Daire landed with a hiss. Rolling over, he removed his injured arm out from under him. It took continued squirming to become comfortable on the itchy straw bed. It was a case of Unfortunately, Fortunately.

Unfortunately, there was no blanket to keep him warm.

Fortunately, the room was tightly sealed, keeping its heat.

Unfortunately, the lack of windows ushered the bedroom into complete darkness.

Fortunately, Daire had the light of his phone to see by.

Unfortunately, there was no internet for him to browse Youtube videos.

Fortunately, there was an abundance of literary information on his Wikipedia app.

Unfortunately, it had ads.

Fortunately, they were saucy ads.

The whole situation constantly fluctuated to the point where Daire found himself frustrated. When his phone finally died, he allowed it to remain so. Then his thoughts whirled. Conscious of the cold, he tucked his arms into his shirt. Curling into a ball, Daire faced the wall and suffered from an overactive mind until blissful slumber took him.

=

Do you ever wake from a dream and think, "No! I have responsibilities in there."

It could be you dreamt of a relationship, and you wanted to finish your date. Or you are doing business and need to finish a report before submitting it for review. Maybe you're fighting a pitched battle and need to save your allies. Perhaps you are managing a village and need to inform the town of the dwindling wheat supply before it is too late. When zombies take over your school, and it is up to you to lead your former classmates on a purge of infected. If a god visits you in your dreams to have a chat, but it turns into a philosophical discussion, and you end up burning them so badly with your truth-filled insults that said divine entity shoos you away before you could drop the final bomb that would shatter their confidence completely.

"Ugh. I think I know what we're doing today."

Lucid dreams were the best blessing that Daire ever received. Sometimes they turned into nightmares or paralyzing dreams like yesterday, but more often, it is like a mindscape that allows you to explore yourself.

Daire's mindscape often came in the form of a shopping mall. The locations he could travel to were connected to storefronts, escalators, a rare elevator, and open exits. Outside of the mall were other locations like wide-open suburbs with apartment complexes. Or waterparks. Or a basketball court. Or a basketball court centered in a water park.

He seldom used a car or bike. Daire ran from place to place. Jumping like a hero over buildings. The controls were wonky. Like if he were hanging by wires on a film set, but sometimes the controllers were still deciding how far to take you while you were already in the air. Sometimes Daire could vault duplexes, sometimes townhouses, and other times he could vault entire city blocks. It all depended on his confidence.

The most enjoyable dreams were where he could fly.

Daire would flap his arms like a bird, but slowly, like a manatee moving through molasses, his legs flowing behind him like a mermaid's tail. The feeling felt warm and fulfilling. Daire would swim through the air, passing through shopping stalls and shouting vendors, following the scents of an indoor market.

Dreams, like imagination, like a muscle, are things you stretch. The more you analyze and understand what is going on, the more you can control. Since dreams are unconscious, they open up worlds of subconscious realization.

Big words. Basically, dreams are true to our nature. Dreams don't lie. They are only construed.

Therefore, by picking apart the metaphors a dream creates, you can realize truths about yourself and where your heart is telling you to go.

Darie's dream last night was a rowdy ruckus circus where all the acts were performing at once. He tried to see all the shows at once but ended up being pulled to and fro, unable to see everything. The circus master revealed himself as a maniacal god. Daire called the god out for tricking him. Thus a conversation ensued regarding the philosophical topic of what a god really is. That was when Daire woke up leaning on his bad arm.

Gritting his teeth and hissing as he carefully rolled out of bed, Daire searched the dim room for pain leaves. Finding one on the nightstand, he popped it in his mouth, realized it was a mint leaf, tried a different one, sucked on it for a while, and came to the conclusion they were all mint leaves. The pain leaves were in his pocket.

Daire rubbed his face with his hands.

"I need a shower."

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Did the inn have showers? Was it a thing? If not, Daire would invent it soon because he couldn't continue having a sink wash every morning and night.

"I wonder which one is calling."

Standing, he blindly fixed his hair before walking out of his room into a significantly brighter hallway.

No audible voices were calling out to him; Daire was referring to his dream. The metaphors were clearer than usual. He was stressed about too trying to get too many things done at once. The surprising thing was how clear the second portion was.

"I hate gods."

Daire's face scrunched up as he descended a staircase.

Because Gods don't exist.

But one was calling him anyway.

=

Violet woke with a yawn. The odd sound of her lips smacking together. The creak in her shoulder as she stretched out her arms. Her eyes shuttered open.

A small green frog was centimeters from her face. Staring. Nose to nose.

"Awww. Aren't you the cutest? Were you guarding me while I slept? You're the most adorable, little wibble, froggy woggy ever!"

Pebbles croaked.

=

Daire met Violet and Trinket in the stables. Violet had already taken care of sprucing herself up.

Gunter, when questioned, said there was a bath, but he would have to draw water himself. Annoyed by the prospect, Daire resolved to wash himself down with a cloth until he could invent the shower.

