FATE/CURADH BEAG

"Little Champion"

Chapter 28: Breakdown in Relations

Connla's eyes widened as much as they could, and she inadvertently canceled the spell keeping the apples and baskets afloat, causing them to clatter to the ground behind her. She exclaimed in a shrill tone, "Eh!? That's Lady Fand!?"

"What is the meaning of this!?" Mini Cu demanded.

Both Mio and the new faerie glanced away uneasily. After a brief pause, the silver-haired woman replied, "Since it's come to this, I have no choice but to come clean. I am indeed Fand, Manannan's wife. My friend has told me everything about your entourage."

"I'm sorry, Connla," Mioruilt moaned. "I didn't want you to find out, so that's why I had you gather apples all the way on the other side of the grove."

The child warrior raised an eyebrow. "Find out about what?"

"That I've been… sheltering Fand from the others…"

"Uh… um… I'm not sure I understand…"

"Hold on a sec," Mini Cu interrupted them. "As tempting as it is to just stand around asking questions with our jaws agape, it would be better for Fergus and Conall to also hear what she has to say. Let's save it for when we rendezvous with them, 'kay?"

"R-Right…"

"In the meantime," he glowered at Fand, then hopped up and forced her to grab his tiny hand, "you're coming with us."

She brusquely snapped her hand away from his and exclaimed, "I am perfectly capable of guiding myself, thank you very much! I certainly don't need some… some… 'whatever you are' bossing me around!"

"Fine by me. If you attempt to flee or try any sort of funny business though, you're going to regret it very quickly, woman."

"Pah! As if I have anything to be frightened about from a pint-sized creature like you!"

"Uh, Lady Fand?" Connla murmured. "I don't think you should get on his bad side. Despite his appearance, he can still be dangerous."

Fand sighed in resignation, then said, "Oh, very well. If you're here to take care of Manannan's problem, then I have to do my part and take some responsibility for it."

"'Some' responsibility?" Mini Cu grumbled. "This whole damn thing is your fault, through and through. Seriously, this is why I can't stand faeries. Even if they show some semblance of goodness, they always wind up half-assing it in the end."

"Why, I never!"

Connla barked, "That's enough! No more talking until we meet up with Uncle Fergus, understand!?"

Mioruilt followed behind the others, silently growing more and more anxious about this unexpected turn of events.

Back at Mioruilt's hut, Fergus and Conall already had a fire going so they could cook some vegetable soup. As Fergus started to pour some drinks for them, that was when the others returned with Fand in tow. The instant he spotted the new faerie, he shot to his feet and exclaimed, "Well, well, well! Took you long enough to return! And what's this? Who do I have the pleasure of making my acquaintance with?"

He asked that question while gently taking Fand's hand upon his own. Conall rolled his eyes and muttered, "Oh, boy… Just like the sun rising in the east and setting in the west…"

"Goodness," Fand smiled. "I'm glad to know that at least one human knows how to treat me with respect, unlike a certain pudgy jerk I'm thinking of."

"Better get away from her while you can, buddy," Mini Cu warned Fergus. "That's Manannan's wife, Fand. Only the gods know what will happen if Manannan finds out a second human tried to woo the very same woman that I did."

"O-Oh, dear!" Fergus blurted and backed off. "My apologies! I have a bad habit of approaching beautiful women so carelessly. I hope you can forgive me."

"He he he, it's okay," Fand giggled. "Besides, I think you should be saying that to Manannan, not me."

"Yes, of course. I'll extend my apologies to him as well."

As Fand smiled warmly at Fergus, she cautiously turned her eyes toward Mini Cu as a distressing thought crossed her mind:

Did he just say 'woo the same woman that 'I' did?'

"All right, that's enough screwing around," Conall interjected. "What exactly is the instigator of this incident doing waltzing in without a care in the world?"

Connla told him, "Apparently Mio's been helping Lady Fand hide from the other faeries. I don't know the details beyond that. We brought them back so we could all hear what they had to say."

