Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ ７- 𝓞𝓾𝓻 𝓗𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓼

​Bark Bark

​“Ughhh….” Flora forces herself to open her eyes to a Mochi on top of her. She gave him a pet to see if it calmed down. The dog seems antsy and wanders around the bed. He barks much louder.

​Flora saw him walk off the bed to claw at her bedroom door.

​‘Does he want to go outside?’ She put on his harness and leash. She tiptoes not to make any noise to wake her family. When the dog reached the outdoors, he started peeing on some grass. She sighs with relief.

​‘Is that all?’

​But then Mochi starts howling with his head facing up. He paces around and howls loudly.

​Flora: “What is up with you? What are you do-”

​She stops to see that there were tears in his eyes. And the sounds from his voice sounded like cries and whimpers. She quickly hugged him. She wasn't exactly sure how he felt, but it felt like he needed someone now.

​“What's going on? Sweetheart. It's in the middle of the night. You have school tomorrow,“ Flora turned to the sound, recognizing her father.

​Flora: Oh, hey, Dad… I'm sorry for the trouble… I…” Her father stared at the dog and immediately understood.

​Father: “Ah… this one's a bit sad?”

​Flora continues petting Mochi in her embrace.

​Flora: “I'm… not sure… Maybe”

​Behind her father emerges her sister, who rubs her eyes.

​Autumn: “Flora… I heard a noise and was worried…” She looked at Mochi and came close. She wipes his tears.

​Autumn: “I sense… He misses something… or rather someone.”

​Flora looks confused.

​“Someone…? Familiars… do they have families?” she asks.

​Autumn scratches Mochi's sides.

​Autumn: “Well… I read in some books, most of them say no. But there were few books saying some familiars have previous owners, but…there was not much information on that. And it feels more like rubbish and theories with no evidence. “

​Flora nods in understanding.

​Flora: “I see… Mochi… Maybe you miss someone precious….”

​Autumn: “Flora. Let me sleep with Mochi. You still have school, so I don't want him interrupting more of your sleep. “

​She patted Flora's shoulders, who seemed hesitant about the decision. It was honestly for a petty reason. She didn't want Autumn to have Mochi too…

​‘Flora… Stop it. You're being silly. She's your sister. You're being unreasonable.’

​After some thought, she handed Mochi to Autumn to carry Mochi gently.

​Flora: ”Thank you… Autumn. “

​Autumn smiles.

​Autumn: “Anytime. Once I figure Mochi out, I'll help you train him. You can count on me,” she winks.

​After her sister and father left, Flora also went back to bed, thinking about Mochi's cries.

​“You feel… lonely,“ she mutters.

​Something about the way he acts made her heart ache. It made her want to try harder for him, even if it's just a little. She wants him to be happy. The feeling felt familiar somehow, as if nostalgic.

​But….why?

​

​Mochi was placed on a soft pillow that fit his whole body. Autumn places some sort of cloth on him.

​Autumn:” My sister made this handkerchief for my birthday. I'm actually not sure what the picture is of, but… it kind of looks like a white bear. Sorta looks like you~”

​Mochi tilted his head and sniffed at it.

​Autumn's eyes lit up.

​Autumn: “Ah~ Can you smell my sister's scent a bit? I was hoping it's still there and my scent too. Maybe with this, you can be more familiar with us”

​Mochi does smell both their scents, as she stated. Even so, it doesn't hide his disappointment. He was hoping when he fell asleep, he would wake up in Aya's futon. But the dream wouldn't end, so he can only conclude this is truly his reality.

​Autumn looks at him with pity, hearing his small pity.

​Autumn: “I know it's not what you wanted… that person must be truly important to you.” She pulls out a toy with a squeaker and squeaks it. It makes a cute noise. His eyes lit up.

​Autumn: “Remember this? We were having so much fun earlier.“

​She tosses the toy to the ground, and he goes to chew on it. The squeaker was chewed a bunch of times, making some squeaks. He made happy whimpers as if saying, This is now my favorite toy. Autumn chuckles.

​Autumn: “Something tells me…this feeling is familiar to you. Your old master must have played with you a lot. “

​She tries to take the toy away, but Mochi pulls away with the toy still in his mouth. She chuckles again.

​“ I see… so possessive. I truly hope you can be happy with my sister.”

​

​She thought about earlier when the four sat down, exploring the old box. The box had more things than just the armor, harness, and leash. They were pleased to see it had some snacks and food for dogs.

​Autumn sniffs the snack bags.

​Autumn: “Oh, this… I smell a bit of mana on it… I think it was used to preserve everything. “

​Indigo looks impressed.

​Indigo: “That's outstanding that you got that down!”

​Autumn blushes and nods

​Autumn turns the bag to the back and looks confused.

​Autumn: “It's… in a language I cannot decipher. Indigo… Flora, maybe you guys have a better idea?“ She furrowed her brows.

​Indigo took a second to study the back before he handed it to Flora.

​Indigo: “No… I've never seen anything like it. I honestly don't think Flora has seen it either, given we go to the same school.“

​Autumn turns to Flora.

​“Flora? You?” The moment she turned to her sister, her eyes widened a bit.

