Small Time Snacks [Social, Open]

Cedar, Elias decided, didn’t seem to be much of anything. From the deck of the rickety cargo ship he’d hitched a ride on, it just looked a neat little port town. A few merchant ships flying flags of the kingdom just above those of the company they swore allegiance to sat in the bay, surrounded by dozens of smaller fishing boats neatly parked in the docks. No, it didn’t seem like much happened in that little town. The people went about their day in quiet comfort. A perfect place to start.

Elias shouldered his duffel bag as the ship creaked into port and waited as the quartermaster shouted orders to lower the sails and heave the ship into dock. With a final great creak, the ship was finally tied down and the gangplank lowered with a nerve-racking crack. One of the crewmembers rolled a barrel down for good measure.

“Your coin, sir?” The captain rasped. Even though he was an old man, half blind with a grey beard stained by decades of salty water, he’d snuck up on Elias with almost perfect silence.

“Right here,” Elias replied, tentatively handing him a wad of bills. He stared at his empty wallet, frowned, and stepped off the boat.

Anyone watching could’ve easily picked Elias out from the crowd amongst that rickety cargo ship. The cleanliness of his black pants and a simple grey sweater stood out in stark contrast to the filth covering the ship’s crew, but even as he stepped off the boat, none would guessed his hunger. So Elias wandered into town with a bag on his shoulder and a grumbling need to scrounge up some change.

A small ship pulled into the harbor, sitting on the bowpoint was the pink haired wizard Luna Mira, caught between guilds. She couldn't lay about at home forever, she was growing restless just cleaning after a taste for excitement. So when her elder brother's company received a message to do a mid sea repair; hearing they were attacked by a giant squid did not make the well paying request seem worth the risk.

However Luna had jumped at the chance to go out and get some fresh air, so she offered to tag along for support. While normally only Gordon, Luna's brother, or Gonzo, his boss, would go out to sea with their team. However this was a rare time when they mixed teams and took some of the more experienced crew for deep water repair.

Having a wizard aboard was not uncommon for the crew, however a woman on board for a long term trip made the guys a bit nervous, and Gordon stressed as he tried to isolate her area in the barracks, often putting the tarp back up as it fell. The repair took 3 days, however the squid returned. Fortunately, Luna was there, and no damage was done as Luna was able to negotiate with the squid. Since learning of her fairy lineage, she discovered the ability to communicate with animals. The squid actually needed someone to talk too as his mate left him, with a little counsel, he apologized, and the rest of the repair went by smoothly. The crew needed to stock up, so they decided to dock at Cedar. Luna and Gordon agreed it would be easier if Luna made her own arrangements home, so he would not be split between work and business.

As the boat docked, Luna jumped off of the bowpoint and landed on the edge of the dock. Extending her hand forward, she called out to her mermaid companion. She ket Neptuna swin alongside the ship, travelling with Luna prevented her from having the joy of water all the time."Neptuna!" Jumping out of the sea with grace was the little mermaid who shrunk to her smaller form of eight inches and landed on Luna's hand, but slipped out of her hand. Luna tried to catch the slippery mermaid until she ultimately fell down her Qipao into her cleavage. "Sorry mistress..." Luna sighed "Would you mind not calling me that while you're stuck, there."

Luna grabbed a handkerchief from underneath her sash, and carefully lifted the mermaid out before drying her off gently while starting to walk away. Luna was done just as the two were coming into town, she lifted her hand hand led Neptuna onto her shoulder, hooking her tail on Luna's neck. "You okay Neppy?" Neptuna nodded, feeling a little dizzy from being dried off but could still maintain her balance. "Yes, I'm fine."

Luna was glad that the little creature was alright. She was worried for the poor thing, as well as her anxiety of ports. Given how the duo met, Luna was surprised that she wasn't curled up into a ball. Walking into town, she was looking for a stand to eat. The first thing that caught her eye was a sushi stand, however she quickly turned away from it before her companion could see, only to be looking at a pet store window, with a goldfish tank. Not a better example. Luna then walked around, looking, until she bumped into a well suited man with her left shoulder. Neptuna fell but Luna instinctively leaned forward and caught her with her hand, however she might've hit the man in front of her. Putting Neptuna back on her shoulder, she apologized to the man."Oh, sorry about that, I accidentally bumped you twice. First was an honest mistake, second I was trying to catch my companion here, Neptuna."

Neptuna then began to hide in the back of Luna's collar, nervous about meeting a complete stranger with Luna. Poking her head out from the side of Luna's neck, up to her eyes as she tried to speak. "H- hi..."

Audible tunes lightly encompassed the outer rim of the coast, spread to the brim with rocky hills and vegetation. Set at the edge of the port town, a towering light house, overlooking the beautiful landscape. Forward saw the sparkling waves of the ocean, large vessels painted across, capitalizing on the renown. Behind it, a large mountain, resting a great plain of forestry, kept true to mother nature's intentions. However, haphazardly resting along the edge sat a brown-haired boy, without a care in the world, swaying back and forth to the melody of his own making, at least that's how it would appear from the outside. But in actuality, it was not just a solo, but a trio, in a distant sounding tone with no visible source. The lax boy would swiftly roll backwards, letting inertia take control till he's back on his two feet.

