Author's Note

Quick note; for the Fairies's pictures that I use to represent them may look bigger than what they are in Rin's case, but I wish to restate and stress that the Fairies are miniature despite the picture's appearance. They are the closest thing I can find to those who resemble who I imagine in my mind. Besides that, please enjoy the chapter.

Bravery In The Face Of Fear

If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.

Sun Tzu.

Avernus Marshlands.

Trudging through a supposed 'bottomless pit' marsh that is also rumored to have creatures of any ilk certainly was something I wanted to do on a Monday.

Said no teenager ever.

It felt like I was walking through a giant vat of jelly, The Marshland waters smearing against my black cargo pants and sticking there as me, Daring and Ai ventured forth, with Rin on my back, most likely tired from her fight with Crazy Bitch back when we were at Central. I've told her one time, I've told her a hundred; she needs to control her anger or she'll burn herself out when I'll really need her in a fight. And thanks to her injuries, she may just be out of commission for a while, leaving me to pick up her slack. Internally grimacing and groaning, I slowly moved forward, checking the canopies of the large Cyprus trees as we passed them by, Ai's emotions being sent out spasmodically through her behavior.

''Ai...Master, I don't like it here,'' Ai whined, tears filling her eyes as she cried. And that's another thing I didn't take into account; Ai's personal fear of dark places. Even I felt a twinge of remembrance of being locked in that boiler room with the temperature cranked up to the max.

''It's okay, Ai. You can go back inside and rest,-'' I gestured to the Life Drive. ''-I'll take care of the duffle bags. You've done good, Ai, now please...get some rest.''

''Thank you, Master,'' Ai pecked my cheek and hugged my face before she slowly dissolved into particles, being sent back into her containment slot, the indicator turning white. Before I forgot, I caught the two duffle bags in my right hand, my left supporting Rin's body by holding her rear on my forearm.

''Huh,'' Daring looked interested as she floated right above the swamp muck. ''She certainly is the quite the...-''

''Fairy.'' I filled in the blank.

''-To help you as much as she did,'' Daring smirked. ''But who are the other names you mentioned? Snow and Yuu?''

''My other friends, I would bring them out, but the obvious negativity in the air would be bad for their morale,'' I huffed.

''I guess I could see how that would put a damper on their mood,'' Daring shrugged.

''So, since we have the time; who's exactly are in this little village of yours?'' I inquired.

''Just some of my crew that I brought here on my airship. It'll just be the the six of us there,'' Daring moved some loose branches out of the way and hopped over some trees.

''So, there's three other ponies that you brought here with you. And you have a crew?''

''Yea, I mostly do the 'dangerous, death-defying' stunts, but they mostly are my back-up should I ever need it. You see, we came into the Avernus Jungle about 3 weeks ago, and after being in disgusting and inhospitable conditions, we found out where the Alicorn Amulet may be in a hidden temple, but it may be hard to get there,'' Daring explained to me as she observed the skies.

''And how is that a problem?''

''It's protected by a magical barrier that not even the most intellectual of Unicorns can break. We've tried our own hooves at it, but mostly, we've come up with nothing. Before we can even get inside the temple, we need to break that barrier.''

''So what did you have in mind?'' I asked.

''Maybe your...Fairies can be just what we need to help us do just that, or we may just be stumped.'' Daring frowned. As we moved through, the muck got surprisingly easier to pass by, the once putrid smell slowly fading and muck coming off my clothes. After who knows how long, we finally made it past the bog and onto somewhat stable ground. We came out to a cliffside that held a great view of the Avernus Jungle of what we could see of it. The rain poured by down by the bucketfulls, dousing us in the stuff.

''Well, that wasn't so bad,'' I found...no real problem, besides the feeling of being in a giant butter churner. ''I thought you said there were be 'creatures of any kind' here. I guess you were wrong,'' I chuckled. Daring looked to say something, but narrowed her eyes.

''Yea, this seems...a little strange...-Watch out!'' Daring pushed me out of the way as a boulder whizzed past my head and slammed into the marsh behind us, displacing muck and splashing us with goop. Almost slipping and falling on my behind, the quiet was drowned out by a deep-throated growl that made trees shake and the ground rumble. The skies were blanketed in dark stormclouds that blocked out the sun. A huge figure loomed over us like an ant to a to a building. The entire body looked as hard as a tank, yet it...it...was...

