As the sun comes up, and its light shines on Haiko’s sleeping dark face. Currently in his 2nd larger form, he lays on the bed provided by Vilo and paid by Felice.
Haiko grumbles as he opens his circular white eyes, he looks up at the ceiling delightedly, “Better than a pin cushion…” he mumbles.
Mimir floats in front of Haiko, “The temptation to ruin your peaceful slumber was distracting”
Haiko rises up and sits on the bed side, “Morning to you too Mimir,” as he says he stretches out his arms, “what you’ve been up to?” Haiko asks Mimir.
“Changing and updating a few things, based on what Silfy pointed out to me” Mimir states.
Haiko tilts his head curiously but decides to leave it for now. After stretching a bit more and perking himself up, Haiko stands and peeks out the door for a moment.
Hearing voices downstairs, “Felice and Silfy have left their room and Vilo has opened up shop below. At this time there should be a few customers already there” Mimir states. To which Haiko nods in reply.
Haiko scopes out the stairs and around the 2nd floor hallway, looking if anyone else besides Felice or Vilo is there. Seeing and sensing no one around, he goes out of his room, closes the door as he exits and changes into his 1st form. Mimir then vanishes into Haiko and leaves one drone out, as he did yesterday.
As Haiko is about to go down, readying himself to use shadow movement. Mimir stops him by moving his drone in front of Haiko, “Wait for a moment” he says inside Haiko.
A second later, a small Aevos sphere ejects from Mimir’s drone and manifest into a small white floating surfboard. “I suggest flying over rather than popping in unexpectedly” Mimir exclaims.
Haiko looks at the board, poking it and making it wobble and sway. Haiko ponders for a bit, “This won’t just fling me around now would it?”
“Depends” says Mimir inside Haiko, while his drone prompts, “(￣ー￣)”
Haiko nervously smiles, “T-thanks…”
Haiko ignores Mimir for now and looks at the hover board curiously, a moment later he steels his nerves and gets on the board. At first his balance was off, but a few seconds later he understood how to control it.
“This is nice!” Haiko states while flying around in a small radius.
Haiko then notices Mimir’s drone prompt, “( ◠‿◠ )”
Haiko stops, “What are you planning…” he asks cautiously.
Mimir then speaks inside Haiko, “Nothing” as Mimir says his drone prompts, “(人❛ᴗ❛)”
“Uhuh…” Haiko again ignores Mimir and flies down stairs with his new probably not-so-safe hover-board, and Mimir’s drone floating alongside him.
As Haiko reaches the first floor, he sees that there aren’t that many customers as Mimir said. He also sees Felice reading a book, sitting in the same spot she was in yesterday. Silfy hangs on her shoulders, either sleeping or reading with Felice.
Vilo on the other hand was posting something on the board.
Haiko flies towards Vilo as he was closer, “Morning Vilo!”
Vilo smiles at Haiko, being surprised for a brief moment seeing him riding on the hover-board. “Morning Haiko, were you able to rest well?” Vilo asks Haiko as he continues posting notices on the board.
“Yep, slept like I was on lying on warm clouds!” Haiko replies.
Vilo chuckles to Haiko’s exaggerated comment as he continues to put up one last notice.
Vilo looks at the last notice and sighs before putting it on the board, “It’s been weeks and only now did they give in…” he solemnly says as he posts it on the board.
Haiko looks at the notice, “A missing person notice? Aétherian queen… and her children…?”
As Haiko reads the notice, Felice walks towards Vilo and Haiko, with Silfy on her shoulders, “Morning Haiko, still eager to show more surprises I see” Felice chuckles looking at Haiko on his hover board.
Vilo and Haiko look at Felice as she approaches, Haiko waves in reply and Vilo nods at her.
Felice looks at the Missing person notice on the board, “They finally went public after the attack huh? So, the queen being sick and her children refusing to leave her side was all fabricated as we expected Vilo”
Vilo sighs, “As we fear”
Haiko looks at Vilo, “Why didn’t they go public from the start?”
Felice answers Haiko’s question, “The King and the Queen’s close and loyal friends wanted to. But some royal Aétherians refuse to go public with it, probably fearing that they may look weak compared to the Ri’lvelians who hadn’t had anyone breaking through their place” Felice sighs and shrugs.
Vilo crosses his arms, “But they can only do so much as to deny the King and those standing with him” Vilo chuckles.
Felice shrugs and nods, “Knowing the champions AND who the queen’s best friend is. She probably gave the orders ahead of time and they already went and looked the moment they heard about the attack”
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As Vilo and Felice talk about things Haiko has no idea of, he glances at the notice seeing the rewards, ranging from ten-thousand Silver-Tenzal or Eth-gems for information and a thousand Dark-Tenzal or Aeo-gems for finding them.
Haiko sighs, “With that much reward money people will likely be eager to look…”
“Wouldn’t you?” Mimir asks.
