(Somewhat long A/N)

Two weeks in a row! Yay!

Sorry that this chapter ends a little abruptly, but it's more of one chapter split into two, as what I want to happen is a bit much for a single chapter.

And even though it's been only about a week, I got four new reviews! Here are my responses to them:

Christine Ryan: Thanks once again for the review! I'm glad you're enjoying it. I actually have a hard time writing parts like this, as I'm not too good at coming up with what to do when something big isn't going on. That's actually one of the big reasons for all the time skips in that chapter.

GoatSinSparkles: Thank you so much! Fairies are my favorite race too! I was struggling between fairies and demons (one of the reasons behind Zinnia being a hybrid) but I've come to love fairies. I actually recently started reading one of your fanfics and I love it. I'm just terrified of leaving reviews. (yes, I know it's a bit hypocritical of me to ask for reviews when I'm scared of writing them, so sorry about that)

(Guest)Secret: Thanks! I'm gonna try to continue this fic as long as I can. I'm actually planning to make it go until the end of the manga, so let's see if I can keep my motivation for that long. (So many chapters)

(Guest)Anissa: Thank you. I've actually thought of posting on Wattpad, I've just never been certain. While I'm on Ao3, I no longer get many views there at all. Maybe at some point I'll see about posting on Wattpad as well.

One other thing that's cool is that this story is almost at 100 favorites; just one more!

Oh, and if anyone sees someone on SDS Grand Cross with their main character being Forest Guardian King and their name being Zinnia, that's probably me, though you can never tell for certain with people being able to copy names. So feel free to say hi!

Anywho, I hope everyone enjoys the chapter! Hopefully I can stay on track for a bit about posting regularly, but, as always, no guarantees.

It didn't take long to catch Helbram up to speed on what was going on here. He seemed just as weirded out as I was when I first arrived, if not more so. ("Fairies can have children with other races?" he had asked. I hadn't even thought to ask that, as I'd already known the answer.) Luckily, he hadn't even seemed to have noticed that Delphi's last question to him had been cut short by Zephyr's arrival. While Helbram and I had been friends for hundreds of years, I still had yet to tell him about my being half demon, and I wasn't yet ready to.

The pink-haired fairy, Radcli, had been annoyed with Delphi's excitement at meeting a new fairy. ("I thought I said you should be serious," he had told the blue fairy, sighing in exasperation. "What's the point of having stayed hidden all this time if we're just going to welcome every fairy we see with open arms?") I could see him now, floating casually next to Zephyr, who was now dry and noticeably fluffy due to Youth's wind magic. It had only been a few hours since Helbram had arrived, and Delphi was at it, as usual, asking Helbram all kinds of questions.

"What's it like, in the main Fairy King's Forest?" He had been floating on his stomach, looking for all the world like a little kid lying on the ground to get a better look at some bug or flower, when he decided to flip over onto his back, causing his hair to fall from his shoulders and hang in the air beneath him. It was a funny sight to behold, and I couldn't help but giggle.

"Well," Helbram started from his spot next to me on the root we were sitting on. "There were more trees there." His words were serious, as though this was the only difference between the two places.

Silence…

Then they both started laughing. Of course the two of them would get along; Delphi was practically a more extreme version of Helbram when it came to playfulness.

"Is that all…?" Delphi asked once his laughter had finally calmed down. He had turned right side up again during this time, and his hair was a mess in more ways than one. "I'm pretty sure I already knew as much. What's the Fairy King like?"

"Hmmm…" Helbram put his hand to his chin, thinking. Or, at least, pretending to think. Acting like he didn't know the Fairy King like the back of his hand. "Lazy, greedy, never wants to have any fun…"

I gasped in mock astonishment. "Helbram!" But his laughter had only started back up again, and I couldn't help but join in as Delphi looked curious and amused.

