Atlantis

[Apollymi]

Fiona was petted and as such calmed down quite a bit. Though she was frustrated by not being able to figure out what was going on between this group of adults, she'd figure it out eventually. Miki also gave her a casual pet and grinned at her, in the same way she had while the little creature was trapped within her egg. "Hai hai, don't worry about it too much..." she said softly. Moving right along, Kou was content to do other things until such a time came as his presence was required. And this was a perfect opening for Seriri who turned her attention to Miki. "That means you're free for a while right, Kimi? Want to get your nails done with me?" she said in an offer of pampering the pair had taken part in before. A smile came to Miki's face as she could use something like that and it would give her time to think a bit more. "Hai... that sounds pretty good. Catch ya' later, Kou." she said and Fiona after a moment or two would simply wander around behind the pair of young women, deciding that their activity of choice would be interesting to see.

A while thereafter, the two lasses were seated with their feet in bubbling warm water and each with a set of young maids filing their fingernails down to specified levels. Miki while relaxed had returned to thinking in depth, and Fiona was getting her claws tended as well, happy to feel included. It would be at a time like this when Miki was at her most unguarded that Seriri would prod her. "You're trying to figure out if you should do something for him for Valentine's Day... aren't ya?" she asked of the girl in a manner most blunt. The blonde lass looked up seemingly surprised, but as someone had hold of both of her hands she couldn't really move. She could only look shocked and blush intensely. "Oh shit, was it that obvious... tell me it wasn't that obvious..." she said needing confirmation that she hadn't blown her own cover completely. "Iie, it is only obvious to me because I've seen how you act around him and I know it isn't how you normally handle people..." she said softly. "It's pretty cute to see... I think you should go for it," she said with an affirmative nod. Approval from Seriri in a case such as this was rather strange, and Miki, even as her original self would have found it a bit suspicious. "I don't know if I can... or should rather... I wouldn't want to ruin things... ya' know..." she said softly. This was a real moment of vulnerability and one in general only shown to the lass at her side. For this girl to be this way, she had to have taken the things that happened in her life pretty harshly, to feel like trying would be worse than not doing so in such a case. "Right, not knowing really messes with you. I understand... but that's supposed to be part of the fun you know?" she encouraged the other lass. "Besides... I have it on pretty good authority, after dealing with both of you in your Dragonoid forms and in your people forms that it will work out... after all... you both tamed a dragon," she said cutting her eyes to the lass at her side. This caused another flash of embarrassment across Miki's face. "Oi, I was hard to deal with after all. But..." she paused thinking about how she'd gotten the softer care from Akashi she could only guess at what had been done with Tatsuki. "Yes, that is exactly what I am implying. I don't have the details of it, I didn't witness it. But the maids chat among themselves about the taming of Dragons and such by a pair of adventurers. And they cleaned up the throne room twice..." said Seriri with a bit of humor in her eyes. "I guess you never gave up on those manga, huh?" she asked of the other girl, which made Miki go wide eyed. "Well, no... they're really well written. And the relationships are realistic and the scenes are all really..." she paused, flustered once again. "You know what I mean..." she said softly. "Yeah, I kept up with a few of them until I ended up here... and what I can honestly say is... going all out even if it turns out bad, will be worth it, to not have to watch you dancing around him like you're unsure..." she said to her friend calmly. "Do what you want, show him who you really are, if that's what worries you... but don't give up before you even try. Okay?" she asked of the girl. This was strangely encouraging to Miki, she hadn't considered that she'd been giving up by not trying to see what kind of affection Kou had for her. "I think... I get you... I know what to do I think... It will take some planning. Do you have a private chocolate maker coming through?" she asked of the girl. "Hai! Of course... I wanted to learn a few new techniques... but if you wanted something simple, I could show you." mentioned her friend who had a talent for cooking which Miki could appreciate. "Alright. I am going to need to do that and get it done, there are some other things I have to take care of to make my idea work out..." she mentioned softly, and it seemed that she was on her way to a grand romantic gesture. All of which would take place on Valentine's Day the day following the announcement.

