“I’m deeply grateful that you and your friends dealt with those criminals. They and I had run into one another recently, and I really had no expectation they would ever come back here.” Since revealing what happened here, Arran has been a lot more forward and kind than the last time I was here. I get the impression they feel somewhat responsible, but I keep trying to dissuade them of that.

  Regardless, though, since I told them, they’ve been acting a lot more physically forward in pretty similar ways to how Lilly was acting when she was trying to get me to smile earlier about my new outfit. It seems to be a hit with Arran for the same reasons, if their constant touching is anything to go by.

  Feeling Arran’s soft hand trace along my exposed arm, a trail of Florii essence trailing behind it, is enthralling in a way that I seriously struggle to put into words. This essence feels wonderful, and the warm presence of the person it’s coming from compounds it.

  “You get spacey really easily, you know that, right? I swear, you’ve spent half of the last twenty minutes in your head. ” Arran’s voice is singsong in a way that’s very similar to Lilly’s, I think. The same lilting tones, but with less stress.

  A little embarrassed, I rub the back of my head and rustle my hair and look away. “Yeah, sorry. I know it’s off-putting. It’s just very hard to put into words exactly why.” How much can I even say? How much should I say? They seem trustworthy and kind, but…

  “Relating to that essence poisoning you mentioned yesterday, I assume? Is it something your friends are helping you with?” They gesture towards the pair with their slender hands in a languid, graceful, motion that catches my eye and pulls my attention along with it. Lilly and Ayre seem to be having a close in conversation. Though with the damping effect of the grove around us, they might as well be on the other side of the city for how much noise reaches us.

  Seeing Ayre’s glamored form is just as jarring, though. Seeing her without scales, looking like another average human woman, is hard to reconcile. Not least of which because I can see the vague edges of the glamor where Lilly’s confusing essence starts affecting the world around it.

  “Yeah. Truth be told I don’t even know anything about it or how it happened.” Saying the words feels lightening, even if I feel extreme reticence at the act.

  “How don’t know you know?” They raise their sharp eyebrows and give me a wry smile. “You could just say you don’t want to talk about it. I know infusions are generally looked down on by people, but I won’t judge. Everyone does what they do for a reason.”

  How much to say? “I’m not being evasive, honestly. If I told you the full story, I doubt if you’d believe me, and if you did, then you’d probably ask me to leave, and I’m enjoying this little discussion.” I try to pin a coy smile on, but from the looks of it, it doesn’t really land. Arran instead just stops and turns around sharply, looking slightly down at me due to our relative heights.

  “You can’t just say something like that and then not elaborate.” They put their hands on their hips and look at me incredulously. “Unless it’s all drek, in which case, you are a damned good actor.” They tap their angular chin with a single finger, crossing their arms across their chest. “Or a terrible one, maybe.”

  Their behaviors keep reminding me about Lilly. Just a taller, greener, Lilly and it brings a smile to my face. “Fine. I’ll give you the short version, and you can decide if you believe me and want to hear more, alright?”

  “Fire away. I’ve heard it all, I think. My time in this town is coming to an end, but after a couple years of decidedly unwanted suitors, I’ve heard most claims. Try to surprise me.”

  A brief incantation passes their lips, and I watch as their essence comes running from the nearby plants and scatters into the surrounding area. It seems to move around in waves of viridian motes before they settle across Arran’s skin. Some, however, seem inexorably drawn towards my arm.

  Self-consciously, I hold my right arm behind my back and start talking as the essence flows into me, with a floral memory forming in the back of my mind. “So. I lost all my memories and was saved from drowning by those two.” I gesture at Lilly and Ayre, realizing that Lilly seems to be walking away, leaving Ayre standing watching her go with a decided slump in her shoulders. I feel a frown growing until Lilly turns around and we make eye contact. Absently, I add, “And I’m pretty sure I’m cursed, or something similar, at least.”

  Lilly fixes me with a beaming smile, but even from this distance I see if fail to reach her eyes and I think her true feelings come across the connection we share, even if it’s reduced by the distance considerably. A decided coldness passes between us. I smile back, but she quickly turns and rounds a corner, and I feel it deepen.

