Akaito returned to his home located in one of the few colonies established by pixies within the Fae Realm. He exhausted himself from travel to the point of almost collapsing in front of his doorstep. The time it took to travel home from The Dark One's territory was half a day; however, Akaito had to fly at high speed, accompanied by magic of course.
The red pixie was lying down on his sofa after he had a glass of water. He yawned loudly before his eyes slowly shut. As he was drifting into a deep sleep, Akaito said to himself aloud, "I promise I'll return for you, little gray fairy."
XxXxX
Akaito woke up after sleeping for most of the day. He stretched when he woke up, still a bit weak from his long flying trip. However, that did not stop him from going to the local story teller's tavern. If anything, Akaito had to share this story with his friends since finding Haku was very important.
Upon entering the tavern, Akaito saw another pixie wildy wave at him. This pixie was wearing everything teal and had a wide smile on his face. The red pixie sat down in the empty seat next to him and ordered a glass of water before ordering his usual.
The teal-dressed pixie immediately started the conversation, "Yo, Akaito! Where've ya been for the last two days? Kiyo, Yuuma, and I were waiting for you to come to the Duel Festival; you never showed. What gives?" It was obvious that he wanted to know what was going on. The teal pixie knew that Akaito would never miss out on a festival.
Akaito shrugged and said, "Nothing much, Mikuo. I did plan to return on time for it, but I got myself into a mess by being nosy. It wasn't a big deal, really. Escaping was easy but the traveling distance was harsh."
"As expected of the most mischievous but talented pixie, next to the king of course," Mikuo chuckled.
"What more did you expect?" Akaito said with pride.
"I dunno, you being a hero to save a damsel…" Mikuo played along. The answer caught his friend off guard. Akaito almost forgot about wanting to rescue Haku.
"Actually…I did meet a 'damsel'…" The red pixie said with a hint of melancholy.
"Was she cute?" The other pixie asked immediately, eager for more detail.
"Very cute…" Akaito admitted. His cheeks were colored in a light pink.
"I bet she kissed you after you saved her!" Mikuo was getting excited. Akaito's answer, however, was going to have him frown.
"Just the opposite…" the red pixie reluctantly told him.
"Was she one of those tsunderes?" The teal pixie asked.
Akaito did not expect Mikuo to understand. He then told him the story and how he abandoned Haku. Akaito gave reasons for doing what he did, but he knew it was no excuse.
"You jerk!" Mikuo responded almost immediately. He then proceeded to say, "Go see the king in the library! You need to save this fairy now!" Mikuo was fuming, trying to restrain himself from hitting his friend really hard.
"Yes mom thanks for telling me what I never planned to do from the start," Akaito said with the most sarcastic tone he could think of. He then said, "Besides, traveling was exhausting; I still didn't even recover all my strength yet!"
"You're losing time!" Mikuo told him as he tried to drag the red pixie out of the tavern.
Akaito sighed in annoyance. To shut his friend up, he did what he was told and left the tavern. Mikuo's reaction was what Akaito actually needed to go confront the King for help. If anyone knew how to organize rescue missions accordingly, it was the King of the Pixies.
XxXxX
Akaito entered the library Mikuo was talking about. He walked up to the main desk to ask for the king. A purple pixie was working there, sorting out file cabinets that were full of dust and disorganized papers. He had long purple hair tied back in a high ponytail with a sword on his side. Akaito smirked to himself upon seeing this pixie.
"Hey Gakupo, what's up?" Akaito asked him, causing the purple pixie to stop what he was doing and glare at him.
"State your purpose Akaito. I know you want something." Gakupo sighed, clearly not amused by Akaito's casual greeting.
"Stop being so uptight, Gakupo. Ever since you started working here, the boys and I felt like we lost a special member. Anyway, I do have to ask the king about something very important." Akaito turned serious at his last sentence.
"How serious are we talking? Shiteyanyos stealing all the leeks or Len eating all the bananas?" Gakupo tried to humor him. The red-head laughed along with his joke, knowing that his friend wouldn't understand the situation yet. Gakupo continued with more jokes until he said, "Or did you lose something precious from your treasure box. You were whining the last time that happened and it wound up on the newspaper."
Akaito twitched his eye in annoyance. He then asked, "Is that so Gakupo?"
"Usually after your temper flares and then dies, you act like nothing happened; it's as if you don't remember. Besides, it it's the King you need, he says that he doesn't have time to deal with other pixies," the purple pixie answered.
