I woke up to rain and mud. Yesterday's bazaar was gone. Only some planks lay where the many stalls had been, contributing to the chaos surrounding me.
"If not for the literal fiery nature of the fire fairies, the trash they leave behind would've ruined the garden long ago."
"Don't be the badyy~." Inclining my head, I spotted the intangible ball sporting all kinds of red shades.
It had taken up room below my wings, same as the youth on the other side. Only the lizardwoman, still sound asleep, preferred dousing in the rain. So much for her hygiene...
"Once the weather's better, we'll totally burn the place clean!" I stifled an unbecoming sigh, keeping what was spooking through my mind to myself.
"Interjection: Do NOT burn the garden." "What can you do against that, trashcan? Before the butlers, it was your kind we struggled with.
With success, too!" Nova Twinkleflame's haughtiness was perfectly expressed in the choice of words, the slightly condescending tone and fooling around under my wings.
"Proposal: Disposal of irrigation regulators. It takes a month until irreparable damage is done." I didn't hate it as much when it was tickling my leathery wings, I found.
"Nooooo!!!" Nova Twinkleflame could've continued to do so, but it was startled enough to increase the heat emission, evaporating most of the tickle and cracking the ground below.
She also woke up a certain sleepyhead, now forlornly muttering about roasted spit and cured meat. I felt like I simply couldn't leave these people alone for even a second.
"Not the hateful floodgates!!!" The ancient fairy changed its form into a beautiful version of a small human with wings, horns and a tail.
I might need to ask it-her why these unnecessary accessories were there. But another time. "Peace, you two.
Don't flood the garden and you," I pointed with my tail at the nervous ancient fairy orbiting around a grumpy-looking Sovereign Gardener, "don't absolutely set the place aflame.
In fact, dial down, won't you?" Only now did it-she notice just how much damage it-she inflicted on our surroundings, ceasing to do so promptly and with a bashful expression on its-her face.
"But they threatened us..." Nova Twinkleflame sure was a child. "What would you have done following an unreasonable provocation?" I sighed.
"Set the world ablaze, hooooooaaaaaa~" As nobody reacted to its-her high-spirited declaration, it-she stopped for a moment to think before drifting to the ground, laughing awkwardly.
"By your own standards, Sovereign Gardener should have flushed you out of here long ago." Its-her awkwardness increased.
"...Reply: Acknowledged." For some odd reason, Sovereign Gardener's reply came late, making me wonder if it would've really opened up the floodgates.
"Inquiry: Does the Master wish to head towards the Sanctuary?" "Why should I want that?" Cradling the jumpy youth that had woken up by now too, I answered half-heartedly.
Seeing her sucking on some fire gems she'd been gifted with yesterday, I realised that the baby milk was essentially out of stuck.
While she technically could sustain herself with elemental gems, the drawbacks down the line were obvious too.
"Sovereign Gardener. How's your quest for milk going?" I could've sworn its synthetic mug had turned a few shades darker.
"Reply: The supplier is a bad merchant. Permission to kick up a notch?" "...permission granted." So what if that poor bloke, whoever he/she/it was, happened to be less receptive to my demands?
Should I let that slide and stuff the youth full of elemental gems instead? Regarding this non-negotiable topic, a confrontation was... worth it!
"Reply: Order received." I felt Sovereign Gardener wanted to tell me more than just that. Tentatively, I motioned it I'd come back to that later on, which it acknowledged with a nod.
Now it was official. The automation had a consciousness, it was in the possession of an ego, logical thinking, personal inclinations... maybe a gender too, had yet to see it naked.
At this point, I could just hope it'd keep its loyalty. If that too was taken away from me, I'd have no chance of taking back Aethernum from the hands of these roughnecks.
"You're about to go again?" "Yes, I am. There is a mountain of things to do, each more pressing than the last. Plus, the time at my disposal has been cut down tremendously."
I tried the whole evening coming to terms with the situation yet failed miserably. Whenever my thoughts steered in that direction, my anger towards high elves in general, and Elfriede in particular, grew.
With seventy-one days remaining until the deadline... I had to be swift yet also exaggeratedly cautious. If that number got slashed once more, I could simply wallow in despair and give up.
"You shouldn't, Thoth. You really shouldn't." "And why is this so?" Did the ancient fairy now think it-she could influence my decisions after only one night?
That luckily wasn't the case, as its-her following words made obvious. "You're hurt. Your feelings are in disarray.
Command mana in this state and mishaps are prone to happen." It-she even opened up its-her arms in a hugging motion, growing in size to accommodate me.
"Come." It was hard declining. It was even harder ignoring its-her clean eyes, so dazzling and sparkling like never before.
"I... cannot." Was that still the silly and brash Nova Twinkleflame I remembered? It-she seemed to have turned into a totally different person!
Perceiving her radiant smile dimming down, I gestured to Sovereign Gardener to pick up that lizardwoman I totally lacked any idea what to do with.
My arms were only reserved for the youth, after all, a decision that rewarded me with madly twitching ears and many happy giggles.
"Nova, thanks for... everything. We shall be back in due time. Until then, I wish you the best." These words weren't easy to mutter.
I also felt my voice sounded rusty and pathetic. One more reason to vacate this place posthaste. "Thoth!" I had already moved some distance when it-she finally called.
"Yes?" I shouted back. "N-nothing." When I was about to step through a door that would eventually bring me to the Sanctuary, I heard it-her shouting once more.
"I've decided. I'm female. I'll wait for you here. Don't dare forget me, you hear?! Else, I'll come after you!!" Even from this distance, I felt the concept embodying her being change irrevocably.
"U-until then, I will organise the biggest party ever, you just wait!!" On the doorsill, I couldn't help but stop one more time and glance back.
Seeing Nova Twinkleflame's new fiery appearance appearing this lonely from afar gave me this very bitter taste in my mouth. Nonetheless, I had pressing matters to tend to, so I decisively took the last step.