TearCRF

Hi everyone, back again with another chapter. So, while working on this chapter, I did some work on the moons and I had to change some information in chapter 6. Here is the section from chapter 6 so that you don't need to go back and look for it. In other news, I have added Minerva's and Galatia's images to the glossary and into the story.

 

I do as Vestele says, fly up to the top of the tree and, while hovering in place, look up at the night sky, clearly seeing it for the first time since arriving in this world. There, floating amongst the millions of white stars rest several colorful moons. “Wow,” I mutter in awe. They’re beautiful. To the left are a cyan, and purple moon. In the middle is a bright, glowing-grey moon. To the right are an almost non-visible black, and pink moon.

“They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” Vestele whispers.

“Yeah,” I reply, looking up at the moons.

“Each moon radiates energy for one month, hence where the months get their names,” Vestele says, “See how the grey moon is glowing? That’s how you can tell what month it is. Perseus is its name.”

“Perseus?” I repeat.

“Next month will be the black moon Musca. In the middle of the year, none of the moon's glow, while at the start of a new year, all the moon's glow, with the black moon, Musca, being the exception,” Vestele explains, “It’s one of the most wondrous sights in the world.”

I hope Myrna’s doing okay… 

“...ess, ...incess! Princess!” Minerva roars.

“Ah, yes,” I focus on Minerva, place my hand behind my head, and apologize, “Sorry I’ve had something on my mind all day.”

“Dammit! You’re still not able to grace your soul,” Minerva shouts, “and you think this is the time to be getting distracted? Focus damnit! Focus!”

“Well sorry for not being perfect and meeting your expectations! I’ll figure it out so calm down, jeez,” I argue, “Besides it’s not like you’re perfect either.”

“I may not be perfect,” Minerva retorts, “but at least I try!”

“I try too!”

“Oh please, don’t give me that bullshit. You obviously haven’t been taking anything serious since you’ve arrived here,” Minerva snaps, “You’ve been struggling with all your lessons, especially in spyra, and instead of trying to improve, you go to Desela and request some time off!”

“Yeah but-”

“And if that wasn’t enough,” Minerva continues, “Once you come back, instead of focusing, you get distracted. Can you still claim that you’re actually trying?”

“But aside from those two days,” I reply, “I’ve been trying to learn as much as possible!”

“Good for you, you’ve been working for one week and think you deserve a break. I’ve been trying to help Desela and Prince Nolodar for over ten years and you don’t see me asking for a break,” Minerva barks, “And what about everyone that’s still in the spirit realm that’ve been trying to fix things from the beginning, do you think they get a break?”

No, that’s not-

“Did you enjoy your days off?” Minerva asks condescendingly, “I hope you did, because while you were relaxing, having fun, and playing around, our family and thousands of other fairies are working to resolve this crisis and return to the spirit realm!”

“No, I didn’t-”

“You’re nothing but a spoiled princess and an embarrassment amongst skryvers!” Minerva bellows, “Why’d you even come to Folian if all you were going to do is be a burden?”

I look down at the ground away from Minerva. I didn’t mean to be… Is that really how I look? Am I just being a burden?

“What’s wrong?” Minerva asks as she cocks her head, “Can’t handle hearing the truth?”

What… “What am I supposed…” I whisper.

“Huh?” Minerva leans forward and looks up at me, “Sorry pathetic-burden, did you say something?”

“What am I supposed to do then!?” I roar, my voice trembling and eyes tearing up.

“You need to focus and figure out how to grace your soul!” Minerva yells, straightening out.

“Then teach me how!”

“Hmph, I’ve already tried, but you seem incapable of understanding how to do it,” Minerva remarks.

We stare at each other while I wait for her to continue. Minerva looks away and sighs, “You need to concentrate on trying to feel the spyr within your soul. Once you can accurately feel it, you have to spread it throughout your wings and then make your way into your soul.”

“That’s the same thing you’ve been telling me.”

“Yeah, well that’s all there is to it,” Minerva retorts, then sighs again, “Okay, let me ask, do you think you’re having more trouble controlling your spyr, or sensing it?”

I stare at Minerva for a moment. “Um… controlling it?”

Minerva places her hand over her face and heaves a heavy sigh, “Alright, let’s just continue practicing. Focus on sensing your spyr and once you feel it, move it to your wings. If you think you’re struggling with one or both then let me know and I’ll think about how we can solve it.”

“So you’re finally acting like a teacher,” I comment.

“I’ve always been acting like a teacher,” Minerva snaps, “You’ve just been a poor student.”

