’t tell you because it was simply brought up, and to be honest, I’ve become so accustomed to it I often forget that others are not used to living on skylands.”
 
 
Grayscale’s ears twitched curiously at that last word, “skylands”, and how it rhymed with “islands”. It must have been the name for floating islands on this world.
 
 
“As for the “why”... I simply enjoy my solitude."
 
 
Grayscale was taken aback. He had met plenty of introverts before, being one himself and hanging around more “nerdy” circles both online and in real life. He definitely appreciated the tranquility of solitude between moments of socialization. But literally living in a castle alone with your head literally in the clouds? That was introverted on a whole other level.
 
 
"Well, it's not gonna fall sometime, is it?" Asked Grayscale worriedly.
 
 
Lily perked up at that question, suddenly growing concerned about the same thing herself.
 
 
"Well, it hasn't fallen in well over four thousand years, I sincerely doubt that would change anytime soon," commented Nillyna. "Plus I do yearly inspections of the skyland’s geology for signs of degradation. I haven't noticed any yet."
 
 
"Four thousand years?" Echoed Grayscale, pointing to Nillyna in surprise. "You mean you…"
 
 
"Oh, no, no, no!" She Nillyna, waving her hands dismissively. "I'm not four thousand years old, the land has simply been airborne for that long. I simply took up residence here in recent years."
 
 
"Oh," said Grayscale. "What makes it float?"
 
 
"I believe that's an explanation that can wait," said Nillyna, looking down at Sonata's unconscious form. "We have more pressing matters to attend to."
 
 
Grayscale agreed, taking Sonata's limp hand again and putting it to his chest, feeling relieved to feel a noticeable, if faint pulse.
 
 
"So what happened?" Asked Nillyna once again.
 
 
"That's something else we need to talk about," said Grayscale, looking up at Nillyna pleadingly. "I think passing through the portal has affected us."
 
 
From their Grayscale explained to Nillyna all the happenings since that morning, from manifesting bladed objects out of light, somehow summoning the needed shard of the mirror literally into his hand, suddenly seeing through the eyes of a bird, and, lastly, Sonata levitating herself from the top of the trees to the ground. That's apparently how she wound up like this. She wasn't too tolerant of tremendous heights and learning they were on a floating island had almost been too much to take. Inadvertently levitating herself to the ground had been the last straw.
 
 
Nillyna was perplexed by the explanation and asked Grayscale to join her next to a hovering plank of crystal. "Sit here, please," she indicated.
 
 
"Great, more floating things," he groaned, eyeing the crystal. "What is this supposed to be?"
 
 
"It's an information gatherer," Nillyna explained. "It details the information of anything it's in contact with. Don't worry, it's not dangerous."
 
 
"A magical CT scanner, great," Grayscale mumbled to himself as he sat on the crystal. "Might as well get one over with now... Most likely I will need another when I get home anyway."
 
 
"Hold as still as you can," said Nillyna, not listening to his brooding, picking up a smaller crystal identical to what Grayscale sat on.
 
 
She stared at it for a while, her expression changing every now and then as her feathery antennae twitched at random intervals.
 
 
"You find out anything?" Asked Lily from where she sat, having heard Grayscale's explanation and was curious about the outcome.
 
 
"Maybe," Nillyna said, setting down the tablet of crystal and approaching Grayscale, brandishing her talisman cane. "Gray, hold your hand out please."
 
 
 Grayscale complied, holding his hand out.
 
 
Nillyna lowered the crimson orb atop the handle of her cane, a pillar of blue light extending downward and bathing Grayscale head to toe.
 
 
"Try to repeat the phenomenon you described," Nillyna requested.
 
 
Grayscale contemplated it for a second. As far as he knows whatever was going on responded to thought. He tried to think of something but, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lily's new legs and he had to admit, they were certainly a lovely set of elegant, womanly legs. He wondered briefly if Nillyna also appreciated a fine pair of gams like he did, as Lily’s legs seemed so masterfully sculpted, from her bountiful hips down to her dainty pointed toes. He then wondered if they were ticklish…
 
 
Suddenly Lily let out a shrilling laugh and fell back on the futon, kicking her feet through the air. Nillyna and Grayscale looked at her inquisitively, until they noticed the glittering nimbus surrounding her feet.
 
