“Of course I said Fairies, what else would we be?” Altatina beckoned once again. “We can talk about all this later, but first we really do need to start the birthday party.” At this, the sound returned to their surroundings, once again bursting with excited conversation. From her back, two multi-segment translucent wings of white, filled with light green swirls swiftly extended, reminding Jason of playful wind. Altatina’s feet lifted off the ground as her wings beat so quickly his eyes could only see a blur, yet they didn’t make a sound like he expected they should.

“Let’s go!” One of her soft hands took one of his in a firm grasp before both of them were borne aloft. It was all too much, too wondrous, too fantastical for Jason to keep up. His mind was filled with questions, expletives, and confusion.

Fairies? Reincarnation? Fuck this is really high up! Fairies? Wings? My junk? What…? Before he knew it, they had crossed an unknown distance upward, arriving at a small pond of luminescent, aquamarine liquid held in a knot of wood. The pond itself was set in the center stage of an open-air amphitheater grown out of the side of the wooden wall, surrounded by seats made from gradually rising tree rings.

Lights and fairies from everywhere floated in behind where Jason and Altatina stood beside the pond. Jason watched in fascination as winged Fairies almost seemed to implode as they approached, transforming into more motes of drifting light before settling down on the tree rings. Those fairy lights seemed to take up no space at all as more and more of them packed together by color, separated by each ring. The furthest, and therefore largest rings held the most lights until reaching the center where the first two rings were empty, and the two after that held only a few lights each.

Some fairies chose not to sit, causing the open air beyond the amphitheater rings to twinkle merrily with excited energy. The clap of a single pair of hands reverberating far more loudly than should have been possible brought the noise to an end, and all attention toward Altatina.

“Thank you, those who came tonight! As you know, we’ve gathered once again to celebrate the birth of another Fairy, and to welcome them to our family!” Altatina stood with hands clasped in front of her over her chest, smiling radiantly as the cheers from thousands of fairies crashed around the amphitheater. As they eventually quieted down, she continued, “While every birthday is a special occasion, this birthday is just a little bit extra special. Tonight, we’re celebrating the birth of our family’s very first Celestial Fairy!”

The sheer volume of cheering at this announcement was enough to eclipse the previous outburst entirely. The air vibrated, the ground shook, the pond rippled, and even little bits of dust fell through the air from where they were dislodged from the wood above. Celestial Fairy? Is that what I am now? Jason looked down at his hands, turning them over in curiosity. It honestly didn’t feel much different than being human, ignoring his missing bits. Except I’m way skinnier now…and pale. Everything about him was slender, dainty almost. His skin was pale like moonlight, and smooth like fresh cream.

Jason’s self-inspection was interrupted as Altatina continued. “How do we start birthdays?” she asked expectantly.

“THE NAMING!” shouted back the multitude.

“Correct! I will now speak to The Mother Tree, and discover what name she has in store for this new one!” Altatina twirled around to face the pond, folding in her legs to sit as her dress flared outward causing it to look like she was emerging from a patch of Columbine flowers. She leaned forward over the pond and extended her right hand to gently rest on the surface of the glowing liquid.

Evenly spaced ripples began to emanate from that hand, periodic pulses that refracted back from the confines of the pond. The ripples crossed one another, creating patterns which refracted again to become more complex, and again, and again until Jason’s eyes couldn’t track their movements. The complexity did not result in chaos, however, but rather more order. Shapes and symbols seemed to appear amid the ripples, just teasingly beyond his understanding, flashing with light like the reactions of bioluminescent algae. Is this what Neo felt, seeing the Matrix for the first time? Jason wondered.

Suddenly, almost in an instant, it was over. The pond was returned to glass-like stillness. Altatina retracted her hand, completely dry, and stood to once more face the crowd. Or cloud, I guess, in the fairies’ case. Jason thought with a slight amount of humor. The air was expectantly silent, curiosity and anticipation added an invisible weight to the moment.

“Our Mother has spoken! From today onward, our new family member’s name shall be…Air Apple!”

Air Apple? Air Apple was dismayed. The crowd erupted in cheering once again as he turned to Altatina with a burning question.

“My name is Air Apple?”

“No silly,” Altatina laughed, “it’s Ehr-Apel.”

Air Apple frowned. “I’m still hearing Air Apple.”

“Just open your Self Interface and read it for yourself!” The way Altatina said it, the Fairy formerly known as Jason could hear the capital letters in Self Interface.

“Wait, my what?” he asked.

Altatina smiled and rolled her eyes, “Just say ‘Self Help’!”

“Uh, self help?”

“No! You have to say it like you mean it!”

“Ok, ok. Self Help!” Air Apple said with more confidence that he felt.

