Chapter 469: 19: Easy

Perhaps the Jade Emperor's Palace actually did look down upon the entire world at once. That wasn't information that had been stored when Jade had pared his own world down, and he couldn't remember. 

His dwarf, Hisui, didn't exactly glide well, or fall slowly. Before he even finished refining the essence of the feather clutched in his hands, Sky City came into view. It took Jade by surprise. He had been aiming for the skimmer he had parked at the grave below the Emperor's stairs. 

Hisui somehow managed to finish the refinement and embed it into his top before he fell too far. He angled himself toward the aerial island the instant the wind caught him. Perhaps the God of Luck was currently watching over him on his way down.

Jade made Hisui's stout little figure curve impossibly sharply toward the island. Such a maneuver wouldn't be possible on Earth, but after all, both he and this living world had originally been patterned to fulfill human dreams.

--

Hisui hit the edge of the island hard, but dwarves possessed a dragon's strength, and he caught a good hold. The object his sturdy dwarven fingers clutched bent, and almost gave way to the momentum of the bounce that tried to carry him back over the edge, but it held.

When Jade cracked an eye, he found himself face to face with a tooth. He hastily let go, and took half a step backwards. Hisui teetered on the edge of the island that held Sky City for a long moment as he stared incredulously at the stone face in front of him.

An object flew toward his shoulder, and Jade instinctively reached out to catch it. Hisui's perfect coordination allowed a much smaller rock to strike his palm, but the impact knocked him backwards just enough to destabilize him and he fell… until the cord attached to the rock snapped taunt.

Appella stepped forward to look at Hisui, where he dangled. Jade gazed up at her. A thousand witty comments seemed to suggest themselves, but when he opened his mouth, there was nothing he could say.

She heaved him upwards with more strength than her character's slender frame implied, though not as easily as Skyheart Snowsong might have. Of course, Harmony would probably have shot an arrow through him instead of throwing a rock if her face had worn the complicated expression written on Appella's. Jade still didn't know what he had done, but he could see that she believed he had done something.

"Hi?" Jade greeted her questioningly as his hand caught the paving stones that edged the rim of the city, and he finally released the small stone tied to the silken cord she had pulled him back up with.

Appella looked away without answering. 

Jade took a deep breath, and then suggested nervously, "I thought you must have had to restart again! But I couldn't get in touch with you. And then umm, things happened and I was gone for a while."

"Hah," she expelled a soft half-laugh.

Jade glanced at the stone face that looked ready to bite whatever dared to step close enough, and saw that another guarded the other side of the building that looked almost like an incongruous glass skyscraper bordering the edge of Sky City. 

Appella didn't say anything else, and Jade gathered up his courage and asked again, "What's up? What happened? And how did you manage to be in exactly the right place at the right time?"

Appella covered her eyes and groaned.

"What's wrong?" Jade asked apprehensively.

"You seriously still have no idea who I am do you?" Appella spat towards the large stone face. 

"My friend!" Jade declared without a trace of doubt. 

Appella finally dropped her hand and glanced at him. 

After a moment Jade added, "Whether or not your name is on the Game System's list, you are still my friend."

Appella laughed bitterly. After a moment she took a deep breath, turned to face him straight on, and announced, "I am Eric, you idiot."

Jade stared at her. He found himself protesting illogically, "Your voice isn't the same at all!"

Appella rolled her eyes. "Of course not. That would be incredibly creepy! I bought the modification at character creation."

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Jade swallowed. "If you are really Eric, I should tell you… you were right."

"If I'm really Eric?" she protested. "You… you…"

Jade held up Hisui's strong dwarven hands defensively, and quickly pointed out, "I've been friends with Appella for a lot longer than I've known Eric!"

"Hah," Appella huffed again, without adding anything else. Her hand scrubbed her face again, and that gesture echoed the one that Eric often used closely enough that Jade's doubt vanished.

Jade tried to explain, "It turns out that I am really not human. I'm sorry."

Appella, or rather Eric, stared at him for a long moment and then asked, "What do you mean it turns out? Didn't you know?"

Jade shrugged, and spent the next hour trying to explain everything to his friend.

--

When Jade finished answering Eric's last question, the now oddly feminine figure of Appella turned and told the shorter, sturdier Hisui, "Wow, and I thought I needed time to deal with it. I mean, I did, and I probably still do, and I can't promise that I can ever really get over it… but, we're still friends if nothing else, right?"

"Always," Jade agreed firmly. He might not understand exactly what had happened, but Appella or Eric, both identities were his friend.

Appella smiled a little. 

After a moment Jade asked, "Is whatever you and Harmony were doing together the other night still a secret?"

Appella finally laughed. "Actually, that's why I contacted you tonight. Here." She handed Hisui three small spherical jewels, and added, "We collected these for you."

Jade raised his eyebrows at her (or him). Part of him was still having trouble adapting to the idea, even though everything actually matched up. Part of him was oddly jealous that Harmony and Eric had been playing together.

Appella explained, "You probably already have enchantments on your airship so that we can breathe while in space, but I thought that these enchanted gems from the Owl and the Pussycat quest could help with exploring the moon. The air bubble was meant for underwater, but I don't see why it wouldn't work on the moon."

The moon update was only another day away. Jade asked with amazement, "The two of you actually managed to get one for each of us?" 

Appella shrugged and glanced away almost shyly. "I figured out the trick of getting one from each of the mice." A little sadly she added, "I thought it would be… a nice surprise."

"It's awesome!" Jade exclaimed reassuringly. It wasn't a lie either. He had created helmets, just in case the moon wasn't wrapped in an earthly atmosphere as legends suggested, but they would be far more restrictive. The jewels were perfect.

Appella slanted a look at Jade, just as Eric would have, and Jade wondered why he'd never suspected her identity. He opened his mouth to ask…

Appella scoffed questioningly as though Eric's own thoughts echoed his own, "You haven't even wondered how we ended up attending the same trade school yet have you?"

"Um," Jade hesitated. "Similar career goals?" he suggested.

"Only someone who is so totally oblivious could manage to live so long without realizing that they weren't human, when they have never even had a cold. I should have guessed it back then," Appella grumbled.

Jade asked curiously, "So how did it happen then?"

Appella gazed down into Hisui's face, then grinned suddenly and informed him, "You were way too careless weren't you? You told me all about how you were applying there. It was easy."

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