Red's Valentine: Part 1

Hey everyone!

It's that time of the year again!

So with the Valentine's event in full swing, I've decided to break out my old storywriting skills again for this event. After looking back, I've realized it's kind of cringy, so bear with me here, but I had a lot of fun composing this story, and that's what truly matters to me.

Hopefully I can forgive myself for using #KiranLoveMe here since this is a holiday event. But without further ado, enjoy!

Do care, this is a LONG read.

It was another beautiful day in Askr. The sun was high, the skies were clear, and the town was lively. It was a beatiful day for some arena duels over in town. Red was well overdue, anyways, and he was well on his way to reaching Tier 20! He just finished up his 7th chain victory, netting him enough points to guarantee a spot to Tier 19. Red stepped out of the arena with utmost confidence, with Ayra, Micaiah, and some mysterious dancer walking behind him, and Myrrh floating gently by his side.

"Wow, we actually did it!" said Micaiah in a soothing voice. "I just wish I could have helped more in the last fight..."

"Don't worry, Micaiah. There's no way we would've gotten past all those Black Knights without you." chimed in the dancer.

"I suppose you're right." responded Micaiah.

"We all know we couldn't have done it without Red's super awesome guidance!" exclaimed Myrrh.

"I agree." replied Ayra.

"You guys are all too much. It's great to have you all." said Red.

"Are we going to have a victory meal?" Myrrh chimed in.  She seemed really eager.

"I'd be okay with that and be willing to help." responded Micaiah.

"Count me in as well. We can all sing a song!" added the dancer.

"Ayra, are you in?" asked Red.

Ayra paused for a moment.

"Sure. I apologize if I am late."

Red was a bit worried about Ayra. The two had gone through a lot together and is arguably Red's closest ally, but something seemed wrong. He really never had the nerve to ask her about it, though. But the day today was Februrary 12th. Maybe, perhaps he could work something out in 2 days?

Edit- Deleted a picture here to avoid hardship with the artist.

The group finally reached the barracks. It was an interesting place that held a lot of sentimental value to Red, and he was really glad he got to spend it surrounded by people he appreciated. When he swung open the large front doors, he was greeted by his former arena team mates, Delthea and Julia.

"Julia and I were watching your awesome battles, Red! You did AWESOME!" Delthea chimed. "Just don't forget , okay?"

"I sure won't." Red smiled. Myrrh clutched at her chest.

"We both miss the joy of arena battles, but we understand if you need others." said Julia. "Just know that I am here if you need to take care of any dragons."

"You two can at least us for dinner!" said Red.

"We'd LOVE to!" replied Delthea.

"I'll go start on the main course! I already know what we can eat!" Before anyone could say anything, Myrrh flew in the direction of the kitchen.

"I suppose I should keep her in check. She can get a bit crazy." responded Micaiah, proceeding to follow Myrrh.

"That was a good call on her end. Anyways, we're gonna go hang out with Linde now, so call us when dinner is ready!" Delthea chimed. Her and Julia took off.

"I guess that leaves me to my normal activities. I will see you soon." responded Ayra. She took off to her room to practice the sword. Red glanced at her long, flowing hair and elegant pose. He really wished he could have said something to her...

"Staring, huh?" chimed the dancer. Red snapped out of his trance, embarrassed. "Just be careful, Red. Myrrh is also aware that Wednesday is Valentine's Day."

"Oh no...." said Red in a grave tone, knowing what that meant to Myrrh.

"I know. It will be okay." responded the dancer. "Just try not to crush her. She's a good person."

"We'll cross that bridge when we have to."

The day ed, and Myyrh was happily in the kitchen preparing dinner with Micaiah. The room was a mess, but with an additional helping hand from Young Tiki and Micaiah's supervision, the two got done what they needed to and made a fantastic dinner! It was one of Red's favorite's: grilled steak!

Red was taken aback when he walked in; the three had done a lot! It does take a lot to geed an entire army of over 100 people, but they really outdid themselves. When Myrrh noticed Red, she flew over to him and butt her head on his shoulder. "I made sure to do this for you, Red!" Myrrh exclaimed. A pit opened in his stomach.

"Thanks so much, Myrrh!" responded Red. Her face lit up.

