Chapter III: The Water Sprite's Master

Vincentius laughs to himself as he spins and skips along the cobblestone streets, to any other he probably seems like a lunatic but he's truly just excited. Bright fluorescent lights glow in the distance, the dancing lights stand out greatly against the dark muted colors of the city streets. Some people can be seen standing close to the lights and they appear to be smoking something. Vincentius smiles a toothy grin as he runs up to the people. "Hey there! Any of ya know where I can find Vernal?"

An older gentleman, probably in his late thirties, looks Vincentius up and down. "Who are you?" He spats, obviously annoyed that his smoke break got ruined. He flicks his cigarette at Vincentius who does not look happy.

Vincentius glares at the man and stomps on the cigarette. "Listen ya punk. I don't know who you think you are but you've got a lot of nerve." He grabs the man by the collar and pulls him close. "Just tell me where Vernal is."

The man scoffs. "What's a pink punk like you gonna do? Last I checked you're outnumbered." He looks to the side where his friends are but they quickly scatter.

Vincentius smirks. "Really? Outnumbered? We're the only ones out here. Now, where is Vernal." His angry tone only grew as he spoke. He gently lifts the man off the ground.

The man rolls his eyes. "I don't know who your talkin' 'bout." His tone was pouty like he was upset his so called friends left him there.

Vincentius rolls his eyes as well then hits the man on the head with his fist. "Loose the pout." His voice was commanding as he continues to speak. "You know who I'm talking about. Vernal. Is she here?" He speaks like he doesn't already know the answer.

As he speaks a small water sprite, no bigger then seven inches flies through the metal door on the other side of the alley which was behind Vincentius. "Hey! Put him down!" His quiet yet very angry voice yells, though it sounds like a squeak. He flies over towards Vincentius and pulls on his sleeve, attempting to pull him away.

Vincentius smiles as he turns his head towards the sprite. "Nen! Hello!" His voice was cheerful and excited now however he hasn't put the man down yet. Instead he gently shakes the man, who doesn't take it very well.

"Hey! He said to put me down!!" He growls and yanks the section of Vincentius' hair which was out of his hood.

Vincentius growls. "That's my hair!" By the look on his face it definitely hurt.

Nen sighs as he shakes his head gently. "Vincentius, put down the bouncer. It's rude."

Vincentius smiles. "Maybe, but he started it. Say, Is Vinny free? I wanna see her. I've got somethin' to ask."

The man growls. "He said to put me down!!!"

Vincentius looks back to him, his eyes glaring daggers. "Shut up."

Nen slaps his hand to his forehead as he floats there. His pale blue hair flows in the wind as he flies in front of Vincentius' eyes. "Put him down then come inside." His brows furrowed as he put his hands on his hips. As Vincentius begins to talk Nen puts one of his finned legs on his lips to shush him. "No back talk Mr! Put him down!"

Vincentius pouts then drops the bouncer right on his tailbone. He narrows his eyes as Nen, waiting for permission to talk. Nen nods and removes his fin from his lips. "Thank you. That thing's slimy by the way!"

Nen scoffs. "Stop complaining." His light purple skin glissens as he flies towards the back door. Vincentius chuckles as he walks towards the door, making sure to step on the man's foot who yells out in pain. "Oopsie!" Vincentius exclaims as he pulls the metal door open and walks inside, Nen following close behind.

Nen could barely be seen amongst the dancing fluorescent lights. His pastel skin and hair could barely be seen, the only thing you could clearly see was his midnight blue eyes. He looks at Vincentius with an annoyed look. "Did you really have to start a scene?"

Vincentius laughs as he shakes his head. "I've got no idea what you're talking about. Anyway, where's Vinny? I wanna take her somewhere."

Nen cocks his eyebrow as they walk, his midnight eyes focused on Vincentius. "Where? I'm not gonna let you take her anywhere dangerous." As he almost runs into a person his body forms into water then back after he's in front of them.

