I ended chatting way more than I could had wanted while Mist entertained Zack and Aquarina with her shenanigans, quickly bringing more children with her and breaking the ice so Aquarina and Zack, who were the most shy of the three of us, slowly began to get a better grasp of the situation and lowered their guards a bit.
Nonetheless, I easily noticed how Aquarina was looking at the two of us talk for a while, she was growing red and even pouting a bit, getting bored of Mist, she slowly walked behind me and reached up to me. Aquarina suddenly held my hand while I was chatting with Celeste for some reason, and Celeste noticed it.
"Aquarina? What is it?" I wondered.
"W-What are you two talking about?" She wondered while looking at Celeste slightly zealously.
"We are talking about normal stuff. Getting to know each other is important sometimes." I said to Aquarina. "Want to join us? Celeste is a nice person."
"So who are you exactly, Aquarina?" Wondered Celeste. "You're always silently staring at us, it is a bit unnerving."
"T-That's because you… you never stop talking with Sylphy…" Said Aquarina while growing embarrassed.
"Huh? And how's that bad?" Wondered Celeste while raising an eyebrow.
"I-It is not bad… Sorry." Said Aquarina, quickly calming herself down.
"Don't worry, she's very clingy but she's nice once she opens up. Since she was a year old that she had always been shy with others." I said while giggling and petting Aquarina's head. "But she's a lovely and gentle-hearted girl deep down."
Aquarian looked back at me while raising her eyebrows and quickly growing even redder.
"I-I am?" She asked shyly.
"Yeah!" I said, petting her once more.
"You two are very close, like sisters…" Said Celeste. "So you just do what your parents say or do you have any plans?"
"We want to go to the dungeon to complete some quests, our parents helped us register as adventurers." I said. "We are going with Zack as well."
"Y-Yeah, me." Said Zack from the distance, as he was being distracted by Mist.
"You kids are going to the dungeon?!" Asked Celeste. "You'll get killed…"
"We are not as weak as you imagine." I said pridefully. "Nonetheless, we'll probably go with our parents, or their familiars."
"Familiars…" Said Celeste. "Your parents have them?"
"Yeah, we got a few ourselves." I said rather carefreely.
"Is it rare?" Wondered Aquarina.
"Well, yeah? Not everyone out there has tamed a monster or had contracted a spirit, that's in fact incredibly rare. And hard too… But I guess you kids are not really normal at all. Well, if you got the help of strong familiars, maybe you can do alright inside a dungeon's first floors."
"Dungeons… I want to explore a dungeon myself." Said Aquarina. "I want to test my strength a bit… Fighting wild beasts doesn't really count! I've heard that dungeons are true challenges sometimes!"
"Hm, same. We once found a dungeon but it was too small and only had a demon, a survivor from the war that was hiding there." I said. "He became my familiar."
"Y-You have a demon as a familiar?! You know that's a person, right?" Asked Celeste.
"I know! Don't get mad, familiar contracts are not slavery, they mean we share a bond together, I can give him power. He's not a conventional demon either… Furoh, wanna come out? There's a lot of demons like you in here…" I said, as Furoh quickly decided to arm himself with valor and move outside.
I quickly summoned him, as he appeared in all his wormy splendor, the children and Celeste, who were all humanoid in shape, thought he was a monster and quickly began to scream, some ran away.
"C-Calm down! He's a demon like you guys!" I sighed. I hated to call people as demons, but there was no helping it. "He's a Shapeshifting Demon, often called the Mimic Tribe, I think."
"Uugh… S-Sylphy, I don't know if this will work, they all think I am a monster… M-My appearance is too hideous. Not even demons think I am a person…" Sighed Furoh, hiding behind me.
When they heard Furoh speak with a soft voice, the children quickly calmed down, and Mary came running here to see what was happening, finding Furoh, unlike the kids, she wasn't afraid, but surprised.
"Oh, a Mimic Demon…! W-Where did he came from?!" She wondered.
"He is a familiar, I can summon him from within my Soul Scape. He's a good person, I hope everyone can treat him well…" I said, presenting Furoh to everybody.
"S-Sylphy…" Furoh sighed, he was quite afraid of being treated badly.
"Come on, didn't you said you were a person, then show them that you can talk and act like them as well." I said, as I tried to motivate him even if a little bit.
The children looked at Furoh with different expressions, some were afraid, others disgusted, and some weirdly curious.
"Erm… Ugh. No, this is too much, they're all kids as well!" He cried.
"Hm, so you're a Mimic Demon?" Asked Celeste. "Children, this is an adult demon that has been traveling with Sylph. His name is Furoh, he happens to be a war veteran as well and has gone through many adventures. Despite his appearance, he's a demon and a person. Treat him well."
Celeste immediately changed the expressions of the children in an instant, as they all slowly approached Furoh and began to talk to him. Children also had the incredible trait of being more curious than anything in the world, sometimes surpassing their own fear.
In an instant, Furoh found himself speaking with many children at once, as the food was already done and my mother, Mary, and Lucia started to serve the food. The dozen of children quickly decided to join us in the feast, their eyes shining with wonder as they saw many colorful dishes, perhaps it has been a long time since the children ever ate this much!