“What have you done to me?”

“Miep?”

This question was more for me than Miep as I don’t expect a real answer from her at this point.
Unexpectedly, the sun suddenly blinds my eyes.
It must have climbed high enough into the sky to shine directly down into the clearing.
Suddenly, I feel something move inside of my wings and turn my head to look at them.
The gold border is expanding, and a shimmering yellow begins coursing through the white, forming something similar to the blue patterns.
Does the sunlight have magical energy that my wings absorb?
This seems to be the case, as I don’t know any other reason these wings would suddenly begin changing colors.

Miep obviously has a thing for water, so the blue in my wings came from that glowing orb she threw at me.
The red ones threw fire, and that cyan one seemed to be wind.
So fairies seem to draw magic from the elements.
Probably brown for earth, and maybe the green ones are from plants?
This sunlight is definitely soaking into me, as the gold has overpowered most of the remaining white in my wings, and my hair is close to my former blonde.
I’m rather glad that I have something remaining of my old self.
Hmm, I wonder if Miep can change too if she wants?
Her wings still seem to remain the usual deep blue.

I notice that the cold is not unpleasant at all despite my non-existent attire.
Nonetheless, I want to wear something.
My pride as a tailor won’t let me settle for just petals either!
So I run to find the correct pocket, and indeed, there is the needle Garen gave me.
Not only is it now nearly half my height, but also has a peculiar, shimmering, silver color.
Cautiously, I reach in and touch it, discovering it to be comfortably warm, but otherwise normal.
I pull it free from the pocket, and find I can move it with no trouble, almost as if it has no weight at all.

With this, I rush to one of the sleeves, easily cut the binding string with the tip, and start to slowly separate a piece of fabric.
It takes a very long time, as I have to rip each string separately, but I’m determined to finish what I started.
A little effort won’t keep me from having decent clothes!
Miep, meanwhile, just watches me as she seems interested in what I’m doing, which is fine as long as she leaves me alone.

Eventually, I have enough to start making something.
I begin knitting the string together, having tiny fingers turns out to be advantageous for some things, and create a rather crude dress.
I made sure to have a hole in the appropriate places for my head and arms, but when I tried to put it on, discovered that my wings won’t fit.
Grudgingly, I use the needle to cut a hole in the back, then use the string to make a border for the now loose ends and add ties to make sure the basically backless dress stays on me.
Finally, I can put it on and, gently, guide my wings to the right position.
Yes!
It fits!

I can finally relax a little now that I’m no longer running around outside naked.
With suddenly becoming a fairy, and being stuck with no clothes, this was really pushing my limits.
I could feel that the morning was rather chilly, yet the temperature didn’t bother me at all.
It seems fairies aren’t affected by the cold so making clothes was just for my own sanity.
Having some fabric covering me helps a great deal.
Maybe I can even start a new fashion for these fairies besides natural petals!

“Mieeep!”

*Sigh*
Miep is back again!
Having realized that I finished, she’s returned to embrace me.
I hold her back as forcefully as I can manage, but she’s rather strong so the results are disappointing.

“Miep?”

Apparently, she doesn’t understand what I’m wearing.

“I have no idea what is going on in that head of yours, but just leave me alone!”

“Miep?”

Urgh!
She really doesn’t understand anything!
This stupid fairy keeps clinging to me like crazy and is apparently infatuated with me.
Why?
I’ve done nothing to her.
All I did was…
Save her!
Is it because of that?
Did she do this to me as some form of repayment?
Possibly, as she led me to this place right after it happened.

While I’m pondering about my recent bad decisions that led to this point, I realize that this fairy has slipped past my hands and is hugging me again.
It’s rather safe to say now that she has the mentality of a child and doesn’t understand me.
This makes shouting, screaming, and blaming her a pointless endeavor.
But what should I do now?

I really have no idea.
As long as this needle didn’t change in length, I’d guess that I’m only eight or nine centimeters tall and have no idea how to use magic, which I’m apparently inextricably linked with now.
Also, I don’t know anything about using these wings.
Meaning that, at the moment, I’m grounded, which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing if not for my new size and the possible critters here.

After that ripping incident, I am fully aware of these wings as a part of my body.
Moving them should be no different from moving an arm or a leg.
So I try it.
Only to get thrown on my butt from the created pull.

“Pfft, ditiditiditiditi!”

Again!
She really enjoys laughing at me!

“I’d like to see how you would fair in my situation!”

“Miep?”

Urgh!
Pointless!
Suddenly, she grabs me from behind and carries me into the sky.

“Aaaahhhh!”

I panic for a moment as the ground suddenly appears to leave for the second time today, but calm down before I cause her to drop me.
Soon, we draw near the borders of the clearing, and I notice some movement down there.
Fairies!
There are several groups of them down on the ground, most having green wings.
So plant fairies?

Miep carefully sets me down and soon I feel stares from all around.
There is a small group on some kind of herb, sitting on the bent leaves.
I try to slowly back away, as matters ended rather poorly for me the last time I was near a bunch of fairies.
Yet suddenly, a cyan one rushes up to me with astonishing speed, circles me, and then pushes me forward.
She has considerable strength and slightly picks me up off the ground, leaving me no way to resist.
Soon, I’m left standing alone directly in front of two of these plant fairies, and a moment later, Miep is clinging to my arm.
*Sigh*

“I’m sure you don’t understand a word I say, so I’ve no idea what you want me to do.”