"I see. Well, start explaining yourselves. The more we know, the easier it will be for us to resolve this."

Everyone sat around the cooking fire and consumed some soup as the humans listened to the faeries' side of the story. It was mostly the same tale; Fand stole the Cloak of Mists, then the other faeries got her drunk and stole it from her, then it wound up missing a second time. The most important revelation came when Fand finally admitted what her motive was for the theft:

"I wanted to go to the human world and find Cuchulainn."

"Hmm," Fergus hummed to himself. "Yeah, I'm not surprised. That about tracks with what Manannan told us."

"But don't get me wrong. I have no intention of rekindling my relationship with that man. No, the reason I wish to see him again is to demand an explanation out of him."

"Let me guess - you want to understand why he turned into a god of destruction and ruined the human world."

"Precisely. I know it's because a human queen merged him with the sea monster Curruid, but for him to retain his free will and rebel against her and the entire world makes no sense to me. The Cuchulainn I remember is far more honorable than that. He must have a good reason for going on such a rampage."

"Hmph," Mini Cu grunted while cleaning his teeth with a toothpick. "'Honorable', huh? What a joke."

"What ever do you mean?" Fand demanded.

"That bastard was a mad dog kept on a short leash. He would have no problem killing his own allies if he didn't get his way, just as easily as he would slaughter any enemies who threatened Ulster. The way I see it, the moment Medb cut that leash off of him and gave him a huge dose of power, that was the moment he also lost his humanity and became something altogether inhuman. If you're smart, you're better off forgetting about it. The damage has been done, and all that's left is to wait for the Celtic Isles to rot away."

"The way you speak of Cuchulainn, it's almost as if you're intimately familiar with him. Why is that the case?"

The three humans glanced at each other nervously, wondering how Mini Cu was going to respond. Whether or not he told her the truth would dictate how they'd have to behave around her as well.

"Heh. How do I know?" the miniature warrior snidely chuckled, then stood tall before the bewildered faerie. "It's best that we stop playing dumb now. I know you heard me loud and clear when I told Fergus to stop 'wooing the same woman that I did'. I deliberately said that for a reason."

Fand's already pale skin blanched even further. "T-This can't be… You're Cuchulainn!?"

"The one and only."

"Surely you jest! If this is your idea of a prank, then I am not laughing!"

"Quick-tempered as ever, I see," Mini Cu said. "This is a conduit I'm using to project my Spirit Origin so I can accompany Connla on her travels. My real body is sleeping within Dun Scaith's Castle of Shadows."

"A conduit, huh? So you're not willing to see me in person."

"I had no way of knowing you were looking for me. Manannan only told me about it yesterday."

"…"

Connla's eyes darted back and forth between the pair, then she shakily asked, "Um… so what do we do now? It doesn't look like Lady Fand has any new information pertaining to the Cloak of Mists' location."

"Guess we're gonna have to grill the other faeries even harder than before," Conall said while cracking his knuckles.

"N-Not with violence, I presume?"

"Of course not. We established some trust between us last night. Now it's time we put that trust to the test with a surprise inspection."

"Ooh, good idea!" Fergus bellowed. "If they have nothing to hide, then they shouldn't have any problem allowing us to look through their homes!"

Fand warned them, "That's not going to be easy. We faeries have a different perspective regarding things like trust, loyalty and betrayal."

"Even so, I doubt they want this tension between themselves to last any longer. We want to put a resolution to that and bring a sense of calm back to everyone, human and faerie alike. I'm sure they'll understand that, at the very least."

"I suppose so."

Connla asked Fergus, "Should I come along this time? It might be easier if there are three of us searching instead of just two."

"No, you stay here. The faeries will get sidetracked if they see a new human among us. Besides, I'm worried about what's going to happen between Setanta and Fand, now that the proverbial jig's up. I'd feel better if you were here to keep some semblance of calm and civility between them."

"Okay."

