TearCRF

Hi everyone, here's TWO chapters. Boom I know, amazing. I'm not sure if I have stated this before, but this story is a prototype for my future projects. At some point in the future, I will be taking this story and altering it, not on Scribble Hub, but it will change. I will take the story and transition from chapter to chapter posts on Scribble Hub, and move in the direction of physical/digital books, as will all of my future projects. That won't be any time soon however, as Evetta's story will continue for quite some time.

Here's the character for this chapter:
Virgil: ver-jill     Medius: med-ee-us     Bosmede: boz-meed     Gadriel: gad-dree-ell     Erenn: air-en    Ortis: or-tiss     Gaius: guy-us     Miyana: mee-anna

Before me is Minerva, a short skryver that’s about my height, has a dainty figure, with shoulder length white hair, and perfectly straight bangs. She has a thin face, narrow eyes, a small nose, soft cheeks, small lips, arched eyebrows, and a sharp smile. She’s wearing a fancy red top with short flutter sleeves, a two-layered skirt with a red top and white bottom, dark grey leggings, white low-heeled boots, and has a small intricate gold necklace. Her wings are identical to mine, with rainbow colored veins, translucent white membranes, rainbow glitter. The circles at the tips of her wings are all rainbow like Desela.

“Hello Minevra, my name’s-” I start to say.

“Princess Evetta, Desela told me all about you,” Minerva scoffs, “but I had to come see how pathetic you were with my own eyes.”

Desela was right, she’s definitely got an attitude.

“Really…  Desela also told me quite a bit about you,” I reply as I try to maintain my composure, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I’ll get straight to the point, I want to have a match with you,” Minerva says while playing with her hair.

“I’m sorry Minerva, but I’ll have to decline,” I reply.

“Oh, what’s wrong? Is the princess scared?” Minerva taunts, “There’s no reason to be worried, it’ll be a simple match between our pages.”

“Again, I’ll have to decline, as I have no pages,” I refuse.

“Just use the guards you have instead. That is why you picked them right, to be considered as potential pages?” Minerva continues, “Besides this’ll give you a chance to see their skills in action.”

She’s quite persistent, but she does have a point...

“Wait, maybe you don’t have any faith in their skills so you don’t want to embarrass yourself,” Minerva sneers as she scans my guards, “I wouldn’t want to embarrass myself either if I had rejects like him.” She motions toward Vallen.

So, you’re going to insult them huh? That’s pretty low, but still...

“I’m not sure who I should pity more, you with your rejects,” Minerva continues, “or your guards that were chosen by a wingless-”

“The hell’d you say bitch!?” Koralesca barks as she stands up, slamming her hands on the table. Her veins bulging from her temples.

“Calm down,” Zoelle says, anger present in her voice while urging Koralesca back into her seat.

“Uh… but I have wings?” I reply, confused.

“Pfft, hahahahahaha,” Minerva starts laughing hysterically, “So… not only is the princess pathetic… she’s dumb too.”

“Sweetheart, ‘wingless’ is a serious insult amongst fairies,” Vestele explains, “It basically means you’re so scared of flying that you shouldn't even have wings. It’s a deplorable insult that equates you to a fairy that’s lost their wings.”

In other words I’m a coward that’s too scared to fight… This is annoying.

“Well, it seems at least some of them have wings,” Minerva praises, “Especially those three,” Minerva says, pointing out Koralesca, Vallen, and Galatia. Koralesca’s still enraged, her veins bursting out of her forehead. Vallen’s giving Minerva a death-stare, his blood red eyes precisely focused on her, as if piercing right through her. I lean over to see Galatia, her eyes have glossed over and her face makes it look like she’s staring at an insect. I sit up and turn back to Minerva.

“Princess, please accept the match,” Vallen mumbles, fury apparent in his voice.

I sigh aloud, “What kind of match?”

Minerva’s face lights up as she points out the duel taking place behind her between the pixie Crisnic, and the wisp Meltece. Meltece seems to be struggling to keep up with Crisnic’s attacks.

“After this duel, we’ll hold our own exhibition match. Our pages will duel one on one against their elemental counterpart,” Minerva declares, “We’ll hold either three or five duels, and we won’t stop until all fights are concluded. So, how’s that sound?”

“Minerva!” Desela’s voice resounds as she flies into the grand hall, a hoard of fairies behind her. Desela lands next to Minerva and says, “I already told you that-”

“It’s alright Desela,” I interrupt with a smile, “We’re just going to have a simple match, isn’t that right Minerva?”

