‘I have to admit, it is a convincing drawing.’

The fairy let herself down on the couch, my sketchbook still in hand. She took a good long look at the sketch, letting her finger run over the lines of the rose on the fairy’s arm. ‘She does look like me- it’s scarily accurate, even.’

I simply waited in anticipation, quietly observing her while I tried to recall more details about the mysterious fairy. When I’d first seen her just now, I had almost been certain I had found her, but now that she was inspecting my sketch like this, I was beginning to doubt it.

‘-The only thing putting me off is that tattoo you’ve drawn.’ She continued as she rolled up her sleeve to reveal her bare arm. ‘I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not the fairy you’re looking for.’

‘I see…’ I sat down next to her cautiously, contemplating my lack of self restraint back in the hallway-

As soon as I’d uttered my statement, I’d frozen in my tracks as suddenly five pairs of eyes had been looking at me in confusion. And from me to the girl I’d pointed out, who had, very promptly, hid her face behind a book. Way to make a first impression.

Muñoz eyed both of us for a brief moment before making a decision. ‘Uhm… would you mind keeping that for after I’ve introduced everyone?’ A half suppressed laugh broke through in her question.

I was all too thankful.

Muñoz quickly introduced everyone to one another, and so I came to know the names of the two remaining fairies in our dorm- Mi-jin Chi and Mae LeGrimm- all while the latter and I kept exchanging short glances.

‘Well, that wraps up introductions. Now, I’ll let you two sort out whatever that was while I show these younglings around.’ Muñoz winked in LeGrimm’s direction right before LeGrimm quickly pulled me into her room, closed the door and looked at me intently, with a face of disbelief and confusion- one which before long turned to intriguement as I very messily recited the events of my dream to her.

She’d sat and listened as if enjoying a good story, not once interrupting me even when I’d stumbled to find words, until I’d told her about the fairy who'd supposedly rescued me. Her face had grown grim again as I’d shown my sketch.

‘I- I’m sorry for-… sorry for jumping to conclusions like that. I must’ve- startled you, my apologies…’

‘It’s all right. I can imagine this must have been very exciting to you- to finally find a clue about your past.’

I smiled vaguely and looked down at my hands. I hadn’t even realized I was clenching the frills of my skirt. I slowly loosened my grip.

LeGrimm stretched her arm out until there was barely any space between her hand and mine, but she pulled back before they met. She took another glance at the sketch and then lifted the page slightly before holding still. ‘… May I?’

I nodded. ‘Go- uhm… go ahead.’

I watched for a while as she flipped through the pages of my sketchbook, holding still for a little longer at a few of them. ‘Did you draw all of these from imagination?’

I nodded again. ‘I’ve been drawing these over the past half a cycle. These people appear in my dreams from time to time… I sketch them out when I’m awake so I won’t forget about them.’

She looked up and glanced over at me- just for a moment, her eyes narrowed- and then she started flipping a couple pages back, eventually pointing her finger at one of the sketches I’d made not long after my arrival on Silvea. ‘This one looks like headmistress Faewood.’

‘… I… suppose you’re right.’ I mumbled, peering closer.

‘And this one -’ She flipped back another page ‘- reminds me of professor Marlowe-, Stirling…- and headmistress Wildwing.’

‘I-…’

‘…Girls?’ A frail yet excited voice called from across the room.

We both turned our heads to where the sound had come from and I recognized whom I remembered to be Chi, Mi-jin Chi.

‘Are you two still coming? Or are you planning to keep her all to yourself, LeGrimm? No fair! I’m dyyyyyying to meet her, too, you know!’

LeGrimm took one more look at me, as if contemplating something, then stood up. ‘Hmm? Oh, yes, we’ll join you now.’

✿

When we came back to what was essentially our kitchen, we were caught by surprise as we walked into a fully covered table. Apparently, Iklím was a great cook and quite used to cooking up a meal for a number of fey, so she had conjured up a meal in no time with a little… uhm… help… from Muñoz.

‘I’m telling ya, ye shouldn’t have put that much salt in it.’ Iklím was busily dwindling about the table, balancing a good amount of platters on her left arm while Muñoz was putting the last few knives in their respective places.

As soon as everything was where it belonged, Iklím patted her hands together and took a good look at the result of her labour.

Muñoz took one of the chairs and pulled it back. ‘Oh, we’ll see about that.’ She nudged Chi, who was restlessly going about from one side of the table to the other, to take a seat. ‘Sit down.’

