Ch.69: Floral Skies: Sweet-sweet Positions
It felt weird to be in that room with Edmond then, flash, I’m here in a random room like hallway with several stern looking pixies and fairies. They all glared at me, expecting something to go down and quickly creating a thick atmosphere as we stared at each other. Feeling the eyes of many sprites on me and remembering the words of Edmond, I straightened my back and gave a serious look before speaking. “I’m-”
“OH MY GODDESS TRINA! IT’S the hero!” Shouted one of the fairies in red leaf like armor, her stern face melting away into one of joy.
The other stern looking fairies and some pixies’ eyes widened at that and some even trembled. It looked like they were going to shout at the fairy for breaking the silence, their eyes shifting between me and the other fairy. Then one stepped forward. “My lor-” Came her sweet voice before she cleared her throat. “My lord hero dono, as the head of this hour’s sprite role guard watch. Please allow me to thank you for up holding our tradition of kai-mays.” She said in a deeper voice. “Allow me to take you to meet our manager.” She said, keeping the deep voice and giving me a bow.
I gave a nod as I walked off the platform walking down a curved hallway, only to hear the shouts of the fairy and pixie guards behind me.
“Oh My! The hero came through our warp pad! Everyone’s going to be mega jelly of us!”
“He was so cool! Think I could be as grand a protector if I practiced my role more?”
“I’m the luckiest fairy alive!”
What th-
“My lord hero dono, please forgive my friends for speaking out of RP. We usually take our RP seriously but your protective actions with our beloved Phoebe and our event has them excited like freshly courted maidens.” She said, giving me a bow before leading me to a pair of polished wooden doors with golden leaves and several blue and red gems adorn it. Right beside the door stood a pixie in a cyan maid uniform, her bangs hiding half of her eyes. The maid wearing a rather short puffy skirt slowly bowed before quickly turning like a machine, knocking on the door.
“Our lord hero sir has arrived!” She called out in a rather cute voice.
“Enter.” came a familiar voice. The maid opened the door before folding her hands together and bowing.
This was reeeeeaally weird. the fairies and pixies were acting like they lived in the middle ages but weren’t? Maybe I don’t understand the culture but it sounds like they’re playing a role? RP and mentioning an hour watch? were these sprites just weird or-
As I walked in I felt both my sides being pressed into a warm hug.
“Pinepin! I was so worried you were hurt!” Phoebe cried as she hugged my right side.
“You blew that event right out of the park! I doubt I could’ve done a better job.” Maeve said as she hugged my left side, beaming up with stars in her eyes.
Seeing them in one piece sent sugar down my throat as I excitedly hugged them both, pushing a little strength into my hug making sure they felt my joy at seeing them. “It’s great to see you guys are safe!” I said with joy in my voice.
We hugged for what felt like a long time before someone else got our attention.
“Ehem!” Came that same familiar voice. Turning to look, I saw a fairy forming from little sparkles sitting on a chair. She had long purple hair with a white flower hair clip holding her bangs to the side, she wore a pink polo shirt with black frilled collar and sleeves. She had black dress pants on with shiny pink dress shoes, her figure was somewhat modest with a slightly larger chest than Maeve. All in all she looked like a cute teen trying to look like a tomboy but pulling off a stylized girly look.
“It’s good to see you again after our last meeting.” She said in a cool, almost dignified voice. What does she mean? I don't remember a purple….purple? Wait, I think I do remember a powerful one? but…. what was-
“Sumire! I thought one of the other leaders would meet us!” Maeve shouted in joy as she rushed up to her with a big smile and hugged her.
The purple haired fairy sighed before using her free arm to pat Maeve’s messy hair down until it was less of a mess and more presentable, this brought a smile to her face. “Sis, I’m glad you’re safe.” She quietly said to Maeve as she rested her head on Maeve’s.
So the purple glowing fairy is related to Maeve? hmm….I can sorta see it, although they don’t look very similar. Looking over at Phoebe, I saw a smile on her face as she watched them hugging each other, she just looked happy.
