Frayed Knots

by FountainPenguin

"It's not my problem if you're embarrassed, Anti-Cosmo," H.P. said as I hugged my shoulders. He scratched his chin. "Hm. I suppose there's no help for it. If you honestly and truly want to wear a hat, then you'll have to secure a high position of power so no one ever dares to say anything about it that's negative in the least." (Written August 2016 - Ongoing)

16. Ripples

A/N - We have reached our first crossover point between Frayed Knots and my H.P. backstory 'fic, Origin of the Pixies. This chapter parallels the Origin of the Pixies chapter "Grand Father." Again, Knots is its own story and you don't need to read Origin in order to understand it, but if you like the context and bonus scenes, it is there. All crossovers between the two 'fics will be noted like this at either the beginning or end of the parallel chapter.

Be forewarned: There's a lot of zodiac culture in this chapter. This is still an FOP fanfic, I swear. Julius is just… going through a rebellious phase. But Anti-Wanda returns in full glory next time. Be excited! And H.P. and Sanderson show up after that. Be excited again! And soon, Juandissimo! The fun never ends!

(Posted September 25, 2018)

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Ripples

In which many years pass, Julius is visited by an old friend, and he travels to the Water Temple in the Fairy World capital of Faeheim

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I spent the next three years, on and off, with my hand tethered to Caden's arm before Anti-Elina finally conceded that my recklessness had faded, and I had become a very calm drake. She still made me wear pheromones on my cheeks every other day and would check me closely to ensure I did, but I didn't mind that so much. For I was free now, and shortly before my hand and Caden's were released, Mona returned to the Blue Castle colony to stay.

Anti-Penny came with her, and she resumed her task of teaching me architecture, along with everything else I would need to be a demon-taming acolyte someday. But six thousand years in, I finally refused to go on. After all my years trapped inside Liloei's lamp, I couldn't imagine a future trapped inside the Water Temple, allowed out only to flaunt my clothing and ceremonial jewellery for parades and entertainment (i.e. being allowed out only to grant the wishes of people I didn't particularly care about). It simply didn't become me.

"I want to go to the Fairy Academy someday," I insisted, sitting on my study scrolls instead of reading them. I really should have been looking at Anti-Penny when I spoke, and I sort of was, in spurts… I was using a piece of charcoal to sketch her likeness on a scrap of parchment in my lap. Not my best decision, frankly, since the britches I wore were white cloth and stained terribly.

"To study architecture, mon ami?" Anti-Penny asked pleadingly, her gentle Chif accent sharpening at the end.

"Actually, to study art history." I rotated my parchment and smudged in a patch of shadow along her neck. "When I was a pup, you taught me history endlessly. That was all facts and figures, wars and context, you know what I mean? I wish to take what you taught me, and add art into the equation."

"And I can teach you such things myself."

I shook my head. "I never wanted to be an acolyte. I adore research, and I adore art, but I never desired to spend my childhood researching art as intensely as this. I want to admire the beauty of it, not the facts and figures."

"Mon beau-fils, this is the fate Tarrow chose for you."

At that, I wrinkled my nose. "Well, if that's the case, then why did he lead me away from the Castle and your education for near 70,000 years, hm? Answer me that."

Mona, my mother, and even Anti-Elina herself joined in the discussion, each trying in their own way to encourage me to follow the path of an acolyte. But I could not be swayed.

"I know what I want out of life. I've had thousands of years to think about it. I want to draw."

Anti-Penny sighed. "Ah, but if you choose to be an acolyte, you can paint the most gorgeous murals on Temple walls, and craft the most lifelike statues which may stand in colony gardens someday."

"I don't want to paint old stories. I want to draw the regular world. And I don't want to perform elaborate Zodii ceremonies- I simply want to draw how they look. I wish to capture Anti-Fairy culture in art, and then I want my art to hang in wealthy Fairy homes so they never forget who we are beneath their hurtful stereotypes."

"Julius, you're being difficult," my mother snapped.

"I'm just trying to follow the path that feels like it's my fate. Since returning to the Castle, I've had 6,000 more years of architectural studies, and I'm bored."

Anti-Elina adjusted the eyeglasses she had finally replaced her dangling coloured stone-lenses with. "Bored, you say?"

"Yes." I looked up. "I'm bored. And that's a reasonable state for me, isn't it? Let's not forget, High Countess, that I've legally been considered a child genius ever since I was eight years old. I never have enough to capture my imagination and utilise my talents. Or at least not around here. I. Am. Bored."

"Well, it won't be easy to get you into a Fairy school, especially at this age. There's a great deal of work you'll be expected to do."

"Then I'll do all of it. I want to go." I turned to Mona, who sat quietly on the edge of the table. "What do you think?"

She considered my words. Then she told me something I knew I would never forget: "I would rather marry a happy artist than an ornery acolyte."

She really is the perfect one for me, isn't she?

Anti-Elina wasn't happy, but she respected my decision anyhow. I think Anti-Bryndin coaxed her into it. I wasn't actually informed that I'd been enrolled anywhere, until a sudden visitor showed up on the Castle doorstep. Mona came to get me from my study, flushed from her rapid fly. She grabbed my hand and pulled me along the corridor so fast, I had to keep my fingers pressed to the bridge of my glasses just to keep them on my nose. Pfft. Glasses. The Fairies had invented them, and it showed in the way they were totally impractical for Anti-Fairy ears. They were dreadfully silly, as there were two lenses and I only had the one working eye anyway, and I hated how they were always slipping down my face. Nevertheless, Anti-Elina had gifted them to me, and the curve of the glass improved my vision just as she had promised, so I wore them anyway.

"W-what's going on?" I stuttered out before we reached the grand staircase to the lower floor. When I glanced down, I saw a stranger hovering in the open front door, and my eyes widened. By all accounts, he appeared to be a common anti-fairy, like me. He didn't look older than I was by more than a few decades, which caught my attention at once. I'd always felt as though there weren't many common anti-fairies around these days, what with the baby mandate and all. His arms were stuffed with strips of bark and parchment. He wore a black suit, with a little golden badge on the left side of his chest. An all-purpose, no-eyebrows-raised border-crossing badge, if I wasn't mistaken.

"Stopped to see you specifically," Mona explained, squeezing my wrist. "Speeding on to school shortly."

"You don't say?"

The drake had a relaxed air about him, so I did not rush to greet him. Ashley, Caden, Teresa, Harriet, and Day were all floating about in the corridor, so hopefully they had welcomed him properly. I drifted down slowly, tugging at the hem of my sleeveless black shirt and wishing I'd been informed of his coming so I could have changed into something more presentable before now. Really, it would have taken only a twitch of my wand had I only known. I felt underdressed.

Nonetheless, the drake did not study me with anything that felt like judgement. The cool expression never left his face. His hair was shiny black, intertwined with swirling stripes of silver and smoky blue. He kept most of it tied behind his ears. Even so, long trails of it had come loose during his fly over, and now fluttered about his cheeks.

"Are you Julius Anti-Lunifly?" he asked, shifting the parchments he carried.

"I am. Autumn of the Black Lake." I paused a beat, trying desperately to remember his name. I didn't recall ever being introduced to him before. Mona had said he was from school, but beyond that, I knew nothing about him. "And you are?"

"Noon Anti-Sundive, although I'm coming on 150,000 fast. You'll know me as Anti-Lance after that."

The name cracked with a certain sort of power, and I nodded. "I say, that is a fine name. I'll be sure to remember that. This is my betrothed, Mona Anti-Feldspar," I said, glancing over my shoulder at her (She waved, struggling to cover a giggle in her hand).

Noon dipped his head politely, folding back his ears. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mona. May silver blessings fall upon you. I hope you come by to visit your betrothed and I once or twice. I was never betrothed myself, and from the sound of it, he's a very fortunate drake. What's your zodiac?"

"Soil," she choked out, her voice muffled by her fingers. I heard the other damsels snickering behind her. Caden coughed into his fist much too loudly. I resisted the urge to put my arm in front of Mona and nudge her into the background. Instead, I smiled, lips tight.

"And what's yours, my good man?"

"Sky." So saying, Noon glanced above him to check the glow of the stars. "I'm sorry I can't stay longer. I'm only passing through, but I heard you'll be in my dorm at Frederick Shinesworth, and I wanted to introduce myself early. If I may ask, what are you planning to study?"

Dorm? Frederick Shinesworth? As in, the Fairy World school just inside the border? What, did he mean me? I pricked up. "Art, actually. Drawing and painting, to be precise." I paused for just a wingbeat, then added, "I was in training to be an architect once, but frankly, it's portraits and landscapes that capture my imagination."

"They're a they," Mona blurted, still covering her mouth. "Not a he. So super sorry. For the future, friend."

"Mona," I hissed, my ears going flat. Clarice was my secret to divulge when I felt the time was right. Really, I wouldn't have minded at all if Noon referred to me as a him. Even I thought of myself as a him. She glanced at me, and burst into giggles all over again. Restraining my sigh, I turned to my future roommate once more.

"And you? W-what do you plan to study in the future?"

Noon's narrow eyes narrowed a bit further in thought. "Oh, the general aspects of combat magic, with an emphasis in charms and potioncraft."

"Potioncraft, you say? Ooh, now that does sound fascinating. You know, I mixed a few potions myself back when I was younger, but I'm afraid I chose not to pursue it long. However, I'd certainly been interested in hearing your insights. You'll have to share all the details with me once I've settled in your dorm."

"I'll hold you to it." Noon held his parchments with one hand, but extended the other palm up to me. He smiled. I daresay I rather liked him- his amber eyes were friendly despite the half-lidded way he insisted on gazing about. When I placed my hands in his, he turned them over so mine rested on the bottom. He said, "And I look forward to rooming with you, Julius."