  “So you’re an amnesiac with a curse? That would definitely explain this whole clueless air you carry yourself with.” After giving me a wry smile alongside their friendly jab. But pause and trace my gaze to see Lilly turning away and my frown growing. There’s a fairly lengthy silence that follows. “So, level with me, Olly — can I call you Olly? Is that alright?” I nod absently. “Are you and those two some sort of open relationship thing? The blonde came here looking for you and seemed more worried than I’d imagine a casual friend being. And what’s more, you’ve got another pretty girl in tow in the red-head. Those two were also just hugging, and while hugging isn't necessarily romantic, it definitely looked like a very…personal hug.”

  It takes me a length of time that should probably feel embarrassing to respond, but I get there eventually. “Uh. What do you mean?”

  When I meet their eyes, they look outright gleeful. "Wait, are you serious? Oh, my dear.” Arran lets out a barely restrained giggle that goes on for a little while, leaving me standing there unsure of where to go from here while Lilly is sitting on the fringe of my thoughts.

  They wipe away a bit of moisture building up at the corner of their eyes. “Sorry, that was super rude of me. If it’s any consolation, I think you’re probably one of the most interesting people I’ve met in a long time. No memories, a mysterious curse, traveling with a fairy. Makes me wonder what the other girl’s damage is.” With a flourish, they make a small spin with their arms outstretched, Florii essence scattering along with the motion. The motion and sparkling gets Ayre to turn around and look in our direction. The face she’s making sets me on edge. She’s very obviously anxious, which does wonders for making me feel the same.

  My incredibly eloquent response after I recover is stammering and stuttering that seems to amuse this strangely perceptive person before me even more. “I…ah…uh… How did…how did you arrive at that assumption?”

  “When the blonde came hunting for you, she spoke in such an accurate way that I figured she would have to be either Ordo-touched or of the Fae. We’re far from any concentrated Ordo sources and relatively close to one of the court’s lands. She promised that whatever was going on wouldn’t get me involved or in trouble — with words carrying essence on no incantation. Everything else, along with that promise just made it add up to me. I am right, right?” Arran leans in close, getting a few inches away from my face, goading me on. The smell that washes off of them is momentarily overwhelming and I feel my face flush.

  I pause, utterly flummoxed. “Your secret is safe with me, dear. I’m a good bit closer to being related to her than I am you or anyone else here anyways, and I’m certainly not about to invoke the ire of a court by meddling in their affairs. As to my question, though. I’m even more curious now. I am living proof that that sort of thing happens, being half-fae and all that."

  Their tone is so casual, and I’m starting to really understand what Ayre meant about dealing with very forward people being overwhelming past a point. “I…I don’t think it’s anything like that. With what I have going on, it would be bad for everyone involved. Those two are best friends and have been their entire lives. I don’t think I factor into either of their minds like that. And, if I’m being honest, I hope I don’t.” That thought calls back Lilly to my mind and what I felt last night when I looked at her. I shake my head to dispel the thought.

  “Well, that’s all very noble and respectable. It’s no wonder.” They sigh and step back from me, their curiosity sated. “So, I assume you lot are leaving? Where’s your next destination? I’m leaving in the next couple months, I should hope we can cross paths again.” There’s a note of something in their voice that reminds me of how Lilly sounded yesterday when she was trying to understand the taste thing. Hopeful, helpful, maybe?

  “We’re traveling to Kharbon next and plan to be there for a while. Apparently, I own a house there.” I say it with no small amount of disbelief because it just sounds tacitly absurd to say.

  “Ah, wonderful! Kharbon was my next stop. I’ll be a bit delayed, but can we meet when I make my way there?” They fix me with a warm smile and I nod. More friends are better than fewer friends, in any case. “How do you know you have land there if you don’t remember anything?”

