Frayed Knots Chapter 14: ACT 2 - If She Hollers, a fairly oddparents fanfic

A/N - Thanks for joining me for Frayed Knots Act 2, folks. Finally, this is the last of the heavy worldbuilding chapters. As per usual, many things are important, but I don't expect you to remember them all. Besides making Anti-Cosmo's intellect believable, we're foreshadowing several plot points here that we'll cover throughout the remainder of the story. Some, not any time soon. But I still believe it's important to lay the groundwork early so you won't be caught completely by surprise.

Think of this chapter as a vague outline of what's all to come. As plot points become important later, I'll be sure to refresh your memory on whatever details you'll need to know. So, don't stress too much to remember things here and now. I got you. Thanks for humoring me, and enjoy.

(Posted August 28, 2018)

ACT 2 - PLUNGE

If She Hollers

In which Julius experiences life from inside a genie's lamp

I had the most bizarre dream after I cried myself back to sleep. I couldn't fly. My wings were so light against my back, they felt like they weren't there at all. Were they there? They weren't responding to their usual movements. I kept twisting in a circle, trying to get a good look at myself, but my legs wouldn't work. They crumpled beneath me, sprawling me flat on my face. I fumbled with my hands - pale hands with long nails painted like bloodied claws - and pushed myself up.

I was in a prison. At least, I think that's what it was, and it only made sense that I would dream of prison, being locked up in Liloei's lamp and all. This strange room looked warm and friendly instead of harsh and cold, but I recognised it as a prison nonetheless.

Beside me stood a pallet covered in plush animal skins, along with a dresser and not much else. Two doors led off from the room. I tried to move, but I couldn't fly. I couldn't poof. I couldn't walk. I couldn't even stand up. My legs wouldn't allow it. My hair didn't hang in front of my eyes, yet it was so long. It poured over my shoulders, rippling down my arms and back. It was ginger russet. The pelt of a fox. The coat of my ancestor, Her Glory Cadmea.

I crawled on my elbows towards the larger of the two doors: An exterior door with a screen full of as many holes as a butterfly net. Behind me, behind the second door, were voices. Mocking voices.

The floor was wooden. Unfamiliar. And I was so tired. I wanted to sleep, but I knew the voices behind that door would never allow it if they caught me. I barely grazed the screened exit door with my fingertips when I woke up. Only to confirm that I was still trapped in my study. The one place that had been mine and mine alone, which belonged to a genie now. A stranger. And there were no doors to reach for in hope of rescue at all.

I didn't speak to Liloei for two hours after that. She didn't try to force me. Rather, I curled up in my hard desk chair, nursing my frostbitten legs and injured eye. Some of the blood around it had crusted into golden flakes. As I picked at them, I waited for Clarice's soul to warm my chest with comfort. Perhaps even whisper in my ear that she was truly there. But I felt nothing. As though she didn't exist at all, and Zodiism was make-believe, and my entire life had been a lie. So I sat, quietly. Liloei kept herself busy drifting around my study and examining the things on my shelves and in my drawers. Things that I didn't allow even Mona to dig through. My throat burned. I wanted to ask her to stop, but I just couldn't find the strength.

"Thou hast many large books for a small child," she finally said.

I didn't have a handkerchief handy, so I forced myself to wipe my nose on my sleeve, even though it was horribly disgusting and undignified. "B-books? I suppose I do. Do you read?"

"Some."

"How?" When she looked up, I shrank down in my chair. "I mean, you were trapped in a lamp for at least four centuries, so… I wondered how you learned to read."

Liloei selected a scroll from one of my higher shelves. She weighed it in her hand, then put it back. The gold cuffs around her wrists which bound her to this lamp glinted dully in the low candlelight. "I wast taught by mine mother."

"Oh. Then who taught her?"

"Her mother, I suppose. Perhaps she taught herself."

Another thought popped into my brain. I sat up on my knees, clutching the back of the chair until my claws nearly pierced the black fabric. "Ah! Good dame, were you born inside a genie lamp, or in the real world?"

Liloei tossed me a look of disappointment. I pressed my ears flat against my head. She said, "The lamp which holds us captive is part of the real world. My world is as real as thine."

"I see. But I wonder if it actually is."

"It is."

I cringed back, but pressed on nonetheless. "I just thought, you fit inside my father's old canteen somehow, and that was so much smaller than my study. Might we be caught in a realm outside of time and space? Inside a pocket dimension of sorts? Something like-" I broke off when she glanced at me sharply again, leaving the words "my empty forehead chamber" existing only in my thoughts.

Liloei took a packet of bark strips from my shelf and peeled the pages apart. "A genie is a creature of smoke and fire. Upon entering a lamp, my flesh particles dissolve to naught but smoke. It is this part of me which I might channel through the neck of a vessel. This is how I am able to enter a space so small."

"Ah." My eyes searched the room until I spotted my father's canteen hanging from a hook on the wall I didn't remember. "Does that mean you can turn to smoke and slip inside my father's canteen from time to time? Do you have your own bedchamber in there? Is that where you'll be staying? Ooh, what's it like in a real genie's lamp? Can I come?"

Liloei traced her hand down one wall of my study. Her fingers tightened around a stone. "Once inside a lamp, a genie loses her ability to turn to smoke, unless her lamp is opened from the outside."

"So you can't, then?"

"Becoming smoke is not a genie's choice or will. My former vessel is much too small for me. I am unable to place myself within it. This is my lamp now. In the state between masters, which is known as being en lamp, I might only transfer myself to another vessel if it were large enough to contain my whole being as I am now."

Her words were half tense, and I wondered if I were pressing on her nerves. The fur prickled down the back of my neck. I sat on my heels. "I'm terribly sorry. You see, I've never before seen an actual genie in the flesh. I have so many questions regarding your way of life."

"There shall be time, I am certain, to answer them all." Idly, Liloei picked up one of my thicker bark strip books: A biography on the first-ever will o' the wisp, Ilisa Maddington, called Origin of the Will o' the Wisps. Written by Ilisa herself and majorly revised by the Yugopotamian Henry Bates, it told the story of how she was a fairy mutation who for some reason or another had been born with lepidoptera, or "butterfly" wings, instead of anax, or "dragonfly" ones like most fairies. Well, the original copy was written by Ilisa, anyway. I'd found one at the library and liked it so much that I'd rewritten the entire thing down for myself, word for word, over the course of two months. It was an awfully thick thing, too.

And Liloei was picking it up.

"Not that one!" I leaped from my chair and snatched it away from her, stuttering over my own words. "No, no, you can't read that one. That one's…" I hugged it to my chest. "Th-this one's special."

Liloei floated back, pressing her hands to her bare chest. "I am shocked."

"Don't touch this one. At least not right now. This one's my special book. I always read it when I'm sad, a-and somehow it always makes me feel better on both an emotional and spiritual level." I ducked my head, squeezing the bark strips tighter. They crunched. "I want to read this one. P-pick something else."

"Such as what?"

I blinked my eyes open. My study felt so dreary, so stone, so cold. My ears couldn't pick up the sound of voices far down the hallway, nor scuttling vermin or dripping water. Liloei's arms were folded. Her tail twitched. I glanced down at a stack of texts near my feet, then picked up the one on top. "Um… Maybe you'll like this one. It's about the four treasures of the Tuatha dé Danann."

"Oh? And, who art the Tuatha dé Danann?"

"Um… Let me see." My nerves had bundled in my throat, and I had to struggle to piece my words together. "The Tuatha were an ancient race who inhabited Plane 23 of Existence, which they knew as Tír na nÓg, in the days of the Great Dawn. They came into being long before the Solitary Fae who gave rise to Anti-Fairies did. The Tuatha were, ah… Well, you see, the Tuatha were the children of the Great Universe Queen Whose Name Anti-Fairy Tongues Do Not Speak."

Liloei tilted her head. "Dost thou mean Danu?"

I winced, hugging Ilisa's book tighter. So much for that plan. My toes clenched. "Oh. Erm. You know her too?"

She nodded. Although her genie ears weren't capable of flicking forward to show it, I could tell she was interested in what I'd said. There was a certain thrum in her colour, a certain swirl in her tail. "I am familiar with the devil queen. My people, the Fomorians, hath waged war against Danu's People since the beginning of time. Thankfully, my ancestors were blessed with victory during the Sealing War. Danu's demon offspring art dead now, and the seven Fomorian tribes maintaineth the order and balance of the universe's magic."

