-Four days after Akari’s disappearance--Sinora-

  Ugh, to think I believed that brat!I knew it was merely water, but she seemed convinced it was something else.Damn that lying urchin!She’s just as bad as that swine I finally managed to rid myself of!

  At least that thought helps raise my mood a little.To think, losing a chance to acquire a plebeian’s vocation would send that cretin into a fit that she wouldn’t return from.I suppose I shouldn’t have expected more from an unwashed boar such as herself, but she has given me trouble for as long as I can remember.

  All the other girls in town know their pce, but she constantly refused to listen to her better.My father, for some unknown reason, decided to allow that family to address us as common folk, and she repeatedly abused that privilege.I allowed it for a time, being merciful and hoping she would eventually learn the apparent truth.Even helpfully pointing out her bizarre name, Akari, when she thought herself my equal, didn’t seem to help her see the errors of her ways.However, after mother passed away because of Emira, my deep well of patience ran dry.

  I quickly found that I could stand that imbecile’s rebellion no longer, and requested that my father punish her for her arrogance.Unfortunately, father insisted on indulging her antics, continuing to deny me to this day even after the only useful member of her family perished, spouting some tripe about rewarding Centurion Ciro’s service by aiding his family, despite him wedding a lesser woman.Hah, as if a foreigner from Tarsona could truly provide proper Koreso offspring.

  So I was forced to wait till a better opportunity eventually presented itself.Shortly after I turned sixteen, my father decided an alliance needed to be formed between our family and the merchant family that controls trade to the capital.Hence, I volunteered to marry Thomas in order to seal the agreement.This will lead to a massive growth of my future business.More importantly, his connections should allow me to buy goods from all over Koreso.Perhaps even from other countries if those barbarians can produce any products worth trading for, and if they cannot, some extra bodies will make a fine addition to my secondary workforce.Soon, all the luxuries I could wish for will be within my reach.

  The fact that defiant moron considered him her boyfriend was just the icing on the cake.All it took was a little convincing, and he agreed to wait to tell her after her birthday, allowing me time to put my pn into motion.When she eventually found out, I had only hoped she would finally understand the difference between me and her, discovering that she must do as I say, but she unexpectedly vanished into the forest.Even though my problem may finally be solved, it will almost be a disappointment if she is truly, wholly gone from such a trifling act.I suppose I’ll have to let the brat take her pce.She also refuses to address me as is proper, just like her sister.

  “Priscea!! *sob* Priscea!!!”

  Speaking of brats.That girl is being so noisy!Emira is currently between lessons so her tutor isn’t minding her, meaning that, once again, I’m the one who has to manage her.

  Swiftly walking to her door, I open it.

  “Damn, Emira, would you shut up! I need to concentrate and your squealing bothers me so much that a dimwit like you couldn’t even fathom it!”

  “S-sister. F-forgive me, but Priscea ran away!”

  “What do I care if you lost another doll!? Stay quiet like everyone expects you to be!”

  *Sp*

  Ow, that smarts.My foul mood may have led me to strike her a little more forcefully than I intended to.But perhaps now she’ll listen.

  “Si-sister.”*Sob*

  As expected, she’s crying again.However, she needs to learn if she is going to be a dy of this family.Moreover, even if this may have been a bit much, as leaving a visible mark on her might bring me trouble, I doubt she can truly cause any problems for me.

  “What are you going to do? Compin to father? Be even more of a burden? When was the st time he truly conversed with you anyways?”

  Considering the events of her birth, it’s no surprise he tends to avoid any lengthy conversations with her.Though I wish that didn’t mean that I must now be the one to train her to act as befitting her station.Her deeds will reflect on our entire family, after all, as by blood, she is my younger sister.And I wouldn’t want her to sully my reputation.Thankfully, her tutor manages the majority of her studies, and our butler watches her whenever she’s outside.

  Hmm.I’d best leave her with something to consider while I’m busy.It wouldn’t do for her to interrupt me again as soon as the sting fades.