  “Oh, right.” I reach into my storage bag and pull out the deed and hand it over to them. “I woke up with this on me. I’m hoping that going there might jog a memory or give me a lead to follow. You’ve been to Kharbon, right? Do you know where this is at?”

  They bob their head in thought as they unfurl the document and start to read through. I watch as they progress, and a look of growing shock slides across their otherwise normally controlled features. “This is in the noble quarter of Kharbon. I don’t know the specific building — I’ve never had a reason to go there — but, Olly, my friend, you were apparently someone of import, or at least were signed this over by someone important. The document is a deed of transfer, so you now own a noble estate, rather than it being one you owned prior. It’s even dated just a few weeks back.”

  The information rolls over me like a wave, leaving me smiling wide. “I hadn’t considered trying to find out the date and how it would relate to anything and didn’t know enough about the language being used to make much sense of it! That’s such a huge help!” Clamping my left hand down on their shoulder in a display of contact that is above and beyond anything I’ve done since waking up, I recoil away, realizing how casually I just touched someone, and start to apologize, “Ah, I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”

  “Pretty sure it was excitement and hope, and not unreasonably at that. I don’t hardly mind you touching me though, so don’t sweat it.” The wink that comes across with the words lands hard, giving me a slight flutter in my chest that makes me turn away with a small smile that comes unbidden. “So, you and your not-girlfriends are leaving today, and I’ll be along in a couple months…if you want to see me again, that is.” Their voice trails off and when I turn I see them fixing me with a doe-eyed stare.

  “Of course, I’ve got very few people around, I’d be a fool to turn down someone who is so nice and has helped me.” The answer seems to please them, if their body language is anything to go by.

  “In that case. You should probably go figure out what happened while I was monopolizing your time. Sorry if I made blondie mad.” A smile crosses their face that gives me the distinct impression that they probably aren’t sorry that that’s the case, but I don’t really trust my own judgement on such things, so I let it go.

  “Thanks, Arran, you’ve been a great help. I’ll look forward to seeing in a couple months.” I turn to walk away and see Ayre looking distinctly relieved as I head her direction. I pick my way carefully through the plant. Enough of them were destroyed because of me already, and I can’t abide causing any more problems.

  “Ready to go, Olly?” Ayre’s voice is tight, and her body language is withdrawn despite her words being pretty unconcerned.

  “Yeah, what happened with Lilly, is everything okay?” I gesture towards the alleyway entrance and we set off. Casting a glance back over my shoulder I see Arran kneeling next to some plants as they watch me go. They give me a small wave and a smile that I return as Ayre begins explaining.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Lilly was feeling the pressure of us delaying, I think. She was worried that us delaying and getting involved with someone new would be risky. We’ll find her at the gate towards Kharbon, just couldn’t abide sitting still with everything going on.” She hesitates at the end of the sentiment, as if considering saying more, but she seems to decide against it, so I chime in.

  “I guess I didn’t really think of that. I was mostly worried about making sure Arran knew what happened wasn’t on purpose. They lost a lot of work because of my involvement.”

  “I know, Olly. I don’t fault you for it at all. Even if Lilly does have a point that’s probably worth keeping in mind.” We pick our way through the side streets unmolested — no criminals, no fights, no spy-knights, no…monster hunters. Eventually, we arrive in sight of the gates and I see Lilly sitting up on a large, tall boulder sitting beneath a tree festooned in its changing fall colors. Yellows, reds, browns all in metallic hues that glint off the coming midday sun.

  Her knees are drawn up to her chest, with her long winter dress still long enough to nearly entirely obscure her legs. She’s got her little red journal in hand and seems to be reading along. Though she never changes the page once as we approach and neither does she seem to look up at all to spot us despite coming from directly in front of her.

  The coming winter chill, the hard feeling in my chest, her posture, and relative stillness give me the impression of someone frozen solid in ice, or as if time has stopped. Even the air around her seems to have fallen still, no rustles of leaves, barely any sound from the nearby crowd.

