Specifically, Vivi transformed herself into the more manageable of a dragon's two natural bodies. She had developed an appropriate full-dragon disguise as well, but she didn't exactly want to explode a part of her manor by transforming into it. While dragons varied greatly in size, even Embralyne wouldn't have fit inside a small sitting room.
Thus, after a flash of light, Vivi reappeared wearing a new body. Though she'd experimented with transmogrification a handful of times before—why wouldn't she play with the different branches of magic?—she had certainly not accustomed herself to the profoundly strange experience of inhabiting an unfamiliar form.
One of the more immediately disorienting aspects was the new angle she looked down on everything from. Embralyne was unusually short for a dragon and still taller than most humans—and since the point of a disguise was to avoid drawing attention, Vivi had chosen only an ordinary case of height deprivation. Which for this species was quite different from her typical stature.
"There shouldn't be any glaring issues, I just thought a second opinion was worth getting," she said, self-consciousness settling over her at the blatant gawking coming from her apprentice.
She turned in a circle to present herself. Dragons overwhelmingly preferred armor over robes, so she had dropped her usual choice of clothing. The chestplate dug into her ribs, the pauldrons sat heavy on her shoulders, and the ensemble of plate made her miss her robes more by the second. At least she wouldn't have to endure the form for long.
Possibly not at all, assuming events unfolded without incident—but when had that ever happened?
"You kept the hair," Saffra managed at last. "But Lady Vivi, why do you need to disguise yourself as a dragon?"
Vivi blinked. She would have thought the answer to that question self-evident. "For Embralyne. And the Sky-Pillar Range."
"Why does that need camouflage?" Saffra stressed. "I thought you were going to tell her who you are."
"Well, it's a fallback. Ideally, I won't have to use it."
"I don't understand."
"If I'm honest with Embralyne and she still refuses to take me, then I'll need to employ other strategies."
"Meaning?"
"If she doesn't want to cooperate, I'll turn into this"—she waved at herself—"and challenge her to see through the transmogrification. She won't be able to, which means she'll have to take me in for trial on the grounds that she can't be totally certain that I'm lying."
"After you've told her you're the Sorceress?" came the incredulous response.
"Yes, but I won't give her any concrete proof of that fact."
Saffra stared. Then she groaned and pressed both hands into her face. "That's so convoluted. If the Princess turns you down, why don't you just go to the Sky-Pillar Range and find the Dragon King yourself?"
"Because I don't know how."
Saffra paused, then dropped her hands. "Wait, what?"
"I don't know where it is, and since it's been a century, my warp anchors are gone. I do know where the teleportation pad is, the one they use to move between our territory and theirs, but it's unlikely I could hijack or reverse-engineer it. Not on such short notice and without alerting them. Again: they take their isolation seriously. The domain of the immortals isn't somewhere I can go and fly to whenever I want."
"But you've seen most of the world, right?" Saffra asked, baffled. "And you're the Sorceress. How can you not know where the Sky-Pillar Range is?"
"It's a very large world, and their portion of it small, all things considered. Even setting that aside, it's possible they have powerful enchantments hiding their homeland."
The Dragon King alone rivaled the stronger Cataclysms, and he had a whole society of other dragons to aid with formidable sorcery. Not to mention a vault of extraordinary artifacts on par with the Fourflame Amulet. They could easily put up defenses that would give her pause.
"Could be naturally occurring, too," Vivi said. "The First Grove is hidden in a similar way, an inherent aspect of the zone." Though not on the scale of the immortal lands, if such concealment did exist. "So maybe if I knew where to look for it, and that there were enchantments, then I could break through them. But I don't, so I can't. It would be much easier if I were brought in by Embralyne."
Saffra rubbed the back of her neck. "But your 'fallback' is to make her think you're a dragon? Like you've already been doing?"
"It'll give her a plausible excuse, so that she can invent whatever reasons she needs to. As long as I end up in the Sky-Pillar Range and can drop a [Warp Anchor], I've gotten what I need." She shrugged. "It might work, it might not. Honestly, I don't know what's going on in that woman's head, and I feel like I'd hurt myself if I tried."
"I think that about you sometimes, Lady Vivi."
Vivi raised an eyebrow, which her body only grudgingly agreed to. Being in a halfdragon form didn't help with her emotive deficiencies.
Saffra flushed at the accidental sass and hurriedly said, "Surely you will be able to explain yourself to her, though?"
"I hope so. I'm not the most convincing person, but I shouldn't have to be. The facts are on my side. There are a lot of reasons I need to see the Dragon King for both of our peoples' sakes and Embralyne is responsible enough to recognize that, no matter how she acts. Plus, whatever made her bring along the Fourflame Amulet might be enough that she sets aside her pride and accepts help. At least if I'm subtle about offering it."
"I… see. I guess it makes sense." She shook the dubious expression away. "Well, anyway, you asked for a second opinion."
The girl frowned and circled her, head tilting left and right. Vivi fought the urge to shift around in discomfort. She disliked being scrutinized at the best of times, let alone without her thick robes to hide behind. Granted, the heavy plate mail covered her from neck to feet, but she preferred the loose cloth by a wide margin.
"I mean, I don't know what a dragon looks like," Saffra said at last, "especially their horns and wings, but it looks convincing to me." The catgirl squinted at Vivi's back. "Can you feel those?"
"The wings?" Reluctantly, she let her awareness sink into the huge growths. She spread them outward, unfurling them to an impressive span at least fifteen feet across. It wasn't disturbing, exactly, but the sensation of moving brand-new limbs did leave her somewhat unnerved. "Yes, I can feel them."
"Whoa." Saffra had taken several steps back and the gawking had returned. "That's really something."
