Doors, part 24 - Home

She is livid.

Charlie grabs Aidan by the wrist and pulls him along as she rushes towards the door. I step after them, placing myself between them and her. She pauses momentarily, surprised, but then she continues to scream.

"I will stop you! You won't be able to leave this house without my permission!"

She's talking about the force field around the house, the one that she no doubt by this point has extended over the iron gate as well. She would be right, for anybody else; we don't need her door.

"Run outside and through the door!" I call over my shoulder as she tries to make another surge to get past me. The front door clicks open behind me and then slams shut. A second passes. Then I feel a shift in my arcane energy as they pass safely through. They're on the other side.

She is seething.

"You will not get away with this," she hisses. "I will not let you take away my humans!"

"They're not your humans!" I say. "Not anymore! They both paid their dues. Anything you now do to impede with me taking them home is a Transgression and I will be within my rights to retaliate sevenfold."

I pause, stand up straight from the defensive position I was in.

"And I will," I say. "Do not think I won't. You have no power over me anymore either."

She hisses amd lunges at me. I snap my fingers. There is a sickening crunch and she falls to her knees with a scream.

"It would do you well," I say as I look down at her writhing form on the floor, "to learn some compassion. Goodbye, Mama."

Her eyes widen and she whips her head up.

"N-no, please--!" she starts, extending her hand toward me. I submerge myself in the In Between.

~x~

Seeing everything in both realms at the same time was always one of the worst things of being a Betweener. It's not something that only happens in the In Between; even if I am in one realm, I can still see what's going on in the other. It used to be... quite disorienting to say the least, but with time I did learn to differentiate between the two places and the things in them. I learned to only see the things in the realm I was in.

And now, as I drop myself through to the Human Realm, I allow myself to unsee the pathetic being I leave behind me. Hopefully for the last time.

"Lin!" I hear Charlie's voice behind me and I turn to see her and Aidan there, happy and confused, in his case. My lips turn up into a smile. My legs buckle from under me.

I barely feel myself shrink as I revert back to my real form and then I fall down and down until I hit something soft and warm. I feel dizzy and exhausted and it takes me a moment to get over the disorientation to figure out I'm being held in Charlie's hands.

"Are you okay?" she asks, urgency in her voice. I nod, which sends another wave of dizziness through me.

"I'm just tired," I say. It comes out a bit winded. "Holding open thay door and keeping Mama at bay took a lot more out of me than I thought it would." I chuckle weakly.

"You'll be fine, though, right?" she asks.

"Yes, I'll be fine. Thank you, Charlie."

"Um," comes a third voice and we both turn to look at Aidan. His brow is scrunched up and his head is cocked. "Who's 'Charlie'?"

"Oh," I say. We share a look.

"That's... that's me," Charlie says. Aidan looks even more confused. "I'm sorry, I know you think I'm Beth, but that's... Beth is my mom."

"What?" he says.

"Time passes in a different way in the Faerie Realm than it does in the human one," I say. "Or rather, aging works differently. While you've only aged some five years, for everyone here..."

"You've been missing for 30 years," Charlie says. Aidan just stares for a moment.

"I... wow," he finally says. He pauses again, rubs his hand on his face. Then he looks at the two of us, his face serious. "What about the rest of my family? Are they okay?"

"Y-yes, they're fine," Charlie says, glancing at me. "Your brother is actually my father."

He blinks. "Really?" he asks. "So Eirian did finally make a move. Good for him."

"You're... awfully calm about all this?" I say. He rubs his face again and looks at me.

"Well, I did start to wonder at some point why I hadn't really grown much," he says. "I did lose the track of time really quickly after being taken, but I definitely knew it had been longer than what I'd aged. And, well... honestly I'm just so glad to be out..." He takes a deep breath and shakes his head. Then he shivers, violently.

"Oh! You must be feeezing!" Charlie exclaims. She starts to unbutton her coat. "I'm sorry I didn't realise at all, your clothes are so thin..." She has the coat on and is handing it to him when she seems to realise that he is actually bigger than her. "Oh. This won't fit you at all, will it?"

Aidan shakes his head. "I'm afraid not," he says.

"I could do something," I say and fly over to him. He blinks rapidly a few times as I get right up in his face. His eyes are crossed as he tries to look at me. I press a hand to his forehead and concentrate on warmth.

He lets out a breath. "Thank you," he says with a smile. I smile too. And then I fall again. 

~x~

I wake up to the sound of quiet talking. I feel soft and warm and safe and I consider going back to sleep again before remembering where I was and what was happening. I jolt up, which ends up being harder than I thought because I'm inside a cloth bag that starts to swing as soon as I move. The talking stops and soo the end of the bag opens.

"You're awake! Great!" It's Charlie. I climb out of the bag to realise I was in her sock. "I hope you don't mind me putting you in my mitten." Oh... a mitten. Not a sock. "You passed out after making Aidan warm and I thought you'd be more comfortable there than in my hands. It was also easier this way." She grins.

I fly up to the air and stretch my arms. "It's fine," I tell her. "It was actually very cozy in there." I look around. We're in the forest, right by... "Whoa, you've made some progress! We're almost at your village."

"Well, you were out for several hours," says Aidan. Charlie has been filling me in on what's happened since I've been gone while we walked."

"Yeah, and now an hour more and you'll get to see for yourself," she says.

"That's great! You'll both be home real soon!" I say. There's a tugging at my heart, a painful heaviness when I realise what that means. Then I berate myself for it. I have no right to feel like this.

We continue our trek through the snowy landscape.

Finally we can see smoke rising from somewhere and then a cottage appears on the horizon. Aidan and Charlie both start walking faster and I pause for a moment, to look at the house, before flying after the two.

They are full on sprinting now, snow flying behind them as they rush through the field towards their home. A shape is visible in the window for a moment, but it disappears quickly and then the door slamss open and a woman who looks remarkably like Charlie is standing in the doorway.

"Charlie?" she asks, like she can't quite believe her eyes. A hand flies to her mouth. "Charlie!!"

"Mom!" Charlie is shouting back and now the woman, Charlie's mom, Beth, is running to meet us halfway. She didn't even stop to put shoes on, but that doesn't stop her, she just runs.

They collide and Beth takes Charlie in a tight hug and spins her around. They're laughing, both of them, and maybe crying a little. Aidan comes to a stop too, standing a bit awkwardly a few meters away. Beth sets her daughter down, now on her knees in the snow, but she's still doesn't let go. Then she finally looks at him.

Her eyes widen as recognition spreads across her face. More figures appears in the doorway, one small and one large. They start to make their way over.

"We found him, Mom," Charlie says, smiling widely, looking between Beth and Aidan.

"Charlie!" comes a shout.

"Dad! Jack!" Charlie slips from her mother's embrace and get greeted by another hug, this time from her father and Jack. She laughs.

"Aidan," breathes Beth and the laughing stops. Everybody just stares now.

"...hi," Aidan says.

"You..." Eirian starts. He takes a step towars Aidan. "Is it really...?"

"Yeah," says Aidan, a smile spreading on his face and tears welling in his eyes. "I'm home, brother."

And that's all Eirian neess before he engulfs his little brother in a bear hug, laughing heartily. Beth stands up too and steps over, hugging her old friend as well.

"I missed you guys," Aidan sobs. "I missed you guys so much!"

After a while everybody calms down. Beth shivers.

"We should head inside," Eirian says, gesturing towards the house. "There is so much to talk about." He puts a hand on Aidan's shoulder and takes a step forward.

"Wait," says Charlie. "What about Lin?"

I stop. I was already about to leave, my job here was done, there was no need to insert myself in this lovely family reunion. 

"Who?" asks Beth. They can't see me of course, since I'm in the In Between.

"The faerie right there?" Charlie asks and points a finger straight at me.

"What?" I ask.

"What?" asks Beth.

"What?" asks Charlie, annoyed. "Wait... Lin! Are you in the In Between? Get back out here, you need to meet my family!"

I sigh and Manifest myself. "You just keep on surprising me, Charlie," I say. "Guess you can still see me, even though you're not in the In Between yourself."

"Apparently so," she says. "Must be some kind of residue. It's good though, isn't it? I'd be sad if you disappeared on me." She smiles and my heart starts to beat a bit faster.

"Sweetheart, who is this?" Beth asks, looking between me and Charlie. 

"It's... It's a faerie, Charlie," says Eirian. "Are you sure we can trust it?"

"Yes, of course!" Charlie exclaims. "Lin is the one who helped me manifest and find Aidan and get back him back home safely!"

"Oh! In that case, we owe you a great debt of gratitude," Eirian says and bows. My face heats up a little.

"No, no, no, you owe me absolutely nothing," I hurry to say. "I've had quite enough of debts for a while, thank you."

"Well, at least come in for a bit?" Beth suggests. "We would like to hear what exactly happened during these past few days."

"O-oh, I couldn't possibly..."

"Please, Lin?" Charlie ask. "Not as a favour... but as a friend?"

All protests die on my lips at that.

"I... okay," I say and follow the family inside.

End.

__________________________________________________________________ 

Wooo it's over! Merry Christmas y'all I hope you liked it! Bye now I'm going to bed~~

Pie out.

Doors, Part 23 - Memory

I look at Aidan and he looks at me, confused, expectant. I don't know what he's gone through during all these years, but I bet it is a dream come true for him to see someone actually come and take him back home. Everything I have learned about human life in the Faerie Realm makes you want that.

"It's okay, Aidan. I came here to bring you home, and that's what I'll do it. Trust me."

He trembles slightly from excitement and maybe disbelief and hope. He glances at Lin's mom from the corner of his eye, and stays silent. He has learned to watch his mouth -- the hard way, no doubt. Oh, I need to help him so bad.

He looked so uncaring, apathetic even, when he first appeared, but now that has completely changed. His cheeks are burning red and he moves his hands restlessly. He understands that this day, this game, will likely change his life.

"You remember the rock behind the barn, where we used to play knights? You will see that soon," I say. From his eyes, I can see how he suddenly flies back all those years, to his childhood. The rock is not that large actually, but it felt like that when I was a child. And Dad has told they played there, too.

