Don't be afraid of new beginnings. Don't shy away from new people, new energy, new surroundings. Embrace new chances at happiness.
- Billy Chapata
"This place is really nice... It must've cost a lot of money."
"It did. Mom came from wealth, though. She was from a noble family."
"Whoa, so you and I are noble?" Iris looked down.
"Well... Not exactly... That's yet another story for later." I nodded, deciding not to pry.
"I think everyone is at work right now." Tadashi came down the stairs to join me and Iris.
"Momo isn't home?"
"She's probably around here somewhere..." Just then, I heard a meow. We all turned and saw a cat that looked almost identical to my cat, Smores, coming into the room. It jumped on the couch and looked at us.
"You guys have a kitty?" I walked over and began to pet its head. It closed its eyes and rubbed against me. "It's so cute!"
"Should I tell her?"
"No, we'll let her figure it out."
"Figure out what?"
"That I'm a person." I looked at the cat and jumped up.
"Cat-?! Talk-?! How-?!" The cat raised its paw and licked it.
"I'm a *Mithran. I'm using a beast stone that a *black mage gave me back in *Windurst." The cat jumped up and transformed into a humanoid with a tail and cat ears. She also had black markings on her skin similar to her fur's pattern. "I'm Momo Akiyama."
"I'm-"
"Ari Walker. I know. I was a good friend of your parents." She smiled. "I'm so glad we've finally found you..."
"I don't remember much... I'm sorry..."
"I wouldn't expect you to. You were just a baby when you disappeared."
"No... You misunderstand me. I don't remember much at all..." Her eyes widened.
"That's right... You were there when the Traverse Town incident occurred. I apologize..." I shook my head.
"It's fine... I remember running through town, and hiding in one of the buildings... The rest is a blur to me..."
"Maybe you'll gain your memories back." She sighed. "At least you seem to be okay, otherwise." I nodded.
"I feel alright." I sighed. "It is nice to meet you, though." She smiled and her tail flicked back and forth.
"So, I guess we should get you setup before you head out."
"Setup?" She nodded.
"Yes." She walked over to the coffee table and picked up a manila envelope. She then walked back over and handed it to me. "This has everything you'll need. It has a currency allowance card, a-"
"What's a currency allowance card?"
"You put any type of currency into an account, and then the card will translate to any currency that is on file in the world."
"Handy."
"Anyways, there's also a map of the island, a blueprint of the house, and some tips for living here."
"Thank you."
"Welcome. It's courtesy of all of us here at Sukui house."
"Sukui house?"
"Mom and Dad believed in helping people, no matter their background. They made Sukui house in order to help those with no other place to go. They even have a cafe named Sukui where everyone here works."
"Wow... That's amazing..."
"Yeah. If they hadn't done that, we wouldn't have Tada-chan here!"
"Please don't call me that..." She pouted.
"I like that name and I will call you by it forever." He rolled his eyes.
"Don't worry, Ari. These two bicker like an old married couple all the time. You'll get used to it." I laughed.
"Good to know." Momo's tail flicked.
"Well, everyone else is at work right now. You three should walk down to Sukui and meet up. Plus, you two can show her around."
"Sounds good to me." I looked over at Iris and Tadashi. Iris grinned.
"I'll lead the way." She grabbed my arm and began to drag me along.
"Wait, Iris! Slow it down!" Momo laughed while Tadashi jogged to keep up.
"Be careful for those *Ribsteez gangs and *Rhyme players!" Iris turned for a second.
"We will!" We continued running along.
"It's so cool being here." I looked at all of the buildings as we walked down the street. I stopped for a moment. "So, how'd Momo know I was there and who I was?" Iris held up a wallet and then threw it to me. I caught it and opened it.
"That's your ID."
"That's convenient... Thank you, Mezame." I paused. "There's only one problem."
"What's that?"
"This isn't my wallet." I spoke in a Patrick voice.
