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Demetria gives Erik a curious look, "Go on."
"There is this young fairy, her name is Zyla, she's uh... she's in trouble and it's my fault. When she was only seven, both of her parents died and I took her in. She is like a daughter to me and I failed her," Erik looks down and Demetria's gaze softens.
"What happened?" Demetria asks softly.
"Once a year I go on these annual trips to Midgard just to get some resources that they have and we don't. Zyla has always begged for me to bring her with me and I have always refused," Erik sighs. "For her 750th birthday, I agreed to take her with me and everything was fine at first. We got the resources we went there for and she wanted to do some sightseeing. I didn't see anything wrong with it as long as we stayed in our human disguises it would be fine. We spent the day walking past buildings with a bunch of different stores walked across a bridge. It was a great day. Until these group of men had attacked a short brunette man named Howard Stark. Apparently, he's someone very important. Important enough that they were going to kidnap him. Zyla saw and before I could react she ran over to fight those men off. I chased after her telling her to stop. Us Maldonians are not allowed to interfere with what happens in another realm. Unless that realm is threatening our people. That's just the rule. And Zyla broke it. Even with good reasoning."
"Zyla was able to fight them off long enough for that man to be able to escape. During the fight, Zyla accidentally revealed her true self to those humans. The men took her instead. I tried to stop her. And when I was about to attack those men, the Maldonian council had pulled me back to Maldonia before I could do anything," Erik says as he clenches his hands into fists as he stares off. "They banned me from going back. They think I am going to do something stupid and reckless. They were already angry that I took her with me in the first place. And then I lost her. What a great protector I am..."
"What happened to Zyla isn't your fault," Demetria says. "You couldn't have known that was going to happen."
"But I should've been more prepared," Erik states and looks at her. "Will you please help me. I can't leave Maldonia for that long. I have sworn an oath to protect it and all living things. They think that leaving Zyla there is the better option since she had interfered and revealed that what they believe are myths are real. To them, it is safer if she stayed so she can't accidentally bring unwanted guests."
"Does the council know that you are here?" Demetria asks and Erik nods.
"They think I'm here for your hand in marriage so that Maldonia could become Asgard's tenth realm," Erik explains.
"What happens if they find out you lied?" Demetria frowns.
Erik sighs, "It won't be good but it's the only way to get Zyla back. She is a good kid with a big heart."
Demetria nods, "I'm in. I'll help."
Erik looks at her surprised, "Really?"
Demetria nods, "Yeah. It's the right thing to do. Is there anything else that I need to know?"
