Chapter 78: Salt

The morning air at the western cliff bit at Grace’s skin like a hungry ex-girlfriend… Not that she’d ever had one of those before.

She adjusted her pack while watching Diana check her weapons for the third time, like the warrior had some weird weapon-fondling fetish. Seriously, why even bother when she was just going to use her materialized light weapon anyway?

Petriel stood nearby, nervously playing with her healer’s kit (again, why even bother bringing such a thing when you could heal people magically??? Grace didn’t get it), and Meridian glared at a map like it had personally offended her.

“Alright, feather-brains,” Diana announced, strapping her golden sword to her hip. “Let’s do this before I change my mind about babysitting you all.”

“You’re literally on this mission because Celestia ordered you to be,” Grace said.

“Details.” Diana flicked her wrist dismissively.

“Grace! GRACE!”

A familiar voice shattered the morning calm. Grace turned to see Alia sprinting toward them like a horny missile, with Zephyr following at a more dignified pace.

“Oh no,” Grace muttered.

Diana grinned.

“Oh yes.”

Alia skidded to a stop inches from Grace, panting dramatically.

“We couldn’t… let you leave… without saying… goodbye!”

“That’s… really sweet,” Grace said, already bracing for whatever chaos was about to unfold.

“We brought you something!” Alia beamed.

Zephyr caught up, giving Grace an apologetic smile that screamed “I tried to stop her but you know how she is.”

“It’s a traditional Love Sister farewell!” Alia declared.

Before Grace could ask what that meant, Alia and Zephyr exchanged mischievous glances. Then, in perfect synchronization, they yanked up their pink robes, flashing their perky tits at everyone.

“FOR GOOD LUCK!” they shouted together.

Grace’s jaw dropped.

“What the—”

“Nice,” Diana said, nodding appreciatively like she was judging a competition.

Meridian made a strangled noise.

“This is absolutely inappropriate! Put those breasts away immediately!”

The Love Sisters laughed but lowered their robes, clearly enjoying Meridian’s meltdown. The scholar’s face had turned redder than a spanked butt, her wings twitching like she was about to have a seizure.

“Sacrilegious,” she hissed. “A completely sacrilegious approach to divinity.”

Diana snorted.

“If anyone’s sacrilegious, it’s you Choir snobs. Eternia would approve of their behavior.”

“You know nothing of what Eternia would approve,” Meridian snapped.

“I know she fucked a dragon once,” Diana replied with a smirk. “It’s in the Eternal Codex.”

“That’s—that’s taken out of context!”

“Is it, though?” Diana raised an eyebrow.

Funny enough, Grace knew the answer to that.

[… No, it isn’t.]

Grace jumped between them before Meridian could explode into a shower of scholarly rage.

“Okay! Thanks for the… farewell, guys. We should probably get going.”

Alia threw her arms around Grace’s neck.

“Be safe, okay? Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

“That leaves me a lot of options.”

Zephyr gave Grace a gentler hug.

“Seriously, be careful. Water corruption sounds nasty.”

“We will,” Grace promised.

With final waves and blown kisses (from Alia), the Love Sisters stepped back. Grace turned to her team, trying to look confident and not like she was about to crap herself with anxiety.

“Ready?”

Diana cracked her neck.

“Born ready.”

Petriel nodded nervously, and Meridian just muttered:

“Yes.”

Grace took a deep breath, spread her wings, and stepped off the cliff.

The drop always gave Grace that rollercoaster feeling in her gut. Wind blasted her face as she fell through clouds, wings tucked tight against her back. After counting to ten, she snapped them open, catching air with a jolt that made her stomach say “what the actual fuck.”

Usually, this was when she’d level out and follow the flight path like a good little angel.

But something was wrong.

Her wings shifted without her permission, tilting her westward. Grace frowned and corrected her course. A moment later, it happened again—a weird but insistent pull dragging her toward the ocean.

[What the heck?]

She glanced back to see if the others noticed. Diana was doing unnecessary aerial flips because of course she was. Meridian flew like she had a stick up her butt. But Petriel was watching Grace with worried eyes, clearly seeing something was off.

The healer adjusted her flight to come alongside Grace, close enough that their wings sometimes brushed. Each touch sent tingles through Grace’s body that definitely weren’t appropriate for a serious mission.

