MiniMari A Tale of the Grand Skies chapter 5 by EnviTheFool

--Moments Earlier--

"Haaaah~ Finally some peace~"

Mari jumped onto the hotel room's bed soon after entering, practically burying her head into its pillows. She had really needed this.

Summer was the busiest season of the year for Auguste, and as the chairperson of Auguste Tourism Association this meant having to balance massive amounts of responsibilities without burning out. Today was one such cheat day to keep herself sane, even if it wasn't labeled as one for the sake of keeping her story straight.

"Well then, let's get started!"

Mari turned over and took a closer look at the bracelet she had requested from the former chairperson, who had continued furthering his career as an inventor after the incident. She had pitched him this device as something that'd enable a new kind of tourist attraction... which could still happen, sure, but it wasn't her actual reason. The actual reason was too embarrassing to bring up even if she did have the guts to make a personal request.

"Will it really work though?"

The blonde mumbled her skepticism to the empty room as she went over the settings. The ex-chairperson did have experience with body modification, but Mari had only brought the subject up one month ago. She didn't know much about science or engineering, but surely a device of this nature couldn't be that easy to figure out. It even looked exactly like the one in the illustrated storybook.

...still, Mari wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

After checking twice that she had inputted the right things, Mari took a deep breath and pressed the activation button. The bracelet came to life with a light hum and a captivating glow, and its user could immediately feel the bed start shifting under her. She took a glance at the pillow to confirm. Its size had already eclipsed her head and only kept getting bigger... only Mari knew that the reverse was the case. Her doubts were washed away by amazement so strong that it gave way to a tinge of fear as the reality of the situation finally hit her, overwhelming her so that she threw her gaze down at her feet to avoid watching everything keep dwarfing her. 

This room was the perfect, safe environment. It was always kept in pristine condition and free of any visitors aside from the cleaning staff who had already been here today. Mari had forgotten to do a personal inspection in her excitement, but she had full trust in this hotel's staff. Going over these facts helped her to calm down as the device finally did the same. She raised her gaze at the pillow in utter surprise. It must have been at least three stories tall, if not more.

"...isn't this shorter than ten centimeters?"

Mari could have sworn that it was, but it hadn't dawned on her to do measure things beforehand to have an idea. She turned around to face the room in all its magnitude. It was a lot to take in.

"I do wonder how he managed to include clothes in the--"

Mari's train of thought was derailed completely as she heard the door's lock click. The unexpected had happened. Someone was coming in.

"W-what?!"

The little Erune was quick to hide behind the towering pillow.

"Thieves? It can't be a guest or the staff. I explicitly instructed to not give this room to anyone but..."

"Haaah~ Just my luck..."

Mari's heart jumped at the sound of Meg's voice. The flow of time slowed down as Meg's giant form appeared from the entryway, with Mari's mind burning in every detail of how she appeared in that soft sunlight. The girl who was normally only a little taller than her had been transformed into a Primal... no, a proper goddess who had yet to even notice her own minute form. Even her little acts of frustration had frightening weight behind them. If she hadn't been practically digging herself into the pillow, Mari might have been launched straight up in the air from Meg sitting down on it.

Mari felt conflicted. She could tell from Meg's muttering that she must have really missed seeing her... but at the same time, she really, really wanted to see Meg better from this point of view.

She...