  It’s curious and thinking about it makes focusing on anything else harder. I need to know. It’s a burning need that comes on suddenly. Calling upon my essence sight out of instinct more than anything else, I close my eyes hard and stop. After a moment, I open them and see the world in the stark black and white. The people around me rendered in stark relief, even Ayre.

  But when I look at Lilly, I see a hazy field of sorts. Countless individual motes of her counfounding essence suspended perfectly still in a perfect sphere around her, otherwise invisible to the eye, and pinning the flow of free essence in the world within the sphere in place. The effect is uncanny but subtle.

  “What’s she doing?” I ask after stopping. Ayre turns around and steps back a few paces to where I’m stopped.

  “What do you mean? She looks like she’s reading her little journal. Sitting atop a rock, looking dramatic. Given how she left, I’m not at all surprised to see her putting on such a display. Stuff like this tends to give her a feeling of control, I think. For times when she’s feeling like she has none.” Ayre explains, not quite answering my question while answering my question. “What are you doing? You’ve got your essence wisping from your eyes. Did you call up an ability to do something?”

  That calls me back to the current moment, and I realize that I’m not using an ability from anything I consumed. Additionally, it’s something I’ve only ever done when I’ve lost control. Is it really losing control? I’m perfectly in control when I do it. It just lets my inhibitions come down is all. It’s not inherently bad, right?

  I shake my head, sending away the essence sight. “Yeah, something like that.” I lie smoothly and Ayre nods along. “Let’s get her and get out of here. You mind going and getting her attention? I’m worried she might be mad at me.” Another lie, if a half-one. I just want to see what happens when Ayre enters this field of stasis that Lilly has raised. Other people seem to be avoiding it subconsciously, so with Ayre trying to enter deliberately I wonder how it will react, if at all.

  She shrugs and heads off into the field and I watch as closely as I can. As she strides, her hair goes artificially still. Hanging as though it’s no longer affected by gravity but instead is held in place. She doesn’t seem to notice the anomaly, though, so I take a couple steps forward and reach out my sheathed hand. The barrier of cloth will lessen what I gain, but I’m well aware I shouldn’t reveal it right now with the knowledge we gained about it. Maybe this touch should be enough to help sate my curiosity?

  When I touch the field…nothing happens. The sleeve is evidently better at its job than I thought. I could just peel it away a little bit, right? Expose some of the surface to gain just a bit of information. I reach up and start to undo one of the pins holding it in place against the new clothes Ayre got me.

  As I undo the first, though, I feel a hand atop my own which pulls me out of the hyperfocused daze I’ve been in. Looking down, I see Lilly looking at me sternly, her hand resting on my own. “What are you doing?” Her voice is sharp and demanding, and it cuts away at my mind's fog.

  “I’m…not sure. I was trying to figure out what you were doing, I think.” I glance around and see a couple people looking at us but am not at all sure how long they’ve been doing so. Have I been acting weird enough for people to notice? I must have been. Why else would Lilly look so mad? Ayre said that she was mad that she felt I was putting myself in danger and this wouldn’t be any different.

  Why did I want to reveal my arm? I could just ask Lilly. I already know that I can’t really comprehend Lilly’s magic — it would have served no purpose. All that showing it would have done would be to reveal my condition to anyone in sight and give those hunters something to go off of. It would have led to a fight. A fight where I could get stronger. Maybe someone here would recognize it and I could get that fight now?

  Lilly and Ayre both are looking at me, obviously concerned, but Lilly explains, “I just asked for some peace and quiet is all. My essence saw fit to do that in response. Nothing remarkable, Olly.” Her explanation makes some degree of sense, but it doesn't quite scratch the itch I wanted to be scratched. I want to know how it happened. How her essence interpreted her will, how it affected such a broad area. The questions go on and on for a little while until I feel a splitting pain in my head forming and that essence-sight comes back unbidden.

  Immediately, the world is painted in those hues of white and black. Of energy and non-energy. And everywhere I look, I see concentrations of vital essence moving around. All within reach. Taking even one of them would be enough. I can feel it. If I take one, I'll stop feeling out of sorts and it'll make taking the rest easier. If I can just separate from these two for a few moments then...

