A Journey Unwanted

"That is good. Now, Mikoto, tell me of yourself." The pink-haired girl kindly requested it with a cute smile.

The waitress came again, a girl probably eighteen or so. With brightly colored lime hair, wearing an elaborate and exotic greenish-made uniform. She sat down a cup of steaming tea in front of Fiona and a cup of coffee in front of Mikoto respectively.

"Thank you."

"Thanks."

The two thanked the blank-face waitress, who merely walked away without saying a word.

"So anything specific you want to know?" Mikoto asked as Fiona leaned back in her chair, a pondering look upon her face.

"Hmm, I suppose I am rather curious about your home land. But I would say more so about your family; I saw some manner of picture on that strange device of yours." She informed him without a doubt referring to his smartphone.

"Right, well, I guess I can tell you about them." It was not as if he had any reason to hide information from his family. "There's my mother, the best woman in the world and one hell of a mom." He said it with a genuine smile behind his crooked mask. "I love her more than anything." He was not embarrassed or hesitant to state that fact. His mother was a blessing in his life, even if she was sometimes a bit too jokey.

"I find it surprising you're so open about your familial love for your mother." Fiona spoke with a hum of interest.

"What's so surprising?" He questioned.

"Oh nothing." She said with a smile. "So are there any other noteworthy members of your family?"

"There's my little sister, Hinata. An annoying little snot, but even so, I love her." Even if she was a brat most of the time, he could not help but be overprotective of her.

"So you have a sibling as well. And she sounds like quite the character." Fiona murmured with a smile as she continued. "But you must have questions of your own regarding me, no?" She deduced that, in actuality, he had only a few.

"Dunno if this is an inappropriate question. But your ears, I noticed your father did not have them." Now that he actually spoke the words, he realized how stupid it sounded, but oh well, what is done is done. Even so he felt like slapping a palm in his face.

"Well, my mother was a Solkari, and their children upon birth take after them; hence, I possess a different physiology." Mikoto mulled over that with interest, though he of course noted a lack of a mother in the mansion. So it was probably wise to change the subject to something else.

"Your mansion is huge, but I didn't notice any servants while walking around. Yet the place always seems perfectly maintained." Sure, that fact could be attributed to only two people living in the mansion, but the place was always too clean, like no dust collected in even the smallest area's. Fiona merely chuckled at his words.

"Well, it's all thanks to magic, dear Mikoto." She stated that, and suddenly he felt like an idiot.

("Of course, everything absurd in this world can just be attributed to bullshit magic.") He thought with a shake of his head as Fiona took a sip of her tea, which had long since cooled down. Mikoto opened his mouth to speak once more, but a third voice interrupted him.

"Oh, Fiona? It is you!" Mikoto, of course, took note of how Fiona's face seemed to morph into an annoyed grimace upon hearing the squeaky voice before it settled into a blank look as the two heard approaching footsteps. Mikoto turned his head to the side and stared at the one who addressed Fiona.

It was a girl, maybe slightly older than himself. A button nose and a doll-like face where two brilliant bright blue eyes shone, along with that she had a head of flowing golden locks styled in ojou ringlets. And she wore an elaborate blue Victorian-style dress with over-the-top designs such as golden threads.

"My, my. When I heard that you were back in the capital, I did not quite believe it." The blonde started with a smirk adorning her face. "Your father was quite worried for the duration of your absence. But worry not; I kept him company. We had a splendid time conversing and savoring fine tea."

"That is swell, Victoria. But I fail to see how any of that concerns me, as I do not recall ever asking." Fiona bluntly said it with a dull gaze.

"Oh, come now, Fiona, dear, there is no need to be so...heh...moody or maybe the correct term would be jealous." Fiona looked about ready to sock Victoria in her face, but luckily the blonde pulled her attention away from the wolf girl and to him, or maybe there was nothing 'lucky' about that. "But who is this? Oh my..." She threw a hand over her mouth as her eyes burned into him.

He assumed it was due to how creepy the mask looked, but as she opened her mouth to speak, it was clear that this was not the case.

"My, my..." The same smirk graced her features again. "Is it really possible? Has someone finally managed to court Fiona Von Achenbach?" She asked, amused.

"No, you fool!" Fiona shouted as she shot up from her seat, attracting a few stares from the other patriots.

"There's no need for a scene, Fiona, dear." Victoria spoke with a haughty chuckle. "I was merely surprised, is all." If looks could kill, then the glare from Fiona's beet red face would have long since murdered Victoria.

"But I neglected to properly introduce myself. My apologies." Victoria spoke, turning away from the pink-haired girl and towards him again. "I am known as Victoria Eizenberg, daughter of Duke Alexander Eizenberg. Charmed, I'm sure." She introduced herself as she held out her dainty hand, though not to give a handshake, it seems. It looked like she expected him to kiss it.

("Is this girl an idiot?") He mused to himself; could she not see he was wearing a mask?

He just shook his head as he extended his own hand and awkwardly shook hers, an action that evoked a small frown from the blonde that quickly morphed back into a smirk.

"Mikoto." He introduced himself.

"What a charming name! I quite fancy it." She spoke, retracting her hand.

"Was there something you wanted, Victoria? Or were you just so bored that you wanted to bother me?" Fiona asked, her eyes still glaring at the smirking blonde.