“Now then.” The purple fairy began. “My name is Sumire. I’m the acting leader for today.” She introduced herself as Maeve continued to nuzzle and cling to her arm but continued like it didn’t steal away one of her arms. “I’ve been told of the wild wabbajack you three had to go through.” Her hand went back to petting Maeve. “Facing the first mor, watching out for unwarranted flower stampedes and then that explosive finish.” Her hand went from petting to hugging Maeve, getting a happy mumble from her.
“I’ll have you know, I have the best constructs hunting down that pixie to face punishment for her actions.” She said as she scooped Maeve onto her lap and gave her a strong hug like Maeve was her favorite childhood blanket. “Hmmmm….” She seemed to have forgotten talking to us as the two sisters held each other.
“Um…” I began as I turned to Phoebe confused on how to act, to which she motioned me to get closer to whisper in my ear.
leaning over, she cupped her hand. “They don’t get to be this sweet with each other that often. With Sumire’s training and position. And Maeve’s reputation…..so let them have this moment.” She said, to which I nodded.
watching them be this affectionate felt…looking at the siblings smiling was- They held eac- slowly turning away, I began to look around the office room. Trying to ignore the stiffness in my back and slight soreness my chest held, I saw several wooden drawers with several gem like things attached to the front. on the walls hung glass frames, one had a large golden fish with bulging orange eyes and red fins that stretched out like a fantasy dress. Another had a row of ice cream cones with scoops of red, blue and brown, each one decorated with sticks and crumbs of candy. On the other side of the room was a lance like sword hung on the wall, it had several dents and cracks in it while the tip was twisted into a crooked twirl. but the lance that looked made of a blue metal and a hand guard that looked glossy like it came from a black beetle’s armor, looked loved to me.
“Apologies.” Sumire said, pulling my attention to her again. Maeve was standing next to her but their fingers were interlocked and slightly glowing. “As you might’ve guessed, Maeve and I are clutch sisters. raised together at birth, so we’re really attached.” She said with a smile. Seeing and hearing this made my chest feel heavy as if gravity was trying its hardest to pull me into the floor.
“I can understand.” I said curtly.
Sumire nodded before lifting a glowing finger, doing a little swirl like she was playing with fireworks, a box floated over to us before sitting itself on the coffee table in front of her. “As you’ve all heard, the school has deemed the three of you to be heroes of our little piece of home. What that equates to is acting and giving the school some positive PR at the start of the ceremony before the party begins. The three of you are being given these pendants for two malleable avatars each.” She said with a serious face before giving Maeve a wink. What was that abou-
“These are not rewards, that will come later. These will just give you a chance to escape the eyes of fans. each one has been loaded with your avatar choices already, should its cover be blown just talk to Edmond. Now as for my reward.” she sat up before clapping her hands together and a light glowed between the space in her hands. Slowly pulling them apart, it changed into a purple ball of light before she pulled harder, stretching the ball until it finally tore into two. The purple lights slowly shrunk before Sumire stepped closer to Phoebe and I.
“It’s alright. I don't need more tha-” I began before Sumire shook her head.
“These are my personal thanks for defending our culture. It would be rude to not accept.” She said with a curious look. She was watching me to see my next move. Maeve eyed me with an angry look and Phoebe tilted her head with a shocked face. I didn’t want this to look like the reward was what I was after but great. I’ll just let it go forward.
“Ok, I understand the importance to you. I’ll take your token of gratitude.” I finally said. I worked hard so I guess a reward isn't all bad. But I still feel like I shouldn’t receive one just for helping. she nodded with a smile before continuing.
The lights began to move and dash from her hands, flying around both of us as little specks of light fell from it on to us. every time a speck fell on me, I felt a sudden heat and vibration as if my first love was softly blowing into my ears. I felt like I could run on walls, destroy meteors, conquer the world, make a thousand friends and have time for lunch!
Once the lights spiraled around us to the top did it finally fade away.
