Where The Blue Is

Roul opened the doors to the household. As the Dwarf waddled into the home, the waft of a forestry scent exuded out of the household. It was like smelling those scented candles from those stores, a bit of pinecone and lavender.

Very neat scent in this household. Didn't really expect that sort of smell to come out of here…Though I guess there's a chance Roul probably freshens up the place to smell like it.

Upon first entering the house, I noticed the stairs leading up to the second floor. The whole second floor circled around the first, with the wooden railings for the second floor looked decently weathered. The stairs split into two, right in the middle. Only reason why I noticed the second floor was because a door on the right side of the floor was riddled with decor. I could see the top of what seemed like a blue sign or something. Besides that door, three other doors were riddled around the second floor. With one door just at the center of the stairs before they split.

The interior of this house was a mix of oak wood and stone. It seems like the wooden titles of the floor were placed atop of the stone foundation of the place. Do I consider this place a stone building? Probably. Anyways, the stairs also had a similar design. The wooden flooring on top of the Stone made for a unique look to the whole place.

"Woah…This place is cooler than Kale's!" Lilith exclaimed, walking past me. She took a gander around the first floor and immediately noticed something in one of the other rooms. "Woah! Huge kitchen!"

"I-I'd advise wandering this household!" Roul cautioned her. His hand awkwardly raised in an effort to stop her. Unfortunately, it fell to deaf ears as Lilith wandered off to explore the kitchen.

Seems like she has a knack for looting random peoples foods…or maybe Sweets if they have any here. I'm surprised she didn't even buy any on the way here.

Besides the silver-haired girl, the two blue hairs awkwardly looked around the home. Amelia eyed the estate with a look that resembled bitterness and anger. Once she noticed my stare, she gave me a deathly look that made me turn to Claire. The other blue haired girl looked to be more worried and concerned if anything, her eyes seemed to trace down to Roul or the floor as if contemplating things.

Roul seemed to notice this and hobbled his way in front of the girl, getting into her view. "You alright, Miss Mallory?"

Claire's eyes looked at him for a moment before glancing at Amelia. I watched for what seemed like minutes passed before Claire finally came up with an answer.

"Yes…"

"Well, if that's the case, Why don't you two get settled?" Roul glanced at Amelia. "Allow me to help with your bagga-."

"I can do it myself! I don't need your help, Roul!" Amelia snapped at him. Without hesitation, She grabbed her bags and aggressively walked towards the stairs without glancing back. "I'm an adventurer, you know! I can handle things!"

Both Roul and Claire gave Her a concerned look. It seemed like the two didn't really know what to say to her as she went to the right side of the 2nd floor, right into the door that I noticed. Amelia quickly opened the door to the room and slammed it shut behind her.

…I think someone does not like being here. Maybe Roul has a better idea of why she's like this. I know Claire told me her side of the story, but there's got to be more to it.

"Hey, Roul…do you have any idea of why she's so angry about being here?" Roul looked at me as I said that, I watched as he slowly nodded.

"Aye…a bit. But let us settle in, why don't we? I'll need to tell Mister Mallory about Amelia's arrival." Roul then looked at Claire, grabbing her hands before he knelt down. "My apologies, but your arrival is quite an urgent matter."

"I-it's fine. Go on, Tell Father." Claire said. "I'm sure he'd be glad that we came back."

With our further ado, Roul got back up and wobbled to the stairs, hurriedly moving his way. It was kinda funny watching him go up the stairs, but I had to hold in a chuckle.

As Roul headed towards the center door, he disappeared from my sight, I heard Claire let out a heavy sigh.

"Oh…what am I gonna do with that girl?"

I turned to Claire and looked on as she frowned towards Amelia's door. "Hopefully, she comes out of her room to see him…"

"Yeah, hope so." I said, my eyes wandering past Claire to notice Lilith coming back from the kitchen. "If you need us, we can come along to see your father."

Claire nodded. "I would appreciate that. Although, I'm not sure if he'd like that."

"Whether he likes it or not, we'll be there. Better than having…Lilith loot your kitchen while you chat." I pointed at Lilith, who held a wheel of cheese in her hands.

"You guys have a big wheel of cheese in your kitchen!" She held it up, the round wheel of cheese. "It's got a red wrapping around it! when I ate it, it tasted funny!" Noticeably, a bite mark was visible around the edges of the wheel.

"Oh…Lilith, have you not seen wax before?" Claire said in a horrified manner. "You can't eat that!"

"You raid someone's kitchen and eat wax? Wait till Kale hears about this." I gave Lilith a stern look. Though, I found myself trying to hold back laughter at Lilith's wild action. "We're about to have a serious meet up for a friend and you raided her home."

"I don't hear any complaints. Just don't wander. Plus the kitchen was stacked, it's like no one eats here." Lilith said, peeling the wax off the cheese wheel. "Which means…More cheese for me."