Chi simply stared in awe as she sat down. ‘So you used to do this every single day?’

Iklím nodded proudly. ‘Guess ye could say so, yeah. Come from a family o’ seven younglins. Busy life, but well worth it.’

‘I do suggest we rotate the cooking shifts.’ Abrish chimed in. ‘I’ll volunteer for tomorrow’s shift- but I’ll need some help, would anyone care to assist me?’

I opened my mouth to reply, but before I could- without even looking up from her book- LeGrimm raised her hand.

‘Great. And overmorrow?’

Again, I opened my mouth and raised my ha-

Chi leaped up, almost knocking over a glass a little too close to her. ‘Me! Me! Pick me!’

I tried raising my hand again to offer to help out, but Iklím took the conversation a different route. ‘Overmorrow? What’s that for a stupid word?’

‘A correct one. It’s just old Arthyrian.’ Abrish raised her fork and nodded to the others before she started eating. ‘Enjoy your meal.’

‘It’s stupid.’ Iklím muttered under her breath. ‘Just say “two days from now”, like a normal fey.’

I raised my hand one more time, but noticed everyone had already started eating and the topic had shifted significantly in the meantime, so I slowly let it down again and looked down at my plate.

I looked back up when I felt two hands on my shoulders. When I turned my head slightly, I noticed Muñoz’ attire.

‘Don’t worry,’ she said in a slightly hushed tone, ‘there’ll be plenty of cooking shifts. You’ll get your chance to help out.’

She sat down next to me and meddled in the conversation that was going on seamlessly, so I was left to sit in wonder.

✿

‘So ye really didn’t know where ye were going, did ya?’

‘Yeah- I mean, it was quite the hassle- but in the end, we pulled through.’ Muñoz concluded her story.

‘You must’ve appreciated your roommate a lot. You speak very fondly of her.’ Abrish reached for a piece of bread next to me. ‘Which reminds me, we haven’t heard your story yet.’ She gave me a nod.

Chi immediately leaned forward over the table. ‘You have a story?’

‘Say, haven’t you knocked enough over for one day?’

‘Sorry LeGrimm…’ She backed up a little. ‘Story?’, she repeated, now in a youthful wonder.

‘Hmm?’ I put my cup back down. ‘I’m afraid it’s not much of a story, but I’d be willing to tell it- or try, at least.’

Muñoz slightly pushed her chair back on its hind feet, using her elbows to balance it against the table. ‘That’s all right. You’re free to share as much, or little, as you want.’

I sighed and attempted to relax my shoulders. My eyes seemed fixated on the cup in front of me, following the little bits of tea leaves twirling around.

‘I uhm…’ I started, but my voice failed to carry any sound. I took a deep breath, tried again, and again to no avail. I noticed how my arms had tensed up and how I was turning inward as my vision became hazy. I tried to swallow, but even that proved to be difficult.

It wasn’t until I felt a hand on my shoulder and startled that I was able to avert my eyes from the cup. It was Muñoz’.

‘You don’t have to share anything if you don’t want to, y’know?’

‘What if we help her a bit?’ Abrish asked. I nodded absently, and a silence fell while everyone was thinking, only for a short period.

‘Ey, eh- yer source is strange.’

‘How- how so?’

Iklím smirked. ‘I mean, ye said ye were Silvean, right? I don’no much about it, but what ye did out there ain’t no flower Magic.’

I shook my head. ‘Hm, no. But I’m not Silvean. I came from Silvea, all right, but that’s not where I was born.’

‘Oh, that’s right, you came from Bythrith, didn’t you?’ Abrish asked.

I giggled. ‘No, no. I uhm… I actually come from Terra, originally.’

‘Is that even possible?’

‘LeGrimm here also came from Terra.’ Chi stated proudly. She was met with a silent stare over the edge of a book when LeGrimm heard her name.

‘I didn’t know there were fairies still on Terra?’

‘There aren’t.’ LeGrimm put her book down in front of her. ‘I was said to be the only one.’

‘Is that how you two know each other?’ Muñoz inquired.

‘We don’t-’ LeGrimm stopped and hushed her voice a little before she continued. ‘We don’t know each other, that was simply a misunderstanding.’

‘Suuuure.’

‘Now, if you’ll excuse me.’ LeGrimm stood up. Her chair made an awful squeaking sound as it scraped over the floor and almost fell over. ‘I’d like to finish my reading- in my room.’

