Fairy

For more than another week or so, the same thing happened. Monsters of various types and sizes appeared, and she simply struck at the sound of the heartbeat, gathering the glowing gems like a collector.

Her older body from her past life, her strength and everything that was happening here now felt normal to her, not acceptable though.

She pulled out her sharpened stick from the heart of the monster and dug out its gem.

Having lost count of time, she had focused on increasing her defensive and offensive skills. The ground was filled with bodies of level-one hounds, she could now easily tell their power range from the colour of their furs or tails. For basilisk, the lighter their tail colours, the weaker they are and for furry monsters, the darker their fur, the stronger they are.

She placed the nicely cleaned gem into the bag that she had woven by herself. Jumping over a hound, she continued her journey further. Only falling asleep after climbing a high tree.

"Lily..."

A voice whispered in her ears and the feeling of something walking all over her face forced her to awaken from her deep slumber.

However, she jerked in surprise when she opened her eyes to the dark of night. She could see the bright full moon clearly from where she sat on the tree.

"God." She couldn't help but mutter underneath her breath.

"Lily."

"Irk!" She jerked up again in fear and surprise at the sound of the sudden voice, however, she held tightly onto the tree to save herself from falling off.

She then grabbed the small knife that she had carved for herself. Waving it around, she order, "Show yourself!"

"Lily..." The tiny voice sang, yet again.

"I said show yourself! Goddamnit." She swore in anger, slashing the thin air with her knife.

"I'm here." Tiny wings fluttered near her face, the little wings gave off a faint light as they flapped.

"What in the world are you?" Unfortunately, the sudden appearance of such things didn't surprise Lily anymore, at least, it was the only good-looking thing she has seen since she came here, "A fairy?"

She still had her guards up. Though, it was the first thing that ever spoke to her, she remembered that those stories also mentioned monsters who could talk to humans and enchant them using illusions of beautiful things.

"I am no fairy. I am a poison flower spirit."

"What difference does it make? Fairies are flower spirits too."

"It makes every difference." The self-proclaimed poison flower spirit gritted its teeth.

Now, that it was facing Lily properly. She now noticed its human-like features. Long blonde hair and gem-like blue eyes just like hers, thankfully it wasn't purple, hence Lily could rest easy.

"Sure." Not willing to argue any further, Lily conceded, "However, why are you just appearing now? You never heard me when I called? When I screamed?" She grabbed the fairy by her wings, pulling them apart.

"Argh! What are you doing?! Let go off me this instance!"

"Miss poison flower fairy-"

"Spirit."

"Shut up." Lily shook her head, "Why am I here?"

"You, my lady, are a Floranian. One of the few remaining last descendants of the Florain bloodline."

"Cut the crap. I know who I am so just get on with it." Lily let go off her wings, massaging her temple in frustration.

"Kids these days." The spirit murmured, "You woke me up when you awakened your powers."

"..."

"Believe me! The past Florains had powers, I have no idea why none of us spirits were awakened for so long, however, you have awoken me now."

"I never said I doubted you. In fact, believing everything you say is very easy for me." Lily said, slurring her words, "What I do want to know is why I am here."

The fairy remained silent for a while before saying, "Though, children who would carry the powers are chosen in every generation, they are given a trial to complete, if they pass and wake up, then they are given the power."

"And if they don't?"

"They die." She said simply.

"..."

"This trial was to prepare them for the monsters that they'll face in reality. However, since the annihilation of the monsters' main core, they seized to exist and so did the Florain's power."

Lily stared at the fairy. She didn't seem to be lying. And the history books also spoke about the abilities that the royal family once had. Though, it never mentioned a core of any kind.

"I have to win this to wake up in the real world?"

"Bingo." The fairy winked.

"How do I defeat all those beasts?" Lily glanced down.

"The way you've been doing all this while. Only, this time, I'll lead the way to the main core. And when you absorb it, you'll wake up."

"A core?"

"Yes." The fairy flew into the woven bag and with all her strength, picked up a gem, "Here."

Lily stretched out her hand and the fairy dropped the gem in her palm, "That's a core. Though, that one powers only a single monster. The one that holds the power and the lives of all monsters is red and bigger. When you absorb it, you get your power, however, it is guarded."

"By what?"

"All the monsters in this space."

                           * ~ *

Lily picked up yet another core and absorbed it. The sun had risen a long time ago but another night had yet to come, so it meant that the night was just as short as a real night but the day was longer, lasting for almost a whole month.

The fairy had taught her how to absorb the cores while leading the way to the main core. And the more cores she absorbed, the stronger she felt. Now even more pumped to find the main core.

"Where are the rest of the fairies?"

"Only I awoke."

"Why?"

"Because your ability is poison and I am a poison spirit."

"Huh? Why?" Lily paused.

"Because it killed you twice. That's the logic, your weakness becomes your strength."

Lily was not surprised by the fact that the fairy knew about her past life. After all, the weird fairy seemed like she knew everything, "What would I do with poison? Shoot poisonous beams from my hands?"

"I don't know! You'll use it however you like!" The fairy yelled.

Both remained quiet for a while, before Lily broke the silence once again, "What's your name."

"Lily."

"Pardon?"

"We bear the name of our masters, hence my name is Lily." Probably annoyed by the question, she answered unwillingly through gritted teeth.

Lily was quiet for a while before asking, "Should I give you a name then?"

"What?" The fairy paused and turned sharply, flying to Lily's face, "Really?"

"Well, if you wish!"

"I'll love it!"

"Uhm, sure. Then, why don't we call you...Carnephelia, it's poisonous and all..." Her words trailed off.

"Thank you, Lily." The fairy smiled genuinely for the first time since her appearance.

"It's fine...as long as you like it." The strange feeling of friendliness caused her to smile awkwardly.

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