Ni No Who

Chapter 3

When Oliver entered the world, he expected the smell of the grass in the Rolling Hills that he usually entered into it. Instead, he breathed in a big bunch of smoke from Hamelin. Yuck. Harmony laughed at him as he wrinkled his nose.

"Yeah, sorry. We're working on a big project with the Skysquealers and there's been a lot of smoke lately." Swaine nodded, covering his nose and mouth with his jacket.

"Yeah, it's been a little nauseating. I've had to sleep at the Cat's Cradles a few times, it's gotten so bad." Marcassin nodded, doing the same with his jacket.

"Yes, but luckily the upgrades should be finished up today." Then Harmony took Oliver's hand and dragged him down to Swaine's room, where she dug through his dresser and closet.

"There should be something in here that you could borrow." She muttered. Swaine came running in and tried to pull her out of his clothes.

"Hey! Get out of my stuff!"

"No! Oliver needs clothes." She told him, pulling out a light blue shirt with a collar.

"So why don't you go through Marcassin's stuff?" Swaine demanded.

"I love Marcassin, but have you seen the way he dresses? I don't think Oliver can walk around dressed like a prince." Swaine sighed, but pulled out a pair of jeans.

"Here then. He can borrow that shirt and these. I'll also see if I can find him a jacket." Harmony nodded, then she tossed Oliver the shirt as Swaine tossed him the pants. Oliver caught both, then began to change after Harmony left. As he changed and Swaine looked for the jacket, Oliver talked to him.

"So, do you think that Aaliyah is excited for her coronation?" Swaine shrugged.

"I don't know. I mean, Marcassin still hasn't really had his coronation, and I know that he's very nervous. I can't imagine what it's like for Aaliyah. We both know that she's not a very strong person, even after what she did to Senkrad. I can't imagine the stress." Oliver felt a little worried for her now. She was one of his best friends, and he'd hate for her to be stressed, as he'd hate any of his friends to be stressed.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Harmony had met up with Marcassin, who was chasing around a bird with a letter tied to it's foot.

"Come back here you infernal bird!" he called. Harmony laughed, recognising the bird as King Tom's Minor Byrde, Destrel. Each of the kingdoms, the Fairygrounds, and the three smaller towns had decided to choose an Aves familiar to fly to other kingdoms and towns with messages if needed

Harmony took a running start, then jumped in the air and grabbed onto Destrel's foot, bringing the bird down to the ground. Marcassin came over, panting, his jacket all askew and his hair a little frizzy.

As Harmony untied the letter from Destrel and handed him a guilder for the trip, she saw Marcassin trying to smooth down his hair. She grinned again, then reached over and tousled his hair, making it fall in his face. He sighed and she laughed, then unrolled the letter from King Tom.

"Dear Prince Marcassin and Princess Harmony." she read. "One has sent Destrel with this letter, to inform you that there are two people on their way to greet you. One is a rather rude man called the Doctor, who does not believe in magic. The other is a much kinder young woman called Martha Jones. They will be arriving soon with a quandary of sorts that One was unable to handle. Do please sort them out. His Meowjesty, King Tom XIV." She looked to Marcassin, who looked about as perplexed as she felt. Then she sighed.
"Then I suppose we'll have to wait here until this Doctor and Martha Jones get here." Marcassin raised his eyebrows.

"What about Oliver? He'll want to go and visit Aaliyah before the ceremony. No doubt he's worried about her being stressed." Harmony shrugged helplessly.

"It hopefully shouldn't take more than a day or so for them to get here. I mean if they've spoken to King Tom, they shouldn't be far from Castaway Cove. Perhaps I'll take Tengri out later and scout around for them. I doubt they're very good at fighting familiars." Marcassin nodded, just as Oliver came wearing the blue shirt, the jeans, and his sneakers, along with a red jacket.

"What do you think?" He asked. Harmony smiled a weak smile.

"You look wonderful, Oliver. Much older." But Oliver was no dummy, and could sense when his sister wasn't one hundred percent.

"What's wrong?" Harmony sighed.

"Oliver, I'm sure you want to go pick up Drippy and head out to Al Mamoon as soon as possible, but King Tom just sent us a letter that someone is coming for our help. And we need to stay here to wait for them." Oliver looked crestfallen as he heard this news. "But hey, why don't you and Swaine go ahead of us and we'll meet you guys in Al Mamoon, alright?" Oliver nodded, feeling very disappointed.

"Alright Harmony." Harmony gave him a hug.

"Just send Hammy if you need any help." Oliver pulled away, confused.

"Who's Hammy?" That was when he noticed the Minor Byrde flying around the room. "And why is there a Minor Byrde in here?" Swaine sighed as he came in.

"That's King Tom's messenger Ave, Destrel. He doesn't know when to leave." Then he aimed his Rogue's Revolver at Destrel and the byrde immediately flew out the window. Then he turned to Oliver. "And Hammy is the Fairyground's messenger Ave. It's how we've been sending messages to each other." Oliver's head swam with this new information, then got ready to cast Travel. They were on their way to the Fairygrounds!