"Ya know, I'm glad I let you two talked me into coming out here." The lad spoke aloud to no one as he began a jolly pace through the path. "Why it was your idea, deary. But to think our little boy would venture out from our little home, aren't you so proud Sid! My, the world is your oyster, Zephy!" A womanly voice appeared from Zeph's right, soft in nature with a hint of age creeping up. "You're darn right kiddo, it was far past your time to get out and make your own stories. Heck, Yen and I can't just keep introducing folks to ya! To many people don't take kindly to me after this long." From the left this time spoke an older gentlemen with a hoarse voice, emptying his lungs with a hefty chuckle after speaking. The excitable young man simply laughed along, reaching back for his bag, seemingly overstuffed with random items pleading for freedom. "Gathering herbs and spices isn't really what I had in mind though... But it does remind me of home, luckily I've got everyone here with me so I won't feel homesick." A wide smile coated his face while placing his hand deep in the bag, however the end of his sentence did peak worry in its tone, still caught on his decision on leaving home. The voices continued to support the young man as they continued their way through the landscape.

Coming back into the structured town however brought more life into his spirit, joyfully greeting passerby's and handing out some fruit to spread the love, surely his bag appreciated it. Still, Zeph couldn't help getting mesmerized among the bustling crowds and the creations they made, leading to the reason he found himself on the quest through the forest. Meeting a quick halt at a small stand among what's called, a market place. "Now where did that sea man point me to before.. It's weird that they need some kinda paper to be able to do stuff, but that guy seemed pretty mad that I didn't have any of it when we got here... He got even more angry when I tried to sing to cheer him up." Rubbing the back of his spiky hair while letting out a sigh, still unfamiliar with normal life among others and his spirits being out of the know themselves. Scoping out the foreign area for his destination, lead his blue gaze to two individuals colliding into each other, while that was what most would notice, Zeph immediately found curiosity on the small third person, scrambling to get back on the pink one's shoulder.

"Yen! Sid! Isn't that one of those fish people who one of the spirits mentioned!" The boy light up like a Christmas tree, becoming far more preoccupied with this new discovery and not his current task. It took a few seconds before either voice spoke back, before agreeing in sync. Caught up in the moment without even thinking, his wild figure eagerly approached the pair with wide eyes. While holding back the urge to completely invade personal space, Zeph simply tilted his head at its cowering position. "I-Is that a real mermaid like in the stories?" A hushed tone far from his normal boisterous nature, but simply stuck in awe, anxiously waiting for verification.

Elias saw he wasn’t the only newcomer to port. His gaze drifted around the port as he reached the edge of Cedar. It seemed a handful of other ships had just finished their voyages. Elias took a moment to watch how much better the teamwork was amongst these other crews swiftly furling their sails and heaving ships into port. He laughed to himself before readjusting his duffel, this time swinging it over his shoulder as he spun around and walked alongside the docks in search of the cheapest food around.

Maybe the trip would end up being a mistake. Elias didn’t really know why he wanted to leave home, just that he did. Somehow the taste of magic on his tongue and fingertips had left in him a burning need for adventure. What the man didn’t understand is what kind of idiot took a boat with barely had enough cash to finish the voyage. He gave himself a wry smile as the wooden planks beneath his feet turned to the cobblestone streets of Cedar proper.

The boardwalk was thin with clusters of townswomen buying the daily catch for dinner and their children running and playing. Each seller tried to stand out against one another with brightly colored tarps of reds, blues, yellows, and the like. Other stands hosted simpler signs and ready-made food for the fishermen either run out of luck with their catches that day or just hungry enough to return to port for a quick bite to eat. Maybe the rare few had an argument with their wives who refused to set up a lunch that day. Elias’ stomach growled with the scent of flash-fried fish. One stand caught his eye, just off the boardwalk on one of Cedar’s main roads, across the street from a small pet store. Sushi. Not Elias’ first choice but the cool taste of sushi would have been refreshing in the face all the grease in the air. It was cheap, or at least it would have been cheap if Elias had any money. Even from across the street his eyes still drank in the sushi’s popping colors, taunting Elias with a meal that wasn’t maggot-ridden hardtack. He stopped and not even a moment later, girl, dropped something, and bumped into him again as she caught it. Elias swore to himself he would have avoided the second bump one if he hadn’t caught his foot on an uneven cobblestone. She immediately apologized and took way too long explaining herself, during which Elias took a moment to study her.

Pink haired and barely an inch shorter than himself. She had pink a pretty face, yes, but everything from her posture, the tiny bit of baby fat still on her cheeks, and her word choice pointed at someone a few years younger than Elias. But none of that caught his eye so much as tiny mermaid she’d dropped, who was now hiding behind the girl’s neck.

“Don’t worry about it,” Elias replied quickly, “It’s really my fault for stopping so suddenly.” He gave a half smile as the little mermaid let out a nervous hello. “Hi,” Elias said with a little wave. “What’s your name? I’m Elias and I promise I don’t-”

Some scruffy kid with more hair than head and plenty of dirt caking his pants cut Elias off with the enchanted whisper of someone who both lacked self-control and had just seen a mermaid for the first time in his life. Only he was taller than both Elias and the girl and a little part of his soul died as the kid almost crouched while doing so.

“At least you’re not the only one attracting attention, eh?” Elias said aloud, though his face remained straight. He was mostly addressing the girl even though he hadn’t taken his eyes off the tall kid.
Now something just needed to happen. The whole situation was absurd. Elias had been expecting a quiet little town where he could maybe pick up an odd job for some cash and a meal before finding his way to one of Fiore’s larger cities. A simple, normal journey but he hadn’t only met a magical creature in his first fifteen minutes in a new country, but also a country kid who was clearly far less mature than he looked. Elias’ stomach let out an audible growl out of hunger and frustration.

