{Rin}

The ride to Dren was long but the look on Xhez's face made every second of it worth it.

Rin's cheeks were starting to hurt with how much she'd smiled, seeing the sprite light up every time something pretty appeared in the distance. Colorful plains and rolling hills, under a sky so beautiful it may as well have been painted into the world. Birds of different shapes and sizes, some more monstrous than others, flew over their heads. Around them, the other citizens onboard the train appeared completely unimpressed, a testament to how much time they regularly spent on this thing, but it only made the contrast between their looks of apathy and Xhez's expression of awe all the more humorous.

Eventually, however, as the sun was almost ready to descend out of sight, the train slowed down and Rin took a deep breath.

She hadn't expected to come back so quickly. She wasn't sure when she had planned to come back at all, actually, but she was here. She was back home, and she wasn't alone.

Once the train fully came to a halt, Rin gestured at Xhez for the sprite to follow her, and the two of them stood up, letting most of the others exit the vehicle first before they came out from behind them. As the crowd dispersed into the streets ahead, Rin stretched an arm out and looked over at Xhez warmly, feeling slightly excited.

"Well... This is my hometown," she told the girl. "Dren."

It was funny how, despite the fact that she still felt sick of this place, having Xhez next to her made the town feel just a little bit more alive already.

A few guards gave them weird looks but as Xhez jogged up a couple of steps and looked around, Rin paid them no mind. The only people she cared to avoid were any mages who could potentially see through Xhez's illusion. Outside of them, everyone else may as well have not existed.

"The buildings are darker here than they were at Libera, and it is colder," Xhez noted.

"Yeah," Rin nodded, walking up to her. "It's definitely more depressing being here. Visually, anyway. Come on, though," Rin said, adjusting her travel back on her shoulders. "Before we do anything else... I want to go see my mom."

"Right, your mother," Xhez said, looking eager to meet her, "what does she look like?"

"She looks like me. Or, like us, I guess," Rin chuckled, looking back into Xhez's artificially-made amber eyes. "Come on, we don't live too far away."

The two of them proceeded to make their way down Dren's chilly streets. It was strange, but although Rin guessed that others would almost always prefer to be in Libera than to be here, just the fact that she knew this place so well made it feel slightly more like home. She'd walked through every bit of this town at one time or another, and everything she'd seen was still in the back of her mind, regardless of her last month of adventuring.

[Who knows?] She thought. [Maybe that'll change in the future.]

Half an hour later, the two stood in front of a desolate-looking house, with almost no space separating the front door from the street itself. Xhez looked up at Rin with questioning eyes as the adventurer hesitated to step forward.

"Is this your home?"

Rin heard that and blinked, focusing up again and pushing some pesky old memories away.

"Yeah."

On that note, she tapped on the door twice, and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She stood there for a moment. Ten, fifteen seconds passed and she knocked again, feeling a little colder all of a sudden. Then, she heard a few muffled footsteps coming from inside and getting closer, and Rin stepped back.

She opened her eyes just as the door opened and when it did she found her mother looking back at her with wide eyes.

There she was. That near-perfect reflection of Rin herself, only a little shorter, paler, and, from the looks of it, she was sweating a bit.

Her lips parted but she didn't say anything. Rin inhaled sharply, and the two just looked at each other for a second.

"...Rin?" Lyn asked, and her daughter nodded.

"Yeah... Hi, mom," Rin replied and a little smile naturally appeared on her face.

Suddenly, her mother's arms were wrapped around her, and Rin felt her eyes tear up a little as she hugged her back. Her mother, however, was already shedding tears as Rin could feel them dropping on her right shoulder. As the two stood there, Rin felt like she was melting.

Then, Lyn let out a quiet, "huh?" As she looked behind Rin and saw the other person who had come along.

"Hello!" Xhez said, as energetic as always, and Lyn blinked.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

She looked at the sprite, then up at Rin, then down at the sprite again.

"... W-What?" Rin could see her mother's mind trying and failing to process what she was seeing, and it made her giggle a little.

"Mom, this is my friend," Rin backed away and gestured at the girl. "Her name's Xhez."

"Greetings," Xhez said, bowing as she'd learned to do from watching others.

"... B-But... Why does she look like...?"

"Uh, it's probably better if I explain it inside."

"Oh, okay, then, yes, come in," Lyn said to them and she opened the door, standing beside it to allow them to enter the place, and Rin couldn't keep herself from smiling the entire time.

Her house looked almost the same as it had before she left, only, to her surprise, things were a little bit cleaner, and, Rin saw that there was even a carpet on the floor.

[What the hell?]

A carpet in and of itself wasn't a big deal, but her mother, especially after Tristan's disappearance, hadn't been one to care much about decorations.

"Um, Xhez," Lyn addressed her, "would you like some water? O-Or maybe some food?"

"Not really," Xhez replied.

"Oh, okay," Lyn replied, and, finally all three of them sat down at Rin's nearby couch. Rin sat between her friend and her mother. "I... By the Divine," Lyn chuckled, a sound of pure disbelief as she looked back at the two of them. "W-Why did you come back? Did something bad happen?"

"I got that letter from you," Rin stated. "I was worried you weren't doing well, so I decided to see you myself. Are you okay?"