  “Now listen well! If I hear just one more sound from you, tomorrow you will be missing all of your useless dolls! Maybe you’ll be able to find them sliced up in the refuse pile. Remember? The st one that went missing was found there.”

  “Waa, hick”

  “I said not a sound! You have no idea how long it takes to get such a face just right, so stay quiet! Urgh, if only I didn’t have to reapply everything after that attack.”

  With those words, I leave.If only her pyroom was on the other side of the house from my dressing room, I wouldn’t have to endure this.I could simply have a servant inform me when she acted inappropriately.Now where was I, oh yes, applying the finishing touches.There’s only a short time left till I need to be at the tea party downstairs.

  …

  …

  …

  Nearly complete.I must look perfect during my own event.

  “Kyaah, so cute!”

  Argh, again!Why does that child never listen!?Her screaming almost caused me to make a mistake.No more threats, they aren’t working with her.It’s time to do as I promised or she’ll never learn.

  This time, I throw open the door.

  “I said, not a sound!!!”

  “Sister, please! I’m sorry!”

  “You know what I said! Time for you to learn your lesson!”

  I grab the nearest doll to me, and forcefully pull it asunder.*Shcrik*Maybe if I tear up a few of these, she’ll do something useful instead of simply hoarding dolls and making racket!

  “Aaaaaahh!!! Please! No! Waaaa!”

  “Let’s see how much noise you make after this!”

  *Shcrik**Shcrik*I doubt I need to put in the effort to destroy them all, as she will likely listen properly after only a few more.This is somewhat enjoyable though.

  However, something suddenly flies at my face.*Sploosh*Sploosh*

  “Ieeek!”

  What is this!?More mysterious water!?But I’m indoors!

  “Miep!”

  “Wh-what?”

  What was that sound?With the water in my eyes, all I can see is a bright blue light floating above me.And now there’s also a cyan light hovering directly at my side.Which promptly begins speaking.

  “You know, I could overlook just how much of a stupid swine you are in general, and how much trouble you’ve made for me my entire life in this town. Yeah, sure, I could just leave. But as someone with a little sister as well, I can’t merely stand by and watch an evil brute do such a thing! Now listen well! If you do this just one more time, the next day you’ll be missing all your useless paints. Who knows, maybe you’ll find them in the refuse pile. I’ve heard mispced items tend to be discovered there.”

  My surprise at hearing a glowing orb address me allowed it to speak at length, but…Just what does this thing think it is!?How dare it mock me!It will take more than a little water to threaten me!Come here!

  *Sploosh*Gah!More water!However, this time it hit me with considerable force, knocking me to the ground.But it won’t keep me down, I’ll-*Sploosh*

  “Aaaah!”

  *ditiditidit*Is that…ughing?At me!?How dare tha-*Sploosh*Sploosh**ditiditidit*

  Aaah!That hurt!It felt as if someone stepped on my back, and pressed me to the floor!Every successive strike grows stronger, and they won’t let me up.Nor will they stop with that awful jingling.What do I do!?Someone help me!The cyan light is drawing closer!!

  “Maybe I wasn’t clear enough, Sinora! From this day forward, you will behave yourself like a good little girl or face the consequences! Yeah, sure, I expect you’ll try testing me, but please don’t delude yourself that it’ll only be a bit of water next time. Now get out!”

  “Ieeeeek!”

  Yes, out!Of course!Not a problem!

  The guards should be directly downstairs.I should have them executed for allowing these monsters in.But first, they must remove them!

  “Guards! Guards! Emira’s pyroom, two lights! Blue and cyan lights! Attacked! Water everywhere!”

  The two guards just stare at me strangely.

  “Move!”

  Now they go.Truly, it’s time to repce them.

  “That’s an, interesting, outfit.”

  “Do you suppose she took an unintended swim in the bath?”

  Oh no!My future sister-in-w, Matia, and my friend, Canti, arrived early for the party.

