354 For a Reason
A while later, Dyon sat on the edge of the bed watching Ri get ready.
In the martial world, there was an odd mix of modern and what seemed like ancient clothing. There were qipaos, changpaos and kimonos – even including ancient clothing from non-eastern mortal realm cultures – and yet there were also a lot like Delia who wore clothes that would make them nearly indistinguishable from the current mortal realm population.
In the end, Dyon chalked this up to the leaking of wills influencing the mortal realm again. After all, it made little sense to think was the vice versa. Why would the martial world take stock in trends of the mortal realm – a place many of them despised? Even Delia had labeled him a commoner when they first met.
So, to please Ri, Dyon wore dark jeans and a white turtle neck sweater, and long black coat the reached to his knees. It was suffice to say that Dyon didn’t like having to dress like this, the whole concept was ridiculous to him. But, he couldn’t very well wear sweat pants when Ri was shining so brightly.
Turning back toward Dyon, Ri blushed under his gaze. “Does it look okay?”
“Perfect…” Dyon answered absentmindedly.
Ri was only wearing a minimalistic, thin strap blue dress that stopped just barely above her knees and a white knitted poncho. However, the dress clung tightly to her curves, making Dyon’s gaze heat up.
Ri smiled, walking to Dyon and pulling him up, “Let’s go, then.”
Dyon didn’t even manage to regain his senses until they had walked out of the door. Ri’s long blue-silver hair, the purity of her eyes and the perfection of her curves was almost too much. Couple that with the fact her delicate and soft shoulders were exposed as the poncho slipped down and Dyon felt like staying in again.
Ignoring the entranced glances they got walking through the inn lobby, Ri dragged Dyon out of the entrance to step onto a cobbled road.
Getting a good look around, Arena City was definitely much larger that the Elvin City. Even the ‘inn’ they had been in was only called as such because of odd disconnect between mortal and martial world language. In fact, the supposed ‘inn’ would be known as a hotel in the mortal realm. It had more than ten stories and the room Dyon and Ri had been in was a suite on the top floor.
Not knowing which direction to head in, Dyon’s eyes flashed in a purple gold as he searched for a dense center of fighting spirit and martial experts. Not long after, his eyes trained on the tallest pagoda he had ever seen.
It was entirely black, and the tiles looked sharp enough to cut even the strongest of experts. In fact, the tower was so tall that Dyon could see its peak even while looking past the inn they had been staying in.
“That way.” Dyon said with a light smile, shifting his hand to grip Ri’s.
During their walk, Ri seemed oblivious to the gazes she was receiving. She was too transfixed on Dyon. The way they laughed and talked with each other seemed so natural that even this small interaction made Ri’s heart warm.
“What do you mean Uncle Acacia was acting weird?” Ri asked playfully. She found it funny that Dyon was teasing her uncle but was also very happy that Dyon was getting along with her family. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
“The entire time I spent with him was odd. He was shifty – always looking around as though someone was going to sneak up on him. Even when he took Zaire and Little Lyla away, he propped them up on his shoulders and flashed away at top speed even though he could have just walked.”
Ri grinned. “You know what that means, don’t you?”
Dyon looked down at Ri as they thought of the same thing. “His woman is here.” They said almost simultaneously.
Ri giggled lightly. “I’ve always wondered who she was.”
“She must be quite powerful if Uncle Acacia is so worried about being found. What do you think happened between them?”
After a bit of pondering, Ri responded with a shrug. “I’m not sure. All I know is that their relationship wasn’t a secret to the older elves, or else it wouldn’t have been so easy to sell me as his daughter.”
“Hm, but if she’s too powerful, and the elders know about her, it may have been odd to them that you were allowed to stay with Uncle Acacia for so long. Then again, you disappeared from the public eye a lot.”
“Mm. What I do know, though, is that I don’t think it ended well for them…”
Dyon remained silent as Ri collected her thoughts, it seemed that this was important to her.
“Uncle never treated me poorly. In fact, he treated me exactly how he would a daughter. Even now, he dotes on me unconditionally.
“But, it always seemed as though the love he showed me was about more than just my being his niece. Of course, he loved me for that, and he highly respects my dad. After all, that’s his big brother. But…”
“You think there was some part of him that wished you really were his daughter by that love of his?”
Ri smiled, wrapping her arms around Dyon’s. “You read my mind too well. He loves her, but he never talks about her. Yet, at the same time, it’s almost like a fantasy world of his and I’m a character in his dream.
I always wonder how he’d react if he ever met her again.”
“Maybe we’ll have to play cupid then. After all, we have a cheat code.”
Ri’s eyes widened before she started laughing, “Only you would call your little sister a cheat code.
The idea of a little girl bringing together powerful saint level experts sounds adorable, though.”
Dyon smiled, already devising a scheme. Sacharro meant sugar for a reason, after all.