“Now come on, sis! Let’s go shopping together!”

Seems Talia is determined to ignore my threats.
Fine.
She’s likely merely teasing.
But if she isn’t…
Well, I’ll decide what to do with her then.
In the meantime, however, we still have a problem.

“Talia, you are aware that I can’t simply wander around town openly?”

“Don’t worry! I’ll give you a ride.”

“Then we need to find a spot where I won’t be seen. Your clothes have no pockets, and I refuse to be stowed in your pack.”

Purchasing clothes for me that were intended for dolls is already bad enough.
I’m not going to be kept in a sack like one too!

“Hmm, well, you could hide under my hair, near the back of my neck. That way, I’d still be able to hear you.”

“That could work, but you’ll have to take Nibi too. I still see no decent way to avoid her. I fear if I try to leave her here, she would simply chase me down again. And who knows what kind of ruckus she would cause on the way.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem. You’re both quite light!”

“Yeah, sure, I did my best to help get enough food to eat so both of us could grow properly, and now look at me. I can eat more than I weigh and nothing changes.”

“Seems you are quite annoyed about that.”

“Oh no, why wouldn’t everything be absolutely great? I’m just missing all of me!!!”

“Pfft!”

Gah!
I get shrunk to this size and she just chuckles at me!
Perhaps I should use some magic earlier than I had planned?
Yet before I can follow through with this thought, mum intervenes.

“Talia, stop making fun of your sister. And Akari, you shouldn’t take this out on us. I know things are hard right now, but we are really trying to help you.”

“Ugh. Yes, mum, I know. I’m just so frustrated! I can’t work, I can’t help at home, I can’t even do something as simple as walking around town without working out a plan first! I feel like I’m going to explode! And that would be for the second time!”

“I understand, dear, but don’t forget we’re still here for you. Although, if you truly feel the need to vent, please try to keep magic out of it.”

I wasn’t actually going to use my magic on her.
Yet…

“Hehe, yes, cause I don’t think we’d have much to fear as long as she limited herself to punching things. Hehehe.”

“Talia!!!”

She’s lucky mum said what she did!
I’ll just have to get back at her without magic.
Quickly flying up to her shoulder, I land right near her neck.
Then repeatedly stomp it as hard as I can.

“Mum! Akari’s hitting me!”

“Pfft! Does it hurt?”

“No, but it tickles! Eek, Nibi, not you too! Hihihi”

Argh!
With my full strength, I thought it would at least sting a little bit.
That’s it, I need to go before I do something I’ll regret.

“Aki, where are you going, err, flying?”

“I need some water!”

“Don’t empty it all!”

I don’t know if I’d rather scream or cry.
I can’t really hold it against them for trying to bring some levity into this situation.
A little laughter isn’t so bad, as it feels rather bleak at the moment.
Yet, it’s my life we’re talking about, and to say that I have issues would be the understatement of the century.
So my patience for these jokes is shallow at best.

We keep a large barrel of water at home for daily necessities that we routinely fill from the village well.
At this moment, I’ll gladly accept some help calming my mind, so I empty around a third of the barrel.
As the rage and grief eases and my mind clears, I pull forward a few strands of my hair and watch the blue lengthen along them.
And for the first time since I became a fairy, I feel full.

I think I’ve hit my limit with the amount of energy I can contain.
Easily half of my wings are blue.
When I try to take in more essence, I feel some sunlight get forced from me, and golden, sparkling dust falls from all over my body.
This means that I can’t take in any more without driving the other forms of energy out.
Hopefully, these sparkles won’t cause any trouble in the house.
I don’t feel any energy coming from the dust, so it’s unlikely to cause any issues.

Well, now I have mostly blue and white wings, while the other colors I had before are spread out in a few matching spots.
As Talia noticed when she wasn’t teasing me, they always seem to reform the pattern to match the colors in a way that appeals to the eye.
It also happens to make it easy to gauge how much of a certain essence I have.

Seems I could use a large amount of water magic now, but the others would be limited to small tricks.
For example, I could likely only grow a flower or two, as the green portion is quite little.
However, using the neutral white energy, it should be possible to increase the corresponding energies if I can associate with them.
This one certain step is rather key.
There is no direct usage for the white energy that I can tell, so there is quite some delay between converting it and applying magic.
Ugh, it’s complicated.
Especially, since all I’m working with here is the way the magic feels to me.
It’s not as if ordinary village girls are taught the specifics of magic!

I likely should refrain from using magic near people until I know precisely what I’m doing.
After all, these energies feel so chaotic when they rush out that I may easily lose control over them.
Even this conversion is just an assumption on my part, and having done it once does not make me an expert.
Yet, surely little things should be fine.
Consuming small amounts from my wings to keep me going seems to happen naturally, so I don’t have to worry about it once the magic is in me.
Hopefully, this means if I only pull out a tiny amount of the essence I want to use, I’ll be able to naturally handle it.
I’d just better not try anything like growing trees that could accidently end with them taking over my house and eating my family.
Yeah, sure, I have a wild imagination, but who knows with magic, anything could be possible!

