23 Meeting the Grandparents (1/2)
Houston, we have a problem...' Maria thought to herself, face a little green as her small six-year-old body was constantly being thrown in the air only to be caught by her grandfather. Who fondly kept saying such thing as,
”My little Maria is adorable. How about you come and live with your grandpa? I will spoil you with pretty dresses and play with you every day.” The man was wearing a big happy smile on his face, engrossed with the idea of seeing his precious granddaughter every day of the week.
Immediately Maria found herself caught by a different pair of hands, a set of emerald eyes glaring in the direction of her grandfather. ”Hey, Maria is my darling sweet little cub! She is not allowed to leave her Mommy and Papa side just yet!”
”Hmph, fine, then all of you come live with me,” stated Maria's proud grandfather with both hands on his hips. The brief bit of relaxation was once again hit with shock as she stared up at her grandfather and told herself,
'Gramps, you can't be serious?!'
The small family of three, plus Neal, along with Kuroka and Shirone were inside the main stronghold of the Roaring Lion Knights. Neal found himself the unlucky one to try and pacify the childish daughter and father duo, pitying Maria who was caught in the middle of their game of tug-of-war.
”Matilda! Commander! The little lady...” called out Neal, unsure how to save the young girl, knowing that when those two became like this, there was only one person who could get them under control.
”Ara, darling, Tilda~! What do you think you're doing to my precious granddaughter?”
A gentle and soft-spoken voice entered. Both daughter and father stilled, putting a pause to their tug-of-war game which Maria was thankful for. Hearing a set of footsteps enter the room, Maria was stunned to see a small and delicate woman with long cinnamon brown hair reaching past her waist and gentle emerald eyes, greatly resembling her mother's.
'So pretty... and she looks a lot like mom!' Maria couldn't help but blush when the woman made eye contact with her; though the more Maria looked at this woman, she began to notice just how young she looked.
'Wait a sec... This woman can't be my obasan! I mean, when placed next to mom, she could be her younger sister!'
”Hi, mom!” Maria's jaw hit the ground as she watched the two women hug each other. Staring more intensively at the two, Maria noted that not even their size in the bust department measured up. Leaving herself asking, 'Just what kind of rejuvenating potion is granny taking?!'
”It's good to see you again, Tilda! You must visit your parents a little more often; it's been a long time since I saw my adorable grandchildren.” Maria watched her young-looking grandmother walk her way and bend down towards her level.
”Is Maria hungry, obasan just made snacks and a batch of fresh sweets.”
The smell of spring flowers hit Maria, becoming engulfed in this warm feeling that was being emitted from her obasan; a charming, gentle smile was set on her face. Nodding her tiny little head, Maria found herself in the loving and soft arms of her pretty grandmother.
”Then let's go get some food in that little tummy of yours.” Maria's grandmother led her outside where a table of snacks was awaiting them. In a short amount of time, Maria was snacking on monte cristo sandwiches, pretty and delicious petit cakes, along with beverages that was being served to her by Shirone.
”So tell us, besides wanting to see us, what else brings you to Regulus City?” asked her grandmother, setting a plate of decorative macaroons next to Maria, and giggled once she saw how the girl's eyes lit up with happiness.
”Maria is stressed out over her Final Exam that is coming up. As you know, in order to prepare students for entering the Middle School Division, Diamond Academy tends to pair students against a Magical Beast. Maria-chan is afraid of failing,” explained her mother as her grandfather pondered over the information he just heard.
”I almost forgot; when students at the academy enroll in the Middle School Division, half of their grades are determined by their missions. On the majority of these missions and depending on the details of them, students will without a doubt encounter magical creatures. Hopefully for their sake, the creatures they encounter are of the beast-type and not the phantom-types,” said Maria's grandfather, eyes serious when he felt his granddaughter's curious eyes fell on him.
”Why do you say that, grandpa?” Even though Maria was taking Intro to Magical Creatures, learning about their types, rankings, and abilities, the students in the class learned more about the beast-type creatures than the phantom-types. The only thing Maria knew of phantom-types was that they were extremely dangerous and one should retreat if they ever encountered a phantom-type creature.
”Since you're still in your first-year in the Elementary Division, teachers refrain from saying too much about phantom-type creatures in hopes to not scare you. Not to mention, most phantom-type creatures reside in the rural areas; the academy hardly receives requests from these areas as they are sent to the guilds or fall under our jurisdiction. ” explained her grandfather.