"Aah, Elle, you're speaking strangely," Aelindra said softly, tilting her head with curiosity.
I listened quietly as the fairies whispered among themselves, their voices soft yet filled with concern.
"Aelindra, she lost her memories, remember," the little boy, reminded gently.
"Thalior is right, Aelindra," Nymeria added, turning to face them both. "Elle doesn't have any memories of the past right now."
Their conversation continued in hushed tones, close enough for me to catch fragments. It seemed they had known me from the very first timeline and through every life since, and unlike me, they remembered everything.
What is this?
I swallowed hard, my mind reeling at the weight of their words. How could they remember what I had forgotten? Were they truly my protectors, or was there something else beneath the surface?
"Hey," I called softly to get their attention. "Can you tell me everything...?" I asked.
The fairies paused their quiet conversation and turned their eyes toward me, their expressions gentle yet serious.
Nymeria stepped forward, "There are things you must discover on your own, Elle. Some truths are hidden until the right time." She said, voice calm but firm.
Thalior's pale eyes met mine, "Because some truths carry dangers too great to reveal all at once. Your mind needs time to prepare, to heal." he said, filled with both sorrow and resolve.
Aelindra hovered closer, her delicate wings trembling softly.
"We protect you not only from those who wish you harm but also from knowledge that could overwhelm you." she said, her voice trembling, tears glistening in her eyes. "Im sorry, Elle.."
Their words settled over me like a heavy cloud, both comforting and frustrating. I longed for answers, yet a part of me understood their caution. Still my mind is being eaten by frustration of curiosity.
I frowned slightly, unable to hide my frustration.
"Yet you're speaking openly about me, as if I'm not here. Why won't you be honest with me?" I remarked.
I noticed their shoulders slump slightly, their expressions growing discouraged. My heart ached in response.
Was I being too rude?
I leaned closer, a soft smile touching my lips. "Is that so?" I asked gently. "Then I won't press you for answers. Instead, why don't you tell me more about yourselves?"
I spent a long time talking and listing with the three of them. I've learned their names and their powers or blessings as they said.
Nymeria was a dream-weaver fairy, gifted with the power to grant peaceful and pleasant dreams to those in need. Thalior, the healer, possessed the ability to mend wounds and soothe pain with a gentle touch. Aelindra was known as the guardian of the ancient woods, protector of the natural realm and its hidden secrets.
They even told me about my great-grandmother, who was a fairy. How we are called humans blessed with fairy's blood, bearing the blood of fairies in our veins.
As they shared their stories, a sense of calm settled over me, weaving itself into the fragile threads of my unsettled heart.
***
I'm sitting at the table, eyes moving from the old books in front of me to the window beside me. The air smells of leather, wood, and something earthy. Sunlight streams through the leaded glass, warm on my face and hands, so different from the cool air-conditioned library back on my preview life. Outside, there's green grass and birds flitting across the bright sky. I didn't realize how long I'd been staring at the pages.
"You're reading books about the history of fairies?"
I glance by my side. Nymeria was there by my shoulder, gazing down at the books scattered before me.
"I can tell you the details of that, we can say that much." She said. "You don't have to worry, only humans blessed with fairy's blood can see us." She added as she noticed me glance toward Zilda, who stood not far away.
"You're alone today," I murmured quietly.
I watched as she fluttered closer and settled beside the open book in front of me.
"Because both Thalior and Aelindra are busy with their duties, unlike me," She replied. "So, it wouldn't be just today. It would be most of the time."
Today, she seemed calmer and more comfortable than yesterday, when she had been on guard, ready to defend herself fiercely after I had grabbed her friend in my hand.
"This book is not entirely wrong, but it's certainly not right either," she said thoughtfully. "Perhaps the author had lost their mind, writing such nonsense," she continued with a hint of amusement.
Fairy blood was said to be very powerful. It could heal even serious wounds. The book said that drinking fairy blood could make someone immortal and unable to be hurt, no matter how badly they were wounded. These were some of the things the book suggested.
"Do not believe this, Elle," Nymeria said firmly. "Even if you are blessed with fairy blood, drinking a single drop would end your life. Our blood is the most powerful poison that exists, just a drop can be deadly."
At first, I found it hard to dismiss these claims. Having witnessed magic firsthand and knowing fairies were real, such powers seemed within reach of possibility.
Deep down, I had a hunch that this book were nonsense, and I was actually right.
"What do you want to know about fairies, Elle?"
Though fairies are cool, what I want to learn about what it's connection with the cursed that hunted me. I wondered if this book, or Nymeria, would say anything about the witch or the curse I had.
But would she tell me about it?
I paused for a moment. "Everything, I guess..." I replied.
