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Taro looks down at all the other kids, a swarm of them sliding down the Niaday. He takes the stairs, chuckling at everyone's laughter.
The crowd is so dense he stumbles into a seat, staying there as more people are practically shoved into their seats. He recognizes one girl from Haventopia, a snotty one, but beside him there's an older Centopian girl. Her hair is pink, and there's a big scar near her heart, he can't help but overhear her conversation with another older girl.
"Who's Mo?" Taro asks, and they give him a sweet look. The older girls talk to them, letting them get excited and not batting an eye when the other kid gets sassy. By the time the rest of the older Centopians leave, they stay, despite no longer being dressed in their patterns. That's how it all starts for him.
The girls and the prince are nice, but... outlandish. The pink one, Mia, keeps disappearing and reappearing in bursts of light unlike any magic he'd seen before. The other kids fill them in on the lore of the trio, things that they swear to him are not even rumors but the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Mia can talk to unicorns, apparently. She also has stronger illusions than the rest, like, way stronger. She can make sounds! Who can do that? Not even the rulers on any of the islands, including King Raynor, who shares her spell skill, are that strong.
"Maybe she's a celestial." Santi jokes with him and Om. "Or something weird."
It's as outrageous as it sounds, but he reflects on Santi's constant rambling about her idol. How she'd put on pink clips in her hair and mimicked the older girl. She said that she comforted them before the final stand against Panthea, a threat he thankfully never knew. Her trio of friends seems to be one of Yuko, Mo and Mia’s most fervent fans, affirming they can do, well, just about anything.
Anyone he asks only seems to reaffirm it, much to his bewilderment as to how an entire island can agree they're the best ever. Mia can call the elemental unicorns for help, which, even for a friend of the royal unicorns, is a lot. But she apparently did that just before facing Panthea and practically dying for them. And then she'd allegedly gone ahead and fought just as heartily against some circus (?) dark elf who showed up, and now against this Midos guy, who's the right hand of the dark elf leader himself. There's chatter going around about what it means for the girls to have stayed after newcomer's day. That they might be the queens someday. He's glad for it, even if by the time they rule, he'll be grown and out in the world.
"Maybe." Taro finally answers, he might not buy it, but the celestials love the elves as much as the elves love them. Mia loves them all on principle, he knows that without a doubt, remembering her indulgence towards his strange culinary tastes. Yuko and Mo will surely dote on them as well. The assurance the trio will fight for them is ultimately enough to make any speculation irrelevant. Whatever they are, they’re lucky they’re around.
Midos' attacks on the crater, and most importantly Yuko, seemed to be the final straw for Mia to face him almost alone, save for some interference on their part. The fact she won, that the crown accepted her, proves in his mind she just has to rule someday. He and Om spend more time with the trio, preparing for the Search Party to arrive, and the answers he gets about Mia only create more questions. Another world? A mother? Whatever the case, it also reaffirms she's kind to him.
After dancing and playing around with the girl, they chat with Andem, when she offhandedly says she'd like to dance with Yuko and Mo next year, in the middle. Andem runs to find Santi, and Taro can't help himself any longer.
"Are you and Mo and Yuko gonna get married?" He asks with all the discretion of a child with a poor understanding of basic propriety.
Mia seems to turn redder than an apple. "What? I don’t- huh?”
"Because everyone wants you to, you and Yuko would make good queens.” He finally voices what nearly everyone else had agreed on.
Mia seems to stop processing basic language for a moment. “Okay, just- just- shhh! I haven’t decided how to tell them.”
“You haven’t...?” Taro wisely shuts up. Could it be possible that the coolest people ever are also hopeless romantics? The dichotomy of hero and spluttering mess is confounding, but Raynor's voice soon draws his attention. He's sad to know he might not see his friend, even if he still hopes the party will show up. They don’t show up though, but he tries to get over the disappointment. He’s with his new friends, and they’re going to the river just like Yuko said!
Then chaos erupts.
Savia and her guards come knocking. The trio helps hide them, and he holds onto Om the entire time. Things are bad, and even Prince Mo acknowledges his parents were usurpers, but Taro tries to make the best of it, helping around the door.
