“But t-that’s not possible.”

  During Narissa’s expnation, the clear liquid in the vial turned pink, then progressed to red, followed by crimson with a glittering shimmer around it.Every moment that passed, the color inside grew darker and darker till finally becoming an inky bck, oddly surrounded by a bright golden glow.Clearly it was unexpected, because she appears to be quite confused.

  “I’m sorry, I must have made a mistake. Give me a moment to try again.”

  With that, she collects several fsks and begins pouring some of their contents into another, mixing them together.She seems to be deep in thought while doing so, and a few moments ter, asks my mum.

  “Was she outside earlier in the week as well?”

  “Not in the pins. She was at our home or in the forest. Does it matter?”

  “Perhaps. If she didn’t build up to this, but instead found them all at once, then…”

  “Then?”

  “Never mind. Let me attempt this again.”

  So she again walks over to Talia with the new fsk, does something, and returns to the counter.And the same as before, the liquid gradually grows a darker and darker red, till it’s as bck as the other with a shining light about it.

  “This doesn’t make any sense. I’m certain they can’t both be wrong.”

  Mum anxiously addresses her confused words.

  “What is it? Is there a greater problem with her!?”

  “Calm down, Fiona. There must be an issue with one of my ingredients. Unless you think Talia happened to stumble across a magical spring nearby that no one else knows about? These are both telling me that she has absorbed an impossible amount of magic recently, so I need to try something else. No need to worry. Simply allow me a few moments to prepare.”

  Impossible.That word seems to describe much of what has happened to me over the course of the st week.Hence, I’m afraid those two fsks may be showing the truth.

  “Well, she did come across some strange dust recently. Possibly magical.”

  Certainly magical, though I haven’t had the chance to tell her yet.

  “Dust? Why would you suppose it to be magical?”

  Mum pauses for a few moments before replying.

  “Because it was golden dust from a fairy.”

  She must have finally decided it was worth revealing that much if it could help Talia.Considering it may very well be my fault Sis is lying there now, I do not mind in the slightest.However, it pinly makes Narissa angry at her.

  “Fairy dust? Seriously!? Fiona, I am trying my best to help her, and it would aid me greatly if I knew exactly what she came into contact with. Now is not the time to pretend you just happened to find some mythical ingredient!”

  Clearly, Narissa isn’t as calm as she appeared.Bearing in mind how close our families are, it’s no surprise that she is distressed by Talia’s state as well.

  “I’m not pretending! By your reaction, I assume it truly is magical, so would it be enough to cause your alchemy to do that?”

  With her words, Mum points at the bck fsks.

  “Ugh, yes, the legends I heard from my teacher in Rakis, as well as from other alchemists, all say that fairy dust is extraordinarily potent. Yet even in the tales, only a few grains are ever found at once, so even if she did find some magical dust, it wouldn’t cause this drastic of a reaction. Now let me get back to doing something useful.”

  She moves to start gathering ingredients, but Mum follows closely.

  “What if I said she was covered in it? Not merely a few grains, but wholly showered with it.”

  *Sigh*“Fiona, please go stand by Talia and let me work. Don’t make me ask Garen to keep you out of my way.”

  At that, Garen appears conflicted but doesn’t speak.He already knows the truth, but likely doesn’t want to reveal my secret.Mum backs away and returns to Talia’s cot.Then she looks directly at me, a determined look on her face.

  With rapid steps, she walks up to where me and Nibi are spying, then crouches down and opens the sack, revealing us.

  “Aki, I know you wanted to be cautious about telling her you became a fairy, but I need you to come with me for a few moments. We don’t have time to waste convincing her who you are, but she needs to believe me, for Talia’s sake.”

  “Of course, Mum.”

  Honestly, I was preparing to fly up to her of my own accord.Mrs. Narissa was one I eventually pnned on telling my secret to anyways, and if I can help Talia by simply proving fairies exist, then I most certainly will.I only hope she hasn’t set any alchemical traps after what her daughters witnessed this morning.

  As I’m about to hop onto Mum’s open hands, Nibi cautiously calls from behind me.

  “Miep? Akari?”

  “No, we’re not going to hide from her anymore. Also, she’s a friend, so please don’t do anything rash.”

  “Miep!”

  Quickly, she joins me on Mum’s palms.Well, I suppose two fairies will do just as well as one.

  Mum swiftly walks to the counter where Narissa is once again measuring things into a fsk.

  “I know what I said is difficult to believe, so here, look. This is how Talia obtained the fairy dust.”

  I know she’s correct in that it comes from me, but it feels a bit uncomfortable when she speaks of it like something to be harvested.

  “Fiona, if you want me to help-”

  She cuts off once she raises her head to look at us standing in Mum’s outstretched hands.Noticing she has Narissa’s attention, Nibi waves at her, and after a moment, I do as well.

  “Those…those are…is that...”

  I think we broke her.

  “B-butterfly wings? … On tiny people?”

  “They’re fairies, Narissa. Now if I tell you that Talia was covered in fairy dust, does that help you work out why she is ill!?”

  Understandably, Mum doesn’t wait for her to wrap her mind around the fact that fairies exist, but immediately pushes her to help Talia.

  “Um, uh…fairies?”

  “Yes, fairies! I will expin everything ter, but can you please focus on helping Talia right this moment!”

  “Uh…right… Yes, um, f-fairy dust is said to be unmatched when attempting to infuse magic into nearly any living or formerly living material. How…how much do you think she came into contact with?”

  Mum gives us a gentle upward push, causing me and Nibi to take flight and hover in pce.

