: Rising Closeness ( Elliot )

I awoke from my blank dream to the blinding sunlight pouring in from a window. I got up in a jerk, relieving my eyes from the torrent of that light. I looked around, rubbing my eyes. My head hurt a little. How long was I gone, anyway? But there was no one to answer these questions of mine.

The place I was in was rather large. The bed was double-sized and the ceiling rose high above. The walls were red and pink decorated with vases of flowers, pictures and antiques. The floor was covered with shining tiles while the furniture in the room was made up of polished, black wood. All this must be costly. Now I have got another question.

"Where am I?" I asked myself. But unlike my other questions this one did get an answer.

"You are in the Grand Mansion of the Flora Clan." A voice replied. The sound was rather shrill and feminine. It must belong to some small girl. I looked around but found none who would match my expectations.

"Look here." The voice said from behind me.

"I always have to remind people of my presence." She added in a disappointed tone. I turned around.

"Hahhh !!" I yelled as I jumped down the bed in the arms of those hard tiles. Ouch! My butt!!

She suddenly burst into laughter at my reaction and kept it up for about a minute. That was rude.

"Hahaha..how silly !!" She cried in her laugh. Now, that was even more rude.

"Hey! Stop laughing at me like that !" I yelled but she didn't stop. I stood up with some difficulty.

"Who are you?" I asked, hiding my annoyance. She calmed down a little.

"I am sorry for scaring you like that but...but...you were hilarious, there." She explained herself. She then fluttered her purple butterfly-wings and flew closer to me.

"My name is Friga. I am a fairy and a servant of the Young Lady of the Flora Clan." She told me.

"Wait! We have already reached the Flora Clan!! And you are...a.. a fairy !!" I exclaimed twice. I had read quite a lot of fairytales when I was little. Mom used to read them to me. When we read picture books, I kind of got an idea of how a fairy would look. And luckily, she did look something like that. She had red coloured hair, tucked in two ponytails while her body was dressed in green leaves. She also had those tiny, sparkling wings at her back, all those little details in the size of a creature no more taller than a stuffed toy.

I then brought my focus to the other part of the sentence. If I have already reached the Flora Clan it means I was gone for about a whole day and what about those masked guys and..and what about Zeo?

"Is Zeo here?" I asked, awkwardly.

"Young Lord Zeo is gone for some talks with Lady Synthia, our Clan Lady." She answered. I took a breath of relief.

"Then where is Nathan and Millia?" I questioned.

"Who?" She asked, puzzled at my remark.

"The other guy who is a bit taller than me with brown curly hair." I defined his features but as it seemed, she still didn't get it.

"I am afraid I don't know anyone matching your description. There were only three people who arrived here. You, Young Lord Zeo and his servant, Obrion." She declared.

Wait only three !! Then what about Nathan, Millia and uncle Ross...where are they?? Were they captured by those masked guys or worse....My heart shivered with such thoughts.

"I was sleeping for sometime. So I don't happen remember the clear details of the journey." I covered up my statement. If Zeo hadn't told anything about them then it's better I don't spill out the beans either

"So... can I meet Zeo?" I asked.

"I fear that is not possible for now." She declared.

"Young Lord might not be free till late evening." She added.

"So what about Obrion? "

"He is not here anymore. He left the place last night for some urgent business." She said.

So it means I am alone here.

"Dear sir, may I ask you a question?" She asked a little shyly. I was kind of puzzled that one moment ago she was laughing at me calling me 'silly' and then using the designation of ' Dear sir'. Maybe my earlier reaction just brought out the informal side of this fairy. The side which was not a servant but a little girl.

"Don't call me sir. Just call Elliot. That's my name." I told her. She looked at me with a mixture of disbelief and awe. I guess this reaction from a guest was not familiar to her either.

"As you wish, sir Elliot." She addressed me.

"No, just Elliot is fine."

"Okay..." She trailed off.

"May I know, what is your relationship with Young Lord Zeo?" She asked shyly. This question was a typical one. If it was - what relationship my heart wanted , then the answer would be more honest but for this one.

"A friend, perhaps." I replied.

"Are you sure?" She asked again. I raised an eyebrow and she suddenly averted her eyes, probably realising that this was going beyond the formal way of a servant.

"Can I know where this question is coming from?" I interrogated her. She raised her eyes with twinkles of guilt in them. She was surely a child...

I smiled at her. "It's okay. I am not angry. Just tell me what made you think like that."

"When Young Lord Zeo arrived here, you were unconscious. At first, you were on Obrion's back but then he took you in his arms with uttermost care and even asked me to give you both a single room. I just kind of a hunch that you guys were something..." She averted her eyes in embarrassment.

"I see..." I said, trying my level best to hold on the stupid grin I could have had on my face. Listening to the fact that Zeo cared for me gave me butterflies. It made me feel like...like I was someone special.

The rest of my day was not very interesting. After Friga had given me the food for breakfast, I spent my day roaming around. This little fairy was there to accompany me. As she had told me she was free today so she would help me get familiar with this place.

Honestly, this place was really a castle. There are so many rooms here, all of them more decorated and maintained than the one before. There were probably more than thirty more servants in this place, some of them were fairies while some elves. Friga gave me a vague idea of where the kitchen was and what was the way out of this mansion but I could hardly remember those turns and cuts one after another. Now, I'm sure that if I get out of my room without someone to guide me, I would be lost in this endless maze forever.

We also walked around the huge garden of this place. I had never seen a place so green and colourful at the same time. The place was mounted with sculptured fountains and marble statues. There were so many flowerbeds and so many blossoming trees. Friga had told me some of these plants were dangerous and some were dripping with poison which would kill you within a minute. She had warned me not to touch or go too near any plant.

Once I noticed a familiar tree. It was that Klves tree that Zeo had shown me once. It was blossoming too with those red flowers of strong and sweet fragrance.

"Can I have some of those?" I had asked pointing at it.

"Sure!"

I took a bunch of those by jumping over and held them in my hands like a bride. It was evening time when I reached back to our room. Zeo wasn't there yet. I was indeed tired and went straight to bed after having the dinner Friga had left for me in our room.

I had waited a bit for Zeo but when he didn't come after about half-an-hour, I just went to eat . As I had expected, the food was indeed delicious and savoury.

I lay down on the bed waiting for Zeo but before he could return my eyes disobeyed my commands and shut down.

I woke slowly to some clattering sound. I didn't move or open my eyes though. I just lay there half asleep, half awake. After a few moments, I heard the sounds stop and then a hand slid across my stomach. It was Zeo. I could tell it by his smell. He just hugged me like that, closing my back to his body. A kind of spooning, to be specific. I could sense the warmth of his body, which was embracing me. My heart was suddenly racing in excitement and my breaths turned vigorous. I wanted to jump in joy but at the same time, I didn't want to leave this warmth. What was this rising closeness?? Zeo just waved his slender hands across my hair. It kind of felt ticklish. I smiled on the inside. This guy is really making me fall for him madly....How could I stop myself when he keeps this up??

"You smell really sweet." I heard his deep, heavy voice say. This got me thinking whether he was talking about my real smell or the smell of those Klves flowers.

He turned to hover over me. I couldn't see but I knew it from the shadows. He traced down my face with the tip of his finger. What was he doing now?

"And then... you are so unnecessarily cute." He added. Did he really know what he was saying?? Or are these some of those wet dreams of mine??

"Elliot Eves I think… I am really falling for you." He declared