Chapter -29: Happiness is a Sweet Treat

Adderbolt of the Ten Sages, known by his peers as the Piercing Dragonfly.

But to the people of Pulsa Minoria, he goes by his name, sometimes shortened to Adder around his closest friends.

He wasn't very active. He had no accomplishments to his name. A lot of folk would look at him and say he's wasting his life away.

But he approaches every day with a smile like liquid sunshine.

What is his secret? How come the stresses of war bounce off his chubby exterior?

Why, that is a secret known only to him.

It is a day like any other for him. He starts off in his room in Sancturia and wraps some new sweets in a leafy bind and sorts them in his basket.

He hummed a tune with a few buzzes from his wings between notes. Once the basket was topped off he whisked his hands up and pinched his fingers beside his smile.

"Perfect! Rai and the others will get a kick out of these!"

He applied a flimsy seal of aura over the basket and then put it under his shoulder.

He spends roughly 5% of his time in Sancturia these days. The vibe felt pretty…uncomfortable now.

Poor Torren rarely came out of her room. Vermilion was so mean. Carolina seemed even more withdrawn than usual.

The elder Sages gave him a lot of attention. Nimus treated him to snacks from Tanglefae and Aquamoria, Stonestein would always be the first to taste test his new ideas, and Glade was his primary supplier for the plants that make his treats so sweet.

He respected them, but they weren't friends, more like associates.

As he was on his way out of the palace he was addressed by Lilith, "Adderbolt."

He was surprised, she never needed him with urgency like this before.

"What's up?" He asked while facing her.

She seemed strict and tense in demeanor, she must have not gotten much sleep.

Adderbolt started to reach for a treat, "I bet this will wake you up a bit-"

She grabbed him around the wrist and looked him in the eyes, "No. I have an actual…useful task that you can do for me."

Adderbolt's eyes widened in confusion.

Sometime later he was flying over to Pulsa Minoria, merrily whistling a song off-key.

Once she arrived at the front gate he walked right through the electric waves with a little fuzziness tingling him on the outside.

"Tee hee!"

He then walked straight for the tall tower. Along the way, he poked a couple kids and gave them a share of his treats. Something mild to keep them tame.

The parents thanked him, and he took to it like a bee on a flower, "You're welcome! Have a nice day!"

A few more people waved him hello and it wound up delaying his visit by a whole ten minutes.

He smiled wider and wider until his whole face was glowing inside of the tower, "Everyone's so nice."

He then took the elevator to the top floor where Rai was currently setting up a giant fan on the right side of the room.

He was surprised out of joy and ran part way to greet him, "Hey Adder, check it out! I came up with a new game just last night!"

"Neat! How do we play?"

Rai guided him over to their two chairs and sitting in Rai's was a pair of grip magnets.

"I figured out how to calibrate the fan to blow with juuuust enough force to counteract a magnetic force. So I'll hold one pair of magnets, and you use your Drive to copy its properties."

"We'll point them at the fan, and the goal is to see who can hold their position the longest."

Adderbolt casually held out his hand for a clap while being supportive, "You're so inventive!"

"And if this works, I'm hoping to miniaturize it and put it out as a recreational activity for the kids in Sector 4."

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's try it out!" Adderbolt put the basket on the ground and tapped the magnets so his body could adapt to their properties.

They both sat on their separate chairs and pointed at the fan. Rai took out a remote and hovered over the button, "Ready…"

He tapped down and shouted "Go!" and the fan started blowing them back along the floor.

They hung their feet in the air and pointed their magnets at the fan. The combination of the two forces causes their chairs to sway back and forth, forcing them to adjust their arms to get back on track.

"Whoooooa!" Shouted Adderbolt.

Rai tried to swing his momentum to knock Adderbolt off course. He was a little offended and swung back, hitting harder.

The two then kept trying to outmaneuver the other, swishing and swooshing in arcs and passing each other by.

But eventually they had to cut the fun short because Rai was feeling nauseated. He willingly pulled out of the current and after a few more spins he restrained his upchuck and forced himself to stand.

"N-Note to self…might need to put a chest strap on the chair…"

Adderbolt got up and was sweating, "Whew, that was exciting! Another winner of an idea, Rai!"

Rai huffed and gasped for air, then smiled, "Yeah, I think the kids will love this. Thanks for testing it out with me."

"Uh huh."

