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Chapter: Sorry...? Pardon...?
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Conis and Su laughed after trying hard to control it. I slowly turned towards the ocean where a speedy shrimp was looking at me.
After seeing the shrimp, an urge emerged from the depth of my soul to beat it up. "Argh...! you ruined my moment again" I yelled at the shrimp. 'Again? Why did I say again?' I realized what I had blurted.
"I finally know why I have a huge craving for shrimp," I seethed, marching angrily toward the sea.
"You must have already ruined my moment before; let's see how you escape from me," I glared, taking my backpack off to fight the shrimp.
Conis and Su rushed to stop me. "Hey, it's okay. You look really cool… even drenched in water," Conis comforted me, but her upturned lips say otherwise.
"Really! Then why were you two rolling on the ground and laughing?" I rolled my eyes angrily.
Conis and Su don't know what to say to calm me down, but it seems luck is on their side, appearing in a form of a «BEEP» sound. Conis and Su looked around in confusion to identify the sound.
"Where Am I?" I shouted in a panic to Conis and Su's bewilderment. "And why I'm drenched in water?" I continued looking at my dress.
Su quickly understood this was my memory attack, so, "Su… sue… sue!" Su came forward and gestured for a while.
"So? we were going towards your house so that shrimp cleaned me?" I questioned Su suspiciously. "Su!" Su nodded and pointed at Conis, who look bewildered. I squinted my eyes at her.
Su went to Conis and tapped her feet, getting Conis's attention. "Well… Yeah, that's what happened," Conis stuttered, scratching her head nervously, without making eye contact.
"Ok, I will believe you for now," I accepted it, to her relief.
Then I looked at my blinking bracelet and operated it to read the reminder.
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«Year:- 1509 » «Age:- 02 » «Location:- SkyPiea: Angel Island » «Time:- September-End »
«Main Task: Get stronger and avenge Scyther»
»Instructions:
«Previously: » Arrived at Golden city and started my training and Scyther's training.
»Tied weights all over Scyther's body. Remove it when necessary »
«Learn Dial Engineering from Pagaya»
«Train your student»
«Make Insect's Royals vanish»
«Next: » Restart Scyther's training and prepare a plan to overthrow Royals »
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After understanding everything, I turned to look at the shrimp as both Conis and Su suddenly stiffened. "Thanks! shrimp bro," I thanked the wide-eyed, confused shrimp and started walking, "Let's go" called the two, who sighed in relief.
"So Lucifer, where were you the past two months?" Conis asked me. I widened my eyes in surprise.
"What? You are calling me?" I exclaimed, pointing to myself, to which she nodded while smiling.
"Lucifer, is that my name?" I asked, whispering the name.
"Yeah, you said white wings are angels and black wings are 'Fallen angels' and named yourself Lucifer, then..." Conis explained, but Su cut her off and warned her from explaining further about the shrimp.
I waited for her to continue digesting the info. "Then... can I call you Luci, haha.. ha!" Conis asked, laughing awkwardly, looking guilty.
"Sure, it's only a name. You can call me whatever you want," I assured her, waving my hands dismissively.
"Luci, you haven't answered me? Where were you these two months?" Conis questioned me again as I looked at her blankly.
"I won't tell anyone, promise," she flustered/panicky.
I smirked at her reaction. "It's not that. It's weird suddenly being called by a different name," I confessed to her.
"Forget about it, I was in Upper Yard," I disclosed as her eyes suddenly brightened.
"Tell me about it more," Conis asked excitedly. I looked at her. "I forgot," I replied deadpan. She wilted, looking depressed.
"Ok! don't worry, I will bring you there one day. You can see it with your own eyes," I promised her as she looked eagerly for that day.
We walked along the beach as Conis and Su asked many questions on the way to their house. I answered them patiently, which made them excited.
Finally, we reached her home after climbing the long steps. I looked around the house curiously, then waited for Pagaya.
"Conis I will show you something but you can't tell others," I asked seriously. She blinked at my seriousness.
