Faye awoke to voices but kept her eyes closed. Blankets surrounded her, and she stretched her wings out from under her back. Her wings. Faye's eyes popped open, and she lifted the blankets up, glancing under. Someone had undressed her, and put her into some sort of gown with an open-back. Faye shivered. Her eyes swept around the candle-lit room. The only other light came from the slit between two wooden doors on the ceiling. She squinted at the stairs leading up to that door. Am I in a cellar?
"She's awake." A short, stocky man approached the end of the bed, smiling. "We were hoping you would be."
A woman sat in a wooden chair by the stairs. "I changed you out of those wet clothes."
"Thanks." Faye scanned the room again. "Where am I?"
"The Secret Cellar of the Escapees," the man said.
"Escapees?"
"From Milthum." The woman strolled up to her, and sat on the edge of the bed. It was then that Faye noticed the wings protruding from her back. Except hers were thin and featherless. Almost like a butterfly's, but without any pattern or color.
Faye gaped at her. "You have wings."
She smiled. "So do you. Your name's Faye, right?"
Faye nodded.
"I'm Gren," the half-fairy said. She gestured towards the man. "This is Vartan."
Jyri stirred, and for the first time, Faye noticed him sleeping beside her. "Will he be okay?"
"He'll be fine. You two almost froze to death. You're lucky those three found you."
"What three?"
Vartan opened the cellar door, and Lavina, Kirsten, and Corvin stepped down. "You're alive," Lavina said to Faye, beaming.
"What are you doing here?" Faye asked, and sat up. "I thought you were headed further into Vustaria."
"We were," Kirsten said, narrowing her eyes at Corvin, "but Corvin wanted to go back home because he forgot his pipe."
"I needed a smoke."
"We were going back to Wizard's Point when we found you dying," Lavina explained.
"Wizard's Point?"
"I live there," Corvin said. "I am a wizard after all."
Faye furrowed her brow. She had thought Wizard's Point was just a name for the tall, inhabitable mountain. "Wizards actually live there?"
Corvin stared at a wall torch, silent. Lavina held up a bag. "We brought fruit."
"Fruit?" Jyri had awoken, his eyes on Lavina. He smiled. "So we meet again."
Lavina nodded, and gazed down at the floor. "It's... good seeing you."
Jyri sat up, then yanked to blankets up over his bare chest. "Where's my shirt?"
"Drying," Kirsten said. "We had to get you out of those wet clothes, unless you 'd rather be dead."
"I helped," Lavina said cheerfully. "I hope you don't mind."
"I'd rather have died," Jyri muttered, red-faced. Kirsten grinned. Lavina walked over to hand him an apple, which he took with one hand, the other still holding the blanket up. Jyri watched Lavina hand Faye an apple."How come she gets a gown?"
"We didn't have any in your size," Gren answered.
"Be grateful we found you pants," Kirsten said.
Corvin shook his head. "I made them leave for that part."
"Thanks." Jyri looked down at the bedcovers. "Are my clothes dry yet? We need to leave."
"But you just woke up," Vartan said, scratching at his pointed ear.
"You're an elf?" Jyri asked him, though it sounded more like a statement.
Vartan nodded. "We're all non-humans. All who escape Milthum end up here."
Jyri's face brightened. "There's more of you?"
"They're in the other room," Gren said.
"Can I-" Jyri began, but Lavina interrupted him.
"I had no idea you were half-fairy," she said to Faye, hands clasped. "It came as such a surprise."
"I knew," Kirsten said.
"How?"
"Your name is Faye. How obvious can you get?"
Faye bit into her mushy apple. Jyri laid back down on his side, pulling the blanket up to his neck. "Aren't you gonna eat?" Faye asked him.
Jyri looked down at his apple, as though seeing it for the first time, and bit his lip as his eyes darted towards Lavina. "Do you have pears?"
Lavina shook her head. "Only apples, oranges, and blueberries."
"Cherries?"
Kirsten frowned at him.
"I don't like apples," he mumbled.
"What about oranges or blueberries?" Lavina asked.
"No thanks."
