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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

Las Lindas and other products set in the same universe are all owned by Chalo/Chalosan and SoulKat.

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Chapter 17: Party Time (1)


The Gossamer Harvest Festival has been for so long considered one of the greatest celebrations that came after the Second Genesis. A brilliant event which has highlighted the rural nature of Gossamer as the region that was best known for its agricultural roots. Many of the first settlers that came to live here decided to invest their fortunes into turning the fertile lands of Gossamer into the starting point for a community that could only strive and improve until it matched harmoniously with the industrious regions of the Newer Continent.

So, I wasn't really that surprised when Mora, someone that had kept her calm until this very day, was now panicking about her current situation. Preparing the proper dress to wear, giving assistance to anyone requiring their own dresses, preparing a speech, testing the speech, and ultimately coming so close to a complete meltdown.

Kisses and cuddles prevented the worst, but it also put me in quite the unusual spot of being her helper during this very occasion. While I wasn't going to say anything important, I had to keep around during the bit where she was supposed to speak and give her presentation. While the speech was important, it wasn't the main element for the judges to determine who was the winner of this competition. It was going to be a close one, but hopefully things were going to be fine for us regardless of the result. There was a 'second place' prize that should have been more than enough to pay off all of the major debts and clear us out from any issue with the bank.

So, as the hour to go and get us ready to face this kind of music finally came, Digit decided to give us two gifts. One was expected, the other was quite the surprise due to the lack of notice about it. A single manipulation of Nanozell allowed her to change the clothes of the girls for the entire duration of the Festival. If before the dresses were pretty, now they had a degree of modern fashion and style that easily stood out from the average. Mora's one, which was so mature and enticing had me ogling for a while. Seriously, how should I have prepared when the simple white dress turned in a set of thin lines that really left much to the imagination… and more?

At least that brief embarrassment from my part got her to giggle as she noticed my ogling just as quickly as it began and commented about it. The rest of the ladies were equally gorgeous with their unique designs, with Sarah being the 'most childish' of the small group due to the pairs of wings that were attached to the dress she was wearing. Rachael looked pleased when I nodded her way and… Sandy was testing the limits of the blue dress by stretching some of the fabric near her breasts. Thankfully Sander moved to prevent any wardrobe malfunction to happen now that we all needed to be ready for this important event.

Digit then teleported us to our destination, the City-Tower of Gossamer. It wasn't exactly a full-fledged city, but the section of the region where most of the main organizations of the region had established their headquarters. It was a massive place meant to also host numerous events just like the Festival, and right now it was… packed with people and other Nanozell Spirits. This was the section of the tower that welcomed those guests that were to come through teleportation. Digit, just like other spirits of her caliber, was capable of shifting numerous people at once to these rooms. It was a comfy way to move around through long distances and all the major cities had their own 'teleportation section' for people to visit these places without having to waste too much money on transportation's fees.

It didn't take long for us to actually be greeted by someone fairly important for Gossamer, someone that Digit rushed swiftly to tackle-hug. The spirit just tensed in pure delight as she bolted from Mora's side and towards the figure.

"Big sis!"

The taller spirit giggled, but returned the embrace as kindly as her smile was. From the frame of age and height, this spirit was older than Digit, and she seemed to bear a higher role due to the multiple golden accessories she had by her hair and wrists and feet.

"Oh my, Digit. Look at you! You've grown so much since I've last seen you," The tall spirit mirthfully commented. "I hope living away from mom has been good for you."

Digit giggled. "It's been a blast, sis. I learned a lot thanks to Mora and Declan and now I'm super-responsible."

As she said that last bit, the petite girl puffed her chest out, causing her 'sister' to chuckle in amusement at that sight.

"I see… and where are my manners," The unnamed spirit muttered as she turned to greet us, bowing her head humbly before speaking up again. "My name is Sun-Ji, I'm the Guardian Spirit of Gossamer."

