The morning of the next day, Thera went to the same place she’d been going to meet Insia that she had for the rest of her time there, with one single change taking place that set the day apart from that norm. Instead of the fairy she intended to see, it was the earth fairies who found her.

She knew there were supposed to be some living there, just like with the fire fairies, but in all of the time she’d spent at the volcano, that had managed to be her first sighting. When it happened though, she didn’t have only one or two coming up to her. The effect was instantaneous and she was swarmed.

She didn’t know if one had seen her and told others or if a large group had just happened to be nearby, but all at once the air was thick with at least a hundred of them, all flying around her and talking at once, With Thera looking like a giant fairy in their eyes, leaving their curiosity to get the better of them.

“Hello, hello,” She said, holding out an arm for them to land on and speaking kindly. “It’s nice to meet you too. Despite how I might look, I’m not a fairy.”

Even if the potential for misunderstandings makes a lot more sense here than with the life fairies.

All of them had physical bodies, just like any other fairy, and all of them were made of different types of stone, looking practically polished as the sun reflected off of them. When she herself looked like she was made from marble and gold, it was hard to deny the similarity to those buzzing around her, even if it was her mana drawing them in and pulling at their curiosity instead of her physical appearance.

Since they were there, she took some time to talk and socialize, introducing herself and explaining that she wasn’t one of their kin before she noticed something. Insia still hadn’t shown up.

The young fire fairy had never been late when they’d promised to meet, in fact, most of the time she was early, but as minutes passed she still hadn’t made herself known, leaving Thera to look around.

Found you.

A gentle blue glow was peeking out from behind a rock, telling her where the girl was hiding and letting her know it was time to bring her light chat with all of the others to an end.

“I’m sorry, I can’t talk more right now, I have somewhere I need to be if you all don’t mind.”

They were all polite enough and flew off at her request, though a few made a point to flutter through her hair before they went, leaving Thera with the leeway to make her way to her friend.

“Is there a reason you’re hiding over here?”

“Oh, Thera, hi!” The girl said with a start, acting like she’d just been caught. “I didn’t notice you were here, I guess I got distracted.”

This is obviously not okay. She was left thinking, trying to keep her worry to herself, even as the other picked up on it.

“Really, nothing’s wrong. I just got a little distracted. I’m sorry I’m late.”

She said it with a laugh, even if it was obviously a lie, but Thera dropped it. Rocky had asked her to leave the matter alone and it wasn’t like she didn’t understand at all. Being alone or disliked wouldn’t just be sad. It could be embarrassing as well, leaving one to wonder what they were doing wrong or why they couldn’t get on with others, especially for things outside of their control. It was something she understood all too well and didn’t want to press, instead shifting the topic.

Ben better be whipping those three into shape because it looks like I really will be introducing them to her.

“Don’t worry about it. Actually, since tomorrow’s going to be my last day here, I was wondering how you’d feel about going into the city for it?” She asked. “Ben has his students to say goodbye to as well, and even if I’m going to be back soon it would be a nice chance for you all to meet.”

She tried to place special emphasis on the fact that she’d be back to visit to avoid ruining the girl’s mood any more than it might have already been, but she seemed ecstatic at the idea once it had come up.

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“Really? That sounds super fun, absolutely! Oh, but I’ll need to talk to my parents about it but this is actually a great chance anyway! If you’re going to make sure to visit you need to know where to find me. Come on, I’ll show you my home!”

It was one aspect of life on the volcano she’d had yet to see and couldn’t help but be curious about. She’d seen a few different types of fairies by that point but she’d never actually seen how they lived and happily followed along to find out, going to a different area she hadn’t walked through before, once again off the marked paths.

“I’m just going to add a small reminder here to warn me about any potential pits in the ground please,” She asked them both.

There were enough times that Rocky seemed inclined to think of her as a fairy that he didn’t consider her very mortal body while Insia just wasn’t used to dealing with standard mortals in general that it didn’t hurt to remind them, even if that apparently wasn’t a real concern in that moment.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry, we live in a safer area for you guys. Every now and then people from the city come through, we just don’t let it be marked to keep anyone from casually making their way over. When you’re so big, all it takes is one accident to break our home.”

“I’ll do my best to be careful.”

She wasn’t seeing anything that looked like a home though, or other fairies in the area. If anything it seemed unusually quiet, but Rocky came in to answer her thoughts without her needing to ask.

“Other fairies live in a different area,” He explained quietly. “It’s just how it is.”

So visitors come specifically to see her family? Thera wondered. I’m not actually sure if they have a hierarchical structure, I wonder if her parents are important in their society?

It was a question she didn’t get to ask. With Insia flying ahead, she rushed over to what by all accounts looked like a woven mat of grasses before peeling it back.

“This is my home! I can’t exactly invite you in, but- Oh, Dad! Good, you’re here, come out and meet my friend!”

“Oh, is it the one you were talking about before?” A nervous, yet strangely familiar voice called from within. “Um, maybe another time, little flame, I’m a little-”

Whatever he was going to say was cut off as the fairy was dragged outside by his daughter, revealing him to the world.

Thera wasn’t really sure what she’d been expecting, but by all accounts, he seemed to be just a normal fairy, not sharing Insia’s blue colouring and instead being a more standard red, even if he seemed to grow a touch paler when he laid eyes on Thera.

She wasn’t sure what the problem was, but she still wanted to do her best to make a good impression, giving a gentle nod and a friendly greeting.

“Hello there, I’m a friend of your daughter. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Um, what? Ah-”

“It’s great you’re here right now Dad,” Insia told him as the other fairy was busy looking flustered. “Tomorrow’s Thera's last day in the city and she was wondering if I could go down with her for the day to say goodbye and I know you don’t want me going alone but I’ll have Rocky so can I please please go?”

“Um, gosh, little flame, I think I’ll need to talk to your friend for a little first, okay? Do you think you could go find your mother for a few minutes while we chat?”

“Dad, it will be fine.”

“I’m sure it will, but please?”

“It’s okay, Insia,” Thera told her. “If he’s not happy with the idea after talking with me then we’ll just come back here instead, alright?”

“Well, I guess. But Dad, no being mean to Thera! Come on Rocky.”

The two raced off into the distance, wanting to find her mom, both so she could get back quicker, as well as to have someone to argue with her father in the event he was still against her going to the city, leaving the two of them quickly alone for Thera to do her best to make a good impression, even as the fairy seemed unusually fumbly.

He really seems a bit too nervous. Is it from my mana?

“Oh, no, I’m fine,” He said, confusing Thera to no end and only making it worse as he went on. “Uh, but it really has been a while, hasn’t it? Um, you sure have grown, haven’t you Thera?”

“I’m sorry, have we met before?”

She felt like she’d have remembered it if she had, if for the simple fact that she didn’t think she’d ever come across a fire fairy before ending up at that volcano.

But his voice is a little familiar.

There was always the possibility that he’d come to Anailia sometime in the past when she was too young to remember. Even if it wasn’t to the extent of her mother, her father still got plenty of visitors himself and as a fellow member of a mana-based species it wasn’t unreasonable that they might meet, especially if she was right about him or Insia’s mother being important figures among the fairies, but all of those questions came crashing down as a look of understanding dawned on him.

“Right, of course, you haven’t seen me like this,” He told her, right before his form changed, shifting and growing, maintaining the colour of his flames but having them applied to a body that looked like a powerful incubus, the new shape filling Thera’s eyes with shock and rage to see.

“Hello again Thera,” Spoke her uncle, the great fire spirit Insedis. “Have you been well?”