The Rogue Goddess

30: Death Serum. That's Pretty Self-Explanatory.

"Okay, guys, we're descending over Chicago right now," Abby called from the cockpit. "If you're doing anything right now, finish it up quickly. And anybody who has long hair should grab hair ties---we're going to an alchemist's studio, after all."

"Can I just make my hair short for the time being?" Zarity asked.

"Yeah, sure, go for it."

She closed her eyes and let her hair shorten until it was just above her ears. A quick look in the mirror showed that it actually looked pretty cool, especially with the purple-and-indigo gradient she'd picked for the day.

"Oh, wow," Karin commented as she came out of her room. "You should experiment with hairstyles more often."

"I couldn't really do that back home," Zarity reminded her. "Now that we're on the move, nobody'll notice if my hair looks different than it did yesterday."

"Well, you rock the short hair," Karin told her. "I know you prefer it long, but it looks great on you."

"Thanks."

Jay poked his head out of his room and gave her a thumbs-up. "Nice."

"Thank you. You've got a hair tie?"

"My hair's usually tied back. I'm good."

Psyche walked out of her room with her hair in a bandana, tapping furiously on her phone. "Does anybody know how to convince a Biblical Demon to tell you something?"

"No clue," Seth called. "Just let the guy live his life."

"He hasn't shown up in school for the past month!"

"Maybe his dad's homeschooling him?"

She scoffed. "Fat chance."

"We're past the clouds!" Abby called. Everyone instantly ran towards the cockpit as Chicago came into view.

Zarity's brain short-circuited for a second when she saw just how big it was. Portland was a relatively small city, so she wasn't really prepared for the two hundred and thirty-four square miles sprawled out in front of her. Even Jay looked dumbstruck at it, and he lived in New York.

"This... this is insane," he whispered. "How do you get a place this big?"

"London's just as insane," Abby said matter-of-factly. "I'm pretty used to this."

Psyche inhaled sharply when she spotted the Willis tower. "The second-tallest building in America, and we're flying right above it!"

Mira shrugged. "Eh, I've seen taller. There's more room for floors under the ocean."

"Don't brag, Miriam!" Psyche hissed.

Seth gave Zarity a curious look. "You look shorter with a pixie cut."

"And that's why I prefer it long," she muttered.

"No, no, it's cool. Just different."

"Uh, where exactly are we landing?" Ferra questioned, craning her head. "It doesn't look like there's a lot of room."

"We're landing on Josie's apartment building," Abby answered. "I just gotta find it."

"Doesn't Kappa have a built-in GPS regardless of form?" Jay reminded her.

She was quiet for about five seconds, then switched on a little speaker. "Kappa, activate GPS. We're looking for Josephine Woodland's apartment."

After a few more minutes of flying around the city (and dodging other skycruisers) Abby finally landed on top of a normal-looking brownstone. Nobody walking by even batted an eye at that.