"Nice to meet you, Sun-Ji," Mora greeted back, while I merely nodded due to the fact of how surprising this was. While it was technically mistaken that all Nanozell Spirits are related to each other, that wasn't really true. Not when reproduction for those spirits still required a male and a female to do the task behind procreating a new life. They all had a degree of connection that was stronger than other living beings, but it wasn't just the same as biological siblings. The fact that Digit was actually related to Sun-Ji meant that their parents had to be fairly important. And… it also raised some confusion over why Digit was sent here if her parents were tasked with big missions in their existence.

The introduction was brief and we were soon escorted to the gardens, right where the main event was supposed to unfold. The route was fairly short, but soon we were divided in two groups, with Mora and I sticking by Digit as we alone went through another 'entry' to our destination. It didn't take me long to realize that at the pile of stairs in front of us we were going to find a lot of people. I stopped Mora for a moment, and the woman graced me with a frown.

"What?"

"This is where you need to put on a strong front, dear," I replied calmly and I saw her tense up for a moment as she seemed to remember something.

"I almost forgot- I guess my nerves just aren't leaving me to be focused tonight."

I smiled, reaching out to hold her hand. "I got you."

She returned the smile and grasped a little more at my palm. "I sure do, love."

One step at the time we started the rise to reach the top of the staircase and soon… we were presented with numerous Primes and humans that had been called to be here for the Festival. All their eyes were on us, but we held a calm and patient posture as we waited for the introduction that was common to hear at the entry of important competitors.

"Everyone! Please welcome the second special guest of the Festival and her companion," A presenter called out. "Miss Mora Linda and Mr. Declan Stone, from Las Lindas Farm!"

A round of applause soon ensued, but I could quickly hear people mutter with each other during it, with some complimenting the Cow Prime's lovely dress while others recognizing my name due to the importance of my family's company. This was definitely going to become a trouble in the near future, but for now the objective was to keep a brave front and get through the entire occasion without messing things up.

"Would you look at that? For the first time ever, filth doesn't shrivel in the spotlight," A familiar voice called out, sounding annoyed and fairly irked. We all turned to look at Alejandra, the woman wearing rather the risque blue dress. Beside her, a happy-looking Tootsie that was donning a simple set of oriental clothes. Her hair was combed in two short pony-tails.

"Alejandra," Mora muttered in surprise while I smiled at the Mouse Prime.

"Nice set, Toots."

She giggled. "You look really fine too, Dec."

"Mora, it's been a while. I love the dress, it's truly a pity it's currently being worn by a petty little who-"

I faked a cough, enough to gain some attention at me and show Alejandra an angry glare at what she was going to say there. While it was true that she might dislike me due to my relation with Mora, but she knew better than just going for the nastiest insults while I was around. Not because I was violent, but I did have the capacity to turn those words into a nice reason to begin a legal battle against her. One that Alejandra wouldn't win due to how upsettingly weak her company currently was.

"Woman," She corrected herself. "Still, I'm also glad to see you Mr. Stone. I'm sure you are still really in love with Mora, and you've been talking about each other's past."

I blinked, frowning at this very circumstance. I glanced at Mora, but even she looked incredibly confused by what the rival was trying to say in that very moment. "Kind of?"

"Then I suppose she told you about her great lover, the one and only-"

"Salutations, m'lady!" A flamboyant voice greeted and we turned to see a familiar individual that we hadn't been seeing for a little while now. Idward looked… very dapper. His main theme was a royal purple, with his clothes taking a more Old Gossamer approach compared to others' preferred choices. "So long have I waited for this moment. To be back with you and show you how much I missed you, so you can show me how much you missed me."

Mora was having some trouble holding a snicker at that. Digit too was holding back a smile, just because she had been told about Idward's little obsession and how things really were a few days ago. I had to still give it to Alejandra for thinking that bringing some extra drama would ruin my relationship with my girlfriend, but I was really relieved that the effort had failed miserably.

"Oh no, how could you?" Mora said while still troubled by her current amused reaction. "I-I can't believe it."

