Faye managed to find her way back to Nephele's pond after night had fallen. She hadn't stopped, and had to take a long route away from trails, to stay hidden the entire time. The journey itself took far longer than it should have, but eventually she caught the smell of smoke and followed the scent to the pond. There was a small campfire lit, and Faye spotted Nephele's silhouette sitting in front of it. She approached. "Nephele?"
Nephele turned around, and smiled at Faye. "You've returned."
Faye nodded.
"Where's your friends?"
"They, uh..." Faye bit her lip, struggling to think of an excuse. "They wanted me to ask you something, but Jyri's still afraid of you."
Silence filled the air. Faye watched Nephele gaze at the crackling fire. For a moment, Faye worried that she hadn't believed her.
"Understandable," Nephele muttered, pulling her hair out of her face. "What did they send you for? Is it the door?"
"Yeah," Faye said, and sat on a clump of leaves across from her. "We need a purple lotus. Do you know where to get one?"
"A fairy colony."
"Nowhere else?" Faye asked hopefully.
"Maybe a store in town sells them."
Faye failed to hold back a groan.
"What's wrong?" Nephele asked.
"We... don't have much money, it's probably expensive," Faye said quickly. In an effort to avoid more probing questions, she changed the subject. "The door requires nymph blood too. And we don't know any other nymphs. Can you..."
At that, Nephele laughed before Faye could finish. "Of course. I'm willing to help you."
"Thank you," Faye said.
"Only if I can go with you," Nephele said with a smile. "I want to see what's behind the door."
Faye wondered how she would pull the entire thing off without revealing her changeling identity. There was the problem of no Jyri or Ran with her. How long could she keep the "he's too afraid of you" excuse up?
A rustling sound was heard. Faye leapt to her feet and held out her palm at the source. Two figures appeared. Jyri, and a lynx that was obviously Ran.
Jyri let out a breath. "Thank Odis, you're still alive."
Nephele gave him a baffled look. "What do you..."
"Sorry we didn't try to save you," Jyri continued, "but you disappeared before we could help. And then the gnomes were talking about bounties and execution."
"Execution? What did you do?" Nephele asked.
"Nothing!" Faye said.
"It's a long story, but she's innocent." Jyri smiled at Faye, and gestured her away from Nephele, out of earshot.
Although grateful that it didn't look like Jyri was going to turn her in, Faye knew he had a lot to say to her. "Before you start telling me off for not telling you, I'd like to remind you how many secrets you've kept-"
"It's okay," Jyri said. "I'm not upset. Given the reactions I saw, I understand why you kept it from us."
"I didn't find out until we were at Milthum," Faye explained. "The spriggan who swapped me was in a cage near me. He told me."
Jyri gave her a sad look. "I'm sorry."
She tried not to raise her voice, but continued on. "And given how you and Ran were talking about changelings, I didn't exactly feel safe to announce it."
"Maybe books aren't always right." Jyri put his hand over his forehead. "What are you going to do now?"
"I was hoping I could get through that portal, seeing as nowhere is safe for me now."
Jyri smiled. "We can go together."
"So you're not abandoning me? Or turning me in?"
"Of course not! After all we've been through?" Jyri shook his head. "No, you're not getting rid of me that easy."
Faye snorted. "If only I could." But she couldn't help but smile. And spotted an object in Jyri's hand. Her pack.
Jyri noticed."We stopped at the inn to grab our stuff, and I figured you wouldn't be headed to town anytime soon." He handed Faye her pack, then shifted his own he carried. "So, we've got the purple lotus, and getting changeling tears turned out being an easy task."
"Assuming I cooperate," Faye said. "After all, changelings are foul-tempered. You'd have to force me."
Jyri ignored her retort. "Now we just have to convince Nephele to give us her blood."
"She seemed willing to help when I asked her about it."
"We're going to need to get this done quickly," Jyri said. "There's a bounty out for your execution. This country hates changelings."
"Most do," Faye muttered. Jyri squeezed her shoulder, and they walked back to Nephele.
"We've decided on getting to that door. It can't wait," Faye explained. "But we need... nymph blood."
Nephele nodded. "Can I come with you first?"
Jyri appeared reluctant, but agreed to it. "We already packed everything up," he said to Faye. "And stocked up on some food."
"Great. We should leave now," Faye said.
"Now?" Nephele asked. "You just got here. Don't you want to rest first?"
Faye's entire body ached, but fear of being caught kept her moving. "I'm not safe here," she said. "The sooner I leave, the better."
Jyri voiced his agreement, though Faye had a feeling it had more to do with letting his guard down around a nymph. He had seemed more open to Nephele, but not fully trusting of her. "Let's go."
The group didn't make it very far. Ran, still a lynx, dropped to his stomach, and let out a raspy sound. Jyri turned around, and squatted down next to him. "What's wrong?"
"He's probably exhausted," Nephele said. "You all need to rest."
Faye dropped to her knees on Ran's other side, and decided to never get up ever again.
"We can't stop," Jyri said. "We have to keep moving."
"You need to stop," Nephele said. "You'll all pass out if you keep going the way you are."
Ran let out a purr in agreement. Jyri sighed, and attempted to lift him to his feet, but Ran let out a growl. "Okay, fine," Jyri said as he released his hold. "But only for a couple hours."
Dawn broke when Faye opened her eyes. Next to her, Jyri swore. "We need to get moving!"