For a majority of the lesson, Minerva directs me while I try to grace my soul. I fill my wings anywhere from fifty to about eighty percent of the way but, each time, I fail. In the end, I’ve failed to make any progress gracing my soul.

“Alright pathetic-princess, do you still think you were struggling more with controlling your spyr?”

“Could you not call me ‘pathetic-princess’,” I mutter as I lay on the ground.

“Would you prefer I called you burden-princess,” Minerva replies.

“I’d prefer neither.”

“Then stop being a pathetic burden.”

“Right, I’ll work on that…” I say, then sit up, “To answer your question I think I’m having issues sensing my spyr.”

“Hmm…” Minerva ponders.

“So, is there any way to help me sense my spyr?”

“Yeah, I think so, but it’s too late to try it today,” Minerva answers, “So, for now, we’ll conclude practice here and we’ll try it tomorrow.”

“Okay,” I mutter as I look down. I don’t like her. She’s rude, incredibly blunt, and a definite pain in the ass, but... I sit there hesitantly for a moment before saying, “...Thanks for helping me today.”

…

“Who’re you talking to?” Vestele asks.

“Huh?” I look up and scan my surroundings. Minerva is nowhere to be seen. “Where’d she go?”

“Minerva left right after you said ‘okay’.”

“What?”

“Were you thanking her?” Vestele teases.

My face heats up, “Something like that,” I groan, then say, “Let’s go meet up with the others.”

“Alright, but make sure you start looking at the moons.”

The moons? “Why?”

“Well, being like this can be pretty boring, so I’ve been keeping track of the days for a while now,” Vestele explains, “And I’m pretty sure that today is the first day of Musca so now none of the moons will be glowing. If I’m right, you’ll be able to see Musca in two days.”

“Oh, right, I forgot those change every month.” I look up at the darkening evening sky, “I’ll check them out tonight after it gets a bit darker.”

“Actually seeing Musca might be more difficult in the dark.”

“Really?”

“Eeeeeeevetta!” 

*Bam* 

“Ow… What the heck?” I look behind me, see Orianna, and I ask her, “Orianna, what’re you doing?”

“I just wanted to come see you.”

“Is that so? Well next time, could you come see me more gently? That hurt.”

Orianna chuckles, “Sorry.”

Vallen and the girls arrive shortly after.

Koralesca asks, “You two just going to sit there, or are we going to go eat?”

“Coming,” I holler.

Orianna gets off of me, helps me up, and together the nine of us make our way to the cafeteria to eat dinner. We discuss how everyone’s day was. Lyris complains about Eude giving her more work. Orianna and Koralesca grumble about the difficulties they’re having with their training. Vallen and Zoelle get into an argument about what food I like more. Faraine, Lenadrea, and Galatia comment about their day and laugh at everyone else's struggles.

Once we finish dinner, I sneak away from the others and head up to the top of the Vravyth by myself.

Like last time, there are five moons arching through the sky in various phases. However, unlike before, the moons are differently colored. More accurately, they are different moons entirely. Near the horizon on one side is a red moon, followed by a brown moon. Sitting overhead in the middle is a yellow moon. Opposite the red and brown moons, and trailing back down, is a cyan moon. Finally, resting just above the horizon is a purple moon.

“Wow, they’re incredible to look at,” I mutter.

“I know,” Vestele agrees, “Looking at the moons is one of my favorite views but... Musca is bland and debilitating in a way.”

“What do you mean?”

“Unlike the other moons that enhance a certain fairy’s element, or Virgo that enhances all of them, Musca provides no benefit to any element. There’s no actual decrease in ability, but since all of the other moons provide some kind of benefit, a lot of fairies view Musca as a hindrance.”

“So it’s neutral?”

Vestele chuckles, “That’s not accurate, but in terms of the elements, I guess you could view it that way.”

I don’t see what’s so funny about that. I think that makes a lot of sense.

I stare up at the moons as a handful of clouds slowly traverse the sky.

“Hey Vestele… Do you think Minerva was right? About me being a pathetic burden?”

“Hmmm, well there’s definitely truth to her words,” Vestele ponders, “But I think her terms are too harsh. How does ‘novice’ and ‘young’ sound?”

“A young novice…” I mutter, “That does sound better…”

“Would you like to tell her about me?” Vestele inquires, “I’m sure she’d start acting different around you if she knew I was here.”

“No, that’s alright,” I decline, “As weird as it is, I’m kind of glad that she’s hard on me about things. Ever since coming to this world, everyone’s been pretty nice and helpful, well aside from those fairy hunters… But with Minerva, I don’t know, it’s refreshing having someone be harsh and honest with me, even if I don’t like it.”