"Yes, that is the… wait, why are you smiling?" Alejandra paused as she realized what had just happened and soon her attention was on me. "Wait, shouldn't you be angry at this?"

"I already had the chance of meeting Idward," I replied flatly. "But I don't believe you did enough research to know that while there was a time they shared the bed, well..."

"It was a one-night stand," Mora dropped the nuke and we both chuckled as Alejandra's jaws fell at the sudden revelation. She glanced at Idward, the Fox Prime too distracted in admiring Mora's beauty, then at Tootsie as the Mouse Prime looked as clueless as she was.

"I'm… what?"

"So… how about you take your boss to get something to drink, Toots?" I offered to the blonde, the young woman quickly nodding at the brilliant way to conclude this embarrassing skirmish on their part and soon it was just me, Mora and Idwards.

"I think we could already get to find the others, dear," I offered with a nod. "Maybe we can split up and-"

"Wait, Mr. Stone, did you just call my pretty flower 'dear'?"

I almost forgot that the writer wasn't aware of the current relationship between Mora and I. Still, I decided to give him a slow nod as I answered to him as calmly as possible. "Yes."

"And..." He paused for a moment, looking as confused as one could be about their own non-reciprocated affections meeting the final obstacle to a possible serious romance. "May I ask you why you used such an affectionate way to address her?"

"Because we're dating," I explained curtly and I saw the guy completely surprised.

"R-Really?"

I nodded, but it was Mora than answered. "Yep."

"Oh."

He soon turned away, looking perplexed and distracted by these news, and I kind of felt bad about it since I could tell that was going to sting. Regardless of that, I still couldn't really give him that much support due to the, well, interesting book he published about his interaction with Mora. We used this opportunity to finally get away from the 'spotlight' and find the others. Gods only know what they were all doing and I was already looking around for any of them.

Much to my surprise, I ended up finding Minos as he was busy talking and blushing with two individuals I wasn't familiar with.


Minos looked fairly nervous. Which was saying a lot considering how much of a rock he was in normal situations. I could tell that it had to do with some teasing due to the giggles coming from the woman he was speaking with. A single glance was enough to take my mind back at the drawing I found of this lady, the girl that Minos told me about. Grace. And her husband, who he had been worried to anger by being too close to the lovely woman, was now beside them both and looking quite calm. He didn't seem angry, in fact he was giving a mirthful and sympathetic look at the Bull Prime.

Since Mora was off to find Taffy or even the twins, I was quite interested in seeing if I could gain some extra info about the situation Minos told me about awhile ago. I proceeded with caution since I didn't know much about them to be sure how to approach them both without making a mess about it. So, instead of jumping in the conversation like a complete fool, I just walked up to Minos, stopped right behind him and then called him.

"Minos, I see you found friends."

My voice brought a brief interruption to that discussion and soon the tall Prime was looking at me with a surprised look. "Declan? I thought you would have been kept by Mora."

"It's going to take a little while before it's the time to give the planned speech, so we're looking around to see how everyone else is doing," I replied with a nod and soon I noticed the couple was now looking at me with interest.

"Oh, before I forget," Minos muttered, turning back to the two fellow Primes. "Grace, Kayin, this is Declan. He is one of the farmhands at the farm I'm working at."

Kayin was a Coyote Prime with dark hair, green eyes and black fur. He looked fairly strong, and I was tempted to say he was as bulky as Minos but not as tall as him. He was wearing a similar tuxedo as the one I was wearing.

His wife was absolutely as gorgeous as the drawing if not more. A Gazelle Prime with long brown hair that reached down to her butt, her fur was a light brown that went even lighter from her mouth area down to encompass most of her chest and her legs. Her frame was just impressive, something that had me muster my entire willpower to not just take too much ogling and… she was wearing a delightful soft-pink dress that matched with her vibrant pink eyes.

"Nice to meet you," I commented chirpily and they looked fairly pleased with the calm introduction.

"Likewise, kiddo," The guy replied with a nod while his wife giggled.

