Book 16-7.2: Something Comes Knocking

To Desire's senses, her master was equally distant no matter which hidden road she took. She'd delved deep into the Chaos Sea and followed her instincts to enter a Fysalli that lit up just right to her senses. 

The bubble of reality was shaped to her Will and it opened up into a valley covered with farmland. As she walked the dirt road, familiar homesteads dotted the land. Memories that should have been scrubbed, should have been cooked out of her Essence when she was forged into what she was, slowly surfaced. 

A melody played in her ear, sung by a familiar voice. It wasn't hers, not __________.

Who was it?

An apparition appeared inside a house, through an open window. A familiar visage and one that almost mirrored her face. The ghost didn't react to her presence and continued to hum and sing as she chopped up vegetables—large, white radishes—and dumped them into a simmering pot. 

The scent of the stew tickled Desire's nose, and a sense of nostalgia overtook her mind. Despite herself, she walked towards the homestead. Despite knowing that it was nothing more than a dream, an illusion the Fysalli wrought from her hidden memories, she walked around to the house's front door. 

She tested the doorknob and found it unlocked. She pushed the door open and wandered inside. The interior was bigger inside than it seemed. The ceiling felt more than a dozen paces high, and the furniture inside—tables, sofas, and armchairs—seemed to be made for folks four paces high. Desire felt sweat gathering on her brow, and she reached up to wipe it away, only to be arrested by the sight of her tiny hands. A child's. 

A shroud fell over her thoughts and Desire called out, "Ma! I'm hungry!"

"Dinner's not for an hour, you imp! Go have some apples by the table. I don't want you spitting out the rinds and seeds all over the floor, you hear?"

Desire skipped towards the adjacent room, humming happily. Her thoughts felt slow but she was drowning in happy, content feelings. She climbed over a wooden chair and half crawled, half reached over the humongous wooden table to a basket filled with apples, oranges, peaches, and berries. Her hand wavered over the red fruit and moved towards the smaller berries. The purple-blue berries still had a bright green sepal—the leafy part that connected to the peduncle which then connected to the bush—and no doubt that the fruit would be incredibly tart. 

She liked that, though. Tart berries that had a hint of sweetness over the ripened, overly sweet fruit. It was also why she was so enamoured of her master's features, so close to ripeness but still tart, hie hie hie…

Wait, master? Since when did she have a master?

___________

Yuriko stood in her underwear—a grey sports bra and a high-cut bikini brief—while the trainer argued with the history consultant. They were in a palace called Silvermann Country Spa and Club, a famous establishment for celebrities and other rich folk in central Winderfield. Aside from a huge swimming pool, it had a golf course as well as a miniature version that only had putting greens, a cavalry sports field where athletes riding horses waved around blunted sabres in an attempt to strike the targets sticking out of their opponents' helmets, it also had a fully stocked gymnasium filled with exercise machines, and a full roster of coaches. 

She, the trainer, and the consultant were in a room that had most of its walls covered in floor-to-ceiling mirrors. There were handlebars that ran along the walls, at about hip height. Scarlett sat on a stool by the door, ostensibly browsing the Network through her smartphone, but she kept stealing glances at Yuriko. She had her head turned away from Scarlett, but aside from the fact that the mirrors made watching the smol girl relatively easy, her perceptive aura also covered the entire space. 

"...she's too skinny. Peasant girls during the Unification weren't all skin and bones!" the history consultant, Elise Springsong, insisted. "I know she's beautiful, but we all know Jeannette wasn't that pretty, not by modern standards. But standards were different then! Having some meat on your bones, more than a little fat honestly, was seen as more attractive." 

"You want her to put on weight?!" the trainer, Mikey Mendez, a muscular man in his early thirties, yelled. "That is perfection and you would shit on it just for accuracy? Something nobody in Astoria would care for?" 

Elise's face was as red as a tomato. The woman was about as tiny as Scarlett, but about twice as wide. "Standards of beauty were different! In the interest of authenticity, I must insist on it!"

"You're a consultant!" Mikey yelled right back. "You would ruin someone's years of hard work just for a movie?"

"You're the cast trainer! Your job is to make the actors look the part!" 

Yuriko exchanged glances with Scarlett as the two bickered on. This appointment had come two weeks after the audition and contract signing, and the talent fee was worth more than what she'd made over the past Season. It looked like she'd double her fortunes afterwards, and possibly years of residual income too since Scarlett had insisted on royalties, even if it was only a fraction of a percent. The clause lowered the initial fees by more than a hundred thousand Torries, but her friend insisted that it was worth it. 

But as far as Yuriko was concerned, after a certain amount, money was practically useless to her. She had no idea where to spend it, and even now, at least half of her money was just sitting in a bank account. The interest that accrued every Season was actually more than what she earned before everything happened, so really, she was set on the wealth front. 

She just wondered what she was supposed to do to continue the climb. The tower spirit had only told her to live life, and that was distinctively open-ended. Also, she wondered where Johann went as both of them entered the same portal. She hadn't heard of anyone like him through the news, so she wondered if maybe he wound up in South Astoria, or maybe on an island somewhere in the middle of the Endless Ocean. 

