Book 16-1.2: Rising Fame

A couple of weeks passed by without much fanfare after the Hotel de Lune affair. The episode of Luvblooms got postponed, and in fact, the entire production was moved to the end of the Mid-Fire Cycle. Yuriko didn't mind much since it would only be in a couple of weeks. What she did mind was being called back to Lockweed, Jiran County, by the Lockweed Police Department to make a report of what happened. 

Scarlett accompanied her at the time, and instead of taking the train, which would have taken at least half the day, they took an aeroplane. Yuriko was no stranger to the flying vehicle, having encountered them in Irvalla, but the reality of the situation slapped her in the face when she and her friend arrived at Neo Prism's airport. 

The aeroplanes were massive. Sure, she'd seen them fly overhead, even used her Enhanced Sight to get a better look. But nothing quite prepared her for seeing the behemoths on the ground. 

It was also true that she'd been on ships—her true body anyway—that were larger. The Rascal alone was roughly thrice as long as the biggest aeroplane here. What boggled her mind was that the planes, just like the ones in Karcellia and Irvalla, didn't require Elemental energy, Chaos, Animus, or actual spells to work. Her perception explored the entire thing after they boarded, and there were no traces of runescript, empowered materials, or even Altered powers. Admittedly, the last bit could easily slip through her perception if it was built for it. 

She must have looked like a child because Scarlett, bless her smol body, reached up and patted Yuriko's head while cooing, "Aahh, never been on a plane before?" 

Yuriko smirked, then shrugged. "Nope!" 

Scarlett giggled. "Yeah, it wasn't obvious at all. Don't worry though, it might be a bit scary at first, but everything will pan out after." 

"I'm not worried," Yuriko said. Even if the thing broke and crashed, or it exploded into flames, she wouldn't be in any danger, and she was close enough to Scarlett to protect her. As for the rest of the plane… 

Her Anima expanded and encompassed the entire thing. If need be, she could carry the thing with her kinesis. She pushed sideways softly, checking if she actually had the Animakinetic strength, and found that…she didn't. Not in her incarnation body. She could soften any blow, probably, but the best she could do was stop kinetic forces from directly affecting the plane. She could redirect the force of crashing into the ground through her Anima and either vent it into the air or into the ground. Her body was close to fully converted with Radiant physique, so she was sure she could survive that kind of force going through herself. 

While her mind dwelt on the morbid possibilities, she used a couple of consciousness strands to pay attention to Scarlett and respond to her. A few minutes later, the plane took off, and a couple of hours later, they disembarked at Jiran County's airport, which was roughly another hour away from Lockweed. 

When they arrived at the station, Yuriko thought it would be an interview, something akin to what she saw in television dramas, but instead of that, there was a circus of reporters, sporting tags that identified them from out of town, and two of her other cast members, Christine Clearhart and Zachary Rusell, accompanied by their assistants or friends, Yuriko wasn't sure. 

The media circus was stunned into momentary silence when Yuriko and Scarlett entered due to the effects of her Mien. She hadn't been reining it in though she kept the Charm effect low. After that moment of golden silence passed, the avalanche of questions and the rush of bodies made her friend step back in surprise. 

"Miss Lawson! Is it true you and the others were caught in a Dimensional Fracture? How did you survive?"

"...what did you see? No one who's survived ever told anyone!"

"...are you and Zach a couple now?" 

"...Miss Lawson!..."

The tide of words merged into a confusing mess and Yuriko didn't bother to parse them out. She gave the reporters an icy smile that froze their minds for a moment long enough for her to slip past them, Scarlett in hand. 

"Lily," Zach greeted familiarly and extended a hand to shake, which turned into a motion to bow over and kiss when she took it. His lips didn't actually touch her skin and the act was more a gentlemanly gesture than anything else. Someone snapped a picture, however, which prompted a slight grimace from the actor. "Thank the Divines you're here." 

"What's this about?" Yuriko asked.

The Lockweed police officers were only paying half a mind to the media circus and were instead engaged with another group. From a cursory inspection, Yuriko wondered if they were doctors or something. The central group were wearing white lab coats over their clothes. There were three such people in coats, the one talking to a higher-ranking police officer was a woman with dark blue hair and eyes the colour of molten gold. 

Hair and eye pigments like that were unusual in Astoria since none were awakened with Elements, but she was sure the blue-haired woman was Altered. The police officer was sure of it too, and though he didn't show any kind of hostility or discomfort in his expression, Yuriko noticed his palms were wet with nervous sweat and that his knees were trembling. Slightly, but they were shaking with nerves anyway. 

Yuriko pulled her perception aura back slightly to give the man, and everyone else a bit more privacy. Admittedly, she relished the fact that her perception aura was no longer as limited compared to Dragon Fall City, but she should remember the lines she drew on the sand. 

The exhausted-looking woman turned to look at her and the other cast members, looked at her smartphone, then muttered, "Is that all of them coming? Good enough, I suppose."

Her voice was rough like gravel rubbing against each other, though there was still a pleasantly sultry quality to it.

The woman nodded to the police officer, "Thank you, Captain Ramirez, we'll take it from here."

