Morning With The Patient

"You're an enlightened one."

Athanasia ignored him and pushed him down the bed. She's had enough of 'You're an enlightened one' this day.

"What's your name? What do you feel?" Athanasia asked.

"I can't believe you got a handful of the golden drops!" Dandelion exclaimed and she excitedly grabbed one and stared at it.

Dandelion is now cheerful and she is happily rummaging through Athanasia's bag.

"There's still a lot more I haven't got," Athanasia told Dandelion, feeling proud that she found a lot of golden drops.

"Why didn't you get them?! You know how valuable they are!" Dandelion exclaimed.

"Don't worry I set up a bottle and my threads are protecting it. I was in a hurry because of our patient who was on the brink of death who won't even tell us his name and what he feels." Athanasia said irritation is growing inside her.

She's becoming more and more irritated with the word 'enlightened one' whenever she hears.

Dandelion flew near the patient and slightly pushed his head.

"Why won't you tell us your name?! You should answer your doctor's questions!" She exclaimed while looking like a scolding mother in front of a man who's about ten times her size.

The patient flinched and answered, "My name is Hawdy, and I... I'm fine." He stuttered.

Hawdy felt uncomfortable as an enlightened one stared at him so intensely and a fairy who's glaring at him. He has never been this uncomfortable before, even in his previous pack.

"Are you sure? I was wondering why are you here? Where's your pack?" Athanasia asked.

Dandelion and Athanasia found Hawdy at the foot of the mountain, passed out and he is in his wolf form.

"You are a werewolf! We had to bring you back to your human form to treat you properly! It was such trouble!" Dandelion exclaimed as she hold her head, she looks like she was having a headache from remembering what they had to do just to bring him back to his human form.

"I don't have a pack," Hawdy said.

Athanasia raised her eyebrows and look at him suspiciously, it is rare that a werewolf doesn't have a pack. He avoided her eyes and turned to look at the window.

"Every werewolf has a pack. Unless you are banished?" Athanasia asked.

Hawdy just stared at the window.

The night sky is clear at top of the mountains and he can see the stars that he thought he would never see again.

Because of Hawdy's silence, Athanasia just left him and started to prepare medicines for his recovery. Dandelion, on the other hand, started preparing late dinner for the three of them.

When the two left, Hawdy took his time to observe his surroundings. He is in a room that has two beds in it. It seems like he is the only patient here. The interior is woody and there are lots of plants and herbs around. The atmosphere feels calming with the help of the plants. It also doesn't smell like medicinal herbs, instead, it smells like flowers.

He never felt this safe in this forest before, even though the two who treated him is making him a bit uncomfortable. He wondered how much he needed to pay? If his memory serves him right, what they used to cure him is worth billions. Even the emperors from different nations had to dispatch a big army just to get one drop.

Before he knew it, he fell asleep while worrying about how much he needed to pay the two of them.

Athanasia woke up with the sun peeking through her window. Unlike yesterday the clouds are a bit gloomy. Athanasia went out of her bed and she goes downstairs wondering how hard it will be to harvest the golden drops now that the weather is bad.

The smell of food is all over the ground floor. Athanasia inhaled deeply and her stomach grumbled. She was sure that Dandelion made breakfast because she always woke up the earliest and she cooks the perfect food.

To Athanasia's surprise the one in the kitchen is Hawdy and Dandelion is busy watering the plants and herbs in the backyard.

Why is Howdy cooking? She thought. He is still recovering and he needs lots of rest.

"Are you okay? I will cook. You should rest." Athanasia said, attempting to take over the kitchen.

"I'm fine, I like to cook," Hawdy answered, smiling.

Athanasia shrugged and went into the backyard where Dandelion is busy watering the plants. At least Hawdy is now smiling and is in a good mood. He seems to enjoy cooking.

"Have you fed the chickens?" Athanasia asked while grabbing the feeds of the chickens.

"I haven't. You know I hate them." Dandelion answered.

Athanasia went and fed the chicken. She also proceeded to take the eggs lying around their cage.

"I don't think you should go to the forest. The weather is bad and many wild creatures may take advantage of it." Dandelion said to Athanasia.

"I think I'll be fine. I'll just get the golden drops then go." Athanasia answered.

"Whatever, you won't listen to what I said anyway." Dandelion said and rolled her eyes. She flew to water the plants that is hanging on the house.

"Don't be grumpy, It'll be fast and if it's too dangerous to go back I'll go to my brother."

"Your brother who you haven't seen for decades? I doubt it."

Athanasia just shrugged at Dandelion's grumpy attitude. Guess Dandelion slept on the wrong side of the bed last night.

Minutes later, Hawdy called them to eat. The three of them are now at the dinner table. Dandelion can make herself bigger, though she still thinks that it is a hassle to move around with a big body. Hawdy was shocked by the sudden transformation of Dandelion. He has never seen the fairy who took care of him in normal human size.

Athanasia saw the look on Hawdy's face. He was shocked by the transformation of Dandelion.

"What's with that look?" Dandelion asked as she sat down.

"I was about to ask how would you eat. I didn't know you could transform." Hawdy said, not looking at Dandelion's eyes.

"How do you think half fairies and half-humans were born?" Dandelion chuckled and looked at Hawdy with a silly look on her face.

Athanasia watched them as they talk. Hawdy is blushing and Dandelion is teasing him with dirty jokes. Athanasia is sure that Hawdy never expected Dandelion to grow and he didn't expect Dandelion to be this silly.

"You look like an enlightened one too when you're this big," Hawdy said to Dandelion.

"That's why I hate transforming. People are mistaking me as an enlightened one. Yes, I have golden hair, which a lot of fairies have, but my hair isn't glowing like Athanasia's and my eyes are green, not gold." Dandelion explained.

"But isn't it convenient for you as a doctor to be big?" Hawdy asked.

"It is convenient for her, but her transformation has a limit," Athanasia answered.

"That's true. Sometimes I can transform for eight hours, but sometimes I can just transform for four hours." Dandelion Explained.

Hawdy nodded his head while drinking the corn soup.

"This tastes good," Athanasia said.

Hawdy looked at her and smiled, "Thanks, I mostly do the cooking when I was in a pack."

"So, you were banished." Athanasia said, "You're still lucky though! Not everyone survives after being banished." Athanasia tried to cheer him up.

"I guess, I am," Howdy said with a sad expression.

Guilt crawls Athanasia's heart. She shouldn't have brought up his pack. She was dumb to forget that a pack is important for werewolves.

"Why are you in this forest? Everyone knows how dangerous this forest is." Athanasia said, trying to change the subject.

"I was looking for a friend, I haven't found him though but I can smell him in this forest," Hawdy answered.

"He's probably already dead already." Dandelion said while eating the egg.

Hawdy felt anxious about what Dandelion said. He never thought of the possibility of his friend dying because his friend is strong but considering what happened to him, it is a big possibility that his friend is true, dead.

"He won't die that easily. He is a dark one." Hawdy said.

Fear rises in Athanasia. The dark ones are the common enemy of the enlightened one and they can roam around the golden forest freely as the poison of the forest just strengthened them. They are one of the reasons why many of her kind fled and hid.

"Your friend is a dark one?! He will kill Athanasia!" Dandelion exclaimed, she felt engaged by just thinking about what Hawdy's friend might do to Athanasia.

Everyone became silent. Athanasia has never felt threatened in this forest before. But now that a dark one is here, she is certainly in danger.

"Let's just eat first, Hawdy you should take your medicine. I still have to go down." Athanasia said to break the silence. She decided to ignore the new information and just worry later.