Part 1Ria and Ashley were casually shopping in the city looking for a store that would sell them some fabric. They"ve been looking around all day for a place that could provide a material that would satisfy Ria"s demanding tastes.
"Ria, why are we looking for fabric again...?"
"I want to see if I can have Evlin use her magic to create something nice to wear with it! Everything she creates always ends up looking so cool, I want her to try doing something related to clothes as well!!"
"You wanna trust that girl with stuff related to fas.h.i.+on...?"
"Why not? She can transform anything into whatever she imagines right?"
"Yeah, to whatever she imagines it... But all she ever thinks about is fight-related matters... She has no sense of style..."
"Come on... It can"t be that bad..."
"She keeps asking me to help shave her head because her hair keeps falling into her eyes during battles... You think that girl will have any idea of how to make a nice looking dress...?"
"I see... But I"m not worried... It"s not for me after all..."
"It"s not...?"
"Nope! I want her to make something for Sphinx to wear!!"
"Sphinx!!?? You want to dress up a griffin??"
"Of course!! Once she hears about it, I know she will be just as excited!!"
"Huh... Probably... But do you think Sphinx will like it...?"
"Maybe not... But you see, Ashley... Dressing up your animal is one of the many joys of having a pet! It would be a waste not to!!"
"I feel sorry for Sphinx..."
The two girls kept looking around a little more. Evlin and Lilith were in their hideout located inside the forest close to the city sparing with each other and sharpening their combat skills.
Daren, Auren, and Gustav were also in the city but on a different location trying to sense the presence of any hidden blessed metal nearby. Sphinx was nearby Evlin and Lilith keeping watch.
Ria finally managed to find and buy a large piece of fabric that suited her desire after looking around so much and was ready to return to the hideout with Ashley.
"I can"t believe I finally found it!! It"s perfect!!"
"... Isn"t that just like the others we saw??"
"Silly Ashley, they might have the same color but try just touching it."
"Oh, wow! That does feel good! I guess Sphinx might like it after all..."
"Of course he will! It"s a present made with love and-"
"..."
"... And..."
"Ria?"
Ashley realized that Ria was paralyzed staring at something behind her while trembling. Ashley turned around to see what she was looking at and saw a young girl who looked exactly like Ria but much smaller.
"Oh hey... That girl kinda looks like you..."
"... We... We should leave now..."
"Eh...? What"s wrong?"
The small girl turned around and had her attention captured by the large piece of fabric Ria was carrying. She then decided to approach it out of curiosity.
"Oh wow!! That cloth is beautiful! Where did you get-"
The young girl"s eyes met with Ria"s and the two remained in silence for a few seconds. The young girl then proceeded to tear up and start crying.
"Big sis...? Is that you??"
Ria remained silent trying to hide her face behind the cloth but to no success. Ashley was observing the situation in confusion.
"BIG SIS!!!! I FOUND YOU!!!"
"Argghh!! Stop it!"
The young girl started to hug Ria like a bear and almost made her drop the fabric. Ashley kept enjoying the scene and would probably find it very emotional if it wasn"t for the fact that she didn"t know how that girl could be Ria"s sister.
"I can"t believe you"re back after so long!! I missed you so much!! We all did!!"
"Mia let me go!! You"re embarra.s.sing me!!"
"No!! I"m never letting you go again! If you try to teleport you will have to take me with you!!"
The girl knew about Ria"s wind-scar ability and Ria knew her name. Even if they weren"t sisters they clearly knew each other. Ashley still didn"t know how that was possible. Mia finally noticed Ashley looking at her and released Ria.
"Ah! You must be big sis"s friend! Nice to meet you! I"m Mia, her younger sister!"
"Younger sister... But... Ria was stuck as a statue for two-hundred years... How is that possible?"
"What!!?? Ria you were turned into a statue?? How did that happen?"
"Huh... It"s a long story..."
Ria noticed the confused look on Ashley"s eyes and finally started to explain things.
"Ash, this is my younger sister, Mia... She"s an immortal..."
"... Excuse me...?"
"When Mia was young... Er... Our parents would take us to the church every day to pray... Most of my sisters would just get bored to death by it but Mia really enjoyed it for some reason... Every time she went there, she would pray for the G.o.ds to let her stay as a kid forever..."
"Let me guess... She received a blessing from the G.o.ds to never age...?"
"That"s right hehe!! I"ll be young and beautiful forever!!"
Ashley was wondering what kind of G.o.d would just hand out the power of immortality to a small child so easily. She also realized that this means Mia is the only person from Ria"s family who"s still alive after all these years. You would think Ria would be jumping of joy at hearing this news, but she looked like she wanted nothing to do with her younger sister. What kind of relations.h.i.+p did the two have in the past?
"So does this mean she is over two-hundred years old?"
"As of right now, I"m two-hundred and fifteen!! That makes me your senior!!"
"But... She still talks like a kid..."
Ria looked at her with a look of "This is such a pain...". It was rare for Ashley to see Ria so restless.
"That"s because she stopped aging when she was just twelve... So despite being technically older she never really matured..."