The last sentence caused Akaito's templer to go off. He all of a sudden grabbed Gakupo by the collar of his shirt and flipped him over the counter. The purple pixie landed on his feet and gave up trying to stall his friend. Gakupo knew that if Akaito's temper erupted, there had to be something really serious going on.
"The King will be available shortly."
Pretty soon, Akaito was sitting in a small room with Victorian furniture. He expected something a bit more extravagent since this was the King of the Pixies. A few minutes later, a man with white hair and red eyes entered the room. He was wearing all white with red and gray accents and held a book in his hands.
The white pixie then haughtily told the red pixie, "The infamously stubborn imp Akaito Shion is finally here to meet with me. I didn't think you would need my help at all considering what you went through on your many quest-adventures. Last I heard you were adventuring off into the woods in search of a mighty rare flower that could only be accessed through grave robbing."
The red pixie rolled his eyes at the King's statement and said, "Then I guess you wouldn't want to listen to my story about what happened on that adventure. Maybe I can gather a small band of warriors to help me save a damsel in distress instead of asking you, King Dell Honne, to contact the Fairy Queen for me to obtain information on this little damsel and help organize a rescue mission."
King Dell raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued by what Akaito has to say. "What kind of 'damsel' are we talking about? Is she a human, fairy, or a human-like creature of some sort? The Queen has information on all things born within our world. She even has records of marriages and legendary battle equipment to fight monsters. So be specific."
"I'm surprised that you two aren't married, especially since you guys are considered royalty of some kind." Akaito teased the white pixie. His statement clearly made the King blush with embarrassment as well as a bit enraged.
"Answer the question." The King seethed.
"She's a fairy— a gray fairy. Judging by what she wore, she was previously either an Earth Fairy with a passion for dark purple or a Dark Fairy that was into frilly stuff like flowers. Her hair and eye color were just like yours and she said her name was 'Haku Yowane'. She looked pretty cute for a fairy, even cuter than some of the Water Fairies I have done quests for— and the Water Fairies are considered to be the most beautiful fairies out there." Akaito described the captured fairy.
"Seeing as you are telling me all this detail, it is either you want to get a reward from this or you have become smitten with this 'Haku' and want to save her as soon as possible to wed her. Where did you say she was held captive?"
"I never said where and I am indeed interested in her. And since you kindly asked, she's The Dark One's prisoner. But for right now, I'm a little more worried about getting this information to the Queen, especially since it looked as though she was trapped in there for a long time. I could have saved her, but my powers would have faded away in the jar I was briefly trapped in and then I would have turned into a Gray Pixie. That would have meant that I would never be able to escape."
"A Fire Pixie like you would obviously be wary of its own safety first, especially in the hands of that greedy brute. You do, however, have a disadvantage of being naïve and too kind towards women who need help. I admit I am a bit neutral by your decision. For all you know, she could have been tortured to death after The Dark One realized that you escaped, which would make me think you were a horrible excuse of a pixie. But then again, did you check to see if this "fairy" had any wings? If she was a Gray Fairy, she would have been completely gray and gloomy, and her wings would either be torn up to the point they were small and impossible to use or no wings at all. If it were me, I would have checked to make sure that she met the qualifications for even becoming a Gray Fairy. I would not save her if she wasn't an ally of the queen. For all you knew, she could have been a shapeshifter that was tricking you, so I would look at the decision positively." Dell lectured the pixie sitting in front of him.
"You may be right…But when I used my mind communication skills on her, she collapsed; this sort of thing occurs only when a fairy or pixie never exposed to it. A fairy or pixie exposed to it after the first or second time wouldn't faint. It doesn't work on animals, humans, or powerful dark creatures." Akaito defended his answer.
The Pixie King then sighed in defeat. "I can't blame you for leaving the girl there. Alright, I suppose I can trust you. I'll call the Fairy Queen, but in return, be respectful. If she actually took time from a busy schedule to meet you, be hasty with what you have to say because your precious fairy princess might not last much longer in The Dark One's lair. Remember, you were the one who decided to escape without thinking of the consequences."
Akaito gave the King a firm nod before contact with the Fairy Queen was made.
XxXxX
A bit longer than the other chapter…
So I have decided that each chapter will be at least 3-5 pages long. However, reading over the document, I have to re-edit many areas and add detail. I admit, I tend to include more dialogue rather than summaries or descriptions of places, so I'm trying to find a way I can balance both. But goodness…I felt like I was writing part two of Plato's Apology with Dell's dialogue even though he's not philosophical…
Other than that, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Suggestions are welcome!