Vincent was about to speak up but Serenity beat him to it. "I assure you I'll do my best to keep from disturbing you and I don't mind just listening. Unfortunately my protection is a necessity. While they are no animals that may threaten you while you're being carried by Ariel and her aura will protect you from dangers posed by the environment we must be prepared for a confrontation with another woman."

"Serenity has the strongest defensive abilities of any of my fluids natures. That's why I gave her the name and well she's very quiet. She's spent so much time just soaking up my aura and building up her energy that she could protect you from several hits from another woman if I ended up in a fight. Unlike natures like Audacity who are constantly expending their energy."

Audacity couldn't resist rising to the challenge and quickly formed her upper body. "Yes and she did such a fine job of catching your father's desk when you dropped it. Oh wait! That wasn't her. Now which one of us was it?"

Ariel actually felt herself blush as she looked at Audacity. "I wish you wouldn't mention things like that."

While Audacity and Ariel talked about which fluid nature was more useful Serenity stay focused on Vincent. "If you'd like I can restrict myself to your wings and upper body but that would require you to be able to support my weight and your own which I fear would be too much. I understand that the odds of a violent confrontation are low and you may believe I could rush to you in time but it truly is much safer if I'm already covering you. While you're wearing me I will be building up a strong mystic webbing to negate the force of an incoming attack."

Serenity's voice reminded Vincent of Ariel's but the tone lived up to her name. It was so relaxed that the words seemed to sink into his skin and make him want to set down. "So this isn't at all awkward to you? I mean being worn on a man's body."

"I am one of Ariel's natures so being parted from her is always uncomfortable. My place is upon her body after all. However, losing you would be even more uncomfortable and so long as you're upon her person I'm not truly parted from her. If you would like to go flying however I would prefer if you allowed Whimsy or Audacity to take you. If you're worried about me causing you discomfort I assure you that tactilely you won't be able to tell any difference between your clothing and myself unless there is some other change you'd like me to make."

"I'm sorry. You seem nice but I'm not used to a woman I just met feeling me up like that."

"I am not a woman. I'm a fluid nature. Our appearance seems to have confused you. We do not have an actual gender. We take on the shape that our owner finds the most comfortable or the most useful. Ariel understands me as a representation of her calm and protective desire thus I appear similar to her but they are differences. For example my overall build while shaped like a human is thicker than Ariel's to follow the idea of one that is focused on defense. As Audacity hinted at this also influences our functions allowing her to move far more rapidly than myself."

It felt strange to Vincent to be told these women didn’t actually have a gender especially given how Audacity was rubbing her breasts against him earlier. Rather than wonder about such things he chose to ask. “Then what about how Audacity was behaving earlier?”

“She enjoyed the interaction but her pleasure was based entirely on your and Ariel’s response to her behavior rather than a tactile sense like you enjoy. For us physical contact is the only tactile concern. I am as content as nail polish, as a tattoo, as lipstick and location makes no difference to me either.”

Vincent was made to frown as he thought of Audacity and the implications of what Serenity said. He could remember her nipples poking into him whenever she rubbed her breasts against him. Now he knew that was purely to get a response from him. “I see. But I’m still not comfortable having another person as my clothing.”

“Would it trouble you if your clothing was made from Ariel’s hair instead?”

At first Vincent wanted to say yes but instead a sigh came out of him. “Not as much but hair doesn’t think for itself.”

“Neither do we if all contact with our owner is cut off. I do not mean purely physical naturally or I couldn’t get you to safety. We have a mystic connection that borders on a blessing so you need not fear it being cut. While it can be cut it isn’t something that can be done in the field.”

While Vincent was still concerned about having to let Serenity cover him as his clothing he couldn’t resist the urge to change the conversations direction. “What would it take?”

“Some extremely specialized equipment, a stable work environment, on average a weeks worth the energy and roughly nine hours of work depending on skill. The actual connection can require a week of regular visits to finish.”

“So that’s why she hasn’t replaced Audacity yet!” It felt like Vincent’s heart had stopped as the words left him and the entire room froze. He alternated between wanting to fall over laughing and beg forgiveness for several seconds before he heard Ariel, Brigit, Melody and several other voices laughing though Serenity remained silent. After several more seconds he realized he could even hear Audacity laughing along.

While she didn't laugh Serenity continued to smile and waited for everyone to calm down before extending her hand towards Vincent. "Now that you know more about us would you be willing to let me protect you? It is our best choice if you're going to go outside these walls."

