*knock*knock*knock*
“Akari, may I come in?”

Some time later, I’m broken from my stupor by mum’s knocking at my door.

“Aki, I can’t help if you won’t speak to me.”

Slipping out of Nibi’s grasp, I move out from under the blanket.
Then I do my best to shout loudly enough to be heard.

“Come in!”

The door rattles but doesn’t open.

“I can’t open it. I’ve tried several times already, but the door is jammed from your side somehow.”

Strange.
There are no locks on the interior doors of our home.
With a gentle flap of my wings, I slowly fly towards it and soon identify the problem.
A ring of ivy has grown from the doorframe, wedging itself in the gaps and making the door impossible to open.
Which is a little bit frightening as I’m the only reason it could be here, but I don’t even remember doing such a thing, much less how I did it.
At least it’s a simple task to remove, as merely reabsorbing all of its essence transformed the plants to dust.

“You ought to be able to open it now!”

As I’m flying back to my bed, mum enters the room carrying a washbasin and closes the door behind her.
I settle on my enormous pillow, and mum, after looking around the room for a few moments, sits on the edge of the bed.

“Aki… Could you tell me what actually happened today?”

There’s no use hiding it now, as she’s likely guessed some of it already.
So I spill the story.
Everything that Emira did to me, even about her calling me Priscea.
Although I leave out the parts about Sinora.

“So you decided to play along through all of that. Why did you not just fly away once you were alone with Emira? Surely if you can block a door, you could handle a little harmless magic? And who would believe her about a fairy?”

“I think that’s what scares me the most, mum. I don’t know. Once she picked me up, the only course of action that made sense was to stay still till she gave me an opening. But looking back now, it seems silly. I could’ve left at nearly any time, but it wasn’t till after she threatened to take my clothes did I force an exit.”

“They say hindsight is always perfect, but is this possibly a fairy thing? You told me earlier that your magic affects you somehow.”

“Perhaps? My energy was fairly balanced this morning… Until I absorbed all of that water! That could certainly explain things… But water essence seems to bring calm and push towards some sort of focus, an object or idea. Why would my focus be staying with Emira? I didn’t notice anything unusual with my thoughts on the way to the shop.”

“I’m sorry, dear, I can’t answer that. But it sounds like you should train with it so you don’t get caught unaware again. If magic is necessary for you now, and it affects you so deeply, you should discover what its pitfalls are as well as ways to take advantage of it. There’s one in particular I remember you talking about that you could put to use right this moment.”

With that, she moves to my window, which seems to have shut itself, and lets in the sunlight.
As the rays fall upon me, I take her advice and bask in the warmth.
Shortly afterwards, my magic becomes full, but I can already feel my foul mood lifting.
Also, now that I think further about what occurred, perhaps it was a bit silly to allow myself to get so disheartened over such things.

“Thanks, mum. I believe it’s helping.”

Honestly, while I know I was sadder a few moments ago than I am now, I’m not entirely sure why.
My day wasn’t that terrible.
Though it was certainly embarrassing.

“I’m glad to hear that. Now, if you’re feeling any better, could you come out of hiding? It’s easier to talk if I can see you.”

What?
I’ve been sitting in the open this entire time.
She even looked towards me when I spoke.

“I’m right here mum, on the pillow.”

“Where? I don’t see you. You haven’t gotten even smaller, have you?”

With a few flaps of my wings, I move directly in front of her.
She’s looking right through me!
I try waving my arms to get her attention, but it’s as if I’m not even here.
Am I a ghost now!?

When I land on her shoulder she reacts with a start, but not enough to knock me off.

“It’s me, mum! Hello!”

“Aki? Strange. I can hear you and feel you, but my eyes tell me there is nothing on my shoulder.”

So there’s magic at play.
However, the only strong essences I feel are the sunlight, and my own wind and water energy.
Wait…
Why are they swirling around outside of me?

I follow the flow, and discover that instead of just receiving a trickle of wind essence, I’ve also been expelling it into a strange swirling barrier around myself.
I haven’t a clue when I put this into place, but I can cut it off.
Mum jerks again when I do so, and this time responds when I wave.

“Hi, mum!”

“Since when have you been able to become invisible?”

“I have no idea! This time was an accident, and I don’t really know how I did it.”

“Well, as long as you don’t accidently burn down the house… If you could come down here a minute-”

She taps my chest of drawers.

“-I’ll try to help you remove what’s on your back.”

It only takes me a moment to float down to the drawers and sit.
Mum unbuttons the top of my dress, and using the water in her washbasin and a rag, starts gently wiping my back.

“The ink has almost faded away, and the rest comes off easily. It’s possible it could have disappeared on its own entirely, but this way, at least you know it’s gone.”

“Thanks, mum.”

“I’m here whenever you need me, dear… Now, when you’re ready, I think your sister has something to say to you. It’s almost time for dinner, so don’t dally too long.”

As mum leaves my room, I notice Nibi was watching us from the bed.
The fact that we punished Sinora, I kept secret for now, but with Nibi’s apparent level of understanding, I doubt it will be much longer till she starts to speak.
Whether that will make my situation better or worse, remains to be seen, but perhaps she’ll be able to assist me with this water essence.

