-Five Days Later-
Minoru was awoken early in the morning by a loud commotion outside, loud enough to make him rise from his sleep with a start, almost falling off of the sofa in the group’s room. Wiping some dried drool from the corner of his mouth, he groggily got up as the sounds continued. They sounded like jumbled, muffled words of a speech, similar to one magnified in volume by a megaphone.
He winced and shut his eyes as he slightly parted the curtains of the room’s window. His vision adjusting, he could make out the shape of a stage, setup in a large plaza, and a few people standing atop it. In the center was a single man, speaking loudly and gesturing in somewhat exaggerated motions.
“People of Bolia, hear me! I implore you, rise from your slumber, for the sake of Mother Gaia!” He spoke aloud, a sigil of magic floating near his mouth, apparently amplifying his voice.
“Mmnh… shut uuuuuuppp!!” Came the groggy, frustrated voice of Petra, tossing her pillow at the direction of the voice, catching Minoru off guard as he was struck by it.
“Hey, watch it, Petra.” He shot back, throwing it right back at her, only for her ears to twitch right before catching it in mid-air. Slowly, she pulled herself up, opening her mouth wide in a long, heavy yawn.
“The hell’s going on this early in the morning?”
“Sounds like some kind of speech.” Milo commented, having been woken up by the noise as well.
Both of them getting up and pulling themselves out of bed, they trudged over to the window as Minoru pushed it open, the voice becoming much clearer and louder as he did so. From here, they could also see the crowd beginning to form around the stage.
"Thank you, thank you. I apologize for waking you all up this early in the morning, truly, I am sorry. But I implore you to give me some time, and I will explain everything." The man on the stage declared, looking around the crowd and gesturing widely with his arms. His long, wavy silver hair flowing in the breeze behind him.
Despite the color of his hair, Minoru could roughly make out that he was a young man, and that he was dressed in a pseudo-militaristic uniform, black all over with golden trims and cuffs and buttoned up, like one a commander would wear while on official business, rather than in an actual fight.
"I am Dedrick, heir to House Orleans in the Draetan Kingdom, and I have come to you fine people of Bolia today to warn you. Surely, all of you must be aware of the influx of monsters in our great land of Villesia. These hideous creatures that threaten our very way of life. And surely, if you are aware of these beasts, you must also be aware of what exactly is bringing life to them.”
“Oh geez, this guy again.” Petra groans, prompting Minoru to look her way curiously.
“Have you met him before?”
“Oh we kept running into him and his speeches on our way to Bolia. Especially when we passed through Trachezam. It’s always the same stuff.”
“If you are uncertain about their origin, then worry not, I shall tell you all.” The man on the stage continued, gesturing to a larger man to his side, who quickly approached with a tall glass container, the inside obscured from view by some kind of reddish-purple mist that had steamed up the glass, similar in color to that of a bruise. The large man lifted the lid off of the container and Dedrick, having reinforced his arm with magic, his forearm glowing a light blue, reached in and grabbed hold of something.
Curiously, the trio watched as he seemed to struggle slightly grabbing onto whatever was in the jar, but eventually managed to do so, wrenching his hand out with a dramatic flourish. In his hand, wriggling and writhing, was a small, red mass. Small tendrils whipped about from the center, which seemed to pulse heavily like a heart. Up close, one could even make out four small, yellow, bloodshot eyes that seemed to dilate in the sunlight and looked in no direction in particular. In an instant, the crowd was aflush with murmurs and some disgusted gasps.
“This, my good people, is the heart of a monster. We have taken to preserving it so that it will not grow, but this is what all monsters we face today develop from. This is the true form of the beasts that stalk and attack us, that threaten our very lives. And, my good people of Bolia, do you know where we found this?”
With a gesture to another man, he was brought a large map. Unfurled, it was revealed to be a map of Villesia itself. In a quick, powerful motion, he pointed his finger directly at a region right nearby Bolia itself: Harnewentia, a small country bordered by the countries of Yeoels, Draetan, and Trachezam.
“Harnewentia! It is the greatest hotspot for the birth of monsters on this side of Villesia!” He declared, murmurs once again spreading throughout the crowd at his words. “Now, is Harnewentia responsible for these monsters? Certainly not! In truth, they are helpless to the invasion of these beasts on their land. That is why they have closed their borders to all but us. They’ve been doing as much as they can to curb the influx, but monsters continue to spawn in numbers too great for them to keep under control for long. Why is that, you may ask? It is the infection. It has spread all across Villesia in its endless march to corrupt our great mother Gaia to her very core!”