“As weird as it might be, I agree completely.”

“Do you have any idea what she might have planned for me tomorrow?”

“No idea, but I have a feeling you’re not going to like it.”

“Don’t remind me-”

“Princess Evetta!” Vallen’s voice sounds in the distance, “Where are you?”

I sigh, “I told him he doesn’t need to call me princess.”

“I guess it’s time to head back.”

“Yeah…” I look across the sky once more before flying toward Vallen’s voice.

I make my way to the bath and then retire to my room for the night.

---

After completing my morning and afternoon lessons, my guards and I pair up with Minerva and her pages, and everyone heads off to their own separate locations. With everyone gone, I find myself alone with Minerva, waiting to hear her plans to help me improve my ability to sense my spyr.

“Alright pathetic-burden,” Minerva states.

“Is that necessary?” I comment.

“It makes me feel better, so…” Minerva ponders for a bit, tapping her chin, “Yes.”

I sigh, “Fine, what’re we doing today?”

“Follow me, I’ll explain along the way,” Minerva orders, then flies off toward the lake.

I trail behind her, come up to her side, and ask, “Where’re we going?”

“We’re going somewhere with more spyr.”

“Why?”

“To make it harder for you to sense your spyr.”

“What!? Why!?”

“Because if you practice in a more difficult area, then once we return here, you should be able to more easily sense your own spyr.”

“I’m not sure I understand,” I state, “Could you explain?”

Minerva sighs, “Since Folian lacks spyr, it should already be easy to detect your own spyr. In your case however, you suck, so we’re going to go somewhere with more ambient spyr so that you can’t sense your spyr as well.” She takes a breath then continues, “Hopefully, once we come back, you’ll be able to notice the spyr that you’re currently unable to detect and then you’ll be able to grace your soul.”

“Alright, but what if this doesn’t work?”

“Then I’ll try something else, but it’s a bit more painful,” Minerva remarks, “So make sure you do your best, and I mean your best.”

“Sure, no problem,” I reply nervously.

As we make our way across the lake, I scan our surroundings to see if anyone has seen us, but no one seems to have noticed.

“Um, won’t the others get mad if they found out we left Folian?”

“Probably… In all honesty, if Desela finds out, I probably won't be allowed to go to the spirit realm when you leave,” Minerva hypothesizes, “So please do keep your mouth shut.”

I stare at her until she shoots me a defiant look. “Of course,” I bitterly agree.

We reach the other side of the lake and ascend up and over the mountain ridge, losing vision of Folian. We descend down the backside of the mountain ridge and continue to search for “an appropriate location”. Once at the base of the mountain, we head into a wooded area that is full of vigorous plant life yet still open enough to clearly see the sky. Compared to a week ago when the trees were barren and lifeless, these plants display young green foliage.

“This place looks go-” Minerva starts to say, but stops upon seeing me.

As she stares at me I tilt my head to the side and ask, “What?”

“I’d heard about it from Desela, but… no nevermind.”

“What? You can’t just say something like that and then just stop.”

“Too bad, now start practicing.”

“Mmmm… fine,” I grumble. I sit on my knees, close my eyes, and begin trying to detect my spyr. Unlike back in Folian, the soft and fluffy feeling I felt before now seems more compressed and less abundant. Most of my spyr seems to have disappeared yet I can still detect a faint amount of it. Additionally, much of it feels out of reach, while the rest of it seems more resistant to my control. What little spyr I can detect, I try to move toward my wings, but in the end, my wings feel like barely any spyr was transferred to them.

I let out a deep breath and start to pant. “That’s… not easy.”

“That’s normal,” Minerva corrects, “Folian is just easy because of the lack of spyr. Here, there’s spyr all around you, so you have to focus on solely yours. So make sure you concentrate because we’re only coming out here once.”

“Right… I’ll figure it out.”

“Good, but before you start again, it might be easier to use your spyr if you stop absorbing spyr.”

“I would if I knew how I was doing it,” I answer.

Minerva freezes, looks at me, and says, “Just to clarify, you graced your soul in your sleep, and you’re absorbing spyr without even trying?”

“I think I’m doing it subconsciously, but that doesn’t mean I know how to stop it,” I reply.

Minerva places her hand over her face, “Why couldn’t I have been born with that talent? Instead this spoiled, pathetic, burden, and embarrassment of a skryver was born with it… Dammit, it’s not fair!”

I stare at Minerva for a moment. “Minerva, why do you seem to hate me so much? I don’t recall doing anything that’d make you hate me aside from-”

“That’s exactly the problem!” Minerva bellows, “You haven’t done anything! Yet you abuse your authority, act spoiled doing whatever you want, and you don’t get in trouble for your actions.”