Rai then looked and gestured at the basket, "So…whew, what did you bring today?"

"This is a really special treat. I want Pitori and Valic to come and try it too!"

Rai shrugged and chuckled, "Well shoot, sounds fun. I'll call them up!"

He then made his way to the console and used a button to flicker the light under the camera in Valic's lab.

A few minutes later teacher and student were entering the building to make this a special occasion.

Though Valic tried to play this off as an inconvenience, "Is this important? We were on the verge of a breakthrough."

Adderbolt gestured his basket up and Valic sighed with a glance towards Rai, "Really?"

"Yes really. Come on, it won't take that long."

Valic dragged himself over and reached into the basket after his protégé, "Ok, but it won't be any different than usual."

Adderbolt hinted in a casual tone, "You're gonna be shocked this time!"

Valic raised his brow at him and then looked at his treat. It was very bright, sort of electrifying. It had a hard shell but a soft interior.

Pitori and Rai were already chewing theirs so he was compelled to not be the odd man out and bit down on his.

His tongue was tickled with a strong feeling that went down the back of his throat. It made the hairs on his skin rise and his brain surge with a fuzzy sensation.

"W-What is this?" He wondered in serene delight, feeling like he was a child again.

Adderbolt explained in kind, "It's a new flavor I came up with by accident the other day!"

"I was trying to stir a batch of fruity sweets when my elbow bumped into a jar of potent leaves and dumped them into the mixture."

Adderbolt smiled and chuckled to brush off any sense of embarrassment, "I decided to keep going and ground them down into a powder and viola! Sweetness with a bite!"

"Though…I had to reduce the contents, otherwise it tended to pucker my lips shut."

Valic sighed after swallowing it down, "This is…decent."

Rai waved his hand out and chuckled, "Come on, say it like you mean it."

Valic glared at him subtly while blushing, "Don't press your luck, Climhazard."

Adderbolt then watched Pitori chewing it long and hard, moaning in childish delight and lifting his head ready for take off into the stratosphere.

"You've never made a bad piece yet!" He cheered.

Adderbolt grinned, "Ha ha, if only you spent a day in my room."

Rai wrapped his arm around the back of his shoulders and announced with sincerity, "That's our genius of sweets for ya!"

Adderbolt whispered "Our" like he was drifting through a dream.

Then with a big smile he told his friends, "I was thinking of making this an attraction of Pulsa Minoria's society!"

"Attraction?" Valic muttered.

"Something that will make others want to visit!" Adderbolt then put one foot forward and waved his hands out, "Picture it…! Pulsa Minoria, home to a treat that can't be beat!"

Valic crudely cut into his enthusiasm with a cough, "We're not the Sweet Tribe, may I remind you."

Pitori raised his hand and everyone paid attention, "Oh! What if we told people that it's like taking a bite out of electricity?"

Valic put his hand on his chin and mumbled, "The treat did feel like a 'Zap' in my mouth."

Rai quietly remarked in disbelief, "This guy…"

Adderbolt stood back up and remarked, "Ok! Then how about this? Come to Pulsa Minoria! Our treats will slap your tongue with a zap!"

"Does it HAVE to rhyme?" Pitori wondered while itching the side of his head.

Adderbolt rubbed the back of his head, "No?"

Valic then gestured his hand out and wondered, "What about a name for the treat?

Rai flinched and snapped his fingers towards him, "You're right!"

"Naturally." Valic said smugly.

"Val…" Sighed Rai.

Pitori was the first with an idea, "How about…Zap Rock?"

Valic scolded him gently, "WHO would want to eat a rock?"

Pitori Gaia blinked twice and Valic whipped his finger to say, "Don't answer that."

Rai looked around the room to distract himself until inspiration could strike, "Oh I got it! Zap Chew!"

He then mimicked Adderbolt's flair for the dramatic but extended his posture, "Want something new? Come to Pulsa Minoria for some Zap Chew!"

Adderbolt started clapping, "That's brilliant!"

Rai sold the idea to Valic by telling him, "And! It tells people we're a society of new ideas."

Valic was distracted being deep in thought. He then raised his hand and remarked, "That's all well and good except I just realized…How are we expecting to invite other people to try this treat?"

The whole room was filled with an awkward silence, which Valic soon filled by reminding them, "We're still technically in a war."

