First Loves (Sometimes) Come True

Mizuki's gaze descends. She finds that the king was married to a Sigmane princess whom he fell in love with, swearing to her father to take good care of her in the name of improved relations between the two kingdoms.

He kept his promise well, according to the papers, and she supported him as a warm-hearted queen. In honour of the Sigmane tradition, both their children (the first pair of fraternal twins in Astrum's royal history) were named… Mizuki squints, only to find the names blotched out with ink.

She questions it for a moment or two before ditching the thought, continuing to read: Insider information states that the king planned on declaring a war against other regions with Sigma's military in assistance, to retrieve the Befallen Pieces of Astrum and piece them in Ocantis itself, crowning it the kingdom with most power.

This wasn't supported by the queen, who was peace-loving and didn't support violence or war. When she fell sick due to an unknown illness and soon passed, the king could not bring himself to start a conflict against other regions.

Soon after his decision to retreat from battle, he was killed.

Mizuki feels a shiver run down her spine. Any information on the prince is blotched out, stained with water or scribbled over. Even in a hard attempt, there is no way Mizuki can decipher the information. Resting the papers at her side, she holds the purple book in her hand, dusting it off before flipping it open.

She blows at the spine of the open book, a cloud of dust being released into the air. It's an information guide to the Befallen Pieces of Astra, no different than the journals she first read when she entered the world.

"If it falls into wrong hands, the artifact can be corrupted..?" Mizuki furrows her eyebrows in confusion. She flips a few pages ahead, finding a chunk of text explaining the significance of each part. Supposedly, each piece has such power, it can only be obtained by a Mage or Priestess, the two highest classes in the game.

Most of their powers are unknown but mentioned to be highly sought after by practitioners of black magic.

It's after this part that Mizuki gets a brief idea of what's happening - that the artifact needs to be saved from the clutches of a villain with ill intentions.

Mizuki closes the book, throwing her head back against the backrest of the couch. "What if that's what I'm supposed to do?" Mizuki frowns. "It can't be, right? It'll take years for me to get to the level of a Priestess. I don't even think it's possible under normal circumstances."

Mizuki sits up, gathering the objects in their previous arrangement. "Sorry I went through your things again", she mutters under her breath as she tucks them away into their original position, counting on the fact that he won't notice a difference. It's close to evening by the time she's done scouring for more information on her situation, the sunset bathing the walls of the house in an orange hue.

[Side Quest: Bartender on the Other Side - Pass the letter to Sebastian]

Skipping the whole walk, Mizuki decides to teleport to Sebastian's, wanting to finish the Side Quest as quickly as possible. She's well aware that the letter is a fool-proof plan, as long as it's delivered properly - something she can't screw up. Mizuki expects to visit him to be off shift to recover from the mishaps that morning.

Seeing Sebastian nowhere in sight around the pub, she approaches his father instead, "Hi! I'm looking for Sebastian," she feigns the brightest voices she can, not quite fond of the man anyway.

He looks at her with a bright grin plastered across his face, a patronising one, though spinach stuck between yellow teeth isn't the most pleasant thing to look at. As he's about to speak up, Mizuki holds her thought. Sebastian comes trudging out of the backroom, carrying a couple bottles of wine with just his fingers.

"Get over here, boy! Help this customer out before she goes storming out!" he slams his palm against the table, hobbling away to tend to other patrons. None of the customers flinch at this, maybe because they're too drunk out of their minds to be scared, but Mizuki assumes because it's expected behaviour.

Sebastian, dazed and red in the face from a fever that's coming down, lurches forward, tripping over a gap in the floorboard. He pushes against Mizuki and the letter drops from her hand. Out of instinct, she slides away, pressing her body against the bar counter. Sebastian falls on his face. Mizuki's face pales in horror.

Not quite because of Sebastian's fall, but because of the way the wine bottles shatter under his weight, soaking the letter. Sebastian gets up in a frenzy, recovering the letter from the ground. Frenzied, he attempts to open it, only to find all the ink botched up and unreadable. Mizuki's heart drops.

[Side Quest: Bartender on the Other Side - Tell Mocha about the situation]

Sebastian gets up, holding the letter in front of Mizuki. "I'm so sorry, I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your letter."