 
"Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! W-w-what the!" She laughed hysterically. "Eee-hee-hee-hee! N-N-Nillyna, my f-feet! T-they, they fee-hee-heel… ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
 
 
Taken off guard by her girlfriend's sudden incessant laughter, Nillyna lost focus, the pillar of the light she was emanating from her cane dissipating with it. As soon as she did, the glistering lights around Lily's feet disappeared, leaving the plant-girl limp on the futon, panting for breath. Nillyna looked at her girlfriend from over her shoulder in shock for a second before looking back to Grayscale, arching an eyebrow.
 
 
Grayscale could only laugh nervously and shrug.
 
 
Nillyna rolled her eyes and looked at her smaller tablet. "Did you mean to do that?"
 
 
"Nuh uh!" Replied Grayscale, shaking his head.
 
 
"Oh, my butt it wasn't," said Lily snidely, glaring up at Grayscale. "He did that on purpose!"
 
 
"I'm telling you I didn't," insisted Grayscale. "Whatever this is, it responds to my thoughts, I don't have any direct control of the outcome!" He held up his hand. "Do you honestly think I would willingly jam a jagged piece of metal through my palm?"
 
 
Lily couldn't dispute that logic. The only people who would do something like that were either very clumsy sorcerers, extreme masochists, or crazed cultists performing blood magic rituals. Grayscale didn't seem like any of those, or at least not the latter two.
 
 
"Now, did your magical doohickey find anything?" Asked Grayscale to Nillyna.
 
 
Nillyna’s eyes scanned across the slab of crystal, observing the readings and symbols that appeared as it was scanning the snerret in question,
 
 
"Interesting," she commented in an intrigued voice. "I have never seen someone cultivate magic in this fashion before. The implications are both incredible and baffling."
 
 
"What the hell are you talking about?" Inquired Grayscale. He hated it when people didn’t just get to the point, especially when he was trying to ask them something. "Do you know why me and Sonata are getting all glowy or not? Did the portal do something to us"
 
 
"I believe I know the reason, yes…" said Nillyna, lowering the crystal slab.
 
 
But before Nillyna could respond they all heard a subtle moan. Turning to the source they all saw Sonata beginning to rouse, slowly opening her eyes.
 
 
"Sonata!" Exclaimed Grayscale, momentarily frozen in place in excitement and relief.
 
 
Sonata turned to the sound of his voice, her eyes half-lidded as they spotted her favorite bed buddy, along with Nillyna and Lily. "Mmmm… What are you doing over there, Gray? S’plenty of room on here fer two… maybe three or four…"
 
 
But Grayscale didn't hear her, he was too busy jumping off the floating crystal he had been sitting on, running over to the bed and leaping into Sonata's arms, holding her tight.
 
 
"Oof! A little over eager, huh Gray?" But, much to her surprise and annoyance, Grayscale wasn’t getting randy at all- He didn't slam his lips over hers, didn't grab her breasts, or squeeze her butt. He just held her tightly and trembled, as if barely holding in his emotions.
 
 
"Don't you ever do that again," he said softly.
 
 
"Gray, what is your problem?" Asked Sonata. Grayscale was by no means a stereotypical muscle headed insensitive buffoon like some males portray themselves as to not appear weak it took quite a bit to make him lose control of his facilities.
 
 
"Don't you remember?" Asked Grayscale, leaning back to lock his burnt orange eyes with her hot pink ones. "Our little escapade in the tree?"
 
 
It all came flooding back to Sonata. The tree, the disturbing discovery, and somehow levitating to the ground.
 
 
"Holy shit, Gray, we're floating in the sky!" She exclaimed fearfully, pulling Grayscale closer and holding him tight once again.
 
 
"Yes, Yes! We’ve established that," Grayscale wheezed whilst patting Sonata on the back. "But we’re not in any danger! Nillyna just told me this place has been floating here for over four thousand years… it’s totally stable, I promise!”
 
 
“Oh, oh good…” Sonata huffed, relaxing her death-grip on Grayscale. “Wait… last I remember, I was floating, I spat you out, and then… how did I get here?” She asked, looking over at Nillyna for answers.
 
 
“Oh, I can’t take credit for anything other than relocating your bed,” she explained, gesturing towards Grayscale. “Your little friend here carried you all the way here.”
 
 
“What?” Sonata barked indignantly, snapping her head towards him.
 
 
“Yes indeed, it was quite impressive given your size difference, and rather adorable, if I do say so my-”
 
 
“Gray, I told you if you’re gonna carry me like that, don’t do it when people are watching!” She hissed, narrowing her eyes at him in annoyance. “It’s embarrassing!”
 
