3 Ionna's complexities

Rashmid nervously coughed and then said, "Sometimes it's supposed to and sometimes it's not."

"Is that a yes…?"

Rashmid ignored her question and asked, "Do you have any other descendants?"

Ionna scratched her chin in thought and then answered, politely, "My grandma, Erina Stellar?"

Another fairy stepped forward and then swung her hands in the air as she directed a pale pink dust towards Ionna's direction but as soon as it came into contact with the young girl, it exploded into another cloud of nothingness.

Ionna blinked again, perplexed. It didn't take her long to catch up to what everyone in the court was thinking after that. She already had the idea that something bad could definitely go wrong for her today.

Rashmid, however, tried to keep his composure and kept asking Ionna about her descendants. Every time Ionna answered with a name, fairies would send various hues of dust towards her but it will explode before she could absorb any of it.

Soon enough, Ionna probably recited her entire family tree and she had nothing left to answer when Rashmid asked her about her descendants.

Ionna squeezed her sling bag and frowned as she heard Rashmid discuss things with all the other fairies in his court.

"This is unusual…"

"She surely has the blood of the descendants that she speaks of, doesn't she?"

"What if she was adopted?"

Ionna held her breath after overhearing that last one and crossed her fingers, wishing that she wasn't adopted.

"I don't think bloodline is the problem here."

"I agree."

The fairies huddled together closely, making it harder for Ionna to overhear their conversation.

Ionna nervously grabbed on to her sling bag again.

Crimson and Ruby, who were excluded from the discussion of the fairies, could sense her uneasiness.

Crimson chose to ignore it and fuss over the fact that he and his younger sister were not included in the discussion despite being fellow fairies but Ruby couldn't help but slightly empathize for the wee human.

After all, she's felt uselessness more than once before due to her extremely shy attitude towards various things.

One look at Ionna and the sad aura she was emanating made Ruby decide immediately to approach her. Crimson raised a quizzical eyebrow as he watched his sister waste her time with a human, "Ruby?"

"Uh, don't worry…" Ionna blinked and looked up to see Ruby muster the courage to speak out some comforting words. The timid fairy couldn't look at Ionna in the eye but she spoke sincerely and hopefully, saying, "We'll find a way to give you what you came for…hopefully."

Ionna lifted her face to look at Ruby's calming sea-blue eyes and felt a bit of tranquility stir within herself as she smiled, "Thanks."

Crimson looked at the two girls from afar, his eyebrows weaved together to express how flabbergasted he was.

He murmured, "What's the point in this hoping nonsense? The girl is obviously anomalous."

Ruby gave her brother a stink eye and Crimson just indifferently averted his gaze.

Ionna couldn't help but find Ruby's personality similar to Misemi's and she could not keep herself from giggling while she entertained this thought.

Ruby's ear caught the sound of restrained giggles from her and her face flushed in embarrassment, thinking that Ionna was laughing at her, and she immediately fled.

Ionna tried to stop her since she liked her company but Ruby was already covering her face behind her brother's figure.

"Ahem." Ionna squeaked and jumped backwards as she heard Rashmid's hoarse old voice.

The fairy groomed his silver locks and cleared his throat, "Young girl, I'm afraid we are having trouble with gifting your magic due to some complexities…"

Ionna blinked, a hint of worry came across her face, "Complexities…?"

"We will address it thoroughly after a short while. For the meantime, we suggest you make yourself comfortable inside our forest." Rashmid exclaimed.

Ionna opened her mouth to speak but a flock of birds dived down from out of the blue once again and ushered her to a certain direction.

They were more aggressive this time, however, biting on to her sleeves and hair in order to securely carry her down the tree. Ionna winced as one of the birds unintentionally bit her ear.

As soon as Ruby saw that the human girl was escorted by the fowls out of their sight, she gave her father a questioning look, her mouth already opened to ask a certain question.

Her father was faster than her however and answered the question she hasn't even asked yet, saying, "No, Strawberry Cake. I did not give the girl false hopes."

Ruby looked at her father in clear disgust, "Did you just call me strawberry cake?"

"Uh…"

Ionna winced as the birds clumsily dropped her to the ground with a thud.

