Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ ４- ​𝓑𝓮𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓼𝓮𝓭 𝓲𝓼 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓼𝓮

​A man in a red cloak stood hovering in the nest. He watches as the bird chases the Pegasus further into the skies, disappearing.

​???: “Umina… I barely hired you, and you already made my job harder.” His tone sounded slightly annoyed but mostly void of emotion

​The goddess who is not present in the scene can be heard loud and clear. She starts up, apologizing.

​Umina: “I'm sorry, Master! I really didn't expect us to get an actual dog in the mix!”

​The man sighs as he pets one of the baby birds, who don't seem to react much to him.

​Master(?): “That’s fine, but… what's with the dog's weird skill sets? These are all awful.”

​Umina: Apologies, Master. A lot of it was locked for me.

​Master(?): I know. That's expected. But…this dog reminds me a lot of ….” He pauses.

​​“... Never mind. I'll overlook this just once.” He opens a menu, rewriting skills she put in. He yawns, scrapping everything.

​Umina: “Hey! Not even saving any of my work?”

She heard a sigh from him.

​“ You were sloppy. I'll keep some skills, but most are useless.”

​​“....”

​He finishes and closes the menu.

​Master(?): “Anyway, I'm done. You can go back to your job now”

​Umina: “Yes, Master”

​Her voice faded away, indicating she's gone.

​​Master(?) “I should keep a close eye…”

​

​​Flora saw the bird catching up from behind.

​“Indigo, it's really close!” She holds Mochi tightly.

​Indigo glanced from behind, seeing she was right. He holds Flora right, making her widen her eyes, blushing

​“Sorry, Flora. Hold in tight. Keep Mochi safe and…Arion, go faster,” as he let out the commands, the Pegasus sped up.

​Flora looked behind again to see that they weren't losing the bird anytime soon. Still being so high, she felt nervous as her hands were shaky. Holding Mochi in one hand, she pulled out her wand. Mochi sniffed it, clearly curious. That made her chuckle a little. “It will be alright, “that statement was more for herself than for Mochi. Mochi looks less afraid than her. Indigo senses she was up to something and questions it

​​“Flora, do you have a plan?” he asked. She nods in return

​Flora: “Sorta… I don't really want to harm the bird…just surprised it a bit with magic.”

​Indigo looks unsure but retains a smile

​Indigo:“ Okay. I trust you. You can do this.”

​Flora let out a sigh, raising her wand in the bird's direction.

​Flora: “Let this foe be surprised but unharmed. Hit 'em with a blast. Aquara Blast!” Just then, both of them feel pale for different reasons.

​Indigo: “Um… Flora…” He closes his mouth again, as if hesitant to speak.

​Flora, on the other hand, got fixated that the spell went wrong again.

​Flora:” Why did it do that…”

​Just above the bird’s head was a small dark cloud, pouring rain

​Her menu pops out in a warning.

​‘The wild Boobrie has been enraged. Its speed and attack have increased.’

​Flora blinks.

“ Eh…?!”

​Indigo : “Flora… That's a boobrie bird. They're water birds that get stronger with water.”

​Flora looks embarrassed. But she didn't get to think too much about it as the Pegasus was hit by concentrated water balls from behind them. This led to the ride being a bit bumpy as the mount recoils

​Indigo: “They can manipulate water if their body touches it.”

​Flora just wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear, but she noticed something. Her one hand was free. The wand was gone. Her hand shot up in a panic.

​Flora: “Oh nooo! My wand is gone! I need to get it!”

​Immediately, Indigo was against the idea for obvious reasons.

​Indigo: “No. It's too dangerous. Don't worry. You'll get a replacement. I promise. “ The idea did nothing to calm the freckle-faced girl who pales in comparison.

​“ N-no! You don't get it. That's my mother's wand. That's all I have of her!”

​He grits his teeth, feeling conflicted.

​“ I guessed we'll face it head-on.”

​He forced his ride to turn around, now stopping. As the bird gets closer, Indigo grabs his wand to cast a spell

​“ Pop that dark cloud and capture the bird! Yures Vino!”

​Once more, the vines capture the bird and destroy the cloud, not allowing the bird to use more water attacks. Indigo sighs

​“ I don't want to do this, but let's make sure you won't cause any trouble. You can go back to your little ones later. With that, he started another enchantment

​Indigo: “Rest for a while until we're done. Dormires Sums”

​Soon, flowers grew from the ground. The buds open up, and a powder-like substance sprays at the bird. The eyes close to slumber. Once Indigo notices the body is no longer moving, he lowers the vine and the mount to the ground

​He carefully helps Mochi and Flora to the ground.

​​Indigo: “We have to be quick. I don't know how long my spell will last, and it wakes again. ”

​He watches as the vines disappear back into his wand.

​​Flora looks at him, thankful.

​Flora: Thank you, Indigo. I'm grateful. She bows a bit but quickly gets to work, trying to look for her wand.

​Indigo and his Pegasus started looking around

​“ Arion could sense if there's any mana left, so maybe that can help,” he says, and hears a soft thanks from her. They look at the nearby bushes and up the trees to see if it gets stuck there.

​​Flora noticed Mochi was sniffing around. Thinking he was helping, she let out a small smile. ‘Huh… why is he pacing around?’

​​She got her answer when the dog slowly started squatting with his hind legs bent, and arched his back.

​She suddenly has a face of disappointment when she sees the creature excrete his stool.

​“ Oh…. Ugh. I don't have time for this. I need to find my mother's wand.” She turns her attention away from Mochi and searches a bunch of bushes nearby.

