Chapter 1: Harmony Returns[]
You woke up in your decoration-laden home, stretching out in your Epics-themed bed. Although sore from running around Firefly Forest with your friends yesterday for some easy star-farming, you didn't seem to take notice. Fortunately it was a weekend, so you did not need to wake up early or run to the Academy for a day of grueling work as one of the Lamplight College of Advanced Magic students. Because of this, your Big Hex Alarm Clock was not responsible for you getting out of bed. Rather, you were happy to rise under your own volition; you took your first lumbering steps on the hardwood floor of the Tree Fort in only socks, aimlessly stepping around without the intention to do anything for a few moments.
Sunlight did not pervade your place because your house did not have windows. Thankfully, there were no holes in the wall or thatched ceiling that would allow rain or snow through. You were glad to have made a great arrangement with Mozza Ella last year as you finally got a house of your own. Before you could reminisce further on your successes, you heard a sharp set of knocks to the hatch door--the only hatch door--that led outside and down to your yard. It was the Knocker-up of your neighborhood, a fairy guide who never gave you their name. They doubled as a mail-fairy, so you would be expecting your share of the daily post from New Lamplight Times. Before you could reach the deadbolt, however, they left and knocked on the hatch to the treehouse next to you. If you didn't make it, it was customary for the paper to be stuffed into your post box attached to the side of the ladder right underneath the foundation of your home. You lost interest as you realized you were still wearing your nighties and it would be embarassing to fetch mail while wearing poorly-fitting pinstriped polyester.
After a few minutes of navigating your way through your endless piles of stacked, duplicated pieces of colorful and mismatched furniture, you could finally reach a hand to the closest wardrobe. There were mountains of stuffed animals, stools, and folding chairs that swarmed around it from your inability to afford extra storage space and, through the clutter, you could barely touch the knob to open one of the two doors. You pulled reluctantly, knowing that the door wouldn't budge under the pressure of chairs kept closely against it, and you realized that the effort was made in vain. You huffed as you heaved some metal chairs you purchased in Shiverchill Mountains away from the door, but you lost your balance and had to fling them away to regain your composure. They clanged together as they fell to the floor, collapsing on top of several of your multicolored, Loch Ness monster-faced bean bag seats. Because you had no willpower to deal with this mess, you didn't bother to fix it after throwing your pajamas into an old, plastic laundry hamper and putting on some casual clothes to go outside with.
After moseying on over to the hatch, unlocking it, and opening it, you realized how much air freshener you would need to make the house smell at least an ounce less stale. It had all the fixings and appliances, but your air conditioning did not work. It was a warm 20 degrees outside as you could tell by the alcohol thermometer hanging precariously by a hook screwed into the side of the ladder opposite of the post box, so you were confident that air temperature was not affecting how nose blind you were that morning. Carefully, you traveled a few steps down the Lumin tree your home was built inside, and hung tightly to the rungs as you casually re-realized that you lived twenty feet above the hard forest floor. You extended a hand to open your post box flap, but noticed that it had already disappeared and left the paper exposed to the outside. Your post box flap broke for the fifteenth time this year and now it was finally missing, gone with the wind. You snatched the roll of inked paper out of the one-sided plastic cube and hurried back inside to unwrap and read it.
The front page was as usual--the list of three most notable bounties from the week were captured and turned in at the Lamplight Correction Facility (LCF), news on politics and drama between the island nation's president and her horrible relations with her sister, Empress of the Northern Isles, and the rest. However, something caught your eye today more than it had previously. It was within the science section of the paper where Harmony Island Research has reportedly found a way to resize The Ancient so that they, in their full-body form, could more effectively socially interact with their friends. You were thrilled to hear this and, since you were one of their closest friends at the time, immediately inclined to meet with them. You threw on your Academy Overcoat that was dangling on the swivel chair by your PC, stuffed your ancient relics and a few pieces of equipment into your work duffel, and checked your PDA to see if The Ancient was online...they were!
In direct messages, you gave them a "Good morning, Harmony :D" They responded to you and were excited to see that you were open for a hangout with them at the island. You and them arranged to meet at their abode for a hot few cups of earl grey and a nice day of chatting at 14:00 that day. You nearly threw yourself on the ground below your house after realizing it would be a great day!
Chapter 2: Arrival in Harmony Island[]
Since the current law of the land required that every monster capable of aerial transportation was no longer able to be owned by a wizard without a license (monsters were not yet given their autonomy and freedom from ownership at the time), you had to reach the stables or call a monster on your pager to transport you to Harmony Island. You noticed a rider trotting by on a tall Pyromane with its head held high. The wizard wore a fiery pink and black jockey uniform, which was customary for all of the monster rideshare transport west of Lamplight Town. Your PDA had the pager application for the service, so calling for transportation by air was easy. Within a matter of minutes, a redheaded dwarf came floating into view on a Cloud Gobbler. The small trainer commanded the floating whale to stop and it ceased to move as a result, levitating a few inches above the old road.
"Hi, I'm (Y/N) and I called for you."
The dwarf nodded to confirm that you are their passenger. "I'm Emile. Are you the only one traveling in your party?"
"Yes...does that mean it will be a while?" You were curious if there were going to be other passengers.
"If you are traveling off of the island, yes. It's the last of the morning rush."
"Ah, okay. I will be heading to the Western Port of Harmony Island."
"Will do!" Emile cheerfully responded, adding the location as the first stop on her navigation touchscreen connected by a collar around the Cloud Gobbler. "Shiba, can you let the passenger on?"
Trying to communicate, the monster nodded and whined as it deflated slightly to make it easier for you to mount. After you finally did, Emile instructed you on the proper way to keep steady on top of the beast as it would travel at the speeds of cars on the Autobahn--but at high altitudes. You braced your legs around Shiba on their withers, knowing it was the safest spot to ride on a Mystyyk. Emile made sure that you were safely positioned throughout taking off and flying to make sure that you could keep your balance and lean appropriately when dipping or sliding mid-flight--something most wizards tend to do when not familiar with riding on Cloud Gobblers.
After a several minutes of picking up and dropping off passengers, Emile ordered Shiba to land at the Western Port. You excitedly leaned forward upon hearing the command that you nearly fell off one side, but managed to remain stable for the rest of the flight. Emile and Shiba finally dropped you off, and you paid them the inter-island fare of 1000 gold, which didn't leave any major dent in your spending money. It would probably cost the same to return to your house at the end of the day, so it didn't really bother you--your previous adventures left you with six figures in all your accounts!
The Western Port was already full of wizards and other beings, bustling about to sell and trade along the beautiful beaches of the once-harmonious island. You walked a few miles to Harmony's cliff, where they built their house for when they decided to become small. It was certainly a pain in your legs (or body) to get there, but you felt satisfied that you could get there within three hours. Harmony was waiting for you in the bend in the trail that led to their curved, tile stone "driveway," which was lit up with torches during the six trials. You noticed that they had a sparkling effect to their now shrunken form, letting you know that the technology that resized them was at least partly magical.
"(Y/N), I am glad that you came. Please, come inside," they stated, smiling through their stone-carved face. You followed them as they float-walked across the tile driveway, the sheen of their reflective metal clothes urging your eyes to look to the ground. The place sure was sunny for a tropical rainforest.
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