Moving his hand over to the western island of Villesia, he pointed to a section of the largest territory on that landmass: The Dubrilan Empire, and an enormous stretch of unmarked, neutral land therein. “Our great mother has been wounded for generations, and the infection she has incurred has only festered. Gaia’s Scab is the source of our plight, and it has spread its sickly tendrils all the way across Villesia from the great Dubrilan Empire! It has even begun feeding on Gaia’s very life itself, using her leylines to fuel its horrid abominations! Our mother Gaia weeps at her current state, and it is our duty as her children to do everything we can to curb her pain. These monsters, born from our mother’s infection, must be culled and kept from causing any further harm.”
“Gaia’s Scab…?” Minoru muttered under his breath curiously.
“Rest assured, my homeland of Draetan has been working tirelessly to contribute all it can to this threat facing all of us. However, we need your help. Harnewentia has been resistant to our attempts to assist them. All that we of Draetan desire would be offering assistance to them. We plan to build stations along our border with Harnewentia, as well as make negotiations so that our army may be ready and waiting to stop any and all monster incursions. However, Harnewentians have been resistant to our negotiations, and it has brought nothing but pain to them and their neighbors. Now is not the time for us to be worried about borders or past relations, now is the time that we must come together under one banner, the uniting banner of ‘Villesian,’ and fight back against this threat that faces us all!”
His spirited words weaved his tale in a way Minoru had never seen before from a public speaker. Emotion dripped from Dedrick’s words, his voice wavering as he recounted heartbreaking stories of families torn apart and wrought with ruin all across Villesia at the hands of the destructive beasts that plagued the continent, of noble houses brought down to their knees by invasions that could not be stopped. He even gave many audience members chances to speak their own tales on the wrath of these beasts, before returning to centerstage himself.
“Together, I know that Villesians are strong, stronger than any army could hope to be. And I know that with this strength there is yet hope to stop these monsters before they bring ruin to us all. People of Bolia, I ask this of you: Will you support us, the Draetan Kingdom, in this time of great need, to push back against the tide of destruction that bares down upon us all?” He called out to the audience. After so long, the crowd had grown enormous, filling the plaza from end to end, and the stories that touched many of the people had rallied them, to the point that they were enthusiastic and eager to agree to Dedrick’s proposal, offering him resounding approval.
“Really, my heart burns bright with love for Villesia, and it’s all because of people like you! Any contribution to Draetan, or to helping Harnewentia in their time of need, will not go unnoticed. Now is the time for action, my fellow Villesians! Now is the time to strike back at the beasts lurking in the darkness, and protect our beloved home and our great mother from these vile creatures!”
Minoru had been leaning onto the windowsill for the entirety of the speech and only now, when it was finished, did he stand up. Looking back into the room, he saw Petra and Milo, now fully awake, sitting at the table. Milo was reading a book, whereas Petra was polishing her sword. Tentatively, Minoru closed the window as he walked over.
“Hey, Milo? Do you think you could fill me in on what that Dedrick guy was talking about? What was that whole thing about an infection?”
“Oh, right, I forgot I never told you about that.” Milo rubbed the back of his head as he pulled it out from the pages of his book. Setting it aside, he turned to speak to Minoru. “Do you remember the empire he mentioned? Dubrila?” To which Minoru nodded affirmatively. “Well, Dubrila’s capital is situated in one of the largest deserts in Villesia. At the heart of that desert is… a wound.”
“A wound?”
“Yes. As the story goes, millennia ago there was an altercation between Gaia and Solaris. The exact reasoning for this is unknown, but all that is known is that Solaris was sent into a rage, and in her anger she attacked. Fire and brimstone rained down upon an ancient city, and a spear of light was driven into and ran through Gaia, leaving behind a wound in what is now the Dubrilan desert. The attack caused Solaris to go dormant, and she has been asleep ever since. Now, we know that wound as Gaia’s Scab. It is a feared place, not even the great empire of the desert wants to try and claim it.”
“So then… Gaia has an infected wound? And it’s giving rise to those monsters we fought the other day?”
“That’s correct. Whatever the reason, there’s been a link established between those monsters and the Scab. This infection, as it’s described, has been spreading. It feeds off Gaia’s leylines, large fountains and streams of pure mana that act something like the planet’s bloodstream. It’s the only way they’re able to appear in such large numbers so quickly.”