​Mochi glanced to see that even the Pegasus and Indigo had their attention elsewhere. Mochi first let a bark at Indigo for attention.

The boy looked at him for a second, forehead sweating. He let out a weak smile as if apologetic.

​“ Sorry, little guy. We're a bit busy, but why don't I carry you around so you don't cause trouble?” Mochi made little movements as he was carried in one arm. In Indigo ‘s other hand, the boy searched the tall grasses and bushes.

​Just then, Mochi noticed some in the corner. Something was glinting in the bushes. He let out a bark

​​Indigo looks confused.

​“ What is it, boy?” The dog didn't answer and wiggle out of his grip, bolting away.

​“Hey! Where are you going?” Indigo yells out

​​Mochi sniffs a bit, remembering what the wand smells like. Like old wood, and a bit like cinnamon. It smells like it's nearby. There was something strange that stuck with the smell, yet it couldn't be defined by scent. It feels like something was thickening the atmosphere.

​-Was that my imagination?-

​He swore he saw something glitch in the air.

​He turns to the direction to see the wand they were looking for.

​-That was weird…But I guess anything can happen in a dream-

​He approached the wand and stiffed it, confirming the smell. He chewed on it a bit to see that the wand was more durable than he expected.

​And just on time, Indigo managed to find Mochi.

​“ Ahh! Mochi! You found Flora's wand. Good job” He picks up the wand and Mochi up

​Indigo: “Flora! Where are you? We found the wand!”

​He looked around to see no response and had a bad feeling.

​He called out his Pegasus.

​“ Arion! Find Flora immediately, “he got on the horse, and he galloped into the forest. They stop where a giant spiderweb stood in front, with Flora tied by webs. She seems to be muttering something quietly

​“ …fault…my…”

​Indigo: “Flora! Mochi found your wand!” He shouts to get her attention as she weakly gazes in his direction.

​Flora: “Ah…even Mochi is more useful than I am. I'm sorry.”

​Indigo looks baffled to see that it was her focus.

​Indigo: “That doesn't matter right now. You should get out of here before the spider comes back.” Which resulted in a weak laugh from her.

​​Flora: “Of course…duh. What was I thinking? Walking on my own without a wand,” she says, sounding defeated. What she didn't expect was him snapping at her.

​“ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GIVING UP RIGHT NOW? AFTER ALL THE WORK WE PUT INTO FINDING THE WAND?”

​Panic quickly spreads across her face as she tries to make corrections. But he cuts her off

​“ NUH UH. DON'T MAKE ANY EXCUSES. I JUST HAPPENED TO BARELY RECOVERED FROM BEING SICK TODAY. MY HEAD IS STILL WARM, BUT I STILL MANAGED TO GET TO SCHOOL, DEAL WITH THE DAMN BIRD, FIND YOUR WAND, AND FIND YOU TRAPPED. SO I DON'T WANT TO-”

​He clears his throat, regaining his composure. The same smile from before crept up.

​“Excuse me, Flora, but could you ignore what I just said? When I'm sick, I tend to say things I don't mean.” Flora nods as she feels herself sweat.

​“Um … sure. That's okay” she heard him clear his throat again.

​“As I was getting to my point… what happened to be the greatest Mage? To be as amazing as your mother?” She notices his pitch was higher as if imitating her, which makes her more embarrassed

​Flora: “WAIT WAIT STOP TALKING-” If she could move her hand, she would cover her face, which is all red.

​Indigo: “To be so great as to have Indigo notice me-”

​Flora screams from embarrassment

​Flora: “Where did you hear that?! I … I can explain.”

​Indigo chuckles

​Indigo: “No need. I just thought it was touching that you wanted me as a rival.” He looks confused, seeing her face looks like she is dying.

​Flora: “Um…yeah…that's totally what I wanted. “

​He smiles. “You seem so determined when your big sister explains it all.”

​Flora groans

​“ My sister has betrayed me after all. I wish I could take it back!”

​Indigo was quick to defend.

​Indigo :” She didn't mean anything bad! She was trying to brag about you! Like how you're a hard worker and you always try. I'm trying to make a point. You managed to summon Mochi. And even if it's little by little, I think you're improving. If you keep trying, I'm sure you might catch up to your mom one day.”

​As he finished, he noticed she was fighting the

​Indigo: “Why are you crying?”

​Flora:” Not crying…” Her lips trembled. After she looks determined as if she's past the mistakes she made.

​She struggles against the webs that restrain her.

​“ If this was enough to stop me, then this should shame my bloodline. I am…the daughter of the great heroic mage of the last hero's party. She sacrificed her life to save this world. I will become great in her place!” As she said that, she managed to loosen the binds on one wrist as she pulled.

​Indigo looks in approval.

​“ That's the spirit! You can do this!” He calls out.

​Just then, there was rustling from the bushes. He looks behind to see the giant spider crawling this way.

​“Ah, we're out of time. Flora, let's-”

​He turns to see that her determination was gone and replaced with panic.

​Flora:” I hate spiders! I hate spiders! Somebody help me! HELP ME!” she screams. “ She wiggles on the web only to get more tangled because she panics. Indigo looks done.

​​“ What happened to your speech…” he mutters. He sighs and pulls out his wand to point at the spider. Just then, they heard a loud caw.

​Before he can turn to the sound, the boobrie bird swoops in and takes the spider away.

​The bird turns slightly to the side, eyeing Mochi and caws. As if the dog understands, he barks back at it. Soon after, the bird was gone.

​“....”

​Indigo sighs.

​“ Let's head back… It's late,”