Should I try mixing small amounts and see what they do?
Maybe water and sunlight to create a reflection, or how about…

…

…

“Sis! You ready yet?”

“I’m busy!”

“Doing what? I’m never complimenting your wings again if you’re just going to stare at them for half an hour!”

“Aki, you’ve been sitting there long enough, you really should get going.”

Wait, what?
I could swear I was thinking for merely a few minutes.
All about the magic in my wings and how I could use it and…
Oooh!
I may have taken in too much water essence.
But for now, I don’t really want to put it back, nor do I actually know how.
A clear mind is difficult to keep on my own currently, so instead of countering or removing it, maybe I can put it to good use.
Water causes one to focus on a single thing, so maybe all I need to do is choose what I want to do next.
So focus!
I’m done with magic, it’s time to go shopping.
Shopping, Akari!

“Sorry, Talia, I’m coming! I just drank too much.”

“But, that’s only water?”

“Never mind, it’s different for me! Are you ready to leave?”

“Uh, ok. Yes, we’ve been waiting for you. Nibi is eager to get going.”

I see the blue fairy sitting on her shoulder.

“Miep!”

Perhaps she sounds excited?
But then she’s always that way.

Well then, now to try hiding underneath Talia’s hair.
Although, there doesn’t appear to be much room, even at my new size.
And Nibi will certainly want to be next to me.
*Sigh*

“This means I’m going to be stuck in a small space with her right beside me. Again.”

“And me! Just because you’re sitting on me doesn’t mean I’m not here!”

“Oh, yes, and you.”

I’d never tell her, but it may be possible that I actually thought of her as a convenient transport for a moment.
As we agreed, I fly up to her shoulder, where I hear mum call out from behind me.

“Aww, you sisters look so nice together!”

Yeah, sure mum, even if there are some unusual issues regarding our relation.

Talia pulls her hair back, and I lay down and slide my legs under her shirt shortly behind her ear.
Nibi tries to follow suit straight after.
Of course, right next to me and not on the other shoulder as before.

“Ieek, it tickles!”

“Nibi! Stop moving so much!”

“Miep!”

I get the feeling that she’s starting to understand me more and more.
Especially since this morning, she seems to recognize at least the gist of what I say.
I have no idea about the timeframe, but she might start speaking eventually.

Nibi continues struggling to fit by my side, albeit much more slowly, but her wings collide with mine.
I’ll have to help her.
Even if she’s been starting to understand me better, I don’t believe she’ll move even a short distance away simply because I ask her to.
So I fold my wings together behind me and, incredibly gently, push hers closed as well.
She’s then able to follow my lead and slides down next to me.
Then I call out to Talia.

“It’s going to be a rather cramped ride, but we’re ready, sis.”

A moment later, Talia lets her hair fall, and I find myself covered by light-brown strands.
This experience is truly surreal, considering that I’m in some kind of cave made of my sister’s hair, though I can still see out slightly.
Honestly, this whole getting carried by my little sis is already quite strange!

Talia opens the door of our home and heads directly out towards the street.
When she turns and waves goodbye at mum, I do so too, yet I’m fairly certain she can’t see me through Talia’s hair.

“Stay safe, girls!”

Mum returns the gesture but soon stops, realizing that anyone watching from outside our property would only see Talia.
Turning back around, we head to the street and then towards the central part of town.
It’s strange, but with my new point of view, the technically familiar town looks foreign to me.

Moreover, while we’re travelling, I can feel Talia under me and literally sense her excitement.
It’s a mix of her body heat, heartbeat, and most prominently, her life force.
That last one, I do my best to leave untouched.
I absolutely refuse to meddle with something this important!

Yet, on the other hand, I’m curious.
I can feel essence similar to the flowers from before; however, it’s somewhat different.
Does each person have their own unique feeling to them?
For now, at least, I don’t want to investigate further for fear I’ll harm her.
But thinking back to the large flower in the glade, it withered away when I took all its energy.
If I only took a portion, would it have recovered?
I don’t know.

Though now that I’m considering it, if I can take the energy, it should be no problem to give it back.
The same way I can wither flowers, I ought to be able to grow them, just like that one fairy I saw.
So what would happen if I were to push nature essence into a living being?
Such as, say, my sister..?
No, I have no intention of experimenting on her!
She’s my sister!
My twelve year old little sis!
…But what if I became more familiar with it?
Could I maybe benefit my family with this?
Possibly grant my sister a longer life?
Is this maybe a way one could become immortal!?

Wait.
Am I immortal!?