Yes, and I looked forward to graduating the Academy before he did, if it was at all possible. A thrill tingled down my spine at the thought of a challenge. Of all the Anti-Fairies I could have ended up sharing a dorm with, it would seem the one I'd landed was not only intelligent, but also incredibly polite. And a common anti-fairy like myself on top of it! Oh ho, smashing! I imagined he would make an excellent study partner. I'd love to race him to the end of our studies, then; smoke, it had been so long since my brain had faced a proper workout. This would be fun indeed.

"Silver blessings to you all," Noon called as he departed, and I returned the sentiment. Once he'd flown far enough off, I shut the door.

"Well! So it turns out I'm off to Frederick Shinesworth Lower School someday soon, then! What do you say to that, Mona?" She was no longer by my side. I looked about. "Mona?"

There. She, along with Harriet, Day, and Teresa, had retreated halfway down the corridor to giggle and whisper together. I blinked and shifted my gaze to Ashley, who was the only one nearby who appeared as taken aback as I was. I tilted my ears in the damsels' direction.

"I daresay I must have missed a rather humorous joke just now. What's so funny?"

"I have no idea," he told me, sounding honest.

Caden laughed. Coming forward, he clamped a hand on both mine and Ashley's shoulders. "Ho, I'll tell ye boys what they're twittering about! In all my hundred thousand centuries of checking out drakes, I've never seen a lad who turned my head like that. Don't let that fancy-pants suit distract you- Tell me you both saw the muscles that beefcake was sporting. Might as well be modeling on fancy candle advertisements in Fairywood, aye?"

Ashley and I exchanged another look. He shrugged. I conjured Noon's calm, thin face in my mind again.

"Um. Well. He dressed very nicely, and his hair certainly had a wonderful shine. I'd be lying if I insisted I didn't notice how strong his wings were. I suppose he might have been a little cute."

Caden rolled his eyes and let us go. He floated off with his arms raised defensively in the air. "'Little.' Tch. I know I wasn't the only one ready to go to roost with him the moment that he asked. Boy had one of those faces. Not to mention, those legs. Tarrow held back no punches when he slaughtered that drake with adulthood. Woo-wee, I'd like to get me a membership to his training arena."

"I didn't notice," Ashley said with a thoughtful tone in his voice. I scratched my cheek and fixed my glasses again.

"Hmm." Maybe the button-up, scholarly look just didn't do it for me. If I were to honestly consider the nitty-gritty details, I suppose I preferred windblown bangs brushed sideways over one eye, sleeves rolled to the elbows, and trousers with their hems hitched up. Perhaps long hair tied in the back and tossed in a deliberately messy way over one shoulder. I suppose I had rather simple tastes.

Anyway, it didn't really matter whether or not I felt anything for Noon. I didn't need another lover in my life right now. I had Mona.

After the night of Anti-Ember's funeral, the kisses we shared became more frequent. She and I roosted on the same branch of the array, and every once in a while, one of us would take initiative and pull the other in for a few quick smooches time. Within a decade, we became the couple best known for sickeningly affectionate romance in the entire colony, and over the years, others would come to us seeking advice about their own relationships while Mona and I were cuddled in some dusty nook underneath an end-of-corridor window. Still others would gossip about what they thought we did behind their backs. Not that there was much to be done yet, with both of us still yet to develop into full adulthood. Someday. Someday.

It was strange. Normally I fretted endlessly about what people thought of me, but with Mona, I found that I didn't actually care. Let the others watch. I was getting kissed by a damsel, and it wasn't my problem if they gossiped. Mona had waited for me for so long, and even that hadn't been enough to shatter her spirit or her loyalty. She must really want me. When I was with her, I could let my anxieties slip away.

Most of them.

"Would you ever think of joining the Anti-Bentleaf colony?" Mona asked me out of the blue. She dropped that on me during one of our little kissing sessions when I was a hint over 125,000 years old. We were in my private study, where Liloei and I had once been trapped, with the door most assuredly locked. Specifically, I sat in my desk chair with the first two buttons of my coat undone. Mona perched on my lap with the hem of her skirts pulled nearly halfway up her calves, as much as it flusters me to admit it. Yes, yes, I know. Again, I was a terribly scandalous youth; my mother was always quick to remind me of that. My hands curled around Mona's waist, and hers roamed through my hair. My parchments were strewn across the floor by now. Some of them were homework for the tiny Fairy school Anti-Bryndin and Anti-Elina had finally gotten me into, and others were for my reproductive research. I'd been on the cusp of a major breakthrough there, I just knew it. But, that could wait. I always let it wait.

At her sudden question, I jerked my head back, breaking us apart with a sharp smacking sound. "What?"

Mona lowered her head, batting her lashes a little too much for my liking just then. "It's taught tradition for drakes to leave their birth colonies when they come of age, and look at us. We're almost adults at 150,000. I just wondered how you felt about it."

A tingle crept along the bones of my wings. I wrinkled my forehead. "But Mona, you've lived here in the Anti-Coppertalon colony since you were a young pup. Well, most of the time, anyway. This is your home now. We have a castle. We have gardens. We have the privacy of this locked door. Why should we leave all this behind?"

"Hmm…" She placed her palms to my chest and leaned forward. Beneath my coat, I wore my favourite black shirt, with seven coloured circles representing the seven elements on the zodiac. Her hands pressed against Fire and Leaves, on either side of Love. "Ever consider starting an Anti-Lunifly colony?"

Her lips hovered in front of mine, not touching down. Their presence, even after all these millennia, quickened the rushing of my blood. I leaned my head away. My juvenile fangs hadn't fallen out yet. For some reason I was extremely aware of this fact as my tongue danced about my mouth in search of a place to hide. Earlier I'd rolled up one of my jacket sleeves. Now I wiped it across my forehead, just to be rid of some of my anxieties.

"Don't be absurd," I muttered. I fixed my askew eyeglasses for the thousandth time. "I'm not precisely the leader type. Why, even when we kiss, you always forget your place as a Soil and try to wield power over me. I daresay I suspect that's why you attempt to initiate our little wooing sessions so frequently, simply so you have some skill to lord above my head."

"Travelling in a bachelor colony is supposed to be a good experience for drakes. You'll practice your domestic magic, not relying wholly on servants or damsels to cook and clean up after you." Her eyes darted pointedly to the clothes and scrolls all over my floor. "I think it might be good for you."

My face purpled at the accusation. Me, reliant on servants or damsels? After all the centuries I'd spent alone? Perish the thought! "Mona, be serious! Were I to start a bachelor colony (or I suppose a not-quite bachelor colony seeing as you and I are betrothed), who would even want to go with me?"

"Electro?"

I snorted. "I daresay that by this point in our lives, he thoroughly hates me. I admire his intelligence and trust his judgment in all respects, but I've hardly exchanged friendly words with him since we were pups."

"Ashley?"

"No, I couldn't do that. He's… Ashley."

"Anti-Kanin?"

I twitched at the sound of Caden's adult name. He and the rest of his litter had had their ceremonies not long ago. Augustus would have too, had he been here. He was Anti-Robin Jr. now, out there somewhere bearing the name of our father as though he deserved to. "No. I couldn't. Not Anti-Kanin. We've all been such close friends since we were pups. It would be quite uncomfortable."

"Then Noon."

"No. He, um… Well, I'm just sure he wouldn't want to go. He's very busy with his schooling, you know. Believe me, I've seen his work."

Mona hummed absentmindedly. "Initiate asking around. Someone has to start the fire. Once you organise, you'll have plenty of drakes who want to come along. But don't dilly with damsels, of course." She tickled me beneath my chin. "I'd get jealous!"

Frankly, I didn't understand what was so different about damsels that she'd become more jealous of me being around them as opposed to drakes. But all right then, I told myself as I brought my mouth to Mona's once more. If my beloved requested it of me, then I wouldn't hang around alone with other damsels. A small price to pay when she cared for me so dearly.

Except, of course, I expected to be granted permission to hang around just one particular damsel. A damsel whom I'd lived with and loved longer than even Mona. She came to visit me out of the blue one day, gonging into my study with a mere snap of her fingers. I was on the floor, fishing another box of scrolls from underneath my desk. My ears quirked back at the sound. Her sound was familiar. I smiled.

"Hello there, Liloei. Just one moment, if you don't mind, please. I'll be right with you."

I felt her drift a curious bob closer. "What is it that thou art doing?"

"Oof. Well, right now, I'm trying in vain to find any information that I can about my ancestors. Specifically, those born in a Water year like I was. After all, they're the only ones who should have been able to reincarnate into the me of the present day. This is a mere side-project because I'm curious, and there's little else I can do to progress my main research regarding Anti-Fairy reproduction loopholes until I come of age." I sighed and pulled out the box I'd been reaching for. "Unfortunately, most of the family records I have found are unfinished, and so many more are missing completely. There's just so much in Anti-Fairy World that's unorganised, even when I flew down to the library to pick these up. I don't want to do this. Ah, well." Shrugging once, I finally looked up at her. "How are you doi- Oh!"

She smiled thinly. "Art thou surprised, Julius?"

I touched my lips. "I- I… I'm speechless. Congratulations."

The small bin in her arms concealed part of her body, but not quite enough to block the sight of her happy belly rounded with future baby genies. Liloei dipped her head, brushing her purple hair behind one ear.

"Good smoke," I cried, clapping my hands. "Why, it seems only last week that we were trapped together, and look at you now, all grown up with a family of your own. Ohhh, we have so much catching up to do. Come, come. Do sit. I want to hear everything."

"First, I wish to show thee this." Liloei extended her arms. I floated close to peer inside the bin she held, and realised with a sudden start that this bin was actually a sort of lamp. A small rose-coloured thing lay napping in one corner. The curls on its head were as purple as its mother's tail. It looked to be perhaps a few years old, simply because it was thick in the middle and appeared intelligent and alert, even while asleep. I could tell.

"Well, you've certainly been busy! I say, Liloei. Your little candle is absolutely beautiful. Is it a buck or a doe?"

