I was the first to wake up. I sat up, holding my head as a very real migraine kicked in. I scanned our surroundings, relieved to find that nothing had changed in our situation since I'd fainted. Everyone was laying where I'd last seen them, including Marlo...that scum.

  I had no idea how long we'd been laying there, so I decided to try and move everyone from the trail and into the grass, which was probably more comfortable. Starting with Rose, I picked her up gently off her royal bed and set her down on a small patch of fluffy grass. Caelin was next, though I wasn't sure how I was going to move him. I decided to reach under his arms and lock my fingers across his chest while dragging him backwards. Several attempts were made, but the size difference proved to be very difficult.

  * Dang I'm weak! If I was still a guy this would be easy, sheesh, talk about a reality check! I'm so much smaller than I used to be. *

  After silently pouting to myself, I managed to move him a couple feet. After doing so, I couldn't help but admire how built he was. With his toned chest and broad shoulders, I could barely get my arms around him. This whole process was giving me butterflies!

  * It's fine! It's fine! I'm just making it so he's more comfortable.*

  With a little more struggle, I managed to get him next to Rose in another patch of grass. Lastly, I went back to get Ariel, picking her up in the same way. I accidently copped a feel while trying to lock my fingers below her breast. The gentle squish nearly made me let go.

  * Soft...sorry! Not intentional! *

  Ariel definitely had the 'student council president' build, and was pretty well endowed. Her uniform hid her figure well. Luckily for me, she was much easier to move than Caelin. Moving slowly, I dragged her to another soft patch of grass. Laying her down, I knelt beside her and rested her head on my lap.

  * Wow. I never thought I'd be the one providing a lap pillow to someone. Consider me jealouuss! *

  Rose was the next to wake up after about thirty minutes. She stretched and yawned, looking around. Seeing that she was right next to Caelin, she let out a little 'Eeep!' before darting up and burying herself in my hair. It tickled a little bit, which made me giggle.

  "Hey there, little miss," I said with a smile, "How ya feelin'?"

  She puffed out her lip, giving me a 'so-so' gesture.

  "Well, I'm glad you're okay. I can't thank you enough...you've saved all our lives now."

  She just smiled and nodded, then flew down into my cupped hands. We talked, or more like I talked, for another thirty minutes. I told her all about what I'd learned so far and the events that transpired since I'd seen her last. She seemed intrigued by it all, giggling here and there at my story.

  Finally, Ariel stirred, opening her eyes and looking up at me. For a moment, she just laid there processing everything. Then, her face turned bright red, and her eyes snapped wide open. She shot up before rolling a couple of feet away. Jumping to her feet, she quickly brushed off the grass and smoothed her clothes.

  "Wha– *ahem* -- uhh...thank you. I'm embarrassed you had to see me like that," she said, looking to the side and brushing some stubborn grass out of her hair. "You...really saved our lives back there."

  I laughed, "Well I hope you slept okay. I'm sure the ground wasn't very comfortable."

  "It wasn't all bad..." she said, trailing off.

  "What's that?"

  "Nothing! Nothing..." Ariel laughed nervously, quickly stroking her hands through her hair as if to erase the moment. Changing the topic she asked, "So how did you manage to stop the poison? It looks like you stabilized Cae too, so honestly, thank you again."

  "Sadly, the only thing I managed to stop was Marlo," I sighed. "The true hero of this story happens to be about three inches tall...and very shy." I gestured to my hair.

  Just before Ariel stood up, Rose had scrambled back into my hair. She peeked out from behind the strands, quickly burying herself by my neck again. It tickled like crazy, making me squirm.

  Ariel's eyes went wide. "You weren't kidding! I was sure you were delirious, but I stand corrected."

  "Hey!" I pouted. "Rose may be a little shy, but she did help me through Talonveil." I stood up, pulled my dress down, and tried to tame my hair.

  Ariel walked closer to me, leaned in, and gently said, "Hello little one, my name's Ariel. Would you be so kind as to say hello? I'd love to thank you properly..."

  After a moment of hesitation, Rose peeked out from my hair. I could tell Ariel was excited, she was practically vibrating and fighting to stay calm.

  "I want to sincerely thank you for saving our lives," Ariel said softly. "Don't worry, Mae's our friend too. We're not going to hurt you."