"Enough chitchat," she says impatiently. "I have a game to win."

Aidan's eyes widen suddenly, a terrified expression settling on his face, as it only now hits him for real: if we lose, she will own my debt and because of him I would be stuck there, too. Forever, maybe.

"It will be fine. Trust me," I say and try to look as comforting as possible, despite all the butterflies fluttering in my stomach.

"I will ask first," she says in her soft, dangerous voice. "And do keep in mind they must be real riddles, not just some self-invented impossible questions."

"Go ahead," Lin says bluntly.

"Most people need it, some ask for it, some give it, but almost nobody takes it. What is it?"

"Oh, you couldn't skip a chance to show superiority," Lin says. "You are implying that we don't take it."

I am trying hard to solve it, but Lin seems to already know the answer. What are we not taking?

"It's advice. And yes, we won't take it from you any more."

"Not bad. Your turn," she says and smiles.

"What flies when it's born, lies when it's alive, and runs when it's dead?" Lin asks.

"Oh, you are going for this forest-y style, aren't you?" She smiles ironically. "I don't need to spend all my winters there to know enough about this. It is a snowflake."

I glance at Lin, who bites his lip. Her insults are like daggers hidden in silk. I only now start to understand how lonely Lin has been all those years in the snowy forest. How he chose solitude over this life among other fae.

"Let's see whether you are clever enough for this: If you tell me the truth, I will kill you with my sword. If you tell me a lie I will kill you with my spell. What must you say to survive?"

Lin quickly looks at me, confused, and I look back. What's the point here? Either a truth or lie, and you'll be dead. So what is there to say? Lin shrugs his shoulders, hoping for me to give some ideas. I try to start from somewhere.

"Er, escape, or what?" I say, hesitantly. She lets out a short laugh.

"No, this is some logic trick," Lin says, "but I cannot get my head around it."

Logic -- logic trick. That reminds me of a riddle where you ask way from a liar or truthteller and don't know which. "Ah, you must somehow trick the logic ... using double negative I guess."

Lin's face brightens. "Yes, we use the logic agains itself. Let's see .. sword ..spell, I need to think this carefully."

He pauses for a while and moves some immaterial objects in the air to new positions with his hand, at the same time murmuring to himself. Meanwhile, I make as comforting and encouraging looks as I can and make eye contact with Aidan. He looks back, now more excited than scared. That's a good sign.

"You will kill me with your spell," Lin says suddenly.

She is about to reply something to that, but instead pauses, and a second later says: "Oh don't repeat my words if you don't know the answer."

Aidan's face turns pale and he gasps.

"Don't try to cheat," Lin snaps. "That was the answer and it is correct. You can't kill me with a spell because that would make it true, and you can't kill me with a sword because that would make it a lie."

The smile that comes to her face seems to require a lot of effort. "All right, dear," she says. "Very good, and I must say that your human impressed me. She is less stupid than I thought."

Oh, how someone's praise could make you feel inferior, and sadly she knows how to use that weapon. But now I won't allow my brain to think about that. I must focus. I look again at Aidan, who is now clearly relieved. I nod to him.

"It's my turn to ask," I say. "I heard this riddle on the first day of school and I really like it."

"Oh my, I thought you wanted to play an adult game, but go ahead," she says and snorts.

"Look to your right, see a new friend.
Look to your left, still another.
Ask and tell to learn and bend.
What is the name of his brother?"

She blinks and pauses. Aidan startles, he seems to have recognised the riddle. His eyes widen, and he looks at me, then at her. His cheeks blush again, even more than before.

She has a blank face for a second, apparently not knowing the riddle but going through it word by word. Then she looks at her left -- directly to Aidan. When she realises the meaning, her face turns into grimace for an instant before she is able to hide it.

I knew it!

Aidan has been here for years, and she has not been interested in learning anything about him personally, not to speak of his family. Lin's face starts to look sure of victory.

"What is the name of his brother?" I say louder and look directly into Aidan's eyes.

"Eirian!"

"What!?" Lin cries in disbelief.

"Stupid boy!" she sneers. "His brother's name is Eirian."

Lin looks shocked. But that is nothing compared to Aidan, whose posture is now collapsing and he has covered his face with his palms. He squeaks quietly.

"Oh why, why did I say it? Oh my gods..."

I bite my lip and try to keep myself calm. This is not over yet.

She looks awkward, too. Some emotion is forcing its way to her face and she is struggling to keep calm. She turns her back to Aidan and looks away for a while. She takes a few deep breaths. Aidan is still whining and crouching.

"Aidan, please stand up. It's not your fault. We are still here for you," I say and try to sound comforting although I doubt there is little I can do to make him feel better.

She turns back and smiles vaguely.

"Now we are even. Let's continue. It's my turn to ask."

"No, that was definitely cheating," Lin roars. "You did not know the answer!"

"Oh my, please," she says in her usual cool, spine-vibrating voice. "I did nothing wrong, you know.  Teams have to be allowed. She insisted."

She points at my chest with her sharp index finger nail, like imagining that she will pierce me like a chicken soon enough.

"We must go on," I say. "Lin, Aidan please concentrate. We must get the next riddle right."

"Twelve pears hanging high, twelve men passing by. Each took a pear and left eleven hanging there. How can this be?" she says.

Lin looks at me for a while. I try to figure out the idea. Twelve men taking pears, but how come they are still there? There must be a trick somewhere.

Suddenly I feel something in my pocket, like I had something hot there. I put my hand in the pocket. It's the matchbox.

My green stone. From the rabbit's gall bladder. It's vibrating softly. I squeeze it in my hand, and suddenly I see a vision of trees. Trees in a row. And pears... What the heck...? Men are approaching the trees.

"Stop!"

I snap back from the vision.

"Magic is not allowed. Put your token away," she says firmly.

"Token? What are you talking...?" I don't understand. I look at Lin for an explanation.

"Did you think I wouldn't figure out that you had a token? It was too obvious from your excellent language skills. So it was quite obvious you would try to cheat with it to get answers," her voice is cold like ice.

"Er, what??" Now I am completely lost.

"That is a Token that the Forest gave you," Lin says. "I guess I forgot to explain it, I'm sorry. If you used it, the Forest might help you with this riddle of trees. But unfortunately she is right, we can't use magic. Otherwise she could use magic too, and we wouldn't have a chance."

"So... this is a magic token and it makes me speak in languages...?"

"Yes," Lin says simply. She laughs.

"I take back what I just said about her. She is not less stupid, she is just very lucky."

I feel insulted and annoyed that something this important was going on without Lin explaining me anything. I shove the matchbox back in my pocket and try not to think about the whole issue any more. Just the riddle. Twelve pears.

"Twelve men pick pears... how come there's eleven left?" Lin thinks aloud. I get an idea.

"Maybe twelve men pick a pear, together."

"Hey, right! She never thinks about genuine collaboration, so she thought we wouldn't either. Our answer is that each of the twelve men participated in the picking of a single pear, together."

A wide smile spreads on her face.

"Sorry dear, you failed. The man who picked the pear was called Each."

I am stunned. When said aloud, that makes so much more sense. This was a typical language riddle.

"We still have one riddle and you need to answer that correctly to win," I point out.

Lin tries to pull himself together. Aidan is now quiet but he looks sick, the poor boy.

"Okay, I have the final riddle," Lin says.

"Late at night they come without being fetched. By day they are lost without being stolen. What are they?"

She is silent and looks at Lin.

"Come now, dear, I have lived long enough to learn these nature riddles. The answer is stars... wait...!"

A smile started to appear on Lin's face but now it is gone. She keeps talking and watches Lin's every movement and expression carefully.

"No, the original riddle says 'at night', not 'late at night' so you have adjusted it and the answer is also different. It is not just stars in general,"

I see Lin swallow. He tries to hide it but she notices it too. Aidan has raised his face and looks at her and then Lin and then me with mostly desperate but at times excited face. Where is this going?

"So it is not stars in general but a particular constellation or a single star... that appears late at night rather than early... it could be the Swan, or the Morning Star... and that's it! Thank you my dear, you are like an open book. It is the Morning Star."

Lin is stunned, his mouth open and eyes full of pain. I can't avoid thinking that he has experienced her victories too many times before. I step by Lin's side. We need him now badly.

"Lin, Aidan. it's okay, we are fine. We are together."

"Yes, you are mine now. Wouldn't you stay here with your friends, Lin? Just think what we could do together."

"No! We are leaving, aren't we, Lin? Lin! We are leaving."

Lin looks at me, and I try to encourage him as well as I can. I grab his arm. We must leave.

Lin pulls himself together, grits his teeth and nods.

"Yes, we are not staying with you, despite anything!"

"Oh dear, you are so wrong. Don't forget that I won the game and you are indebted to me."

"Lin is not indebted to anyone," I shout. "Let him be alone. You don't deserve to be his mother."

She is stunned and stares at me eyes wide open. She has real difficulties in keeping her appearances.

"I will teach you some respect," she hisses furiously. "It may take years but I will teach you, be sure of it!"

"Oh, let's get the debt business our of way, shall we," I say. "We lost the game, you are right of that. And now you rightfully receive my debt to Lin."

I open my fist, and blow from my palm towards her. She shakes a little, not comprehending my gesture.

"There's your debt -- what's left of it. Which is nothing. I have paid my debt and I owe you nothing."

She cannot hold a shriek. She glances from me to Lin and back. Lin says nothing and seems distracted. I continue.

"You should pay more attention to what people need. You might have noticed that Lin needed support against you, and that's what I gave him. You helped me pay for my debt. Ironic, huh?"

"No.. no..."

"We really should be leaving now. You have no power over us. Not any longer."

She takes a few breaths and looks at us, furiously.

"You don't want to leave your friend here. You want to stay and keep him safe."

"It will come haunt you if you try to use people as means," I say.

"Don't try to teach me how to live my life, brat," she hisses.

"Aidan, come here. You are with us now."

