She was a curiosity. She had beaten Yuri in his own game of wits and discovered an underwater temple… and brought back treasure at that. She had lived on an island for 7 years by herself, save for the imaginary friend that she was always talking with. Her cheerful chattering filled the emptiness of the ship.
But honestly, Precht felt uneasy. Warren and Yuri were enough - why had they taken in this mysterious girl who was so obsessed with fairies? Mavis Vermillion… just who was she?
While Warren and Yuri exchanged sarcastic banter, Precht watched her from behind his cloak. She skipped around the marketplace, trying on trinkets, smelling flowers, and tasting candy. How had this simple, excitable little girl outwitted Yuri so easily? Did the guy have some kind of brain damage? She didn't even look thirteen.
Mavis ran up to them, bubbling with excitement. "Zera found us a place to stay for the night!" She gestured emphatically towards a cloud of thin air situated vaguely in front of him.
Yuri grinned. "Good thinking. We might even have to spend a couple days here gathering information."
Precht looked at Mavis again and looked away, mildly appalled. Warren turned to him with a worried expression. Lowering his voice, he asked, "What's wrong? You seem tense."
Precht merely grimaced. "I'm having some second thoughts on what we brought back from Tenrou." He walked away from the group despite Warren's protests. "We won't find anything about Blue Skull standing around here. I'll meet you at the hotel later."
"I'd love to come with you, if you don't mind!" Precht stared back at the bubbly pink-clad girl running after him. "You're always so quiet that I don't feel like I've really gotten the chance to get to know you." She smiled lopsidedly at him.
This was just great. How the hell was he supposed to find information about Blue Skull with her running around behind him? He was a treasure hunter, not a babysitter.
Precht sighed. "Fine. Suit yourself."
"You can rest while we go and explore!" Mavis yelled back at Yuri and Warren. "See you in a little while, Zera!"
Precht tried desperately to ignore the little girl that trailed behind him as they made their way through the streets of Hargeon. She was busy admiring the sights and marveling at the abundance of restaurants. Hargeon wasn't even a particularly large town, just a small port… but he supposed that for someone stuck on Tenrou Island for seven years, it was quite impressive. Yuri had the right of the situation, it seemed; Mavis was experiencing a case of severe culture shock.
Mavis ran in front of him. "Hey, do you think we should stop and get something to eat?
Precht ignored her and kept walking.
"Wait for me!" She ran forward and grabbed his cape. "Why are you so quiet? You know you don't have to be shy around me."
How was he supposed to tell her that he wasn't shy, he just had a job to do and she was interfering?
"I'm not shy, I just don't have anything to say to you." He couldn't find a nicer way to express his feelings, but he almost regretted it as the words left his mouth. Would she get upset? Would she cry? But as the words left his mouth, he realized the truth of them. Maybe he wasn't so much annoyed with her so much as he had no idea what to say to her. She was just so cheerful, so pink, and so… he didn't know what it was, but there was something about her that made the room she stood in come alive.
"Okay, I understand." She released his cape. "And I appreciate your being so honest with me."
She made a slight bow towards him and his eyes widened in surprise. She… wasn't upset?
"But the truth of the matter is you actually don't have to think of anything to say." She continued, "All I want is for you to share your knowledge. This is all so new to me! I've never been to a city before, but I imagine you've visited many of them in your treasure-hunting adventures!" She placed a hand on her heart. "So I just wanted to learn some things from you. I have a lot of questions about the outside world, and I'm sure that you have just as many answers!"
Authors Note: Hi everyone!
I don't own any of the characters, and the dialogue of this chapter is based on the anime. :)