Taliana had learned her lesson this time. She tracked down her big brother and begged him for permission to attend what could very well be the biggest event in Talia's short life. To her great pleasure, he agreed to it but warned her not to let her pets burn anything down. Together, Jared and Talia picked out an elegant black dress with sheer sleeves and embroidered golden flowers and leaves. The tulle layers reached nearly to the floor, almost hiding her golden shoes to match. Her sleeves were bordered with a golden edge.

For Talia, the dress was absolutely perfect. Instead of squealing with excitement as she might have once done, Talia simply hugged him with gratitude on her lips. Her hair was simply pulled back into a bun. A perfect example of youthful sophistication. With her head held high and her back straight, the young pyromaniac walked into the glass structure. Soot, a small fire elemental butterfly, was constantly fluttering overhead in lazy circles around her.

If one was to watch the youth as she made her way through the hundreds of strangers, they would notice she was alone. Despite this, she moved with confidence and grace. Her mulberry eyes were wide with wonder as she gazed at the mechanical musicians, which belied her attempt at a slightly amused expression.

Mira had been traveling alone for a long time ever since she went to Onnen. Most of her time was split between learning new things and keeping her treasured orb safe from thieves. Her form hadn't changed since her awakening, and the small girl with dark curly hair followed the rest of the crowd in. A strange skinny cat crawled out of a window when she was in a city, and it ran towards her. It was the first time she had ever seen a ferret, and she thought it was very cute. It was wearing clothes too, with a little bag! From that bag it gave her a letter folded in pretty paper and nice writing. "¿Para mi?" She asked it, and it nodded with a smile. To her surprise, when the letter was opened she could hear a voice in words she understood! There was a great party being held to celebrate somebody's birthday. Everybody was allowed to come, and of course Mira would go. She didn't know what a birthday party was, but she wanted to wish them well too.

The big building was so different from everything else. It had walls and was very high, but you could see inside through it. When she was stopped at a table by the door, she held up the invitation letter, and they smiled motioning for her to keep walking. What she saw next made her eyes and mouth go wide as she gasped in amazement. Everything was prettier inside than from what she saw, and so many people! There were flowers she hadn't seen before, and a big fire shaped like a bird. It was in a rainbow of colors too–something Mira didn't know could happen. It must be a very special fire if it was so pretty. Holding her orb to her chest, she stood and stared at it for a while, before her eyes noticed something even bigger. Straining her neck, the little girl kept looking up, up, up and up. Even when she was standing on her tiptoes, she couldn't see the top of the big cake mountain. "¡Es maravilloso!" She exclaimed, her purplish-blue eyes shining with wonder. 

Watching the other people who were walking around, she discovered they were going up on a pathway that took them above. From where she was, she could see that there was something on the upper floors, which piqued her curiosity. With the crystal orb tucked safely in her arms, she began to float to get a better view of her surroundings. The sound of music got her attention, and she drifted down to hear. She didn't have the words to describe how she felt about it, but when she listened to it–she was happy. Back on the ground, Mira began to wander around as she searched for where it was coming from. With so much going on, she accidentally bumped face-first into the back of a girl wearing a black dress that had gold-colored sleeves. "¡Ay! Perdóname." Looking at who she ran into, Mira was awestruck. With purple hair, purple eyes, and pale skin–the girl looked just like a doll! "¡Eres linda!" She said to the girl in the black and gold dress.

Being a child, she expected to get bumped and jostled around periodically. But when it finally did happen, Talia was genuinely surprised to see it was someone shorter and appeared younger than she! The girl had dark curly hair and eyes that were different yet similar to her own. Talia smiled down at the girl, "Hello." She didn't quite know what the girl was saying, but she would soon. The girl just needed to speak some more.

"I'm Talia. What's your name? That's a pretty crystal." the vampire child asked before holding out her hand, not realizing the implications that could be made. "Would you like to explore the place together?" There was still so much to explore. She guessed that there were at least two more floors above her, with each promising to be just as beautiful as this floor. Not to mention, the cake that towered above them had many of the guests surrounding the railing to look at it.

Taliana wondered what was on the cake to cause people to gawk like that. 

