Dim Halos Do Glow

Miya had been able to walk just over twelve years now, but she had breathed for the first time even a year before that. Her life was full of good moments, from holidays filled with memories of unwrapping gifts to warm hugs and loving words every day. She lacked for nothing, and even now far from home and those former luxuries, there was a sort of contented atmosphere that Miya radiated. It could have been because even if she lacked material comforts, there was a sort of shine to her eyes, and the gaze they cast was warm.

So Miya. She had an almost restless energy to her that shook her joints and limbs in anticipation and almost contradicted the happiness and relaxation reflected all elsewhere on her person. For nearly three hours she had walked slowly through Timbermere Valley, but now her feet nearly slipped out from under her as she ran. A flashing smile caught the dying light of the afternoon as she dashed towards the fortress just barely ahead; the journey had been beautiful, but here was the destination.

Her expression jubilant, Miya tossed a wave in the direction of a unicorn that seemed to look on from several paces away, its expression curious but not entirely disapproving. She tried to throw open the doors to the castle, but they were too heavy. Without apparent care, Miya braced her feet against one and pulled hard to no success. Still the smile lingered and then flourished on her face as she laughed at the situation.

Behind the girl, near the edge of the cliff the blue outline of two humanoids formed before solidifying into the guild's resident healer and the small mermaid in her humanoid form dressed in a white sundress. It was a rough morning for the mage as she had gotten back into town hoping for peace, but ended up with the raging conflicts of her home not being at the castle. She was called back to the guild hall thrice in the midst of the the night.

She saw the young girl at the door of the castle, trying to open the large castle doors, she sighed as this happened far too often. She turned to see Murphy stare from the distance watching, she shrugged and addressed the Unicorn. "Couldn't even help her look in the right direction Murphy?" The Unicorn started back at her responding telepathically to the Nature Fairy. "It's not me place lass. She's of good heart too."

Luna and Neptuna approached the large, but on the right door she grabbed a door handle that opened a much smaller and normal sized doorway, opening the door for the girl. Neptuna hid behind Luna nervously, she was always anxious about meeting new people. "Hello there, sorry about the confusion, we don't advertise this door too much. I'm Luna, and this is Neptuna. Are you here to join the guild?"

Silver hair smacked its owner in the face when Miya whirled around. Her eyes widened and so also her smile grew as her eyes met those of Luna. She waved enthusiastically before visibly brightening at the sight of the smaller door to the right. When she passed by the woman who was holding it open, she bowed respectfully and smiled at the other figure hiding behind Luna.

Hey! I'm Miya! she wrote on her tablet, the teal color of the chalk a contrast to the darker grey of the board itself. Yes! I want to join Aurora, she smiled and wrote after erasing the first message. Her eyes held an odd light that didn't quite seem to be curious, but still vaguely interested. But, who knew.

Luna watched as the young girl seemed to write down on a tablet, she figured it was her way of trying to communicate and unfortunately she was proven right. She focused on the young girl's body as she tried to remotely diagnose. She knew the girl couldn't be close to her age, which made her worry incredibly more as she could sense a disturbance around the larynx area. It was clearly some form of damage. Neptuna stared at the board, unable to understand the words. "Mommy, what's she saying?" Luna patted the mermaid on the head before she devoted her focus. "She wants in the guild, her name is Miyu." Neptuna waved to the taller girl.

Luna stepped a bit closer slowly as she reached her right hand up to the girl's neck. She cooed to the child so she would not spook the girl. "Don't worry, I'm the guild's best healer, I'm a bit concerned, I won't hurt you." Luna touched the girl's neck with her index and middle finger in front of the larynx. The girl would be covered in a soft pink glow creating a warm embrace, her signature technique, Nature's Mercy. She could tell something happened to the girl, but she needed more specific information to treat the problem, but considering where it was she was greatly worried. "Here, this should make it easier to speak. I have an affinity for seeing life, and by extent I can see some wounds."

Luna broke it of a moment later before she took the girl gently by the hand as she led the child through the large castle. Golden walls covered the interior, she would lead the girl through the large hall then. Going through several hall ways, Luna led the girl into a lavish lounge. Comfy chairs and couches were all around, tables of various sizes as well as painting of an aurora on the ceiling. Luna sat down on the couch and motioned for Miya to do the same. Neptuna sat down on Luna's lap. "Joining the guild is no problem, but I got a few questions first if you wouldn't mind. Are you okay with that?"

First a bit of outright curiosity had crossed her face, but it was soon replaced by that prior, familiar platitude. The silver haired girl made no movement when Luna stepped closer and seemed to tentatively touch her neck, the origin of her not so usable voice. A pink glow enveloped Miya gently, and the girl's fingers briefly twitched upwards in the direction of the contact before they relaxed. She tilted her head slightly, the angle aligning with Luna's placement as far as their height disparity went. A smile crossed her face and she nodded as the woman was speaking.

"Okay, thank you!" Miya chirped in response to her explanation of her actions. There was a slightly pensive look that flitted across her gaze when the pink haired woman led her inside to a comfortable looking lounge; or rather, it originated when she requested to ask a few more questions. But the visible nervousness dissipated so quickly from her face that it might have not even been there in the first place, and Miya smiled pleasantly at Luna. "Yeah! You can ask me anything," she laughed a little.