Haiko gently smiles, “Nah! I would rather prefer see them safe than think about the money involved”
“But you’ll still likely will take the prize money should it be given” Mimir states to Haiko monotonously.
Haiko laughs childishly and ignores Mimir, “Speaking of rewards, we need to earn some coins, we can’t rely on others all the time”. Haiko looks at the other notices and finds a few quests and tasks being requested that piques his interest.
Haiko then calls out to Vilo, “Vilo, can I take on some of these requests on the board?”
Vilo and Felice look at Haiko, Vilo ponders for a moment, “Hmm… You can… But… Are you able to move around freely?” Vilo looks at Haiko and then to Felice.
Felice ponders for a moment, then she shrugs and smiles, “Why not just accompany me!”
Haiko looks at Felice, “What do you actually do?”
Vilo sighs, “If it ain’t trouble then it’s investigation and search for anything related to magic which strangely almost always leads to trouble” a few of the customers nod to what Vilo said.
Felice chuckles, “I would neither deny or agree!”
Vilo sighs, as then Silfy speaks, “Accompanying us would be best for Haiko as he may roam about and learn more as we go on with our duties”
Vilo nods and sighs, “Alright… I presume that would be the case,” Vilo then looks at Felice, “Have you finished the book I gave you?”
“I added a few things as some information were a bit outdated” Felice snap her fingers and pops out of her hand the book she was reading earlier.
Vilo nods and smiles, “Appreciated,” Vilo then looks at Haiko who’s been reading the notices on the board.
Vilo coughs calling the attention of Haiko, “Haiko are you fine with this arrangement of accompanying Felice as she does her… duties? As so you can do what you want without any disturbance?”
“Fine by me, as long as I can earn some coins and do stuff rather than laying around and do nothing” Haiko states with a shrug at the end.
Vilo nods as Felice and Silfy smiles at Haiko.
Vilo then ponders for a moment and whispers, “Haiko, you have the Aevos sphere at your hands. Why not just make your own Tenzal or Aetho coins?”
Felice looks at Vilo flabbergasted.
Haiko immediately denies the idea calmly, “Nah! I don’t want to do things that way, I prefer to work my way to success” Haiko chuckles.
Mimir’s drone then floats up in the middle of them and surprisingly to everyone also speaks, “Even if we could, based on how Tenzal and Aetho coins are made as each one of the coins is tied to a specific refiner. Ours would be considered as a fraud, as we can only copy its form and structure and make it from the ground up, we cannot copy the link to who they originate from”
Felice sighs in relief as Vilo chuckles delightedly.
Haiko looks at the Mimir’s drone, “You can talk with the drone?”
Mimir’s drone replies as it looks at Haiko, “Yes”
“Why didn’t you do that from the start?” Haiko asks.
Mimir’s drone then replies monotonously, “No one asked”
Haiko sighs as Vilo and Felice chuckles, “Apologies, I just wanted to test you” Vilo smiles at Haiko.
Haiko looks at Vilo, “No worries, I understand”
Felice then claps her hand and states, “So! Shall we begin then?” Vilo and Haiko nods in reply.
Before Haiko and Felice when out, Haiko picked out some of the requests and Vilo explained to Haiko that he would just need to tell him if he finished it. Vilo says that his eyes could see through lies. Then days went on like this, as Felice does her duties at times with Haiko’s help. Haiko finishes some requests from people of varying races, gaining a bit of reputation from the people around the Village. Felice often stands close by, giving Haiko information about the race he’s helping with.
Every time Haiko and Felice return, Vilo welcomes them warmly. Haiko has also made a few friends with the regulars at Vilo’s tavern, helping Vilo explain Niviru to Haiko, all while making sure to keep his identity that of a familiar of Felice. Mimir and Silfy on the other hand exchange information occasionally, and in time Mimir learned to copy Silfy’s magical inventory that she uses to store Felice’s stuff.
As a few days passed on, while Mimir has updated himself thanks to Silfy’s suggestions. Haiko’s knowledge about Niviru, but mainly on Midora has increased. But as each day passes Haiko looks at the board, noticing the search for the missing Queen and her children has yet to be put down.
On the seventh day Haiko and Felice are back at the forest during a bright sunny day.
Haiko in his 2nd form with Mimir floating at his side, as they walk along side with Felice wearing her goggles, “What are we looking for again?” Haiko asks Felice.
“A rare vulvous mushroom” Felice replies promptly as she scans the area with her goggles.
Haiko sighs, “Then as usual I’ll be eating it right?”
Felice replies delightedly without looking at Haiko, “Yep!”
Haiko dejectedly sighs.
Mimir and Silfy then perk up looking at a certain direction, as then a huge explosion can be heard not far from Felice and Haiko.
“What was that?!” Haiko looks at where he heard the explosion.
Felice changes into her other form with a snap of a finger, “I don’t know, but whatever it is I don’t want to be blamed by Vilo to whatever it damages! Let’s go Haiko!”