"Oh, um." I decided not to tell her that one of the Tuatha actually had survived the Sealing War. She called herself the Fairy Elder now. If I recalled correctly, she resided in the Pink Castle in the Fairy World capital city, Faeheim. Mother Nature and Father Time had crafted her a magical diamond talisman she wore around her neck which cured all illnesses and prevented her from dying, so long as it never came off.

Liloei tapped one finger against her cheek. "I had not heard that Danu's People held four treasures."

"Um. Yes. Well, following the end of the Sealing War, the four treasures were gifted to the three Fairykind races." I shifted Ilisa's book and held up four fingers. "The Primary Fairies received King Nuada's sword of light, Claímh Solais: an unbeatable weapon which severs souls from bodies and sends any who touch its unsheathed blade directly to the afterlife. It resides in the Pink Castle in Fairy World now. The Fairy Refracts received Lugh's spear, Sleá Bua: a peacekeeping symbol which renders its wielder immune to any harm. It lies sealed away in the Gold Castle of Avalon. The Anti-Fairies received the Dagda's bottomless cauldron of food and drink, Coire Dagdae, which is kept in the Blue Castle kitchens and nourishes us all with plentiful feasts to this day."

"The deadly sword of the Pink Castle, the spear of undying of the Gold Castle, the bottomless cauldron of the feast of the Blue Castle." Liloei pressed down on three of her fingers in turn, counting the sacred treasures out like items on a shopping list taken to market. I didn't like the frown I read across her face. No, I didn't particularly like that frown at all.

"Er, right… Lastly, the singing coronation stone, the Lia Fáil, went to all three of the Fae genera. It lies on Planet Earth in the neutral territory of Inis Fáil, and is where all major positions of power in the cloudlands are legally coronated. You know, ambassadors and things. High Counts. People." I wiped my wrist across my nose. "So, um, anyway. You should read that text. It's an interesting one. You'll enjoy it, I think. But Ilisa's book is mine. I'm reading it."

Liloei took the Tuathan treasures book from me and settled in the padded chair that I kept in the corner for Mona's visits. Not that Mona would be coming around any time soon. Not anymore.

My teeth clenched. I looked down at the bark strips in my hands. Inside Liloei's lamp, I had no magic. My wand was useless. I couldn't fly. So I walked back to my desk and quietly set Ilisa Maddington's biography on the edge.

Ilisa's story… was not a pretty one. As a female Fairy mutation, she'd been bred as a stud repeatedly by the Eros Family when brought into the Eros Nest (It was Fairy drakes who underwent pregnancy, you see). On top of that, since there were no other wisp drakes that Ilisa could breed with, passing along the mutated gene that affected her wings was not guaranteed every time she tried. Only a third of all the offspring she'd mothered shared her lepidoptera wings at all. Even in this day and age, baby wisps were notoriously fragile. No, Liloei didn't need to know any of this.

But while I always found Ilisa's history fascinating, I couldn't stomach the stories of her time in the Eros Nest right now. Not when I too was caged. Instead, I flipped through the bark strips until I found the painted pictures in the middle. I popped open my inkwell. There wasn't much left. Taking my own paintbrush from the cup on my desk, I copied the swirling design of Ilisa's wings onto a new piece of parchment. Over. And over. And over.

I did this all with only one hand, gripping my bangs with the other. I don't know quite what it was, but I found something soothing in the pleasant round shape and the vibrant black and orange patterns of her wings. I tried not to think about the stories of her death, how she'd had one wing torn off completely before being buried alive beneath the collapsing Soil Temple… a piece of her wing that didn't turn to dust with the rest of her, now pinned on display on the Eros Nest walls… By the time an hour had passed, my anxieties had somewhat eased, and I felt considerably better. I wiped my brush clean over the inkwell, pressing deeply into it with the claw on my thumb.

"Liloei?"

I heard her hair shift as she raised her head, still tucked in her corner. "Yes?"

I turned around. "I'm not sure I ever told you my name. It's Julius."

"It's a lovely name. Who is thy mother?"

"Um. Anti-Florensa Anti-Lunifly. She's Anti-Bryndin's third wife, and his most loyal personal guard. If you know him at all."

Liloei bobbed her head and shut the treasure book. "She sounds as though she holds great status. I am the youngest daughter of Suswa herself."

"Oh." I didn't know who Suswa was, but Liloei had an expectant air about her, so I said, "That's a fine name too. She was your mother?"

"She was."

I'd never wondered how genies reproduced before, and took a moment to reflect on all I knew of their kind. It wasn't much. I knew Genies to be one of the seven Fomorian tribes, each based on one of the seven elements and created by the zodiac spirits themselves. Saturn, the spirit of Fire and Energy, had moulded the first two genies out of rich volcanic soil. The two of them and their first three children had lived on Planet Mars, multiplying for many millennia.

But Planet Mars became… unfit. I didn't know the exact details, but I knew it had something to do with genies wiping out all major predators except the foops (the "star wolves"). Once their competition had gone, the foops had multiplied tremendously. Faster than the genies. Faster than so many Martian creatures, including the once-dominant sentient species of the planet, the El-Gems. And then there came a famine.

I knew the Eros Family made a decree. It was a Daoist belief that Aengus (the ancient deity of love, youth, and poetry among the Tuatha Dé Dannan) had foreseen the downfall of the Tuathan people. He chose to gift his powers over the forces of love and reproduction to the Eros family line, and commanded the cherubs to ensure the survival of every species in the universe until the end of time. The Eroses had interpreted his final command to mean that a great menagerie must be built in the cloudlands, and all species in the universe preserved at all costs.

Not terribly long before my birth, the cherubs had invaded Planet Mars to relocate all the Martians. Many foops reached the cloudlands and became an invasive species, chasing and devouring everything they could find, and often scavenging through the waste dumps until only a few garbage collectors were brave enough to take them on. The El-Gems were kept within the Eros Nest for breeding, the eventual hope being to return them to their original home once their population recovered. The genies were bottled temporarily, and released on Planet Earth.

Until recently.

I'd never been to Planet Earth before. It was said that it wasn't safe, even for Anti-Fairies. Ever since Helena's Folly, much of the planet had been stricken with ice, and this ice had nearly wiped out the Genie population once more. The cherubs came. Genies were bottled again, for their own protection. They were to be brought back to the Eros Nest… Only, the shipment had been capsized by pirates along the way, scattering Genie lamps all across the planet below. Some in deserts, some in forests, some on mountaintops, and some even in the seas. Poor geniefolk, bundled in travel vessels which would become associated with their race for good.

So now I wondered…

"Liloei? How did your parents meet?"

She thought for a moment. "My dam and sire had each been roused from slumber by two masters who rubbed their lamps in a land far from this place. Each granted their master two of three promised wishes, and disappeared to await the call to return. They met whilst sunning themselves on desert rocks. Once my mother granted the third wish of her master, she returned to her vessel to await her next taste of the free air. There, I was born."

"You never knew your father, did you? He never came to visit? Oh. No family dinners? Ever?"

"Such is our way," she simply said.

"Yes, I understand that." I looked at my hands. "You know, it's interesting how we have that detail in common. See, I never really knew my father either. His name was Anti-Robin, and Mother always says I'm the spitting image of him. Only, he kept his hair much shorter and could hardly see past the end of his nose. My parents had my brother, met again to have me, and for the most part kept to their separate ways."

"At least thou hast a name for him. I haven't even that." Liloei stretched her arms above her head, clasping one elbow. She yawned. "It is custom for an expecting doe to seek a hidden, warm place to bear her newborn candles. Perhaps a hole in a great tree, or the abandoned den of a foop. Perhaps a stove with its belly filled by glowing coals. It was genies themselves who came up with the idea of becoming smoke to slip inside a small space where no predator may reach them." Her smile twitched up in one corner. "Perhaps our ancient partnership with lamps could have been avoided had we genies only learned to build our own nests, and not merely lay claim to those which we found. We would not have been so easily trapped by cherubs then. Perhaps mine are said to be a lazy people for good reason."

I nodded, then shook my head. "So you were born inside my father's canteen? The one I opened when I set you loose in here?"

"I suppose I was."

"Then that means your mother Suswa managed to escape!" I clenched my fists. "Brilliant! Well? Where is she now? How did she get out?"

Liloei's gaze turned suddenly vacant. She lowered her head. "No. Suswa… drowned many years ago. Our vessel one day was, without warning, filled with sudden water. Water soaks a genie's soul, destroying their powers and leaving them helpless. She is not with us anymore. I survived that fate only by creating a ledge out of the wall in the upper portion of the vessel, and living out my days there until I was finally freed."