[Bloodedge]

The very next morning, Kou awoke and went about his regular routine. A quick trip to the baths, a bit of organization to his clothes and hair, and he was ready to move on with the day. The first day of festivities was, of course, Valentine's Day. He wouldn't have any place to participate, naturally. Instead, he'd work on his plan for parent/child day with Fiona.

... Speaking of, he wasn't sure at all where the Filolial had gotten off to since the previous day. It was probably for the best that she was presently nowhere to be seen. So long as she wasn't nearby, he could plot all he wanted. Now then, where to start? Something magical was obviously in order for such a fine Filolial, so he'd likely go for something of the sort with the hair ornaments he had in mind. Having access to the others only made this idea more plausible. As he considered this, Kou paced the entrance corridor of the palace in Atlantis. 'Maybe something to amplify her strength, or auto-clean her feathers? She could get very big, so getting stuff caught in them might be a problem? Hmm...'

[Apollymi]

None too strangely, first thing in the morning within the palace, Queen Seriri would be found. She was currently eating a bit of chocolate with access to a great deal more. In fact, she was carrying a full box of it with various fillings, flavors and decadencies. Of course, she'd been making them most of the night, but she wasn't very tired to start with so she was happily enjoying them. Upon spotting Kou pacing out front she approached with a smile on her face. "Kou-kun!~ Ohayou!~ Non-binding chocolate of choice, while you think?" she asked of the lad opening the box in case he wanted to try one while she had another of her own accord. She wondered what the lad was thinking about, and also found it strange that the Filolial in question was missing. Of course, Fiona was currently sleeping in the same room Miki had been. Overnight her feathers had shifted about a bit, and so had her body. She'd gained several sky to royal blue feathers around her breasts, giving her the look of a blue crested creature while retaining the most of her jet black feathers. All the while she slept away, not knowing about plans of her parent figures. Strangely, Miki wasn't here, she was doing something else entirely and wouldn't appear for a while yet.

[Bloodedge]

In the midst of his pacing, Kou was met by the queen herself. The woman consumed various confections of a chocolate variety, quite fitting of the day Atlantis celebrated at present. Ah, but there it was... a lesser reason for Kou's lack of participation in this day. When offered the chocolates, even while having them offered in a non-binding manner, he held out a hand and shook his head. "Thanks, but... I hate chocolate," he said calmly. True enough, though he could appreciate sweets of all sorts, he had a certain distaste for chocolates, among a few other things. Besides that, he'd brushed his teeth recently enough for anything to be disgusting to taste. "I was just trying to think of what Fiona could use as a magical item. There are so many possibilities, and nothing she could use at all would be very hard to make..."

[Apollymi]

Queen Seriri asked the lad in question if he would like a chocolate and got to know the shocking fact that he didn't in fact like chocolate. Her eyes widened and she looked at the lad as if he'd grown another head. She simply couldn't fathom someone not liking chocolate. "What?! That's like insane!!" she said genuinely shocked, though for more than one reason. 'I hope whatever else Kimi planned it doesn't completely bank on the chocolate... whatever maybe she knew that already...' she thought knowing she didn't know exactly what the girl had been doing in creating her confection of choice.

Moving right along it seemed that the lad was thinking over craft-able creations for the Filolial that the pair kept as a pet. "Claw enhancing charms or protection charms are usually a go to for Filolials. Or if you know what kind of attacks she does aside from the physical ones, attack buffing things usually work out pretty well too..." she offered her own opinion on the things that could or would be applied to the Filolilal in question. She'd offer her suggestions in this case even as she continued to devour chocolates. Admittedly leaving a couple lines of chocolates completely untouched. One line of white chocolates was loved by Kimi specifically and she'd made them with her in mind. But where was the blonde haired lass in question? She was completing a strange set of markings around the Kingdom. All of them had been laid by her and her pet Direwolf and weren't visible to the eye of anyone not tied to the magic found there. In order for it to spark, she'd need a bit of contact with Kou, but she figured she could get that at any point in the day. For now, she sat atop her pet wolf and moved through the streets taking in the early morning sights. Within her cloak a single well-wrapped box containing a very specifically crafted confection for a very specific person. She'd been very busy this day, and still needed to go back and check on the Filolial she'd left sleeping in her room.