"But seriously," Helbram said after a moment. "I guess that the Fairy King's Forest was a lot bigger than here, and spread much further, with many more fairies, and less… humans? What did you call them? Elves? And Harlequin is Harlequin. He's a big softie with a crush on a giant. Though he can be strong when he needs to be." He unconsciously touched his chest in a spot that I knew had been the most damaged during his fight with Harlequin. "What's it like living in a Fairy Forest that isn't the main one?"

"Fun enough, I guess. I've never known anything different to compare it to." Delphi then pouted, puffing out his cheeks. "But that's just it! I've never been anywhere else! I want to explore! I want to go out and see the world. I want to experience life beyond the edges of the field. I want to meet new people and races and creatures. I want to do something new." By now he was practically shouting, his eyes shining brightly, but then he went quiet. "Everything's always the same here. While the people in town slowly are exchanged for their children and grandchildren, not much changes from one generation to the next.

"Radcli and the others say that I must stay here. I understand what they're saying - I'm the only one with the illusion magic to keep the forest safe - but it doesn't stop my longing to go beyond the boundaries." He stopped at this point, staring at something only he could see, a sorrow I'd never known he had clouding his eyes.

Uncertain, I stood and was about to try to find a way to comfort him when another fairy appeared at his side and placed a hand on his shoulder. "One day," Elque told him, the strength of an unspoken promise ringing in his voice. "One day we'll get you out of here. But for now, we need you here." His amber eyes shone with determination, and he looked every bit the part of someone comforting their younger brother, even though I knew Delphi to be older.

In fact, now that I thought about it, Delphi was older than Harlequin, but he seemed so much younger. Was it because he was always confined here? Because he'd never had any conflict to help him mature? The other fairies around him seemed mature in comparison. Elque, Youth, Radcli, Ayisa, Ana, and some of the others seemed so much more responsible than him. Was it because they had to pick up the slack from their leader?

As though summoning them with a thought, two of the three female "advisers" of Delphi's approached. I hadn't spoken to them that much, but I remembered them to be Ayisa and Ana. Normally I would get the two mixed up, as they looked almost exactly the same, but Ana had short black hair highlighted with green, and Ayisa had short black hair highlighted with dark purple. I only hoped that they didn't plan on dyeing their hair anytime soon.

"Now that your friend is here, you should take him around town. Show him the sights." Ayisa flickered her small, beetle-like wings as she spoke.

Ana followed her up with a giggle. "Not that there's much to see around here!"

"Yes there is!" Ayisa turned on the other girl.

"There hasn't been anything new in about eight hundred years, though." Ana's complaint didn't sound like it was the first time she was making it. It probably wouldn't be the last, either.

The twin fairies then glared at each other. While it looked like they were having a staring contest, I knew that they were arguing via heart reading, which creeped me out on a whole new level. At least other fairies had the decency to speak what they wanted to say aloud; these two had picked up the habit of having whole conversations in their heads, and I'd seen a fairy respond to them without their having said a word on more than one occasion.

Helbram, who could probably hear exactly what they were saying to each other, was smirking a bit, but then he must have noticed my expression, for he frowned. "Maybe we should, umm…" He gestured back towards the direction of town.

I nodded, though I paused. "What about Zephyr?"

Ayisa broke from their staring contest, snapping her gaze towards me. "The fox said that he's going to spend the day with Radcli."

Ana smiled. "He said 'have fun!'"

"He did not say it with that much enthusiasm!" Ayisa turned back to the green-haired fairy with a scowl.

"Hey!" Ana seemed almost hurt, and tried to defend herself. "I was just adding it for him! I doubt that he meant for it to come across as somber as he made it sound."

I mentally retracted my previous thought that the other fairies were more mature than Delphi. These two weren't.

Upon my thinking that, Helbram's eyes widened and he laughed, but before the bickering fairies could notice, he quickly took hold of my hand and tugged me away from their argument, towards the elven town.

Soon enough, we were standing in puddle-filled streets, looking around at the empty neighborhood. We were in a residential district, and, even though the rain had stopped soon after Helbram's arrival, most people were inside their homes.

