Witch Apprentice Quest #23

Witches do not fear! Witches are fear!

Fear and love!

>Sis and Amalia should still be training, right? I could go join them for a bit.
Redwing a mean!

>Read it anyway. Witches aren't afraid!

No, no, even if I don't like the ending, it's my job to learn as much as I can. Miss Redwing said so. And Mistress expects me to read it, so I will!

-+-

Day 12

Seel and Meel showed me the way to an entire little village of fairies today. The initial excitement was a little horrifying, but I managed to learn a lot once I got them under control.

FAIRY FACT TWO: Fairies quite literally sprout from trees, like a leaf or a flower. That flies, and talks, and thinks (sometimes).

As far as I'm aware, we don't know of any other creatures with magical ability that don't come about through sparkle-induceed mutation. And that means... I'm not actually sure what that means, but this is definitely a surprise!

FAIRY FACT THREE: Fairies cannot lie, but they can be clever!

This one started as just a suspicion based on their odd behavior, so I put it to the test by promising them a reward of an entire pouch full of blackberries (I picked them just a few minutes from their village) to the first that could repeat the words "I am a blackberry."

It was obvious they tried really hard, but they simply could not finish the entire sentence. Finally one of them proudly exclaimed "Miss Hope asked me to say I am a blackberry!"

I don't know if it's important but I'd also like to note that fairies can eat a surprising amount for their size.

FAIRY FACT FOUR: Fairies magical abilities seem to be tied to their emotions.

This one was brought about by the berries. As the clever fairy proceeded to consume far more berries than her size should allow for while wearing a smile so wide I feared it might fall off her face, I noticed flowers sprouting from nothing to full bloom in just a few seconds.

I can't imagine anything else being the cause, but she was as surprised as I was when she finally opened her eyes long enough to notice. The idea that fairies may not actually be in control of their own magic is... quite terrifying.

>1/3

Day 13

The fairy from yesterday came to visit me today, and didn't leave after I told her I was out of berries. She seems a lot smarter than the other fairies in the village. And she is! She even explained to me why that is:

Sparkles. Just like sparkles are the source of the magic we use, it's also the source of fairies and everything that they are. So the more sparkles a fairy has gathered, the more 'fairy' she is. Smarter, stronger, faster. Eventually, they may even have enough to become queens and make brand new fairies out of their own sparkles. But she's not anywhere near that yet.

Sounds like queens must be quite powerful! If I could meet with one I could learn so much!

-+-

And that's it. The rest of the pages are blank. Which means this is the last that she wrote. I feel like I just got to know her reading this, and now I know that she's gone, just like that. There's not even any hint here of what happened to her!

But... Redwing said Mistress was the first to build a house in this forest. This must have happened a long time ago. Maybe if I ask Kerstin she would know how long ago it was that people moved here. She reads books. And a lot faster than me. It looks like I need to hurry if I want to get home before dinner.

At least it's not raining anymore! Is it okay to leave the house unlocked, though? I don't have a key, and it was unlocked when I got here. Maybe Mistress will come home soon.

>2/3

The sun is already setting by the time I arrive in Hinde, and everyone in the market is busy packing up for the day. I wonder if Mistress will give me another day off again soon? I used to spend all day visiting the stores and it would be great because there's always something new to see and sometimes the nice merchants would let me pick one thing for free, just like that! But I haven't had much time at all to do that lately.

I guess I should get used to that. It's one of those growing up things, isn't it? Growing up seems pretty hard.

Dinner was pretty quiet. Or rather, I was quiet, but Sis talked for a long time about her recent adventure, something about cults and a forgotten race of lizards or something. I couldn't really concentrate after all the stuff today. Stuff like people dying in Redwing's story and that witch apprentice who wrote that book and disappeared, and...

It just doesn't seem right. The world is supposed to be bright and happy, so why are the stories so sad today?

I think Papa asked me something while we were eating, but Sis answered so it's okay. I just finished my food and got ready for bed. But I can't stop thinking about these things. Is this going to be another sleepless night?

>Go ask Papa why people die and bad things happen. He knows that, right?
>Sis has probably seen bad things happen on those adventures. Maybe she knows how to stop thinking about it.
>Try to push it aside, I should get ready to try out that hex after everyone's asleep.

>Go ask Papa why people die and bad things happen. He knows that, right?

>>Go ask Papa why people die and bad things happen. He knows that, right?

>>Try to push it aside, I should get ready to try out that hex after everyone's asleep.

>Go ask Papa why people die and bad things happen. He knows that, right?