"Even my dad?" she questioned, not liking the idea of hiding from her dad.
"Yes, If I want, I will show it to him directly," I answered her truthfully. Then she pondered biting her lower lips anxiously, and looked at Su, who nodded in agreement so Conis promised, "Ok I promise".
I showed her my watch and explained to her how it worked as she exclaimed from time to time in amazement. I showed her the photos and videos of my prank and Upper yard, which were new even to me, so we watched it together.
At Last, I explained how this watch reminds me of my memory loss, so without it, he will be totally at a loss. She nodded in understanding, then told me to protect it properly, knowing its importance.
We three spend our time leisurely looking at the videos and photos until evening. Nothing out of the ordinary happened except for me getting a memory attack twice.
I don't know whether showing them about the watch as soon as meeting them is any good, but I somehow trust them maybe because of seeing them in the canon. I know I wouldn't have shown it if it were someone else.
As the sun was about to set, Pagaya returned with the fish he caught. "Father! you're back," Conis yelled, rushing towards Pagaya, who hugged her.
"Sorry! Conis for coming late today," Pagaya apologized to her. Conis ignored it and probably got used to it.
"Father, I want to introduce you to someone," Conis dragged him towards me. When he saw me, his eyes widened in realization–I can't see any other reaction with his mouth covered in beard-.
"Father, this is Lucifer. He is here to ask something," Conis explained, looking slightly nervous.
"Hello there, I'm Pagaya, Conis's father. Pardon me," Pagaya introduced himself. I looked dumbfounded 'why are you apologizing for being her father?' I thought.
I came out of the trance and shook his hands. "Hello, I'm Lucifer. You can call me Luci," I introduced my new name, feeling weird about it.
"Well, we can talk about other things after dinner. Sorry about that," Pagaya proposed happily.
I nodded. "It's fine, not that important," I assured him and went to help him in the kitchen. After an hour, we had a nice dinner and sat around the table.
"Ahem! Luci, what is that you need to ask about?" Pagaya asked me after sometimes to which Conis perked up.
"Well, I heard you are dial engineering, so I thought you could teach me about it," I asked Pagaya looking expectedly.
Pagaya looks like he is thinking for a while. "Sorry, I can teach you," he apologized.
"Don't worry, I won't ask it for… IF you're going to accept, why are you apologizing for?" I yelled, finally breaking my calm facade, causing Conis to giggle.
"Sorry for that," Pagaya replied.
"Don't apologize for that too," I sighed while holding my forehead, then took my backpack then rummaged through it.
"As I was saying, I will pay you teaching fees," I reasoned, taking a cloth bag filled with something.
"Pardon me, but I don't need a fee from you," Pagaya declined quickly.
"You accompanying Conis is just fine, Sorry," He replied, confusing me.
"This is a very remote place, so only a few people arrive here," he started explaining.
"Because of it, Conis does not have a friend of her age, so I always feel sorry for her," Pagaya explained to me. I listened looking at Conis, who look sad.
"You know, I am also not in her age group," I pointed out.
"Besides, me being friends with her has nothing to do with me learning about dials," I objected to Pagaya.
Before he could protest, "Stop, this is not an Extol" I explained, loosening the tie.
"It is of no use, from where I am from. Look…" I opened the cloth showing the soil in it.
"Oh, it is Vearth? Pardon me, it is even more precious than Extol," Pagaya exclaimed. Conis looked curiously at it.
"Here you can have it. Grow pumpkin if you want." I put the parcel on Conis's lap, whose eyes brightened at the mention of Pumpkin.
"*sigh* fine, you have it your way. Sorry about that," Pagaya resignedly replied after a while.
"Why are you apologizing again? when do we start the lesson? Where should I sleep?" I asked him a series of questions.
"Sorry, we will start tomorrow. You can stay in that empty room," Pagaya informed me before getting dragged away by the excited Conis while apologizing. I sweated at the number of times he is apologizing. I went to the assigned room, then updated my log, and slept peacefully.
