Red Ink

Emil nodded “Of course. I’m sorry.. But whatever it was.. Even if she doesn’t forgive you, I will..” He laughed nervously “Which may seem like nothing since I don’t really know what all occurred.” he corrected himself. What was he saying. ‘He will forgive her.’ He shouldn’t be impudent and assume that whatever it was was worthy of forgiveness from a complete stranger not related to the situation. He was beating himself up for misspeaking but tried to push it aside. 

“Ah.. Th-Thanks. I still feel bad about some things but.. I’m glad they accepted me in the end.” he smiled down at his tea. Really.. he could relate to Cherri in a way. They didn’t have to forgive him for scaring them, or even the fact he replaced the real Emil.. but.. they did. Emil wouldn’t have ever gone to fix things had he never been encouraged to.

“Eh? Ah.. mm R-Really? I-I don’t know I-I-I could show you now if you have a knife and some fruit– I-If you want I-I mean.” He blushed. This was probably the first time a girl reacted in such a way. Marta just called it ‘Adorable’ and other things. But hers felt disingenuous to him. Cherri seemed actually interested- and oh boi his stutter picked back up full swing. 

     Emil was a real sweetheart wasn’t he? He was willing to forgive her despite not knowing what she had done. Honestly, it made Cherri feel rather better about herself and her decision. “Thank you again, Emil... It was a very tough choice, but I’m sure you’d understand.”

   Still, she was very glad that they had accepted someone like him in the end. Emil deserves the best life could bring him. Now, onto his talents! How and where did he even learn to carve fruits and such? 

Emil took the tea she handed him and watched the contents swirl in the cup, listening to what she said. He could relate. He spent a lot of time displeasing his relatives, even if they weren’t really Emil’s relatives, but the Real Emil’s relatives. He rubbed the handle of the tea cup with his thumb slightly, feeling the cool porcelain beginning to warm up from the contents. 

“I-I think…” he started, voice tapering off a little in unease. He was unsure if he had any right to speak about it since it was relatively recent that he patched things up with his Aunt and Uncle. “Well… Even if she’s not too happy to see you, or upset with whatever you did… I’m sure she’d still be happy o-or even proud that you took on the role. Despite wanting to be a baker.” He shifted slightly. “I wasn’t on great terms with my aunt and uncle and anytime running into them was pretty stressful. But… in the end we managed to fix things between us and start over. So, maybe with time and talking, things can be understood if not also forgiven.” Emil tried offering a supportive smile to Cherri.

He took a sip of the tea, taking in the rich flavors. He wasn’t big on herbs which was why he requested honey in his tea. He always found the sweetness of the honey to combat the taste of the tea alone. “I do. In my spare time at least. I’m usually too much on the move to have time to back but it’s quite fun. I prefer cooking more over baking, th-though I often get teased for carving fruits and vegetables.” he laughed slightly while casually remember all the times people commented on his carved flowers and animals in apples and potatoes. 

     “You say such kind things. However, there’s certain things that shouldn’t be forgiven. My actions, perhaps, should be one of those. I wouldn’t blame her if she never forgives me.” She stirred her tea and took a small sip from the cup. “It was difficult for me, but I had to...Anyway, I thank you for doing your best to be supportive!” Cherri trailed off, only to end up listening closely to Emil telling about his aunt and uncle. 

    Ah, she’s glad they all ended up working it out. That’s what family should do in the end. “At least you had everything work out! I’m so glad!” She smiled at him, truly she was glad and rather proud of that. Now, his answer to her baking question made the smile on her face grow wider. That is amazing!

He gave a small nervous laugh at her ‘it sure doesn’t sound like it’s nothing’. She was spot on. Emil listened but concealed his frown by taking off his sword and setting it on the ground, not wanting it to impede on his ability to sit before finally sitting on the couch. Looking around curiously at the place some more

He smiled when she returned “Honey.” Then proceeded to watch her. “So.. Was fighting against those.. Ink things a choice you made? Even though you enjoy baking?” he was curious though he figured it really wasn’t any of his business. 