The meeting had been to assess her physique. Although she had worn clothes that exposed her midriff to the audition, she had a cropped jacket that concealed her arms and shoulders. She also hadn't tightened her belly to show off her abs, and because of how her body worked, her resting state concealed all of the hard and wiry muscles that made up her body with a soft layer of skin and fat. Not that her skin was weak as it was anything but that. She'd tested her physique once she fully converted Lilibeth's to her true body's. She might not have a Radiant Ennoia in her incarnation body, but she hadn't dared forge a physique with Swordlight instead. The only difference between her incarnation body and her true body's appearance were the traces of Lilibeth and the fact that the former looked like an adult at eighteen as opposed to being on the cusp of womanhood at fifteen. That meant that Yuri-Lily had slightly fuller breasts, slightly wider hips, and looked to be slightly heavier, by a couple of so Jin though in truth, her true body was much heavier than her incarnation body due to muscular and skeletal density. 

She'd gone through some exercises with Mikey with relative ease, though most of it had been cardio work, running, sprinting, jumping, and some tumbling. He was also a fair hand with the sabre so the two of them had gone through a couple of spars to limber up. It was only when Elise Springsong arrived and demanded Yuriko show off her figure completely did the current circumstances occur. 

"Hmm, I'm going to get dressed now," Yuriko announced. Her voice cut through the argument and both of the movie production staff looked at her. 

"Ah, yes, of course, Miss Lawson. I will make the recommendation that nothing needs to be changed with how you look and I behoove you to maintain your current physique," Mikey said. "I will deal with this…kerfuffle." 

"Kerfuffle?" Elise muttered. "You're going to ruin the movie's authenticity!" 

"I suggest you ask Director Summers' opinion on the matter and I think wearing a fat suit would work just as well as actually putting on weight. Divines know how hard it is to shed fat after putting it on deliberately." 

"Fat suits just aren't the same…" Elise muttered, then shook her head and nodded to Yuriko apologetically. "I'm sorry, Miss Lawson, but historical inaccuracies on film just get my goat."

"I don't mind and I admire you for your dedication to your craft," Yuriko answered diplomatically. She felt her Mien make a connection with the woman, who grinned happily. Mikey had already been an admirer even before they met in person. 

"Thank you," Elise coughed. "Ah, I think production will begin in a couple of cycles, but we'll email the schedule to you before then. For now, please make sure to keep your reputation within acceptable limits. You should have the guidelines with you, right? It came with the contract."

"Yes, we're fine," Scarlett answered for the two of them. 

"Then have a good day. Miss Lawson, Silvermann's facilities will be open for your use, but if you'd prefer a facility closer to your residence, submit the location and the receipts for membership and instruction…" 

Yuriko let Scarlett handle the finer details while she put on her clothes. Mikey had left to give them some privacy but approached her when they exited the studio. 

"Miss Lawson, may I say again that you are the finest specimen of feminine physique and grace that I've ever had the honour of viewing," Mikey said with a smarmy grin. 

"Thank you," Yuriko nodded her appreciation, then cut in before he could actually get to his point, no doubt a proposition of some sort, "Your pardon, but I've another appointment to get to, and traffic flow at this hour is horrendous." 

"Oh, no problem, take care, Miss Lawson!" Mikey said and led them out of the training centre. 

Scarlett sighed once they were inside Yuriko's Nitsuda Civilian. "It gets tiresome, doesn't it?" 

Yuriko raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "No, not really. It's quite entertaining, actually."

"Of course it is," Scarlett muttered. "I guiess your confidence comes from being strong." 

Yuriko hummed and stared at her roomie and friend. Neither of them had crossed any lines with each other, but she could practically smell the lust the smol girl gave off, but still, she wasn't ready. She didn't know what Scarlett's hangups were, but she hoped that the girl would get over them soon. While Yuriko was in no danger of just jumping someone's bones from sheer horniness, controlling herself for so long wasn't easy. It did wonders for her Will and Intent growth, and it was the only reason she refrained from doing anything drastic. And from the looks of it, it seems she'll be celibate for quite a while yet. 

'Hmm, I wonder if I can awaken Scarlett…' Yuriko swallowed and abruptly shook her head, prompting a look of concern from Scarlett. "It's nothing, just odd thoughts." She wouldn't experiment on her friend. Though she wondered if there would come a time when she would condone doing so to a random person. Hopefully not. 

She turned on the ignition and drove out of the club's parking lot. The drive to their home took longer than usual, but that was only to be expected, but they reached Oakmont Estates by seven o'clock in the evening. While she hadn't lied to Mikey about her upcoming appointment, it wasn't really a formal thing. It was just dinner for the two of them at home. 

As she pulled into Leafshroud Building's street, so noted the same sedan that had been parked across from the apartment for weeks now. It was not a resident's car, and she wondered if the middle-aged man who owned it didn't have a cafe he could loiter in closer to his place of residence. 

Oh well. If it's trouble then she'd deal with it, and if it wasn't, then live and let live.