  “Agh…I’m sorry. My head isn’t doing great right now. I think I need to go. We need to go. I need to go.” I declare and turn for the gate and start to walk briskly towards the open gates. I pass through with no fanfare. People are coming and going constantly during the day, so nobody so much as glances at my robed figure passing through and setting off onto the road. It seems like nobody else is setting off down the road, but instead everyone is leaving town to go into the forests at different angles.

  Something strange happens when I actually get onto the road, though. I feel something simultaneously cool and warm coming from my right hand. Coming from the finger with the ring on it. I flex my hand and feel it pulse with essence, but the essence is entirely unintelligible to my arm. It just suffuses the rest of my body with a rejuvenating effect that seems to clear my mind as I move along.

  “Breath Divine, Olly, slow down!” I hear Ayre from behind and see her a couple dozen yards behind me with Lilly sitting in her pocket with steam rolling off her unglamoured body. She looks outright fatigued, which feels puzzling until I realize that I’m…no longer just outside the town gates. I actually don’t recognize this wooded area. We’re no longer amongst the Mineralis forest and the sun has fallen farther in the sky than it should be.

  I stop, casting around, confused. Lilly flutters over and settles on my shoulder, reaching up and touching the side of my face with a flash of gold at the point of contact. A wave of unintelligible information passes through my mind, just like every other time Lilly has used her magic on me. I always feel the effects, but I otherwise get no usable information from it.

  I feel a bit more clarity come back to my mind after she completes her spell and incantation. “Are you okay? You looked manic back in the town.” Lilly sounds deeply concerned.

  “And you just spent the last hour and a half running at a dead sprint.” Ayre’s voice is a bit less soft and supportive but instead comes across sharper, harsher. Demonstrating the truth of her words, she has steam rolling off of her from any exposed parts of her body. She just had to keep up with me, I guess, so I can’t really say I'm surprised.

  “I…think I’m okay. I just don’t remember anything after leaving the town.” I explain. Looking back down the road, I see that there are still scattered Mineralis trees around, but that we’ve broken into an otherwise very mundane looking forest. But mundane by what metric? I've seen one forest so far and it's the metal one. Why does this forest feel mundane to me?

  I chuckle abruptly as I think about the forests mundanity and just how stupid all of this is. Which nets me concerned looks from my companions. After I recover a little bit, I explain. “Sorry. I’m just all over the place right now. Something probably isn’t right.”

  Lilly responds first, a thought forming on her face. “Olly, can you take off the sleeve? I have a theory.” I do so without question, quickly unclipping it and withdrawing the sleeve. Along the way, Lilly steps to my left shoulder, which proves a great relief.

  When the sleeve slips free, a veritable deluge of sickly red essence splashes free across the ground. Wherever it lands, it doesn’t leave behind the essence-devoid dust. Instead, it just eats into the surface of the flagstones and tunnels downwards rapidly until it is apparently spent. Nothing remains where it splashed, just perfectly smooth columns eaten away.

  I stare at it wide-eyed until I see my arm itself. It’s…not purple crystal. Not much, at least. It’s turned red. What had once been bloodlike rivulets of essence trapped within the crystal shell is now the inverse. The arm has taken on an almost…meatlike visual texture and has veins of crystal running throughout it. It feels no different physically. But the pressure it’s exerting on my mind feels wildly different now that I have the clarity to think about it.

  I’ve been being more direct. More risky. Lying freely and without much cause. Welcoming dangerous situations. “It’s…not me. I think.”

  Ayre starts to walk closer, and I see Ignia pouring from around her eyes as she inspects my arm. But after a few moments, she shakes her head and exhales the excess essence. “I’ve never seen essence like that before. But it seems like there’s some sort of balance, I guess? Did you wind up eating anything at all this morning, Olly?”

  “No, too much was going on, and I didn’t think I’d have been able to focus enough to do it safely at the time. Besides, I feel better than normal. Maybe the purple essence is actually the problem?” I feel hopeful at the thought. But those hopes are dashed on the rocks when Lilly speaks.