Vincentius smiles innocently. "No where dangerous I promise. Just to a friend's place, they're gonna attend the academy starting this year and I don't want them to be lonely. Besides, all of us are probably gonna be classmates." 

Nen seems unsure but agrees anyway. "Alright. But first, what's this friend's name?" 

Vincentius chuckles. "Always the worry wart huh? They won't tell me their actual name but their last name is Riddle." 

Nen cocks their head. "Riddle? Wasn't that the name of-" He stops as they see his master. He smiles as he flies over to her. "Cerelia! Vincentius is here, he says he wants to take you to a friend's place. But I wanna question him more."

Vincentius chuckles. "Hey Vinny!!" He exclaims as he hugs Cerelia. Vinny is his special nickname for her and her sobriquet is Vernal so he thought it would be cute. 

As Cerelia turns the lights dance off her dark raspberry hair more. She was definitely odd looking, she had light grey skin and chocolate eyes which made her hair stand out a lot. "Oh hey!" She turns to Nen, smiling she gives him a scratch on the head which he happily accepts. "So who's this friend?" She questions, looking at Vincentius. 

"Their last names Riddle. They own a café down the road a ways, not too far though. I did walk here on foot." He chuckles. "I trust 'em so much that I left Kuzo there!"

Cerelia rolls her eyes. "You leave him everywhere so that's not saying much."

Vincentius shrugs. "Well, they gave me a pretty much free place to crash. All I had to do was help out at the café which was a piece of cake! They even split the coins with me. So please come!" He begs with puppy eyes.

Cerelia laughs and smacks him on the head. "Fine fine!! So long as they've been nice to you!"

Vincentius winces a little but laughs as well. "That's great! We can watch movies and party all night!" He seems to be extremely excited. 

Cerelia smiles. "It's been awhile since he's been this excited." She thinks as Nen huffs and disappears. "Well come on then! Let's go!" The club's music continues to blare as they run to the back door and Cerelia slams it open. They run out into the alley then down the cobblestone streets. The café wasn't as close as Vincentius made it seem. He can walk a lot further than most so he has a hard time judging things like that.

Cerelia seems extremely excited, almost like she doesn't have many friends but that should be virtually impossible as she's usually always surrounded by people but you never know. Vincentius laughs as he looks over and sees how excited she is. Cerelia stops running suddenly as her stomach growls. She bursts into laughter then looks at Vincentius. "Sorry bud but I gotta grab a snack, I'm starving!!!" She groans as she pulls on his arm. 

Vincentius laughs as she drags him towards a nearby shop. It wasn't abnormal for the duo to go there as the food was delicious and the prices were cheap. "Alright alright. Fine we can grab a quick bite, but only a quick one! Riddle won't like it if we come back too late."

Cerelia chuckles lightly and nods. "Alright! I'm fine with that! I just need food!" She groans, dragging out the word food to be dramatic. "You're so slow!" She yells at him as she shoves him through the door.

The owner of the shop chuckles at the two. "Well, you're both as energetic as always." The color palette of the shop was oddly similar to Riddle's; however Vincentius didn't seem to care, maybe it's just that he likes the gothic style aura. "Yeah. This one needs food." He grumbles as he points over to Cerelia.

The owner chuckles. "Alright, I'll get y'all something." The shop was small and didn't sell much. It had some options but not nearly as many as Riddle's. It had churros, tarts, funnel cakes, typical festival food really.

The owner was a taller woman appearing to be in her late twenties. Her look always confused Vincentius as she had a glittering light grey hue to her skin, her hair was dark brown and gorgeous ocean blue eyes with long nails to match. He had never met someone so odd yet normal looking in his life. She comes out of the kitchen just in time to hear Vincentius brag about Riddle's pastries.

"Riddle definitely has the best tarts ever!!! They're so dark looking yet they're sweet as honey!!" He exclaims, a joyful look on his face.