“Exactly,” Minerva chuckles as she smirks “So, what’s it going to be princess? Personally, I’d prefer more matches so I can thoroughly crush you.”

Well, she’s certainly confident, but I guess it’s more fun that way.

“Fine, let’s go with five rounds,” I state.

“Evetta!” Desela shouts.

“It’s fine. I already told you, I don’t care about having the attention,” I reply, “Besides, if I have to deal with her at some point, I might as well get this over with now.”

Desela sighs aloud, “I hope you don’t regret this.”

“Good, now that we have-” Minerva stops, her eyes locking onto something. “Is she with you?”

I look over and see Faraine and Lenadrea amongst the group of fairies, about half consisting of Desela’s pages. Why’s she asking about them? Wait, they said Faraine does have history involving pages. Was she involved with Minerva?

“Yeah, Faraine and Lenadrea are also my guards.”

“Heh, so you really did pick the rejects. Alright, We’ll start with water. I’ll let you pick the remaining four elements,” Minerva says as she smirks, “Desela, let’s go notify the Verger. I’m sure the princess is going to need some time to think about who to send to the slaughter.” She flies off with the other half of the hoard following behind her.

“Sorry about this Evetta. I tried to keep her busy,” Desela sighs before following after Minerva.

Faraine and Lenadrea walk over and join us at the table. “Princess… I-” Faraine begins to say.

As I place my forehead down against the table, I heave a heavy sigh, cutting Faraine off. Jeez, pain in the ass might be an understatement. “Okay, who wants to fight?” I ask, my face still resting on the table.

“Let me fight her princess!” Koralesca bellows, “I can’t wait to shut that bitch up.”

“Alright, Koralesca. Vallen, Galatia, what about you two?”

“If that is what the princess wants,” Galatia replies coldly, “I will eliminate them.”

Damn… wasn’t expecting that from Galatia… “Vallen?”

“I’ll make sure she regrets insulting you,” Vallen smiles.

“Okay, including Faraine, I guess we need one more,”  I say as I look around at everyone.

“It’s too much work,” Lyris says.

“I- I can’t really control my electricity very well, so…” Orianna mumbles.

“I’ll fight if you want,” Zoelle states.

“Please, let me fight,” Lenadrea announces.

So, it’s either Zoelle or Lenadrea.

“If Lenadrea wants to fight, then let her have it,” Zoelle responds, “I’m not that great at duels.”

“Alright, then we’ll go with Faraine, Koralesca, Galatia, Vallen, and Lenadrea.” I announce.

“Princess!” Faraine cries out, “I-”

“Faraine, I’m not sure what happened between you and Minerva, but we’ll talk about it later, okay?” I interrupt, “For now, could you do me a favor and participate in this fight?”

Cheers abruptly erupt from the crowd of fairies inside the hall. I look over and see that Crisnic defeated Meltece.

“Faraine, I’m not expecting you to go out there and win,” I continue, “I just want to satisfy Minerva so she’ll leave me alone.”

Crisnic and Meltece both walk up to the table, bow, and introduce themselves, “I’m Crisnic, it’s a pleasure to meet you princess.” “Hello princess, my name’s Meltece.”

The pixie Crisnic has long steel grey hair that is held in a ponytail, a chiseled face with angled eyebrows and sharp eyes. He has an immense figure with a muscular build. He is wearing a white long-sleeve shirt, a brown jacket, and brown gloves on his upper body. Dark-green pants and brown boots adorn his lower body.

The wisp Meltece has curly red hair that is up a ponytail, a round face, with large red eyes, a straight nose, and arched eyebrows. She is tall, with an average build. She is wearing a tight yellow shirt, loose blue shorts, and brown shoes. 

I turn to look at them, “Thank you for the wonderful match.”

“Of course,” they both say simultaneously.

I dismiss them with, “You two may go, thanks again.”

“Understood,” acknowledges Crisnic. Meltece bows her head as they both turn and leave.

I turn back to Faraine, “I’m sorry Faraine. If I could, I’d participate myself, but unfortunately…”

“But I’m a failure...” Faraine mutters.

“So am I,” I reply with a smile.

Faraine looks at me for a moment. “Princess, you’re being incredibly selfish,” Faraine says in a near whisper. Lenadrea places her hand on Faraine’s shoulder. Faraine looks at her, then turns back to me and mumbles, “Fine, just this once.”