The child's willingness to answer any questions she had made things simpler, but potentially none the less easier. She didn't need to have absorbed information through the cursed magic to ascertain the concerning facts about the girl. So far all she knew about Miya was she was young and damaged. However she recalled something she forgot to mention earlier. "By the way, what I did earlier, since I don't know the cause or extent of the wounds, I couldn't heal you permanently."

Luna made a mental note to circle around to it, she didn't know the girl's story, she was worried that there might be some sort of abuse. A child joining a guild usually has a naive or sad story, the girl looked about twelve. She tried to tread lightly and not force the girl into a corner. "Okay Miya, you seem a bit, young for wizard work. So could you tell me a bit about where you came from? Any family the guild can contact if Shirain forbid anything happen to you?"

Miya's lips remained in a smile as Luna explained that the girl's regaining her voice was not permanent. "That's okay," she interjected brightly, the words uplifting in their intonation even though the volume itself could have been rather quiet. Miya's fingers found the edges of her sleeves and tugged them over the backs of her hands and palms, creating not sweater paws but rather jacket ones as Luna made a few observations about the girl's apparent age and asked some questions.

The pink bows in her hair caught the lights of the hall, shimmering slightly as she coughed lightly and then smiled broadly at Luna. "I might not be as young as you think! But either way, I'm from Seven. I wanted to travel, so I convinced my parents to let me go!" she laughed a little bit, her eyes sparkling, perhaps at recalling a fond memory but that impression could have been imagined. "They'll probably help if you call them for anything. Who's Shirain?" Miya rubbed at the side of her nose, but her eyes were still wide and focused on Luna.

The explanation clarified the girl's story, yet somehow didn't satisfy Luna's concerns. While it may not be the parents, the throat damage was quite horrible. The girl seemed so sweet and innocent, Luna couldn't imagine why on Shirain's earth would anyone wish to harm her. The girl being foreign made it near impossible for Luna to send her off, she wouldn't have anyways. 

However asking about the godly reference didn't come as a surprise to Luna, despite the girl being from the same country the culture originates. "Oh, you see, I am not human, anymore. I was born in Fiore, but I am a Fairy with a dual citizenship to Seven. My mother's a fairy who comes from a small tribe of nomadic fairies who believe in recognizing and faith the natural order of the universe. We don't attribute a name to it, so when we address it, we use our mother's name."

However Luna turned her focus to Neptuna for the moment, she tapped the girl's thigh and got her attention. "Can you be a good girl and go get the magic seal and paperwork please?" Neptuna stood up before making her way out of the room. "Okay mommy!"

Luna returned her focus back to Miya, figuring that she had a bit more to go over. She went over with the basics of the guild hall, the large golden fortress. She hoped that the girl wouldn't get lost on her first day. "Okay, a bit about the Guild hall. If you need anything a lot of people can answer, if I'm not on a job I am usually here during the day but I can be called via iLac at any time. If you need anything serious with health, I recommend you come to me or another healing specialist, if not, try not to wreck the infirmary. Lastly, residence, you can reside within the castle, or outside the castle."

Miya nodded, a vague but perhaps satisfied expression flitting across her face at Luna's explanation. "There really are a lot of different kinds of citizens in Seven! I'm glad to meet you. I only know a few fairies, but they're a lot different," she smiled again. The girl dropped her hand away from her face and nestled it against her left thigh, but there was a bit of a red mark left from where she had rubbed at her nose. Miya's gaze moved from the lounging furnishings, like the couch, to the lights installed around the room and more decorative elements before landing back on Luna and Neptune.

"Okay," she replied, the short response punctuated by a direct stare at the pink headed woman that wasn't combative by any means but rather could have been filled with understanding or at least an illusion of it. "I don't have an iLac, but I have some money to buy one if I need to." Miya fell silent quickly, one hand coming up to rub at her throat. Even if it didn't hurt, her fingernails trailed across her skin tentatively, maybe unused to the sensation of speaking again or just wondering if it would disappear abruptly. Her smile turned into a giggling grin at the point when Luna requested striving not to wreck the infirmary, but her lips softened into something more pensive soon after. "I can live outside," she offered, "I don't know if I can walk up here every time I return home," Miya laughed.

Luna was starting to grow concerned about the origins of the injuries, the girl didn't seem scared about being followed or someone coming after her. However Luna noted the girl's fixation with the neck, and started to fear and her speculation of who the one who caused them could turn out to be. She wanted to retreat into her mental panic room, trying to read into the situation. However, she made a note to keep an eye on the kid.

She couldn't help but find the girl's smile adorable, she paid attention to the girl's responses, and realized she probably wasn't aware Luna and Neptuna had teleported up the mountain. "Well, you see, some guilds apply special effects to their tattoos, usually access to guild territory or something similar. Ours allows teleportation between the top of the mountain and bottom. I come up and down every day. I live down in the town. Also iLacs are free to wizards, but you gotta go to the neutral zone. Not fun when you have a magical organ or cursed wound."

Luna decided to play with a bit of psychology, seeing if the girl would open up to her. She did not want to pry the girl open just yet, but she was worried about the long term applications if untreated. Neptuna returned, quickly running through the door again. She handed the paperwork to Miya, then gave Luna the stamper. It was a large silver stamper with a dial at the base with a display at where the top end of the symbol was facing on the stamper with various colors. "Done." Luna patted the girl on the head. "Good girl."

Luna began adjusting the the stamper for the girl's size. "Alright, I'll show you around after, but first you gotta tell me where and what color you want the tattoo."