"Zepiroh?"
"No no no! Zephyroo."
"Zehphyo."
"Look at my mouth. Ze-phy-roo."
"... Zeefiro."
"...You're hopeless, aren't you?" The frustrated miner collapsed into his chair, wondering how dumb could his friend be. He was a gifted scholar - in fact, gifted was an understatement for someone who could learn how to brew a complex potion in less that five minutes. However, his classmate...
"Zepheerow?" ... wasn't as blessed with knowledge as him. A great fighter, yes, all lessons with the word 'violence' on it floated, but learning facts was like a rock in his head - it sunk down to the bottom of his brain.
"I think that's enough learning for today, oh wise Kradness," Kaito sarcastically remarked, shutting his book with a dull thump. They'll never get to the Aether, they knew that. The price for tickets was always at a record high, and seemed to never lower. It was as if there were less and less airplanes flying to the Aether, but there were actually more flying to the island in the clouds. Kaito and Kradness, childhood friends, had always dreamed of going to the Aether, but due to being merely miners who, when blessed with luck, found a piece of coal, they couldn't afford such a lengthy journey. That, and they always had to pay for their occasional "accidents."
"Hey, Kaito! Remember that time where we accidentally lit the TNT in that coffee shop?" Kradness asked, a big grin on his face. Kaito couldn't help but let a smile creep onto his lips. It was funny, despite the manager's spit flying onto his face as he screamed curses at him and his best friend.
"BOOM!" Kaito exclaimed, making an exploding hand motion. "And that's how you blow up a coffee shop!" The two best friends suddenly laughed in unision. Although it costed more than a month's pay for compensation, it was pretty funny to see stuff blow up.
Kradness sighed happily, and grinned. "So when do you think we'll finally go? Y'know, to the Aether?"
Kaito looked down a bit. "Not sure... but we'll go someday! I'm sure of it!" As he said those words, he wasn't sure if they were true. He shook the negative thought out of his head. Negativity would only bring sadness and frustration. Look up! Towards the Aether!
"Hopefully soon." Kradness took out a loaf of bread and tore it into two large chunks. He took a hungry bit out of his half and handed the other to Kaito. "Hey, how's your friend from the Aether?"
Kaito smiled, remembering the letter he had recently received a few days ago. She was a fast replier, in contrast to the sluggish pace Kaito always sent his letters in. "Great, great! She hasn't changed a bit from when she moved into our town during high school."
"What was her name? Air or something?"
"Aria. You should remember better. She went to our school as a foreign exchange student. At least I keep in touch with her."
Kradness pondered the name for a bit. "They sure give strange names in the Aether, huh?"
"Hey, Aria's pretty nice. She's the one that bought the Aether Guide for us!" Kaito objected, shoving the mentioned book in Kradness's face. It taught them lessons in the Aether's culture, as well as mobs to watch out for.
Kradness gently shoved the book away from his face. "Well," he said, swallowing the last of his bread, "I'll just leave so you can go send love letters to your girlfriend from the Aether." Kaito grumbled something incoherent as Kradness triumphantly grinned.
"Hey, Kradness, shouldn't you be going somewhere?" hissed Kaito.
"Oh, crap! Crap! Crap! I forgot! My sis is going to kill me! Ugh... damn pigs! Why do they have to be sick today?" Kradness quickly grabbed his backpack and charged through the door. He shouted behind him, "Thanks for the lesson, Kaito!" He dashed away and turned a corner.
Kaito looked around his house. Better get cleaning up for tomorrow's lesson. Or maybe he should reply to Aria first?
"Kradness! Kradness! Kradness!" Kaito was practically flying through the streets of the city, excitement in his eyes. He wouldn't wait - no, can't wait - for Kradness to arrive at his cramped house for today's Aether lesson. He had to tell the news now, and he'll find him. Before he knew it, he had collided into a stranger. "Ah, sorry, sorry!"
"Dude! You look like you won the lottery or something? What's up with you?" Kaito looked up to see his friend looking at him, the same look he gave people when he didn't understand what they were saying. Which was all the time.
Kaito panted, "A-Aria... she's going to... help us get to the Aether!"
"W-What?" A shocked Kradness gasped in surprise at the news. "This isn't... this is real, right?"
Kaito dug into his pocket and took out a slip of paper. "See for yourself." He shoved the paper in his friend's face.
Kaito,
Great news! I found a few people who are willing to bring you to the Aether! It's so cool! They are going to tax you, though. About 500 Ambrosium Shards (Sorry, but I don't know the currency over where you live!). But it's worth the cheap price! I'll meet you and your friend at the airport! I can't wait for you two to be here! Sorry for the unusually short letter, I've been pretty busy this week and today is not an exception. Ugh... Aether business. Anyway, see you two later!
~ Aria
"Although she talks about it casually, it's an international trip, right?" Kradness said while Kaito was neatly folding the letter back into his pocket. He nodded in reply.
"Yep," Kaito nodded. "And I did the math. The price is... um..." he muttered something quickly under his breath.
"What?"
"Um... 50 gold ingots. Per person."
"... We'll never go to the Aether."
Kaito sighed and turned around. "Well, see ya."
"Hey!" Kradness said, "where are you going?"