"Don't go, if you ever want to get back to your family!"

"Aidan, she is bluffing. That is not true."

"You are indebted to me," she shrieks.

"No, only until you helped her with something she needed. And you did, just a few minutes ago."

Aidan raises his head in surprise. Then his face light up.

"With the riddle about my brother! She wouldn't have known without my help!"

"So, you are free to come with us, if you just want!"

"No, you can't go! I forbid! I will stop you."

She tries to grab Aidan by hand, but he slips away.

"Run outside, Aidan and Charlie!" Lin shouts.

I grab Aidan by the hand and we start running toward the front door. She runs after us, but Lin blocks her way.

"I will stop you!" she's screaming. "You won't be able to leave this house without my permission!"

"Run outside and through the door," Lin shouts after us.

I push the handle and  pull the door open. In the middle of the front yard, there is an open door, leading to apparently nowhere.

______________________


Extra riddles that were not used.

I fly without wings and cry without eyes. What am I? (a could)

Two girls were born to the same mother, on the same day, at the same time, in the same month and year and yet they're not twins. How can this be? (they are part of a set of triplets)

Two goblins are standing on a bridge. One is the farther of the other one's son. What is the relation between them? (husband and wife)

What jumps when it walks but sits when it stands? (frog)

I never speak unless spoken to, many have heard me but none have seen me. What am I? (echo)

At night they come without being fetched. By day they are lost without being stolen. What are they? (stars)

Doors, Part 22 - Games

This has got to be the worst idea I've ever had.

I go in and look around, closing the door behind me. Lin is standing at a table in the hall. So is someone else. Lin looks angry, his face flashing to nervous as I come in. The other... faerie? Is she a faerie? She first looks confused, and then grins, like something extremely good has just happened. I simply stare at them for a moment, not quite knowing what to do now. I clearly did not think this through.

"My, my," she says, grinning at Lin. "A bit hypocritical of you, isn't it, dear?" I don't like the way she talks.

"You stay away from her," Lin snarls, having turned away from me, staring at her. She raises her hands up in defense.

"Oh, I would never mess with someone else's indebted," she says, still smiling. Indebted? "Especially not yours, now that you have finally embraced the family ways and gotten yourself one. You make mama so proud." Is that Lin's mom? "I don't know the story behind this, but I certainly approve."

"The surest way to know I've done something wrong," Lin keeps his eyes tightly on his mom so I can't see his face, but his voice is practically dripping with venom. I walk to him, keeping also my eyes on her. His body language tells me she's the greatest threat in the room.

"Does she have Aidan?" I ask him quietly. This seems to puzzle her, though she keeps her expression carefully composed.

"I think so," he tells me. "So you know we tried to look at some records you had sealed. You know which records they were?"

"Of course," she says, as if he was asking something stupid. The more she talks the more I dislike her. "How does she speak faerie? She can't have been here long."

Wait, I'm speaking some faerie language?

"None of your business," Lin answers before I have time to get any further with that thought. "Where's the boy?"

"Around," she's still smiling, now eying me curiously.

"We want him," Lin says, plainly.

"We?" she asks, arching an eyebrow.

"Me and her."

She laughs. "It's cute you include your human in sentences like that. Like you make decisions with her."

"I do," Lin says. She laughs again. The sound sends a shiver down my spine, but I feel grateful to Lin. He's been treating me like a friend, even though I've mostly been a nuisance. Of his own creation, true, but still. Her words strongly imply that's not a case for all -- or any -- relationships between faeries and humans.

"Oh, that is just precious," she says, eyes glittering, "You've come a long way, but you still have a long way to go until you're truly living up to the family standards."

Lin looks like he's about to say something, but I'm pissed off now.

"Well maybe your family standards are terrible," I say, loudly. Both of the faeries turn to look at me, stunned. Lin is looking at me mouth hanging open, eyes wide. His mom's face is a lot more composed, but it shows surprise too. So apparently the people here really don't expect humans to speak up. What is wrong with this world? It all makes me even more annoyed. "I haven't known Lin for long, but in that time he's never been anything but kind to me and helpful, and supportive when I haven't had any idea what's going on or what to do, and that's frankly how it should be. Not living up to your stupid standards is what makes me respect him. He is a better person than you will ever be, so don't you talk to my friend like that!"

Her composure cracks. She looks shocked I would speak up. It's her mouth that's hanging slightly open now. She also looks... angry? Because I dared to speak when I assume she feels it's out of turn? It's subtle, like she's still somewhat in control of her face, but it's there. I give her my best furious stare. I feel like I should be terrified of what's going to happen next, but instead I simply feel relieved. Free. I look at Lin. He's actually smiling now, and if I'm not completely imagining, his eyes seem to be tearing up slightly. Not nearly enough to cry, but he looks touched. 

Thank you, he mouths to me while his mom is still staring at me, and I understand. I let the barest of smiles touch my lips, and then turn my angry face back towards her.

"Like he said," I tell her sternly, "We want the boy."

Boy? He's been missing for decades. But boy is what Lin said, so that's what I'm sticking with.

She stares at me for a moment longer, then seems to make up her mind about something.

"Very well. Let's play a game," she says, her voice even more silky and dangerous than it was before. "Boy! Come here!" she calls out.

A sound comes from upstairs. Lin and I turn to look at the landing above, though I can see he's keeping one eye on his mom, and I try too. A boy appears at the top of the staircase. Or maybe not a boy, but also not quite a young man either. He's maybe sixteen, maybe seventeen. He's been missing for over thirty years, but only aged five.

"Yes, Mistress?" he says, then notices us, and stops, looking stunned. "Beth?"

He thinks I'm my mom. He doesn't know his friend and brother are all grown up, and have kids of their own. People always did tell me I look like Mom.

"Oh, so we all know each other," Lin's mom smiles. Aidan is walking down the stairs, his eyes still wide. "That would explain why you want him. So, we play a game. If you win, you get the boy's debt. If I win, I get the girl's debt. I will even let you suggest the game."

I'm about to open my mouth to respond, but Lin nudges me and pulls me to the side.

"We can't win," he says as we're on the opposite side of the hall, very quietly. "I know it seems like we can, but we can't. It's not that I don't trust us, but that I know her. It's impossible to beat her in a game."

I don't say anything, just thinking quietly for a moment, my eyes closed. Then I nod to myself.

"I think I have a plan," I say.

A couple of minutes later we return to Lin's mom in the other end of the room.

"Very well," Lin says, formally, his eyes blazing. "I will play riddles with you. Three riddles per side. Whoever gets more riddles right wins. Whoever wins, gets the debts."

"Wait," I say, before she has to say anything. "No way, I want to play too, this is our fight, not yours alone. Teams have to be allowed."


"Well, if you think you can contribute to the game," she says with a smile, "be my guest. I accept."
______________________________________________________________

Oookay.
The next topic is something that fits the next part.

~matu

Doors, Part 21 - Surprises

I hurry down the street, distress, annoyance, anger coursing through my veins. Auctions! I can't believe it! No, that's not true; I can easily believe it. But I don't want to! She said she'd stop. She said she wouldn't do it anymore!

I should have known better than to take her word for it.

She's even sealed the record... Such a shady deal, of course she would have. He was not supposed to be here, really, and the legality of him inheriting the debt was no doubt a big deal back when he came through. I would be surprised I didn't hear about it back then, but then again I try not to hear about things like that.

Oh, we're going to have to go back there, aren't we? Of all the places Fate would have us go...

"Alright," I say as I finally come to a stop. We were walking quite fast, I realize as I take in our surroundings. We're already almost out of town. It's much less crowded here, which is good. No prying eyes or ears. I turn back to Charlie. "I, uh, I guess I have to tell you a bit about my... family--"

I blink. I look around. I open my mouth and then close it again.

"Shit."

Charlie's not there.

~x~

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

How could I have been so stupid?! I didn't make sure she was following me, I should've checked, it was so crowded and who knows why she was stuck, she could have gotten lost or heaven forbid taken, or--

I fly around town as fast as I can, following the route I took back to the town hall. She's not there, but something has clearly happened; there's a disgruntled  gerblin picking up stuff from the ground as a few passersby look on and chitter amongst themselves. I would ask if he's seen a human, but he doesn't look like he'd take kindly to that. Instead I head back to the inn.

She's not there. I sigh and tell the clerk that should she see her, tell her to stay there and send me a hail. Then I'm off again.

I'm not sure where to look, honestly. I spend a while just flying all over town, hoping that I would find her in the crowd. I don't. She is nowhere to be found. I've covered almost all of the town limits, but have seen no sign of her. I've asked a few townsfolk, and gotten some direction, but to no avail.

She must be moving around as well and we keep crossing paths. It's annoying, but I don't think she'd be safer staying put.

What do I do now? There's been no hail from the inn, so she hasn't gone back there, and just flying around randomly is getting me nowhere. I have to stop and think for a moment. Where would she go? Back towards the forest? Maybe, but I doubt that... the forest is big and there's no specific place for her to go there. Not that there's really a place like that in the town either, she she didn't go back to the inn or stay at the town hall.

Wait. Could she have--

No. No way.

She might've though. She's resourceful, she would find out where it is.

Would people tell her though? Someone would, if she kept asking. Could she really...?

I take a deep breath to calm myself and head westward.

~x~

The big iron gate looms above me. I never understood why she insisted on getting an iron gate. Or, I kind of understand it. If no one can open the door without burning themselves, then no one can come in unless she so wishes. It is very intimidating if nothing else. I wonder if Charlie will find it so too, even if as a human she can touch iron.

Maybe I could just wait here...? No. No, I have to go in, Charlie might already be inside and if there's one place I can't leave her alone in, it's in there.

I sigh and drop myself into the In Between before manifesting in the Human Realm. The forcefield over the house makes it impossible to enter anywhere else than through the gate, but then again that only applies to normal people. The forcefield is only a problem if you're in the same plane of existence as it. When I'm past the wall, I return to the Faerie Realm.

