Mikado, Taski, and Ariah made their way to the ticket booth near the shipping dock at the fair. Dozens of civilians were surrounding the area, like a vacuum-sucking people in non-stop. Ariah was filled with anxiety due to the number of people filling up; she softly began breathing again. Taski and Mikado covered her to prevent her from passing out; Ariah bumped into passing people while hiding her eyes. "It's okay... no need to panic, we're here for you," Taski reassured her calmly. "I won't let any of these men here hurt you; no one will touch you." Mikado caringly states to her. They then waited for their turn in the crowd; it felt as though the sun had begun its daily setting. Some other females behind Taski started touching him in areas he felt violated in, "Hey cute boy, what's your name? Do you want to take a selfie with me and my friend here? Moreover, my friend and I are single; you should give us your numb...." However, before the lady could finish her sentence, Mikado pushed everyone behind him further back out of anger. "No one, and I mean no one, will touch him like that Ever Again!" She whispered to herself with her head down. It then felt like much of the weight was lifted off Ariah,
"Mikado, don't overdo it. We don't need to get in trouble before our award ceremony tomorrow." He implied to her calm. "I'm never letting anyone touch you so provocatively, and you don't need that kind of grooming, dear. Especially your butt." Mikado argued back. After this, the line of people began moving in faster; it made waiting for them less nerve-racking. Taski approached the ticket booth and placed an order for two tickets, "Hey, Taski, you don't have to pay for me; I have enough nen." Ariah spoke kindly to him. He insisted and placed two orders instead; Ariah said nothing in response but was thankful for his act of kindness. The three had made it into the fair entrance to exchange their tickets at the key card, there they were given an ID card that showed their payment proof that also had an expiration time of 5 hours total. Many fun-filled activities were available at their disposal, and they had many game challenges that held dozens of stuffed animals. They also had tons of giant rides to experience; many of them looked frightening to Ariah. "Well, here we are. We have many things to do, most of them are free, from the looks of it. Let's play some cool throwing games to win some animal plushies. I'll give them to you, Mikado."
Taski implies to the two. "Aww... you wouldn't know, would you, sweetie?" Mikado blushes over his words. Ariah, on the other hand, felt nervous and that she wasn't ready to indulge in anything too extreme. Her anxiety was still shaking her slightly over the many men who were present at the fair, mostly because it reminded her of her past. "(I dislike the scenery this place has, there are too many big men roaming around. I hope my anxiety won't persist.)" Ariah thought to herself as she moved along with the two. Ariah kept her eyes out for any unwanted trouble that would dare interfere with her and her friends; her eyes moved back and forth, searching all around herself. "We should totally go into the magic house; maybe we'll run into those weird mirrors that make you look all funny and crazy," Mikado suggested eagerly to them. Taski and Ariah went along with the idea. As they entered the giant magic house tent, the lights became dimmer as they proceeded forward; Ariah held on to Taski's hand tightly while moving quickly through the entrance into the weird and mysterious magic house. They found themselves in front of clear mirror glass with multiple pathways, like a reflection maze that could easily confuse anyone who crossed paths. "Woah, my head is all twisted and big. This is so weird but cool."
Taski stated with marvel to the two. Ariah giggled loudly at his odd head reflection and bumped into a mirror from behind, "Wow, my arms are super skinny, and my feet are giant-looking. I don't see how anyone can make such weird illusions in mirrors like this." Ariah wondered to herself as she was distracted by the many reflections. "Gee, I know my hips are naturally curvy, but this is too much." Mikado jokingly complimented her distortion. The three experienced a more silly mirror experience in the magic house; they also experienced a distorted color room with LED lights all over. "Hey Taski, your black cyan suit would go crazy in this room, sweetie." Mikado implied to him. "Yeah, sadly, it was somewhat ruined by Knight's Exams the other day." He replied. After 30 minutes of fun-filled magical occurrences, they then reached the end of the magic house and exited through a smoke-filled back part of the tent. The three walked out back into the main walkway where the other attractions were; most of them consisted of mini-games that involved popping balloons, hitting with tiny arrows, and throwing spheres into a glass of water, as well as many more.
