Of Kaiser and Glamour [Part 2]

“QUUUUUUENN!!!”

“ÍRUIIIIIIIIII!!!”

The intense pitch of just two vivacious women screaming at each other from far away will always be louder than any explosion could produce. The person named Írui-eeeee was obviously great friends with Valaquendë, or Quen. I know this for sure because this is how some of my friends ‘talked’ to each other. Especially how hard they hugged too. Even though I've been away from my dear friends for less than 40 hours. The sounds of those two made were somewhat nostalgic for me.

“I miiiisssed Yoooou!!!” Írui yelled with joyous relief.

“Hah ha, I haven't even been gone a week!” Valaquendë remarked with a smile.

Those two were hugging and kissing each other so frequently; with so much passion. I could hear the air forcefully exit their lungs. Their friendship brought an honest smile to my face.

“Írui, this will be our newest member! Ryōsuke Matsushita!”

“Ahh! Another Engwar, huh?”

“Uh huh, she’s pretty cool so far. And you won’t believe what we’ve been through!”

They said all this while still clinging onto each other, teetering back and forth with their hair flowing with the movements… Hhmm… Engwar, that must be a race or species that resemble humans. Interesting. Then the names I’ve given will be different too, as expected. She said ‘another’ too. I wonder how many Engwar and other races there’ll be?

“Hey, I like your hair.” Írui mentioned, lightly grabbing my unique tress. “The two colors are pretty and cool.” Írui continued, smiling.

“Oh, thanks.” I smiled slightly. For some reason my hair grows differently than the average Japanese person. It starts as a light blonde with most of the roots. Then it fades into the typical obsidian black. I think it is some genetic mishap on my mother’s side, she’s from the States; she has dirty blonde hair as she calls it. It was always frustrating growing up in school because the teachers always thought I was dying my hair, and even made me dye it all black.

“Well let’s get inside, so Quen and I can give you a tour!” Írui then announced with delight.

“That would be great!” I smiled.

I was able to see more of her person and outfit now that they let go of each other.

Írui skin was the first aspect about her I noticed, I could tell that she takes care of it often. Shining a lovely ivory with a caramel undertone. I wouldn't be surprised if her and Valaquendë did skin routines together, because Valaquendë’s also looks soft and well pampered. With that idea of beautician: her hair looked the part as well, long lustrous dark auburn, but in a big fluffy bun and slightly tilted to the right. I wonder if she is an Elf. She has ears like one but they're not as pronounced as Valaquendë’s. Hard to tell of any other physical features. She was wearing an oversized and baggy sweater-like shirt. It is so oversized; I couldn’t even tell if she was wearing pants. Most of her exposed skin was from her legs, with gladiator sandals.

“Good afternoon, everyone. I heard Lady Valaquendë and Lady Írui from the vegetable garden. I had the assumption that it would be wise to investigate the squall.”

“Oh, good timing! Ryosuke, I’d like to introduce you to our eldest member Vahaemarr Daergyreon!” Valaquendë promptly explained.

Vahaemarr politely bowed; since I was raised in Japan, I still instinctively did the same. Vahaemarr is the eldest member, huh? Has he been here the longest or just physically, because he looked the part? Cloud white combed back hair connected to a well formed short salt and pepper beard. It complemented his tan complexion. Dressed nicely too, but he was dressed like a butler. Is that just an outfit he likes to wear? Overall, quite the handsome gentleman with an aloof mood… Oh yeah, he has a horn protruding on the right side of his head, also a large scar on the left, possibly where a horn used to be? Interesting.

“Nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine, glad to be acquainted with you.”

“He even talks like a butler.” I remarked in my head.

“Well, let’s give you a quick tour!”

Valaquendë, Írui, and I went inside the mansion, Vahaemarr went back to the vegetable garden. The mansion was already amazing; it was even more beautiful on the inside. I didn’t get to really look at the landscape outside because I was so invested in Valaquendë and Írui’s loving friendship. Once inside the main hall, I’d never seen something like it before. Gothic or Victorian interior, everything looked as if it could pierce flesh just from staring at it too long. It had classical sculptures and planting, something that I was—

“What the hell is that?” I questioned in my head with confusion.

As I was looking around and admiring the art in the main hall of the mansion: on one of the upper floors, a strange figure hid behind the wooden guardrails. Before it scurried off, my first thought about what it was from that one scary movie, Juon. I think it came out in the States, but I can’t remember that English name. Whatever, not important. It ran off, whatever it was.

The pair gave me a small tour of the mansion, not much to really say. There was a kitchen, dining hall, parlours, and dozens of other rooms with special names. In between each stop, the two of them had many short conversations. They clearly liked to talk to each other. Just more evidence that they are close. Even the way they talk was similar. Valaquendë and Írui had such passion behind every word they chose. It was engaging just to listen to the conversations they had, even though it was mostly about Valaquendë’s recruitment trip and the crazy stuff that happened during it.

We never did find out what or who caused the explosion.

We made it to the only room that I had any interest in. The library. It was absolutely massive. It might have been bigger than the libraries at Stanford. Bookshelves that went to the ceiling, probably thousands of books. This… This is where I’ll be spending a lot of time.

I forgot to mention. That unknown figure was following us the entire tour. At this point, I deduced that it was another member. Valaquendë wasn’t exaggerating when she said that their Guild was small. I’ve seen three members, maybe four. So, to confirm my suspicions, I ask a question.

“Valaquendë? You weren’t kidding when you said the Guild was small.”

“Yup, we are pretty small.”

“Yeah, I haven’t figured out why. Most Guilds have hundreds of members, some even have thousands.” Írui mentioned.

“I brought that up because I think one of them was following us.”

“Haha, that’s probably Nel. She’s probably the only one that likes how small it is.” Írui chuckled at this fact. “Nel! Just come out! The newest member is really cool!” Írui then shouted.

“NO!”

The disobedient chirp echoed from somewhere. The one that made the chirp sounded young, like a child.

“Well, you’ll meet her at some point, probably with the other two members-”

“Hey everyone!”

Another member, I’m guessing, greeted us as we walked out of the library. They had suave platinum blonde hair.

“Oh, so we do have a new member!”

“Yup! This is Ryōsuke Matsushita!”

I was still in Japanese hospitality mode, so I bowed when Valaquendë introduced me. They did the same. But it felt like they were somewhat mocking me.

“Ha, okay… Ryosuke, huh? That’s kinda a weird name.” They mimicked my bow.

That annoyed me a little, but Írui punched him in the arm. So that made me feel better.

“Ouch!” They groaned, rubbing their right arm.

“Don’t say stuff like that to the new members! Sorry, Ryosuke. This halfwit is Elros; he’s the other Engwar.” Írui remarked.

Quite the strange dynamic they all have. How they interacted with this relatively well dressed, handsome man child was interesting to observe. They seemed to like him, but it felt as if they had to tolerate him. I haven’t witnessed much to make any solid assessments but they all seem close. I’ll think about their individual personalities later.

“We're just giving Ryosuke a tour and we're going to the courtyard to finish it off! Would you like to join us?”

Elros made a small gesture of agreement to Valaquendë’s question… Despite his rudeness toward me. He was a fairly well mannered gentleman. Holding the door open and waiting for one of us to finish a sentence before he started his own. He was very polite to Írui, and even made a few nice comments about her, every so often.