Christmas in July [Mission/Closed]

This was a… strange mission they were on. From what the little girl understood, essentially they were to be glorified delivery people to children who were either the same age or younger than themselves. Vyserya was not much of a people person so this entire thing wasn’t exactly her cup of tea. A large part of her wanted to back out at the last second but with her brother clutching her hand she felt… safer. If she had gone with him, there was no way he would be able to leave her. That was the thought process at least. Even as her dear brother suggested she stay at the inn, her paranoia caused her to tighten her grip on the other hand. “I’ll be okay,” she stated in a soft tone.

She said this, yes, but with her free hand the girl tugged at the front of the hood as if to hide her discomfort. In the process the red cloth shadowed a majority of her features. “Do you really think it will be fun?” she questioned curiously, her crimson eyes tilting towards the boy from under the hood. He was acting so enthused – Vyserya mused that she should at least try to act the same way. After all with all the trouble he was going through to bring her along, she didn’t want to be a burden and hold him back.

At that the girl found herself shrugging at the notion of making other kids happy. It wasn’t as if she was wishing ill upon others but it made her wonder what these kids had done to deserve gifts and happiness when the two of them had to struggle. However on that note she paused hesitatingly. It was not as if she was unhappy. As long as her brother stayed with her, she couldn’t say she was. At the mention of the ice cream shop she smiled of course, but it was not because of how doting the notion was.

Regardless as the light faded from the sky it was not long afterwards that Vyse loosened his grip on the girl’s hand to begin climbing some seeming abstract building. Of all people she knew climbing wasn’t bizarre for him at all. Their Dragon father had taught them to climb various things when they were kids, or rather taught him specifically. On the ground Vyserya remained as her gaze followed her brother’s climb until hearing those key words. Found it. Figuring that following would be the best idea, rather than climbing after him on the side of the building, she decided to take the easier method. She stomped her right foot into the ground and in an instant crystals began forming below her feet, gradually growing upwards as the crystalline pillars began to escalate upwards against the wall of the said building. It was a significantly weaker version of the spell of course that was meant more for projecting herself upwards like a crystal staircase rather than being destructive. The crystals would soon dissipate so she didn't have to worry about causing too much of a scene, but at the same time it meant that if they wanted to get down they had to do that soon.

Nevertheless the spell brought her to the roof with ease. She could have done this earlier but she knew Vyse preferred being physically active anyway. Likely due to his lightning affinity. Otherwise he would have asked. It's not like he didn't know about her crystal magic anyway. "What do we do now?"

Perhaps she should have been upset or slightly annoyed how the older brother was shoving the responsibility onto her. Perhaps the girl should have stayed behind like suggested. Nope.

In actuality she was elated to be able to provide some contribution or help to their task. She wasn't being a burden and her brother was relying on her to do this right, or at least that was what she believed. It was not as if she was a genius or anything of the sort but when it came to book-smarts, the sister was the better of the two. They might have both known and accepted that. She had to learn Devil Slayer Magic out of a forbidden tome to be able to use magic after all.

As she wordlessly took the map to look over, she made a mental note of his yawning. Yawning meant that he was either tired or bored right? Either way Vyserya figured it was best that she hurry this along. The large red Xs on the map were easy to pinpoint and afterwards was simply a matter of routing. "Hmmm," she hummed as she traced her finger on the map. "Let's go this way." Almost on cue as she jumped off the roof they stood on and jumped to the next, the crystals she had created shattered into small glittering particles. Despite their ages, as slayers they were decently athletic soo jumping from roof to roof shouldn't have been too difficult a chore.

The question caught her off guard. Taking a moment to shoot a questioning glance to her brother, she shook her head subsequently and continued to jump from roof to roof deftly as if ignoring it. What brought that question up? For a moment she chose not to answer it, but she did respond. "Shouldn't you already know that," she asked somewhat seriously. They had to live and grow up with each other for this long, she figured he would have inferred stuff like this already. Sure as a person she was secretive but when it came to her brother, her family, she always thought she was fairly open like a book. It was not as if she was hiding anything in general, it simply how she was.

