~~~ Days 29-35
---
## Day 29
The fairies returned at dawn.
Knox was outside the cave, running through his morning Earth Manipulation exercises, when the air suddenly filled with light. Dozens of tiny figures emerged from the treeline, their wings catching the early sun and scattering it into rainbow fragments.
It looked like someone had released a jar full of aggressive, opinionated fireflies.
Lira led the procession, her silver hair unmistakable even at a distance. Behind her flew fairies of every description, different sizes, different colors, different apparent ages. Some carried tiny weapons. Others carried baskets or bundles. One particularly round fairy appeared to be carrying an entire cake.
*They brought food,* Nyx observed from the cave entrance, her eyes tracking the cake-bearing fairy with predatory interest. *Perhaps they are not entirely useless.*
"Be nice."
*I am always nice. I am the nicest dragon. Ask anyone.*
"I'm not sure that's, "
"Demon!" Lira's voice cut through the air as she approached. "We're here to talk. Officially. The Eldergrove has made a decision."
Knox set down the stone he'd been shaping, a defensive barrier he'd been planning to install at the cave's secondary entrance. "Should I be worried?"
"Probably. But not about us." Lira landed on a nearby branch, bringing herself to roughly eye level. "The Grove has been watching. Deliberating. Arguing, mostly, fairies love to argue. It's practically our national sport."
"I've noticed."
"And we've decided..." She paused, clearly enjoying the dramatic tension. Her wings fluttered with barely suppressed amusement. "That you're interesting enough to help."
*Help?* Nyx padded forward, her larger body forcing several fairies to scatter. *We do not need help. We are perfectly capable, *
"You're living in a cave," Lira interrupted. "Eating whatever you can catch. With no knowledge of the region, no allies, and no plan beyond 'don't die.'" She raised an eyebrow. "That's not capability. That's luck."
*Luck is a form of capability.*
"Luck runs out. Knowledge doesn't."
Knox stepped in before Nyx could escalate. "What kind of help are you offering?"
"Information, primarily. Safe zones, dangerous areas, seasonal patterns. Which creatures to avoid, which can be reasoned with." Lira's expression was businesslike. "The Shadowfen is survivable, but only if you know its rules. You've been stumbling through blind."
"And in exchange?"
"Mutual defense. The Grove has enemies, things that view us as food or sport. A demon and a dragon would be... deterrents." She smiled thinly. "Plus, you're entertaining. The younglings won't stop talking about the 'pink-haired demon with the tiny dragon.'"
*I am not TINY,* Nyx growled. *I am GROWING.*
"You're the size of a dog."
*A LARGE dog. An INTIMIDATING large dog.*
"Still smaller than most things that could eat you."
Knox could feel Nyx's indignation building through the bond like pressure in a pipe. He put a hand on her head, scratching behind her ears in the spot that always calmed her down.
"We accept," he said. "Mutual defense and information sharing. Assuming your Grove agrees."
"They already did. I have authority to negotiate." Lira gestured, and the other fairies began descending into the clearing like a glittery, judgmental swarm. "Consider this the official welcome party. Try not to eat anyone."
*I make no promises,* Nyx muttered, but she'd stopped growling.
---
The fairies were chaos incarnate.
Within an hour of arriving, they'd spread through Knox's territory like glitter through carpet, impossible to contain and getting into everything. They examined his cave with undisguised criticism ("This is a living space? It's so GREY. So industrial. Where's the aesthetic?"), his traps with professional interest ("Functional, but the trigger mechanism is sloppy. Did you design this yourself? Obviously you designed this yourself."), and his person with shameless curiosity ("Why is your hair PINK? Is that a demon thing? Can I touch it? I'm going to touch it.").
Knox answered questions until his throat hurt, demonstrated his magic until his mana ran low, and endured more personal comments than he'd received in his entire previous life combined.
"Your horns are very impressive," one fairy observed, hovering near his head with a tiny measuring stick. "Good breeding stock. The Grove's reproduction committee will be interested."
"I... there's a reproduction committee?"
"We track favorable traits. Helps with strategic alliances." The fairy nodded sagely. "Your horn length suggests strong magical lineage. The scales are coming in nicely too. Very martial. Very impressive." She made a note on a tiny clipboard. "You'll make an excellent defender."
*They are evaluating you like livestock,* Nyx observed, her mental voice dripping with disapproval. *Tell them to stop.*
"I don't think they know how to stop."
