Submission (#1912) Approved

Having lived in Silveil for most of her life, Aria wasn’t familiar with the other regions in the slightest. And so, when invited by her sibling to explore Ealei, home of Yggdrasil itself, needless to say she was a little nervous. Still, despite having been separated since birth and only meeting Momoko now that she was all grown up, she still felt a sense of comfort around the other elnin.

Momoko, oblivious to Aria’s discomfort, merely turned her head, cheering Aria on.

“Come on, quick quick! There’s so much to see!”

The cheerful elnin laughed as she bound off, racing across the pier of Port Pthalo. The bright blue shimmering waters surrounding the region reflected the equally-vibrant sky above, decorated with thick white puffy clouds that one could possibly jump across them if they tried. Theoretically. It was a stark contrast to the starry night skys of Silveil, and while Aria often found comfort in the stars, she couldn’t help but feel ease in the bright and warm atmosphere of Ealei as well.

While Momoko paused to chat up a passerby, Aria sat on the docks, gazing outwards toward the sea. She closed her eyes, inhaling the deep rich scent of ocean air, very much different from the cool breeze wafting over Starlake, yet nostalgic all the same. She supposed on Eyre, everything was interconnected, no matter how far apart they were.

It wasn’t just the bright atmosphere that caught her attention, but the massive mangrove trees here as well. Aside from the docks, it seemed most of the ground was covered in mangrove roots to the point that the ground was barely visible. It worried her slightly at the possibility of her tripping over said roots (which was… more likely than one would think). If only she had flight, this would help, but…

She wiggled her wings, only managing a small flap out of them. 

“Hey! Don’t tell me you’re tuckered out already. There’s still so much to see. Let’s go go!”

Aria lifted her head to see that Momoko had already finished conversing with the stranger, and was looking at Aria with a friendly but probably slightly impatient look as she bounced back and forth. Part of her wondered how the elnin had so much energy. Were all elnin from Ealei like this?

Instead of waiting for Aria to respond, Momoko went up to the kittom, tilting her head curiously.

“I thought you wanted to see the pomu lanterns! Weren’t you the one who asked me to bring you to Ealei to see them?”

It was true that when Aria had first found out about them, she was filled with awe and wonder. After all, her first encounter was with Twinkle’s pomu which had reverted into a totem, so when she heard that around this time of year, they reverted to their crystal state and that elnins often crafted lanterns as a tradition to hold these crystals, she couldn’t help but be curious. When she saw Twinkle and Konpei’s, she thought their lanterns were beautiful, and seeing Lumia’s was also absolutely breathtaking. Noctis… well. He said he wasn’t interested and so his pomu crystal was left hovering around him wherever he walked.

Momoko’s on the other hand…

Her lantern, while simple compared to the other 3, carried a sort of elegance as well. The pattern of the paper lantern mimicked the elnin’s coat, mainly base white with coloured flourishes. The soft glow of the dual-toned anima crystal seemed to give the lantern a rosy hue, reminiscent of the cherry blossoms of Faerindell.

It seemed Aria was staring for too long, since Momoko suddenly laughed, and patted her on the head.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure your own pomu will come in soon, and you can have your own pomu lantern!”

Though it was… true that Aria still hadn’t spawned her pomu yet, she wasn’t sure how to feel having it spawn just so it could revert back to hibernation for the sake of creating a lantern for it. That said, she wasn’t able to correct Momoko as the elnin suddenly picked her up by the scruff of her neck, making the kittom yelp as she was suddenly tossed onto Momoko’s back.

“OK, that’s enough reminiscing. Time to get a move one!”

Aria clung on for dear life as Momoko took off at full speed, tiny paws wrapped around a thick plush mane as she wished Momoko would at least have SOME reserve for her safety. 

When she finally worked the courage to lift her head, not having to fear falling off as Momoko eventually slowed to a brisk trot, she marvelled more at her surroundings. She was told that Ealei was not only the home to Yggdrasil itself, but it was also the region where manaberries originated from. The very berries that when consumed via potion, allowed one to shift into a more bipedal or humanoid state. She had often seen Twinkle and Konpei, as well as Lumia use it for their jobs, since moving about on 2 legs freed up their hands for other activity.

Part of her wondered what they’d taste like. Twinkle and Lumia never really described the taste, whereas Konpei merely said “it tastes like what a potion would taste like”. Being made from berries, maybe it was sweet? She didn’t have as much of a sweet tooth as Konpei, but she still liked the hint of sugaryness. At the very least, she didn’t like bitter things.

Momoko caught Aria staring off into the distance towards the mangrove trees, and chuckled.

“If you want, we can go hunting for berries later. Ealei has the BEST fruit, and anyone who says otherwise is wrong.”
Aria flustered. 

“I-”

“You want to bring some back home for the others to try too, right? It probably won’t take too long. We have the whole day ahead of us!”

Aria laughed nervously, but appreciated Momoko’s enthusiasm nonetheless. Having grown up with only her foster family, Aria wasn’t used to large crowds. She very rarely went to Silveil city due to the amount of people there, so the thought of going to the capital of Ealei where it was SURELY filled with lots of strangers just to see the different pomu lanterns, was…

Well, she was curious, but not sure it was worth having an anxiety attack over. She appreciated elnins who were super outgoing, like Momoko, and Konpei, and even Lumia who seemed to flourish under attention. She supposed she was more similar to Twinkle, the two sharing the same timid nervous energy. And yet… even Twinkle attempted to step out of her comfort zone, singing in the large theatre halls as possibly hundreds, even thousands depending on the size of the hall, gazed upon her. The very thought made Aria want to curl up and hide.

But… she had to grow up at some point. It wasn’t like… she HAD to talk to all the strangers. She was just going into town to see the lanterns, yah! And she wasn’t alone. She had Momoko with her. Little by little, perhaps with time she would learn to overcome her shyness.

“Welp, we’re here!”

Momoko came to a stop as they stood at the entrance to the town.

“Ready to see all the awesome lanterns?”

Aria took a deep breath, and nodded.

“Yah.”