𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℙ𝕖𝕥𝕒𝕝 ℚ𝕦𝕖𝕖𝕟!

The  monarch  had  been  lounging  on  the  fainting  couch,  reading  his  book  lazily  before  he  heard  a  voice  near  him.  He  looks  up  after  finishing  his  page;  his  eyes  glancing  towards  the  small  fae  that  was  floating  near  him,  taking  a  moment  to  recognize  who  the  young  fae  was.    Notte  had  been  in  and  out  for  frequently  on  her  travels  so  he  was  wondering  how  long  it  would  take  before  they  returned.  

Hearing  her  questions  out  he  clears  his  throat,  raising  a  hand  lazily  as  a  servant  stumbled  over  to  meet  him,  asking  for  a  sweet  bread  for  the  little  fae  before  addressing  her.        ❝    it  sounds  like  you’ve  had  a  trying  life,  my  dear.  I  take  it  that  is  what  has  happened  to  you  and  your  court?        ❞      if  that  was  indeed  what  happened,  then  he  would  have  to  look  into  those  matters  himself.          ❝      would  you  like  some  wine?  It  might  help  relax  you.        ❞          neverminded  the  fact  he  was  offering  it  to  a  child.  It  wasnt  like  she  was  human. 

          “Thanks, Cyrus...”

           As much as Notte wanted to try and retain her positivity, it was so much harder to do. She was so happy having learned to fight, to be able to do more and assist her friends. Yet...the cost it came at.

           The sweet bread that had been brought to the tiny fae, she thanks the servant before taking a small chunk out of it and eating. It...was positively delicious! It was actually so delicious it hurt. It made her heart hurt and feel heavy, wanting to just cry. But...she didn’t want to ruin Cyrus’ mood more than she probably already was going to.

          “Uhm...I’m allowed to have wine? You know what? Sure. I’ll take some. Cause...it turns out...half my life is a lie. I was born in the Faerie Kingdom...and I wasn’t pushed out or anything cause of my mana observations. But...like...they put me to sleep and left me outside! Like, they totally messed with my head and created this fake life for me, making me think that’s what happened and I grew up outside! Big King dude said it was cause of my mana levels or something? Like, me being more than average or whatever. And he used me to spy on Euden! He planned my whole meeting Zethia and then them taking me in! And Euden...I think he got the worst news out of all of us though...”

            Eating another piece of the bread, she takes a rather shaky breath. Notte for the most part can handle her life being a lie. But poor Euden...to know he isn’t even a real person just makes her head spin. At the end of it though, all Notte knows it to keep his spirits lifted as much as possible.

   — The weak smile remained upon his lips, her words lightening his heart – albeit only by a little – and he would nod, “Ah, one hundred and twenty three to be being exact,” but in terms of being as old as a dragon? Well, a young one perhaps. Dragons were almost as timeless as his race was, after all. Perhaps even more so. 

       “I… I am supposing that if someone is talking with you enough it will…” he trails off with a shrug, “I know I am knowing these words. They are just sometimes being… hard?” a short shaky laugh escapes him, “Ah, but you are having my thanks, Miss, I am being very sorry for the… trouble,”

       Yet he would pause once more, a momentary look of shock flashing across his face before panic, “AH! Name! M-my name… You are not knowing my name. Sorry… sorry. Olithier. It is being Olithier,”

          “Whoa...wow! That’s absolutely AWESOME!”

            A joyous flutter of her wings, easily impressed by the age of the elf. How strange it was! He was like, older than Luca! Cause don’t Sylvans age for a super long time? Don’t they last longer than humans as well? But...was he as old as gramps? She should ask Midgardsormr how old he is after this.

            “It’s no trouble, big guy. Don’t sweat it, yeah?” A gentle pat to his thumb as he continued to hold her ever so gently.

          “. . .”

           Berry in hand and mouth, all Notte could do was quickly turn her back and hope her wings covered up the crime she’s currently committing. Even still, with berry on her face, she shoots a look over her shoulder.

           Not at Big Bro Raihan, but at Big Sis Duraludon! How could she?!

          “--You swore you wouldn’t tell!”

   — Oh, he could feel the heat in his face. A familiar twisting in his stomach that was to have him hesitate. Words held back as gaze was to drop altogether. And once again, he could not help but to feel a little… stupid. His own shortcomings weighing heavily on those broad shoulders. He would, however, force a smile, one that, perhaps, would not reach his eyes.

       “S-sorry,” the word finally falling from his lips. He hated having to stop people, having to have them slow down or repeat things. Sure, it was fine when he was clad in that protective armour. His helm being what translated everything. But he simply wasn’t wearing that today, was he? “Ah, it is not being so much the words you are… speaking,” slowly he would lower himself into a seated position, careful not to dislodge the tiny female that had chosen to rest upon his hand, “I…” another hesitation as he lets out a sigh, “I have been being not taught this language for, ah, over 100 years. I have been with the learning for almost four,” the fingers of his free hand ran through the blades of grass on which he now sat, “I am only, ah, needing you to be slowing down, I can be understanding better that way,”

           This poor elf! Notte hadn’t realized she had been talking too fast for him to keep up. It almost made her feel a little bad. and that feeling only solidified when she saw the look on his face. He wore the same look Euden did sometimes. That look where he wants everyone to think he’s okay, but something is troubling him.

           As he sat, she held on to his thumb for stability. No matter how gentle he was in his descent, Notte herself was still tiny and easily moved. “Whoa...You’ve been like...alive for a hundred years? Dude! You’re like, as old as a dragon!” Or at least one to her. Or would he be as old as she was? Notte wishes she knew. Even so, she smiles at the elf.