“What exactly was that?” I asked confused while feeling real hyper all of a sudden. I really think I could carry a large piece of the moon and still be able to circle the globe.
“That was a Great fairy’s wish. Or as others call it, a blessing.” She said before sitting back down. “These will partly affect your incarnations and partly your real bodies through your mana connection.” She looked at me, eyeing me. “It’ll help with mana control and some other growth things.” She said matter of factly.
Wait!? Fairies can just-how did she- What! my face morphed from thoughtful to curious to surprise until settling for shock. “Thank you! This means a lot! I can’t thank you enough!” I thanked her with all my heart. with this I could finally control my mana and not have to worry about my instincts skipping my mana! I could even focus on making new goals! I could study more or do something creative like acting or writing ooooor! I could finally go for a long run outside! The thought of finally being able to walk down the school halls without bringing others close to a heart attack race through me mind. I could finally go running out. side. All without worrying about people noticing my mana! No more weird thoughts! No more fainting or panic!
But before I could jump and hug Sumire, she held up a hand. “Fairy wishes don’t work the way your face is telling me you’re thinking. It’s a gradual thing like weighted clothing. helps you come closer to mastering your mana until you don't need it anymore.” She clarified and poured a heavy bucket of water over my blazing excitement.
My heart sank at that, pulling my skin off right with it, until I was just a pointless skeleton. “Oh….”
“And here we have our Hero of the Event! A god’s blessed gift to us all!” Came an announcement at my entrance From the announcer from the event before.
Stepping out of the town hall which was made out of a huge brush with several hanging orbs that looked of platinum and gold. These orbs were more like hanging houses that fairies, pixies and a small bird race alike lived in. The odd thing was this town hall existed on another area like the dungeons because as soon as I left the short tunnel what appeared was several buildings made from mushrooms, dense bushes, hills with doors and leaves folded into bundles. All of these buildings weren’t in the normal mini town, not in the real world or a path in the sprite land.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!” “WOW-WOW!” “HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!” “Look over here!”
The screams of the audience that gathered in front of the town hall snapped me out of my thoughts. Right, here to start the party and all….
The front of the town hall was a huge town center space, the ground was paved in pink, blue and mint bricks that created several images of giants, flowers and what looked like a group of fairies in the middle. Though it was kinda hard to tell with the crowd covering more than half of it. The crowd themselves were made of several incarnations and sprites like pixies, flower people that floated, potted plants with several cheering heads and even a few brown moles raised mugs filled with a foamy amber drink in the air. The edges were occupied by several stalls decorated with odd orbs that had flames in them, flowers that leaked a yellow liquid. All while the sky was turning a violet color, the beginnings of a sun set.
I stood with Phoebe and Maeve on a stage made of what looked like thick green vines and curling leaves but felt like a sturdy wooden one. looking over I noticed how Phoebe and Maeve seemed to robotically move, Maeve would adjust her jacket and pouches, stop, watch the crowd and do it all over again. Phoebe grabbed the edges of her dress while standing stock still like a plank of wood while her eyes looked hollow.
Sighing to myself, I looked at the crowd as they quieted down, some had smiles while others stared as if they were ready to remove the skin of a beast. a little creepy but then again people did give an assortment of faces at things like this.
“Here at the End, We welcome our heroes for sacrifice and determination!” The announcer shouted in a a joyous voice. Many of the sprites roared and jumped, shouting, “END-END-END-END”, some were stomping, others started waving their arms in a familiar dance.
“Through their journey was harsh, our ancestors have given much to reach our new lives at the end of the road! And now!” The announcer waved out both his hands which everyone in the crowd stepped back except for one guy who looked around confused. Everyone eyed him with almost pissed faces until he slowly walked back into the crowd.
This did reveal the town center of the sprite town, the brick center was a giant circle of red, then another circle of blue followed by one of mint green. the colorful bricks were even written on and the most middle of it all had a giant image of a flower looking like a simple daisy.