A translucent golden scroll with a glittering aura materialized with a figurative, rather than literal, pop in front of him and unrolled downward to reveal its contents. With wide eyes Air Apple looked at the manifestation, surprised and confused to see a table which was easily familiar to anyone who had ever played Dungeons and Dragons, or RPG’s in general.

Atop a significant amount of information was his name, fully spelled out.

Self Help Interface Name: Errapel Class/Race: Lesser Celestial Fairy Level: 1 Free AP: 2 Health: 14 (0.15/hr) AP Used: 0 Stamina: 16 (0.17/min) Secrets Discovered: 0 Mana: 122 (2.6/min) Things Stolen: 0 Attributes Points Added Score Description Charisma 0 6 Influences persuasiveness, likeability, and chance to succeed with certain types of magic. Clarity 0 11 Influences perception, rational thought, Mana, Mana Regeneration, Magic Damage, and ability to resist certain magical mind-altering effects. Dexterity 0 9 Influences physical dexterity and overall agility. Increases flexibility, movement and attack speed, and also increases your physical efficiency and precision. Strength 0 1 Influences physical strength, lifting/carrying capacity, and Physical Damage. Vitality 0 1 Influences overall constitution and endurance, increases Health and Stamina and their respective Regeneration rates. Also increases Poison Resistance. Willpower 0 3 Influences ability to focus, and ignore distractions. Has other effects at high level. Passive Skills Fairy Racial Traits:

Pure Magic - You are a being born of pure Mana given physical form. The only sustenance you require is Mana. You may alter your physical appearance incrementally over time at will. You have an Unlimited Lifespan, but be careful, you can still die.

Ferrous Fear-ous - Ferrous materials burn you, and interfere with your ability to use magic, and magic-like abilities.

Magical Metabolism - Any food or drink consumed is quickly broken down completely, and a portion is directly converted into Mana.

Kleptocurious - You have a strong urge to know things, and to take things. Especially secret things!

Star Touched (Celestial) - While exposed to star light, increase all Regeneration rates by 20%, and all other Racial Skills are 10% stronger.

Active Skills Name Cost Description & Effect Fairy Wings [Racial] 1.1 Stam/min

Summons a pair of Fairy Wings, granting Perfect Flight (omnidirectional control of flight path). Speed of flight is dependent upon your Level, and Dexterity Score.

Flight Speed: 6.9 Meters/sec (7.5 in star light)

Mote [Racial] - - Transforms you into a mote of light, granting Perfect Flight. You can fit through most openings, even really tiny ones! Flight speed is limited to 1/3 that of Fairy Wings. While in mote form, you cannot use or benefit from other Skills. The brightness of your mote form is variable from "tiny ember" to "lantern". Maximum brightness increases with Level.

“Oh, I get it now!” Reading his name from the scroll allowed him to understand the pronunciation. “It’s pronounced more like Ehr-ah-pel. Errapel!” Errapel was content with finally figuring it out, but that was short lived as confusion crept in quickly. That’s strange, why would the name listed here be Errapel? I already have a name. It's…it’s…wait, what was it again?

Altatina nodded happily when Errapel corrected his pronunciation.

“Yep, just like that! But don’t worry, every Fairy has a nickname and those are always much easier to say! For instance, I’m Altatina but everyone just calls me Tina!” Tina clapped her hands together once more, curiously cutting through the cacophony carrying on around them.

“Alright everyone! Now that The Naming is complete, it’s time for…The Nicknaming! The Mother Tree has given them the name Errapel, but what nickname should we call them by?” Tina asked.

“But wait! I can’t remember my other na-“ Errapel was cut off as thousands of voices began calling out names all at once. All different takes and shortenings of his name were called out with no particular one standing out due to the sheer volume of different options being shouted. As the Fairies continued calling out names, slowly, certain names began to stand out as more and more shouted the same thing. One Fairy would shout the same name over and over to be heard, and another nearby would take up the call as well, the more popular names spreading and infecting a larger chunk of those present.

It eventually came down to two names, shouted back and forth in interval. One group was team “Apple”, while the other group was team “Pel”. The tug of war continued, evenly matched with neither gaining any ground against the other until Tina clapped her hands again.

“It’s rare to see a tie during The Nicknaming!” She tapped her cheek with a slender finger. “That means I get to break the tie! Oh, this is exciting!” Tina turned to look at Errapel with a considering gaze. “Apple or Pel, Apple or Pel. Which will I choose, who can tell?” She continued to debate with a playful, singsong voice.

“I’d really rather be called P- “ Errapel was cut off with a gesture from Tina.

“Nope! Nobody gets to choose their own Nickname. That would just be silly! Apple it is!” she announced happily, to the cheers of at least half of those Fairies who were present.

