I've Turned Into A Fox Girl?

After a night of discussing future plans and a well-needed rest, it was time to move on. After a filling breakfast the maids had prepared for us it was about time for us to leave, but Elysia had something to say to the maids first.

"I know you guys want to leave this place, but currently there are some urgent matters that I am attending to. Until that's over with, I would like you all to stay here. Once we finish, I'll be able to get you all back to the surface." Elysia had promised to free these maids, who from what I was told were slaves to her grandpa.

"I'm guessing you're waiting to set up a teleport anchor back in the Demon Lands?" I didn't quite know how Elysia's teleportation works, but I assumed it required her to visit the location first.

"Mhm, so until we reach a safe place, I would rather them stay here." Some maids looked disappointed, but they nodded, understanding the situation.

"Can I stick with you guys? I don't have a place to go back to." The maid Yumi walked up to Elysia and grabbed her by the sleeve. She was by far the youngest and cutest out of the bunch. I could clearly see the hesitation on Elysia's face as she looked to me for an answer.

"That is a big maybe as we are on the move all the time. Perhaps once we settle down we'll invite you to help as a maid, assuming you wish to continue working as one." I didn't want to say no to Yumi since she was adorable, but it would have to wait since we did not yet have a place to live.

"Hmm okay." Yumi pouted, but her eyes gleamed with certainty that it was only a matter of time.

"Anyway, I hope you all understand the situation now. I should be back within a week, give or take." Elysia gave a general time frame, reassuring the maids who looked more relieved than before, most likely having expected it to take longer.

"Everyone ready?" Elysia finished making her announcement, so I turned to the others and they all nodded. Elysia then squatted, opening a blood portal back to Freja's mansion. I took the first step with everyone else following behind.

Not much had changed from our fight yesterday and there were no signs of the locked harem members escaping.

"Did we want to look around for anything?" Himeko raised a good idea, but I didn't want to waste any time.

"We already have the artifact of time, so unless we want to raid her valuables I think we should move on." I was already in possession of the most important item, which was the artifact that the Pope was after. Explore new worlds at m,v l'e-m|p y r

"I can message some demons to claim the spoils here?" Luna butted in, mentioning that she can make contact with the Demon Lands.

"If you can then why not." I didn't see any problem with that. If anything, better them than me. I can't imagine the interesting contraptions and objects they will find in Freja's stash.

"I'll do that then." Luna reached into her pouch before pulling out a yellow crystal. She closed her eyes and the crystal glowed for a moment before evaporating into the air.

"All done, they should be on their way soon." It was surprisingly quick, the only downside being that it's a one-time use.

"So how are we getting there? I do have wings now, but I certainly can't carry you all." Elysia flapped out her new bat wings, which were kind of cute.

"Did you know Himeko can turn into a phoenix?" Clara took an interest in Elysia's wings and examined them while speaking.

"W-wait really?" Elyisa tensed up from her wings being touched, but she didn't pull away.

"I sure can." Moving away so she had space, flames engulfed Himeko as she morphed into her phoenix form. Elysia watched in awe while trying to remain composed under Clara's gentle caresses.

Once she was transformed, we all hopped onto Himeko's back, which allowed Elysia to break free and quickly hide her wings.

At first, she was uneasy getting on the back of a massive bird, holding onto me for dear life before we even took off.

"This feels so unsafe, please don't let go of me!" I couldn't help but chuckle as she was the one with wings, but nonetheless, I still comforted her.

"Off we go to the Fox Realm royal palace." Himeko flapped her wings and took off towards my home.

"AHHHH! THIS IS TERRIFYING!!" Elysia's screams echoed into the distance as we flew up almost vertically. Only after a few seconds did she realise we were being held by wind magic.

"A-ahem, I'm fine." Once Himeko was smoothly flying through the air, Elysia composed herself, trying to pretend nothing happened.

*

"We're close." After about 30 minutes of flying, the massive barrier that covered the palace was in view. The barrier was white with black wavey streaks and was impossible to see into. I felt my heart race as we got closer, as today might be the day I get to see my parents.

There was still a worry in the back of my mind that they were no longer alive, but as far as I'm aware, the barrier is a kind of stasis, keeping them frozen in time.

'I should open that black box.' I had forgotten about this item, as it had been collecting dust in my inventory. However, now that I am tier 10 and have reached the peak of power, I could finally open this. Although I could have done so ages ago, the last words from my mother were to wait.

"What's that?" Elysia leaned over my shoulder, looking at the black box in my hand.

"Don't know, I'm about to find out though." Everyone had their eyes on me, curious about what it was. Slowly flipping open the lid revealed a blue gem that looked extremely expensive. However, as soon as I fully opened the box, there was a loud click and the gem suddenly glowed, blinding everyone.

I had no idea what was going on, but when the light subsided, I found myself no longer on Himeko's back.

"Huh? Where am I?" My vision had turned monochrome as I found myself in the middle of a destroyed courtyard. Looking around, I was surprised to find Elysia, still on my shoulder and rubbing her eyes.

"Urgh, what happened, Shaman?" Elysia took a few blinks to get used to the change of vision.

"I have no idea, but I think we may have been teleported somewhere." Getting up from the ground, I took a few steps forward and then it clicked.

"What's wrong?" Elysia saw me suddenly stop, knowing I realised something.

"We are inside the barrier." I wasn't fully sure, but memories flooded back to me of this exact courtyard. If my assumption is correct, we are currently walking inside the time stasis barrier. I had many questions, but there were too many unknowns to stand around and wonder.

"That makes no sense." Elysia shook her head, finding it hard to believe, but it was also hard to deny considering how still everything was. There was not even a slight draft of wind pushing the leaves of the trees. Also, upon closer look, there were bugs stuck in the air, suggesting time was not moving here.

"It doesn't bother me either... But now that we're here, there has to be a way to break the seal from the inside. My Mother gave this to me for a reason after all. Seeing as we can move freely, we should have a decent chance. I would assume there is a source to this barrier and we just need to find it."

It was a long shot, but since my Mother gave me that item to teleport me here, then she must have known what kind of barrier it is and trusted I would find a way to break it.

"Perhaps we could free your mother and she could help us?" Elysia's idea was good, but there was no guarantee it would work.

"It's worth a shot. Let's explore the palace to see if we can find anything." I felt a sense of urgency to get moving, as there could be a time limit until we are frozen as well.

"Alright, have you tried messaging Clara?" Elysia got up from the ground and tried to send a message.

"It seems like the barrier is interfering with the system." I gave it a shot, but the system would not allow me to send a message to the group chat.

"With the system not working, I doubt Lover's call would… and neither my teleportation." Escape seemed difficult, if not straight out impossible, which certainly only made the situation more stressful.

"We should work quickly then, I can imagine Clara is freaking out like crazy." With the two of us suddenly disappearing, chaos must be ensuing on Himeko's back.