Gerald had emerged from wherever he'd been hiding, apparently curious about the invasion. Several fairies immediately swarmed him, cooing over his tiny arms and legs and demanding to know his grooming routine.
The fish looked simultaneously pleased and overwhelmed.
Lira, at least, maintained some semblance of professionalism. She'd appointed herself Knox's guide, explaining fairy culture and customs while keeping the more enthusiastic Grove members from overwhelming him completely.
"They're excited," she said as yet another fairy tried to measure his claws. "We don't get many visitors. Especially not friendly ones. Most things that enter our territory are trying to eat us."
"I'm getting that impression."
"Just... let them look. They'll calm down eventually." She paused. "Probably. Within a few hours. Maybe a day."
"Reassuring."
"I try."
A tiny fairy, smaller than the others, maybe four inches tall, landed on Knox's knee. She had lavender hair, enormous purple eyes, and an expression of absolute wonder.
"You're really a demon?" she breathed.
"Really a demon."
"But you're not scary."
Knox wasn't sure how to take that. "I can be scary if needed."
"But you're not scary RIGHT NOW." The tiny fairy tilted her head, studying him with the intensity of a scientist examining a new specimen. "Demons are supposed to be scary all the time. That's what the stories say. Big and mean and covered in darkness."
"Stories aren't always accurate."
"Oh." She considered this with visible surprise. "Then maybe the other stories are wrong too. Like the one about dragons eating fairies. Or the one about demons stealing children. Or the one about, "
Nyx's head swung toward them. *I have not eaten any fairies. Yet. But the day is young.*
The tiny fairy didn't seem intimidated. Instead, she fluttered up to hover in front of Nyx's nose, studying the dragon with the same wonder she'd shown Knox.
"You're pretty," she declared. "Your scales are like midnight. And your eyes are like fire. You're a midnight-fire dragon."
*I am a SHADOW dragon. Shadow. Not midnight-fire. There is a difference.*
"Shadow sounds scary. Midnight-fire sounds pretty." The fairy nodded firmly. "I like midnight-fire better. It's more poetic."
*Poetry is irrelevant. Accuracy is what matters.*
"Accuracy is boring. Poetry is fun." The fairy beamed. "I'm going to call you Midnight-Fire. Or maybe just Middy for short."
*You will NOT, *
"Middy it is!"
Nyx looked at Knox helplessly. *What do I do with this creature? It is immune to my intimidation. Nothing I say discourages it.*
"I think she likes you."
*I do not need to be LIKED. I need to be RESPECTED. These are fundamentally different goals.*
"Can't you be both?"
The tiny fairy had settled on Nyx's snout, apparently deciding it was an acceptable perch. Nyx had gone very still, like a cat with a bird on its head, unsure whether to shake the intruder off or accept the situation.
"What's your name?" the fairy asked.
*...Nyx.*
"That's pretty too! I'm Dewdrop." She beamed with enough wattage to light the cave. "We're going to be friends."
*We are NOT going to be, *
"Best friends," Dewdrop continued, ignoring Nyx's protests completely. "I've never had a dragon friend before. This is the best day EVER. I'm going to tell EVERYONE about my new dragon friend."
*I am not your FRIEND. I am a fearsome predator. I am darkness incarnate. I am, *
"So pretty," Dewdrop sighed happily. "The prettiest dragon I've ever seen."
*I... you have seen other dragons?*
"No. But if I had, you'd still be the prettiest."
Knox watched this exchange with a mixture of amusement and concern. Nyx's indignation was blazing through the bond, but underneath it was something else, confusion, and maybe a tiny bit of pleasure at being called pretty.
*Knox. Remove this creature from my face.*
"She seems comfortable."
*KNOX.*
"Dewdrop, maybe you should give Nyx some space?"
"But she's so COOL." Dewdrop had curled up on Nyx's snout, her tiny wings folded against her back. "Like a cooled rock. But prettier. And with better conversational skills."
*I am not a ROCK. I am a DRAGON.*
"A pretty dragon-rock," Dewdrop agreed cheerfully.
Lira appeared at Knox's shoulder, watching the scene with poorly concealed amusement. "Dewdrop's adopted your dragon."
"I noticed."
"She does that. Latches onto things she finds interesting. People. Creatures. Particularly shiny rocks." Lira's expression flickered with something Knox couldn't identify. "She lost her parents last season. An attack. A corrupted creature broke through our defenses. She's been... looking for connections since."