“I won’t deny I’ve made some unreasonable requests, but I don’t see any of those as me abusing my authority. Hell, what authority do I even have?”

“Putting aside your inability and lack of knowledge, there’s been plenty of times you’ve already caused problems for everyone,” Minerva shouts, and takes a deep breath. “Starting from the feast, you lacked any backbone and were content with simply giving up instead of trying to encourage your guards to strive for more. Ever since you’ve been here, Desela has been babying you, paying for all your necessities, managing your activities, and providing you with teachers and guards from her own pages. She still has other things to do, and you just show up and complicate things for her. Then you decide to take all the chocolate from within Folian, just so you can give it as a gift to some orphanage kids. Did you know that because of you, there’s no more chocolate within Folian at all? And what have you done to repay them? Oh, right, you took a break,” Minerva exhales heavily.

“So I’m the bad guy in all of this!?”

“Yes, if it wasn’t for you then…” Minerva trails off.

“Then what? Besides, if those were such big problems then why didn’t someone say something?”

“Because dumbass, you’re the princess!” Minerva yells.

“So what, I don’t want to be the princess, and I don’t want everyone treating me differently.”

“That’s why I hate you,” Minerva mumbles, “You have everything yet don’t want any of it, nor do you know how to use it.”

“Haha, so you’re just a jealous bitch?”

“Aaargh!” Minerva yells as she tackles me, forcing me onto the ground.

“Ow, what the hell?”

Minerva pulls her arm back and punches down.

“Evetta --- --,” Vestele urges hastily, “---!”

“Ah!” I scream as I close my eyes and pull my arms over my face.

*Thud*

“Evetta!” Vestele hollers.

She didn’t hit me? I turn my head and open my eyes, seeing Minerva’s fist on the ground next to my head. Suddenly something wet hits my face. Huh? I look back at Minerva, tears flow down her nose and hit me on the cheek. Her lips tremble as she opens her mouth.

“You don’t know anything!” she weeps, “You’re stupid, spoiled, you suck at using spyr, you’re a burden… and yet you’re so lucky.”

“Lucky!?” I scream, “You think I like what’s going on and what’s happened?”

“Evetta!” Vestele shouts fearfully.

“What!?” I yell.

“Look out!” a boy’s voice shouts.

Suddenly, a heavy force hits my right shoulder and the right side of my stomach. Minerva and I are tackled by two fairies and are pushed a short distance away. The two fairies roll atop us a couple of times before we come to a stop.

Ow… now what? I look around and see Ralic and Dane on me and Minerva.

“Evetta quickly, run!” Vestele bellows.

Dane gets to his feet, pulls Ralic to his feet, and shouts, “We need to go!” 

As Ralic grabs my hand and pulls me to my feet, Dane helps Minerva to hers.

“Evetta, come on, hurry!” Ralic shouts as he looks up behind me, his face morphing into one of fear.

I turn around and see a large yet slender bird, several times my size. The bird is a menacing black with a silver-blue gloss on its feathers making them look like armor. It’s beak is long, thin, and razor sharp. It’s spreading a small crest of feathers on its head in a menacing display. Its ominous bright green eyes blink before it turns its head and opens its mouth.

*Kaaaw!*

Run… I need to run… move… Move… MOVE! My body is locked in place as the bird approaches.

*Boom*

A massive fireball about the size of the bird appears from my left and collides with it. I turn my head and see Minerva holding out her left hand. She looks at me and yells, “What’re you doing? Run!” Not a moment later, Dane grabs Ralic’s hand, then mine and pulls us along.

Together, we start to fly off away from the bird and race through the woods. Minerva is in front with Ralic and myself behind her. Dane pulls up the rear.

*KAAAAAAW* The bird’s shriek is much louder than before. I look back and see the bird not far behind us. It’s shadowy form lends it a terrorizing appearance as it gives its pursuit.

As we dash through the forest, I shout, “What’d we do!?”

“Look for a place to hide!” Minerva orders.

Ralic turns his head and cries, “It’s catching up!”

“Don’t look back!” Dane bellows, “Just keep flying!”

Oh fuck, this is bad!

“Evetta, down to your left,” Vestele yells.

I glance down and see a bush with thick branches and fairly small gaps.

“Down there!” I announce as I begin to descend toward the bush.

I fly through a gap in some of the branches and immediately dive down as I almost crash into a large branch. I turn around and watch as Minerva flies in after me, with Ralic right behind her.

“Keep going down!” Minerva orders. Ralic dives down toward the heart of the brush.