Vivi held the pose for a few seconds, then, embarrassed, hastily folded the wings back in.
"Does it feel weird?" Saffra asked.
"Very much so."
"Huh." A pause. "…neat."
"I could teach you basic transmogrification, if you want."
"Doesn't that start at tier seven?"
"Which isn't that far away, especially if I simplify the design."
"I suppose that's true."
"I could also make you a potion."
The girl's eyes widened. "To turn me into a dragon? N-no, that's fine, Lady Vivi."
The offer had been a joke, and Vivi's lips twitched in amusement.
"Again, I don't know what a dragon should look like," Saffra said, "but I don't see anything off."
"That's good enough."
"Do you have a full dragon disguise too?"
"I do, though I'd rather not use it. And not just because I'm not fond of full-body transmogrifications." Those were much more uncomfortable than even her current form. As anyone might expect when taking on a completely alien body.
"Not just because?" Saffra prompted.
"It seems like something Embralyne might be offended by."
An immediate head bobbing. "Yeah, I was thinking that too. I don't know much about dragons, but everyone knows they have, um, high opinions of themselves. A mortal pretending to be one has to get on their nerves."
Saffra gave Vivi an implication-laden look. Even she knew what the girl was trying to suggest: that taking a halfdragon form might be unwise as well.
"It's just to have in my back pocket," Vivi said. "I'd show you the other form too, but I'd rather the first time you see a dragon, it's a real one. They're magnificent creatures, even if they're a bit… troublesome."
"Troublesome." Saffra shook her head. "Only you would pick that word when talking about dragons, Lady Vivi." She was quiet for a moment, then, abruptly, she said, "It's really weird having to look up to talk to you."
Vivi suppressed a sigh. She didn't take offense at the flippant words; she had honestly been thinking the same thing in reverse. It was immensely strange having to look down at her apprentice.
She waved her staff and shed the magic holding her body in a shape it didn't belong in. A soft glow covered her, obscuring the unnatural transition, and she emerged in her comfortable robes, the peculiar awareness of an extra set of limbs disappearing.
"That's that, then," Vivi said. "The Institute, as usual?"
"Works for me."
She warped her apprentice to the mages' academy, gave final instructions on what to work on while she was absent, then teleported to Vanguard. There, she found Rafael and briefed him on what minor developments had occurred.
More importantly, she devised a plan for what to do in case of another void invasion while she was gallivanting around in the Sky-Pillar Range, beyond the reach of the emergency alert system.
"You think she'll agree to that?" Rafael asked curiously, propping his chin on his folded fingers.
"She stepped in to defend Prismarche, so she has to grasp the severity of the situation. If I'm not available for an invasion, the consequences would be…" She didn't finish. "I won't be gone for long, but it would be irresponsible to not arrange a contingency plan."
"Fate does love interfering at the most inopportune times. Still, whether she'll cooperate at all remains uncertain. Procuring access to one of her people's scrying tables on top of that might be tricky."
"I think that if she agrees to let me in at all, then that part won't be much of a hurdle."
Rafael mulled that over, then nodded. "Very well."
Those discussions continued for twenty minutes or so, and after concluding, Vivi teleported to her manor, unlocked her vault, and strode in. Though her current get-up was her favorite end-game set optimized for cooldown reduction and versatility, she owned vast collections of armor, weapons, and accessories designed for nearly every offensive and defensive role.
Seeing how she might be facing off against a powerful dragon, she intended to prepare with that in mind.
Though maybe assuming there's going to be a fight is a bad way to start an apology.
To be fair, she also picked out gifts from her stockpile. She didn't remember making any true reparations to the Dragon King besides surrendering the artifact she had stolen. If she was lucky, some shiny new items to stack atop his hoard would go a long way to easing relationships. On the other hand, anything he would appreciate having, she would flinch at losing.
I attacked his son and robbed his vault, she reminded herself, lifting a gold bracelet with a thick emerald set on the top. Her nose scrunched at the thought of giving it away. With an insult like that, a proper apology should hurt.
After organizing her item stash, she dropped into the chair in front of her desk, pulled out her notebook, and began digging into her recent void energy theories. The skill she'd gained earlier only deepened her fixation on the topic, even beyond her usual obsession.
Unfortunately, hours flew by and she arrived at no earth-shattering conclusion. She forced herself into bed, disgruntled at the lack of progress.
The next morning, post breakfast and more frustrated research that produced little besides additional theories, she headed for the First Grove. It was thankfully a short flight, the area being located in the Central Kingdom.
The mythical zone's natural defenses—which kept accidental travelers from wandering into the region—yielded under [True Sight], and what had appeared even to her eyes a moment before as sprawling plains morphed into a thicket of overgrown vegetation.
More importantly, a tree nearly a mile tall shimmered into view, materializing from thin air as the illusion faded. She stopped short and hovered for several minutes, taking the sight in with silent wonder. Its branches spread across the sky, as large as a city. Like all the splendors of Seven Cataclysms, it was far more impressive in person.
Drifting down from that shadowed canopy were blossoms of green light, the rainfall its own unique majesty when viewed through her sharp magical senses. Those streaks of mana were the condensed restorative-type energy that Embralyne had come seeking, which would finish filling the Amulet—or hopefully already had.
At the reminder of her goal, Vivi steadied herself.
She's probably done, or very close. Just have to find her.
She couldn't decide if she was anxious or relieved. The runaround with the draconic princess had started to agitate her. Maybe that was thanks to how, these days, she normally didn't have to wait on much of anything. Most of her problems could be solved with a wave of a staff.
Let's just hope this one can be, too. Whatever it is.
Bracing herself, she cast [Detect Presence], found an unconcealed figure, and dove after it.