Luckily, the damp grass was not so painful that it made her behind sore. Ionna still felt the need to throw her wood-brown doll shoe at the birds before they disappeared out of her sight, though.

She sighed in frustration and tried to smoothen her now-messy hair after being able to hit one noisy bird before the flock left.

She stood up to her feet and looked around her, realizing that she was alone inside the forest of fairies with nothing but her sling bag.

The leafy greens of the forest beckoned her to explore for a moment to kill the time, but, Ionna knew that even if she waited long enough, the fairies won't be able to gift her any magic.

Ionna sighed and walked around for the moment, lavishing herself with the beauty of this forest.

As she walked around however, she did not notice a certain pink-haired cast-away that was hiding poorly behind a tree.

The young boy poked his head out of the tree and then started walking sneakily towards what he believed to be the exit of this forest, but then he bumped into a really fluffy lime-crystal green object that was ornamented with light yellow laces.

"My, oh, my. Where do you think you're going?" The fairy he bumped into smirked, her arms crossed as she walked backwards. The big fluffy gown she wore bounced up and down as she took her steps.

The young boy, who was probably around 9 years old, gave a sharp-toothed grin as he greeted the old acquaintance, "Oh, hi there, Miss Honey."

"Don't you casually greet me, you little fiend." The fairy named Honey, pinched the pink haired boy's cheek as she started nagging, "First you trick me into gifting you with magic despite your age, then you attempt to get away with it?"

She inched closer and squinted her glimmering emerald eyes, "Do you know how much of an embarrassment you will be to your parents, to your family, if they were to find out about this little prank you've pulled upon a magic-giver such as me???"

The young boy nodded, weirdly in an enthusiastic demeanor, "Yep."

Honey knitted her arched eyebrows together and released the boy from her pinches.

The boy sat down on the ground as she asked him, "Are you sure that you understand the consequences of what you did?"

The young boy nodded again, "Very sure."

Honey blinked and then squatted in order to eye the boy closer, as she raised one eyebrow, "Little child, do you happen to have any diseases that relate to the mind?"

"If you're asking if I'm a lunatic," The boy blinked, "that is close enough."

"Good heavens, you're an odd soul." Honey exclaimed as she stood up and brushed her fluffy gown.

The boy stood up and nonchalantly answered, "Yeah, I get called weird all the time."

Honey couldn't help but feel uneasy around this young boy. She originally chased after him in order to take back the magic that she gave to him after finding out about the ruse he pulled on her but now she felt hesitant.

She knew that magic was only to be endowed upon children who were at around 12 years old however this child in front of her was three years lacking around that requirement.

"So? Aren't you going to take my magic away?" The boy asked, opening his arms wide as if he was ready for all this.

Honey pursed her lips together, second-guessing her decisions, but then she decided that rules are rules.

This child is not in the right age, yet, thus, magic is not for him yet.

She exhaled and smiled, "Yes, I am taking it."

She took a step closer to the boy and then reached out her hand saying, "Stand still—"

However, she was suddenly bashed on the head with the flat side of a big hatchet.

Honey winced and fell on her face after the blow, but she was not in so much pain that she could not see the young pink haired boy start running away with one of his hands in the shape and form of a hatchet.

She frowned in disgust, "Tch. Fooled again."

"Honey Faith!" Honey heard footsteps and two strong hands helped her up.

Her companion, a young male fairy with olive green hair, worriedly stared at the blood oozing from Honey's head, "Are you alright?"

Honey bit her lip to express her frustration as she pushed away her golden silk hair aside and held her hand against the wound on her head. A bandage materialized from the light yellow dust that her translucent golden wings emit and automatically treated the wound with care.

Honey murmured under her breath, "What a smug little imp."

Her companion overheard and a look of disgust filled his face as he looked at the direction where the pink haired culprit ran off to.

He let go of Honey saying, "Wait here and heal." And then he chased after the culprit.

Honey realized his intention to incinerate the young child who wounded her late and panicked with wide eyes when she did realize it. She staggered up to her feet, calling out to him, "Dano, wait!"

She tripped on her own fluffy gown however and her face reconciled with the earth. She lifted her face and cursed, "Damned gowns."