''A Hydra!'' Daring yelled, drawing her crossbow. ''Jamir, we have to go now!'' Daring paled at the sight of the monstrosity growling at us with anger and the instinct to kill.

''Ah, crap!'' I yelled, running on down the cliffside, panicked. Hearing the Hydra roar sent a literal chill down my spine as Daring fired off arrows at the beast, doing nothing more than agitate it. My headache from Crazy Bitch began to make my head throb. I nearly slipped and made me and Rin almost fall to our death trying to avoid becoming the Hydra's next meal.

Or worse, the ground.

''Rin, Rin!'' I yelled past the rain splashing in my face. ''I could use you right now!'' I shook her body back and forth, still hearing the soft snoring. ''Wake up, please! I don't care if you're tired, we're going to be in trouble!'' I said, yelping when another rock came awful close to turning us into paste.

Wait! I got it! Jokes! Jokes should be enough to get Rin to wake up. She loves my jokes. I just hope that it works.

''Hey, Rin!'' I said, breathing heavily. ''How do you stop a lawyer from drowning?''

...

''Shoot him before he hits the water!''

No response.

''Fuck!'' I cursed. ''Okay, think...think...Oh! Now I got it!'' I realized. This would most definitely wake her up, but I would be getting a mouthful of of Rin when she finds out the truth. I frowned, trying to find the best way to word this without fucking this up.

''Daring, come on!'' I yelled, getting her attention. ''I got this under control!'' I yelled at the top of my lungs, my voice nearly drowned out by the rain picking up and thunder and lightning.

BOOM!...BOOM!...BOOM!

''A-Are you sure?-Ooof!'' Daring yelled back, firing another arrow, losing her balance on the ground and falling on her stomach.

''Daring!'' I dropped the duffle bags and cursed myself. ''Hold on, I'm coming! Hey, Rin! Someone. Stole. Your. Sweets.''

Fwoooosh!

The second I finished that sentence, from out of nowhere, the winds picked up, sending rocks, mud and leaves in the air as I heard Rin growl with the same intensity of the Hyrda.

''You said what?!" Rin said, getting on her feet. ''Who?!''

''Uh, him,'' I pointed at the Hydra, roaring.

''He took my sweets?! What type?'' Rin's eyes pulsed blood red, rippling waves of tears ready to come out.

''Um...chocolate cake?'' I hesitantly asked, making Rin's eye twitch. ''Double-layered chocolate cake?''

''Raaaaaaaaaaaaah!'' Rin yelled, her hair covering her face, though Rin winced, probably uncovering a wound that tried to heal. ''I won't forgive you!~'' Rin crouched, launching off the side of the cliff and cocking a fist at the Hydra who roared in response and charged forward, crushing trees and shaking the ground. Rin soared like a bullet, launching her fist into one head, snapping it back at an unnatural angle, an audible crack resonating with the thunderclaps.

''Oh, buck.'' Daring whispered, her eyes reduced to pinpricks. ''She really is strong.''

''Daring, get over here!'' I demanded, making her fly over to me. ''Rin's got this under control.''

''Are you sure, a Hydra is nothing to take lightly!'' Daring commented as Rin was thrown back over to us, her back hitting the cliff wall. Spit flew out her mouth and blood ran down her face. Rin gasped, her eyes nearly popping out of her head as she landed on her hands and knees, almost coughing up a lung.

''Rin, are you okay?'' I asked.

''Y-Yea,'' Rin spit out blood and smiled, her teeth stained red. ''This little bugger certainly seems tough, but I'm stronger!'' Rin proclaimed, thumping her hand against her chest, the sound echoing. Okay, this was bad. Rin was showing signs of being tired and she would drop like a dead weight, at the worst possible time.

''Rin.'' I said. ''You need to use your Life Drive, you won't last much longer until you at least heal,'' I said, making Rin frown.

''But,-'' Rin groaned, holding her head. ''-You know that I hate bugging them for help.''

''Uh, who's 'them'?'' Daring asked, firing more arrows out of her crossbow. ''More help?''

''You rarely call on Hanabi and Takiko; they really would like it if you fought alongside them instead of ignoring them.'' I assured Rin, patting her shoulder.

''A-Are you sure that they won't be upset with me?''

''Fight first, feel sorry later!'' Daring commented, taking the skies and drawing the Hydra's attention.