  “Um, your face is, running, Lady Sinora.”

  Matia, at fifteen, is a little younger than I. Simir to her brother, she is rather thin, and her long, blonde hair reaches to her waist.An intelligent girl, Matia assists her family with their record keeping, and from what I’ve managed to gather, also tracks and, occasionally, predicts the prices of goods in towns.Her skills should prove to be a great asset to my soon-to-be-joint ventures.Fortunately, though she is clever, she is extremely timid, and as such, easily controlled.

  “Hehehe, you do know the paints go on after you bathe? Preferably while not in your dress.”

  Canti, the seventeen year old daughter and heir of a highly successful brewer, who is also the proprietor of our vilge’s tavern, The Bear’s Den, is far more outgoing.Her dark brown hair, indicative of a central Koreso heritage, the same as mine, falls to her upper back, and her brown eyes are filled with mirth.Yet, she’s been my ally for many years, and she is aware of when to hold her tongue.However, with only timid Matia present here, she has no qualms in speaking her mind.

  “Yes, of course I know that, Canti! I was just attacked while preparing myself for the party!”

  “Attacked! By whom!?”

  “I’m uncertain. There was two strange lights, and they threw water at me from nowhere while I was visiting my sister.”

  “You were attacked, by lights, with water?”

  “Yes! And they spoke! At least, the cyan one did.”

  “Speaking lights? Are you saying something is haunting you now?”

  Before I can answer, the guards return.

  “Sin- Lady Sinora, besides a few broken dolls, we didn’t find anything out of the ordinary in young Lady Emira’s pyroom. No sign of water or colored lights. Simply a water trail we assume you left while walking.”

  What!?How blind can they be!?

  I storm back up the stairs to my sister’s room.My friends and guards in tow.Only to find nothing!Not a single drop of water inside the room, no lights, and Emira sitting quietly at her table, dry and seemingly unharmed.

  “Sister, did you see where the floating lights went?”

  “Lights? There is only my dolls here, sister. You started destroying them, and then screamed and fell down. My dolls simply protected themselves! Please don’t harm them further!”

  This useless girl!Dolls can’t move!And where did the water go!?

  “Are you certain you were attacked in this room? It appears too in order for what you described.”

  “Yes, Canti! There were two magical lights that drenched me as you see now!

  At my words, Matia gathers the courage to speak.

  “Erm, perhaps the lights were ghosts, and they, uhm, possessed the dolls? And the water, uh, vanished when they did?”

  Seriously, ghosts?Such a thing is unlikely to be any more than a tale in those silly books she reads.Though, could it be possible?Is there anyone who would want to haunt me..?

  Oh!Does this mean she is truly dead then?Now that I’ve time to consider it, how that light spoke sounded awfully like her.Though not in a literal sense, as the voice was of such a pitch that it was difficult to hear, but in its wordage.Ugh, of course that boar would be too stubborn to properly stay dead!Although, come to think of it, why were there two?There must also be someone behind this, targeting me.I’ll need to think on it further soon, but for now.

  “You may be correct, Matia. But they seem to be gone for the moment. Why don’t you two head downstairs to our usual room. I’ll be along shortly. I just need a minute to clean up first.”

  Then I turn to the guards.

  “And you two, make certain nothing else finds its way inside my home, or you’ll both be needing new jobs, if you’re fortunate.”

  After returning to my room, I quickly begin preparing for my party, again.The girls will surely gossip and scoff about how te I’m going to be.Some of them will think I’ve gone mad, or at least, portray it as such.

  Arg!Those lights were such an ordeal!Judging by what they said and that they let me go free, the ghosts ought to allow me time before they return, as long as I don’t anger them further.Which, oddly enough, seems to involve how I treat my sister.I suppose a day or two of ignoring her foolery should be possible for me.As she tends to stay in her rooms, she’s unlikely to cause mischief in that time.Also, I’ll post a guard just outside my door for the time being.Preferably, a more competent one.

