Alright, send in a review or leave in a favorite/follow if you are liking the story so far!
"… it's simply delicious!" Mirii blew on the tea, drinking more of it.
"Tee hee hee!" Kelly's hand went in front of her mouth. "How do you feel?"
"Aaah!" Mirii was smiling, bringing her yunomi away from her mouth. "I never had such outstanding tea, before…!" Her irises went down on the remaining beverage.
She brought her lips on the edge, sipping the rest.
"Hhhmmm… hhmmm!" Her eyes closed. "… hmm!"
"Wow… as if she was hungry for happiness!" Kelly chuckled, as her hands went down. "Not even I drank it that fast…!"
Mirii lowered her yunomi… as her posture lifted a bit more than usual.
"Kelly…" She bowed down slightly. "… thank you for offering me this special drink." Her eyes closed, smiling kindly and moving closer to the table. "I would like to know the recipe, so I can reproduce such distinctive taste…" She puts her yunomi on the table, before looking back at Kelly.
"Aaaah, I can't give you the recipe…!" Kelly bended slightly backwards, with her hands moving in front of her chest. "It's the happiness tea you were mentioning…"
…
"I'm sorry for lying to you, Mirii… but I wanted to help you feeling better." Kelly formed an upside 3 with her mouth. "I hope that will not ruin your happiness"
"Kelly, I should be the one who should say sorry…" A pinkish aura was surrounding the girl. "… I'm sorry for badly judging your brilliant work."
Her head tilted a bit.
"From now on, I will gladly accept your happiness tea, whenever you have one to offer."
"Tee hee hee!" Kelly danced around. "Yooouuuuuu are weeeellccoooome!" She stopped, while balancing on a foot and opening her arms.
Mirii chuckled, as her hand caressed her tentacle.
"Can I come now, Kelly?"
"Sure, sure!" The young girl spun once, before aiming herself at the opened shoji and standing on the left foot." Come iiiiiinn!" She chuckled, resuming a neutral pose.
An Inkling man wearing round glasses and a dark-blue kimono came from the right side of the entrance: he was holding a basin full of Inkling water. His neck bowed for an instant, blinking his eyes at the same time.
"Nice to meet you, Mirii." He smiled a bit. "I'm Mesi, a 'researcher' of the Shrine."
Mirii bowed down too, smiling even more and closing her eyes.
"My pleasure, Mr. Mesi." She nodded. "Kelly told me you could help me reaching a building."
A sweat drop appears on his head, as his eyes closed.
"Actually, I'm not entirely sure of that… I think she was way too enthusiastic over my 'research'."
Kelly chuckled, as she danced on her own. Mirii chuckled too, as her hands went down.
"It's ok, sir." Her head tilted. "We are all Squids by nature… we can only follow perfection until a certain point."
"True!" The man nodded.
"Tee hee! I would never expect you saying such thing!" Kelly walked near the man's right side.
"I always keep in mind that wise message, Kelly." Mirii's aura appeared once again. "… I must remember this attitude I'm having right now… it's so good." Her smile reached her cheeks.
Mesi knees down, putting the basin on the floor.
"Anyway…" His posture lifted back. "Recently, I have been studying a possible way to travel through various places with the use of this special basin."
Mirii stared at the Inkling water, which was reflecting back her own image.
"My face looks so delicate and clean with that smile…!" Her hands went on her cheeks. "That tea was incredibly worth it, at the end…!"
"Kelly, have you exaggerate with the happiness dose…?" The man stared back at the called girl.
"Naaaah!" Kelly jumped in place, lifting her legs upwards. "It's Mirii who's usually mad, mad and mad…!" She stopped her movements, chuckling and bending forward with her hands behind her back. "She wanted to get rid of her stress so much, she couldn't resist at the tea's aroma… and even its happy taste!"
Mirii sighed, as her eyes closed.
"I would do it again, if I have the chance."
"That tea cannot be taken like an ordinary one." Mesi's mouth downturned. "You will start losing control over yourself, if you are overwhelmed by happiness."