  “Not much, only enough to partly fill her hands.”

  As she speaks, she holds out her hands cupped together.Considering my size, even if I convert all of my magic to dust, it doesn’t create a rge amount.Yet it seems Narissa sees it differently.

  “A handful!!! Even if the stories exaggerated, a few grains might be able to enhance a potion, so a handful…”

  Narissa’s words trail away as she seems to realize something.Immediately, she runs to the rear door and enters the workshop, returning only a few moments ter with a tiny gss fsk partly full of green fluid.Grabbing a knife from the counter, she runs over to Talia and pricks Sis’ finger, causing a few drops of blood to fall in the fsk.Not knowing what else to do, everyone simply watches her as she swishes the contents around and mutters.

  “Don’t turn blue. Don’t turn blue. Don’t turn-”

  She halts and gasps when the liquid suddenly shifts to a brilliant blue shade.

  “Narissa? … Narissa?”

  A few moments pass before she responds to Mum’s voice.Or more accurately, continues speaking to herself.

  “This strong of a reaction from only a few drops, I’ll need to purge what I can. She’s lucky she’s not experiencing a full magical melting right this moment… But that doesn’t make any sense either. If she absorbed any more, she wouldn’t be here, but that was two days ago. The amount should have reduced since then, but at her size, she must be nearly at her absolute limit. So she couldn’t have had more. Which means…”

  Again, she dashes to the back room and returns with a sealed fsk.This one is dusty, as if it was sitting unused for a time.She then unstops the fsk and pours the white liquid into a tray before immediately moving one of Talia’s hands to rest in it.

  “She’s already unconscious so no need to wait till she’s asleep. It should soon show…”

  The white gradually turns a light grey, and a short time ter, slightly darker streams begin swirling within the liquid as well.A minute goes by with no further changes, but the more time that passes, the more Narissa seems to be calming down.

  “Well, this may have been a waste of something that could have been exchanged for a new wagon, but it seems I ought to be able to slowly purge the excess magic from her. I don’t see any-”

  She suddenly stops speaking and her eyes go wide with a mixture of horror and shock.When I look down at the tray again, it’s easy to see the change.Instead of grey with a few dark streaks, there is now a wave of red spreading from Talia’s hand and flowing throughout the liquid.

  A few moments ter, Mum gives her a shake.

  “Narissa, what is it!?”

  For a time, she doesn’t reply, but finally, Narissa seems to come to herself and quietly utters two words.

  “Soulspring poisoning.”

  Well, I’m gd Mrs. Narissa has determined what is affecting Talia, but I’ve never heard of that particur ailment before.Apparently, neither has Garen, as he asks the same question that is on my mind.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  I’ve a terrible feeling that it is something dreadful, as Narissa still seems to be slightly stunned.Though part of that may be from me and Nibi revealing ourselves to her a short time ago.Yet Mum gives her another shake, attempting to snap her out of it.

  “Narissa!”

  It seems to have worked to some degree.

  “Um, uh, basically, you could say her magic is poisoned.”

  “You mean the magic she took in was poisonous!?”

  “No, Fiona, at least, not exactly. Everything has magic, including people, and all living things produce it to varying degrees. However, people are only supposed to have specific types and of certain amounts. Too much will make one ill and-”

  “Yes, you’ve already told me this before! But what does it have to do with Talia!?”

  “Right… Well, not that I’ve personally seen it often, but every alchemist is warned that a human taking in magic at extreme levels can cause the body to begin to melt. Yet, in some circles, it’s believed that such a thing also has the slightest chance to instead alter the magical spring of a person.”

  “Which means?”

  “…Which means the majority of the foreign magic is consumed, and the person seems fine for a time. Yet it poisons the source of their magic, causing the affected person to begin producing more of it, till at st, they uncontrolbly overflow from within. Ultimately, with lethal results.”

  At her words, the room goes silent as we grasp the meaning of what she said.It may not be exactly what I feared, yet the fact remains.Talia is dying!And it’s my fault!

  Yet Mum is only quiet for a few moments.

  “But, you can help her, right?”

  Narissa’s downcast eyes and sullen expression is more than sufficient for an answer.Yet out of desperation, I fly up to her in an attempt to get a reply.

  “M-Mrs. Narissa?”

  *Sigh*“I can’t!”

  She gestures wildly at the liquid in the tray she’s still holding.

  “According to this, her spring is already producing more foreign than natural magic. And if that weren’t enough, soul poisoning has an additional effect. My teacher was one of those who attempted to study this, which is how I know what I do, and in every painstakingly gathered account, stories that were passed through generations from alchemist to alchemist, she told me that only one thing remained constant. Every tale passed to her about this promises that when the extreme levels of magic are once again reached, they are swiftly followed by an unnaturally rapid onset of corruption. Every. Single. Time.”

  Oh no!How is it even worse than I first supposed!?Not only is she dying from one problem, but that issue will corrupt her as well!?This can’t be happening!

  “C-can you t-truly do nothing?”

  Narissa finally looks up as she continues speaking with tears running down her cheeks.With how often Talia and Lucia have pyed together, she surely sees her as almost another daughter.

  “You know that I would help if I could! But there’s noth-”

  Her gaze settles on me and abruptly hardens, as she finally realizes who spoke to her st.In an instant, she reaches out and grasps hold of me tightly.Due to my distress, I didn’t even consider dodging aside till it was too te.Thankfully, while the pressure of her hand doesn’t allow me to move, at least she isn’t crushing me.

  Yet the next moment, she drops me into an empty fsk and stops it up with the cork!