Finley Cai Aies Hall May 18th,20XX

Jake let out a small groan from his splayed position as Galen flew through the sky but I couldn’t be bothered to check on him. I’d already cast a bubble around us to reduce wind interference and had urged Galen to fly as slowly as possible to reduce the jostling.

In contrast, Mei seemed to be going stir crazy and had flown out of the saddle to fly circles behind Galen. She took care to stay out of his line of vision and risk distracting the young Fluttermoth but that only restrained her even more. On the next break, I would probably have to accompany her in a race or something to get the jitters out. We’d been flying for about five hours and Galen would need a break soon anyway.

I looked over the map one more time as if I hadn’t already imprinted it into my mind. It couldn’t be helped though. I was bored. My vision flipped over the impressive landscape that had grown tiresome about an hour ago and landed on our cargo. More specifically, Jake’s backpack that had somehow made its way on the trip. The bat I had gifted him stuck out of its side like a flag and stretched the already full bag past its limits. My thoughts ended up drifting to why he had it to begin with.

He didn’t play baseball as anything more than a hobby so it was weird that he’d conveniently had it on him. A thought suddenly occurred to me and I immediately began to act on it.

“Hey, Krion. Would you mind if I take a look at that bat?”

It was an innocent enough question that he responded to amicably enough, but he did sit up a little straighter and watched me as I used magic to bring it over to myself. I hadn’t just wanted to show off though.

“Hey, Krion?”

Even though I’d called him by that name multiple times his features didn’t tighten and his expression remained neutral. It looked like he had accepted the name well enough, although I doubted it would carry over to the human world. There was just something about using a different name in an unfamiliar situation that helped with processing.

“Yeah?”

I tried to keep the smile off my face and to keep a straight face as I finished my scan of the bat.

As I thought.

“You said you were pretty close to Sparrow?”

His lips tilted slightly into a frown as he registered the emphasis on the word ‘close’. Ahh, I shouldn’t flaunt the hint too much though, it would make the grand reveal more boring.

“We were close enough. Friends.”

Mei flew back into the saddle and looked on with interest as the conversation progressed. She looked amused at the expression on my face, she grew even more amused as she took a glance at the bat I held in my hands. I kind of felt bad but this could serve as payback for what Jake had done earlier.

“Friends? Does she feel the same?”

The scowl deepened but the sparkle of curiosity lightened his eyes by a shade… or no. That was just the magic floating around everywhere.

“Stop speaking in circles and say what you want to say. If you don’t want to then return my bat.”

“Well…”

I drew it out, relishing the annoyed expression on his face.

“Cai.”

Mei’s voice, as magnetic as ever, cut through the moment and the momentum was lost. I wouldn’t hold it against her though.

“Mei?”

She pointed ahead of us, about two more hours of travel time, and the boundary between the Fairylands and the witch's lands made themselves clear. The fairylands were pretty flat all around and landmarks could easily be located visually.

“Lets set down for the night. It won’t do well to go into hostile territory unrested. I’ll head down first to prepare a campsite.”

Mei grabbed three sachets from the pile of luggage and flew down quicker than I could bid her safe travels. She stopped halfway down and flashed the device in her belt at me, showing me that I could communicate with her if I needed too.

It was far behind the technology in the human world, but by manipulating the amount of magic you input into one device, simple messages could be relayed into the other.

Speaking of devices.

I ditched the bat and began to rifle through my bag, looking for the familiar box machine. The transporter was eventually located in a side pocket and I dialled in a location, but then grimaced when it flashed the familiar pink light. Jake's attention was caught and he quickly asked me before I could toss the machine back into my satchel.

“Is that thing supposed to do that?”

I suddenly remembered how Theodulus had warned me to take my father’s heirloom if I were ever to leave the Queendom. He had also insisted that I used the earring, rather than the more elaborate ring and bracelet set. I’d left the box back in my office in the human world but it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle to get it. I’d just have to time it so Will or Aleka wasn’t around to grill me on where I’d been.

I’d also wanted to visit Theodulus but, as my transporter had reminded me, I couldn’t get to him unless he brought me over.

“Ah, that just means it can’t take me where I want to go.”

“Aren’t we already going somewhere?”

“Yeah but this isn’t a local travel method. It’s what takes me to the human world and other places. Even if I wanted to travel within this world I would have to go to the human world first."

It was while I’d tested this theory that I realized that Theodulus wasn’t in this ‘other world’ but then that raised the question of where exactly was he?

Jake’s eyes widened impossibly wide as he realized the travel ban only applied to him and sat up.

“You can still go to the human world?!”

At his intensity, I became somewhat embarrassed that I hadn’t brought it up before. Unlike myself, who only had a few responsibilities there, Jake had a whole family that would probably be very worried about where he was.

Well, I couldn’t say that no one would have cared if I disappeared but 2/3ds of them were currently with me in this world. I couldn’t honestly say that I had been intensely anticipating returning to the human world to deal with the backlash of our disappearances.

“Ah. Yeah. Was there anything you wanted me to do for you?”

He dived into his bag and brought out his phone then tossed it to me.

“When you get there I’d like you to use the recorded audio file to contact my family… if you call before four pm, no one should be home so you should be able to just leave a voice mail.”

I grabbed the phone out of the air and tossed him another transporter in return. He nearly missed the catch but made another grab for it before it reached the hard leather of the saddle we moved around on.

“That’s another transporter. When you see it flash yellow I'll need you to press the leftmost button. That’s what will let me get back to you guys properly. Okay? I shouldn’t be that long but if Mei gets back before I do, then make sure you let her know where I went.”

