Chapter 2337

Chapter 2337

“A dinner?” Lowanna quirked an eyebrow. She couldn’t find any sort of subterfuge on the other woman’s face.

“A dinner,” The crimson-haired Devick confirmed with a bow.

Lowanna frowned at the genuine response. She felt nonplussed by the situation. The other woman had found some sort of frilly black and white uniform to wear. Her bow was executed with an elaborate flourish. And despite the fact that Devick always seemed to somewhat have very little interest in any tasks unrelated to Hungry Eye, she now practically preened with excitement as she brought Lowanna an invitation to dine.

Although she suspected some sort of trick, Lowanna couldn’t detect any.

“Is there any real need for this?” Lowanna asked. “I will of course eat with Hungry Eye, but why are you dressed-”

“Oh, it’s not Hungry Eye,” Devick waved both of her hands, shoeing away those incorrect thoughts. Her expression remained so bright it was untrustworthy. “He will be attending only as a chef. Working behind the scenes. No, this invitation came from the Sovereign- hum, wait, does he need a new name now that he is bound to Hungry Eye? Anyways, that other Nether fellow. The moody one.”

“Enmya? He asked Hungry Eye to ask you to ask me to dine with him?” Lowanna felt genuinely mystified by the long chain of communications to reach this point. Could her childhood friend have become shy now that he had Toosah between himself and Hungry Eye? She rubbed her jaw and nodded. “But yes, he will need to allow his significance to percolate a bit. Then a Herald will view him in all his newfound splendor and announce his name...”

A secondary thought made Lowanna pause. Perhaps the reason for the convoluted invitation was because Enmya knew he would soon be leaving, moving on to work with Hungry Eye full-time in the administration of the Alpha Cosmos. From the significance she could sense from Hungry Eye, this would not be a simple task. Many thoughts and emotions flowed through him, emerging from this isolated universe.

Lowanna had known she would agree to accompany them to populate this new world as a show of support, in front of her people... but she was now just a normal Nether individual, once her symbolic gesture had been completed. She retained a slightly increased amount of Nether within her body, and her Skill with Nether probably had few rivals, but she...

Lowanna felt sad. Perhaps he pities me. For all the power that I’ve lost... now, I am just a woman. And he has become...

Devick didn’t appear to notice her conflicted internal monologue. “You have a few hours, so please, dress up in your best- ah, wait, these stupid Aether fools mostly just sell robes to everyone. If you wish, we can go enter the Alpha Cosmos! I actually have a close personal friend, Tatiana, inside of Randidly’s world who would be happy to help us find the best clothes for tonight.”

“That...” Lowanna felt tired. Yet her thoughts turned from this strange meeting with Enmya. The prospect of entering into the Alpha Cosmos did intrigue her. Soon the offer to join the world would be given to her former people; more experience with what that process entailed could only be helpful. So she nodded.

“Yes! Excellent! I wanted to try the Ghosthound scented soap- ahem, anyway, we need to hurry! We don’t have much time before the dinner is supposed to start. Hungry Eye is surprisingly a stickler about timing...” Devick became a blur of motion topped with a mop of crimson hair. Lowanna allowed the other woman to latch onto her hand and pull her along.

“Yes. How did you know?” Lowanna asked.

Tatiana chuckled. “Some things don’t come through clearly, but when Randidly really wants something, it’s an itch beneath the skin. And if you want to find a dress and make sure it is the correct size, you are definitely late right now. Let’s hurry before all the good things are snatched up. If you like wicker and beads.”

Tatiana stepped off the edge of the city. Without thinking too much, Lowanna and Devick followed her.

As soon as any individual spotted Tatiana, the crowd of merchants and their hanging wares surged forward, trying to tie them into place by virtue of their bodies. As Lowanna became rather meek in the face of these strange humanoids, Tatiana smiled, said no, and walked forward through their ranks. The merchants melted backward before her, disappointed but acquiescing.

Soon, they waded in up to their waists. Tatiana looked back over her shoulder. “Willing to swim a bit?”

Devick didn’t even respond. She just dove beneath the water. Tatiana laughed and followed suit. Last, Lowanna shook her head slightly but dove underneath the water as well. The liquid felt fresh and cool on her face. All her worries about Enmya, or at least the worries about the Alpha Cosmos, faded away as she simply stretched out her arms and dug her fingers into the water. With the three women’s powerful bodies, they shot along into the depths of the lake, quickly advancing toward their destination.

The water grew cold, but they continued swimming. The easy physical labor almost felt pleasurable.

When Tatiana began to arc up toward the surface, Lowanna followed suit. They shot up and burst forth, arriving in a placid portion of the lake’s interior. A few larger boats floated nearby, several tanned humanoids noting their arrival. When Tatiana waved a hand, ropes were thrown and soon all three women had ascended onto the deck of the largest vessel.

“Alright, do you have a favorite color?” Tatiana glanced sideways at Lowanna. Around them, clotheslines had been spread out across the deck and also fluttered from the ship’s masts. A thousand colors could be seen there, seafoam, lime, tangerine, ruby, azure, and emerald. The clothing spread out could satisfy a thousand individuals and appeared of a much higher quality than what had been present along the shore.

Yet Lowanna found herself frowning as she looked around. She hesitated but trusted her instincts. “Black.”

Tatiana waved. “Black it is.”

Several of the individuals on the boat surged into action. They clipped down the hanging clothes laying around them and rolled them up. And in the next instant, other individuals walked out, unfurling strings that contained sewn-together bits of obsidian, dark edges seashells, glittering bits of midnight silk.

Lowanna pivoted and looked around in wonder. Then she saw one dress. “Oh. Oh.”

Tatiana smiled a wicked smile. “Perfect. That’s exactly the response you want for what you are wearing tonight. Alright, let’s get it sized properly and get you ready.”