Luna was grateful that the gentleman she had bumped into was kind enough to overlook the rudeness over the encounter. When Neptuna was addressed, she hid back behind Luna's neck, hoping that she could remain hidden. Luna could sense the stares all around as others started to murmer about the mermaid. She weighed her options, either admitting her own race, or asking for help. She spoke quietly to the two humans. "Yes, she's a mermaid, now you've set off her social anxiety sir. She has PTSD about port towns and don't like 'mermaid spotters'. If you wanna talk, I won't mind, but we gotta take this somewhere, a bit quieter. There's a park down the street and around the corner."

Luna's eyes circled around, and focused on the wild life. She noted three lobster in the tank, the school of fish in the pet store, the seagulls, and various rats and mice. Figuring her best bet, she telepathically called out to the rats and mice. "Hey, can you cause a scene for me? My friend is starting to get attention and we need to escape. Also if she retreats any further she is going to fall down my dress. Mother of Shirain that was not supposed to be broadcast." The lead rat, was not against following requests, but for a price. "A few jewels and we got your back. Just drop em."

Luna figured better to go along with it as she dropped a bill and a rat seemed to jump out of the crowd, snatching it with it's mouth before scampering off. A few moments later, a group of rats seemed to coordinate a robbery as they jumped up onto a stand for a dairy cart, and seemed to team up as four grabbed a large dish of cheese, and two teams of two grabbed a wrapped block of cheese before jumping of the card and started running. Luna started to realize she might've been conned but luckily no one could convict her of paying for a robbery. However, the distraction did work as the crowd seemed to be more drawn to a cheese heist then a tiny mermaid. Luna started to walk away, figuring the two would follow.  Approaching the park, she approached a cafe with an outdoor patio, next to it, figuring she could use something to eat, and it didn't look like there was seafood around. Sitting down, she gestured the two others to follow suit.

"Please, join me, I'm buying. Sorry if I was a bit rude, just, I was looking out for Neptuna. Just, she's precious to me, and you humans make her nervous." Her wording hit her for a second, she used the term 'you' excluding herself. She wondered if that was a slip of the tongue. "I'm Luna by the way, sorry for not introducing myself earlier. Just wanted to get Neptuna here away from the docks."Reaching behind her neck, she gently grabbed the mermaid. Neptuna let go of the back of Luna's neck. She gently moved her to her lap as a waitress approached.  


"Sorry hun, but you can't just stay on the back of my neck forever, you know it hurts when you touch it. Anything you want?" Neptuna shook her head, despite the rumbling of her tiny stomach. "N- No mistress. I don't wanna be a burden..." Reading the obvious signs, Luna figured she knew what she had to do. "Okay, we're sharing. Chicken Cesar salad and iced tea." A thought had crossed her mind, she scanned the menu for seafood, which she was glad that there weren't many, but now she had to pray for the two men not to order one.

At this point, Zeph's hyper focused gaze continued to lock onto the teeny mermaid, however his upper body started to slowly sway back and forth, his body refusing to sit still while his mind stayed still. A male voice tried to break through his focus, but to no avail as everything else in the world was set to low volume, luckily the only things that could break him out of his own world decided to step in. "Now young man, that's no way to act with strangers. You seem to be frightening the poor thing, you should know better than most that everyone has their own story, you should find her's out before getting ahead of yourself." The womanly voice spoke in a stern tone, but sincerity overwhelmed any form of anger that one could assume, simply a loving parent figure trying to teach their child well. "You're right, Yen. It wasn't very nice of me to let my excitement take control... I'll try to cheer her up to see if she'll forgive me!" Zeph spoke in his head, though emotion couldn't stay hidden, a large smile stretched to his cheeks, emanating a great warmth.

While mental parenting had taken place, unknowingly to the boy, eyes quickly drew to their small gathering. The oddly spiky boy did have a knack for inviting attention, but it seemed to make the pink girl upset and the mermaid sad. Snapping out of his own mind, something else began to play out that caught eyes even easier than he did, a revolution! Zeph's jaw grew wide as tons of rats and mice appeared from the shadows and attacked a stand, plundering their golden treasure of cheese galore. Cheering on their tiny efforts as valiant warriors, this was simply painted out in the creative lad's mind, taking any opportunity to let a story brew.  

Just like many others in attendance for the display, the effects did the job of distracting, perhaps a bit too well. Clueless to the scheme that had been laid out, his new objective of learning about the aquatic creature was getting near out of reach with their sudden disappearance. From left to right, up and down, his spiky mane jutted trying to spot the catch of the day, figuratively. When all hope seemed to be lost, the crackled voice in his mind called out with haste, as if waking from a bad dream. "Oh shoot, they went off to the right kid, you're losing your stuff if I found em even in my sleep... Tsk tsk, we gotta get your nose back on the grindstone."  Mumbling and grumbling the words in a groggy voice, sounding disappointed in nature, but even more excited to start teaching the youth again.

Giving a metaphorical hug to the two voices before giving chase to the party, luckily finding it simple enough to spot out the pink hair and catch up, as if he was here the whole time. With just enough time to squeeze out a sigh of relief, her walking halted as a park came into view. Intrigue ran through his core at the idea of roaming around the fun looking terrain, but instead their mini adventure would lead to a building with part of it being outside. The odd thought of someone forgetting to put this part inside as well, left the boy to snicker to himself, though it did make him feel more welcome. Zeph all but followed suit at this point to what the girl wanted, anything to learn more of the storied mermaids and how she got here. Fidgeting slightly in his seat, finding this new form of sitting besides crisscross different, but in a good way.

