(A/N)

And I'm back, with my semi-regular schedule, which will probably be disturbed soon due to school starting back (online) in a few days. Writing this chapter just about killed me, as I have never written a scene like this before. So, hopefully it's good. Oh, I added this story to Wattpad, as per Anissa's recommendation. There are currently three chapters there, and about 12 views.

So, onto my responses:

Christine Ryan: I'm glad you like them! I'm trying my best to keep Helbram in character, so sometimes I worry about doing it wrong.

Scarlet3Wolf12: Haha, I hadn't actually expected anyone to comment about the game, but yeah, it's a great game! I prefer it quite a bit over the PS4 game, which is saying something since I usually don't like mobile games.

GoatSinSparkles: Yay! I've actually been hoping for someone to say something like this since I first showed the two characters together, so thank you so much for making my day. Oh! And thank you so much for recommending my story in your story, "3,000 Years Later"!

Oh, and I finally made another bonus story, so that's here as well. I actually started on this one a long time ago, so the writing style at the start of it may be more similar to my more formal writing style from the start of this story, but it finishes with my current writing style.

Anywho, back to the story. Enjoy the Chapter!

The old bell clanged once again as the door to the shop closed behind us.

"I can't believe that she managed to convince you to buy all that!" I scolded Helbram with a laugh. "I'll bet that you're all out of money now, too. Now there's no point in going to any more shops."

"I am not all out of money." Helbram told me from behind the mountain of boxes that were stacked in his arms. "And she convinced you to buy stuff, too, so don't act like I'm the only guilty one."

"She convinced me to buy one thing. And I was gonna buy it anyways." I pulled a shiny piece of quartz out of the small bag in my hand. "I hope Zephyr likes it. He left his collection of rocks and stuff back at the Boar's Hat, so I thought he'd like something to have here."

"That collection of random rocks and bits of junk I found under a box in the attic?" Helbram's words were surprised. "Was that his?"

"Junk? Wait, don't tell me you-"

Neither of us had seen the girl coming from Helbram's other side, so we were both shocked when she crashed into him, knocking him over, and toppling his boxes into the street. Clothing poured from the boxes, directly into dirty puddles, ruining the fabric.

"Ahh, I'm so, so sorry!" The girl looked mortified at what had just happened, and her amber eyes were wide in shock. From her place in the puddle on the ground, she was just as soaked through as Helbram's newly-bought clothes, and her blue hair looked nearly black from the wetness. "I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going, a-and-"

Helbram only laughed, though, seemingly unbothered by the fact that all the money he had just spent had been wasted. "No, no. It's my fault as well. I was carrying too much stuff, and wasn't paying attention to my surroundings." He stood up and motioned as though to dust himself off (it didn't really do anything other than move a bit of dirt from his hands to his pants) before extending a hand to the girl.

She gladly took it, relief spreading across her face. "My name's Emma, what's yours?"

"I'm Helbram!" He smiled, then he turned so that I was more visible to the girl. "And this is Zinnia."

"Oh," The droop in Emma's pointed ears was so minuscule it was hard to see, but I was just able to catch it as she took in my minorly annoyed face. "You weren't alone." She seemed to push away her disappointment before smiling at me as well. "Nice to meet you Zinnia-san!" Emma then turned back to Helbram, pointedly ignoring me. "Hey, I work at a bakery just down the road. Perhaps you could come by sometime and I could give you something to make up for running into you?"

"N-"

"Sure, why not?" Helbram probably didn't even notice he cut off my refusal. "Why don't we go right now?" He quickly grabbed all the soaking clothes off the ground and started trying to fit them back in their boxes.

"Eh- Right now?" Emma looked over Helbram's shoulder at me.

"Of course! When else am I gonna get this chance? It's not everyday that Zinnia and I walk around town together." He seemed completely oblivious to the venom that Emma was shooting me over his shoulder, while I was only smirking in response. "What do you think, Zinnia?" He turned to look at me now that he had gathered up his boxes once again.

I gave him an innocent smile. "Sounds great!"

Emma ended up grudgingly leading us to a cute little bakery that had been just out of sight of the shop we had come out of. Helbram and I couldn't help but laugh upon seeing the name painted on the fanciful sign that hung above the door to the shop.

Emma turned back to us with a baffled look. "What is it?"

