Although we’d managed to exorcise the dark energy out of the fairy Ui’o, something still bothered me as I laid staring up at the canopy of trees…

  “How did a fairy get corrupted by darkness?”

  I wasn’t fully convinced that the fairy was the only source I was hunting for, and perhaps not the main one either. If I needed anymore confirmation, all I needed to keep in mind was that there were two sources of darkness around the house. And of course, my instruments weren't able to pick up on either of them. If Indena were here, it definitely would have made things easier.

  What got into her? Everyone’s been acting a little weird lately…

  Needless to say, I was totally out of energy again and needed a break.

  “Haven’ a good time on the ground?” Adalyn asked me.

  “No…” I replied. “I feel like a slug that got stepped on.”

  She shook her head. “Oh, does that mean you don’t have the energy to help me make that new armour for you?”

  Reminding me of one of our goals gave me a bit of a second wind of excitement. I got back up to my feet and did some stretches until I had a moderately acceptable amount of soreness.

  Kiw'u claimed she could take care of Ui'o in the meantime, who was sleeping. I promised to come check up on them later.

  We returned back to the mansion through one of the portals, passing by the door I’d blazed through when Samael got pulled in. A young butler and maid were both hard at work trying to repair the door already.

  “They got on that fast,” I commented.

  “I don’t hire slackers, you know?” she approached the pair. “No need to investigate this incident. I have everything under control,” she gestured to me as if I were rounded up and tamed.

  “As you wish, Madame Adalyn,” they both said in unison while bowing.

  That synchronization was a little creepy, but not the weirdest thing I’d seen today. Plus, I didn’t have any room to criticize someone else when I was the one who broke that door. Adalyn didn't seem to mind no matter how much I apologized.

  -☆☆☆-

  Adalyn took me to a big room with lots of clothes in it. It was her fashion studio with dozens of racks of shirts, shoes and dresses scattered around. Some mannequins were dressed in beautiful gowns, swimsuits and other fancy looking articles that anyone would be lucky to see in person, let alone wear. These plastic models dressed better than most people I'd met on the surface.

  My feet took me right inside, driven by curiosity to inspect the quality of these decorative fabrics. The material was so fine, so pristine and high quality. Not even a speck of dust soiled the beauty of how fancy these had been made to be. The creativity was enchanting… Almost in a literal sense.

  If I didn’t know any better, I’d have said this was the work of magic.

  “Did you really make all these? You’re such a fashionista.” I learned that word on TV.

  “Oh, I'm no simple fashionista…” she smiled, gracefully dragging her hand across a rack of fabric. “They sing praises to me while my work walks down the runway." Her hand gracefully caressed the sleeve of one of the more sequenced outfits near us. “Everything you see here was made by me. Each one is just as unique as the last.”

  Her talent was to be admired. I honestly couldn’t take my eyes off some of these pieces. But even more interesting was their creator. The more my eyes feasted on the perfectly done stitches, the more Adalyn’s image inspired me to be just as skilled.

  “Where did you learn to make stuff like this?” I asked.

  She leaned down with a smile. “Impressed? I’ve yet to see a hand more skilled than mine at threadin’ a needle. Maybe Cynthia, but her game is cooking.” Adalyn's eyes closed and her smile grew twice as friendly. “My secret is that I sew love in every stitch!”

  Ah, love, the secret ingredient to world peace!

  “Speaking of fashion, why don’t you try something on?” she requested. “I’d like to see what looks good on you before I make a fancy uniform for fighting evil ole’ demons.”

  She cutely smirked and turned her eyes away with an innocent mischievousness to them.

  “And if you don't mind, I could use some reference photos of a lil’ gal like you for my next project.”

  She wanted me to play dress up? That sounded like a ton of fun! I wanted to try on everything!

  It took her a few impressively quick moments to collect nearly a dozen outfits for me to try on. Her speed and tasteful eye danced quickly around and returned with frilly looking outfits that made me squeal with anticipation.

  There was a dressing room just next to the studio. A big closet connected to it where Adalyn happily pulled out more clothing for me to try on.

  Before I knew what hit me, I’d probably slipped in and out of almost a hundred different glamorous outfits.

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  *CLICK! CLICK!* went the camera as it worked nonstop to capture every angle of my dress up show.

  I didn’t know if I was doing it right, but I made a bunch of silly poses that I thought models usually would do for fun. I mostly drew upon what little I knew of ballet.

  “Such a lovely little model! So photogenic!” she cheered. “Perfect! Let’s try this summer dress on!”

  This dress had magical green swirls on it. The moment I put it on, Adalyn snapped her fingers and I started floating up to the ceiling.

  “Wee!” I cheered.

  *CLICK! CLICK!*

  “Loving it!” Adalyn announced, continuing to take photos. “Darlin’, dream big! You’ll be a model in no time!”

  With a wave of her hands, the magical dress allowed me to descend back to the ground. She caught me in her arms and squeezed me with all her might.

  “You’re perfect! I want you to model for all my kiddie clothing lines.”