As soon as she’d left, Iklím looked back at us and raised her eyebrows. ‘What was that all about?’

Muñoz let the legs of her chair down again. She shoved it a little closer to the table. ‘Terra.’ she stated as if that name alone would answer Iklím’s question. ‘She doesn’t like to talk about it.’

‘Why’s that?’

‘I wish I could tell you, Abrish. All I know is that she was brought up there by her uncle. He seems like an unpleasant guy, from what I can tell, but I don’t know much more than that. She usually avoids the subject altogether.’

✿

As everyone left the table to make themselves ready for the evening, I waited until I was left alone in the kitchen before I pushed my chair backward. I made my way over to the other side of the room and took a look out of the window, tracing the row of trees that marked the beginning of the forest with my eyes. In a way, it was not unlike Silvea.

I blinked drowsily. My internal clock told me it was getting late, but the sun shone brightly enough for me to have to squint against the light that fell in. I folded my arms over one another and tightened my grip. I figured I should get ready for the night as well, and yet I stood still for a while, making an attempt to release the tenseness that had built up with a sigh.

And then I noticed a soft sound behind me.

I turned my head and let out a shrill gasp, but eased when I recognized Muñoz.

‘M… Muñoz?’

She was standing in front of the door to the room we would be sharing, leaning against the doorway, her arms folded. For a moment, I was reminded of Anthea.

‘Well, there you are. Sorry, I- didn’t mean to startle you. I was waiting for you in our room, but you didn’t show. I thought I’d check in on you.’

‘Oh…’ I turned around. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t think…-’ I swallowed the remainder of my words.

‘-anyone would notice?’

My breath stocked.

Muñoz moved closer to the window, until she was virtually standing next to me. She smiled at me compassionately, then looked off into the distance. ‘C’mon, what’s the matter?’

I fell silent. And unsure of what to do, I followed her example.

I was expecting words to become stuck again, but to my surprise- they didn’t. ‘I- I wasn’t sure I’d belong here.’

Muñoz raised an eyebrow. ‘You know- I wasn’t sure I would when I arrived here either. You haven’t even started classes yet. Give it some time.’

I let a small smile slip. ‘That’s not what I mean. I thought I wouldn’t fit in here, in the dormitory, maybe even figured it- I’ve never been good with peers, and well, I can’t even activate my Magic- I’m not sure why you’d want me here, but everyone here has been nothing but nice to me.’

She halted. For a while, it seemed like she was contemplating her answer, before she continued: ‘Unlike most of the fairies here, I never applied to the Academy. I wasn’t exactly supposed to be Magical, you see?-’

‘- I got scouted by headmistress Dreamfall- imagine what a shock that was for my non-Magical parents-’

I giggled. Muñoz smiled contently.

‘Thing is- I didn’t know a damned thing about Magic, but Faewood took me in anyway. It took a little more work than for most, considering I had to learn everything from scratch- but she never once gave up on me- and as you can see, I’ve passed the first cycle.’ She turned her head toward me. ‘If she accepted you into this Academy, you belong here, no doubt.’

I smiled carefully- and then suddenly yawned as I felt the tiredness of the afternoon coming back over me.

Muñoz grinned. ‘You know, maybe you should call it a night- get some rest.’

I hesitated. Nodded. ‘That seems like a good idea.’

‘Come on, I’ll come with you. It’s been a long day for both of us.’

✿

‘All right- I won’t let you get away with it any longer.’

LeGrimm nearly dropped her book when she heard someone enter her room, before she saw Chi standing in front of her bed with a piece of cloth draped over her arm. Her face turned from a startled, wide-eyed look to a defeated grin. ‘Okay, okay… You’ve got me.’ She put her book down on the edge of the bed and spread her arms. ‘Promise me it won’t take long?’

‘Promise!’ Her roommate hopped on the bed and took a ribbon decorated with evenly spaced stripes that was laying around on her nightstand. ‘I’ve just got to make sure the measurements I took last time are still accurate. I don’t want your dress to fall weirdly.’

‘Remind me again what was wrong with last cycle’s dress?’

‘Nothing was wrong with it, per se. But it’s been an entire cycle since I made that one- and back then I didn’t know you as well as I do now. I want to make you a new one, one that really suits you. Does that make any sense?’