Nymeria rose and sat, crossing her delicate feet as she began to speak.
Seraphielle, the very first fairy and fairy goddess of life, the source of all fairykind, was born from a single tear of profound sorrow.
Long ago, long before I existed and when Elarindel was still open to humans and other beings. Elarindel was a deep ancient forest nestled within a dangerous mountain range that lay between the eastern and western borders, lands rarely ventured by humans and home of fairies. Seraphielle, then was the first and only queen we fairies had. She was a compassionate and social fairy who believed in the goodness of humans.
One day, a human man became lost in our realm. Trusting and kind-hearted, Queen Seraphielle cared for him through his wounds and nourished him with rare fruits and herbs from the forest. After days of rest, the man awoke and was guided back home, bearing gifts of fruits and rare materials as tokens of gratitude.
But no one could have foreseen the greed hidden within men's hearts. The man returned with armed followers and invaded our land, demanding moonveil crystals and whisperwood bark, precious treasures found only in Elarindel. A brutal clash ensued, many fairies were killed and injured as humans ravaged the forest.
Fairies, overwhelmed and outnumbered by nearly a hundred armed men, found themselves defenseless. In her anguish and grief, Queen Seraphielle could no longer bear the harm inflicted on her people. With the support of the elder fairies, she invoked her sacred blessing and transformed into a mighty, sacred tree at the heart of Elarindel.
This tree became a powerful guardian, erecting a sacred barrier that protected the forest and forbade humans from entering. The barrier was so fierce that any human who crossed it was instantly killed within its bounds, ensuring the safety of Elarindel and its inhabitants forever.
I swallowed hard, struggling to grasp the weight of such a story.
Nymeria continued,
But that was not the end. Fairies still had duties entrusted by our goddess Lumira and our fairy Queen Seraphielle, 'To venture beyond Elarindel and protect nature elsewhere'.
Outside the forest, humans were never meant to see us. Yet, some humans like you exist, humans blessed with fairy blood who can perceive our presence. One among them unintentionally revealed our existence, causing the knowledge of fairies to spread far and wide.
Magical beings gifted with the power to preserve nature and heal living things, and adorned with an unusual beauty, we became targets. Greedy humans hunted not only fairies but also those blessed with fairy blood, cruelly gouging out their eyes to use as materials to glimpse the unseen realm of fairies.
"That is how that book was created, by those false and useless informations." She remarked.
What the actual fuck?
Like that one I had watched before... they gouged eyes of those like me?
"Does it still happen now?" I asked, curiously.
Nymeria nodded solemnly. "It does, but rarely. About sixty years ago, an imperial law was enacted forbidding the killing of fairies and other magical beings. Those who break the law face execution, often along with their entire families."
The cruelty humans had inflicted on beings like us was beyond what I had imagined.
"Then," I hesitated, my voice barely above a whisper, "Those who are after my life, are they after my eyes, too?"
"Partly," she replied. "But their are also other reasons you have to consider. After you are a noble lady and now to be tied with a much higher nobility."
That made sense. Yet, even before Norie- my engagement to Evander, my life had been in danger. That meant someone knew about my fairy blood. What confused me was that only I and the count had been poisoned, not Neoven or Leopold.
"Do all humans blessed with fairy's blood have fairiesas their protectors?" I asked, curiously.
Nymeria nodded. "Yes. But unlike us, many fairies rarely reveal themselves, they are either shy or afraid." She replied. "And only three people are known to have two fairies as guardians. And you, Elle, are the only one blessed with three."
I frowned. "Is it because I was cursed?" I asked cautiously.
She paused, a flicker of shock and disbelief crossing her face, as if what she feared had indeed come true. Yet, there was no fear, only a quiet disappointment, as if she already knew I was aware.
"…Do you know that I knew?" I asked, seeking confirmation.
"I can barely tell," she replied. "I guess it was someone from the traven with lantern and crows… She truly would intervene. After all, she was one of the reasons you were granted a seventh life. It's no surprise that she would intervene again now."
She knew the witch?
The traven Veiled Lantern? Mortem Guild?
"But be careful, Elle," Nymeria warned, her tone serious. "That person might not be your enemy, but she is definitely not your ally, her intentions remain unclear, even to us... Keep this knowledge to yourself, Thalior and Aelindra must not learn of it."
I leaned back, my heart pounding as Nymeria's words sank in. The witch from the Veiled Lantern, made everything more confusing. Was she really a friend or an enemy? What would happen if I learned too much?
I took a deep breath and looked at my fairy protector. Then gaze went by door as it loudly creaked opened following a heavy footsteps.
"Sister..." Leopold called.