CW:

Turtles being pecked at by mean birds if they don't keep trying to ugly sing. A nice home being abused. Hints at personality death.

I hate this weird inside out forest. Stupid place muffles my Amwella senses to just Naranggas’ touchy feely sight, and even then to just the tunnel I walk through. Even rumbles an almost song of not sure if it wants to return to sleep and quiet or… or just unfold and become a loud forest!

And… I’m pretty sure it needed the Fae to finish feeding me to if for that to happen.

So I hate it even more then.

Whip snap Naranggas out to carve at its ugly walls that bend wrongways inside. Looping in stupid circles that make it really really hard to understand where I’ve been and where to go.

I tried to gurgle little questions to see if it would let me out but…

It only got mad and started to wake up again. Reaching out with vine and root and tendril to either eat me like the Fae wanted or… hug me?

And… honestly I’m not sure which is worse. The way the melody echoed was gross.

So walking is all I can do.

Feels like a few eternities pass before something changes.

Amidst the dancing leaves and wiggling mebe branches, I hear voices and songs tittering through the passages.

More Fae.

Fuzzy Spirit nuzzles close while our Keshada watches quietly, and Jellyfish are asleep now but…

Should I feed them again? I wonder but… they brim with the snoozie energy of one with a full belly though, and the thought of more Fae souls for me to consume sets my Amwella to dribble with hunger and anticipation.

So I prowl closer. Letting Naranggas curl and twist and bare all the sharp things in the Dream in preparation for this feast.

Find a little nub woven from the inside out forest and…

Oh.

Two Fae that I recognize.

A feathery one that Awnya loves as her teacher and almost second parent.

Another adorned with red scales that spent her time tilling Rifts.

Both bearing a curse of mine buried within their Amwella.

Melivias and Uldra of the Fae sit in a still inside out Grove beside a little brook of gurgling almost river things. Spinning soft little almost songs that brim with…

Sadness? Pain? Fear? Wh– what?

B– but… but the Fae they… why would they do this to them?

“L– Lyra?”

Jerk up to meet the eyes of Awnya’s teacher as both Fae take in my form, songs faded from even echoing about the Grove. Want so much to growl and hiss and spit and tear these two apart for the happiness they stole from me and… but...

But my little ones wiggle snoozily from deep within their Amwella. Small and soft and so fragile without the feast of a godthing to make them big and strong enough to paddle through the Dream on their own.

Uldra rises, eyes wide with… things. Things I wish so much I didn’t understand from the way her soul thrums. Such pain and sorrow and… and guilt.

Not from any nibbles of my Jellyfish. Those seem mostly healing and scabbed over. But… from the burns and scars and ugly not very Fae girl she sees almost growling from the entrance.

“N– need…” I try to whisper.

“I…” Uldra stammers. “Lyra, I’m so sorry. For before and… and where it led and… and what happened with that Watcher you loved.”

Look away. Wish so much I could ignore the way her soul screamed with the honesty of those words. And… and the guilt behind it that grows and threatens to drown her as these two take in the messy broken girl before them.

Burns and gaunt gross skin and hair that refuses to grow longer and…

“J– j– ju– j–”

Tongue stubborn and words too heavy and mind to stupid to figure herself out.

“Anything.” Melivias promises without anything but all the patience in the Dream. “How can we help?”

Deep breaths.

“Wh– wh– wh– why,” I force out in barely a whisper that carried like a shout across this stupidly quiet room. “H– h– here?”

Awnya’s second parent’s expression turns horrified. Not at my words but… but how broken they are. The sight of a Fae finding such an important part of her songs difficult to use. Guessing at all the terrible reasons I might struggle to sing and talk with the ease of her kind.

“We were abandoned. To be unwoven when this Rift blossomed.” Uldra murmurs softly with a pained sigh.

I flinch at that, face probably a twisted mess as I hiss. “Wh– wh– what?”

“We…” She starts, but trails off. Amwella thrashes in confliction. Like… Kinda like a river that can’t quite decide which way to flow and keeps dribbling down the worse path.

“You escaped them.” Melivias says after a few heartbeats of Uldra’s wordless struggles. “Opherity and her flock of fools?”

