(Ophelia)
***
"Ta-da!"
*Shit!*
A girl with short, curly magenta hair and light pink wings jumped from behind the door as Koharu and I exited the bathroom in long-sleeved shirts and unsliced pants made from the same fabric as the stolen ones. The fairy twirled on the tips of her toes, spreading her hands and wings out from her body.
Squealing in surprise like frogs lifted by their hind legs, Koharu and I reached for each other.
The winged girl frowned. "Why does everyone think I'm scary? I'm not a grumpy old man or something."
Her voice was about the least threatening thing I had ever heard due to its shrillness. It was sweet in a way, but it was about to either break a glass bottle or my eardrums.
"You're not scary." I pointed to the side, the tension dissipating. "Coming from behind a wall is."
She moved her head around sarcastically and mouthed something.
*I'm literally agreeing!*
Princess Roslynn entered the room while the door swooshed as if it was an eagle swooping through the air. "Oh. Y'all are out." She swallowed.
"That's Aries, by the way. She's my best friend," she added while grinning when she saw the way the fairy acted.
Aries said with a chuckle, "Duh."
"Nice to meet you," Koharu greeted.
I waved my hand at the fairy. Something about her looked oddly familiar, but I couldn't quite place what it was. It was like seeing an old friend—a weird nostalgia that hovered over me but was as indistinct as trying to find one blade of grass among millions.
"Have we met before?" I blurted out, my eyes tracing her delicate features.
*That's not creepy at all!*
In return, she gave me an exaggeratedly confused look that wrinkled her skin. "Hell no. I'm only nineteen. I can't look *that* old. The other fairies came out of the stone age, I think."
"Huh."
"You're weird," she said, picking at the tawny skin beside her fingernail.
"Touché," I responded so that she would stop. "How old are your parents then?"
"Old."
"Figured."
Then, Koharu finally butted in, bubbly and jovial.
"So… Wait, first of all: Hi, Aries! Second, any ideas about what to do?" Koharu tilted her head down to avert the possible judgment and contempt in the eyes of Roslynn and Aries. "I'm sorry this is such an odd situation for you."
"Uh… Of course!" The fairy smiled stiffly at my girlfriend.
"Basically, no," Roslynn added.
Aries landed on the ground and kicked a decoration to toy with it. "Y'all got any?"
I was about to run straight into a wall in frustration, mind hindered by the weariness of travel. "Can't you jump through time or something?"
"I can." She shrugged. "Dunno about you."
Messing with various items, Aries was antsy to the point Roslynn had to seize her arm to get her to halt.
"Can you try it then?" I asked.
It was as if I was talking to a child or by extension, a wall. They were equally stubborn.
"Can I?"
*I'm asking *you*!*
"Aries," Roslynn said while glaring. "Help them."
"I'm just kidding! Take a joke, Rosie." She patted the princess on the back with a pink wing. "Yeah, that's the only thing I can come up with, too. Let's see if it'll do the trick."
Koharu stood quietly in the back. Her mood hadn't lifted from back in the bathroom as she nodded along with a torn, solemn expression after her initial cordiality.
"You two just need to stand… here." As Aries used magic to place us as she pleased, I felt like a rag doll in the trance of it all.
Positioned in the middle of a mundane and circular rug, it seemed to be the perfect place for incantations and spells. Why, she could have dropped me in a cauldron of potion, and I wouldn't have batted an eye.
"This should be quick. Don't worry." She started waving a hand around.
Taking a deep breath, I planted my feet on the thick carpet. Everything came up so suddenly, yet my mind didn't race with thoughts. I was placated by a sense of comfort from the hot bath and the imminent sensation of a warm bed—so much so that I hardly acknowledged the pure euphoria of escaping this slice of hell Koharu and I carved out for ourselves.
*Finally. It's over. We can go home.*
With the release of a stuttered exhale, Aries shouted, "Abraca—"
"Please… Please stop."
A flurry of breaths ensued.
*Koharu?*