After double checking that I’m presentable, I fly to my door and call out for Talia, as our walls are rather thin.
It would not be a surprise to find her listening just on the other side.
As I expected, she enters immediately.

“I-I’m sorry, sis.”

“It’s okay. Just a poorly timed joke, I understand. Next time you call me a toy though, I just might test some of my magic on you.”

“I won’t, I promise! Y-you do know I never actually thought of you as a toy, right?”

“I know. Now, let’s go get dinner.”

We find mum waiting for us.
It seems Talia finished preparing dinner before coming into my room.
Although our simple table now has some unexpected decorations.

Growing up from the solid wooden floor, green vines are wrapped around each of the four legs, firmly tying it down, and small, brilliant blue flowers bloom along them.
Moreover, the table itself appears refurbished, with all its old scratches removed and the surface smooth.
And in the center sits mum’s vase with more of the same blue flowers.
These are harmless plants, but they only grow around trees inside the forest.

“Wha-…Where did those come from!? And what happened to the table!?”

“These grew shortly after you disappeared into your room, Aki. We tried to open your door, but it wouldn’t budge, and when we turned around, it was like this.”

“There was also a few flowers growing in a line from the table to your door that I picked, and mum put in her vase.”

“I assume it was something that you did, although it would seem to be unknowingly. The plants aren’t harmful, and they seem to be entwined with the table now, so I left them there. They look lovely, don’t you think?”

Fantastic.
Another bit of magic that I didn’t realize I performed.
My energy apparently went wild while I was in turmoil, causing all these different effects.
I’m glad nothing harmful happened this time, but I’ll need to be more careful in the future.

With dinner being ready, we sit and eat.
I make sure to eat a lot as this white energy has its uses.
Well, a lot in relation to my size, maybe half of what I used to eat.
Mainly, I want it because it doesn’t seem to affect my mind, and it diminishes the effects of the others.
Which is something I can really appreciate right now.

Talia put out the honey once more, probably because she knows I enjoy it.
After taking a bite, I’m certain my tastes have changed.
The bread and dried meat aren’t inedible, but it seems, like Nibi, I have an overwhelming fondness of sweets.
Milk isn’t half bad, and neither is fruit, but honey is absolute ecstasy.
So much so, that mum has to cut us off from eating it all.
I may have continued eating it forever if she hadn’t.

However, as I was full of magic before I began eating, soon after I started, golden sparkles began falling from me onto the plate I was atop of.
Since I wasn’t actively pulling in energy, but was rather preoccupied with my meal’s incredible flavor, it wasn’t till after dinner was finished that I realized a small, glittering pile had gathered beneath me.
Despite how the dust appears, it still feels as mundane as any other dust, so I simply leave it where it fell.
When Talia collects my plate along with the others, some of it scatters and coats her arms, giving them a pretty glitter, but she soon adds it into the washbasin with the rest.
I’m sure it won’t hurt the plates, and as soon as she’s done rinsing them, all the dirty water will be thrown outside.
It shouldn’t be an issue.

Once Talia is done cleaning, the talk turns to the two beds she procured.
One is a far too gaudy, four post, pink bed with curtains, and the other looks like the simple, grey, single-person bed I usually sleep in.
If it were a hundred times smaller and filled with wool instead of straw, that is.
The fancy bed was apparently a consolation gift from Mr Howan, at the same price as a simple one, as Talia didn’t find any dresses to buy.
Thankfully, they both came with pillows and blankets of appropriate sizes.

“Sis, where would you like me to place these? I have space in my room if you’d like. We could sleep together again!”

That does sound appealing.
I could watch over her tonight like I used to.
But, no.
If I have the chance to sleep by myself tonight, even somewhat, I’m going to take it.
This clinging fairy is quite tiresome.
Also, now I’m a little suspicious that one of my essences is again manipulating me.
I will need to correct that in the morning.

“Yeah, sure, we could, but I prefer my own room, thank you. Maybe you could try convincing Nibi to sleep in your room with you?”

“Miep!”

That was a no.

“For now, put them on my chest of drawers. I’ll need to find a better place in the future, but not today.”

After this rather eventful day, I just want to sleep.
I decide to use the bed that’s similar to my old one, and Nibi can have the fancy bed.

“Nibi, I wish to sleep in this bed by myself tonight.”

“Miep!”

Of course she doesn’t like that, but I’m determined to have my bed to myself once more.

“Please, Nibi? You can sleep nearby, right here. This bed is for you. It’s all yours. I’ll only be a few steps away.”

“Miep.”

“I would appreciate it very much if you would sleep there for tonight. Could you promise me you’ll sleep in your own bed? Please?”

…

“Miep.”

Yes!
She nodded!
Finally, I can get a night of sleep by myself.
…As long as she keeps her word.
I’m certain she understood me, but I don’t know if she’ll honor a promise.
She’s never made one before.
She looks a little sad, but it’s not as if I’m going far.

“Goodnight!”

“Miep.”

…

…

…

*Skrrrt*
…
*Skrrrt*
…
*Skrrrt*

“Miep.”

Nope, I’m not going to open my eyes.
I want to leave the events of this troubling day behind me, and go to sleep.
Just drift off to dreamland, and forget all about it.
I’m certain tomorrow will be better.