Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

My babies~ Ehehe! They saved Mama today, you know! I'm proud and blooming brighter than a sun blossom! Although…The devil's magic in me is kinda making me dizzy, my body still feels attached to her even though it's been a whole day since we separated. Not to mention she hasn't woken up since yesterday, which has me a bit concerned, but aren't devils conditionally immortal like angels? Well, either way, I hope she wakes up soon so that I can thank her too.

"Come on, Will-O tell me, how did you teleport everyone at once?" Gathered outside the empty church at night, my daughter poked me with a finger and pulled me out of my dancing thoughts. She'd been nagging me about the truth–something I can't reveal, not even to her. "You said you'll tell, what better timing than with everyone gathered around a campfire?"

Looking at the many faces staring at my wisp-form with great expectations, I made my fluffy body jingle in defiance. The result of which was obvious, a whole lot of disappointment with a hint of curiosity still flickering in their eyes.

"Let me negotiate with her," leaning forward on the log she was sitting on, Maria's face was a menacing orange atop the flame. "Maybe a treat or two will jog the fairy's memory?"

'As if you can bribe me!'

Turning my body away from her, I showed her what I thought of the offer. Despite not looking, I could feel the anger bubbling in that cocky royal body of hers.

'Ehehe~ You have no power over me!'

"Don't be such an ass just tell us how you did it!" Finally frustrated from asking all day with no signs of an answer, Lili demanded to know, but turning to her and bursting into my fairy form, I had something else to tell her.

"Don't you speak to me like that young lady! Lest you want me to wash your mouth with soap the next time we take a bath!" Resting my hands on my hips as I fluttered before her eyes, I made sure to stare at her with every bit of seriousness that I could muster in my dainty form. Crossing my hands, I even flew closer to her face and pinched her on the nose with my hand. "There's your punishment!"

"AGHH!!" Moving her head away from me in a jolt, she covered her face with her hands while staring at me from the edge of her eyes. "What was that for?!"

"For being a bad girl!" I complained with my hands back on my hips and my cheeks puffed with air.

"Fine! Don't tell me!" Visibly angry, Liliyana turned back to me and blew her tongue at me in a tease. "I don't even wanna know now!"

"Kids, these days…" Shaking my head, I let the matter go and the night continued in silence–for the most part at least.

As for the truth that only I knew, it was nothing special but my bond with the mother of natura fairies. Born of her blessings as Lili's guardian since Athenia hadn't provided her with one, I was able to borrow a speck of Mother's powers and teleport everyone away. Although, my body being the way it is, couldn't handle such greatness and nearly burned itself out had it not been for the devil's healing abilities.

'I'm sorry I can't tell you the truth, but much like that devil keeping secrets from you about this world, I too have a duty to keep you from harm that comes from knowledge.'

Pressing my cheek against my daughter as she slept, I laid down on the side of her face and tried to get some sleep myself.

For a while, I could slowly feel myself drifting, but then a ruckus outside our tent piqued my curiosity. Peeking through the entrance of the tent, I saw Moxy and Regalia talking about something. It was hard to make things out from afar, but from the looks of it, the wolf-girl was only getting something to eat while she headed out to check on the ship's repair like she'd been doing since yesterday.

Linkle too was present in that mess, her eyes fixated on the stars and her mind obviously wandering through some distant memory. Flying out of the tent, I decided to get closer to the witch. But right as I headed out, her eyes instantly turned towards me. More perceptive than any human, she'd caught me in an instant as I had just gotten out.

"Can't sleep?" She asked, her voice devoid of emotions.

Taking a deep breath, I washed away my worries and flew by her side before giving her an answer.

"I heard someone talking so I came out, but what are you doing?" The moment I asked that question, her eyes darted up to the skies.

Staring at them longingly, I swear I heard her heart cry.

"Just…missing home, regretting the choices that led me here, and wondering if I'll make more fucked up decisions."

"Ey! Don't be a potty mouth!" I complained instinctively, disregarding her feelings.

But to my surprise, instead of being as…for the lack of an appropriate word, let's say bitchy, Linkle laughed it off and looked down at me again.

"Sorry sorry, I was just lost in thought." Quickly turning back to the skies, she continued to stare at the stars. I could sense her longing, her desire to fly through the ocean of stars, but with her past mostly clad in mystery, I didn't wanna say something that might make her sadder than it would console her. "Doubt I'll be back up there though, so it's okay, I'll make do with just having my body back."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Gliding off the log, Linkle laid down on the ground and closed her eyes with a yawn. In turn, it made me yawn as well, and being a fairy I couldn't say no to a good night's sleep. However, as I was leaving the witch all to herself, I couldn't help but feel that she was expecting the worst to happen on this adventure.

'I'll pray that you get your body back from that devil, dear witch…'

Although much older than me, I wanted to coddle her like a baby and tell her that everything was going to be alright.

'Maybe I will?'

Seconds after that thought crossed my mind, I found myself the size of a human and running my fingers through the long hair of the beauty lying in my lap. It appeared that I'd used my size-changing ability on instinct and through instinct alone had been brushing the witch's hair for the whole night. Even as I tried to pull my hands away, the witch–in her sleep clutched them tight. Holding them close to her heart, she teared up in her dreams, almost as if she was afraid of any further separation.

And why wouldn't she be? Losing her home, her people, and even her body, couldn't have been easy, not even in a dream.

'Fine…I'll stay like this for a while longer.'

Thankfully I was able to escape her clutches after a while without being seen in that excessively large form.

Note: Sorry for only one chapter today, I'm having back issues again, taking a rest. I'll upload an extra chapter along with the usual 2 chapters tomorrow to compensate, hope you guys still enjoy the chapter.