"Of course I matured!! Don"t talk like you know me after disappearing for two whole centuries!!"
"Oh please... You look and act the same way you did the last time I saw you... You didn"t change at all... I bet after mom and dad died you just lazed around all day for all these years..."
"Big sis... Your words hurt... We reunited after so long and you act so cold towards me!!"
"Well... I was pretty much sleeping all this time... For you it has been centuries but for me, it"s just been a few months..."
"Oh right! What"s this about you becoming a statue?? How did that happen??"
"It"s a long story and I don"t feel like talking right now... I rather listen to what you have been doing for all this time..."
"Huh... Well..."
"So you really have been lazing around all day huh...?"
"No!! Not at all!! In fact, I managed to get a new job not too long ago!"
"A job...? With that appearance?"
"Yeah!! One where I could spend all day with my boyfriend!!"
"Your boyfriend?? You got a job and a boyfriend??"
"Yeah!!! Aren"t I amazing? He even introduced me to his mother."
"Eh...?? Hold on, slow down a little, you"re going to fast! How did you got a job and boyfriend in the first place while looking like you are twelve?"
"Oh, his mother helped me with that! My beloved asked her what did she thought of me and she was all "She"s perfect!!". Imagine how much I blushed at the moment, hehe!!"
"Wha... What...?"
Ria was about to lose her mind. Her younger sister was apparently dating a guy who was old enough to work despite the fact that she looked like a small child. Was she dating a man who was interested in little girls?? And on top of that, his mother was ok with it as well? Ria wanted to find this guy and smack him in the face the more Mia kept talking.
"She offered me to work with her son and now we spend every day together as one lovely couple!! Isn"t it romantic??"
Ria looked like her soul was about to leave her body from the shock of the information. "My little sis was defiled..." Is what she was thinking. Ashley tried to speak for the dead-eyed Ria.
"Huh... Mia... This boyfriend of yours... Does he know how old you really are? And how old is he exactly??"
"Oh, don"t be silly... Even if he is a little younger than me, Love transcends all barriers!! Even age!"
"... I think that barrier is a little too big Mia..."
"You just don"t believe in the power of love!! You non-believer!!!"
Ashley grabbed Ria who was still out of reality and tried to speak to her in whispers.
"Hey, Ria... Is that ok...?"
"How could this be ok??? Look at her!!!"
"But... Technically they are both adults right?"
"Can you really look at this face and call her an adult?? She just lived for a long time but she"s basically still a baby!!"
"I can hear you you know?? Who are you calling a baby?"
"Mia!! I want you to introduce me to this guy right now!!"
Part 2
The three girls walked around the city with Mia guiding them as they moved towards the location the "boyfriend" was waiting on. The lad was surprised to see the young girl accompanied by two friends by her side as they approached him. He was in the middle of reading a book sitting on a bench under the shade of a large tree located in the center of the city next to a fountain.
"Oh, Mia! You"re... Back...?"
"h.e.l.lo, my darling!! Guess what I found while strolling around the town!!"
The young man was trying to read the situation and understand what was going on. He has been around Mia for a very long time to know she had zero interest in making friends with anyone besides him.
"Huh... h.e.l.lo... Nice to meet you."
He tried to speak while hiding his confusion. Ria decided to approach him first.
"You! What exactly are your intentions with my sister??"
"Eh...?? Sister!? What?? Intentions?"
Mia started to blush as if she was in the middle of a romantic drama.
"My love, what shall we do?? It seems like my family is opposed to us being together!! Should we run away??"
She was talking as if she was a victim but it was clear from her smiling red face that she was enjoying every second of it.
Ria grabbed the young man by the collar and started to shake him violently with anger covering her eyes.
"You better explain to me right now what did you fo to my sister you little player!!"
"I"m sorry! I"m sorry! I have no idea what"s going on!!"
Ashley separated Ria from the young man by grabbing her arms and tried to stop her from hara.s.sing the lad.
"Ria calm down!! You"re making a scene!!"
"I couldn"t care less!! This guy is clearly taking advantage of my moronic sister, I just know it!! I need to beat him up to save her!!"
Ashley was trying to access the situation. The young man seemed to be around fourteen years old. Technically he was still a minor while Mia was over two-hundred years. Doesn"t that mean Mia was the one taking advantage of him? That said, Mia still acted like she was just a twelve-year-old girl. Does that mean it"s ok for her to be dating someone that young as well? If she doesn"t have an older body nor an older mindset, is she still really an old lady after all? Or maybe the whole thing was just an act and she was simply tricking everyone pretending to be innocent? Ashley was simply not prepared to think about this kind of thing. What were the rules here?
"Who"s a moronic sister!! And what exactly are you planning to do with my boyfriend?"
The young lad heard Mia speaking and reacted in shock.
"Eh...? Boyfriend? Mia, you have a boyfriend??"
"Eh...?" x 3
The three girls stared at him in shock when they realized how lost the kid was looking. Ria started to question him, a little more relaxed this time.
"Hey kid, aren"t you dating my sister?"
"What? No! We are just coworkers..."
