Chapter 9: Off we go!
On another majestic morning in Mirifical Enthral, Emi entered a large opening at the foot of the mountain, it was a cave.
A familiar scent. The smell of dampness, with a pool inside the cave with the sound of fresh water running.
The lighting was a bit dim, with its source of light; illuminating algae and magilite crystals.
As the daughter of the Dark King, she had the most similarities to him, their sensitivity to light, hating crowded places, preferring solitude, and blunt honesty.
Emi remembered her times there with her Father, the Dark King; Atlas Verendus.
"Don't stay in there for too long. You'll catch a cold!" Atlas put his hand on his hips. Not having a mother, Atlas plays both roles for her.
Little Emi was floating in her bathing cloth with the slimes inside the pool, cooling her body. She could stay in it forever.
"I don't want to go out. It's very calming." She refused while she floats around blissfully.
"Get out of there now! You can't keep having this bad habit, you'll get sick again. You know you have a weak body." Atlas was getting impatient and irritated.
"Buuuuu~ Buuuuu~" She protested, ignoring him.
He huffs and went inside, carrying her tiny body out of the cold water, and rolling her in a warm large towel, preventing her from moving around.
"Nooooo…." She cries weakly. She didn't have the energy to escape from him, so she just let him take her away.
"You can wash tomorrow too. Just don't be in the cold water for too long. I can't have you being sick anymore." Atlas was worried for her.
"Okay, Father." She obliged. Another flashback flashes, as she ruminates on her memories of him.
"Here, Father!" Emi holds out a bunch of magilites.
"What is this?" Atlas asked.
"For decoration, this place looks so eerie." Emi commented.
"I wonder why? Oh right, because I'm the Dragon of Darkness, The Dark King." Atlas said sarcastically.
Emi smiles reminiscing about the past before she moves to a white canopy swing bed and sat on it; her old bed. Not far from her bed was a large chest.
She opens it and inside were her belongings but they had been corrupted throughout the thousands of years. A decaying old bunny mask was on top of musty white clothing.
"I'm so sorry, Princess. We couldn't preserve your items but we change the box regularly." Dawn apologized.
"It's alright. Everything has its own lifespan." Emi understand.
"Father! Look! I made a mask just like the Mellows! I've reached my age after all, just like them too." Emi showed a cute bunny-eared mask, enthusiastically.
"You really need to stop hanging out with those Mellows." Atlas urged her. Atlas was in his dragon form, laying peacefully in the dimmed cave.
"Why? Is it because I'm very cute?" Emi said while making an adorable face, praising herself.
"No, just getting dumber. Hahaha!" Atlas bluntly said while laughing hard.
Emi gasped hard, offended by him. Atlas was only teasing her.
"What a meanie!" Emi sat on the ground angrily and pouting. Atlas chuckles.
"Stop acting like a child." Atlas said to her.
"I am a child!" Emi was annoyed.
Emi giggles as she remembers her childish behavior. She in fact never changes even after growing up, and will always be a child at heart.
"I remember not talking to Father and sleeping with Dawn for a week because Father made me mad, not until he apologized." Emi and Dawn laugh.
"It was a fun times." Dawn smiles. Those memories, for Emi, might seem like only a few years ago, but to Dawn, it was a very ancient memory to be recalled.
"It felt like it was only recently I went to sleep but turns out I've been sleeping forever. Look how much time I've wasted." Emi sighs.
"It can't be helped, Princess." Dawn said regretfully. Emi pulled out the white clothing, her eyes had slight sadness.
"I will hold onto this one, till the day I can restore it to its original state." She stated and carefully hugged it.
"Princess really do love that." Dawn said.
"Of course, it's the only memento from my previous life." Emi smiles sadly.
"I'll carve a new mask with the Mellows later." Emi stated.
"Of course." Dawn agreed.
"Black Hole." She chanted and a small black hole appeared. She puts the white cloth inside a small box and shoves it into the black hole.
"Dawn looks like I need new clothing. Can it be provided?" Emi asked her.
"You can count on me. I will prepare everything." Dawn said happily. Emi was suspicious of her.
"Prepare me something suitable for my adventure, do not make dresses or something fit. Remember that?" Emi reminded her.
"Of course! How can I prepare you for something so shameless? You can rest assured. Only elegant clothing will be prepared." Dawn responded confidently. Emi somehow felt uneasy.
"No more dresses." Emi asserted.
"We can't oblige to that. You must have some of it for special occasions too." Dawn insisted.
"Okay fine." Emi gave up as Dawn gave a soft cheer of joy.