Where’s Dane?

“What’re you-” Minerva starts to say as Dane dashes through the branches and slams into the thick branch immediately after the entrance.

“Dane!” I holler.

*KAAAAW* The bird roars as it plunges its head into the gap.

“Aaaaaaarrrrgh!” Dane cries.

Just above me, I see the point of the bird’s massive beak embedded in a branch. Suddenly, a thick red liquid runs onto where it meets the tree. I turn slightly and gasp in horror as I see why Dane cried out. His chest has been penetrated by the bird’s beak.  His face is warped in pain and terror. Dane, no… His eyes lock onto mine as tears roll down his cheeks. He reaches his trembling arm toward me. “Please, hel-” he begins to say, but coughs, spurting blood all over himself, and me.

Suddenly, Dane is forcefully pulled out of the bush and disappears as the bird retracts its head.

I reach my hand out toward the gap in the brush, “No!”

“Why’re you just standing there!?” Minerva roars from below, “Run idiot!” She grabs my arm and pulls me down deeper into the bush. I look back to where Dane was a moment ago as we fly. We rush past Ralic and continue to delve deeper into the plant.

“Okay, this should be good enough,” Minerva declares.

 I turn and see Minerva and Ralic, both with worried and terrified looks on their faces.

“A-are we s-safe?” Ralic stutters as he looks around, “A-and where’s Dane? I heard him scream-”

“Shhhh,” Minerva whispers as she closes her eyes. After a couple of seconds, she responds, “I don’t hear anything. Evetta, did you see Dane?”

I look at her, and then Ralic. He’s staring at me fearfully. I try to muster up the courage to explain to them what I just saw, “I-”

Suddenly, the brush we’re in starts shaking violently.

*Crack* *Snap* *Crunch*

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“I don’t know,” Minerva responds.

“Up there!” Ralic screams, pointing up.

*Snap*

I direct my eyes upward and see a mass of black feathers breaking branches and forcing its way down toward us.

“It’s coming!” Ralic cries.

“What now?” I shout.

*Crunch*

I look over at Minerva who’s holding her right arm. She bites her lip and says, “Close your eyes.”

“Huh?”

“Just do it!”

“Alright,” I reply as I see Ralic panicking. I rush to his side and place my hand over his eyes, then close my own. “We’re good!”

*Snap*

“Don’t open them until I say so,” Minerva shouts, “Here goes.”

*SNAP*

I keep my eyes closed as the sounds from the predator continue to grow louder.

*SCREECH* The bird’s ear-piercingly loud shriek resounds within the bush.

“Come on, we need to leave!” Minerva roars. I open my eyes and see her already in the air. “Don’t just stand there, let’s go!”

I remove my hand from Ralic’s face and we trail after Minerva as she guides us back out of the bush. The light from the setting sun still illuminates the woods, but darkness is starting to seep over the land. We continue to follow Minerva as she darts away from the bush.

“What’d you do?” Ralic asks Minerva as we fly up next to her.

“Yeah, I thought we were goners in there,” I add.

“I blinded it,” Minerva hollers, “Now don’t slow down, if we don’t get away from it before it gets dark, then we won’t be able to see it.”

“Evetta,” Ralic calls, “Did you see Dane?”

“We’ll search for him later,” I reply. I shoot Minerva a grim look and her expression shifts from shock, to an equally grim one. She nods and looks ahead.

The three of us continue to rush through the forest, searching for somewhere safe enough that the bird won’t be able to follow us.

“Evetta, that toppled tree, down below it,” Vestele remarks.

“This way,” I state as I fly down toward the fallen tree.

“Where are you going?” Minerva asks.

As I hover above the ground, I examine the tree, looking for anywhere that might be safe.

“To your left,” Vestele comments.

Following Vestele directions, I fly to my left and find a hole that is barely big enough for us to fit through.

How’d you see that?

“In here,” I state as I head inside. I head into the hole, but instead of immediately crossing into the other side, the gap in the wood extends like a tunnel. Jeez, how far back does this go? The tunnel progressively gets dark as I make my way through. I rest my hand against the wall and continue. I can’t see anything.

“How is it?” Minerva calls out.

“I think it’s safe, but I can’t see,” I shout. “Wah!” I cry as I fall forward. 

*Bam*

“Ow… that hurt…” I mutter, “Where’d the ground go?”

“E-Eevtta… w-where are you?” Ralic stutters, his voice echoing from above.

“I’m down here!” I call out.