“Please welcome our growing feeding lake of life! Miss Cecania!” He shouted, raising his arm into the air as the sky quickly darkened. but strangely the air moved and shook with ripples across the sky, each one spreading out until the sky reflected the ground below it.
Slowly little balls of light appeared, slowly floating into the air, some lights gathering into groups that moved around like schooling fish, between obstacles and changing shape. some lights grew wider and began to move around the center lazily as if they ate too much. but if looking at the sky showed the lights in the reflection to be fish moving around, some looked at the stalls while others chased each other.
“Thank you for watching out for our past young ones!” Came a silken voice from behind us. Turning around I saw a rather small woman in a dress that flowed from her very hair like water, You could make out the shape of her body underneath the watery transparent dress. Was she nude? under the dress it looked like she had wide hips with a clearly visible gap between her legs and a large bust almost matching my dragon body.
Heh, still smaller th-Uh! nope! not now you weird instincts!
The watery woman raised an eyebrow with a wider grin as she tilted her body sideways just enough to see the outline of her body’s shape. I could see how shapely her rear was, how her back curved into her beautiful sculpted back muscles-was her back also made of water? except that her exposed back looked like water reflecting the stary night sky and- Her chest grew to double what she was prior as she swayed her chest side to side, her breasts moving in a…..that’s….Ooooh…. uh-
“WELCOME! uh Miss Cecania! It’s good to see you.” Phoebe called loud enough to snap me out of my stupor. the watery woman chuckled at this before stepping onto the stage.
“It is very good to see you too~.” She said as she walked past us, her eyes glued on me for a few seconds as she slowly looked at Phoebe and Maeve. She swayed her hips as she stepped out onto the stage, only to widen her stance and slamming her heeled foot down which made several spotlights flash on.
“Welcome to our sprite land! On this wonderful event I make my second appearance since Four hundred years! My, how styles have changed.” She giggled at the thought. “So this generation surely is the dawn of something beautiful and perhaps better life!” She raised her arms To welcome the audience before giving a quick wave. this made the orbs of light move higher into the air, reaching close to the watery surface floating above the town
She turned around to the three of us and spread her arms again. “Today you bare witness to the success these three have pulled from the jaws of ruin! They embody the love our ancestors before us have, sacrificing their very selves to protect our time honored event.” As she spoke three orbs of light began to swirl around her, almost chasing each other, one was blue, red and mint. The lights circled her five or so times before slowly landing above her palm, shrinking into shimmering spheres that glowed from within.
“These are rewards set about by not just myself and my portage who is acting leader, Sumire but by the school’s monitors! Please treasure them and honor us with accepting our meager gifts.” She said as she nodded her head, this made everyone gasp in shock as if their favorite character had betrayed their love interest in a bloody manner. I looked around nervously at the barely illuminated faces of the crowd, many of them seemed uncomfortable? their faces were cast in shadow, expressions of worry, doubt and uncertainty was drawn on their faces.
‘You have gained favor of, Undine of Sensus lakes and true joy of Halali, Cecania’ |
‘Obtained: Scarf of passion’ |
blessed waters formed into the shape of a flowing scarf that provides a passive buff of defense against all attacks from behind. Will protect Pinepin from one instant faint per day. (This may be passed to willing party members) |
‘you have gained + 20 to SP/MP’ |
TITLE: Arrow Windry |
‘Matching sacrifices of the great fairy Windry, you now create a protective aura that makes others feel safe’ |
‘You have been noted by Floor’s DELTA’ |
‘You have gained +3 to strength’ |
‘you have gained +3 to Wisdom’ |
‘you have gained +2 to Perception’ |
‘You have obtained 40 polished Flaks in reward money with an additional 20 marbled Flaks, equaling to 200,000 in real world currency’ |
“Now without wasting your time! Let’s hit that party!” Miss Cecania shouted as she looked back at us, with a wink she began to spin. Her body was quickly swallowed by a torrent of spiraling water that exploded into tiny gems of golden water that rained down onto the colorful bricks before it vanished.