The owner gently cocks her head as she brings their funnel cake, with extra powdered sugar, over and places it in front of them. "Riddle? Is that their first name or last?" She questions, a sweet smile on her face.

Vincentius looks up as he stuffs his face. He shakes his head and swallows hard. "Uh. They said it was their last, but knowing Riddle it's probably their first and they just didn't want me to know." He shrugs. "Why the sudden interest? I didn't peg you as the type to care about others?"

The owner laughs and shakes her head. "I was just curious is all, there's a lot of people with odd last names around here.." Her voice trails off like she's deep in thought however she quickly snaps out of it. "Well. Tell your friend I said hi will you? Any friend of yours is a friend of mine!" She smiles cheerfully then heads into the back once more.

Cerelia cocks her head, her mouth stuffed as well. She swallows then starts to speak, "That was weird? Why would she say that?"

Vincentius shrugs. "Eh. You know her. She's a weird one but friendly enough." He starts digging into the funnel cake again.

Cerelia laughs then shakes her head. "I can't help but think she wasn't just being friendly." She thinks as she chows down as well.

The owner glanced back at them from the back for a moment, a smile still plastered on her face. "Such energetic people!" She thinks then goes back to her work.

Cerelia smirks evily as she gets a devious idea. As she finishes her half of the funnel cake she dips her hand into the left over powdered sugar then slap Vincentius across the face. As she laughs Vincentius does the exact same to her.

They both continue to laugh and cover each other in sugar as the owner comes back out. She sighs and shakes her head. "I swear, everytime you come in here you always make more work for me!" She chuckles as she grabs a paper towel and wets it.

Vincentius laughs. "Sorry owner lady!!" He really wasn't sorry. The owner giggles softly. "You can call me Lixie. Enough with the owner lady bull!" She laughs as she playfully hits him with the wet towel. Vincentius laughs and nods. "Alright Lixie!! Thanks for the snack!!" He grabs Cerelia by the arm then pulls her out of the store.

As they run down the cobblestone street while Lixie watches them. "Those two." She shakes her head gently as she closes the blinds. The whites of her eyes turn to black just as Cerelia looks back to wave. It causes her to stop dead in her tracks which then causes her to fall as Vincentius was still dragging her.

Cerelia laughs softly and shakes her head. "Sorry 'bout that. I thought I saw something weird is all."

Vincentius laughs. "Look around. This town is full of weird shit. Now come on!!"

Cerelia clicks her tongue as Vincentius pulls her back up. "Always so impatient!!" She playfully hits him on the head and starts running once more. She can't help but wonder if what she saw was actually real or just a trick of the light. "Probably just a trick or the light.. not many beings have blacked out eyes anymore." She thinks as she turns back to look. The blinds of the place we're fully closed and it had a dangerous aura now, like the building was warning them not to come back.

Cerelia decides to shrug it off as she looks to Vincentius. "Where exactly are we going!?" She yells as they continue to run. Vincentius laughs and responds, "You'll know when we get there!!"

Cerelia pouts playfully as she gives him puppy eyes. "Pleaseeeee." She begs, dragging out the word. "Pretty please Titi boo!"

Vincentius rolls his eyes. "Don't call me that!! That's as bad if not worse then what Riddle calls me!!"

Cerelia cocks her head curiously. "Oh. And what would that be?"

Vincentius pouts as he murmurs out, "P- pinky-"

Cerelia bursts out laughing, having to pause her running to do so. "P- pinky-!?" She repeats back, still laughing hysterically.

Vincentius throws his arms down and pouts. "Stop!!!" He laughs a little, finding some amusement in the nickname. He drags her into a playful choke hold and starts to give her a noogie. "That's what you get for laughin'!" He laughs heartily.

Cerelia continues to laugh as she tries to break free. "St- stop it!!" She laughs as she struggles. "C- come on Titi boo!!!"

