Lux

  This trip back to Tenebrae was proving to be more exhausting than my previous ones due to the way Ikol kept acting as he had no idea what was proper and the random Magus person; I was not entirely sure what her purpose or why she was visiting the castle. The child she brought was odd in a way that was hard for me to put my paw on. Maybe it was the fact he was a human? He had this odd dislike of Nil and Luna. When he thought no one was looking, he glared at Nil in a way that made me feel something was off. Maybe he was just an odd child. Ikol let out a massive snore that took my willpower not to smack him for which jarred me from my thoughts. He let out a few other snores as he laid on the bed Nil provided for him to sleep on. I noticed there was a suit of armor in the room that was not present last night. Nil seemed to enjoy dropping the armor off at night so Ikol would be happy in the morning and would just claim he was being a good host. Ikol for whatever reason enjoyed licking the metal. Thinking about his habit of taste testing random things made me want to swat him again. I let out a sigh as we were leaving today after breakfast. These last few days were fun though with Nil and his fries that were tasty though. For some reason I was blamed for some missing fish that I had nothing to do with. I looked outside to see the sun rising which meant that it was almost time for breakfast. One light swat later, Ikol was awake.

  “Five more minutes.” Ikol whined at me.

  “Time for breakfast.” I snapped at him.

  “But sleepy sleep time.” Ikol pleaded. I felt my eye twitch a bit.

  “Get. Up.” I ordered Ikol. He let out a groan as he begrudgingly began waking up. His face lit up when he saw the armor.

  “Licking plate!” Ikol declared excitedly as he leapt over to the armor and began licking it a little.

  “What did you think of the trip so far?” I probed, hoping he would stop licking the armor when he answered me.

  “This place is fun!” Ikol answered. I was glad that the thrashing Nil gave him in their rematch didn’t bother him. Luna was also able to barely beat Ikol, but not to the degree Nil could.

  “Anything stand out?” I asked, hoping to learn what he liked.

  “The new kid asked me questions. He said I was different and new.” Ikol informed me. What? I guess Ikol was the least intimidating being to talk to.

  “What did he ask?” I checked as I was curious to know what he could have asked Ikol.

  “I don’t know.” Ikol replied. I glared at him.

  “It had big words.” Ikol defended himself. I stared at him more.

  “I have no idea what he meant. It was odd stuff.” Ikol cried. I guess what’s his name was curious about the from Ikol.

  “Fine. Come on, breakfast.” I conceded as trying to get knowledge from Ikol was a fruitless mission.

  The two of us to the dining room, where we were the last to arrive. Today there were pancakes served with syrup for breakfast as the main course. Ikol’s face lit up in joy as he smelt the syrup before he went to chug the syrup. I glared at him which made him freeze in spot. After a few moments I used to place several pancakes on his plate and poured the syrup on them for him. Ikol sheepishly licked the syrup slowly, checking on me to make sure I was not annoyed at him; Ipnerslei and Orga chuckled a bit. Luna and Nil were acting all revolting and sweet with each other, which was what I expected from them after the trip to the Imperial Botanical Gardens. The grandparents and Nil’s parents were discussing something about an institution at length, but I was not overly paying attention to it as the topic sounded tear-inducingly boring. As I scanned around, I noticed Nil’s uncles were tensely sitting next to each other. I knew asking would likely yield me nothing unfortunately. I still enjoyed the luxuries of the castle way too much to consider staying in Phestia for life. Ikol finally tried eating a pancake which he clearly enjoyed.

  “You’re returning to Phestia today, right?” Nil checked as he saw me keeping a watchful eye on Ikol.

  “Yes. We’re going on something called a when we get back, so it’ll be a bit longer before I visit again.” I told Nil.

  “Can I come next time too?” Ikol probed, giving me his begging eyes.

  “You’re always welcome, Ikol.” Nil informed him.

  “Yay!” Ikol cheered.

  “I didn’t say yes.” I pointed out. Ikol made a face like he had been stabbed.

  “Please Chef. Please let me come back.” Ikol whimpered. If I teased him on this, Miril was going to swat the shiza out of me for it since Ikol was getting genuinely upset.

  “Of course you can.” I sighed. Ikol was still looking unsure as I sighed a bit.

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  “Did you want syrup to take home?” Nil asked to cheer him up.

  “The tasty tree juice stuff? The stuff on these fluffy things?” Ikol verified as his eyes got big.

  “Yes.” Nil confirmed. Ikol looked like he ascended he was so happy.

  “This place is awesome! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Ikol replied ecstatically. Nil looked at his parents, informing them of the syrup gift for Ikol.

  I told Nil. It was odd he was being helpful and nice. I noticed Luna next to him giving him a thumbs up. Ah, of course.

  Nil and I chatted a bit as breakfast continued. Ikol was engrossed by the syrup and pancakes, just sitting there lapping up syrup slowly to stretch it out. Was there syrup in Phestia? Probably. I doubted that edible sap was unique to Tenebrae. Nil was joking about going around collecting badges to challenge the champion when I talked about the ; I had no idea why he was saying that, but I suspected it was some Reincarnator nonsense. He thought it was amusing at least. Breakfast slowly came to an end as none of the conversations even approached being done. The tension from his uncles was palpable the entire time. We were in the back courtyard, as two casks of syrup were brought out for Ikol. His jaw opened a bit as his eyes were glowing from how excited he was doing little dances and flips. Orga, Ipnerslei, Ikol, and I huddled up as Krahinn formed around Nil before they brought us to Phestia. Hoggdin and Miril were waiting for us in Hoggdin’s cave. Krahinn manifested, giving a polite wave to Hoggdin while ignoring Miril; Miril growled at him as she was looking ready to fight. Krahinn looked at Miril before his signature smirk appeared.