"A doe. Her name is Lohai." She pronounced it "low-high." Liloei placed the bin on my desk and hugged her elbows. "Something critical has come up. She is very sick and not getting any better."

My smile faded. Without thinking, I'd been reaching for the baby genie, but hearing this, I pulled back my hand and held it to my chest. "Oh dear. I'm afraid I know next to nothing about genie health, but I'll certainly do my best to help you with her."

Liloei visibly relaxed when I said that. She swished her tail. "Wilt thou watch her for me, Julius? I need to go out. I shall be back for her quite soon. Please, just this little favour?"

Keep an eye on an adorable genie candle, and play with her a bit if she should wake unexpectedly? I chuckled. "All right. Alert me when you get back. Once you do, I'll head straight to the library and see what I can find on genies. Don't worry. We'll tackle this health issue together. Lohai will be fine. I promise."

Liloei nodded and gonged away with a snap of her fingers. I moved Lohai's bin below my roost, took up a perch, and hung curiously above to watch her have her nap.

I knew better than to probe inside Lohai's bin and attempt to forcibly drag her out. And I was much too afraid that were I to block my door and trigger my room to act like a genie's lamp, Lohai wouldn't want to return to her container when I asked it of her, and I would be trapped for 70,000 years all over again. So I maintained my careful distance, and simply dropped fruits, vegetables, and the occasional mouse into her bin from above. They shrunk when they passed from my world to hers, and I wondered if Lohai was actually that small, or if her size appeared distorted while she was within her transparent lamp.

But days turned into weeks. Lohai was friendly, although she didn't speak much, and she lacked the playful energy one expects of children. I stayed with her constantly, playing with her as much as I could with her in her bin and asking Mona to bring me all my meals. Little Lohai slept quite a lot. Running a high fever, I suspected, although between my cold hands and natural genie warmth, it was difficult to tell for certain.

During her naps, I often sat beside her, paging through text after text and fumbling with scrolls, taking notes on all that I could regarding genies. Genies were supposed to stay warm. They required lots of sun and lots of iron. Hmm. Might iron deficiency be the issue here? Iron wasn't a natural metal in the cloudlands, after all, despite the fact that the Divide gate had been built from it.

Mona was born in a Soil year, and on top of that she had been born with the personality profile of a young veterinarian. She at once recognised that the iron connection paralleled the needs of rabbits, and when I exhausted my genie texts, she kept up a steady supply of books related to rabbit care. Ashley suggested I study snakes as well, because genies were rather snake-like from the waist down, after all. While I kept Lohai occupied, Mona took it upon herself to secure a shipment of iron-rich Earth dirt and bring it up to me. This, we carefully poured into Lohai's bin, while she squirmed about in this shower of soil.

"Wild rabbit kits can constantly absorb iron from the dirt they crawl around in," Mona explained to me, refilling Lohai's drip bottle. We didn't dare give her a water dish, knowing from the stories of our childhood how strongly even a few stray water droplets on the skin could affect a genie. Even the drip bottle might be risking her health, but alas, she did need it. It wasn't as though I could bottle-feed her without risking the possibility of entrapment in a genie's lamp again.

"Of course! Why didn't I think of that before? Genies were native to Planet Mars before the Eros family bottled them up and relocated them to Planet Earth. Planet Mars is drowning in iron. But little Lohai here was born in the cloudlands. At least I think she was. Strange as it sounds, Liloei herself may have been born in an iron-rich environment and didn't even think about it." I wondered if my father had held onto Liloei's canteen in her youth because he wished to bring her to a place rich in iron and release her there. I supposed I would never know.

Mona nodded. She reached into Lohai's bin very carefully and stirred some of the dirt around with her claw. Her hand wavered, shrinking at the wrist when it passed through the place that would have been the lid of the box, so it appeared that her thick arm became a shrivelled twig. We'd found that reaching inside the box was possible, so long as we made no attempt to touch Liloei's body, even while wearing gloves, or else painful electric shocks would rattle along our skin. Mona said, "Study the composition of this soil so you can summon a supplement supply magically when next you know the need."

"Point taken." I made a face at Lohai as she burrowed under a heap of dirt. "She does tend to make quite the mess. Why, if dear Liloei takes much longer, I'll certainly be cleaning this bin often."

I did clean it often. And I waited. And waited some more. Then weeks turned into months, and the months dragged on, and only then did I finally realise that I had been had. You could have smacked me in the face, and the truth wouldn't have sunk in all the sooner. The day I knew it undeniably, I staggered back from the bin and into my desk, pressing my fingers to my lips.

"Oh my smoke. Liloei isn't planning to come back at all. Is she? She never was. I'm the unlucky unrelated foster parent she dumped her child on, just like in her stories of genie mothers. She… she…" I looked down at little Lohai, snug in her dirt box at the time and softly sleeping, her food dish and drip bottle within reach. My hands went to my hair. "What? No! Why, she would never! Not Liloei. Not my Liloei."

And yet the years went by. Liloei did not return.

And I? Did I toss her daughter out for the wild foops and coin sith to devour in the deepest clutch of night? Of course not. Let us not forget that I always desired a child of my own. Yes, I was young. Hardly more than a child myself, not even of legal age to do much of anything. And certainly, Lohai belonged to another species. I hadn't fathered her myself. Why, I might argue that I knew very little of genies at the time.

It didn't matter. Though she'd been Liloei's once, she was all mine now.

As Lohai began to grow, I started to allow her from her bin. True, the sight of the door vanishing from my wall never failed to fill me with anxiety, but Lohai obeyed me whenever I put her to bed in the bin again. So it was that I often locked us both in my doorless study so I might brush her hair and trim her fingernails with a pair of clips I'd brought in from Fairy World. Lohai and I practiced our different types of magic together and cheered one another on even when neither of us really understood the other's ways.

My sweet doe was gentle. Cheery. Quick with a joke, even when they were poor. She often sat in my lap and sucked her thumb while I read to her from picture books. Her rosy pink tail coiled from my lap, wrapping around my legs. She knew that with her light brown skin and purple hair, we were different on the outside. I never lied to her about that.

"Why, Papa Julius?" she pressed me one of those days as I washed her carefully down with a very lightly damp rag.

"We are different because you're a genie, darling." I circled the cloth around her ear. "An extraordinary noble and powerful creature of the universe."

"And you're an Anti-Fairy?"

"That's right. My place in the universe is to balance luck and karma, helping her achieve homeostasis. Your place is to wield raw magical energy that most beings such as I are simply incapable of handling."

Lohai shook her head. "Your place is to be my Papa Julius. You take care of me."

I kissed her forehead. "Well, I suppose that's true too, isn't it?"

With a soft giggle, Lohai nuzzled my neck. "I want you to take care of my babies one day just like you've taken care of me, Papa."

"… Well. Let's worry about that later, my dear. Your time will come one day, I'm sure, but for now, you have an entire childhood to enjoy. All right. Back in your bin for the night; there's a good girl. Have some pleasantly adventurous dreams, you wonderful little rascal."

She nestled down in her bed of iron-rich soil, coals, and low-burning embers. I shut the door to my study behind her, and smiled at Mona, who stood across the hall. "She's resting now. What say you and I go find a private place to squeeze in a spot of cuddling, hm?"

"I would be delighted, Papa Julius," she giggled back. I rolled my eyes and pushed her shoulder with my hand.

That's how it was, then. I had my girls: My mother, my soulmate, and my genie foster child. And for a short while, that satisfied me enough.

I did eventually take Mona's suggestion regarding the bachelor colony to heart, although I spent 3,000 years brooding over them. While I didn't consider myself leader material per se, she had slid an idea in my head, and I respected her advice immensely. I dwelt on it for weeks as I struggled to focus on my work. Then months, through periods both high and low. And somehow, early in the Summer of the Charged Waters at the age of 128,288, I found myself standing before the door to the Blue Castle's observatory-side sitting area, polishing and repolishing my glasses on the hem of my shirt as I battled to maintain my nervous composition.

After ruffling up my hair, I at last pushed open the door. Anti-Bryndin, dressed in a blue and silver robe and holding a teacup, knelt on the floor across from a freckled Fairy with an odd large crown and fuzzy brown hair. He wore an elegant red robe decorated in shining golden stars. I'd gotten to know him well over the past several millennia. This was Shamaiin Vieldgarr, who was seriously trying to win the position of Purple Robe during the elections this year. And winning too, thus far, due in part to the support we Anti-Fairies had showed him, I'm sure.

"I- I'm terribly sorry, High Count," I stuttered, shrinking behind the door again. "I didn't realise you were entertaining such an esteemed guest."

Shamaiin glowed at the compliment. Anti-Bryndin rolled his hand. "You have already interrupted. You can finish it."

"Yes, well." I inhaled pointlessly, puffing my cheeks. Then I blew the air out again. "Anti-Bryndin, I'm rapidly nearing the age of 150,000. As you know, it is tradition for drakes to leave their birth colony around the time they come into adulthood. With your permission, I think I'm ready to leave the castle with anyone who wishes to accompany me, and form my own travelling bachelor colony for a few thousand years. Mona will watch over Lohai until I return home to marry her."

Anti-Bryndin lifted his teacup to his mouth and drew out a long sip without breaking eye contact, brows raised. "It is cute that you think that, Julius. Go get a real job that can pay first. Then we will talk of your independence."

I ducked my head. "Yes, High Count."

A job? As I left the sitting room, my head swam in circles at the very idea. I was a supergenius! I didn't need a job! Why, people should be falling at my feet in thanks that I bothered to waste my words on them at all! I was a fae who had spent almost the entirety of his life poring over historic texts, and for half that time, I'd been trapped in a genie's lamp. What sort of job was I even qualified for?

"Politics?" Anti-Kanin suggested when I asked him.

I snorted, taking up my picket sign. "You realise that with the Council elections going on, we are literally engaged in a heated political event right now, and we're not even on the chopping block here. Frankly, I'm not sure my nerves could take it if I was."