   — But she never helped her, she helped herself. After all, both tiny things were annoying. The small bug that would have attempted to bite and the small bug that wouldn’t shut up. By removing one, maybe the other would leave her alone. 

       Another crunch and she would simply keep chewing. She still held the dagger in her hand, dark eyes admiring the freshly sharpened blade. There was almost… love in that gaze, if one cared to look hard enough. Still, a small chuckle was to escape her lips. One that, well, it certainly couldn’t be described as warm. “Sure, I have some friends that… Oh, wait, you said fiends didn’t you?” and much like her voice, her expression remained emotionless. Besides, she would have killed them herself had she truly meant it. Yet to offer a favour… Wasn’t that a mistake? “But, I will keep that in mind,” another crunch, another bite, “I might have use for someone smaller than I,”

           Her helping herself had still been an assist to Notte! So it all benefits her in the end. Her benefit was also her benefit. And Notte only saw it appropriate to thank her, whether she intended to assist or not.

   — And he would blink. She was using many words, some he knew some he… knew but not in this context. His ears would twitch, and while the smile would remain upon his lips there was just something about his gaze that simply said: I do not understand. 

       Yet to he, the fey were not linked to the dragons. Except, of course, the faerie dragon. Nor were they linked to humankind. Rather, if he were to stretch it, they were far closer linked to his own people. After all, the fey were not of the material plane typically. Still, her words would wash over him, confusing and, dare he say it, a little odd. He hadn’t expected to be meeting a sprite or faerie who sounded like she came from the very slums of the town in which he inhabited, after all. “Please,” he would state suddenly, hoping that this small interruption would not be taken as an offence. To offend the fey could sometimes lead to a more dire situation – from what he had heard, at the very least, “C-could you, ah, maybe be slowing down a little? Ah…” his words catching in his throat, “I… am struggling with understanding some of what you are, ah, saying…”

           “Huh?” It took Notte a moment to actually gather what this guy was saying. Oh! He wanted her to slow down. That made a bit more sense. She could talk a bit fast, and for people who didn’t understand her...it could take a little to get it. A cheery nod, and she agrees. “Sorry about that, bud. Guess I got a little excited!”

“Fiends, no. perhaps people though. Euden, knowing him, probably wishes that we can solve all this with nice words. Thankfully we have both you and him on the front lines. I think it cheered him up too, seeing you like that.”

“Even without helping us on the front line, you do know you’ve also been quite useful to us already, yes?”

“Still, seeing you able to fight like this fits so well, I’d say.”

“Notte seems to be in a happier mood than before ever since she’s been able to fight. Is it just me?”

   — “And that’s my problem… why?” another bite of the carrot. She would continue to stare, of course. This was, perhaps, the most interesting thing that had happened since she sat down. An annoying kind of interesting, of course, but interesting nonetheless. Naturally, there would be the smallest of chuckles as the fae flew by, her gaze no longer on the smaller humanoid but shifting, instead, to the smaller insect. And just as it flew closer… There would be a crack as carrot met hand, the mosquito mercilessly crushed between palm and vegetable.

       Her gaze fell, looking now upon her favoured orange food, a small tut escaping her lips, before she lifted the dagger by her side and just scraped the now very dead mosquito from it’s surface.

           From inside the tree, no longer being pursued did Notte finally poke her head back out and look to the very mean lady! Regardless, an assist was an assist. “You don’t gotta help me, but you did! So thanks, lady.”

          “Hey! This thing is tryna drain me dry!” It was almost devastating to a point, how even simple bugs were a threat to the tine fae. While she was bigger than a mosquito, they were big enough to her tiny size that it would be akin to being stabbed with a rapier. Shooting right past the stranger, Notte finds herself a small crevice in the tree where she could comfortably hide from the mosquito. Where it wouldn’t be smart enough to go around the stranger, and instead go for her itself.

          “Chrom!” Excitable as ever, she flutters right into him. Smack dab into the side of his cheek before she stumbles back and lands on his shoulder instead. No clue what the foreign prince wanted, but he was a good guy! He reminded her of an older Euden. How could she not find enjoyment in his company?

          “What’cha need, big guy?”

         “Thanks, my guy! You totally saved me from like, living one of those vine swinging days!” Not that his hair was akin to vines, but to her they might as well have been. It was so long she would have been tangled in it forever trying to get out.

Make no mistake - Euden was happy to see Notte get to stand up and fight. Though there wasn’t joy in fighting, the joy she exuded every time she spoke of how she could be ‘useful’ in ways other than her undying optimism and cheer - while Euden wish she truly knew the value of that to begin with - it rang with a cheer that shone even brighter than her usual plucky delight.

… All the same, the faerie so eager to pick up a weapon and fight was the same one he knew all his life for being so small and fragile; it was difficult to hold back the insistence that she shouldn’t be fighting, even knowing she’d found a power and a style that ensured she could. That she had to spend this growth fighting and guiding the others forward on a quest for Euden’s wishes instead of being able to enjoy her newfound size in the first place…

“ … ”

          Notte herself couldn’t contain her joy. She finally found a way to be useful to everyone. Notte herself would no longer be a liability, no longer would people have to worry about squishing her. She’d be safe! Ish. She could defend herself and everyone else as well! Notte could help Euden get Zethia back and take back their home, while building a new one for everyone else. It was perfect. This newfound power of hers was absolutely perfect.

           But...all power has its limits. And training today left her a little drained, so it was easier to remain tiny for right now.

           Fluttering right over to Euden, she took note of the look on his face, and then realized how sweaty she was from training. Was that it? Was it disgust? Oh well, he’d get used to it! Landing right on his shoulder, she makes sure she’s situated before laying back with a loud ‘oomph’.

I GOT HER!!!!