Awkwardly halting his movements as the pink haired girl spoke, being polite as to listen clearly and respond accordingly, like Yen told him. "I was the one being rude, I'm sorry for making your friend sad, I wouldn't be happy if one of my friends got sad either... But its nice to meet ya, my name is Zephyr Tale, but my friends just call me Zeph since its short and sweet." A warm welcome accompanied by a grin to the two girls and then to the male at his side, only just now realizing his presence, making his smile turn into a sort of laugh with a wave. Now that everyone was accounted for and properly apologized to, Zeph's attention couldn't help switching back to Neptunia, who now sat in full view on Luna's lap, formulating what would be the best way to make the small girl forgive him. Initially he'd spring a tune or a dance, but people here didn't seem to enjoy that. Tilting his head with a furrowed brow, the waitress believing the goofy boy was indecisive on his order and let him be for now.

"Oh come now, deary. Just ask her for forgiveness, I'm sure she'll be able to tell the kindness in your heart." The soft voice spoke from the heart, immediately stopping the gears in his head from overdrive. "Aye boy, you know you've nevah been one to think wit ya head. Just go for it." Sid buzzed out with the sense of a pat on the back, reminding the boy just how proud he was to have a family watching out for him like this. Swiftly dodging any tears, Zeph began to lower his being down to get at eye level with Neptunia, keeping distance and trying to be cautious in a respectful manner. "I-I'm sorry if I made ya sad, I got really happy inside when I thought I was gonna meet a real mermaid and didn't think. I hope you can forgive me and we can be friends, I hope we can all become friends!" Offering a gleeful grin to Neptunia, then turning towards Luna and Elias individually with a nod to boot, ending of with a jolly laugh at the thought of having new friends.

The scruffy kid started swaying back and forth around the mermaid, as if he were trying to get every angle of the little creature burned into his mind. His eyes looked as if they were piercing straight through the mermaid’s cowering figure. That same gaze didn’t look up as the kid paused to have some kind of mental battle with himself in the solid ten seconds of awkward silence that followed.

The pink girl was on edge, too. She and the mermaid would have remained relatively incognito had the kid’s appearance hadn’t begun to draw so much attention. Elias’ eyes narrowed as she not-so-subtly drew a small bill from her pocket and dropped it. It wasn’t an accident. No one would drop money on accident, not even in Minstrel and if Elias had a touch of wind magic at his fingertips, he would more than happily have stolen it to buy a small snack. His very comfort was at stake! Only a rat caught the bill just before it touched the ground and scurried away. Rats don’t even have use for paper money. Elias’ brain jumped through every possible hoop before someone from the marketplace began screaming bloody murder and a horde of rats seemed to ooze out of the cobblestones themselves, each one hurling themselves towards a brightly colored dairy cart and snatched every bit of cheese they could find ranging from the tiny white cubes rich people put on the ends of toothpicks to an entire wheel of cheddar. Elias’ eyes flicked back and forth between the pink girl and the chaotic marketplace as he awkwardly trailed along, trying to find the solution to the mystery. There had to be a connection somewhere between the discarded bill and that great cheese heist.

Elias started to feel his brain overheating as he awkwardly followed the girl away from the marketplace, even while it was being talked over by the scruffy kid thankfully having the soundness of mind to apologize for his strange behavior. At least he was self-aware enough to recognize it. He barely registered the Kid’s name, Zeph, and the smile he found to be a bit too broad for comfort.

He snapped back to reality when the girl invited them to eat and introduced herself. Food, yes, that’s what Elias had been searching for and she’d offered to pay. Though she did say something odd. ‘You humans.’ Elias wrote it off as both an odd situation and Luna speaking from Neptuna's perspective and it wasn’t like Elias was going to refuse in the face of an empty stomach. The least he could do was be polite.

"Thank you, Luna” Elias responded as he took a seat and started eyeing the menu. “It’s great to meet you. I hope I can repay you for this sometime.” He couldn’t exactly say the food was alien to him. Fiorean cuisine definitely drifted away from his homeland despite being just a day away by sail. The elegant names and rich sauces gave way to simple ingredients and plenty of grease. Luna ordered a salad of some kind, not a simple green salad like they so often served back home. Elias finally settled on a turkey BLT; something he recognized at least. Water was decent enough to drink.

“So,” Elias started while the group was waiting for their drinks to arrive, “Luna, how exactly did you meet your mermaid friend there? It looks like you two have known each other for a pretty long time.” Simple small talk, yes. With any luck they wouldn’t pay much attention to him, so he followed up with more conversation starters. “Are they very common here in Fiore? I can’t really say I’m local.”

Luna was grateful to see that the younger male was at least willing to apologize for scaring the mermaid. Neptuna was still hiding on her lap, but Luna knew she would surface when she was ready. However, when the man who came to introduce herself as Elias spoke, Luna interpreted his words as him not being a native to Fiore. "Mermaids are a bit of a rare sight in Fiore, Neptuna here was orphaned her whole life as far as I know. I met her a few weeks ago in a small port town, when she was being stoned tied town to the ground by the townspeople."

Neptuna shivered when the day echoed through her mind, Luna stroked the doll sized mermaid's hair with the back of her finger, calming her down quickly. "The townspeople accused her of scaring away fish, when naturally she possesses no such magic ability. It was the pollution around the town scaring away the fish. When it came down to it, the townspeople had a choice, face me, a wizard, and get flogged as the mermaid beating town, which would be a disaster all across, or they let her go, and the mayor and everyone that threw stones take responsibility. Needless to say, the town couldn't afford the worse PR, so they cracked and gave in. With no where else to go, she's been with me ever since." Luna didn't have the fondest memories of that experience nor was she proud of it, she hated trying to intimidate even if it was for a just cause.  Luna took a sip of her iced tea when the drinks arrived. "I hate intimidation tactics though, I mean, I am a fairy, not a dragon. Intimidation isn't my forte."