"I think you'd make a great member of the Anti-Fairy Council someday, matey."

"Great, so that means two votes in my favour and 50,000 against. I'm a shoo-in." I hefted my picket sign over my shoulder, squinting through the Barrier at the random Fairies passing by on their way to do 'jobs.' Raising my voice, I shouted, "Remember the people you'll hurt if you vote Jameswin!"

"Don't vote Jameswin!" Ashley joined in.

Anti-Kanin flew higher. "Arr, keep Mortikor in office."

"Vote for Cattahan. He's true blue."

"If you care at all for Anti-Fairy rights, vote Shamaiin for the Central Star Region."

We kept that up all morning, until the Fairies stopped skimming by. Then we broke for lunch. No matter. They would pass us by again when they went home for the afternoons, unless they all decided to poof. Anti-Kanin tossed me a sandwich. I checked inside, then threw it back.

"No cheese, if it isn't any trouble. You know I can't stand cheese."

He gave me another sandwich in its place, slowly. "Now, here's a thought 'bout your troubles finding work, matey: Why don't ye visit the Water Temple? Perhaps Sunnie would give you some advice. Ye are born in his year, after all."

"I doubt he'll appear for someone like me," I muttered, reaching down to adjust the leg of my trousers over my sock. Oh, how I hated socks. They gather lint, they bunch in your shoes, and we Anti-Fairies hadn't yet mastered manufacturing ones that suited our opposable toes. No one had made me wear socks back when we dressed in tunics instead of cotton britches. I'd had knee-high stockings that didn't bother me quite this much. "I'm not but the off-kilter son of a concubine and a goody-goody servant, remember? Why should Sunnie have any interest in me or my mortal wants?"

Ashley looked over at us from down the row. After he swallowed his bite of sandwich, he said, "He doesn't have to appear and talk to you for the trip to be worth it. We're not supposed to visit the Temples just because we hope we'll get lucky enough to speak directly to a spirit. The Temples are also a place where we can simply go to clear our heads. In that environment, you might figure out what it is you want- whether that's Sunnie's direct doing or not."

"Hmm."

Anti-Kanin nudged my shoulder. "Aye, the skipper's right on that one, matey. You learn all sorts of hidden facets 'bout your wants and needs when you lay yourself out before the spirits. Perhaps ye might finally find out a thing or two about your past life."

I bobbed my head, unconvinced. "I suppose so. Oh, I say, Anti-Kanin- Have you learned whether you're a reincarnation of anyone yet? Or are you a new soul?"

He scratched the bristled fur along his chin. "I'm my seven-times great grandfather. Known it since I was 40,000. Lucky triple 7, born on a Friday in the Love year, we'd say."

"And you're sure about that?"

Anti-Kanin upturned his hands. "When ye know, ye just know."

I sighed, squeezing my sandwich with my thumbs. "Oh, I don't know. I mean, most of the Water Temple lies undercloud, doesn't it? Being undercloud isn't really my thing. Tight spaces make me uncomfortable. I wouldn't say nervous, as such, but I just don't like them. At least not undercloud. I mean, what if it should collapse on top of me? What if all that weight comes crashing down upon my head and kills me outright?"

"You'll regenerate?" Ashley offered.

I mulled over this statement for a moment as I ate, then heaved my wings in a shrug. "Well, I suppose that's true. All right, you've talked me into it. I'll have Mona look after Lohai for a day or two, and try to visit it sometime soon. It's more difficult for me than for either of you, being a Water year, because the Fairies have jurisdiction over Sunnie's Temple. Anti-Fairies are only permitted inside one day a week. That means I have to visit Faeheim on Sunday, no exceptions, and chances are the worship rooms have all been booked months in advance. I suppose I did want to pay a visit to Ambrosine anyway. You know, let him hear how I've been doing and such. Perhaps I'll take a hooded coat and gloves so I don't stick out like a broken crown, hm?"

I didn't have the opportunity to visit the Water Temple until Naming Day, in the Spring of the White Sun. Visiting the Temple at the beginning of a Sky year, the literal day following the end of Sunnie's reign this zodiac cycle, felt so horribly wrong, but it had to be done. Luna's Landing was rich with the thrills of the new year, but I politely excused myself from the bubbly festivities and winged my way to the border with Fairy World alone. Funny. The ruins of the Anti-Eros tower remained as decrepit as I remembered it. I wondered where Anti-Venus, Anti-Charite, and Anti-Ludell had moved their base of operations too, if they were even out there somewhere capturing Anti-Fairy souls these days at all.

As strict and intimidating as the Barrier was (for Anti-Fairies anyway), my people were allowed into Fairy World if we were on pilgrimage to the Zodiac Temples. Provided, of course, that we were escorted by a certain number of Fairies everywhere we went. I couldn't believe my misfortune when the lead escort assigned to me turned out to be Jorgen von Strangle, along with a small, freckled, half-fairy, half-elf who identified himself as Binky. He turned out to be a friendly little fellow, who struck up a conversation with me about the Water Temple as I waited for my passport to be approved at the border crossing desk.

"I've always liked the Zodii teachings myself," Binky admitted to me, tapping his chin. "I've always thought it would be interesting to pursue. I've heard that when the Zodii want to seriously call upon a nature spirit in their Temple, they always travel to the Temple by foot or by wing, without using any magic. Is that right?"

I nodded. "A proper pilgrimage must be done without magic. Many Anti-Fairies end up in colonies near the Temple of the zodiac they were born under for precisely that reason. It isn't unusual to encounter an entire colony of Love years in Luna's Landing, or Fire years in Solsbirth, or Soil years in Mudhale. You know… all the Temples in Anti-Fairy World."

Jorgen stopped picking at his reflective escort vest and looked up. His eyebrows bunched. "Are we taking the tram, then? Seriously?"

After reminding Jorgen that it was my right as an Anti-Fairy to choose where in Fairy World I would go, provided I was escorted appropriately (and after he soothed Jorgen's ruffled irritation regarding that particular law), Binky turned to me again. He smiled a faraway smile. "We Fairies usually just poof from room to room. Poofing short distances doesn't even require a wand. It's so interesting to find these differences in our cultures, don't you think? I write poetry, you know, and every now and again I like drawing on your beliefs for inspiration."

"Really? What's your zodiac?"

"I'm a Love year."

How curious. I'd have pinned him for a Leaves.

Jorgen and Binky were reluctant to let me out of their sight at first, but when we arrived in Faeheim, I encouraged them to enjoy the city's little shops and attractions, subtly reminding them of the long and dull wait ahead if they chose to come inside the Temple with me. "I do hope you won't tire of standing about this simply lovely Temple," I said while looking Jorgen in the eyes with false concern. "It's my first time ever coming here, and the Water Temple is always the most difficult to visit. I won't be long: Only seven hours or so."

Jorgen needed no further encouraging. He tugged on Binky's arm, pleading for fried food on a wand-shaped stick. To my surprise, it was Binky who seemed to have the authority to make the final call, and he studied me for a careful moment before a smile broke across his face. The two of them happily left me there on the Temple steps, and I mused over the fact that it hadn't been very difficult to trick them into leaving me alone in Fairy World. Perhaps another day, I might take advantage of that.

But for now, I lifted the curtains aside and stepped inside the Water Temple for the very first time in all my young life.

Even after breaking free of Liloei's lamp, I'd very simply never tried to go. Faeheim was the Fairy World capital, splendid and bright and colourful and modern and sleek, just as I had imagined it to be. As a pup, I had longed to visit the city. I don't know what happened to change my mind. Perhaps I grew up, or perhaps my visit to the Breath Temple terrified me silly. In addition, because I'd always had my father's blessing tokens to pray to when I desired to feel that I was communicating to the spirits, I'd never really seen the need. Mother had never tried to encourage it despite the fact that she crossed Anti-Fairy World to visit Saturn's Temple every Saturday without fail (but then again, she always poofed since she was the High Count's personal guard and should never be away from him long). I'd always felt anxious about wasting Sunnie's time with my small, pathetic problems anyway.

For all these reasons, I, despite my 128,289 years, had never stepped inside the Water Temple before. Of course Anti-Penny had shown me a few floor plans and carved elements during my architect training, but it was certainly fascinating to experience the building with my own eyes and ears. It was large and square, pale blue, its roof triangular and lifted up on white, rounded pillars.

Unlike most of the Zodiac Temples, the Water Temple consisted of two buildings- an upper entrance building for the public, and a lower set of rooms tucked quietly below the rowdy streets. When I came inside through the beautiful woven curtains at the front, I crossed paths with acolytes dressed in turquoise, black, and white. They darted about, cleaning cloths in hand, as they wiped away the traces of Fairy tourists who had been wandering around in the last week when Anti-Fairies were denied entry. The Zodii Anti-Fairies, anyway.

The entry chamber was not much to look at. It was small, and square, with four sides open to the world. Down a few steps from where I stood, the entire floor became a clear pool that probably reached all the way up to my knees. The gaps between the pillars around the chamber's edges showed glimpses of the bustling city outside. Three grey boulders carved into vague chairs sat at the other end. I greeted the busy acolytes, and crossed through the small building only so I could enter the rear garden.

Oh, the garden was simply smashing, even though it was simple too. There were no trees, but the borders were lined with hedges, and the grass was springy with health. A stone path meandered back and forth among boulders and statues. The most interesting feature of the garden, I thought, was the curious small waterfall that poured from a jutting rock. It appeared to a fountain of sorts, draining into the ground and spurting from the top again in an endless loop. This rock formation created a sort of archway or tunnel you could walk through, and the thin waterfall poured over the far end like a curtain. Amused, I walked through it several times, until my clothes and fur were positively soaked. I chuckled as I shook myself off. Imagine, if you would- washing up beneath water pouring down on you from above! With that, I moved towards two brass statues of turtles, and began to descend the white crystal stairs between them into the undercloud portion of Sunnie's Temple.

