Chapter 1 – Youthful Innocence
"...Hey, Grandma…?" A little boy walked up to a tall old woman and looked her in her eyes.
The tall old woman, the boy's Grandmother, looked down and replied with an acquired English accent, "Yes, little one?"
The two were in a moderately sized living room. It was decorated with a western style aesthetic. There was a fireplace on one wall that was decorated with portraits of the family, with a large painting of the Grandmother by herself striking a very powerful pose in the middle. The painting was in a golden frame with lilac flowers engraved into the corners. A large collection of books was on the left side of the wall in a large mahogany book shelf. On the right, there was a large reclining chair and an oak table with a small silver tea set on it. The boy's Grandmother was in her recliner when he asked her about leaving.
"Can we go to the Autumn Festival?" The little boy asked.
She looked like a thirty-year-old with a large streak of gray in her otherwise black hair. The woman was sixty-seven, and the only indicator of her age was that large gray streak in her neck length hair. She is a chocolate skinned lady with a fair build, though a bit more round around her thighs and chest. She was wearing a denim jacket with a long lavender dress.
She smiled and asked, "You really want to go to that festival, don't you?"
The little boy nodded. "Yeah! Cuz Grandma promised!" He was a tiny child, no older than seven years. His hair was short and dark red. His red eyes blazed vibrantly with a youthful happiness, and like his Grandmother, he was chocolate skinned. He was a little pudgy around the belly as well, but he was starting to even out. He wore a small jacket and shorts with sneakers.
The boy's Grandmother nodded, "I sure did, Zell. Come on. If you're ready, then we can head out." she smiled and held her hand out to him.
The little boy giggled and happily took his Grandmother's hand and they exited their home to visit the Autumn Festival.
The duo arrived at the entrance of the lane where the festival was being held and they noticed a little girl sitting by herself. She looked as though she was looking for someone.
"Hey, Grandma! That little girl over there looks lost or something!"
She looked where he'd specified and she did see a little pale skinned girl with dark brown hair with two small tails tied in a way that framed her face. Her hair in the front was evenly trimmed, resting just before her brows, while the hair in the back fell down to her shoulders. Her ruby colored eyes were filled with terror. She was dressed in a black and white bird themed kimono.
His Grandmother crouched to get eye level with her Grandson, "Hm, well, what do you do when you see someone who needs help?"
Zell threw his hand up, "You help them out!"
The woman nodded. "That's right. Go on and see if she needs help. I'll be watching from here, okay?"
"Okay!" Zell replied and ran off towards the girl with his arms straight out at his sides and making airplane sounds.
The little girl had folded herself up in the little chair she was sitting in, until she'd started hearing someone blowing raspberries. "...huh?"
She looked down and noticed the red haired boy and he threw out his hand. "Hey there! I'm Zell."
The girl wiped her eyes and shook his hand slowly. "...I-I'm Ruby..."
Zell gave a big, friendly smile to her, "That's a nice name!" He said and looked back to his Grandma. "Oh, Ruby, are you lost?"
She nodded slowly and curled up again, resting her chin on her knees, "...Yes… I lost my Mommy and Daddy..."
He gasped and leaned forward with a smile, "Me and my Grandma can help you find them!"
She looked to him, "You'll… help me find Mommy and Daddy?"
He nodded, "Yep. That's what good guys do! And I'm a good guy!" He held out his hand, "Well, let's go, Ruby."
The little girl blinked back more tears and wiped her eyes before slowly taking the boy's hand. "O-okay..." She replied reluctantly.
"My Grandma's over here! C'mon!" He said happily and walked her back to his elderly caregiver.
When the two kids got close to Zell's Grandmother, the old woman noticed that Ruby gave off an aura. 'What's this? Is this girl a demon too?'
"Grandma~! She said she lost her parents! Can we take her with us and look for them?" Zell's voice tore the woman away from the thought and she crouched to get eye level with the two children.
"She lost her parents?" Zell's Grandmother asked. She looked at Ruby, who gave a slow, sad nod to confirm.
