The necromancer still thought about the bag in her arm when she felt a presence behind her. Thinking that it might be Mir she turned around. There was another stranger in the garden, but it wasn't the pale girl. A tall woman with white hair stood at the edge of the lawn and looked out to the street behind the garden gate.

"Oh. Hello, madam." Nareen greeted.
When the woman turned around Nareen was in for a shock. It was a guy.
"Oh my! I'm so sorry! I thought you were a woman since you wear a skirt and all..."

The man looked at her curiously, then laughed. "Ha ha. Better make sure next time, huh." He had a very warm and sympathetic voice, almost musical.
"Yeah, I will. I'm really sorry." Nareen knew she was blushing.
"It's alright, really. Who are you?"
"I'm Nareen. Me and my friends live in the dollhouse over there."
"Oh, then this is your garden?"
"It is. So, who're you and what're you doing here? Can I help you?"

"My name's Arion." The man took a small pause, as if he expected a reaction to his name.
Nareen crooked her head. "Aydron?"
"No, Arion." He blinked.

"Ah, sorry. Hello Arion. What brings you to this garden this late?"
"Actually, I'm waiting for a taxi."
"A taxi?! What's a taxi doing in our garden?!" Nareen was shocked.
Arion laughed. "My car broke down and the driver can't fix it in time. So I guess I'll have to take a taxi today."
"Ah, I see."
"I felt uncomfortable waiting on the street so I stepped into your garden. Hope you don't mind."

"No, of course not. It's fine. Actually, I guess everyone's invited to use our garden."
"Well, thanks. And what are you doing outside in the cold, Nareen?"
"Just catching some fresh air."

"Care to join me for a concert?" Arion asked.
Nareen was stunned. "What? Me? Going to a concert? With you?!"
"Yeah. It's just a small gig but it will be awesome. You coming?"

"Err... I'm sorry, Arion, but the others... They would wonder where I am. Actually... I... I think I should go inside again now." Nareen was at a loss of words. Was he trying to abduct her or... flirting with her? Suddenly she realized that she was impolite. "Err... do you want to come in for a cup of tea with us? You must be freezing too."

"Sorry, I can't." He pointed to a sign on the dollhouse that Nareen had never noticed before. There was a vertical line drawn on it and it said: 'Caution: Low ceilings! No males beyond this point or risk a visit at your chiropractor!'

"Wow." Nareen's jaw hit the floor. "I never knew... Come to think of it, our ceilings really ARE low. Sorry about that."

"It's okay, the taxi should come soon. Promise we'll meet again though, will ya?" Arion said with a bemused sparkle in his eye.
"Okay, it's a promise. Come visit us anytime when the weather is better."
"Alright. See you, Nareen!"

Quickly Nareen went back to the house. Even though this encounter had confused her, her bad mood was gone. So maybe Eternia would spend a lot of time with her new old friend for a while but she, Nareen, could still meet a heap of new people. She just had to go outside. And Giselda was always there too.

Arion watched her vanish into the house.
"What a cute goth chick." he said to himself and chuckled. "She really didn't recognize me, did she?"
Someone who didn't recognize the lead singer of Dark Delight - even in this bad light - had to be quite a hillbilly though. His band was the hype of the year. Usually he was swarmed by fangirls. It was nice to meet someone who acted normally around him.
"Maybe I should write a song about her. Definitely cute. I want to meet her again."

Then the tour bus came to a screeching halt on the street and honked for him. Arion went to his gig.

Dolltopia Archive 17 <-- # --> Dolltopia Archive 19