''Fine,'' Rin exhaled. She then pulled back her sleeve which showed another Life Drive, but with the words, Fire, Light and Heal on it. ''Life Drive, activate! Hallowed Gates!'' Rin shouted, a commanding tone to her pained voice as all three of her symbols glowed green, the red aura around her body slowly weathering the cliff behind us. Red, yellow and black particles began to form before the collection of red particles zoomed forward, weaving in and out of the falling raindrops before it went charging at the Hydra.

Sknt!

''Raaaaaaaaawar!'' the Hydra roared, toppling to the ground when one of its front legs were cut off, spewing green blood out of its stump.

''What the?'' Daring questioned, looking back and forth between me and Rin.

''Hah! The One-eyed Fire Shogun, Hanabi, has arrived to deal swift justice to those who wishes harm upon my comrades!'' Hanabi proclaimed, with four swords on her person, everything about her just announced fighter in the most obvious way possible.

''Hey, Hanabi! Long time, no see,'' I uncovered my own Life Drive, ready to chip in.

''Hail, Challenger!'' Hanabi called me by my nickname. It's small quirk we have with each other, she wants to fight me, but I've always denied fighting for the fact that she would lecture me half to death about practically anything. Seriously, before even starting the fight, she would find a way to have an hour-long discussion about the simplest of things, like the different variations of battle we could have. She had the personality of a Greek, and lucky for her; I like the Greeks. ''Shall we commence sparring?'' Hanabi unsheathed her sword, pointing it at me.

''Not now, we have a bit of a problem!'' I pointed to the Hydra. ''Rin, could you handle that?

''Gotcha,'' Rin smirked. ''. . .Takiko!''

A brilliant yellow light materialized into a Fairy's shape before 5 giant arrows of pure energy zoomed forward, each one nailing each Hydra head in a explosion, sending the Hydra flying into a mountain as the whole ground shook.

''Success!'' Takiko cheered. ''I shot true and landed on target! Oh, hey there, Jamir!'' Takiko smirked at me, launching another barrage of arrows that kept the Hydra at bay as Rin got up close and personal providing a distraction. ''How have you been? It was so long since I last seen you.''

''Same here,'' I said, wiping some of the rain out of my eyes. ''Wait, where's-''

''Ko!~'' a tiny voice mewed, zooming towards the Hydra who still put up quite the fight biting the air where Taiko and Rin were taking turns being up and close with the Hydra, trading blows and launching arrows that further agitated it as I took my duffle bags and ran along the cliffside, narrowly avoiding small gaps in the way and slipping on wet mud, all while attempting to help turn the tide of battle then just standing back, doing nothing.

''So!'' Daring said, panting heavily as we ran. ''What's the plan?''

''You're asking me?'' I pointed to myself, skeptical. ''And how should I know what to do?''

''Well! You do seem to-Whoa!'' Daring almost tripped on her forehooves, but corrected herself. ''You've kinda been a makeshift leader so far in fighting the Hydra, so why not finish strong? Why not summon your Fairies to help out? A fully grown Hydra is quite the challenge to take down, and this one seems particularly mad!''

Great, now I'm the person people are going to for advice? Tell me a better joke if I've ever heard one. I mean, really; how are we supposed to take this thing down? Hanabi cut off one of its front legs, and it's still coming back with a passion. Man, do I hate overthinking things, but in this case, I may not have a choice to even complain about it in the matter. Let's see, a plan that won't get us killed, a plan that won't get us killed...

I may have just found a way. It's crazy, but most of my plans are, but I'm willing to risk nobody but myself in this regard.

...I just hope it'll work.

Taking refugee in a small cave alongside the cliffs, me and Daring huddled in.

''Stay here,'' I told her, making her eyes widen. ''I have a plan.''

''Wait, what? Why? I should be out there helping you fight!''

''It's not your place, Daring. I don't mean to insult your fighting spirit, but what it is you think you can do, you probably can't. At least not without us. So I'm telling you, to return the favor; hang back and let me handle this,'' I left no room to argue.

''But-''

''And just to make sure you're staying put, Life Drive; Heart of Valor!'' all three of the containment symbols glowed green, bringing forth Ai, Yuu, and Snow.

''Ai! Master! What variation of assistance do you require from us?'' Ai asked happily.

''Simple; Ai. Hold Daring here in your telekinesis,'' I demanded, making Daring narrow her eyes at me.

''Wai-''

''Ai! Master, it shall be done!'' Ai's eyes glowed green, stopping Daring in her tracks.

''Wait! Wait! I can help!'' Daring struggled and did her best to break away from her binds, to no avail.