"Well, we can't just leave her here… So yes. We'll take her with us to find her parents." His Grandmother stated firmly, yet gently enough not to scare the little girl. "My name's Elizabeth. What's yours, little one?"
"...Ruby..."
Elizabeth smiled, "That's a lovely name. Come now, Zell. Let's look for Ruby's parents."
"'Kay!" The little boy replied and grabbed his Grandmother's right hand. Ruby did the same and grabbed the woman's left hand, albeit with a hint of apprehension at first.
The three of them walked around the stalls of the festival. Zell was captured by the sights and stopped in his tracks to see a game where you had to catch fish to win prizes.
"Oh! Grandma, can I try that game!?" He asked and pointed to the fishing game.
"Sure. But don't take too long, okay?" Elizabeth chuckled and walked him and Ruby over to the game.
The vendor was an older man, looking to appear in his thirties. "Well, hello you three! Care to try? Grab a fish and win a prize."
Zell looked at the older man before he noticed the prize board behind him. Amid the collection of stuffed animals and animal inspired masks, there were small pieces of jewelry here and there. One stood out to the young boy as a large pearl beaded necklace that caught his attention. It cost three silver fish.
"I want that one!" He proclaimed and pointed to the pearl necklace.
Elizabeth looked at the beaded necklace and blinked. "...Well, you need to catch the three silver fish in the tank to win that prize."
"I can do it! You said the best way to catch anything was to watch and wait. I remember, Grandma." Zell replied confidently.
Elizabeth smiled and fished out a few coins for him to try the game. "Is this enough for a few tries?" She asked as she handed the handful of coins to the vendor.
The vendor counted the coins carefully before nodding, "Yes ma'am. Five attempts to be exact."
"Well Zell, go for it. You get five turns. Be careful."
The vendor gave the young boy five nets and he started to watch the fish intently, locking on the three silver fish immediately. His eyes followed the movements of the erratic fish and he dipped one net into the water, causing one of the tiny silver fish to bump right into it. The fish was pushed back and in that instant, the little boy scooped up the first fish and handed the net to his Grandma, who dropped the fish into a small bag of water.
"That's one." the vendor said. "Two more left, young man."
Zell nodded. "Hm! I'm going to get that necklace." He didn't look up at the vendor when he replied, since his focus was still hard on the other two silver fish.
The two fish were swimming side by side, which the young boy took advantage of. His wit was well beyond his age, it seemed. The remaining silver fish collided with the net underwater and they both were scooped up one after the other, with the young boy swiping one with his left hand, and the other with his right hand.
The vendor was shocked to see a little boy pull of something like that. However, he was an honest man.
"A-amazing! No one's ever been able to do that! How old are you kid?"
"I'm seven! My birthday was in April!" Zell replied with a large toothy grin. "Can I get the necklace?"
The vendor looked at the old woman. "I've been teaching him how to hunt. He enjoys fish quite a lot, so I decided to make him earn his food."
"I never thought I'd even see anyone move that fast."
"Little kids have the best reaction speed. It shouldn't have been that much a surprise." Elizabeth replied and held her hand out.
Zell handed his Grandmother the two silver fish and she dropped them in the bag with the other fish. The vendor turned and went to grab the pearl necklace and slid it into a bag. "Here ya are son. Take good care of it!"
"What about the fish?"
"Other people have to play the game too, ya know? So we're going to put them back in so someone else can win a prize, yeah?"
"Oh, okay! Thank you for the necklace mister!" Zell replied and took the bag from the vendor. He took his Grandmother's hand again and she led them down the lane once more.
"Hey, Ruby..."
"Y...Yes?" She replied shyly and looked at him from behind Elizabeth's hand.
"Here. I won this for you." Zell said and held up the bag.
Elizabeth raised a brow, "Really?"
"Yeah! Ruby looks sad without her Mom and Dad, so I wanted to win something shiny to make her feel better!"
Elizabeth took the two children to the side and grabbed two caramel apples. "Well, Ruby, what do you say?"
Ruby looked at the tall woman before looking to the boy beside her, "Um… thank you… you guys are really nice people."
Zell smiled and explained, "Grandma says a good man is strong and kind! So I wanna be a good man when I grow up."