"Minos speaks highly of you, Declan. He said that you and him speak a lot during breaks," Grace commented mirthfully. "I know he can be quite quiet when he wants to, so it's relieving that he is opening up to others."

"I'm not shy," He quickly tried to defend himself and I felt the need to quickly reply.

"Just reserved."

The thing is that, as I said that, Grace too came up with the same words and we paused to stare at each other.

"Jinx."

Once again, we repeated the same word, but this time, we both shrugged it off with a chuckle and giggle respectively. Kayin snorted in amusement, while Minos smiled as he was relieved from being teased by both friends.

"Still, from what I've seen, Declan, you're quite close to Miss Linda," The Coyote Prime brought up. "Not gonna lie, but that seems a little more than just mere work-related companionship."

I frowned. "That's because we're in a relationship."

That seemed to surprise him up, but Grace seemed to perk at this. "Is that so? And here I was so close to bet this to my silly hubby."

I blinked in surprise at that comment, but it was Minos that explained this more to me.

"Kayin and Grace have a… long-standing habit of betting who is in a relationship and who isn't."

"It's a good way to banter during these important gatherings, and we didn't want to be too 'excessive' about it since our daughter is around somewhere," Kayin added with a small smile, wrapping his arm around Grace's shoulders and bringing her close. "Nobody wants to put too much pressure on the kids or… yeah, then that's where unwanted discussions happen."

I nodded, understanding that logic but also failing to notice where their daughter could have been. I imagined this little girl wandering around and yet I couldn't find anyone fitting with that description, or even looking closely as the two parents. Maybe I was overthinking too much, and the gardens were too big for me to just pick up everything and everyone in there.

"I suppose it can be tough," I ultimately commented and Kayin huffed.

"Not as tough as also having to keep track of one of Hope's old friends. She should be here too and… let's just say that she is planning to do something silly."

That last bit caught me off-guard. "Silly?"

"Something she might regret," Grace explained with a tired look. "Vixy is a good girl but she tends to get fairly furious when it comes to those that hurt her girlfriend."

Frowning at this explanation, I felt a little confused about something. Weren't we just talking about children? I thought they were a young couple, and just… it seemed so odd to imagine them older than early thirties. Sure, there were times where some Primes could just appear much younger than they actually were, but that didn't mean they were that 'well-preserved' about it.

Still, I was quite surprised that this 'Vixy' was coming by to hunt down someone from the looks of it. Someone that hurt her lover from the sounds of it and that was supposed to be here. I couldn't help but imagine what kind of poor fool could have pissed off anyone to enact this much need of murder, and then I didn't care that much since it wasn't my problem. A cruel bit to even think about, but I had plenty of issues on my own and I really didn't need to involve myself into this kind of trouble.

"I hope you two then have an easy time preventing any issue."

"Thank you," Grace replied and soon a calmer conversation ensued. It was Kayin that spoke up first, a fascinated glint coming from his green eyes as he shifted the topic to something less about their family and more about Minos and me.

"Minos told us that you two have a real tough job at the farm due to how in disrepair it is in some parts. Plus the normally toughness of working at a farm that is," The guy mentioned with a nod. "So, I wanted to know if it was indeed that difficult. I don't have a farm, but I have been taking care of a fishing company I have to ask now, Declan. So, is that really that troublesome?"

"At times it can be quite draining. Las Lindas didn't start in optimal conditions and there were some pending debts that we've been working to see solved at once before we could incur in problems with the bank," I started to explain, noticing how much the couple was invested into this argument for some reasons. "The equipment works well, but things have been going fairly slow due to our small workforce. We've a very limited number of farmhands at the moment, but there are plans to expand the list the moment this Festival is over. Mora decided to delay this decision to not create any issue before this important event."

"Understandable. It can be incredibly frustrating to get new workers to grow accustomed to the job when there is something like the Gossamer Harvest Festival to be focusing on," Kayin agreed with a nod.