"I perfectly understand your concern, sir…" Mirii nodded, opening her eyes back. "I will remember this vital rule and respect it with all my will."
"Glad to hear that." Mesi smiled. "Now, this basin you are seeing… it's a prototype of the new transporter system I'm currently researching with 3 more colleagues."
"I believe I have heard of 'researchers' working inside the Shrine, before… you do not use technology like the scientists do in our cities." Mirii's hand picked her smartphone. "If you have never seen technology, then"
"I have seen it before." Mesi's right hand moved left and right repeatedly, towards the girl. "I know you can show me various pictures with that item too, as well as recording existing events happening in the moment."
Mirii giggled a bit.
"You mean taking videos?" Her hand put her smartphone away.
"Something like that." The man sighed. "But essentially, we do utilize and create 'technology' too… as in, we utilize our current knowledge to discover newer, advanced techniques and powers for the good of our Shrine."
Mesi smiled.
"Although, I suggest you to not go around the Shrine and associate the word 'technology' with our job… even by explaining its meaning, the others will surely turn up their noses at you." He shrugged. "Even my own colleagues."
"I see, I see." Mirii nodded. "Mr. Mesi, shall I reveal the location where I wish to go?" Her eyes closed.
"I want to go with yyooouuuu!" Kelly ran around the girl, while her arms were wide open. "The name of the place sounds soooo much fun!"
Mirii chuckled, blinking her eyes and connecting them with the man's ones.
"Before you do, I have to explain what this basin is for: trust me, it's rather important." His hands pointed at the Inkling water standing calmly in the metallic item. "You may not believe this, but this old basin was actually created from scratch this month!" He walked to its left side. "It has such look, because of a special oil we used during the production."
Mirii's mouth opened.
"What kind of oil would reduce such new item in this state…?"
"The oil derived by Roc-Rocs!" The man nodded, walking now on the basin' right side. "It's a plant that grows under the ground... you need to throw yellow ink on the surface, just above one of them: it emerges and absorbs all the ink." His hand pushed his glasses inside. "On a side note, you should never stay near a field of Roc-Rocs if you are sporting a yellow color…"
He turned behind, putting his hands behind his back and walking away from the basin.
"Roc-Rocs release a moderate amount of oil, once they matured for about one year and are fed with yellow ink." Mesi returned over the basin, as he nodded. "This oil has the ability to shape any items as it wishes… usually giving them an old, 'rocky' look on them." He took a few steps closer to the item. "However, this oil is also extremely resilient!"
"Resilient…?" Mirii's head rose.
"This Inkling water contains a high dose of" Mesi sealed his mouth for a moment. "… that's more of a secret, actually." His mouth downturned, as his eyebrows went up. "I hope you understand."
"I perfectly understand, sir." Mirii smiled. "Please, continue your explanation."
"… in other words, only few items can hold this Inkling water in its natural state." He knees down. "This basin is one of them: thanks to the oil, we managed to add the required elements on this Inkling water and basically create a very rudimental means of transportation."
His head tilted back over Mirii.
"You just need to think about the location you want to reach, while looking at this water… it only works for the person who thought said place." He chuckled once. "You also need to try thinking more than once, since the elements inserted inside this Inkling water are rather weak, compared to the better counterparts."
"Tee hee hee!" Kelly's hands went in front of her mouth. "So, it's true that the Shrine doesn't reward you too well…"
"Th-that's another story!" Sweat covered Mesi's forehead. "Now, once you see the location you thought on the reflection, you just need to dive inside and presto, you reached your destination!" He stands up. "Unfortunately, when you arrive… you will be covered by this oil I mentioned."
Mirii's eyes went wide.
"… I'm not sure I want to use this basin…" Her mouth downturned.
"Don't worry!" The man walked past the basin, reaching the girl and smiling at her. "There will be only a small portion of oil, all over you… but it's recommended to take a shower within half-a-hour, before you might experience some 'wrinkles' on your skin."
The girl swallowed silently.