"There's no need to be so harsh, Fiona. I merely wanted to greet an old friend." Fiona, of course, scoffed at her words. "But I must say now that I am quite curious about your mysterious friend here." She spoke with a gaze he did not quite like. "But I suppose my curiosity will be sated at a later date, ta-ta." The girl gave a wave as she swiftly turned her heel and walked off.

"What an insufferable prat." Fiona barked as she sat back in her seat.

"I'm guessing you don't like her?" He could kind of see why that was.

"Mere dislike does not quite express my feelings for that brat." Fiona said with a scoff.

("Hmm, it seems the two have a history.") That much seemed obvious, but it was not any of his business. ("But it seems like her whole mood is ruined. So much for getting to know each other.")

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The city was quite something; even after a week, its vastness still surprised him. He would never get sick of the views this fantasy city held, with Fiona being sour at having met that Victoria girl; she just returned back to the mansion. Though he wanted to walk around the city some more, he bid her to go ahead of him. While the mansion was quite big, it still felt claustrophobic to be in that place the whole time. So this is why a change of scenery was required.

Though the sun was in the process of setting, it only added to the view of this cityscape.

("I guess I still have some time before I need to attend that academy.") In the meantime, he would 'prepare' himself by just learning more spells and whatnot. But that was easy to learn—so easy that it made things dull. Of course, actually using magic was still amazing and all, but it was just so easy to use. Like moving an arm or leg, he did not even need to put any effort in. So really all he was doing was lazing around and doing some combat training with Arthur, but with the man being as injured as he was now, maybe he could focus more on developing teleportation.

Mikoto hummed as his body brimmed with mana; in the next instance, he was gone. To others, it must have looked as though he merely blinked out of existence. To Mikoto, his view of everything immediately changed as he found himself atop an old building.

("There, as simple as that...") He mused as he stared at the clear skies that darkened slowly.

This magical talent of his was really absurd. But not absurd enough, unfortunately.

("I can't even begin to think of a way. Teleporting is simple; I envision where I want to go, and then 'poof', it happens. It's probably not as easy for others', but that hardly matters.") Mikoto leisurely walked to the edge of the building and took a seat on the ledge, letting his legs fall. Reaching for his face, he took off the mask. His body shrank ever so slightly as his skin tone seemed to whiten more, while his hair grew slightly shorter and more tousled before all color was lost as it turned stark white.

"Never going to get used to this feeling..." The boy murmured as he released a sigh.

Though only a bit of time had passed, he made no progress on his true goal, which irked him. Though his attention was divided, he still hoped that, with this blessing, he would be progressing more smoothly.

He had used teleportation magic numerous times now—too many to count. He had envisioned it all—the familiar atmosphere and scenery of Tokyo. His familiar small but comfortable home, his own room, and much more. Yet nothing; whenever he attempted to teleport to those places envisioned, he always ended up in some random place. He knew that perfecting something as absurd as world travel would be no small task, but still, it was disheartening. But progress is still progress, however small it may be.

But what was the key needed to travel to another world entirely? What was he missing? He could not even attempt to think of a solution to this metaphorical wall he so quickly hit.

("C'mon think....") Mikoto bit the nail of his thumb as he mulled over it. ("As supposedly talented I am with magic, I might as well still be an amateur. Flashy spells aside, but world travel? How does it function? How was it that I got here in the first place?") He recalled the day of the incident—that strange feeling that washed over him as he was dragged off to who knows where.

("Blessing of Octavia. Why her? Why specifically her?") It had not been the first time this train of thought crossed his mind. His whole body had changed due to the blessing of some Goddess. He had asked himself many times why it was Octavia who blessed him; Fiona had said that there was no real pattern to how God's choose their spawn. Sometimes it was random, and sometimes they merely took human's that fit their liking.

But that was not important; what was important was that this Goddess, Octavia, could be responsible for this. It would make sense, but all the 'proof' he had was that he had her blessing, but that was enough. So was this where his answer lay? Then, if he continued this train of thought and branched off of it, somehow making contact with this Goddess could be the key.

But how would he go about doing that?

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"You're curious if there is a way to speak with the God's?" Fiona could not help but ask, slightly befuddled.

"Yup." Mikoto answered without hesitation; he was back in the mansion once again. Currently, the two were in the confines of Fiona's room, which, like much else in the mansion, was large and extravagant. With an overly large bed that sat in the center with Fiona seated atop it, Mikoto stood leaned against the wall of the room, near to the doorway.

"Well, even a short answer would be lengthy." She spoke as a small hint of hope engulfed Mikoto. "I have heard the tails of the Gods and Goddesses conversing with their spawns in certain ways."

"Certain ways?"

"Via dreams, from what I have heard. But it has never been proven, and many spawns are rather reclusive, so statements can't be made." Mikoto mulled over her words. He did not have any strange dreams for any duration of sleep, so maybe that was not an avenue he could explore. "Though not a better option, you could try and visit a chapel of one of God's. I'm sure you took note of the many chapels around the capital city." She informed me with a sheepish smile.

"Hmm, thanks, Fiona. And, uh, sorry."

"It's my pleasure, but why are you apologizing?" The girl could not help but question Mikoto, who sent a sheepish smile of his own.

"Well, it's another conversation of ours that mainly consists of me asking you for more information. I'm really sorry about that."

"Think nothing of it, Mikoto. I did enjoy the time at the cafe; it was lovely to hear you talk of your family, however brief it might have been." She said it with a radiating smile.

"That's good to hear, Fiona-san."