I made it only three steps down before my entire body seized up. No. Not a tunnel. Not underground. Not again. Never again.

Blood and bile filled my throat. My legs wobbled, threatening to give out. Ancient instincts kicked in. I turned and scrambled back to the top of the steps in blind panic, whereupon I flopped over in the grass and emptied my stomach of butterflies. The sight of them only made me cry harder. My claws had scratched the steps after I'd fallen, so hard that one was peeling now. The turtle statues judged me unkindly from their perches above. I swore I heard the muffled laughter of an acolyte from somewhere beyond the hedges.

After a moment of unease, I forced myself to sit up, and peered into the depths of the Temple once more. My chest heaved. In. Out. In. Out. I wiped a stray insect thorax from my lips. My nerves squealed.

Don't go down there. Don't ever set foot in the tunnels again. If I went down there, I would die. That much was certain.

"Clarice?" I whimpered. Could it be? After all, those couldn't be my memories swirling around in my head. Why, I'd never set foot in a tunnel like this one in my life, so how could it be my fault that I reacted so strongly to going down there?

Yes, that was it. These were Clarice's thoughts. Not mine.

Wary now, I pulled my coat more tightly around me, bringing my knees to my chest. It was several long minutes before my shaking stopped. Once it had, I rose to my feet, and tried again.

Don't go down there. Her thoughts were muddled, and punctured my soul with feelings more than coherent words. They felt like my own thoughts, even though I didn't know why I was thinking them. Were they my thoughts? Attaching my name to them felt alarming.

I went down another stair.

Don't go in.

I took another step.

That's how they get you. They trap you while your back is turned.

Step.

They'll leave me here to die. Ungrateful warriors.

Step.

What am I doing? What if Sunnie sees me? Will he even remember me?

Step.

How am I supposed to explain how I ended up like this?

Step.

That old trick isn't bound to work a second time.

Step.

You'd think a dame would learn.

Gradually, my thoughts - Clarice's thoughts, mind you - faded to an uneasy background mutter. My breathing eased until it ended. I forced myself to sip filtered magic from Cosmo's core once again, instead of panting useless air. I blinked. Yes. The details along the walls here were incredible, with light carvings of rivers and raindrops guiding my path. Down here, the noise of Faeheim's streets died away. By the glow of the blue torches, I could make out a corridor which split into two up ahead- One passage curving sharply to the left, and one to the right. The white wall between them had been painted with a mural that depicted the most scholarly-looking turtle I had ever seen in my life. He dressed in a white robe, with a hooked staff that bore a paper lantern in one hand and an unfurled scroll in the other. Despite the one he held, the blue turtle seemed to be absorbed with the shelves of scrolls behind him.

Moving slowly so as not to set off my anxieties, I took one of the paths around the wall. They met back up in the centre on the other side. There, I found another set of stairs, leading even deeper down. I bit my lip, but followed them anyway. To my surprise, when I reached the bottom, I found myself standing on a transparent glass floor. It had fogged slightly, wet with condensation from the clouds around it, but I could see the land below. Only, rather than the golden-leaved ipewood forest I expected, I found myself staring down at a rather barren chunk of the Barrenglades on Plane 4. Sickly-looking green pools covered the valley in rivers and waterfalls. The ground appeared rocky. Black. Scorched. It was as though I were gazing into a giant bucket of acidic destruction. Never had I seen ruined landscape within Fairy World's borders, and I puzzled over it as I continued on my way. What a strange choice of design. Very strange indeed.

The passage grew very bright not far ahead. My corridor soon opened into a round room with an intense beam of white sunshine in the centre, searing a column from the ceiling to the middle of the floor. Another corridor on the other side led deeper into the Temple, but I had to pause and squint. As a creature of Anti-Fairy World, I naturally favoured darkness over light, especially when said light rippled in the air before me like a physical thing.

That wasn't even the most interesting part. A large dagger hung suspended in the sizzling beam of light, just high enough that I could reach out and take hold of it. The solid inrita blade glinted down at me, sleek and black. It glittered rainbow in the light. The silver hilt was bejewelled with massive chunks of turquoise. Unable to even express my wonder verbally, I stretched out my hand, and let it hover near the padded grip. For just a moment, I waited. I'd expected someone to appear suddenly behind me, startling me with a droning, "Please don't touch," that would make me spin around. I heard nothing. No one stopped me. No one was around.

Squaring my shoulders, I clenched my hand around the hilt and pulled it from the beam of light. A few of its sparkles died away, but I was not struck with white nose syndrome nor cast off my feet in a flash flood. I felt just fine.

I brought the blade near my eyes for close examination, knowing better than to rest the bare inrita against my skin. Even if I did manage to avoid cutting myself, contact didn't seem to be the wisest choice I could make at this time. A wound caused by inrita did not heal naturally, and treatment tended to be enormously expensive. Burning inrita was always disastrous, more so in areas thick with magic, for the explosions could level buildings and fling even non-magical beings back from the force. It was for good reason that Fairy merchants kept jars of the stuff in liquid form on their shelves, for inrita prevented the use of magic around it entirely. Indeed, I deduced that it must be the presence of the great inrita dagger which disabled the use of magic and flight in the Temple. The Temple walls themselves might not have anything to do with it.

The craftsmanship was incredible. The blade sang in my hand, even when she wasn't in use. I knew her name in Vatajasa, too: Väikalle d'Järveii. Princess of the Sacred Ripple.

All of a sudden, I was struck in the head with the most brilliant idea I'd ever had: Steal the dagger.

I mean, it was the obvious path, wasn't it? Just after my encounter with the snake during my canetis, Anti-Bryndin had plainly explained to me that an Anti-Fairy under the effects of inrita poisoning was not susceptible to the honey-lock. Why, all I had to do was give Mona and myself each a whack with this thing, and the honey-lock would be the farthest trouble from our minds! And then came all the children. I planned to have pups by the dozen!

Hmm. Was this blade truly forged of inrita, or was this but a clever replica? It seemed reasonable to check it first before I enacted my plan to claim it for my own. Silently, I raised the blade towards my own throat. I drew it away again, rearing back over my shoulder for a mighty swing which would fly around and dislodge my head completely from my shoulders in an instant-

"Whoa, tap the breaks there, little manticore."

I jerked towards the damseline voice, dropping the dagger to the transparent floor. It clattered and clanged. Thoughts of wielding it against myself vanished with an audible pop like a drink splashing from a pitcher to a goblet. A high ringing mocked my ears nonetheless. It pierced my soul to its base, tore me in two, and stitched me up again. It rattled my fangs until they blurred.

She was a fairy. Young, about my own age. Her eyes were brilliantly green, and her hair so golden that it practically glowed. She dressed almost entirely in white, with a yellow flower stuck through her wide-brimmed hat. Tiny stars twinkled at her ears. Over her shirt, she wore a pink vest with the buttons undone. Her entire aura radiated peace and light, but my nerves couldn't take even that. The fairy glanced over me up and down, then clucked her tongue at the sight of Väikalle d'Järveii still lying where I'd dropped her. She placed her fists against her hips.

"Oh, no no no, that simply won't do. We can't just leave such a precious treasure sprawled across the floor like this."

"I'm sorry!" I blurted, shuffling two steps back. My wings flapped three times, snapping like kicking legs. How far was it to the passage behind me? Could I make it there before this damsel reached me? Did she know this place better than I did? Would she catch me if I tried to run?

But to my surprise, she held her hand out for me to take. Palm turned inward the way that Fairies greet, rather than palm facing up as a ranking Anti-Fairy extends to a subordinate. "I'm Dame Ellie Sunshine," she told me. "What's your name?"

I stared at her palm. It was her right hand. I'd been told that Fairies only shook with their left, because the right palm was the place that magic left our bodies strongest. Even so, I cautiously reached out my own to meet her. "J-Julius."

"Your full name, please," she urged with a warm smile. She grasped my hand in hers. It was warm. Very, very warm, even for a Fairy. The fur prickled on the back of my neck. I took half a step further backward, wondering whether it was my imagination, or if I'd just felt a breeze coast across the room.

"Julius Anti-Cosmo Anti-Lunifly."

No. There was definitely a breeze. I didn't know how that was possible underground, but there was no mistaking it. My eyes darted first left, then right. Then to Dame Sunshine again. She smiled even wider, and squeezed my hand very, very tightly before she let it drop. Her hand sparked with magic pulses. I swallowed.

"Dame, I am so sorry. I- I'm really not sure what came over me. I- I- I have these moments where my anxiety becomes unbearably overwhelming, and so- so- maybe I- I- I don't-"

"No harm done." She smiled at me brightly and extended her arm again, her hand upturned to grasp the hilt. "Just hand me that nasty little sword and we'll forget this whole mess ever happened!"

I nodded rapidly and bent down to pick Väikalle d'Järveii up again. But I hesitated. Puzzled thoughts swirled through my head like a shaken snow globe. When I'd held that dagger, I hadn't been thinking very clearly. For smoke's sake, I'd been about to slice my head off- with an inrita blade! Unsupervised and alone, with no one to comfort me through the pain following regeneration. Had I gone mad?

But Dame Sunshine was still waiting. Fairies owned the Water Temple, for it lay in their capital city and they'd never sold it to my people. Dame Sunshine must be one of the Fairy acolytes who looked over it during the days of the week when Anti-Fairies weren't permitted to come here. She certainly acted as though she had authority to be here, even if she was wearing all the wrong colours for the Water Temple. And so… I took hold of the sword again, and lifted it before my eyes. I rotated my wrist first in one direction, then the other. My reflection appeared so scrawny, my cheeks so sunken, my eyes so hollow.

"May I have the sacred dagger now, Julius?"

Slowly, I twisted my arm so I might place the hilt in Dame Sunshine's hand without either of us touching the terrible black blade. Her emerald eyes widened with passion. When she grinned, I could see the points of her fangs.