“Thank y-”

Suddenly, Verger Flos’ voice resounds throughout Folian, the verger says something that I can’t understand. I’m assuming this is the announcement about our exhibition match. Booming cheers follow the conclusion of his announcement as more fairies begin to pack themselves inside the hall. Fairies fill every balcony, crowding both the floor and walls until there’s practically no room left aside from the open space centered in the middle of the room and the raised platform I’m using. Chatter floods the hall as the once serene and peaceful room is now bustling with excitement.

“Hey, why’s there so many more fairies here for our match compared to the duel between Crisnic and Meltece?” I ask.

“Ah, because Crisnic and Meltece are some of the best fairies here at Folian, and they often fight one another,” Zoelle answers, “Everyone’s already seen them fight so many times, it’s not all that exciting anymore.”

“I see,” I mutter as Minerva, Desela, and their pages return to the table side.

“I hope you’re ready,” Minerva taunts.

“Let’s just get this over with,” I respond.

“Virgil!” Minerva shouts.

A male says something I don’t understand. I look over to see who the voice came from. So, that’s Faraine’s opponent. He doesn’t look too tough… Actually, most fairies don’t look that tough...

He is a tall and slender nymph with messy, short blue hair. He has a childish round face, thin eyes that almost look like they’re closed, a wavy nose, and straight eyebrows. He’s wearing a white jacket with long, orange sleeves, and baggy, dark-blue pants. His two wings, identical to all nymphs, have several membranes that are various shades of blue, and have curled barbs at the tips of the wings.

He lazily flies to the center of the hall while Faraine and Orophine, with her straight pink hair and stern attitude, follow behind. As they hover in the middle of the room, the hall goes silent. Orophine starts speaking, likely in Zoic, and once she finishes, she returns to the raised platform.

“She just told everyone that she will be the judge of these duels and that, similar to the previous matches, they should hold back, and that the match will end once one fairy gets hit,” Zoelle translates.

I hear Minerva mutter something, but I can’t understand the words. This bitch’s talking shit about me in Zoic… I focus my attention on Faraine and Virgil as they head toward opposite sides of the hall. Alves once again cover the outside of the dueling area and the raised platform to prevent any harm coming to the audience.

Orophine says something, pauses, then says a single word.

Faraine rushes to her left, circling alongside the edge of the arena, and begins endlessly firing barrage after barrage of water bullets at Virgil.

“Some of her attacks aren’t moving…” I mutter under my breath.

“She’s staggering them to time them with her other attacks,” Vestele answers, “She’s even mixing up the timing, that’s incredible for a fairy so young. And it’s equally impressive that the other one isn’t getting hit by anything.”

Meanwhile, Virgil descends and casually walks over to the middle of the arena. He dodges or blocks every attack from Faraine, using a shield of water to protect himself. Faraine speeds up, staggering the timing between her attacks further, some launching individually, while others blitz Virgil, yet nothing seems to break his defense.

“What’s going on?” I ask, “Why isn’t he attacking?”

“Hmph, simple,” Minerva declares, “He doesn’t need to, not against her. She won’t land a single hit against him, just like before, she’s still a failure.”

I burst out of my chair, causing it to fall over.

“Oh, did the princess grow some wings?” Minerva smirks as she focuses on the fight, “This duel’s over.”

What?

I turn and look back at the fight. Faraine has stopped firing water bullets and, while circling the arena, is collecting water into a large sphere, when suddenly a water bullet blasts through the sphere. Virgil disappears, then reappears in front of her before hitting her with a point blank water bullet. What just happened?

Orophine shouts something out as Faraine descends down to the ground, landing on her knees while the alves release the barrier. Cheers erupt from the surrounding fairies as Virgil flies back to Minerva, yawns, then says something to her. Minerva responds to his words before looking at me and saying, “Once a failure, always a failure. Alright princess, who’s next?”

This bitch.... Dammit!

“Koralesca-” I start to say.

“I got this!” Koralesca shouts as she flies into the middle of the hall. Zoelle and Orianna follow behind her and grab Faraine, bringing her back to the raised platform.

“I’m sorry I-” Faraine starts to mutter.

“For what? That was an incredible fight, Faraine, good work!” I interrupt, with a smile on my face.

Faraine starts to cry, tears flowing from her eyes. Zoelle and Orianna sit her down at the table.

“Medius!” Minerva shouts.

A deep voice responds. I look over and see Koralesca’s opponent.

