Find the castle in the sky.

Jelly keeps her hands in the pockets of her unzipped hoodie as she moves with an irregular rhythm, which at least means you'll be safe from giant worms. She skips along, occasionally leaping from one flat stone to another, or on top of a fallen tree. At least she can be as reckless as she wants given she can't exactly scrape her knees or break any bones, and perhaps slimes simply yearn to bounce. She stares ahead with bright, curious eyes. Your Kitty Sense feels the excited joy in her mind--stoked to be out in the real world, away from Castle Phoenix, so that she may see new sights and learn new things.

After a moment of watching her go, she looks back to you. Your eyes lock, and she gives a warm, wide smile back.

It takes about an hour or so of walking before the fortress above comes into view, and awhile longer to actually reach it, but you recognize it straight away. It's hard to miss. In the sky is a floating mass of stone and dirt. On top of that is a castle. You've only seen this flying fortress once before, back around the Sports Festival. Now you can finally see where William Cresswell has been living all this time.

"Let's give them a good entrance," you say with a hand out for Jelly to grab. "A Demon King doesn't use a ladder, right?"

She giggles and grabs hold of your entire arm instead. "That's right! A Demon King crashes down from above, leaving a flaming crater behind."

"I probably won't do that one, but I appreciate the creativity."

You lower yourself down with a hamstring pulled back to push against the grass beneath your feet, like a runner about to begin a sprint. With a tug, you pull Jelly in close. You wrap an arm around her waist as you stare up at Laputa with all your focus. It may be high up there, but that should make no difference. It's just more land, like teleporting to the top of a small mountain. You count yourself down in your mind.

Three. Two. One. Let's go!

Once again, the two of you warp through space. The world stretches around you, until you're slingshot back into stable reality only about ten feet above grass below. You quickly activate your boots, and you float safely back down to the very edge of the floating mass of land. Behind you is a wooden railing, but that's all that would stop someone from plummeting to their demise. When you look forwards, however, it's almost as if you never left the ground. There are trees, flowers, and other plants, as well as a stone path leading straight into a pale grey castle at the far end of the island.

Not far off, you hear the grunting of a combatant. There are actually two people training against stuffed dummies over that way, and you recognize them both.

The first is entirely concealed by a dark robe. Only a pair of crimson eyes are seen below the shade of a hood and a scarf around their neck. You remember they went by the name Storm, though you didn't see all that much of them at the Sports Festival. When they notice you watching, they swiftly turn away.

Nearby is William's bunnyfolk named Ribi. She has a tanned, athletic physique hardly covered by a tiny black blouse held closed by three struggling buttons, and a matching pair of booty shorts with the top button undone. Paler tan lines are seen around the edges of her skimpy attire. As she bounces up and down, and delivers various kicks and punches to the dummy, it's a miracle her wardrobe holds together. She has shoulder-length black hair decorated with braids held by ruby beads, and she has a symbol tattooed on her lower stomach and her upper left arm. Big ears with white tips flop around back and forth as she moves.

You see a couple others in the distance as well, but your attention is taken by a firm shouted, "Halt!" and the flash of a shadow through the air above. Landing a distance head of you is a stoic woman--the harpy, Jika. She's entirely covered by a jet black robe and hood, and even beneath that are raven feathers. The only visible parts of her body are her talon feet and her cold yellow gaze. She is rather lovely from what you can make out, though she's hardly been into conversation. She keeps her distance and watches you intently.

"We're here. William invited us," you explain.

"I'm aware," she responds. Her eyes dart up and down, over both you and Jelly. She turns sharply on one talon before raising up a winged feather mostly concealed by her sleeve. "Follow," is all she commands before marching towards the castle gates.