While the group were having their conversation inside the tent, the female faerie that had followed Fergus outside the village was already running back in a panic. Her previous thoughts of claiming Fergus for herself were instantly swept away the moment she witnessed Fand accompanying Connla's group. It was approaching early evening, so the other faeries had already woken up and were preparing for the nightly feast.

"Everyone!" the elven girl shouted, obviously out of breath from all of the running.

"Whoa, what are you doing!?" Halobaromia exclaimed. "We were looking for you! What were you doing outside the village!?"

"Never mind that! I saw her! I saw Fand!"

"What!? Seriously!?" Douga barked, both literally and figuratively.

"She was with the useless faerie! They went inside her hut with the humans and started chatting with each other!"

"Are you certain of this?" Onpham wondered.

"Positive! The humans and that stupid kid are in cahoots with Fand! They must be plotting something, I just know it!"

"W-Wait just a second now. Don't you think you're rushing to conclusions too hastily?"

"I know what I saw, and what I saw was Fand and the garbage-collecting faerie talking with the humans! They're going to come here and question every single one of us about where the Cloak of Mists is! I even heard one of them cracking his knuckles! They must be planning to use violence!"

"Well, I can't deny that's what the humans are after. They said just as much last night," Halobaromia admitted. "If it was just them, I would've been fine with it. But Fand as well? Could she be angry with us for getting her drunk and losing the cloak? She knew what she was consuming would get her inebriated, so why would she blame us for it? But more importantly, what were you doing following the humans like that? Didn't you think of the danger you were putting yourself in?"

"I-I was… I was attracted to the bigger human, that's all," the female elf replied sheepishly.

"Are you insane!? I thought you and I were in a relationship!"

"Oh, please. I got bored of you a long time ago. I prefer men with more meat on their bones, not twiggy pretty-boys like you."

"Why, you-!"

"Now just settle down!" Onpham exclaimed. "This isn't the time for such talk! If what she says is true, then-!"

"Not the time for such talk!? Who the hell do you think you are, pushing your weight around like that!?" Halobaromia yelled. "Just because you're fat doesn't mean you can shove others around like you're the boss of them!"

"F-Fat!? This is muscle, you dim-witted idiot!"

"Sure could've fooled me!"

While the two men argued, one of the female winged faeries shouted at the female elf, "Now you hold up, sister! The bigger human was going to be mine!"

"You, with a human!? Hilarious! You're just an insect not worth even a human's notice! If you're that desperate to own a human for yourself, why not claim the other one with the shiny sword?"

"No way! Now that it's come to this, I suggest we have a duel! Whoever wins gets to keep the bigger human! And whoever loses-"

"DIES!" the elf girl shrieked as she grabbed a kitchen knife on a nearby table and immediately jammed it through the winged faerie's chest without hesitation.

Once that happened, pure pandemonium spread throughout the other villagers faster than a wildfire burning an entire forest into ashes. Everyone grabbed anything that they could use as a weapon and started brandishing them at each other in self-defense. Halobaromia realized he was in trouble when the murderous female elf approached him and shouted, "I've had enough of you telling me what to do! Don't do this! Don't go there! Don't eat that! Don't sleep in so late! Don't get in my way! I'm a fully-grown woman, not a goddamn pet! I want that obnoxiously pretty face of yours out of my sight! It's the only way I'll feel better about putting up with someone as annoying as you!"

"Seconded!" Onpham exclaimed from behind Halobaromia. Before the male elf knew what was happening, the dwarf wrapped his leather strap around his neck and tightened it with all of his might. A few seconds later, Halobaromia's neck snapped, instantly killing him.

"Heeek!" the female elf gasped and stepped back as she watched the dead faerie fall limp to the ground. She pointed her bloodied knife at Onpham and squealed, "Get away from me, you freak!"

"Me!? I'm not the only one who's killed just now! You literally sliced Milis in half without a second thought!"

"Shut up! I was always scared of you, what with how you tortured the Irish faeries with such glee just to test out your weapons!"

