She made it to Efron’s island around midmorning, and once again was surprised to hear him singing. It was another original song, similar in the beginning to the first one, but towards the end a few notes had been changed to slightly higher ones, portraying a sense of hope. Gretel had muted herself so as not to interrupt, then landed perpendicular to him within plain sight since she didn't want to spook him like last time.

Efron’s eyes were closed, though, and his open wings were lifted slightly, catching the natural breeze as if feeling the song itself, and even the encompassing music from the surrounding birds, which he also intermittently paused to let echo his melody back to him. The song ended a low, final note as if with determination. His light green eyes opened and he watched the mockingbirds still repeat the ending of it for several seconds.

The wind type hatchling admired how heartfelt it was even with all of its technical imperfections, releasing the air around herself so he could hear her. “That was beautiful. Even better than last time!”

The young revealer finally noticed her at that, recoiling with shock and embarrassment. “When did you get here?!”

“Right after you started,” she answered honestly. “I didn't mean to scare you, though.”

He relaxed some, but still seemed tense. “Sorry. After you came by after noon yesterday, I thought you'd be later today too, so I was trying to squeeze in some practice before you got here.”

Gretel tilted her head slightly. “Why apologize for practicing?”

“Because I'm still not very good…”

“The whole point of practicing is to improve.”

“Yeah, but… you… had to hear it not being very good…”

“I thought it was perfect. But even if you think it's not, what's the big deal?”

The violet revealer gaped at her. “...You liked it?”

“Uhh… yeah? Didn't I already say it was beautiful?”

He shook his head. “You're just being nice, aren't you…?”

Gretel took a step back, somewhat offended. “I'm not a liar!”

Efron jumped, covering his mouth with regret. “I–I didn't mean it that way–”

She snorted. “If you don't believe me, go ahead and use a reveal! I wouldn't be able to lie in that case, right?”

He shrank. “N-No, I believe you now! I'm sorry–I wasn't trying to call you a liar–”

The white-and-purple wyvern shook her head. “I know you didn't mean it that way. But I want you to believe me. So go ahead–reveal me; let me prove it.”

The violet-and-blue juvenile calmed down with her assurance that she wasn't angry with him, standing straighter again. “...Are you sure? Again, I already believe you…”

Gretel nodded. “Try me!”

“...Alright.” He drew in a nervous breath. “Did you really think my singing was beautiful–or perfect…?”

“Your singing wasn't,” she admitted, then hesitated guiltily from the reveal. That's true, but singing isn't the point! “But the song was perfect!”

He blinked, confused. “What's the difference?”

“The song is what matters. It doesn't matter who sings it or how good it was sung. The song itself is what tells the story,” the baby wind dragoness explained.

“If only the song matters, then why keep practicing singing…? Why should I sing at all, if anyone can sing the same song?”

“Because we don't sing the same songs! That would be rude unless we truly feel the same way as you.”

Her friend seemed completely lost. “...What?”

“I told you, the point of singing is to express yourself. Singing someone else’s song means you're expressing them, not you–and even then, their old song might not express how they currently feel.”

Efron’s ears perked slightly. “How exactly does a song express anything…? And I still don't see why someone's skill at singing doesn't matter…”

“Getting better at singing means the song will be more easily understood! Every note has a meaning, and while some were a little flat here or there–” she hesitated again with the slightest bit of guilt as she realized the reveal was still active, but decided to keep going, “--your singing was on key enough to know what note you were trying to hit. So I understood it–and your singing is good enough as it is because of that.”

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He stared at her incredulously. “Understood…? But I wasn't really thinking when I was singing just now… I just improvised based on how I felt in the moment, like you told me to. I wasn't attempting to give out a particular message…”

“Again, that's the whole point of singing! You don't need lyrics or words to send a message–you just need to let the feelings out verbally, and everyone will pick up on them.”

He froze. “...Everyone…?”

She shrugged. “Wind types can, at least. I can't speak for every other dragon type.”

“What… feelings… did you pick up from my song, then…?”

“You sounded sad, but hopeful, and like you were determined to keep hope.” That was all Gretel intended to say, but impulsively added, “When you let the birds join in, it kinda made me feel like you wanted someone's validation.” She cringed at herself slightly. I didn't mean that to sound rude… Just how long do reveals last?

The violet yearling’s green eyes widened slightly. “That's… exactly how I was feeling,” he confirmed. “Wow. You got all of that…? From a song I didn't even plan out?” She nodded. “How?”

“The notes and melody,” Gretel replied simply. “Even if some of your notes weren't perfect, most were–enough to know the key and what you meant.” She froze. “Sorry. I'm not trying to be rude about you not hitting the notes right…”

He shook his head. “It's fine. You're not being rude about it, just stating facts. I noticed it too–which is why I said I'm not very good yet.”

