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"Wow. Now this is more like it." Ellen Joe cracked a rare smile as she rested a hand on her hip. For once, she wasn't half asleep, her eyes wide and feasting on the opulent lobby of the grandiose Reverie Hotel. "Boss is finally giving compensation packages worth the workload!"
"E-E-Ellen excited? Wow!" Corin was just as blown away by the other girl's attitude as they were blown away by the lobby itself.
"Grrrr!" Ellen growled, baring her razor-sharp teeth.
"Eeep!" Corin jumped away from her, nearly tripping backward over her suitcase. Ellen rolled her eyes and sighed in disgust. Rina, who was hovering only a few inches away, smiled lightly and caught Corin before she—or her buzzsaw, haphazardly wrapped—could come crashing to the smooth, shining, polished floor.
"Step lively now, everyone, step lively!" Lycaon cleared his throat, gliding his way to the head of the pack, having just finished checking in with the front desk staff. "This vacation may be on the Mayor's tab, but that isn't permission to tarnish our reputation. If anything, we ought to feel even more invigorated to honor it."
"Sheesh, Boss, way to make a vacation sound exhausting!" Ellen rolled her eyes, but she hoisted her duffle bag, nonetheless.
"O-oh! H-hi! I'm… Misha! A bellboy here at the Reverie Hotel! Here, let me get your bags for you!"
"Woah! Hey! What's going on? What gives?!" Ellen felt small hands tugging at her bag. She held it protectively to her chest, snarling again. There, standing behind her and the others, was a little boy who looked even younger than Corin. He had wide purple eyes and snow-white hair tied back in a little ponytail that rested on his shoulder. He wore a crisp blue and white uniform emblazoned with gold. He was well-dressed, but Ellen looked him up and down with a crinkled nose, scrutinizing him. "Who's this shark bait?"
"O-oh, sorry…" The boy, Misha, had the grace to look sheepish as he pulled his hands back to his chest. "Y-you're right, I should've asked first. I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking." He rubbed his head embarrassedly, shuffling his hat around as he did so. "Stupid mistake!"
Despite herself, Ellen smirked. "Wow. He sounds like you, Corin."
"M-Me?!" Corin perked up and pointed at herself, alarmed as her eyes darted back and forth between Ellen and Misha. "Oh! Uhh… umm… uhh… H-Hi! I'm Corin Wickes!" She gave him a frantic, rapid wave and Ellen was torn between amusement and exasperation.
Rina's warm, motherly chuckle broke the tension. "There now, child, it is perfectly all right. You were merely enthusiastic to help." My, my, how cute he is! He would fit in perfectly with Victoria Housekeeping!
She had actually noticed him earlier, Drusilla and Anastella whispering to her, laughing and pointing when the boy slipped on some of his own mop water. In his surprise, he froze some of the water, and it stuck to the back of his trousers in a comical way.
"Now, now, hush…" Rina had gently chided her ghostly Bangboo duo. He is earnest, if nothing else. That is a virtue in its own right.
"S-sorry, here, let me try this again," Misha muttered, straightening his cap, then squaring his shoulders. "Hi, I'm Misha, a bellboy of the Penacony Reverie Hotel. I can help you with your bags if you like!"
"Are you here to take us to our room, good sir?" While Ellen scoffed under her breath and rolled her eyes again, Lycaon speak up, voice low and smooth, confident and reassuring.
Woah…! Misha thought, eyes widening slightly as he stared up at the bipedal white wolf that towered over him. The wolf's legs were metal, glowing blue lines running up and down the sides. Misha could feel a gentle wave of ice and cold wind radiating from them, no doubt keeping them from overheating. Bits of frost clung to the edges of the pulsing blue lights.
"Uhh… Y-yes! Yes sir!" Misha saluted Lycaon and Lycaon couldn't help but chuckle.
"At ease, young soldier," he teased. Though his voice was so deep, serious, and formal that Misha instantly dropped his hand, putting both of them behind his back and relaxing his posture. Lycaon gave another low huff of amusement while Misha seemed to realize what he was doing.