  Rose seemed to consider her words, before she untangled herself my hair and popped onto my shoulder.

  "Amazing..." Ariel breathed. "I never thought in my life I'd get to meet a petal fairy. Thank you again, Rose." She placed a hand over her chest, and gave a deep, heartfelt curtsy.

  Rose smiled and hovered off my shoulder. Ariel held out her hand, though she couldn't stop a tiny, muffled 'eep' as Rose landed in her palm. Small beads of tears formed in the corner of her eyes.

  "Thank you," she whispered.

  Rose put a thumb to her chin and pondered, looking in the air around Ariel like she was sensing something deeper. Then she smiled, leaned in, and hugged Ariel's thumb.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  I swear I heard an 'eeeee' under Ariel's breath as she looked close to fainting from cuteness overload.

  * Same girl, same. Never thought I'd understand the urge to squeeze something so tightly, but I get it now.*

  From behind me, I heard, "Ugghhh...my head."

  I turned to see Caelin sitting up, grass clinging to his hair as he held his head.

  "Well, look who decided to come back to the land of the living," I teased.

  "Ha...yeah, thanks. Wish I never had to leave in the first place..." he groaned.

  "I know what you mean..." I mumbled.

  He pushed himself to his feet and looked between Ariel and I. "Thank the otherworld you're both okay, I thought we were finished back there."

  "I did too," Ariel replied. "I think we would have been, if it wasn't for these two here."

  Caelin blinked, "Uhh, 'these two'?" He did a double take when he noticed Rose standing in Ariel's hand. "Woah, no way! I thought Mae had eaten shrooms!"

  I shot him a flat look, "Really? I know I'm 'suspicioussss' and all, but yes, Rose is real." I crossed my arms. "Is there anything else I need to prove to you two while we're at it?"

  Caelin tried moving closer to get a better look, but Rose let out a little 'eep' before diving into Ariel's hair this time.

  Ariel squirmed and giggled, "Rose! That tickles! It's okay, though. I know he looks funny, but that's my brother, Caelin."

  * Her real laugh is cuter than I thought...! *

  Caelin raised an eyebrow. "The only thing that looks funny right now is your face," he said, sticking out his tongue. Then he turned to me. "Mae, do I look funny?"

  That question completely caught me off guard. Blushing, I stammered, "I uhh...depends! You... do have a unique look!"

  * Double facepalm! 'Unique' is what you went with?! You were getting nervous over a hug minutes ago, he looks better than just 'unique'. GAH-WHAT AM I THINKING!? I'M A GUY! *

  "Ooof, that bad, huh?" Caelin said with a lopsided grin. "Well, hopefully my looks don't scare you uh...Rose. Past the muscle, I'm actually a pretty nice guy!"

  Rose peeked out from Ariel's hair, scanning the air around him like she'd done to us both. Whatever she sensed seemed to meet her criteria, because she fluttered free from Ariel's hair and zipped back over, gently landing on my shoulder once again.

  "Well," I said, exhaling, "I'm glad we're all acquainted now. Maybe we should get moving again. I think this whole ordeal set us back a couple of hours."

  Ariel gasped. "You're right! We still have half a day's walk ahead of us."

  "Whaaat? Don't I get to rest or anything?" Caelin whined.

  "No!" Ariel and I said in unison. We both looked at each other and laughed.

  We gathered our belongings before starting our journey once again. Before leaving, we searched Marlo's body again one last time for any clues or motives. All we found was the letter, which Ariel tucked into her bag. Seeing his body twisted this way made my stomach churn. Still...I ended up taking the small bag of coins that he had. Not like he was going to use them anytime soon. I officially got my first bit loot in this new world, though the memory of where it came from would haunt me for a long time to come.

  As we walked, I recapped everything that had happened after they'd fainted.

  "That spell you cast was tough stuff!" Caelin said as I finished. "You put a lot of mana into that one. I thought you were a 'noob'?"

  "Mmhmm," Ariel agreed. "It's safe to say that wind is your highest affinity. That had to be a level three or four spell. Do you feel okay?"

  "I'm...not sure what came over me," I admitted. "It was all in the moment. I feel fine now, but I fainted shortly after you guys did. I still have a slight headache."