I can hear her voice in my head. "Cheater," she would say, but with a smile and a tint of satisfaction in her voice. Like she's proud of me for bending the rules. And I do bend them, I bend them like no one else does.

Suppressing the urge to just leave, I walk up to the house and open the door.

"Lin," says a voice as soon as I enter. A figure, up on the second floor, at the top of the large staircase. A shiver runs down my spine despite my best efforts. It's been so long since I last saw her, but she's still the exact same.

"Mama," I say. She starts down the stairs, the long trail of her midnight blue dress dragging behind her on the ground. Her hair is almost to the ground as well, glittering as it is with gemstones worked into the small braids in it. A circle sits on her brow, though I do not know on whose authority.

"Honestly, Lin, you should have hailed," she's saying. "I could have prepared something! Although," she grins, her pearl white teeth flashing dangerously, "a surprise attack is often the most effective."

"Is she here?" I ask instead of giving her an answer to that. She blinks, a split second of confusion on her face, before it's overtaken again by the carefully guarded self-satisfaction.

"You will have to be more precise, dear," she says. She's at the bottom of the stairs now, standing in front of me.

"I'll take that as a 'no'," I say and turn. This was a bad idea, I should never have come here, I need to find Charlie, I have no time to play with her--

"Leaving so soon?" she says, not a hint of sadness in her voice. "Of course you are. After all, what's the point of staying if there's nothing to be gained?"

I grit my teeth. "Exactly," I say.

"Unless, of course, there is something to be gained," she says. I open the front door. "I hear you dropped by the Records earlier."

I stop. I turn. She's looking at me with a positively predatory smile.

"What, you think I wouldn't hear if someone went snooping into records I'd sealed? Please." She waves a hand and walks over to the side, to a small table with three chairs around it. She seats herself in one of them, setting the hem of her dress aide with a flourish. Then she gestures at one of the other chairs.

I hesitate. This is why we're here, originally. To find out what happened to Aidan after she bought him. But still...

I start to fly towards the table and she puts a hand up to stop me.

"If you think I'm going to sit with you looking like that, you're sorely mistaken," she says. "You know how I feel about faeries."

"You are a faerie," I point out.

"No," she hisses. I flinch back slightly. "I am not a faerie. They are insignificant, ditzy little creatures that cause more trouble than they are worth. I may have been born into a faerie family, but make no mistake, I am not one of them."

She settles back down and I take a moment to recompose myself. Then I land on the ground and change form. She watches the process like a hawk.

"You truly are quite magnificent," she says as I sit down on the other side of the table. "So much power, raw, unadulterated power. What must it feel like, to have that coursing through your body?"

"I am not here to talk about that, you know as much," I say, not meeting her piercing gaze. "You had your chance to try and understand my power, but you failed and I have moved on."

"And yet, here you are again!"

"Not because I wish to, I assure you," I say. "If you have something to tell me about your purchases, now is the time."

"Now, now, let's not get ahead of ourselves," she says. "You are the one in search of information. I do hope that you're prepared to pay the price of it, too."

I take several deep breaths. "What do you want?"

"I haven't quite decided yet," she says, leaning back on her chair. "This is all so sudden. I wasn't expecting to see you so soon."

"I wasn't expecting to see you ever again."

"So bitter," she tuts. "Are you still mad at me for what happened? It's been so long, you should really learn to let go."

"Let go?!" I shriek, slamming my fist on the table. The chair goes flying behind me as I jump to my feet. "You're the one who taught me to never forgive! You're the one who told me to always trust people only until I can stab them in the back! You're the one who said that everybody is expendable! You fucked up my childhood, you fucked up me, and now you think that you can sweet talk me into forgiving you for everything that you did??
"You used me," I say, standing up straight. "All throughout my childhood you used me, used my power as a Betweener for your own gain. For status, for power. You never helped me to control it, never taught me to understand it. You just used me, just like you use everyone else around you. Fae, human, it doesn't matter; anyone can be tricked into being indebted, right?"

A heavy silence settles over us as I struggle to keep down the emotions that erupted from within me. For so long I said nothing, but now... now I said everything.

She stares at me, an expression unlike any I've seen on her before, one I'm unable to decipher.

The loud creak of the front door breaks the silence and we both turn to look. I inhale sharply.

Charlie!

"My, my," she says, her voice like honeyed poison and I turn to look back at her, panic rising in my throat again. She looks me straight in the eyes and grins. "A bit hypocritical of you, isn't it, dear?"
______________________________________________________________________________

Yes hello it's 2AM and the internet doesn't work orz

Sorry this is so late, I had another busy day and I couldn't focus on writing in the train so I had to wait until I was home before I started and at that point it was pretty late and now it's even later and I'm just gonna go to bed now I have Gigantti in the morning bye~~

Pie out.

Doors, Part 20 - Box

"What do you mean, your family's seal?"

I run after him and try to make up my mind if that is good or bad news. From Lin's expression I reckon it is bad. But why? Wouldn't it help if Aidan was indebted to someone Lin knew?

Lin doesn't answer, he just keeps loping along a street. I know he heard, so I decide to give him time to get used to the idea -- whatever that idea is. We rush beside people walking on the street and merchants pulling their wagons full of frost mushrooms or whatever. I almost bump into a strange creature carrying two willow baskets on its back. I quickly take two steps aside, and something hits me from the back. I fall onto the dirty snow on my knees.

"Lin!"

"Now what do we have here?" says a rough voice behind me.

I turn to look up and see a tall goblin of sorts. It had a box on its arms, and now it is sideways on the ground. I start to lean toward the box.

"Sorry, sir, I'll pick it..."

It grabs my arm and pulls me up, and the box I had in my hands falls back on the ground. Ouch, that hurts.

"Well, well. A human brat. Don't see these often nowadays."

"Let me go! Lin!" Where did he go? Why was he running so fast? I look around and see a lot of interested and some amused faces. But no Lin.

"Ow my, what a temper," the goblin says. Some people laugh at that, although there's nothing funny here except for those who enjoy teasing other people. "Bet that I won't let you go. You dropped my box and now it's broken. You owe me! You come with me."

Suddenly everyone nearby turns silent. I feel my cheek turn pale. Owe it? Am I now indebted to that creature? I will never ever get out of here.

For two long seconds I feel very empty and weak. But then I get my courage back. I start shaking his hand.

"Let go! I owe you nothing! We didn't agree on anything! You are just mean and try to trick me. I am not that stupid."

From the corner of my eye, I see a few surprised faces. Apparently they did not expect me to fight back. This gives me more courage. I kick the goblin on the knee and at the same time push his hand away from my coat collar. It kneels down in pain.

I don't wait for things to unfold. The goblin is bigger and stronger than me, so the best I can do is to distract it and win a few seconds. I hope that I am faster that it. I start running to the direction where Lin were going..

"Look, Rembol lost to a brat. Eehe ehe," I hear a sneer behind my back. I don't turn to see who it was but I'm sure it was the creature who was laughing at me just seconds ago. I hate people whose main fun is to see other in misery.

Lin ran fast, and if he didn't notice what happened, he might be far away already. So I speed up and run along the street as fast as I can. But now I look around more carefully. To avoid further crashes, and to find Lin. But he is nowhere to be seen.

So I keep running but start to make a plan as well. This town is a dangerous place for a lonely human. But I also have a clue: I should go and meet the family of the green griffin. Maybe I should start asking about them? Or should I run away and go back to the forest? I know now that frost mushrooms are edible so I will survive until ... what? For Lin to find me? But as long as he thinks I am stuck in Borados he will not leave.

So unless I am able to leave him a message that I have left, I shouldn't leave.

OK, it's time to do some careful research, I say to myself.

~ x ~

I don't know much about how to be careful in this town, but one thing I can do is to choose to whom to talk. So I avoid creatures (people?) who look crumpy or very strong. I also only speak to people where there are others present to see; although that didn't help much with the goblin. And I decide to stay outside in case that Lin has turned into his winged form and flies around searching for me.

The green griffin is something that many people seem to know about but don't want to get engaged in such discussions. The family seems to be famous and powerful. The griffin is their seal, but their actual name is Foechis. So I get a bit further with my inquiry. When I ask how to meet them, I get bizarre answers, like oh you don't want to meet them, or you can't if they don't want to meet you. That is discouraging but I will not give up. Not when I have come this far.

Oh Lin, if I just could find you. Why didn't you explain your family? This would be so much easier together.

Finally, I get some practical advice. A small faerie tells me that the Foechis family has a mansion at the outskirts of the town on a high hill. So I start walking there.

On the way, I try to make a plan. Should I just knock on the door and ask about Aidan? Or should I try to sneak in from a remote window and spy around? I don't know, so I'll just go there and see what's it like.

Dusk has fallen but the Moon is bright, so I can see the mansion fairly well. It has a wall around it and an iron gate. There is a garden between the wall and the house, which sits on top of a steep hill. Light comes out of several windows and cast bright spots on the white trees around the house.

Is this the place where Lin is from? If it is, what has made him move to the forest to live alone in -- a nest? There is definitely something Lin has not told me. But it is time to find out.

I start walking toward the house.
___________________________________

The next topic is Surprises.

Doors, Part 19 - Seal

I don't remember when I last slept so well. It worries me a bit: I'm in a strange town where people apparently get sold, so I feel like I ought to have at least some trouble sleeping. But the bed was so soft (how can a bed be so soft?!) and I was so tired from everything that has happened in the last couple of days I simply fell asleep as soon as I hit the bed.

I'm still thrilled about the fact that I just talked to a star (talked to a star?!) as we walk down the stairs to find some food. I wonder what the food is like in the Faerie Realm. Lin only brought me food from home as I was stuck in the In Between, so I still don't know. Which makes me wonder about the fact that I got out of there around noon yesterday, and then we walked all day, and... we didn't eat anything all day? That can't be right. Maybe I forgot? Maybe in the Faerie Realm simply existing takes somehow less energy so one doesn't need to eat so often? Lin doesn't seem to eat much ever. Or maybe time works differently here, so that my body didn't realise yesterday so much time has passed, and doesn't realise to feel hungry. But I did feel tired. So...