"Hey! Who wants a free stuffed plushie? I'm looking to win something big and stuff." Taski exclaimed to the two. "Aww... Me, Me. I want one; you should know I love big stuffed plushies." Mikado cheerfully reacts to him. The three then walked over to the games that looked easy and less expensive, as each match varied in its objective to winning a prize. Some cost nearly 13 nen, while others cost almost 16 nen for just a single play; Taski only paid for ones that cost five nen, as they seemed to have something that was worth winning. He played a game that required a target to be hit while avoiding wind currents from a fan, the best way to win big was to hit the bullseye in yellow which represented the gold prize. He was only given three arrows to shoot his shot with, but he threw two of the arrows he had and missed the gold target. "No worries, just my practice shots. I'm just warming up." Taski promotes to them. Once his focus was perfected, he threw his last shot toward the gold target and nailed the very center of it. It blew away the man in the game window, "What?! How!? No one has ever been able to nail the gold target like you have, young one. I supposed you can pick any prize out." The man said, astonished at him. Taski chose the big stuffed whale from the back and gave it to Mikado; her eyes grew big as she was handed the stuffed animal.
"Wow! It doesn't surprise me, dear, that you've got this kind of skill unlike anyone else. Thanks, sweetie." Mikado complimented him. It was 7:30 PM, and the sun slowly began falling into slumber for the night; the fair likewise began decreasing in people. It had been an hour since Taski won the gold prize, and the three explored more of the fair and did many other activities that were available. "I don't know about you two, but I'm really sleepy and exhausted from all this walking around and from your incredible wins tonight, Taski. I think I'm going to fly back to the dorms. Thanks again for the stuffed animals, hun; I'll be seeing you two tomorrow for our award ceremony." Mikado states to the two with yawns of sleepiness. Once she had floated out of the fair, Taski and Ariah began walking together down the walkways. "I certainly enjoyed tonight, winning and laughing. What about you... Ariah?" He asked her. "I enjoyed tonight; it was amusing and enjoyable; you certainly packed Mikado's arms tonight." She replied to him. As the two walked through the half-empty walkways with trash everywhere, Ariah spotted a big male walking around. Seeing the male made her think about Yegor due to his appearance; her heart started beating quicker.
She then began breathing heavily again; she closed her eyes and tilted her head down out of complete concern. "Hey, what's the matter?" Taski asked her. He attempted to hold her close to him; however, she jumped out of fear and bumped his head. She then realized who was trying to grab her and hold her, she covered her head in his chest, her tears flowed from her as her breathing became unbearable; she wrapped both her arms around his back, and her bat wings covered them both. Taski was confused and worried as to why she did these things, and he decided to escort her out of the fair, as they were only minutes away from exiting. Ariah then heard a voice that sounded soft and kind, one that sounded like an angel. "Pursue him." The voice whispered to her ears. Once they went through the exit, she then picked her head back up from his chest; her breathing also ceased. "I'm deeply sorry; I don't usually do this often. It's something that's hard for me to control; I apologize for getting your shirt soaked in my tears." She explains and apologizes to him kindly. "Now is your chance, Ariah. Talk to him; I'm almost through the barrier."
The voice whispers to her again. Ariah then falls slightly backward in dizziness but is then caught by Taski's hand. "I say that we go sit down somewhere and just relax for a bit." He implies to her. The two find a bench nearby and sit together to calm down and talk to each other, and he sits very close to her to protect her from anything that may come off as a threat. "Woah, I feel something weird going on with my force surrounding me, Ariah; it feels like someone is trying to abrupt my force." He explains to her wonderingly. "I feel like something is trying to tell both of us something. I keep hearing a voice talk to me, and I think only I can hear it speaking to me. I keep hearing it tell me to pursue." Ariah answers to him what she believes to be the answer. He grew interested in her statement and asked, "What does it mean by that? Could it be referring to something important, something about us?" She remained quiet for a few seconds and finally answered, "It's you. Eden is telling me to pursue you. She wants to speak to your force, as it attracts her. She just spoke to me." Taski then immediately blushed at her response; deep down in him, his body became warm and nervous; he felt a substantial tension rise in his heart.
He shook slightly on the bench as he looked up at her and said, "Well... I think that voice is a... bright one to push you into doing this. I can see now why you've been trying to send me that message of yours." He giggled kindly as he said to her. Ariah scotched over closer to him until her legs touched his, as well as her shoulders connected to his. He felt a marvelous feeling in him as her arms and legs brushed against his. Then she said to him, "Taski, I think I want to confess to you how I really feel toward you; I have been trying to communicate a message to you with my mouth. I... adore you... and I'm in love with you, Taski." His heart exploded with pure joy and great emotion at her words, and his heart rate increased as he was trapped in her eyes. Ariah could sense his heart rate increasing, and made it known to him, saying, "I can feel your heart pounding really hard in there, your heart sounds... very wonderfully beautiful." His cheeks then turned noticeably red; he could only stare into her eyes more; it almost felt like he was stunned by her beauty. "You... adore me? Woah, I've never had a woman say these kinds of words to me before." He accepted her message and accepted her into his arms; the two held each other while getting up from the bench; as they touched each other's noses, they stared into each other's eyes.
