Garen was nearly injured just a short time ago, yet my sister is now ughing hysterically in my bedroom doorway.What happened between the two of them?Since I was speaking to Nibi, I wasn’t paying any attention to them other than watching to ensure Garen didn’t close in on me again.
Slowly, I make my way over to Talia.Garen doesn’t react, other than to continue staring at me strangely.Honestly, he seems somewhat stunned, with an oddly perplexed look on his face.Just what is going on?
Flying closer till I’m directly beside Talia, who is now sitting on the floor, I attempt to shout over her slowly quieting ughter.
“Sis, what happened here!? Just what could possibly be so funny at this moment, and what did you do to Garen!?”
“Hahaha, hehe, heh. H-he wanted to chase you, sis, but I told him he had to wait. Heh. That you were trying to calm Nibi, not attempting to run away. He paused for a bit when you stopped, but then he tried to push past me again. So I told him that my sister had to speak with her child first and that it would be incredibly rude of him to interrupt, and he got the strangest look on his face. He still does, pfft, hahaha.”
“Talia!”
And with a gnce at him, she’s off again, though now she’s holding her stomach and lying on the floor.I swear, this girl does not know when to stop with the jokes.Yet, since she seems to have gotten Garen to calm down for a moment, I suppose I can forgive her.Although I’m surprised he listened to her at all, as he’s accustomed to her silliness, and her jest doesn’t even make sense.He st met me less than a week ago.In that amount of time, it’s impossible for me to have suddenly had a child!Though, on the other hand, the same could be said for me turning into a fairy…I suppose he may not know what to think at this point.
Flying through the doorway, I pass by Garen and make my way to the center of the table, with Nibi nding directly beside me.That seems to have finally shaken him from his stupor, as he walks towards the table and pulls out a chair.Gratefully, Talia seems to be slowly getting her act together again, so I’m able to begin speaking once he’s seated.
“I believe I spoiled my first attempt at greeting you quite badly, so why don’t we start over? Hello, Garen. I made it home in one piece. Well, not entirely, but, uh, I’m still alive! Sort of. Er, can I start over again?”
“So you’re a fairy?”
*Sigh*“Unfortunately, I still seem to be a tiny girl with butterfly wings, yes.”
“And you say you’re Akari? The same girl who went into the woods six days ago?”
“Yeah, sure, that is still my name. Same as it was that morning you met me before I went to visit Thomas. Same as the st sixteen years.”
“And her? She isn’t really..?”
“No! You know how Talia is. Half of what comes out of her mouth is only meant to tease. This is Nibi, and while she may act like a child, she is most definitely not mine!”
“Miep!”
Of course, she tches onto me.
“Though as you can see, she’s rather attached to me for the time being.”
“Then if you’re Akari, prove it. What was the first thing I forged?”
“*diti* The first thing you, attempted, to craft was a simple spoon. The handle was bent sideways with the bowl part being oversized and it looked half-melted. But the first thing I would say you properly made was an iron bracelet, which should now be in Talia’s room. Although it became too small for me to wear a few years back, I highly doubt I’m rge enough for it to fit me now.”
“And how old were you when you hit me with an anvil?”
“Please, we both know I hardly touched you and couldn’t move an anvil even if I tried. It was a slight shove, and you tripped on a hammer that a certain someone had left on the floor before your head collided with the anvil. Also, I was only nine at the time. I’m certain it was more your fault than mine.”
He pauses and ponders that for a few moments, then continues.
“Then if you’re Akari, why did you act as you did earlier? You seem to be almost an entirely different, uh, person now than when you first spoke. What if that is who you really are? How should I know you’re not tricking me?”
“Well, remember how fairies are said to be magical creatures? And that in the stories, a fairy’s colors would show their character? It would seem this particur fact was somehow reversed. To keep things simple, I’ll merely say that magic changes what color I am, but with it, my personality changes as well. Usually, I try to avoid that happening, but when you suddenly visited, I, uh, panicked a little. I wasn’t sure what to say, so I attempted to calm myself by changing colors, but that caused me to behave the way you saw.”
“So let me get this straight. You’re saying that you’re sometimes not Akari?”
“No! I definitely am me. Only a little different for a time. Erm… Oh! Do you remember that time you got drunk, and as I was helping you return home, you started bbbering on about how the two of us were good friends? You know, things you normally don’t say or make such a fuss over? A little alcohol doesn’t mean you weren’t Garen during that time. In the same manner, magic does that to me now, albeit in various ways.”
This comparison works to a degree, right?At least it seems to have gotten to him a little.There may even be a hint of embarrassment in his expression.Considering how he acted at the time, I wasn’t certain he would even remember that particur conversation.Luckily for me, it would appear that he does.