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Knox's amusement faded. "I'm sorry."
"It happens. Shadowfen isn't kind to the small or weak." Lira's voice was carefully neutral, the kind of neutral that came from practice. "Dewdrop copes by being aggressively friendly. It's her way of fighting back. Of refusing to let grief make her smaller."
On Nyx's snout, Dewdrop had started humming, a tiny, cheerful sound that seemed completely at odds with her tragic backstory. Nyx had stopped trying to dislodge her, her ember eyes fixed on the fairy with an expression Knox couldn't quite read.
*She is annoying,* Nyx said privately.
"She's been through a lot."
*...I know. I can feel her loneliness. It is like mine was. Before you found me.* A pause. *She may stay. For now. But only because removing her would be troublesome.*
"Of course."
*Do not tell anyone I am being soft. I have a reputation to maintain.*
"Your secret is safe with me."
---
## Day 30-31: Renovation
The fairies had opinions about the cave.
"It's functional," Lira admitted, examining Knox's earthwork walls with the critical eye of someone who'd seen better. "But it's also ugly. And cramped. And doesn't have nearly enough natural light. You're basically living in a well-constructed hole."
"It keeps us alive."
"Survival is the baseline, not the goal." She flew through the interior, noting details with obvious criticism. "You could expand eastward, the stone is softer there. Add some skylights. Maybe a second chamber for storage. A proper alcove for your dragon instead of just a... pile of rocks."
*It is not a PILE of rocks. It is a carefully arranged sleeping platform.*
"It's a pile. A flat pile, but still a pile."
*I will destroy you.*
"Yes, dear." Lira turned to Knox. "The Grove can help. We have earth-shapers, light-weavers, structural analysts. If you're willing to accept assistance, we could make this place actually livable."
Knox looked around his cave, the cave he'd carved from nothing, the first real shelter he'd built in this world. It was rough, he knew. Functional but not comfortable. The walls were uneven, the floor cold, the light practically nonexistent.
Construction basics: just because a structure stands doesn't mean it's finished. There's always room for improvement.
"What would you suggest?"
Lira's eyes lit up. "I thought you'd never ask."
---
The fairy renovation team arrived the next morning.
There were twelve of them, specialists in various crafts, led by a weathered fairy named Elder Mirielle who looked at Knox like he was a particularly disappointing student.
"Your foundations are solid," she admitted, examining the cave's structural bones. "That's something. But your technique is crude. Efficient, but crude."
"I taught myself."
"Obviously." She ran a tiny hand along one of his walls. "You push the stone where you want it to go. That's brute force. Effective, but wasteful." She closed her eyes, and Knox felt something shift in the ambient mana. "Feel that? The stone has grain. Direction. It WANTS to move certain ways. Work with it instead of against it, and you'll use half the mana for twice the effect."
Knox extended his own senses, trying to feel what she described. At first, nothing, just rock, solid and resistant. But then...
There. A subtle current in the earth, like grain in wood. Lines of weakness. Lines of strength. A structural pattern hidden within the chaos.
"I see it," he breathed.
"Good. You're not entirely hopeless." Mirielle's approval was grudging but genuine. "Now, let me show you how to actually use that perception."
---
Over the next two days, Knox learned more about earth magic than he had in his entire time in the Shadowfen.
The fairies' approach was completely different from his, subtle where he'd been forceful, elegant where he'd been crude. They worked with the stone instead of against it, coaxing it into shapes rather than forcing it.
"Think of it like water," Mirielle explained, demonstrating by shifting a section of wall into a smooth curve. "You don't push water uphill. You guide it through channels. Stone is the same, slower, but the principle holds."
"Stone doesn't flow."
"Everything flows, given enough time and pressure. Your job is to accelerate the process." She gestured at his hands. "You have power. More than you know, probably. But power without finesse is just destruction."
"I've noticed that about a lot of things in my life."
"Hmm." Mirielle studied him with those ancient eyes. "The dragon bond is unusual. Most demons don't form connections like that."
"I'm not most demons."
"Clearly." She returned to her work. "The cave expands eastward. We'll add a proper skylight there, the crystal formations will naturally conduct sunlight. And a sleeping alcove for your dragon, with thermal stone to maintain warmth."
"Thermal stone?"
"Stone that stores heat during the day and releases it at night. Standard fairy construction. Your dragon will love it, though she'll never admit it."