"Best choice? What's the other choice?" Vincent wasn't certain he should have asked that as he looked up and noticed Ariel both blushing and grinning as were the other girls. That even Serenity was grinning was even more worrisome.

"You must be kept somewhere safe should an altercation with a female or a group of females occur so you must let me cover you or be inside of one of their bodies. Unfortunately this would leave you rather isolated and thus negate the goal of making you more familiar with our world." As she spoke Serenity indicated the three titanesses that were looking down on him.

For a moment Vincent wasn't certain what Serenity meant until he noticed Melody's hand brush the outside of her crotch.  Realization hit home with enough force that he was nearly knocked over. "Are you serious!"

Rather than let Serenity respond Ariel spoke up. "She is but that's not actually an option. Keeping a man inside ourselves when we're not even courting him is completely out of the question." As Ariel spoke she could feel her blush growing more intense along with her embarrassment. It didn't help whenever she heard her friend's beginning to chuckle. "Well this is embarrassing. Please forgive me Vincent I didn't mean for that to happen. Due to Serenity's composed demeanor I forget at times she lacks certain behaviors like modesty and shame."

Unlike Audacity before Serenity showed no offense or concern for Ariel's comments. A fact that Vincent soon noticed. Indeed she showed absolutely no desire to argue the issue. Serenity wasn't his primary concern though. When he'd first met Lex he'd been setting in Ellayn's hair then he'd been quick to return to it. Vincent himself had spent the night sleeping in Ariel's belly button and other than when he relieved himself or taken his bath she hadn't set him down. How much of their lives did men spend on or in the bodies of these women? "But it's not unusual for a man and woman that are courting or husband and wife?"

Ariel's smile didn't diminish in the least and her voice became even more cheerful. "Not in the least! Dad was looking pretty rough this morning so he decided to spend the day inside mom and rest up."

While Vincent had been prepared to hear that his suspicions were true that last part caught him off guard. "He decided? What do you mean?" Vincent actually felt a little embarrassed whenever Ariel and the other girls gave him an uncertain glance with Ariel's smile returning first.

She was getting better at remembering Vincent was from another world so she shouldn't be surprised by his questions and needed to take them seriously. It did strike her as rather unusual though despite remembering that. "I mean it was his choice. After mom was done feeding dad this morning he said he wanted to spend some time in her relaxing. She pulls her waistband open and he flew in. I believe she sent Evoke in to keep him company and let her know if he needs something. I know she sent one of her natures in because one of her fingernails was exposed."

The notion of constantly being on or inside one of the giantess’s bodies was more than a little strange to Vincent. How could anyone be content just riding around like a piece of jewelry? The fluid natures didn’t seem to mind but he wasn’t certain they had the same desires as a human. Lex had gone further than that though. At least on the outside of the body he could have looked around or perhaps spoken with his wife and others. He’d forgone that entirely if he didn’t consider the fluid nature Ariel had mentioned. It made his head feel fussy as he thought this is how Ariel intended to do him. He was quite interested to see the outside world but how long could he do so at her pace before he grew bored of it. “So we men just spend the workday adorning your bodies?”

“Oh no! Getting to take a man to work with your is a clear sign of a peak alpha or courting. After you’re married you’re going to be expected to spend this time with your lesser wives for the most part. Of course we realize that it’s important for a man to get out as well. A man must be allowed to enjoy the sky after all. Mom would always take dad out during the evening and either carry him where he wanted to go or if he felt up to it let him fly around though he typically let her carry him. Most weekends dad would take mom out to meet with several other alphas while the men got to enjoy flying around in an more open environment.”

A sigh escaped Melody as she looked at Ariel. “I sure wish I could attend one of the congregations. I’ve been hired to provide food for them but I’ve only been able to watch from a distance.”

Now Ariel gave Melody a grin. “Hey! Don’t look at me like I’m somehow different.”

It didn’t take Vincent but a moment to decide he had to ask. “What’s a congregation?”

Brigit easily beat the other two to answer this one as she leaned forward a bit to bring herself closer to Vincent. “A congregation is a gathering of husbands and wives to insure the men are allowed to enjoy the sky. The location is chosen by the men and as long as the women can keep it secure they all gather there. The men are permitted to fly around freely in a much larger area than a single alpha could secure. There is all sorts of food there and I’m told some rather important discussions on the part of both groups. This is also where the real decision making is done.”

“Oh that is not true!” Ariel couldn’t help but shoot Brigit an annoyed look. “The only reason unmarried women or those without sons aren’t aloud to come is its too risky. If an unmarried woman trying to snatch a male hadn’t become such a danger they’d never been banned.”