"But... She said you introduced her to your mother... And that she even received her approval, saying she was perfect!"
"Yes... Perfect for the job... She heard about my job and asked if I could hire her to work with me. My mother is the one who handle our business so I needed to get her approval first..."
Ria realized the misunderstanding that was caused and glared at Mia who was turning her face trying to avoid eye contact and pretending to be whistling. Ria grabbed Mia by the neck and started to strangle her after realizing she was just being played with this whole time.
"I give! I give!! Stop, I can"t breathe!!"
"Aaaagghh!! I should have know that taking you seriously was a mistake! I"m such an idiot!!!"
"Big sis, please stop!!"
Ashley was watching in shock as she was meeting a side of Ria that she never imagined that she would ever see. The young man who cleared the confusion tried to approach Ashley.
"Huh... Excuse me..."
"Ah! h.e.l.lo! Sorry for the confusion."
"It"s ok... Mia plays pranks on people all the time after all... It was only a matter of time before she would cause a misunderstanding like this..."
"I see... Just to be clear you two are really not..."
"No, not at all... We really are just coworkers... She likes to pretend that we are a couple sometimes but I have no intention of looking at her like that..."
"Darling!! How could you say that!!! I even picked the names of our children already!!!"
Ria started to strangle Mia even more.
"Stop talking about making children while you look like that!! Just start acting like an adult already for heaven"s sake!!"
"Never!!!!"
The young man continued his conversation with Ashley.
"Err... Is it true that this lady is Mia"s sister...?"
"That"s right..."
"They really do look alike... But... How is that possible...? I mean... Mia is..."
"Oh, so you do know about that... That"s a relief... Turns out Ria was sleeping all this time by some kind of power and she was finally awakened not too long ago..."
"Oh! I see..."
The young man looked at the two sisters fighting and couldn"t help but smile a little.
"I"m glad... So Mia wasn"t all alone after all..."
"... Yeah..."
"She"s not showing it, but she has been enduring a lot for these past years..."
"Looks like you two are good friends..."
"Well... There was a time where I felt like I was alone as well... So I guess we kinda sympathize..."
"You were lonely too... But... What about your mother...?"
"..."
The la.s.s made a sour face the moment his mother was mentioned.
"My mother... She only talks to me when we need to discuss my job... Aside from that I barely ever see her... If it wasn"t for Mia, I would probably be a mess right now..."
"Funny... You remind me of someone... "
Ria and Mia finally stopped arguing and the young girl dressed in black leaped into her coworker"s arms and started to hug him.
"Marcus!! Big sis is being mean to me!!! Please help!!"
"Yes, yes... It"s all right Mia, it"s all right..."
Ashley approached the exhausted Ria who was breathing heavily due to the amount of stress and frustration she was mixing together right now.
"Looks like your sister is doing fine..."
"Arf... Arf... Of course, she is... She"s a master of making people work for her for free... I was so stupid for being concerned..."
"Come on... Don"t be like that... She was probably missing playing with her big sis for all this time..."
"Whatever... We know she"s fine now... Let"s go..."
"You"re just going to leave them like this??"
"If I let her get too close she will never leave me alone... She survived all these years without me, so there is nothing to worry about..."
"If you say so... Bye Mia, bye Marcus..."
"Oh, bye... Ah... You never said your name!"
"It"s Ashley, it was nice meeting you!"
"It was nice meeting you too! Bye miss Ria!"
"Bye big sis!! Bye, big sis"s friend!!"
As the two girls kept walking away and heading back towards the headquarters, Ashley tried to talk with Ria.
"Hey, Ria... That boy"s name was Marcus... Do you think...?"
"No way... If Marcus was really this close, Daren and Lilith would have sensed him already... Probably just a coincidence..."
"Yeah true..."
Marcus and Mia started to chat while sitting on the bench observing the falling water of the fountain.
"Hey, Mia... Is it ok to just let your sister go like this...? She is your only family right now, right...?"
"What are you saying? Marcus, you"re my family too!"
"Is that so...? Thanks..."
"There is no need to worry... Big sis has always been good at running away, but I have always been good at finding her... Whenever I want to meet her again from now on, I can do it in two seconds..."
"I see..."
"Ah... I"m looking forward to messing around with her again!!"
Part 3
Ria and Ashley rejoined with the rest of the group and were greeted by Evlin.
"Ria, are you ok...? Why do you look so exhausted...?"
"Don"t mind me... I just ended up meeting someone I rather not have met..."
Ashley looked at her surprised by that statement.
"Ria, isn"t that a bit too cold? She"s still your family right...? And you two haven"t met for a long time."
"Not really... We may look like that but I was never really that close to my family..."
Evlin seemed interested in the topic.
"Eh... Family...? What happened in the town?"
"I"ll explain later, let"s give Ria some time to catch her breath... Any news on Daren"s side?"
"Yeah, Gustav contacted us a few minutes ago saying they found a large source of blessed energy inside a mansion located in the suburbs of the town."
"I see... When are we striking?"
"Tonight. Let"s discuss our plan."