I nod, then ask. “O– out?”

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“Our Riftwalking songs are smothered too. Else I’d personally see you out of this place.” She sighs, then whispers gently. “Lyra I… My apologies are worth less than nothing, but I’m sorry as well. I don’t know the way out of this place but will try to find it with you if you ask. Will do everything I can to get you out.”

Huff and gurgle angry sounds at that, but… Her and even now Uldra’s Amwella burn with such dedication to that.

“O– oke.” Is what I finally whisper.

Awnya still loves her teacher, and Uldra… She was taught bad songs. Like my mom. And Usete. Only wants to help and like…

Huh.

“W– w– want t– to…” I murmur.

Reach out with a tendril.

They both go still but… Amwella bubbles with something like trust. Worry at the big spooky Naranggas that reaches out, even with all the sharp bits folded away, sure. But don’t even consider moving. Worry thrums too but not enough to make them try to stop me.

Into the mebe parts of Melivias soul, careful not to hurt any of them, then out. Feel my everything and everyone within me coo and flutter in adorations for the little Jellyfish sleeping within my tendril’s coil.

Turn inside out. Then settle the little clutch into the safest places in the Dream I know of.

Furthonois kinda sputters in a mess of worry and fear but… also longing. A desire to hold and snuggle and care for them. So I nudge the pretty Keshada and let her feel all the trust I can.

She offers wordless thanks and promises as she carefully curls about them. Radiates the most gentle things she can to help them rest well. My Fuzzy Fae lets part of itself wiggle into the mebe parts and join her, but otherwise remains more outside than usual. Hidden and ready to pounce if more threats appear.

Then reach out and into Uldra’s, and gather up the ones there too.

Settle the clutch to sleep softly within the deepest and most soft places of my sea-bed of a soul.

Both Fae’s eyes are so wide as they feel and watch this. Their curses are still there but… faded. Almost hollow. More like scars upon the soul than ravenous bitey things.

“What… What did…” Melivias stammers, filled with hope and relief and fear and terror and such worry at whatever she just saw.

But Uldra lays a hand on her shoulder and gives me a thoughtful look while regarding my big soul. Then lets her eyes meet mine. “What else do you need from us?”

“O– out?” I whisper again.

“We know the path, but… This place stops us from leaving the Grove.” Uldra supplies.

I growl and huff, glare about at the stupid inside out forest.

“I…” Melivias swallows, Amwella wiggling into a pattern of firm focus. “I can explain the route and song to you, then you can leave.”

Escape? But… alone. They’ll be left here to rot.

“No.” I reply as Naranggas snap about.

A pause.

“Lyra… You can just–”

“A– a– Awnya m– m– misses y– you.” I cut her off with words and a hard look. “F– f– family. T– to her.”

She winces at that. “I…”

“Then you’ll need to find the Heart of this place.” Uldra supplies. “Calm it or… something. I don’t know. The other Elders didn’t explain this well enough for me to understand.”

I nod. “Oke.”

“Be careful. Please.” Melivias says just as I start to turn. “I don’t think this place is prone to kill or seriously harm without provocation but… It’s so very hurt. And wounded things struggle to know the difference from someone wishing to help them and hurt them.”

Give her a look at that.

She raises a hand in placation. “Not… I’ve no double meanings there.”

Sigh, and accept the truth I see wibbling through her Amwella.

“B– be back. S– soon? Ish?”

Find the Heart? That’s… far too familiar.

Old demands slice and cut through my mind at that.

And of a Dark Goddess who commanded I do the same to a wonderful home. Then Undreka's words about the Rorliras being a sibling to it. And…

Focus a bit more on the songs rumbling through this place.

Just how… odd. They feel. Like some turtle trying to sing along with a songbird but doing it really badly. And now it’s throat is sore and hurting and it just wants to sleep but the bird is pecking at the shell to make it come out and keep trying and…

Suddenly the inside out forest bits and sad pained song and wrongways spiraling paths all make sense.

At least… kinda.