A dim light suddenly shines from the entrance of the tunnel and makes its way closer. Minerva’s face appears at the entrance to the room I’m in, a ball of light travels to the center of the chamber illuminating the entire room. It isn’t large, but could easily fit several fairies with plenty of space to spare. The ground is dark-brown and has moss growing in several spots. There are several long, thin, light-green lumps along the walls. The tunnel sits about midway between the ground and ceiling of the chamber.

“D-do you think it c-c-can get in here?” Ralic asks.

“Not likely,” Minerva replies, “Besides if it does, I’ll handle it, but if it comes to that I need you two to get as far away as you can during that time.”

“Why, so you can buy time while we escape?” I declare, “No way, we’ll figure-”

“Princess,” Minerva interrupts, “I can’t go all out while you two are around without possibly harming you as well, otherwise I’d have eliminated it when it first appeared.”

“So, you’re not trying to sacrifice yourself?”

“Are you stupid?” Minerva inquires, “Who would choose that when there are alternatives? I still have things to do, and I have to make sure you get back as well so…” Minerva goes quiet.

“Yeah… okay,” I mutter.

“I hope Dane’s okay,” Ralic says.

Right, how do I tell Ralic… I look at Ralic and open my mouth, but no words come out. I can’t tell him…

“This is another fault of yours. You’re too nice,” Minerva comments. She walks over to Ralic, bows her head, and announces, “I’m sorry, but Dane’s dead.”

“Dead?” Ralic mutters. He looks at me and asks, his voice cracking, “He’s dead?”

I turn away from Ralic and nod.

*Plop*

Ralic drops to his knees, his arms limp at his sides while he blankly stares forward. He mumbles to himself, “Dead… Dane’s… dead… but he was just… how… but he…”

I walk over to Ralic, sit down next to him, and move to hug him. I hesitate, but wrap my arms around him.

Ralic continues mumbling. He’s not even speaking clearly… Then he plainly asks, “Is he really gone?”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, my tongue trembling and mouth becoming dry. My heart races as I try to hold back the tears building in my eyes. 

Ralic’s body starts trembling as he pulls his knees up to his chest. His lips quiver as his eyes begin to fill with tears. A soft whimper escapes his lips and he plows his face into his knees, “Daaaaaane!” He starts to sob heavily into his knees.

“I’m sorry Ralic...” I say. I squeeze him tightly as I can no longer hold back the tears. I glance at Minerva who sits down and leans against the wall, holding her arm. Dane died because of us… “I am so sorry,” I tightly hold my arms around him and begin to sway back and forth to try and comfort him.

Ralic weeps for several minutes, but the guilt eats away at me, making it feel like an eternity. His sobbing voice echoes throughout the room and reverberates several times over in my ears. I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry… 

Eventually, I stop crying, but still cling to the crying Ralic. He finally starts to calm down, but his body is still shaking, and his face still filled with grief.

Once he has calmed down enough I ask, “Ralic… Why were you and Dane out there with us?”

“W-we… saw you… leaving Folian,” Ralic answers between breaths, “Dane said…” Ralic breaks into tears once more but continues, “He said… he said we should follow… follow you.” Ralic breaths deeply, “While we were… looking for you… we saw the… the bird,” Ralic explains, “Then Dane… Dane… he warned me about it… When we found you… we saw the bird too… and well…”

“Ralic, look at me,” I request as I pry Ralic’s face from his knees, “Thank you…”

“F-For what?”

“If you and Dane weren’t there, both me and Minerva would be dead. Ralic, I’m sorry. I knew it was dangerous outside of Folian, and I should’ve told Minerva that we should stay in Folian, but because of us…”

“You knew it was dangerous?” Minerva inquires from the wall.

“This wasn’t my first time seeing something like that… I’ve been right next to giant monsters, I’ve been attacked by fairy hunters, and I almost died trying to stop a storm…”

“Monsters?”

“Yeah… large beasts with claws and fangs that run on four legs, and giant ones that are bigger than trees.”

I continued to explain my adventures outside of Folian to Ralic for a while until he grew tired. His eyes were red and his voice strained from his crying, so once he lied down it didn’t take long for him to fall asleep.

Get some sleep. I turn away from the young fairy, make my way over to Minerva, and sit down next to her.

*Grooooar* Minerva’s stomach cries out in hunger.

“Hungry?” I ask.

“What gave that away?” Minerva remarks callously.

“Can’t you try being nice?”

“Nice? I’m nice to everyone that’s not you.”

“Oh, that’s good to know. So you only hate me?”

“No, there’s plenty of other people I hate far more,” Minerva mutters, “You just remind me of them.”

“Heh, isn’t that unfair to me?”