''Yea,~'' I said sarcastically said, nodding my head. ''Not happening! Guys, I've got a plan, follow me!'' I ran forward, ignoring the cries of disagreement from Daring. I leaped off the cliff, my entire body soaked to the bone as I began to drop like a stone.

Call it crazy when I know I can't fly, but human nature tells me to do so anyway in spite of the fact that I may get seriously hurt.

''Guys, now!'' I announced, hoping that that they heard what I said, or else splat goes the human.

Like the world's most unappealing pancake.

''Roger that, Master!'' Ai announced, Yuu and Snow right beside her as they went back into the Life Drive, but the containment drives each showed the color of black for all three containment slots. Oh, good. Now I'm working with fire. A feeling of great happiness spread throughout my body, providing me with warmth and confidence. My fatigue and injuries faded, making me feel as light as a feather. The resolve in my heart grew only stronger as I looked up, staring at the Hydra still fighting with Takiko and Hanabi, but Rin was engulfed in a blue mist, being healed by her Wisp, Ko. I suddenly felt the rush of adrenaline pump in my veins and felt the real shock of things when I landed on the hard jungle floor, cracking the stones apart like butter, withstanding no damage to my body. I stared up at the colossal form of the Hydra and cracked a smile, when Ai appeared next to me, though her body was mostly made of mist, a byproduct of Fusion.

Quick info; Fusion is when Fairies and their Master can, temporarily fuse their powers together, the Fairy gaining more potential gene information to build new Magic Circuits, and the host gains access to their Magic Circuits, the duration and use of abilities dependent on how long and to what extent the Master and Fairy has bonded.

''Master, you have full access to all of our Magic Circuits and we are ready to assist in any way possible!~" Ai giggled, then looking to the Hydra. ''What course of action do you want to undertake?''

''Simple,'' I said, the edges of my eyes glowing pink and blue. ''The plan that Hercules used to kill the Hydra. Let's go!'' I yelled, jumping in the air, easily reaching up the height of the Hydra. Underneath my feet, small funnels of Ai's telekinesis field held me in the air as I stared ahead, ready to enact my plan. My blood boiled as I scanned the sky, ready for whatever may come.

''Hanabi, Takiko! Fall back! I got this!''

''Wait, what are you talking about?'' Taiko asked, laying down cover fire. ''You have a plan?''

''Challenger, do you mean to say that you can handle the situation yourself?'' Hanabi finished tangling with a Hydra head.

''No, but; I have a plan, but you need to do as I say. When I give the world, Hanabi, make a giant wall of fire, the biggest you can. Takiko, when that happens, fire all of the arrows you can through the fire, Got it?''

''Roger!'' the girls readied themselves. With that, I ran over to Rin, huddled over in a small corner of the cliffside, with Ko healing her.

''Hey, Ko,'' I called to the Wisp, meowing at me with the intention of saying hello.

''Ko!~" Ko licked my face, her tongue feeling like rough sandpaper.

Ugh.

''Guys, I got a plan,'' I said, Rin's eyes widening. Oh, wow, so much for trusting in your teammate.

''What kind of plan?''

''Remember how Hercules killed the Hydra?'' I asked, knowing that it would hopefully strike a chord of understanding between us.

''Yea, it's hard not to forget; Hercules went into cave and had the heads...'' Rin looked to see Takiko and Hanabi in position. ''Ooooh, now I see what you're getting at. But, can it work with all this rain?''

''We can do nothing more than hope,'' I looked to see the Hydra launching one of its many heads at me, but we moved out of the way just in time as it crashed into the cliffside, sending boulders tumbling down and rocking the cliffside. Narrowly avoiding another head trying to chomp down on me, Rin took the liberty to clock the Hydra head in the jaw, sending it sprawling back in pain.

''So what do I do?'' Rin asked as we landed back on the cliffs. ''And where's Daring?''

''No time to worry about her, just know she's safe. In terms of what you could do, you can perform the most important job of them all; you need to lob off all five of its heads so Hanabi and Takiko can seal the wounds. If I'm right, and I hope I am; it should be dead after that.''

''That's it?'' Rin tilted her head. ''That's your plan?''

''Yea?'' I said and asked.

''Really?'' Rin remained unconvinced.

''Yea, I mean, come on!'' I defended myself. ''I worked really hard to think that up, and it wasn't easy...'' I mumbled, not even flinching when all five of the Hydra heads came at me, using Ai's telekinesis to hold it in place, albeit the look of calmness on my face was merely a farce as I fought to keep the damn thing still without losing my focus to remain in the air, hold the Hydra, and having my confidence shot with a high-powered rifle.

