[center][h1]Fairy Tales[/h1][/center]
Upon literally reflecting in some small, inky black pool in the forest Amelia had to admit that a lot had happened around her. Not to her, but around her. Her parents were gone. That alone was a hard change to get used to. At night she still jolted awake because everything was just… too quiet. Too empty. Then she could cast magic… sort of. Arcana had not been what she had hoped it to be. Worse, Irrithae had explained the trappings to her, which meant that she couldn’t directly tap Arcana unless it was well thought out and worth the cost of her life. Finally, she had lost Irrithae herself. Her adoptive… something. Her goodbye hit the elven girl pretty hard. Now she was alone.

So she did what she felt she had to do: gather food. With a basket on her arm, she had been going through the woods around Arbor every day now, gathering the fruit that the goddess gave them so those who couldn’t gather wouldn’t starve. It was vital work, work that was praised by many. A necessity for Arbor. But by the goddess after three weeks of it now Amelia wanted nothing more than to kick the basket away. It was so boring! Every day the same routine, every day the same old small smiles of thanks.

Amelia kept walking through the forest, trying to bury her frustration and her aching heart. Irrithae would know what to do. Irrithae would’ve told her to go sit somewhere or think about something. She passed a familiar stump. Then she realized, like a stone hit her hard, what she wanted to do: travel. Leave Arbor. There was nothing for her there anymore. She passed a rock. Her family hadn’t shown up, not after three weeks. Had they left? Were they dead as well? Arbor had gotten too big already to ask everyone. And at this point, Amelia could barely remember her aunts. She was a child when she left after all. She passed a pool.

Maybe she could ask Aenos if she ever met him again. Though the lord of the deathguard was an elusive one at best. He rarely ventured into Arbor and when he did, it was always for Irrithae. Since she left, Aenos was only seen beyond the city, slaying monsters. She passed a stump. Could she maybe become a deathguard? No. No Aenos was right that night. She was touched by death. Amelia gently rubbed her healed shoulder as she thought about that. Still, she wasn’t inclined to start killing. That she didn’t have in her. She passed a rock. There had to be something else in life right? Something more exciting than gathering fruit but less self-destructive than killing? Maybe she could become some sort of inventor! The thought filled her with excitement, which quickly deflated again when she realized that she had no idea what she could even invent. Or how! She passed a pool.

Amelia stopped and looked at the pool. It looked familiar. It was small and inky black. As she saw her reflection she recognized it. She had stopped at this pool before! But how? She had been walking forward the whole time? How could she be at this pool again? She looked around to see if someone was maybe - somehow - playing a prank on her but there was no one in the woods. Just her. Unsure, she kept walking forward. Her mind sharpened as if there was some sort of threat. Then she passed a familiar stump. She passed this stump before! How could she pass it again? She started running forward, making sure that she kept going in a straight line. She ran and… she saw a rock. She stopped again.

It was the same rock. Her dad had told her about this. When in unfamiliar places like the woods, we can sometimes start walking in circles. There was a trick to avoid it: pass the trees along the same side every time. Amelia - winded - started walking again. She passed the first tree to its left. Then the next tree to the left again. And again to the left. Until she reached the familiar pool. “How!?” She screamed out.

Frustrated she kept going. To the left, to the left, to the left, and then a stump. Amelia screamed out. “What in Allianthé’s name is going on!” She screamed out. Nothing answered. Something, someone was playing a game with her. Well, she wasn’t going to let them win. She started running again, making sure to pass the trees on the left every time. Again and again and again and again! When she stopped for a rest, there was the stump! And at the next breather she took there was the pool! She kept running. She ran herself ragged.

Somewhere during the running she had tossed the basket but she was passing that one too now. It was insane! How could she get out of this? She just had to keep running. At some point this whole joke would spin away, right?

It didn’t, and Amelia dropped down next to the stone in the mud. She was exhausted. The running hadn’t worked and the elven girl was all out of ideas now. The sun was already setting. She let out a sigh and curled up. The nights were still a little warm. Tomorrow was another day, her mom always said.

She was rudely awoken by something that felt like a twig being batted on her head. It didn’t hurt, not really, but it was annoying. Slowly Amelia opened her eyes to see a tiny, female, flying humanoid, dressed in autumnal red, hitting her with what looked like an ornate twig. Yep, she was definitely still dreaming. “W-Wha..” she let out.

“Oh, you’re finally awake.” The little humanoid said before she gave Amelia one last final wack. “Foolish girl! What were you thinking!? Running? [i]Running!?[/i] What, you thought I wouldn’t have secured my glamour against something as stupid as [i]running[/i]!?” The little thing sounded upset and insulted.

“W-What… who are…” Amelia managed to get out as she opened her eyes. “I’m sorry… what is going on?” She stammered out. It was a chilly night.