"We're going to the church first thing today. Unless you had someplace you wanted to visit first?"

As Violet peeked over the edge of the cart, laying her arms flat and resting her chin, she examined Daire's arm. He was rewrapping it and applying some salve. Her worry overtook the nakedness.

"I'd like to stop by Miss Leecy's to see if my new clothes are ready, but they aren't open until later..."

Daire didn't answer as he meticulously wrapped his arm. The entire process was new and strange to him. His fingers were particularly troublesome.

"Does it hurt?"

"Hm? A little. Not as much as it should."

"Is that why you want to go to the church?"

He messed up again, not tying it tight enough. Grunting, he restarted a large portion of the process. Violet waited patiently, getting more worried as Daire continued to mess up.

"Can I help?"

Daire stopped, looking at Violet for the first time. Sighing and slouching, he admitted.

"Please?"

Smiling warmly.

"Of course. Clothing is my specialty."

Normally that would raise a flag, but Violet was handling the wrapping like a champ. She buzzed around Daire's arm all the way up to his shoulder. It was quick. She tied it together with a pat, not dizzy in the slightest.

"There."

Moving his arm, he appreciated that it didn't feel too restrictive. Snug.

"Thanks."

"Any time."

They stared at each other awkwardly for a moment. Then Violet acknowledge Daire wasn't wearing a shirt. Her eyes roamed his body, her face heating up with each lingering moment until her face was entirely tucked into her neck. Without a word, she fluttered away and dunked her head in the barrel of water.

Daire chuckled and threw on his cloth shirt. Violet would have to redo her hair.

=

It didn't take long; Violet used Wind magic to blowdry her wet hair in seconds. The speed was scary in and of itself, but the fact that the wind didn't touch her face was a frightening showcase of control.

"Have you always been able to do that?"

"Hmm... I guess so. I haven't really thought about it. I just wanted to do it, so I did it."

The insanity of that statement dawned on neither of them.

"Cool."

Awkward pause.

"So... Uh... Did you learn any of that from your parents?"

Smooth, Daire. Smooth.

Violet paused in her actions. Thinking for a moment.

"A little. They didn't stick around long enough to teach me much. They said Pixies do things naturally."

"That isn't cool."

"Mm..."

Daire wanted to smack himself. He wasn't good at this.

"Do you remember them or what they were like?"

"My parents were the only ones I had contact with. They forbid the others from coming near me. I remember my father wearing red and yellow flames. I assume his people wore similar things. My other dad covered himself in dirt and mud. Air Pixies don't wear... um... anything."

If this were a comic, a thought bubble would appear above Daire's head with a childish rendition of three pixies drawn in crayon.

"You have two dads?"

"Three."

Hold up.

"Three dads? How is that even..."

Waaait a tick. Violet mentioned being born from a lightning bolt. So what exactly does that mean for her parents?

"My dads were waging a war because their clans suddenly came into contact with one another. They said their natures directly opposed each other, and they never get along."

Violet shrugged like the reason for the war had only been glazed over briefly for her. Her voice changed to imitate someone. Daire didn't know who the deep and proud voice belonged.

"The clash of the battle caused thunder to rumble and lighting to strike the Willow."

Daire pushed down the mushy feelings he felt rising within him. Violet's impression was too cute.

Thankfully her voice returned to normal immediately.

"The battle stopped when I was born. Or so they told me. They stuck around for a week to discuss a truce until they found a different location to fight whatever feud was going on. They wouldn't tell me."

"You are... I mean, I'm glad you are telling me all this, but doesn't it hurt to talk about?"

Violet shrugged again.

"Not really. I barely knew them, so I don't have a lot to complain about. I wished they wore clothes. Or at least got me clothes... I sat their butt naked the entire time. I didn't realize clothes were a thing until Willow sent me books."

Realizing what she said, Violet's complexion rebounded to crimson. Running for the barrel of water, Darie closed the lid before she got there.

"You just did your hair. Do you want to have to do it a third time?"

Violet rubbed her shoulders together.

"No."

"I understand your thing for clothes now."

"Yeah... My parents were weird."

"I think they were just nudists."

"It was weird."

"Only because most other people wear clothes. But yeah, it is weird."

Daire paused before adding.

"Also, all babies are naked when they are born. Maybe some races with fur aren't, but I think they are too..."

That was all well and good for them, but Violet was born full-grown. No growing pains or changing height. Her wings were fully developed. Her Dads argued about why her wings were paper. Since their wings were constructed of their own elements, they assumed she should have wings of lightning. Not the case.

It was one of the things they argued over longest, but they never came to a conclusion.

Violet's only hope was that they would be wearing something more the next time she saw them.

"What about your parents, Daire? You haven't mentioned them much."

It was Daire turned to blanch.

"Ugh. Parents. I love them, but..."

Daire's mouth clamped shut, and he imitated having an aneurism.

"You know what? Let's talk while we walk. There is some history I need to preface first."