Her True Form

It wasn’t a trap. At least, Yvette didn’t think it was a trap. It was a little girl. Maybe eight or nine, Yvette couldn’t tell. A few years younger than Ermina had been. Even when she’d been just human she’d never been the best at telling ages, now she was even worse.

The girl was sitting with her back to a tree, hugging her knees to her chest and just very lightly crying. She looked exhausted, covered in leaves and mud. Her hair was short and either brown or covered in so much dirt she couldn’t tell. The poor thing looked exhausted.

Yvette started to take a step towards the girl and half expected Gervas to stop her. To her surprise, she realized he was already there, kneeling in front of the girl. “Child? Are you okay?”

The child, however, looked up and promptly screamed, before covering her face with both hands. “P-please don’t eat me!”

Of all the reactions Gervas expected, that obviously wasn’t one of them. For a few moments he was silent before, finally, he shook his head. “I won’t hurt you. I’m not one of the fae.”

Slowly, the girl lifted her face from her hands. “You’re… not? But you’re in their woods…”

“We’re traveling through,” Gervas said. “Hopefully not for long.”

“Probably far, far too long,” Nautia said. “We’re taking her with us now too, aren’t we?”

“We’re not abandoning a child here alone,” Gervas said.

“Both of them, utterly suicidal,” Nautia said. “We don’t even know if she’s really a child. Why would a child be here at all? It’s probably another trick.”

“I don’t think it is,” Yvette said softly. “What’s your name?”

“Bayla,” the girl said softly. Yvette felt a small twinge in the back of her mind. As if she’d forgotten something important. Something about this girl.

“And how did you come to be here?” Gervas asked.

“I don’t know,” Bayla said softly. “There were pixies and they… just left me here. I… I think I talked to them.”

“Did they ask if they could have your name?” Yvette asked, a small feeling of dread washing over her.

“I… I don’t think so,” Bayla said. “I… I remember. They asked if they could have my story? I was alone and… waiting for someone. I think? But they weren’t here and… and then I couldn’t remember anything. The pixies left and then I was all alone again. But I can’t remember how to get home. I don’t even remember if I have a home…”

Gervas gave a soft sigh before, slowly, getting to his feet. He held his hand out to her. “Come with us. We’ll try to get you home.”

“Do you think she’s part of the Empire?” Nautia asked.

“There’s no telling,” Gervas said. “This is the Realm of the Fae. They could be from anywhere in the world that overlaps with ours. Possibly from another world entirely, there’s no way for us to know.”

“Do you think Vala could help?” Yvette asked.

“If we had any way of finding her, maybe,” Gervas said. “If she’s feeling generous. If whoever commands her isn’t feeling like trying to capture us. If she’s even within who knows how far from where ever we are.”

Bayla stared up at him before shaking her head. “You’re as lost as me…”

Nautia gave a low, annoyed growl before snapping at them. “Just grab her and let’s go. Or better yet, leave her here! The longer we’re here the more likely that something will go wrong. The last thing we need is a frightened child dragging us down!”

“We’re not leaving her here alone,” Yvette said. “If you want to go on, then you can go on without us. But… but she…” She slowly lifted a hand to her forehead. “I’m almost out of time. Gervas? You’ll need to talk with her. We’re not leaving her… behind though. We’re not abandoning a child here, alone and helpless. So just--” But she didn’t have enough time to get the rest of the words out. Without her using up more of her magic, she had no choice. She began to transform once more, rising up, higher and higher into the air as her body took on the aspects of the storm itself again.

Within a few moments the phoenix stood amongst them and Bayla stared at them with eyes as wide as saucers. “Can… can I come with you?”

“You can’t be serious,” Nautia said before shaking her head. “Is being suicidal and reckless just a human thing? Who sees a great bird like this and goes ‘Yes, I want to be around it’?”

Yvette let out an indignant, ominous chirp.