Ruby just looked at him, "Oh..."
"Anyway, here ya go." Zell stepped towards her and put on the pearl necklace. It was far too big for the young Ruby, so Elizabeth stepped in.
She chuckled and handed the caramel apples to her Grandson. "Hold on to these, okay? One's for you and one is for her."
"Right!" Zell said and nibbled on one of the apples.
Elizabeth took the necklace and wrapped it around four times, so that it looked like Ruby had on a bunch of pearl necklaces. "You look so nice in that necklace."
Ruby blushed and looked up to the tall brown skinned woman, "...You think so?"
She nodded. "Mhm. Now here, have a snack. After that we've got to find your parents. Okay?"
Elizabeth took the other caramel apple from her Grandson and handed it to Ruby, who gladly took the treat and munched happily. "Zell, you stay here and watch over Ruby, alright? I'm going to ask around to see if anyone's lost their child."
"I'm on it Grandma~" The young boy replied and watched his Grandmother vanish into the crowd.
He turned to Ruby and asked her, "So, Ruby… how old are you? I'm seven!"
Ruby looked at him, "I-I'm… nine."
"Cool! Do you go to school? I go to school! But some of the kids aren't very nice to me."
"I do go to school…. But no one talks to me. Everyone thinks I'm weird."
Zell chomped on the apple again before talking, "Grandma says that weird people are the fun ones! It doesn't matter what the normal kids think. It's fine to be different."
Ruby brightened up when she heard what he said, "You really think I'm… fun?"
Zell nodded, "Yeah! You're a pretty girl too." He took a seat beside her and chomped more into his apple, eating the inside of the apple now that he'd taken all of the caramel off.
Ruby blushed and chomped into her apple to hide it, "Thank… you..."
Zell looked around and noticed that his Grandmother was returning with a rather distraught couple. "Hey, there's Grandma!" He sat up and pointed to the incoming trio.
Ruby looked up and gasped. "Mommy! Daddy!" She jumped up from her spot and ran to meet her parents.
Ruby's father was a tall man, but he was still a bit shorter than Zell's Grandmother. He was a cream skinned man with neck length black hair and brown eyes. Ruby's mother was even shorter than her father. She was a well-developed woman with long brown hair pulled into a ponytail. Both parents were wearing loose fitting business suits.
The two parents hugged their child and called her name. The little girl giggled as they both hoisted her up and placed her on her father's shoulders.
"Ruby, were you a good girl for the nice lady and her Grandson?"
Ruby nodded, "Yes Mommy. I even made friends!"
Ruby's mother looked to the brown skinned Grandmother and her Grandson, "Elizabeth-san?"
"Mhm! And Zell! He gave me this as a friendly gift!" The little girl held up the pearl necklace that Zell had won and gave to her.
Ruby's mother gasped, "Oh my! Where did he get that?" She turned and brought her attention to the little boy, "Where did you get that necklace for my daughter?"
"I won it." The boy replied simply and looked at his Grandmother. "...Is that bad?"
Elizabeth looked at the family, and all three of them looked at her, then to her Grandson. She raised a brow and asked them, "Is it a problem for him to have won such a pricey looking item and then give it to your daughter?"
Ruby's Mom shook her head, "No! It's wonderful." She looked back to Zell. "Zell-kun?"
"Hm? Yes?"
"Thank you very much for making my daughter smile. She hadn't smiled in a long time, and thanks to you, she's happy again."
"I just want Grandma to be proud of me!" he replied simply and looked to his caregiver. "Can we go get a mask now?"
Elizabeth smiled and picked up her Grandson. "Sure. If it's no problem for Ruby and her parents, she can come along too."
Ruby asked, "Can I Mommy? Can I? Please?"
Ruby's mother giggled, "Sure you can sweetie. Meet us at the entrance in an hour, okay? We need to get you home for bed."
"Okay!" Ruby cheered as her father let her down from his shoulders and she ran to Elizabeth's side.
"An hour, right?" Elizabeth repeated for confirmation.
The Parents nodded, "Yes please."
"Consider it done." Elizabeth replied and took the two children to enjoy the rest of the night.