"Oh. Oh." I looked away, desperately searching for some way to change the conversation topic. Spider threads of guilt crawled along my throat. My toes tapped against the ground. "Um… Er, On the subject of reproduction, I have a question. I've heard that genies absorb magic from a certain frequency of the energy field in to sustain themselves instead of food. Is it true that magic was a rather limited resource on Planet Mars for wild genies? Compared to Planet Earth and the cloudlands, I mean."

Liloei hesitated. "The term I might have thee use is 'free', not 'wild', but it is as thou sayest."

I studied her lean shape for a moment, thinking of research papers I'd pored over years ago. "Well, if Martian genies were competing amongst themselves for a limited resource, would that not mean that Martian genies have evolved to be smaller than Earth or cloudland genies? It's called the 'island rule.' I read about it once, but I don't know if it applies to genies from another planet. I was just wondering if native Martian genies are considered larger or smaller than genies raised in the Eros Nest and such. Simple curiosity, you understand."

"It is not polite to inquire of a lady's weight." Yawning, Liloei looked me up and down. "Art thou not an Anti-Fairy who fills his belly on great feasts every day? Should thou not be larger as well?"

Oof.

My eyes (Well, my eye) fell on the blank stone wall which had once held the door to my study. I tipped my head. "Hmm," I said, because talking kept me from bursting into tears. "Bloody shame about the door, I must say. If only I had some texts to read. Then I could research a bit until I'm able to innovate us a way out of here. My brains are next to nothing without my books."

Liloei pricked her ears. "As thou hast shared thy books with me, so I couldst share my books too."

I turned. "Your books?"

In answer, Liloei snapped her fingers together. A harsh, ringing sound like a great mallet beating on a plate tore through the air and made me jump. There was a whoosh of magic between us. It didn't explode outward from a center point as Fairy and Anti-Fairy magic did. Rather, it spiralled like a cyclone. The wind buffeted my fur. A stack of books - I think they were books - appeared on the floor in front of me then. Their colourful covers were solid. Their pages weren't made from bark, but from the same parchment you would expect of a scroll. When I gasped, Liloei said, "Thy starry magic may be disabled within a genie's vessel, but my power runs full so long as we remaineth inside. While I cannot force my way from a sealed lamp, I do possess some ability to alter my surroundings as I wish… Although, I am afraid I may only create a book which I myself hath read before."

"Why, that's smashing news! How delightful. What else can you do?"

Liloei looked about. "I couldst style our place of residence to our liking, if thou art all right with that."

Thrilled to see more genie magic in action, I asked, "How so?"

She yawned yet a third time. "I find these stone walls unpleasant. May I turn them to wood?"

"Certainly. Far be it for me to stand in your way."

Liloei snapped her fingers again. Gong! Another cyclone of magic rippled around the room, tearing the stones loose from the walls and shoving slats of wood in their place. It was fascinating. I'd never seen anyone use magic to change an actual wall before. To hang up any decorations they didn't feel like doing by hand, perhaps, but never to alter an entire wall. When the magic died down, the grey stone walls of my study were replaced with sleek brown wood. Liloei had even added a fireplace in one corner that somehow didn't scorch the paneling around it. Soil and Fire energy met and melded. Genie magic tingled on my fur.

"I like it," I said. "Only, even with the fire, this room channels a bit too much Soil energy for my tastes. We'll want some Sky energy to balance it out. Could you make the floor solid marble too?"

"If thou wish it to be so."

I clapped my hands. "Perfect! Ooh, what colour should it be? Damsel's choice. I insist."

Liloei considered. "Pink."

I inadvertently pulled a face. My own, specifically. But, it was her magic. So I said, "All right. Make it pink if you so desire to. Perhaps the colour will grow on me in time."

She snapped her fingers. This time, I braced myself for the whirlwind. Gong! In a moment, my stone floor had turned, well, pink. Little black, gold, and white swirls ran throughout it in interesting patterns.

"Ah, quite stylish, I say. Ooh. Do you see my roost up on the ceiling there? It's a little plain, all metal like that. You know, I've always wanted a roost carved from moose antler. Could you make me one like that?"

Liloei tilted her head. "'Moose antler'?"

"Yes. You know. Like…" I put both hands behind my ears, spreading my fingers wide. "Moose. Have you never seen a moose before? Perhaps in one of your books?"

"I don't believe so…"

"Oh. Pity, that." I tapped my cheek. "How about a roost of bone, then. Can you do bone?"

Gong! My metal roost suddenly became white bone, decorated with large nicks, like fang-marks from gnawing foops.

"Ahaha! Ooh, I feel positively evil now! Apart from the pink floor, this could be the start of a wondrous evil lair. You know, I always play the villain in my games with Caden and Mona. Jolly good fun." I rubbed my hands together. "And we of course should have a sofa, so you and I might be able to sit alongside one another. It ought to be very soft. And black. I like black."

Gong! My ears were still ringing from the first one.

"And- and may I have a hat?"

Liloei held her fingers up, but paused. She gave me a sideways glance. "Thou wishest for a hat?"

I clasped my hands before my chest, lifting myself onto the tips of my toes. "Oh please, if it wouldn't trouble you much, darling. I've always wanted a hat to tuck all my hair into. A tall blue one. A top hat, if you would. You see, I desire to play the part of dashing city dandy, but I've never been bold enough to stand against my mum's scoldings before. It isn't considered proper, really, but now we're alone, and I simply must have one."

"Then thou shalt have a hat, and I shall make thee a peacock amongst toads."

Gong! A perfect hat sculpted of what I believe was felt appeared between my head and my crown. Its brim tipped down over my eyes. I had to use both hands to push it up, but I grinned the entire time. "Ahahaha! I'm afraid it's much too big for me. I do love it all the same. I think I'll keep it. Yes, I do believe I will. Smashing job, I must say. Oh, Liloei, I simply can't thank you enough. Only, would you be so kind as to add a few cabinets about the place so I may organise my things?"

Gong! Not only did Liloei do as I requested, but she even used magic to open the cabinet doors and sweep all my things inside. As I watched, the books and papers rearranged themselves by subject, and then alphabetically. "Any further requests, Julius?" Liloei asked with another soft yawn. She folded some of her black hair behind one ear.

"I'll think of some another time," I assured her. "Thank you very much." I thought for two seconds, then asked, "Is there anything else you wanted to do for yourself, luv?"

"Since thou asked, I shalt elaborate." Liloei snapped her fingers twice more. A three-course poultry supper appeared on a low table, followed by a glass bowl filled with small, round, white little chocolates.

My eyes bulged. "I say! You can create food? How does it taste?" Without waiting for a proper response, I grabbed one of the chocolates and brought it to my lips. It smelled delightful. When I wrapped it in my tongue, the sweet sensation sent my eyelids fluttering shut. "Oh! This is simply delicious. Why, any food created with Fairykind magic isn't much more than solidified smoke and dust. This is something else entirely!"

"It is not all bad to be a genie," Liloei agreed, gonging up a platter of cheeses and crackers for herself. She settled herself on her back, stretched across the couch I had requested she create. The tip of her tail dangled over the far arm in a twirl of purple smoke. "Our magic is near infinite, so long as we are either within our lamps, or canst combine our magic with that of heartfelt desire spoken by a non-magical creature. Only, it is a shame to be trapped inside."

"Speak for yourself," I said through a mouthful of creamy white chocolate. "Why, I could live this way forever!"

Silence fell between us. We lowered our gazes and ate without speaking for a time. I thought of my Mum, her burn scars faded into her fur and her staff in hand. I thought of Augustus, weeping like the baby he was about the cruel words I'd said to him before embarking on my canetis. I thought of Mona, with her gentle giggles and constant humming, and Ashley, who had grown so big and strong, and Caden, with his face pinched as though he held a row of pins in his mouth, and Electro, who hadn't seemed much like a friend to me in more recent years. I thought of all of them. I rubbed my hands into my eyes without bothering to wipe the chocolate smears from my fingertips.

"Liloei?" I asked. "Where do genies go when they die?"

She lowered her drumstick, chewing as she thought. "Death, perhaps, is frightening. I witnessed the drowning of my mother. I have this to say: A genie is a creature of flame and ashes. My mother spoke often of forests and soil. The ash of trees that burned gave strength to new saplings. Young life emerged. Fire is both the end and beginning of growth. I believe it only natural that a genie should be born again, much as a phoenix is born from ashes of her own."

"Wait." I popped my middle claw from my mouth. "Here now, what's this? You believe in reincarnation too?"

Liloei sat up, the plate resting in her lap all but forgotten. "So dost thou?"