[Bloodedge]

"Is it? I didn't think so," Kou replied as his left hand stroked his chin. Even while he upheld this discussion of chocolates with Seriri, he continued to think on matters of Fiona's special item. "I just don't like how it's weirdly bitter and sweet at the same time. Besides, it gets stuck in your teeth, and that's not very good for oral hygiene. Anything you eat or drink afterwards is tainted by the aftertaste, as well..." It was a simple vent, but a vent nonetheless. Kou, or rather, Yugi, had a serious qualm with chocolates due to these few reasons.

Nevertheless, there was a matter of great importance. Time was limited before parent/child festivities, and something had to be done for the Filolial. Kou shook his head upon hearing Seriri's suggestions, not due to him thinking they were bad ones, but because he didn't wish to go for the norm. "No, I don't think it would be enough to make her something that can be picked up for just... any old Filolial, you know? I want it to scream Fiona, but I can't settle on a single thought."

[Apollymi]

Seriri looked at the lad strangely while he explained his dislike of chocolate. It was so random, and yet... she felt like she'd had a similar conversation with someone else before this point. "Sou ka... I guess those are all reasonable," she said at the end of his vent. That explained something strange about the chocolate making session she'd had with Kimi earlier in the previous evening. She'd thought the girl mad for not being traditional, but she'd claimed it was necessary to put herself into what she was doing. Perhaps she knew better or maybe it'd simply been her desire to appeal to the lad directly. She supposed she'd ask the girl whenever she showed up and was away from Kou. He went on beyond that to explain that he intended to create something for the Filolial which couldn't be normally acquired by any other Filolial, something that was unique to her and her alone. "That's a toughie," she said seeming to think about it deeper. If he didn't want to make her something regular, he'd have to spring for something created more for the creature herself. This should then technically involve the use of the creatures own parts as well as some other magical binding agents.

As this discussion was being had, Miki appeared on the back of her wolf, the creature paddling in seemingly interested in the conversation at large. Miki looked up to find Kou and Seriri standing around in a deep discussion. She was slightly surprised to see both of them, she figured Seriri would have gone to bed at some point and that Kou might not be up yet. "Ohayou..." she murmured as the wolf creature sat on the floor allowing her to gently leave her perch to stand with the other two. "What's going on?" she asked out of the loop in this particular case. Afterwards he didn't move he merely waited to see what all was being discussed. "Kimi! Help!" said Seriri who'd all but frazzled her brain trying to think of something she also turned the chocolate box towards her, "And have a chocolate," she offered with a happy smile. Miki looked at her with a raised brow and tilted her head to the left. "Oi, give me more credit than that..." she said which made Miki actually look into the box, upon doing so she found that there was a whole row of white chocolates which made her eyes sparkle. "Sugoi! Arigatou..." she said as she took one and began chewing it waiting for the point of the catch up.

[Bloodedge]

"I know it must be weird. So many people go crazy over chocolate, but... I just can't," he explained in conclusion. He was content to move on from the matter of chocolate, considering how perplexing the decision at hand regarding Fiona was. It was imperative that something be decided upon, and created, in the Filolial's absence. True enough, though, the creation would likely require a feather, or even a nail clipping of some sort. "It is. I wonder if Miki has any ideas," he said.

As if on cue, there the blonde was. She entered the hall via her mount from Age of Eternity's time, having a brief exchange with the queen, which involved the blonde claiming some of the chocolates from the offered box. Seriri's call for help could be assumed to be for the topic they were on, and Kou could certainly agree. While Miki went about eating the first chocolate, Kou took it upon himself to bring her up to speed. "We were discussing Fiona's... thing. I'm thinking we should have something tailored to her personally, but we haven't managed to come up with a single thing. Any ideas?"