“Come on Ariel. You can’t have that man alphas and husbands in the same area without some decisions being made. There is far too much influence there.”

For a moment Ariel opened her mouth to refute the claims but closed it and gave a sigh. “Well it’s not some secretive meeting where new laws are written or old ones modified. That is handled by the committee during their meetings. It is a gathering so that men can safely enjoy their birthright.” While Ariel wanted to argue the congregations weren’t proof of some shadow government she knew some important decisions were made there. What Brigit said was partly true. You didn’t put that many alphas, peak alphas and men together in the same place without some things being decided.

Once again Vincent could feel himself being overwhelmed as he had been the previous day. He knew that they were deeper implications to what the girls were talking about but he was having trouble thinking of them. “What about the man with no wings?”

Serenity had remained silent but now she spoke up. “You will have wings as soon as you allow me upon you. Even during a congregation none of the men fly without a fluid nature to aid in their protection. Attacking so many alphas within the same location is foolish but it has happened before.”

“Couldn’t a large enough group sneak up on them?”

Ariel raised an eye brow for a moment and was instantly glad Vincent was looking at Serenity instead of her. She didn’t want him to see her giving him such a look. “With so many men flying around in the sky it’s pretty much impossible to sneak up on such a group. The locations selected tend to be very defensible as well and the women are keeping a watch as well. The attacks Serenity mentioned were acts of spite. See Vincent there is nothing unusual for you being protected by Serenity.”

For you maybe flashed through Vincent’s mind as he looked the fluid nature over one more time. After several more seconds he gave a nod. “Alright go ahead but please be gentle.” Vincent was rather surprised whenever Serenity’s body was made to ripple and with a speed he hadn’t been prepared for she slammed into him. Rather than the wave he expected it felt like he’d opened the door to a sauna. Moments later he could feel the steam wrapping around his body and the clothes he’d been wearing falling away. When he looked down to see what happened he found his pants had indeed been removed but replaced. What he wore now was similar but if his original pants had been second hand these were professionally made in both the fit and the style. A moment later he felt a tingle on his back and looked to his side to see crimzon wings.

Melody couldn’t help but giggle as she noticed the red wings on Vincent and then looked towards Ariel. “You have always loved red wings.”

“They look regal!” Despite her reason Ariel couldn’t help the huge grin on her face. She hoped Vincent wouldn’t ask but she had indeed chose that color for him. Hopefully he wouldn’t think about or remember her mentioning him having red wings earlier

Vincent wasn’t paying any attention to what any of the women were saying but rather found himself focusing on Serenity. Taking hold of his shirt he pulled it out slightly and worked the material between his fingers. While it seemed to be extremely well made cloth if he didn’t know that it was a fluid nature he wouldn’t have thought of it. What surprised him even more was that the wings truly felt like part of his body. A frightened shout escaped him as he tried to lightly move his wings and instead found himself flying backwards for several meters before landing back on Ariel’s palm. The moment he was back upon the ground he found himself rapidly looking between his wings.

Rather than speak up immediately Ariel allowed Vincent a moment to calm down. “They’re a big improvement on just using your legs aren’t they?”

“Are natural wings this strong!”

It was impossible for Ariel to keep from giggling as she noted the surprise in Vincent’s voice. “That wasn’t strong!”

Vincent actually felt himself blushing as he heard the other girls laughing. Soon he found himself grinning as well as he tucked the wings behind himself. “How is she doing that? The wings feel like a part of me.”

“Of course! Serenity is very good at conducting the will of others due to her passive nature.”

Rather than respond right away Vincent gave a slight nod and hopped forward this time putting more energy into the movement. Once again he kept the trip to a small jump however this time he felt more of the landing in his leg and was immediately made to wonder how he’d done if he didn’t have Ariel’s aura to protect him. He would need to learn more about this wings before he really tried flying. “So what now?”

“Well we’re late is so we really need to get going. All you need to do is pick where you’d like to go but remember anything below the waist is off limits. I’d recommend the breasts. You seem to like them.” As Ariel spoke she was made to regret her words right after as she looked to Melody who didn’t disappoint by remaining silent.

“And sense Ariel doesn’t seem to be going to tell you you’re not limited to her breast either handsome. If you’d like some extra cushioning just fly right here.” As she spoke Melody  parted her breasts creating a cavern for Vincent to fly into. She was made to giggle whenever Ariel gave an annoyed snort.

