"Carnephelia! Hold onto this for me!" Lily yelled, throwing a small piece of string to the fairy who readily caught it.
She then climbed up as high as she could, jumping down as she grabbed the winged monster by its leg, pulling it down with great momentum.
In less than thirty second, she now had the small level-three bird monster underneath her. She pressed her hand on it.
"Try to feel the power inside of you, Lily! Tap into your own core!" Carnephelia yelled.
Lily had to learn how to use her powers first and after consuming a large amount of core, she could finally try to use it on monster, and her fifteenth test subject was this beast.
Though it screeched and cawed underneath her, she still relentlessly pressed it down, digging her sharp nails into its head.
"Concentrate. Concentrate." She murmured repeatedly under her breath with her eyes closed. And the familiar sensation rushed all the way from her chest to the tip of her fingers, "Come on."
She'd fail again if this connection was cut off.
Digging deeper, the warm feeling rushed through her finger tips and inside the head of the bird, whom was now screeching even loudly. It shoke widely for more than thirty seconds before coming to a stop.
"Yay!" Lily jumped up. Who would have known that successfully killing something could provide one with such great joy.
"The speed is quite slow." Carnephelia crossed her arms, "Probably because of the poison you used."
"Pardon?"
"The poison you used to kill that monster is the one in your bloodstream, the stronger the being, the more time it takes. The more dangerous poisons you consume, the more you are capable of using...you can only take them outside this place though." She explained briefly.
"..."
"Let's keep up the pace. The more cores you absorb, the stronger you feel." The fairy added when Lily said nothing.
* ~ *
"Ugh!" Lily fell to her knees. Three more nights had fallen, and though the cores makes her feel rejuvenated, it did nothing to her mental health; the fatigue was crippling.
However, just ahead laid the land of poison and blood. The final challenge of one's weakness. The vast land dyed in red was filled with poisonous red flowers, red-spider lilies mostly. The sun around this area was strangely red too. And just behind her was the last patch of greenary.
"Lily, just one more step." Carnephelia bit her lips in panic.
Her master had reached the land of despair. No monsters existed her, however, most people fail as they have to battle with their own minds.
"Sister!" A sharp familiar scream was heard just behind her and Lily jerked up, "Lorain?"
"Sister!"
"Lorain?!" She turned back, walking back to the forest.
"No, Lily! If you go back there now, you'll never return home!" Carnephelia yelled, but her words were muddled in Lily's mind.
"Sister!"
"Lorain! Where are you!" Lily's eyes dilated. The whole world was in green and red and she could barely make out the details in her mind any longer.
"Lily!" A shrill voice pierced her ears, however, that voice was not familiar, but she could swear that she had heard it somewhere before, "Snap out of it, Lily!"
"Sister! Help me please!" Distracted once again by the voice of her beloved you her brother, "Perez, Vianka wants to kill me! Help me please!"
"What?" Lily paused, she stared at the blurry sight up ahead of her, "No." She murmured, "Perez never took a glance at you since you were not named heir, and Vianka...she never even existed in their past live."
At this realisation, her sight cleared up slowly.
"Sister?"
"Get the hell out of my head! Lorain is not even born yet!" She stabbed a small stick in her thigh.
"Lily!" Carnephelia flew to her master who had just collapsed, "Lily!"
"Carnephelia?"
"Yes, it's me, Lily."
"I'm gonna kill that monster, how dare it use my brother's voice against me?"
"Haha." Carnephelia chuckled, wiping the gears that had trickled down her face.
"Are you crying?" Lily asked, as the fog in her vision finally cleared out completely.
"What?!" Carnephelia sniffed in sharply, "Why would I cry? A great fairy like me never cries!"
"You finally admitted that you're a fairy." Lily taunted, picking herself up.
"It's not that different." She pouted, flying away from Lily.
"Of course not. Now, Carnephelia, fairy of posion. Lead the way."
"As you wish, Master." Carnephelia smiled with great joy as she flew over the flowers.
Lily followed closely behind her and soon, they caught sight of a cave.
"Oh, finally." She couldn't hide her excitement as she rubbed her hands together. The pain on her thigh had long been forgotten and all she could see now, was the dark cave in her line of sight.
Lily turned around and the green forest had almost disappeared in the distance, only that small figures were standing by the trees, watching her leave.
The forest where she had almost died more times than once, she was finally leaving it. A smirk crossed her lips as she waved at the small humanoid figures, "Hope we never meet again." She voiced, before turning back to the cave.
"We're almost there." The cave had tiny red glowing gems on the walls, probably to provide light, "Follow me."
Soon enough, they really did reach the end of the cave where a large conical red core hung, brimming with elegant energy and vibrancy. It looked like a pulsating heart.
"Is that it?" Lily asked, unable to take off her eyes off the beauty.
"Yes, Master."
"Ha! Time to go."
She could finally go home to a normal twelve hours day and a normal twelve hour night.
She placed her hands on the core and the pulsation directed towards her hands, pulsating even quicker. Everything felt surreal and unimaginable. However, she soon realized something...or someone.
"Carnephelia."
"Yes, Master." The fairy turned to her with a calm smile on her face.
"What about you?"
"Me?" She asked and chuckled slightly, "Like I said, I am part of Lily, I shall always be with you."
"What?" Lily pulled her hands away, however, it remained stuck on the gem, "No, wait! Carnephelia!"
"Till we meet again, Master." Carnephelia smiled and as her words trailed off, a large beam of light shot out from the gem, sucking Lily into it.
It was time to wake up.