The man nonchalantly strolled into the orchard. It was impossible not to notice him because the little golden elements on his coat shone bright like diamonds in the warm sunlight. He looked like just his outfit could buy this entire place.

"Oh, a customer!" One of the farmers shouted as he approached his guest. "Welcome!"

It was an average poor man of the land who put more effort into cultivating trees than into his appearance.

Lusstoni began smoking a cigarette and blew some smoke into the man's face.

"I'm here to trade," he said.

"Of course!" The farmer tried to appear amicable despite his bad first impression because it wasn't every day that they had a customer from Norath. In that city even the beggars had golden implants, so those who didn't have the luck to be born there don't pass up an opportunity to trade with Norathians.

"I want a basket of your best apples," Lusstoni said as he took another puff. "Oh, and drag them into my airship."

The farmer's wife appeared and tried to help her husband transport the fruit.

Lusstoni observed the farmers and didn't even think of helping them. He was amused until something caught his attention. The entire family had blond curly hair, all of them but one.

"Hey, farmer, why did you dye your daughter's hair purple?" he asked.

There was a young strange-looking girl climbing a tree behind the family's house. She looked like she had been playing in the dirt recently.

"Oh, she isn't our daughter," the man answered and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"She appeared several days ago, and we can't get rid of her. We can't feed so many kids," his wife complained.

Lusstoni scoffed, "Hah, I'm glad I don't have your problems."

The farmer and his wife appeared upset but couldn't react.

"Here's your pay," Lusstoni said and threw a small sack of coins on the ground. He flung the rest of his cigarette behind himself and disappeared inside the airship. The man closed the door and already started forgetting about the orchard.

The farmer frantically ran forward to extinguish the cigarette butt before it sets their trees on fire. He sighed heavily.

"At least he paid us well." The wife tried to cheer her husband up by showing him the contents of the small sack.

"I know," he responded. "I just wish we didn't have to deal with people like him."

The family watched him fly away in silence.

"Where was I?" Lusstoni asked himself out loud as he placed the goggles back on his face. "Ah right, the music."

He turned the radio back on and began singing once more.

"How could I make this day even more perfect? Oh, I know!"

The man pulled the picture of Caermirella from the hidden pocket of his coat and hanged it on the wall of the cockpit, right next to the map.

He danced in his seat humming to the melody from the radio and grabbed another cigarette. The tapping of his foot echoed across the deck.

"I haven't smoked in ages; I think I deserve another one."

Lusstoni lit the cigarette and took a puff. Suddenly a loud cough pierced the air. He nearly fell off his chair.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" he shouted.

The coughing intensified. He locked the steering wheel in position and scanned the deck of the airship in search of the source of the mysterious sound.

He grabbed a large piece of cloth that was hanging from the dresser on the side and saw the strange girl from the apple farm underneath.

"Woah, you are so flashy!" she shouted with a squeaky voice and jumped out of her hiding spot towards him, but the lit cigarette he was holding made her cough again.

Lusstoni couldn't believe his eyes. He took his goggles off to verify that he wasn't hallucinating.

"What are you doing here? How did you even get inside?" he asked.

Seeing that she can't breathe properly, he grumpily extinguished his cigarette against a metal tray and asked again, "Why are you here?"

"I noticed you at the farm in this pretty outfit you have, and then I saw that you have this big flying balloon!" she responded excitedly. "The farm people didn't like me anyway, so here I am!"

"What makes you think I will like you?" he asked and raised one of his thick eyebrows up. "You just made me waste a perfectly good cigarette! I mean, sure, I could still smoke whatever is left from it, but I will not get back what's already gone—"

The girl interrupted his monologue with a giggle.

"I think you will like me because I already like you!" She said.

"Well, you are wrong," he informed her. "Where are you even from? I will take you there."

"Not from here," she responded without maintaining eye contact. The girl put her hands behind her back.

Lusstoni felt his pulse rising, but he tried to stay calm.

"I am not asking if you are from here; I want to know where you are from," he clarified.

"Will you let me stay here if I tell you?" she asked playfully.

"No way," he responded. "Answer my question."

"May I stay with you? Please? Please?"

"Spit it out already!" Lusstoni gritted his teeth. He didn't like having his time wasted.

"I am from Crescent Moon Isle," she said grumpily and pouted her lips.

"I've never heard of that place," he admitted. "I need more details. I don't think I ever saw it on maps."

"I am Princess Omikraya, and my island is magical!" she shouted.

Lusstoni tried deep breathing, but it didn't work for him. He could no longer contain his rage.

"Do you think this is funny?" he shouted. "I have no time for this nonsense! I am on a trip to become a better person!"

She wanted to say something, but suddenly her stomach grumbled loudly.

"May I have something to eat, please, Stylish Goggle Man?" Omikraya asked.

He muttered something under his breath and opened one of the boxes he stored under the wall. After rummaging through it for a moment, he handed her a jar of nasty diet cookies.

"Here, eat as many as you want," he said. "Meanwhile, I will try to figure out where to leave you. Magical princess, my ass."

He returned to the cockpit as Omikraya chewed on semi-stale cookies. They weren't the best, but she didn't have a proper meal ever since she left her home, so she appreciated it.

Lusstoni sat in his cockpit scratching his goatee. This situation overwhelmed him. This isn't how he imagined running away from his problems, but he couldn't deny it was an effective distraction.

The music didn't even bring him joy anymore. He turned the radio off and looked at the picture of Caermirella on the wall.

"Oh, my love, I wish you were here with me," he said under his breath. "Maybe if I protect this child, I will prove I'm worth returning to? Would you give me another chance?"

He glanced through the window. The sun was already setting. He decided to land the airship in a safe place and go to sleep. Lusstoni stretched in his seat and did as he planned.

He finally got up and returned to Omikraya to see if she already ate the cookies. The jar was completely empty. The man didn't expect her to be this hungry.

"Listen," he started. "I intended to just drop you in a random place and fly away, but I figured out it's not right. You can stay for now, but the moment I figure out where to leave you, you're out, understood?"

Omikraya squeaked of joy and tried to hug him, but the man stopped her.

"No, no touching. I don't wish to have anything to do with you," he said, pushing her away. "I just don't want to be responsible for your demise."

He tried to go to the miniature bedroom when Omikraya stopped him.

"What is your name, Goggle Man?" she asked.

He glanced at her. If he didn't hate children so much, he would probably find her cute. She looked at him with these big round blue eyes with long eyelashes. She was dirty like a feral hog, but her round face made her look like a porcelain doll.

"Lusstoni," he responded, exhaling sharply. "I'm going to bed. Don't want anything from me tonight."

"Oh," she said and looked behind him. "Is that our bed?"

"Our bed?" he repeated slightly bewildered. "You will be lucky if I let you sleep on my dirty clothes. You aren't going anywhere near my bed."

He expected her to have a meltdown, but she just happily jumped on top of his dirty laundry.

She seems happy to accept the bare minimum, he thought to himself. I wonder if this is what Caermirella felt like.

Lusstoni suppressed that thought and took his shoes off. He climbed on his bed. Normally he would take his prosthetic arm off, but he wasn't sure if he should do it in front of Omikraya.

He still felt bad about not being whole, especially after his family cut him off when the accident happened.

There were times when he wasn't sure which one he hated more, children, or himself.

Lusstoni looked at the ceiling. His thoughts were racing, but suddenly Omikraya's snore interrupted them.

She's lucky to fall asleep so fast, he thought. I wonder when I will get rid of her.