Chapter 180: Chapter 180

Once Sylvie was securely in her hands Kat thought about wrapping Sylvie up with her tail. *Thing is though, I sort of need that when I'm flying. It helps my correct alongside my wings, and I'm not sure I'd be ok without it.*

*Hm... I think I'm strong enough that everything should be fine. Plus I can dive after Sylvie in the worst case. The only issue is if she panics and wiggles out of my arms. That would be the only issue.*

"Sylvie can you make sure to hold on tight? I'll do my best but if you try to wiggle out of my arms it's going to be hard on me" said Kat

Sylvie nodded enthusiastically "I'll be really careful Kat"

"Ok" Kat gave a final nod to the other two before checking her demonic energy reserves. It had recovered mostly, but still wasn't quite full. Shrugging it away for now Kat directed her energy towards her legs and launched herself up

Quickly using her wings to keep her ascending Kat felt them start to burn. Pushing some energy towards her back rather than her wings, hoping the presence of the extra energy would help counteract the pain and up her regeneration.

To her surprise it did in fact seem to work. She was able to dull it to a slightly uncomfortable feeling of pressure that was building. Keeping herself moving upwards Kat slowly started to change into a small circle. Kat could already tell that trying to hover upright as she did normally would be almost impossible.

She required that extra bit of momentum from flying forward to compensate for Sylvie's extra weight. *At least I can actually keep flying now. I wonder if that means I would have been able to lift Grace… then again Grace was a lot taller and had a bunch of gear as well so I'd say the chances were low.*

Once Kat was comfortable, she wasn't about to fall out of the sky she loosened her grip on Sylvie so that she could move her head around. Sylvie craned her neck so that she could look around.

Kat winced a little at how uncomfortable looking around like that must be, but Sylvie's face was lit up with a big smile and Kat was unwilling to let her turn around while so high up. "What do you want to do while you up here?" asked Kat

Sylvie had no answer. She was beaming and trying to take in as much of the scenery as possible. Despite hearing Kat speak she certainly wasn't paying attention and could hardly make out the words.

Kat grinned seeing Sylvie ignore her in favour of the view. Let's do something a little more intense. Kat started to climb slowly, just enough that in Sylvie's wanderlust she wouldn't notice the difference.

Once Kat had climbed a few extra metres she stopped flapping her wings and dived. Air rushed past the two of them as Kat let herself fall. Sylvie giggling all the way. Once Kat started approaching the tree line, she extended her wings in full and halted their fall.

Using the sudden stop to change direction Kat spun 180 degrees and started heading back towards the others. Once she was sure Sylvie was secure Kat gave her wings a large beat and angled herself for a barrel roll. Tucking her wings in as her momentum shifted Kat managed to spin but was losing height.

Straightening herself before she touched the canopy Kat once again let Sylvie have a little more room to move. "We are going to have to land soon" said Kat. *I'm missing about half my energy now. I know I wasn't full when I jumped, but I'd hate to fall out of the sky.*

Sylvie nodded; a bit saddened to hear that but keeping her smile. The short experience was magical enough that even knowing it was about to end couldn't ruin it for the girl. "Is there anything you want to do quickly as we head back?" asked Kat

This time Sylvie got a concerned look on her face. Nothing was springing to mind at Kat's question although she was sure that she wanted to do something… Kat let herself slow as much as she could without losing altitude to give Sylvie time to think.

Eventually Kat was directly over the clearing they'd started in and Sylvie hadn't come up with any unique ideas. Kat checked her energy reserves and saw that they were still around a third full. *Huh, I wonder if it was those few fancy manoeuvres that really cost me, or if I was a bit lower than I thought when I took off.*

*I know it wasn't the take off. Just throwing demonic energy at my legs has always been ridiculously efficient, and that even held true as I ran around the clearing earlier.* Kat started to circle the clearing as she descended. Sylvie still hadn't come up with any ideas.

"I think I'll just enjoy the rest" said the girl in question.

Kat nodded. *A nice answer. I'm kind of glad she isn't just using her last moments to think on something she can't find an answer to… Though it sounds a bit morbid when you put it like that. *

Eventually though it was Kat that had the idea. As she started to scrape the canopy Kat pretended to run along the trees. It was a little awkward twisting her body so that her feet could touch the wood, while keeping her wings straight enough that she didn't just fall.

The giggles coming from Sylvie though quickly made it worth the effort, alongside the shy smile Lily had while watching. Callisto for her part had a notebook from somewhere and was jotting things down.

Eventually, the fun had to come to an end. Kat finally landed in front of the gazebo and put Sylvie on the ground before straightening. "Interesting" said Callisto "You seem not to be tired at all despite the toll I'd have expected flying to take on someone of human size"

Kat shook her head "It isn't quite like that. I have some other type of energy in me that I never had as a human. I now burn it while I'm doing strenuous activities like flying or running. As long as I have at least some I'm fine, but once I run out I crash"

"Indeed? Well that is certainly different though I suppose the main point of difference is likely just that you can more accurately deduce the remaining energy rather than the system a human has set up where their body tells them they are breaking down" said Callisto

Lily nodded but Kat shrugged in response. "So, what exactly happens when you run out of energy? You said you crash but that is not an entirely descriptive word of what I assume must happen" said Callisto

"I just fall over. Quite literally in fact, and I can no longer move. I think my tail might be an exception to that, but it seems more like I have a reserve system for avoiding fatal attacks" said Kat

"Fascinating. I suppose for a likely more combat involved species wherein their own body is a primary weapon such a feature would be more highly desired. Especially when the body simply gives way. It sounds a bit like a low power state of an electronic device" said Callisto

Kat nodded "It does seem that way. It's not that I lock up, quite the opposite. All my muscles just sort of give up except for the important ones I'd think"

"Are you still conscious?" asked Callisto

"Yes" said Kat

This gave Callisto pause "That… doesn't quite seem right. I would have imagined that keeping your brain functioning would be using up a significantly larger portion of energy than the rest of your body so to hear that it does not put you to sleep is strange to me"

"Hmm" said Kat "I think, if I had to guess from what little I know, my body actually uses it to keep operating. Perhaps my brain is closer to a human's and doesn't actually require demonic energy. I do still need to eat after all, just a bit less. What if all the food is really just for my brain?" 

Callisto's eyes lit up at that. "Yes, that could explain things quite nicely. Though that would beg the question of if demons are genetically related to humans in any way. Obviously, they must be able to interbreed to some extent otherwise you would not have been human when you were born. The question is though, is that a more advanced feature demons have developed or is one a genetic descendent of the other

"We have some idea of how humans evolved on our own planet, but if we have the entire multiverse to consider it might not be entirely clear which species actually came first in the grand scheme of things"