“Why wouldn’t we?”

“Ieeeeek!!”

“Huuui, that was high! Me ears are ringin’.”

Although one has a strange manner of speech, they are both comprehensible.

“W-w-what’s going on here?”

“We’re talking, what else?”

“I don’t understand. I-I thought… Miep couldn’t…”

They follow my gaze to the fairy clinging on me.

“Miep? Hah! You’re bad at naming, huh? Yet, most of us don’t use names in the first place so it’s fine.”

“I don’t understand! Why can you talk but she can’t?”

“I suppose I can explain. You see, ‘Miep’ is extremely young. It takes a rather long time for a fairy to develop speech, and those who embrace water tend to live separated. They enjoy being alone and only interact sparingly, which increases the required time considerably due to lack of practice.”

I point at the clinger hanging off me.

“This is obviously not true!”

“She reeaally likes ya! She came up to us alll excited and did her best to show what happened to her with her magic waters, and then once she gathered some help, she left to fetch you right quick.”

“Fetch me? So fairies really do catch people!?”

The fairies are visibly astonished at my remark and look questioningly at each other.

“Who told you something like that?”

“My mum! It’s obviously true!”

“Wrong! This time was a complete exception! We almost never allow humans to see a fairy ring, a barrier keeps them out. Only a special guest would be allowed in, and that very rarely. You were the first to be let into this particular glade. If any others intruded, they would be eliminated.”

“Then why me!?”

“Ya friend there insisted we tek ya in!”

“She isn’t my friend! I didn’t ask for any of this! Why did you do this to me!?”

“Cus why not? It took a mite good bit of magic, but t’was a nice change a pace. Watchen ya struggle is kinda entertainen to see!”

Apparently, all of the fairies are completely the same!
They all act on a whim and do who knows what to others just for fun!

“What did I ever do to you?”

“What? Is it so bad? Being a fairy is great! You can do whatever you want, whenever you want, and are always free to do anything.”

“But I’m human! How am I supposed to go back home like this!?”

“How ’bout ya don’t? Ya don’t look human ta me no more.”

“Can’t you just turn me back? Make me normal again?”

At this, they burst into laughter, as well as all the other fairies around who seem to be listening in.
I’ll never be able to associate the sound of tinkling bells with anything good anymore.

“W-what’s so funny?”

“Ya really think ya can just change back?! Pfft! As if!”

“But you did this to me! Why can you not simply reverse it!?”

“Your body was completely obliterated, that’s why!”

“What!? But… but I’m here?”

“Oh, you think you’re a living being of flesh and blood? Hah! Nope, your body completely dispersed after getting thoroughly overloaded with elemental energy.”

“It was such a pretty sight! Ya sploded into a huge white light! Psshhoo!”

The fairy makes the according gesture with her hands.

“But, but I’m here!”

“That’s where the ring comes into play. All of the energy that contained your essence was gathered together, not letting any slip. The remainder was returned to the earth, and a few moments after that, you shaped!”

“W-wait. That means…”

“That means you are completely made of magic and absolutely nothing human remained.”

Tears flow and I feel completely devastated.

“W-Why!?...*Sob*…Why!!!?”

Miep seems to understand that I’m sad and frantically tries to pet and hug me.

“As if anyone could refuse someone like her!”

What kind of reason is that to ruin my life!
I lower myself to the ground and weep.
Miep is still hugging me as tightly as she can from the side, but I don’t try to push her off.

“Taking-it-a-little-tragic-aren’t-we?”

Oh right, sure.
That wind fairy was still around too.
Even talks fast.

“In this state she could easily fall prey to something.”

“I’ll-watch-her-for-a-bit.”

“Feelin responsible, huh?”

“Nope-She’s-fun-to-watch-Want-to-keep-her-around-for-now.”

“She is rather cute, isn’t she, the way she’s reacting to everything?”

I’m just a game to them!
Everything that’s happened to me is just a way for them to spend time, completely unconcerned about what it means for me!
The wind fairy turns to Miep.

“You-need-to-help-her-She-doesn’t-know-anything-and-could-hurt-herself-Stay-close-Be-careful.”

Did she just ensure that I can’t get rid of this idiot?
I didn’t think it possible, but I feel her grip on me tighten.

“Miep!”

“Show-her-how-flying-works-later.”

“She’s already taken in energy with the way her wings look, although it’s probably just instinctually, as shallow as it is.”

“Hey, ya should take some from the plants! Green stuff has a nice feelin.”

“You shouldn’t influence her preferences! She may not even be one to settle on a single kind!”

I still can’t bring myself to respond.

“Looks like you should take her back. She seems to need some time.”

I get grabbed by the wind fairy and carried off with astonishing speed to a flower bulb.
With no energy left to react, I can only continue sobbing.
She places me gently on the soft bed, and Miep is on me a moment later, embracing me.
I am too tired to push her off, and it’s a fruitless endeavor, as she always comes back anyways.
So I do the only thing I can do.
I cry and stare at the wall.

“I can’t go back.”