I don't know. Time is weird. The Faerie Realm is weird.

And either way, I am hungry now.

There's some breakfast served in the inn's common room. Lin ushers me to a table in one of the corners and goes to find something for me to eat. Meanwhile I let my eyes wander the room. There are some people in there, but not enough for the room to be crowded. Then I notice a couple of fae staring at me. They're not faeries, I don't think, but since I don't actually know anything about faeries, except what I know of Lin, or fae in general, it's tough to say. They don't look nice. I stare back at them, while feeling it's probably a terrible idea. One of them looks about to stand up and come to me when Lin returns. They exchange some words as they see him, but they're way too far away for me to even hear the murmur of their voices.

"Here," Lin begins as he sets the plate on the table, but noticing me staring into some other table doesn't continue with whatever he was about to say. He follows my gaze to the faes in the other table. He glances back at me. He sets his jaw and marches up to the other two. They all look annoyed at each other, but none of them raise their voice as they exchange what seems from their body language to be heated words. After a few moments Lin turns around and heads back to me.

"Don't make eye contact with anyone," he hisses at me. Then he blinks, looks down at the table. "Eat your food." He says, voice kinder, but still irritated.

I nod, and start eating my breakfast.

~x~

"So where are we going now?" I ask Lin after I've finished eating and he practically pushes me out the door. I keep my voice low, my eyes downcast.

"To the records," he says.

"Records?"

"We keep records of the humans in the Faerie Realm," Lin explains. I stare at my walking feet for a moment.

"Why?" I ask.

"To know how many of you there are. And where you are. It's an old system, really. Nowadays it wouldn't matter so much, since the only humans here are here to repay a debt. There used to be more of you here, some choosing to live here. The fae council wanted to keep track of you, because you're foreigners here, so they created a way to magically keep up with all the humans in the Faerie Realm. The records update automatically, if humans move within the Faerie Realm, or go back home, or die, or are born."

"Or sold," I whisper. Lin nods.

"Yes. Though that used to not be a thing back then," Lin says.

"So the records will tell us where Aidan is?" Lin nods. We walk in silence.

"Am I in the records too?" I ask after a while

"The records for humans appear as they themselves appear in the Faerie Realm. So yes, you should be."

We walk in silence for a moment longer, until we come to a fancy-looking building. We go in. There entrance hall isn't big. There's only one room. In that room is only one desk. Behind the desk sits a grumpy-looking... something. I can't tell. I sigh inwardly.

"We're here to take a look at the human records," Lin says.

"Of any particular human?" the thing behind the counter asks. The voice is startling. It doesn't fit the creature at all. Looking at her (I'm pretty sure it's a her. Maybe. Or maybe not. Who ever knows with the fae. At least the voice is clearly feminine.) I can't even tell what kind of a voice I would have expected, but it was definitely not this. I realise I'm staring.

"The name is Aidan. Came to the Faerie Realm as a boy maybe thirty human-years ago, I think. The most recent markings on the records, please."

The creature nods and disappears through a door. She's gone for quite a while.

"Are there a lot of us here now?" I ask, to fill the silence.

"Not really. Some. I mean, the world is a big place, so if you got all the humans to one place at the same time, that would be many. But no, not a lot."

"I haven't seen any humans here since I got here," I say.

"Like I said, there aren't that many of you. In this town one sees at least one human on more trips than not, but it's not unusual to not spot any, even though there are for sure some in the town at any given time. And this is a place where there are more humans than anywhere else close by."

The creature comes back through the door.

"The newest records are inaccessible," she says. It seems to me like in her position she should at least pretend to be sorry she couldn't help us, since she is here to help us, but her tone says she is completely indifferent. Lin looks confused.

"What do you mean, inaccessible?" he asks.

"I mean inaccessible. The newest records have been sealed. I can find him coming to the Faerie Realm, and follow him for a while, but the newest records, which are not all that new compared to the time he's been here, are sealed," she shrugs.

"By whose seal?" Lin asks, like he can't believe what he's hearing. I get the sense sealing records is not something that happens often.

"The green griffin," she says, voice beginning to edge from indifferent to annoyed.

Lin just stares at her for a moment, his face looking paler than usually. Or maybe I'm just imagining. Either way, it doesn't sound like good news. My heart sinks.

"Let's go," he says to me quietly and turns. "Let's get out of this cursed town."

I almost have to run after him out the door, he's walking so fast.

"What just happened?" I ask, "What's the green griffin?"

Lin keeps up his pace, heading out of the town, but glances sideways at me.

"It's my family's seal," he answers, quietly.
______________________________________________________________________

 Ooookay. Getting back on schedule. The next topic is Box.

~matu

Doors, Part 18 - Board

I'm a little hesitant about taking Charlie to Borados, but we don't exactly have another plan, and she really wants to find her unkle. And, truth be told, I am somewhat curious about him too, about what he's been doing and how the difference in timestreams has made a difference.

But still, to Borados! Why did I even suggest it, it's definitely not safe for a human. But it is the one place where humans would be... We'll just have to be really, really careful.

No, no, it's fine, I'm here with her, after all. If someone tries to do something funny, I'll just tell them to get away from my indebted. Which isn't even a lie, actually. She really is indebted to me. My heart skips a beat and I instantly feel bad. I shouldn't be excited about having an indebted when it's my fault she's in this mess in the first place. It's like I tricked her.

Mama would be proud...

I shake that thought out of my mind before it has time to form properly. No. I am not that kind of a fae. I did not trick her, I don't want to keep her here against her will, and I will help her get back home if it's the last thing I do.

"Alright," I say and stop. Charlie pauses too, looking back at me. Stars twinkle above us. It's almost midnight. "I think we should take a break here."

"What?" she asks, her brow furrowing. "Why? It's just around the corner, isn't it?"

"Yes, and that's why we need to take a break," I say. The crease between her eyebrows deepens. "There's some things I need to tell you about Borados before we enter it."

She glances away for a second, but then looks back at me and nods. She takes a seat on a large boulder nearby.

"Okay, so Borados isn't... the safest place for a human to be," I start, trying to word my concerns without freaking her out in the process. "A lot of... unpleasant business happens there."

"But... I thought you said that Borados was the town where humans are?"

"Yes, there absolutely are humans in Borados. The thing is... Not one human in the Faerie Realm is here by their own volition."

Charlie is quiet for a moment.

"The humans that are here are all indebted," I continue. "They've all accepted a favour and now they can't leave before they've repaid. And I mean they physically can't, they're bound by magic to stay by the fae they're indebted to."

"How did the foreigner get out?" Charlie asks.

"That is a good question. I don't know." She hums, thoughtful. "But what I do know is that he exchanged his debt to Aidan. It's not something that happens often, but sometimes it needs to be done. If, say, you're too old to repay your debt, your children will inherit it, but that is essentially the only time it happens. I've never heard anyone give their debt forward, especially to someone unrelated."

There is a silence.

"Do you..." Charlie starts. "Do you think he's fine?"

"I'm sorry, but I really can't say."

She nods again, her eyes downcast. There is another silence.

"So... what kind of 'business' happens in Borados?" she asks.

"Oh. Um." I hesitate. "Well, there's a lot of... selling... of debts."

"Didn't you just say--"

"No, no, the humans don't sell their debts," I hurry to say. "The... the fae sell their indebteds."

She stops. She stares at me for a second. She grimaces.

"That's horrible!"

"I know!"

"That's... that's like... human trafficking..."

"Not 'like', it is," I say and she grimaces again. "Most fae don't really... care about humans, really. They don't hate humans or anything, they just... consider themselves better, I guess? Humans are treated like a servant class, doing all the dirty work, although it does depend on the one in possession of the human."

"That's stupid. Why do the humans even have to do what the faeries ask? Is the magical balance thing forcing them?"

"No, strictly speaking it's not," I say. "But since the humans can't leave until they've repaid their debt, they don't dare not do what's being asked of them. But, like I explained earlier, the balance doesn't care about that, and the fae are always careful not to ask of their humans what they need, only what they want."

"I feel like that's cheating."

"Yeah, it kinda is," I sigh. "Well, as long as you stick close to me, you should be fine."

"Right," she says and stands up, stretching. "It's kind of late, do you think we should sleep here or find a place in town? Or can we start looking for unkle Aidan right now?"

"I think it's best to leave the questions for the morning," I say. Borados isn't the safest place in the sunlight, let alone in the middle of the night. "We can get a bed in town, if you're okay with that?"

"An actual bed? Of course I'm okay with it! I've been sleeping on the forest floor for two nights and my back is killing me."

I chuckle. "Fair enough. Let's go then."

~x~

"You call this a town??" Charlie exclaims.

I turn to look at her, and then at the town that is now visible above the treetops. The tallest buildings stretch out towards the sky, their glimmering rivaling the stars up above.

"This... this is huge!"

"Oh," I say and frown. Sure it's bigger than the corresponding human town, but... "Most fae cities are much bigger."

Charlie stares at me, her mouth hanging open.

"I... I guess you've never been to a much bigger town than Donchester, huh?" I say, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Why do you even need a town this big? I thought faeries are tiny!" she exclaims.

"Well, yes, faeries are, generally, but there's other kinds of fae, too," I say. "Which reminds me..."

I settle down on the ground and close my eyes. I breathe in, deep, then let out a long inhale. The air starts to whip around me as I channel arcane power into my body. It soaks the power up like a sponge. I feel myself expand, get thicker and taller, as I fill out my other form.

I open my eyes, and glance myself over. Everything seems to be just like last time I used this form, except my robes are now clean. Which I'm quite happy about, walking around with a giant red stain on my chest would probably garner some even weirder looks than usual.

"What the heck??"

I jump a little at Charlie's outburst. She's still staring at me, mouth even more open, if that's even possible.

"Ah," I say. I hadn't mentioned form changing, had I?

"Why didn't you tell me you were actually big?" she asks, staring up at me. I'm somewhat taller than her now, and not only because she's a young girl.