She relaxed some. “Okay. Well, that's really it. So, uh… you can end the reveal now, if that's all you wanted to know.”

Efron covered his mouth. “Oh–sorry! I forgot I was still using it.” There was a beat of silence. “I stopped it now.”

Gretel was still a bit uncertain, scared to say something else rudely just in case it was somehow still active.

“...You okay?” he prompted worriedly.

“How do I know when it's started or stopped?” she dared herself to ask. “I didn't see your gem glow or anything.”

“Oh…” His voice sounded hurt from her lack of faith in him. He shook his head as if to dismiss that feeling, the blue frills on the sides of it flowing in the motion, and his demeanor shifted to neutrality again.

Was that a conceal–also without his gem? She frowned.

“When we have enough stamina in ourselves to use our abilities, we don't need to draw from our gems–unless we want our gems to extend how long our abilities last. I have stamina and I didn't want to extend my reveal on you just now, so I didn't use my gem,” he said with a small, reassuring smile.

Gretel sat down, taking this information in but still not happy about her lack of awareness of its usage. “So if you don't draw from the gem, how would I know when the ability is being used?”

“Hm. I guess you wouldn't… But you can always find out by lying.”

“...Lying?”

“Sure. The reveals only work if you're trying to hide the truth, so it'll stop you from purposely lying to hide it. If the reveal isn't active–and I assure you, I did stop it--then you can lie as much as you want.”

She laughed at the thought of saying something utterly ridiculous out of nowhere to test that. “Thanks; I trust that you stopped it.”

“Are you sure…? Just like you wanted to prove to me that you were honest, I kinda want to show you that I am too. So go ahead, make something up,” he invited her.

Gretel beamed, rearing up on her hind paws in a mock-aggressive stance. “I'm actually a fire type, and I'm gonna gobble you up!” she growled playfully.

He laughed. “See? You wouldn't be able to call yourself a fire dragon if the reveal was still active.”

She giggled. “So what would happen if I tried to lie during a reveal?”

“Hm. I don't know. Lying would be impossible, so I've always just said nothing or used conceals if I didn't want to tell the truth every time my mom would–” The sentence ended abruptly and his muscles visibly tensed.

Gretel then noticed a glinting of the blue gemstone on his forehead before he calmed down.

Efron realized she saw, and seemed the least bit ashamed again. “...Sorry. Talking about her upsets me,” he murmured. Then he nervously clarified, “I was using a conceal just now–I wasn't revealing you.”

“It's okay,” she assured him. Then the hatchling got an idea. “Why not reveal me again?”

“Uh… You actually want me to?”

“Yeah! We can find out what happens if we try to lie during a reveal!”

He gave a thoughtful hum. “I'm curious about that, too, actually. Ready?”

“Yeah!”

“Okay–I started it. Tell me the biggest lie you can think of,” he encouraged her with a playful grin.

Gretel couldn't think of one besides the fire dragon lie from earlier. Maybe I should just say something blatantly untrue, like the sky being green, even though I know it's blue. “The sky is blue!” she said instead, then paused awkwardly.

The young revealer dragon was confused at first, as if he wasn't sure if she was stating a fact or trying to lie. Then his green eyes shone with fascination when he realized it was the latter. “Wow. So you really can't lie during a reveal.”

“Is it still active?” she asked him.

He jumped, as if forgetting again. “Yeah–but I can end it now if you want.”

“Wait! I wanna see what else reveals can do,” she confessed. “What if I truly wanted to tell a lie that I was hiding?”

“Huh?”

“Reveals only make us act on our hidden truths, right? So what about hidden lies that I truly want to tell?”

“Um… I don't think anyone would hide a lie–especially if they wanted to tell it. It wouldn't make sense; lies are told on purpose to hide truths.”

“That's exactly why I'm curious,” she giggled.

“...Huh. Good point. Well, my reveal is still active, so go ahead.”

She grinned. “Let me come up with a secret lie real quick.” Gretel wanted to be more creative with it this time–to conjure a lie that sounded believable. I got it! The lie will be that wind dragons’ eyes change color a week after we hatch. But Efron can't find out about this lie, even though the point is that I truly want to tell it to him. “Okay–ask me what it is.”

He squinted his eyes at her with mock-suspicion. “What lie are you keeping secret?”

“It's a lie that wind dragons’ eyes change color a week after we hatch!” she blurted out, then realized what she said.

“It's a lie?” he quoted her, intrigued.

“I didn't mean to say that part,” she admitted. “That must be the reveal talking.”

“I guess that answers that. I'm starting to get a little bit drained, so I'm gonna end the reveal now, okay?”

She nodded. “I'm a fire dragon,” she repeated just to make sure it was truly over, then laughed with relief. “Sorry. Just checking.”

He chuckled. “It's okay. I know from experience that reveals can be scary. I don't blame you for wanting to be sure it's ended.”