Chapter 1: The 'Tale' of Mihile
.
Disclaimer: I do not own Nexon/Wizet/MapleStory or any of the characters in this story.
.
It was morning in Ereve, when Irena, the Knight Commander of Wind, got up to prepare herself for the Knight's Trainings later around noon. As she was combing her long, smooth green hair, she heard knockings on her door. Thinking it was the usual morning call by Neinheart, she just said, "Thanks, I'm awake."
"Knock, knock, knock…"
"Yeah, I've already woken up… Thanks for …"
"KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!"
The knocking got quicker and louder that it scared Irena. She just stood in front of the mirror while trying to figure out who that was.
'It can't be Neinheart, he wouldn't bother knocking so many times if I'm still fast asleep. He would just barge in and leave a letter of salary deduction on my bed… Wait, couldit be a stalker? That's impossible… Maybe I should just ask him to stop.' She thought to herself.
"Neinheart! Stop it!" Irena shouted.
"WHAT NEINHEART? THIS IS SERIOUS! I LOST MIHILE AND MIHILE!" A familiar voice came from the other side of the door. Irena recognized it as Oz, the Knight Commander of Fire, who is also a close friend of hers. Irena sighed before realizing what Oz said. 'Wait, Oz lost Mihile? …andMihile…? How's that even…' Irena quickly opened the door and asked, "Calm down, Oz. What happened?"
"M-Mihile's gone! So is Mihile!" Oz cried.
"W-What? That's… impossible… How could there be two Mihiles?"
"… That's not important. What's important is that MIHILE and MIHILE are GONE!THEY ARE GONE! MIHILE AND MIHILE ARE GONE!"
'…' Irena was at loss for words. She knew she couldn't get any more info from a panicking Oz.
"Mornin'! Irena~" Hawkeye, the Knight Commander of Lightning waved to the two ladies as they walked towards him.
"Hawkeye, explain how did Oz lost Eckhart and Eckhart?" Irena asked as her beautiful golden eyes stared at the tanned-skin Pirate.
"I'm here." Eckhart shouted from above. The Knight Commander of Darkness was sitting at his usual spot on the branch of a tree near the Cygnus Knight's resting spot.
"You mean… Mihile and Mihile…" Hawkeye replied.
"I LOST THEM! I LOST THEM! I WAS WALKING WITH THEM AT TINO'S FOREST WHEN THEY SUDDENLY DISSAPEARED!" Oz quickly explained. Irena was somewhat annoyed by Oz's screaming and turned to Hawkeye, "Who's Mihile?"
"Our friend, who else?" Hawkeye answered, as though that was the most obvious thing on Earth. Irena angrily stepped on his right foot, causing him to yell in pain, "IT'S OZ'S DOG! OWWWW! OZ IS DOG MIHILE!"
Irena was shocked, "Oz, you named your dog after Mihile?" Oz just quietly nodded, not because she felt guilty, but worried.
"…Alright. Guys, let's go look for them in the forest."Irena shook her head and said. "Oz, show us where you lost them."
"Hey Mihile, since when are there Orange Mushrooms in Ereve?"
"…"
"… Don't ignore me. And stop looking at me like that. It looks like you want to eat me or something." said the man with long blonde hair. There was a dog, with blonde wavy hair and deep blue eyes that resembled the Soul Master, sitting in front of him, wagging its tail with its tongue sticking out.
"Maybe I should ask for directions. Let's see…" The Soul Master looked around but there was no sign of life, well, there were Orange Mushrooms who would eat him, but definitely not anyone who he could ask for directions from. Suddenly, Mihile the Dog walked towards the base of a tree and started barking.
"SHUT UP!" A strange voice suddenly appeared. Mihile the Knight's eyes shone with excitement, and ran towards the voice, "Where's this? We're lost!"
"THIS IS SPARTAA!" said the tiny voice. Mihile looked around the tree before noticing a tiny pink flower near the roots of the tree. It had two eyes, and a mouth.
"Please, we're really lost. We got separated from our friend, Oz, while we were strolling in Ereve." Mihile the Knight kneeled and begged.
"If you use your common sense, there shouldn't be any Orange Mushrooms in Ereve, idiot. Oh wait, you actually have any commonsense? Hmph." The snobbish pink flower remarked. "On a second thought, I wish to go to heaven when I die, so I'll help unfortunately stupid people like you. .."
"Hold it." A stern voice said, stopping the four Knight Commanders who were about to leave. "Where do you think you're going? You're not paid to go skipping around, you know." Empress Cygnus' tactician, Neinheart said while adjusting his monocle.
"W-we're going to look for Mihile!" Oz quickly justified themselves. "We'll be back fast, really."