He is an umbra with a tall muscular figure, deep ebony skin, and dark purple hair in dreadlocks that extend down to his shoulders. He has a sharp jawline, large lips, a flared nose, glossy violet eyes, and thick eyebrows. He is wearing a yellow shirt with a tall collar and short sleeves, thick brown pants, grey shoes, and has yellow gloves that stop at his wrists. His wings, identical to all umbras, are terrifying, with forewings and hindwings that have thin black veins and tattered edges. The membrane changes from black to dark violet as it expands toward the wings’ edge.

Medius flies out and joins Koralesca in the arena, each distancing themselves from the middle. The alves replace the barrier and Orophine starts the match.

...

Why are they just standing there?

For a moment nothing happens, then five chains of darkness sprout from the floor, heading toward Medius. Spikes shoot from the ground in front of him, destroying Koralesca’s chains. The spikes then expand and merge together becoming a massive wave of darkness that continues to grow in size, filling more than half of the arena. Medius hurls the abyss at Koralesca who tries to evade, but gets swallowed up by the ever-expanding darkness. Orophine concludes the second round, and this time the cheers are nowhere to be heard, and instead silence fills the hall.

No way… The duel just started…

“Another impressive performance,” Vestele chimes, “I must say, even though I despise this girl, her pages so far have been incredible.”

That’s not what I want to hear...

The darkness that overpowered Koralesca disappears as Medius returns to Minerva. Minerva says something to him with a genuinely happy smile on her face. So, she can make a face like that? Wait, Koralesca! 

I turn to look back at the arena and see Koralesca flying back over toward us. She stops in front of the table, looks at Medius and shouts something at him before returning to her seat.

“Sorry princess, I wasn’t expecting there to be such a big difference between us…” Koralesca mumbles.

“Are you hurt?” I ask.

“Huh?”

“I said, are you hurt? You got swallowed up by that attack.”

“Please, as if something like that would hurt,” Koralesca replies as she rubs her shoulder.

You’re obviously lying…

“Alright princess, that’s two to zero. Who’s next?” Minerva asks.

God, just hearing your voice is annoying.

I sigh, “Galatia, you’re up.”

“I understand princess,” Galatia says, then turns to Minerva, “I don’t plan on losing.”

“I like this one,” Minerva replies, “Bosmede!”

A stuttering male responds to Minerva.

I look over to find him and see a thin nix that’s about my height. He has a soft, round face, a tiny nose, glasses over his thin eyes, arched eyebrows, and short wavy teal hair that is brushed to his right. He is wearing a green shirt with a grey coat over it, brown shorts, and is barefoot. His wings, just like all nixes, have four thin sections that point diagonally up, are teal in color, with a bright cyan diamond, making them look like eyes.

As Bosmede and Galatia fly toward the arena, Minerva shouts something. Bosmede turns around, stutters a reply, then continues toward the arena.

“This might get dangerous,” Vestele comments, “She just told the boy to not kill Galatia.”

What the fuck!?

“Minerva!” Desela shouts at Minerva in Zoic. Minerva responds casually before looking at me and smirks.

Okay, once this match is over, I’m never getting involved with her again. No, I’ll have Vestele ruin her.

Galatia and Bosmede take their positions, the alves reset the barrier, and Orophine starts the match.

Instantly, both Galatia and Bosmede form a crystal shell around them before firing crystal spears at one another. For several minutes this continues, crystals flying toward one another shattering and covering the ground in broken shards. Occasionally, one of their shells will be destroyed, but they are instantly created again. After about five minutes of constant barraging, both nixes increase their pace and power, launching more spears at each other more frequently.

“Hey, why aren’t they doing anything else?” I ask.

“Well-” Zoelle starts.

“It’s because the crystal element excels at defense,” Lyris explains, “When two crystal users fight, it becomes a contest of who can last the longest.”

“So, they’re just going to keep going until one of them falls?”

“Pretty much,” Lyris replies, “If you ask me, it’s incredibly boring, but with Galatia’s focus, I doubt she’ll lose.”

Several more minutes go by, and the spears start to decrease in amount and power. Galatia and Bosmede’s shells aren’t breaking as often, but are still remade each time. Slowly, the number of spears start decreasing from both sides, until finally, no more spears are fired. Bosmede removes his crystal shell, while Galatia’s remains. Bosmede flies over to Galatia’s shell and places a hand on it, not even a moment later, the shell starts to disappear, crumbling into dust. Galatia lies on the ground, not moving. Orophine shouts loudly, and the crowd warily applauds as the alves remove the barrier.

