After finishing our breakfast, all four of us prepare to leave the house, although Nibi and I must wait until Talia is ready before we’re able to begin.
Mum said we’re going to the woods, so they went into their rooms to change into sturdier clothing, leaving me and Nibi waiting.
My lack of outfits is quite apparent and rather disheartening, but while I wish to get more clothes soon, there are more pressing matters.
I’m unwilling to be a burden to my family without giving back.
Since my magic is now apparently my greatest strength, although an uncertain one, I must find a practical use for it.
And if accomplishing what Mum plans for me today will cause her to trust me with it, then that is what I must to do.

I’m not looking forward to this trip, but perhaps I can make the travelling portion easier.
As I had some degree of success speaking with Nibi last night, I think I’ll try reasoning with her again while we wait.

“Nibi, we’ll be hiding on Talia again when we depart. If we both are on the same shoulder, it will be as cramped as before. So why don’t you lay on one side, and I on the other?”

“Miep!”

As expected, she replies with a shake of her head.

“Please, Nibi. This will be a much longer trip than before. It will be quite uncomfortable to stay so close together for the entire journey.”

“Miep!”

*Sigh*
Maybe she only agreed to what I requested yesterday because she was planning her little trick from the start?
Whatever the case, she doesn’t want to listen to me now.
Hopefully, she’ll change her mind while traveling.

Once Talia returns after getting sufficiently prepared, we fly up and alight on her shoulder.
Then I once again tuck myself under her shirt collar and help Nibi squeeze in the best I can.
As we finish positioning ourselves, Mum exits her room carrying a light pack.

“Are you girls all ready?”

“Yes, Mum.” “Yes, Mum.” “Miep!”

“Talia, we’ll be departing out the south gate today. Aki, Nibi, you two make sure to stay hidden.”

Watching from this brown cave of hair, I see the town buildings pass by until we reach the palisade.
As per usual, there’s no guards at the gate.
There hasn’t been a reason for them here in years.

Once on the road, Talia tucks some of her hair behind her ear, allowing me to see our surroundings.
Ahead of us to the south, as well as to the west, rolling grasslands stretch as far as the eye can see, with trees dotting the landscape, as well as several farms.
To the east, a dense forest blocks my vision a scant few meters from the road.
And behind us to the north, if I could see past all this hair, would be our town, then the forest where the fairy glade is, and beyond that, towering above, the great northern mountains.

“Miep! Miep! Miep?”

Like a child, Nibi begins excitedly pointing at the various creatures flying around the nearby flowers.
With how young she apparently is, I suppose this may be her first time outside of the forest proper.
Also, the fairy glade only had fairies living in the flowers, no insect life that I noted.
If she lived within its boundaries for most of her life, she may have never seen these before.

“No, Nibi, those aren’t tiny fairies, those are butterflies. Those are bees. That’s a bird.”

And one of the butterflies is now birdfeed…

That could have been me!
*Gulp*
I was going to ask Mum if we could flit about since we seem to be alone, but now I’ve changed my mind.
I’m staying right here!

That was another brutal reminder of why I need to learn magic.
A protective spell of some kind would be of immense comfort for whenever I fly in the open.
Thinking back, I may have been extremely fortunate managing to fly from the fairy glade to my home without getting caught by something.
After all, Nibi, for all of her magic, was almost done in by a spider.
I cannot afford to be careless when I’m this size.

We continue on, and after a time, I discover something novel about myself.
Being squished against Nibi while lying on Talia requires me to hold quite still, especially if I don’t wish to tickle my sister.
My wings will brush against either of them if I allow myself to move.
However, my body doesn’t feel stiff, and maintaining this position hasn’t become any more uncomfortable than when we first started.
Another benefit of being made of magic, I suppose.
Was this why Nibi was unconcerned?

As we progress down the road, the forest to our left becomes sparser, and soon, Mum leads us off the path into the woods.
There’s no trail to follow here, but she seems familiar with this area, easily making her way through the gaps in the vegetation.
Gaps which become smaller and less frequent as we press onward, until it’s again a solid wall of trees.
She then turns and takes a few steps to the left, appearing to vanish into the greenery.

As soon as Talia walks to where Mum stood a moment ago, I see where she went.
There’s a narrow animal trail that leads behind these trees, hidden from view unless one is directly beside it.
Very difficult to spot unless one already knew where it was.

After we travel along this path for a short time, the dense woods suddenly open up into a grassy field.
While not nearly as large as the fairy glade, this pocket in the woods is substantial enough that the sun is able to shine down through the large opening in the canopy.
The trees surrounding us form a nearly impenetrable barrier in every direction, although a small stream trickles through here on its way to the nearest river, and small flowers bloom in the sunlight.

Mum turns to face us, surprisingly with small tears in her eyes.

“Welcome to my secret meadow. Your… your pa and I used to come here. When we wanted a few moments away from you girls, heh... Don’t ask me how he discovered this place, he never did tell me, but I’ve yet to see signs of anyone else being here. Also, the woodcutters don’t come this direction. We should have all the privacy we need, as long as you don’t do anything drastic, Aki.”

I prod Nibi till she moves aside, then flutter over to Mum.

“I said I’d be careful. And thanks for showing me this place.”

“From what you told us, sis, this glade should be perfect for you. You shouldn’t have any problem collecting all that you need here.”

“Yes, I spot sources of most everything I’ve tried before. What did you want me to do first Mum?”

“As I said earlier, we need to investigate how your magic affects you. If it’s dangerous to reveal your existence, it would be quite difficult to find a mage who would help us, as we have none in our town. So Talia and I will do our best to aid where we can. If you gather all of only one type of essence while we observe you, maybe it will reveal something useful you weren’t aware of before.”

“So you want me to purposely unbalance my energies? Fill myself with only one type of essence? I, I’m not so sure about this. What if I do something again? Or worse, what if my personality changes forever!?”

“Both Talia and I will ensure you don’t do something you’d normally regret, and you said there shouldn’t be lasting effects if it’s only for a short time. But we can stop right now if you wish. I won’t force you. But then you shouldn’t use this magic.”

“Don’t worry! I’ll make sure you’re my usual big sister before we go home. Sort of. And if you run away, Nibi will fetch you.”

“Miep!”

How comforting…

But Mum is right.
If I’m to use my magic responsibly, I first need to know how it influences me, and I’m worried that I cannot discern the alterations by myself.
I don’t want a repeat of yesterday, acting so unlike myself without realizing it.
Unless I solve this, I’ll always be nervous that it could happen again, and this is the safest environment I can think of to determine why I did that.
Just me and my family.

“Fine, I’ll do it. What should I start with?”

“Whatever you’re most comfortable with, dear, but hold on a moment.”

With this, she opens her pack and pulls out a piece of parchment, a quill, and a sealed inkpot.
She is truly serious about this!

“So am I a subject for study now?”

“In a way, yes. You’re telling me you wouldn’t like to know about yourself?”

*Sigh*
“I’ll begin with sunlight, it should be the easiest for me. But first, promise me that you won’t tell anyone about what happens here.”

“I promise.”

“Not a word, sis.”

“Miep!”

That was suspiciously quick from Talia, but she’s not one to give her word lightly.
So before I can falter, I fly into the sunlight at the center of the glade and do something I haven’t attempted since my first night as a fairy.

I spread my wings wide and absorb as much energy as I possibly can.

As I watch, my wings, hair, and nails rapidly become a shiny golden hue, and dust matching all of my former colors falls from my body.
And then all of my worries fall with it.