Welcome to Gaia! ::

Xiu was reading by the living room window when Hazeline emerged from her room. Looking up, the white frei gave his guardian a polite smile and a nod before settling down once again to read when Hazeline approached him. Surprised, Xiu closed the book and turned his full attention towards Hazeline. This was odd; usually Hazeline would be more than happy to leave the white frei alone to his reading, not that he’d rather not be bothered. To Xiu, everything else of a secondary importance when it came to his guardian Hazeline. The frei did not know why he felt this way but it just seemed like…the correct way to feel about someone who had not only given him a name but a home as well.

Tilting his head slightly, Xiu gave Hazeline a puzzled look. “Is something…wrong, Hazeline?” asked Xiu looking genuinely concerned. “You seem…tired,”

“No, nothing’s wrong, Xiu,” said Hazeline with a smile. “Why do you say that?”

“Well, you have been working very hard these past few weeks,” said Xiu recalling the coffee mugs and the nights his guardian had stayed up late typing. “You should really take a rest when you can, Hazeline. Errr…it’s not really my place to say this but…money wise, I do not believe we are in any financial difficulties are we?”

“No, Xiu, we are not,” replied Hazeline with a shake of her head. “I’d say we are currently as financially stable as those noble gasses of the periodic table…- that means we are very stable,” said Hazeline when Xiu gave his guardian a puzzled look. “Look, Xiu, would you like to go out for a little window shopping or something? I’ve done about as much work as I can stand, given the circumstances and well…there’s a computer and electronics fair downtown. I could do with a new computer,” admitted Hazeline finally stating her intention. “Besides, you have been reading continuously for a couple of days now. Your eyes can’t take it. In the long run, and if you do not take good care of them, you might have to wear spectacles like me,” said Hazeline giving the side of her glasses a tap.

“But spectacles look good on you,” said Xiu looking surprised. The thought of seeing Hazeline without her pair of glasses was…something the frei had not thought about. True, he had seen her without her glasses occasionally but that was mostly when she had a function or something to attend. Hazeline had looked…different then. Xiu flicked his wings uneasily. He was not too keen on having something out of the norm happening. “Why? Are you planning on getting one of those laser-eye surgeries Hazeline?”

“Xiu, you are starting to think too far ahead again,” laughed Hazeline as she ruffled her raevan’s hair; amused by her raevan’s look of confusion. “Basically, I am going out for a computer hunt and would like you to come with me. The change in environment would be good for you Xiu,”

“Ah, very well, Hazeline,” replied Xiu with a polite smile as he kept the book in a shelf placed conveniently by the window. “Guardian knows best I guess,”

“A very clever alteration to the usual saying, I’ll admit,” said Hazeline with a slight roll of her eyes. “But let’s drop that shall we? I am not prepared to be compared to a mother just yet,”

“Alright Hazeline,” said Xiu with a nod as the frei floated towards the store’s entrance.


------------------------------------

Close to an hour later…

“Damn,” cursed Hazeline silently as she impatiently tapped the steering wheel with her fingers. “Why would anyone have an Anime and Games convention right next to the computer fair?”

“I do not know Hazeline,” replied Xiu as he gazed through the car’s window. “Perhaps it would make for a lively weekend?”

“Too lively,” muttered Hazeline as she eased her car into one of the few available parking slots left. “Looks like we’d have to leg the last couple of steps Xiu. I doubt we’d be able to find a place to park the car further down,”

“No worries Hazline,” said Xiu with a smile.

Soon, the guardian and raevan were making their way down the busy street.

The crowd, in Xiu’s opinion as he and Hazeline neared the Computer and Electronics fair, seemed to be more oddly dressed than usual. Already Xiu could see a couple of people walking about with some sort of makeshift weapons. This troubled the white frei greatly and he floated a little closer to Hazeline. Would these people attack them? They were already giving him peculiar glances and some of them were even pointing at him from across the street. Not that he wasn’t used to the attention, being a raevan had sort of hardened Xiu a little to the odd stares that were more often than not always present whenever he went out to feed but this…this was different. These humans weren’t exactly normal, were they?

Perhaps all would be well once they entered the Electronics fair and away from this busy street with all these oddly dressed people. Yes, he could already see the entrance to the computer fair and…thank goodness the people there were wearing the usual attire humans usually wore when working. Xiu relaxed a little as Hazeline strode confidently forward, seemingly undisturbed by the ever increasing number of curiously costumed pedestrians.

“Hazeline, why are th-,” asked Xiu before he was cut off by a familiar voice calling his name. Pausing for a moment, Xiu turned to the direction of his name and was surprised to see Rivener across the road. With a bunch of people encircling him.

…

!!!

T-These people were coming towards him now! Xiu flared his wings in horror and promptly backed himself against a nearby wall, his fingers grasping Hazeline’s hand tightly as the mob encircled him. W-Why had Rivener sent this army of noisy people in his direction? Was crowd control one of Rivener’s ability? What did he do to deserve this?