Neinheart only stared at them. After a while, he finally spoke. "Be back here by 2 minutes, or watch me cut your salary." Before he could finish his sentence, three of the Knights already ran off, leaving Eckhart who is still sitting on the tree with Mimo, his feathered friend. Neinheart looked up and asked, "You're not joining them?"
Eckhart took of his mask for a few seconds and said, "…Nope."
"You're in Spartaa Forest." The pink flower looked proud as he said out the name of the place
"… Stop joking around. I've never heard of any place with such a silly name." Mihile sighed.
"H-How dare you? Spartaa Forest is the pride of us Pinky Flowers! It was named after our GREAT ancestor, Spartaa, who did soooo much for the beings here! How dare you ridicule his name!" The pink flower roared.
Mihile was too tired to say anything else. This flower is nuts, he thought. He just wanted a way out of here. He looked at Mihile the Dog who was sitting obediently next to him and asked, "I wonder where we really are at… How do we get out of here…?"
"ACCORDING TO YOU STUPID HUMANS, THIS PLACE IS CALLED HENESYS WOODS! DOESN'T THAT SOUND WAAAAY MORE STUPID? FINE! I'M NOT TELLING YOU HOW TO GET OUT OF HERE!" The tiny pink flower growled with its tiny and high –pitched voice, sounding like the voice of a person speaking on TV when you fast forward it. Mihile was scared by the thought of not being able to return to Ereve to serve Empress Cygnus and quickly bowed down towards the flower. "I'm sorry! Please help us! We really need to get back to Ereve! We've walked around here for hours and still couldn't find our way out! Please!"
The pink flower looked at the Knight Commander of Light and said, "Fine, like I said, I want to go to heaven, so I'll help you, but first, you must do me a favor…"
"Quick! We've gotta be quick! Neinheart said we must be back in 2 hours!" Oz hurried.
"Wait." Irena stopped for a moment, "Oz… Here's an advice for you... Next time when you're going out, get a map or a GPS…"
"Huh? Why?" Oz curiously asked.
"This ain't Tino's Forest… It's Henesys Woods…" Hawkeye placed his palm on his face.
"Ahh? How could that be? B-But I'm sure…" Before Oz could finish her sentence, Irena shook her head and sighed, "How did you even walk from Ereve to here...? That's... impossible. You need to ride a ship to leave a floating island, you know..."
Oz just looked surprised. Irena was right. How did she even manage to walk from Ereve to Henesys without noticing it? She started giggling at the thought of possessing superpowers when Irena suddenly said, "Hm? Isn't that Mihile? And a dog?" She pointed towards the east, then walked towards them.
"…" The three Knights' jaws dropped. They couldn't believe what they saw with their own eyes. However, it seems that the Soul Master did not notice their presence.
"Mihile… " The Soul Master was shocked when he heard Oz's cry and quickly opened his eyes. His face immediately turned red. He quickly stopped fanning the pink fan in his hand. He desperately tried to clear himself, "N-No! It's not what you guys think! I…"
"Poor Mihile, I didn't knew… I-I feel so sorry for you… You're forced by destiny into the path of a warrior when you really wanted to be an opera dancer… Poor dude…" Hawkeye rubbed his eyes with pity.
Irena was still full of shock and didn't know what to say. Oz, whose eyes was teary, jumped in and hugged Mihile tightly, "Oh … Oh Dear! Mihile! I didn't know that you could look so cute with Pink Flowers Headbands, Pink Fan, Pink Elizabeth Dress and OH MY GOD! YOU LOOK SO CUUUUUTE IN THAT FAIRY SHAWL! KYAA~~~ " Oz was too excited and squealed non-stop. "I LOVE GUYS WHO STILL LOOK SO PRETTY IN DRESSES~" That sentence sent a chill down the two men knight's spine as they looked at each other's pale faces.
"Très magnifique ! " The pink flower cried, "I've always wanted to indulge myself in such magnificent costume and strike such a ladylike pose! But alas! My height did not allow me to do so! I… My dream came true! Now! I shall tell you how to get out of this forest!"
The three Knights just stared at the tiny pink flower. Oz quickly let go of her arms from Mihile and turned to the tiny pink flower. "Awwww! What a pretty flower!" The pink flower just shyly blushed and said , "Why, thank you."
The other two knights just turned to Mihile and the dog and asked, "How did you end up here..?"
The Soul Master who just finished taking off those embarrassing costume answered, "Chasing butterflies."
The two knights' eyes bulged. They were filled with disbelief. Hawkeye asked with concern, "Why would you be chasing butterflies…?" He was worried that his fellow Knight was indeed forced to be a warrior against his own will.
