System Discord

"Did you say your name is Spire Valrepite? The young lady from the Xertle City?" Sylvia asked.

Spire nods her head. She looks much cleaner now. She's not wearing her dress at the moment, but she is wearing clean clothes provided for her.

Evan sighs at what he is seeing. He remembered how his heart had almost stopped earlier when he thought those men looking for Spire came back.

Apparently, it was just his mom. Sometimes, she does forget to knock on his door. She thought that Evan was either out or asleep, so she was getting in to grab the laundry in his room.

It was almost amazing how neither Evan nor Spire screamed or passed out in terror when the door opened.

Now, they are inside the living room, with Sylvia helping Spire to dry her hair after she had helped bathed her.

Evan's dad, Erwin, passed by earlier to grab something he had forgotten. He wasn't expecting Spire to pop up, but told them that he would call some people capable of taking Spire back to the city safely once he's done with another part-time work.

"At least you're safe here for the meantime." Evan says, taking one of the chair and sitting in front of her. "You're very lucky that you managed to find a place to hide in."

Spire had a small pout as she looks at the side, looking almost embarrassed. "I wasn't... hiding. I got into this house, stumbled in your room and accidentally got myself in your box thing. It's very hard to navigate your room, okay?"

Evan blinked his eyes in confusion. "So, you just happened to passed by the house, tripped and trapped yourself in my foot-box." He says, a slight tilt of his head.

Spire tilts her head at the same side Evan was doing, mirroring him before turning around a little on the chair to look at Sylvia, ignoring him completely. "Thank you for letting me stay here until my father's guards find me. I'm sorry for the trouble."

Sylvia smiles and pats her head. "Oh, honey, don't worry. You can stay here for as long as needed. I'm not sure you'll be comfortable here but it will be safe." She reassures her.

'Oh... You're still alive...?' Iva voice echoed in Evan's brain.

Evan was staring at Sylvia and Spire having a conversation in front of him when he heard the voice. He groans a little when he heard Iva.

"Something wrong, Evan?" Sylvia asked, looking at her son when he heard his small groan.

Evan shakes his head. "Nothing, mom. Just... Forgot about the mushrooms."

"Oh... That's okay. I can just check in them later and see if there's something I can harvest."

Evan nods his head. "I'll be right back."

As Evan walks away towards his room, he felt eyes on him. He's not sure if that was his mom or Spire but he didn't care at the moment. He opens the door, and closed it after he got in.

"Iva, what was that for?" Evan says, unable to stop himself from speaking out loud.

'Hmm... I dunno what you're talking about~'

"Iva, you started with being confused that I'm alive after you disappeared earlier. Tell me, why?" Evan narrowed his eyes at the wall, unable to find anywhere he can glare onto.

'You had a 0.00087 percent chance of survival if you got caught. So, I pulled back to make sure your presence won't be noticed.' Iva says.

Won't be noticed? Evan couldn't wrap his head around Iva's reasoning.

"That doesn't make any sense. You seemed very surprised."

There was a bit of silence from his head.

Evan is slowly getting impatient. There are a lot of questions that he could ask and wanted some answers to, and he can't even get the answers to those because he had to find out more about it.

There are a lot of things that Evan had noticed while interacting with Iva. The most obvious one is the slip-up of Iva sounding almost like Evan is talking to another person.

The emotion, the playful tone. Too person-like.

'I cannot answer your question, Evan.' Iva says, almost quietly in his head. 'Ignore that thought and don't even entertain it. Not now. You're too close and you will perish if you continue.'

"What- you can just read my mind, just like that?"

Iva hums. 'Silly! I'm inside your brain.'

Evan wanted to facepalm himself for sounding stupid. Of course it would know what his thinking. "Well, okay fine. Keep whatever you are as a secret. Will I know in the future?" He asked instead.

Another silence.

Evan couldn't help but notice that it was like Iva is thinking about how to respond.

'Maybe one day, when you're stronger.' Iva finally says, humming once again. 'Oh! If you graduate in that Stardust Academy, I will tell you.'

It would tell him? Evan feels like he would be able to guess what Iva really is even before be gets to that. 

"Well, if you say so. We'll put this on hold then." Evan sighs tiredly.

'Ah, your mental charge went down.'

Evan raised an eyebrow before sitting on his head. "Talking to you is making me mentally tired, what did you expect?"

Iva didn't respond to that.

He sighs and shrugs. There's nothing more to say to that so he leaves Iva be for now.

Just before he could lay down on the bed, there is a knock on the door.

"Door's unlocked." Evan replied.

The door opens slowly, as Spire appears into view.

Her red hair is completely dried up. Evan just noticed that her hair is really long and wavy. She looks much softer and less pompous in regular clothing, but there is still an air of superiority around her.

"Your mom told me that we will share rooms in the meantime while I'm here." Spire says, clearing her throat. "I'm not against that as long as you stay on your designated side."

Evan wanted to give himself a big facepalm. "You mean you're going to stay in your designated side, right?"

Spire gasped, her tail raising up again in agitation. "How dare- I'm a lady! I don't take large spaces while asleep!"

Evan sighs. This is going to be a long day.