"Is that right!? I never could stand how much of a flighty bimbo you were, anyway! No matter what we did, you were never happy! Why bother with such nonsense anymore when we can just kill you and be done with it!?"

"Yeah!" some of the male faeries exclaimed in unison, obviously sharing some distaste for her past mistreatment of them. Once she knew she was seriously outnumbered, she tried to turn and flee. Unfortunately, one of the beastmen raised his axe up high and lowered it upon her head, chopping through her skull clean into her brain.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! This is seriously getting out of hand!" Douga panicked. "Stop it! Stop this at once! Everyone just calm down and-!"

A knife was suddenly jabbed through the nape of his neck, severing his spinal cord. As the chief beastman fell forward dead, his compatriot angrily yelled, "Shut up, Douga! This is finally starting to get good! No one's gonna interfere with our fun now! At long last, we can cut loose and be the proud warriors we deserve to be! Maybe we should escape to the human world and fight a bunch of battles there to entertain ourselves!"

The situation rapidly spiraled out of control as the faeries started bickering and butchering each other for any incredibly petty reasons they could think of on the spot. Before they knew it, some of the faeries grabbed the celebratory torches and were burning both the increasing number of corpses as well as their own homes in a frantic mixture of fear and delight.

Meanwhile, Fergus and Conall were already on their way back to the village by the time night arrived. Once the two men had left, Connla sat on the floor anxiously staring at the eerily silent Mini Cu and Fand.

Finally Mini Cu snarled, "That does it. I can't take this tension anymore. Connla, you hold the fort here. Fand and I need to have a private chat."

"Are you sure? Maybe I should go with you."

"It's just talk of the past that doesn't involve you. Don't worry, we won't take long."

"Okay…"

She and Mioruilt watched Mini Cu and Fand venture further into the forest away from the village. Connla didn't know if she was doing the right thing, considering that Fergus entrusted her to make sure the situation between them didn't get any worse. Even so, she knew they were adults who should be able to reason with each other despite their differences. At least, that was what she hoped.

Mioruilt was having completely different thoughts however. Now that the two girls were alone, she believed this was her chance to leave Emain Ablach. With a feigned smile, she said, "Sitting around isn't going to help you much, is it? How about we go for a walk?"

"That sounds good. I am getting a little worked up," Connla admitted, and they left the hut together.

Mini Cu and Fand made their way to a creek further in the distance, then put some distance between themselves before facing each other. Once they were ready, Fand demanded, "What do you want to talk about?"

"Me? You're the one who caused this fiasco because you wanted to talk to me. So, tell me what's on your mind already."

"You already know what I'm thinking. I want to know why you're some false god of destruction that doesn't exist in any other timeline except this one. What do you gain by destroying all life in this timeline? What is your end goal in all of this?"

"Believe me, I didn't want to do it either. But Medb had me pushed into a corner. I had no choice but to stand against her. It was the only way I could think of to protect other timelines from her tyranny."

"Protecting other timelines from her!? The way I see it, you're the one who needs to be removed from existence!"

"I suppose someone who doesn't know the full truth would see it that way."

Fand became increasingly angry as she retorted, "If that's the case, then why didn't you come look for me!? Manannan and I… no, I could have done something to help you! Why did you never consider my feelings in any of this!?"

Mini Cu visibly scowled and snarled, "Sorry, lady, but the world doesn't revolve around you. As far as I'm concerned, you're at the very bottom of my list. The only reason you were pushed to the top is due to the Cloak of Mists going missing, no thanks to you. Now we've got the threat of faeries running amok in Ireland, when we already have enough problems as it is."

Fand visibly shuddered with rage when she heard that insult. "Must you be so crass toward your former lover? Was our time together naught more than a flight of fancy? Is that why it was so easy for you to forget about me in your darkest hour!?"

"I was immature. I didn't understand the true value of having a relationship with someone I truly loved. I merely chased after whatever caught my interest, like a dog in hot pursuit of a piece of meat."

"Hah! I'll say! Guess my meat wasn't appetizing enough for you, was it!?"

"No, it wasn't."

She was appalled with his blunt response, and she exclaimed, "What nerve! Is that how you address a woman who wishes to see you again!?"

"A woman? You're just a little girl. But that's the nice thing about little girls – they can grow up to be women."

"Wha-!?"

"That's not surprising, considering you're a faerie. Now why don't you run on home and grow up for a change? I've got better things to do than to play with whiny brats."

"You bastard! I'm more of a woman than you'll ever know, you son of a bitch!" Fand raged, and prepared to draw her whip.

"Oh ho. Interesting," Mini Cu smirked. "Let's see if that newfound maturity can withstand a little stress test."

Before she could react, an ominous black-and-red aura enveloped the doll. The atmosphere around them grew malicious, and she stepped back in shock. Without thinking, she cracked the whip's tail into the foul murkiness. She tried to pull it back after it struck something, but realized she couldn't do more than helplessly tug at it. The aura rapidly dissipated, revealing Cuchulainn Alter in his proper Servant form. He had the whip's business end gripped tightly in his hand, and he glared at Fand with murderous intent.

"Ah… ah… aaah!?" the faerie yelped and collapsed onto her buttocks. She couldn't believe what she was looking at. The Cuchulainn who stood before her was far too different from the spearman she once knew. She wished she was talking to a complete stranger, but she knew it was him, and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Figures," he sneered, then crudely tossed the whip back at her. "Take a good long look at me, Fand. This is who I am now. The Cuchulainn you remember is dead."

"No… This can't be right…" she shuddered. "How could you have become something so monstrous!? Why have you become the God of Destruction!?"

"Hmph. You want to know how I became like this? Why I'm a cold-blooded misogynist capable of ending entire nations? It's simple. It was a woman who turned me into this. A selfish, petty, and incorrigible wench not much different from yourself, hell bent on conquering the known world for herself. She turned me into a weapon for her own use, but I rebelled against her and destroyed the very world she wanted to dominate. I'm still not satisfied though. I won't cease my rampage until I run Gae Bolg through her black heart, and no one will stand in my way – not even a troublesome faerie like yourself."

"Even if… that faerie… still had feelings for you?"

"Face it, Fand. It's not affection you harbor for me anymore. It's disgust. You're repulsed by the idea that I can easily move on with my life, with no concern for how you feel. But that is the difference between humans and faeries. We humans have priorities, and they constantly change as we live our very short but equally fulfilling lives. You faeries, on the other hand, have such long lifespans that your priorities never change. You're creatures frozen in one point of time, unwilling to move on and change.

"For me, it is no longer about seeking out enjoyable battles and feminine company. Things have changed so much for me that I can't afford to behave like that anymore. I have a wife waiting for me, and a world that needs saving from a maniacal queen. But more importantly than that… I have a child that I must look after."

"A child…" Fand murmured. "You mean that girl who brought you here?"

"Yeah. I wasn't there for her as she grew up. It's even worse that I destroyed the world that she has every right to live in. I robbed her of a proper future. I regret it so much that it hurts. I want to do something… anything, to make things right with her. That's why I can't waste any more time screwing around with you. Now tell me where the Cloak of Mists is."

"Gh… ugh… Ah… ah hah hah… Ah hah hah hah hah! AH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!"

Fand's shock and horror gave way to manic laughter. The whole thing was so pointless, unfair and ridiculous that all she could do was howl in mirth. Cuchulainn remained firm and tight-lipped as he watched the faerie's sanity spiral into utter despair.

"I see! I see how it is now! If it's that easy for you to throw me away, then there's nothing stopping me from doing the same!" she raged, with tears pouring down her face. "I'll do it! I'll singlehandedly save this world from your madness! This will be my final gesture to you, Mad Hound of Ulster! Die! Die as horribly and miserably as you have lived!"

He got into his battle stance and viciously glared at Fand as her body gradually turned black, and she slowly lost her humanoid form. With each passing second, her original form melted into something dark and hideous, sporting nothing but a pair of soulless white eyes that stared directly at him.

"BRRRGUGUGUH!"

"Tch. Figured it would come to this," Cuchulainn grumbled, then raised Gae Bolg before him. "Sorry, Manannan. Fand's not giving me much of a choice here."

The crimson spear glowed with energy in response to its owner's bloodlust. He got into a javelin throwing stance, then declared, "Your heart is mine!"

He activated his Noble Phantasm at the same time the hideous monstrosity formerly known as Fand lunged at him, bearing some sort of malicious ichor that he could tell was overflowing with curses and hatred for him. He leapt over her and glared daggers at her from high above, his sharpened teeth clenched tight as he forced himself to go through with this terrible choice.

"Gae… BOLG!"

Fergus and Conall couldn't believe what they were seeing.

The first sign they noticed that something was wrong wasn't a sight, but rather a scent. Acrid fumes curled their way from the burning village all the way to the woods where they were. No simple bonfire would be strong enough to cause such a strong smell from so far away, so their senses pricked to life the moment they caught a whiff of smoke.

"Shit, I don't like this," Conall snarled.

"Be alert. We don't know what to expect," Fergus warned them. They each brandished their legendary swords and ran straight for the hamlet, expecting to be met with unprovoked violence. What they found was rather unexpected however. Apparently, there were far fewer fairies still alive than what they anticipated. Those who were still breathing were going around causing chaos for the sake of fueling the pandemonium even further, without any semblance of reasoning or logic behind it. Their biggest worry was the fire raging around them, rather than the murderous faeries that had spotted them.

"There you are, humans!" Onpham jovially exclaimed, his face and clothes soaked in blood. "Are you ready for tonight's festivities!?"

"Festivities!? You call this carnage festivities!? What the hell is wrong with you!? Why are you all doing this!?" Conall howled in pure rage.

"Oh, you know! Halobaromia's girlfriend tried tailing Fergus, but then she saw Fand and came straight back here! Needless to say, none of us took the news very well. Still, what's done is done, right? That just means there's more meat for me to enjoy! I couldn't stand sharing it with the others anyway! Hah hah hah!"

Fergus shuddered when he heard this, and grumbled, "Damn it all. I should've been more careful…"

"Come now! Let's sit down and enjoy the fire, shall we!?"

"FUCK NO, WE'RE NOT ENJOYING ANY KIND OF FIRE!" Conall screamed at maximum crescendo, his eyes wide and bloodshot as he pointed Curaidin Catutchenn at the startled Onpham. "What if the Cloak of Mists is inside one of these homes!? You've probably destroyed it by now!"

"Why're you so upset, man? Destroying it is a good thing, isn't it? It just means there's one less reason for us to fight with each other. I don't see what the problem is."

Conall was beyond livid now. He seethed through his clenched teeth, "You narcissistic piece of-!"

"Hee hee hee hee! Hoo hah hah hah hah! Look, there's Onpham!" one of the beastmen laughed in mad glee to his compatriots. "The humans are with him! He's going to run away and take the humans all to himself!"

"AWOOOOOO!" the other beastmen howled like wolves and began converging on the trio.

"Uwaaaah! Fergus, Conall, you have to help me!" Onpham suddenly trembled with fear. Just like with Fand, his skin started to turn dark, and his form was melting into something indescribable. "I only managed to slip past those rabid dogs because they were busy killing the others! I-If you help me get out of Emain Ablach, I promise I'll treat you like the most precious property I've ever own-"

SLASH!

Before Onpham knew it, the stoic Conall sliced his sword through the dwarf's carotid artery in one clean motion. As much as he didn't want to do it, he could tell that this bizarre degradation was bad news, and it would only get worse if it escaped into the human world. At the same time, Fergus swung Caladbolg to block an incoming sword swing from one of the beastmen.

He shoved the faerie off, then exclaimed, "Forget about finding the cloak! The village is officially a lost cause! Once we find a chance, we run for it!"