“Well yes that’s true but he’s wearing my fluid nature. It’d be for the best if he stayed in mine.”

“True but he can always use one of mine instead.” As she spoke Melody grinned and held up her right hand revealing the three fluid natures upon her fingers. While she didn’t have as many as Ariel she had enough to accommodate Vincent. Both women were made to look to Brigit who gave an annoyed sigh.

“You two sure don’t hold off for the sake of us less endowed girls. Don’t let these two fool you Vincent. If you want a smooth ride you want a nice toned girl like me. You could even try all three rides to see which one you like the most. These two will have you bouncing all over the place.”

Ariel couldn’t help the annoyed glance that she gave Brigit. “My nice firm breasts offer both plenty of cushioning and a smooth ride thank you very much.”

As Vincent listened to the women he’d noted their tones becoming more and more aggressive. He wouldn’t have called them less friendly but their was mostly assuredly a call to action in their voice. The complete lack of shame at the idea of a man they just met snuggling into their cleavage was also extremely strange. Altogether it left him feeling very uncertain of what he should do despite having been breastfed a short while ago. On many levels it felt like he was still recovering from that as he looked between the women. “What’s my other choices?”

Reaching up Melody ran her finger through her long curly soft locks in a subconscious effort to draw Vincent’s attention to it. “Snuggling yourself into our nice hair is quite common, many men also like to set behind the ear, in the belly button and at times on the shoulders but that isn’t as common.”

“Is there a reason for the shoulders being lesson common?”

Now Brigit spoke up not wanting to risk herself being forgotten in this contest. “Certain haircuts don’t go well with riding on the shoulders plus there is the movements of the shoulders whenever the arms work. The head has a lot of movement to but with either the ear or on top of the head you’ve got a lot to secure yourself with. Plus well it’s just best to keep you close to our midline as that’s the easiest for us to protect.”

One thing Vincent had noticed several times was these women were heavily motivated by their desires to protect their men. They’d told him that their birth rate was low but it was beginning to make him wonder just how bad low truly was. When he considered how delicate a man was compared to them though it made sense on many levels. It may have even been for the best. How mighten these women treat their men if each one wasn’t so precious? He wanted to believe that it would mean more freedom for the men but he could also think of ways for it to be far worse. “I see. Thank you for that but Ariel would you mind if I road in your hair?”

While she wasn’t happy to have Vincent choose to ride on her head rather than in her cleavage it took all of Ariel’s willpower to resist sticking her tongue out at her friends. “Alright. I hope you don’t mind but I’d like to secure you in a hatchlings nest. It’s a weave that many mothers use on their children whenever they’re still learning the limits of their wings. As you’re still learning your wings I believe it’s proper.” Ariel didn’t want to flat out say it but it was also done for children that thought they could fly as fast as mommy could walk. With their wings men were easily the second fastest being in the world but their speed didn’t even begin to compare to a woman’s.

“Can we try it and I’ll let you know if I don’t like it?”

“Absolutely.” As she spoke Ariel raised the hand holding Vincent to her head and gave him a moment to jump off. With her hand free she began to weave the nest together making use of her her remaining fluid natures to do the work quickly. “Just give me a moment before you settle into the nest.”

Vincent gave a nod and for a moment was content to watch until he ran his hand against Ariel’s hair. It wasn’t right. Ariel’s hair was far thicker than a normal woman’s hair. There was no question about that. He would have easily called it rope. However, it wasn’t nearly as thick as it should have been. Indeed given her scale nothing seemed quite right. Given that Ariel was hundreds of times larger than a normal sized woman it should have been possible to look down and see her skin cells. Yet all he could he could see was beautiful soft smooth skin. “Ariel. Okay it’s probably my turn to use a word you may not know. Do men and women have the same size of cells?”

For a moment Ariel stopped her weaving as she considered what Vincent had said. “You mean the smallest unit of life. Right?” Ariel was actually a bit surprised whenever she heard Vincent chuckling. “What’s so funny?”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Despite his words Vincent couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m just surprised that you would know that. In my world every story i can think of where magic exist scientific ones don’t tend to.” As he spoke Vincent felt even more silly as he remembered what Ariel had said about refining their traits and passing them onto their children. It made sense they’d know what cells were to. “Yes and how did you find out about cells anyway?”

