“Sis, what are you doing!? Stop brushing my neck, it tickles!”

Oops.
It seems my wings moved on their own when I got excited.
Talia is whispering, but I doubt anyone will hear me if I speak normally.

“Oh, sorry, I was lost in thought. Pondering if perhaps I could make you live forever.”

“What!!?”

Uh-oh.
Not that I can see much from this position, but the people I spot through this brown veil are all looking at her.
And considering where I’m at, I can literally feel her embarrassment.

“E-ehm, excuse me. I suddenly remembered something I forgot to do.”

After a moment, everyone continues on their way.

“Akari, don’t say things like that so suddenly! What are you even talking about!?”

“Sorry. Followed a strange chain of thought about what might happen if I filled you with more life force.”

“That sounds…disturbing. You didn’t…”

“No! Of course not! You’re still only twelve, and for all I know, you could end up exploding like me.”

“Exploding! Why are you even considering something like that!?”

“Oh, I don’t think that would truly happen to you. I mean, it took hundreds of fairies using magic on me before anything serious happened and that was at a fairy circle. But don’t worry, I won’t do anything with your life force without first having some idea of what may happen. Although, if I can find a way, it might be nice to be able to keep you healthy. After all, I honestly don’t know how long I’m expected to live now. I may not age at all anymore, and it would be nice to still have you around in the future.”

“Ohhh!”

She reaches past her hair in a way that must look to others like she is just arranging it.
Then she knocks me on the head with her finger, which must’ve been just a tap to her.

“Ouch!”

”No playing with my life force!”

“Yeah, sure, I wasn’t going to, yet.”

“But don’t you think you should find out how long your lifespan is now before panicking over mine? I have a loooong time yet. You can worry about me later.”

Right.
Something to add to my list of questions I have no answers to.

Continuing on our way, we’re passing through town when suddenly,

“If it isn’t Talia! Your idiot sister still hasn’t found the way back to town yet, hmm?”

Sinora!
Oh, how I hate this stupid imp!
My sister keeps quiet, as she likely has nothing to say that would help.

“Oh, apparently not. But don’t worry, I’m certain she is getting along marvelously with the forest critters. Especially, the boars! They have so much in common!”

Shit, I want to punch her!
If only I had any actual strength!
She used to be nearly a full head shorter than me, but now I might not even come up to her ankles.
Exposing myself here would only cause her to mock me even more and bring all sorts of trouble.

This time, Talia responds to her.

“Why are you saying such things about her!? You have no idea what happened!”

It was something quite drastic, by the way.

“Ohoho! Why should I care? After all, I’m glad that eyesore is finally gone!”

Breathe, Akari!
Just breathe!
Not that I need to, but for the calming effect.
Wait!
Breathing this much is giving me wind magic now, making me antsy and causing blue sparkles to fall.
Change of plans!
Stop breathing!
Clenching my teeth will have to suffice.
And my fists!

However, while I try to ignore what this creature is babbling, I notice that next to me, Nibi has started shifting around.
She seems irritated at something as well.
And Sinora keeps speaking.

“But would you like to know what the best part about all of this is? It’s that I never would have thought my plans would have such an interesting result. Simply arranging for her to never be able to acquire that meager tailoring position filled her with such intense grief that she rushed into the forest, never to be seen again. Isn’t it wonderful!?”

Grrrrr!
Just one punch!
If only it wouldn’t feel like a feather to her!
Huh?
Nibi appears to have been listening to what Sinora said this entire time, and now she wears an expression that would mirror mine of a moment ago.

“Remember this, little girl! Don’t make me your enemy or you will regret it just like your sister! In the end, I am a lady, which places me far above your kind! Something your sister refused to properly acknowledge.”

Nibi’s snarl shifts into a full toothed grin.
She wouldn’t…

She would!
Nibi lifts her arm and points above Sinora’s head.
A blue glow begins coming from Nibi, and a huge sphere of water begins forming where she’s pointing.
From the feel of the magic, she created it partly by pulling something from the wind, and the rest was manifested from her water energy itself.
Could I do that too?
If I could figure out how she changed the wind to water, it might be possible.

Oblivious to the floating orb above her, Sinora keeps spouting her drivel.

“That tramp should’ve known better than to even attempt to defy me! Now, I’m sure you’ll never make the same mistake as her. Right, Talia?”

Nibi stops pointing, and snaps her fingers.

*snap*
*Splooosh*

Water pours down, entirely engulfing Sinora before falling to the street.

“Aaa-!!!”
*blblblbl*

“Huh?”

Considering the flow of energy still coming from Nibi, I’m rather certain Talia is confused but otherwise standing perfectly dry.

*cough*
“Wh-what? What the hell happened!?”

“Oh my, that doesn’t sound very ladylike, Sinora! Hihihi!”

“You! Stop giggling! What did you do!?”

“Me? I’ve been standing in front of you this entire time. You’re certainly soaked, but how is that related to me? It’s not my fault that you decided to stand there, now is it?
*ditiditidit* *ditiditidit*

“I said stop giggling! I know you had something to do with this, and I will find out what!”