"Gotta get a job. Mining for coal isn't enough for the trip." Kaito continued walking away, searching for Help Wanted signs.
"...Wow, he must love that girl a lot," Kradness muttered to himself. A bit too loudly. Kaito whipped around with a glare sharp enough to pierce through even the enderdragon's scales.
"I heard that, you know!"
Each word that escaped from the rather 'hearty' man was ignored by Kaito, in a new uniform and a shining name tag. Oh, I wonder what type of food the Aether has... I think that it has a lot of eggs, since there's so many of those birds there. Then again, it's on a cloud, so maybe... ooh~ Maybe the food is made of clouds! That would be -
"Kaito? Do you understand?" He was quickly snapped back into reality.
"Y-Y-Yes sir!"
"Good! I won't repeat this a second time, so go do your job." His boss entered the dark Employees Only room, leaving Kaito alone with no clue on how to do his job.
"...Um." Kaito looked around the empty shop. For a convenience store, it was pretty empty. But thank goodness. The uniform wasn't exactly part of the latest fashion trends. Nested on his head was a massive sombrero that had to be occasionally readjusted so it wouldn't fall. A poncho covered his usual green short-sleeved shirt. And under his nose was an itchy, fake mustache. Maybe he shouldn't have taken the job after all. Damn themed stores.
Ring ring. The door opened as a customer walked inside. "Welcome -" Kaito began to greet, but the customer didn't acknowledge him. And thank goodness, because Kaito recognized who exactly the customer was.
There was Kradness, browsing through the junk food (as expected) and having conflicting feelings between ultra spicy potato chips and sugared sweets. Unexpected paranoia crept up on Kaito. If he saw him like this, he'd whip up his phone, flash, and there would be easy blackmail material. And he knew Kradness will use blackmail anywhere, anytime.
Out of all the convenience stores in the city, why this one?! But if he doesn't serve him, his boss would get angry. Oh Notch, is he screwed! His sombrero accidentally bumped into a shelf. "Gah!" He quickly put the sombrero back on.
"... Are you okay?" Kradness asked, being the friendly person he was.
Kaito pitched his voice to make it sound deeper. "Y-Yes. Please, continue shopping." Kradness looked at him curiously for a second, as if knowing the deep-voiced cashier was actually his friend, but shrugged and continued browsing. Kaito sighed in relief. Maybe he could hide using his sombrero...? He tipped the hat to cover his face. It was quite at an odd angle, but it did hide his identity. Which was better than receiving stares from the people passing by outside. Soon his friend came and placed a bag of chips on the desk. Kaito soon panicked once again as awkward silence settled in. He couldn't see a thing. The sombrero's angle covered his eyesight completely. He asked slowly in a deep voice, "How much is this...?"
Kradness looked confused at the cashier but replied, "Three Coal Pieces."
"O-Okay, please give me the money." Kradness handed him an iron bar instead. "W-Why so much?"
"That's the only thing I have on me. Can I have the change, please?" Kaito opened the cash register. Coal was the exact same as emeralds to him. He exhaled in his frustration and desperation.
"Please take nine Coal Pieces from the cash register."
"Um... excuse me?"
"Take nine Coal Pieces from the cash register." Kradness looked at him for a second before doing so.
"Thank you, please come back again soon," Kaito said, trying to sound as positive as possible. Kradness walked away quickly, slightly freaked out and confused. Kaito sighed in relief and took off his sombrero. That was close... A cough was heard, and Kaito turned to see his boss glaring at him, a combination of rage and shock clearly written in red on his face.
"Oh, hey Kaito, why so grumpy -" Kaito collapsed into his seat, with a cranky huff.
He exclaimed, "My boss fired me!"
"That's your own fault." Kradness stood up straight suddenly and mocked, "'Please take nine Coal Pieces from the cash register,'" Kradness mocked.
"W-Wait! You knew that was me?" Kaito pressed.
"I think you can turn Aria on with that sexy mustache!"
"That's not funny!" Kaito snapped, which only sent Kradness flying into laughter.
"Really, I never knew you were so scared of me!"
"Dude, you blackmail people."
"But I wouldn't do that to you! I'm really sorry I made you lose your job, but at least I got you out of wearing that weird costume."
Kaito couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, that's for sure. I mean, that mustache itched like crazy."
"I could tell."
"Maybe I should wait for a bit to go to the Aether."
Kradness looked a bit shocked. "Really? How come?"
"Well, we're poor, and we still haven't learned a lot about the Aether"
Kaito's friend nodded his head slowly. "You do make a point..."
"First semester of the Aether Fanclub just started!" Kaito exclaimed, picking up the guide.
"With a record high of two members!"
"True, so true."
If you would like, I would very much appreciate every review! I'm not forcing you to do so, but every review gives me a bit of encouragement :D I won't ask for mercy, saying "OMG DIS IS MY 1ST FANFIC PLZ PLZ REVIEW NO FLAMRS THX" because, technically, this is not my first fanfiction, it's just my first fanfic on this website. So thanks for reading, whether you're reviewing or not, just the thought that you read my words is mind-blowingly awesome :D San-Kyuu~! (Thank you, it's just how I've heard it said before so... prepare for that to become a trend with me.)