The next day I woke up confused, looking around the room I was in. I jumped into a defensive posture when the room's door opened. I saw a little girl with wings. "Where Am I? Who Are You? What is this place?" I questioned her, to which she blinked her eyes in confusion before pointing at my wrist.
"Dad is waiting for you. Come quickly after you read the reminder," she informed then walked away. I spend some time reading the reminder and digesting it. I freshened up, then had breakfast with the three, and went into the room with various dials along with Pagaya.
"Excuse me, let's start with the basics of how dials work... sorry, I think you know how to use dials better," Pagaya pointed out; looking –I can't describe his expression with his closed eyes and bearded mouth- in excitement...?
"You used a breath dial and water dial with many gases and water in it," Pagaya explained with awe.
"Really?" I asked, obviously forgetting about it.
Then he explained for a long while about how clouds formed from volcanoes and the mineral 'Pairopuroine' then how manipulating its density gives a different type of clouds and so on..., I listened earnestly, it was already afternoon by the time he explained the basics.
"Pardon me, Let's Have Lunch before further explanation," Pagaya informed me going to prepare lunch. I went out to find Conis and saw her playing with Su, so I started teasing Su till we were called for lunch.
After finishing lunch and while we were sitting around the table, a «BEEP» sound originated from my watch. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at me.
"Where Am I?" I questioned as they sighed, pointing at my wrist. I read the reminder. "So… When do we start the Dial lesson?" I asked Pagaya who suddenly started sweating and Conis facepalmed as snickering Su nearby.
"Luci, you have already finished one session; before you ask, Yes, that is your name, short for Lucifer," Conis explained, expertly already used to it, clearing all my doubts.
I started sweating. "Argh! If I can't remember what you teach me, what is the point of learning?" I despaired, holding my head, thinking others looked at me in worry.
"Pardon me, we will find a solution for you soon," Pagaya reassured me, then Conis's eyes suddenly brightened. "I know, you can record them and see later when you have doubt," she proposed happily.
My eyes brightened and looked at the watch. Finding a newly created recorded file in it, I checked it. "Hahaha, I really recorded it earlier," I laughed, looking at the video.
"Really?" Conis happily asked as I showed her the video. "That's great!" Conis clapped joyfully after watching it.
"Pardon me, my daughter, Conis, what are you talking about?" Pagaya asked confusedly at Conis, who suddenly panicked, then looked at me.
"Oh! I didn't say to you? Its.….." I started explaining to Pagaya about the watch, oblivious to Conis's entanglement. Conis stomped her feet and puffed her cheeks in anger after seeing this.
After I explained everything to Pagaya, Conis came to me. "Didn't you say it is a secret and it will be dangerous if many people know about it?" Conis questioned angrily. I blinked my eyes at this question.
"Well, I trust your dad so don't worry about it," I assured Conis after understanding her anger.
"Excuse me, I won't tell anyone. Sorry about that," Pagaya assured while apologizing.
"Why are you apologizing? Did you apologize in advance for leaking the secret?" I questioned him suspiciously.
"I am sorry about that," Pagaya apologized again.
"Oi! You are not even denying and apologizing again," I shouted angrily at it. Conis burst into laughter, looking at our fight along with Su.
I calmed down and looked at my watch for any solutions and finally found the muscle memory and spark of inspiration. "I'm going to remember it by muscle memory. If I do things repeatedly, then I will get used to it," I proposed explaining it in detail to them.
"Hmm! I am okay with it. I will bring all the simple orders home and let you do it," Pagaya agreed, after thinking about it.
"Isn't it going to be a problem for you?" I asked him curiously.
"Pardon me, it's perfectly alright... you know I already planned on doing this, so I can spend more time with Conis," Pagaya explained, touching Conis's head.
"Ok, now time for me to record things," I shouted excitedly. "Before that, can I borrow your Waver? I want to try it," I asked Pagaya excitedly.
"Well, it is bigger than you. You can't even reach its handle," Conis pointed out, giggling at me. I looked at my short legs and arms in frustration.