What hap-

“Galatia!” Lyris shouts as she flies out toward her, Orophine rushes to her side as well. Several other fairies gather around Galatia before she is carried away, out of the hall. Bosmede and Lyris fly back over to us, Lyris clearly worried.

“Is Galatia okay?” I ask.

“Yeah…” Lyris answers, “She just used too much spyr and passed out. She’ll be fine after some rest.”

She’s okay… I turn to see Minerva, who’s slapping Bosmede on his back, happily saying something to him. She turns to me and says, “I’m actually impressed, she actually held on much longer than I anticipated. Now, time for round four.”

Vallen stands up and mutters, “I’ll be right back princess.” He flies out to the arena.

“Oh, it’s finally the other rejects’ turn,” Minerva taunts, “Gadriel!”

A sharp voice calls out in response, and a female wisp flies out to the arena. She is tall, with short red hair, a square jawline, upturned red eyes, a wide nose, moderate cheekbones, and tanned skin. She’s wearing a purple sleeved shirt, a purple skirt, and grey shoes. Her wings flare out, like all wisps, with crimson red veins, and membranes that are various shades of red and orange as though they are on fire.

Gadriel joins Vallen in the center of the hall. The alves replace the barrier, and Orophine starts the fourth round. Even with the match having started, neither fairy moves, instead, they appear to be talking. Hmmm, perhaps he’s asking her to surrender?

Suddenly, the two start flying and consecutively hurl fireballs at each other. Vallen’s are larger and scarier looking, and Gadriel seems to be struggling to avoid them all. Vallen chases her around the area, launching one fireball after another. Gadriel avoids them all, bouncing between the ground and air as she evades Vallen’s attacks.

Between his attacks, Vallen starts creating small balls of fire and leaving them in the air. Gadriel scrambles to dodge Vallen’s pressuring strikes while firing at the small balls of fire Vallen creates. The small balls of fire explode when they are hit, creating a considerably powerful shockwave.

Even though Gadriel has yet to get hit, things are looking grim for her as the explosive firebombs start to fill the arena. Vallen launches several fireballs at Gadriel, causing her to nearly collide with one of the firebombs. She is forced to dive to the ground, landing on her rear. Vallen hovers in front of her and, as she crawls away, says something to her. She launches a fireball at Vallen who avoids it. Vallen then creates a fireball, holds it in his hand, and lands on the ground. Suddenly, a pillar of flame bursts from the ground where Vallen is standing and, after it disappears, he falls to his knees.

Cheers fill the hall again as Orophine concludes the fourth round, the alves dismiss the barrier, and Gadriel returns to Minerva who’s yelling at her. 

“Vallen!” I shout.

Fairies surround Vallen. A moment later, the fairies leave and Vallen makes his way back toward us. He bows his head and says, “I’m sorry princess, I lost.”

“What happened?” I ask, “You looked like you were about to win.”

“Well...” Vallen hesitates, rubbing the back of his head, “I think I fell for her trap.”

“I’m not certain, but I think she covered the floor in landmines that would trigger if someone stepped on them,” Vestele speculates.

“Hmph! Alright, this is your last chance to prove you're not a complete waste,” Minerva mocks, “So, who’s the lucky loser?”

“That would be me,” Lenadrea answers as she flies out toward the arena.

“Erenn!” Minerva roars, then says something to a sylph sitting next to her. 

The sylph Erenn has an average build, orange hair that is up in a bun while her bangs are long. She has a long jawline, high cheekbones, thin lips, a straight nose, downturned orange eyes, and light tan skin. She is wearing a green sleeveless form-fitting dress that extends down past her knees, and white low-heels. Her four thin wings, like all sylphs, are translucent orange, point down, and lack any design.

Erenn follows Lenadrea, while Minerva looks at me and says, “Sorry, but looks like you aren’t going to win a round. It’s unfortunate. I was expecting more, but I guess that’s my fault for comparing you to Nolodar.”

I roll my eyes, then focus on the arena.

The alves create one final barrier once Lenadrea and Erenn take their positions. Orophine starts the final round and, instantly, Lenadrea and Erenn become nothing more than blurs inside the area.

…

“Hey, what’s going on?”

“I’m not sure,” Zoelle answers, “They’re going too fast for me to keep up.”

“They’re creating blades and spears out of the wind, while also trying to trap the other within their own air current,” Vestele explains, “This is impressive, but what’s more incredible is that neither one is losing to the other.