''I'm sorry, Jamir,'' Rin embraced me in a brief hug. ''I guess I've gotten so used to your plans being so crazy it would make The Joker look at you funny. So when a decent plan comes along like this one, you could probably understand my skepticism,'' Rin comforted, patting me on the back.

''Yea...'' I replied lifelessly, ready to go cry in a corner. Then I thrust my palm forward, pushing the Hydra back as it protested. ''Let's just get this over with,'' I took the liberty of summoning her duffle bag that I left with Daring that contained her weapons. ''I'll be the decoy...'' my voice held the same, boring monotone as I air-walked towards imminent danger, not caring what really happened.

''Eh? Jamir, I'm sorry; I should have held more faith in your plan.'' Rin frowned, trying to apologize.

''Uh-huh...'' I said, not really listening.

''I mean it! We all make mistakes, and I'm no exception.''

''Sure...'' I sighed.

''Is there any way I can make it up to you?''

. . .

''At all?'' Rin asked.

. . .

''You're dead to me. . ." I muttered, making Rin's eyes go completely white, a sign that she was was as confused as she was shell-shocked at my words. Sighing as the Hydra got back up again, ready for another round, Yuu appeared in front of me, frowning.

''Sir, are you okay?'' Yuu worriedly said. ''Would some mud make you feel any better?''

''No, I'm. . .fine,'' I folded my arms, scrunching my face, showing my discomfort. ''But, I have my plan in place. So let's hope my knucklehead brain can make it work!'' I growled, ready to be the best distraction I could possibly be.

''Hey, ugly! Evolution called, they want your fucked-up scales back!'' I joked, formulating the best roast possible, causing the Hydra to look at me funny, then snarl as if it understood my insult.

Aw, great, now it's even more mad.

Seeing it charge at me, I just stood there ready to play chicken with a five-headed lizard that could use my bones as toothpicks, yet on the outside, I was calm, on the inside, I was internally panicking at the rate it limped towards me, and I seemed to be the main target it wanted to chomp down on.

1. . .

Why me?

1. . .

This guy's getting pretty close. . .and I'm not liking it.

1. . .

''Uh, R-Rin?!'' I shouted, my skin rippling. I was about ready to fall back when I covered my arms, ready to wait for whatever would come.

. . .Yet, nothing did.

''Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!'' Rin appeared just in time, launching off the cliffside as she soared and spun like an arrow, cleaving by the heads in one fell swoop like a bullet, causing the hard scales to crumble like mush, spewing a sea of green blood everywhere, the four other heads following in one fluid movement. The power behind her strikes caused the surrounding rain to spread against the cliffs. Each head slumped off and toppled into the trees lower below, causing parts of the cliff to chip and fall off.

''Hanabi, Takiko, now!" I announced, making the pair spring into action.

Hanabi unsheathed two of her swords, holding both in the air before a spark of flames ignited, engulfing all it could as the rain hit against it, hissing and causing steam to rise up in the air, a blazing wall of fire pulsing with colors as the Hydra's stumps began to bubble.

''Takiko!'' I called on the girl who was spacing out.

''R-Roger!'' Takiko responded, launching a barrage of arrows through the fire, being set ablaze as it soared with a purpose.

Fwiiiiiissssh!

Each Hydra stump shook and flailed erratically, Takiko's arrows embedding themselves to the bone as the Hydra staggered back and forth, eventually, buckling underneath its own weight and collapsing in the mess of toppled trees behind it as the ground rumbled one last time.

''W-We did it," Rin breathed, not believing the significance of what we just accomplished. ''W-We really did it. . ."

''Ai! Master!'' Ai gushed, cheering and flipping in the air like a kid in a a candy store. ''Good job, everyone!''

''Same here, sister!'' Yuu responded with the same energy. ''Sir, can I roll around in the mud now as a reward?''

''Snow! Snow!~'' Snow pantomimed us killing the Hydra, then meowing the loudest meow as a victory howl.

''Success, Challenger!"' Hanabi praised, bowing to me. ''I was confident in your abilities.''

''Good job, guys. I didn't think we were going to beat that thing, but we did,'' Takiko put a hand to her chest, exhaling a well-needed breath.