“That’s… concerning. Like– isn’t this a huge deal? You guys are so casual about it…”
“That’s the thing, monsters themselves aren’t much of an issue. Many people fear them, but really they’re quite easy to deal with. The infection is an issue for sure, but it’s only become apparent in the past decade or so.”
“Still, that seems like a huge problem!” Minoru insisted. “I mean, having monsters pop up is one thing, but having it be because of an infection that’s spreading all over the continent is a whole other thing.”
“I do agree that it’s a huge threat, but there’s not much we as individuals can do about it. The infection’s being researched by many of Villesia’s best scholars and mages. I don’t doubt that they can find a way to fix it.”
The idea still didn’t sit right with Minoru, who just made an unsure “Mmh…” before sitting down on the couch, deep in thought.
“Oh, don’t forget that we’re gonna begin your magic training later today, yeah?” Milo added.
“Yeah, I haven’t forgotten.” Minoru replied, looking lost in his thoughts.
Putting the infection aside, as much as his concern wanted it to be at the forefront, Minoru thought back to the words of Dedrick and the crowd’s reaction. His words of ‘uniting under one banner’ really seemed to strike a chord with the audience, and admittedly they did with him as well. Back home, he had never really seen a display of such fervent passion for one’s homeland as Dedrick had given, nor had he seen so many different people rallied together for love of their home and to help their fellow man before. It was all… surreal, yet somewhat inspiring.
He wondered to himself if something like this was ever possible back home, where everyone always felt so disconnected from one another…
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“Now, let’s try again. Focus on your sword. As it gets closer, try and move as if you were actually picking it up.”
Minoru nodded tentatively, taking in a deep breath. Outstretching one hand, he pointed it towards his sword, which was sheathed and resting on a rock some distance away. Closing his eyes, and with a few more breaths, his hand and a small part of his wrist began glowing a ghostly blue. With a commanding tone, he spoke. “Mage Hand…”
Slowly, the glowing light around his hand seemed to coalesce, forming itself into the shape of a blue glove wrapped around it, before slowly floating forwards, suspending itself in the air.
Opening his eyes and gazing at the ethereal hand, Minoru’s mouth suddenly turned up into a smile, a laugh escaping him in astonishment. “H-Hey! Look, I did it!” He exclaimed, excitedly, looking towards Milo, who gave him a satisfied smile as Petra clapped lightly.
“There you go!” She said happily, smiling widely.
“Alright, so now I just…” Minoru muttered to himself. Pushing his hand forward slightly, the ethereal hand floated forwards, just as commanded. He couldn’t contain his excitement, another exasperated laugh escaping him as he watched it move. “Oh man… this is crazy! I’m really doing this! Okay, okay, calm down, Minoru…” He told himself, to which Petra had to stifle an amused giggle at his excitement.
As the hand floated forward and closed in on the sheathed sword, Minoru mimicked the motions he desired with his own hand, causing the ghostly appendage to lower itself, reaching down and carefully grasping the sheathed blade. Following Minoru’s own movements, the hand lifted the sword up, suspending it in the air in its solid grasp.
Stolen story; please report.
“Alright, good. Now, try and attack with it.” Milo instructed, to which Minoru nodded. Using his hand as the guide, he swung it to the side, to which the hand mimcked his swipe, swinging the blade in a precise, angled cut. He continued with this, swiping his hand again and again, the appendage following every movement perfectly.
“So… hm… would this mean I could use this while also wielding a sword of my own?” Minoru mused. “Oh! Or maybe I could use a bow while commanding the hand?”
“Well, yes, but you’d need to pick up some serious training in order to reliably wield both at the same time. A very steep learning curve indeed, all in a simple little cantrip. That kind of thinking is going to take you far when it comes to spellcasting, Minoru, I can tell that already.”
“A-Ahah… you think so?” Minoru asked, rubbing the back of his head as he blushed slightly at the praise. “I mean… this is the most basic kind of spell, right? It’s not really all that impressive.” He reasoned.
Suddenly his cheeks were squished as Petra came up from behind, grasping his face and messing with his speech as she interrupted him. “Hey now, we’re not having that! Just accept the compliment, Minoru! You did a great thing, especially for someone who’s mana streams were only opened this week, not to mention the fact you had no exposure to magic before this.”
“Ohay–! Le- e- oh- ow-!” Minoru slurred out, trying to speak while his mouth was warped from Petra’s shenanigans lead to little more than a few throaty vowels, to which Petra pulled her hands away from him, leaving Minoru rubbing one of his cheeks. “Don’t touch me like that out of nowhere in the future, okay?”