Continuously, Lenadrea and Erenn dash throughout the arena. The barrier surrounding them vibrates with each strike from their wind. For several minutes, the two fairies race around fighting one another. Dammit, not being able to tell what’s happening is worse than not knowing Zoic, this is driving me crazy.

Suddenly, one of the fairies falls to the ground and Orophine concludes the final round, with Erenn being declared the winner. The alves remove the barrier, and Orophine announces the end of the exhibition match with Minerva being the winner with a dominating five to zero score.

Erenn flies over to me, bows and says, “Take care of her, she has potential,” before returning to Minerva.

Lenadrea flies back to us, and smiles, “Sorry, I got careless and let her get ahead of me.”

“It’s okay, you did great,” I say, “All of you were-”

“Don’t praise them!” Minerva interrupts, “They lost dammit! You shouldn’t be praising them, you should be telling them to improve, especially her!” She points at Koralesca.

“Wha-” Koralesca stops herself, and looks at us with her mouth wide-open. Orianna quietly scoots her chair away from Koralesca’s.

“Why are you still here?” I ask, “I think you got what you wanted.”

“Hmph, fine!” Minerva barks, “Princess, let’s do this again sometime. And next time, if you don’t get at least one win, you really will be pathetic.” Minerva says something to her pages and they all leave.

What a pain, god… I sigh aloud. Improve…

“This is why I tried to stop you,” Desela remarks as she and her pages follow after Minerva.

“Like I said, it’s fine,” I sullenly mutter under my breath.

I scan everyone. Lyris looks worried, while everyone else appears depressed. Koralesca is just staring at where Minerva left, her mouth still hanging open.

“Thank you all for going along with that,” I state, “Now we can hopefully enjoy the rest of the feast.”

With the end of the duels, Verger Flos makes an announcement throughout Folian, and a large majority of the fairies within the room start to leave. 

“Now that the performances are over, the higher-ups are going to come by and introduce themselves,” Zoelle explains.

The hall is now empty by comparison, and the fairies that remain all appear to be wearing fancier outfits. 

“I see.”

“There’s not that many of them here, so it’ll mostly be the verger’s and the warden’s families, their direct subordinates, and a handful of fairies that have the potential to be quills or priests,” Vallen elaborates.

“What’s a quill?” I ask.

“Do you really not know?” Koralesca asks.

“Humor me,” I reply.

“They’re the strongest fairies amongst all fairies and are ranked with a number,” Vallen explains, “Excluding skryvers, anyone can become a quill regardless of age, element, gender, none of that matters; the only thing that matters is how strong they are.”

Following Vallen’s words, the remaining fairies begin to fill the room. Many come to my table to meet me. While meeting with the wardens, a pair of nymphs, a man and a woman, approach. Both have sharp faces, and intimidating auras.

“Hello princess, my name’s Reed, a warden here within Folian, and this is my wife Fareena,” Reed callously introduces.

“I’m Evetta, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” I reply.

“We watched the match earlier and wanted to talk about our daughter’s performance,” Reed states.

Your daughter… then Faraine? I look over at Faraine and see her looking down at the ground, pale and trembling.

“Upon hearing you had decided to take our daughter with you as a guard, we were excited for our daughter’s future as she might have redeemed herself,” Reed declares coldly, “However, after witnessing the match today, we have come to apologize to you for our daughter’s inability.”

“What!?” I shout, “What do you mean? She was incredible!”

“She lost,” Reed pressures, “Regardless of how things looked, in the end, she failed to win.”

I look down and mutter under my breath, “So results are all that matters?”

“I’m sorry you were shamed by our daughter, we will have no complaints if you remove her from your guards,” Reed says, “We will take our leave now, please enjoy the rest of the feast princess.”

Reed and Fareena bow before leaving. 

Uh...

I look at Faraine. Her face is buried in her hands and Lenadrea’s hand rests on her shoulder. She stands up and flies out of the room, and a few seconds later Lenadrea follows.

What... the hell? How could they say that about their own daughter?

I stand up, getting ready to chase after Faraine. 

“Ah, good evening princess, are you enjoying the feast?” Verger Flos asks.

Damn, you picked one hell of a time to show up. I sigh aloud. I’ll have to talk to Faraine about that.

“I was earlier...” I reply.

“Was it Minerva?” Verger Flos continues, “She can be a handful. She reminds me of my granddaughter.”

