9. MM Escape Operation
"Miu, your weight is really not helping my secret mission at all!" Mile wheezed as she made her way toward her room.
Mile tightened the strap of the cloth bag over her shoulder. Inside the sling bag, Miu sat in resignation, his round brown body spilling out like rising bread dough. The filling effect of Uncle Crust's Blueberry Jam Bread had made the potato cat refuse to take even a single step.
"Meooow," Miu mewed softly, then lazily rested his chin on the edge of the bag.
"Yeah, yeah, I know you ate too much," Mile muttered as she adjusted her magnifying glass. "But today is our real Escape Operation. We have to get through the North Gate before Mama Dari tightens security!"
Night had once again wrapped itself around the Cloud Palace, but this time, the atmosphere felt different. Gray clouds from the north had spread thinly across the palace's pink chewing gum rooftops, carrying an increasingly sharp scent of rusted iron. Mile's instincts seemed to whisper that they didn't have much time left.
With a food-pack backpack and a map of the Dark Cloud Forest tucked into her loose cotton pants, along with a bottle of gum-softening vapor potion, Mile slipped through the back corridor. Her talent for noticing tiny details was proving extremely useful. Mile knew perfectly well that Captain Fliff always got sleepy at nine every night after drinking caramel powder tea.
Tap....
Mile froze behind a pillar. Her soft footsteps trembled across the marble floor. Mama Dari appeared around the corner. The Head Fairy was walking alone, holding a crystal lantern that cast a silver glow. Mile held her breath and hugged the large backpack where Miu was resting for the night. She caught sight of Mama Dari's utterly exhausted expression. There was no coldness or sternness in her face, only the face of a caretaker who worried about her foster child's safety day after day.
"Milea...." Mama Dari whispered softly into the darkness of the corridor, unaware that Mile was hiding only six feet away. "I hope you're staying safe in your room, sweetheart...."
Mile's chest suddenly felt warm and tight when she realized that she really was going to run away tonight. Guilt pinched at her heart. For seven years, Mama Dari had been the mother who cared for her and raised her so well. But the image of the gold-inked documents and the warm compass against her chest called to her more strongly.
"I'll come back, Mama," Mile vowed silently, her resolve firm. "I'll come back with Dad and Mom."
As soon as Mama Dari was gone, Mile moved like the wind. She hurried toward the palace's outermost corridor, the North Cloud Gate. The place was now guarded by two fairy soldiers, who were anxiously staring at the dark clouds in the distance.
"Time to test the second gadget!" Mile whispered excitedly.
She pulled out the bottle of gum-softening vapor and sprayed it toward a pile of cloud balloons near the soldiers.
Pshhh!
The balloons suddenly swelled to gigantic sizes, bursting with loud POPs and splattering both soldiers' faces with sticky foam made of sweet gum!
"Ow! What is this?!" the soldiers screamed in a panic as they tried to wipe the foam from their eyes.
"Mission accomplished! Let's run, Miu!" Mile cheered.
Without wasting a second, Mile leaped over the palace barrier and crossed the thinning cloud bridge. The copper compass around her neck suddenly began vibrating violently, emitting a bright golden light that cut through the gray mist ahead and pointed the way. At the far end of the bridge, a black whirlwind and twisted magical trees seemed to welcome them. The Dark Cloud Forest was now right before their eyes!