The pretty girl who looked like a doll said hello to her, and held out her hand towards Mira. The young child was dressed more plainly than Talia, wearing a simple white dress with soft shoes. She saw the doll-girl's eyes glance at the orb in her arms, and her lower lip went into a pout. That didn't last long though, as Mira decided she shouldn't think that everybody she met would want to take her precious treasure. She had been holding it where it could be seen, after all. "Es mía." Mira said in response. Shifting the crystal orb onto one arm, she pointed her thumb at herself. "Soy Mira." When Talia asked if she wanted to look around with her, Mira nodded her head. Pointing up to the walkway leading to the second floor, she exclaimed with enthusiasm: "¡Vamonos!" Readjusting her grip on the blue crystal orb, she began to move, looking if Talia would follow. While her behavior was typical for a young child, the only oddity was her insistence in keeping both arms wrapped around that orb–even if it made it harder for her to get through the crowd. No matter what, she wasn't willing to let go of it. It was as important to her as life itself.

There were a lot of people looking at the cake from above. What did they see? She noticed they were standing next to tall things that were placed near the railing, putting their faces up against them. What were those things, and what were those people doing? It looked strange, but she wanted to know. Turning to Talia, she pointed at the binoculars people used to view the cake at a safe distance. "¿Que es eso?" If Talia didn't know either, they could both go together to see.

The girl seemed to have misunderstood the intention of Talia's hand as she claimed the crystal ball was her own. Talia's hand retreated, her smile unwavering. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mira." She heard enough to begin linking words to meanings but nowhere near enough to actually speak it yet. Jared would be happy to see Taliana speaking with Mira, for she would finally be spending time with someone closer to her age.

With Soot flapping its fiery wings above her head, Mira began moving, leading Talia somewhere. Of course, Talia had to follow! Mulberry orbs gazed at the people at the railing, seeing the odd things they were using. "Spectacles of some sort? Maybe they're looking at the cake with them! ¡Vamonos!" She led Mira to one of the open objects, happy to see that there as a stool for shorter guests to use the thing. As Talia climbed upon one to test it out, Soot decided it was time to say hello to the child.

Normally, whenever the fiery elemental chose to do so, the butterfly would land on the person's nose. This time, however, it settled upon the orb itself. Talia had pulled back from the obstacle to share the excitement when she saw the butterfly. "Soot! No!" She hurried and scooped the butterfly in her hands, not paying any attention to the heat from the elemental. "I'm so sorry, Mira. Soot was just trying to say hi. But you should see through that thing. It allows you to see the beautiful cake as if you're right next to it. The cake is beautiful!" Then, she released the butterfly. "Stay by me, and don't go landing on anything, Soot. We don't want to appear as rude."

As the two girls watched the people use the binoculars, Mira stood on her toes and frowned as she tried to see what they were doing. They found one that wasn't being used, and Talia decided to try it first. As the younger child watched her, a magical butterfly landed on her orb. Mira looked on as it made its landing, eyes bright with awe at the butterfly that had the color of fire. Its colors were especially vivid in contrast to the deep blue of the crystal orb, like a crimson maple leaf on the surface of a lake. While she was busy admiring the little elemental, suddenly Talia cried out and scooped it up in her hands. The little girl's purplish-blue eyes looked at her in confusion, as if asking why she was worried or upset. When she first met Talia, she didn't notice the butterfly. But from how the older girl was holding it, Mira assumed it was her pet. She had never seen people have bugs as pets before, but she thought it was fun. "Tu mariposa es bonita y traviesa." Mira giggled.

Talia told her she should take a look through the thing, so she floated up onto the stool to do just that. Positioning herself so her eyes lined up with the binoculars, it was pointed at the cake layers designed after Onnen. She gasped as she saw trees, flowers, birds, and even monkeys on the cake! There were many familiar sights, like the beach that was hidden in a big hole in the ground, and a big city where she saw a lot of fish-birds. "¡Veo monos! ¡Peces-pájaros voladores!" She turned to the purple-haired girl, pointing at the cake excitedly. She wanted to see them up close, and began to float off the stool. With her orb in her arms, Mira began to levitate towards the giant cake, flying over the railing. However, she didn't get very far as soon a big pink puff got on her face. 