Ariah took her opportunity and closed her lips tight in his mouth. The two hold each other tightly and finally indulge in their love for each other. Taski's heart jumps even further while Ariah's heart skyrockets high up; the two are then brought together and released from each other's lips. "Holy crap... I can't believe that just happened." He said, thrilled at her kissing. She giggles and blushes at his reaction to her performance; then, suddenly, the two are thrown into a strange black mist where it seems like there is no life around. "Woah, ... Ariah! Hey, where did you go?!" He shouted. Then, he is surprised from behind him by her touch. "I think I know where we are; look over there. There is Eden and... a flame." Ariah tells Taski. Over in the distance, there looked to be a flame that was consuming Eden. Eden was Ariah's ability force, and Eden was the one who chose Ariah from her young teen years up to now. "Eden! What's happening to her? Eden!" She shouted.
Eden was then set to flames, but for some reason, it seemed that she was perfectly fine. Then, suddenly, the flame consumed Eden, causing Eden to become a tree of flame. "Who dares interrupt us!" The flame demanded an answer. Then Eden said to the Flame, "Thorn, these two are harmless; they are us but in physical form. I have summoned them here to show them what you and I have accomplished together." Taski was astonished at his flame ability force and said, "Your name is... Thorn? That's an unusual name for a flame." Thorn then stated to him, "You just couldn't help yourself now couldn't you, you've brought me another visitor that won't go. Even though she is undoubtedly beautiful, she is now stuck to me, and she can't keep her hands off." Taski was new to this kind of experience and had never had an encounter like this before, for he knew of his ability force surrounding him at all times but was never introduced to Thorn. Ariah then asked, "Thorn, why were you consuming Eden into a flame? Why did you burn her?"
Ariah and Taski had not known the bounding that ability forces would take part in when doing such things. Eden then reassured her, "Oh sweetheart, he was not hurting me, but was actually doing the opposite of that. You two are really young to understand this, but Thorn and I were having a moment of bonding together, which was the equivalent of you and Taski kissing. I know it's not easy for you two to see it, but someday you may." Taski and Ariah were shocked and even somewhat scared, and they couldn't bring any words out to speak; they could only stand and look up at them. Eden then continued on and said to Thorn, "Your kiss wasn't bad at all; however, I think that you could've done a little more than that." Thorn became frustrated and said, "What? Whatever, I'll consume you harder next time, then. How about that?" Then suddenly, it was like waking up from a dream, Taski and Ariah both woke up near the bench they were sitting on, the two were muddled at what they had experienced together. It was like they joined their dreams together and set off on a journey. "Ariah, that was weird. Thorn burned into Eden, she was nothing but flames, but took it like a kiss." He mentioned to her while helping her up from the ground. "I didn't think this would happen; I'm sorry. I would rather not think of how they bound together; it was actually scary to see it in person." Ariah replied to him.
The night was getting darker, the sky started dripping water droplets, the two then walked back to their dorms before any heavy showers poured in on them. The sky was lit up for a second by a pink and purple light mist. Taski said, "Woah, what was that in the sky? It looked like it came from the dorms, hopefully everything is okay." They moved quickly through the lit streets and high traffic areas, Taski evaded the highly populated areas that brought fear into Ariah. Twenty-five minutes had passed after they left the bench area outside the fair, and the two made it back safely to their dorms. Before the two said their temporal goodbyes, she stopped him and said, "I just wanted to tell you, Taski, I love you so much. I've built a lot of trust in you, and I want to further our relationship. I also want to take things slowly so that we can build more moments with each other, as you know about all that I've told you regarding my past. It's not that I don't trust you, It is not my intention to hurt you, likewise myself become hurt. However, I do love you, and I'm glad that you feel the same toward me; I will definitely be praying for our hearts to grow closer to each other."
Taski accepted her answer with a great and mighty hug and said to her, "I love you, Ariah; you are unlike any woman I've ever met before. You have a heart that desires to do good things, and you desire to see the ones you love deeply smile, laugh, and be at peace. I see you as a peacemaker, a loving woman, a woman who fears the Lord. I do understand, and I accept your reason, I'm glad I have the opportunity to pour out my heart to you, as well as making special moments with you. Likewise, I, too, will be in prayer for us to have a healthy and wonderful relationship together. I hope you sleep wonderful tonight, Ariah, I love you." The two then cuddled each other with a sweet and loving hug, and thus, their adventures now await them both.