"Well, I'm not 'actually' this big," I say, suddenly feeling quite bashful. "The form I was in is my normal form."

"You have such long hair now!" she says, taking a strand of my silver hair in her hand and letting it slide through her fingers. I know she doesn't mean anything by it, but I can't help but feel a bit embarrassed. "And your ears got longer! Why do you have two forms anyway?"

"Ah, that's because..." I pause. "Uh. Well. I don't really know why, actually. I think all faeries have a second form, at least all the ones I know have one. Makes it easier to interact with other fae. I, uh, I can explain how it works, if you want?"

"That's fine, I doubt I'd understand." She waves a hand. "Something, something, arcane energy, that's fine. You've mentioned other fae a few times now?"

"Yes, faeries aren't the only inhabitants of this realm, there's all kinds of other fae too," I explain. "Like pixies and sprites and nymphs and elves and a bunch that you humans don't have a name for. Borados is a predominately elven town, which... well, elves aren't the most lenient of the fae, which is why the selling is so overt in this town." I pause for a moment, before adding, "If... if someone comments on you, just... just ignore them, okay? We don't want any trouble here and they're not worth it anyway."

"I... Okay," Charlie says with a nod. "I'll try."

"Thank you. Now, let's go find an inn."

~x~

We make our way through the town. Charlie is constantly looking around in wonder; at the lights and the sights, the shining outsides of buildings and street vendors selling their wares. She almost stops several times to look at trinkets and whatnot, but I keep her moving. It's late, but the town is bustling as it always is, for better or for worse. Luckily nobody seems to pay us any specific mind, and we only get a few passing glance on our way. We see no other human on our way.

We do pass by a boarded up house. Or rather, a house that appears to be boarded up. One of the boards has the symbol of an auction house etched into it. I hurry us past it as quickly as I can.

The inn is on the other edge of town, but we make it there in good time. I procure us a room as Charlie looks around, still in awe, and then we start to climb up the many, many stairs in the building. Our room is one one of the higher floors -- not the highest, mind -- and its window faces East. That was a specific request on my part.

Charlie flops down on the bed as soon as she's inside. I pull the door closed behind us, and make sure it's locked.

"This bed is so soft~!" she mumbles into the pillow and I smile to myself. Soon enough she's sound asleep.

It must be so rough for her, I think as I look at her sleeping form. But she's taking it all in stride... She's a lot stronger than most. Stronger than me, that's for sure. I sigh. I do hope she'll get a happy ending.

I stare out the window at the night sky.

~x~

"Have you slept at all tonight?"

I smile up at Morning Star as she comes into view.

"No," I say. She gives me a look. "But you know I don't really need sleep."

"Yeah, yeah, you little weirdo," she says. "So, did you get the girl home? I'm surprised to see you in Borados in all places. And in that form... wow."

"Thanks, I guess?" I say and she laughs. "And no, not yet." I look back into the room. Charlie is still asleep. "There was a complication."

"Really?"

"You don't sound very surprised."

"That's because I'm not."

I huff out a laugh. "Yeah. She managed to Manifest herself, only... she did it in the wrong realm."

"And you can't make her a door, because now she's indebted to you."

"I would love to just let go of her debt, to let her go back home, but..."

"But that's not how the balance works."

We're quiet for a moment.

"Do you know what you need?" Star asks.

"Um," I say. Then nothing.

"Well, I suppose most people don't," she says. "I do though."

"You know what you need?" I ask. If anyone would know something like that it would be her.

"No, not what I need," she says and I blink. "I know what you need."

"Oh," I say. There's a pause. "Well, tell me!"

"I'm sorry," she says and I slump back down against the side of the window I'm sitting in, "but that's something you have to figure out for yourself. It's not something you can ask for, or force."

"I get it, it's fine," I say and wave a hand. "But if there's... anything you could tell me... a hint, or something?"

"Who are you talking to?"

I turn around and see Charlie sitting up in her bed, rubbing her eye.

"Oh, good morning, Charlie," I say. "You should go back to sleep, it's barely sunrise."

"It's winter, the sun rises really late," she says and yawns. Well, she's not wrong. "Besides, didn't I sleep like... I dunno, 15 hours last night?"

"True, but..." I try and fall short of anything to tell her. "Alright, if you're not tired anymore."

"'m not," she says and then yawns again. She gathers the duvet around herself and stands up. "So, who're you talkin' to?" she asks as she patters over to the window. I point up at the sky.

"Hi!" says Star.

"Oh," says Charlie. "Was that the star? Can stars speak in the Faerie Realm?"

"It's not about the realm, it's about your ability to perceive it," I say. "Humans are kinda really bad at hearing the Immemorial ones, but if they want to be heard..."

"I'm sorry, the who what's now?" Charlie asks.

"The Immemorials?" She nods. "They're beings that are old beyond comprehension, like the Stars and the Moon and the Sun and her Rays, and the Wind and the Sea..."

"And the Forest?"

"No, not the Forest," I say and Charlie pouts. "Well, maybe some Forest, but not our Forest."

"Your Forest is an Older Forest," Star chimes in. "Which doesn't quite qualify them as an Immemorial. But there are a few Ancient Forests still around, the oldest of whom are definitely old enough to be one."

"I see," Charlie says with a nod. "That's pretty cool. I didn't know that all these things were... alive, or something. Like, there's stories and whatnot, but I always figured..."

"That's quite alright, little one," Star assures. "But enough about us, what about you?"

"What do you mean?" Charlie asks.

"Well, what's your plan? What are you going to do?"

"Oh, we're here to look for my unkle," Charlie says.

"Yes, Lin mentioned," Star says.

"We don't have much to go on, but I figured this is as good a place as any to start," I say. "If there's been a new human, they've gone through here."

"I'd start with the town hall," Star says and then glances east. She sighs "My time is running short. I wish you good luck on your search! Oh, and Charlie?" Charlie looks up from where she'd glanced at the now slowly rising sun. "Take care of Lin for me, yeah?"

My heart starts pounding in my chest. "What?" asks Charlie.

"Well," says Star with a twinkle. "You know how they are by now. They can be a bit of a goofball, and maybe cause a fair bit of trouble without meaning, but they're a good person. So... I hope you don't judge them too harshly on the mistakes they've made."

"No, of course not!" Charlie assures. "We all make mistakes, I get that."

My face is burning up.

"Can you not talk about me like I'm not here?" I mutter. Star laughs.

"Sorry," she says. "But I mean it though. Lin is a good person." Charlie grins at me.

"...thank you," I say.

"You're welcome, dear," Star says, then glances back one more time. "Anyway, see you tomorrow morning! Take care of each other!"

Charlie waves at her enthusiastically until she's faded completely from view as the Sun's light reaches over the world.

"She was nice," Charlie says, turning to me.

"Yeah, she is," I say. A loud rumble emanates from somewhere and Charlie turns bright red.

"I... I guess I'm pretty hungry," she says. I smile.

"Well then, let's go find you something to eat," I say.
_____________________________________________________________________________

Hello again!

I finally managed to finish this ahh it took me the whole day I'm sorry. But I do hope you liked it, it went to a lottt of places.

Anyway.

Due to this... rescheduling, today's part (part 19, the topic is "Seal") is coming tomorrow morning and tomorrow's (part 20, no topic yet) is tomorrow evening. Sorry for the confusion, but that was a one day thing, I promise!

Onwards and upwards!

Pie out.

Doors, Part 17 - Radiation

We sit in silence for a long time. I'm hoping that Lin tells me I am wrong and I was able to enter the Human Realm, but he keeps silent. He seems confused and looks at me and then away again, apparently trying to figure out what happened.

I look around to find proof; a mouse track, a flying bird, anything non-faerie. Instead, that big-eyed, big-headed squirrel jumps on a tree branch and looks at us. Is that the same one that was in the Great Oak? In any case, that was in the Faerie Realm.

"Oh come on, just let us be already!" I should at the squirrel. It looks at me, offended, then turns away and jumps to another tree and disappears. Yep, this is definitely not home.

"Well, we are halfway done, aren't we?" I try to sound optimistic, although I'm not sure whether I want to convince Lin or myself. "Now that I'm here, you can just open a door, and I get back home. Right? You're good at doors."

Lin doesn't say anything. He has obviously already thought about that, and what I said made no difference in his thinking.

"Well, um..." he finally starts. "I'm afraid that it's not so easy. You know, magic is complex, and now that I've done you a favour, you need to first..."

"What!" I lose my temper. "You got me into trouble in the first place, and now you've got me into another trouble! I don't see any progress or favours in this whole damn ... business ..."

I fall silent as I see Lin's mournful eyes. A tear rolls down his cheek. Just a second ago I felt lost and desperate. Now I also feel miserable.

"Hey, Lin. I am sorry. I know you try hard to help me. You did your best. But I am scared and I was so hoping to be back home again."

Lin makes a noisy sniffle.

"Yeah, me too." He is silent for a while. "But you know, we will sort this out, together. We will get you back. This is just a longer route."

"What do you mean by a longer route?"

"Magic is an art of balance. And reciprocity. Now that I've helped you out of the In Between, my magic is weaker for another favour to you. That is, until you do something for me." And as if he sees my counterargument coming, he continues. "Whether the favour was favourable, is mostly irrelevant in the balance, because favourability is even more complex than magic."

"Er, what?" The explanation makes me understand even less.

"Do you remember the woodcutter from your village that saved a faerie's nest long time ago?"

"You mean the man who got three wishes for saving the tree where the nest was? Yes, he got annoyed at his wife and wished her nose to be a sausage?" I smile a bit, as this is a story that I have heard many times from Dad. The last wish was used to remove the sausage, so it had at least a sort of happy end. "He died before I was born, but I know where he lived. And his wife made sure that everyone in the village heard what a stupid husband she'd had. Poor fellow, Dad said that his life was pretty lousy ever since."

"Yes, but from the magical balance point of view, everything went just right. He saved the nest and got the wishes and used them as he pleased. A balance was achieved. But it is impossible to balance for perception or attitude: the woodcutter still had everything he had had before and would have been happy. But his wife perceived that not getting something that was coming meant that she had lost something invaluable."