However, she was then interested in what the pair are doing in Fiore, however she had a guess of what the two wanted. Taking a moment, she started to sense the smaller traces of magic in each of them. She had a pretty decent guess as to the answer. Two people with magic potential and no money of their own at the moment, it seemed to line up pretty well. "Are you two trying to be Wizards? Sorry if I'm assuming, I hate to make unjustified claims. I can sense your magic energy, and just, a lot of people come to Fiore to try and make it as a wizard."

She started to grow concerned for the one who identified as Zeph, she could sense that his current state of mind might be a hindrance. However the one known as Elias seemed to possess more potential for a start, however long term, she couldn't guess how both would turn out.

Now that Zeph's moral compass stopped spinning out of whack, his energy settled back to its normal positive flair, cheerfully able to smile without any faint trace of worry. While the little mermaid still shrunk into silence, it wasn't the nosy whom took the next step in learning of her nature. Spinning his head towards the well dressed man, finally taking a decent gander at Elias without feeling like a goof, due to his earlier blunder of not even acknowledging his presence. It was almost as if he read the spiky boy's mind, casually asking questions that Zeph held back until after his apologies. He had to admit, it made him feel more at ease to know he wasn't the only one pushing for stories.

Luckily Luna didn't seem to bothered to answer, Zeph's oceanic eyes focused as his ears wiggled eagerly awaiting to take in all the information about the fairy tale species. His droopy legs swung back and forth as she began to speak, to the sheltered boy most things to him seemed as rare, heck even seeing this many people in one place is one of the rarest commodities he's come across, but it was no surprise that mermaids were higher on that list, only ever hearing about them in his own right. However, it didn't take long for the story to already make a turn for the worse, the concept of stoning was slightly foreign to the boy, seeing Neptunia shiver in fear and hearing her being tied down, impacted Zeph deeply. The tale progressed further down the abyss, but Luna appeared to become the hero of the tale.

A faint semblance of tears swelled in his eyes, recalling Yen's words of not knowing everyone's story before acting, the emotional boy softly clapped and offered the pink haired girl a pat on the back. "Who would've thought your story of unity would come from such a rough start, I've met some old heroes before, but its nice to know that they're still here now." Wiping his eyes with his free arm before giving Neptunia a sad puppy expression, holding back the urge to snatch the small being for a large hug. Composing himself, getting very wrapped up in stories of any caliber, an extra comment attached itself to the end of the story. Almost sliding itself under the rug as Zeph didn't think much about it initially, Luna stating she was a fairy, wasn't shocking, as everyone he knew was a spirit, but it did draw some additional curiosity towards her.

Metal clanking around as his head bobbled back and forth, it would make more sense for a fairy to be friends with a mermaid, it all added up in his head rather quickly. "I've heard about fairies and dragons from some of my friends so I believe ya, though this is my first time meeting one of the two... Man they won't believe I met a mermaid and a fairy at the same time!" Happily giggling at this new revelation alongside the thought of sharing the story among his spirits, it isn't too often he's able to tell them a story, so taking this journey was already starting to look in his favor. After hearing a story, it integrated itself in his memory, an odd but very useful trick the boy found, so he'd never forget about any of his friend's hardships and fun times.

It was at this time, a hefty grumble erupted from his midsection, taking slight fatigue from the overuse of his brain power and excitement. Unknowing of Luna's offer to purchase food for him, the concept still not processing, Zeph yanked his bag from his side plopping it on his lap. Shoving his entire forearm through the clutter, having more difficulty than one would assume while searching through their own possessions. But a moment later, the odd lad resurfaced his arm to expose a glistening red apple, slowly bringing it to his face, heavily ingesting the aroma, hearing one too many tales of a poor girl falling victim to a scary apple before. After confirming its safety, a large chunk now exposed the white interior as loud munches and crunches echoed from the table. Extending an offer to the three around him if they'd like one, finding it rude to eat in front of others without seeing if they wanted some to.

Whether they accepted or not, it seemed the conversation was advancing, the pink haired girl taking interest in the two boys. Swallowing another large chunk of the fruit with a refreshing sigh, it didn't take long or Zeph to answer with upfront honesty. "Yeah you could say that. Though I'm just adventuring around really, this is my first time away from the forest I grew up in. My friends and family decided it was time for me to make my own stories around the world, but thanks to the magic the gave me I can see them anytime, so I'm not lonely." While earlier finishing of a similar sentence brought hesitation to his voice, this time confidence overpowered the fear at his recent success. Just then an idea sparked, this time speaking aloud, not just to the three at the table, but the two others waiting in the back. "Yen, Sid, come on and say hi!" Glancing at both of his sides one at a time with a large smile, it took but a few seconds for a crackling voice to exhale a sigh in response.