“Everything okay?” Petriel asked, her voice barely audible over the wind.

“I think so,” Grace lied. “Just a weird current.”

Petriel didn’t buy it but nodded anyway. She stayed close, positioning herself between Grace and whatever invisible force was trying to yank her off course.

The journey dragged on for hours, which naturally made Grace wonder where the hell they were actually going. By the time Saltmist came into view, Grace’s wings felt like they’d been through a meat grinder from fighting that westward tug.

The village looked totally messed up from above—half-underwater when it shouldn’t be, considering how far the buildings were from the actual shoreline.

“That’s not normal,” Diana called, pointing at the flooded streets.

“Obviously,” Meridian replied with enough snark to fill a small lake.

They spiraled down, landing in what must have been the village square—now a shallow, ankle-deep pool. Villagers wandered around, weirdly chill about the fact they were standing in water. Looking closer, Grace noticed their lips had turned blue, and their eyes looked vacant, like nobody was home upstairs.

“Hello?” Grace called to a middle-aged woman carrying an empty basket. “We’re angels. We’re here to help.”

The woman turned slowly, moving like a drunk zombie. When she spoke, her voice sounded wet and gargle-y.

“Mother Water calls us home.”

“Mother what now?” Diana asked.

Grace approached a young man sitting on a half-submerged bench.

“Excuse me, can you tell us what’s happening here?”

“Mother Water calls us home,” he repeated in exactly the same creepy tone.

Diana frowned.

“This is weird as fuck.”

She marched over to the guy, drew back her hand, and slapped him across the face hard enough to make Grace wince.

“Diana!” Petriel gasped.

“What? I’m experimenting,” Diana said defensively.

The guy’s head snapped sideways from the impact. Slowly, he turned back to face them, a bright red handprint blooming on his cheek next to his blue lips.

“Mother Water calls us home,” he said again, completely unfazed.

Diana threw up her hands.

“Worth a shot.”

“This is useless,” Meridian said. “We need to find someone who isn’t affected yet.”

They spent the rest of the day searching the village. The few normal people they found were barricaded in their homes, scared shitless. According to them, the weird behavior started two weeks ago after a super high tide. People would wake up with blue lips, talk about “Mother Water,” and eventually walk into the sea. Some never came back. Others returned… changed.

By nightfall, they’d gotten rooms at the only dry inn—a two-story building on higher ground. The innkeeper, a nervous guy named Sama, kept looking at the windows like he expected water to start pouring through any second.

“Only got two rooms left,” he told them, twitching like a meth addict. “Been housing folks who lost their homes to the tide.”

“We’ll take them,” Grace said quickly, before Diana could say something that would traumatize the poor man.

Sama handed over the keys, his hands shaking.

“Just… if you hear splashing in the night, don’t open your door.”

“Noted,” Diana said dryly.

“I’ll take first watch with Meridian,” Diana announced as they stood in the narrow hallway between their rooms. Her grin turned wicked as she looked between Grace and Petriel. “You two can get some… rest.”

Grace’s face heated up. “We’re just going to sleep.”

“Sure you are.” Diana winked so hard it was practically obscene.

Meridian pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Can we focus on the mission? People are disappearing into the ocean. This isn’t a pleasure trip.”

“Everything’s a pleasure trip if you do it right,” Diana countered, but she backed down when Meridian gave her a death glare. “Fine. Grace, Petriel, get some sleep. Meridian and I will wake you for second watch.”

Grace and Petriel entered their room, closing the door on Diana’s suggestive eyebrow dance. The room was small—not just small, but tiny as fuck—with a single bed barely big enough for two people.

They stood there in awkward silence.

“I can sleep on the floor,” Petriel offered, staring at her feet.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Grace said. “We’ve literally had sex. I think we can share a bed… Right?”

The words hung between them like a neon sign. Petriel’s face turned bright red.

“R-right,” she stammered.

They got ready for bed in uncomfortable silence, taking turns at the tiny washbasin in the corner. Grace tried not to watch as Petriel stripped down to her underwear, but failed miserably. For someone so shy, Petriel had a killer body—soft curves in all the right places that made Grace’s mouth water.

[Stop staring, you pervert. This is a serious mission about water zombies.]

… Though she wondered how long that would last, now.

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