"Yaaaay! Let's get everyone and eat up!" said Myrrh. She flew out of the kitchen in excitement to get everyone. The mysterious dancer, who watched the ordeal, approached Red.

"I'm so sorry." she said.

"It's going to be so difficult..." responded Red.

Everyone took a seat at tables of eight. The room was packed to the brim with every hero at the barracks. The cooks today must have done a great job, Red thought to himself. At his table were seven others; Ayra, Myrrh, the dancer, Micaiah, Delthea, Julia, and Azura.

"A wonderful meal for wonderful arena duelists!" said Delthea. You could tell she really missed going to the arena.

"As to be expected, from Myrrh herself." responded Julia.

"It is quite the work, I must say. But it was all worth it." Micaiah chimed in.

"Well, really, it wasn't just us. We had a LOT of help with all of this! Lilina's fire magic is really handy!" Myrrh added.

Red chuckled at the thought of fire magic being used to grill steaks. It does save in resources, he supposed. And it must have been quite the sight.

"Who's idea was that?" asked the dancer.

"As much as I'd love to take credit for it and even contribute with my flame breath, it was all Tiki's idea. She was great!" replied Myrrh.

Ayra was eerily quiet, as usual. Red shot a glance at her direction. Her eyes really are quite pretty. Ayra then looked up at Red. "The food is really good tonight." said Ayra. Red fumbled with his hands and couldn't get a word out. Luckily, Ayra went back to eating her food before she could see his face turning the color of his name. Red glanced away shyly.

The meal was wrapping up, and the eight of them were all full.

"Myrrh, you really outdid yourself this time. This was great!" said Azura.

"Well, a special day warrants a special meal!" replied the dancer.

"Yes, and let us hope to reach Tier 20 so we can do this again!" exclaimed Myrrh.

"We'll be rooting for you!" said Delthea.

"This time next week." said Red. He looked over at Micaiah, who seemed downcast at a comment that was just made. She got up from the dinner table and said "The meal was great. Thank you." in a monotone voice and walked off with her head tilted down. Red opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. He became rather worried. And when he looked over at where Ayra was seated, she was gone.

Myrrh flew up to Red to give him a great, big, hug. "Three cheers for our master tactician!" The whole dining hall erupted in praise as everyone cheered for Red. But while Red was smiling on the outside, his mind was on Micaiah and Ayra. Ayra because he wanted to be with her on Wednesday, and Micaiah for being severely out of character.

In a few moments, Red finally managed to get some time to himself. While headed on the way back, he ran into many different heroes, all of which congratulated him on the Tier 19 promotion. But finally, he was able to retire to his room. There were lots of trinkets from another world; a set of shiny keys on a ring, a weird shaped object with the design of a game controller with some green slips of paper in it, and a mysterious device with a screen that lost power long ago. As Red stepped out of the bathroom to lay in bed, he heard a knock on the door.

Please don't be Myrrh. Please don't be Myrrh asking about Valentine's Day. "Come in!" yelled Red. His stomach dropped.

It was the mysterious dancer. Thank god.

"Oh, hey! What brings you here at this hour?" said Red.

"I just wanted to talk about Wednesday, since it'll be quite the day, at this rate." she replied. She was a great friend; Red could confide his secrets with her. The dancer hopped on the bed next to Red.

"What did you want to talk about? How I'm going to muck up asking Ayra out?" said Red in a partially sarcastic tone.

"Not really. I wanted to help, as well as talk about Myrrh." the dancer responded.

"Well, bad news first." said Red.

"I know your strong suit isn't picking up hints, but Myrrh likes you a lot. An-"

"Okay, smartass." Red responded.

"What can I say? I learned from the best. As I was saying, it's going to be really difficult for everyone involved. Just be honest with her, okay? She won't take it well, but it has to happen if you just simply don't like her like that."

"It'll be okay. Trust me." said Red.

"Good. We're a great team, and I don't want this ruined." replied the dancer.  "Now about Ayra....I think you can do it."

"You really think so?" said Red.

"Yeah! She listens to you more closely than others, and I'm sure she's grown more fond of you since you depend on her so much. Just be confident, and do something that will help you get to know her better."

"....I think I have something down. Thank you. You're a great friend." said Red.

   "Just Askr out!" the dancer said with a cheeky smile.

   "Stop ruining the monent!" Red said, visibly trying not to giggle.