"I... No," Lyn answered honestly and it hurt Rin's heart to hear that, but she wasn't someone who liked false hope either. "This latest wave of sickness has been particularly tough to handle. I believe it may have to do with how active I've been lately. You remember, right," she smiled at her daughter. "The job I got?"

"Yeah."

"Well, i-it seems I've been putting in more hours than I should have, but," she was quick to say, "I've been resting lately. My fever is getting better, at least."

Rin sighed, shifting closer and pulling Lyn into a hug.

"Mom, I'm guessing you're liking the job but you have to pace yourself."

"Of course, I understand," she said, chuckling a little. "It is rather embarrassing having my own daughter reprimand me like this. I won't mess up again, Rin. Don't worry. Now..."

Lyn looked behind her.

"Who's this?"

"... Okay," Rin pulled away and took a deep breath. "First things first, I need you to promise you aren't going to freak out, okay?"

Lyn raised a brow.

"Why would I?"

At that, Rin paused.

"Well, there's no better way to do this than to just come out with it, I guess. Mom," Rin looked up at her. "Xhez isn't human."

Someone else may have laughed when they heard that. Rin's mother, however, knew that she wasn't the type to joke around like that. So, when she heard Rin's words, she pulled back a little.

"What?"

"Yeah... I met her outside of Libera," Rin explained. "When I was in the forests because of... stuff, that happened. And, yeah, she isn't human."

"T-Then, what is she?" Lyn asked.

"... I guess it would be better for you to see than to hear, wouldn't it?" Rin asked, turning toward Xhez.

"May I remove the disguise?" Xhez asked.

"Yep. Go ahead."

"Good, I could feel that it was running out," Xhez said, and suddenly, her body began to glow white. Lyn raised a hand to her mouth, shocked, as the illusory colors of Xhez's body began to disappear.

And, from one second to another, she now looked like herself. A water sprite wearing human clothing.

Rin didn't say anything for a while, as Lyn just looked at her, stunned.

"So, yeah, this is Xhez. She's a water sprite."

---

After that, Lyn prepared some coffee for everyone before Rin went on to tell her about almost everything that had happened.

Almost.

She mentioned how she'd disappeared, how she'd gotten stuck in the wilderness with no way back to Libera, and how she'd met Xhez there. She said that Xhez helped her survive until Cara, Eve, and Sye managed to find her and that a little while after that she'd gone on her second mission and been successful, all while teaching Xhez about humanity.

However, of course, she left out the part about how she'd gotten the money to buy the clothes she was currently wearing. There was no need for Lyn to know that much about her time in Libera.

"Goodness," Lyn let out, as she listened to Rin's story while they sipped their coffee. "You sound like you're living out one of those cheap plays at the theatre."

"I feel like it sometimes," Rin laughed.

"And, wow, you've gotten in shape!" Lyn said, reaching over to squeeze Rin's biceps.

"Yeah?" Rin asked. The only part of her that she'd noticed had changed was her midsection, as Rin had seen the beginnings of a six-pack appear as she'd continued to work out with the other students. She hadn't noticed the rest of her body's changes, however.

"Yes! Your arms are so much thicker, a-and your legs as well!"

"... I've been doing my best," Rin said with a smile.

"But... What will the two of you do?" Lyn asked, looking at Xhez. "Is she to stay with you?"

"For the foreseeable future, yeah, right?" Rin asked.

"Yes! I wish to learn as much as I can," Xhez stated. "I enjoy being with Rin quite a bit, as well. She makes me very happy."

Rin blushed when she heard that, and Lyn pulled back.

"O-Oh. Are you two...?"

When Rin heard that, she nearly spilled her coffee by waving her hands back and forth.

"No, no, no, we're just friends," Rin replied. Honestly, she hadn't even entertained the idea of dating Xhez. She couldn't imagine how that would work.

"Oh, I see," Lyn said. "Ah... Rin, how long will you be here for?"

"Until Sunday morning," Rin replied easily. "Then, I have to get back to work at the Academy."

Lyn nodded.

"In that case, how about you show Xhez the town a little?"

"What?" Rin asked. "B-But..."

"I will still be here when you return, Rin," Lyn chuckled. "We have a couple of days to reconnect a little, don't we? It would be good to show Xhez around before we do that, I believe."

Rin paused, but eventually, she nodded.

"You can let Jay and Felix know you've returned, too," Lyn added. "I'm sure they will be just as ecstatic as I am to see you."

"Definitely," Rin said. "So... Xhez," she turned toward her. "Wanna head out?"

"Can you give me an hour in the water? I need to recharge."

"Oh. Okay."

Rin stood up as Lyn gave her a questioning look.

"Recharge? O-Oh my," She asked, as Xhez then stripped right in front of her, earning a blush from Lyn while her daughter grabbed a nearby white bowl and filled it up with water.

Then, she brought it back over to them and held it out in front of Xhez.

"Alright, go ahead."

Promptly, Xhez jumped up and front flipped into the bowl, shrinking in midair, earning a small yelp from Lyn.

"W-What!?"

"Yeah, just, uh, water sprite stuff," Rin said, as she held Xhez's bowl on her lap and sat down again. "So... How's the job been?"