Another hour passed without incident, and it was getting to the point where Rin wondered why they were even still there.

[Couldn't they just use this place for training?] Rin asked herself. [Purifying it like this seems like a waste. Unless there's something I'm missing, I guess.]

She stood over Varyn, as the boy continued to perform the spell, with her hands on her hips.

[Damn, he hasn't moved in hours,] she thought. [That concentration is something else.]

"Uh," Rin turned toward Maria, "are any other enemies going to pop up?"

"Most likely not for another hour or so," Maria answered.

"Oh. In that case," Rin quickly said, "is it okay if I go outside for a little bit?"

Maria raised a brow.

"Why's that?"

"There's this lake nearby, I, ehm, wanted to wash something."

"Hm. If it won't take too long, then sure," Maria replied.

"Okay, be right back!"

Having heard that, Rin picked up Xhez's bag and walked out of the fortress in a hurry.

---

{Xhez}

A rustling woke the sprite up. That had happened a couple of times already, and Xhez wondered if she should just go back to sleep the way she had before. However, as the sun was soon on her face, she realized this time was different.

Just a second later she was looking up into Rin's big amber eyes.

"Hey, wanna come out?" Rin asked, and the bag remained still. Xhez nodded from inside, guessing this meant Rin had set the bag down somewhere, and soon, she was jumping out, and landing just beside the adventurer.

However, they weren't in her room, as they usually were. Instead, a vast field of dried grass and distant trees surrounded them.

"W-Whoa," Xhez said, surprised. "Where are we?"

"On my mission. Turn around."

Rin had a cheeky smile on her face as she said that. When Xhez did as she asked, she saw why.

"Ahh!?" Her eyes gleamed as she found a large body of water, stretching out for dozens of meters. "Rin, what, where?"

The girl chuckled, sitting down next to the sprite's bag. She looked back at a strange grey building that was some distance away, checking for something.

"Yeah, I figured you might wanna stretch your arms a little. Sorry for keeping you in the bag for so long, but, I never found an opportunity to let you out until now."

"It is okay," Xhez chuckled. "I appreciate your efforts."

"Well, wanna take a swim?" Rin asked and Xhez was already in the water before Rin had even finished the question.

Swimming in places like these felt different from swimming in the water she made. There was a purer, fresher feel to it, similar to how it feels to walk outside after spending a lot of time indoors. The same way the air just felt different, the water did as well.

Xhez's smile grew as she spun around in the pond a few times, the coldness of it feeling like a familiar embrace on her skin. However, she soon spotted something that made her pause.

At the bottom of the pond, there was something that looked a lot like a water sprite. However, there were some unsettling differences that made Xhez hesitate to check.

The sprite's hands were incredibly large, with each individual finger reaching double the length of Xhez's own, and ending in sharp claws. The sprite's feet and shoulders were equally wide and bony, and as the sprite's mouth was open, Xhez could see dozens of fangs that it carried as its teeth.

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[What am I seeing?] Xhez wondered, as she reached for it. [What is this?]

She reached closer.

And closer.

Until she touched it.

But nothing happened. The sprite was long-dead, it seemed like.

[Hm, its spirit has yet to pass on,] Xhez realized, as she could feel a slight darkness coming from it. [I should show this to Rin. Maybe she'll know what happened.]

And so, with a considerable effort, she pulled the heavy sprite up to the surface.

As soon as Rin saw her and what she was carrying, her brows narrowed and she shifted closer.

"W-What the hell? Xhez?" She asked as she looked at the sprite Xhez had dragged up. "What is... is that a sprite?"

"I believe so," Xhez replied, taking deep breaths as her arms felt tired from the exertion. "But... I have never seen a sprite like this. I, I know I am the first sprite you met, but have you ever heard of anything like this?"

As both girls looked down at the strange creature laying on the grass, Rin shook her head.

"No, I-I don't..." Rin's confusion only grew as she continued to analyze the creature.

A different question popped up in Xhez's thoughts then.

[I should check her memories,] she thought, [maybe something happened to her that turned her into this thing.]

With that in her mind, Xhez leaned down and pressed her forehead against the creature's own, but Rin quickly reached out and held her by the wrist.