 
“Well, what was I supposed to do, drag you through the dirt by your tail?” Grayscale snapped sarcastically. “I doubt that’d be any more dignified. You’re welcome, by the way.”
 
 
Sonata let out an exasperated groan, mentally cringing at the thought of being carried like some swooning damsel on the cover of a trashy bodice-ripper. “Ugh, thank you, I guess…” She looked back at Nillyna, desperate to change the subject. “So uh, what are we doing here, anyway?”
 
 
"Oh, well, Nillyna summoned us here," explained Grayscale, sitting up on the edge of the bed. "She actually might know why we suddenly started casting spells out of the blue…um, green. Man, being on an alien world is confusing."
 
 
"Oh, is that true?" Asked Sonata, looking over to Nillyna.
 
 
"I do believe I have deduced the reason," said Nillyna with a reassuring nod. “Your previous hypothesis about the portal changing your physiology was only half-right: the portal didn’t affect your bodies at all beyond bringing you to Aquasa. Rather, you being on Aquasa at all is the reason you can suddenly use magic.”
 
 
Sonata and Grayscale looked surprised, even Lily seemed taken aback.
 
 
"You have got to be kidding!" Exclaimed Grayscale.
 
 
"How does simply being on another planet give us magic powers?” Sonata asked. “Is it something in the air?”
 
 
“Again, you’re only half-right,” Answered Nillyna, her upper arms waving about in the air to emphasize her next talking point. “It’s not the air that’s affecting you, but rather, the sunlight.” Nillyna extended out her left upper arm and opened her hand, a tiny representation of Aquasa's blue sun appearing above her palm, orbited by a planet the size of a marble. "The light of our sun not only grants us heat and light and life, but is also the primary source of all sorcery on Aquasa. It's what fuels the spells magic users like me cast." She closed her palm, snuffing out the tiny orrery. "Is this not how magic functions on your homeworld?"
 
 
"Not really," Said Sonata with a shake of her head. “All that standing in the sun does to us is give us a tan.”
 
 
“I mean, we can do other things with sunlight, like power machines and burn things,” Grayscale chimed in, “But that’s all done with technology, not magic.”
 
 
Nillyna was slightly perplexed herself at this point, remembering the image of the bright yellow sun she'd seen in those images showing on Sonata's little device. So that yellow sun didn't produce magic?
 
 
"Then what fuels magic on your world?" She asked curiously.
 
 
"You're asking the wrong Snerrets," exclaimed Grayscale." Me and Sonata have our own skill sets, but magic ain't on the list."
 
 
"Couldn't tell you the first thing about it, other than that it looks cool from time to time. It certainly isn’t nearly as impressive as what you can do," said Sonata. "But you're saying the blue sun of this world is granting us these powers?"
 
 
Nillyna nodded, projecting a diagram of an eye next.
 
 
"Like I said, sunlight is the main source for casting magical spells on Aquasa," she explained, the diagram of the eye being shined upon by a pillar of blue light. "Think of spellcasters on Aquasa as mills or factories for spells. We take in sunlight through our eyes, which is then processed by our minds and then, through our willpower, released as a finished spell. The more complex the thought process, the more powerful the spell."
 
 
"Cool," said Sonata with wonder.
 
 
Grayscale looked down at his paws, remembering back to all the weird stuff that had happened in the last couple days. "Wait, if casting spells here requires focusing your thoughts like that, how come we’ve been casting them all willy-nilly?”
 
 
"Like I said, I've never seen readings like yours before," declared Nillyna, willing the crystal slab to magically hover before them with a few gentle hand gestures. "If my calculations are correct, you two function like lenses, rather than factories. You take in magic and project it into spells, rather than process it." She tapped on the surface of the crystal to bring their attention to its readings; though the text was incomprehensible to them, the image it showed was easy enough to figure out. In the middle of the slab was an intricately detailed display of what looked like a lengthwise cross-section of Grayscale’s body, his bones and organs clearly traced out all in thin, glowing golden lines. A stream of glowing blue dots could be seen traveling into and all around the inside of his body like a swarm of ants, most likely representing the way magic flowed through his body.
 
 
Grayscale and Sonata were gobsmacked. So as long as they were absorbing the blue light of this world through their eyes, they could project it in the form of spells? All in all, it was kinda cool. They practically had super powers now.
 
