Chapter 449: Reunion with Mira
Elion could have immediately taken both himself and Mira into the Ark without difficulty, but he wanted to try his wings a little longer.
They swooshed and cracked through the air with each flap and burst, sending Elion and Mira exploding across the reddening sky. Surprisingly, they were awfully easy to navigate; he barely needed to think about it.
The movements came naturally, as though he had always known how to use them. It was almost like feeding himself with his hands. Even in the dark, there was no way he would miss his mouth while eating.
His wings worked the same way in that sense. The wind rushed past them, and Mira’s hair whipped around her face.
She kept her head in his chest and her gaze on his face, with plenty of questions running through her mind, but all that could wait.
Elion quickly noticed that she was struggling to squint her eyes, with the wind pressure blasting across her face, so he formed a thin mana barrier in front of them, shielding her from the worst of it.
Mira relaxed slightly in his arms, leaning against him, finally allowing herself to relax and momentarily forgetting about everything else now that they were away from her father.
Elion glanced down at her, "Are you hurt?"
Mira shook her head, "Only my pride."
He smiled, "That seems serious."
She looked up at him with a smile, "It is."
"Hang on tight..."
When they were a few thousand metres away from the flying island, the air around them distorted. The invisible Ark, which had been silently flying around them, finally pulled them inside.
A moment later, Elion and Mira reappeared in the oval room. Aria, who had been waiting there tensely, immediately turned toward them.
"Mira!"
Mira looked toward her. "Oh, Aria is here."
The two women simply stared at each other, and then Aria rushed forward and wrapped her arms around both of them.
"You idiot," Aria said, her voice trembling.
Elion stood between them, still carrying Mira, and suddenly found himself trapped in a very strange embrace. He looked down at both women and smiled faintly.
"Not that I am complaining, but should I put Mira down first?"
Aria glared at him through reddened eyes, "No."
"What?" Mira asked as she returned the hug with a light pat on Aria’s back. "Were you worried about me?"
Aria immediately pulled away, realising that she was acting out of character.
Her cheeks flushed slightly. "N-No, do not be ridiculous. It is just that if you get hurt, Elion will be worried, so..."
Mira smiled, "Whatever you say, Aria."
Aria harrumphed and threw herself onto the couch with her arms crossed. Mira finally looked back toward Elion as he put her down to stand on her own two feet.
"I have a lot of questions," she said. Then her eyes brightened as she looked around at whatever this place was supposed to be. "But first of all..."
She spread her arms wide, "What is this!? Is this a house? We were outside just now, and now we are suddenly in this place. Why is there a sky outside the windows? Are we moving? Why does it look so fancy? Wait! How come you had wings? HOW!... Where did they go? Where did yo—"
"Woah, woah, woah!" Elion stopped her before she could go any further. "One question at a time, my lady. Come, let us sit first."
After that, he explained as briefly as he could to Mira about the vessel, where and how he got it, and what it was supposed to do.
However, he left the finer details about the trials to himself for now, since he wanted to explain everything to everyone at once.
As expected, Mira was not as dumbfounded as Aria had been. In fact, she seemed far more accepting of the situation, but she was still shocked.
"So this thing moves around on its own," Mira said slowly, "it is somewhat sentient, and it is so small on the outside that it can fit in your hand, but the inside is this big?" She looked around again with a stupefied look. "Do I have that right?"
"That is about it. I will explain more about it, my wings, and why I’m suddenly taller soon enough," Elion nodded.
"Wow." Mira sounded genuinely impressed. "I would have never guessed that something like this existed beneath the heavens."
"Mira..." Elion suddenly interrupted her.
She looked back at him.
"How have you been?" he asked seriously.
Mira gave him a surprised look; her expression became melancholic. "What do you think?" she asked quietly. "You left us without much to hold onto. I was worried almost every other day; I guess you could say it was a bit difficult."
She paused for a moment, but then she smiled. "But it could be worse. I am just glad you came back to us, and that you are alright, though you seem to have brought back a few shocking surprises."
She got up from her seat and walked back to his side, swinging one arm over his shoulder before sitting herself comfortably on his lap.
Aria glanced over from the couch, her cheeks puffing into a slight pout, but she did not interrupt. She could let Mira have this much time with him for this once at least; it annoyed her to admit it, but she had earned it.
Mira caressed Elion’s cheek and gave him a long, steamy kiss on the lips, only pulling back when both of them needed air, with a strand of saliva connecting their tongues.
"I have not been able to perform my wifely duties this past month," she whispered, her smile turning seductive. "I hope you will correct that and put me in my place later. You have no idea how much I have been yearning for you."
Elion shivered slightly as she took his hand into her skirt, assisting it to explore her soft thighs, before palming it onto her panty-covered, warm folds.
Elion’s lip and brow twitched at her boldness. She really was testing his self-restraint, but he really had missed this; he had missed her.
Any other time, he might have given in immediately and pounced on her, ripping her entire outfit off and taking her right here, but they would have to wait a bit before that.
He teased her pussy with his fingers through the thin fabric of her panties, and gave her soft ass a squeeze with his other hand. "In due time, my love," he said. "But first, we should meet up with everyone else."
Mira’s eyes narrowed with curiosity. "And who is everyone else?" Then she gasped, "It cannot be that you found more sisters for us already."
Elion chuckled wryly and nodded his head proudly, "You know me so well."
Mira stared at him for a moment. Then she sighed and shook her head in defeat, "I truly should not be surprised anymore."
"No, you really should not."
Aria looked between the two of them. "Wait. More?"
Elion avoided her gaze, and Mira smiled sweetly. She gave Aria a pitying look. "Oh, Aria. You will get used to it."
"I do not want to get used to it!" She held onto her head and ruffled her hair in frustration.
"Oh, Aria, trust me, you will."
Elion quickly cleared his throat before the conversation became unsalvageable. "Come on."
He gave Mira’s backside another light slap. By then, they had arrived back at the manor. A moment later, the three of them were pulled out of the vessel, appearing in front of the gates.
The Ark fell into Elion’s hand, and he put it back in his storage; it vanished from sight. Elion led the two women through the gate and into the paved courtyard and gardens of his Manor.