From the left an older woman appeared, fading red hair kept tightly in a bun, grasping a large key with a sweet smile. It took a minute, but slowly appearing to the right, a hunched man with a white goatee and a bald head, arms folded behind his back unable to see if he has any items himself. The first to speak being the woman in a chipper tone, like a grandma alongside her grandson. "It's lovely to meet you all, we're spirits that watch over and protect him. I very much appreciate you taking the time to keep our little Zephy company. He's a sweet boy but I hope he's not too much trouble for you, he hasn't been around many other people until now so his mannerisms may be a bit over the top." Understanding more of how others would react to someone of the sheltered boy's nature, hoping they'll understand and accept him more with extra knowledge. The man on the right let out a cough as he spoke, his vibrant yellow eyes contained a darting pierce to them. "They call me Sid and I taught the boy here all he knows." A resonating chuckle scratching against his through, creating a rather unpleasant sound for most, but Zeph couldn't look any happier. "This is the first time I showed my family to other people, they've always been by my side and helped me, so they mean a lot." Unable to resist letting out some deep emotion upon such a grand reveal for the first time, bringing the two in close for a hug.

With laying all of his own cards on the table, the jolly young man hoped his three new acquaintances would be able to call him a friend soon, heck he still had Elias' reason to hear about. There was still so much to learn from these few people alone, it was so exciting, perhaps meeting more people alongside new spirits wouldn't be as bad as he thought.

Elias’ BLT clinked onto the table just as Luna began telling her tale. Neptuna seemed to cower into Luna's lap as it was told. She’d been blamed for scaring away the fish in a small village and almost ruining their very livelihood. Honestly a very backwards tale but from what Elias had heard of backwater rural towns, it didn’t seem too far off. There were a fair few even back in Minstrel where the people clung on to uninformed and ancient beliefs. Yet even with so much objective information, Elias found himself cringing at the tale. He imagined he could feel the pain Neptuna had gone through so long ago just by looking at the little mermaid’s reaction. Waves of pity and sadness flowed through Elias’ heart as he desperately sought for words that would comfort Neptuna. It was certainly a miracle she’d been able to even travel through a port town without suffering some kind of panic attack yet, that was unless Luna had calmed Neptuna down from one before they ran into each other. Still, Luna must’ve had a good heart to save the mermaid from that kind of torment. That or some impressive power that would’ve helped her. Elias probed a bit with his magical senses, there was a soft power radiating from her skin. A definite sign of wizardry and certainly not the exact same kind of power he’d felt from the human wizards back in Minstrel, but not Fairyhood as she had suggested. After all, all the legends said that Fairies were only six inches tall and had wings and tails. Luna carried none of those traits visibly. Elias chalked his suspicion down as the fact that Luna just wanted to be a fairy in a way that would give her confidence in her powers. He’d been the same when he was a little boy, imagining he was a prince.

Then Zeph piped up, interrupting Elias’ train of thought with some surprisingly well composed words of heroism and the like. But the more he spoke, the less easily Elias could tell how old the kid was. His sheer height suggested an older boy, fully grown and in his late teens but everything about the childish glee and the tears that erupted from his eyes after Luna’s tale suggested someone much much younger. Still, he did voice one of Elias’ other concerns, it was unbelievable that one would meet both a Fairy and a Mermaid at once. But what was even more unbelievable were the two spirits that flashed into existence behind Zeph. An old man and a woman. Elias found himself dumbstruck.

And then it was his turn. Both Luna and Zeph had their own fantastic tales. Elias took a moment to polish off his food before he began talking. He even cringed at himself for being silent for so long.

“Well, uh,” Elias started. He imagined the gazes of the five other things staring down at him. Not one of the people at that table were completely human except for Elias and that sudden realization had begun weighing down on him. “I guess it’s my turn now,” He started with a nervous chuckle. “I’m actually a kind typical guy unlike the rest of you. I-,” Elias hesitated. There wasn’t much to say about him and he certainly wasn’t comfortable talking about it. He shifted uncomfortably and acutely aware that it was the only real way he could repay Luna’s kindness for the moment. “I came over from just across the channel. From Minstrel. Not going to say much other than that I lived in a small apartment before some stuff went down and I blew the last of my cash getting over here and away from all that social garbage. So yeah, I guess you could say I’m trying to make it as a wizard and there’s no way I’m going to work as one of that country’s Musketeers. They like to keep their magics too uniform. Hell, I think they like it. All I needed was a fair bit of freedom and all kinds of bizarre tales leave Fiore every year so I figured this was as good a place as any to try and make a new life. All I need now is to find a guild and I don’t have the first clue where to look.” Elias took a breath after his rant. His heart was beating a little faster now. Opening up like that wasn’t something he was used to in at all. “Anyways,” Elias continued after a silent few seconds. He quickly stood up. His chair rattled against the flagstones and one caught in a crack, nearly falling over. Elias stumbled as he caught it and regained balance. “Thanks a lot for the food, Luna. It was a real lifesaver. I think I’ll be on my way now.” Elias shouldered his duffel bag once again and began walking away from the little restaurant a tad bit more quickly than anyone should have. He wondered if everyone in Fiore was as strange as those two were. Surely that wasn’t the case. There had to be some typical, decent humans in that new land. All this talk of fairies and spirits had turned his brain into a mush. Hopefully this strangeness was limited only to the wizards in Fiore. Surely he wasn’t going insane by listening to the spirit of the aurora, right? That said, some of the most powerful wizards came from Fiore. Maybe they were all as strange as this. Elias shook his head and kept walking, not expecting anyone to follow him.

Luna listened intently to the stories of the men, or rather one man and one boy before her. However, she noticed something in the man when she gave her story, she could sense his skepticism clearly as she ate. She found Elias more interesting then Zepher, while true meeting a medium was a rare opportunity, she found the mysterious charming vibe Elias brought to be refreshing. She was eating her salad while Neptuna nibbled on a piece of lettuce. Luna wasn't too surprised as the ghosts came, however the lack of life force seemed to upset the nature fairy deep inside, although she knew people are people regardless of form.