"Well, that's all we have, so either eat or starve." With that, Kirsten flounced off, followed by Corvin. Lavina stayed behind, looking at Jyri curiously.
Jyri flopped onto his stomach, face buried in his pillow.
"You have to eat something," Faye said to him. "Try a blueberry."
"I've had blueberries," Jyri mumbled into his pillow. "And oranges. I don't like them. I hate fruit."
"All fruit?" Lavina asked.
"All except pears. I'll eat cherries if I have to, but I hate how they have that pit in the middle."
Faye frowned at him. "So, you don't eat poultry and you don't eat fruit."
"My mouth spits it out. I can't control it."
Faye scoffed. "Must be nice, having the privilege to exclude food groups without dying of starvation."
Jyri lifted his head to scowl back at her. "It must be nice, being able to eat an apple without gagging."
Faye opened her mouth, but Gren cut in. "What about toast? We have some leftover from breakfast earlier."
Jyri rolled over and smiled. "I like toast."
"Shocking," Faye muttered.
Later, once their clothes were clean and dry, everyone left Faye and Jyri alone to change.
"Not that it matters, since we've seen everything already," Kirsten had said on her way out, causing Jyri to blush.
He dressed within seconds, done before Faye even reached for her corset. "You shouldn't," he said, pulling his hair brush out of his pack.
Faye saw a glimpse of his journal and stiffened. She never did get a chance to continue snooping. To find out why he was dying.
"You're safe, among friends and allies." Jyri continued running the brush through his hair. "Your wings need freedom. Go with the open-backed shirt."
Mistaking blueberries for astro berries. As if he'd even eat a blueberry.
Jyri paused mid-brush. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I just find it weird that you don't like blueberries."
"There's a lot of foods I don't like."
"Well, yeah but what would you do if there was nothing to eat but blueberries?"
Jyri turned his back on her and continued brushing. Though his hair didn't seem to need it anymore.
"Well?"
Jyri flicked his hair over his shoulder. "I'd die before I'd eat one."
"Funny." Faye raised her eyebrow. "Remember how we first met?"
"Yeah. You stole my wallet."
Faye nodded. "Along with the cure for astro berries. Because you ate some, thinking they were blueberries."
Panic filled Jyri's eyes. But he blinked, frowning down at his brush. "Grapes."
"What?"
"I thought they were grapes, not blueberries. I just remembered that I like grapes."
Faye narrowed her eyes. "Grapes look nothing like astro berries."
"I was delirious from hunger." Jyri jerked his head towards her clothes. "Get dressed." He shoved the brush away, and walked out into the next room.
Leaving his pack unattended.
Faye got dressed faster than Jyri had and, after glancing at the closed door, opened his pack. Her heart thumped as she slid the journal out from it, and opened to a random page. She flipped the pages back, to find where she left off, but her name caught her attention, and she stopped to read.
Faye is such a peculiar creature. Much like Torf, she has her own personality and quirks. It amazes me how people frown down upon non-humans. They really are no different than us. And, even though she's gotten on my nerves a few times, I truly enjoy her company. I was against having a traveling companion at first, preferring to keep this journey solo, but I don't know how I'd manage without her. It would be so lonely, and I feel lonely enough. She's the only friend I have. I know I can't make her, but if I do find a portal, I hope she'll come with me.
Faye's throat tightened. After a second read-through, she rubbed her hand over her eyes. Did he really mean it? She skimmed through a third time for good measure.
"Faye?"
She slammed the book shut, but Jyri rounded on her, eyes widened. "You were snooping through my stuff?"
"I can explain-"
"What in the demons is wrong with you!" Jyri snatched the book, and shook his finger at her. "Don't you ever-"
"Did you really mean it?" Faye's voice cracked.
Jyri narrowed his eyes. "Mean what?"
"You like being around me?"
Jyri averted his gaze, and busied himself with stashing the book away.
"Because I like being around you," Faye continued. "Even though you're a compulsive liar, and I don't know a thing about you, and for all I know you could be planning to kill me. But you're the first person to have ever cared."
The corner of Jyri's lip twitched. "I like you when you're not being a snoop." He buckled his pack, and pointed at her again. "Don't do it again."
