“Would you please be my friends!?”

  Oh.Uh…I must say, I never expected to be asked by a child not yet half my age, but many times my height, if I would be her friend.Especially, not with such a desperately pleading expression. Even considering what she put me through, I don’t believe I could ever be so cruel as to tell her no.It truly wasn’t her fault that I decided to continue posing as a doll at that time.No, that was the fault of this stupid fairy body allowing water essence to mess with my mind!

  Speaking of fairies, Nibi seems to be considering Emira’s question as well.Though she is staring confusedly at the blue dress she was given while doing so, the one she received from Emira.Which leads me to wonder what, exactly, Nibi considers being friends to mean.I suppose only time will tell, as I surely would have trouble speaking to her about it now.In any case, I should answer this girl so she’ll start breathing again.

  “Yeah, sure.” “Yah, sur.”

  Nibi responds at the same time as I do, which she promptly grins at.Though Emira has a much greater reaction.

  “Truly!? You will!? Both of you!? Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!”

  Along with expressing her gratitude, she does several excited little hops.Warily watching her for signs that she may attempt to grab me, I try to calm her.

  “Yes, yes, but you need to speak a bit quieter, or your butler will soon wonder why you’re shouting.”

  “Oh, of course. Anything you say!”

  Seriously, with this much excitement, one would think she’s never had friends before.Err…Never mind.Well, before she leaves, there’s something that I ought to tell her.

  “Emira, listen to me. If you meet any other fairies-”

  “Are there more fairies living here!?”

  “No! But if you meet any others, in the forest for example, you should stay away from them and come tell me. As I said before, there are many that are quite unfriendly.”

  Almost all but me, I’d wager, but I don’t wish to frighten her.

  “Very well, I will.”

  With the fairies apparently active just outside of town, hopefully she’ll do as I say if she sees one.It would be awful if she was harmed because I caused her to trust those bastards.Hmm, I think I’m starting to understand why parents tell those frightful tales.

  Before I can continue that thought, Mum peaks her head into my room.

  “Emira, I believe it’s about time for you to go.”

  She looks a bit sad, but to her credit, she doesn’t compin, and begins heading towards the door.

  “May I return another day, Mrs. Fiona?”

  “Of course. But before you go, shouldn’t you say goodbye to Priscea?”

  “Mum!”

  What is she saying!?That’s not my name!

  “Oh, yes! Goodbye, Priscea! Goodbye, Nibi!”

  “Miep!”

  When I hesitate, Mum signals me to py along.At least, I think that’s what she means.If she were pying a jest at my expense, I would expect her to be ughing, or at least smiling.Yet, she seems to be serious at the moment.Ugh, she better have an incredibly good expnation for this.

  “Goodbye, Emira.”

  As they leave, Mum closes my door once more, so I fly up to my lookout spot I was at a short time ago and peer out.As I do so, I can hear her whispering.

  “Remember Emira, don’t tell anyone else about the fairies. But if you absolutely have to do so, don’t let them know Priscea’s other name. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Mrs. Fiona.”

  “Good. Now have a safe trip home.”

  With that, Mum ushers her out of our home to the waiting butler.Once the front door is again shut, she begins walking back towards my room, but Talia calls out to her from where she’s preparing dinner.

  “I’m sure Sis wants to speak to you about a few things, Mum. As I said, I’ll take care of dinner tonight, so don’t worry about it.”

  Yes, she certainly wants Mum out of the way till she’s fully ready.And from the expression on Mum’s face as she walks towards my room, she knows Talia is up to something.Yet, she doesn’t say anything back to her.

  Seeing her walking towards me, I float down and wait for her atop the rge bed.Nibi, meanwhile, continues looking out.It would seem she enjoys that perch.Or being able to spy on Talia.A moment ter, Mum enters, closing the door behind her, and sits beside me.

  “So what would you like to speak about first, Aki?”

  “How about we start with why you told Emira to call me Priscea! That’s a name for a doll!”

  “Are you saying that you’re a doll?”

  What?Is she trying to make me angry!?

  “No! Of course not!”

  “Then she didn’t give it to a doll, now did she? She gave it to you, one she thought a fairy. Which makes it a fairy’s name. And I know you’ve looked in my mirror recently.”

  I’m not certain that’s how that works.Also, there’s the bigger problem.

  “But it’s still not my name!”

  “I know, dear, but would you have her speak your name if anyone asks about fairies? Perhaps you didn’t notice because we already knew about you, but she did give away your secret. What if she comes across someone else that she decides she has to tell it to? Someone who will believe even a child.”

  Ugh.I suppose she has a point.If that young girl was able to work out the connection between my name and a fairy’s, I’m certain others can as well.It’s already bad enough that I’m suspected of being a ghost.If some were to find out about the existence of fairies, which is a possibility with what is apparently occurring in the forest, and be told that one of them is named Akari, even by a child, they may come here to search for me.And they might not care if they harm my family in the process.

  “Fine. I suppose I can pretend to be Priscea whenever she’s around.”

