Paradise Is Here

Fight The Whole World (Lady Lesso VII)

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A sweet smile was plastered on Ilaria's face as she softly brushed Loki's beak with a mane brushed because the bird loves getting his brushed, it was therapeutic for him and for the girl. "What is it about Leonora that makes her so...likeable?" Ilaria wondered and Loki released a small chirp, "I know she's the Dean of Evil and yet...At first, I did thought she was evil, she've said quite a few things to hurt me, that's why I distance myself from her, but she keeps coming around and does this little act of kindness and...URG!"

The young woman groaned in frustration and started thrashing around like an idiot which ended up confusing Loki, "I'm sorry..." Loki rolled his eyes, "What?! I can't help it! Ever since that little lunch or picnic we had, we've been visiting each other here and there." Ilaria looked up when she heard the bird chirped more.

"Not that often! We'd...We'd sometimes exchange glances, I'll smile a bit, but not too much, otherwise people would notice, and she'd appear to be amused by it...There would be moments where we would chat, walk and even joke a little bit!" Little did she know, the more she talked about Leonora, the more her smile grew.

"It's all very pleasing...Our little meet-ups, but I want to know why she keeps seeing me. I just think it's sort of weird that she would voluntarily want to see me, a-and I feel like...like..." Once she realised she might've cracked theory in her mind, she gasped loudly and turned to Loki, making him perk up, tilting his head.

"What if...What if she actually and voluntarily keeps on wanting to see me!?! That she wants to continue our little meet-ups?!?...That would mean...Well, I think what it would mean is that...is that...SHE LIK-" Ilaria stopped and she and Loki immediately snapped her head when she heard a twig crunch.

"Who's there?!?" Ilaria yelled and quickly stood up.

"Well, would you look at that!" A group of three girls appeared from the shadows of the trees and into the light.

"Is that a Stymph with her?" One of them queried.

"The question is why is there a Stymph with her." Ilaria tried to stand her ground as firm as she could, to not be affected by their stares. Not all of their stares were bothering her a lot, two of them looked more curious and yet delighted to see the giant bird up close.

However, there was one who's gaze was as cold as ice, but sharp as the tip of an icicle. "Tell me, our dear princess, how is it that you have come to be with a Stymph without being eaten?" The girl with long raven coloured hair asked.

"Oh! Are you some kind of undercover villain, who's pretending to be an Ever?!? Come on, you can tell us! We won't tell!" One girl stated, who seemed more sweeter than the rest of them.

"Stupid! How is she going to trust us when she doesn't even know who we are!?!" Another nudged the shorter girl.

"Oh! Right, my bad! Well, I'm Dot! That is Anadil! And this...ray of sunshine is Hester!" Hester spat in front of Ilaria and flinched when the spit ignited into sparks. "How about you? What's your name?"

"Ilaria Lavelle."

Hester then scoffed, "Definitely an Ever." Ilaria watched Hester as she walked closer, roaming her eyes on the intimidated young woman. "Dresses like an Ever, has a face like an Ever..." With one step, Hester got even closer, taking a big sniff off Ilaria. "Even smells like an Ever."

"All except the shoes." Anadil mentioned, Ilaria tried covering the borrowed shoes. "I wonder where she got them? Stolen perhaps? Or...given by her little prince!" Anadil snickered.

If Ilaria was being honest, Anadil wasn't wrong. The shoes are borrowed from a prince, they belonged to Gregor. He spotted her wearing his shoes and asked how she got it. Ilaria told the truth and Gregor just laughed and said that he didn't mind her wearing them at all.