Inverse System

"Man, what's taking Xenia so long? It's not like her to be late," Quint scratched the back of his head as he and Raxo waited in front of her house.

"The hell's that girl doing? Leaving me alone with a guy! Now if I enter, mom and dad are gonna think he's my boyfriend or something," Raxo thought, shaking her head back and forth.

"Your parents really think that way? It's fine, we'll just clear up the misunderstanding," Quint stated as Raxo turned around in panic.

"You heard that?! I-I mean, I didn't mean it that way… It's just I don't want my parents jumping to conclusions… It's not like I think it's a bad thing… You know what I'm sayin'?" She rambled, looking up to see Quint not paying attention, inspecting the large, wooden door.

"What kind of wood is this? It's much richer than zir wood. Were's it fr—" he was suddenly hit at the top of the head as Raxo angrily walked towards him, Quint yelling in pain.

"The hell was that for?" He said, holding his punched head.

"Nothing. We have no more time to waste. Let's head inside already," she remarked, irritated as she knocked on the door.

After a few seconds of waiting, the door opened, a grey-haired maid greeting them as they met.

"Ah! My lady! You've finally come to visit! And oh! Is that your—"

"No, Diana, he's not my boyfriend," Raxo cut the excited maid off before she could finish her sentence.

"Oh…" The maid deflated in her jubilation, then re-ignited.

"Nonetheless, it is great to see you again my lady. And it's nice to meet you as well, mister..?"

"Quint Vossen. Student at Ranger academy. I hope I'm not intruding, but I'll be accompanying miss Raxo Tincer this afternoon. Pleased to make your acquaintance," Quint bowed in courtesy, making Raxo look at him in a confused air.

"The hell? I guess he can also act nice when he wants," she thought in her mind, impressed.

"Oh, what a wonderful gentleman you are! Please take off your shoes and follow m—" suddenly, a loud thud could be heard coming from the top floor, as a loud panting sound came flurrying down the stairs, with sniffles being heard at the same time.

"Is it true!? Is my little girl back?!" A red-haired middle-aged elf emerged from the corner of the entrance's hallway, sniffling from a runny nose, his face as red as his hair.

"Sir Alen! You mustn't get out of bed!" Diana urged, holding him up as he nearly collapsed.

"My apologies Diana… But I thought I heard her voice," he said as he hyperventilated, closing his eyes so he couldn't see who was at the entrance.

"That's your dad? Not what I expected that's for sure. From how you talked about him, you made him sound like he was a nationwide threat," Quint whispered to Raxo, who was facepalming as her dad came into the fray.

"Sorry about him… He's a little… overbearing…" She exhaled in a discouraged tone, making Quint chuckle.

"It looks like he really loves you though. Good for you," he smiled from ear to ear, making Raxo blush as she coughed loudly.

"*Ahem*. Father?" As she said his name, his eyes flew open, his back straightened, and his head snapped to the entrance, almost as if he was pumped full of drugs.

"Oh my… I can hardly believe it… My little girl is home!!" His legs regained vigor as he ran towards Raxo at full speed, his arms spread out for a hug.

She held her hand out in front of her and stopped him from hugging her.

"Dad, you're sick. I don't wanna catch whatever you've got. Though, I'm glad to see you too," she warmly smiled at him, making tears flow from his eyes.

"Oh, how long has it been… Welcome back Raxo…" He wept, then his eyes bolted to Quint, who stood there smiling genuinely at their reunion.

"This man… He seems to care for my daughter… Are you perhaps—"

"No." Raxo and Quint answered simultaneously, making Alen heave a sigh of relief as his adrenaline also ran out, making him collapse on the floor, his fever heating up.

Diana, the maid, took Raxo's father back to the living room, where she set the couch up as a bed so that the father and daughter could converse.

"Is that who I think it is?" A mature, female voice could be heard from the kitchen as a well-figured blonde woman wearing an apron emerged.

"Hi, mom! I missed you!" Raxo dashed to her mother and hugged her tightly, her mother hugging her back warmly.

"Oh my! Hello there sweetie! I missed you too!" The two smiled at each other, making Quint scratch his head in confusion.

"What the hell is up with this family..? She was having me thinking they were gonna be abusive parents or some shit. Not this happy go lucky family…" Quint thought with a severely confused look on his face.

The family sat down on the couch as the maid brought the food out to the coffee table.

"Oh, I hope you don't mind eating here Quint dear… We'd usually be sitting at the dinner table, but her father needs to be in a comfortable space for his fever," the mother, who Quint had just introduced himself to, apologized.

"Oh, no need to apologize ma'am. I'm completely fine here," he replied, making Raxo's mother smile warmly at him.