"Yes, yes, that's it. You're doing so well! Just give her to me."

"I… shouldn't…"

My thoughts felt blurry. I stood in an awkward way with my head to the side, staring at her very un-Fairy-like teeth, but Dame Sunshine beckoned me forward again with both hands. Her hat's brim had tilted downwards. The yellow flames licking at the cuffs of her sleeves were lightening, while the rest of her clothing darkened. Her vest took on a deep periwinkle blue. Streaks of white curled from her scalp and flickered through her hair.

"Almost… mine…"

"Please don't touch," interrupted a deeper voice, although it was equally damseline. I screeched and dropped the dagger again, spinning around just as before. Väikalle d'Järveii crashed against glass. The speaker's accent was strongly Mangermese, low and guttural, and she looked it, too. I met her gaze with rising panic in my chest.

The new damsel was young, her face smooth and narrow. She stood in the corridor behind me, leaning her back and one foot against the wall. Arms folded. To my utter relief, she was an Anti-Fairy. An anti-swanee, to be exact, since she had horns on her head that curved up just like Anti-Bryndin's. Like all the acolytes I'd glimpsed thus far, she wore a simple worship robe patterned in alternating horizontal stripes of black, white, and turquoise blue. Although if I wasn't mistaken, hers appeared to be, um… very unnecessarily low-cut around the bodice. A brooch the size of a plum rested against her bare sternum, as though melded directly into her skin. Her hair gleamed a natural shade of silver, and although she'd pulled it somewhat high in several elaborate ties and braids, it still flowed so far down her back that it brushed the backs of her knees.

I really liked that look, the long hair tied up and all, but truthfully, what most effectively stole my words away were her deep, glowing lips and the liquid shadows patterned around her eyes. Her eyelashes were white, and alight as though with gentle fire. I mean, gods. I thought I knew the ins and outs of make-up products after enough spontaneous afternoons of letting Mona show me how it all worked, but I wanted this damsel to teach me to look like that.

Dame Sunshine straightened her vest, her snarl coming out in her voice like lightning crackles in a storm. My clothing rustled as though caught in a long, low wind. The breeze was picking up around us. She spat, "You took your time, High Acolyte. I nearly claimed a champion."

The High Acolyte's apple-green eyes went up and down over us both. She tightened her folded arms. "So I see."

Stepping past me, Dame Sunshine pressed, "But it only would have been for a little while, sweetie. When you next go whining to my uncle, tell him I'll bring the Princess back as soon as the spear is in my hands. I swear. Please. All I need is the spear, and I can single-handedly end the Great Ice Times, I swear."

I'd started to tremble, stuttering an apology that wouldn't come out right.

"Go home, Ellie," said the anti-swanee coldly. "You already had your chance to play with fire. Didn't your burns teach you anything?"

Dame Sunshine snapped up straight, fingers splaying at her sides. She took half a step backwards and nearly bumped into me. "Ellie is my nickname. My friends call me Ellie. You can call me by my professional name: Mary Alice."

At that, I blinked and looked up. One of the murals painted on a rear corridor of the Blue Castle depicted a story of two Suns. One was far, far smaller than the other, for it was Princess Eve's to carry, and she preferred the convenient light weight to the extravagant level of splendor Prince Morn did. it was the story of how the lightning spirit Helena, eldest daughter of Saturn and Munn, and granddaughter of both Prince Morn and Princess Eve, had stolen her grandmother's sun while Princess Eve rested beside a den of watchful foops, whom she had created by her own hand, for of course, foops are wolves of the stars and the wolf is her totem animal. According to the ancient records, when Helena tried to sneak off with her prize, the foops howled to wake their creator. Helena had to flee before she had the chance to steal her grandmother's magic gloves. So Helena, gloveless, carried the Sun all the way to Plane 19 before it burned her feathers black. The heat at last became too great, and she was forced to let it drop. The Sun plunged through all the Planes of Existence, until it fell so deeply down that it scorched a hole in the universe. There, it brought forth the scorched wasteland we sometimes knew as Hell, after the one who'd caused such a fate.

Some versions of the story simply proclaimed that Helena had been banished from Plane 23 altogether, to wander mortal worlds. Others suggested that Helena had always desired to inherit the task of carrying the Sun above the Earth from Prince Morn, but that following her treachery, Princess Eve had burdened her with the dark and heavy moon instead. Its flames had been extinguished when it fell. Now it was but damaged rock, and there was no glory in it now. Princess Eve took its shattered remains and scattered them throughout the heavens to create the stars. So Helena lingered on the outskirts of the world, forever forced to hide in the moon's dark shadow, as she passed her existence in jealous rage. She followed behind the Sun as fast as she could fly, but Prince Morn was surer of foot, and always remained just beyond her reach. The wolves never forgot the way she wronged their mother, and howl after her to this day. Helena, once so proud, had become the accursed bringer of doom.

For some reason, as I stood between these two damsels who spoke so fiercely of fire and sunshine, I, um, I couldn't help but play that story again in my mind. In particular, the part of these tales that always remained the same: that Helena even now drove every lightning spirit who crossed her path into fearful hiding, lest they dare try to steal her desired inheritance from under her nose. And I wondered about Clarice's past, and whether she had fled from Helena's rage before she'd bumbled into my soul and we'd ended up entangled. Clarice was silent in my head for the moment. Lying low, tucked beneath the awareness level of her elder sister? Perhaps. I couldn't be sure.

"Mark my words, Sapphyrisine," Dame Sunshine growled. "I will find my champion, and I will have my reward."

Sapphyrisine was the word for Turquoise in Vatajasa. The name was ceremonial, bestowed upon every High Acolyte of the Water Temple (whether Fairy, Anti-Fairy, Refract, or whatever other race they may be) once their past had been cast aside and their life given in pure, unending service to Temple upkeep. The anti-swanee watched me with a steady, silent gaze as though she could read my high-strung thoughts. Unable to return it, I hunkered into my shoulders. My ears shifted towards Dame Sunshine.

"Go home, Mary Alice," the High Acolyte repeated, more firmly this time. "We all have our shackles to answer for."

Dame Sunshine - Ellie - Mary Alice - Helena - whoever she was, she stood stiffly behind me. The energy field hissed and whispered all around her. Without saying anything else, she turned on her heel and stormed off towards the entrance of the Temple. The rushing wind snapped about and then chased after her. I didn't know what to make of that. My thumping core told me it was unthinkable that Helena herself could have crossed my path, but my ears protested that the powerful aura radiating through the energy field did not lie.

Sapphyrisine gestured at Väikalle d'Järveii with a nod of her head. "You know, the Princess doesn't take kindly to being wielded by anyone except her chosen mate. I'm certain that Sunnie would like to see his warrior bride returned to her proper place."

My hands flashed back to my mouth. "Yes, yes, of course! I- I'm so terribly sorry. You see, it's just that I, ah, really did want to take a look at that fine blade. I've heard of her so many times in my nursery stories, and I suppose that being here in the Temple for the first time, I, er, simply became a bit carried away. I'm so sorry. I meant no harm. I don't know what I was thinking."

It was Clarice. Yes, that was it. Clarice did it to me. The idea to steal the dagger, and then to try and wield it? Ha! Those had been her thoughts in my brain, not mine. I would never. I was innocent.

"You're left-handed," Sapphyrisine observed.

"No, I… I wield my wand with my right, mostly. I mean, I do sometimes, for the most serious matters, but I, um, I only ever write with my left. I-it's both. I use both, but only sometimes, you know what I mean?"

Oh dear, I was babbling. Why was I babbling to this dame? My wings squirmed. I lowered my eyes, pressing my toes together.

Sapphyrisine nodded slowly. Bending down, she gripped the dagger by its handle and lifted it from the floor. "And you hold a weapon in your left hand, too."

"I- I don't know," I stammered, still royally flustered. "I mean, I've never tried. Certainly not with this blade. This, um, this is my first time here. I really don't get out of Anti-Fairy World much. Erm. Ah. All right, then." I adjusted my glasses with two fingers. The Clarice in me was growing restless, wondering again about the likelihood of a tunnel collapse. My legs began to jitter, and my wings were much the same. "D-do you by any chance know where I might find the, um… water closet?"

She used the sword to point down the corridor she had emerged from. "Just down the hall, first door on your right."

"Thank you, thank you!" I hurried off to use it. When I walked past the circular room again, just because I was curious, Väikalle d'Järveii was back in her proper place floating in the beam of light. Sapphyrisine was conversing with a lower acolyte who must have heard the sacred dagger crashing to the floor and come to see if all was well. I shivered and moved on before they could notice me.

If this place caves in, I'll die, part of my brain fretted, stirring awake again. The other part had to actively remind it, I'm an Anti-Fairy. I'll regenerate.

It made sense, I reflected. After all, Clarice was supposed to be a lightning spirit. If there was somewhere lightning most certainly did not belong, that would be the deep, dark underground…

I walked on, not finding any acolytes who could escort me in the right direction. So at a triple break in the path, I took the wide, forward corridor. This soon led me through a scalloped curtain and down another deep, deep set of steps, until I came up against a truly enormous white door. The surface had been decorated with carved lilies and splashing waterfalls. Why, it had to be eight times my height, easily! It glowed in the pale torchlight. Puzzled, I stared up at it for a moment, wondering what treasure on the other side could be so precious that it required higher protections than Väikalle d'Järveii. Where were the acolytes who ought to have acted as my guides? Was this even where the worship rooms were? I'd expected a cluster of doors grouped together. And how was I, a mere child, supposed to open this door anyway?

Deep, deep down, Clarice fretted. Or maybe it was me. I wouldn't be able to say with confidence, for our souls were intertwined, you know.