Not one to see defeat in big issues, Pitori proclaimed, "I can share some of these treats with mom and dad, and then they can pass them around to the other Genesis Samurais!"

Rai snapped his fingers out from his side, "Hey, that's not a bad idea."

"I suppose it's worth a try." Valic added.

Adderbolt then cheerfully proclaimed, "Well I'll make a ton of them at home! Then we'll be able to make new friends from other Tribes!"

"Hopefully that happens. We'll see." Rai said.

Adderbolt then picked his basket up and presented it to his friends, "Well why stop here? There's plenty more sweets to enjoy!"

Valic coughed twice and tried to turn away, "Sorry. But I must be getting back to-"

Rai sighed, "Val…just sit down and have a little fun. You can pick whatever you were doing back up tomorrow."

Valic squinted at him and scoffed, "Fine, but only so you'll stop nagging like an older brother. Because as a reminder I am a year older than you."

Adderbolt doled out some sweeter treats and they sat around discussing simple stuff for a bit, though Valic kept resorting to big words for his own enjoyment.

After a while of conversing Rai decided to introduce Pitori to his new activity/invention. But before they went off to play, Pitori pulled Adderbolt off to the side and whispered to him, "Could you go to the lab? I forgot to grab something I wanted to show Rai "

"Sure! But why not Valic?"

Pitori looked off to the side to make sure his teacher's attention was elsewhere, "Cause if I send him back he'll stay there."

"Ha ha, alright, you can count on me, Pitori!"

Pitori reached into his pocket to pull out his unlocking device, "It'll be on my table, next to the armor. It's a sphere."

Adderbolt paused with the device now in his hand, then closed his eyes and smiled his way out of the building.

He bolted straight for the laboratory and raised the device to be scanned. Once the door clicked open he walked inside and went straight for Pitori's table.

There he found a steel sphere with electric blue highlights and a dash of purple on the sides.

And off to the side stood Pitori's armor propped up by a magnetic field.

Looking at it reminded him of the conversation he had with Lilith.

"I heard that someone invented an armor using the gems that can capture electricity."

"Oh yeah, Pitori did! He-"

"I could care less about-" She paused very briefly to cough "...Ahem! That's very nice, however, Lord Borealis has heard about it and thinks it will be useful for his goals."

"He's still after the Wellsprings?" Adderbolt tilted his head in surprise.

"Of course I-...HE is. If you bothered to attend more meetings you would know this."

"Sorry. So, how will this help him?"

"Why, because only you, with your Drive, will be able to absorb the properties of that armor. And with it, capture the power of their Titan completely."

Adderbolt had his suspicions, "Uhhh, the whole Titan?"

"Yes." She stated with impatience.

"Wouldn't that be a bad idea?"

"Oh? Do you have a better one?" She uttered with blunt curiosity, "This Titan is too slippery to risk letting him escape."

"And Lord Borealis…" She reached out and stroked his chubby face, "Will be very, very grateful if you did this."

Adderbolt had to consider it, "He will be…?"

"Him…AND I," She said, gesturing her arms out like inviting him into her grace, "So don't fail."

He stared at the armor for a while as her voice echoed.

Sometime later he returned to the tower with the sphere bouncing in his hand, and a spring in his step, "Here you go! Your request is complete!"

He tossed it over to Pitori and then gave him back the unlocking device. He then poked his brain curiously, "So what does it do?"

Pitori turned around to get the demonstration started, "Hey Rai, check this out!"

Adderbolt kept his distance as Pitori demonstrated his unique cleverness to his peers.

He had a lot of accomplishments on his plate already and a long life left to him. It made Adderbolt feel even more happy than usual.

After a little bit of time spent enjoying some more sweets, he had an opportunity to talk with Pitori by himself.

"Sounds like you made another good invention, Pitori!" He celebrated despite not being too enthusiastic.

"Thanks! But it needs a little sprucing up."

"What's the problem?"

"Well you saw how the electricity was going 'Woosh' when I should be going 'Bzzzz'?"

That all flew over Adderbolt's head for a multitude of reasons, "Ha, I wasn't paying much attention, sorry."

"Oh," Pitori hung his head a little, "Well! No matter, you'll be the first to see it when it's finished then!"

"I'm excited already! You make a lot of beat stuff!"

"Yep! But nothing beats my armor!" Pitori cheered with fists raised.

Adderbolt finished chewing his last treat and remarked, "Your dad, your mom, heck, everyone helped out on it! That makes it super special!"