"Why were you dying when we first met?" Faye asked.
"I told you. I mistook grapes for astro berries."
"Liar."
Jyri set his hand on her shoulder. "Alright, I lied. It was something else, but I don't want to talk about it. Can't you accept that there's some things I want to keep private?"
"I guess."
Jyri patted her back, and left the room. Faye stopped in front of a grimy wall mirror and brushed her fingers through her hair, before stepping through the doorway into the main room.
It wasn't much different than the room she woke up in. Lit torches lined the stone walls. Aside from Vartan and Gren, there were two more elves, another fairy, and what looked like a nymph. The group sat around a table playing some sort of card game by candlelight. They didn't seem to notice there were newcomers. Faye debated on if she should go up and introduce herself. Lavina and Kirsten sat in a corner talking. Corvin leaned against the wall, staring at the nymph from across the room. Jyri sat stiffly on a crate by the doorway, giving the nymph an intense look.
Faye sat down on the stone floor next to him. "Are you okay?"
Jyri scrunched his nose. "Their magic is disgusting. Look at the poor guy." He gestured towards Corvin.
"She can't help it."
The nymph left the table, and headed towards their direction. Jyri's hateful expression turned fearful as she walked past them. His body relaxed when she left the room.
Faye frowned at him. "What was that about?"
"I want to talk to Corvin."
Leave it to Jyri to change the subject. Faye sighed. "Why do you want to talk to Corvin?"
"He said he lives on Wizard's Point."
"Don't you suspect a portal to be there?" Faye asked.
Jyri nodded and stood up. "I want to ask him some things."
Faye followed him past the table, and up to Corvin. Despite the nymph's absence, he hadn't moved from his spot. Though his attention didn't leave the doorway she had walked through.
"Can we ask you some questions?" Jyri asked.
"What?" Corvin blinked at the two, glassy-eyed.
"Can we ask you something?"
He rubbed at his eyes. "If you must. What is it?"
"How long have you lived on Wizard's Point?"
"At least a few decades." Corvin stroked his beard. "I'd say sometime after I gained full use of my powers. I always thought living on top of Wizard's Point would be fitting for a wizard."
"Didn't you freeze?" Faye asked.
"Not with the magic bubble I casted around the area. I made it permanent, right before I built my home."
"And there's more wizards there?" Faye asked
"Nope," Corvin beamed at her. "I'm the only one who ever thought to live there. Crazy, isn't it?"
Jyri nodded, though the information didn't seem new to him. "Has anything odd happened there?"
"A few weeks ago, I had two girls pounding at my door demanding I give them a quest. Usually it's the other way around."
"I mean, any weird phenomenon?" Jyri leaned in, lowering his voice. "Strange people or artifacts? Magic doors? Portals?"
Corvin rubbed his chin. "I haven't seen, but... I've heard rumors."
"Of what?"
"Back in the days of old, during the Forgotten War, the ancient wizards discovered a way to travel through dimensions. It was supposed to transport them into the other territories, for ambushing, but all who used them were never heard from again."
Faye swallowed. "Where'd they go?"
Corvin shrugged. "No one knows. No one even knows if the Forgotten War really happened. But the interdimensional travel thing is a myth. I've lived there most of my life, and I've never seen anything of the sort."
Jyri wrapped his fingers around his chin, brow scrunched. "If it was secret, it must be hidden somehow-"
"It's child's play." Corvin shook his head. "Odis, boy. I thought you were supposed to be smart. You should be doing something worthwhile with that brain, instead of wasting your life chasing silly stories."
Jyri gazed down at his feet, hands gripping his elbows. But something new occupied Corvin's attention. His mouth opened into a grin, and his eyes glossed over. The nymph walked past them, back to the table.
Faye turned to look at Jyri but he had disappeared. The door to their room was shut. She put two and two together, and left Jyri alone. Corvin was no longer in his right mind, so she sat with Lavina and Kirsten. The two girls prattled on about life in their hometown. Something about an abusive man and an arranged marriage, followed by a discussion on food. But Faye barely took any of it in, instead staring at the closed-door Jyri hid behind, wondering if he'd ever open his metaphorical one.
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