“Your granddaughter?” I reply, “If she’s anything like Minerva, I’d rather not meet her.”

“I understand,” Verger Flos chuckles before going quiet, “Unfortunately, meeting her might be difficult.”

“Why’s that?” I ask.

“A few months ago she was sent out to deal with an elmite storm and never…” Verger Flos trails off, “Nevermind, you should be enjoying the feast, not listening to some old fairy ramble on about something so depressing. Have you tried-”

“Verger Flos,” Desela calls out as she returns, “I need to speak with you, now.”

“Ah, forgive me little princess, but it seems duty calls,” Verger Flos chuckles, “Please enjoy the rest of the feast.” Verger Flos follows Desela as they fly out of the hall.

I continue meeting fairies and eventually the meet and greet with the higher-ups concludes. With that, Verger Flos makes another announcement.

“Looks like it’s almost over,” Vallen says.

“There’s still more?” I ask.

“Well, the purpose of this part of the feast is for you to meet the artisans and alchemists that run the shops within Folian,” Zoelle explains, “Especially since they didn’t get a chance to show off the way the other fairies got to.”

“Yeah,” Lyris sighs, “and unfortunately, now you get to explore the rest of Folian until you’re content, and we have to follow you.”

We get up from our seats and head for the exit. I want to talk with Faraine about what happened, but before that… As we make our way to the opening, I ask, “Where did they take Galatia earlier? I’d like to make sure she’s okay.” 

“The infirmary,” Vallen answers, “It’s located at the base of the Vravyth.” 

“Please lead the way,” I request.

“Of course,” Vallen replies as he flies out of the main hall, everyone following behind him.

While on our way to the infirmary, Lyris flies up next to me.

“Princess,” she hesitates, “Um… Sorry about what I said… I wanted to check on her, and I didn’t think you’d remember, and-”

“Of course I remember,” I interrupt, “Galatia fought for my sake, and what came of it?” I shake my head, “I need to apologize for dragging her into this too.”

Lyris smiles, “Thanks.”

We arrive at the infirmary, and after asking where Galatia’s located, head into her room. The room is simple. There is only a bed with a small table beside it, and a yellow crystal atop it. Galatia is asleep on the bed. Even when sleeping, she’s professional. Her arms and legs rest directly at her side, straight as a board.

“Yeah... she’s going to be fine,” Lyris remarks.

“Are you sure?” I ask.

“Yeah, if she’s able to sleep like that, then she’ll wake up like nothing happened,” Lyris answers. She sits on Galatia’s bed and grabs her hand.

“Do you want to stay?” I ask.

“Normally, I’d agree just to get out of work, but…” Lyris comments as she stares at Galatia’s sleeping face, “You wouldn’t mind?”

“As long as you make sure she’s okay,” I answer.

“Of course,” Lyris replies, “Thank you, princess.”

“Please, just call me Evetta,” I say before turning around to leave. “I’ll come check on her again tomorrow.”

As we leave the infirmary I ask, “Where should we go now?”

“Princess, I doubt any of us know where you-,” Vallen starts to say.

“Princess I know, follow me!” Orianna shouts. I guess Orianna’s feeling better.

While Orianna is leading us, I scan the Vravyth, seeing various holes that dot its exterior.

“Where do all those holes lead?” I ask.

“The Vrayvth-” Zoelle starts.

“Princess, please let me explain,” Vallen interrupts.

“Go ahead,” I say as I see Zoelle menacingly staring at Vallen.

I look over at Vallen. “The Vravyth is separated into six main areas,” Vallen explains, “Starting from the bottom, they are general rooms used by fairies.”

“It’s also where the orphanage is located to house fairies that have lost their families,” Zoelle continues as I look at her, “As for the second area, they consist of shops, craft rooms, and is where most crafters reside.”

“The third area is made up of  cafeterias, public lounges, and storage rooms,” Vallen announces. I turn to look back at him. Are they? “It’s also the location of the main hall we were at earlier.”

I wonder... I look at Zoelle, anticipating her words, “The fourth area is used by combative fairies that either protect Folian,” Zoelle says. I was right. Zoelle continues, “Or are sent out to respond to elmite storms.”

I turn back to Vallen, “The fifth area is small and is used by high ranking fairies, like the verger, or the wardens. There’s also some conference rooms there.”

I look at Zoelle once more. “The top area is up in the branches and is only used by skryvers and their pages. Hah!” Zoelle exclaims puffing out her chest.