The two naturally eased themselves onto the ground as Pitori questioned, "What about your parents? What are they like?"

Adderbolt stated in a carefree tone, "Well, I never got to know them for very long."

"They're…dead?" Pitori murmured.

"Yeeeaah…lost them a long time ago. But I was old enough to remember my dad teaching me how to make sweets."

"He always stirred the batter with passion and the treats would melt in your heart."

"I'll never forget what he told me one day…"

Adderbolt saw the shadow of a big man with a mustache split like Dragonfly wings. His voice was jolly but faint, "The key to making friends…is to find someone you can share a treat with."

"So it's thanks to him that I met you, and Rai, and Valic, and Sarajin, and everyone else too!" Adderbolt's smile crested his cheeks warmly, "You're all my favorite people in the whole wide world."

Pitori blushed and with a teeny tiny smile he muttered, "I wish I could've met your dad."

"You would've liked him, I think."

"Do you…miss him?" Pitori edged on the side of caution there.

"I do. He was soft, cuddly, huggable," Adderbolt kept going on without losing his spirits, "I dunno, I guess I don't see a point in getting down in the dumps about it. It's sad he's gone, mom too, but I know they're still together in the Aura, and they were happy to have me. So I wanna fill every day with happiness instead of wasting them away being depressed."

Pitori sat there in awe, "You're so grown-up, Adderbolt."

"Well I am a little over 40…I think."

"Really? You look young."

"Stop it, you're making my heart buzz!" Adderboly had a jolly laugh and the two spent a little time afterwards being merry.

When it was over Valic was finally able to break free of this easy-going atmosphere and head to his lab, with Pitori following with a wave goodbye to Adderbolt, "Good luck with the Zap Chew!"

Adderbolt waved back, and them with a mellow sigh he joined Rai back in their respective chairs.

No treats, no company, just two best friends and all the time in the world to chat.

Adderbolt slowly spun around in his chair while Rai had a twitchy feeling in his cheeks.

"Haha, I can still feel a tingle!"

Adderbolt's smile oozed out utter bliss and with a light chuckle he slowed down and faced his friend, "I'm glad I spent the day this way."

Rai flinched with a hint of surprise, "Was…there something else you had to do?"

"Sort of. Lilith, I've mentioned her before yeah? Well she wanted me to use my Drive on Pitori's armor and then capture your Titan for Lord Borealis."

Rai nearly fell out of his chair, "T-That's crazy! Why?"

"I dunno, but I didn't do it. That sounded too inconsiderate for Lord Borealis."

Rai then waved his hand out and hastily expressed concern, "But won't you get in trouble?"

Adderbolt shrugged, "I'm not in Sancturia that often. They're bound to forget."

He then sharply changed the subject, "Hey Rai. Remember when we first met?"

Rai had to allow whiplash so strong it shook his brain, "Y-Yeah, I do. We were twelve years old. You came right up to me in this room and handed me a bumpy treat and said, 'Hi! I'm Adderbolt, an Aurian, want to be friends?'"

He smirked and gestured at the Sage, "And I thought…'Either he's honest, bold, or stupid…'"

He then went for a fobd smile and sighed,, "I'm glad it was the first thing."

Adderbolt's cheeks puffed out with his smile, "You have something special here. This place isn't just a Tribe…it's a community. A family. And everyone's out there pulling their weight."

"I'm proud to be a very small part of something bigger."

Hearing his friend speak in earnest left Rai wanting to reach out and ask him, "Hey, Adder? Why don't you just…live here?"

Adderbolt's face froze with this chubby little smile.

Rai sat up all the way and got forceful with his idea, "Heck! You never have anything nice to say about your home. Sounds like you want it too. We're building new houses. I can get them to suit your needs. Then you'll have all the time in the world to fool around, make treats, etc etc "

Adderbolt whispered, "You really mean it?"

"Of course pal! So what do you say?"

"Sure! I can do that! Lord Borealis has eight other Sages to pick up my slack anyways."

Rai stood with excitement, "Great! I'll let the builders know!"

As he headed off, Adderbolt sat there as comfortably as the clouds in the sky.

Because in the end Adderbolt's secret wasn't anything huge or revolutionary.

He was a simple man.

And sometimes, simplicity is the secret ingredient.

Next Time: The Wind and the Darkness