Helbram let go of my hand, but for some reason an electric feeling seemed to be buzzing through my hand where they had been touching moments before. I tried not to dwell on it, instead tightening my cloak around my shoulders so as to try to keep the dampness out.

"I wonder if the market is still open..." I stretched up on my toes, trying to see further down the hill to where the commercial district was located. From here, though, houses obstructed my view, so I had no answer to my question.

Suddenly, I heard the poof sound of transformation come from behind me, followed by a bit white smoke seeping into the edges of my vision. Confused, I dropped back to flat on my feet and turned around to find that Helbram had been replaced by an older, green-haired man wearing an eyepatch and golden armour.

"W-why…?" My shock didn't even allow me to ask a full question.

"Well we can't have everyone seeing that I'm a fairy, can we?" His voice had deepened. "There's a reason I always took this form when I was with the Holy Knights." He seemed proud of his own foresight.

I sweatdropped. "Can you… Are you perhaps able to just make your wings disappear? Or maybe you could just wear a cloak?" Actually, I'd never thought about just trying to make my wings disappear until now. I wondered if it was possible.

As I was thinking, Helbram returned to his fairy form with a slight pout. "I thought it was a good idea…"

But I didn't respond; I was still thinking about if I could transform so that the only difference was that I didn't have my wings. It would certainly make life easier. I wouldn't always need to either transform into a human or to wear my cloak. Maybe I should make my ears not so pointed as well…

"Hey! Don't change your ears!" I jumped as Helbram's exclamation ripped me from my thoughts. He was looking at me intensely, but as soon as my eyes landed on him, he turned his face away and I saw his ears and cheeks turn pink. I could only barely hear the mumble that followed. "They're a part of your charm…"

"I-I-Um-Uh-" He may have been red, but I must have been ten times worse. I couldn't even get my flustered words out as I tripped over my own tongue. I looked away, though my eyes didn't focus on anything in particular. Even now, I could feel the tiniest of smiles tugging on my lips.

After a moment of that weird silence, I heard another poof, and I looked back to find Helbram no different. But wait… his wings were missing.

"I did it!" He was looking over his shoulder at his empty back, and I was sure that, had they still been there, his wings would've been flickering in excitement. "No wings!"

I held my hand to my mouth to partially hide my chuckle. "I'm sure Harlequin wishes he could do the opposite." Then I closed my eyes and concentrated on the image of myself without wings. I'd had mine for so long that it was difficult to imagine, but eventually I felt a change, and when I opened my eyes once more I found that smoke was dissipating around me. "Do I look any different?" I asked Helbram.

He pulled an amused face and leaned forward, his hair falling slightly into his eyes. "Kinda hard to tell when you're still wearing your cloak.

"Oh yeah…" I removed my cloak, rolling it in a bundle and holding it to my chest. Even having not worn my cloak so much around the Sins, it felt weird to not have the weight on my shoulders. What felt even weirder, though, was to feel my hair brushing against my back.

"Yep!" Helbram confirmed. "They're gone."

"This is so weird…" I said, tilting my head over my shoulder to get a better look. "I mean, I could have turned into my human form, but ever since Elizabeth's face appeared on that wanted poster, I've been hesitant to. I guess that doesn't matter now, though, since the Sins are no longer criminals... This is so weird…"

"You're repeating yourself," Helbram told me with a smile. "C'mon, let's go explore!"

I didn't bother telling him that I'd already explored the place from top to bottom thrice over. Instead, I gave him a wide grin and followed after him as he fast-walked down the hill. He seemed as excited as a kid going to market for the first time, which was kind of weird considering that he had lived among humans for a few years before now. But then I remembered he had mentioned his memories from that time being blurry, so perhaps it was like he was experiencing it for the first time. Or is it something else… That last thought only occurred to me when I noticed how often Helbram was shooting me discreet smiles.

"What?" I furrowed my brow when I caught him giving me a goofy smile for about the tenth time. "Do I have something on my face?" I scrubbed my face with my hands, trying to get whatever may have been there off.