[Apollymi]

It was strange to Seriri that the lad claimed he couldn't go crazy over chocolate but she had definitely heard that sort of thing before. After all of that, it was mentioned that maybe Miki had some sort of idea, and thus they'd have to wait for her to show up. She did, took a chocolate and was filled in on the situation. Apparently they were trying to make something exceedingly special for the Filolial. Kou explained that he wanted something tailored to the creature but they hadn't managed to come up with any ideas... Miki finished her chocolate and looked at the pair. "Hm, I've been thinking about it..." she said softly. "Yesterday, I assumed you meant she'd end up with a human transformation," she added beginning to search around in her cloak. "I got these off her yesterday while we were getting our nails done..." she mentioned, retrieving several dark claws which had been marked as rare loot. Beyond that she had a single clear stone which had a strange glow to it. "I can't make anything with these but this crystal can take on the special properties. So, if you..." she said to Kou, offering him the materials. "Can combine them in some way, I am pretty sure you can make something that will grow with her, without us having to figure out exactly what it does. Like a hair clip, hair ties or something..." she said with a firm nod. "And I have figured out where to get more of those crystals so we can have some clothes made for her... that Seamstress I like can do it. It's actually how I found out about her," Miki mentioned, knowing her time in AOE hadn't been for nothing. At the statement the direwolf on the floor looked up, with his maw turning slightly as if he was amused by something.

"Uh...huh. You were just sitting on that, create something out of the monster parts and get an ability that applies directly to the creature?" she asked of Miki who simply shrugged. She didn't know if it would go over, but that was the best possible idea she'd had.

[Bloodedge]

It seemed Miki had also been giving a good amount of consideration toward Fiona's gift. In fact, she even had the wherewithal to collect nail clippings from the bird's talons on the previous day, and provided a special crystal to go along with the potential craft. As he reached out to claim these items, Kou considered the usefulness of something simple, which would develop alongside the Filolial. Indeed, it would be something similar to his own sword. "Yeah, that's actually gonna be... the best idea, probably. It would be easy then, if everyone could contribute some Mana to this crystal. I can forge it into something, and use these talons as a catalyst to make something pretty good. Since it's an item instead of a weapon, I should be able to make it equal the quality of my sword."

With these words spoken, Kou held out the crystal. If he could have Mana from Miki and Seriri within it, all he needed was his own, and possibly Hikari's as well. Karna was a bust without more than a moment of consideration; he'd never offer his. Besides, the taller male hadn't been seen since the previous day. "Oh, and yeah. She should have an early-adolescent human form, if she's the class we thought she'd be. That would also come with a... slight change to her normal form."

[Apollymi]

Though she didn't expect it, Miki's idea was accepted by everyone present, with Kou only wanting the addition of mana from the pair of girls standing before him to help out with Fiona's gift. "Sugoi! You can make accessories with that kind of potency?" this was the astonished question of Seriri. Of course she had access to the artisans of Atlantis and everything they had to work with, but nothing beat the craftsmanship of a good player. With the crystal still held out in the lad's hand she had no problem adding her own power to it, after all, she'd agreed to help out, and the idea had come from Miki. "Hai hai, I'll add my Mana," she said without further ado, causing her own hand to glow a pale blue as her Mana was channeled into the stone. A small portion later and she'd leave the lad and give a bit smile. "I can't wait to see what it makes." Seriri's words were followed by the lass giving a gentle wave and heading off, she had more chocolates to deliver after all.

Miki on the other hand was busy concentrating on the kind of physical change she could expect from Fiona. "Hm, that sounds pretty interesting. The wolves always get extra markings when they hit their maturity ages," she mentioned casually as if said wolf wasn't sitting right there with very obvious facial and body markings. After Seriri moved along, Miki also pumped a bit of her own power into the stone the whole of her hand glowing that same sage green her runes normally took on as their color. A few moments later she'd given quite a bit of her own power. "There, now then. I'll take care of gathering the crystals for her dress. And meet back up with you later..." she said, knowing the lad would likely get a sample from Hikari as well, and figuring Karna was likely out of this particular activity especially given his claims of too much niceness being involved in the group. With this Miki was more than content to mount her wolf once more and he would stand and stretch waiting only to see if there was anything else needed from the lass before he took off to her destination of choice.

[Bloodedge]

"I can. I plan on working toward being able to do the same with weapons, maybe even Artifacts... but both of those will take some time," Kou explained, knowing he could do much with Magical Items if he spent enough time on them, but weapons were a different matter entirely... and Artifacts would require a level of ability he couldn't currently fathom. "This'll be... yeah, I think I've got something going on in my head now."