=================================
The third day came, it was the day they finally went away for an adventure. Everyone has gathered in the open space. It was supposed to be an exciting moment awaited but not for Emi the least. Emi looked at Dawn with a grim face.
"Dawn." One word was enough to make Dawn shiver and not look at Emi's face.
"What happens with dresses for special occasions only?! All of it is dresses!" Emi was angered.
It is massively improper for her to wear dresses on her adventure. It's not like she was one of those typical elegant princesses going on a trip.
She stood in front of them with her arm crossed, while Dawn and those in charge of her clothes kneels on the ground, guilty.
"We were over-excited preparing your clothes that we didn't realize all of it was dresses." Dawn said regretfully. Emi raised a brow.
"You sure you are not doing this on purpose?" She asked.
"Ehem. What are you talking about, Princess? Of course not." Dawn said hesitantly, not meeting eye-to-eye with her.
"Ah! Forget it." Emi took the bag full of dresses and threw it into the black hole.
"I don't have the time to worry about clothes now." She huffs. Dawn and the other smirked in secret. Emi gave them a sharp glare.
"Don't worry. There are a lot of clothing stores that we will encounter as we travel. Why not look for it then? Surely, there are some that will pique your interest." Cole suggested.
"True. True. I'm not angry anymore." Emi said as her anger instantly extinguished.
"That was fast." Cole was surprised by her change of attitude.
"If the problem has a solution, then I won't be angry anymore, it will be momentary." Emi smiles as she explained and the others were relieved.
"So how we will be traveling?" Emi asked while looking at Cole and Lucius.
They looked at her in bewilderment. Dawn and the others turned silent.
"By walking. What else?" Cole said dumbfounded.
"Noooo!!!! We are so sorry, Princess!!!!" Dawn cried. Lucius and Cole were shocked.
"It came out as a bad habit. We didn't prepare her shoes." Dawn confessed while wiping her tears. Emi facepalmed.
"How is that possible?!" Cole was surprised.
"In the past, I always had my Father as a commuter, but as you can see, now I don't. Also out of habit, I'm not a big fan of shoes." They looked at her feet. Indeed, she was barefooted.
"So all this time you were not wearing anything?!" Cole was even more surprised.
"You didn't notice that? Plus, when I'm in the forest I don't like to use it since I like the taste of the grass. Besides~" Emi jumps and sprouted her angelic wings.
At that moment, she truly looks like an angel. The large white wings complete her appearance, they were awestruck. She has yet to show her wings to them before this.
"I was always flying, so I rarely touch the ground." Emi explained.
They were stunned to see her with her wings, bewitched by her beauty. Their response was a bit lagging.
"Beautiful..." Lucius blurted out with his eyes fixed on her. Emi on the other hand was surprised by his comment.
When they realized, both of them already everted their eyes. Emi was clear as day, blushing. Meanwhile, Lucius whose face is covered wasn't really seen but they know he was blushing too.
"So-so… Just use your wings." Cole said hesitantly, embarrassed. Emi falls to the ground again, her wings have disappeared.
"I'll ask you when was the last time you saw a person with wings?" Emi asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Ah-ahh… Yeah…" Cole said blushing.
"I don't want to cause a commotion. Let's visit the nearest town with a shoe store." Emi asserted. They just nodded agreeing with her.
"By the way, now that I think about it, you were mentioned to have wings but when we met you, you didn't have one. So you can control whether it can appear and disappear?" Cole asked her.
Only now, they realized how many questions they didn't ask her before. Why was it forgotten, placed behind their mind? Even they were confused.
"Yeah, it is within my control. Since my wings are different from those who had them permanent on their back." Emi explained.
"Dawn said, it was bestowed by God. Is it true?" He questions again. Emi was amazed.
"You finally break the blockage." She smiled satisfied. She was proud of him, but they were dumbfounded, unable to understand her words.
"What do you mean?" Cole asked.
"How would I say this? I called them blockage. People's minds are suppressed from knowing too much about me, so there is a higher chance you will forget anything relating to me. Something like that." Emi explained. Cole and Lucius felt hazy and shakes their head.
"Oh, I sense it happened again." Emi said.
"What? What did you say?" Cole asked.
The same thing has happened who knows how many times by now, so she didn't bother to repeatedly tell other people about it, and just move on.
"Nevermind. Moving on to the next agenda. Hmm… Do I really have to be barefooted all the way? I think it's okay but I don't like the harsh, hard, and dirty road." Emi thinks for a moment.
"Do you want me to carry you?" Lucius offered. Emi backed away instinctively.
"Oi. No need. That's just plain embarrassing." Emi refused.