"But of course! The universe is all one ring, really. A soul contains the most powerful magic there is, and cannot be destroyed no matter how hard you try. Inevitably, what existed before shall return to the mortal world to exist again. Their strongest memories, characteristics, and desires often bleed over into their successive lives. Although, I imagined only Anti-Fairies believed in such things."

I glanced down at my stomach area, so young and flat and… forcibly barren. My fingers traced spirals through my fur. Ooh. I wondered if the ancestor I'd been reincarnated from (If I had been reincarnated at all) had longed for children as much as I now did. They must have produced some in the end, or else I couldn't be here today.

It's stupid, so stupid, isn't it? That Fairies I've never met can simply decide to steal my unborn children away from me? I'd wanted to grow old with five pups around me.

Liloei snapped her fingers, refilling her plate in an instant. She braced her hands on the cushion behind her and adjusted her tail until it dangled from the couch to the floor. "Thou art a curious creature, with a tongue of buttered silk and the most fascinating sound to thy voice. Tell me more about thy race."

My cheeks warmed. I set the chocolate box aside. "Oh. Er, what about?"

"What else dost thou believe?"

I gathered that my father had spoken with Liloei and her mother about the basics of Anti-Fairies before. At least, she had originated from my father's canteen. She knew enough to understand that my wand was supposed to channel my magic, and she knew herself to be inside an Anti-Fairy castle. So, I tried to think of something she might not actually know.

"What else do my people believe, you say? Hmm. Well…" I took a thick slice of bread from Liloei's cheese and cracker platter. "We believe in nature spirits. They physically embody various aspects of the universe, including personality and love."

"Yes, I know the Fire spirit. Saturn is your name for him."

I nibbled on the corner of my bread. "Um… We believe in companionship. Anti-Fairies are a social species. So as unpleasant as it is to be trapped within your lamp, I count myself grateful that I don't have to be in here alone. We believe wild umbrae can be tamed. And… we believe in karmic weaves."

Liloei perked up mid-yawn when she heard that last one. "What art those? I am unfamiliar."

"Oh! See here, darling. Around every living thing - plant and animal alike - exists a lively aura known to Anti-Fairies as a karmic weave." As I spoke, I made a ball with my fist. Crumbs squeezed between my fingers. I shifted my feet. "In its physical manifestation, a karmic weave is a multicoloured construct of webbing which resembles yarn to some degree. Each yarn that makes up the weave represents the relationship between yourself and another creature in the universe you've crossed paths with before. Those who interact with many folk from assorted walks of life gather many threads, whereas those who remain closed-off and uninfluential gather very few. You see, just as nature spirits are physical embodiments of the elements or forces such as dark and light, these threads are physical embodiments of your feelings for other people, laid out for all to see. Well, not really for all to see, for only Anti-Fairies can see them at all. See?"

Liloei licked the strips of meat dangling from the poultry bone in her hand. Her fingers tapped a pattern on her knee. Or at least, the place where her knee would be were her lower half not combined into a single tail. "Perhaps I do know what it is thou speakest of. As a genie, I sense the clumps of energy around those which possess life."

I chuckled. Liloei stopped slurping at her bone.

"Why dost thou laugh at me?"

"Oh, um…" My eyes fell to the bread in my hand. The tip of my tail twitched. "It's just, I believe all magical creatures can do what you said. The ability to detect the internal presence of magic in another creature is quite literally how and why magical beings are classified separately from nonmagical ones, and why Merfolk are considered mundane. But, Anti-Fairies are special. We detect fluctuations and uneven balance points in the universe in a way even a genie wouldn't be able to, I don't think. We're of the Tao."

Liloei crossed her arms, her bone disappearing with a snap of two fingers. "Show this knowledge thou hast."

"Certainly, if you would care to listen." I forced the confidence into my voice, but heard it fall flat in my own ears. My toe poked out and traced a swirl of black in the marble floor. Both ears went down. How strange, that I could one moment be the most eloquent anti-fairy in the castle, and yet fumble and shy away from all conversation the next.

I glanced up again. Liloei stood… Well, if you wish to call it standing. She hovered by the couch, arms still folded. Her tail flicked and swirled back and forth beneath her. I swallowed one more bite of my bread, then began to pace back and forth. My claws clicked each time they came down on marble.

"Right, then. Um. The karmic weave is crafted from threads of fate. Put in simple terms, whatever happens to your relationships in real life will affect the threads that tie you to that person, and whatever happens to your threads, well… The same is true in the opposite direction. It's from the threads of life that one's yoo-doo doll is sewn, you understand. You see, in all things, there must be balance." Having reached the far corner of my study, I swivelled around. "A healthy karmic weave is one that flows around you, forming itself into clothing or quilts. A weave that suffers from too many knots and bumps in the road will only fray until it tears itself apart. Lies are but flaxen cords, you see, and they wrap around your neck until they strangle you entirely."

A single white chocolate still lay in the box that Liloei had gonged up. I plucked it up between my claws as I passed by the sofa again. This, I held so Liloei could see it. "The most crucial element of any karmic weave is its locus. A person with an internal locus is at harmony with their place in the universe. They do not tamper with Mother Nature's ways or Father Time's plans for them. Never going out of their way to push their comfort zone, never closing themselves off from others entirely. They simply live. On a scale which stretches to two extremes, they themselves rest firmly in the middle between both. Hence the word 'internal' in 'internal locus'. Yes, the threads seen in such a weave will be so smooth and delicate and in harmony with the patterns of the universe, they will actually form clothing around the individual, as I afore described. But tip the scales too far into either positive or negative energy, and…" Here I popped the chocolate in my mouth and crunched down hard on the delicious almond inside. "The entire weave becomes structurally unbalanced. And thus, one finds themselves left with an external locus which benefits no one in the long term at all. You see?"

"And such an event is…" Liloei swished the word in her mouth for a moment before arching one eyebrow. "Undesirable?"

I shuddered. Two fingers danced across my mouth. I licked white chocolate from my claws. "Certainly. Balance is the key required to unlock the gates of harmony. For as much as Sunnie holds mastery over Focus, he also holds mastery over its opposite, which is Distraction. As much as Saturn holds mastery over Energy, so he must hold power over both matters of high energy and matters of low energy. How can one say they truly understand health if they have not understood illness? Or joy if they have not experienced strife? Nay! To understand the spirits, my dear, it is vital that one strike the balance within themselves. Only when one forgoes their doubts and pride can one claim mastery over the elements. Only when one strives to be average can one excel. The cycle is endless, darling, and thus our universe is held together at its seams by the ties of karma which bind us all. Those knots, you understand, we must never let fray."

Liloei drew another drumstick from the platter on the sofa's arm. She chewed on the end for a moment as we both reflected on the wonders of the universe. Then she said, "Canst thou see my karmic weave?"

My gaze dropped to my bare toes. I touched the dry blood around my injured eye. "Um. I'm not supposed to know how…"

"But thou dost anyway, doesn't thou?"

"I read it off an old scroll," I admitted. My claws scratched behind my neck. "Er… Yes, I could take a look at your weave for you, but the circumstances have to be just right. For example, I'll be able to see it if you're willing to bare your soul to me. Go on. Cross your fingers behind your back."

She did, with slow movements. As soon as her fingers intertwined, I felt the energy in the room shift towards her. My ears pricked forward on their own. My eyes locked on a particular patch of skin on the left side of Liloei's neck. A thin blue glow loud enough to hear had spread across her skin like a fluorescent spiderweb. The air tasted of honey butter and fried dough. My mouth filled with more drool than it did whenever I smelled hot scones slathered in strawberry jam. I took two steps forward. My wings fluttered at my back. Now that was fresh karma, ripe for the plucking. It sizzled with steam, strangely salty in the back of my brain.

But when I caught a better look at the few threads stretching out from Liloei's neck, I dropped back onto my heels and tsk tsked. Her base cords were present, but when it came to a colourful weave, my friend was severely lacking. With one hand, I grasped the shimmering purple-blue thread that connected her throat to mine and twirled it around my pointer finger. It turned turquoise between my claws. "I say. You don't have much in the way of juicy gossip there, do you now? Although that's hardly a surprise, come to think of it. As a young genie in a lamp, you've hardly been exposed to other people. You're what we Anti-Fairies call a lightweight."

"What dost that mean?" she asked through a soft yawn.

"Um… I don't know." I dropped the thread and offered Liloei a lopsided shrug. "You have to have centuries of special training to be able to read a karmic weave with any real accuracy. Getting your fortune read by an Anti-Fairy used to be quite popular for cloudland tourists, you know. But, sadly, anything I told you here and now would admittedly be little more than an educated guess. I never much studied such things, and I don't have any books to explain them to me either."

Liloei traced one finger along her hip. "As a genie, I hold the power to manipulate even the tiniest particles of matter. I understand passions of the heart and wishes that are spoken. Canst thou do anything with the weave thou seest?"

I blinked. "Of course. That's the entire purpose of studying such things, after all." I placed my hand to my chest. "Anti-Fairies are beings of the arts and creativity. Anti-Fairies are manipulators, sorcerers, and masters of counterattacks. For example, there are three races of Fairykind, each born with an ability unique to their race. Anti-Fairies can mind-meld, or view another's thoughts, and intimately understand the ways they see the world, us, and themselves. Refracts can see things from a distance from many sets of eyes at once because of their ties to birds, and they tend to raise such creatures as pets or servants. But Fairies and Fairies alone are born with the power of the Principle of Observation." Because I was a gentleman, I did not refer to it by the abbreviated name some of my fellows preferred: "POO."

"What is this?"

"Fairies sweat magical dust. Even they are aware of this. However, Fairies do not understand the intricacies of magic the way we do, because they cannot see karmic weaves. So for example" - Here I took up several loops of Liloei's white base threads in either hand - "If you were a Fairy, and I took hold of your karmic weave like so, I could cross these thick bits near your neck over and tie a few knots that would turn the Principle of Observation against you. Rather than fool those around you…" I demonstrated the Fairyhold Knot appropriately. "I could tie a knot like this one and reverse the flow of your Principle of Observation, effectively plunging your mind into a realm of illusion until I or another Anti-Fairy let you out."

Liloei grabbed the cuffs on her wrists which marked her as a genie still bound to a solid lamp. She settled herself on her "knees" and rubbed her arms up and down.

"Yes," I mused, watching her. "It is a bit much to take in, isn't it?" I shrugged. "Of course, I can only do this under three conditions: First, if someone grants me permission to see their karmic weave by crossing their fingers behind their back (which typically involves an enormous sense of trust, mind you). Second, if I were the First General and wore Tarrow's sacred red cloak, then I should be able to view the karmic weaves of everyone indiscriminately. Or, I also wouldn't necessarily require any form of expressed permission if I simply bit the karmic pouch on their neck and tore their threads loose from their soul. Overall, the ability is only so-so useful against a foe in the chaos of battle, you see."

Suddenly, Liloei collapsed on her side, gasping like a landed mermaid. I withdrew my hands with a start. "Oh dear. Liloei?"

"Undo thy knot," she choked out, thrashing her tail. She lashed her hands against the floor, but though her fingers were no longer crossed, her weave did not vanish into thin air. Blinking rapidly, I did as she requested, holding the loops apart in either hand.

"I don't understand. Liloei? I say, are you all right?"

Her thrashing gradually eased. When Liloei forced herself up on her forearms, she shivered from head to tail. She crawled back to the sofa, pulled herself up onto it, and curled herself tight. She wrapped her tail around herself in a little mound. "That strangling force… It bled with agony. It raged like stabbings through my gut. As though thou turned all the awesome cosmic powers which I hold influence over as a genie suddenly against me."

"Really? You mean, the Fairyhold Knot works on other creatures besides Fairies?" My ears twitched forward. I looked down at my hands. "I never wondered about that before. Apparently a skilled Anti-Fairy has the ability to use any living thing's strengths against it. That's incredibly interesting. Hmm… You know, I wonder what gives the First General cloak the power to let its wearer manipulate the forces of life like this. Perhaps there's a way to gain access to more of that material, and create a second cloak just like it. What precisely is that made of anyway, I wonder? Something heavenly, I imagine…"

I shook my head then, tossing the thought to the rear of my memories. "Oh, never mind. Go on; you can remove your fingers from behind your back now, darling."

My vision faded back to normal. With a tingle like the sort of shock you receive if you're foolish enough to touch the glowing wall of the Barrier, Liloei's threads disappeared from my fingers. I rubbed my hands up and down my arms and glanced up to catch a glimpse of Liloei as she stretched out, her back arched.

"I say. You've been yawning like that a fair amount, haven't you? I suppose there isn't an actual night dictating our resting periods here in this bottle, but is it perhaps time we went to sleep?"

"Time?" Liloei yawned again. Her fingers snapped, with sluggish effort. A basket with a cushion resting inside it like a soup puddle in a dish materialised before the fireplace. I wrinkled my nose, but Liloei didn't appear to find the sight as uncomfortable as I did. She slipped from the sofa and into the air, making her way across the room one bob at a time. "Time is little to a genie. But yes. It is. The influence of my lamp compels me. I have awakened, and now I shalt rest once more."

"Rest?"

Liloei knelt down on the cushion, kneading it with her hands. Her tail swished again. She lay her head on the edge of the basket. One more flick, and her tail disappeared inside with her. "Oh, yes. It is our curse, for a genie en lamp is built to sleep for many, many days. Our powers art great, but our energy must needs be conserved. The hours I hath been awake already take their toll on me. I must answer their song. But, I shall wake on occasion. Perhaps in a year, or perhaps in five, or fifty more."

"You won't wake for a- What?" I flashed to her side, wings flared behind me. The hat she'd gonged up for me bounced between my ears. "No! You can't!" Dropping beside her basket, I shook her shoulder until her eyelids flickered. "Liloei, please! We were just getting to know each other. Don't leave me! Please, don't! I can't be left alone again!"

"I must. I am compelled. Today, I nap. I provided you with food within your cupboards. They shall not spoil here." She opened just one eye. The tip of her tail pressed against my cheek and eased me off. "Perhaps thou may wish to spend this time composing questions to ask me once I wake. I imagine thou canst think up many."

"Liloei! Come back! Come baaaaaack!" I sprang to my feet and covered my mouth. I wept unabashedly. My wings jittered. What was I to do? Liloei appeared determined to sleep, possibly for the remainder of our imprisonment. However long that may be. Perhaps… I could try waking her again once she had enough time to rest?

When I blinked and looked about, I was alone. Liloei slept at my feet, not even snoring. She had simply slipped away. Rather easily, too. My claws bit my lips. My throat swelled shut. This was just like the moment from my hazy dream. The dream where I was trapped alone - so alone - and no one cared enough to save me.

I'd never felt more detached from Clarice than I did in that moment. All was cold and silent, both around me and in my head. Nothing, nothing, no one at all.

"No!" I slammed my foot down on the floor. My knees hit it next. Then my fists, swing by swing. "That's not fair! Liloei, don't leave me! Don't go!"

Only, she did go, as though she heard a lullaby sung from far away.

My wail quivered down into a sob. I'd begun to shake as I gasped. I raised my head, flicking my attention from side to side in time with the whimper fighting for life in my chest. The wall where the missing door had been mocked me just as wildfires mock candle wicks. I shrieked at it, wishing I had something within reach to hurl. My toes curled inward.

This was it, then. I was going to age in here, die in here, and that would be that. It was all coming back to me. Imprisonment. Cages. My rights stripped away. The absolute certainty that I had been locked up like this once before, with my slippered feet unable to stand firmly on solid ground- The fist that wasn't pinned to the wall clenched at my chest while tears as hot as Fairy blood streamed down my quiet cheeks. Slipping to my knees and crying out for aid. Yes. Yes. In the Anti-Eros tower, imprisoned in my jar, unborn. I remembered that. That was an experience I barely recalled at the worst of times, but which haunted my nightmares nonetheless.

It all came back to me now. Cold walls. Glass walls smudged by many passing hands. No chair, no chair, no chair. Stuck there to cry. And no one to rescue me. No Augustus, no Anti-Venus, no Anti-Charite, no Anti-Ludell, no Huey, no Vinnie, no Cherry, no Stamp, my Stamp, never Stamp; he let them take me away and never even visited-

Stop it.

The ancient memory dissipated into curls of smoke. Chills prickled across my spine. I sat back on my heels, my fangs shaking to their roots.

Focus.

Right. I shoved my hands up through my hair. My bangs fluttered down again. I squared my shoulders. Getting up, I walked over and opened one of the lower drawers of my desk. Fine. If Liloei planned to sleep and leave me with no one to talk to and a heap of research papers I'd already read a hundred times, then I would entertain myself another way. From the drawer, I drew out an old scroll that only had words on one side. I'd memorised most of it. This would do for my purposes.

My next task was to pull my desk away from the wall. Once I had it where I wanted, I pushed it around so it faced the rest of the room, rather than plain wood. The view was nice, because it was different than what I'd grown accustomed to over the last forty years, but a pit opened in my stomach as I drank in how small the place really was. Particularly now that there were two of us living in this one room, and we had stuffed it with cabinets and chairs. With a shake of my head, I settled in my desk chair to begin my work.

I started by drawing something simple: The sofa against the wall. I studied it with both my eyes and echolocation for several minutes before I even got to work. First I traced the curve of its back, then outlined each of its cushions with thick black ink on my parchment. When I was done, I held the finished product away from me.

"Hmm," I said, not impressed. I let it drop to the floor and took up a new scroll instead. When I had first begun learning the ways to channel good karma, or summon umbrae on purpose, I hadn't been very good at it. I had worked hard nonetheless. It had taken time. Effort. Patience. And so, figuring there was little to do in my prison while my only companion slept, I taught myself to draw.

I worked for what may have been hours, and may have been days. I must have drawn that accursed sofa a grand total of three hundred times. Somewhere in the middle, I lost interest and painted my books and shelves instead. But the important thing, I told myself, was that I kept at it. If nothing else, it helped distract my mind from my frostbitten legs. They blackened every day, shooting sharp pains through my feet. I'd have to ask Liloei if there was anything she could do about that.

My desk was more difficult to draw than the sofa. Partially because it was so much more cluttered, with little details everywhere, and because I found it difficult to draw its front while using the desk to bear down on my scroll. I improvised a new solution, and took to lying on the floor on my stomach instead.

Drawing the desk a thousand times frustrated me immensely. Focusing was always a struggle. I was more of a reader and composer than a painter. It took time for me to adjust to having only the one eye. Some days I didn't want to have anything to do with the desk, and I decided that was okay. Most, I forced myself to at least pick up my brush. Once the brush was in my hand, it was easier to start.

I didn't always enjoy it. Some days I cried. But always, I gritted my fangs and hunted for another sheet of parchment so I might start all over again. If nothing else, I had a great deal of parchment in my study. And when I ran out, I supposed I could paint the floor. It was the ink I expected to run out of first. Once Liloei woke, I would have to ask her to create some more. How delightful, to be caught in the company of someone who could create anything at all out of the literal magic in the air.

But for now, I drew everything. And I do mean everything. Stacks of scrolls. Cobwebs in the corners. Boxes of food I pulled from the cupboards. Peels of fruit that rapidly stacked high. Liloei herself, tucked in her basket like a content ghost.

I learned her body by studying her with my gaze lifted for a moment, and then drawing her with my eyes firmly downcast, always refusing to peek at all to check my work until I was done. She had a face, with features. Arms with sloped wrists and slender fingers. One tail which I loved to end in a spiral with a great flourish. Oh, yes. One sketch at a time, I taught myself how a genie's parts fit together.

Her shape was beautiful. In many respects, I found her easier to draw than my desk. Whereas my desk had sharp corners and fine details, Liloei's edges were rounded as crumpet tops, and they all sort of smudged together into one smoky blend. Her fingers were gentle, untipped by anti-fairy claws. She slept with her hands folded beneath her cheek, as still as a ship in a bottle.

The ink held out. Amazingly. I don't know how long it was before Liloei woke, but when she did, the first words to blurt from my mouth were not a request for ink at all.

"Liloei?" I lifted my parchment and brush. "Before you fall asleep again, may I please draw you? Awake?"

As she sat up in her basket, she rubbed her eyes with both hands. "Oh?"

"I've been practicing. I'm getting good at this, I really am. Here, let me draw you."

"Food," she mumbled, lifting her fingers to snap. She chose poultry and mashed potatoes, with gravy cascading down the side into a dish of cranberry sauce.

So while she feasted, I traced her features out with my new supply of gonged-up purple ink. Liloei had granted me a supply that stacked to the ceiling- more than enough to last me through her next hibernation period. She also granted me a curious contraption operated by gears and blinking lights which created any item of food I could want at the press of a button. Yes, that one was my idea. Thank you, I know. Eating the same old nuts and cereals had gotten dull.

"Thou hast been learning to draw all this time?"

"Why, of course! After all, I had to do something to keep myself busy whilst you were napping on."

We looked at my attempted portrait of her together, and both burst into jolly laughter.

"Oh well," I said, rolling up the scroll. I patted it against my hand. "You can't hold this against me. Despite my best efforts, it would seem that the face of a genie is much more difficult to get right than the lamp of one. Now then, what's for breakfast on my end of things? I say, if you merely whip up the ingredients, I'll see if I can't turn them into an actual meal, hm?"

And, well… So it was. Liloei and I resided together in her lamp, alone apart from the company of her powerful magic. She slept often, and when she did, I plotted, drew, and researched the texts I had every day. I called upon the spirits by kneeling before my father's hand-carved blessing tokens, and waited for the Tooth Fairy to visit me to no avail. No one came.

Time became but a memory. We aged, I suppose, though growth was gradual. Over time, we gathered that genies aged much faster than Anti-Fairies did. For one day, Liloei and I were children together. We had the same interests, we played the same games. Seemingly the next day, she became so much older in my eyes. I'd never known Liloei to wear clothing before, but suddenly she insisted on it, and I realised she had come into her grown-up form.

Had I too grown so much? I constantly checked the length of my tail, which I always let dangle beneath the edge of my rapidly-shrinking tunic in Liloei's presence, as she didn't consider such behaviour to be scandalous and I found it immensely freeing. My tail remained scrappy and thin. It became difficult not to pout about that. I was descended from Her Glory Cadmea. When I came into adulthood, it was supposed to bloom as thick and lovely as a fox's. I knew it would. It would! Someday. Where were my mother's genes now that I truly needed them? Bah, rubbish.

Our friendship maintained regardless. I refused to let a detail as trivial as age ruin what Liloei and I had.

"Liloei?" I asked during one tentative game of fidchell. "How old are we now?"

She lay on her stomach, her tail curled around the leg of my desk chair behind her. "I am unsure."

I tapped my claws. "But if you were to venture a guess, how old might you say?"

Liloei sighed. Her gaze didn't leave the board. She slid her High Count to one side. The pieces weren't exact replicas, for Liloei hadn't known the game and I'd had to describe them to her as best as I could. "I am not as young as I used to be, Julius. There art wrinkles on my face now. I gradually near the end of my childbearing years."

"Oh." I selected my next words carefully, eternally grateful for the many centuries (Were they millennia?) we'd spent fostering our friendship. "How long do genies typically live?"

I'd made a move with one of my pieces, and Liloei stared at it blankly, her arms folded beneath her. The tip of her tail wavered back and forth. "My mother told me that a genie bound to her lamp will live forever, unless she becometh soaked in water and is not hastily dried. However, it is around age 100,000 that a genie entereth the elder stage of her life. This stage is known among genies as 'dormancy.' A genie's strength fades during these sunset years. If she hast not escaped her lamp by that age… then she never shall. She and her magic will be too weak."

I gazed at the board too, tongue in my cheek. "Well. We have each other."

"I wanted to bear baby candles," she said softly. She used just one finger to move another game piece. "Your father always promised… he would take me to the Eros Nest once I came of age. Perhaps I would meet a buck there, and he could grant me candles then."

"And I wanted pups," I said, closing my eyes. "A lot of them, too. How I wish I could have raised them alongside your candles. We would have had the best time of it. Think of it- our respective offspring as close as cousins."

"Perhaps it shall be so in another lifetime. We shalt find each other again."

Not unless I bore pups. Genies believed in total reincarnation, regardless of bloodlines. They believed they could become anyone or anything, just as any plant capable of taking root in fertile volcanic soil could bloom to brilliance. That wasn't how it worked, though… Anti-Fairies believed differently.

"Liloei?" My core began to beat, filling my cheeks with a flushing cold. "I have a question."

She leaned her head on her arms, studying the game board. "Thou always hast questions."

"This one is completely hypothetical, though. Something I've never asked you before. I just… You see, I wondered if it was possible to use your genie magic to make me older. Say, by entire millennia."

"Yes. My powers art near infinite within mine vessel. Of course, wert thou ever to leave it, my influence over thee wouldst fade. Without a wish, my powers art bound to mine lamp."

I turned my head away, leaning my cheek on one hand. When my tongue rasped across my lips, it was dry. "So… While I'm inside your lamp, do you think you could change the way I look? Could you - as a hypothetical - Could you even turn me into… a genie?"

"Yes."

My eyelids flickered shut. "A-and if I were a genie buck of age, then… Does that mean I would be capable of fathering your candles too?"

Her fingers clenched. Her mouth set itself into a frown. "Yes. So long as thou didst not leave this place."

We were silent, as we so often were. My mind churned as though through hardening lava. Take on a genie form, and a genie wife? Was that really what I wanted? Could I even go through with the process if it was?

Baby candles.

I had hesitations. I was Fairykind, and had always imagined remaining such. Perhaps… I might question her again in a few millennia more, when I was just a bit older. Before Liloei left her reproductive years behind for good. Could she change her own age with genie powers? Or was that one matter which genie powers were forbidden from interfering with? Did she even know? Dare she even try to manipulate her inner parts? Would that place her life at risk?

Imagine it. Me, an actual genie. I could give my dearest friend those baby candles she wanted, and we could raise them together.

Children of my own.

I swore in that instant that I would always love and look after all my children the way a father should. Even if they were genies.

"My counterparts would die," I said, scratching at the back of my hand. I didn't look up. "Believe me, I researched everything related to Fairykind reproduction I could get my hands on when I was younger. There was so much to read concerning the core and the lines I use to breathe. I'm afraid that were I turned into a genie, one of two things would happen. Either my connection to Cosmo Prime and Dame Cosmo would snap, killing them both and forcing me to remain as a genie forever lest I die with them… Or the full extent of my genie powers would wash through my lines, flood them both, and drown them in so much raw magic that they would both die anyway."

Liloei raised her head. "Thy 'lines'? Is this thy karmic weave again?"

I shifted around to face her for the first time since our game began, my knuckles resting against my lips. "Mm… Sort of, to some degree, but also no. These metaphysical 'magic lines' - breathing lines as they are sometimes called - are what connect me to my counterparts, you must understand. Cosmo Prime is known as the 'hosting counterpart', for it is he that Dame Cosmo and I are synced up to. When he is afflicted with illness or serious injury, such things are reflected on me. When he bears a nymph, Dame Cosmo will bear a chick and I will have a pup. The three of us all share the same core."

"Ah." Liloei made an illegal move with one piece. She knew it, too. Only, she stared at it without emotion instead of pulling it back. "What is a core, precisely?"

"Oh. A core is…" Sitting up on my knees, I held my hands around my head. "Erm, that is to say… It's a bit complicated to explain in full, but I'll try as best as I can. You see, my forehead dome is capable of opening."

Liloei blinked one time. I nodded.

"Yes. It opens back as though on a hinge, revealing many of my inner organs to the world. As Fairykind, we keep many of our organs inside our heads, thereby freeing up the space in our stomach areas for the pouches we use to birth and carry pups. Through time and magic, our ancestors evolved in the way they found was best for us."

"My lower body is made of smoke, and I feed off magic rather than physical food," she said with a slight shrug. "Little surprises me now."

I smiled. "Anyhow, the core is one of our organs. Your core is your deepest self. Your core is your life force, and it consists of two layers. The outer layer of the core is malleable. In the early years of life, it becomes a physical thing. Over time, it may change shape and form slightly, but never become different to the point of being unrecognisable."

Liloei was giving me a strange look, so I said, "If you are a person who enjoys to paint, perhaps your core may manifest as a set of paints which never run out. If you are easily lost or have an adventurous spirit, perhaps your core might become a compass to tell you the way, or a retractable light which can light the path before you. Of course, it's only the hosting counterpart whose personality determines what the core shall manifest as. Their two counterparts share the same one regardless. Magic is an integral part of our being, and the life-giving organ of our bodies reflects that to the most powerful degree."

The strange look did not fade away. A low chill crawled about in my cheeks.

"Well, anyway. It's the inner layer, the core of the core, which contains your soul: a tiny white ball buried deep within you that holds your entire wealth of memories and abilities." I held both my hands to my chest. "Some Anti-Fairies are born in the cloudlands as 'new souls', whereas others may be 'old souls', who are a reincarnated version of a past self. Personalities of old souls are ofttimes similar to who they were in their past life, but the way they are raised and the traits they inherit from their parents can all influence the way their personality develops in this lifetime."

"I see it is as thou sayest."

I held up a finger to keep her attention on me. "It goes on. Your core trait is what binds you to your two counterparts. It's a single, solid trait deeply rooted in your personality that you share with your counterparts, and which all three of you feel an indescribably intense connection to. In our culture, we believe it inappropriate to tell anyone what your core trait is unless you trust them very deeply."

Liloei nodded, her eyes crossed in thought. "Wouldst thou consider opening thy head? I am curious to see thy core."

"Oh! I, um…" I turned my face away, covering my mouth with the heel of my hand. "I don't know. I- I think it's supposed to be private. I'm not sure why, though. I just… remember being told I wasn't supposed to show it off."

"Ah." She returned her attention to our game. The bored look returned to her eyes. She started to yawn. Recently her naps had been lasting longer. I scratched behind my ear.

"Er… Well, I suppose I could tell you about mine, if you really are curious. You are, I suppose, my dearest friend. Look here. Most cores do manifest into a physical thing. However, Cosmo's core never manifested into anything but a sort of, well… Pocket." I traced my claw through the air. "If I knew my current age, there's a mathematical formula I know that would allow me to calculate how much mass ought to be able to fit inside my pocket. Do you have any clue how old I am?"

She shook her head.

"Hmm…" I tapped my cheek. "Well, seeing as it is quite literally a 'pocket space', I suppose that at this time, I would be able to squish an entire person in my head, provided that person isn't too large. Pocket spaces are interesting that way. You can fit so many things."

Liloei sat up. Her tail flicked out with a snap. She fixed her stare on me as though I'd lost my mind. "Thy head is a what?"

"A pocket space. You know." I made jaws with my hands. "My head opens and shuts. I can store things within it. I swear you've seen me drop things inside once or twice before, although I rarely see the need to."

"The chamber of thy head… opens… and it seals shut too? Entirely?"

"I suppose so. It's quite fascinating, really, since one wonders what it means for Cosmo if our shared core became so- What- What are you doing?"

Fully in the air now, Liloei drifted over to my side of the board. "May I see?"

I leaned away, bracing my weight on my palms. "Um… I really don't know how I feel about that."

"Oh, Julius." Liloei touched her fingertips to my cheek. "Were I planning to practice moves on thee, I would have done so long before this. Our rates of aging are far different. I am becoming an old woman now, and thou art but a young juvenile."

I arched my eyebrows, unable to repress my favorite smirk. "Ha! I say! Lily, my darling, if I didn't know you as well as I do, I should think you just implied that I am not much of a looker."

"And how dost thou know I didn't?"

"Confound you, feisty woman." Obligingly, I lifted my hands to my forehead and pushed it back. It unhinged silently, as these things often do. Funny, really. I found I wasn't nearly as embarrassed to display some of the more intimate parts of my body to Liloei as I perhaps should have been. We were the dearest of friends, after all.

Liloei bunched her tail, gave it a flick, and then slipped inside my head. I felt her fumble around for a moment before she found the pocket to one side, between my brain and kidneys, I think. Then her body compressed into a thin ribbon, and she vanished completely from my awareness. I couldn't detect the presence of her magic whatsoever. She was gone for several seconds. Then she poked her head out again. "Julius, thy head would make the perfect genie lamp."

I touched my ear. "What? But- No. You're joking."

"I do not jest. But, I couldst make a home for myself in here. Close thy lid, and thy head alone shall be my vessel."

My knees morphed to sudden pudding. I staggered into my desk. My old desk, my forgotten desk. My fingers clenched wood. "Close it after you? You mean… A-are you sure?"

"Yes."

"And…" I stared at the place on my wall where my door had been so long ago. My throat strangled me from the inside out. "Then you'll have an entirely new lamp."

"Yes."

"Which means my study will no longer be your lamp at all."

"Yes."

"Which means it's over. The door to my study should come back, and I'll be free to simply walk out of here."

"That is the idea."

"No. No, this couldn't work. It can't."

Her fingers traced around the lid of my open dome. "Oh, but if it could, Julius? Wouldn't thou fight for it with every ember of thy being?"

I clenched my bangs to either side of my eyes. "Oh gods, I- I'm not ready to go back to the Castle. There are so many people out there! A-and what about you? Liloei, you can't! You'll be trapped in my head, and I won't be there to keep you company. I don't want to leave you!"

"Thou canst always enter thy study again, and block the space beneath the door before thou openeth thy head. Then I shall be free to slip into thy room." Liloei patted the edge of my skull from the inside. "I shall always be with thee, Julius. But I beg thee to grant me one request."

"Liloei?" Tears blurred my vision like mist in a rain cloud. This couldn't be happening to me. Our friendship was essentially over, just like that? She didn't even want to finish our game? What about me? What about my needs? I cupped my hands against my mouth, catching the swirls of magic that bled between my fangs. "Don't go… I don't want to be alone again."

She bowed her head. "As my request, I wish thou wouldst try thy hardest to find a buck genie who should take me. I wish to birth young candles. Then, I shalt be happy."

No. No, it wasn't fair! She would rather I cart her away to some stranger she could breed with, not caring at all for the values of true and endless love?

And yet… Were our positions reversed and she was the anti-fairy, wouldn't I beg her to grant me the same kindness? To find me a genie doe so I might hold children of my own in my arms before it became too late for me?

My wings shuddered. I squeezed my eyes shut. "Oh. Oh. Of course, Liloei… Don't worry, darling. You're safe in my hands. Or rather, in my head." I swallowed the acid blistering my throat, and smeared the tears across my cheeks with my hand. "I'm okay," I lied. "Okay. Now, go back there in my pocket. I'll shut my lid."

She went. And I did. I felt the zing of magic ring my forehead like a crown of fire, and knew I wouldn't be able to pry off my lid no matter how hard I tried once I left this room. I didn't want to open my eyes, but I did that too.

The walls were the first things to disappear. Swirling magic picked up around me, ruffling my fur in all directions. The wood disappeared, and stones took their place. Then the pink marble floor. The couch. My roost of bone. The cupboards. The ink from all my drawings, stacked on cabinets that no longer existed. Bit by bit, every magical change in my study returned to the way it had been before Liloei and I had become friends. My tunic shrank around me, constraining my limbs until my claws were forced to tear them. The chamber pot filled with an unpleasant stench. The books Liloei had created for me burned themselves to ashes until even the ashes disappeared. My beloved tall hat faded away.

It came out of smoke. By the time I turned around, the door had fully materialised, and a beautiful, looping handle was just uncurling from the wood. I looked around my study, empty of scrolls and fancy clothing, and all of a sudden felt very afraid. It had been Liloei and I in that tiny room for so incredibly long. Could… could I even stand to be around other people again? What if I'd forgotten how?

But I was an Anti-Lunifly. And an Anti-Lunifly fights to fly forward fearlessly. I squared my shoulders up and tucked in my chin. Then I walked over to the door, took hold of the handle, and pressed my thumb down on the elegant latch.

The door opened towards me instead of away. I felt as though I were leaving my own home, not as though I were just stepping out from a small closet. I expected resistance when I left the study, but there wasn't any. Would there be any if I were carrying any of the items that Liloei had created with her genie powers? Might the door force me back then?

I found myself in a black, unlit corridor. The only light around flickered from the candle I'd left burning in my study. Even my sonar knew this hall was deserted. I closed the door behind me, then opened it experimentally again. The force of it flickered the candle's flame, but otherwise, nothing had changed. I was back in the Blue Castle, outside my study on the third floor, as if I had never left.

"Lily?" I asked the pressing silence. I touched my fingertips to one temple.

She did not answer me with words that were distinct, but her purr rattled deep within my head, and comforted me the way that only Liloei could. I stared down the corridor in the direction I knew I would find the stairs, and swallowed. I took my elbows in my hands and shivered once. Well. As long as I had Liloei, I wasn't afraid of what I might find around that corner.

Flying was a distant memory, and a useless waste of energy for a trek that would only take me around my own home. Or what had been my home long ago, anyway. I walked down the carpeted hall, my bare feet squishing in the dark. At least, that was the plan. I made it only so far before my shaking legs gave out. Of course. Lileoi's cure for my frostbite had faded away too. My legs were in horrid condition, discoloured and painful. Walking was a struggle. So I flew the rest of the way on sore wings. My twitching ears detected no sound, all the way up until I reached the stairs that flowed down to the Castle's second level. Voices floated up to me from far away, and I detected the glow of torchlight.

"They're eating supper in the great hall," I whispered. My stomach whined pitifully at the thought. How I missed sitting down at a table to enjoy food in a large social setting.

I could hardly remember the last time I descended a flight of stairs. The morning of my canetis, I suppose. It's hilarious. The act is so frightfully mundane, you would never think you'd miss it. And even when it isn't there, you'd still never think of manifesting the idea into reality. But for the moment, I was grateful to have the stairs, even if skimming my way down them proved difficult and made me chuckle to myself.

I drifted into the great hall with the same confidence I'd show if I had eaten there every day of my life. No one turned around. No one noticed me. I made it almost all the way up to the high table before people realised someone was breaking social norms, and approaching the High Count, High Countess, First General, and heir to the High Count seat at suppertime (and with tattered, undersized clothes and blackened legs to boot). It was longer still before people realised that person was me.

Anti-Elina saw me coming as the first hushes began to fall across the hall. She glanced at Winslow, sitting on her left side… Good smoke, he'd grown so much. His face was filling out, his thin body not far behind. His floppy hat barely smothered his anti-swanee horns.

Anti-Bryndin was seated on Anti-Elina's other side, and Anti-Buster on his. I stopped in front of them, placed an arm across my waist, and bowed.

"Esteemed High Count. Esteemed High Countess. My prince. I should say, it has been quite some time since I have had the pleasure of seeing your divine faces light my day with copper-coated brightness. I hope I am not intruding terribly, and that you have room for me to dine in the great hall this evening, but I found it most appropriate to greet you before I simply sat upon a bench to eat."

Anti-Bryndin made a squeaking sound in the back of his throat. Anti-Elina tightened her fingers around her cutlery. Winslow shrank uncertainly against his father's side. All three of them turned to Anti-Buster, sitting just as I remembered in the far left seat of the high table. His hands rested in his lap, and he had Tarrow's crimson cloak wrapped as per usual around his shoulders. As the three others turned to him, he rose quietly and came around to my side. I shifted back, glancing out over all the other tables in the great hall. Though a few conversations here and there littered the room, overall, it had gone very quiet.

"Julius," Anti-Buster said. He held out his upturned palms like a bowl. I hadn't forgotten the Anti-Fairy way of greeting people. Quickly, I slipped my hands into his so he might examine them. He did, very carefully. "It's… a pleasure to see you again, sir. I had my doubts Tarrow would guide you back to us any time soon. Would you step outside for a moment so I might have a word with you?"

He started to lead me to the door in the corner behind the high table, which led directly into the hallway where one could find the offices of both the High Count and the High Countess. I pulled back my arm. "Hold on a moment. I mean no disrespect, Anti-Buster sir, but will this take very long? I'm quite famished, and all that griffin meat laid out on the tables looks absolutely scrumptious. May I grab a bite to eat and catch up with my friends this evening? I have so been looking forward to making contact with Mona again. Oh. And Augustus too, absolutely."

Anti-Bryndin and Anti-Elina both put down their silverware in unison and looked off in opposite directions. Anti-Buster brought his hand behind my arm, and motioned over the crowd. "Who do you see out there, Julius?" he asked. His voice was very low, very gentle.

Curious question. Why was he asking this?

"I… see…" I stared blankly over the ocean of curious blue faces. I looked to the left side of the hall, where Augustus always, always sat beside my mother at the front table. Neither was there. Only a few members I remembered from the camarilla court, and others whose identities I was less certain about. I swung my head to the right side of the great hall. The popular kids - the ones who had found Tarrow's match for them in the Castle gardens, or the ones like Ashley whom everyone knew because of the circumstances surrounding his birth and whom no one disliked - always, always sat at the table on the far right, just underneath the tall windows.

But I didn't see Ashley, or Electro, or Mona. No Prickle. No Tumble. No one that I knew. The pups and young juveniles sitting there now were strangers to me.

They were strangers. All of them.

Oh my gods. I mean, yes, of course, but-!

I clenched my hand around my elbow, pulling away from the stares of the crowd. My lower back bumped against the high table. I screamed. Liloei jumped deep within my head. Even before anyone said the words, I snapped all the puzzle pieces into place myself. Both hands went up to my mouth.

"Oh my smoke! Why, that should have been the first question out of my mouth. It's so obvious. How long has it been? Anti-Buster, I- I was imprisoned, you see, and it felt like forever, and I- How long has it been, exactly? H-how long was I gone?"

Anti-Buster took my shoulders and forced me to sit cross-legged on the floor in front of the high table, in spite of my trembling. Once I had, he knelt down beside me. His eyes, still pink, gently touched my brain. His words cleaved my spirit like a carrot in a rabbit's mouth.

"It's the Autumn of the Slicing Ripples now, Julius. You've been missing for over 68,000 years."