"Yes it is. Your ID is in there, making it your wallet." Iris giggled as she went along with it.
"I've never seen it before."
"That is your wallet, and I am returning it to you."
"Give what to who?" We both giggled after we were done.
"You two are dorks." I frowned and looked at Tadashi.
"First of all, we're geeks. Second of all, you are a product of my brain, making you a geek and a dork as well." He frowned.
"Dammit..." I patted his back.
"Sorry to break it to you, dude." We continued walking.
"Hey, Ari?"
"Hmm?"
"After we're done touring Sukui, do you wanna go to Mediocrity?" I stopped and turned to Iris, grinning.
"Is Aoba working?"
"Yep." I jumped up and down eagerly.
"Yasss!" I hugged Iris. "Thank you!" She laughed.
"You're welcome." I grinned.
"It's just so cool... Being in a world with even just them makes me excited... It's nice getting a break from everything back home... All the stress is gone for the time being."
"You've had a lot going on back home, right?" I nodded.
"Yeah..." I shook my head. "I shouldn't be thinking about that. I've got things to do and people to meet." I nodded. "Let's get going." The other two nodded before we continued walking down the street.
Seeing Midorijima in my own eyes was fascinating to me. It was similar to places back on Earth, but it also had this brand new feeling to it. I was excited to see all parts of it, even though I probably wouldn't be seeing Black Needle and the areas around it. Not unless I figured out how to use that sword again...
We made it to a building near the center of town and stopped in front of it. I looked at it and saw how nice it looked compared to a lot of the other places in the area.
"I'll assume this is Sukui?"
"Yep."
"It really stands out from everything else..."
"That was your parents' intentions for it. They wanted to make the city a better place... They just weren't able to see their plans being carried out..." I nodded silently. Tadashi sighed. "We should head in now. You're probably hungry, so we'll get you something while we're here."
"Thank you." Iris opened the door and held it open for me and Tadashi. She grinned cheekily.
"Ladies first." Tadashi rolled his eyes while I just laughed. He stepped inside first, and Iris and I followed right after him.
"Welcome to Sukui. How can we-?" An orange haired female wearing a maid uniform stared at us. "Oh, Iris. Tadashi. Hey guys."
"Hello, Akane."
"Sup, Aka?" The girl, Akane, smiled.
"Who's your friend here?"
"Akane, meet Ari." Her eyes widened.
"Oh, you're Ari." She walked over and shook my hand, smiling. "I'm Akane Himura. Or Himura Akane... Whatever, my first name is Akane." I laughed and she did too. "It's nice to finally meet the Ari Walker everyone talks about." I tilted my head.
"Everyone?" Akane blinked.
"You haven't met everyone at Sukui, yet?" I shook my head.
"I've met you, Iris, Tadashi, and Momo. That's it." She smiled.
"Then we'll just have to introduce you to everyone. You won't be able to meet Sonia or Selene right now since they went to get groceries. Everyone else is here right now."
"I thought that Diana wasn't here." Akane looked over to Iris.
"Oh, that's right... No one has seen here the past couple of days... So that's three people. Oh well, you'll meet them later." She gestured for me to follow her. "We'll start with the people here." She pointed to a black haired male in a butler outfit. "That's Nolan Kinoshita. He is one of the four people, including myself, that waits on tables. He's from the *Hidden Stone village on the continent of *Shinobi no Sekai."
"Don't worry, Sis. We'll give you a geography lesson later." I gave Iris a confused look.
"Oh, she doesn't know Mezame's geography?"
"Nope. Sis is an amnesiac. She was there during the Traverse Town incident."
"Oh... I apologize..."
"It's okay... The little I do remember will help me get the hang of things, hopefully."
"I hope so. I also hope you'll start remembering more, soon." I smiled. 'I don't think that'll happen... Considering I don't even have amnesia...' "Anyways, let's move on. We'll formally introduce you when everyone is done for the day." I nodded.