“Ahh, sorry, sorry! I’m a pretty touchy person sometimes, I’ll try and keep that in check!”
“No it’s fine…” Minoru said, guiding the ghostly hand to set his sword down on the rock once more before dispelling it. “Still though… sorry, it’s always been a bit hard for me to accept any praise like that. Thank you though Petra, Milo.”
“Petra’s gross lack of personal space aside, I meant what I said, Minoru.” Milo began. “It’s no small feat to pick up spellcasting only a few days after having your mana streams opened. Your body’s still acclimating itself to the flow of mana, but you were able to cast something with only a bit of practicing. That’s nothing to scoff at. Keep it up, and you’ll be able to handle higher level spells in no time.”
Sheepishly scratching his head, Minoru had to consciously try and not shrug off this compliment as Petra crossed her arms beside him. “Y-Yeah, thanks…”
Milo nodded, before gesturing with his hand. “By the way, I forgot to ask, but why did you want to come all the way out here to practice?”
“Oh, well… I kinda just wanted to be away from anyone watching is all… being watched while I’m practicing something makes me feel really anxious, I guess…” He admitted. “Oh, but, the other reason is that this is actually where I woke up when I was summoned here. I wanted to show you guys something, if you don’t mind.”
“Oh yeah, you did tell us you came from here. Well, whatcha wanna show us?” Petra asked, to which Minoru gestured for them to follow him, walking into the brush of the trees that bordered the top of the hill.
“I thought you guys would get a kick out of this little clearing, is all.” Minoru explained as they emerged onto the other side, entering into the small clearing, with Petra and Milo both giving small, impressed sounds in response as they laid eyes on the scene. The small, crystal clear pond, the sunlight filtering in through the trees, and the soft sound of flowing water as the small stream of water flooded into the pond.
“Oh man, why didn’t you tell us about this place earlier, Minoru? We could’ve had a picnic here!” Petra asked. “And hey, you hear that…?” She asked, gesturing as if she was listening for something. “You can hardly hear anything from outside in here! Oh, this would be the perfect place for a little hideout or secret base or something!” She said excitedly.
“This is a pretty comfortable location. I could see myself practicing magic or reading in here.” Milo stated, looking at the surroundings fondly.
“I know we won’t be in Bolia for much longer, but if we ever come back here, I’d like to hang out in this spot again sometime.” Minoru added, to which Petra and Milo agreed enthusiastically.
The three of them hung around in the small clearing for a while, Petra looking through the underbrush, observing the plants and whatever bugs she found, as Milo had pulled out a book and leaned himself against a tree, whereas Minoru had drawn his sword and was practicing a few basic motions that Petra had taught him on, trying to drill them into his memory.
In the middle of all this, though, Minoru heard a small splashing in the pond beside him. Curiously, he turned towards it, stepping over slowly and looking into the water. In the clear, pure pool, seemingly having suddenly appeared from nowhere, was a salamander of pale pink coloration, kicking its short legs as it swam through the water. Deeper red frills rested on either side of its head, and it seemed to be swimming in no direction in particular.
That was, until, it seemed to notice him, as it began swimming to the edge of the pool. Slowly, it inched closer, until it was right at the edge, and began turning and swimming in small circles.
“Hm…” Minoru mused. Walking over to the edge, he crouched down onto one knee. Reaching in tentatively, he submerged his gloved hand into the water, palm facing upwards. In almost an instant, the small amphibian moved directly towards it, wriggling as it clambered into his palm. Minoru was surprised as it began climbing even higher, walking across his hand, onto his forearm, and climbing all the way up to his shoulder.
“W-Whoa, slow down there, little guy…” He said on reaction, but once it was on his shoulder, it went completely still, head facing towards him, it seemed to be looking at him intently. Its small, beady eyes remained focused on him, and its mouth- curled into a smile by the shape of its head- remained still.
Minoru observed the creature curiously, and slowly but surely moved his other hand towards it, making sure it was open and in full view as it slowly got closer and closer. Eventually, with the small animal not moving at all, Minoru lightly ran a finger across its head. Slowly and gently, he pet the small salamander, running his finger along its head and back. In response, it seemed to stand up taller, almost like it was pushing itself against his finger before resting itself back down onto his shoulder.
Once it looked content and satisfied, a hard thing to gauge with its unmoving expression, Minoru gently grasped it and lifted it off his shoulder. It offered no resistance as he slowly placed it back into the water. Looking upwards, it seemed to give him one last look before going back to swimming peacefully in the small pool.