“If you don’t like it, then stop being a pain.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re the pain.” I pause for a moment, then glance at Minerva who’s still clutching her right arm, “Or at least in it. Does your arm hurt?”

“Why should that concern you?”

“Just answer the question.”

Minerva looks at me, and sighs, “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I messed it up when Dane pushed me away from the bird.”

“Are you hurt anywhere else?”

“Yeah, my ears.”

“Your ears?” I begin to examine her ears to look for anything wrong with them, “I don’t see anything.”

Minerva sighs again, “You really are too nice... and dumb. I was implying that they hurt because… Oh nevermind.”

Now I’m confused... Her ears… hurt… “Hey!” I shout.

“Took you long enough. And keep it down or you’re going to wake him.”

“Ah,” I cover my mouth, then whisper, “Sorry.”

We sit for a moment, staring at Ralic’s sleeping form.

“Hey-” I start to say.

“Don’t,” Minerva interrupts, “I’m… I’m sorry.” Oh? That sounded real.

“What’s that look for?” Minerva inquires.

“Ah, well, you apologizing caught me off guard.”

“Unlike someone, I can own up to my mistakes.”

“Right… I’ve definitely made some mistakes too, and as much as I hate it, I’ve probably been too lax about things since I arrived here. No, maybe even before getting to Folian.”

“You can add spoiled, pathetic-”

“Yeah yeah yeah, I get it,” I cut her off, “Anyway, what were you apologizing for?”

“For suggesting we leave Folian,” Minerva replies sullenly, “If not for me, we wouldn’t be here... and Dane wouldn’t have died.”

I shake my head, “No, if it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. If I could grace my soul, you would never have suggested leaving Folian. Instead you were trying to help me, so I’m the cause of this…”

“Well, I don’t disagree, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re out here now.”

“How do you think everyone’s reacting to us being gone?”

“They’re probably going to freak out and begin looking everywhere for us,” Minerva replies, then sighs, “And I’ll likely get in serious trouble for bringing you out here. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Desela forced me to stay in Folian until everything is resolved in the spirit realm.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll cover for you.”

“There you go abusing your authority again.”

“Would you rather get into trouble?”

“Not really,” Minerva nonchalantly answers.

“Okay then.”

“Do you think we should go see if the bird’s still out there?”

“Yeah, give me a moment and I’ll go check,” Minerva states as she tries to stand up.

“No way, you’re injured,” I argue, “You’re going to stay here. I’ll go check-”

“Are you stupid? Wait, nevermind, you are stupid.”

“Is that necessary?”

“Yes, it is. You, the powerless princess wants to go check and see if the giant bird is still here,” Minerva exclaims, “What do you plan on doing if it’s still there? You’re just asking to die.”

“We’ll you’re not going either,” I retort, “You’re already injured.”

We glare at each other until Minerva finally sighs, “I’m not going to argue with your spoiled ass. Fine, we’ll just stay here until morning. It should be gone by then, and it’ll be easier to see too.”

*Groooowl* My stomach announces my lack of food. I place my hand over it.

“Guess you’ll have to wait until tomorrow princess.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Seconds of silence quickly become a minute. This is awkward, she just stopped talking… Well, I guess I also stopped talking… Ah, I know.

“Hey, Minerva,” I say, “Earlier when we were arguing, you said I don’t know anything. What did you mean by that?”

“I’d rather not talk about it,” Minerva mutters as she turns away from me.

“I won’t force you, but I would like to know.”

“Princess, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Oh come on, please. I’m going to cover for you so-”

“Dammit… fine, just shut up. I get it,” Minerva barks, “but you’re not going to like it.”

“That’s fine.”

Minerva takes a deep breath, sighs, then begins. “In my past life, I worked as a spyrologist, and I spent decades studying spyra and spyr. I wanted to be strong and utilize the different spyras, but I wasn’t gifted or talented in it, so the next best option was to study them.” 

“A spyrologist huh?”

“Don’t interrupt me,” Minerva barks. “Throughout my time studying spyra, I managed to build up a reasonable understanding of how spyra works and the parts that are incorporated with it, but I lacked any formal backing, so I was never given credit for any of my work. Instead, the people that had higher positions took credit for my work, claiming they did it themselves, but whenever a scenario arose where I argued against them, they would pay off the judges or blackmail me into forfeiting my work.”

“So then-”

“I told you, don’t interrupt me.”

“Alright jeez, I’ll be quiet.”

“Good. In the end I was forced to resign because I was a ‘fraud’ and ‘constantly tried to claim other people's work as my own’. I hated it, I hated them. Those assholes… those fucking bastards,” Minerva growls, her voice filling with rage, “They used their power to unfairly force others into horrible positions and took credit for work when they in fact did nothing. Now… who else does that sound like?”

