The Adventures of the Scarlet Lights. Part one, Eyelume.

chapter 5, a friend.

The City is full of magic, and though it looks medieval, it's also modern. Eyelume is surprised and feels weird as he sees people living normally, and children playing, it's all uncommon to him. Eventually finds an old bar on the corner of a street, he enters the bar and looks around, Mash staying next to him silently looks to be less interested in this place than him. In the bar, people of all races are joyfully drinking, humans, elves, orcs, goblins... The place looks warm and cheerful, truly lovely. Sitting in front of the counter of the bar, Eyelume can see someone who looks to be quite wealthy, wearing expensive-looking clothes, pridefully sporting the most popular colors for the elves.
Eyelume goes to sit next to this person. On their face, he can see a soft blush and a pretty smile.
They have tanned skin, and long and fluffy brown hair, braided and elegant. They look feminine, but they have a muscular body under all this elegant clothing. Eyelume decides to greet him and try to get to know him.

"Hello, sir.
My name is Eyelume, what's yours?"

Surprised by Eyelume's words which lack any embarrassment, he looks at him. Seeing his big smile, he begins to think he's just a drunk guy.

"My name's Eddy, Eddy Williams.
What brings you here, mister Eyelume?"

Eddy puts his glass to his lips, he's quick to guess that Eyelume is just a random adventurer or something like that. He's already guessing his next words.

"I'm trying to find a way to help out Hope in her fight against Despair to make sure the world doesn't crumble in despair."

Silence, no one dared say a single more word once EyeLume had spoken. Eddy almost choked on his drink. He puts down his drink and chuckles.

"Oh, that's a good one. Hope and Despair? A fight? You must be joking, what are you going to say next? Sun is dead and you are a White demon?"

Eyelume stays silent for a little, and as Eddy looks at him and realizes that Eyelume is indeed a White demon, he starts to sweat a little.

"You aren't joking, uh? You really are serious..." Eddy straightened himself on his chair and let out a sigh. "Well, you said you were searching for a way to help. I think I can help with that." He finishes his words with a sly smirk.

Eyelume tilted his head to the side, confused as to how a simple elf he just met in a bar could help him out. But before he can even begin to ask questions, Eddy speaks up with pride.

"You see, I am the head of the most successful magical industry of the land. Providing potions, books, services, magical objects, and more, I know my way around business, big boy.
I'm sure I can find a way to help you out, just..." He looks at Mash and Eyelume, the way they look dirty and tired, he quickly guesses they don't have a stable place to live in. "How about you two come with me, you can stay at my place for a while until I find a way to help."

"Sure, thank you!" Eyelume says, happy to finally be able to rest somewhere after days of long and painful struggling in the ruins. Eddy got up and started to walk toward the exit of the bar, expecting Eyelume to follow. Once outside, he started to walk toward the center of the City, where the houses began to look more modern and skyscrapers could be seen from far away. Eventually, Eddy stopped in front of one of the skyscrapers and looked at Eyelume. Of course, Eyelume is impressed by the skyscrapers, even though they aren't as tall as the world tree, they still are impressive. Eddy speaks up.

"I live all the way up there, hope you aren't scared of heights." He finishes his words with a chuckle before entering the building. Inside it, it looked nothing like Eyelume had ever seen in his life, inside the world tree, there was no modern technology like this. As he enters the elevator with Eddy and Mash, he's mesmerized by the grandiosity of this machine, which he remembered hearing about in Hector's videos. Seeing Eyelume's reaction, Eddy speaks up, wondering if Eyelume has an interest in machines.

"First this android following you around, then you look at the elevator like it's a wonderful piece of art... Are you interested in machines, Eyelume?"

"Well, I spent a few days in the ruins, I found a ship there, and in it, there were videos of a man explaining how to do those things, I just learned and did what I was taught."

Eddy can't help but chuckle at Eyelume's response, he was impressed by how this man seemed to take no pride in any of his achievements, only focusing on one greater goal and learning things to help him in his journey toward this goal. They eventually arrive at Eddy's apartment, Eddy knocks on the door. Eyelume appears surprised as the door opens, but not Mash, she's unsurprised. In fact, she always looks unfazed. The person opening the door is a human, black male who seems to be about the same size as the door, he's wearing a red hoodie and sporting a messy bun hairstyle. With brown eyes and a kind-looking gaze, he seems relaxed and gentle. He speaks up, his voice isn't too deep but deep enough to sound mature and respectable.

"Hi, Honey. Coming back from the bar early?
And who are those two? That guy with the dirty black lab coat looks important, you got some business to do today?"

Eddy chuckled and walked past him, not forgetting to give him a small kiss on his way in.

"This man's name is Eyelume, and he is very important, he's a White demon.
Apparently, there are some pretty fucked up things happening in the world tree."

The man is left a bit confused by Eddy's words. He looks down at Eyelume, who's smiling and wagging his tail.

"Well, you can come in, sir. My name is Eric." He steps aside to let Eyelume and Mash get inside.
Inside the apartment looks nice and comfy, it's full of expensive furniture and feels warm like the home of a happy couple. Eddy is already sitting on the couch in the living room, Eyelume and Mash sit on the opposite couch, facing Eddy, and Eric sits next to Eddy. Now ready to begin a calm introduction and explanation of the situation, Eddy speaks up, showing his dominance in the relationship as the one who speaks up and explains.

"So, you and your android will live here while I research a place for you two to live in. I already think that I have an idea, and it revolves around your capacity to make wonders with those hands of yours.
As I've already told you, I am Eddy Williams, and this man is Eric Williams, my husband.
We have a guest room for you two, once I've put the plan into action, I'll come to see you and you'll work on it with me. Everything is clear?"

Both Eyelume and Mash nodded. But, looking at his bag, Eyelume has a question pop up in his mind.

"Is there a place for me to put my sardines at?" He opens his bag, revealing the enormous amounts of sardine boxes he's been using as his only source of food for weeks now. Eddy and Eric are shocked. Eddy, sweating slightly from stress as he realizes how difficult it will actually be to take care of this man, speaks with a slightly less confident tone.

"You can just donate them to a shelter later, how about we eat a real meal, uh?"

And so, Eric begins to cook a meal for the three of them, as Mash cannot eat and is simply polishing Eyelume's claymore on the couch. Eyelume observes with childlike admiration in his eyes as Eric cooks. On the couch, Eddy is chuckling at the sight. Once they get to eat, Eyelume gets to do something he hasn't gotten to do in a long time, speak to friends around the table while eating a good meal. They speak of everything, Eyelume speaks of his time in the world tree and how everything goes on up there, and Eddy speaks of his day and the fun things that happened.
Once it's all over, Eyelume helps them clean up before getting to go to bed. It's the first time in weeks, maybe months that he has gotten to sleep on a bed... Of course, he's not left to sleep peacefully, as Mash climbs into bed and forcefully hugs him to sleep.