"I see, I don't mean any disrespect, but I am a nature fairy. It's sorta in my role description so it's kinda my business to ask this. But Zeph appears to be a young adult, so why are you still tethered to this world?" When the subject had crossed again, Luna figured she might as well put to rest his doubts. She paid for the food with a decent tip before standing up after him, Luna nodded to Neptuna, who knew what she wanted.

Luna lightly tossed Neptuna after her body became encased in a blue light, expanding into her normal size before human form, and generating a blue cloak over herself and sandals as clothing. Luna grabbed the man's shoulder, stopping him. "I could sense doubt in you earlier. I'm sure this will satisfy you." Luna stepped back before a pink magic circle appeared beneath her, her body turning into a pink light before shrinking down quickly into her clothing, which Neptuna grabbed and stored them away by turning them into a blue light and absorbing them.

Luna's form grew wings as she started flying while in the midst of transformation. Before the light faded, Luna's form generated a red petal dress. Curious as to the reaction of the man ahead of her. "Believe me now?" However Neptuna nervously spoke up, questioning Luna's decision. "Mistress? Is this a wise idea? Transforming into your fairy form in public?" Luna shrugged, not even caring anymore. "I lost my legal status as human a while ago. Makes no difference. Besides, I'm not ashamed, and if I need anything, I'll call for Woody or Chuck."

For what Zeph would assume would spark a similar reaction to his own, finding out the details of Luna, he would be lying if he said he wasn't slightly sad by the pairs lack of enthusiasm in his own reveal. While Elias did seem visibly surprised, it wasn't really how the young man had imagined this moment would unravel. His keen excitement and grandiose performance decreased in spirit, but his expression attempted to keep the part, one that which both Yen and Sid noticed instantly. Now with the spotlight shifting to hear the last but not least story of the mysterious man, one which stood on the opposite spectrum to that of the two before it. While not impactful or climactic, it felt from the heart, something that the very emotionally driven lad could sense, giving a nod of respect and appreciation for sharing.

Luna however, seemingly still had thoughts on his own tale, taking the moment to speak her mind. While Zeph himself seemed unphased by the question, not really grasping the essence of it, a grouchy Sid heightened an eyebrow as his nostrils flared. "Didn't know the spirit's had a deputy department, but its our business to stay by this kid. We've been watching his lineage since your great great granny was in diapers." The elderly man grumbled, ticked to hear lip from a youngin about his reasons. A more understanding Yen would chip in after a rough pat on the back of the liver spotted head of the man. "What he means to say is, we're tethered to Zeph's bloodline, we go where we need to, that's the pact we made to someone special to us both." A soft smile rested under her plump cheeks, reminiscing on past memories.

Zeph simply listening along in silence until Elias stood from their seated table and began to walk off with a thanks to the fairy girl, but without a proper goodbye? When every spirit Zeph had encountered, they'd always gift a warming farewell, but this all just left a sour taste in his mouth. Before the spiky boy had a chance to react, Luna began to glow right before his very eyes. Simply sitting in awe as she began a transformation of sorts, guessing she wasn't happy with Elias' departure either. She took chase after the man and Zeph would follow, albeit staying back a bit as a magical circle would coat the ground below. Engulfing into her clothing, her form shrunk just like out of a story book, Zeph had no problem believing her before, but now he had no doubt in his mind of what she truly was. Wings appeared from her back, floating in the air like a butterfly, she was in fact a fairy.

The boy began to take baby steps towards her figure, making sure his eyes hadn't deceived him, something that many others seemed to be doing with the sudden display. Before he could reach his slightly trembling hand out to touch the fully transformed Luna, a tug pulled at his ear from behind. The grip firm with calloused fingers, a growl emanated as the scent of fish took hold of his nose. "Thought ye could escape among the magic display, is that right? Ya better have gotten the ingredients, I went through a lot of trouble to find that job for ya. Come now, you've got more to do before you're off scot-free." The familiar tone of the crew member who took charge with his lack of payment for the travel. Pulling him away and back to the port, Zeph's arms waved about, so close to touching an actually fairy, but fate would not be in his corner today. "Agh, sorry guys! I'm sure we'll meet again if you want to!! It was nice meeting you!" The words vanished among the crowd as his form grew further in the distance. Saddened by his quick leave, for his first interaction among such interesting characters, a sense of accomplishment crested his insides as the thought of many more people to come got him excited for next time.

~Leave~

A nature fairy. Elias almost couldn’t help but laugh with himself as he walked away from the little restaurant. That pink Luna girl kept insisting on that. The first two people he met in a new country weren’t even completely human, or at least they said they weren’t. Though he supposed that Zeph was technically human, he couldn’t really count the kid since he’d been raised by spirits instead of proper people. Luna, on the other hand, had to be one of those weirdos who wanted to be something they weren’t. There had been a couple of those back in school. Elias couldn’t really understand why anyone would want to be something they weren’t. Humans were pretty great, after all, and Earthland was hardly a bad place to live. Sure, you had a fair few monsters and demons running about but that’s what wizards were for.

He’d barely gotten a dozen steps away from the little restaurant when blue light washed itself around Luna as she grabbed his shoulder, saying his doubts would be alleviated. Were it not for the sheer amount of magical energy wafting off the Luna’s skin, Elias would have laughed. He took a few steps back as heat and nerves got the better of him. A bright pink magic circle, the same color as the girl’s hair appeared beneath her feet and Elias took a few more steps, just to make sure he was out of the circle in case there were any other surprises waiting for him.