Oh! Right! Duh! I'm supposed to be the one leading them to their room! "S-sorry!" He apologized again, fishing a key out of his pocket. "F-follow me this way!" He started off across the lobby. "Uhhh, did any of you want me to get your bags? S-sorry to ask again, I hope I'm not annoying you, I just want to be absolutely sure. Customer satisfaction is my top priority and your guarantee!" he added a moment later, looking over his shoulder sheepishly. Ellen smirked and shook her head. Lycaon and Rina's smiles were a bit gentler.
"Y-you're v-very kind, s-sir!" Corin gave him a helpful smile, holding out one of her bags. Misha lit up, taking the bag excitedly, as if dying for a chance to prove himself, and now he was resting all his hopes and dreams on that one guest bag.
"Oh! Heheh, thanks! Happy to be of service!" he replied, torn between sheepish pleasure and barely-concealed, boyish pride. "A-anyway, come on, let's go! Your room is this way!" He cocked his head toward the other end of the lobby, then happily led the quartet away.
ooo
"So, where are you guys from, anyway?" Misha asked as they traversed the endless gold and ruby halls, his amethyst eyes wide and curious. He had since fallen in step with Corin, Lycaon and Rina watching and smiling from behind while Ellen lagged at the tail end of the group.
"N-N-New Eridu!" Corin chirped helpfully.
"Where is that?" asked Misha excitedly.
"W-well… it's not a very nice place…" the girl admitted, suddenly bashful.
Ellen scoffed behind them again. "That's an understatement…" she growled.
"Really?" Misha only seemed more curious and interested.
"W-w-where we're f-f-from, there's- there's- there's these- these- these nasty things call- call- called H-Hollows!"
"Consider them a form of interdimensional portal," Lycaon's smooth, low voice interrupted gently, and Ellen sighed in relief. "They appeared on our planet over 10 years ago, and they came bearing monsters, many of which we still battle to this very day." The wolf's one yellow eye flashed. Misha exhaled in amazement.
"I'm glad you guys were able to get here safely, then!" he muttered.
"Us too," Ellen deadpanned, smirking. "It's about time we got a vacation!"
"Oh, yeah!" Misha suddenly seemed to remember where he was. "Penacony has every type of entertainment you could think of! Games, rides, food, movies and shows! Oh, and we have the best operas, plays, and concerts!" He pointed a poster in the distance. An angelic young woman with white hair was featured prominently on several posters, and on every poster, she was singing. "That's Ms. Robin! She's the greatest singer in Penacony! Oh, you'll just love her!" He sounded a little breathless, starstruck, and lovestruck too.
"I wonder if- if- if- sh-sh-she would ever c-c-c-collab with- with- with Ms. Astra Yao!" Corin murmured.
"Hold your horses, kid," Ellen snorted. "The rest of the universe is only just now getting acquainted with New Eridu. Let's not overwhelm it. We're a lot of handle." There was a flicker of pride in her eyes and her toothy, razor-sharp smile.
"O-oh, right, s-sorry…" Corin wilted, embarrassed. Lycaon and Rina cast her sympathetic looks.
"That's ok! I'm interested! I can handle it!" Misha looked back and forth between the four guests excitedly. "Someday, when I grow up, I want to travel the stars, so I'd like to visit New Eridu too!"
"No you wouldn't," Ellen smirked and murmured under her breath, too softly for him to hear. And she was drowned out by—
"Watch out!" The group barely had time to blink before one of Lycaon's metal legs was in the air, almost perfectly parallel with the floor. A giant, mechanical gorilla went reeling back, struck in the face by Lycaon's metal foot.
"What is THAT?!" Ellen whipped around with a snarl while Corin nearly catapulted herself down the hall with a shriek.
"Sweet Gorilla!" Misha gasped, eyes and mouth wide. Then he rushed in front of the guests, face setting in grim determination. He held out his arms protectively, scowling up at the rampaging animatronic. "Enough! I won't allow you to harm these guests!"