A slight giggle escaped Ariel as she noted the tone of Vincent’s voice. Even Brigit and Melody were grinning. “Well our cells are more or less the same size but they’re some things that make up the cells of women that don’t appear in men. There is a lot of debate over whether the Y chromosome prevents the development of these additional features or if it requires two X chromosomes to impart all the information needed to make them. As for how we learned to see cells. I forget his name but it’s contributed to a spellcrafter who was working with magic to enhance vision to see threats from a greater distance and took a look at something close up.”

Brigit gave an amused chuckle before speaking up. “I remember that! He had somethings to say about looking at things too closely and preparing yourself to handle the truth. My teacher said that he supposedly didn’t like what he saw the first time he did this. She said he spent the rest of his life on an all milk diet and absolutely refused to look at it with enhanced vision.”

Melody soon joined in though not before laughing. “It reminds me of when I told you both how I make.”

“No!” Ariel continued to work her hair with one hand but used the other to hand to wave a finger in Melody’s face. “You stop right there. You’ve already made it impossible for me to enjoy two foods and you’re not going to do it to another.”

A sigh escaped Melody as she crossed her arms. The look on Brigit’s face told her she agreed with Ariel. “Come on. There isn’t a single ingredient that you haven’t eaten raw and continue to do so.”

“I know there isn’t but I don’t eat it in that amounts and prepared the way you prepare it.”

Vincent couldn’t help but chime in even as he watched the nest being worked on. “I thought you couldn’t prepare your food by cooking.”

“She doesn’t cook it she lets certain ingredients rot.”

A drawn out sigh escaped Melody as she shook her head. “It’s part of the flavor enriching process.”

Vincent couldn’t help but laugh as he felt Ariel’s massive body shiver. The thought of eating raw meat or in this case most likely an entire live animal was rather unpleasant to him to begin with. Yet knowing that they were things that grossed Ariel out still made him feel better. As her hands moved away from her hair He was rather surprised by what she’d done. There was something of a mat waiting for him while she’d worked some of her hair into seven large braids. “So I set on the mat?”

“That’s right.”

As he settled down on the mat Vincent found the floral scent he’d noticed before was much stronger here. LIkely it had soaked into her hair from her bath. He didn’t think of it too much as Ariel began to weave her hair around him. As she did so he wasn’t quite certain how she managed to keep so much of the weight off of him. Rather than feeling trapped he felt a reassuring pressure around his entire body. “Hey Ariel how do you know how to do this?”

“My mom taught me all sorts of things whenever it comes to working with men. Even adults actually enjoy the hatchlings nest from time to time especially when they want to look around but think the might doze off. How is that?” Ariel could feel Vincent moving atop her head as he seemed to be testing the nest both for comfort and security. Her heart rate began to speed up as she waited for his approval or disapproval. She’d practiced this with dolls and her father had helped as well but she always worried that he was being unduly nice.

It was strange. Vincent was certain that he should still be upset. Panicking would have made more sense then setting calmly atop Ariel’s head and he had been frightened several times but it wasn’t what he expected. While Vincent liked to imagine himself as composed he just felt far too relaxed given the situation. Even the thought that Serenity was currently covering him didn’t upset him like he thought it should. Was it due to Ariel’s aura or was it perhaps due to whatever she bathed in? Was he being drugged? He wasn’t certain but he felt relaxed. As he looked around he was made to chuckle. “It feels nice. I can see how someone could doze like this. You know I’m not much of a bow am I? I feel more like a bead.”

Brigit couldn’t help the smile that flashed onto her face. “Oh that can be so pretty! I’ve seen a few Alphas do just that.”

Ariel felt slightly amused as she noticed her friend’s excitement. “My dad hates those hair styles! He likes the way that his wing blends in with my moms hair and even has his clothes colored to help him do so.”

“I know but that makes his reveal all the more impressive. I’m sure you’ve notice how your mom moves her hands when she says this is my husband and then he opens those gorgeous black wings of his to make himself more visible for just a moment. He may only be visible for a few moments but I’m sure you’ve heard people talking about it. Now Vincent with those red wings you gave him really is meant to stand out. Then there is that delicate body of his that just makes me want to cuddle him so bad.”

Now Ariel was made to giggle as she nodded her head though Brigit’s comments made her long to have Vincent in her cleavage even more. “I know! Okay we really need to be going though. Mom wants Vincent to get a better idea of what our world is like and she wants a report on gathering activity on the northern waters.” Rather than wait for Brigit and Melody to agree Ariel began moving.