I felt my hands along the door, and to my surprise, quickly found a catch. My hand closed around some sort of knob hidden among the lily pads. That seemed promising. It twisted, and I heard it click, but the door didn't open. I continued twisting the knob all the way around. Hmm. After a moment's thought, I lay my cheek and ear against the door. Aha! In this new position, I could perfectly hear the soft clicking of the knob intertwining with latches and gears behind the scenes. Click. Click. Click. Click-

Thunk. Something definitely unlocked.

My curiosity piqued, I played with the knob for several minutes more, until my seventh thunk was rewarded. The door moved beneath my cheek. Rosy, blue-tinted light leaked around its edges. My mouth fell open in delight. I stepped backwards, shielding my face, as the great door eased itself slowly inward. Too eager to wait for it to open in full, I came forward and poked my head through the gap. I was greeted by a pleasant, peaceful room with white floor tiles and blue walls. The silhouettes of several bridges had been painted like shadows around the chamber. Several trunks, chests, and dressers lined the edges of the room. It looked rather friendly, almost like a sitting room. Except…

Wait.

Wait.

Oh my smoke, of course! That explained the elegant door! Why, I'd stumbled into Sunnie's echo chamber!

Hurriedly, or at least as hurriedly as a young anti-fairy can haul a massive door, I pulled it shut again. The locks clicked back into place with an audible clunk. My face had flushed completely cold. The echo chamber was the special worship room intended for only the most serious of worshipers in the most serious of occasions. I was but a child, with no right to step inside. At the triple split in the paths just before I'd descended the stairs, I probably ought to have gone either right or left. That would surely lead me to the public worship rooms.

I began to scurry off. But then I stopped, one foot resting on the lowest step of the stairs.

You know, perhaps one last peek wouldn't hurt…

With a master's hand, I released the locks again. Once more, the great white door creaked softly on its great hinges and granted me entry to Sunnie's private sleeping quarters. He wasn't in, but I hadn't expected him to be. Well, specifically, I understood that he was bound to this room on another plane of reality, Plane 23. The heavenly plane overlapped the mortal world, and so it was quite possible he actually was here in spirit and could see me prodding around. But for some reason, I highly doubted he would be offended enough by my curiosity to manifest himself here on Plane 5 and confront me. After all, I was only looking about. I wasn't doing any harm. He'd understand.

The echo chamber was very lovely. Trails of beads were strung from the ceiling, and in some places dangled to the floor. Wispy, semi-transparent curtains of mesh divided the room in several parts. Some sort of large tank took up a lot of space on the far side of the room, though between the curtains and my poor eyesight, I couldn't determine what types of fish were kept inside. To my left stood a pure white desk with several wooden boat models standing upon it, along with quite a few skyships inside of bottles. To the right, I found a beautiful cushioned sleeping pallet, coated in hundreds of thick, cosy animal pelts. Something about it nagged in the back of my mind.

"Wait." I furrowed my brow, staring at the pallet long and hard. "I know this place." My hand moved up to my chest. "I've been here before, in another lifetime." I touched my forehead, scraping my bangs off to the side. "It's so clear, and yet so terribly fuzzy, too."

Some of the minor details about the room could have shifted. I sensed that it wasn't exactly as I remembered it to be, although I wouldn't have been able to explain what I felt had changed. There was no doubt in my mind anymore: I was a reincarnation of one of my ancestors. This place rang too familiar in my brain for there not to be. There were dozens of reasons I might have visited the echo chamber in my most recent life. To pray for the sick, or to cry desperately for understanding.

And of course, there was one possible reason that buzzed around my ears louder than all else. Might I have kiff-tied with Sunnie once before? Knelt on this very floor and sliced my throat with Väikalle d'Järveii until I turned to smoke and he to steam, binding anti-fairy and nature spirit alike in a single flesh? Automatically, my other hand pressed against the left side of my neck, where my karmic pouch beat beneath my skin with a gentle pulse. There were no cuts there, no scars. Not in my current incarnation, anyway.

I circled the echo chamber half in a daze, spending far longer in there than I perhaps should have. I examined things on shelves both high and low, keeping my hands clasped respectfully behind my back. I tried to avoid picking up objects, except when my insatiable curiosity got the better of me, but I always took care to set goblets and scrolls down precisely as I had found them. Sunnie didn't mind, I'm sure of it. Especially if he and I truly had kiff-tied before. As I said, I wasn't causing any lasting damage.

Before I left the chamber, I found my attention dragged to the pelt-laden pallet again. Several finely-decorated blue cushions appeared to indicate where one would place their head if they were to lie down. I stared at the largest cushion in the centre of the heap. Then, flashing out my arm, I grabbed underneath it. My hand closed around something very small and hard. I had no idea what it might be, but I didn't dare look at it. Not in here.

For just a moment more, I kept my gaze on the ceiling and stood there, softly, in gentle wonder. Then I withdrew from the room again, closed the echo chamber door with the respect it deserved. When I opened my fist, I found a shiny black button with four holes and a bit of loose red thread lying in my palm. I didn't recognise it. But some primal instinct in me assured me it was rightfully mine.

No, it didn't make any sense. But that was my button beneath the cushion. When you know, you just know.

I shoved the button into the pocket of my coat, and ascended the stairs with a shudder in search of the simpler worship rooms. Clarice was grateful to head upward. So was I.

You see, in addition to the echo chamber, every Temple also included plenty of smaller worship rooms for more common Anti-Fairies such as myself, or even Fairies who chose to visit. It was in one of these private rooms that I donned my prayer robe and knelt before a mosaic of Sunnie. He looked rather a lot like a water genie in this depiction, with pointed ears and no legs from the waist down. His skin shone turquoise, and his liquid hair poured down his back in a pegasustail waterfall. He wore a simple white vest without any sleeves. Watery bracelets encircled his wrists. Every worship room's mural, I'd heard, depicted him in a different way. This one, I felt a special connection to. Even Clarice fell silent in the back of my mind.

I bowed my head and cleared my throat. "Oh, goodness. Ahaha. Dear Sunnie, Crown Prince of Water as we know it to be. Erm… I'm Julius Anti-Lunifly. I… I suppose it's been some time since I've spoken to you. In fact, I've never, um, actually visited your Temple before. It's difficult for Anti-Fairies since your Temple is owned by Fairies and stands in the centre of their capital city, and I was also locked away in a genie's lamp for over 68,000 years, although that's a story for another day, ahahaha…" My eyelids squeezed. "It is rather exquisite in here, isn't it?"

All was quiet in the prayer room around me. It wasn't very large, and the cold pressing around me reminded me of Anti-Fairy World. I licked my teeth. "Sunnie, old chap? I came here seeking guidance. High Count Anti-Bryndin has asked me to choose a job to spend my time in, and I haven't the foggiest which one to select, or how I would go about finding it. And, do I truly even want to form a bachelor colony of my own? It's foolish, isn't it? Leave Mona, Mum, and the Castle again? So soon after my return home? I need your advice."

I hunkered in the Temple for a long time, waiting for an answer that never came. Ashley had warned me not to expect an answer from Sunnie lest I come away disappointed, but I believe it's impossible not to hope. And I was a hoper.

"Just a feeling, or a whisper," I softly pleaded through a yawn. Alas, though I strained my brain, my thoughts remained muddled regarding the idea of 'jobs.'

When my time in the Temple was finished, I walked back to the street to wait for Jorgen and Binky to return. Clarice was more than delighted that I could taste fresh air on my lips again. After a few minutes spent pacing, it dawned on me that for now, I actually had all the freedom I desired. Technically it was illegal for me to wander Fairy World on my own, but then again…

I drew my wand and studied it for a moment. Hmm… Now that I was on this side of the Barrier, perhaps I could…

I gave my wand an experimental wave, and found myself dropped in a small brown Fairy town a moment later. Novakiin. Ambrosine had to be around here somewhere.

No one was in the streets. My poof had left my unsteady juvenile magic slightly drained, so I chose to fly along until I stumbled across a shiny square building that had the name Wish Fixers printed across its sign. I ducked in, ensuring my wand was sheathed and my hands were visible so everyone could see I intended no harm.

Ambrosine was just locking up his room with a simple hex when I arrived. He sensed my coming and shot me a surprised look while I was still in the hallway. Flying more quickly, I brought my hands together in a pleading way.

"Oh, thank smoke I caught you, old sport. You see, I've just come from the Water Temple. I tried praying there for answers, but I didn't hear a reply from Sunnie. I hoped perhaps that you could give me some advice instead."

He glanced at the ancient, snoozing secretary fairy behind a tall nearby desk, then turned to me again. "Julius? Are your escorts outside?"

"Of course. Jorgen von Strangle and Binky Abdul. You can ask them next time you see them." It technically wasn't a lie. After all, those two had escorted me here, and they were not inside the Wish Fixers building.

Ambrosine relented. Sheathing his wand, he said, "I suppose I can spare a quick moment."

I bobbed my head. "My betrothed has asked me to lead a bachelor colony for a few decades in order to prove myself a leader. But I'm not- I'm really not. Some people don't believe me when I say it, because I'm an Anti-Fairy and ought to love crowds, but I'm so socially anxious around people, Ambrosine. Even my roommates at the school I've been attending. Oh, how I hate the feeling of eyes on me when I'm not doing anything noteworthy! It's interesting. I feel that I could give a speech if I were asked to, provided it was short, and having so many people watching me wouldn't bother me then. They're supposed to watch me when I speak, and I'd feel anxious if they weren't. But when there isn't a reason for anyone to focus on me in particular, such as during the Tarrow dance Mona and I do each New Year when we're on the floor among fifty other couples, I just loathe every second of it. It's physically painful with a squeeze in my chest. I'm so nervous about this bachelor colony thing. What if I mess up? What if I lead them to a place they don't like? What if they all hate me? Oh yes, and before I even form a bachelor colony, Anti-Bryndin has asked me to take on a job, but I don't know where I might find one or where I can begin. What if I can't find one? Or worse, what if I win myself a high position, and I humiliate myself and ruin everything?"

