Chapter Text
~Twisted Tonelico~
~Night Raven: Main Street~
A fire fae zipped through the road connecting many buildings on campus, flying towards the dilapidated dorm, almost as if she was in a hurry. Not far behind were two more fae: another fire fae and a Tinker fae. “Mythra?! Where you goin’?!” Cried the Tinker Fae.
She stopped in her tracks, turning to face the others, hands on her hips. “Where else, Tictac! To there!” She points towards Ramshackle.
“Why though?!” The other Fire Fae protested. “We already had crappy humans nearly ruin the Gala! Why talk to them again?!”
“Because, [The King] wants to see her! LYAgasar!”
That changed their tune real fast. Both of them were gapping at their friend. “You sure?” Bringing up him wasn’t bad, but they didn’t think he’d be interested in talking to ANY humans.
“His mood was equal to that of Draconia’s rainstorms. And HE was the one invited!”
“She’s gotta point there, Ems.”
“Still. These ones are too clingy to LYAgasar…one invite might not be enough…”
They thought about it for a moment. The human girl chosen by Ar Phantasya has eyes on her no thanks to the Bird Fae, and the unexpected bond with Briar Valley’s High Prince. Combined that on top of the alleged limited range she can travel their world, this might make this meeting with the Fae King of Music difficult.
A lightbulb popped above their heads. They found an idea! A naughty…but foolproof idea. Regrettably leaving the Ramshackle Dorm, the trio of faeries rushed to the Botanical Garden to discuss their plan with the fae still at the Gala.
~The Next Day, Ramshackle Dorm: Main Lobby~
In the early morning of their weekend off, Meryu carried herself and her sleeping fur baby, Grim, down the stairs for some premade breakfast meals they got from Marmalade. Even with the Dorm close to looking lively, the stove combusted the other day. Fortunately no one was hurt(albeit Meryu internally cried cause there went making homemade donuts not filled with caffeine). But! Luckily their teacher and Gamma gave them a solar powered microwave and air fryer to make eating the food in their second gifted ice box edible.
As she grabbed two bentos for her and Grim, the Ghostly Trio came into the Kitchen behind them. “Morning you, two~”
The Reyvateil let out a small yawn. “Goo…morning, boys.”
“Morning…” The beast mumbled from her shoulder before she sat him down on the counter. “What’s on the menu?”
She checked the bento tags. “Bana-Berry Pancakes in this one.” The fluffy angel-Soufflé kind. My favourite. “And this one is Cosmopolitan Eggs. Food dye safe.”
“Gimmie!” He made a grabby motion with his paws. “My tuna and that are a match made in heaven~”
“Fin’ by me,” She said as her drowsiness slowly faded away. “But it needs to heat up first…” Opening both bentos, she placed them on the glass dish, and put the appropriate time for their meals to warm up to perfection. They sat by watching the time click away, both humming to the sound of the machine.
“Hehe~ You both are one in the same~” Curtis chuckled. “Adorable, ain’t it~” He nudged Benedict’s shoulder.
“You can say that again~”
Albert approached and sat next to them. “So, what’s on the agenda today?”
“Hmmm…Since it’s the weekend…I wanna study more of the geography of this world,” The Fairy Gala incident had her curious more about the lives of these people. How much they differ from Ar Ciel, their technology, culture; since her time of returning home is still up in the air, might as well spend time knowing the people beyond simple storybooks.
“Boring~” Grim said, rising to the cubby to grab from his stash of tuna. “I’m going back to sleep.”
“And after that?”
“Maybe swing by Heartslabyul, and check on Riddle and Ace. I hate that I turned him and Jack down from staying over after what happened…granted I didn’t think their Leaders had intercepted them before reaching my dorm.” I can only imagine the disaster in the aftermath… She sighed. “I can’t believe this all happened over Fae wanting to do something sweet for their Queen.” The microwave beeped, notifying them their food was ready.
“Eh it can’t be helped,” Al joked as Meryu pulled their food out the microwave. She quickly put down the hot dishes and waved her hands away the pain. “Those are the consequences of their actions for almost ruining the plan.”
She laughed, and then sensed something moving for her Soufflé pancakes. And immediately swatted the paw. “Oi! You chose the Cosmo Eggs!”
“But you have three of those things!” Grim glared at her in a huff. “I deserve one!”
“And you have tuna to compliment yours!” She stuck her tongue at him, and moved her food away. “No take backsies!”
The trio laughed at their antics, but paused once they heard the door knock in the foyer. “Ooo~ Company so soon~?”
Sitting her Soufflé pancakes at the dining table, Meryu went to the door with Curtis following behind to answer. She turns the door knob carefully and perks up at the person at the door.
They weren’t anyone she knew on the island, or a passerby down at Foothill Town. In fact, she was more abstractive from any other woman she knew! Tall with long, poppy red hair. Sharp Emerald eyes, pointy ears, and alabaster skin. Her outfit was regal, yet eerily similar to the robes she'd imagine Misya wearing. And it’s all mulberry purple colored, and what’s funny-to Meryu-this lady reminded her a bit of the Teru people in Em Pheyna.
Blinking at the woman in front of her, who, despite her opposing form, looked at her smiling and bowed. “Meryu Ptrapica Melenas, I assume?”