"No, I can't take such risk…!" She trembled. "I-I'm still too young…!"
Kelly opened her mouth, while staring at Mirii: she aimed at Mesi, while frowning.
"Look what you have done!" The young lady snorted too. "Now Mirii is scared!"
"No, no, I'm not…" Mirii shook her head, before smiling at her friend. "I'm still highly happy… just concerned about this oil."
"Really?!" Kelly smiled widely, pointing her face over Mirii and clenching her fists. "Yaaaayy!" She jumped in place.
Mirii chuckled, as her left hand grabbed her right elbow. The little girl stopped, as her mouth formed a large downside 3.
"… I could reach this place first!" She clapped. "Then, I will draw a paper that connects directly to the Shrine… so, you can dive there instead of this basin!"
"… that's a brilliant plan, Kelly!" Mirii turned over Mesi, while opening her smiling mouth. "What do you think of such idea, sir?"
"Us Shrine citizens can use this basin too." The man nodded twice. "But does Kelly know the destination?"
"I can show it to her!" Mirii's hand grabbed her smartphone, immediately tapping on its screen with her thumb. "It is just a matter of seconds… I will find an image of Happy Squid Land's entrance."
Her irises were seeing text scrolling downwards.
"What a relief…!" She exhaled air out of her mouth, which formed a dot shape. "If it wasn't for Kelly, who knows if I was capable of shaking off that nasty oil."
A line was moving in circle, while standing in the middle of a white screen.
"… I wish I could have even more of that wonderful tea." She smiled widely, while closing her eyes. "This happiness feels so good… so deep!"
…
Mesi frowned, as he stared at Kelly.
"You exaggerated with the happiness dose, didn't you?" He folded his arms.
"Tee hee hee!" Kelly spun twice, while laughing. "Mmmaaaaaaayyybbbeeeeee…!" She stopped, grinning back at the man.
His head shook slowly.
"Luckily, the effect wears off in less than an hour…" His eyes closed.
"Kelly, here is the image." Walking rapidly, Mirii brought her smartphone in front of the girl's face.
Her little eyes were admiring a large, rectangular-shaped building with a parking lot facing its entrance: a large banner was sitting above the glass multi-door, reading "HAPPY SQUID LAND" with the letters colored in either magenta, blue, orange, yellow or green.
Her mouth opened, as her irises were waving in the inside, resting particularly on happy-looking Squids drawn on and around the logo's letters.
"Oooooohhh…!" Kelly's eyes blinked. "… what place is that?!" She grinned widely, keeping her breath.
"This is one of the many Project Neo's hideouts…" Mirii nodded. "I want to investigate and gather evidence that exposes their fraudulent activity."
"… tee hee hee!" Kelly passed Mirii, stopping in front of the basin. "Soooo, I just need to look at my reflection, hmm?"
"Yes." Mesi snorted. "Could you please hurry up a bit? I should really get back to work…"
"Sshhh!" Kelly frowned, as her forefingers went on one side of her head each. "Kelly is reeeeeaally focusiiiing…" Her eyes squeezed a bit.
Mirii chuckled, as her hand caressed her right tentacle.
"Hhhmmmmmmmmmmm…!" Kelly's eyes squeezed a bit more…! "Hhmmmmmmmmm…!"
The Inkling water waved, wiping off Kelly's face from its surface… in place of the building's entrance. Kelly cheered, as she clapped and jumped in place.
"I did it, I did it!" She tilted backwards. "Tee hee hee!"
The girl turned into a Squid, as she bounced towards the basin.
"Gently!" Mesi's eyes expanded, as his arms stretched in the Squid's direction. "Otherwise you will spread"
SPLASH!
Inkling water fell over the man's stomach, while Mirii gasped and jumped backwards.
"… looks like I have to take that shower too…" He sighed.
HSALPS!
Kelly's feet landed on the asphalt, right next to a red car. Raising her posture, her sight was locked on the colorful logo and the drawn Squids. Her smile increased even more.
"… I will be back!"