"It's just-" was all Helbram could get out before his laughs stopped him.

"The-the name of the bakery-" I, too, couldn't say much past my laughter.

Now she was almost glaring at us. "What's wrong with it?"

"The Fairy King's Bakery!" Helbram choked out, tears streaming down his face.

"What about it? My grandfather named this bakery, and no one's had a problem with the name before." She seemed slightly annoyed, but more curious than anything.

I put a hand on Helbram's shoulder and tried to stop my laughter. "It's fine, it's fine. Let's just go ahead in."

When Emma pushed the door open ahead of us, a much softer, more melodic bell than the one in the Cat's Basket chimed, signalling the arrival of customers. The scent of fresh bread and sweets greeted my nose, making for an instantly pleasant atmosphere.

"Welcome to the Fairy King's Bakery!" A middle-aged man with blue hair akin to Emma's greeted us, and I had to restrain myself, lest my laughter start up again. I looked across the room to see that the man was standing behind a glass-covered counter, and had now turned to a line of customers eagerly waiting to buy baked goods from him. In between us and the counter was a seating area with small round tables and cushioned chairs that looked comfy even from here. Most of the tables seated three to four people, but I spotted a few that only held two chairs, most of which were in use. The light colors used for the bakery - mainly white and pastel green - helped give the room an open atmosphere, assisted by the windows lining the front and one side of the store.

"That's a long line," Helbram commented. He was struggling to see ahead of himself through the stack of boxes that he still insisted on carrying. Giving off a slight sigh, I took about half of the boxes from his arms so that he was less likely to hit someone in the head whenever he moved.

"Oh, it's fine," Emma was saying, her eyes only on Helbram. "Since it's me, I can just go and get something from behind the counter - Otou-san won't mind." She leaned in toward Helbram, and I could feel my grip tighten on the boxes I was holding. "What would you like?"

"Hmmm…" Helbram furrowed his brow in indecision. Suddenly though, he smiled. "I've got it! How about an apple pie?" He turned to me with a grin that felt like sunshine after a dreary day. "I promised you that we'd find the best apple pie, right? We might as well start here."

"That sounds perfect!" I returned the smile. "It could mark the start of our adventure!"

I barely noticed Emma's hopeless sigh followed by a quiet "Seat yourselves."

We quickly found one of the few remaining tables with two seats and made our way over to it before stacking the boxes next to the seats and sitting down. A beautifully carved wooden vase took its place at the center of the table, showcasing an assortment of the local wildflowers, giving the table a wonderfully fresh scent.

"So," I said to the fairy across from me as I sat down. "Does this mean we're starting our adventure today?"

"Didn't you already say that this pie was marking the start of it?" Helbram gave his signature sly smirk before propping his elbows on the table.

"I mean, I did…" I hesitated. "But I wasn't sure…"

"I'm ready to go whenever you are." His smile brightened as he leaned forward. "It's been over seven hundred years since we made that promise, so it's probably about time we actually went through with it, don't you think?"

"Yes, that's true, but-" I was about to tell him about the weird feeling Zephyr and I'd experienced the other day, but this was the exact moment that Emma returned with the pie.

Emma appeared, seemingly out of thin air, next to the table. She set down a wonderfully delicious looking pie. Only… she set it specifically in front of Helbram. What is her problem? She's acting like I don't exist! Or like she doesn't want me to exist… The way she's smiling at Helbram and only talking to him, she probably-

"This looks perfect! Thank you so much, Emma-san." Helbram was smiling at her. However, I felt a note of satisfaction that the smile he had given me earlier had been a much warmer one.

"Oh, you can just call me Emma." The girl blushed as she said this and covered half her face with the tray she had used to carry the pie out with.

Helbram didn't seem to be paying attention though, and was instead looking to the pie with a confused look. "Why is there only one fork, though? There's two of us."

"Silly me!" Emma said in embarrassment that I knew to be fake. She hadn't gotten me a fork on purpose, of that I was certain. "I-I can go get another, if you'd like."