“Yes,” Shook her head furiously. “I mean! Yes!” In panic she tried to fix her hair and clothes, embarrassed to greet someone in her school issued pajamas. Stupid, stupid! Shurelia and Leard taught you better than this!! “I’m sorry for the poor greeting!”
“No no no. It’s alright, Melenas-san,” Rising up hastily, she tried to assure the young woman. “I’m flattered to meet you.”
“Eh?” She stared at her.
“Allow me to introduce myself,” She bowed again. “I’m Aline. Right hand vizier to [Lord Baalfatele of Cielanza].”
“Lord Baalfatele? Cielanza?”
“Hey, Minion. What’s the hold up?” Grim strolled up behind her and hopped on her shoulder. It was then he just noticed their guest. “Hmm~ Has another person come to see how awesome I am~”
“A Dire Beast?” Aline said, noting the feline. “I didn’t know humans had tamed them as well.”
“You could say that…” Meryu flustered again. “Um, why does Mr.-I mean!-LORD Baalfatele want to see me, Ms. Aline?”
With a flick of a wrist, the Vizier produced an envelope decorated in familiar glyphs and fluorescent leaves in her hands. Smile ever present, Aline offered for Meryu to take. “What else but a visit to our lovely home.”
~A few days later, Night Raven: Interior Hall~
When classes began again, the Ramshackle pair traversed the halls to go to the Headmage’s office. The sound of an invitation to some party AWAY from the Island sounded cool, and Grim was fine about taking a break away from school. But to get permission to leave…he hated that part. “You sure you wanna tell ‘em?”
“I kinda have to,” Meryu told him. “Otherwise, he’ll scold us to the point of cutting our stipend again. And you know how Marmalade gets when that happens.” She heard him grumble and sighed. Things may seem calm right now after the Main Magestone was taken away and causing a seasonal apocalyptica on the school, but Crowley is still a stickler for rules and keeping the image of the school clean. “As soon as we’re done, it’s back to the RTG. And we can relax with donuts and Install bath.”
“Ok…”
Soon they made it to Crowley’s office. A few knocks to the door, and they heard an ‘Enter’. Stepping inside, they see the Headmage flipping through a Grimoire of sorts. Maybe one of his personal ones. They approached closer to the desk, waiting for him to notice them. When he didn’t, the Reyvateil cleared her throat and spoke up. “Mr. Crowley.”
Dark beady eyes looked from the edge of his book, and blinked upon seeing the girl and Grim. He perked up more, quickly closing and stowing the book away. “Melenas-san. Grim. What brings you here? Is it regarding appliances again?”
“No! Everything’s fine,” Meryu hastily waved her hands in the air. “The replacements the Doctor and Gamma-sensei gave me are great!”
“Yeah! Those meals came out super tasty!”
“Good, good. I’m happy to hear that,” He said proudly-as if taking the credit for what the aforementioned professors did(which he was). “I am a humble and generous man, and I am doing my due diligence to ensure all accommodations for my students are met!”
We know…after all the hell you and the Housewardens went to send other students to get the school’s Main Magestone back. But Meryu kept that to herself, and pulled out the invitation instead. “I came here to show you this.”
“Hmm?” He eyed the cream envelope in her hands. “What’s that?”
The feline explained as she gave the paper to the Headmage. “Someone from Sealangled came and gave this to Minion. I don’t remember the guy’s name, but he sounded like a big deal.”
“Cielanza. And they said his name was Baalfatele-”
*SHATTER!*
They saw his cup of tea shatter on the ground. “Did you say… Baalfatele?”
“Um…yes?”
And the second she confirmed it, Crowley began to cry tears…of joy? This rightfully made them both concerned. “Umm…Are you ok, sir?”
“This is…so…wonderful!” He says between sobs. “For a noble, generous Fae to see one of Night Raven’s finest! Absolutely wonderful!” He discarded his handkerchief, a boasting smile on his masked face. “Yes! This is splendid!”
“Uh, what is? I don’t get it,” Grim said.
“I’m sure after what had recently…transpired, you are aware of how prideful Fae kind can be. So, naturally, they can be distrusting of humans.” To be fair, they were, but also we didn’t give them a good impression of ourselves either…I could’ve spoken with the Queen, if you let me go instead of them… “However, Baalfatele is a peculiar case.”
“How so?”
“He oversees a land that humans and Fae coexist, a not so far off land once heralded as the place where all life is from: Cielanza.” Dire explained. “And they’re society…well, I think it would be excellent to approve of your going. And I can help prepare a cautious travel spell to ensure your safety as well.”
“Thank you, sir!”
“Yahoo! Party time!”
“Indeed!” He looked over the letter again, and noticed another thing mentioned. “Oh? What’s this?” The students turned back to him and saw his lips turn thin and an ‘ah’ afterward. “I see he also offered about four other guests, minus your plus one-Grim.”
“He did?!” Meryu and Grim said in unison.
“Maybe to ensure goodwill?” Crowley muttered under his breath. “Do you happen to have any people in particular you wish to bring, Melenas-san?”
“Me?”
“You are his guest of honour, and thus allowed to invite others. Whoever you pick, I will be sure to send them a copy of your invite.”
“Hmm…” She pondered over some of the people she knows so far. And while there are a few she finds to be…cordial, there are a few she hoped to bring that come to mind that might like the trip. Plus, it’ll be nice to spend time with them beyond school hours! “Just a few, I hope you don’t mind.”
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Singing Hills: Tes Biron
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