Pink and blue was an odd combination to say the least, but it somehow also looked completely natural. Wings unfurled from her back and the light clung to her form with a kind of blinding perfection before dissipating into a dress of red petals.

Elias would have liked to say something, but his mouth was empty. Every inch of his conscious mind said that that it couldn’t have been any more than a simple transformation magic, maybe takeover at the most but somehow the magic wafting off Luna was unmistakably alien. There were no conflicting powers typical to takeover magics. If anything, this felt like a release. Everything about that moment was so unfamiliar and unexpected and Elias’ face was plastered with it.

“Well,” He started after a painful few moments, “Color me surprised I didn’t actually expect you to be telling the truth.” He chuckled nervously and his gaze slipped behind Luna’s hovering as she and Neptuna spoke. A fairly large crowd was forming behind her and as people began to point fingers, Elias echoed Neptuna. After all, these Chuck and Woody characters couldn't possibly arrive fast enough to avoid any serious problems and he was in far too much shock to even comprehend Luna's losing "legal status" as a human. "Are you sure doing that was a good idea. I get that you wanted to prove a point but by the gods, you didn’t need to do it here. People can be kind of weird about these things.”

It didn’t seem like anyone was acting up. It was mostly whispers and fingers. Elias could feel the heat rising to his face while he shrunk under the sheer weight of the eyes staring at Luna. “Uh, why don’t we get out of here,” He said, pointing unhelpfully away from the crowd. “Not that I mean anything by that but it’s just that I really don’t like being the center of attention. Or even close to that, honestly.” Elias winced at how quickly he spoke. He started taking steps towards a side street, people hadn’t started gathering there yet. With any luck Elias would be able to make a quick escape from town and maybe earn himself a few jewels in the next one. Hopefully even a map. A map would be nice. "So I'm gonna get out of here. Follow me if you want? It makes no difference to me. Maybe tell me what guild you're in? If you're in one? And what's up with that whole human legal status thing?"

Maybe Luna would follow him, maybe not. Elias didn’t care so long as he was out from the center of attention. So he walked as fast as he felt reasonable down the alleyway. His heels clicked loudly against the flagstones  and took a right down the following street, taking care that he didn’t lose control over his duffel bag. He fought the temptation to summon his cloak. Moving faster wouldn’t help and nothing Elias could think up would cure the redness in his face. So he just kept on walking and desperately trying not to pay attention to anything other than straight ahead and, hopefully, the way out of town.

Luna was glad to for the chance to see the reaction. Normally she'd have agreed with the majority, however she didn't really care too much. It was not like it would hurt anyone, until she realized the attention of the crowd. She looked around and sighed, disappointed in the crowd. "Really? Of all the things that can happen in this town with all the wizards mucking about and disasters at least once every month?" One guy in the crowd shrugged as he sorta agreed with the statement. "Fair enough, let the fairy be, not like she's any less a person. Human, maybe."

Luna and Neptuna followed Elias off into the side street, Luna flying at Elias's ear level and nearby as she gave her explanations of employment status. "I used to belong to a guild called Crystal Swan. It shut down so I've been helping out my brother with his business of boat repairs back home every now and then. It's dangerous to take on jobs without a guild, no one to know you're missing. I'm between guilds at the moment."

Luna seemed to have publicly embarrassed the man, she figured an explanation couldn't hurt.
"However the other thing, is awkward. You see, it's a long story. My mother is a fairy, but due to a curse passed down from parent to child on my father's side that through alternative means I broke my siblings are still human. But I inherited and developed certain fairy characteristics that dominated over the human characteristics." Neptuna recalled the characteristics and spoke up intuitively. "You mean like you're golden heart, special dust, and connection to the princ-" Luna quickly flew to the side and covered the mermaid's mouth, shushing the mermaid anxiously. "Neptuna! It's one thing to admit and prove of being a fairy, but bringing up those parts in public are dangerous. I'm just the garden variety nature fairy, got it?" Neptuna nodded her head befoer Luna flew back "I'm sorry mistress, I wasn't thinking.

Luna sighed, she couldn't be mad as she wiped away the tears the mermaid was about to shed. "It's alright dear, you're fine. I am not mad at you. Just be careful." Luna then returned her focus back to Elias as she finished her tale. "So when I went to check on a few things regarding my health once, I was told my form was slowly being adjusted to more fairy then human. I'm close to 75% fairy, which means I'm not entitled to call myself a human according to Fiore law. Since it was predicted to cap at 80%, they just said it would be easier to just put me down as a fairy and ignore my human lineage unless my siblings are involved."

Elias eyed the road signs at the edge of town while Luna and Neptuna awkwardly argued about the former’s cover story. She’d given him a lot to think about. Apparently even guilds shut down a lot and the stories of legendary damage dealt by wizards in battle was true, at least to some degree. He mumbled something about nothing like that happening in Minstrel in the meanwhile.

Still, this whole mostly fairy, kinda human dynamic Luna had struck Elias as a strange thing. In between two worlds. Somehow he got the vibes that Luna wasn’t exactly comfortable back wherever fairies came from and, even though she certainly looked more human than he would expect a fairy to be.

“Thanks,” Elias said after Luna finished rambling. “I’m really just here to find a new life. Maybe we’ll run into each other again one day. Hell, maybe we’ll even end up in the same guild in the end.” He gave a little wave and started down the road. Down that infinite walk into the future.

He didn’t look back.

[End Thread]