‘It doesn’t, really.’ LeGrimm sighed, but when she noticed the disappointed look on Chi’s face, she added: ‘But if it means that much to you, you can go ahead.’

Her expression changed almost instantly. Exclaiming ‘Great!’ she hopped off the bed and started looking through a pile of paper that was lying on her desk. ‘I already made you a couple of sketches. Look, I think this will really suit you, but I might still change it up a little, at least around here. Do you have any preferences? Oh- and can I add a pair of gloves to the mix or do those irritate you? I’d love to match them with the colour of your dress. You do like purple, don’t you?’

‘How ‘bout you take my measurements first and we discuss the details later?’

‘Oh… Yeah, you might be right about that. I do actually have to make it in time for the fest.’

‘Speaking of- Won’t the fest be at the end of the next moon cycle? That won’t be for another few weeks.’

Chi put a finger on her lower lip, and then lifted it in the air. ‘I mean, yes, but making these dresses takes time- a lot of it. And I’ve got to make three of them, if I can get Muñoz to finally come in to measure. Or-’ She put her hand on LeGrimm’s waist. ‘Turn around a bit, please. - Or do you think I could make dresses for the new younglings as well?’

LeGrimm rolled her eyes, but smiled simultaneously, amused at the excitement of her roommate. ‘You could certainly ask.’

Chi smiled. ‘I might just do that! On the subject, you took quite some time with that Frostthorn girl- did you find her to be… interesting?’

In a rather futile attempt to hide the fact that she was blushing twenty shades of red, LeGrimm turned her head away from the young Chi. ‘Interesting? I- don’t know what you mean.’

‘Y’h, ‘nt’r’st’ng.’ Chi mumbled, the pins in her mouth making it difficult for her to speak clearly. She took them out and very carefully placed them on her ribbon, leaving LeGrimm in suspense. ‘Followers did mention you might find some fairy interesting, didn’t she? Was the story she told you interesting?’

LeGrimm sighed inaudibly- and whilst doing so, let her shoulders down a bit- which in turn made Chi look up from her work.

‘You should hold still if you don’t want me to sting you with these.’

‘Sorry…’ She replied hastily. She remained quiet while Chi wrapped up her twisting and tweaking.

‘All right.’ Chi rubbed her hands together. ‘You’re done… for today. I’ll take it off one last time now.’

‘Great fey.’ LeGrimm let out a heavy sigh as she finally relaxed her muscles, immediately twitching as she felt the sting of a pin poking her.

‘Careful.’

She tried again, more carefully this time, to move- and they were able to remove the ribbon in no time.

When she had finally made herself comfortable on her bed, with a book in hand again, she glanced over at the young fairy she shared her room with, who was busily dwindling around and putting her pins and sketches back where they belonged.

‘It was.’

‘What was?’

‘An interesting story.’ She smiled halfly. ‘It was, well, an interesting story. Say, Chi?’

‘Hmm?’

‘In the story she told me, she was rescued by a fairy, a fairy she believed to be me. Remember when I told you that- uhm… that nothing quite felt right here at the Academy…?’

Chi looked up from the notes she’d just taken and met LeGrimm’s glance. ‘Of course I do? Why?’

LeGrimm stayed quiet for a while, tracing the edge of her book with her finger. ‘That Frostthorn girl, y’know? She’s the most out of place of all.’

‘What do you mean?’ Chi let go of her pins, causing a few to clatter on the ground and get lost in the carpet.

With a turn of LeGrimm’s hand, the pins came flying up again, back into Chi’s open hand, which closed itself almost immediately after the fact. ‘I mean- she just doesn’t feel right. You’re- welcome, by the way. Hold on to them this time.’ She gave a slight nod and a glance at what she meant.

Chi looked down at her closed hand. ‘Oh- Thank you.’

‘I don’t know how to say this, but I feel like she doesn’t belong here.’ LeGrimm looked at Chi’s perplexed face for a moment, then added: ‘Forget I said anything, it’s likely nothing.’ and she flicked her light out.

~✿~

Just a little earlier, over in a different room in the shared dormitory, two young fairies were unpacking their things, sore from a long journey.

At first sight, the fairies had exchanged glances in a certain disbelief. The Academy looked well-kept for the most part, aside from the fact that it was overgrown to an extent, but this room… not so much.

Abena picked up a comb from the dressing table in the middle of the room. The table had presumably belonged to the previous fairy who’d stayed there, but it looked like it hadn’t been used in ages.