"No, no, it's fine. Zinnia and I can just share!" He smiled at me. At this point, I was also pretty certain that Helbram was faking his ignorance of Emma's intentions. But I could barely think of that now as the blush spread across my cheeks. Helbram had taken a bit of the pie and was holding it out to me on the fork. Was he expecting me to- "Zinnia, say 'aah~'"

The blush on my face only got worse, and I was vaguely aware of Emma storming away, somewhere far away in the background. I wasn't sure what was more red - me or the wild roses in the vase on the table. Before I even realized what I was doing, I was opening my mouth, and the sweet taste of apples bathed my tongue. Who had made me do such a thing? I could swear that I hadn't told my body to do it. One minute I was sitting there as red as an apple, the next, I was slightly leaning forward to eat the bite that Helbram had offered. Truthfully, Helbram seemed almost as surprised as me. His pink-tipped ears were twitching in amusement, and his grin had grown slightly lopsided in that adorable way that revealed just a few of his teeth.

What was I thinking? I pulled away, removing the fork from my mouth. Adorable? Since when have I- But I could already see on Helbram's face that he'd heard my thoughts, and the pink on his ears had spread to his cheeks.

"So how does it taste?"

"W-what?" I was confused. What was he talking about?

"The pie. Is it good?" Helbram glanced away and scratched his cheek. He was fidgeting with the fork, nearly dropping it a few times.

"Oh! The pie!" I struggled to remember what it tasted like. "It was really good. You should try a bite."

"Okay, then…" Using the same fork as I had eaten off of, Helbram took a bite of the pie, and his face lit up. "You're right! It's delicious!"

Wait, really? I had just automatically said it was good. Now I wished I'd been paying more attention to the taste. It certainly smelled delicious now that the top had been broken, allowing the aroma of baked apples to permeate the air. I was more annoyed than ever with Emma for only bringing one fork. She hadn't even brought plates.

"Here!" Helbram was offering me another bite. Why wouldn't he just let me use the fork myself…

This time, I closed my eyes and leaned forward to take a bite, focusing my attention not on who was holding the fork, but on the contents of it. Flavor exploded in my mouth. The perfectly cooked apples, the syrupy sugar, the perfectly flaky crust. "You're right!"

Helbram laughed. "Weren't you the one who said it was good?"

"I don't think we need to go on an adventure to find the best apple pie; I think we've already found it." I was holding my cheeks, savoring the pie as much as I could. Even the bitterness that I could feel directed at me from Emma on the other side of the room added to the flavor.

"Eh- But this is only the first pie! We have to try every pie!" Helbram exclaimed. His eyes had widened, and his mouth was full of pie as he spoke, making it hard to take him seriously.

"You know I was just-"

Suddenly, a loud crash sounded outside, and an overwhelming presence nearly knocked me out of my chair. As it was, all of the tables' vases fell over, and the one at our table landed directly in the pie, pouring water and flowers all over it.

Pushing myself away from the table, I stood up and looked toward the windows. "What's going on?" People outside were screaming, and for some reason, the lighting seemed slightly off. Many of the people in the shop were rushing outside, their food forgotten. From what I could see through the windows, some of the townsfolk seemed to be running towards the commotion, but most were running away.

"Only one way to find out!" Helbram jumped up from his seat and flew to the entrance, only pausing to make sure I was following. Once he saw that I was, he flew out the door. I was only a second behind him.

Fires, fires everywhere. Buildings were crushed and tree roots were torn. And standing above it all, above even the Sacred Tree of Akshur itself, was something that I was sure would soon be making appearances in my nightmares.

This was the moment that Zephyr decided to return. I felt a cold shiver around me only a heartbeat before he appeared. He was staring up at the monstrosity with a fear I'd never seen him have.

I've never actually seen one before, his voice whispered. I was told about these things before we left the forest all that time ago. I'd assumed they were all gone.

"What is it, Zephyr?" Whatever it was, it was causing more destruction as I asked the question. I knew we had to hurry, but I couldn't seem to get my frozen legs to move.

The fox shade's tail fell behind him, and I could barely hear his answer over the fearful screams of the crowd around us. It's an Albion.

(Bonus 6: Making a Friend) (Aka, what happens after the flashback in chapter 13)

"Hnnn?"

The bright sunlight hurt Zinnia's eyes, causing her to shut them again and groan. Where am I? This isn't the Fairy King's Forest… Her memory felt fuzzy, and she could only vaguely remember a dreadful feeling. The memory was fleeting - like it was just out of reach. She almost felt as though she didn't want to remember, so strong was the dread emanating from it.

