(TATB) Ch 30: Relaxing Muscles, Burn Oh Shining Blade!

(Syndey)

I stood on the vast, warm plain of Skylar's foot, staring up at her towering form. Even from this low angle, I could see the nervous expression on her face, her lips pressed into a tight line, her fingers fidgeting at her sides. It was kind of funny—she could literally end my entire existence with the slightest twitch, and yet she was the one looking anxious.

"Relax, Skylar," I called up, adjusting the straps of the tiny harness keeping my scrubber in place. "As long as you don't make any sudden movements, everything will be fine."

Her enormous green eyes flickered down at me, and her brow furrowed. "That's... not exactly reassuring," she muttered.

I shrugged. "Would you rather I lie?"

Her lips pressed together even tighter.

"Look, we tested these scrubbers," I continued, tapping the bristled surface of the little contraption strapped to my feet. "They should be at least somewhat effective against your skin. Not perfect, but hey, we're working with what we got."

Which, admittedly, wasn't much.

I looked around at my "team," if you could even call it that. Just five of us today.

With Vincent gone, along with Vu, Nemu, and Sawyer, our numbers were already short. The three wannabe gangsters who liked to pretend they were above helping out had refused to get involved—shocker. And my dad? Still holed up somewhere, going over blueprints for expanding the town, which left us exactly...

Me. Meara. And her group of three.

Five tiny Lillis.

To clean one Brob foot.

I sighed, rubbing the back of my head. "This isn't going to be much of a massage," I muttered, looking down at the endless stretch of smooth, slightly wrinkled skin beneath me.

"Well, we'll never be done if you don't start scrubbing," Meara shot back.

I gave her a flat look, but she just smirked at me before bending down and getting to work, the others following her lead.

Grumbling, I crouched and started scrubbing the sheer, warm surface of Skylar's skin, the bristles dragging lightly against it. It was weird—hard, yet soft at the same time, with just enough give to remind me that this was living flesh and not some endless desert of synthetic material.

A low, thunderous sound rumbled overhead. I paused.

Skylar was laughing.

"What?" I called up, wiping a bit of sweat from my forehead.

"It tickles," she admitted sheepishly, shifting slightly in her seat.

"Alright, please don't move if it tickles," I said quickly, suddenly feeling very aware of just how small I was. "I don't want to be flung off like a piece of lint."

She huffed, crossing her arms. "I know how to sit still, Sydney."

I gave her a look.

She glanced away. "...Most of the time."

Yeah, that was reassuring.

I shook my head and went back to work, dragging the scrubber across her skin in slow, steady motions. It was honestly so dumb that I was doing this. I mean, sure, it wasn't like we were being forced to—Skylar made it pretty clear from the start that she wasn't into the whole "Lilli servant" thing. But still, the fact that we even suggested it in the first place felt... strange.

Even now, as I scrubbed, I caught myself thinking, Is this really what we've been reduced to? Rubbing Brob feet just because we have nothing better to do?

But then I remembered the way Skylar's shoulders had slumped after she got home. The exhaustion in her face. The way she had almost apologized for not checking in with us sooner, despite literally working a full shift dealing with garbage customers and pervy old men.

And I sighed.

"Well, at least we're doing something," I muttered under my breath, glancing over at Meara. She was working diligently, barely even reacting to the absurdity of the situation. The others followed suit, making slow but steady progress.

I huffed. If we were going to do this, we might as well do it right.

With a grunt, I pressed my scrubber a little harder against the skin. "Alright, let's make this count," I said. "We might be small, but we'll make this the best damn Lilli massage Skylar's ever had."

Meara snorted. "Not much competition there, considering we're probably the only Lillis who've ever given a Brob a massage and not have to worry about our safety."

I smirked. "Then let's make history."

Skylar let out a little giggle overhead, shaking her head.

"Alright, alright," she murmured. "Just... be careful down there, okay?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, we got it. Just don't sneeze or something, and we'll be fine."

She didn't look convinced.

But as we continued scrubbing, slowly but surely, I could feel some of the tension in the air melting away. Skylar's muscles relaxed. The nervous energy in her eyes dimmed. And even though this was probably the dumbest thing I'd ever done, I found myself chuckling under my breath.

Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.

***

(Nemu)

Vu's

"Vu!"

I barely heard my own voice over the ringing in my ears. My legs moved on their own, my knees slamming against the cold, filthy ground as I reached Vu's side. His blood seeped into the cracks of the stone, a dark stain pooling beneath him. His chest rose and fell, but barely—each breath was shallow, strained, like his body was fighting to hold on.

"No, no, no, no, no—" My hands hovered over him, shaking, useless.

And then—

The spear vanished.

Just like that. One moment it was impaling Vu's stomach, the next it was gone, reappearing in Viral's outstretched hand as if it had never left.

The bastard laughed.

"Damn you!!!" I screamed, whirling on him, my vision going red.

My fingers tightened into a fist, and instinct took over. I felt the weight of the hilt before I even saw it, the familiar thin handle materializing in my grip like it had been waiting for me to call upon it.

"You're going to pay!"

The flame ignited in an instant, crackling to life in a brilliant orange-red arc, forming the shape of a blade. Its heat licked at my fingers, but I didn't care.

Viral smirked, twirling his blood-colored spear in his hand. "You fools still don't get it," he said, his voice dripping with condescension. He shifted his stance, settling into a perfect, practiced pose. The spear rested lightly in his grip, its deadly tip pointed toward me. "And it doesn't look like you ever will."

I gritted my teeth, my grip tightening on my weapon.

I didn't give a damn about understanding him.

I just wanted to burn him to the ground.