    Cherri nodded and poured his cup and stirred in the honey. “I did have a choice, but my mother convinced me to take the role of Little Red. I never really saw her that much.” She handed him his tea and sat down to prepare her cup. 

Wait, Cherri was little red? So this is like the children’s Story?  Emil half wished he knew the story a little better, but unfortunately only knew the cliff notes version. Granted he was a little old to be reading children’s stories. 

“I-I’m F-Fine. I-I-It’s Nothi-ing.” his voice however was betraying him. He noticed the house she was heading towards and he looked at it in marvel. It wasn’t like anything he’s ever seen before.  he followed her and went inside, looking around in curiosity. It was quite the cozy place, and one that looked well lived in.  He smiled 

“Tea if you don’t mind.. Do you like to bake?” he asked with curiosity

    “It sure doesn’t sound like it is nothing. Take a seat and relax. I’ll make you some tea.” She started to head to the kitchen, but stopped to answer his question. “I do! I have always wanted to own a bakery in town with my grandmother, but I ended up getting this job so I haven’t had the time to.” Cherri smiled.

“They should probably see a doctor if they are bleeding  black.” he said with a worried tone. Leave it to Emil to worry about the thing that is dangerous. He tilted his head “Really? But we’re missing Little Red Aren’t we?” 

“It’s nice to meet you too Cherri.” He smiled warmly. Though jumped slightly at the voices. Emil was happy that Cherri picked up the pace and happily obliged to match it. He did not like the fact that the voices came from seemingly nowhere.

He heard her mutter something but couldn’t make heads or tales what it was she said and felt her gently pushing him on a path. Honestly, he wouldn’t mind if they were to run. He is fairly fast. However, the voices stopped but that didn’t stop Emil from casually holding his breath from fright. He’d rather go against ghost type monsters at this rate. 

     “I don’t think a doctor would help them.” Cherri laughed a bit awkwardly. Oh boy, he was so innocent and possibly naive. “We aren’t missing little red. You’re talking to her right now, silly.” A sheepish smile formed on her face.

    “Emil, are you alright? You seem tense. I assume the voices scared you a little?” She placed a hand on his shoulder in hope to reassure him that everything will be okay. Maybe it’s best to get him inside. With that idea in mind, she lead him to her cozy looking home and opened the door for him. 

Emil nodded in understanding, Closely following her. He wasn’t fully sure he understood. “What’s exactly the thing? I-I don’t really have Magic…” And his legitimacy for being human wasn’t rock solid either if taking account other factors. 

“This kind of reminds me of that ch-children’s story. Little Red and the Wolf. Only the Ink is the Wolves.” He mused out loud half minded “A-ah, I mean.. It’s kinda like that story, but probably more like Black wolf, White wolf. Where the town goes on a witch hunt for wolves only to discover that the two least likely people were the wolves. However, the one wolf was turning people and killing people while the other wolf didn’t know they were one.” He explained quickly before sighing slightly “I-I’m probably not making sense. I’m sorry for rambling… Oh- My Name’s Emil” 

     “They are Inked, beings who bleed black. Oh, and you don’t have to have magic.” Cherri blinked at the mention of Little Red and the Wolf or Black Wolf, White Wolf. This made her wonder if he sort of knows that she is Red Riding Hood. “Ah, well you see, Little Red isn’t far off.” 

   She smiled though at his name, “Emil? It’s nice to meet you. My name is Cherri. Cherri Rothschild.” At that moment, chanting could be heard from behind them. Bodiless voices as light as the wind, “Little Red, Little, Red. What are you afraid of..?” It was then that Cherri decided to pick up the pace in hope to get Emil somewhere safe. 

He smiled sheepishly. “S-sorry.. I’m not really good at pronouncing the name.” Though he felt slightly bad. He makes a mental note to practice it later.

Though at the mention of him having left his world into a different world, he looked at her surprise. “What? B-but.. What could possibly want me here? I’m not really anyone special though..” Or at least he liked to tell himself that.  