  "You must have drained your manaura," Ariel said with a worried look. "You probably stopped just shy of mana burnout."

  I swallowed hard.

  "Whatever you did though, saved us. I'm just glad you're not hurt."

  "Me too..." I sighed. "It was like all of your magic lessons came rushing to mind. I didn't mean to kill him...I just...wanted to stop him before he could hurt anyone further..."

  My voice trailed off as tears welled in my eyes. Marlow's final moments replayed in my mind. I'd learned quickly that it was dog-eat-dog in Elemora. Even so, knowing I'd killed someone hit harder than I thought. Ariel surprised me by pulling me into a hug.

  "Don't beat yourself up over it, Mae. You did what you had to, and would have been next if you didn't stop him. Plus, you saved both our lives. Assassins like him aren't uncommon in Elemora...especially around us. We...tend to attract the worst kinds of visitors."

  Her embrace was gentle, comforting, and calmed the storm just a little. Beneath all the etiquette and manners, Ariel was incredibly soft-hearted. I pouted a little bit, grateful for all three of my new friends. Having close friends again...made my chest ache. It made me spiral, one thought led to another, and suddenly I was remembering everything I'd gone through— and lost— since I'd died. And that was the tipping point. I started full-on sobbing. Perhaps everything I'd gone through was catching up? Maybe I was happy to have someone to share it with? Maybe— ugh— I was more emotionally in touch now?

  * Is now the time? Should I tell them my secret? No... no, I'm not ready for that. When do I tell them? Will they hate me? Gosh! Why am I so emotional? Do all girls think like this?? *

  As a guy, I rarely showed my emotions like this. I'd kind of just keep it all bottled up and shrug it off. I'd nearly opened up to Shelly and Blaize once or twice...I wondered how they're doing. Boy I was a mess right now.

  Rose teared up too, fluttering close to hug my cheek. Even Ariel seemed like she was fighting back tears. Was sadness really that contagious?

  Caelin stood off to the side, scratching his head in total confusion. Poor guy. Was I like that before too?

  "It's going to be alright," Ariel whispered as she cradled my head. "I'm sure you've had a rough time, but we'll sort it all out together."

  We embraced a little longer before I felt well enough to continue. I slapped my cheeks a couple of times, wiped the last tear away, and forced a smile.

  Thanks you guys," I sniffled. "Alrighty then...let's get back to it!"

  As my hand brushed my face, I noticed the gem on my ring hand lost its color. Earlier today it had been a deep sapphire blue, but now it was back to a translucent white.

  * How interesting... *

  We quickened our pace to make up for lost time. Before long, the sun began to set, but not westward. Instead, it set to the south, meaning it rose from the north. The last streaks of light dipped behind the large mountain I'd seen earlier, outlining it like an eclipse. Ahead of us, the sky glowed faintly.

  "We should be getting close," Ariel said. "You can see the light from the city ahead."

  "Thank goodness. My feet are starting to hurt," I groaned.

  "I could carry you if you want," Caelin teased from behind.

  "Noooohoho, thank you," I said. I'm glad he couldn't see my face— I was definitely blushing.

  "Suit yourself," he chuckled. "But if you change your mind, my arms are always open."

  "There it is!" Ariel interrupted. "We made it!"

  I felt it before I saw it. I could feel a curtain of magical energy ahead of us, like stepping in to a warm breeze that wasn't there a moment ago. Gentle gusts of wind ruffled through my hair, and a wave of light humidity came with it. Even the ground beneath our boots became more firm. Caelin and I both looked ahead and gasped.

  Bathed in the fading red light of dusk, Elemyr came into view. The slivers of dimming light caught the blades of towering windmills looming beyond the city walls. Their slow, rhythmic circles were constant with the gentle breeze. From the base of the walls, countless waterways flowed outwards like veins of glass as they caught the last shimmering streaks of gold, orange, and ember-red. Stone bridges arched over the streams, connecting the land like threads in an intricate tapestry. Each bridge was elegantly carved, as if shaped from the earth itself.

  Ariel stepped forward, lit faintly by the sunset and the city's soft glow. She glanced back at us with a proud, yet tired smile.

  With a little head tilt she said, "Welcome to Elemyr."