"Xhez?"

"E-eh, what?" The sprite was startled.

"What are you doing?"

"I am going to use my Spiritual Connection," she replied.

"Why?"

"Well, something has to have happened that made it become like this," Xhez explained. "I must stress, Rin, I have never seen a sprite like this. This is... I do not believe this is normal."

"Did your mothers ever say anything about this?"

"I... Well," Xhez paused.

[Did they?]

Trying to remember now, she knew for certain that they never told her about this directly, but they may have alluded to it a few times. After all, they'd explained to her that, before Xhez was born, both of them used to live in a community with other sprites. But, then, something happened, and it was because of that vague thing that they ended up alone.

[Could it have been something that had to do with this?]

"I need to check," Xhez quickly decided. "If this is some problem affecting my kind, I would like to know."

At that, Rin paused, but after a while, she nodded.

"Okay," she said, taking a deep breath. "If you think it's a good idea, go ahead."

With a solemn expression, Xhez looked back down at the sprite beneath her.

[Alright then, sister,] she thought, as she leaned down. [What happened to you?]

Thus, she activated her Spiritual Connection.

In an instant, she found herself in the body of this sprite and, as she'd hoped, she wasn't like this before. The sprite's name was Vilmie, and she seemed normal, sporting the same sorts of proportions as Xhez and carrying an easygoing, positive attitude as she walked through a dark forest Xhez hadn't seen before.

There was another sprite by her side, one with shorter hair and the same kind smile that she currently had. The adoration Xhez felt in her heart for her, and the fact that they were holding hands as they went on their stroll, let Xhez know these two were lovers. Everything seemed fine, for a while.

Soon, though, the sprites came upon a pond. The very one that Xhez had been swimming in, in her own body. It was nighttime, and that allowed Xhez to see that the pond was glowing a bright purple color.

Of course, being the sprites they were, curiosity filled the hearts of these two, and then they were going inside, taking a moment to swim in this place. For a while, things felt fine. Just like Xhez, before, there was a refreshing sensation that washed over Vilmie, and she felt so elated that she pulled the other sprite to her and embraced her.

Everything was going so great, that it made what happened next contrast all the more heavily.

Suddenly, a different feeling began to fill Vilmie's spirit. From happiness and refreshment to deep and utter hatred. It was pure rage, but it had no particular target. No cause. No reason to exist. However, this anger was so intense that, when Vilmie's eyes met her lovers, there was no love in them anymore.

And when she pulled the girl to her again, it wasn't to hug her, but instead, to bite down on her neck and rip a chunk out, so savagely that Xhez's own heart felt frozen.

And then, Xhez was back in her own body, as the memory concluded.

But, the anger she felt when she was in Vilmie's body hadn't left.

Instead, Xhez felt it slowly begin to fill up her own heart. Slowly, gradually, her body felt warmer and warmer as rage spread out from her spirit. Then, when she looked up at Rin, that anger found something to direct itself at.

Next thing Xhez knew, she was trying to claw Rin's face off.

"W-What?" Rin stopped her easily, though, grabbing her by the wrists. "Xhez!?"

The sprite growled in response, gritting her teeth as she looked back at the adventurer, feeling nothing but hatred.

"Aaagh!" Xhez snarled, trying her hardest to fight back, to keep her assault going. But, as Rin pinned her to the grass, looking down at her with concerned, worried eyes, Xhez stopped.

[... What am I doing?] She thought, suddenly, and as soon as that voice, her own, popped up in her mind, she started to fight back against the spreading hatred inside of her.

It wasn't something she was doing consciously, though she was aware of it happening in her body. Instead, it was like her spirit was trying to rid itself of that hatred all on its own. Taking steady breaths, trying to calm herself, that darkness that had erupted inside of her soon diminished, becoming nothing in just a few seconds.

All while Rin stared down at her, so worried that the sight broke Xhez's heart.

"Xhez?" She asked.

"I... I do not know what just happened to me," Xhez replied slowly then, and Rin released her. As soon as she did, Xhez hugged the adventurer, feeling chills go down her back.

"What the hell was that?" Rin asked.

"... I... A dark... I do not know," Xhez replied. "I cannot explain it."