*I can hear you,* Nyx interjected. *And I admit nothing.*
"Of course you don't, dear."
---
## Day 32-33: Dewdrop's Visits
Dewdrop came back every day.
At first, Knox assumed she was just part of the renovation crew, a curious youngster tagging along with the adults. But he quickly realized she had no interest in construction.
She had interest in HIM.
"Mr. Knox, what's your favorite color?"
"I... don't know. Black, maybe? Or pink, since apparently that's my hair now."
"Black is boring. Pink is better. I like purple best." She zoomed around his head, examining his horns from every angle. "Did your horns hurt when they grew? My friend Petal says horns must hurt because they're so pointy, but I think maybe they don't hurt because they're part of you and things that are part of you shouldn't hurt."
"They didn't hurt. I was unconscious when they developed."
"Oh. That's convenient." She landed on his shoulder, apparently deciding it was an acceptable perch, same as Nyx's snout. "Mr. Knox, do you like honey cakes? Everyone likes honey cakes but some people like them MORE than other people and I want to know where you rank on the honey cake scale."
"I've never had one."
Dewdrop's gasp was audible from across the cave. "NEVER? That's... that's TRAGIC. That's the most tragic thing I've ever heard. You've been living a honey-cake-less existence this whole time!"
"I didn't know they existed until five seconds ago."
"That's WORSE. Ignorance is... is... is very bad." She nodded firmly. "I'm going to fix this. I'm going to bring you honey cakes TOMORROW and you're going to try them and you're going to love them because they're the best thing in the world."
"Better than dragons?"
"...Okay, second best thing." She glanced at Nyx, who was pretending not to listen. "Don't tell Middy I said that."
*I heard you,* Nyx said.
"She didn't hear me," Dewdrop whispered loudly.
"I definitely did."
"LA LA LA NOT LISTENING."
---
The honey cakes arrived the next morning, carried by Dewdrop with the solemnity of someone bearing sacred artifacts.
"I made them myself," she announced, hovering in front of Knox with a tiny basket. "Well, the kitchen staff made them. But I supervised. VERY carefully. I picked out the best ones."
The cakes were miniature, fairy-sized, barely bigger than Knox's thumbnail, but there were dozens of them. Golden-brown, glistening with honey, smelling like autumn and sunshine.
"How do I..." Knox gestured at the size discrepancy.
"Eat them all at once! That's how fairies do it. Well, fairies eat one at a time, but you're bigger so you should eat a bunch at once. It's proportional."
Knox carefully picked up a handful of the tiny cakes and popped them into his mouth.
The taste hit him like a wave, sweet and complex, with hints of wildflower and something almost magical. It was like eating concentrated happiness.
"These are incredible," he said, genuinely surprised.
Dewdrop's entire body glowed brighter with joy. "I KNEW IT! I knew you'd love them! I TOLD Lira you'd love them! She said maybe demons don't like sweet things but I said EVERYONE likes sweet things especially honey cakes and I was RIGHT!"
"You were right."
"I'm always right." She puffed up with pride. "About honey cakes, anyway. And about Middy being pretty. And about you not being scary." Her expression softened. "You're not scary at all, Mr. Knox. You're nice."
"I can be scary when I need to be."
"Maybe. But you're nice to ME. And to Middy. And to that weird fish with arms and legs." She landed on his shoulder again. "That's what matters, right? Being nice to people who need nice?"
Knox thought about that, about all the ways he'd failed to be nice when it mattered, about Emma and the year of grey emptiness, about every moment he'd let grief make him smaller instead of kinder.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "That's what matters."
---
## Day 34: The Real Conversation
It was late evening when Dewdrop found him alone.
Nyx was hunting, her evening ritual, chasing prey through the darkening swamp. Gerald was somewhere managing the food storage system he'd inexplicably taken charge of. The fairy construction crew had gone home for the night.
Knox was sitting at the cave entrance, watching the sun set over the treeline, thinking about nothing and everything.
"Mr. Knox?"
He turned. Dewdrop was hovering near his knee, her usual brightness dimmed. She looked smaller somehow. More fragile.
"Hey, Dewdrop. What's up?"
"Can I... can I sit with you? Just for a little bit?"
"Of course."
She landed on his knee, gently, almost hesitantly, and folded her wings. For a long moment, she just sat there, staring at the sunset.
"It's pretty," she said finally. "The colors. My mama used to watch sunsets with me. She said they were proof that endings could be beautiful."