"Oh, you're very lovely dear. Why don't you date my daughter here? She may seem tough on the outside, but I assure you that she is very sweet once you get to know her," the mother proposed, making Raxo's face turn as red as her father's.

"Don't give him ideas Elana! I haven't given him the pass yet!" The father coughed as he heard them talk, Raxo trying desperately to change the subject as Diana brought out the last of the food.

Suddenly, they heard the door jerk open, the sound of heels stepping through the door as a familiar voice yelled out.

"I'm home Mr. and Mrs. Tincer!"

"That sounds like Becca. Have you two talked yet Raxo? She's been so excited to see you again," her mom asked as Raxo gulped out of nerves.

"Yes… I've talked to her already..." She uttered as the blonde-haired girl entered the living room.

"Oh my! Raxo! And your boyfriend's with you too! It's so good to see you! We didn't get to finish our conversation earlier!" She put on a facade as soon as she entered, sitting on the large couch that revolved around the table with all the food in the middle.

"Hello again Becca…" She greeted her discouragingly.

"Ah! Mr. Tincer, you should be in bed! What brought you all the way out here?" She feigned concern as she saw Raxo's dad.

"Thank you for your concern Rebecca, but it was a necessary sacrifice to see my daughter as soon as possible. But never mind that now, let's eat. Honey, if you will," he asked his wife, to which she got a plate for him and began feeding him.

The rest began eating as well after them, Quint staying silent as Raxo caught up with her parents, laughing as they ate her mother and Diana's delicious food. Quint noticed that Rebecca was also staying silent, her artificial smile brimming as the family talked. She glanced over at Quint, her smile growing sinister as Quint frowned at her. Suddenly, she opened her mouth and spoke.

"I assume you both heard about what happened in the engineering fair?" Rebecca spoke out, catching the attention of the conversation, making Raxo grow an expression of unease.

"Ah, yes. How did that go Raxo? I was honestly hoping I could see what you invented. So, wh—" her father's speech was interrupted.

"Who cares about her! Listen to this, my glow fan got the support of every investor in the building! My product is going to be incredibly beneficial to the company, isn't that great Mr. Tincer?" Rebecca exclaimed excitedly, making Alen raise an eyebrow.

"Yes… That's great, but I want to hear what my daughter invented. Anyways Raxo—"

"Oh!! And I got praised by Mr. Ginald himself! He said my product was amazing and that he'd offer me a full-time job! Of course, I would have been guaranteed a job anyways, considering how amaz—" 

"Rebecca. Please be quiet," Alen looked at her with a gaze of irritation, making her shut her mouth, sweating profusely.

She bit her lips in anger as Raxo's dad asked her what she invented again, making Rebecca blow her lid.

"I'll tell you what happened during the fair! Her name was never called! She just sat there, twiddling her thumbs. She didn't show any invention off!" Rebecca claimed, inducing a look of surprise on the mother and father.

"Raxo, is that true?" Alen asked out of pure concern.

"Yes… It's true. However, I did invent something. A little girl and I did together. She's amazing to say the least. Our invention was so good that we were reserved a meeting with Mr. Ginald at 5 pm. Of course, I had to come here while my partner went to the meeting," Raxo explained, making Rebecca recoil in her seat, with an envious expression.

"You're lying, right… There's no way you invented something better than mine…" Rebecca spoke out angrily.

"The man just told you to shut up, so shut your mouth already," Quint threatened, beastifying his eyes to intimidate her, which did the trick, inducing a look of fear in Rebecca's eyes.

"Well? What'd you invent! I'm dying of excitement here! My sweet little girl finally invented something! Oh, how I've dreamt of the day!" Alen sat up from laying down.

"A device of perpetual motion. In other words, an alternate energy source," as she said that, Alen and Elana's eyes widened, mouth gaped open in shock.

"No way…" As Alen uttered those two words, they felt a sudden tremor in the earth under them, the sound of glass shattering piercing their ears as they heard an explosion from the distance.

"The hell was that?!" Quint sprung up in panic, followed by Raxo, both of them running outside in a hurry.

What they saw made their hearts drop to their stomachs, their eyes gazing upon the sight of the tall skyscraper's top floor.

The shattered glass falling down from the Echo building's highest floor, along with the smoke rising from inside the building terrified them as the rest of the family also ran outside. They suddenly felt another tremor, as a bright spark emerged from the inside of the building, confirming that it wasn't an outside attack.

"Oh my! What happened?" Raxo's mother gasped.

"My office! The hell is that Ginald doing?!" The sickly father yelled as he leaned on the threshold of the house.

"Hey… Isn't Rein supposed to be up there..?"

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