"Don't gotta tell me twice!" Conall agreed as he cut down a male elf that was transforming into one of the mindless black monsters.

While all of this chaos was brewing around them, Connla and Mioruilt remained completely ignorant as they went for a brisk night walk towards the apple orchard. They didn't say much, as Connla preferred to listen to the crickets while breathing in the cool fresh air.

"Connla," Mioruilt finally mumbled in a hushed whisper. Her gaze looked frightfully empty and devoid of passion. "Can I… say something?"

"Hm? What is it?"

"I… I wanted to thank you… for being the first friend I've ever had."

"Um… It's no problem at all," the child warrior uttered. The way that Mioruilt said those words with such a hollow tone made her uncomfortable as she asked, "Are you all right?"

"I've never felt better. In fact, I feel as free as a butterfly now. I have nothing to worry about anymore, now that I'll be going outside."

"Outside? You're leaving the village?"

"Yes. I'm throwing everyone else away, just like how they always treated me the same as the trash they discard every night. I tried so hard to resist these feelings, but now I wonder what I was thinking. It's so liberating, just abandoning others to their fate while I leave in search of a better life."

"Where are you going to go?" Connla wondered, and looked around. "There's nowhere else in Emain Ablach."

"Oh, no, you don't understand," Mioruilt frowned despondently. "I'm not staying in this realm. I'm going to escape to the human world."

"But you can't do that without the Cloak of Mists."

"… Eh he he he…"

"… Mio?"

"Connla," the faerie murmured. "Since you're my precious friend, let me tell you a secret."

She leaned in close so her lips were next to the girl's ear, then she whispered, "When the others got Lady Fand drunk that night, they conspired to steal the cloak from her together. Its disappearance was not an accident – it was deliberate."

Connla narrowed her eyes and asked, "So the entire village was responsible for the theft? Not just one or two faeries?"

"At first, yes. You might not realize it, but everyone wants to leave this stuffy little village."

"Why? Aren't you all happy here?"

"We're so, so tired of having to live shoulder-to-shoulder in such a cramped space, while having a god tell us what we can and can't do. Our nightly parties are the only way we can get along with each other anymore. You're human, so you must have been smart enough to notice how we're so quick to blame each other whenever something goes wrong."

"I don't know. I haven't been to the village yet," Connla admitted.

"It's better that you don't go there. We might look like we're all smiles, but beneath the surface, everyone's just a hair's breath away from killing each other. I'm terrified of them. I don't want to be slaughtered by those selfish faeries. I want to go outside and have as much fun as I want. So I decided to steal the cloak for myself, right under everyone's noses while they slept, drunk out of their minds."

Connla became visibly shocked as she demanded, "So you're the real culprit?"

Mioruilt appeared wistful, and whimpered, "Don't say that. I'm the same as everyone else. We all want to leave this world. We all want to go outside."

"Even if you did, the islands are rapidly deteriorating. At this rate, I can't imagine them lasting more than 50 years. You wouldn't be able to do much before everything falls into the ocean. You'd be much safer staying in Emain Ablach."

"No, no, no, you still don't get it. When I'm saying 'outside', I don't mean the human world of this timeline."

Connla's jaw dropped slightly. "… What?"

"Lady Fand told me. She said that Manannan knows everything about our timeline. We live in something called a 'Lostbelt', don't we? That humans strayed so, so far off from their intended history that this world needed to be cut off from this thing called Proper Human History, right? It's the humans' fault that we're going to be erased. We faeries did nothing wrong, so why do we have to disappear as well? It's not right."

"… Mio…" the human girl whispered in terror. "Do the other faeries… know about this?"

"Yes. Lady Fand said those things while they got her drunk. She was so angry that she just kept talking and talking. That's exactly what the faeries wanted to find out from Lord Manannan, but they knew he would never tell them, so they went after Lady Fand instead. That's why they plotted to take the Cloak of Mists from her – so they could run to the White Tree keeping this Lostbelt alive, and find a way through to Proper Human History."

