Huh, who is this kid? Why is she next to me? Are those things floating around us fairies? Can they talk? "Uh, sure, kid… I'm Arata, you can just call me that. What should I call you?" Arata poses to her, trying to show some manners.
The girl looks up at him. She's in deep thought, like that question was difficult to answer, "Rachael, for simplicity's sake, I guess. Now, who are you three?" Rachael turns towards the fairies, a blank expression on her face as though she couldn't care less if they told her
The first one to introduce themselves is a bold fairy with violet hair and a maid costume who shouts with her hands on her hips, "I'm Lavender, the server of our tea parties!"
The second one, a green colored fairy wearing a dress fit for a noble, explains, "I'm Rosemary, the girl in pink is chive… she's a bit of a scatterbrain, I'm constantly having to keep track of stuff for her, even when she's also in charge of serving guests. I'm your hostess~"
Chive backs away, not wanting to talk to people, instead silently moving out, urging Arata and Rachael to follow. The poor fairy is all skin and bones, terribly malnourished. She's wearing a frilly maid dress with a pink ribbon.
The two stepped out into a lavish garden, and a river flowed from one end to the other, uphill. Flowers grew from both the floor and the ceiling, the floor space being sorted into alternating patches of rosemary, lavender and chive blossoms. The lavender flowers had bright, smiley faces. They muttered an incomprehensible language as the chive blossoms had ears, apparently much to their misfortune. One of the flowers uprooted itself to cut off the budding flower in an act of floral suicide.
There was the sound of a waterfall, one that fell upwards towards the end of the river. The water continued stretching across the ground to a lake on the ceiling. The flow of water was both up and down, even while the rest of the room seemingly was affected by gravity. There was sunlight coming in from the open yet closed ceiling. The ceiling felt as though it infinitely stretched up so that it was impossible to identify the source of the light Arata had seen. Up ahead is a table, dressed in white, across it are assorted pastries, sandwiches, silverware and a teapot as the centerpiece.
This place seems nice, but where am I? Nonono, I shouldn't be calling this place nice, it's creepy! Arata decides to take his seat on one end of the table, putting his suspicions to rest for now.
Rachael approaches the table, eyeing the suspicious setup, "Hey, onion, can I take any of the food here?" She says this out of courtesy, before loading up her plate with sweets, and begins to gorge herself.
"Call me Chive!" The girl in a pink-accented maid outfit finally speaks up, irritated at Rachael's behavior.
Rosemary chuckles as the various lavender flowers grow quiet for the host to speak, "teehee, no need for animosity in my tea party, I do say it's been quite the century with all the humans who have arrived at our tea party. It's a shame none of them ever came for seconds. Do help yourself, Miss Rachael. I hope the food is to your liking. Onion, if you'd please pour her some tea~"
Chive begins to sniffle, "uuuuuuuu, you're all a bunch of bullies!" Despite her name becoming a punching bag, she pours Rachael a cup of tea.
Mmhm, black tea, it has a nice fragrance. Ren used to drink lots of tea. I never thought I'd miss a smell this much. The aroma is a nice change of pace, but is it safe to eat and drink here?
Arata suddenly looks over to Rachael, who is stuffing her face with various items on the table. She mumbles happily about getting free food. She takes a sandwich, opening it up and putting a slice of pie inside of it, eating the whole thing. While she stuffs herself like a pig, she realizes she ate a little too fast, scrambling to grab the cup of black tea and swallowing it back.
Rachael coughs a little before stating, "Thanks for the tea, I needed it. Though I personally dislike the taste of tea, I don't get why some adults drink it."
Arata decides to chime in, "You probably think it's bitter, right? Taste is tied to how the body develops; we're only predisposed to enjoy a few select tastes, like sweetness. Everything else the human body needs to form its own opinions on." She can really put down some food… I guess that means it's safe.
The three fairies murmur among each other, impressed by Arata's knowledge. Rosemary turns to Arata, "I see, you're a gourmand yourself? You're right, appreciation of some aspects of gastronomy does require discipline. If you drink tea long enough, the seemingly bitter flavor builds in appeal."
Lavender speaks up boldly, "hahaha, you seem to underestimate our advanced tastes. We never age, so that we may only provide the finest flavors at our tea party."
"I see… Thanks for the compliment, Rosemary, but my older brother is the one who taught me that; he's more of a tea drinker than I." Arata chuckles, trying to ignore Lavender, whose heart is in the right place but maybe doesn't fully understand.
Chive begins to happily slice Rosemary her cake, seemingly forgetting any transgressions against her. Meanwhile, Arata sits down at the table next to Rachael. He glances over at her in curiosity. This was the first demihuman he had encountered in this world, and seemingly the only other guest to the party.
It's still all just a little off… Rachael should agree, right? Arata taps Rachael's shoulder, "Hey, doesn't this place seem a little odd to you? Did you remember falling asleep here?"
Rachael glances back in confusion, "What are you talking about? Something wrong?" She glances at the fairies before pinching Arata's leg under the table.
"Haha, silly of course, this is the land of fantasy and dreams, the eternal tea party which welcomes all human guests," Rosemary explains with a hearty laugh.
Yeah, but what happened to guests? Should I really be eating this? No, if they laced it, they wouldn't be the ones to eat first. I need to act as though nothing is wrong.
"Is that black forest cake? I can't say I've tried it before, it's made with dark chocolate and cherries, right?" Arata asks, with Lavender cutting a slice for him to try. Soooooo good! The quality of the food in this world was lacking. The bakery was good but pricey, and the lamprey is good but strange… to eat like this for free!
Arata no longer had any suspicions, much to the amusement of the prideful Rosemary, who chuckled.
"You two seem to be new to the fairy hospitality. Usually, in a fairy's company, people lose all desire to leave. Might there be something you'd be interested in asking?" Rosemary ponders to her two guests.
Rachael speaks up, asking, "Are fairies an infinite food source since you guys reincarnate?"
Arata's mouth dropped to the floor. This girl had the most terrible manners he had ever seen. What even prompted her to ask that?
Onion- I mean Chive shouted, "How dare you ask that, hey, you're a real bitc-"
"Language Chive! My apologies, sure I'd be glad to answer that. We fairies are mostly made up of mana, so while we mimic flesh, mana is the only nutrient we contain. You could not sustain someone on fairy meat." Rosemary answers apologetically, although she wasn't in the wrong.
Arata feels an emotional pang at the existence of fairies like they were her sisters, "Hey… how do you deal with the weight of eternity?" He asks with a cold expression.
Lavender is the one to answer, "Simple Arata, things are fun, so you don't want them to end? Does there need to be more of a reason than that?"
I was hoping the smart one would answer… I sorta get the idea still, an eternity in paradise is a lot more appealing than an eternity in purgatory. Arata felt his worry begin to melt away in relaxation.
Rachael is busy eating food when Arata turns to her, asking her, "You've got quite the appetite. This is the first time I've met a person with feathers."
"Our kind was a victim of ethnic cleansing, probably why you haven't seen one. Are you a sheltered noble? Though I guess that doesn't explain your strange clothes and you smelling bad." Rachael explains, she sounds as though that fact wasn't intensely morbid.
Arata retorts, "Do I really smell that bad? Maybe, but that's because I was just in a fight!"
"Likewise, but I bathe off in a lake before bed. What's your excuse?" Rachael retorts.
The three fairies laugh in the background, amused by their bickering, when Rachael chooses to stand up, "It's about time I got going, the exit is the door behind you, right?"
Rachael points at a blank wall as Rosemary sets her cup down. wall. The wall is covered in rosemary plants, which begin to wilt as Rachael points.