With that, she strode towards Yuriko and the others. Her gleaming golden eyes made Zacha, Christine, and the rest of their entourage, shift uncomfortably. So did Scarlett, for that matter. The girl clutched at Yuriko's wrist but didn't take shelter behind her. 

"Mister Rusell, Misses Lawson and Clearhart, good morning. Ah," she glanced at her phone, "afternoon already, pardon me. I'm Doctor Rebecca Blueford of the Paranormal Research Bureau. Please follow me to the conference room so we can debrief you on what happened on the eve of Mid-Fire 16th, 610."

She didn't wait for them to reply but spun on her heels and trod to a hallway, followed by her two companions. Their security detail, half a dozen men and women clad in black suits and carrying handguns hidden underneath their jackets, ushered them to follow. The clothes must be warm, and she was sure that their underclothes were soaked with sweat. The station's air conditioning blasted cold air through varied ceiling vents and Scarlett shivered, underdressed for the room as she was. Not that Yuriko wore anything better. Her crop top exposed her toned abs, as well as her shoulders. She wore jeans and sneakers, though the denim had a couple of artistic tears in accordance with current fashion trends. Scarlett was attired in a similar manner, though she wore a skirt that fell just above her knees. 

As they moved down the hallways, passing officers turned to stare at the celebrities. Yuriko heard almost all of them murmur her name, well, Lilibeth's, and pause to stare. A few muttered the desire to ask for a photo or an autograph, though considering the venue and the escort, none actually dared. Nevertheless, Yuriko felt all of them attach through her Mien, though as usual, she shunted the threads to her outer dream aura rather than allow them to linger on her body. 

Over the past two weeks, she managed to get a good read on her progress. It took a week to gather enough Quintessence to press into a droplet of Ambrosia. Now, it took just a couple of hours under that. She didn't know the exact numbers needed to lower the intervals, but at least she was sure of progress. It was painstakingly slow, but she was mindful of the fact that she couldn't drink Ambrosia down like water. Thankfully, the past year was enough to allow her true body to acclimate. She could partake to hasten her progress once again. But, she didn't do so just yet. She only had a few droplets and they wouldn't amount to much if she drank it down now. She wanted to wait for a bigger push, for when she was stymied with her progress. 

Also, she needed to turn Saki and Ryoko into her Handmaidens in Truth not just in name. Both would require a hundred droplets to bring them over to the Way. Ah, she hadn't asked yet, but there was no point to it unless she already had the resources ready. 

Or she could awaken Scarlett.

She glanced at Scarlett, who was walking by her side. The smol woman had grown on her and was a rather effective talent manager. It helped that she was cute as a button and was feisty enough to toast mallows on. She fought the impulse to pinch the woman's bottom if only because they were in public. Both of them had gotten a bit more handsy than in the past, though they hadn't moved past tickling each other. 

'I need a lover soon,' Yuriko thought idly.

Her Mien was completely awakened and it aligned with her body perfectly. She wanted to drown herself in lust and pleasure, but thankfully, her third incarnation during the World Trials showed her what she would become if she succumbed to her impulses. But managing herself didn't work if she just bottled up her desires. It would burst the bottle with enough pressure, so it was better to let off some steam. She could still hold on, but she was close to a soft limit. Self-pleasuring wasn't enough anymore. She couldn't help but sigh at the vagaries of her lineage. 

They arrived at the conference room and Doctor Blueford didn't separate them. Instead, they all sat around the table and she prefaced the meeting, "The event in question is but one of many that dotted the country. It is not an isolated incident though survivors of the initial breakout are few, but not unheard of. Please relate your experiences and we will record and compile them." She stared at them with a stern eye. "Please do not exaggerate or conceal information. The clearer the picture you paint, the brighter the light shone." 

Yuriko leaned back as the thinly disguised interrogation happened. The woman began with Zach, and the former child actor stumbled through his retelling. When they left the interstitial space, a silent accord had been made to keep some things secret. Mainly the fact that all of them were now Altered Humans. Few celebrities admitted to being Altered, and those that did only had non-existent tells or minor powers that would be difficult to make lethal. Openly admitting their Alteration would be career-ending. 

Not that Yuriko cared much about that. Her Mien, even expressed through a screen, suppressed that kind of stigma on her. The few who thought she was Altered, like Scarlett, managed to work through their initial biases. 

Regardless, neither Zach nor Christine openly admitted to being Altered and Yuriko followed their lead. They spoke of what happened, though throughout the retelling, Doctor Blueford sported a subtle frown. Once Yuriko finished her retelling, eliding completely what happened when they headed down the wrong side of the bridge, the doctor nodded and made notes on her phone.

Yuriko thought more would happen, but that was basically it. 

"We will be in contact if further clarification is needed. Thank you for your patience and for taking the time out of your busy schedule to accommodate us."

Left unsaid was the fact that they basically duped Yuriko and the others to come here thinking it was the police who wanted to get their stories. 

The entire debriefing took a couple of hours. Scarlett had booked a flight back to Neo Prism City the next morning, but since there were no good inns in Lockweed, the two of them took a bus to return to Jiran City.

On the way there, Yuriko felt an important thread fluctuate within her.