Mil Solis

Chapter 4: Key To Fantasy

After delivering the faerie prince his letter, Mil was now pondering how he could find Eques in the maze-like mansion. He started to rustle through his bag for the first time searching for clues or something that could lead him to the old man, seeing a small golden key with a glowing zircon jewel implanted in the handle of it. The key itself was in a keyring, which had a small bell in it. Of course, there was various books and other stuff in the bag, but the key interested Mil the most at the moment. " Oh you have the keyring too, small one? " Lumen peeked from behind Mil, ruffling his hair gently. " Well then, should I show you how to use it? It is a special way of transport here in Eden, which Lord Eques makes himself. " Lumen explained, as he stood up, pulling Mil gently up as he then walked to a door. " Try opening this door with the key, small one"

Following Lumen, Mil then looked at the door, and then at the key, which seemed to now glow brighter. " Okay! " Curiosity filled him, as he put the key in the lock, twisting it. The lock let out a small crack, as the door then started to open. For a while a bright, almost blinding light came from the door, but then looking again inside, Mil noticed that the door led to a huge library, with the bookshelves twisting and turning, tables and chairs in various sizes floating around the room. There were faeries, nymphs, even wolves and other animals calmly reading the books. A small white fox quickly ran past Mil with a scroll in its mouth, soon disappearing completely out of sight as quickly as it had appeared.

" Hm-.. It did not lead to where I thought it would lead this time, but it does not matter. Let me introduce you the place small one, this is the main library of Eden, where all Verums and even Artems come from around the world searching for knowledge. Sorry, I must have confused you with the new terms. Verums mean all magicals, and Artems mean non-magicals. For example, I am a Verum. " While listening to Lumen explain, Mil glanced around the library once again. " But well, to make your job easier from now on, I'll give you a second key, that will always lead to me. " Lumen held his hands together, murmured something in an unknown language, and then handed a small rusty silver key with a glowing white star sapphire implanted in it. Mil took the key, looking at it for a while with sparkling eyes and when he put it closer to the keyring, it glowed brightly, and then attached itself to the keyring. " Whoa! So cool! Lumen was that magic? Did I do that? "  Mil beamed in happiness as he looked up at Lumen. " That was your magic, small one. " Lumen petted the happy little Mil, smiling softly.

Mil kept smiling brightly as he felt a warm feeling of happiness filling him. A Verum. He was a Verum just like Lumen. How cool was that! But then it hit him. " But.. Can my magic help me find Eques? " He then started to look down at the keys in his hands. " Hmm.. I don't know about that small one, but I'm sure you'll bump into him sometime soon. Lord Eques is a busy man, but he still finds time to read us stories from faraway lands. " Lumen chuckled softly as he then took out a keyring of his own, closing the door that still led to the library, and then opened it again with a completely black key with a sapphire implanted in it. " This leads to my secret place, where no one else, except Lord Eques can go. There's a chance he could be in here, small one. " Mil tilted his head as he listened, looking through the doorway, he saw fog. No, wait. There was a suspension bridge leading into the fog. " Lumen..? " He looked up at Lumen with a slightly worried expression. " No no, don't worry small one. It's completely safe, i promise you. " Lumen smiled softly as he gently took hold of Mil's hand. 

Gripping tightly on Lumen's hand, Mil then started to follow Lumen into the foggy room, barely seeing anything past his nose, because the fog was so thick. But then suddenly it started to clear out, revealing a floating island with a small tower, few fruit trees, bushes and a small pond, from which the water seemed to flow endlessly into the foggy void. " We're here, small one. This is where i spend most of my time when i'm not needed in Eden. " Nodding, Mil looked up at the top of the tower, seeing a familiar person reading a book there. " It's Eques! Eques is up there! " Mil beamed happily as he started to run forward, and as he reached the island itself, he started to wave his hands, smiling brightly. " Eques!! I completed my first task!! And i made a friend!! " Feeling happy to the brim, Mil started to jump as he kept waving his hands, accidentally loosing his balance, as he flopped down on the ground.

Hearing Mil's voice, Eques lifted his eyes from the book and looked down just in time to see Mil lying on the ground. " Mil..? MIL!! " He quickly threw the book away and it disappeared, jumping down from the tower, landing easily on the ground, quickly picking Mil up, with a worried expression on his face. " Mil are you okay? Did you hurt yourself in any way? " He started to examine Mil, but then stopped as he saw a warm smile on Mil's face. " I'm fine Eques~ I just tripped that's all ~ " Mil stood up and spun around a few times, to show Eques that he was completely fine. " See? Completely fine~ " He giggled softly and then ran to the pond, giggling as he dipped his hands into the cool water. It felt so nice, and the water sparkled beautifully.

Eques let out a small sigh, scratching his head as he looked at Mil who was now playing in the pond. " At least he's having fun. " He chuckled softly, then looked around, noticing Lumen near a bush. " ... Lumen, what are you doing there? " Eques started to walk closer to Lumen in curiosity. Lumen twitched as he was called out and then slowly in silence turned to look at Eques, while munching strawberries he had found from a nearby bush. " Hm? What is it, Lord Eques? " Lumen showed him a charming smile, trying to hide the fact that he had been eating strawberries in an unruly manner. " It's okay to eat when you want, Lumen. There's only me and Mil here, we'll keep a secret. " Eques smiled softly as he sat down under a tree, looking at Mil. " He's innocent, not knowing what might be out there.. I just hope he'll stay that way forever. Smiling.. " Lumen looked down at Eques and then gently sat down next to him. " Who knows.. The world is full of unknown.. "

Mil turned to look at Eques and Lumen suddenly, smiling warmly to them as he waved his hand. There was so many things he wanted to learn, not only from Eden, but if there was a world outside of the mansion, he would love to explore it one day. Mil then lied near the pond, looking up. He hadn't noticed before, but even though the fog surrounded the island, there still was a sky up there. A bright blue sky, with fluffy clouds floating in there. Reaching his hands out, he wondered what it would feel like to touch a cloud. Would it be soft? Would it feel warm and fuzzy? While wondering these things, he slowly started to doze off, and as he fell asleep, he started to dream of places no one had seen before. And slowly, a bright white key with a ruby implanted in it appeared in his hands. Who knows where that key would lead.