She Looks For Christian

"You need to act better. Anyone in my point of view can tell that you didn't drink a drop of that draught." Elder advised.

"Noted." Robin agreed.

"All right, you got me! Heheh." Bauchs laughed again. "Just like your parents...I could never really pull one over on them without getting return pranked either."

"You two knew my parents?" Robin asked.

"Knew them? I was the one who witnessed their marriage!" Bauchs grinned. "I even signed this thing called a marriage certificate that your father insisted upon. Now every married couple has wanted one ever since."

"I fought alongside your father in the war against the Mad Demon's Army." Elder admitted. "He had quite a unique perspective, I daresay."

"...What were they like?" Robin asked.

"Completely insufferable!" Bauchs grimaced. "They were obviously completely in love with each other, but neither side dared to take the first step! Every single person around them could only suffer silently with their hidden affectionate barrage."

Robin nodded. "I can somewhat understand my father's difficulties." If he was bound to return to earth once his duties were done, then he wouldn't be able to bear parting with his wife and potential children. In that case, it were better not to cross that boundary in the first place.

"Incidentally, what made him change his mind?" Robin asked, curious.

Bauchs and Elder glanced at each other, then sighed.

"We don't know." Elder shook his head.

"One day they were apart, the next, they were showering affections on each other openly." Bauchs shook his head with a laugh.

"The only thing Bluebell said was that it was 'a match made in heaven' or something like that." He sighed, dissatisfied.

Robin lowered her gaze as her mother's past words came to mind...

~~~

"Listen, Robin. God is real." Bluebell smiled as she brushed Robin's hair. She was seven years old at the time.

"God? how do you know?" Robin asked, watching her through the dresser mirror.

"Well, because I met Him, of course." Bluebell's eyes laughed. "It was in meeting Him that I discovered that your father actually loved me very much."

"So God brought you together?" Robin asked.

"Well, you could say that..." Bluebell's smile bubbled over into laughter...

~~~

Robin snorted.

God might be real, sure. But she didn't think well of him. Because...how could he have allowed everything that happened to her? How could He have let her parents die like that? Or did He only bother Himself with this world after abandoning Earth? Either way, Robin could not see exactly how this God was a good one.

She had never seen Him. She had begged once. She had pleaded to the heavens above...to bring her parents back... But there was no answer.

And God? Where was God then? Her prayers vanished into the silent empty air, and nothing happened. God had turned His back upon her. So, she had done likewise.

That's why, she had silently determined for herself. If God would not be good, then she would do it instead. She would protect the people she cared about, and keep them as far away from death....and from Him, as possible...

A brief expression of disdain flashed through her eyes before she raised her sight back to the two elves before her.

"Who knows? Maybe they had a misunderstanding between each other, and found out the truth?" Robin shrugged.

"... Oh? That very well might be the case...It seems Bluebell's daughter would know more than we would." Bauchs grinned.

"I suppose-wait...Excuse me? Daughter?" Robin asked, incredulously. She quickly glanced around to see if Christian was in earshot.

"You aren't very good at hiding it, are you?" Elder sighed. "Don't worry. No one can hear anything of our conversation here."

"Mmn. It was fairly obvious. There's no adams apple, and, while the clothing is well arranged, your mannerisms betray you." Bauchs nodded in agreement.

Robin sighed and gave up. "Please, don't let Christian know." She asked.

Bauchs blinked, glancing between Robin and Christian, who was drinking with Keith. "Oh?....Ohhh~!" He grinned knowingly as he leaned forward with interest. "So that's what it was."

"What is it?" Elder asked Bauchs.

"Like father like son, I suppose. Or, in this case...like mother, like daughter." Bauchs leaned back and grinned ear to ear like the cheshire cat.

"Wait, you...fancy someone?" Elder asked, not quite sure how to phrase it.

Robin scowled. But it wasn't very convincing, because she was also blushing furiously. "I would prefer if you refrain from teasing me... He doesn't know yet."