  “King Krahinn, this is King Miril. King Miril, this is the King of the Wastes, one of the Kings, Krahinn.” Hoggdin introduced them to each other.

  “It annoys me she is called King Miril, but I know the title is much lesser here.” Krahinn taunted. Mwahahaha. Yes. Do it Krahinn. I made sure to keep my face as straight as possible as I watched in anticipation.

  “Mama! I have edible tree juice!” Ikol declared happily, not catching on to the fact that his mom was currently debating how worth fighting Krahinn was.

  “You’re Ikol’s mother?” Krahinn checked. His amusement was all over his face.

  “What of it?” Miril snarled back, giving Ikol a little lick on his head.

  “Clearly takes after his dad as you seem to be much sharper.” Krahinn replied with a shrug.

  “And?” Miril pressed. Come on Krahinn, thrash her. Beat her up.

  “Nothing, I like Ikol. He is currently my favorite .” Krahinn informed her while looking calm.

  “I see.” Miril stated as she relaxed. Noooooo! Fight! Make her kneel before you, Krahinn!

  “Have fun on the you two. I cannot wait to see you after the .” Nil told us politely. Miril seemed to catch onto his phrasing.

  “And you’ll give me more tasty tree juice?” Ikol asked with a massive smile.

  “Of course. And more metal plates to lick.” Nil confirmed. Ikol began dancing happily again as Miril began glaring at me.

  “You are the best!” Ikol cheered as he pranced around Nil.

  “By the way, Miril, as you seem lovely, Lux there really wanted me to duel you for some reason. No idea why. She was cheering for violence as we had a civil exchange, which frankly is a bit distressing.” Krahinn snitched. Oh you stupid bird. Miril gave me a look that froze the air itself. Hoggdin looked at Krahinn who gave him a big thumbs up, grabbed Nil, and went to leave.

  “Good luck Lux. Your son was lovely King Miril and we would love to have him visit again!” Nil exclaimed as Krahinn leapt through the

  .

  “Before you swat Lux into next week, did we want to discuss the and the logistics of that now or in a bit?” Orga asked. Miril was still staring through my soul as she stood there.

  “Later. Why don’t you and Ipnerslei go see the snow trees blossom? The bloom has been starting the last day or so.” Miril suggested. Both looked at Hoggdin who gave them an assuring nod. They took no time to vanish.

  “Um, Krahinn likes to lie an-“ I began trying to defend myself as Miril materialized on top of me.

  “Why would you want me to duel him,

  “No reason ma’am.” I lied which she rewarded with another smack.

  “Mama, I had a lot of fun!” Ikol informed his mom, oblivious to the fact she was on the verge of beating me senseless.

  “What did you do dear?” Miril asked, smiling sweetly at her son.

  “There were these metal suit things you could lick that were awesome! And the trees had this tasty juice you could eat that you could either get off the tree fresh or served on these fluffy circles!” Ikol explained happily.

  “What are those?” Miril checked, motioning towards the casks.

  “Tree juice! Nil gave me these as a gift!” Ikol answered. He was bouncing excitedly as he talked to his mom.

  “That was nice of him. He was the demon that arrived with Krahinn?” Miril inquired.

  “Yes.” I confirmed. Miril instantly looked furiously at me and swatted me a few times.

  “I am talking to Ikol, not you.” Miril snarled at me. I nodded with understanding.

  “And they said I could come back after the ! And I could have fries again!” Ikol continued for his mom.

  “What are fries?” Miril asked as she cocked her head a little.

  “Some plant cooked with oil!” Ikol explained. He could remember that but not stop licking the suits of armor.

  “Interesting.” Miril chimed as Ikol was still prancing circles around the casks.

  “I tried dueling Nil, and this girl Luna, but I couldn't beat either of them. Nil beat me pretty bad.” Ikol added as he still looked happy. Oh, for the love of the Lords Ikol. Why? Why would you say that?

  “Clarify.” Miril ordered me. Her eyes were glowing like suns as she looked down on me. That day was far in the future unfortunately.

  “They had a friendly duel which Nil won.” I clarified. Ikol was nodding along.

  “He had weird ! He also cracked a bone in our rematch; Nil hit quite hard.” Ikol tacked on. I had to fight the urge to look at Ikol for this betrayal.

  “Did you win the first time?” Miril checked as I was debating how likely to wiggle free I was. It wouldn’t matter, as Miril was the fastest being I ever met, but it might be worth it here in a second to at least try.

  “No!” Ikol informed her with a cheery tone. Do I use eppa eppa? That would only anger Miril more. Why did she hate me so much?

  “Nil was displeased he didn’t win by more as Ikol managed to defeat one of his favorite .” I attempted, hoping to somehow defuse the anger of Miril.

  “Nil then gave me a bunch of tasty food and my own metal suit! He was nice, and that bird was nice too!” Ikol kept going, not grasping his mom was debating beating me more.

  “Krahinn was nice?” Hoggdin checked incredulously.

  “Quite! He was polite and gave me these nice fish, Boss!” Ikol answered Hoggdin.

  “I was blamed for those!” I snapped at Ikol before he just kept obliviously discussing the various foods we ate while at the castle.