Everywhere he turned there were unknown faces staring at him. A-And….!!! Was that person actually feeling his wings?! This new level of personal space violation disturbed the frei greatly and Xiu promptly folded his wings tightly against his back much to the ‘Ooohs’ and ‘Aaahs’ of the crowd.

“H-Hazeline!” called Xiu a little plaintively as he grasped his guardian’s hand ever tighter.

“Don’t worry Xiu, they are just curious, that is all,” said Hazeline a little uncertainly. “They don’t mean any harm,”

“I-I do not like this. I wish to leave this place, and these people,” said Xiu with a shake of his head as though emphasizing his point. “They scare me,”


The crowd meanwhile looked on with amusement. Was this white being acting his part? Was the woman beside him a character from an unknown series as well? Well, whatever it is, these half formed characters were intriguing. The crowd wanted more of this!

“What are you supposed to be exactly?” a person dressed as an ogre asked.
“Are you related to that Red Version over there?” a human ghost asked.
“Or are you supposed to be in a relationship with the other?” a perky looking dwarf enquired with an unnerving grin; seeming to take delight in the possibility of such an unusual pairing.

“Your ears look very real! Where did you make them? Or were they modified from your original ears?”


The questions continued and the White frei felt about as helpless as an ant caught in the middle of a huge downpour…

Xiu watched as the scorpion Sigel chased away the last of the stragglers and breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, those odd humans are gone. Tilting his head slightly, Xiu glance up at the Sigel and coloured visibly as the other chided him for being scared. Looking ashamed for acting the way he did (so much for reading about the brave deeds knights did), Xiu flicked his wings a little and shook his head. “No, for the most part, they just…stared and asked odd questions. Rivener, Hazeline, what is … going on?” asked Xiu allowing himself to look bewildered as he stared from guardian to Sigel. “Why are these people dressed oddly? And from the way they phrased their questions, one would almost think that they…assumed we are like them, humans,” said Xiu ending his sentence and giving a wary glance towards the gathering crowd across the road. Noticing that the white being was looking their way, a couple of spectators dressed as some sort of furry animal in armour waved and brought their cameras out. Xiu flared his wings and looked away; not feeling particularly keen on having his picture taken by humans that were…trying not to be humans. This was all really confusing and the white frei wanted explanations!


“Sorry, Xiu’s not used to this much crowd given attention,” said Hazeline as she gave her charge a worried look. “Heh, to be honest, neither am I,”

“But it’s alright Xiu,” added Hazeline quickly, afraid that the white frei would protest. “These people are just dressing up, for fun. You know, rather like Halloween,”

“Like Halloween?” repeated Xiu with a slight frown. He remembered Halloween but…it was all rather vague, with him being new and all back then. But if this was like Halloween… well, who was he to turn down a second opportunity to learn something from it? Releasing his grip on his guardian’s hand, Xiu allowed himself to float a little higher and peered over the Sigel’s protective shoulder. The crowd was getting bigger now as the event progressed and the white frei was curious.

But oh dear….he had promised to go to the computer fair with Hazeline and if they went to the fair, there probably would not be much time to check out the convention but Hazeline needed a new computer for her work ... Xiu’s heart sank a little. Hazeline would definitely not allow him to wander off on his own, not after how he had behaved with the crowd earlier.

“You are thinking about going to the anime convention aren’t you?” asked Hazeline with a sly smile.

“Well…I…,” stammered the frei in surprise.

“Sometimes….your face is like an open book, Xiu,” said Hazeline with a shake of her head. “Tell you what, I’m no fan of such gatherings but I’m not going to say that you can’t go to the convention. On the other hand, you are probably too young to go wander around in such a place on your own. Perhaps when we get home and if we find someone who’s interested, I’d be willing to drive you guys to the convention,” offered Hazeline.

At the Sigel’s offer, Hazeline gave Rivener a thoughtful look. It was true, what the Sigel had said. Rivener seemed more than capable of taking care of Xiu. But the guardian was surprised nevertheless. Hazeline (from experience), had always assumed that the ‘older kids’ would not want to look after the younger ones for fear of spoiling their image or something. But Rivener (despite his outward appearance) was different. Twice. The first was when the Sigel had sort of reprimanded her for letting Xiu go off alone and now this. The scorpion Sigel was volunteering to look after her charge. This was a little perplexing.

Turning to Xiu, who gave the slightest of nods and floated just the tiniest bit closer to Rivener to indicate his trust in the Sigel, Hazeline nodded. “Very well. Rivener, it’s awfully nice of you to volunteer to look after Xiu like this. And Xiu, make sure you listen to Rivener alright? And do what he tells you; and try not to trouble him too much. You know my number. Call me when you are done alright?”

“Understood, Hazeline,” said Xiu. “I shall listen to Rivener and do my best to not cause trouble,”

Once his guardian was out of sight, Xiu turned to Rivener. The white frei was tempted to apologize on Hazeline’s behalf since it was obvious from how stiff the Sigel looked that Rivener was just the slightest bit put off when offering to look after Xiu. Perhaps the Sigel’s pride was hurt when Hazeline had not considered asking Rivener if he could look after her charge. But knowing Hazeline, the guardian was probably just not used to asking newly made friends for favours. But perhaps all this did not matter. What’s past is past, right? There was little point in thinking over it. Thus making this decision, the white frei floated closer to the red Sigel “So ummm…shall we?”