Confused and quite curious, he called out to the other two.
“Hey, uh… do axolotls live around here?"
"Axo-whats?" Petra asked, confused, looking over her shoulder at him.
"Oh, they're like… little salamanders with these pink frills on their heads, it's like they're juveniles that never mature like others do."
"Hm… I've never heard of anything like that. Milo?"
"No, never. Is it an animal from your world, Minoru?"
"Eh? Well, yes, but… there’s one right here, in the pond." He pointed over towards it. "Here, take a look."
Following along, both of them stood up and walked over, looking into the pool to which they could see the small animal, still swimming around.
"Whoa, you're right! Lookit the little guy!" Petra exclaimed, her tone amused and full of endearment. "What the hell? This thing's so cute!" She exclaimed, getting onto her knees and trying to reach into the pool to touch the little salamander, only for it to make a quick move to swim away from her, avoiding her hands. She tried once more, again and again, with the axolotl avoiding her grasp each and every time, with Petra progressively getting more and more annoyed. “J-Just… let me hold you!!”
As the water splashed everywhere from her attempts to hold it, Minoru and Milo simply talked amongst themselves.
“So you say these ‘axolotls’ are from your world, correct?”
“Yeah. I was wondering what this one was doing here… are you sure you’ve never heard of them before?”
Milo shook his head. “Never. I’ve read many books, both from Villesia and elsewhere, on wildlife, and these have never shown up in any of the material, even among other kinds of salamanders that exist on Gaia.” He explained. “Maybe it was pulled along with you when you were summoned here?”
Minoru shook his head. “That’s impossible. These guys’ usual habitat is in a completely different continent from where Japan is. They are fairly popular as exotic pets in Japan, but I wasn’t near any pet stores when I was pulled in by that summoning spell. Besides, there’d be way more things that got pulled in besides me and this little guy if it was able to grab hold of tons of different things like that, right?”
“You’re right… now how did this thing show up here?” Milo mused. The water continued rippling due to Petra’s attempts to grab onto the small creature, disturbing Milo’s attempts to get a good look at it. “Petra, cut it out, you’re not going to grab it!”
“But I wanna hold hiiiim!” She whined in response, hunching over in defeat, to which Minoru crouched down yet again, placing his hand, palm up, into the water, to which the axolotl instantly swam towards, coming to rest in his hand, its head just poking above the water. “Wh–!? N-No fair! Why does he like you so much, Minoru?” Petra protested.
“Oh, stop acting like a child, it must’ve known you were a carnivore from one look at you.” Milo teased.
“I wasn’t going to eat him! He’s too cute for that! B-Besides, I don’t like eating slimy things in the first place.”
As Petra and Milo addressed one another, Minoru simply looked back at the axolotl, studying its somewhat blank gaze as it looked back at him. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he could tell there was something going on behind those eyes.
Suddenly, it turned its head toward his hand before opening its mouth and biting down on Minoru’s thumb.
In a flash, Minoru’s vision went black, as if it were a television that had just had its power cord pulled out. And then, out of nowhere, he heard something.
Many things.
“I’m going to save this city!” “These are our lives! You can’t just toy with them as you wish!” “I will NOT be replaced!” “Do you really think you can do it? Fight against the tide?” “The weight of a life, balanced on the edge of a blade...” “I will show you the hopes of this world!” “I swear I’ll kill you… I’ll kill every single one of you!!” “Do you ever think that… nothing’s ever under your control?” “My dear, please don’t weep for me.” “All she ever wanted… was her daughter back…” “My life here with you both means everything to me!” “Mom… Dad… I wanna go home…”
Dozens of voices, all speaking at once, overlapping and yet all clear as day, Minoru understood what they were all saying, but they were completely stripped of any context, leaving him dumbfounded as to what the meanings were.
And then, he heard a very familiar voice…
“Of course I want revenge! That’s all I’ve been working towards all this time!”
And in a flash, Minoru was awake once more, splayed out on the ground looking up at the canopy of the trees surrounding him, feeling as if he had just landed on the grass, Petra and Milo were looking down at him. “Hey, Minoru, everything okay?” She asked, worriedly.
“H-Huh…? What… happened…?” He asked, slowly pulling himself up, covering his face with his hand.
“You just suddenly fell over like you fainted. Are you sure you’re okay?” Milo asked.
For a moment he felt dizzy and disoriented, but as he processed their words that feeling quickly began to fade, and he felt as well as he did before. Looking down into the pond, the axolotl was still there, swimming without a care in the world.