“What’s lurking here?” he folded his map up since it was pretty clear it’d be useless here and returned it to his bag. “Is it anything I can help with.. I can fight” Though he didn’t really like fighting.

     “There is no need to apologize.” Cherri reassured him that it was no big deal and that he isn’t the only person who cannot say words of the German language. “There’s only one thing that would want you here and they could be surrounding us as we speak.” The red riding hood ushered the blond to start walking beside her. 

     “They’re corrupted magic users or humans. We call them Inked or ‘spilled ink.’ Those beings can take on any shape, size, or being.” The young woman whispered. “You may be able to fight, but I am uncertain if you are able to handle them...” Even if he could, Cherri would not want him to get hurt. After all, he’s practically innocent and got caught up in this situation. 

Emil blushed slightly “S-Sorry!” though he listened to her correct him “Germany.. and Schil..tag?” He tilted his head slightly “Ah- When Sylveranti and Tethe’alla were two separate worlds, the heroes of world regeneration merged the two worlds together and all the maps were remade.” 

He points on the map where he thought he was “I was sure i was in this forest just outside of Altimira.” He informed. “I passed by Mizuho To get to the forest, So I was sure i was on the right path”

    When he tried to pronounce the words, Cherri couldn't help but to laugh. “Close enough.” Oh? What an odd event. Two worlds that came together? A mental image of planets colliding somehow came to her mind. Is that how that worked? 

    She smiled and returned her attention to the map. She watched as he had pointed to the map on where he had came from and that is when Cherri came up with an idea as to how he got here. “You were in another world and someone or something wanted you here.” 

Emil blinked at the words. He pulled his map out of his bag and opened it up. Nope. No She’ll… taghck or Germ..Ainy.   “…Maybe.. The people who redid the maps after the merging of the world goofed? I never heard of a Germ ainy.. or  uh.. S-She’lltaghck.” Queue Emil’s inability to do German guttural noises. 

He handed her his map “Can you point it out where it would be?” 

     The way he was pronouncing things was pretty cute, but he at least tried! “Germany and Schiltach.” She corrected him and tried to pronounce it slowly for him. However, when he handed her the map, Cherri took a quick look at it. Wait, what is this? 

kirsche-tinte:

   The stranger had apologized to her and she wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t his fault or anything. “Oh, no, please don’t apologize. I am alright.” The young woman made sure all her supplies were still in her hand.

   Cherri’s attention then drifted back to the young man. He appeared fairly lost. Where exactly is he from? “You seem lost. Where are you headed? I can try and help you find your way.”

“That’s good. I’m glad you are alright” Emil did back up to give the female space.  Though she was fine, that didn’t stop him from mentally scolding himself for not paying attention to his surroundings.

At the mention of being lost, Emil scratched the back of his head with a small nervous laugh. “W-Well.. I was sure I was following my map carefully.. However, I may have lost my spot on it, but this town isn’t recorded in the woods on my map. I-I’m headed to Altamira.” 

    ...What? Altamira? That’s surely not a place in Germany. Or at least, not that she knows of. “Altamira, you say? Sorry, I don’t know where that is. What kind of map are you using? Is it an old one?” Cherri feels somewhat bad for asking all these questions, but it is her duty to help. 

Emil was touristing around the area, taking in the sights and what have you. He found the town to be quite cute and quaint. Granted, he stumbled upon it by chance while going through some thick woods. He didn’t recall seeing this place on his map and he checked multiple times. Everyone also appeared to be wearing… strange clothes. He felt like he fell into a different world or something with how different this place seemed compared to other towns he’s been to. 

He didn’t see any signs that said the towns name and was headed to a shop to ask when he accidentally bumped into a girl. 

“A-Ah, I’m sorry!” he apologized immediately  “I-I’m fine.. Are you? I’m really sorry for bumping into you.”

   The stranger had apologized to her and she wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t his fault or anything. “Oh, no, please don’t apologize. I am alright.” The young woman made sure all her supplies were still in her hand.