“Okay, Rivener,” said Xiu as he floated after the older raevan. However, as they neared the convention center, the frei could not help but feel a little apprehensive of the crowd. Flaring his wings a little, the frei paused at the opened doorway momentarily and peered in. There were even more Dressup humans here than Xiu could have thought possible. However, there was not much time for second thoughts as Rivener had already floated in. Steeling himself a little, the white frei followed after, determined to not get separated from the Sigel in such a large crowd as this. Just as Xiu caught up with the other, Rivener mentioned something about ‘getting one of these’ and the Sigel was off leaving the frei to manage himself as well as he could amongst the curious crowd.

But thankfully, Rivener’s absence was not long and soon Xiu found himself looking at a ‘time-table’ of sorts. Tilting his head a little, Xiu gave the booklet a once over and shook his head at the Sigel’s question. “I do not know what an anim-“

“Look! There’s an anime stand!” a girl dressed as an elf exclaimed to her friend as they walked past the raevans. “Let’s go check it out!”

“I guess there’s the answer to our questions,” said Xiu with a soft laugh. “Let’s follow them, Rivener,”

Saying so, the white frei floated after the two elven girls only to arrive at a stand selling…

“Cartoons?” said Xiu with a puzzled expression before noticing the horrified looks the humans surrounding the stall were giving him.

The crowd around the anime booth was looking at him funny and Xiu was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. Flicking his wings uneasily, the frei thought that now was a good time as any to back off, preferably in one piece if possible.

His thoughts were apparently shared by Rivener who single handedly managed to stay the crowd once more. Following Rivener, Xiu found himself floating by a wall with the Sigel. There were fewer people here and Xiu was thankful for it.

The Sigel had then asked Xiu what he thought about anime. Well… it still looked like a typical cartoon to Xiu and the frei was sure he had seen Joshua watching some of the titles on sale on the television back home although the young boy had never referred to them as ‘anime’. As far as the frei could tell, it was all about battling one monster after another for fifty episodes. Humans were odd…

“Perhaps…it’s a sort of cartoon genre?” the frei ventured as he gave a glance towards the booth. “And umm…like books, some of them are turned into games and vice versa?”

“Excuse me,” said a voice interrupting the Raevan’s conversation and as Xiu turned to face the speaker, the frei found himself staring at a human that was dressed as…a human. This certainly came as a surprise after seeing so many people in costumes. The girl however looked sheepish and a couple of her friends giggled nervously as well.

“Yes? Is…something the matter?” enquired Xiu as he eyed the grinning girls.

“Could I-I mean, could we have a photo with you and your friend?” the girl who had spoken asked; giving Rivener a hopeful look. The Sigel was one of the best cosplayers she’d ever seen but he looked a little intimidating. The white one on the other hand seemed more approachable to the girl and since he and the red person were obviously together (team cosplays?), the girl had decided to take her chance with the white frei.

“Well…,” said Xiu looking uncertainly at Rivener.

“I guess…it wouldn’t hurt,” said Xiu tentatively, noticing how eager the girls look. After all, it was only a picture right? And besides, perhaps these young ladies could prove to be useful in providing some answers to the questions that have been forming in the frei’s mind ever since he entered the builing. Smiling politely at the group, Xiu floated a little ways away from Rivener to allow the group of now giggling girls to be in the middle with Rivener and him flanking their sides. “Who would be taking the photos?” Xiu asked turning to their representive. “Or does your camera have a timer?”

“I’ll ask someone,” said the girl with the camera. Walking up to an orc, the girl gave the armoured creature a tap and seemed to exchange a couple of words with it. The creature then nodded and in an almost un-orcish manner took the camera and began instructing the group on their standing position and whatnot. Turning to Rivener and Xiu, the orc grunted. “Aren’t you guys going to pose or something?”

“Pose?” enquired Xiu looking puzzled. “Aren’t we posing for the camera as it is?”

“You are new to this aren’t you?” asked the girl who was standing next to Xiu. At the raevan’s questioning glance, the girl turned a shade pinker and giggled nervously.

“Um…yes, I am,” conceded Xiu with some measure of perplexity at the human’s behaviour. “I have never been to a gathering such as this and I believe neither has Rivener,”

“You seem pretty professional for a first timer,” another girl piped in, overhearing the conversation. “But at any rate what he means,” said the girl as she pointed to the orc. “Is that usually cosplayers would have a pose of some sort, something the characters they are usually cosplaying as are seen in often. Like that group over there,” continued the girl motioning to a group of people dressed as ninjas. The group was posing in various dynamic poses with some of them in the act of fighting one another. “That is what he means, Xiu,”

“Ah…so you’d like Rivener and I to have a sort of pose?” enquired Xiu eyeing the Sigel. “Well…I can’t say that we’ve thought about that much…,”