“You think I’m like that?”

“Aside from how nice you are, the parallels are pretty apparent.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t want everyone to just give me everything. I’d prefer if everyone was more casual with me instead,” I reply, “Heck, I just managed to get my guards to start calling me by my name.”

“Hah, that’s either Desela’s doing, or because you’re a princess.”

“That sounds about right…”

“Well, now you know why I hate your guts,” Minerva states, “And with that, I’m going to go to sleep.”

“...Alright, sleep well.”

“Of course, the ground is going to be sooo comfy,” Minerva retorts, “...Goodnight.”

“Are you going to get some sleep too?”

Sleep sounds nice but… I glance at Minerva, stand up, walk away from her, and sit on my knees by myself. I reply in a low whisper, “As much as I hate it, she’s probably right. I should try harder, so that I’m not a burden to everyone.”

I begin to try and grace my soul. I try to detect my spyr, but again, it is just as difficult to detect as earlier. Failure after failure doesn't stop me, and I make attempts long into the night.

---

I lay on my back panting exhaustedly from dozens of attempts to grace my soul.

“Sweetheart, you should get some sleep too,” Vestele suggests.

I know, but… I yawn as my eyes start to feel heavy. No… maybe she’s right, I’ve been at it for a while, but I feel like I’m starting to get the hang of it. I’ll just rest here for a moment longer...

---

“Aaaaaaaaaaah!” A high-pitched scream pierces my ears.

I instantly wake up and feel something wet and sticky on my leg. A shiver runs down my spine as I feel a slimy tickle slowly travel up my leg. My breathing increases as my heart begins to race. I look down at my leg and see a long, thin, light-green bug, the size of my leg, crawling over it. It’s several green and black eyes and it’s lumpy body send chills throughout my body as I begin to panic.

“Get it off! Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!” I cry out.

“Go away! Go away! Go away!” Minerva screams as she runs from the bugs.

The bug continues to travel over my leg. “Minerva! Ralic! Someone do something!” I shout as I quickly begin shaking my leg to try and remove the bug from my skin.

Ralic runs over and pulls it from my leg. “He likes you,” Ralic states as he holds the bug in front of my face.

“Eeeeeeeeeeew! Get it away from me!” I shout as I bolt to my feet and retreat from Ralic.

“Haha, that tickles,” Ralic laughs as he plays with the bugs.

“That’s disgusting,” Minerva comments.

“I know… that was gross.”

“You don’t like bugs either?” Minerva asks.

“I used to, but that was when they were really small,” I explain, “Now however… I don’t know anymore. That might’ve just ruined it for me…”

“Are you sure this is the right way?” A loud male’s voice announces.

“Did you hear that?” I ask.

“Obviously, I guess they’re still looking for us.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” But something about that voice seemed different…

“Get bug boy over there, I’ll go take a look,” Minerva orders.

“Sure, but be careful.”

As Minerva flies toward the tunnel, she keeps her distance from any of the bugs.

“Hey Ralic, it’s time to go.”

“Okay.” He says as he carries the bug toward the tunnel.

“Ralic, please put the bug down.”

“But, I want to keep him…” Ralic complains.

“Yes, but…” I look at it as it crawls on Ralic’s arm, “It’s gross, please just leave it here. If you want a pet, we can look for something else.”

“Alright, but it has to be the best pet ever.”

“Of course.”

“Princess!” Minerva calls from down the tunnel, “You need to come see this.”

Did something happen?

“Let’s go,” I say as I fly into the tunnel with Ralic right behind me. We make our way through the tunnel and find Minerva waiting right before the exit.

“What is it? Did something happen?” I inquire.

“Take a look.” Minerva suggests.

Minerva squeezes past me and I peek my head out of the hole. I see a couple of giant clothed figures. No way… “Are those humans?”

TearCRF

Alright, another chapter finished. I know this one was a bit later than I anticipated, but I hope you enjoyed it. This chapter had more action compared to most of the other chapters, so I hope everything made sense. If not, please let me know and I'll try to correct it. In my opinion, this was one of my better chapters, and I enjoyed it. Now that this chapter has happened, the plot will start progressing forward, and for the OG readers, we have finally returned to the meeting of the humans that happened before I did the major revisions to the story. Chapter 18 should be out in about a week, take care until then. https://discord.io/ForbiddenForge

Here's my chapter questions.
Do you think Minerva's justified in her dislike/hate toward Evetta? What were your thoughts on the bird scene? How do you think Evetta and Minerva's relationship will develop going forward?