“Errr, no offense intended,” Nautia said quickly. “You’ve very majestic. Just also terrifying. And dangerous.”

Yvette crackled with electricity.

“Very, very majestic.” Nautia said before taking a step away. “So, uhhhh. Kid. Bayla, was it? This is Yvette. I’m Nautia. This is Gervas. Let’s all just… go. Somewhere else. Not here. Anywhere else that isn’t here, right?”

Bayla reached up and took Gervas’ hand, though her eyes stayed focused on Yvette. “You have a phoenix?”

“More she has us,” Gervas said.

“Can she have me too?” Bayla asked.

“If you’re lucky,” Gervas said. “Just be careful how you say things like that here. Fae magic is weird and the wrong word can have all the consequences. Yvette, can you fly like that? Or did you want to turn human again?”

Yvette slowly spread her wings and took to the sky. It felt--

It felt weird. Each flap of her wings propelled her the right amount, allowed her to fly into the sky. But it didn’t FEEL like it should have. It felt like each flap wasn’t really touching the air at all, as if there wasn’t any air to touch. Instead, it was as if she only flew because she knew this was how flying worked. Neither the mage, nor the phoenix side of her, liked it. Everything felt weird.

Worse, she could feel a storm approaching. Or possibly already here. But there were no clouds in the sky, in fact they looked as clear as could be. She slowly circled the others, gazing down at them. It all looked so--

Then they were gone. One moment they were there, the next they were gone. Impossible. She was right there! She dove down, electricity crackling off her form--

Only for them to appear again a moment later, as if they’d never left. She veered off to the right, hard, narrowly avoiding crashing into Gervas and crashing into and then through a tree.

One thought echoed through her mind, one united thought that managed to bring both sides of her together in agreement.

She hated this realm.

------

“So, have we been here for days, or does it just feel that way?” Nautia asked.

“The sun has set and risen five times,” Gervas said.

“That doesn’t answer my question,” Nautia said.

“It’s as good as I can give,” Gervas said.

Yvette flew low overhead, gently circling around them. Not that there was much else for her to do. She didn’t dare go too far from them, lest they disappear. But they didn’t seem to make much progress at all. They’d setup ‘camp’ and slept a few times, but in a realm like this that could mean anything. The light faded and they slept, it returned and they traveled.

Yet they felt like they were no closer to where they needed to be. Hours could pass in seconds, yet seconds could pass over hours and there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. It just happened.

As if on cue, suddenly the sky’s colors shifted as if it dusk. Yvette glided back down to the floor in front of them and enveloped herself in her magic, adopting her human form once more.

She could only shift her form so many times a day, so was that a sign that days had passed? Or was it something else that was changed by this realm?

Yvette felt a little red rising in her cheeks when she felt something wrap around her waist. She glanced down to see Bayla, the child hugging her and looking up with pure reverence in her eyes. “You came back,” Bayla said softly.

“Indeed,” Yvette said. “As I did last night, and the night before that, and the night before that, and as I will do for most future nights. You should get ready for rest.”

“But I don’t want to go,” Bayla said softly. “Can I please stay a little longer?”

Yvette gave a sigh before reaching down to picking up the small child, tugging her arms off her. “How long has it been?”

“I’d say about twenty minutes,” Nautia said. “But I feel as if I’ve been traveling all day and we’ve crossed a lot of distance. Wait, did… did we wade a river earlier?”

“… I think we did,” Gervas said, glancing back the way they’d come. “We need a guide.”

“Desperately,” Nautia said.

“We’ll figure it out,” Yvette said. “One way or another. Bayla, do you remember anything?”

“I think this is my destiny,” Bayla said softly.

“Being lost in this realm?” Yvette asked.

“Serving you,” Bayla said. “I have this, though!” She pulled out a small red gem.

Yvette handed the girl off to Nautia, leaving both of them with confused looks. “What? Why are you giving her to me?” the mermaid asked.