"Okay." She looked around.
"Now where is he...?" Akane looked around the room, though I wasn't sure who she was looking for. "Ah, there he is! He's surrounded by girls, as usual..." I looked over where Akane was looking and saw a purple haired male who was in a butler uniform as well. He was, in fact, surrounded by girls.
"Who is he?"
"That's Eri Yukimura. He's one of our workers, and he's from the *Wildlands which is on the continent of *Nova Chrysalia." I nodded.
"Why is he surrounded by chicks?"
"He doesn't try to, but somehow he attracts a lot of girls from around town. He's a chick-magnet." I looked over at him. He looked extremely uncomfortable with the females surrounding him. 'I can't blame them... He is kinda cute...'
"That's everyone, well except for Diana, that works out front. Hasu should be in the office working on stuff right now, so we can go there next." I nodded and I followed after her as she led us into the back of the cafe. She lead us down a hallway, and then stopped in front of a door. She knocked on it.
"Yes?"
"It's Akane, Hasu. I've got some guests for you."
"Come in." Akane opened the door and the four of us filled into the room.
"I'd like to introduce-" The woman named Hasu stood up out of her seat. I saw she had purple eyes and blue hair.
"You... Are you Ari?" I nodded.
"Yeah... Well, at least I think so... I don't remember too much..." She walked over to me.
"I was told you were in the Traverse Town incident. I'm very sorry." She looked at me. "You've grown so big... I remember seeing you after you were born... After your parents... died, I looked everywhere for where you'd gone, but you had practically vanished." She smiled. "I'm glad I get to meet with you again."
"Me too." She gave me a sad smile.
"If only Artemis could see you... She'd be so amazed. I am sure she is watching from wherever she may be, though." She looked over to Iris. "She's watching over the both of you. I'm sure of it."
"Dad, too." Hasu frowned at the mention of our father.
"Yes, I suppose he is as well..." She was silent for a moment. "So, have you acquainted yourself with everyone, yet?"
"She hasn't formally met everyone, yet. She's talked to Momo, but not anyone else." Hasu sighed.
"Well after closing tonight, I'll get everyone together to meet you. For now, you should get something to eat and drink. I'm sure you're hungry." I nodded.
"Yes. Thank you." She nodded.
"I would join you, but I still have some things I must attend to. I do hope you'll excuse me." We nodded as as we left the room. "Oh, and Ari?" I turned to look at Hasu. "I'm glad to know you're alright." I smiled at her before I exited the room and joined the others.
"This is really good. Who makes this?" I stopped eating my éclair and looked at it.
"Selene handles baking everything we serve here. She bakes everything from scratch."
"Seriously? That's amazing." I swallowed what I was eating. "Where'd she get the recipes?"
"She learned them from the Alexandra family's cook."
"Mom's family? Well, I guess my family, too..."
"Yes. Selene was raised in the Alexandra household alongside your mother. She is technically your adoptive aunt."
"So, Iris and I still have family, in some way?" Akane nodded.
"Yeah. Technically, now, she is your legal guardian. Although, she isn't Iris's." I raised my eyebrow.
"She isn't Iris's guardian? How is that possible?"
"Because I'm technically a child of the temple I was raised by." I looked over at Iris.
"You weren't raised at Sukui?" She shook her head.
"No. I was raised at the local Saisei temple by monks and priestesses."
"Saisei?" She nodded.
"Yeah. One of Mezame's many belief systems. Saisei is old tongue for Rebirth." I nodded.
"Okay... That makes a little more sense... but do you guys praise God, or some other deity?"
"We don't disbelieve in the gods, but we don't worship any particular one either. We worship a person who lived a long time ago. Her name was Aries, and in a way, she founded the religion."
"So why do you worship her?"
"She is one of the most powerful people that was ever born on Mezame. She was a healer and a priestess who watched over the people from her town. She was also special because their was a spirit, which is now referred to as the phoenix, that lived inside her and bonded with her. She could cure almost any ailment and even raise those who had died of anything other than old age back from the dead."