“You sound a bit crazy, Sinora. Although…if I were you, I’d be more concerned about what that is.”

“What it is? It’s obviously water!”

“You say that, but we’re in the middle of the street, by ourselves, and not a single source of water directly nearby. I’d be worried that may have come from some kind of flying creature passing overhead or something.”

“Y-you’re implying…”

“I mean, doesn’t it smell?”

Sinora looks unsure, but sniffs and, with ever increasing distress, examines her wet dress.
She is the kind of person who may be easily manipulated, as long as she hasn’t yet made up her mind, and this notion my sister planted is hard to prove wrong.

“Th-this isn’t over!”

“Bye, Sinora! Have a nice day!”

“Gaahh!”

And so she storms off.
Moments later, Talia bursts out laughing.

“Pfft, hahahaha! That, that was incredible! I couldn’t believe my eyes when water poured from the sky! Haha, I almost broke from holding my laughter!”

“I-I know Talia, diti. B-but Nibi, don’t do this again. We’ll eventually get discovered if you keep doing things like this.”

“Miep?”

“No. Not ‘miep’. I know I was laughing too, but if you do it again, Talia might get in trouble. You shouldn’t let anyone find out about you! Understand?”

“Miep? Miep!”

She actually nodded!
Maybe she truly understood?
Luckily, there was no one else directly nearby who could see what happened, but that may not be the case next time.
Having calmed herself, Talia continues onward while whispering.

“I hope Sinora won’t retaliate too hard, sis. You know she won’t care if I had anything to do with that or not.”

“If she does, I’ll make her regret it! After all, it’s part of my job as your elder sister.”

“Uh-huh. I suppose sometimes it is rather nice having a Big sister.”

“Jokes about my size, again? Really?”

“Hehe, you sounded so confident, I couldn’t resist!”

“Yeah, sure. Upset the being consisting of pure magic. What could possible go wrong with that!”

“Aww, don’t be like that, sis. I’m sorry. Really! Just don’t make me beg in the middle of the street. There are others watching now!”

“Fine. You are forgiven.”

“Oh, thank you great fairy!”

“Alright, now let’s be on our way.”

Eventually, we come to our destination.
The toymaker, Mr. Howan, is actually a carpenter, but he uses his skill with puppets and other toys to advertise his services.
And he is quite skilled.
The figures are all well-made and of high quality.
He’s even proficient at sewing, making dresses for the dolls.
The sad reason we’re here.
He receives most of the fabric from Miss Delia, but he still creates the clothes for his puppets and dolls from it himself.
These skills always seemed to me to be rather wasted here in this little town, but somehow he makes a living with them.
I’m rather certain the richer households keep him in business.

So we enter his shop.
Or more accurately, Talia does with us hanging onto her.
The owner quickly calls out.

“Oh, Talia. I didn’t expect to see you here. I’m sorry about your sister. Are you alright?”

“Thank you, Mr. Howan. It’s fine. It was rather hard at first, but I think I’m going to be able to manage.”

“So is there a reason you’re here? Not that you’re aren’t welcome, but my wares are rather expensive.”

“Oh, I have mum’s permission for something special. I have a doll and want to get a dress for it. Also a bed or two depending on the cost.”

“Looking for toys just after your sister was lost? Oh, forgive me, I shouldn’t have said that.”

“It’s… *sigh* The doll reminds me of my sister. She would always sleep with it, almost as if it were a part of her, before… I would like to take care of her. It somehow feels like it’s all I have left of Akari.”

Why do I have the feeling that I was just described as a children’s toy?

“Oh, sorry. Please, feel free to look around. If you see a doll wearing a dress that you like, bring it here, and I’ll let you have the outfit. No need to buy the doll as well. I’ll give you a discount since… I’d like to help if I can.”

Talia moves off to the side wing of the shop where the dolls are all lined up.

“Sis, you can come out now. There’s no one else in this part of the store, and I think you should pick out what you’d like. You’d know better than I if you can adjust them to fit later.”

I crawl out of my shelter and float down with my wings till I land in front of the dolls.
Naturally, Nibi follows swiftly behind me.
Then I survey my surroundings.

What an eerie feeling!
I mean, most of these dolls are my size or larger.
Grudgingly, I have to admit that many of their clothes truly appear as if they would fit me.
Some of the outfits actually look quite nice, even better than what I usually wore.
Nonetheless, I find the dolls really unsettling.
The way they stare with lifeless eyes, as if they intend to make me one of them.
Creepy!

Yet I wonder…
If I were to press nature essence into these dolls, would they start moving?
Perhaps some wind essence along with it to give some drive?
Couldn’t use fire without burning them…

“Miep!”

Nibi suddenly takes off and starts flying around the shop.
After all, she has a curious side as well.
Fortunately, she seems to be staying where she can’t be seen by Mr. Howan.

Aaand, she just disappeared into the workshop.