Knox's chest tightened. "She sounds wise."
"She was the wisest." Dewdrop's voice cracked. "She knew everything. How to make sad things better. How to fix problems. How to make me feel brave when I was scared."
"What happened to her?"
"A corrupted creature. A big one. It came at night, when everyone was asleep." Dewdrop's tiny hands fisted in the fabric of Knox's pants. "Papa tried to fight it. He was so brave. But he was small, and it was big, and..." She trailed off.
"I'm sorry."
"Everyone says that." She looked up at him, eyes wet. "They say 'sorry' like it means something. Like it helps. But it doesn't help, does it? Sorry doesn't bring them back."
Knox thought about every condolence he'd received after Emma. Every "sorry for your loss" and "she's in a better place now" and "time heals all wounds." Meaningless words from people who meant well but couldn't understand.
"No. It doesn't."
"Then why do people keep saying it?"
Knox considered the question. "Because it's all we can say. When someone's hurting and we can't fix it... sorry is how we show we care. Even if it doesn't help."
Dewdrop was quiet for a moment.
"Do you have people you're sorry about?"
"Yes."
"Did it stop hurting?"
Knox thought about Emma. About the year of grey numbness. About the way grief had slowly transformed from a wound into a scar.
"It changes," he said carefully. "It never goes away completely. But it changes. Gets easier to carry, if not lighter."
"I don't want it to change." Dewdrop's tiny hands fisted in his pants. "If it changes, it means I'm forgetting. I don't want to forget."
"You won't forget. I promise." Knox very carefully placed a finger on her back, the closest he could manage to a comforting touch given their size difference. "Grief changing doesn't mean forgetting. It means... learning to remember without it hurting so much."
"Is that what happened to you?"
"I'm still working on it. But yeah. That's the goal."
Dewdrop was quiet again. Then, in a voice so soft Knox almost missed it:
"Mr. Knox? Can I... can I come here sometimes? When I'm sad? You're good at making things feel less bad."
Something in Knox's chest tightened. "Anytime, Dewdrop. Whenever you need."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
She smiled at him, watery, fragile, but real, and for a moment, Knox saw Emma. Not physically, Emma had been human, adult, completely different, but in the way Dewdrop was fighting to hope despite everything. Fighting to love despite loss.
*Knox.* Nyx's voice touched his mind, concerned. *I felt something through the bond. Are you alright?*
"I'm fine. Just... making a new friend."
*The small one? Dewdrop?*
"Yeah."
*She is sad often. I have noticed. Her emotions are... loud.*
"She's been through a lot."
*I know. I do not like when she is sad. It makes me feel... uncomfortable.*
"That's called empathy."
*I know what empathy IS. I simply did not expect to feel it for something so small and annoying.* A pause. *Perhaps I was wrong about her. Perhaps she is not entirely annoying.*
Knox smiled despite himself. "She's growing on you."
*She is NOT. She is merely... tolerable. More tolerable than other small things. That is all.*
"Sure."
*Do not 'sure' me. I am a dragon. I do not develop ATTACHMENTS to tiny fairy creatures.*
"Whatever you say."
*KNOX.*
---
## Day 35: The Celebration
The Grove threw a celebration.
Knox wasn't entirely clear on what they were celebrating, something about the season turning, or the new alliance, or possibly just an excuse to party. Fairy motivations were often opaque.
But the result was impressive. The clearing around his cave had been transformed into a miniature festival ground, with lights strung between trees, tiny tables laden with food, and music coming from somewhere Knox couldn't identify. It sounded like wind chimes and bells and something almost like singing, all woven together into something hauntingly beautiful.
*This is excessive,* Nyx observed from her platform, the new one, crafted from thermal stone, which she pretended not to love.
"It's festive."
*It is EXCESSIVE. There are entirely too many lights. Too many colors. Too much noise.*
"You like the lights."
*I like APPROPRIATE lights. These are GARISH.*
Despite her complaints, Nyx had allowed Dewdrop to hang small luminescent flowers from her horns, giving her a somewhat ridiculous crown of glowing blossoms. The tiny fairy had declared her "the prettiest dragon in the whole world," and Nyx had been too flustered to object.
"She's got you wrapped around her finger," Lira observed, landing beside Knox with a cup of something that smelled like fermented honey.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Your dragon. The one currently wearing a flower crown and pretending she hates it." Lira smirked. "Dewdrop has that effect on people. On dragons, apparently."