"Excuse me, you can use the waver I designed for Conis to practice, but you should know it is very difficult to control," Pagaya explained, taking a small waver.
"Don't worry, I have used a Jet board and Jet Ski, so I can manage it," I assured, patting my chest. His jaw dropped at that- by a slight movement behind the beard- I think. We went to the beach to enjoy ourselves, thus starting my long stay here.
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-O-
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«Log Book Entry: 124» «Year:1509~ Mid-November»
» I stayed for over two months here, learning about dial engineering, teaching Conis to drive Waver, Prank some passerby with Su, etc. I like this leisure time, even though I get frequent memory attacks here.
» Maybe this body needs the warmth of family since this body is still two years old. I guess it is okay because I see Conis as my little...?-Er-...eldest...? who cares...as my sister, so there is no problem. Conis took a liking to music on my watch and even started learning Harp.
» Learning about Dial engineering is also going well, I can create some basic things even after my memory attack: I created a portable Mini-kitchen, which has a Flavor dial and water dial containing necessary ingredients, Flame Dial, and Heat dial to cook, it also has small utensils which can cook. Similarly, I also created a mini-clinic used for first-aid.
» I even heard about Devil's day. Funny enough, they even marked the date in next year's calendar. Since it's going to be a new year in a month, I will see it soon. Oh! yeah! I finally turned 3 this month one step to adult Yay!.
» I also go for a swim every day to train and catch fish while returning. One time I went a long distance and discovered an empty small cloud island with some trees. I guessed this is an Island Gan Fall made his home away from Enel's range.
» So I made this my secret training base. I even found dials on the edge of the island like impact dial, ax dial, etc., and I even found one rare Thunder Dial.
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This brings me to today where I'm going to test electro if I produce Electro using this Dial as a medium. "Um...! I think Mink produce Electro because of their fur, right?" I deduced blindly.
"Maybe not, Electro can be used even if they are infants or the elderly," I recalled all the details about it.
"I think I'm a slow learner since I'm 'only' part, Mink?" I comforted myself.
"And I don't have fur except for my tail," I muttered dismissively after looking at the uncontrollable tail.
Because of curiosity, I raised my hand to observe it, then thought about producing electricity from it. "As expected..." I sighed after observing there was no reaction.
Before going back to my Dial work, as a last resort, I grew my claws and tried again, but there is still no electro visible; not even a spark from it.
"Hey Luci, father called you for Lunch," Conis yelled barging into the room as she stared at me in amusement which annoyed me before I could question her she started laughing hard "Hihihihi, that is a funny hairstyle, it suits you," she complimented and ran out giggling.
I looked confused at her words, then looked at my reflection and was startled to find my hair standing straight like a spike, "What the.." I muttered, adjusting my hair properly.
"How did it happen? It's like I'm struck by lightning," I muttered, then I suddenly reacted and looked wide-eyed at my hands, or claws in particular.
"Does it mean I can produce electro?" I exclaimed in excitement. Turning towards the mirror and trying Electro again, my hair stood again like I'm in contact with static electricity.
"So I can only produce Static electricity now," I guessed. "Hmm! if I practice, I can produce electro hahaha," I laughed happily.
"It seems to work only with my claws on," I deduced after experimenting for a while.
"I thought I will learn to control fire first since I have been experimenting with it daily," I sighed before updating it in my reminder note.
"Ok let's try fire again," I mumbled, stopped playing with static electricity, took a flame dial, and lit my hand in a fire. I concentrated for a while to control it, failing miserably.
"Well, at least I'm fireproof," I comforted at my failure, then rearranged the tools and went to dinner. From that day on, I added 'Electro' to my training list. Just like that, I spent another month and a half there.
-o-
Today I am packing my bag as Conis stood aside, eyes red, looking angry, carrying the similarly angry Su in her arms. "Why are you crying now?" I asked her. She turned her head in a huff.
"Hey come on, don't be mad. I have a lot of stuff to do there," I persuaded her, zipping the bag.
"Didn't I promise to take you to Upper Yard?" I baited her. She looked at me, carrying Su in her arms.