He waited until I had finished my explanation, nodding along every once in a while. When I stuttered to my end, he said, "Your anxiety results from your divus displacement disorder. The Fairy in you feels uncomfortable in large crowds. Anti-Fairies are creatures who belong in large colonies, but Fairies are biologically programmed to live in small family units with plenty of personal space."

When he mentioned my alleged disorder, my thoughts popped back to Clarice. If my mind was entangled with hers, it was very possible that not just some, but all of my anxious feelings belonged to her instead of me. My body hosted two spirits, but my bad thoughts only came because Clarice thought them up. I was still friendly, polite Julius Anti-Cosmo Anti-Lunifly underneath them, just the way I intended to be. And the Julius in me didn't want to be socially anxious. This was Clarice's fault. Everything wrong with me was because of her. Of course. I myself was blameless.

And was that ever a relief!

"Is there anything you can do to help me?" I asked Ambrosine. "Perhaps prescribe me some medicine? I've been taking those bottled donor pheromones you sent us every other day, just as you've asked." At least, when I remembered to. They were easy to forget, and I'd fallen into the habit of lying to Anti-Elina if she asked if I had taken them and I really hadn't.

Ambrosine thought for a moment. He pressed the bridge of his glasses. "You said you wanted a job, didn't you?"

"Oh, I'd love one! Provided, of course, I don't ever have to be put on the spot and no one ever expects more of me than I'm capable of giving. And of course, it must be one I can balance with my schooling." Was he about to offer me a position at Wish Fixers? I wouldn't mind visiting Fairy World every day. Although Novakiin was small and dull and not nearly as impressive or colourful as Faeheim, I found it very clean and a lovely place to be.

"Mm. I have a few Anti-Fairy clients besides yourself. Without validating client confidentiality, I can tell you that you might be interested in visiting the Eros Nest sooner rather than later. A spot in their show recently opened up, and the last I heard, it still hadn't been filled."

"A show?" I asked curiously.

"There are dances on the ice skating rink to celebrate Anti-Fairy culture. Very popular at this time of year. The Anti-Fairies who live at the Nest perform in it, if they want to, but with the recent injuries and how ragged those performers have been running themselves in order to keep on schedule, you might be lucky enough to snag a role."

I winced at the word lucky. "Well, I'm not sure I'm up for dancing, and particularly not on ice, with skates and blades and all… but I suppose I could ask if I might do a little work behind the scenes. You know, rearranging sets and running water ladles around. Perhaps I could even draw a few of the backdrops myself. I've become quite the artist in recent centuries, you know what I mean?" I considered the option from a few different angles. Then I nodded. "The nature spirits help those who help themselves. Perhaps Sunnie didn't want to give me a direct answer to my plea in the Temple, because he wished I'd put forth the effort into coming here instead in order to prove that I was serious. I suppose I could give it a try."

Ambrosine nodded too. "And as for your anxiety, I want you to take the tram to the Barrier by yourself. And, if you do choose to visit the Eros Nest, take that one all on your own as well."

My stomach tanked. "By myself? Oh… No, I can't do that. What if Jorgen and Binky or the Keepers don't allow it?"

"I'm a therapist. I can sign you a special tram travel pass valid for a month."

No. No. Alone? Was he sure? I stammered, "But- but I've never even ridden a tram before! We don't have trams in Anti-Fairy World, so there's never really been a need. And riding from here to the Barrier will take perhaps eleven hours, at the absolute least."

"By yourself," Ambrosine insisted. "No magic. No family members. No friends. Just you, your little car, and the occasional strangers who get on and off at stops every now and again. I'll give you the pass, and I want you to ride back and forth across the cloudlands every day you possibly can for a month. That will help your anxiety. Then come and see me again."

I swallowed. "I really don't know about this…" Shouldn't he come with me the first few times? Or at least be waiting for me on the other side?

And yet, I found myself at the tram station, buying a ticket for the blue tram. I was the first one in the car. It wasn't very large, only fit for holding four or five travellers. The wooden benches were padded with scratchy fabric. I tucked myself into a corner, facing opposite the direction the tram would move. I pulled my knees up to my chest, and gazed quietly through the window glass. There I sat, a silent ball of fur and clothing.

I hoped desperately that I wouldn't regret this. Ambrosine had given me a special orange card, which I wore on a tinkling chain around my neck. I shouldn't, then, be stressing so much over what the Keepers might do to me if they caught me in Fairy World without an escort. Or what Jorgen and his mother, Adelinda von Strangle, might say to me upon hearing that I had technically disobeyed the Keeper of Da Rules in training and gone wandering by myself. Or over the fact that I had never taken the tram in the company of another person before, let alone by myself. Anti-Fairy World was a long ways away. Would the cable even hold that long? What if it snapped? My wings wouldn't be of any help were I to plunge down, entrapped in a box. Would I need to disembark at a certain station and switch to a tram route of a different colour? What if I fell asleep and missed my stop? What if some cruel fairy joined me in my car, and then taunted and insulted me because I was an Anti-Fairy? What if the tram lost its way? What if it stopped moving? What if I changed my mind and wanted to dive out? What if, what if, what if.

Panic lit my chest when my swinging tram car began to slow. I craned my neck and searched for the station welcome sign. Mistleville. What? Was that supposed to be on my way to the Divide Gate? Wasn't it too far east? Had I boarded the wrong line? I swallowed. When the tram car stopped rocking on its cable, the door slid open. Two fairies stepped inside- one old enough to be my father, and one who was still just a pup. Er, a nymph. Hastily, I turned away from them without studying their faces or giving them the chance to examine mine any further, and fixed my attention on the world beyond the window. I suppose it didn't do much good, since although I had disguised myself in my thick red coat and black gloves, and stuffed my ears beneath my hood, they were surely able to detect traces of my magic in the energy field. Theirs sounded rough and scratchy, like two wooden blocks scraping together in an endless loop. At first it was annoying, but I managed to tune it out soon enough. Such was ever the Anti-Fairy way.

Shame I couldn't free my anxious self from the adult fairy's eyes, however. I knew he was watching me, his tiny nymph sleeping on his large stomach, stiff and still as a stack of scrolls. He didn't speak to me, and I didn't speak to him. Apart from the crackle and spark of the energy field, and the gentle creak of the tram car speeding along its cable, the nymph's sleepy wing rustles were all I could hear.

At one stop nearly halfway to the Barrier, a green-skinned púca entered our car. Since the larger fairy across from me was lying down and taking up all the space on the other bench, the púca sat beside me. A pink-haired gnome followed him in, and presented us all with our choices of complimentary evening travel meal. We accepted the offer, me still trying desperately to keep my blue face downturned despite my travel pass. The fairy lying on the bench across from me woke up the sleeping nymph, who jolted with a small snort. "Try some lidérc," he coaxed, spearing a bite on a fork for the child to try. "Tram food is always delicious. It's plain and majorly tasteless. One bite. It contains no feathers to tickle your throat. See? Go on. Do it."

The nymph yawned. He didn't rub his eyes, but lay very still. "I want acorn muffins."

The larger fairy pushed the bite of roasted bird into the child's little mouth. His wide shoulders tensed when the tram began to move, and he kept his eyes downcast, away from the window. Always away from the window. "That's a crying shame. I don't have any of those. You're going to have to deal."

"Why can't we poof up food that I will actually like?"

"Because the Fairies who run the tram shut down all the loose magic in the area millennia ago. They don't want anyone teleporting into the tram without paying. Extra weight could break the cable." He turned to me as I gazed outside and sipped my soup from a bowl. "See? Look at that drake. He's eating his food. He likes it."

I refused to glance up. Beneath the hood of my red coat, I pressed my ears more tightly against my skull. Perhaps it wasn't the most perfect of disguises, but it soothed my unease just enough to be effective. I ate quietly and tried my hardest to look as though I wasn't a threat.

"Is that a therapy border pass from Wish Fixers?" the fairy asked abruptly, gesturing with a dull wave towards the orange card around my neck. I mumbled affirmative, and kept my face turned away.

When the landmark signs outside the window notified us that Patio World was just ahead, the fairy tugged on the white rope that stretched around the upper portion of the car. The tram slowed to a stop at the next station. The doors parted. Both fairies jumped off, still licking bird breasts from their fingers. My muscles ached from cringing, but I was even more on edge now that I was left alone with just the strange púca beside me.

"He's going to sacrifice his firstborn to Mother Nature and Father Time," the púca said to me, peering after them as the tram door slid shut again. It was growing late. I yawned despite myself and risked a glance over at him.

"Hm?"

He was up on his knees now, intently focused on the pair walking away. "The fairy who just got out here. He's going to Patio World's glass shrine."

"Glass shrine? Oh. The one the Fairies set up to honour Mother Nature and Father Time, since their actual Temples are all the way up in the High Kingdom under Refract ownership?"

The púca nodded. He didn't turn away. "It's the sacrificial shrine. He's going to sacrifice that little drake."

"Pardon?"

"Mmhm. It's an old custom, but I thought no one really tried it anymore. Especially not fairies. Not after the mandate. In turning over his firstborn's life, he hopes to call upon Mother Nature and Father Time to change his past or alter his future."

That all sounded like rubbish to me, because what should Mother Nature and Father Time want with a load of sacrificed firstborn souls? I'd never heard any stories about this before, even in all my years of study. But I was already drifting into sleep. "His son, you say?" I mumbled. "Most peculiar. There was supposed to be a law preventing the birth of fairy babies, you know what I mean? I really didn't think there were any intact fairy drakes left…"

---

A/N - A genie must have two free parents in order to be born a free genie themselves. Liloei's daughter Lohai is not yet free, and Anti-Cosmo is reluctant to risk the same trick with the Alien now that he's in a calmer frame of mind. Being a bound genie, Lohai has cuffs on her wrists and is bound to certain rules when it comes to moving between "lamps". A genie who isn't free is known as en lamp (properly), or between masters (colloquially).