Fist-pumping to myself, we all began to calm down from staring certain death in the face and killing it, heading over to the cave where I left Daring. Even though I know she'll be mad at me, basically restraining and telling her that not that she would be a help to taking down the Hydra, just that she couldn't do much to help because I have more chemistry with my friends as opposed to her. I owe her one for not putting an arrow in both me and Rin's forehead, so I paid her back by saving her from killing herself and fucking up our chemistry, not to say she is inadequate.

Once my feet got settled on the still wet ground, all three of my containment slots glowed purple, indicating that Fusion ended as Ai, Yuu and Snow exited my body, regaining their physical forms.

''Well, now that the Hydra is dead,-'' I sighed, shaking my head. ''-perhaps we can get back to the matter of-''

''U-Um, Jamir?'' Rin asked, stuttering. ''C-Could I talk to you for a second?'' Rin shuffled back and forth, refusing to make eye contact with me.

''Sure, go ahead.''

''I just want to apologize for doubting you. I should have had more faith in your plans, crazy or otherwise,'' Rin muttered, blushing. ''I guess I should trust in you more, or else it could cost us one of these days. So. . .do you accept my apology?'' Rin flinched when I raised an eyebrow.

She. . .can't be serious, can she?

''If anyone should be apologizing, it should be me,'' I said, surprising Rin. ''I. . .was selfish. You were hurt and I nagged you to help with the Hydra when I should have done the right thing and handled the problem myself. I'm always asking things of you that must make you feel uncomfortable or even mad at me, and I'm sorry about that. I panicked and I took out my inability to really keep a calm head in situations such as this, and I need to work on that, but-''

''N-No!'' Rin interrupted me, waving her hands erratically. ''It's not that I mind helping you out when you need it, I actually enjoy it. You don't 'nag' me, Jamir; that's what friends are supposed to do for each other; help. I can understand that you didn't really know what to do, and I'm sure nobody here blames you for that. But when you think calling on your friends for is a bad thing, that makes me, our friends, sad,'' Rin frowned. ''Besides, me, Ai, Yuu, Snow, Hanabi, Takiko or even Ko wouldn't let you be eaten up by that Hydra just like that, it just won't happen. I don't want you to feel like you should hesitate, okay?''

Huh, guess it never dawned on me that. . . I was doing that. I always felt some tinge of regret whenever I asked Rin or my friends for help. I know that there are some things that you can't do alone, but who's to say you don't feel a little bad about using your friends for some things you could possibly do yourself. . .I do.

Great, now I've made myself seem like even more of a jackass than usual. Sigh.

''You're. . .half right in that regard. I understand where you're coming from, but I still feel a twinge of sadness when I have to call upon you, Ai, Yuu, or. . .anybody! It just feels. . .wrong to me. This feeling I have won't just die out that easy, but I can't guarantee that I will try to quell it either. It just is one of those things I have to get over with by myself.''

''No, you shall not, Challenger.'' Hanabi said. ''Comrades are not mere chess pieces on a board, nor mindless slaves to be bossed around. We are intelligent beings that can make our own decisions with thought and reason. We would never dream of becoming anything less than ourselves, so we embrace and find joy when a fellow comrade is need of assistance and are happy to help you with anything you may need, including this predicament you claim that can be rectified by only you.''

''Ai, Master! Please do not feel that way!'' Ai pouted, her eyes focused solely on me, her little body shaking as she looked ready to explode if I so much as I breathed wrong. ''A part of being our Master is asking for assistance when you need it and not feeling bad about doing so! We took a oath to be your most loyal helpers and never to listen to any of your silly ideas when you doubt yourself!''

''And who told you that, little miss?'' I asked sourly.

''You, sir!'' Yuu poked my nose with her mud-covered finger, giggling. ''You explicitly told us; 'No matter what I may say or do, never listen to any of my hair-brained schemes when I feel like I may be in a slump, no matter the topic or situation.' Those were your exact words!'' Yuu spun around, spraying me with mud before dropping down into the puddle of mud she already made, making a mud angel, giggling.

. . .Fuck! I gotta stop being so damn specific. I hate how Fairies have almost perfect memory.

Makes for the perfect witness in a crime.

''I still have trouble fully believing that, but we can discuss those things when we get to this village Daring was talking about. Speaking of which,-'' I rubbed the mud off my face. ''Ai, could you let Daring out of your telekinesis field? I have a pretty good feeling she saw us fight the Hydra and she won't be too happy about what I did, but hopefully she can understand.''