He nodded to show he understood and looked over the transporter.

The last thing I saw was him quickly raising an arm to block out the obnoxious light the transport generated as I blipped out of the fairy world and into the bathroom of the company.

As I kneeled over the stall and redid my transformation back into ‘Finley’ I noted how cooperative the machine was being with me today. Although I’d transported from the company to the fairy world multiple times I’d half been expecting to land at school or in the middle of a park or something. It was only by pure luck that I hadn’t been caught yet.

I sent the voicemail to Jake’s family, feeling relieved that they were the type to let it directly go to voicemail after two rings, rather than some that chose the option of letting the dial go for up to seven rings.

I walked out of the stall I’d landed in and made my way to the last stall in the row then fished the scissors out of the toilet paper cabinet. When I’d first started making my trips back and forth I’d personally gone around and hidden small scissors in each bathroom in case I ever needed to make an emergency transformation like now. As for the clothes…

I looked down on my uniform and quickly took the most identifying parts off. The blazer was abandoned in the trash can and the pattern at the bottom of the pants was folded into the hem. As for the mask…

I brought my wand out and transformed it into a mask. It was a lot more conspicuous than my usual one being bright gold instead of the dark blue, but it would have to do. My hair was braided back into something that looked decent and for a final touch, I unbuttoned the top two buttons on my shirt.

Looking at myself in the mirror, it was less than ideal but it would have to do for now.

I ignored the weird looks from my employees as I sped through the building, feeling doubly happy I had installed iris recognition instead of sticking to the usual card identification within the company. Aleka had tried to talk me out of it, calling it ‘childish’ and ‘a waste of money’ but who was laughing now?

Not me, that's for sure.

I ducked into another bathroom as Nikolas walked past me, thankfully to absorbed in his work to pay attention to those around him.

It was early in the morning on a Friday, where most of the employees had the day off. Nikolas included. But it had been overoptimistic of me to have expected the workaholic to have taken the off day.

The process was slow but I somehow managed to wriggle my way into my office and closed the blinds, not wanting the clear walls to expose my presence. Thankfully Aleka and Will had taken the day off.

Or so I’d thought.

There, standing in the middle of my office with a grim look on his face was Will, holding on to the very thing I'd come for and staring at me with a haggard face. It looked like he hadn’t shaved in three days and his eyes were sunken in as a testament to his lack of sleep.

“Finley.”

I opened my mind to explain but was taken aback when he tossed me the jewel-encrusted case. The scene was similar to when he had first given me the box, but it somehow felt much heavier than the last time I’d received it.

“Will”

He heled up an arm and made eye contact with me. He was just as uncomfortable as I was but he didn’t break the stare and looked at me like he was trying to commit how I looked to memory. We stayed like that for a few terse moments before he finally broke the standstill and wrapped me into a warm hug, haggard as he was.

“And what exactly would I have done if I ended up losing you as well?”

This somehow didn’t feel like the sort of reunion one would get after suddenly showing up from an eight-day absence, but the affection I was suddenly receiving was enough to put me at a loss.

“Wha?”

I was cut off once again.

“Do-Don't lie to me, Finley. It's better that you just don’t say anything at all.”

He kept calling me by my full name like he had something to prove, either to himself or me and kept me in the hug. I knew that I could have broken out of it but I was somehow unwilling. I couldn't explain why, but I knew that breaking out of the embrace would have broken something that wouldn't be easy to put back together.

He finally let me go but kept both hands on my shoulder, keeping me firmly within his personal space. It was uncomfortable, but the unrelenting concern in his eyes made me unwilling to express my discomfort.

“I don’t know what you are up to, or why it had anything to do with Sparrow, but even if for some reason-“

He cut himself off, choked by a half-formed sob, but pushed past it and continued.

“If for some reason Sparrow can’t return… You’d better not disappear on me. Okay? in fact? No not okay. Make another Deal with me. I don’t want the other one anymore.”

Things began to click into place and I suddenly felt all the built-up tension explode within me like a balloon.

Of course, it wouldn’t have made any sense if Sparrow was a witch but her blood brother wasn’t. I’d just been unwilling to think about it in enough detail. I felt my self go numb as all the little signs I’d been ignoring suddenly came to light.

When he had noticed my change in appearance the first time I’d returned from the fairy world should have been a big enough sign that he knew something was up.

“Wait. Of course, you can't. A Deal… once made, can’t be broken. Until one side wins or loses then it will persist.”

His grip tightened on my shoulders as he had the conversation by himself but in my numbness, I could barely feel it. It wasn’t just that Will was a witch, it was that he knew so much about goblins and possibly fairies.

My secret was out but somehow, it was the last thing on my mind. I raised my arms and put them on Will’s shoulders, mirroring his actions. Now wasn’t the time to dig in and resolve this issue.

It wasn’t going to go away on its own and it was something I would have to deal with. But not now.

“Will. You said you would trust me last time, even if it was only for a fortnight. I need you to make good on that. Can. You. Trust. Me?”

His heavy arms stayed on my shoulders for a bit and he looked slightly manic as he processed my question but he eventually slowly released me and stepped back.

Will looked me in the eyes again, determined to keep my attention even as I had already started my transformation and activated the transporter.

“Deal or no deal I don’t care. You’re going to get my sister back safely, and you are going to come back home, regardless.”

I could only give a smile in response, although I could feel its bittersweetness stinging my lips.

The deal had already been made and it wasn’t one I could rescind on.