Lucius nodded in understanding. Lucius can be rather weird at times and surprise her with his affections(?).
Then, her attention was directed to something that swirls in her shadow.
"You'll do just fine." Emi said while looking down at her shadow. They were bewildered.
"Order you around? How dare you?!" Emi was angered, and her hand was on her hips while looking at her shadow.
"Aren't you my guardian?!" Emi pointed at it.
"Who are you talking too?" Cole asked, hesitating. Bewildered by her unusual behavior.
"You want to finish your job, then be supportive. Come on out, Death!" Emi called out. Suddenly, a black snake hopped out from Emi's shadow and headed for her, with its fangs shown, hissing loudly.
"Emi!" Lucius was shocked. The snake passes her face and wraps loosely around her neck.
"It's fine. This is Death." Emi introduced.
"A snake?" Cole was also surprised.
"Not an ordinary snake. Hmm. Classified but he can shapeshift." Emi said.
"Ohh. Wait what?" Cole was confused.
"A shapeshifter." Emi clarified.
"I heard that part. Did you actually say classified?" Cole asked.
"Uh-huh. Is something wrong with it?" Emi tilted her head.
"No. nothing." Cole looks at Lucius for a moment.
His confusion was ever larger than before. Mainly about the connection between Emi and Lucius. Lucius seems to know her but she acts as if she only met him for the first time. How mysterious.
"Go on, Death. Be useful." Emi said. The snake hissed.
"I'm not scared of you, so stop." Emi pinched the black snake, and it jumps away from her. Shapeshifting into a large black wolf. Emi hopped on its back.
"This is very convenient." Emi smiles with satisfaction. Death growls clearly infuriated.
"Oh you grandpa, stop it." Emi smacked its back. They were astounded to see Death, curious about him.
"It's older than you?" Cole asked.
"Well, he was with me since I was a little girl, even back then he was already looking old so I'm guessing yeah, he is ancient." Emi explained.
Death growls again followed by her innocent touches of laughter.
"Just admit it, you're old." Emi wasn't giving in.
"And you can communicate?" Lucius asked after being silent the whole time. He was interested too.
"Yeah. I can understand him but other people don't seem to hear his voice." Emi said.
"By the way, do people ride animals like this? I'm afraid that I might violate anything." Emi said anxiously.
She wouldn't want to get prisoned or blamed for such things. Animal cruelty? That's far from her, besides, Death is not an animal.
Her unique given situation always made her get questioned by authorities. She hated it when that happened, the past sure is one of the examples.
"It's okay. There are Lesser Shifters who mostly stayed in their original appearance so there are people who ride them." Cole assured her.
Lesser Shifters are animals who can shapeshift with half-human attributes, obtaining the ability to speak, walk, and so on.
"Good, so I won't really stand out." She sighs in relief.
"I think you need to reconsider that." Cole said.
"Why?" Emi looked at him and he looks at her up and down.
"It's my appearance, is it?" Emi grunted.
"Correct." He nodded.
"Is it really weird to have people having white hair, pale skin, and pink eyes?" She asked again.
"That is rather specific but yes." Cole said.
"Huh. Can't really go anywhere without being noticed anyway." Emi shrugs her shoulder.
"Princess, here." Dawn holds out the core of the replica, and Emi received it.
"Father's replica core. Why are you giving this to me?" She asked.
"Since you're already woken, it had no purpose here anymore, so I'm giving it to you, Princess. Maybe it can help Princess on finding our King." Dawn reasoned.
"Okay then. I will take it with me, I hope I can find Father soon." Emi looks at the black-colored replica core.
"Don't worry, we know Princess can!" Dawn encouraged her, the others were cheering for her too.
"We should be on our way now." Cole reminded them. Emi and Lucius nodded.
"Goodbye Dawn and others. Wish me luck." Emi waves at them.
"We will always pray for your safety, Princess. Sir Cole and Sir White Knight, please take care of our Princess." Dawn requested as she bowed.
"Why do you always have your title?" Cole was dissatisfied.
"I'm older than you." Lucius said then stopped for a moment and looked at Cole.
"And stronger." He teased. They tried to process his words before Emi burst into laughter.
"Wowwwww." Cole said half-heartedly, annoyed.
"I didn't know Lucius can tease people too. That's cute." She smiles sweetly. Lucius was clearly embarrassed and immediately walks away. It made both Emi and Cole chuckle.
"Wait for us!" Emi shouted for him. Death and Cole began to run, catching up with Lucius, while Emi steadily sat behind Death.
"Bye, everyone!" Emi waved again.
"Take care, Princess!" Dawn and the others shouted.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone