Cobalt De La Blue

Diana looked at the man in front of her with wide eyes, making her look like a deer caught in the headlights whit a bewildered expression.

"Your mouth is open miss and you are drooling" Pixel pointed it out to Diana as she moved her hand to nudge Diana to close her mouth. A tint of red took over Diana's cheeks as she felt embarrassed about her behaviour.

"You, who are you?" Diana asked as she continued to look at the man in front of her in a dazed state.

"I am Cobalt," He said with a cheerful smile on his face as he introduced himself

"I am Cobalt De La Blue, your father knew me very well. He would always drop by this place whenever he visited M city. We had a chance encounter if you want to name it so" Cobalt explained.

Diana finally took the moment to observe her surroundings to see she was in a garage-like room with a workbench in the corner and lots of machinery and parts all around. A very messy room and in contrast to the room she just came from. The other room was completely empty and didn't even have windows. The wall, ceiling and flooring were all-metal as if to prevent people from looking into the room. Also, that room was locked from outside.

Unlike that room, this room had windows that looked out into the city streets. This room also kind of looked like it belonged to someone who was into steampunk aesthetics. Diana was not sure if this is just particular to this man or if the world had over steampunk aesthetics.

"Hello Mister Cobalt De La Blue, I am Diana Alexander and this is Pixel Cage, my cousin." Diana introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you finally Diana, Pixel. You can call me either Cobalt or Blue. I don't mind either" Cobalt said

"By the way when Dan told me you would visit here someday, he never mentioned that you would bring someone to accompany you," He said as he observed Pixel with a peculiar gaze. That is because even though Pixel looks as close to human as possible she still has a somewhat "robotic" artificial feel about her.

"Oh, she is very well equipped to help in case of emergency. She is kind of like a survival expert who also has knowledge of martial arts and other types of combats" Diana mentioned as she felt somewhat proud to say what all Pixel is capable of doing.

"That's nice, so she is like your bodyguard. That's a smart decision. This world can get ruthless sometimes. And if you ever run into a cultivator you will need a backup plan to escape from there as soon as possible" Cobalt said

"Cultivators?" Diana asked confused because her father never mention anything about cultivators being a thing in this world.

"Yes, cultivators and there are also mythical beings. Be wary of them. Never trust a Fae or hobgoblins here. Also, be careful around a nekojin they can be around you only because they want to get information out of you." Cobalt kept going on about who Diana can trust or can't in this world.

It was good to know when someone had your back and that's exactly how Diana felt at the moment with Cobalt around.

He took her to his kitchen and served her tea as he kept on telling her about the world and its dangers.

Pixel took this moment to observe around the kitchen and take a peek at the surroundings in order to collect data ask she kept the voice recorder on to keep recording what Cobalt said for future reference.

The kitchen was a cosy place with a homely feel to it. It was a warm place with wooden furniture and a few plants by the window sill.

When one peeked out of the window they could see the backyard of the house which lead towards the forest. Pixel could see red eyes peeking at her through the bush but she couldn't make out who it was due to lack of data in her database.

"Why is there a forest so close to the city?" Pixel asked Cobalt.

"Oh, the cities are in the forests. You are on the Eastern group of continents of this world and on this particular continent, the cities are within the forests in order to create a better defence for the cities" Cobalt told.

"So If we have to go from this city to another we will have to go through the forest?" Diana asked

"Ah! yeah, you can either go through the forest or fly over it using either a pegasus or a griffin" Cobalt told.

"You don't need to worry much though. Your transport has been taken care of. Your father knew you would love the idea of riding a pegasus but to ride one solo you need training. So instead for now you will travel in a carriage pulled by the pegasus" Cobalt informed Diana.

Flying on a pegasus sounds like a very fun idea but something else was brewing in the mind of Diana and the processor of Pixel.

"If I am not wrong, pegasus is the horses that can fly and do have real wings on them," Pixel said

"Yes, indeed that's what Pegasus is" Diana confirmed as she went on to say "It would be so fun to study them up close and see how it even is possible for horses to fly using wings"

"Indeed" replied Pixel as they both had a mischievous grin on their face.

The grin on Diana was genuine while that on Pixel was due to her mirroring Diana's expressions.

"HEY! You can't experiment on the precious Pegasus I have been looking after for so long" Cobalt said as he took offence in what was being said about Pegasus by Diana and Pixel.

"Oh don't worry, we are not gonna like cut them open or anything. Just gonna observe them up-close" Diana tried to reassure Cobalt but the grin on her face would not let Cobalt get any reassurance.

"Promise me you will not harm pegasus in any way," Cobalt asked of Diana

"Fine, fine I promise," Diana said as put her hands up as a show that she had no fingers crossed.

"Alright. Rest up for the day, while I contact someone to make arrangements for you to show you are the citizen of this Continent" Cobalt said

"Wait a min" Diana interrupted Cobalt "Which continent are we on right now?" Diana further enquired.

"Well you are on the Continent of Vermillion Bird, of Corse"