: Encounter (Zeo)

I was sitting at the dining table in the kitchen, tucking my fingers randomly on the polished woodwork, waiting for Millia, my older sister, to provide me with my rewarding grilled meat for dinner after all the hard work I had done for her today.

"It's been such a long time since I last had grilled meat. I just can't wait any longer, just let me have it raw..." I declared smelling the smoky, spicy aroma of the roasted meat. Millia had her back on my side but I knew she was smiling at my childish comment.

Soon she turned around. She wore a gentle smile on her face which complimented her undeniable beauty. She had long brown hair, hazel coloured eyes and a tanned skin tone. But my focus was not her beauty at the moment. My eyes were fixated on the plate of grilled meat she held in her right hand.

"Well, there is one thing you need to do after eating this." She said and I immediately frowned. "Hah..!! Haven't I delivered all your medicines the whole day? Now, what do you want from me? " I asked with a frustrated look. She raised her index finger.

"There is just one thing... Tonight is a full moon, so the new 'Moon Bell' flowers will blossom. Please, just pick a few freshly blooming flowers...they are of great medicinal value." She explained. I gave her a pout. "Please... My dear, little bro" She pleaded.

"I will give you some extra pieces. " She added while dancing her hands around the plate.

"Fine..!! " I agreed. And then she put the plate in front of me. "First eat... " She said. And I started devouring the meat like a hungry wolf. She chuckled at the sight but I didn't give it much thought.

After savouring the meat, I went out of our house. Though our house was not a very big one, it was not so small either. But the important thing was that I loved it. We had brick walls, small glassy windows and a small chimney. This was one of those cosy type houses you would see in fairy tales. Well, the elf realm was kind of a fairy world for creatures like humans.

I was wandering towards the lake, holding a blue lantern in my hand. The lantern used a few fireflies as its light source. Though the moonlight was enough for the light, Millia had insisted I take it with me. But I wasn't thinking about finding the Moon Bells at the moment. I only wished that Dad had been there with us at the dinner while we were enjoying the grilled meat. It was his favourite, but as a Magic Knight of the 'Table of Honour' his absence was pretty reasonable.

My Dad, though he's just my adoptive father, was a really loved man and was equally feared on the battlefield. He was the representative of the Terra Clan in the Elf King's personal ministry called the ---Table of Honour. You see, Terra Clan is the user of the Earth's elemental power. There are five other clans like the Aqua Clan with Water's elemental power, Ventus Clan with the wind element, Ignis Clan with the power of fire, Flora Clan with the Flower element and finally the Theus Clan with the thunder element. And any Elf belonging to the main branch of the clan was deemed to be a strong magic user. One point to be kept in mind is that being in a specific clan doesn't mean that your magic element will be the same as the clan's element. It might be any of the six or might be a completely different element. The element of a clan simply represents its majority population and the element of its strongest warriors.My Dad, Ross, is the strongest Earth User after the Terra Clan's leader, so naturally he was the perfect choice for the position of the representative of the clan. But this made him distant from his family. Though we do know that he loves both me and Millia, it's just that it feels kind of empty without him.

Finally, my ears were creeped by sweet chimes. It was the Moon Bells. The purple flower bloomed in full moon only and made chiming sounds which gave it its names---the Moon Bell. The way by which the flower produced sound was still unknown. I then made my way to the sound. Soon, I found a long vine of the Moon Bell plant curled around the thick stems of the pines. I picked the flowers which were in my reach and put them in a bag Millia had given me. I was just preparing to leave when I heard a few splashing sounds from the lake. It was as if someone was swimming.

"Swimming, at this hour? " I whispered to myself. It was really weird for someone to keep swimming at this time... If it was the case of Aqua clan it would be different but we are in the Terra Clan. Maybe it was some Aqua user or maybe it was a Mystic Creature like a water serpent or an Aqua Horses or maybe it was just my imagination. But a mind's curiosity is never satisfied with mere assumptions, so through the tall grasses standing beside the lake, I searched for the swimmer.

Soon my eyes landed on a humanoid figure who was dragging another of his kind out of the water. Though they both looked like any other Elf, except for the unbelievably short heights, I still felt something wrong about them being an elf. Firstly, the figure turned towards the lake and to his companion. He started giving breath to his friend, I assume.' Probably, he had drowned.' I thought to myself. He kept trying to wake up his friend but all his tries were in vain because the latter didn't show any movement. Maybe, he was dead. I could hear the poor boy's sober cries and I can't explain why but it really made my heart ache. I felt a strange connection with that boy. 'Maybe I should help him.. 'I thought to myself and slowly started walking towards him.

I could see that the boy became alert, as soon as he heard my steps. He got up and slowly ran towards me with all the strength he had with him. And as his figure got close to me I could make out his features more vividly

"S-s-sir, my friend is not breathing, can you please call an ambulance?? " He requested, puffing sound due to his breathlessness.

I stood there, devoid of any words, just startled at my discovery. The creature in front of me was a real HUMAN!!! He had small ears completely different from our pointy ones. He was three inches shorter than me and not to mention, how skinny he looked, yet his features were so stunning even in the dim moonlight. He had long brown hairs which were soaked in water at the moment, with trips of water melting down his strawberry shaped face. But what moved me the most were his big cat-like, light blue eyes which in itself hid a whole new world. It was as if I could be lost into them for the rest of eternity.

"A-r-re you really.. a Human? " I asked as I raised the blue lantern to my face. He looked at me with a bewildered look.

"Who are you? " He was unable to find any other right question. I could not help but smile at his reasonable yet cute reaction. He was looking at me with his head tilted to one side, like an owl.

"My name is Zeo, I am an Elf and you are standing in the Terra Clan of the Elf Realm. " I declared but my explanation raised more questions on his face.

But before he could ask any more questions from me, his body gave up and he almost fell to the ground before I held him . I tucked him up in my arms. He was still breathing vigorously.

"Maybe you had done more work than me today.." I muttered to myself. He was shivering and shrunk to my chest.

"You're ...so warm... " He whispered in his sleep and for unknown reason it made my heart flutter with excitement. I stared at his cute sleepy expression for a while and then went to take up his friend, put him over my shoulder and went racing down to my house as fast as my heart was beating while holding the human in my arms.