Messenger

Chapter 6

 Ok, what am I supposed to do here, Piko asked himself as Oliver led him through the twist and turns of the grand palace. How Ollie was able the navigate through this thing so quickly was beyond him. Oliver was always better with finding his way around and moving around fast, but he'd only been here for a week. These people must have been some good teachers.

Piko could tell that he'd probably be spending his time in the runners' quarters trying not to get in anyone's way and all that jazz. There's not exactly much for him to check and he highly doubted that he'd be running into the princess to verify her statements. At least Ollie did seem to know what he was doing. If it comes to it, Piko can just tell the guys at home that everything is ok and ease their worries about all of this.

"'Kay, our space is just down this hall and to the right. They want to have messengers pretty close to the front, so people can get their letters sent without much of a distance." Oliver noted as they hurried down a window lit corridor. At this point, everything was still bathed in the morning's glowing light and most of the staff was just heading out.

"Makes sense. I'm guessing you share rooms with someone?" Piko prompted.

Oliver nodded, smiling. "Yep. Hime and Mikoto are great roommates and really take care of our area." Piko's mind flashed to Fukase's unkempt corner of their room that no one could get him to clean even with the utmost of bribery. Ollie's lucky in that regard.

"Sounds good."

Silence lingered in between the two in a thick layer of awkwardness. Ollie clearly did not like a willowy shadow following him for the day and Piko thought he was the last good person for this job. Not exactly the best combo. Oliver earnestly wanted to show that he can be independent and that he can handle this, but he's still a kid and they can't prepare him for everything, so this is the best compromise.

"So, this is the main area where people drop off their letters." Oliver gestured broadly to a fairly tidy room with a wall of cubed holes on one side and a few ratty chairs lining the other. A table was placed in the center with paper, pens, and ink laid out presumably for those with a quick note to get out. "It looks like everyone's still in the back."

The boy led into a simple hall with mostly opened doors to various suites. Oliver ducked into one of the closed ones with Piko right behind.

"Hey, could you squeal into Hime's ear or something. They're not getting up and they get cranky without breakfast." A similarly small runner asked from the bedside of what looked like their sibling. Piko went out on a limb and concluded that this was probably Mikoto.

Oliver shook his head. "I am not getting involved in that, but try to get them up because I have someone you both should meet."

"I'm guessing it's the pale dude behind you." Mikoto stated looking up from their task.

"Yep. This is Piko." Piko waved not knowing what to say. This was one of Ollie's friends. The fact that he was even able to click with these people so fast was kind of fascinating.

"Ok. Why?"

No beating around the bush there. "My family didn't believe the stuff with Flower, so they sent Piko to check it out. They can be a bit protective."

"I'm right here." He commented. Bluntness seemed to be the order of the day for some reason.

"I know. I'm mostly referring to Fukase and Miki."

"Fair."

Mikoto continued nudging their sibling's arm and Piko moved out of the doorway to look a little less like a human totem pole. "They just want to be up to date with what the hell happens here. It's not like we get much information about the castle's inner workings and all that."