"Oh, I think I understand. The magical gift itself was potentially valuable and did not cause woodcutter's problems. It was the wife's greed and disappointment that radiated into her environment and marred it. So you helped me even if I am not exactly where I wanted, and I have to do you a favour before you can open a door for me?" He nods. That makes things pretty straightforward then. "Well, what do you want me to do?"

He makes a face. "It is not about what I want, it is about what I need," he says. "There is no wishlist that you could read and get me some stuff and I can't really think of anything that I need that you could get me just like that."

We sit for a while, but then I start feeling cold. I raise up and stretch my arms and legs.

"Well, I am tired of magic anyways for a while. Do you think that we could find my uncle Aidan? Now that we are in the same Realm and all."

"Sorry Charlie, Aidan is not near the faerie village. It's a small place, I would know of it. But..."

I look at Lin. He thinks for a while.

"But he is here somewhere. I know that there are humans in Borados. It's a faerie town some five leagues south from here, just at the edge of forest."

"Oh, there is also a human town in that direction, called Donchester. Is it nearby?"

"Yes, it's very near."

"Okay, I know the place. Let's go there. If I walk briskly, we may be there before midnight. Maybe chance is on our side."

I was also desperate to make a plan, something to focus on so that I wouldn't all the time worry about my own situation. But I didn't want to say that aloud.

____________________________

The next topic is Board.

Door, Part 16 - Journey

"Charlie?"

My head feels fuzzy.

"Charlie?"

I feel someone poking my cheek.

"Charlie?"

I groan try to open my eyes. It hurts. Lin is hovering in front of my face, too close to make sense of him properly. I raise my hand to my head.

"Are you ok?"

I groan silently again.

"I think so," I find the will say. My mouth is dry. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"I remember... colours? And floating?" I try to dig through my brain but everything I seem to find there is too weird to get a hold on. The thoughts slip through the net of my conscious thoughts like a cube of ice slips through cold fingers.

"I don't know about colors, but you did float. You floated almost up to the treetops, and then started speeding through the forest. I almost couldn't keep up with you. That went on for a while, and then you collapsed to the ground. You've been sleeping for the whole night. It's almost noon."

I stare at Lin for a moment, then push myself to a sitting position, holding my head.

"Are you okay?" Lin asks, looking a bit worried.

"Just a little dizzy," I answer, closing my eyes and shaking my head to clear it. "You think you could find me some water?"

He nods, then zooms off. A minute later he returns, with a small cup filled with cold, clean water.

"I think I may have given you a bit too much of the potion," Lin begins, and I cut him of with a scowl. He already accidentally got me stuck here, and now he accidentally gave me too much of a super-potent potion? "Hey, it wasn't my fault. This is the kind of potion that if hard to tell how much to give a person. It's like magic: it affects everyone differently," he looks thoughtful for a moment. "It's actually not like magic. It is magic. It helps you tap the power that is naturally in you. And suddenly accessing the magic is what people react to differently."

"Right," I say. "Now what?"

"We try again," Lin says.

"Right," I say.

~x~

We do find me some breakfast first. And by find I mean go steal more from the altar. Someone has already come leave some offerings there this morning. I still don't like it, but there's no other way for me to get any food without stealing it from someone who might actually want to eat it themselves. So I eat. Lin tries to make me feel better about it, but it's not working very well.

And then we get back to work. We don't get straight to the potion. First I simply concentrate.

"Okay, so thinking about haze didn't work," Lin says as I sit down on the cold ground. "So let's try something different. Imagine... Hm. A mental journey. You close your eyes, and you imagine traveling home. Have you ever been farther away from home than the village?"

I nod. "We went to visit my aunt some years ago. She lives two day's travel away. Mom has been talking about going back, but we've never found the time."

"You remember what it felt like on your way back home?" he asks. I nod again. "So imagine that feeling. You're moving from somewhere where home isn't present to somewhere where home is present. The being present is the relevant thing here. You imagine what it will feel like to journey from somewhere where home isn't a thing to somewhere it is."

"That doesn't make much sense," I say, but I close my eyes and imagine.

"You can combine the haze from yesterday to this too. You can't feel home, because the fog is in the way. So to journey home, you need to push the fog away."

I nod. I concentrate. I try to imagine. A minute passes. Two minutes.

"I think I've got it," I say, opening my eyes.

"Okay, time for some more potion," Lin says. He hands me the bottle and the spoon. I pour myself some, less than yesterday. I look at him, unsure. He nods.

I take a deep breath and take the potion. Going down it feels just like yesterday. But it doesn't hit me as hard. There isn't as much of it, and maybe now that I know what to expect it doesn't come as such a surprise. The feeling of good and relaxed flows over me again. I also feel the distractedness, but not as strong as yesterday. I'm able to tuck it down, take all that restless energy and concentrate it.

I close my eyes again, to be able to concentrate all my energy on what I'm doing. A journey home. It's just a short distance away, I only have to push the mist away and I will see it.

I feel something.

And then it's lost.

I try again. I was definitely doing something right. So I try to imagine the same thing again. I feel something streaming through me, and I try to channel it to what I want to do. Push the fog away. Get home.

Something shifts. I'm not sure what it is. The air feels different. Real. I open my eyes. I blink. Something feel weird. Lin appears beside me.

"That went well," he says, with a confused look on his face. "You know, except..."

"I'm in the Faerie Realm," I say, as I realise why the world is wrong.
___________________________________________________________

The topic for tomorrow is Radiation.

~matu

Doors, Part 15 - Haze

Eating anything that was meant to be a gift was unimaginable. And yet I did it. I had to think that it was not me eating, it was a spirit from the otherworld and it was meant for her. And now I feel like that spirit and not like me who is stuck in here.

Lin was right that the reasons for that tradition are vague, but the traditions themselves are strong. We live a bit away from the village and the shrine, so Mom brings gifts irregularly but with dignity. I have been with her many times, and you are expected to be silent and bow when you leave your offerings on the altar. Then you take three steps backward, say thank you, bow again and leave the shrine without looking back. It was obvious even for a small child that it was something holy. But nobody has ever explained what was the purpose in it.

Suddenly Lin stops and awakens me from my thoughts.

"Now then, let us begin," he says and looks at me. "The forest is a good place to manifest, because it is in both realms. And the Forest may be able to help you as well, to pull you along when moving away from the In Between."

"And what is this manifesting actually? How can I do it?"

"It... it's hard to describe. Here, think about a very foggy night. You are in the forest."

"Okay. Then?"

"The fog is thick. So thick that you cannot even see your feet. Now, manifesting is that you think of yourself as out of the haze, as a very clear and precise picture. Or rather, you have to think the haze away so that you are seen clearly. But rather than just thinking, you have to become clear."

I think on that for a moment. "Right, become clear. And that's that," I say. Lin looks at me eagerly, like waiting or me to become a new form under his very eyes.

"No, that didn't help at all," I protest. "When I said right, I meant it sarcastically, silly."

His smile vanishes and he frowns.

"I mean, I know you are helping. But I just feel like a non-existing ghost who has just eaten the gifts for the otherworld," I hasten to explain.

"Er... I don't know what otherworld is, but I think I understand that feeling. Now you should try the exact opposite of that."

"Haha, the opposite," the impossibility of his guidance makes me laugh.

But then I realise that we are dealing with a strange situation here and there are no words for describing what I have to do. So I try to think what would be the least like a non-existent ghost and how it would feel. I cannot say there is any progress, but I start to realise that this is a lot about self-image rather than some magical muscles that would force me through a curtain.

I sit down on my knees and raise my palms to the sides to help meditation. I close my eyes and breathe slowly, think my breaths as wind that blows the haze away.

"Good, you have the right spirit there," Lin says. "Remember, you will not enter a realm with just thought exercises. But you need to be in the right mental state for the magic to work properly. Just go on. Concentrate on the feeling of being alive."

We continue this for several hours. I am a bit worried as I seem to make very little progress and it gets later and later, but Lin assures me it's fine. He's being very supportive, which makes the whole thing better, and whenever I can no longer concentrate on concentrating we take a break. We move around a bit to find me more food and as we walk in the forest he points out all the plants and animals that you can find there that we don't have and tells me about them. It's really interesting.

I am not sure of anything else, but all this meditating is at least helping me be more aware of myself. I can feel my head and hands and heart and toes in a different way. Like in an essence way, rather than just existing. I try to explain this to Lin, and he seems to think it as progress.

I also try to feel the essence of the forest around me, but that does not work out so well. It's actually much worse than usual, because now the forest is not there even if I can see it all around me. Or, the forest is there but I am in this strange single-person universe.

Finally, Lin says that the potion should be ready and he'd go fetch it while I should continue practicing. So I start focusing on my hands and toes again.

~ x ~

Lin comes back sooner than I thought. He can apparently fly faster than what I've seen so far, which makes sense I suppose. With him he has a wooden spoon and a small brown bottle with a glass cap. Or well, it's small for me, in his arms it seems huge. He submerges himself into the In Between -- hey, I can actually see the difference now! -- and gives me the bottle.

"This is very a strong potion," he explains as i turn it in my hands. "You should take one spoonful of it after I have explained this. The potion helps to control arcane energy, and it should alleviate the strict separation of the two realms. That's why its reckless use might cause a while lot of trouble."

"Alright," I say. "I'll try to be very careful. Although... I'm not entirely sure what I should do."

"Concentrate, visualize, and blow the haze away."

I take the spoon Lin offers me and pour some thick, brown liquid into it. Lin puts the cap back on the bottle and takes it from me. The potion smells strongly of herbs and musk and I brace myself before swallowing it quickly. Surprisingly, it tastes sweet and soft, with a bitter aftertaste.

The potion starts to heat my lips and tongue and throat, and it spreads to all of my body. I feel good and relaxed and distracted. Wait, I was supposed to concentrate and feel clear. That becomes harder all the time.