"Oh, you're awake," the male voice came from nearby.

Zinnia cracked her eyes open again, squinting from the beams of sunlight that penetrated the window above her. She tilted her head aside to see a frail-looking man sitting beside the bed on which she lay. While he appeared frail, he also looked younger, and he had short, light brown hair. His angular glasses reflected the sunlight, nearly hiding his round brown eyes. A tired smile brightened his face, but his sunken eyes showed signs of sleep-deprivation.

"Umm…" the fairy girl mumbled. "Where am I? How did I get here?"

"This is the village of Voryn. And I'm sorry, but I don't know how to answer your second question. I just opened my door a few days ago, and you were just laying there, unconscious, in the street. You had a terrible wound through your chest. To tell you the truth, I was surprised that you were still alive - that you're alive now!" His words started apologetic, but as he continued, they became filled with a slight awe. "I've known many to die from less."

"Wound…?" She lifted the blanket that covered her body, finding that her torso was swathed in bandages. Pain shot through her from the movement, and she put her arm down. Where had that come from? What was she missing? Something tugged at the back of her mind, inducing a mild headache.

"Careful not to move too much; you don't want to reopen the wound," the man recommended.

"Who are you?"

"The name's Zeke. I'm Voryn's doctor. It's a pretty small village, so there's not much demand for doctors here," he explained. "You're lucky that you were collapsed in front of my house. I'm not sure how far you could have been moved with how much blood you were losing." Zeke paused, looking closer at the fairy. "Where are your parents? A child such as you shouldn't be so far from them. No one in the village recognized you, so you aren't of the village… Are your parents travelers?"

"I… I don't have any…" She wasn't sure what made her say that. Last she remembered, she still had her father. Maybe she'd said it because he was a demon - a race considered to be evil. Wait, what about Zephyr? Was he here? She really hoped he was; she didn't know what she would do if she was all alone here...

Quickly, Zinnia tried to inconspicuously tap the code she and the fox had come up with into the bed. One tap, followed by three, then two, one, and two again. She was worried that he wouldn't respond - they'd only recently come up with the code. What if he didn't remember?

I'm here, Zinnia. Don't worry. The fox's young voice echoed in her head, making her sigh.

"An orphan? I didn't realize… I'm so sorry…" the doctor went on, making Zinnia realize that, in her panic, she had almost forgotten what they had been talking about. "Well, it looks like you'll have to stay here to heal for awhile, so, depending on how that goes, perhaps you could stay with me once you're better. That, or I could work on finding someone to look after you…" He leaned back on his stool, cupping his chin with his hand as he drifted away in his thoughts.

"Staying here?" She couldn't help but ask. "But… I just want to go home." Tears started to edge her eyes. "I wanna be with Onii-chan and Onee-san… Though I guess this is better than being with Onee-sama…" She trailed off, pain flashing in her eyes. Why couldn't she just be back in the forest? Why was she here?

Time passed.

Zinnia healed faster than Zeke expected. Well, faster and slower. Her body healed, but she felt extremely sick.

On about the third day, a woman came. She had handed some folded up green fabric to Zeke. "I finally managed to get all the blood out," She'd told him. When she'd noticed Zinnia propped up with pillows on the bed behind Zeke, she'd smiled at the young girl before turning back to the doctor. "I have to go now. Kay tends to get into trouble when left alone." And with that, she'd left.

Zeke had then turned back to Zinnia, holding out the fabric. "Your cloak was pretty badly stained, but luckily it wasn't damaged like the rest of your clothing, so we were able to save it." He'd then gently handed it to her.

"Cloak…?" She hadn't remembered having a cloak, but she'd taken it anyway. It'd looked vaguely familiar, and when she'd held it close, she found that it smelled of the Fairy King's Forest, even after being washed.

So now Zinnia was sitting in bed, holding that same cloak tightly in her grip, looking out from the window on the peaceful town below. She felt drastically better today, and wished she could stretch her legs, but she didn't plan on going against the doctor's orders to stay in bed until he pronounced her better. Though it was getting quite boring, and the food was bland. Also, she rarely got to speak to anyone. Zephyr was still in her shadow, but she couldn't speak to him when others were around, and he was napping half the time that people weren't around. Why did fox pups have to sleep so much, anyway?

