Icasondra woke up to see an Alta and a Flrynwydl talking together. It’s nice that they aren’t at each other’s throats. Because if that still were the case, this village would hold for much longer.

She rubbed her eyes, warding away her drowsiness and only then she noticed the irritation in her eyes. Oh, right. She chuckled remembering her breakdown. I can’t even stay on my two feet...

“I have given the... Blossomflame permission to stay in the village, child.” Flrynwydl explained, having some trouble accepting Alta as a true fae. “I suppose she’ll remain in your cottage.”

“Yes.” Icasondra slowly stood up from the root-throne. Unlike its crude appearance, the seat of the elder was surprisingly comfortable. “She already spent the night with me the day before.”

“I see.” The dryad expressed an absolute lack of emotion. “You are tired, so for today go home and rest.”

“For today?” The Moonlight fairy asked, noticing the odd choice of words.

“I’d like you and Alta to come back tomorrow, or whenever you feel well,” Flrynwydl spoke the last part with motherly compassion.

“Tomorrow it is, then.” Icasondra smiled weakly, not accepting her compassion and refusing to be treated differently.

Flrynwydl spoke no more words and nodded at her. Alta followed behind her as she walked down the dryad’s tree. Icasondra felt tired, she didn’t have enough energies or the mood to fly.

When they made their way out she realized the position of the sun, past beyond noon. They had skipped lunch, so she had been asleep for a few hours.

Alta looked at her with curiosity, words lingering in her mouth.

“Ask,” Icasondra said. “You have the face of someone who has questions.”

“Hmm, you are more sensitive than I thought.” The chimera mussitated. “So, you don’t have family, then?”

“The village is my family.” She responded with a fake smile. Alta looked at her unamused. “I guess you talked about it with Flrynwydl.” The fairy sighed, feeling even more tired than before. “You are right, I have no parents and there are no other Moonlights in the village, so I’m the only of my kind.”

“What happened?” The interest the chimera showed felt awkward to her. Alta had never bothered with these types of questions. She asked a lot, yes, but they tended to be pragmatic or basic in nature. Only insisting when she felt Icasondra was withholding information from her. Yet now... now she saw interest in those eyes. Not the search for knowledge or understanding of the world, but interest in her.

Icasondra wasn’t sure how to react.

“They died.” She explained taciturnly.

The Blossomflame fairy looked at her with curiosity and confusion. “In this peaceful village, with a powerful fae as their leader?”

It pained her. But she also saw the eyes of the chimera, she wouldn’t take a no for an answer. And what was silence but the greatest negation?

“Moonlight fairies sustain themselves on moonlight.” She sat on the ground, the grass caressing her legs. “But it isn’t an addition to our meals. We truly need it to survive. Without it...”

Dread settled.

It was easy to ignore death. The great equalizer came for everyone at one point or another, yet for some... for some, it came faster or in more than one way.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Without the light of the moons, we perish.” Her voice was almost drowned by the sob that came after.

“I see.” The chimera’s expression was a curious one. Understanding and apathy. Upon seeing that visage, Icasondra knew that Alta had comprehended her, unlike plentiful other situations where the chimera had failed to do so, yet she couldn’t ignore the apathy.

Alta understood the words, understood the sentiment, but couldn’t understand the fear. Her green eyes flickered with a flame of life, unbeknownst to the idea of dying. The chimera knew death because she had brought so much of it. Yet she was beyond it.

“Ah, I wish I were like you.”

“What?” As Alta asked, Icasondra noticed she had said her thoughts aloud.

“Nothing!” The Moonlight fairy stood up with an energy she didn’t know where she got it out from. “Moons, I’m dirty!” She shook the dirt off her legs and turquoise dress. “I would kill for a shower right now!” She raised her voice, ignoring her internal affairs.

“Shower?” The chimera tilted her head, successfully distracted. “What’s that?”

“It’s when you clean yourself with water,” Icasondra explained with her calm demeanor, or at least she faked so.

She stopped to look at Alta, yet she found no trace of dirt, grime, or blood on her body. Her thin brows frowned. The fairy recalled that this morning when Alta got naked to try her dress, she was also impeccably clean, even though she had been walking all day barefooted and had killed two humans with her hands.

“How are you clean?” She asked.

“What do you mean?” The Blossomflame fairy fluttered her wings, not understanding the question.

“I mean how is your skin free of dirtiness!” Icasondra said with a hint of jealousy. “Your feet should be covered in dirt or even mud, and you have no traces of blood in your body even when you were covered on it yesterday!”

“Matter doesn’t stick to my body unless I wish for it to do so,” Alta explained as a matter of fact.

“That’s...” Icasondra's mouth remained open in sheer amazement and envy. “I wish I could do that.”

Alta could make a lot of things, and Icasondra doubted she had even seen the tip of the iceberg. Especially considering that she could copy the characteristic of any organism. Can she copy plants? The question popped into her head. What about Flrynwydl? Can she copy her or does it also her Blossomflame shape already overwrites other possible fae types?

Icasondra swayed away her head. She shouldn’t elaborate on these questions, much less tell them to Alta. The chimere seemed stable, but she couldn’t truly trust her. And exploring her powers would only make her stronger.

The fairy sighed.

“I’m going to take bath.” She walked absentmindedly towards her home to pick up her bath products.

“What’s a bath?” Alta asked.

“It’s a synonym for shower.” The fairy explained. “Hmm, scratch that. They are different, but both are used to clean yourself. I guess a bath involves more water and it’s more relaxing.”

“Understood.” The chimera responded from her back with her typical tone that revealed she had not understood a single bit.

When Icasondra stood before her tree house, she groaned as she realized she had to fly into it.

“I should add some stairs.” She commented with a sigh.

“I would appreciate that.” The Moonlight fairy rolled her eyes upon hearing the comment of the Blossomflame one.

Icasondra flew into her house slowly as her body was constantly drawn down by gravity far harder than any other day, or so she believed. She went to the bathroom in her room and picked up a bar of soap, a towel, and a clean set of clothes and undergarments. Alta waited for her back down.

“Why have you gone down?” The chimera asked.

“The bath isn’t in my house, it’s outside the village.” She explained and went her way.

“Oh, I see.” And Alta followed her.

Icasondra turned back. “Why are you following me?”

“Why shouldn’t I?” She replied in confusion.

“Because I’m going to take a bath.”

“So am I.”

The Moonlight fairy blinked several times. “Are you suggesting that you are going to take a bath with me?”

“Yes?” Alta tilted her head. “It was quite obvious.”

“That’s indecent!” Icasondra could feel her face turn red at the notion.

“Wouldn’t it be more indecent not to take a bath?” The Blossomflame fairy counterattacked.

“I... um...” The chimera hadn’t realized, but her play with words had totally invalidated the fairy’s argument. She had beaten her without even trying.

“And besides,” Alta continued, “why are you going outside of the village when that male was taking a bath in the middle of the village?”

“I’m no Stillwater fairy!” Icasondra’s voice was a mixture of rage and embarrassment. “I won’t clean myself in front of everyone!”

Then she shot out from her spot outside of the village, her wings guiding her through the forest at high speeds. And yet...

The chimera walked beside her.

Alta ran on her feet at tremendous speeds. With a glance, Icasondra noticed that her legs had shifted slightly in an unnatural shape. The transformed Blossomflame fairy moved on foot at the same speed the Moonlight one flew, yet there was no trace of exertion or exhaustion on her visage. Only impassivity.

“Is it near?” She asked casually.

“Em... yes?” Icasondra responded by reflex, more than anything. The sight was unsettling, to say the least.