"And I suppose it can be truly a handful to keep an eye for any troublemakers," Grace brought up and I couldn't help but sigh, my mind quickly bringing up Sandy and Rachael.

"At times there have been some minor issues. Nothing too big, but definitely some distracting things have happened during work."

"Sounds like these are things of the past," The man commented, unaware of how correct he was about most of it all.

Hopefully.

"In most part, yes," Minos replied in my stead, deciding to not allow me to add more to it.

The Gazelle Prime hummed. "I suppose it can be more draining, but I believe Kayin's work is equally troublesome since it's not a certain one. Fishing is never that easy, even when it comes to the pleasant seas of New Boothbay."

New Boothbay… I think Grandpa said something about it. Old friends, or something like that.

While I couldn't exactly remember what the old man said about that matter, I could still remember something I actually studied about years ago as good companies that were prospering and keeping a steady growth despite how unsure of a sector Fishing really is.

"I don't wish to sound too sudden, but I think I've heard of a company located in the main that worked in that precise location. Kayin, you work for the Ravenhurst Blue Fin Company?"

He chuckled, shaking his head and leaving me perplexed while his wife merely looked awed at that good guess from the looks of it.

"I own that company, kiddo. I'm surprised you know about it, not many young men would know about the fine subject that is fishing."

"I've been studying companies a few years ago. I would say it was something tied to the family business."

"I see," Kayin admitted with a nod, looking interested but remaining restrained about his curiosity. "Still, I'm fairly surprised by that good shot. Never thought I would have been called out in a situation like this one."

The conversation continued for a few more minutes, with Minos finally speaking up as there was indeed a sense of… friendliness that was infectious and rather pleasant to be part of. These three really felt close to each other, so much that if I hadn't known well enough about the Bull Prime I might have confused who was part of that couple and who wasn't with how tight these three were to one another.

It was confusing, if I had to be honest, to see these three this close and yet… not 'close' enough. But that thought was soon pushed aside as something new came up and my attention was moved elsewhere. I paused for a moment during the conversation as I felt my phone vibrate in the pocket of my pants. I retrieved it to check who was calling and I narrowed my eyes at the unexpected call. I looked up at the rest of the group and hummed. "I have to take this call."

They all nodded, still giving me a confused look.

"Something important?"

"I believe so," I admitted with a nod, taking a few steps back and away so I could see what was going on with Mora. "Hello?"

"Declan, I know this is sudden, but I need you to come here by the trees' section of the gardens."

I blinked at the anger in her voice. "What's wrong?"

"I found Taffy crying alone there. Let's just say that once I'm sure she is fine I will strangle that blasted cat, and no, I will not back down from this."

I flinched at her unwillingness to consider peace, and I could tell that the moment I was going to be there to see for myself what happened, I was going to agree with her. Despite my uncertainty at the request, I still nodded and accepted to the unplanned rendezvous. "I'll be there quickly."

"Okay."

The call ended there and I calmly walked up to Minos. "I have to go. Mora asked me to come and help with something that happened to Taffy, nothing too serious from the sounds of it, but I'm still checking."

The Bull Prime nodded and I turned to both Kayin and Grace.

"I'm sorry to interrupt this now, but my girlfriend needs me right now."

"We understand, you don't need to be too embarrassed by it," The Gazelle Prime offered. "Regardless of that, I wouldn't mind talking with you again, Declan."

"Same for me, kiddo. Just make sure things are alright."

I nodded at them, relieved that I was able to leave for the time being as I went to check what was going on with Taffy.

I sure couldn't have predicted feeling even more compelled to agree with Mora the moment I found out what happened there. But I was also immensely stumped when I also had to rescue Miles from a mistake he made in the past.

One that came out to bite his butt with a hint of fire behind her fists.


AN

Soon, the fun shall be doubled~.

But for now, let us enjoy the entry of Grace and Kayin. Characters that are fleshed out more in the Knighthood comic that runs parallel to Las Lindas.

Stay tuned for more madness and… the lewd for next chapter!