  “Which I expect will become more frequent if she considers you her friend. Sorry, I couldn’t help but listen in. She wasn’t exactly quiet, after all.”

  “Would you have had me tell her no?”

  “Not at all, dear. You just have to deal with the consequences of your decision.”

  Meaning I ought to let Emira address me by a different name.*Sigh*Well, it could be worse.It’s only a single child, and the name isn’t a terrible one.However, there’s another issue.

  “Could you tell Talia not to call me that? I doubt she’ll listen if I ask her.”

  “When Emira is present, I expect she’ll call you by Priscea as well, which you’ll have to get used to if you want to continue with this. Although, if she does begin to take it too far, let me know, and I’ll speak to her. However, when Emira isn’t here, I doubt she’ll call you that. Despite what you may think of her at times, she truly doesn’t intend to be mean to you.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  Though sometimes I believe she does.

  “Now, shall we speak about the more serious issue?”

  Ah, yes.The original reason for Emira’s visit.

  “I think I’m okay with people believing me gone, as long as I tell my friends that I’m fine. Or, mostly fine. But what about you, Mum? Same as our guests, others will give their condolences as well. Will you be okay?”

  “I believe so. Honestly, I’ve been receiving sympathies for your disappearance over the st few days already, so this wasn’t entirely new.”

  That must be hard on her.Not only because she’s hiding the fact that I’m still here, but it must remind her of Pa as well.

  “I’m sorry, Mum. But I’m afraid letting everyone know about me would draw a dangerous kind of attention towards us.”

  “I know. Which is why I’m going along with it. Don’t worry about me. As long as I know that you’re okay, I’ll be fine.”

  “And Talia?”

  “She’s strong and clever. I suspect she finds this particur situation more amusing than anything else.”

  Mum’s probably right.She didn’t seem all that affected by the official announcement.

  “And speaking of whom, what do you suppose she’s plotting out there?”

  A surprise dinner most likely.Yet Sis won’t appreciate me telling her that.

  “I don’t, uh…”

  I don’t…The next word is escaping me at the moment.It’s there on the tip of my tongue, but I just can’t seem to remember what it is.I know I ought to merely use another one, but isn’t it a simple word?I don’t…what?

  “Aki?”

  “Huh? Yes?”

  “I asked if you knew what your sister is pnning?”

  “Oh. She’s merely making dinner, isn’t she?”

  Well, I’m certain I’ll recall the word ter.Yet, Mum gives me a suspicious look.Sorry, Talia, I’m truly not good at this.

  “Well then, why don’t you tell me what happened with Garen while I was away. You said there was some trouble at first?”

  So I tell her about what took pce this morning.Though I leave out the bit about the garden.She has a good chuckle when I tell her about being trapped in a pot, but becomes serious when I speak about Nibi’s actions immediately afterwards.Even more so when I tell her the result of the magic show Nibi performed, at which point, Mum interrupts my story.

  “That’s worrying. She’s been so well-behaved around us that I forgot what she might be capable of. Obviously, she’s a fairy, but she hasn’t truly harmed anyone since she’s been here.”

  Well-behaved…I can think of a few things that she’s done that wouldn’t qualify as such, yet she hasn’t done them near Mum.

  “Do you suppose you could convince her to stay at the fairy gde when you return?”

  “I highly doubt it. Even though she understands most of what I say now, she doesn’t stray far from me. I’m fairly certain she would simply follow me home again if I tried to leave her there.”

  “Then hopefully you can teach her when it’s appropriate to use her magic, among other things, before she causes any significant trouble.”

  “Me? Wouldn’t you be better at that, Mum?”

  “You are the one that she listens to, dear. While I will attempt to provide any advice that I can, I’m afraid you’re going to have to be her teacher while she’s with you. Otherwise, the fact that you’re still living here may not stay a secret for long, not to mention that people may be seriously harmed.”

  Unfortunately, I came to the same conclusion myself.I was simply hoping Mum might have thought of something I hadn’t.Speaking of which…

  “I don’t suppose you know any good methods for teaching fairies?”

  “Heh, no. I doubt anyone has ever tried before. What human would risk angering a group of creatures with powerful magic at their disposal by telling them that they can’t simply do as they please? If they did, they certainly wouldn’t attempt to live with them afterwards, even if they survived the experience unharmed.”

  That doesn’t exactly make me any more confident.However, she continues.

  “But you’re in a unique situation here. From what you said, her magic doesn’t harm you, nor does she wish to do so. Moreover, as long as you’re not sending her away, she seems content to do as you say. Whatever her reasons for doing so may be, it means that you have an opportunity to teach her how to live amongst us properly, if that is what she desires to do.”

  Yeah, sure, but will she listen when I tell her to not throw a magical tantrum in the house?I suppose she is a water fairy, and I still seem to be her focus.Perhaps that will be sufficient as long as I don’t demand that she leave?

  “By the way, Aki, where even is Nibi right now?”

  Huh?As I said, she never goes far, but I don’t see her anymore.Then suddenly, I hear Talia’s voice from the other room.

  “Nibi! It’s not ready yet!”

  Well, I found her.