 
"Any drawbacks we should be aware of?" Asked Grayscale. All powers came with drawbacks as far as he was concerned. He had to suppress his references to Kryptonite.
 
 
Nillyna looked at the slab again. "Well, other than your obvious lack of skill —no offense— from what I can tell, you more or less have the same shortcomings we do," she said, dismissing her diagram for another representation of the sun. "You have to remain in contact with sunlight in order to cast spells. Sorcerers aren't capable of conserving sunlight within their bodies, not in vast quantities at least. Those who try can end up, um, “backfiring”, so to speak.” Nillyna’s wings, recently converted into a dress, shuddered briefly at the thought of some of the more graphic things she had seen illustrated in spellbooks during her school years.
 
 
"Wait, we have to stay in the sun?" Inquired Sonata. That explains why their spells had seemed so sporadic. “That does explain a lot. But then how are you doing magic indoors?" She asked, pointing out that small sun and eye Nillyna had conjured previously.
 
 
Nillyna smiled with a hint of smugness and brandished her cane. "This here is a talisman," she explained, tapping the red stone atop the platinum staff. "Long ago, sorcerers learned to compensate for their bodies’ limitations by storing magic in talismans like these. Most inorganic matter can be used to make a talisman, even bones or shells, but by far the most efficient ones are crafted from precious gemstones and crystals. These vessels can store a sizable, though still limited, amount of sunlight, allowing us to cast spells wherever and whenever we desire, so long as it has enough to spare.
 
 
"Cool, like an auxiliary battery," said Sonata, intrigued.
 
 
"So that's how I tickled Lily’s feet from across the room," said Grayscale offhandedly.
 
 
"You did what?" Snorted Sonata, barely containing a laugh. “I never took you for a feet guy, Gray. What, is my tail not enough for ya?” She snickered cheekily as the tip of her tail slid up and around him from behind, reaching up to playfully scritch under his chin.
 
 
"Ack! Knock it off! I didn’t do it on purpose!" Protested Grayscale, pushing her tail away only for it to swing back and flop down across his lap. He looked over at her with a knowing glance. “What, don’t tell me you’re jealous?”
 
 
Sonata’s face went from playful to bashful as she blushed from the accusation. “What? No, no! I mean…” her voice lowered to an embarrassed mumble. “I do sometimes wonder what it’s like to have ticklish feet…”
 
 
“Ah, don’t let it get you down; feet aren’t all they’re cracked up to be,” Grayscale said supportively, giving Sonata a friendly arm-punch with one arm before picking up her tail with the other. “Besides, I know for a fact you got plenty of other ticklish spots…” He went ahead and started flicking her tail-tip suggestively, wagging his eyebrows with perverted friskiness.
 
 
Nillyna chuckled at her guest’s antics before clacking her talisman cane against the floor, making them both snap to attention. "Anyway… back to the true reason why I summoned you two here." She turned and walked over to a nearby corner of the room, which was currently occupied by some sort of large object completely covered by a white sheet. With a single three-handed tug, Nillyna pulled the sheet away to reveal what was underneath.
 
 
It was a tall, polished mirror the size of a bookshelf, framed in a shining silver archway formed from two curved pillars that met at the very top, each tipped with ornate, draconic claws in which were clasped a massive red ruby. A faint, pulsing red light glowed from within the giant gemstone. Sonata and Grayscale gasped in awe.
 
 
"Is that…? asked Grayscale.
 
 
Nillyna nodded, "A gateway to your home, yes."
 
 
"Aw, hell yeah!" Cheered Sonata, her and Grayscale leaping off the bed eagerly. "That was easier than I thought! So what do we do, just go through it?”
 
 
"If it were working properly, yes," said Nillyna, her voice somber. "But as you can imagine, it’s not entirely complete. In fact, it should already be activated."
 
 
"Huh?" Inquired Sonata and Grayscale, looking at the reflective surface of the mirror, seeing their confused faces looking back at them.
 
 
"I seemed to have run into a problem," Nillyna explained, looking at the mirror while Sonata and Grayscale facepalmed. It was always something. "I obtained all the data needed to open the portal exactly the same way as when it first brought you here, with the ruby from my mirror acting as a focal point for this end, but the endpoint back on your own world refused to open. The only way that could happen is if the reflective surface on the other side isn't there anymore." She turned back to the Snerrets. "The portal opened in this… what did you call it, a “shower” of yours? You said you left the water on, yes?" The Snerrets nodded. "Could it have been shut off somehow?"
 