Mia waltzes in anyway, her admittedly intimidating demeanor when they question her reminds him of the face Queens Illy and Zinnia would make to tell kids off. She assembles a small team of older elves to help her. To protect them, in some form or another, even if right now it means hiding until they have more information. He trusts Mo, Yuko and Mia, even when he sees they've freed the ki- the usurpers. They don't let him talk to them or vice versa, Mo makes sure they'll be the only ones to take the fall for it if something goes wrong, leaving Taro out of it.
The trio becomes the closest thing to rulers they have, Mia being the last word, the brains on most of their big decisions. She also throws mud at him, playing around as if nothing was wrong. Even when the soldiers come around, nice as they seem, everyone silently agrees they aren't who they ultimately answer to.
The Iriditopians are a little inconvenient, sticking out like a sore thumb even if they're not mean. Despite having the most secrets out of everyone, Mia still smiles and comforts them, she lets them eat her food gladly, creating an entire picnic with the other kids. As they eat, a thought strikes Taro. They do so much for them, maybe they should do something to help the trio. He didn't get to do much during Midos' attack on the crater, but he might not need to fight to be useful.
"We just have to split up and talk to them." Taro whispers to Om. He looks a little worried, but follows the plan, parroting the idea to the others, who unanimously agree to get information out of the Iriditopians.
They delegate tasks to meet their goals. Taro decided to find out how many guards there are, Sable would observe their patrol routes, Haomi started to identify the commanding officers, Andem slowly but surely mapped out the airship. Om observes the times they patrol; Rhea will use her pranks to find out about the material of the soldier's armor; Santi tagged along with Andem to write down which soldiers control the air ship's magic. Taro gets to work.
"- And no one else likes them!" Taro complains to Loculi, talking her ear off as he weeds out the garden.
"They are an... acquired taste." One she does not want to try again, based on her tone. Taro is well aware he might be the only elf to ever like the blasted clams, except...
"Mia didn't hate them." He mentions offhandedly. Avoiding mentioning the trio might be too suspicious, and he knows a few of the others will do just that, so he balances it out.
"Mia." Loculi repeats softly. She'd been in the background when she spoke to Savia, though she doubts the girl remembers her.
"She's nice." Taro supplies.
Loculi makes a mental note to stick closer to him, the way Mia spoke and how staunchly she seemed to take on the protector role for the younger kids pointing towards the heir having been a newcomer. It's something to keep in mind. "Well, I haven't talked to her, but it seems like she cares about you very much." About all kids in general. Again, her temper seemed a little fiery when it came to shielding them, but it's to be expected after everything. She could be a very nice girl.
Taro nods, looking around before his face lights up. Speak of the devil. "Hi, Mia!"
The pink haired girl lands near them, and Loculi introduces herself. The interaction is slightly awkward in the way Taro has come to recognize as Mia trying to hide something. She must be nervous about him being so close to a guard, which is confirmed by the way her gaze settles on a few Centopians doing the same thing. He wishes he could tell her, or reassure her, but he discreetly tells her where to look for Yuko and Mo and distracts Loculi again.
That is until Mia calls out to them with her friendship ring, the rest of the trio doing the same. He immediately sounds the alarm to the guards. "It must be Mia. They're in trouble!"
Loculi wants to calm him down, but as the other's rings start frantically lighting up, she realizes it really must be an emergency. Everyone rushes to the meadow. After the fight, he's led to the crater along with everyone else to check for snake venom. While the guards worriedly check the kids for any bites, they start slipping the scrolls full of information to the trio. He approaches Mia with his scroll.
"Here, I hope it helps." He whispers to her, before he aids the rest in passing the notes around.
To the guards it's unnoticeable, but most Centopians can tell just when Yuko and Mo help Mia vanish discreetly. They'll have to lie, say someone has already checked Mia or something and she's fine. Excuse her absence somehow. Despite all the deception, he knows it's worth it, that they're using their words or wits to pay back the elf that has protected them with her very life. They will stay loyal to Yuko, Mo and Mia. He certainly will. Whatever happens, they are their rulers.