​

“ ….-iliar.” What the younger girl said was inaudible, so she couldn't hear it, but it also sounded like she said the word “familiar.” Autumn repeated herself.

​Autumn: “Flora? Do you have an idea what this is?”

​This snaps Flora out of her world.

​Flora: “Ahh! I'm sorry. What did you say?”

​Autumn: “I was asking if you know what it says.”

​The three of them look at the younger girl. Flora shook her head. Autumn let out a sigh of relief.

​Eh… why was she relieved? That's strange …

​Autumn always thought her sister was interesting. The girl was shy, but at times she would open up, making Autumn happy. Yet it feels like Flora always holds back from completely being honest. Ever since they were little.

​Flora struggles to communicate her feelings. Even when handing out the last treat to her sister when they were low on money.

​Autumn remembers saying. “But this…is your favorite…” She heard the little girl answer back to her.

​ “I'm happy when my sister is happy.”

​That statement sounded like the truth, but it also felt like a lie at the same time.

​Autumn glanced at Flora for a second, watching her expression. The same feeling again today. It feels like her sister is hiding something from her. But she knows, no matter what, Flora won't tell her. Animals tend to open to her. Indigo tells her a lot of things. Their father too. But Flora? It feels like she barely opens up to anyone. Which is why she wanted Flora to feel close to someone.

​Autumn opens up the snack box, sniffing it. Mochi's eyes lit up, and he wagged his tail.

​Autumn: “Oh, you want some, boy? You want some?” She says in a cute voice.

​The dog got excited and spun around. He then rolled over after.

​Indigo claps.

​Indigo: “He knows some tricks?”

​Autumn thinks.

​Autumn: “Let me try to replicate that again…”

​She grabs a piece of a snack and makes a circular motion next to Mochi. The dog follows and spins around.

​Autumn claps and feeds it to Mochi.

​

Autumn: ”Good job! You're so smart~”

​Mochi looks excited, licking his lips.

​Autumn: “Your familiar is so smart. Flora, do you want to give it a try?” Autumn looks at her sister. Again, there was that look she couldn't place.

​“Eh… me?” Flora's tone sounds slightly surprised. Autumn nods, smiling sweetly.

​Flora: “S-sure…”

​Autumn taught her sister to do the same motion again, getting Mochi to do the trick.

​Autumn whispers to Flora to use a playful tone.

​“Good job, yay… You did it!”

​Flora pitched up her voice to sound playful, but it ended up sounding awkward.

​Indigo laughs.

​Indigo: “It's okay. You're probably nervous. I'm sure it gets better over time.”

​Flora meekly nods.

​“Okay.”

​Autumn looks at Indigo and Flora.

​Autumn: ‘Did they get into a fight? If they did… Indigo would surely tell me, right?’ She couldn't help but worry, seeing that Flora doesn't have any friends she mentioned besides Indigo. She was hoping that being together with him would make it easier for Flora to spend more time with him, too.

​Bark bark!

​Mochi scratches Flora's leg for the snack. Flora puts the snacks up and frowns.

​Flora: “Hey… no, no, bad boy.” Mochi stubbornly claws her leg more.

​Flora: “Ow! Someone needs to cut your nails.” She pushed Mochi back slightly by his nose, but it made him bark louder.

​Autumn then used the side of her hand and put a bit of pressure on the side of his neck, which suddenly made him stop.

​“ ….”

​Indigo looks at Mochi thoughtfully

​Indigo: Oh…he actually stopped. What did you do?”

​Autumn chuckles sheepishly.

​Autumn: “I don't want to do this, but… Some creatures have their weaknesses there. I only wanted to do that as a warning. But it should make him behave for now. Besides, I don't think it does much damage considering he's wearing the armor.”

​Flora made a funny face.

​Flora: “I still can't take it seriously when he's wearing it…”

​She checks the stats carefully.

​+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Lion's Breath Armor of Destruction

This armor is Lv 58.

​Description:

This armor has been forged from the Legends and was made to replicate the Fearsome Lion of the Great Mountains.

​Stats:

↑ + 30 hp

↑ + 50 defense

↑ + 20 mp

↑ + 15 charm

​Extra Notes: ‘If this armor is damaged, I will hunt you down.’

​-Love,

The Legend.

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

​Flora : Um… let's just leave it on for now.

​Autumn laughs.

​Autumn: ”Whoever made it…must have a big ego.”

​She saw Autumn take out something that looked like a toy, and it squeaked when squeezed. Mochi immediately jumps up and wants it. Autumn plays with him, tugging the toy

​Autumn: “Ah, so… you like these things?”

​

​Autumn kept the squeaky toy in her room for emergencies, just like tonight, as she watched Mochi playing with it.

​Autumn: “Don't worry about destroying it. I will make more.”

​She got on her bed, stretching.

​“I… Hope you'll find your happiness here. I'll be here for as long as you need me…” Autumn says softly as she sees Mochi facing her, still chewing the toy.

​“And… my sister doesn't open up easily, but… I know deep down she's nice. I hope both of you guys can be truly happy here.” She smiles, giving Mochi one last look before she closes her eyes.

​‘I mean what I said… I hope you both can be happy.’