  “No. If it’s anything it was the Akasha essence containing this and because it’s gone unfed it's exerting more influence.” Her voice is deadly serious in a way I’ve never heard from her before.

  “What makes you say that, Lilly? And How do you know which essence is which?” Ayre asks.

  “Because Olly said he has Infernus essence in him, and it’s not associated with the color purple or crystallization.” Lilly speaks slowly, like she’s trying to pick her words cautiously. “That means that the other one has to be Akasha, whatever it is, logically.”

  Ayre's confused look doesn’t dissipate, “Okay, but how do you know that? I know for a fact that I've never heard of Infernus essence before.”

  I chime in, “It wasn’t in any of Ayre’s books, either.”

  Lilly pauses, hopping off my shoulder and fluttering to the side so she can see us both at the same time, looking at us both with a severe gaze. “I’m not supposed to share anything about that stuff. I’m sorry. I’ve already said too much by just bringing it up.” She looks away from both of us, looking guilty.

  “Lilly, if it’s something happening to Olly, we need to know. How can you not tell us?” Ayre steps forward a few steps, making broad gestures between Lilly and me with both arm and wing. "How long have you been sitting on this information?” Her voice sounds accusatory, almost.

  Lilly doesn’t answer though, so I’m left searching my own memories.

  What could make Lilly act like this? I think she worries about me, so not being willing to share if there’s a chance of helping feels uncharacteristic. So there must be a bigger reason than me. I’m not the only thing in the world that matters, and Lilly has always been the most resistant about things regarding hurting people. That and… “The Demon King?”

  Lilly goes stock still, her wings stopping abruptly and sees her drift towards the ground for a moment. Also answering my question without needing any words. So I push. “It’s related to her, isn’t it? You’ve only ever reacted this strongly to when Ayre and I failed to take what you had to say seriously enough. If it’s getting this kind of reaction, then you have my full attention and then some, Lilly." I try to pour every bit of weight I can into my words. “Lilly, if it can give me any form of context or information I need to know. We’re past the point of being able to hide it, so we might as well be armed against it if it’s such a problem, right? Will being kept in the dark make it not be a part of me?”

  She’s quiet for a long time, trying to think about how to proceed, clearly.

  Ayre tires of waiting first. “Lilly, come on. This is important, we can’t afford to leave anything on the table.”

  That finally gets a reaction, and it’s anger. “Yes, Ayre, it is important. I know full well it’s important. But I am trying to figure out if Olly is important enough to break a very important rule. It’s something that nobody is supposed to know about. Even me! I found out on accident, and Father made it clear to me that it’s dangerous.” She floats closer in spurts with each strong word in the sentence, looking absolutely livid. “I don’t like that I have to think if helping Olly is ‘big’ enough to warrant breaking the rule. But I have to think about the bigger picture! It’s what the fae do in the world! The mortal races are too short-lived to think about consequences at lengths of time beyond their lifespans.”

  Ayre steps back a few strides, recoiling away from Lilly’s sudden outburst and pretty damning words. “Bu-” She opens her mouth to speak, but Lilly jumps down her throat before she can.

  “No, Ayre, there isn’t a ‘but’! The last time information about this broke out into the world it was specifically because of us, and it led to incalculable suffering. I know it as fact because my Father was among the ones trying to fix it!” Lilly builds to a crescendo before she visibly deflates and floats over to a nearby branch, holding her head in her hands while facing away from us. “I just don’t know what the right thing to do is. It’s supposed to be simple.” I hear quiet sniffles as Lilly tries to restrain tears, and realize that I grossly underestimated the importance of this situation.

  Lilly trails off, the essence dust coming off of her going dull and matte. Ayre and I just look at one another with uncertain expressions. It’s obvious this is important beyond what we really understand, so I can’t really fault Lilly for it. I whisper. “Just give her a little bit. We’ll rest while she works through it.”

  Ayre looks conflicted, but eventually nods, and we go find somewhere to sit and relax.