“Because if I give her to Gervas I can’t do this,” Yvette said before nearly tackling him. He stumbled back before giving a soft sigh.

“You’ve been very huggy lately,” Gervas said.

“It grounds me,” Yvette said. “Besides, I died. I think anyone would be a bit clingy after dying.”

“You died?” Bayla asked. “Can… can a phoenix die?”

“It’s why I’m a phoenix,” Yvette said. “Though, I think phoenixes can die? Or rather, they… huh. I honestly don’t know. I’ve heard phoenixes are immortal creatures. But then, there have been those who just… disappear. I wonder if they die or go somewhere else?”

“Everything dies,” Nautia said before, despite her objections towards the child, putting her down. “I imagine phoenixes just take a while to get there compared to most.”

“A living storm,” Bayla said softly. “All of the elements given life. How could that ever die?”

“Even storms eventually end,” Yvette said. Slowly she pulled back from Gervas and held out her hand to Bayla. “What is that?”

“I don’t… know,” Bayla said before placing the red gem into her hand. “I think it’s mine, though. It feels important.”

Yvette stared at it before shaking her head. “I think it’s a focus, a crude one at that. But I can’t say for what. There’s too many magics that could use something like this. It definitely has some kind of magic in it.”

“So she’s at least not from the empire,” Nautia said.

“Why do you say that?” Gervas asked.

“If she was using magic like that in the Reborn Empire, she’d have been torn apart,” Nautia said.

Yvette held the gem back out to her. “Hold onto this. Just in case you need it. Do you know any magic?”

“I… I don’t think so,” Bayla said gently.

“Go ahead and practice,” Yvette said, before gently reaching out and patting her on the head. “If you can get it to work and show an aptitude, perhaps I could teach you some of my magic.”

“P-phoenix magic?” Bayla asked, her eyes almost glimmering in the dimming light.

“My magic,” Yvette said. “If that is phoenix or human magic, it matters little. It is mine.”

“I’ll practice!” Bayla said excitedly before running off.

“Don’t go out of sight!” Yvette yelled at her before glancing to the other two. “Thanks for keeping an eye on her while I’m… well…”

“Someone has to,” Nautia said. “But is having her practice magic like that wise?”

“Unlikely… but… Gervas?” Yvette asked, wondering if he knew her intentions. If her intentions were still human enough, mage enough, for him to understand.

“A mage practices their magic all the time,” Gervas said. “Like muscle memory, if part of her ‘story’ was training with magic… she’ll likely remember before long. It might help us figure out where she came from, where she belongs.”

“If we even find out where she’s from, will anyone remember her?” Nautia asked. “Will taking her ‘story’ have affected the people who knew her?”

“I doubt it,” Yvette said. “What kind of strange, powerful magic could erase someone’s very existence so easily?”

“The kind of magic that could steal someone’s name?” Nautia asked.

Yvette tried to come up with a rebuttal to that, but she had nothing. If they couldn’t find where she belonged, who she belonged with… well… then they’d find her a new place to belong. She wouldn’t leave a child here to fade away into nothing. She doubt she’d do that to anyone.

“I did it!” Bayla called out.

Yvette glanced over and saw a few small lights flicker out from the red gem. It wasn’t much magic, but it was something. She glanced to Gervas and he nodded.

Whoever she was, she was definitely a mage of some kind. That was comforting, at least. She didn’t belong in the place they were fleeing. It would be grounding to have another mage to share things with as well. Sure, Nautia could do some magic, but even hers was different enough that they didn’t have a lot of common ground. Too much lightning for the mage side of her, not enough storm for the phoenix side of her.

When Yvette walked towards the young girl, she couldn’t help but feel there was at least one good thing to being in the fae realm. She felt like it was helping her finally separate the mage side of herself from the phoenix side, to allow herself to be two distinct wholes.

That really should have been her first sign that everything was about to go so wrong.