“Tch,” Vallen clicks his tongue, then mutters something under his breath while making an annoyed face.

“Pfft,” I chuckle, “Did you two plan that?”

“Plan what?” Zoelle asks.

“Princess! We’re here!” Orianna shouts.

Ah, I guess they didn’t. “Nothing,” I comment as I follow Orianna into the shop.

You’re joking… “Really?” I sigh. A clothing store…

After browsing the store for a bit, both Zoelle and Vallen have started approaching me to try on various outfits.

“Princess, I think you’d look great in this,” Zoelle proposes.

“Princess, how about this?” Vallen suggests.

These two can’t be serious…

At the behest of Zoelle and Vallen I try on a few different outfits, but after a while, things start getting out of control.

“Princess try this one on!” Zoelle runs up to me.

“Princess, don’t listen to her, please, try this on.” Vallen argues.

“That’s enough,” I answer, “No more outfits, and could you two stop. It was funny at first, but it's getting annoying.”

“Find anything you like, miss?” an elderly male nymph walks up and asks, “Ah, excuse me, I’m Ortis.”

“I’m Evetta,” I introduce, then ask, “Did you make this?” while holding up a short yellow jacket.

“That was made by my disciple, Gaius,” Ortis answers, “I’m sorry, but Gaius isn’t here currently.”

“I see.”

“Princess, are you going to get anything?” Koralesca asks.

It’s nice, but… “No, we still have places to go so I’ll be alright for now.”

“Suit yourself,” Koralesca replies.

After we leave Ortis’ shop, Orianna leads us to other shops. Some consist of tools, accessories, or furniture, but most are food shops.

There are a couple of stores that are unique, offering things like weapons, toys and gadgets, and medicine. One of the medicine shops we enter sells tiny marble-like pills.

“If you’re curious, those are elixirs,” an elderly female announces, “Welcome to my store, I’m Miyana, the owner of this little shop.”

Miyana has short brown hair that ends before her ears, tan skin, and an average figure. She has a gentle face, a small nose, and wide lips. Wrinkles cover her face, making her look extremely old. She is wearing blue clothes, with a grey robe over the top. She has two large wings with a yellow circular pattern and multiple small brown circles on her wings. Her wings also have two tails, with one from each wing touching each other making them look like one large tail.

“Ah, hello, I’m Evetta the-”

“The princess right? Everyone’s been talking about you,” Miyana says, “So, what can I help the princess with tonight?”

“You said these were elixirs, but can you be more specific?” I ask.

“They’re nothing special, just a condensed ball of spyr that can help improve an individual's spyr abilities,” Miyana explains, “However each one is unique, having various properties and functions.”

“Miyana’s an alchemist,” Vallen suddenly states, “they create elixirs or other interesting medicines, but they usually only sell them to people they like.”

“Only the good alchemist’s, like myself, sell to people they like,” Miyana clarifies, “Less talented alchemists will sell to anyone, but the effects are not always what the consumer desires.”

“Good to know,” I say.

After exploring Miyana’s store a bit longer, we leave and continue through the remaining stores on the second level. With the moons now fully visible in the dark sky, the Vravyth starts to quiet down.

“Is there anywhere left to go?” I yawn.

“I think we’ve just about covered everywhere,” Zoelle says.

“I see, then let’s call it a day,” I decide, “It’s been a long one.”

“Awww, we’re done?” Orianna complains.

“Don’t complain,” Koralesca barks, “You didn’t do anything today.”

We head back to the upper branches, and once there, I say, “Everyone, thank you, and I’m sorry for what happened today.”

“You don’t need to apologize princess,” Zoelle replies.

“Yeah, if anyone should apologize, it should be that white-haired bitch,” Koralesca roars.

“Easy there,” Vallen comments, “Someone might think you’re referring to the princess.”

As we continue our conversation, we arrive in front of my room. Eude and Avane are waiting on either side of the door.

“Princess, from now on, we will be guarding your room at night,” Eude explains, “After what happened today, Desela wants to make sure that Minerva doesn’t try anything throughout the night.”

“Thank you,” I reply.

Just before Avane guides everyone to their room, I tell everyone, “Goodnight.” I then head inside, plop onto my bed, and immediately fall asleep.

TearCRF

Alright, my questions for you are...

Does anyone have any ideas what happened between Minerva and Faraine? What are your thoughts on the outcome of the duels? Which duel did you enjoy the most? What are your thoughts on Minerva?