Struggling for a few moments, the girl pulled the pink cloud off her eyes and nose and accidentally got some in her mouth. To her surprise…it was sweet! The bit she ate melted away, and when she squeezed it, it compacted into a tiny clump. Putting the rest into her mouth, Mira quickly grabbed another chunk and flew back to Talia. Holding out her hand to her new friend, she showed her the strange clouds that could be eaten. "¡La nube es dulce! Pruebalo." She then pulled off a small part and showed her how it disappeared in one's mouth. Something like this was more fun if you shared with somebody else. It would seem that the cake wasn't the only amazing thing here–even the fake clouds circling it was candy too!

Taliana soon realized that Mira had been admiring the elemental. Gently, Taliana opened her hands to release the fiery bug, her hands now covered in soot. The fire mage smiled as Mira giggled. "Yes, he is pretty and mischievous, isn't he? His name is Soot, because of the black stuff he leaves behind," she splayed her hands before the girl. Taliana watched as the girl floated up to the stool. Mira didn't climb up, she floated!

She cocked her head to the side. "Fish… birds? What are those? Wait! I don't think we're allowed to go over the railing like that!" Taliana reached for Mira. Even half hanging off the railing, she wasn't able to reach the girl. "Mira! Look out!" She watched with concerned horror as Mira struggled with a pink cloud. There was absolutely nothing the fire mage could do for her if she was to fall. When Mira was coming back to her, Talia could not help the small sigh of relief.

What she wasn't expecting was the pink cloud being edible. Mira described it as being sweet. Talia excitedly plopped a small tuft of cloud into her mouth, her eyes widening with surprise as it melted. "¡Es muy dulce! I like how it melts in my mouth! I wonder…" Mulberry eyes slid mischievously over to some of the flowers. "Is everything here edible? Vamanos, we'll try it together," she said excitedly while she reached out to place a hand on Mira's shoulder. If she couldn't hold Mira's hand, then she could at least do this… Provided she let her. "And don't forget, there's more above us to try too!"

Mira's face had a sense of pride as she watched Taliana try the tasty pink cloud. Seeing how she was looking at the place around them, maybe she was implying that they should try to taste the other things here too. She didn't mind when Talia put her hand on her shoulder, since her own hands were full. With a nod, the curly-haired girl started by heading towards one of the myriad rosebushes that decorated the garden's landscape. She hovered over them, checking them one by one until she saw a flower that was a pale purple. Reminding her of Talia's hair and eyes, she went to pick it and instinctively pulled her hand back when she thought she touched the thorns…only to realize that it didn't hurt. Carefully she touched it again, and instead of feeling a sharp prick, the point of the 'thorn' melted! There was a bright green stain on her finger that smelled like chocolate. "¿Son dulces?" How strange, these flowers weren't really flowers–but flowers made from candy. If they were safe to touch, then she could grab it below the flower bud. Snapping the stem, she came running back with a lilac-purple rosebud, thorns and all. 

She offered it to Talia, and showed one of the leaves that had come off it. As it sat in her hand, the colors began to smudge revealing the rich dark brown milk chocolate it was made from. Licking it off her hand, Mira seemed satisfied with its flavor. Then again, children had a habit of liking just about anything if it was sweet. Pinching a petal off a pink rose, she found it didn't melt like the leaves, but was pliable. But when she bent it too much, it broke. Pink powder came off on her fingertips and the candy the petal was made of tasted like sugar and almonds. The texture was like a solid paste, not as smooth as the chocolate. The marzipan wasn't something she liked too much, so she went back to eating the color-dusted leaves. She saw several pretty fountains with ladies holding something that poured something like colored water. Leaning over, she wrinkled her nose when she caught a whiff of the alcohol. Waving her hand to fan the smell away, she stayed away from them. Those fountains had the least tasty things on this floor. There were adults who would stop by and fill their cups with what poured from them, but the child couldn't understand why.

Pointing to the walkway path that led to the second floor, she turned to look at Taliana. "¿Vamos?" What awaited them was a new land of wonders, and a slight chill in the air. They were greeted by trees, a forest even. But what was even more amazing were the life-sized figures of a red-haired woman. Mira recognized them, and she immediately ran towards one to hug it.  To her surprise, when she hugged the lady, she didn't move. Her body wasn't warm, and she smelled sweet. Letting go, the little girl was confused. She walked around the realistic sculpted statue, trying to get it to react. She didn't seem to understand that it wasn't actually a person.