 
 
 
Sonata and Grayscale thought for a second. The only other person who had a key to the flat was their landlord, but it had only been a day. He could not have…could he?
 
 
"It must have been our landlord, Fitzpatrick," said Sonata, rubbing her temples in irritation. "Someone must have reported the running water! I don't believe it! For all the times for him to be punctual!"
 
 
Nillyna arched an eye at their reactions to their own hypothesis. "Is there something wrong with this “Fitzpatrick” fellow?”
 
 
"Oh, he's nice enough as landlords go, but he's just not quick on the fly when it comes to complaints," said Grayscale. "Like this one time this neighbor of ours, Mr. Gristlewood went silent for a while and it took our landlord a week to check on him. Turns out the guy croaked in his sleep, and not only that… the guy had a cat."
 
 
"Who hadn't been fed since his owner passed," concluded Sonata, shivering at the memory of that day, of seeing a not-so-clean gurney being wheeled out of the building. "It was… NOT pretty."
 
 
"Oh goodness, I'm sorry that happened to your neighbor," said Nillyna.
 
 
"Eh, don't be," insisted Grayscale. "I mean, it sucks he's dead but the grouchy old badger was always looking for a reason to try and evict everyone else. One time he actually complained that we were being “too quiet”! Said it was “suspicious” or some shit like that.”
 
 
"But what about the portal?" Sonata said, "is there anything you can do?"
 
 
Nillyna nodded with a supportive smile, "Well, if the water that acted as the catalyst for the first portal is not there anymore, we simply need to find another reflective surface nearby. The “shower” was located in your lavatory, so I assume there's a mirror, right?"
 
 
"Of course, what bathroom wouldn't have a mirror?" Commented Grayscale.
 
 
"Then we just need to locate it,” said Nillyna. “Where would it be in relation to the shower? Imagine this room is your, uh, bathroom, and the mirror is the shower."
 
 
After a bit of thinking and pantomiming the shape and features of their bathroom, Nillyna pointed her cane to the mirror. It glowed briefly as the surface of the mirror rippled like a sideways puddle of mercury. As it slowly smoothed out, the mirror went from reflecting the room they were in to looking like a window peering at a white wall adorned with a row of towel hooks, above which sat a familiar-looking shelf laden with old magazines, a half-emptied bottle of mouthwash, and a handful of vanilla scented candles in varying states of meltiness.
 
 
"That's it! That's our bathroom!" Said Sonata triumphantly.
 
 
"Yes! We're going home!" Cheered Grayscale.
 
 
But the enthusiasm was short lived, for barely a second after he said that, they all immediately shielded their eyes as the mirror unleashed a blinding white light, accompanied by the rapidly-growing roar of what sounded like a thunderstorm.
 
 
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" screamed Lily, ducking behind the futon she was previously laying upon.
 
 
But Nillyna didn't let anyone stick around to find out. She waved her talisman cane and, with a sudden lurch and a burst of sparks, they all wound up safely lying upon the grass in front of Nillyna’s mansion.
 
 
*KABOOM*
 
 
Looking up they all saw a geyser of debris shooting up from the left side of Nillyna's house. They all stared wide-eyed at the destruction…
 
 
…until Grayscale saw something thin and long twirling through the air towards him.
 
 
"Yipe!" He cried, jumping out of the way just as a large branch embedded itself into the ground, the same branch he had pulled from a tree earlier. He scowled, "If I didn't know any better I would say this thing likes me."
 
 
And he wasn't the only one perplexed by falling debris. Sonata noticed something red and glistening tumbling towards her and opened her mouth just in time to catch it in her jaws. It was the ruby that was supposed to be the key to getting them home. Sonata looked at it and then to the pillar of smoke left from the mirror exploding, a tear of disappointment I'm her left eye.
 
 
"What…what happened?" She wheezed out.
 
 
That's when a reflective fragment of mirror landed a few feet away, tumbling towards her on its edges before spirling to a stop on the grass.
 
 
"Good morning Stoat City," said the voice of a weatherman Sonata was all too familiar with. "Today's forecast we have sunny skies from now until the late afternoon, with a sev….y…. perce…cha…o…"
 
 
The voice quickly stuttered into silence, before the shard finally crumpled into a pile of dust.
 
 
Sonata blinked. There was only one reason why you would hear that voice from their bathroom.
 
 
"Aw shit," she cursed angrily, pounding the dust with a fist and scattering them. "The Smart Mirror."