She can't be serious? You can't just walk into a home and grab whatever is inside and act like everyone inside the place will casually allow it. That's…that's like a RPG thing you do, except we have genuine consequences here.

Then again, Roul hasn't actually done anything to stop her…and why are they so stacked up on food? Isn't there like two people living here? It should just be Claire and Amelia's dad and Roul, right?

"Hey, Claire…" I went on to ask her. "Who else lives here?"

Claire looked at me. "Um…Let's see. It should be me, My father, Roul and our other maid."

"Other maid?"

"Yes, Though I'm actually not quite sure where she is…She's probably aiding our father at the moment." Claire rubbed her chin. "Her name is Bouane, and she's not exactly the talkative person."

"Is she a dwarf too?"

"No, she's an elf. We got her after Roul was put into our service. She's just barely older than us, about 18?"

"That's a very large gap between us." I heard Lilith say as she gobbled on a piece of cheese. "Me and Kota are just about 13 years old. Aren't you…" she tried to think of Claire's age, her jaw still as all her concentration went into thinking. "15?"

"Almost 16…But yes." Claire looked at Lilith, showing concerns about the girl. "I suppose you don't want to let go of that cheese wheel?"

"Nope! This is my snack. I had to skip out on all those shops and I'm hungry!" Lilith then turned to me, taking a piece of cheese from the wheel and holding it to me. " Want some?"

"If I told you I was lactose intolerant, would you believe me?"

"Don't be silly, I've seen you drink milk before. Aren't you hungry too?" She insisted.

Damn, how'd she know that word?

Begrudgingly, I took hold of the cheese. It kinda looked like Gouda…Maybe it was Gouda, just with a different name in this world. Either way, I found myself hungry while holding it. And suddenly, the piece of cheese had fallen into my mouth.

Such a savory taste, almost makes me forget about what I was do-Oh, almost forgot what I was doing.

"Ahem." I swallowed the cheese. "We should probably check on Amelia. Hopefully she doesn't…Blow us with wind magic when we approach her door."

"She's done it before." Claire said, Frowning. "You don't know how many times Roul had to fix her door."

"Well, let's head upstairs then." I began to walk up the stairs as I said that. Oddly the wooden and stone flooring combination was quite nice to place my feet on.

Heading up the stairs, the two girls followed behind me. Lilith still held her wheel of cheese on the way…perhaps I should think if she puts food over people. But then again, she did follow me.

Heading up to the right side of the second floor, I took my time to get to Amelia's room. The slow steps I made had everyone else clamber up behind me, waiting as I slowly made my way to her door. The blue sign I saw earlier was now in sight and it was something I didn't expect.

What I saw that was blue was actually the top part of this circular art. It was a circle that resembled an ocean, with Amelia's name etched into the middle of it. Looked to be like something you'd commission to an artist…I didn't really know Amelia had an interest in the ocean. I kinda thought she was all for the adventure. I mean…has she ever seen the ocean?

I stood at the door, readying for a knock. As I tapped my hand against the door, I turned to Claire and Lilith. The two watched me as I continued to tap my hand against the door, Lilith nibbling on her cheese wheel.

"You know, there's times where you can eat. I don't think this is one of those times." I said to her, frowning.

"Sorry, I just need something in my system." Lilith apologized, lowering the wheel.

"Why don't you grab the lunch box that Sura made for us? That should still be…good?" I found myself wondering about that suggestion. The lunch box that Sura made for me during the beginning of this journey should be…What, a couple of days old? Is that hazardous? I mean, probably…I should probably check out baggage to make sure.

Wait, why haven't I eaten that meal? I should've eaten it while on the road to Shanford, while it was still good. Hm, I guess I just never was that hungry for anything at the time and forgot. And then I forgot about it at my place…Then on the way here…

"Ow. ow. ow."

Lost in my thoughts, I hadn't realized that the door had opened. I quickly turned my head to see my hand connecting to Amelia's head, Knocking at the top of it. The blue haired girl looked angrily at me as she continued to allow me to knock on her head.

"Oh." I quickly withdrew my hand. "The doors open."

"Don't ignore the fact that you've been bashing my head in!" Amelia angrily growled at me, taking a step forward. "I'd oughta blast you to the ceiling!"

"There's no need for that!" Claire quickly inserted herself between me and Amelia. "No wind magic in the house! And no rough housing!" Amelia glared at her, before slowly backing down and folding her arms.

As she began to calm down, Amelia looked at me with squinting eyes. "Why were you knocking on my door? You have a death wish or something?"

"Can I not knock on your door to see if you're fine?"

"I am Fine. Anything else?"

I paused for a moment, glancing at her door. "What's up with the blue sign you got up?"

Amelia nudged her head towards the sign. "It's to show who's room it is. Can you not read?"

"Haha, I mean why the ocean…Have you seen the ocean?" I asked her.

She continued to give me a dirty look as she spoke. "Why do you care?"