Kou knew of Direwolves and their markings in adulthood, though he'd never much bothered with them himself. He still hadn't seen a close-up model of what would be a Filolial Queen, which he expected Fiona to be, but he knew it would be a rather massive change. That would only be a positive, though. Either way, Kou now had the Mana of both Miki and Seriri, and he could begin his project after just finding Hikari. Since Miki decided to take her leave, Kou nodded to her, then addressed Seriri briefly. "Arigatou, both of you. You wouldn't happen to know where Hikari is, would you?"

[Apollymi]

"Hai hai, good luck with it!" these were the words of Miki before she took off. She had the utmost faith in partner of choice, and thus felt not need to pester him further about what he would or wouldn't be doing about his present. She was content simply to do her part from here on and leave him be. Seriri noted this, though she couldn't do so aloud. 'Sou ka, she really does trust him. She didn't say anything at all, just trusted that he'd do what he needs to do... that's unusual for her...' she thought about the lass' ability to simply let the lad do as he wished. She supposed with him being the Geno Killer of legend, it was a bit more reasonable for the lad to be left to his own devices even by her best friend. On the other side of this thought it appeared the lad wished to know where to find his sister, a knowing smile came to Seriri's face because she strangely knew exactly where the lad would find his sister. "Hikari-chan is hanging out with Diva, they were going to the library... not the Great One, but the small one here in the palace," she said. She was quite happy for Diva being able to make a friend, though she was admittedly a bit worried about him, she knew of Hikari's caring ways and as such she was perfectly fine with their current level of friendship. Giving this bit of information, she'd give a gentle incline of her head and head off as well, she had to find her brother after all and present him with chocolates as she knew he'd like them.

[Bloodedge]

And so, Kou had the information he needed as to Hikari's whereabouts. Interestingly enough, she happened to be in the company of Diva. Kou had taken note of a strange link formed between the two, but knowing that sister of his, she was being just as forcefully helpful as always. On an even greater positive note, Diva's presence in the same room as Hikari's meant Kou could collect all the Mana he needed, all he intended to have, in a short amount of time overall. "Alright, I'll be on my way there then. Arigatou," he said, waving to the queen as he stepped away from her.

Kou would enter the aforementioned library in due time. Within, Diva sat by a long table covered in books, with one particular book on the history of Atlantis open before him. The young man struggled his way through word after word, his mouth beginning to tire, but his determination no worse for wear. "Ki-... King Tou... kaed-... Tou. Kae. De... rei...gned... un-... cha-lle... nged... fooor..."

[Apollymi]

At the long table within the Library sat Hikari with the lad known as Diva. She was right beside him, reading along and more than willing to help out, with words of encouragement and helpful pointers as she helped this lad get his voice back to a more reasonable quality. She took note of his determination but had no intention of pushing him too far. "Hai. It's okay you know? If you can't get to the end of a sentence yet, try for the end of a word. Take a break, a couple of calming breaths and jump back in~" she encouraged the lad a bit, a bright smile offered at the end of her sentence as her tail wagged gently. She'd been through something a bit similar herself and had struggled with it, aside from the help offered her by her brother. As such she had absolutely no problem helping the lad find his voice once more. Soon enough though, there was a visitor in this secluded section of the Library, the very brother she'd just thought of, her ears twitched gently and she stood from beside Diva turning to tackle the lad with a massive jump as she aimed to hug him. "Nii-san! Ohayou gozaimasu!~" she exclaimed happy to see the lad, but wondering why he'd sought her out this particular day. She'd had high hopes that maybe, just maybe the blonde haired lass known as Miki had been doing something nice for him, and as such he'd be busy this day. But perhaps, it wasn't meant to be presently, 'Ugh, you better not be here avoiding your not girlfriend...' she had this thought and as she did her face shifted just a tad. Logically, both of these people were a bit lacking in the romance department, even so she couldn't have her brother doing something stupid like making himself unavailable to the lass who so obviously liked him, on this most fortuitous of holidays. "What brings ya' to the library?" she asked of the lad, prodding for gentle information.