Displaced

Chapter 111

The Stragman's great Mother Tree, Ruresni, towered over everything much in the same way that Grandfather would tower over a measly Crawler—showing utterly overwhelming domination through nothing but indomitable presence. It even overshadowed Metal Man's delightful floating wagon, within which Pari and the others currently sat. That overshadowing was quite literal.

Though it was around midday, the deep darkness of night filled the world on the other side of the window. The Mother Tree's wide, arcing canopy spread out wide like one of those "umbrellas" that Sofie had made Metal Man create for them, blocking the light of the sun for kilometers around so effectively that only the sight of the sunlit forest far off in the distance betrayed the impression that it was the dead of night. Her sister had said that the tree's top had to be at least ten kilometers wide. Pari believed her because Sofie was smart and knew these kinds of things.

Nowhere else could Pari see a sight like this. The view filled her with wonder. Flying was the super greatest!

Perhaps Pari's favorite moment of her life was of the short time when Grandfather had finally taken her from their home to fly in his hands. The wind rushing through her hair, the breathtaking view, the feeling of freedom so pure, as if they could go anywhere they dreamed to... it had seared itself into her memory, a short span of sheer joy within what had otherwise been one of the worst days of her life. The Flying Toaster—whatever that was supposed to mean—lacked much of that experience—no rushing wind or total freedom here—but it was still a wonderful second-place. Where else would Pari find a view like this?

"I'm so glad to be out of there," Sofie sighed wearily from a seat in the back of the cabin. "Being watched every minute of the day was starting to drive me crazy!"

"Mmhm," Arly dismissively replied as she checked some of the various sticks and other weird things poking out of the surfaces up at the front of the cabin. Pari didn't know what any of those did, only that she wasn't allowed to touch them anymore—not after the last time.

Only the three of them were in the room at the moment. Almost immediately after getting on the Flying Toaster, Gabby had excused herself and Pari hadn't seen her in the hours since.

As for Arly, she finally looked like herself again. Pari had known from the start, of course. Upon "waking up" in the Stragman room, she had immediately smelled through Arly's disguise. Nobody else smelled of tallow, iron, and salt the way she did.

Pari hadn't said anything at the time. It wasn't right to ruin another person's prank, after all. But, to her surprise, Arly had stayed in disguise the entire time they'd been in Stragma. Whatever sort of joke she'd been concocting, it must have been a big one.

Arly was clearly not in the mood for laughing right now, however, but Sofie didn't seem to pick up on that and continued talking. "So, now that we can talk freely again, what did you find out? Why is the guy stuck in a cage?"

"That's none of your business," Arly flatly answered.

"Come on, tell me!"

"No."

"Why not?!"

Pari pulled her gaze from the majestic vista outside and turned to watch with dismay the burgeoning argument between her two sisters. She could smell the stress and frustration they were each giving off. She smelled the same odors whenever the two talked now, ever since the world had changed to put her in Stragma out of nowhere. The whole scene distressed Pari greatly. Family wasn't supposed to fight!

"Because this is a mission tasked to me by my employer. It has nothing to do with you and I will not discuss it with you without his agreement," Arly testily explained.