   The dancer stood up.  "Alright, alright. Anyways, I need to head to bed myself. Make like Nino and do your best!" she said. And with that, she swept out of the bedroom and off to her own. Red cut the lights and went to sleep. Tomorrow would be something...

Daytime. The day before the big one. There wasn't much on the agenda today. As Red stretched, Feh flew in with an envelope in her beak. Red opened it, half dazed, to see a couple orbs and a dueling crest. He put those with the other respective items and went to go get ready for the big day. Today was the day Red planned asking Ayra out! The adrenaline ran through him, making him both excited and nervous. But today was the day Red conquered his fears. He grabbed his orb bag, currently composed of 5 orbs, and the Breidablik to summon heroes. With his gear in hand, Red set out to accomplish today's activities; yolo summon and ask out cute girls.

Red stepped out the front doors and took a breath of fresh air. It was another beautiful day with no sign of bad weather. A lot of people seemed to be enjoying their time outside, but Red was on a mission; to five orb summon since he has no self control. Red strolled down the hill and by the riverside, only to see Ayra, practicing alone. This was it, this was his chance! But his stomach dropped so hard and every conceivable word choice left his head. To make matters worse, Ayra looked up and started approaching Red.

"Good to see you. Five orb summoning, as usual." said Ayra.

"Yep, you know me..." said Red, trying his absolute best to keep composure. "Wonderful weather we're having."

"I'd say. It lets me practice outside." Ayra responded. Stop stalling, Red! Get to the point.

"Hey, Ayra..." Red mustered with all his energy. "Would you be...interested in spending tomorrow wi-"

Ayra cut him off and took a deep breath. "Look, I didn't want to have to say it this way. I will follow your every command on combat and have the utmost respect for you, but I just don't see you like that. Sorry it had to be this way." Ayra stepped away to resume practicing. After a moment of silence, Red walked away, rather dejected.

Well, really, he had it coming. It's not like he was even that confident, so it wasn't gonna work out. He should've known Ayra wouldn't like him like that, even. What was he thinking? What was even the point of trying to pretend that he wouldn't be lovely on Valentine's Day? Red just kicked a small pebble and walked his way.

But out of the corner of his eye following the pebble, Red spotted Micaiah, sitting by the riverside, looking blankly in the water. He never got to talk to her the other night, so he went over and sat next to her without a word.

"Is something on your mind?" asked Red.

"Well, ever since the dancer mentioned a 'special day', tomorrow has been on my mind, and I just realized I'll be spending it lonely. The thought has bothered me." You and me both, thought Red to himself.

"I'm really sorry about that. I do hope it will be o-" An idea dawned on Red. He opened his orb bag to double check; five orbs! It was a shot in the dark, but Red really had nothing to lose after today's events. Red hopped up and motioned for Micaiah to follow.

"What happened, Red?" asked Micaiah.

"Follow me." replied Red. "It's a surprise."

The two went to the summoming rite together, with Red taking the lead. Why he was doing this was beyond himself, but he just wanted to try and help out. It's not like he has anything to lose at this point.

"What are you doing, Red?" asked Micaiah.

"It's a secret!" said Red. "You're going to have to wait and see!"

"I have a bad feeling about this...." replied Micaiah.

Red scanned Briedablik to get an orb selection. 2 green, 1 blue, 1 red, 1 colorless. Good; a single colorless was all he needed. Red took out the colorless stone, put the orb in position, loaded up Biredablik with 5 summoning orbs, and fired at the colorless stone. Smoke. The beam of light appears.

Sothe. Four silver stars float around him briefly, then disappear.

"Micaiah?"

"Sothe."

The two ran up to each other and hugged. It was a very long, heartwarming hug that both tugged at Red's feels and made him happy that he did a good deed. Luck really was on his side this time. "Thank you so much, Red. I can't even begin to express my gratitude towards you with words."

"I'm just doing my best to make sure everyone is happy, Micaiah. You two enjoy your day." Red said with a half hearted smile as he turned to walk away, with his chin hitting his chest as he began to walk in the opposite direction.

"Red."

That wasn't the voice of Micaiah. That sounded much deeper. Red turned and looked to the side. It was Ayra!

"Happen to be free tomorrow?" Ayra asked.

TO BE CONTINUED.