"C'mon Ewin. This way!" Maruna tugged him as hard as her little body could. So much so, she slid under him before he moved an inch.
Ryuma could only smile. Everything this girl did was just too adorable. How was he ever going to break it to her that he was leaving?
Regardless he eased up and let her pull him along. "Maruna. Where are you taking me?" Ryuma asked.
"I'm taking you to my secret hide out where all the fairies live." Maruna said.
{Fairies?}
She constantly referred to fairies all around them, but he's never seen any. This could just be the girl's overactive imagination at work. As she led him around with excitement, Ryuma stared at her figure with his eyes downcast. It was sad to look at. It's understandable that a child her age developed imaginary friends. Children didn't last in this system they were in, making them somewhat of a rarity. All the adults, her mother included never had the time for her.
It's clear that she must've developed a way to cope by creating friends rather than make them.
That meant that Ryuma's presence here was nothing more than a miracle created by a blessing. He clutched at his chest, specifically where his heart was. Even thinking about telling the girl now is causing him pain in his heart. Once he leaves, she'll have to go right back to life before he got there. He shouldn't have gotten too attached.
It might have been for the best.
"We're almost there." She tugged on his hands some more.
"Well… what the hell. I guess it can't hurt to have a secret between us." Ryuma winked at her which made her eyes light up.
The more the two of them moved, the more Ryuma began to realize that they were about to enter the villages parameters. They were heading outside Lue.
"Maruna. Do you normally come out here?" Ryuma asked.
"Yep! Whenever the fairies tell me it's safe." Maruna said with a cheery smile.
In Ryuma's head, this was dangerous. If this girl often snuck outside the safety of Lue, it could only be a matter of time before an apparition got to her without any guards present.
On the one hand, Ryuma wanted to scold her for her fool heartiness. The other side was that he wanted to know where the girl was leading him. Where did she go before he became her defacto babysitter? How is it that a girl her age got to and from there without anybody knowing? Ryuma thought on it some more. Now that he had begun to think about it, how was she relatively safe beyond circumstance.
Forget the apparitions. A child living all by herself is bound to attract attention. Much to Ryuma's dismay, he knew that kidnappers, slavers, and to the god's disgrace pedophiles exist. How did this girl managed to survive on her own despite all of that? Was there really something to these fairies, or was it just a stroke of luck?
{Even children left to their own devices find a way to adapt.}
He's seen it before in Lue. Poverty stricken kid dressed in rags in comparison to the kids that had somebody to take care of them. These were children with no orphanage to take care of them, forced to live out on the streets. Even they found a way to survive if just barely. This could be Maruna's way of survival. Children were indeed scary adaptors, able to adapt to the most extreme environments.
She led him to the side of a mountain where there was a crack just large enough for her to skip through with ease. He on the other hand, had to sidle through them. It wasn't an easy fit either. Sucking up his gut was more of a chore than he thought. He just hoped it didn't get even tighter from here on out.
Once he finally slipped through the other side, there was a grotto of multicolored rocks with luminescence shining everywhere. It gave the cave they were in a light blue glow that allowed them to see. Her normally peachy skin was now light blue like the rest of the cave.
Ryuma stared around with his mouth slightly open. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. When… Where… How?
"The fairies wanted me to show you my secret." Maruna said.
Clearly this wasn't a spot where the girl could just accidentally wander into. Was there something to her idea of fairies? If so, what was she seeing?
He fixated his eyes on her. Whatever she was seeing that he wasn't must've been mistaken as fairies in her eyes. It all made sense though. These… fairies, for lack of a better term to describe, must be the reason for her continued survival. If these things exist in some form or fashion and she could communicate with them, they must also be able to inform her of incoming danger to protect herself. Her fairies have done a crucial job keeping her alive and with her mother.
Then that begs the question. What were these fairies and why couldn't he see them? What did they look like? Even more mysteries started to pile up.
With every step he took, he could feel how slimy and damp the ground was. Still he trudged on. He wanted to see what the girl wanted to show him. Or maybe… what the fairies wanted to show him.
Whatever they were, it was clear to him that they were using the girl as a means to communicate to him now. Was it because he was her friend and they trusted him, or was it because of his connection to the White Dragon and his shining spirit status?
"Hurry up slowpoke." Maruna complained.
"Hold on. I'm not as compact as you." Ryuma said.
"Compact?" The girl tilted her head in confusion.
Ryuma just shook his head. "Nevermind. It's hard to fit through here. He struggled to keep up with the girl until he hit another clearing with more luminescence. This time the area was yellow with water cascading through cracks and crevices. It flowed like there was a stream that led from somewhere.
{It's no wonder the last area was damp.}
This much water couldn't have been a coincidence. There must be an underground lake here of some sorts. Ryuma looked around at all the glowing rocks that lit up the cave. The light reflected off it so well, the color of the water looked yellow.
Ryuma put his finger on his chin. The last place was blue, this place was yellow. {These are the common colors of two of the Shining Spirits.} This could not have been a coincidence.
What exactly is Maruna? Why did she have such a deep connection with these… fairies?
"This way!" She skipped along some more.
Ryuma still followed her. The crevices were larger now and there were less of a problem keeping up with her. Matter of fact, they had to climb over a few boulders which slowed her immensely.
They soon reached another room with a different color of lights and sure enough, this one was red now. It reminded him of Igneous the Red Dog.
Somehow, this place gave him the feeling of a ward. He didn't think any apparitions would show up here. Maybe it was the lights. It might even be the fairies. Whatever the case was, so far as it came from them, she was safe here.
Still… if she was to keep coming here, who knows what else could happen. She could be trapped by a cave in and nobody would be any wiser as to her whereabouts. It wasn't safe here even with these fairies to guide her.
He at least wanted to know what they wanted of him.
"Maruna. Is the last room going to be white?" Ryuma asked.
Maruna stared at him with wide eyes. "How did Ewin know?"
"Just a hunch." Ryuma said. She led him to the third and final area of the luminescent cave. Just like he thought it was, the area looked light blue. Some of the rocks in this room were clear crystals, making it look like it was ice. There were no chills in contrast to the look of the area and it was still humid. Ryuma touched one of the crystals, and it tinged, sending out a beacon of light all around itself that spread out.
Any crystal that beacon of light touched also sent out more beacon of lights. Ryuma could faintly hear tinging sound in this area. The area he resonated with made a sound that came in regular intervals.
He looked at Maruna and could faintly see traces of small ghost like creatures of various shapes, sizes and species fade in and out of sight.
Whether they were there or not, Maruna would interact with them constantly making the girl seem like she was in her own world.
"Maruna! Could these be the fairies you were talking about?" Ryuma asked. He could only partially see them.
"You can see them now!?" She asked excitedly.
Ryuma looked around in the area. They were all fading in and out of transparency to him. When she said fairies, he imagined something totally different. It was weird. It was like, they shared commonality with apparitions, but they weren't. If they were mere apparitions, Ryuma would easily be able to see them.
"The fairies told me you have a fairy with you." Maruna said.
"With me?" Ryuma pointed at himself. Maruna nodded her head smiling.
It was then he noticed there was a fairy sitting on a crystal at the far end of the cave. The way it stared at him; it was calling to him. With every step he took, he could feel a strong breeze emanating from that crystal.