Besides, it was not as if she had a favorite hobby to begin with.

But it was her brother that asked and she felt as if she had to give him an answer. Unable to think of much she enjoyed doing other than spending time together, she decided to go with something simple. "Traveling. I like exploring places... with you." Her answer was as innocent as any child's would be. And just like that as she answered the girl stopped on a auburn tiled roof and motioned to the fairly large chimney sticking out of it. "This is one of the spots. Here." With a gloved hand, she pointed to one of the Xs on the map to show the boy.

Not expecting the physical contact, her body tensed up when she felt the hug yet at the same time it was comforting. It was likely due to the warmth in the hug but she winced from his hold all the same. "Vyse, you're so corny" she said jokingly, watching him move away while pulling out the first gift. Part of her thought this didn't seem like the best of ideas but nevertheless the box soon fell with a thud to indicate it reached the bottom. A small little puff of soot also appeared as if to say okay to the delivery. Unfortunately after that they were not met with the best of words.

Screams of displeasure rose from that same opening and if it was not for her catching Vyse yell some of the same words to others when he didn't notice she was around, she probably wouldn't have understood what any of that meant. Her brother was quick to urge her along after that. The silver haired female didn't really understand. Who would be mad at getting free presents? So ungrateful. Biting her bottom lip to keep from commenting, she swiftly jumped off onto the next roof and didn't look back. "Have you made any friends Vyse?"

As Vyse retold his stories about the people he had met and his misadventures, Vyserya smiled. Kin, who she could only assume was a water dragon slayer, and a black man that saved her brother that was in danger. She was never truly a social person so she was happy her brother was able to get along with others. Unlike herself he was able to make friends. It was not as if she was envious but part of her was somewhat concerned in all his excitement he'd leave her behind for an adventure with his new friends one day and never come back. At that the girl shook her head. The thought of getting along with those people was not something she could truly envision. Besides, she didn't need anyone else. Heavens forbid she say anything along those lines though as risking the chance of upsetting the boy was not worth it.

The rest of the deliveries went rather smoothly, considering they just dropped them on the move and didn't even get a chance to hear reactions. Vyse looked more enthused now so that was a plus in her book. At the mention of craving sweets on the other hand, the girl thought for a moment. “You could have some of my ice cream once we get it. You know I can never finish it all.” Her tone was a sincere one as they began to slow down and land on one of the last houses marked on the map.

Part of her wondered how much he really meant that. Nothing would make her more thrilled than to be able to remain by his side and live a carefree life. But life was never that easy and she knew that the day that they left home... or what was supposed to be home. Perhaps that was what triggered her to be so dependent on staying with Vyse. When it had happened, she was so young that she didn't even remember the faces of her birth parents. It didn't matter though. It was not as if she kept in contact with them or had any relationship with them aside from sharing similar blood.

Vyserya was a child but she had known better than to believe they lived in a fairy tale. She knew how hard her brother had to work for money to keep them going. He even left in the middle of the night when he thought she was as asleep at times and it would be really hard for her to fall back asleep until he had come back safely. The girl knew he meant well but even remembering it... the girl reached over to her arm covered by her sleeve and rubbed over the spot where the black marks from being a devil slayer were. At the same time she had to come up with something reasonable to say for a favorite memory as their past wasn't exactly sugar and rainbows. "Um... the day we learned our magic." Truly that day was one of mixed feelings. There was no need to go into detail about it. It was not as if they both magically learned their magic together, or even on the same day really, but she was able to be useful to her brother after attaining her magic so that was all that mattered.

As for the ice cream, it was likely that the girl wasn't intending to eat much of it at all. Most likely pretending to eat her share or take a long time so that her brother would have to eat more of it. Not that she minded of course. "We can share one, but why are you suddenly asking these questions?"