[Interesting…] Furthonois murmurs from where she embraces the littlest of my Jellyfish. [Clever. Horribly so. They take a place capable of endless expression, alongside a soul that can burn Blight with ease, then combine them under wretched songs to force both into becoming what they demand. A new Fae Wood. Thoughtless other than what muses of such a Rift.]

I growl and gurgle angry songs to this place. Let the curse’s sting add to the melody.

Things of sorrow and rage and fury and… a request.

Let me help you. Please.

The forest howls at that, and for a moment I worry Melivias’ words might be closer to truth things here too. But I add melodies of harmonic pain. Trying to explain what was being done to me before I killed the Fae and escaped.

It pauses, seems to think in the slow ways wonderful homes and stupid girls like me sometimes have to, then burp-sighs its own request.

I wince. Hum back my worry that… that it’s too big of a promise for me to make. At least… at least right now. Without my Beloved’s close to help me make sure it's something I can do.

Promise it everything else. Pleading with it to trust me.

Share songs about its sister in the sea. How happy it is. Swimming about and gobbling up tasty Blight and holding happy souls comfortably inside its belly.

I think, for a second, it’s gonna get angry and try to smush me at that. But… no.

Just little songs of fearful pain.

Reach out a hand to pat a root wall, murmur soft nothings of song to let it know that… that I understand. What it is to be alone and hurting and sad and so very tired of this Dream.

It rumbles its own messy response, then lets pathways shift and adjust and bend and break and…

And before me is a chamber.

A place of cold white shell and spiraling surfaces being slowly cracked and broken apart by horrid roots coming apart from all angles. With a cocoon looking thing snared at the center. Amwella bubbles everywhere too. Every now and again one pops and weeps and the Dream rots away the Soulwaste.

I carefully wade through it all to the center and the wooden cocoon thing. Lay a hand on the wood, murmur soft songs that bring such painful bites from the curse.

The heart, muffled and hurting, begs past the song it's still trying to hide from.

“Oke.” I whisper, and draw up a counter melody to the thing the Fae wrapped about this place like some web. Push past that old curse’s sting to bathe talons and tendrils in that violet Amwella lighting while trying to smother this…

Thing of demand. Of ruthless desire. Of… Of everything they meant to do to me.

The Dream needs to burn.

No.

No not the Dream. At least… not the Fae Wood. Those are soft places grown from the ashes of what they burn.

The Blighted ocean and anything else that’ll work as kindling.

Can’t help but think about that as I tear this cruel song apart with song and blazing talons and whirling Naranggas.

Hearthfires, the spirits within, the Rifts and their songs and…

But this song was already falling apart. Like everything else. And without me being forced to sing in harmony to it, the song easily cracks and withers beneath my efforts.

Need to be careful though. These roots kinda were stabbed into the soft heart and are growing through it now, kinda like that one down my throat.

Use a little Naranggas to burn them out and away and soon it's helping me gnash and bite at the gross Fae things all about. I ask it to be sweet to Uldra and Melivias, and tell it about my Beloved’s and Raska just in case they come here looking for me.

It gurgles… then reaches out to coil weird limbs about me and…

Oh.

Just… wants a hug.

Very goopy but warm and kinda weepy.

So I adjust my song to things of soft safe sounds while hugging it back with everything I can. Even get to watch my Jellyfish wake up and nuzzle it close too.

“Oke.” I murmur through my song and look about. So glad to see the weird Fae things already pretty much faded away. “G– gotta go h– h– home.”

It snuggles me again, almost like it’ll never let me go. But… gently releases after a few moments. Only grumbling questions.

“B– back. H– help. Pr– pro– promise promise.”

It wiggles happily at that, then pulls up some of the shells about and click-clacks them about itself for protection as it begins to heal its wider self. Very sleepy, but still able to twist to make sure I’ll be able to leave.

But then it asks about the others inside though.

What others? I sing back.

The two Fae I promised won’t hurt it and should be allowed to leave. And… a group. Three with little ones like the ones in my soul rushing through the passages.

I almost yelp in surprise and joy and relief that my Beloveds are safe and already coming for me but… there is one more mentioned that stills me to tremble in terror.

Her Amwella and body and everything like a Storm.