04 – Investigator Liù

Xiao Liù was a pixie of the light. She didn’t remember much of her life in the realm of elemental light, except the boredom. It was very boring, with nothing to do all day but just kind of float around doing nothing. The place was also flooded with light everywhere, blinding white light that was so different from the substance colors were made of, and from the shadows and the dancing darkness of the material world. When Ishrin summoned her, she eagerly responded to the call, and then he named her, and she could swear that something changed within her in that very moment. It was like she gained clarity, her thoughts became words and concepts, no longer mere constructs of all-encompassing light that was everywhere and meant nothing, but thoughts that were complex and had feelings to them.

She was reborn. And the world was marvelous, and splendid. It was full of color and interesting things she had never seen before. Solid things, things she could touch. Ishrin’s curly, fluffy hair. Scary things too, that she found out that she could destroy if she used her power. Her power, the light, made her feel safe. The first time it happened it almost scared her more than the creature who was trying to eat her, when the ray of light erupted from her body and blinded her, she thought she had been sent back to her realm. She wanted to cry; she didn’t want to leave Ishrin yet. Things in the material world died, she learned later, and when she thought back to that moment, she realized that if Ishrin had died he would have not come back to summon her again. This almost made her cry again, so thankful she was that for some reason her instincts guided her well.

When she opened her eyes after she attacked the creature, blinking away the tears, she found it dead and was so surprised and happy and awed. Then she did it again, but after using her power she was so tired and heavy… but then Ishrin did something and the monster exploded! It vanished! It was so strange and eerie. Perhaps she had underestimated just how powerful and resourceful her master was. And to think that he did all that to save that hateful woman with a permanent scowl on her face… Liù hated that woman. How dared she not be grateful to her master, who risked his life to save her!

Well, she was even more angry at her now. Because she led them to a city called Noctis, she overheard them talking about it, and then showed Ishrin a place to sleep! Luckily they separated at least. Lisette, that woman, said that she needed to do something at a place called Guild and thanked Ishrin before going her way. Liù still thought Lisette was being an ass, but Ishrin seemed to like her for some reason. Liù tried to put Lisette out of her mind. She remembered the shocked face of the inn’s receptionist when Ishrin tried to pay him with the monster core he extracted from the first enemy she killed in the forest. The old man’s jaw dropped to the floor, she thought he must have been paralyzed because he only stared wide eyed at the crystal for a few seconds before he moved again. It was so funny!

Then he saw her playing with Ishrin’s hair and the innkeeper froze again. Ishrin didn’t know how to react, how to make him unfreeze. He was so cute when he didn’t know what to do! How fun!

“I can’t have an adventurer of your caliber pay to stay at my inn.” the innkeeper told them eventually.

Ishrin tried to argue.

“No need to say anything, young man. I can see that you are not wearing your plaque, and I will not enquire any further.”

Good, Liù thought. At least someone understood how amazing she and her master were as a team. Less good was the fact that now her master was sleeping. They had taken a nice long bath before bed. Liù learned what water was and how to heat it with her light, and then found that she loved to play in it when it was very hot. She also loved to play with the small clouds of steam that rose from the water, but she didn’t like how cold it felt to be wet and out of it, so she stuck with making soap bubbles from underwater. But it didn’t last nearly as long as she would have liked! Now Ishrin was asleep! What was she supposed to do?

“You are free to roam around, if you want.” Ishrin had said. “Just don’t get into any danger.”

She didn’t want to leave her master’s side. Not really.

She looked at his chest heaving up and down. Pixies didn’t need sleep, she found out, and were very easy to get bored. Well, perhaps she could do some exploring. Yes! Why not keep an eye on that strange woman adventurer, see what she was up to!

Liù flew out the window, a small ember of light like a firefly in the dark overcast night. She flew above the thatch roofs and the stone roofs, and eventually found the wooden building that was the guild. It was right at the end of a large road that went all the way from the main city gate to the guild. It was not hard to find at all, even with her limited knowledge of human architecture. She flew inside from the open window and hid. Lisette was chit-chatting with another woman, no doubt plotting something evil. The woman was not human like Lisette and her master were, but had long fluffy ears like those of a fox and slitted golden eyes. Her tail and fur were a bright orange.

They will never be as fluffy as Ishrin’s hair for her. She thought as shook her head. She only now noticed that Lisette had changed clothes. Her raven black hair was hidden in a black hood, and her torn armor was now a sleek dark leather adorned with gold. Her eyes seemed to shine in the darkness.