"Not only that," Tadashi jumped in on the story, "but she also was able to survive anything. She was immortal in at least the injury way. We'll never know if old age was part of it or not..."
"Why is that? What happened?"
"She was loved by many, but also hated by some. They felt her powers were unnatural, and that a human being shouldn't be playing God. So, one of the radicals led a group to destroy the temple. Many people were killed, including Aries." My eyes widened.
"But, she was immortal..."
"There is one thing that could kill her. A blade forged to hurt her and the phoenix spirit. It's name was the Mizu Blade, which was wielded by the leader of the radicals. The Mizu Blade rivaled even her own blade, called the Moesashi Blade."
"That's horrible..."
"There is one thing about our religion, though, that we strongly believe in."
"What's that?"
"Many believe that the phoenix spirit will choose a new human to bond with when the time is right. In a way, it would be Aries's reincarnation."
"Hence the religion being called Saisei, right?"
"Yep." I shook my head.
"Sounds interesting..."
"Sadly, a lot of people don't believe in the Saisei religion anymore. They feel that all of it is legend."
"But you guys don't?"
"Not one bit. Tadashi, Sonia, Selene, Momo, Hasu, and myself believe in the Saisei religion. It's kinda the Walker-Alexandra way, though." I looked over at Akane.
"What about you?" She grinned sheepishly.
"I'm not saying Saisei is wrong or anything, but I'm a firm believer in good old Christianity... For various reasons... Nolan is athiest, Eri has his own set of gods, and Diana is with me on Christianity."
"Well... I'm sorry, but I don't know if I believe in God all that much... Saisei sounds interesting, though... I'm not too sure what I believed in, though..."
"It's fine. Just because I'm Christian doesn't mean I'm going to put other religions down. I believe everyone should believe what they want." I smiled.
"That's a good belief to have." She smiled.
"Thank you..." Not many people think so, nowadays... Not that they did to begin with..."
"Well people are just unfairly close-minded. It's because of the way they're raised." I shrugged. "But it is their own fault for not breaking the cycle with their children."
"True." I sighed.
"So, how did Hasu know Mom?"
"Hasu was her advisor and protector. She was raised alongside your mom since she was born into the distinguished Ueno family." Akane smiled. "Hasu doesn't admit it, but Artemis and her were best friends. They honestly didn't let much come between them..."
"What finally came between them?"
"Hasu says it was Azrael. She didn't care for him that much, but she always stayed by Artemis's side. She wanted to make sure your mother was happy."
"What about Momo?"
"Momo was one of your mother's instructors." My eyes widened.
"But, she barely looks 30." Akane laughed.
"Yeah, she looks different than her age. She is actually 53 years old."
"What?!"
"Yeah, she has seen a thing or two in her life time. She is the oldest of all of us." Akane paused and made a strange face. "Sorry, I zoned out for a second. I tend to do that, so you oughta get used to it." I nodded.
"Only if you get used to me doing that a lot, too." She smiled.
"Deal."
"See, Sis: You're making friends already."
"I never thought I wouldn't make friends."
"Well, you seemed kinda anti-social so I just figured you wouldn't want to."
"I'm perfectly okay with meeting new people and becoming friends with them, Iris." She smiled.
"Thank you." The door to the kitchen suddenly opened and two people walked in. One was a blonde with blue eyes, and the other had black hair with red eyes. 'They're like polar-opposites...'
"Hey guys! We're back and we are now good for the next week or so." The black haired woman looked at me. "Who is this? She a friend of yours?"
"This is Ari, Selene." The woman named Selene's eyes widened.
"You're Artie's daughter?" I nodded. She smiled, pushed her bags into the other woman's arms, and ran over and hugged me. "You've gotten so big... Just yesterday you and Iris were tiny little babies, to me..." She pulled away from me.
"I'm sorry, but I don't remember to much... I'm still getting used to life here..." She nodded.
"I'm sorry. I forgot for a moment the trauma you've recently went through. I was just excited to see my long lost niece." She sighed. "I should introduce myself. I'm Selene Tsukino, your mother's adoptive sister. Well, technically your aunt." I smiled.
"It's nice to meet you, Selene. I apologize for not referring to you as my aunt."
"It's alright. It's understandable for both you and your sister's circumstances." The blonde woman walked over to the pantry.
"Gee, don't bother introducing me. It doesn't matter who I am." Selene ran over to her.
"Aw, Sonia! Don't be that way." The woman turned and smirked.
"You know I'm messing with you. I wasn't expecting you to introduce me. Besides, she's your niece. You deserve more time with her."
"Well now I have to introduce you!" Selene turned the woman towards us. "So, Ari, this is Sonia Ogawa. She is my bestest friend in the whole wide world!"
"Bestest?" Selene looked over at Sonia.
"Yes, bestest. Don't question me, child." Sonia sighed.
"Damn you using your age over me again... You're only two years older than me."
"Yes, but that makes me two years wiser. So I know what I'm saying when I say bestest."
"I say bestest, too!" Selene gestured towards Iris with her arm.
"See what I mean?"
"I see that it says a lot about who Iris ended up like out of her family members. And I'm not too sure that is a good thing."
"Hey!" Both Iris and Selene spoke in unison. Tadashi and Sonia shook their heads while Akane and I laughed. 'I think I'll get used to it here... Everyone, so far, seems nice enough...'
~So, how you likin' it here, Sis?~ I looked over at Iris, and she was still laughing. 'I could've sworn she talked...' ~I did speak, silly.~ She looked over to me and grinned. ~I inherited telepathy from Mom.~ I frowned.
~I don't know how I feel about that... So you can just freely read my mind?~
~I can, technically. I don't have to if you don't want me to, though.~
~I'd prefer you don't, for the time being. I dunno, I might need it later. Gotta keep my options open.~
~You sound like a player. Oh well, I'll close off the channel to your mind. Just tell me if you ever need it reopened.~ Then it went silent in my brain. Well, asides from my own thoughts.
"But really, do you like it in Midorijima?" Everyone turned their attention to me.
"Yeah. So far." Everyone smiled.
"That's good to hear. I know it may be a bit much, but I'm pretty sure you'll get adjusted quickly.
"I really do hope so... I hope Midorijima will give me some sense of who I was, and who I should have been, had I grown up here." I sighed.
"Well, don't stress about it. Just try to enjoy yourself while you're here." I nodded.
"I will." I took a deep breath. "I have to give compliments to the chef, Selene. This food is amazing."
"Thanks. You can thank Artie's family for that. Their cook taught me everything I know about baking." I put my hands together.
"Thank you Mom's family's cook!" Selene laughed.
"Akane, aren't you still on shift?" We looked at Sonia. Akane began to laugh awkwardly.
"Early break?" Sonia sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"I'll let it slide this time. You'll just have to figure out how to apologize to the boys." She pouted.
"Okay..."
"Welp, we're going to get going. There are still some places we want to show, Ari."
"Okay, but just make sure you're back here or back home before dark." Sonia crossed her arms. "The Ribsteez gangs will be more lively, then..."
"We know. We won't let Ari get hurt, Sonia." Sonia nodded.
"If you need anything, just call us."
"Gotcha." Iris stood up, followed by me and Tadashi.
"Ari, it was nice to finally meet you."
"I smiled.
"It was nice to meet you guys, too."
"We'll see you later." I nodded as we exited. Once we were outside, I turned to Iris.
"Well, they all seem nice."
"They are. We're really like a big family. You'll fit right in."
"I hope so..." I smiled. "Well, where to next?"
"Mediocrity!" I laughed while Tadashi shook his head.
"Let the inner fangirling begin!"