For once Faye agreed. They all got up, and continued onwards. All while munching on fruit Jyri had stocked up on.
When they finally reached Wizard's Point, a foreboding feeling struck Faye. She stopped in her tracks. "Something doesn't feel right."
Jyri shielded his eyes from the sun, looking around. "Everything looks fine to me."
Nephele agreed. But Ran, still a lynx, bared his teeth. The group continued forward, though something in Faye's stomach squeezed tightly. Ran had his ears pressed back as he trailed along slowly.
By the time they reached the trail up to Wizard's Point, even Nephele seemed hesitant. "I think I know what you mean. Something isn't right."
Jyri looked around again and shrugged. "We'll just have to hurry up and get this all over with." He jogged up to the cave entrance, and the rest of the group followed suit.
Once they stepped inside the cave, Faye's heart nearly stopped. Guards, Lyon's guards, surrounded them.
And yet all the guards seemed distracted by Nephele. At the corner of her eye, she saw Ran run out. She and Jyri tried to follow, but Kern and a woman guard appeared, swords pointed at them, backing them deeper in the cave.
Just as quick, all the other guards regained their senses, and made a tighter circle around Faye and Jyri. Nephele had been cuffed in a pair of the anti-magic cuffs. Another woman guard stood next to her, hand tight around Nephele's arm.
"Don't just stand there, somebody cuff the others!" a familiar, stern voice commanded.
Before Faye had a chance to even think of using magic, Roark swooped in, and held her hands together, rendering them unusable.
"Someone other than the dunderhead."
Kern stepped in.
"Or the other dunderhead." Lyon rubbed his forehead as a new guard broke in, and snatched Faye from Roark, clasping anti-magic cuffs around her wrists. These ones had a chain connecting them, keeping her hands close together. Thankfully they were shackled in front of her body, instead of behind her back. Another guard had snapped shackles on Jyri in a similar fashion.
Lyon continued. "I don't know why I let you imbeciles follow me here, but please, keep out of this, before you ruin everything again."
"That was an accident, your majesty," Kern said.
"Your existence was an accident!" Lyon snapped. Kern stepped backwards. "Now, someone please cuff them."
"Already done, your majesty," said the guard who had cuffed Faye.
"Good, at least someone here is on top of things." Lyon smiled an evil smile. "Now that you're tied up, I can safely spend the next several minutes antagonizing you before we head out." His eyes fell on Faye, then Jyri. Then, an empty spot next to Jyri. "Where's your pet?"
"He escaped, your majesty," Kern said.
"You let him escape!"
"I couldn't stop them all alone," Kern explained, "seeing as everyone else here was distracted by that nymph." The girl next to him raised her eyebrow.
"I don't care about excuses!" Lyon shouted. "Now someone go out and find that animal!"
"He's not an animal!" Jyri shouted. Lyon ignored him, and a couple guards raced out.
"Now... the reason I showed up here." Lyon turned to Jyri, his fingertips pressed together. "We've been expecting you for quite some time." Jyri didn't respond, and Lyon reached inside his cloak, pulling out a familiar-looking notebook. "You left your little diary behind. An interesting read, if I do say so myself." Lyon shook his head. "I thought you had stopped believing in such childish nonsense. Yet here you are, thinking you can find a way into another universe. Pathetic." He flipped through the pages, then stopped. "I do like the part where you referred to me as a 'greasy-haired troll.'"
Faye snorted. Lyon looked at her. "You think that's funny, do you?"
"I mean, he's not wrong."
Lyon raised the notebook, and struck Faye with it. She rubbed the throbbing spot on her head, and glared up at Lyon.
"If I were you, I would think before opening that filthy mouth of yours. Now, let's be on our way."
They all traipsed down the mountain path, to a herd of horses. Two estins had a carriage attached, and Faye was shoved in it, followed by Jyri and Nephele. The door slammed behind them, and Lyon climbed into the front, next to a guard. He turned to look at the three, and pointed his finger at them. "Any funny business, and you're dead. I don't care how valuable you are."
Faye swallowed. Lyon gave her another evil smile, and turned back around. The guard flicked the reigns, and they were off.
Faye surveyed the interior of the carriage, in hopes of getting away with funny business. Jyri frowned at Lyon, and Nephele stared down at her knees, shaking.
"You three are in for a treat," Lyon said. "If you liked Milthum, you'll love the lab at my castle. Ruska, of course, knows it better than anyone else here."
"Unfortunately," Jyri muttered under his breath.
"You'll find that escape is next to impossible. And those who try, die on sight." Lyon glanced back at Jyri. "You should know."
"What do you mean?" Nephele asked.
"Oh, you haven't heard? You are in the presence of the most talented huminal tester in living history."
Nephele's mouth fell as she looked at Jyri. "You... You're... Is this true?"
Jyri didn't answer, instead stared straight ahead.
"And you think I'm horrible and disgusting?"
Lyon let out a laugh. "I mean, he's not wrong," he said, mocking Faye's voice. Faye's fists tightened.
"I never wanted to do it," Jyri said between clenched teeth.
"And yet you did," Lyon said. "I'm just sorry you didn't get a chance to run tests on any nymphs. You would have had an excellent opportunity to get revenge on them, for what they've done to you."
"How did you know-"
"Your diary." Faye could hear the smile in Lyon's voice. "I read every word of it."
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