Vincentius huffs and does it harder. "Nope!!" He laughs as he finally decides to let her go so they could get moving. "Now hurry up!! And stop stalling!!" He huffs as he pushes her forehead with his finger and starts running again.

Cerelia laughs as she begins to run once more. Nen appears next to her, surprisingly keeping pace. "I don't know about this Cerelia. I've got a bad feeling." He glares at Vincentius who was far ahead already.

Cerelia laughs and shakes her head. "Come on Nen, would Titi boo ever lead us wrong?"

Nen shakes his head. "Yes! He would! And you know that!" He sighs. "You're too careless sometimes. What if they-"

Cerelia huffs. "Don't worry about that! Besides, no one knows anyway!! I'm too good!!"

Nen slaps his hand to his forehead. "Why did you have to be my master." He groans as he continues to keep pace with her.

Cerelia giggles quietly. "Oh come on. You know you love me!" She scratches his head gently.

Nen rolls his eyes. "Only sometimes! When you're not being careless!!" He crosses his arms in frustration. "Sometimes, think before you jump. Please."

Cerelia nods. "Sometimes!!!" She snickers, knowing how much being sassy annoys Nen. She knows he means well but sometimes his nagging can be annoying so she likes to mess with him.

Nen huffs as he moves to fly in front of her. "I'm just saying! Don't you think you've gotten yourself into enough dangerous situations!!"

Cerelia giggles. "Nope!! Not at all!!!"

Nen glares at her, his arms crossed still. "Why are you like this? You know you have to be careful!!!"

Cerelia shakes her head. "Nen, life isn't fun when you're constantly living it carefully. I promise to be careful when it's absolutely necessary. But until then, I'll be just as careless as ever!!!" She laughs as she catches up to Vincentius.

Nen sighs as he flies behind her. He looks around cautiously, like he isn't sure what he should be doing. "I don't know what but something just isn't right about this.." He may seem overly cautious but he's really just trying to protect Cerelia. It is his job after all.

Vincentius chuckles. "He's being a worry wart again I hear?"

Cerelia nods. "Yeah. But that's just how he is. He just wants to fulfill his job to the fullest ya know?"

Vincentius nods in agreement. "Yeah I get it. Must be a little annoying though right? To have someone worrying about you constantly?"

Cerelia smiles as she nods. "Sometimes yeah but he really does mean well. He just doesn't wanna see me hurt."

Vincentius chuckles. "Unlike my Kuzo. He always laughs in my face when I get hurt even though he feels it too!"

Cerelia laughs softly. "Yeah. That's Kuzo for you. He's really just a playful thing."

Vincentius smiles. "Yeah! We're like two peas in a pod!" He stops as he suddenly feels this wave of fear wash over him. "That's odd?.." He seems confused.

Cerelia stops a few feet in front of him. "What? Something wrong?"

Vincentius nods. "Yeah.. Kuzo's scared?"

Cerelia laughs and shakes her head. "That hard headed monkey? Scared? I don't believe it!!"

Vincentius nods. "I wouldn't either but I'm feeling it myself. I feel like something's wrong. Kuzo doesn't get scared easily. I mean, he lasted through a full forty eight hour hour movie marathon for crying out loud!!"

Cerelia laughs as she remembers how scared shitless Nen was during that marathon. "Yeah. Maybe that's it! They could just be watching a horror movie!" She's definitely an optimist.

Vincentius shakes his head. "Could be, but I highly doubt it. Something has to be seriously wrong for him to be scared even a little. Let alone this much." He shivers as he feels the sensation of feathers brushing over his arms and chest. "Well.. Riddle's shade is with him. So that's good. But we seriously should get moving again. I hate to say it but I think Nen was right."

Cerelia chuckles as Nen comes flying between them. "See I told you so!!!" He squeaks out angrily. "Now move it!!"

Vincentius chuckles a little as they all start moving again. He had no idea what awaited them once they arrived but he knew it couldn't be good.