"By the gods…"

"But… eh he he he… I decided to take it aaa~aaall for myself!" she crooned as she revealed a strange blue velvet cloth she had kept hidden within her dress. "I'm going to abandon those pieces of trash and find a happy place for myself in a different timeline! And you're going to come with me, Connla!"

"Mio, that's enough!" Connla exclaimed and pushed her away. "This is insanity! You're just going to get yourself killed if you leave the village!"

"No, I won't. You're my best friend, aren't you? You'll protect me from the bad guys. We'll go to the White Tree and escape our fate of disappearing with this timeline."

"I've never heard of such a thing. Even if that were possible, what you call the White Tree is actually a living being. It's an alien anchoring this Lostbelt to Proper Human History, trying to supplant its history with this one! Don't you understand!? This Lostbelt needs to be culled, or else it will cause irreparable damage to the true history! No one will have a future if this timeline is what represents the end of humanity!"

"Why is that your problem?" Mioruilt wondered. "Are you saying you want to disappear with this world? You know the opportunity to escape from it exists, so why don't you take it? Run away from the awful humans with me, just like I'm running away from the awful faeries."

"Of course I don't want to disappear. It's a natural reaction to such an outrageous thing. But at the same time, I know that destroying the White Tree is the right thing to do. I don't want other timelines to suffer the way that we have in this Lostbelt. Besides, I'm not the only one struggling to cull this Lostbelt. My teacher Scathach, the goddess Morrigan, and the High Druid Cathbad have worked so hard to make things right. I don't want to let them down by giving up after coming so far."

The faerie looked utterly disappointed as she whimpered, "So then… you don't want to come with me?"

"I'm sorry, Mio. My mind is made up. I have to take the Cloak of Mists back from you."

"Haah… Oh well. I guess it can't be helped. Just know that even if you've refused me, you're still my dear friend, and I still want you to come with me. I'll just have to use a different method to make it happen though."

"A different method?" Connla immediately became serious. "What do you have in mind this time?"

"I… I'm… hungry."

Once she heard this, Connla immediately knew she was in danger, and she took a few steps back. Indeed, Mioruilt rambled, "This is the first time a human has ever been nice to me. It was so weird… having such a rich and succulent human act so kind toward me. I thought that if we could run away together, I could raise you as a pet, like how you humans raise dogs or cats. But since you've turned me down, I'll have to do the next best thing to keep you close to me."

Her eyes appeared more crazed and frantic, widening into saucers as she uttered, "I need you to be my nourishment… My sustenance… The mental balm that keeps me happy… You'll be my food… and thus, an intrinsic part of me… Forever and ever…"

"Mio!" Connla shouted in a panic, brandishing her spear and pointing the blade at her chest.

"Let's run away, little human! You'll be safe with me! I'll chop you up into nice, bite-sized pieces and hide you in my tummy!" Mioruilt raged incoherently, then rushed straight for her as her fingers mutated into large black claws oozing with some kind of foul ichor.

"STOP IT!"

CRUNCH!

The awful sound of steel penetrating flesh resounded throughout the silent forest. It only lasted for a split second, but all movement ceased after that. Connla's parched throat gasped for air, and she stared at nothing in particular as she slowly realized what she had just done. Her gloves became stained with Mioruilt's blood, which flowed from her piercing chest injury, down the spear's wooden shaft, and onto her hands. At the same time, the faerie's claw had successfully gashed out several distinct lines on the girl's right cheek, causing blood to gush down her chin and neck, staining her white shawl deep red.

Connla's knees buckled, and the pair fell down in a heap together. Despite having to fight for her life against the crazed faerie, she still held the dying girl's head in her arms and stared into her blank eyes.

"C… on… n… la…" Mioruilt gasped.

She couldn't say anything. She was so devastated about having to kill her friend that she didn't have the strength to talk. She barely noticed Mioruilt use the last of her energy to kiss her bleeding cheek, licking in as much blood as she could and slowly savoring it.

"Ah… so… yummy…" the faerie croaked, then finally went limp.