‘Muñoz wasn’t exaggerating when she said this room had been empty for a while.’ She gently swept her finger over the surface of the desk. ‘It’s got layers of dust gathered up over the cycles.’

Rama let out a heavy sigh. ‘Ye can still make up yer mind. I won’t blame ya if ye do.’

Abena shook her head firmly. ‘No, I wouldn’t have it any other way. This is perfect. I don’t want to be treated any differently here, Ra.’

Rama moved a little closer to her and laid a hand on the comb. ‘C’mon, I’ll braid yer hair.’

‘No, you won’t. We’re not on Atherius anymore, you’re not-’ Abena sounded like she was about to break out into a protest speech, but Rama quickly shut her down.

‘-as your friend, Ab.’

Abena stopped mid sentence and simply stared at Rama, then averted her eyes. ‘All right… Just this time.’

The two remained quiet as Rama parted Abena’s hair and started braiding, a gesture that, from the looks of it, she had become quite accustomed to. It wasn’t until they heard Chi’s, well- what could only be described as squealing- from the other room that one of them broke the silence.

‘Chi seems to have a lot of energy.’

‘Ye could say that all right.’

They briefly met eyes in the mirror- and broke into laughter at the exact same time.

‘Ye know, these gals aren’t even half bad.’ Rama stopped braiding and picked up the comb again to start a new section.

Abena turned to face her. ‘I’m impressed- I figured you’d have a load full to say-’

‘It’s that LeGrimm girl I can’t stand- who does she think she is?’

‘... Nevermind.’ She rolled her eyes.

‘Stuck with her nose in a book, rude, ne’ermind she dresses like a witch.’ Rama swung the comb around in the air, careful enough as to not hit Abena with it but severe enough to add intensity to her words.

Abena sighed and shook her head calmly, a smile breaking through even though she tried to keep a straight face. ‘I’m inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt. And you should, too, Ra, you don’t know what’s going on in her life.’

‘I suppose yer right.’

‘I think I’ll come to appreciate Muñoz, she seems level headed, enough so to keep those other two in check. Yet I wonder what happened to those three.’

‘What?’ Rama raised an eyebrow.

‘I can’t exactly pinpoint it, but I feel like there’s more to them than they let on.’

~✿~

‘Muñoz?’

There I went. I’d contemplated saying it for a solid hour, but I’d finally been able to break the silence of night.

‘Yeah?’

She didn’t sound half asleep at all. I moved a tad and noticed she was reading. So much for staying still in the hopes I wouldn’t wake her up.

‘I- uhm… I can’t sleep.’

Muñoz sat up and waited for me to push away the sheets and make it over to her before she patted the side of her bed. ‘Any reason for that?’

I rubbed my hands. ‘I just- I…’

What to say? I’d thought this over for an hour and still couldn’t utter a single word. To tell her I felt homesick wouldn’t quite cover it. Should I tell her about the nightmares? She was bound to find out anyway. Or maybe I shouldn’t? I didn’t want her to worry.

Instead, I chose to sit down. A hand on my knee had me breaking my chain of thought.

‘It’s okay, you can tell me.’

‘I’m afraid.’ My voice was shaking.

Muñoz reached behind her for a bookmark to put her book down. ‘Hey… That’s all right. This is your first night at a foreign Academy, and you’re- who knows how many lightyears from home. How far is Silvea from here?’

‘Th- three days.’

‘See? It’s perfectly fine to feel unsafe your first night here, so far away.’

I nodded blankly. She looked up for a moment.

‘What do you usually do when you feel this way- back at home?’

My eyes traced the edges of her bed, the wrinkles in her sheet and the rim of her book, all the way back to the bookmark. ‘I- I wake Anthea, my cousin.’

She smiled. ‘And what does Anthea do?’

‘She… lets me huddle up… with her…’

She scooched over until there was plenty of room on the side where I was standing. ‘Come on in, then.’

‘A-…’ re you sure? were the words in my mind, but I held back and whispered ‘Thank you’ instead.

I curled up next to her and immediately felt a wave of exhaustion creep over me. Wearied out as I was from the journey, the walk, the impressions of the Academy and its inhabitants and the incantation I did with Iklím and Abrish, it didn’t take long at all before I dozed off and was fast asleep. And for the first time in way too long…

 

I was able to sleep through the night.

~❀❁❀~