บท 56: Strawberry or Cherry

Zero yawned and rubbed his eyes. He had a fantastic sleep and blinked groggily. Waking up in the lamp made him forget where he was for a moment. However, the sound of running water from the bathroom jolted his memories.

"Oh right! I was with Truen yesterday on Endow Hill! Mm, we need to find a leaf that reminds me of Gaia. Do you think we can find it today, Mii?"

Mii materialised with a poof. It took on the form of a small red fruit. Thanks to Zero's exploration and discovery of so many new plants, Mii levelled up. An ability was unlocked, allowing Mii to materialise for a short period of time each day. Unfortunately, Mii could only assume the forms of things Zero had seen before. For now, it was taking on the shape of a strawcherry.

Truen was startled by the sight of a floating fruit talking to Zero. He'd taken a shower to clear his head before the boy woke up. Freya's lessons were still fresh in his mind and due to the time distortion, Truen felt a little disoriented. He'd missed his young charge and had some difficulty remembering the details of what happened before he fell asleep.

"Good morning Truen!" Zero greeted cheerfully and that smile was all it took to wipe away the accumulated stress from Freya's training. He could wake up to this every day.

On the other hand, the floating fruit was labelled as an intruder. The elf was on guard against it. Anything unknown must be regarded as a potential threat to Zero.

The brunet saw his bodyguard's line of sight and decided it might be better to introduce Mii. "Mii, this is Truen, you may already know him. Truen, this is Mii. Mii is a... wait. Mii, are you a 'he' or a 'she' now?"

The floating fruit made some gurgling noises before replying in a sulky tone. "I'm an 'it' but for easier reference, you can consider me a 'she'. Also, before you question, I am currently taking the form of the strawcherry Zero saw yesterday. Long story short, I'm something left behind for Zero by Great One. In simpler terms, please think of me as a guardian spirit of sorts. As Zero becomes more knowledgeable, my ability to materialise and provide support will get better. For now, I can only appear for up to an hour in this lamp and five minutes outside of this lamp each day. You won't be able to hear me when I'm not materialised but if you add me as a friend on your communicator, I will be able to text you via magic."

At this point, Truen wasn't going to bother questioning how that was possible. He simply nodded and added Mii as a friend. Under the nickname field, he added 'strawcherry fairy' for easier reference. Zero was amused by Mii's annoyance at Truen when she saw her nickname.

"Stop degrading it! I'm an all-powerful system created by Great One!"

By now, the nickname field has changed at least five times with the latest input as 'pipsqueak'. Zero laughed when Mii fumed, trying to snatch the communicator from Truen's hands. Although they appeared to be fighting, Zero thought that it was great. Truen looked happy and in turn, Zero felt happy for him.

"Isn't it great that you now have another friend? I'm so happy for you!"

Mii and Truen stopped the argument and looked at Zero before relenting. Truen knew that he would forever be weak to Zero's charms and Mii could only sigh at the brunet. Although he was wrong, she was reluctant to correct him. The most she could consider Truen was a brother-in-arms for now. After all, Mii's mission was more complicated than Truen's.