"It's not like I'm going to the blue sea. If I plan to, I will go with a Bang. You will know about it," I reasoned. She looked even sad thinking of me leaving for the blue sea.
For some reason, even after my memory attack, I can remember some important things, like promises I made with Conis, some promises to someone to overthrow Royal which I can't remember properly, and especially my dream to reach the Sea of Stars.
It's a good thing that I don't forget some important people quickly, but my main guess is that I remembered them from anime, so it kinda triggered something in my brain to remember them.
I totally forgot about Scyther, only the alarm I set reminded me of going back to Upper Yard or I would have stayed here completely.
"Ok, remember the promise you made or I will be angry," Conis demanded fiercely. Other than looking cute, she doesn't bring any fear.
I chuckled at this "Yeah, yeah, as your friend…" I started before Conis cut me off. "NO, not a friend… a brother," Conis whispered nervously.
"What!? I can't hear properly," I asked, cupping my ears smugly. Even though I see her as a sister, it surprised me to hear it from her.
She rushed towards me aggressively. I thought she is going to hit me in embarrassment but she surprised me with a hug. "I look at you as my brother from someday you started living here, so from on I will treat you like a brother," Conis sniffed, tears in her eyes.
It somehow brought tears to my eyes. Many have called me brother in my previous life, but this brother in this world brought a totally different feeling to me. I don't know what it was.
It seems I have not accepted this world as a real-world yet and still think of it as an anime world and do things without considering others. Only now do I know that I also need some kind of anchor to stop me from rushing things and reminding me this is the real world.
"Do you agree?" Conis asked, moving away from the hug looking expectedly. I woke up from my thought and was about to answer her. A «BEEP» sound interrupted us as Conis wilted in disappointment.
"Where Am I?" I looked around, spotting a crying girl, and I instinctively know her identity.
"Ah! Conis, what happened? Why are you crying?" I blurted in shock, looking at her teary face. Conis sighed sadly, then explained I was leaving for Upper Yard.
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«Year:- 1510 » «Age:- 03 » «Location:- SkyPiea: Angel Island » «Time:- Early-January »
«Main Task: Get stronger and avenge Scyther»
»Instructions:
«Previously: » Learned about Dial engineering for the past month.
» Started to train Electro, yes now I can produce some sparks which can numb others.
» Stored some things in the secret island for using it in the future»
«Return to Upper Yard»
«Restart Scythers' training»
«Make Insect's Royals vanish»
«Next: » Prepare a plan to overthrow Royals after learning about the Kingdom's situation »
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After learning everything from Conis and the reminder note, I took my bag and went to the beach where Pagaya was waiting along with Su, who arrived before us.
"Ha! here you are Luci sorry for the wait," Pagaya said handing me my Jet board. I took it, sighing at Pagaya's habit of apologizing.
"Su... sue... Suu" Su shouted, looking sad. I shrugged "Sorry Su, I need to go to Upper Yard and can't stay here," I explained helplessly, thinking about the promise made to a certain insect, who will be extremely happy if the promise is not realized.
"Yeah, protect Conis, especially from swirly eyebrows, Ok" I instructed Su, who nodded her head despite the confusion.
"Alright old man, I will come to ask questions if I have any doubt in Dials," I promised Pagaya, who accepted, still apologizing.
"Yo! Conis, why are you silent now?" I asked her.
"Listen, this place will not always be peaceful, so I suggest you train with white berets and learn to defend yourself," I advised Conis, patting her tall shoulder with some difficulty. She nodded her head in understanding, wiping her tears away.
I got on Jet Board and moved away from the beach into the sea. "Good Bye! Old man, you too Su" I shouted waving goodbye to them.
"Ok, Conis become strong so that I can fulfill my promise," I yelled at her "And Take care of yourself sister," I waved at her.
At the word 'Sister' Conis' eyes brightened then tears flowed "You too, take care and don't get eaten by the snake, Luci!" Conis shouted waving goodbye to me until I disappeared on the horizon