I see something bright yellow from the corner of my eye, and I turn my head but the yellow turns with me. It can't be real, but it's spreading and soon everything I see is yellow. Then blue and green stripes appear, and they start waving and dancing in my eyes.

Focus! See yourself clearly!

But I feel joyful and light, and my feet rise from the ground.

____________________________

Oh, what a psychedelic experience!

The next topic is Journey.

Doors, Part 14 - Heart

People stare at me as I make my way through the village. I told Charlie that I wasn't wanted here, which is true, but I also don't want to be here; it's not fun to be gawked at. Even if I am different from them.

A group of younger faeries come to a stop as they round the corner and see me. One of them points at me, not quite as discreetly as they probably meant to. They whisper between themselves and I hurry past them.

Let's just get this over with.

Filandis' hut is on the outskirts of the village. It's decently sized, must have enough storage room for ingredients, and a thick plume of colorful smoke is rising from the chimney. The smell of herbs mixes with the saltwater air as I get closer.

"Welcome!" a young faerie I've not seen before greets me when I open the door. And I mean young. They're at least two heads shorter than me, and they still have that youthful glint in their lilac eyes. The ribbon tied around their neck suggests a feminine presentation, or... at least it did back when I was young. Faerie gender is an ever-evolving and frankly speaking unnecessarily complex mess, so who knows what kind of self-representation the kids are up to these days. They might've come up with a bunch of new genders again for all I know. It's not like I'm really in the loop anymore, so.

There is a reason I personally go for a neutral look and this is it. It is too much effort to stay up to speed with the gender fads, especially since I live alone and it literally doesn't matter one way or another.

"Is Filandis here?" I ask the young one. They stare at me, wide eyes and slack jawed, which means they probably have an idea of who I am, but I don't really have the time or the energy to deal with that right now. "Kid? Filandis?" I repeat and they snap their mouth shut.

"Yeah, uh..." they start and then the door to the back storage opens.

"Lin," Filandis says by way of greeting. I give a little wave. "What brings you here? I'm not due another delivery for a while."

"No, I'm actually here to get a potion," I explain.

"I see," Filandis nods then starts to walk towards a long shelf lining the back wall, stacked with bottles of different coloured liquids. "What kinda potion, then? Healing? Vigour? Strength?"

"Arcane," I say and Filandis stops. Then turns to look at me.

"What." It's not even a question, it's just a flat statement of disbelief. The young faerie stares as well, though I'm not entirely sure they every stopped.

"Yeah..." I say. I was expecting something like that.

There's a pause.

"Okay," Filandis says. "Okay. What kind of arcane potion?"

"The kind that helps the drinker take control of their own arcana flow." Another pause. "That is also big enough for a human."

"I'm sorry but what is going on!?"

To my surprise it's not Filandis, but the young faerie that has the outburst.

"Master, I am sorry if I am speaking out of line, but is that not the Betweener?" they ask, pointing a finger at me. Rude. "What are they doing in your shop? Are they not dangerous?"

Filandis lets out a long tired breath and then turns to me. "Lin, this is Meriza, she is my new apprentice. Meriza, this is Lin. Yes, they are the Betweener and no, they are not dangerous. You should stop listening to rumours."

Meriza flushes. "It's not rumours," she says, adamant.

"Right. It's myths," Filandis says. Meriza flushes deeper. "The biggest threat that Lin poses is to themself. Speaking of which," Filandis turns to stare me down again, "why exactly do you need a human sized potion to help use magic? What have you done this time?"

I consider protesting for a split second and then think better of it. "I... got a human stuck in the In Between."

There's a long silence.

"Figures," Filandis says and then goes over to a bookshelf, picks up a book and starts leafing through it. "Well, it's gonna take a while--"

"You're actually going to do this?" Meriza interrups. She doesn't seem malicious, per se, but rather... frightened? Makes sense.

"Yes, I am," Filandis says, not looking up from the book. "But only because Lin is my best ingredient gatherer, what with that ability to jump between the realms."

Understanding dawns on Meriza's face. "So that's how you have so much toadstool..." she says, more to herself than to either of us. Filandis stops flipping through the pages and sets the book down on a book stand.

"This will take a while. Come back tonight, and we'll see how much we've managed. Meriza." The faerie snaps to attention. "Go get some water from the spring, I don't think we have enough in the house."

"R-right, of course, Master!" Meriza says and speeds out the door. I stay there for a moment.

"So, an apprentice?" I ask finally.

"I ain't getting any younger, am I?" Filantis counters. "It takes decades to become a brewing master, so if I want to have anyone competent following my steps, I have to start training now."

"Right, right," I say, nodding. There's another silence, though this one a lot more pleasant than the ones before. I sigh softly. "Well, I ought to get back to my human, before she gets nervous," I say finally.

"Uhhuh," says Filandis, too concentrated on the book. I smile a little.

"Thanks, Fil," I say. "I'll see you tonight."

I walk to the door.

"Wait."

I stop, hand on the door, about to push it open. I turn to look back. There's a serious look in Filandis' eyes.

"Be careful out there."

I smile again, a little bigger.

"Sure."

~x~

Forgetting about an anchor was kind of an oversight on my part, I will admit that, but to be fair I have no idea what is happening right now. I don't even know if the anchor will help, or rather if it is needed. If it is needed, the copper will definitely help, but it is entirely possible that stopping to exist isn't even a possibility in this case.

Well, better safe than sorry, I guess. And having the anchor does seem to make Charlie feel a bit better.

Next is figuring out how to explain Manifesting. That, and food.

We've made our way back towards Charlie's village. She seems very quiet as she trots behind me and it's making me worry. I'm not very good at casual chitchat, the only person I regularly speak to being Morning Star, whom I see for about 45 minuted every morning, so it's very straight to the point with us. What do humans talk about? I don't know, really...

"Uh, nice weather we're having?" I try. It sounds bad.

"Please don't," Charlie says. She sounds a bit dejected.

"Sorry, you seemed a bit quiet is all," I say and sigh. "I don't have that much experience with social interaction," I admit, "so I don't really know how to engage with other people like this." This is awkward...

"Why aren't you wanted at your village?" she asks then and while I don't particularly like talking about this specific topic, at least is something. And I feel like I should be honest with her now.

"Well, that's because I'm what the faeries call a Betweener," I say.

"Betweener?" Charlie repeats. "Because you live in the In Between?"

"More because I can be there. I only live there because I can't really live anywhere else. They don't want me in the Faerie Realm."

"Why not?"

"I have the power to rip apart both realms and all of existence," I say, dry. "Theoretically."

"Whoa," says Charlie.

"I don't actually know if I could, nor would I know how to, but that's what they're afraid of, I guess." I sigh, look up at the sky. "There's been a few others like myself that we know of, and they've all ended up pretty bad. The previous one is the reason the Human Realm barely has any arcane energy left in it."

"Is that why there's so little witches?" she asks. "I've heard stories that there used to be a lot more, before."

"Yeah, that's why. But it's been a long time, longer yet for you humans. And now there's me and everyone is freaking out."

"That's sad."

There's is a pause.

"It is," I say. "I have a lot of power, I know I do, but... I've never had anyone to teach me how to use it, you know. I move myself from one realm to the next easily enough and take with me things that aren't bigger than me, but I could be able to do so much more. As I am right now, I could barely manage to open one Door for you." I chuckle. "I mean, normally opening a Door takes at least a good ten highly skilled faeries, but... I know I could do more, but I don't know how."

There is another pause. I can feel my face start to heat up.

"I'm sorry, I over shared a bit there," I mutter.

"No, I get it," Charlie says. I look over at her. "You're lonely, right?"

"Yeah," I say.

"There's no one in the village my age," she says. "I'm too young to be an adult, but I'm too old to hang out with my brother and all the other kids. Working on the farm helps with boredom, but it doesn't help with loneliness. That's why I walk in the forest so often. It makes me feel less alone. I guess I know why now." She laughs a little, looks at her hands. "I... I'm not happy I'm stuck here," she says, "in fact I'm still very upset about this. But," she looks at me, "I am glad I got to meet you."

I feel a huge smile spread across my face and there is nothing I can do to stop it.

"Thank you," I say. A lump is forming in my throat and I swallow it down. "Thank you."

Her stomach growls loudly. We stare at each other in silence for a second and then start to snicker.

"Alright, now let's get you that food," I say and continue down the path again.

"We're at the village," Charlie says, looking around. "We're not going to steal food from someone's kitchen, are we?"

"No, of course not," I scoff. The shrine of Loghenge is right up the hill.

She stops as it comes to view.

"The shrine?"

"Yeah, people leave out offerings here and a lot of it is food," I say happily. I fly the rest of the way to see what has been left out at the altar. "Oh, nice! It's still fresh!" Charlie makes her way over and I spread out my arms and look at her. "Look at this! There's fresh breads! Dig right in!"

"This... still feels a bit like stealing," she says while I pop into the Human Realm to retrieve one of the bread rolls. They're still slightly warm. They must've been left here minutes ago.

"Why? It's an offering. Offered here. For us."

"It's not really meant for us though, is it?"

"Actually, it is," I say, dropping the bread onto her hand. "This is a faerie shrine. Or was, originally. I'm not sure the humans know anymore what they offer for, but it is meant as a peace offering to the faeries." I sit by the small saucer of cream on the altar as Charlie inspects the bread sceptically. "It's more of a tradition to you at this point, I suppose." I pick up the cream and then pause. "I thought you were hungry."

She looks away for a moment, a red flush on her cheeks and then she shoves the bread in her mouth. I smile and drink the cream, setting the saucer back down when I'm done.

"You want the other one too?" I ask, leaning against it.

"Yes, please," she says.

After she's done eating we make our way a bit into the forest. I'll try to explain to her how Manifesting works now, and if she does manage to figure it out, we don't want her to pop up in the middle of the village and spook everyone out. Here we're properly out of sight.

"Now then," I start and clasp my hands together. "Let us begin."
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Wooooooooooo poor Lin :(

Next topic is "Haze"

Pie out.