Haiko nods, and then Felice changes Silfy into her staff as she flies upward. Haiko then uses a combination of Shadow movement and Lightning movement to move along the trees.
A moment later Felice notices someone, “Haiko, I can see someone heavily wounded” Felice telepathically tells Haiko.
“On it!” Haiko changes his direction towards the person Felice sees.
As Haiko arrives, he sees an armoured woman sitting on the ground as her back lies on a tree. As Haiko comes closer he sees her armour seemingly bent and chipped all over, blood spilling from her mouth and arms.
Haiko comes closer to the injured woman, but as the woman notices Haiko. She brandishes her glass looking sword meekly at him, Haiko raises his hands, “Hey! I’m a friend!”
Felice arrives seeing Haiko and the woman, “EIRENE!?” Felice shouts in surprise.
The woman looks at Felice hearing her name, “Fe… lice…” she meekly says as she drops her sword.
Felice rushes towards the woman, kneeling down, “Haiko help me remove her armour!”
Haiko nods and assists Felice.
As Felice and Haiko remove the woman’s battered armour, Felice changes her staff into light orbs and begins healing the woman, “Eirene sweety, who did this to you?” Felice warmly says as she tends to the woman named Eirene’s wounds.
Eirene looks at Felice weakly, “Nora… Xion…” She says tears flowing down her eyes as she collapses from her wounds.
Haiko panics, but Felice reassures him, “She’s fine, just fell asleep from exhaustion…”
Felice then looks at Haiko gravely, “Haiko, I’ll stay here and treat Eirene. I need you to find her children”
Haiko looks at Felice confused, “Her children?”
Mimir looks at a certain direction, “I see three more life signs not too far from here”
Felice nods at Mimir, “I’ll explain later, just go!”
Haiko nods sensing the seriousness of the situation, as he shifts back to moving along the trees towards the other life signs.
As Haiko leaves, Eirene mumbles in pain as Felice heals her, “Don’t worry honey… Haiko will save them” Felice says warmly.
Haiko continues to move along the trees, “Mimir tell me what you see!”
= = = = = = = = =
Not too far from Haiko and Mimir, two children, a girl who stands and holds the back of a boy who brandishes his sword at a gothic clothed wearing woman laughing manically. They were in a stone hedge like area, rock pillars all around.
“Come now, I thought the king’s children would put up more of a fight!” she says as she slashes the children with a thorned vine coming from her fingers.
The attack hits, but disperses as it hits the boy, “Your sister can’t protect you for long kid, come on and give up while I’m taking you on lightly!” the gothic clothed woman laughs and mocks the children.
The boy’s sister remains resolute and calm yet seemingly getting tired, the boy filled with rage and sweat mumbles, “Never…”
“Tch!” The gothic clothed woman now annoyed at the children stares at them menacingly, “Enough fooling around, no one told me I can’t bring you bleeding and crying, I just have to make sure to keep you alive!” she says as she lifts her hand up, as then dark red thorned vines erupt from the ground surprising the boy and the girl.
The vines grabbed the boy and the girl, “Let… go!” the boy says as he struggles to get free. The girl struggles as well as she tries to use her power to free herself.
As the gothic clothed woman laughs, “YES!! Do struggle more you annoying little brats! There’s not a single soul that would come and save you even if you scream!” the woman laughs mocking them.
Just as when the girl would almost shed a tear, Haiko pops out of the woods like a missile and drop kicks the gothic clothed woman.
“MOMENTUM KICK!” Haiko shouts as he launches the woman towards a stone wall.
As Haiko lands, he shrugs, “No one ever told you to never pick on children?” the vines then drop the boy and girl. Haiko looks at them while holding a stance, “You two okay?”
The boy drops his sword as he fell, and quickly stands and helps her sister up, “Who… are you…?!” the boy meekly asks and seemingly aggravated as he looks at Haiko.
Haiko looks at the sibling and sees a tiny white-haired girl being assisted up by a boy with dark brown hair and yellow eyes almost the same height as Felice in her smaller form.
Haiko was about to introduce himself but stops as he sees the goth woman standing up, “Mimir help them out, I’ll deal with this pedocentric abusing goth chick!” Mimir then floats towards the boy and girl.
The boy sees Mimir coming and brandishes his blade at him, “…!” the boy hugs his sister tight and throws a spear of light at Mimir.
Mimir dodges and shrugs it off as he releases drones that cast warmth on the boy and girl healing them and calming the rowdy boy as he tries to throw another light spear.
The gothic clothed woman then stands, looking at Haiko annoyed, “How dare you… HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO ME!!” as she says her hands form into long dark red shiny claws.
The goth woman rips away her ruined clothes to make herself more agile, “Come and pay with your life!” she says yelling at Haiko and sending red vines through the ground going towards Haiko.
Haiko chuckles and shrugs as he maintains his stance, “You sure are violent, did anyone ever teach you some manners?” he says mocking the enraged goth woman.