- Starting Appearance:
The ancient celestial spirit sighed as she neared the more heavily trod path to the Neutral Grounds. The main road would not be much further beyond that. Aranea had no idea how much further she had before she ran full stop into the fabled dead magic zone that indirectly have the area its name.
Aranea wasn't sure of she'd be able to shift between appearances once there. She couldn't even really be sure gate wouldn't be forced closed. Part of her hoped that was true, but she knew her exile from home could ever be that easy to work around. If it were, she'd have to kick herself for all those decades spent wandering Earthland, just barely surviving, when she could have just headed straight here.
She could feel the effects already. Shifting between appearances was normally a simple reflex. Here in the bordering wildlands she had to concentrate like it was some complex ancient spell. The ageless celestial spider gave up her wings and two out of three sets of arms as her purple skin turned fair, lavender tresses fell down into golden blonde, and the pink glow of her eyes faded into sparkling human blue.
Except for hiding her wings and four out of six of her arms, the changes were mostly cosmetic. With these slight (and not so slight) changes, Aranea could pass herself off as a teenage human girl. All the easier to mingle in the world of her prey when she had to.
- Shifted Appearance:
Aranea giggled, focusing back on why she was heading into the Neutral Grounds in the first place. She meant to pick up an iLac for herself. She had seen a number of mortals using them around Ishgar. From what she could tell, all sorts of useful information could be found on them. They also made keeping in touch with friends a breeze. If any of her fellow spirits back in the Celestial Realm, then that would be a happy bonus.
Now human, she wore a short teal dress over rainbow tights with horned boots. A red horned hair band held her bangs out her eyes. She could be mistaken for a beginning celestial wizard with the single silver key hanging from her left hip. It was her own key, one an actual celestial wizard could use to summon Aranea. That is if a contract could be worked out. Hearts were worked into every part of its design. The one thing that stuck with her, no matter her appearance were the heart shaped blush markings in each of her cheeks.
She hurried along, making it to the main road in no time. It was just her luck that a mortal merchant in his boar-drawn cart was coming up the road. A juicy, mortal morsel presents himself, and she's already too close to the null magic to chance hunting. The merchant was luckier than he'd ever know.
He was kind enough to offer the young girl he found walking along the roadside a lift into town, and Aranea was happy enough to accept. She climbed onto the back of the merchant cart, getting an express ride to the main marketplace in town.
Bidding the merchant farewell, Aranea began to stroll through the marketplace. There were countless places she go to pick out an iLacrima, all over town. Aranea was not feeling particularly fussy, so she stopped at the first promising booth she came to. The booth had the latest model iLacs, plus what really drew Aranea's eye, was the lilac phone cover with the silvered spider web design on the back. In a few minutes, she was walking away from the booth, new lilac iLac in hand.
Word Count: 614/500