“Y-Yeah… Yeah I’m fine… I guess I just fainted for… for a second…” He reasoned. He could still hear the voices clear as day in his head. What was that? Was it some kind of hallucination? Did the axolotl cause it? If it did… what was the point of it? Almost none of the voices he heard had he recognized… He couldn’t make any sense of what had just happened. “Sorry for worrying you guys, I guess all this magic training took more out of me than I expected.”
“Well, in that case, we can stop and head back now if you want.” Milo suggested.
“Yeah… Y-Yeah, that sounds good.”
“By the way, Minoru… Do you wanna do anything with that little guy?” Petra asked, turning Minoru’s attention towards the pond, the axolotl now resting on a rock, sitting just below the surface.
“We could take it with us?” Milo suggested.
“Oh… These guys require a lot of care, more than we’re able to provide if we’re going to be traveling. Taking care of him is out of the question for us.” Minoru said matter-of-factly, with Petra offering a small, sad sound in response. “But…” He trailed off, looking intently at the axolotl once more… “Petra, you have a waterskin on you, right?” He asked, much to the girl’s confusion.
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“You… want me to take care of this little guy?”
“Please.”
Using the waterskin, Minoru had emptied it out and filled it with water from the pool, allowing the axolotl to swim inside, which it did with little resistance, to the group’s surprise.
“I know this is sudden to ask of you, Theo, but… we can’t take care of him if we’re going to be traveling, so… I’d like you to hold onto him, if it’s possible.”
The large woman was understandably surprised, crossing her arms. “Well, I certainly could, my little sister is quite the little fishmonger, so I think we’d be able to take care of him… but why do you need this all of a sudden?”
“Ah, well… these guys are endangered, and he was the only one in the pond where I found him. I thought it’d be best to try and give him a better place to live, so that he’d be taken care of. I don’t know how he got in that pond, but… I’d like for him to be able to live a nice life… I’m sure he’s confused, being here and all.”
Theo could only smile in response. “You’re a very kind person, aren’t you, Minoru?”
“Eh? Well… I wouldn’t really call myself ‘kind…’ I just didn’t want to leave him alone, I guess? I don’t know, it seemed like it’d be a shame to do that.”
She chuckled. “That’s exactly what I mean!” She exclaimed, before simply shrugging. “Geez, boys never know how to take compliments, do they? Oh well. Sure, I’ll take the lil’ guy off your hands.” She reassured him, taking the waterskin and cradling it gently in her large hands.
Nodding in response, he smiled slightly up at her. “Thank you.”
“You three leave for Draetan in a few days, right?” She asked. “You said you all were gonna travel by caravan. How long is the trip s’posed to take?”
“Milo said it’d be about a week till we got to the capital. Then from there we’re supposed to head to Harnewentia.”
“Oh yeah! That’s where the nearest transporter route to Camelot is, right? Oh, and it’s the only border with Harnewentia that’s open right now, huh?”
“Sure is.”
“Well, good luck on your trip! I hope you have fun in Camelot, I hear it’s nice this time of year.” She commented, to which Minoru gave a small nod. Suddenly, Theo looked as though she remembered something. “Oh, oh! One more thing… does the lil’ guy have a name?” She asked, pointing to the waterskin.
“A name? Hm…” Minoru mused. He hadn’t come up with anything on his way back into the city… but it’d be awkward to care so much about him without so much as giving him a name to be called by. He thought on it for a second, before speaking. “Let’s go with… Kei.”
“Kei? What’s it mean?”
“It’s a name from my home. It can mean many things, but parents mostly use it to mean ‘blessing’ when naming their kids.”
“‘Kei,’ huh…? I like it! Y’hear that, lil’ guy? Your name’s Kei now!” She said jollily, reaching into the waterskin to give the axolotl a little rub with her large finger. Smiling at Minoru, she addressed him. “Rest assured, I’ll make sure Kei here lives up to his name.”
“Thanks, Theo.” Minoru bowed lightly in appreciation. “I should get started on helping Petra and Milo pack up.” He mused, suddenly remembering that they hadn’t done so yet.
“Man, those two are really bad about getting packed up beforehand. I’m sure they’ll appreciate your help. Just don’t let them throw all the work onto you, yeah?”
“I won’t.” He reassured her with a little smile as he took one last look into the waterskin, Kei looking back up at him intently. “See you later, Theo.” He bid her farewell, to which she said the same, returning to some paperwork at the counter as Minoru left to his group’s room.