A few minutes pass in silence as he seems to struggle with his thoughts.As he’s doing so, I decide to address the second part of his earlier question.
“Oh, and regarding fairy trickery, this-“
I gesture at myself.
“-is a great example of why you shouldn’t trust fairies. I followed one who was ‘saving’ me, and the next thing I clearly remember was waking up with a pair of wings on my back. I understand that may not be helping my case, but you can ask my sister about how I’ve acted, or Mum when she returns. They’ll both vouch for me.”
Another minute passes, then.
“You, you truly are Akari?”
“Yes, Garen. It’s really me.”
“And not a ghost?”
“Not a ghost. Not alive in the same manner as before either, but not a ghost. All of me is still here, I think, and I have no pns to vanish any time soon.”
At that, tears start flowing down his cheeks.It would seem he finally believes me.If only I had told him earlier.
“I’m sorry, Garen. I should’ve tried to speak with you sooner.”
He puts his arms crossed on the table and hides his head in them.A minute passes with only the sounds of sobbing, but after a short while, he quiets.Then his breathing calms and becomes steady.
“Garen?”
I think he fell asleep.Just how long was he in the forest searching for me that he would pass out at the table?
*Sigh*When I wanted to hide that I became a fairy, I never considered what that would mean to those outside of my family.I never meant to bring grief to those who care about me.However, with everything that happened to me and my fear of what may yet happen, I had completely ignored my friends.
What about Maline?Is she also hurting because of me?I’ll need to find some way to inform her that I’m not dead.Although, even being my closest friend, or perhaps because of it, she’s the one I’m most afraid of how she may act if she sees me as I am now.Her mum, Mrs. Narissa, would also tell stories about fairies, but those most often revolved around them being impossibly powerful alchemical ingredients.And while Mum may not have the necessary components to make fairy traps, Maline, with all of her alchemy supplies, probably has no such issues.If I’m able to speak with her before she does anything rash, I truly doubt she’ll harm me, but I’ll have to carefully consider how to create that opportunity.Yet she deserves to know that I’m still amongst the living, somewhat, so as soon as Mum returns, I ought to ask about her.
In the meantime, Talia is motioning me over from my bedroom, so I leave Garen to sleep for now and fly towards her.Once Nibi and I enter the room and begin hovering, she then quietly closes the door before speaking.
“He’s sleeping, isn’t he?”
“I believe so. He looks completely exhausted.”
“We ought to have told him sooner, sis.”
“I know, Talia, we should have.”
“Well, at least he knows now…So what happened earlier with Nibi? I only saw a blue light and a few icicles before you flew away with her.”
“Uh, she unched an icicle at Garen before I was able to tell her to stop.”
“She did what!?”
“Shhh, you’ll wake him!”
“What happened? He didn’t seem hurt. Did she miss?”
At this, Nibi decides to answer for herself.
“No, Ak’ri.”
“What she’s trying to say is that she almost struck me with it, or more accurately, I moved into its path.”
“What!?”
“Talia!”
“Sorry. But if it was the same size as the others I remember, then it was rger than you are. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, sure, somehow. I’ve seen Nibi control her magic before and thought she would stop or turn the ice away, yet she didn’t at first. However, directly before it struck me, the ice simply melted. I think she stopped it there on purpose.”
“Nibi! You could have hurt her.”
“Miep? No.”
“What do you mean, no? You can’t simply hurl something sharp at others and expect them to be fine. What if you had accidently hit her? Why didn’t you stop it sooner?”
“Miep?”
She merely looks confused by Talia’s questions.
“You could have stopped the ice earlier, or turned it away, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“Ak’ri.”
“What about her?”
“Ak’ri!”
“Umm. I don’t understand.”
Nibi turns and looks at me with pleading eyes, but I can only respond with a shrug.In this matter, I’m the same as Talia, having no idea what she means.Looking back and forth between me and Talia, Nibi seems to be pondering, when suddenly, she freezes, stares at me, and her expression of mild frustration changes into a gleeful grin.A chill runs through my wings, and I begin backing away from her.
“Nibi. What are you doing?”
Instead of an answer, she raises her arm and points at me.Beside her, water appears and forms into an icicle in a blink of an eye, albeit considerably smaller than the ones from before.Which then promptly speeds in my direction!
“Nibi!” “Nibi!”
Judging by her expression, she doesn’t appear to have any intention of stopping the ice just yet.She didn’t change her mind about harming me, did she!?Unlikely, but even if this is merely a prank, simply because she managed to halt one ice shard precisely before hitting me, doesn’t mean I trust her to do it again. So I throw myself to the side, fpping desperately, yet it’s a futile attempt.The ice follows my movements perfectly and is far faster than before.And this time, instead of vanishing at arm’s length, it spears me directly in the chest!
“Sis!”