"But, why don't you just tell him?" Elder asked, not understanding Robin's plight.

"Because...when I came here, I left my brother behind. And I need to go back to find him." Robin sighed. "It... just isn't the right time yet."

"Ah. Timing, is it?" Elder nodded. "I see..."

"Well, I suppose we can keep your secret..." Bauchs said whimsically tilting his head from side to side, in visible consideration.

"...But?" Robin asked, waiting for his condition.

"You must promise to let me oversee your wedding!" Bauchs insisted, with great enthusiasm.

"Er...ahem!" Robin's blush covered her entire face until she recalled something that helped her recover her decorum. "I don't mind..." Robin nodded.

"Yes!" Bauchs raised his hands in celebration.

"...that is, if you can work together with her majesty, Queen Emeline of Ekkinshire kingdom. I'm fairly certain that she would be highly interested in preparing her son's wedding... enough to the point where she might matchmake anyone who would dare to steal away the position she was aiming for." Robin pointed out with a business-like smile.

The color drained away from Bauchs' face. Emeline's reputation had made its way even into his own ears. "Seriously? She would go that far?...Wait, Christian is her son!?" Bauchs was shocked.

"It seems that something rather interesting is bound to happen in the next few years." Elder chuckled.

"Well, if you want to hurry the process along, there is one way..." Robin laughed.

"By all means, I am highly interested in seeing Bauchs work alongside Emmeline as soon as possible." Elder said, with an amused expression.

"In order to find my brother, I need to consult with the Demon King on how to return to my world. And, in order to do that, I would need your seal of approval." Robin explained.

"Oh? just that?" Elder held his hand up and condensed his seal, them tossed it over to Robin. "Here you go."

"...Just like that?" Robin asked, incredulously.

"Just like that." Elder agreed.

"If you were anyone else, then I certainly wouldn't have given it so easily. However, you reunited me with my long lost kin, and saved him more than once, I might add. You helped to improve the workings of the hall of Solemn Judgement with the court system. You saved my kind from the worst of deaths. And you haven't asked for a single thing in return, I might add. Moreover, you are the child of my good friends, and have a good character. In my eyes, that is more than enough to earn my trust."

Robin looked at the seal in her hands. She stood up, and gave a solemn bow to Elder.

"...Thank you...for your trust." She said, feeling emotional.

"Life has been hard on you, Child." Elder reflected. "Don't shoulder it all on your own when you can."

--------

Back at the lodge, a green light glowed from the room of Freddy the Gnome. In the green light, Freddy, wearing a headgear with several lenses attached was grinning ear to ear in excitement.

"Havens to Fairbanks! This is the finding of the century!" Freddy laughed gleefully as she lifted aloft a nearly completed cube, but for the final piece sitting on the table. Even so, the green light glowing from one of the sides of the cube made it fairly obvious that this device worked.

The two guards, though they stood just outside the room, heard not a single thing.

---------

"Well, let's not keep you stuck with us all night. Go and enjoy the party!" Bauchs grinned, waving his hands to shoo Robin down into the hall.

"Alright, I get it! I'll go have some fun." Robin laughed and waved a farewell before she stepped down off the dais. Looking around, she first checked the drinking area, but found Christian was no longer there.

"Huh?" Robin glanced about, wondering where he had gone. But, it was her misfortune that the majority of elves are taller than humans, so it wasn't easy to catch sight of anyone down on the floor. Regardless, she decided to go see Keith to ask where he went.

"Where's Christian?" She asked, when she reached Keith.

"Sulking." Keith replied.

"What?" Robin asked, incredulously.

"He always drinks when he sulks. So he must be sulking." Keith replied.

"But why is he sulking?" Robin asked.

"While I could hazard a guess or two," Keith looked at Robin with amusement. "Why don't you ask him himself?"

"I can do that when I find him. But, first, where is he?" Robin asked again.