Brave boy… Lycaon's eye widened as he watched Misha stand bravely between the Sweet Gorilla and Victoria Housekeeping Co.
"Stupid, dumb, crazy, idiot…" Ellen muttered under her breath at the same time.
Misha cast one frantic look over his shoulder at the visiting quartet. "Run! Get to safety! I can hold it off!"
"No! We will not leave a friend behind, especially not a friend in need!" Lycaon stepped up beside Misha.
"Huh? But you're just a guest! You don't have to—"
"As if we'd miss out on all the fun," Ellen sneered, pulling her massive shears from one of her bags. Misha's eyes went wide again. "Hey! Corin! Get your butt back here!" Ellen tested the shears.
"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh! S-s-sorrrrrrrrryyyyyyyy! I- I- I'm coooommmmmiiiiiiinnnnnnnnggggggg!" Corin came rushing back down the hallway, swinging her buzzsaw with reckless abandon.
How'd they get those in past security?! Misha's eyes bulged and his jaws dropped as he took in Ellen and Corin's weapons. Wait a minute. Right! Duh! He wanted to slap himself in the face, but instead, he waved his hand with a flourish. Snowflakes arched from his fingertips, swirling until they took the shape of a broom, crystallization and hardening into something real.
"Oh, so you're a fighter too, huh?" Ellen looked Misha up and down again, but he still got he feeling she didn't take him seriously.
"I- I- I- I am a Pathstrider of Destruction, after all…" Misha murmured, gripping his broom self-consciously.
"Pfft, I don't know what that means, but you're telling me you're capable of massive amounts of destruction…" Ellen's eyes drifted back over to the Sweet Gorilla, who was hooting and pounding its chest.
"Come! Let us fight together! Show us what you're made of!" Lycaon stomped the ground and cracked his knuckles.
Misha almost did slap himself in the face saluting Lycaon again. "Y-yes, sir! I'll make you proud, s-sir! I won't let you down, SIR!"
My, what a little gentleman, Rina couldn't help but touch her face and chuckle to herself as she watched Ellen crinkle her nose again while even Lycaon looked surprised by Misha's intense devotion. But the boy needed no further instruction before he charged the Sweet Gorilla.
"Cleaning up NOW!" The broom and mop water slapped the metal monkey clean in the face, some of the water hardening into ice. The Sweet Gorilla gave an angry hoot and reached into a giant cooler of Soul Glad strapped to its back.
"Oh, no you don't!" Ellen twirled her blades and sent a gust—a razor sharp shear—of frigid wind to freeze the Sweet Gorilla again. Lycaon followed up, growling as he ran toward the Sweet Gorilla on all fours.
"I'll bite your throat out!" he snarled, and after doing a spinning kick that snapped the Sweet Gorilla's head back, Lycaon kept his promise and sank his teeth into the wires inside the Sweet Gorilla's now-exposed throat. But because it wasn't a real gorilla, even though it was severely damaged, it still managed to hoot angry and rip Lycaon off of it, throwing him aside.
"Lycaon!" Corin shrieked. The other two cried out as well, but were drowned out by Corin.
"Leave it to me, Sir Lycaon!" Rina replaced the wolf at the head of the team, generating electric charge in the air. The hallway lights flickered, and she chuckled. "Go, Anastella and Drusilla!" she whispered so that only they could hear it.
"Bang-BOO!" They harmonized as they swirled around the Sweet Gorilla, guiding Rina's electricity, frying its circuits.
Then the ghostly, matronly maid turned to little Frankenstein child. "Care to do the honors and finish the cleanup, Ms. Wickes?"
"A-aye! I- I- I mean yes madam! Ma'am! Madam! MA'AM!" Corin nearly smacked herself in the face with her buzzsaw, saluting Rina, then with a howl, she ripped the cord to get the blade spinning. "I- I- I- I'LL GIVE IT MY BEST SHOOOOOT!"
The ice kept the Sweet Gorilla from moving. The electricity fried its circuits and destroyed its insides. Now Corin's nigh-unbreakable, saw-toothed, spinning blade would make quick work of the body left behind.