A sudden crashing sound from downstairs made Zinnia jump and almost fall out of bed. She almost stood, but stopped herself at the last minute. While the crash had only lasted a moment, shuffling sounds still emanated from the lower floor, and she could hear what sounded like somebody trying to quietly make their way upstairs. They weren't very good at being quiet; the stairs were creaking with every other step.

A young boy burst into the room, not even glancing in Zinnia's direction, and pushed the door to a crack before peering out of the small gap, back the way he'd come. "Did they follow me…?" he whispered, but in the near-silent room, it was like thunder.

"Uhhh… Hello?" Zinnia was pretty sure this boy wasn't supposed to be up here. "Who're you?"

He jumped in fright, turning to face the fairy girl and quickly closing the door in the process. His long, dirty-blond hair was obscuring his vision, so he pushed it aside in annoyance, revealing deep blue eyes filled with surprise. "W-who are you? What are you doing here?"

Giggles bubbled up from the fairy, and she smiled. "I'm pretty sure I asked you first. But I'm Zinnia. I'm Zeke-sensei's patient."

"Zinnia-chan…?" He paused, thoughtful, before a giant grin swallowed half his face. "I'm Kay! Nice to meet you." He crossed the room and sat at the foot of her bed. "What's wrong with you?"

She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. "I-I don't remember exactly. I just know that I woke up here and was really hurt right here." She placed a hand over a spot just above her heart. "I think it's mostly better now, though."

Kay didn't seem too worried, and was bouncing lightly on the edge of the bed. "Must've been painful. Hey, how old are you?"

"Hmm…" Zinnia realized that he wouldn't believe her real age. "Older than you. How old do you think I am?"

"Eh? How do you know you're older than me if you don't know my age? We can't be that far apart. You look like you're thirteen at most." He looked slightly annoyed by her assuming she was older, but not too upset.

"Then, let's just say that I'm thirteen then," even though I'm much older than that, she added silently. "How old are you?"

He stood from the bed and lifted his chin proudly. "I just turned eleven last week!"

Zinnia snickered, but quickly stopped herself, instead asking him a question. "So, what's an eleven year old kid doing hiding out in a doctor's house? Sounds like you broke plenty of stuff downstairs, too."

"I'm not hiding!" But his red face said it all. "I'm just… Okay… I'm hiding. But I didn't do anything wrong!" He pulled what appeared to be a little wooden figure of a dragon out of his pocket. "Some of the older kids in the village stole this from my friend, and I stole it back. But… They saw me, and I tried to escape. When they lost sight of me, I hid in the nearest house."

Zinnia waited for him to go on, but he appeared to be finished. "...and the crashing from downstairs?"

He looked away in embarrassment. "I tripped…"

"Eh-" Zinnia burst out laughing. "Oh brave Kay-kun! Saving his friend's toy, but destroying the town's medicine in the process!"

"H-hey! Stop it!" But he couldn't help but join in with her laughter.

Once the laughter had died down, Zinnia glanced outside, where it was getting dark. "Shouldn't you be heading home soon? I'm sure that if those kids that were after you haven't come yet, they aren't going to. You weren't very quiet, after all."

He scratched the back of his head, giving her a closed-eyed smile. "Yeah, you're probably right." He stood up and headed towards the door before stopping and turning back. "Hey, Zinnia-chan…?"

"Yes, Kay-kun?"

"When you get better and get out of here, will you come and play with me?" He had glanced away in the middle of saying this.

Zinnia didn't say anything for a moment, surprised at the request. Barely anyone had asked to play with her back in the Fairy King's Forest; she'd always been the one asking. But then she smiled. "Of course!"

"Yay!" He stepped through the door, but stopped again on the other side of the threshold and tossed his head over his shoulder. "See you then!" And he was gone. Only the sound of creaking stairs followed him, then there was silence.

Zinnia watched the silly boy as he skipped away down the street outside. Soon enough, he turned a corner and was out of sight.

A quiet yawn echoed in Zinnia's head. Hmmm? Did I miss anything? The small fox shade that was Zephyranthes jumped out of the fairy's shadow and looked around the room, his nose twitching as he sniffed the air. There's an unfamiliar scent.

Zinnia grinned as she patted him between the ears. "I made a friend."