"Because I DO care. And so does everyone else standing here." I took a step forward to her. "Look, you're feeling bitter right now. Obviously it's because you're back home, but you shouldn't sulk in your room..." I took a moment to think about my next words. "Roul is getting your dad, so you and Claire are going to see him in a bit. I'm just concerned about you. That's it. No teasing or anything like that."

Amelia's face seemed to morph through multiple emotions as I said that before finally she lowered her head to avoid eye contact with us. I saw her hands bawling up into a fist as she stood looking down. I gave Claire a look, but she gave me a reassuring look back. So I continued to wait.

Finally, Amelia looked up at me. Her blue eyes were more watery than before. "Appreciate it…" she muttered.

"Are you going to be fine?" Lilith chirped in.

Amelia looked over to her. "I will be fine. A small conversation will be nothing to me…also, why do you have a cheese wheel?" Her voice raised a concern.

"Hungry." Lilith held the cheese wheel out, Claire moving out of the way so that the cheese wheel was right in front of Amelia. "Want some? Maybe it'll ease your mind!"

Amelia stared at the wheel of cheese, contemplating. For a moment, I thought she was considering patronizing Lilith. But Amelia gave her a small smile and took a piece of it. "Thanks…"

Lilith then gave me a look. One that I would consider her trying to say "cheese saved the day!". After she gave me that look, she took another piece of the cheese wheel and ate it.

"Amelia…" Claire began to speak. She took a deep breath, as if she was awaiting for this moment.

But before she could say another word. The doors towards the center of the stairs opened, and out came a young woman. She wore a typical Maids uniform, although the most prominent thing about her was her dark skin and Purple Hair and eyes. Her elf ears stuck out even when she wore her maid headpiece. Her eyes darted towards where we stood and she immediately bowed, her head dropping as she began to speak.

"Miss Amelia, Miss Claire." She spoke with a soft voice. "Lord Adam is waiting. Please do not leave him waiting."

Both Claire and Amelia stopped what they were doing, A concerned look washed over them. Claire took another deep breath and turned to me.

"Are you two sure you'd want to come with us?"

I nodded. "Of course. That's why we came." My answer made Claire smile a bit as she then turned to Amelia.

"I'll…Tell you what I was going to say later. But…Are you sure you can face dad?"

Amelia frowned, bitterness written on her face. But it was less than before, maybe our reassurances made her more comfortable with meeting him. She simply nodded at Claire and stared into the central door.

"Alright…I guess we'll go see dad." Claire slowly said. She turned towards the stairs and headed her way down. We followed behind her.

As we entered through the central door, Bouane stood behind us and simply closed the door. Inside this room was what looked to be a study room, a fire pit was off to the left side of the room and bookshelves were placed alongside the walls. In the back of the room, there was a desk alongside what seemed to be a lot of office work stacked amongst the table. Just behind it, I could see a bed that looked to be in use. Probably by Claire and Amelia's father.

Speaking of fathers…in the middle of the room, there were two couches that sat comfortably near the fire pit. Across one of the couches, Roul stood next to a man. His blue hair was matted, like he was bedridden for a long time. He looked skinny and I could see the bones along his jaw as he stared intensely as us. Alongside him were some empty bottles of what I'd assume were potions that would've subsided his illness.

With what Bouane said earlier…I guess we were looking at Adam Mallory.

"…Girls." His voice was raspy, cold. He slowly moved his hands so they were placed underneath his chin. Even with his sickly look, he gave off a sense of authority. "You came…"

"Y-yes, Father." Claire started. "I managed to bring Amelia home. Just like you wa-."

"Silence." He said, Not moving a muscle. "I know what you managed to do. I'm more concerned by the fellow guest you seemingly brought into our home."

"I-oh…This is Kota and Lilith. They are here on Official business for Prusha, and they brought us along." Claire spoke once more as she introduced us, I could hear the cracks in her voice as her father continued to stare at us. "They Decided to come along with us to escort us home."

"Hmph…Well, They've done their job. Now leave." He said to me and Lilith. "This is a personal matter that doesn't need any outsi-."

"Shut up!" Amelia blurted out. Her father then glared at her, his eyes squinted as he began to look at her. "These are my friends! And they're here to stay alongside me!"

Amelia's Father stared at her, the more he stared, the more his frown began to form. I felt an twist in my stomach as he pulled one of his hands from his chin and pointed at her, speaking to her in a low and cold voice.

"Your friends? Who would be friends with someone as worthless as you?"

A/N: Hey all! Sorry if this Chapter seems a bit off(Maybe it isn't.) but I've been quite…Busy these two weeks. Only real reason why I've been busy is…Well there's a Certain game that came out that has absolutely preoccupied my mind and life these past few days. Luckily I haven't let it grab a whole lot of me yet, so I was able to get this chapter out!

Most likely, Chapters will be coming out slowly. But they'll be out…Just let me finish my space adventures.

Otherwise, Hope you enjoy this chapter!