  Trying on new things was fun, but it was something we could do when there wasn’t a potential threat around. I figured at this point she was getting a bit side tracked and needed to be roped back in on why I was here in the first place, which was for the new armour.

  “Oh, sorry…” Adalyn sat back in her seat, longingly staring at her reflection. “You see, I've always wanted a little sister I could spoil and dress up to my heart's content. Maybe I got a teensy bit carried away.”

  “That’s no reason to feel bad,” I told her. “Is that why you like being around Yamin so much?”

  “Of course,” she proudly tilted her head upward. “Nobody makes me happier than her. She’s a bit shy though, so I still have a shell to break. Then we'll see what personality she really has in her.”

  Not wasting anymore time, Adalyn gathered up all her materials and gear and began working on the armour. She already possessed the remnants of my previous Eighth Star Battle Dress, which was in dire need of repairs from my battle with Belphegor. Adalyn assured she could do that for me, so I gave her the okay to upgrade and improve to her heart's desire. Thanks to that decision, she claimed the armour was going to get twice As strong and triple as cute.

  She was very adamant about The cute part.

  While she was working behind the curtain, forbidding me from taking a peek, I took a moment to admire the sounds of the sewing machines and magical ovens used to create the armour. I wasn’t going to call it simple, but making armour didn't seem as hard as I previously thought. Miss Emily must have used similar equipment to finish my battle dress the first time.

  I wondered who would win in a clothes making contest. Miss Emily, or Miss Adalyn? I had a feeling Adalyn’s fashion level was much higher, maybe even over 9000!

  Although Adalyn made the claim that it wouldn't take long to get the finished product, I noticed it was getting late in the day, and I was at the point of complete exhaustion. I think if it weren't for the perseverance blessing I received, I'd probably have been in bed already and snoozing like a baby. It seemed like I'd pushed that skill to the limit.

  But because of that same blessing, I knew that my job wasn't exactly done yet. It felt like something was still here, watching from a corner of the mansion and waiting to pounce. That suspicion wasn't because I could sense it, but from some feeling in my gut.

  “Adalyn, may I be excused for a little while?”

  “Why’s that?” She peeked her head around the curtain, apparently still working at the sewing machine.

  She's going to prick a finger doing that…

  “Well, I'd like to keep looking around for that darkness,” I said.

  “Didn’t y'all deal with that already? Ui'o is bright as a baby genius thanks to you.”

  Ui'o felt more like he was a victim rather than a source, much like Indena. The feeling that there was still work left to be done made me a little antsy.

  “I just have a feeling…” I replied.

  “Well, you can go back to searching when I've finished this for you,” she said, continuing to confidently carry on with her tailoring.

  While she was talking, I quietly made a move for the door and tried to leave on my own, but it was locked.

  This door didn't have a lock though. How was it sealed? I suppose it didn’t matter anyways, since she wasn’t going to let me leave until this was over.

  “You can't go yet,” she must have heard me through all that racket she was making. “I would hate it if y'all had to battle evil in that dingy ole’ thing you called armour. Where's your sense of style?”

  “Style?” I gave in, continuing the conversation.

  “A hero needs to look the part. What good would it be if seeing you didn’t inspire the people the moment they looked at you?”

  Heroes in stories always had costumes that reflected aspects of their personality. They usually wore bright colours and flashy symbolism that could be identified a mile away. Just them being in the same room as someone triggered a wholesome inspiration, like everything was going to be okay, no matter how distressing things were.

  Adalyn wasn't wrong to want to make me something like that. I already had plenty of distinguished features as an Exceed, like my white hair for instance, but I'd had yet to settle on an outfit to compliment those traits.

  Since she was making this now, I wondered if I could offer some suggestions.

  “Can you add a rainbow shine to the metal?” I asked. “Oh! Can you also make it sparkly blue with a cape? Oh oh! Can you put a unicorn horn on it too?”

  “Gosh, such imagination…” she snickered. “Just trust your ole’ big sis here to figure it out for you, m-kay?”

  Did she think my ideas weren't good enough? Alright, maybe we can ignore the cape request… But that unicorn horn was a must!

  -☆☆☆-

  Finally it was done. She handed the various articles off to me and I carried them into the fitting room. As I placed each piece over myself, it all felt so comfortable and sturdy, as if perfectly customized to fit every millimeter of me… Which it was.

  The rounded shoulder pads were half purple with a frilly loose cloth coming down halfway to my upper arm. The metal chest piece was made a bit more sharp at the tips with a V shape slot for my heart. The belt buckle had a symbol that looked a bit like the halo that kept appearing over my head. I loved the skirt too! She was right. It was triple as cute!

  “What do y’all think?” she asked me, hope filling her eyes.

  “I feel like a superhero!” I bounced in place. “It’s so great!”

  “I'm so happy to hear that!” she cheered, a tear drifting down her cheek. “I can't believe I've just invested into the future of humanity. Wear that with pride, lil’ angel!”

  It was all perfect. I couldn’t have asked for anything better!

  -The Eighth Star Angel-

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