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The trip to Ni’En was a peaceful one for Linda’s carriage. The road was mostly empty, but they saw one intrepid caravan heading west. The two parties didn’t exchange any words as they passed each other. Palan was sitting on top of Linda’s carriage while Raea and Sally were flying in the sky. Raea wanted to practice her maneuvers, and Cleo practically forced Sally to accompany the fallen angel to conquer her fear of heights. Elrith was still sleeping even though the second sun was at its zenith. Cleo was hanging onto Linda’s back, watching the greedy angel drive. This road was hillier than the other, and she had to focus some attention on accelerating and decelerating.
“Can I try?” Cleo asked as she tugged on Linda’s ear, stealing a hairpin in the same motion.
“No,” Linda said as she slapped the lizardman’s hand away. “You need to be yay tall”—she drew a line in the air with her hand—“to drive this carriage.”
Cleo pouted and stood on Linda’s shoulders, grabbing the angel’s hair to maintain balance. “I’m taller than you,” she said. “See? I can totally drive.”
“Get down from there,” Linda said as she shook her head. She stopped when her scalp went numb from Cleo’s tugging. She sighed as Cleo settled back down in her previous position. “But seriously, you need to have mana levels of a greater angel to drive this without getting exhausted.”
“I totally have that,” Cleo said. “I’m not called the Magnificent for nothing. Stand aside, plebian.” She crawled off Linda and nudged the angel’s thighs with her scaly elbows. Linda shook her head, but stepped aside. It would be easier to let the lizardman try and disappoint herself than to explain it wasn’t feasible.
“Give me instructions,” Cleo said as she crawled on top of the dashboard. She was too short to see the top if she stood on the floor of the carriage.
“Place your hand on it, then inject mana into the orb,” Linda said as she touched the orb. A blue light flowed from the metal into her hand, and the carriage slowed to a halt. “Add mana to increase the speed, retract mana to lower it. Push the orb left or right to turn, but you don’t have to worry about that.” The roads were straight after all.
Footsteps could be heard on the roof as Palan walked to the front and dipped his head over the side. “Why’d we stop?” he asked. Danger Noodle’s head appeared next to his.
“Your little friend wants to drive,” Linda said and snorted.
“I’m not little!” Cleo said and hissed. She slammed her hand on top of the orb and furrowed her brows. The carriage screeched as the wheels stuttered before rolling. The carriage’s acceleration caught Palan off guard, and he nearly fell off the roof. “Hah! Suck it!” Cleo said as the carriage roared and sped along at three times Linda’s fastest speed. The surrounding plains began to blur, and Linda had to grab onto a railing along the wall to prevent herself from falling over.
“Slow down!” Linda shouted as the carriage charged up a hill. “We’re going to flip over if you clear a hill this fast!”
Cleo frowned. “But I like going fast,” she said while sighing. “Admit I’m a better driver than you. Then I’ll slow down.”
“You’re better! You’re better!” Linda said as unease clutched her stomach. They were halfway up the hill, and Cleo looked like she had no intentions of stopping. “Don’t wreck my carriage!”
Cleo nodded and squinted her eyes. Nothing happened. “Err,” she said and scratched her head. “How do I retract my mana?” Her head turned to look at Linda, who looked like she wanted to cry.
“How do you breathe!?” Linda shouted. “You just do! It comes naturally!”
Cleo frowned and rubbed her chin as she placed her hand back on the orb. Once again, nothing happened. The carriage was reaching the crest of the hill. Instead of slowing down, it began to speed up. Linda closed her eyes as a whimper escaped from her lips. She braced herself for the impact, crouching down and holding her arms over her head.
She waited. And waited. And waited. Her brow furrowed as she lowered her arms and opened her eyes. Her mouth dropped open as she stood up. The carriage was flying. A layer of black light surrounded the carriage, enveloping all the wares and passengers, including herself. “What’s going on?” Linda asked as she tentatively walked towards the front of the carriage. She looked down and confirmed the wheels were no longer touching the road. Even Cleo seemed to be a bit surprised, but the lizardman relaxed when she saw Palan’s contorted face.
“It’s because I’m a genius,” Cleo said. Palan snorted. Cleo sighed. “I mean, it’s because Palan’s a genius. He made the carriage lighter.”
“I’m making it fall slower,” Palan said.
“Same difference,” Cleo said and shrugged. The carriage was gliding over the air, and Sally and Raea flew down to observe the situation.
“This is amazing,” Linda said as air rushed past her face, blowing her hair behind her. She didn’t even notice her hairpin was missing. She looked up at Palan. “You’re amazing. Is this pride?”
Palan grunted. He never carried this much stuff with his power before. A boulder was easy enough to envelope with his power—a carriage was different. His brow furrowed. “If I can apply pride on this carriage, can I apply greed?” he asked. He licked his lips as he pictured an unstoppable battering ram.
“Huh,” Linda said. “I never thought about that. Now I kind of want to try. Not that I’m a fallen angel of greed or anything.”
“What’s going on?” Sally asked as she flew next to the carriage. This was a much more comfortable height for her to be flying at.
“I’m an amazing driver,” Cleo said. “That’s what’s going on.” A blue light escaped from the orb and entered Cleo’s skin. “I figured out how to retract my mana.” The carriage was starting to approach ground level.
“Can I try?” Sally asked.
“Only people with great powers can drive this,” Cleo said and nodded.
“I don’t understand how you could,” Linda said and furrowed her brow. “What virtue are you?”
“Amazingness? Duh?” Cleo hopped off the dashboard.
The carriage touched down, and Palan released his powers while Sally entered the carriage. “So how do I do this?” she asked. Cleo explained the mechanism, and Sally placed her foot on top of the orb. Her brow furrowed, and the carriage lurched forward but quickly came to a stop. The harpy pouted as she lowered her leg.
Cleo pat Sally’s butt feathers. “It’s alright,” Cleo said. “One day, you’ll be as awesome as me. But not today. Try eating more angels.”
Sally sighed and glanced at Elrith. The archangel managed to sleep through the whole thing. She nodded to herself. One day, she’d be able to stand on equal grounds as him. Clearly, her sin was cowardice. How could she enforce that? By sticking next to a strong person who could protect her from all her fears of course. She vowed to never leave Elrith’s side, and hopped over to the sleeping angel before glomming onto him.