"She's special."
"She is." Lira's expression softened. "She lost her parents and she's still... HER. Still hopeful. Still loving. Most people would have hardened by now. Built walls. She's doing the opposite."
"She's strong."
"Stronger than she knows." Lira took a sip of her drink. "She's been asking about you, you know. Constantly. 'When is Mr. Knox going to visit the Grove?' 'Does Mr. Knox like honey cakes?' 'Can I show Mr. Knox my flower collection?' 'Does Mr. Knox have a favorite color yet?'"
Knox felt his ears heat. "She's just friendly."
"She's latching on. Looking for something she lost." Lira's eyes met his. "I'm not saying that's bad. Sometimes people need something to hold onto. Someone who makes them feel safe. But I'm saying... be careful. With her heart. She's already lost so much."
"I know."
"Do you?" Lira's voice was sharp. "Because she's starting to call you 'Papa Knox' when she thinks no one's listening."
Knox froze.
"She... what?"
"I've heard her twice. Once when she was arranging your cave, putting little flowers in corners 'because Papa Knox likes nice things.' Once when she was talking to her friends, 'my Papa Knox is the biggest and nicest demon.'" Lira's expression was unreadable. "She's adopting you. In her mind, at least. The question is whether you're going to let her."
Before Knox could respond, a tiny weight landed on his shoulder. Dewdrop beamed up at him, her flower crown askew.
"Mr. Knox! You have to come try the honey cakes! They made extra because I told them you like them! And there's music and dancing and Lira is going to do the flame dance which is the BEST and you have to watch!"
Knox looked at her, this tiny, fragile, fierce little creature who had somehow decided he was worth holding onto. Who saw him not as a demon or a threat but as someone who made her feel safe. Someone who might, impossibly, be family.
"Lead the way, Dewdrop."
Her smile could have lit up the entire swamp.
As she dragged him toward the food tables, Knox felt Nyx's attention through the bond, questioning, concerned.
*What did the fairy captain say to you?*
"We'll talk later."
*You are troubled.*
"Not troubled. Just... thinking."
*About Dewdrop.*
"Yeah."
Nyx was quiet for a moment. Then: *She is mine too, you know. Part of our territory. Whatever you are thinking... she is not yours alone to worry about.*
Knox smiled despite himself. "I thought you didn't develop attachments to tiny fairy creatures."
*I don't. This is different. She is... OURS. That changes things.*
"Yeah," Knox agreed, watching Dewdrop bounce excitedly toward a table of honey cakes, grabbing his finger and trying to pull him along. "It really does."
---
```
[END OF CHAPTER 6]
[KNOX ASHFORD - STATUS UPDATE]
LEVEL: 7 (+1 FROM TRAINING/EXPLORATION)
HP: 305/305
MP: 345/345
SKILLS UPDATED:
? Earth Manipulation (Lv. 7) - UP - Now with fairy technique integration
? Chaos Fire (Lv. 5) - UP
? Survival Instinct (Lv. 5) - UP
? Mana Sensitivity (Lv. 4) - UP
NEW RELATIONSHIP: FAIRY GROVE ALLIANCE
? Elder Mirielle (Teacher/Critic)
? Lira (Scout-Captain/Growing Friend)
? Dewdrop (Tiny Attachment/Potential Daughter???)
COMPANION: NYX
SIZE: LARGE DOG → SMALL PONY (ONGOING GROWTH)
NEW ACCESSORY: FLOWER CROWN (PRETENDING TO HATE IT)
SECRET FEELINGS: PROTECTIVE OF DEWDROP (WON'T ADMIT IT)
NEW NICKNAME: "MIDDY" (DENIED BUT SECRETLY PLEASED)
CAVE STATUS: UPGRADED TO ACTUAL HOME
? Eastern expansion complete
? Skylights installed
? Nyx's thermal alcove constructed
? Fairy-quality craftsmanship
? Actually comfortable now
NEXT CHAPTER: FAMILY
[SYSTEM NOTE: "PAPA KNOX" - THAT'S NEW]
[SECONDARY NOTE: HE'S COLLECTING PEOPLE]
[TERTIARY NOTE: NYX IS ALSO COLLECTING PEOPLE]
[QUATERNARY NOTE: THEY'RE BOTH IN DENIAL]
[QUINTARY NOTE: DEWDROP IS VERY GOOD AT ADOPTING]
```
---
