Getting to the top floor, Elias tried various rooms before he finally got to Lizzy's.
The little girl lay sprawled on the king-sized bed, clutching a large teddy tightly in her arms. She tussled and turned, mumbling in her sleep.
Getting closer, Elias furrowed his eyebrows, feeling discomforted at the lines of sweat trailing down her face.
'Is she having a nightmare?'
Hesitating for a second, he bent his ears to her mouth, hearing her whispers.
"Run... I need to run..."
"Scary... it's so scary...."
"Someone stop the scary monster... someone..."
Elias gritted his teeth. He should have known, actually, after all, whatever she had experienced back home at Arvenelle was far too much for someone her age.
The trauma still remained. She would always remember the fear, the cruel melody of the singing monsters, the hopelessness...
The damning despair.
He couldn't help but tap his chin in thought, speaking to himself.
'I need to ask around for a therapist. I can't have this becoming a problem.'
He took a deep breath, hiding his agitation behind a smile.
Then he raised both hands and began to tickle her, his lips curling into a grin.
The little girl jerked awake with a yelp, her raven hair sticking messily to her forehead.
Her eyes widened when they met his, before she stood on her feet while puffing out her cheeks and pulling her lips into a pout, jumping slightly on the bed that she began to bounce.
She struck her little hands at his chest in a tantrum.
"Bully Biggy! Bully Biggy!"
Elias laughed, ruffling her hair while she huffed beneath him.
"It must have been lonely without your Biggy. Right, little rascal?"
She folded her arms, turning her annoyed face away.
"As if! Valerie took me to the pet store, where... where I met little Browny, who is way more fun than you. And... and I also went to the mall–"
Elias winced at the jab, half wondering how he had been outperformed by a dog.
'What the hell do you mean by more fun than me? I have way more charisma!'
He rolled his eyes, deciding to ignore it, else the girl would spend the rest of the day hitting it in his face.
"Guess where we are going, little rascal?"
It took a moment for the weight of his words to settle in, before she began to bounce on the bed, giggling excitedly.
"Candy! We are gonna get some candy!"
Elias slapped his hand over his forehead, feeling exasperated.
"The Arcade. We are going to the Arcade."
She raised one of her eyebrows curiously. "What's an Arcade? Does it have some candy?"
Elias rolled his eyes. "Why don't we find out when we get there, huh?"
She huffed, feeling dissatisfied.
"If... if no candy, I will tell big sis Valerie you have a crush on her!"
His eyebrows furrowed. "I do not."
The little girl laughed. "Exactly, Biggy. Exactly!"
Elias blinked once, before a resentful sigh escaped his lips.
"Dammit, you really have taken after my worst qualities."
"So... candy?"
"This will be the last time!"
"Yay!"
Elias flicked her forehead, the little girl wincing with a pout.
He turned, walking towards the doorway.
"Have a shower first and meet me downstairs. We leave in half an hour, little princess."
Elias was just in time to hear her annoyed voice before he shut the door.
"Bully Biggy."
***
By the time Elias arrived at the Fiva Arcade with Lizzy, the sun was already beginning to set over the horizon, enveloping the skies in a gorgeous, orange glow that illuminated the magnificent outline of the sprawling city.
The both of them wore matching black leather jackets, and Elias watched as the little girl held his hand with one of her own, her other hand pointing at various things she found fascinating along the way.
"Hey Biggy, why are the buildings so, so big? I can't see the top at all!"
She pointed at the floating holograms scattered across the skies.
"And can you see that too? It's glowing, Biggy... and there's people. There's people on some of them."
Sometimes she became annoyed at the ringing of the hover cars ahead, complaining under her breath.
"Noisy. So noisy. Why do they make so much noise?"
Other times she raised her hands with a giggle, as if trying to catch the golden moths of light drifting towards the ground.
"Sparkles. There's so much sparkle."
Elias was happy that she was excited. But for some reason, he also felt a little skeptical.
After all... ever since he had told her about the tragic fate of Mum and Dad, he had half expected her to still be sullen...
At the very least, she wasn't supposed to recover this quickly.
But really... who can predict the mood of a little kid?
Sparing a glance at the excited girl, his lips couldn't help but curl into a smile.
'I still need to speak to her anyway. I have a feeling she is trying to be strong to keep me from getting anxious.'
While that was certainly compelling, Elias wouldn't want that at all.
After all, what was the point of being the big brother if she didn't have his shoulder to cry on?
Hearing the familiar beeping sound of a notification from the AI, Elias spared a lazy glance at his wrist.
[You have arrived at your destination, Elias Verdan.]
Up close, the Arcade seemed to emanate a cozy atmosphere, some part of the walls made of glass, other sections made of ivory slabs that seemed to reflect the light from the setting sun.
Crowds of people constantly went in and out of the building, and even from outside, Elias could already hear the rush of voices as people talked and argued over games over the moving of joysticks and clicking of buttons.
Elias stepped inside the doors too, with Lizzy still ranting by his side, feeling excited at the thought of visiting the arcade after such a long, long time.
After all, he was sort of an avid gamer himself.