"Mihile chased it. I think he was hungry." Mihile the Knight pointed at the innocent-looking dog that was too busy rubbing its ear with its hind leg. "Because of him, we ended up here…"
"Why didn't you just leave that dog then? Sooner or later, Neinheart the animal hater's gonna throw it away anyway." Irena crossed her arms.
"I wanted to get that butterfly." Mihile responded righteously, "For the Empress."
"…" Hawkeye was busy thinking. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers and said, "Aha! Let's use Mihile the Dog as a scapegoat! This way, Neinheart won't blame us for skipping work!" Irena and Mihile the Knight nodded in agreement of the ingenious idea. While Oz, was obviously heartbroken. It was her dog, afterall. However, she couldn't deny that this was all caused by her dog and anyway, Neinheart's gonna secretly get rid of that dog when he finds out about it. She just looked down at her feet and said nothing.
"Let's get back to Ereve before the 2 hours' up!" Hawkeye patted Mihile on the shoulder, and walked off along with everyone else.
As the four knights were running along the Crossroad of Ereve, they met Neinheart who was standing at the entrance to the Knight's Chamber. "1 hour and 47 minutes late! I told you to be back here by 2 minutes!" Neinheart was clearly angry but the knights were only shocked.
"D-Didn't you say 2 minutes…?" Oz cowardly hid behind Hawkeye and pulled his sleeves.
"That's why. Running off before listening my whole sentence. I'll be cutting your pay then." Neinheart smirked with pleasure.
"O-Objection! We as fellow Knight Commanders are just worried for Mihile! And that's why we went looking for him! If something bad happens to him…" Hawkeye desperately tried to defend themselves.
"Hmm, so you're saying the blame's on Mihile, then?" Neinheart looked at him coldly, "Fine, I'll only cut Mihile's pay then, since he's the one who's guilty for taking you guys on a meaningless trip. "
"…" None of the knights responded except, surprisingly, Oz. "Y-You think he wouldn't mind? You should at least ask for his opinion first!"
"….He wouldn't mind, I tell you." Neinheart whispered to Oz, leaving Oz totally confused while he turned to Mihile and said, "I'm cutting your pay for this month, Mihile."
The Soul Master was somewhat upset as he tried to say something against it, "But…"
"The Empress said so." Neinheart turned around and walked away after finishing his sentence.
"Ok then." The sad expression on the Soul Master's face was gone as it returned to his usual cold, serious and stoic look. As he walked away, Oz and Hawkeye only looked at him strangely, somewhat admiring and feeling sorry for his extreme loyalty towards the Empress when Irena spoke, "Thank goodness Neinheart didn't notice the dog."
"Oh yeah, um… S-So what're we gonna do with Mihile? The doggy. " Oz asked sadly as she walked towards the dog who was hiding behind Irena.
"Sell it." Eckhart suddenly appeared from behind, scaring Oz. "Yaaaaah-! W-Waaaa-!"
"Sell it…?" Irena looked at Eckhart and started rubbing her chin in thought. "Not a bad idea, really. That dog did cause Mihile to chase after a butterfly…"
"…" Oz didn't know what to say, or perhaps she just haven't recovered from the shock yet. Hawkeye patted her head and said, "I feel sorry for Mihile too… I mean, Neinheart cuts people's pay by a big portion. We should sell this dog and use the money to buy some shark's fin to enjoy!"
"….." The other knights looked at him in disbelief. Irena was the first to say something.
"Y… That's ridiculous." She shrugged. Eckhart nodded and agreed with her.
"Indeed… Ridiculous. Why would you spend those money to buy shark's fin when you spend all day throwing sharks? What a waste of money." It was hard to tell how he felt as his face was hidden under a mask, but a sigh could be clearly heard at the end of his sentence.
"How true. And it's animal cruelty to only eat the fin. " Irena continued.
"Umm…" Oz finally spoke up, but she was almost ignored by the rest. "Guys…"
"Hey! You've got a point! We should use this money at the Pachinko instead of paying for sharks that I can get for free!" Hawkeye's eye shone as he said that.
"U-Ummm…. Hey…."
"I don't like Pachinkos, let's use it to shop for clothes instead." Irena suggested happily.
"Hey guys…"
"Nah, don't like clothes. Just get me some good books…" Eckhart sounded totally uninterested in Irena's idea.
Finally, the Blaze Wizard who was ignored by the three knights snapped, "GUYS! SHOULDN'T THAT MONEY BE GIVEN TO MIHILE SINCE HE WAS THE ONE WHOSE PAY WAS CUT?"
.
Author's Note: I'm not really good at writing and this is my first time writing a fan fiction, so I'll really appreciate any helpful comments or reviews. Anyway, thanks for reading~