"Woah…!" Misha stepped back in alarm and amazement at Corin's blade cleanly ate through the Sweet Gorilla's body as if it was a can opened. Soon, only swirls of metal scrap were left behind. The boy looked at the others with the same wide-eyed awe and inspiration. "Wow! You guys are incredible!" He punched the air, laughing. "E-Even Gallagher would be impressed!" he added, a little breathless.
"Galley-who?" Ellen snorted.
"O-oh! He's- he's- he's one of the Bloodhounds—uhh, security guards—of Penacony! Super strong! Has fiery punches and claws!" Misha briefly mimed punching an invisible enemy and slashing it with flaming claws he imagined bursting from the knuckles of his gloves.
Ellen snorted. "I didn't want to be working overtime on my vacation… I had hoped to keep business and pleasure separate!"
"Now, Ellen," Lycaon warned gently. It wasn't like Misha was to blame for the rogue Sweet Gorilla.
"A discount on one of the nights while we're here would be nice…" she grumbled.
"A-a-aren't we- we- we on the- the- the Mayor's tab a-a-anyway?" Corin asked innocently. Ellen answered with a glare. "Eep! S-sorry!"
The young bellboy could only shake his head and laugh. What an interesting lot this batch of guests was! Where were they from again? New Eridu? It wasn't a place he'd ever heard of before, but that was the beauty of the vast cosmos. Even the known had unknown. And as he watched the guests collect their things, preparing to resume their journey to their hotel room, Misha was already calculating all the ways he could steal a chance to speak with the quartet again.
"Will you be here long on your vacation? I'd love to talk to you guys again! A-and if it's a discount you want, I could probably ask my boss…" he rambled as he helped them pick up their bags.
"That won't be necessary," Rina patted him kindly on the shoulder. "Ellen was merely making a joke."
"No I wasn't."
"The vacation itself—and your company—are lovely enough!"
"O-oh! R-really!" Misha looked amazed, then sheepish. "Wow… That's awesome!" he muttered to himself proudly. They like me!
"I was thinking we could tour Penacony before we start choosing what activities we want to do," Rina continued, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps Master Misha would do us the honor of being our tour guide?"
"I would love that!" Misha cheered, then he cleared his throat embarrassedly. "I, uhh, mean, I would be my honor." He bowed to the maid and she gave another soft laugh. Once they reached their bedroom, Misha opened the door for them before handing Lycaon the key. "I hope you enjoy your stay!"
"Thank you, young man. Already, I feel much safer knowing someone like you patrols these hallways." The wolf smiled kindly down at the boy, patting his head before handing him a generous tip.
"Woah! I couldn't possibly take something this valuable!" Misha instinctively tried to hand the money back.
"Remember what Corin said," the wolf winked and closed his gloved hands over the money again. "We're on the Mayor's tab, so treating a friend is the least we can do with the pocket change we brought along with us."
That's… a little more than pocket change… Misha thought bashfully, but despite his shyness, he managed to meet Lycaon's eye with gratitude sparkling in his own.
"You fought well today," the Wolf Thiren continued. "You mentioned someone named Gallagher, and he sounds like someone I know. I do not know her well, but she, too, is a fire-wielding bodyguard. I would imagine she would consider your service today to be of excellent quality!"
"Th-thank you so much, sir…" he murmured, almost reverent. "I- I- I hope you guys have a goodnight! I can't wait to see you all in the morning! Oh! But if you need anything, don't hesitate to use the room phone to call for room service! It might not be me, but we'll do our best to make all your sweetest dreams come true!"
He gave Lycaon one last salute, Lycaon nodding appreciatively before closing the door. The second it clicked shut, Misha gave a soundless squeal of excitement, grinning from ear to ear as he raced back down the hallway, unable to contain the overflowing joy within him.
I love this job! I love all the new friends and interesting people I get to meet! Penacony's night life was its highlight, but for once, Misha was impatient, itching to spend more time with Lycaon, Rina, Corin, and even Ellen, again.