“Oh and then you lay down in the mud at night? Who raised you!?” The little humanoid exclaimed. “Were you born in some cave or something? Didn’t your mom teach you something like intuition? You knew that going forward wasn’t working then why did you keep doing it?”

“You’re the one who was pranking me?” Amelia asked as she scraped some mud off her cheek.

“It was a test, stupid girl. When forward doesn’t work, why didn’t you go backward? Doesn’t your mother tell you to not keep making mistakes?” With a flourish of her twig the little humanoid conjured away the remaining dirt from Amelia. “And doesn’t your father tell you, you shouldn’t just go to sleep in the middle of some mudpool? Find some shelter!”

At the mention of her mother and father tears welled up in Amelia’s eyes. “My dad’s dead!” She blurted out, a part of her hated how vulnerable she had become. She couldn’t stop it though. “And my mom too. I got no one to tell me things!” She exclaimed. Right then her heart decided that this would be a wrenching moment where she would cry and Amelia had no say over it.

The crying took the little humanoid by surprise though. “Oh well… easy now. That’s… you don’t have to cry. You just had to run backward.” She tried to say.

“And I hate it here! It’s so boring but that’s so fucked up!” Amelia yelled out in between sobs. She put her face in her hands as her emotions got too much for a moment. “I just wanna be away from here. I wanna see the world and go places where I’m not just some orphaned girl!”

“Hey now girlie.” The little humanoid said. “Surely you got someone-”

“They all left!” Amelia cried out. “Irrithae, my family, my parents. They all left.”

For a second the little humanoid was a little unsure of what to do when suddenly a twinkle appeared in her eyes. “I know what you can do, you can travel with me!” She exclaimed.

Amelia, half-cried out, slowly looked up. “What?”

“You can travel with me!” The little humanoid said again. “I am… On second thought, how about you call me… godmother! Your fairy godmother! Now, dry those eyes.” The godmother said and with another flourish of her wand she erased any trace of the tears on Amelia’s cheeks. “And tell me what you think. If you join me, I can promise you it won’t be dull. In fact, it will be incredibly danger-”

“I want to come with you.” Amelia said immediately.

“You don’t want to hear what we’re going to-”

“No.” Amelia interrupted the godmother. “No I just want.. More than this. Away from this!” Her parents were travelers. She had traveled her entire conscious life. Things at Arbor were so stale and so boring. Irrithae had told her that sometimes the things we want come knocking at our door. When it happens though, we can freeze up, be overwhelmed, be fearful even. And then we say yes.

“Well… if you insist. But before we go on our long journey far and wide you need a tool.” the godmother said, as she started looking around for material.

“Tool? I got tools.” Amelia said. “I got some shears and a hammer and even a spade back- oww!”

“Not that kind of a tool, my foolish little bulb!” The godmother exclaimed as she batted her stick at Amelia again. “This sort of tool!” She followed up, waving the twig above her. Except it wasn’t just a twig. It looked ornate, with vines threading along its length and with a deliberate, pointed end. “This is a wand. You need one as well. But you need the right wood. Stay here.” The godmother said, and she flew away into the shrubs.

Amelia didn’t do as told. She got up and started following her new acquaintance into the brush. Except the flying fairy was way out of sight. “Godmother?” Amelia yelled out. “Where are you?” The elven girl went through the forest again, searching for the fairy. Until finally she bumped into her carrying her arms full of sticks.

“What? Didn’t I tell you to stay where you were?” She said, surprised to find Amelia there. “No matter. Here.” She dropped the branches down on the ground. “Grab one you like. One that… calls for you.” The godmother said.

Of course, Amelia was unsure at first, but slowly she started reaching for one while still looking at the Godmother. Who just held her chin and nodded at every branch she touched. Amelia didn’t particularly hear a calling, but when she grabbed a branch with spine-like leaves it just felt right in her hand.  The godmother raised an eyebrow. “That’s an interesting one.” She said slowly. “Anyway, now we have to make it a wand. A simple one will do for now. Take out your knife, clean it up, and then start sharpening it. Make it into a form you like. That’s very important. Has to be a shape you like.”

Amelia did as told and sat down and started sharpening the stick. At first she sharpened it like she would any other stick but the godmother didn’t like that. She was told to give it a flair, so she did. Instead of straight cuts she twisted the wood a bit, here and there. At the end of it all though, she was left with a fairly unremarkable, pointed piece of wood.

The godmother inspected it closely. “It will do as a tool for glamour, though it’s a bit uninspired. Gosh you elves. I pity my kin already.” She said. “Now, you got your key. Let’s go!”

“Go where?” Amelia asked.

“Well… away from here! Not to worry, not to worry. You can always come back. But c’mon. I know you’re eager. You have to forge the metal when it's hot.”

