#cherishedname

There was one person that Jade could not get out of his mind since he found out he was in a world called Ephinea.

That one person was Sophie Lhant, a young lady whose company he had the pleasure of entertaining back when he was trapped in another world. Accidental as their meeting might have been, he took quite an interest in her. Or perhaps a “liking”, as some might have put it. It was rare for Jade to encounter someone with the level of innocence that she had, notwithstanding the amount of power and skill she held in hand-to-hand combat.

Unfortunately, their circumstances in the past were not exactly the best for getting to know one another. But they did manage to exchange the names of the worlds they originated from, and ever since the incident, Jade kept it in the back of his mind for future reference. With his world-hopping adventures, there was a good chance of him visiting her world, and Jade was not about to pass up a chance to meet her again, considering how curious he was about her.

His explorations in the world of Ephinea eventually led him to a place called Lhant, which, as the name suggested, seemed to be the hometown of the person he was seeking. Not wishing to draw much attention to himself, he merely roamed the town, keeping his ears open for any news on Sophie. While it was by no means instant, he eventually hit the jackpot a few minutes later, hearing some old ladies gossip about how “little Sophie Lhant” was gathering some flowers at Lhant Hill.

With his next destination decided, he followed some signs out of the town into the said place, which, true to the villagers’ mutterings, had many flowers in bloom. Of course, it was not without its share of wildlife, but they fortunately seemed to pay Jade no heed. Perhaps, Jade noted in amusement, these monsters had some sort of instinct of self-preservation.

Though on the flipside, Jade was starting to have some misgivings about his plan to seek out Sophie on his own. Maybe being flagged as a suspicious man asking for a girl more than half his age would have been worth the trouble of not having to comb the place, as there was still no sign of Sophie wherever he looked. For all he could have known, there were two Sophie Lhants wandering around the land of Ephinea and he was after the wrong one.

But, as Lady Luck would have had it, he spotted her at the last place he decided to check, which was at the summit of the hill. Amidst the sea of purple flowers, he spotted a certain familiar pigtailed girl standing in front of an old tree at the far side of the hill—someone who strongly resembled his quarry.

Smiling to himself, he began his approach, keeping his strides casual as he closed the distance between them. As he drew closer, unnoticed by the other, he absently picked one of the purple flowers that dotted the landscape, thinking it might come in handy soon.

And useful, it was going to be. Sophie seemed to be entranced by the tree in front of him, and for Jade, there seemed to be no better way to catch her attention than to—

—present the picked flower to the girl, with a smile on his face as he greeted her.