He could feel it whenever Ariel moved her head but like when she carried him in her hand the force was nowhere near what it should have been. Even the wind seemed to be subdued. The size of their home made it somewhat difficult to determine how quickly they were moving as everything was scaled to Ariel’s size yet he knew that it was strange. The massive distance still caused issues. What was even more noticeable was the sound. He couldn’t actually hear Brigit or Melody walking behind them so he was rather surprised whenever he heard Melody talking.

“Are we going to start over or begin where we left off?”

“I believe we should start over if only to let Vincent see as much as he can.”

It had been a surprise before and Vincent had an idea of how it was happening but he had to ask. “How are you talking whenever you’re walking faster than the speed of sound! Is this another blessing?” Vincent was rather certain he was wrong whenever he heard all three women giggle

“No! It’s quickened voice. I can’t speak for other cities but every girl in Manevin is expected to know how to cast this spell and maintain it. Did you notice earlier how easily you could speak to my father while my mother was holding him?”

Now Vincent felt himself blushing slightly as he suddenly felt very silly. “I can see that being a lot for my vocal cords to carry.”

“Don’t worry you’re new here after all. Wow once true tongue wears off we’re not only going to have to teach you our language including reading but the basics of magic as well.”

Melody couldn’t help the concern in her voice. “Hey now! I understand language and our culture but magic can wait before it’s okay to begin courting him.”

To Melody’s comment Brigit nodded her head. “That’s right.”

“I know. Can you blame me for wanting to keep him close for a little longer though?”

“No.”

Vincent could actually feel his face warming up as he felt both embarrassed and flattered at the same time. To be getting this much attention from women this good looking wasn’t the type of thing he was used to. Had it happened on earth he’d suspected some alternative plan. He tried to push these thoughts aside as they reached the front door and Ariel pushed it open. A powerful wind greeted him ruffling his hair causing him to instinctively retreat deeper into the nest before raising up again as things seemed to warm up. As they stepped outside the first thing he noticed was a massive tower. It’s scale was apparent to him immediately as he noted the clouds forming around it at various levels. “What is that?”

Ariel didn’t have to guess what Vincent was talking about. She knew what the most impressive structure out her front door was. She was annoyed though when Brigit spoke first.

“That’s Manevin’s temple of The Divine Matrimony, where the Civic Health Committee hold meetings under the watch of the divines. On the bottom level is where you’ll find the guard headquarters, above that the meeting hall and then above that as part of the temple the courting hall.”

“They’re held in the same place?”

This time Ariel managed to speak first. “Of course. What could need greater attention from the divines?”

Rather than comment Vincent took a moment to look the city over. Soon he found something else quite strange. “Why are all the other buildings so much smaller? I know that it’s an important building but I don’t see anything else above two stories.”

“It takes a lot of energy to make stone strong enough to endure us walking around on and just the vibrations from our foot steps. It also has to be maintained.”

“I see.” As Vincent looked upon the city he was tempted to ask to go see the temple. However, he knew that Ariel had work to do and he didn’t know if he was ready to be around that many mountain sized women. “So where are we going?” Ariel’s answer came in the form of her turning away from the city so that Vincent found himself looking down a road towards a far less developed region of the city. He hadn’t thought much of it until now but apparently Ariel’s home was some distance from the main civic center. While it was nowhere near as grand it also seemed the second highest structure in the city due to its placement. “We’re going to use the sidegate so we don’t have to go through the city.”

******************************************************************************

The sidegate hadn’t been what Vincent imagined. He had expected some grand structure. Instead it had amounted to little more than the front door on Ariel’s home. When he had mentioned that the doors from his world were meant to protect people the women had been surprised. They had explained that even enhanced with magic it wouldn’t take a woman long to bring down a wall. Even the walls of a city could be overcome quickly. Rather than being there to prevent entry they were there to insure entry didn’t go unnoticed. It was a strange thought that he’d continued to ponder until they reached the forest and he’d remembered what Ariel said about the animals of their world.

Vincent’s view was limited by Ariel’s massive size and he even lamented that he didn’t know some of that sight improving magic but he did manage to catch glimpses of the forest below. From his point of view the trees were absolutely massive. Many of them appeared to be eighty meters tall or even taller yet to these women they were small enough to be walked through or even stepped upon. The sound of Ariel’s foot coming down and crushing a seventy meter tall tree had given Vincent pause as she’d taken a moment to stop and stretch her arms. As she titled her head back he found himself looking up at the sky.

“Do you smell all that honey bark? It seems even stronger than yesterday.”

Melody tried not to drool but as she smelt the trees she couldn’t help herself. “Can we please get to the sea before I make a mistake?”