Mizuki shakes her head. "No, uhm, it was meant to be from Mocha… To you."

Sebastian's face falls in disappointment, apologising profusely for the mess. He tucks the dirty letter away into his pocket, jolting up as he hears his father's infuriated voice echo through the pub. Customers turn, all eyes on Sebastian as he clumsily walks over the mess, approaching the front door to grab a broom. He whuffles sadly, shooting glances at the wet letter in his pocket. Out of pity, Mizuki follows him, attempting to cheer him up when the door of the pub opens. Attempt 2: Get-Mocha-A-Boyfriend Failed.

"Mocha!" Mizuki exclaims to herself, pushing Mocha out from the front door. Sebastian turns his head at the sound of her name. "Mocha, I'm so sorry," Mizuki bends in a sincere apology outside the pub. "I couldn't successfully deliver the letter."

"I saw," she cusps her hands over each other in front of her hip. Mizuki looks up, tilting her head in confusion, only for Mocha to reveal to her that she has been watching from the window of the pub to make sure the plan's going smoothly - which, of course, it didn't. "I'll tell him my feelings properly. Now."

"What? Are you ready for this?" Mizuki's eyes widen at the sudden revelation. Mocha nods confidently.

"I've been waiting for too long, Mizuki-chan, if I keep waiting any longer, he'll find someone better than me and my feelings will never get heard," Mocha smiles, the skin around her eyes crinkling as she does. Mizuki's expression softens. She has never met people as warm-hearted and genuine as Mocha or Sebastian, she finds it difficult to not feel moved by their intentions. Mizuki nods slowly, releasing her grip on Mocha's shoulder.

"You should confess your feelings to him clearly. I will help you clean up so you can pull him aside while his father's not looking." By this point, the sky has darkened into navy blue with infinite dots of white.

Overhead, Mizuki catches a blanket of pink and teal, like the Aurora Borealis. She has never once seen it with her own eyes in the real world, never did she believe that she would see it in a fictional one either. Poking Mocha's shoulder, she points towards the sky.

"The stars wish you well too."

Mocha lets out a gasp of awe at the sky. When she turns back to Mizuki, she pulls her in by the waist, hugging her affectionately. "Thank you," Mocha beams.

Holding Mizuki by the wrist, she leads her inside the pub where Sebastian is bent over the floor, trying to sweep up the shattered glass pieces while picking up the smaller bits too. He pauses, holding his head to support himself. Mocha rushes up to him, squatting and getting to help immediately.

"Mocha..?" Sebastian questions. "What are you doing here?"

"We'll help you clean up," Mizuki adds, bending over to pick up the glass shards that have scattered across the ground. Some time after this, many of the customers return to their own affairs and Sebastian's father peels his judgemental stare off his son, focusing on more "important things", rather the ones that earn him money.

Sebastian stands, stretching his back. "Ah, I feel sick," he laments, carrying the dustpan to the back. Mocha scampers after him, taking the broom and dustpan off his hands so he can lay off a bit from his work.

Before dragging him off, Mocha looks to Mizuki for approval. 'I'll speak to his father to see if I can take up tonight's shift in his place!' she gestures, insinuating forward to speak to Sebastian's rigid father. Crossing her fingers behind her back, she explains the situation to him, Sebastian watching from the side, not aware of the situation.

Sebastian's father folds his arms, side-eyeing his son.

"I'll do it for free," Mizuki clarifies, pressing her palms together. Sebastian's father succumbs to her request, not turning back to Sebastian another time. Mizuki raises her fist as a celebration to her successful attempt. She raises a thumb to Mocha.

Mizuki rushes to the counter as she spots new customers entering the store, soon regretting her decision upon noticing the list of recipes written on parchment in front of her. This better be worth it, she sighs, stealing one last glance at Mocha before she leads Sebastian to the back.

"What about my father?" Sebastian asks, fearful of leaving his job.

"Mizuki-chan is taking care of it," Mocha clarifies, leading Sebastian up the staircase. It's convenient that his house is right on top of the pub. While he might not get sleep on most occasions when the pub is busy downstairs, he's exceptionally tired today and all he can think of is tucking into bed.

That and well, Mocha too, who he watches silently as she wraps her arms around his shoulders to support him. I wonder what the letter says, he thinks to himself as they move together in the silence.