Clearly the godmother had been to the Forge already, Amelia thought. She followed the fairy blindly, much like she had followed her parents blindly. Until she saw the beam of right through the canopy. They were heading for Arbor again.

As they walked, Amelia was pondering on the stick - no the wand as the fairy godmother called it. It was a tool, right? “Can you give me a minute?” She asked. “It will be quick.” The godmother rolled her eyes but with a defeated flourish of her own wand she allowed it. Amelia began to concentrate on her Arcana connection as she held the wand. It strengthened all the tools she made. Arcane enchanted blades were favored by the Deathguard, maybe it would work on this too. She focused that consuming power into the wood, and like an ember it began to carve itself into the wood. Except unlike ember, it left traces of faint, multicolored veins throughout the wood. However the second she stopped focusing on it, the veins’ color died.

The fairy godmother looked on with surprise all over her face. “Well well… Maybe you’re not [i]completely[/i] hopeless, my little bulb.” She said. Both of them continued on. Back at the home-tree where Amelia was staying she quickly filled a bag with some random stuff that could be useful for a trip. Despite the Godmother’s insistence that it was all useless garbage she’d have to lug around.

Eventually, they made their way to the Tree of Life, or more specifically up the hill upon which the Tree now rested. Around rocks and smaller trees they moved to a place seemingly only the Godmother knew. Amelia lost track of her flying guide on more than one occasion. They both reached a strange crag in the side. “Squeeze through here, c’mon my little bulb. Your adventure is about to start!”

Amelia never questioned the direction. On her knees she crawled through the crag into what looked like an oversized badger’s burrow. It was still very small though. Amelia had to crawl with just her forearms. The tunnel widened a bit but she couldn’t see where she was going at all. “C’mon, c’mon. Put your back into it. You don’t want to stay in this part too long. Weird things happen here.” The Godmother said as she suddenly came from around a bend from in front of Amelia.

The elven girl nodded as she managed to get up on her knees. “A moment. I need to see where I’m going.”

“You will not-” The Godmother was about to protest, but quickly fell silent as Amelia made a flourish that was the reverse of the one the Godmother often made. From the tip of her wand light appeared. Except the Godmother realized it wasn’t light. It was glamour. “What did you just do?” The fairy asked.

“I wanted the magic to lie away the dark.” Amelia answered simply as she continued crawling on her knees and hands passed her godmother.

They reached the end of the burrow. It was a relatively short trip Amelia realized but what she encountered made no sense. “How is..” She looked back at the burrow she just popped out of. There was a Tree of Life but not. It looked smaller but glowed with green veins. Then there was the Tree of the Firmaments. Except it was even more slender, like a thin strand reaching for the skies.

“Welcome to the Veil, my little bulb!” The Godmother said. “Now, we must make haste. Your kind shouldn’t meander here for too long.” Amelia did as her Godmother bid. They both started moving through the forest with a myriad of trees, more than Amelia had ever seen together in a place. It was as if the trees often just stood up and mingled with each other. They kept going, but then Amelia saw lights and laughter coming through the shrubbery.

“What’s that?” She asked.

“Oh, you shouldn’t go there. Never go there. Not now for sure.” The Godmother cautioned.

“Why? It sounds so fun. Listen, they’re laughing!”

“Aye, they are.” The Godmother said. “And if you go there you’ll laugh as well. And you’ll dance and you’ll sing and you’ll be merry and you might never, ever leave.”

That was more than enough warning for Amelia. They both kept going. Until they reached another burrow near a big, monstrous blob with only a massive mouth. “Oh don’t worry about that here.” The Godmother said offhandedly as she ushered Amelia into the burrow. Again the girl went on her hands and knees through the dark-that-she-glamoured-away. She recognized the end getting broader again.

The Godmother stopped her. “A word of caution, my little bulb. In a few steps you’ll not be in Arbor anymore.”

[hider=Summary]Amelia is out gathering fruits because it’s an important community task. She reflects on everything that has happened to her as she walks about. Only to realize that she’s being tricked somehow and she keeps going into a circle. She tries to run or use a survivalist trick but it doesn’t work. Eventually, she tires herself out and decides to go lay down for a nap.

She gets awoken by a very cross fairy who asks her who the hell raised her to do all those things. Amelia breaks down crying and says she got no one anymore. The fairy’s taken aback but Amelia keeps venting and says she dislikes Arbor and say it’s dull and she wants to travel cause that’s the only thing she knows about.

The fairy proposes to become the Godmother of Amelia and help her travel. Amelia agrees. They make a wand so Amelia has a “key” to travel. (She chooses a yew wood for her wand) Amelia enchants the wand with Arcana to make it stronger. Then the two go into the Siardha, where Amelia momentarily uses glamour to illusion away the dark so she can see where she’s going. They travel through the Veil for a moment before Amelia goes through a burrow near a large, black, hungry blob.[/hider]