  Once my party is over, I’ll need to consider just what to do about this situation.

  -Emira, The following morning-

  It’s time for breakfast.Father says all of us should eat together before attending to the day’s activities, a custom he has held for years.Not that he ever speaks with me.He always only talks to my sister, though sometimes to Seloras as well; however, even then it’s only about household business.

  This morning, he’s talking about taking Sinora to one of the logging zones at the edge of the forest.Probably to teach her more about managing op…operations.All I get to learn is lessons from Miss Avita.But if I can go to the forest, perhaps I could see more fairies?I think that is where they live.However, father always seems sad when I speak, so I usually hold my tongue, but I really wish to go.I need to ask!

  “Father, may I come along with you as well today?”

  He seems surprised, and then, as expected, a little sad.But he answers.

  “I’m certain you wouldn’t be interested. I simply pn on letting Sinora try her hand at assigning some new borers.”

  “Please, father. I would like to watch. I promise I won’t be a bother.”

  This is why I don’t like speaking.Now he seems even more down than before.But, again, he eventually does answer me.

  “Very well. Seloras, if you wouldn’t mind?”

  “Of course, sir.”

  Immediately following breakfast, the four of us climb into a wagon and the driver takes us out the western gate.We only ride for a short while before we have to leave the wagon behind and walk along the path in the trees to the correct location.I trot along as best I can while holding Seloras’ hand.Forunately, the distance isn’t very far.

  Once we arrive, I see many of my father’s borers chopping trees, cutting branches, and hauling logs.He goes directly to someone I recognize as a foreman, and as promised, I stand here out of the way.But that doesn’t mean I can’t look around!Slowly spinning in pce, I scan the trees to see if there’s any lights flitting about.

  “Aaaah!”

  Suddenly, Sinora screams.Of course, father rushes over to her.

  “Sinora!”

  “My foot is trapped, father, and this hole wasn’t here a moment ago.”

  “Remember, this isn’t the town roads. In the forest, you must watch your step. Sometimes there are burrows hidden just below the surface of these rough paths.”

  While father helps free her foot, I hear a sound in the distance.Extremely faint, but familiar.*ditiditiditi*ditiditiditi*I know that sound!Where are they?

  I search all around, but try as I might, I can’t find any fairies.

  Sinora is soon freed and starts slowly walking to relieve the pain in her ankle.From where I’m standing, I can hear her muttering.

  “You really are still determined to trouble me, aren’t you? If I say your odd name, will you show yourself once more, Akari? No? Well, time to pay Talia a visit then.”

  Akari?That’s what Priscea called herself!Does my sister think this Talia knows where she went?But she mustn’t find the fairies!If she does, she may harm them like my dolls!However, Sinora could hear if I begin asking questions now.I’ll have to speak with Seloras once we return home.

  -----

  Near a certain hidden gde, a rge bear ambles along a trail, tracking a scent it’s never smelled before.Initially, it started following the scent of ripe berries, but the path it found to them was mixed with two others.One was a scent it would rather avoid, but the other was quite odd and unfamiliar.Since its food was in this direction, it would simply have to be cautious of the dangerous scent, while discovering what made this strange one.However, as the bear went along, the scents grew weaker, older, except for the one that meant food.Which was fine for it, as that was the best smell of the bunch.

  Upon entering through the gap in the trees, the bear sees its target.A huge berry bush directly next to a little stream, covered in ripe purple fruit.The bear then merrily strolls over to it and begins devouring as many as it can.In them is a peculiar taste that is unknown to this bear, though it enjoys it immensely.After the berries are gone, it also consumes the bush, finding the same taste inside that as well.

  The now mostly content bear then follows the strange scent around the gde, finding that the leaves and flowers which bear it the most, also contain the new fvor.Soon, all the easily accessible leaves, flowers, and fruits that carried that smell end up in the bear’s stomach.

  Full, the bear waddles back out the trail it entered from.