He quickly looked away, pretending to be interested in the buildings around us, and clasped his hands behind his back. "Oh, nothing." Though I could see that the smile from before was still stubbornly stuck on his face.

Not for the first time, I wished that I was able to read hearts like other fairies. At least then I'd know what was going through his head right now. But then, I probably also wouldn't enjoy it. It must get annoying to always be able to tell what others are thinking. I wondered if they were able to control it. Did they hear others' thoughts at all times, or was it just passive? Because with some fairies, they seemed to do it like second nature, but I found that others didn't have that problem. Maybe it was different for each fairy?

"Is this it?" Helbram's voice made me glance up from my thought-filled daze, and I looked around to find that we were already at the market. Most of the outside vendors appeared to be closed due to the earlier rain that had formed great puddles and rivers in the streets, but some shops - the ones based out of solid buildings - were still open.

"Yeah, though I guess most everything is closed right now." I scratched my head in embarrassment. "It seems they aren't used to having to deal with so much rain. Looks like it was a ruined trip."

"Nonsense!" He once again grabbed my hand and pulled me into the nearest open shop, which appeared to be some kind of odds-and-ends shop. Nothing matched, and everything was out of order in stacks and heaps on the shelves. A musty smell penetrated the store, and I was pretty sure that I saw a cat wandering around some of the back shelves.

The belated clanging chime of the bell attached to the wooden door startled me as the door closed behind us, causing me to almost jump into Helbram. He snickered and smiled at me, releasing his grip on my hand and allowing his gaze to wander the messy store.

"Ooh, customers! It's been a few days since we've had any." My ears twitched as they picked up the quiet voice coming from the back of the store. It was followed by a muffled meow and a shushing noise. "Welcome to The Cat's Basket!" The voice - now recognizable as an elderly woman, called from the back. Shuffling noises filled the silence after her words before she continued. "Welcome, welcome- Oh! I've never seen either o' you before!" The woman's hunched form had become visible as she made her way to the front of the store, and now she stood before us. She was shorter than me (which was saying something), with pale skin wrinkled with age and short hair that was a silver that I wasn't sure if it was from her age or from whatever fairy was in her family tree. It was pretty obvious that she was at least part fairy, judging by her pointed ears, which was a trait I'd never seen in humans before reaching this town. She wore a pink gown that was reminiscent of Elizabeth's nightgown, only it was larger and more worn, and comfy gray slippers adorned her feet. The final piece to her look was a pair of oversized spectacles that had a gold safety chain that looped around behind her neck. "Are we finally able to leave town?"

"Uhhh…" I glanced away. "No, sorry."

She looked confused. "Then how are you…" Her eyes seemed to light up as realization dawned on her. "You must be the girl Harlow found!" She leaned forwards on the small cane that I had just noticed was in her hand. "I remember him sayin' that he found a young girl out in the field when he was comin' home. But then, who're-"

She had turned to Helbram with a squint when I gave her a closed-eyed smile and waved my hands in front of me to draw her attention. "He's a friend of mine - he was actually out in the field, too. I'm sure that Harlow-san probably forgot to mention him when he told you about me."

Catching on, Helbram grinned. "Yeah, I'm sure that's what happened. After all, who could forget that face?" It took me a moment to realize that he was talking about me, and heat rushed through my cheeks as I tucked a bit of hair behind my ear. Had Helbram always been so flirty? "She outshines me so much that people forget I even exist sometimes." He hung his head in sorrow, as though this happened every other day.

After thinking for a moment, a look of sympathy crossed the woman's face and she reached up and patted Helbram's shoulder. "Now, now, poor child. I'm certain we can find somethin' that'll let you stand out as much as yer girl, here. So just come over here…"

Both mine and Helbram's eyes widened at her words, but we never got a chance to say anything against it, as her grip on Helbram's shoulder had tightened and she was making her way to a spot in the back of the shop behind some shelves. Soon enough, I was standing alone on the doorway, mouth agape and face the color of tomatoes. Then, realizing what had just happened, I quickly chased after them, trying my best not to knock anything over or to cause any avalanches.