While Honey Faith was struggling with her gown, somewhere nearby, Ionna was wandering around, noticing that the children she came with started coming back to the center of the forest one by one, laughing and cheering and trying out their magic as they did so.

Ionna couldn't help feel queasy again as she observed each and every one of these children attempt magic that they didn't think they'd have the day before this trip.

Ionna was a little bit comforted the moment she saw the small and petite figure of her best friend from a few feet away, arguing with the metal-themed fairy they encountered this morning.

"Come on! Are you really not gonna talk???" Ionna overheard Misemi whaling when she walked closer to the two.

"Hey." Ionna greeted Misemi, casually interrupting in whatever kind of one-sided conversation she was having with the fairy.

Misemi looked at her and grinned from ear-to-ear, "Yun-yun!"

She hugged Ionna and then pulled away almost immediately, "How did it go?"

Ionna cringed a little because she didn't find it comfortable to talk about the complexity that the fairies diagnosed her with so she pulled out a lie from the end of her tongue and said, "It was fine. How 'bout you?"

"Oh, you don't want to know how awful my day has become because of this dumb fairy." Misemi frowned and then she caught herself and explained, "I meant dumb as in not able to speak, okay? Not dumb as in a moron."

Ionna blinked and then took a glance at the fairy Semi was talking about, "You mean, this fairy?"

"Greetings." The fairy exclaimed, her voice was very deep and low for a female.

Misemi raised an eyebrow at the fairy, "So now you decide to talk?"

Misemi then brushed away that topic, throwing it in the trash can, and then giddily spoke, jumping up and down, "I am so excited to show you my magic! But I'd prefer it if we tell each other our newfound magical abilities at the same time! What did you get?"

Ionna immediately felt the uneasiness once again, "Uh…"

"Human!" A high-pitched voice squeaked from above the two, interrupting their conversation.

A familiar red head descended from the air and approached Ionna, "We've been looking all over for you!"

Ionna blinked, "Ruby?"

"Come on, now! Everything is ready! Father has an idea that will surely work!" Ruby grabbed Ionna's hand and started pulling her towards the direction of the tree but then Ionna pulled back, wiggling her hand out of Ruby's slender fingers.

Ruby blinked in surprise and stopped in midair. She asked, "W…what's wrong?"

Ionna blinked, realizing late that she had pulled back. She hugged her right hand as she pressed it on her chest.

Rashmid and the other fairies actually haven't figured out what to do with Ionna yet. They have ideas that might work but the chances of it exploding just like all their previous attempts were very high.

However, the fairies all had a soft spot in them. They did not want to crush the hopes of human beings nor the hopes of their fellow fairies.

Rashmid sighed in frustration, placing his hand on the temple of his hand as he tried to think hard on a method of gifting that might actually work on the young girl.

He was so deep in thought that he did not notice a visitor come by immediately. Well, it's not like he would have noticed him immediately even if he was wary of his environment.

"Rashmid."

A voice whispered in Rashmid's ear, making the old geezer screech in fright, thinking that he's starting to be delusional.

The old fairy blinked and turned around, but not a single fairy was in his court at the moment.

All of the fairies were out and about, searching for the human girl who had complexities.

"Rashmid, you dingus, has your age degraded your memory?" The voice mocked the old fairy in a friendly and endearing way, followed by a bit of laughter.

Rashmid blinked for a moment and then gasped, "Oh, my… Perhaps it has. Is that you, dear friend?"

The voice suddenly formed a shape for itself, a shape of a small child with undistinguishable features. It laughed, "You are way past your prime, boy."

"As if you are not past yours, yourself." Rashmid responded, snickering.

The shape of the voice grinned, childishly, "I overheard that you had a client with complexities."

Rashmid blinked, "Exactly how long have you been in this forest, my friend?"

"More than you thought I was." The voice chuckled and then said, straight to the point, "Listen, Fairy man, would you like me to offer you my assistance, regarding the anomalous child?"

"I'd be gladder than a goat separated from the rain." Rashmid eagerly said.

"Very well then." The voice suddenly dispersed and turned into mist, swirling around and heading off to a certain direction.

Heading off to the anomalous child: Ionna.