Ancestral Insights A Tale of the Grand Skies chapter 11 by EnviTheFool

"Today's extra lesson is a practical one about tenacity and limits. If you truly want to rescue the boy, you should do so yourself."

Cagliostro fiddled with the wand that was still resting in her hand.

"I can help you get started~"

Clarisse was engulfed in the flash. She began to feel sick. It was more than just the extreme vertigo, the process itself felt deeply sickening to the body, wholly unnatural in nature. She closed her eyes and braced herself lest she threw up from it all. It was because of this that, once she dared to open her eyes once more, she was wholly unprepared for the landscape that she found herself in.

She was no longer lying down in constriction of Ouroboros. There was no longer any need for that. She was now lying on Ouroboros, the magical serpent's width having now wholly outclassed Clarisse's entire self. The serpent itself had remained still, meaning that what used to be a constricting coil just moments before had transformed itself into a massive, living tunnel. Cagliostro's familiar had every right to be called a dragon from Clarisse's current perspective, a fact that might have scared the young alchemist if not for something far more dangerous gazing down at her.

Cagliostro was lying down on her stomach, her head resting against her crossed arms as she playfully observed the results of the wand. Despite of this, her visage still loomed above Clarisse's tiny self. A single purple, mischievous eye was enough to rival her in size, and it was clear that her master absolutely reveled in it.

Cagliostro had always positioned herself firmly above others, like she was separate from the rest of humanity. Under normal circumstances it was easy to dismiss this on her usual narcissism... but as Clarisse gazed upwards at this normally diminutive woman, she couldn't help but feel like acknowledging that she truly was face to face with the goddess of alchemy.

"What a cute little apprentice you are now!~"

As usual, her cutesy smile was utterly shattered by the predatory grin that followed.

"So cute I could just eat you up."

Clarisse raised her hands to gather up alchemical energies but soon realized how futile it was. Her output had been greatly decreased proportionately to her size, and as her entire alchemical method relied on brute force... well, the results were sorely lacking. Her one trick had been rendered useless against something of this size, and physically she might as well have been wrestling with a primal.

Two delicate fingers was all it took to restrain her, only to be swished away by an engulfing tongue, and swallowed down without an effort. She was assaulted by both the sickeningly sweet saliva and the soft flesh constricting around her like a hungry snake, working in tandem to force Clarisse down into the depths of Cagliostro's body. She kept repeating her earlier mantra to keep herself from screaming, or finding out whether she even could.

It wasn't long until the redhead's current hell was replaced by a new one. The "snake" spat Clarisse out into a clearing where she was assaulted by a pungent (yet still somehow oddly appealing) smell. Her saliva-coated self splashed about in the pool of liquid on the floor as she got back up from her ass.

"...geez, I never knew how rough snacks had it..."

Gears slowly turned within her mind as it truly dawned on her where she was.

"Aaaaaa! Nonononono...."

Clarisse scrambled off to the sides looking for any elevation in vain. She had yet to feel anything, but even with the little knowledge she had managed to retain from her alchemy lessons she understood just how malicious acids could be. The best she could manage was to contain her exposure to below ankles. Time was against her. She would have to just find the Harvin fast and get out of here as fast as possible.

Thankfully the insides weren't dark, although Clarisse neither knew why nor had time to dwell on it. Nevertheless, a faint pink glow illuminated the insides of Cagliostro's stomach. There were no signs of the boy, but there was a mushy heap of what used to be cake further back. If he was still here, that's likely where he could be found.

Clarisse pressed on...