Apple groaned and covered his face with his hands. I don’t care what she says, it’s Pel. Pel! Pel, dammit! I have a legal right to decide my own name! Wait, this is a different world after all. Do I even have rights? Do Fairies have rights? Being called Apple is just...embarrassing! Pel’s thoughts were interrupted as Tina continued speaking to those ringing the stage.

“That concludes The Naming, and The Nicknaming! Which means…it’s time to party!” The motes of light, which had up to now been obediently sitting in orderly, color-coded rings, zipped into the air amid whoops of joy like a caffeinated, rainbow cloud of LEDs. A flute trilled out from somewhere for a long moment, before being joined by other instruments from every direction. Many motes of light turned back into full-bodied Fairies as the revelry began.

Tina took Pel’s hands in hers and pulled them away from his face.

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions,” she spoke gently.

“Like a dam ready to burst,” Pel confirmed.

“This place is empty now, let’s sit and talk.” Tina led Pel to the first ring around the pond. “When you’re ready,” she said softly.

Pel took several moments to order his thoughts. Everything that had happened since he died up to now was all jumbled together and he had a hard time figuring out what to ask first.

“Where am I? I mean, what is this world called?”

“This world is called Enna. You mentioned being reborn earlier, yes? Were you someplace else before?” Tina asked in return.

“Yes, I was on a planet called Earth,” Pel replied.

“Earth like the ground?” she asked.

“Yep, just like the ground. I had a name on Earth, but why can’t I remember it now?”

Tina looked down for a moment before responding. “The Naming is a powerful ritual for Fairies. Or anyone for that matter. Being named grants access to the Self Interface which you opened earlier. It binds you to the world, and for Fairies it also binds you to The Mother Tree.”

“Binds me how?” Pel’s question was rushed and anxious. Tina responded with a soothing gesture.

“Nothing bad! It just means that should you die, or disperse yourself near The Mother Tree you’ll return to being a part of her until you’re eventually reborn anew. It also means you need to return here to complete Race Evolutions” Tina tapped her cheek in thought. “It’s strange that you say you aren’t from Enna, let alone that you aren’t even a previous Fairy that The Mother Tree has given rebirth to. Were you a Fairy on Earth?”

“Race evolution? And no, I was Human. There were no Fairies,” Pel replied.

“Human! What was it like to be so giant? Could you lift boulders? What was it like to squash things? Wha- Ahem. So, you were a human,” Tina flushed slightly with embarrassment. The pink of her face complimented the pale green of her hair to make Pel think of Easter.

“Yep, up until today I was Human. Although for a brief moment I think I may have just been sentient light. But on Earth everyone is Human. Speaking of…” Pel paused awkwardly. “Part of being Human means that, well, men have junk. And mine is missing. What happened to me? Is this part of being a Fairy?” Pel’s face was now a match for Tina’s from a moment ago.

“You’ve said that thrice now, but I assume being reborn means you can’t take anything with you. Why would you bring junk anyway?” questioned Tina.

“No, not junk junk. My… twig and berries, my one eyed trouser snake, my arbor vitae, my holy poker, you know...my reproductive organs,” Pel said awkwardly.

“Oooooh. That. I’ve never heard so many color euphemisms for cock and balls before.” Tina covered her mouth and laughed. “I’ve learned so much! So many new ways of saying things! Well, the answer is simple,” she spread her hands. “Fairies don’t have those! We are neither male nor female, and we cannot couple to produce offspring.” Seeing Pel’s confused glance she clarified further. “Many of us choose to take on the gendered characteristics, or expressions of personality, commonly seen in the other races but because we are beings born of pure Mana we have no divisible sex. I choose to look like this because that’s what I want to look like.

“If you read your Racial Traits the very first one is called Pure Magic. If you concentrate on what you want to look like you can change your appearance to be whatever you want it to be!”

Pel sat in devastated contemplation at the loss of his junk for several long moments. “If I concentrate on changing my appearance long enough can I grow them back?”

“Yes, if that’s what you really wanted. But you have to keep in mind, it’s only an appearance. They wouldn’t feel or function like real ones. It would just be some extra skin,” Tina shook her head.

So, not worth the effort then. Pel thought sadly. “Back to Race Evolution, you mentioned that but what is it?”

“It’s just what it sounds like; at certain Levels you need to complete a Race Evolution before you can continue gaining Levels. For other races, they have Class Evolutions, but for Fairies it’s at Levels 100, 300, 600, and presumably 1000. But I can’t think of any Fairies who have ever reached that high,” Tina absentmindedly twirled her hair around a finger as she thought. “Most of us don’t get past the second evolution since we die so easily, and everything likes to eat us.” Traces of sadness flickered across her features. “I’m an exception here, Level 342. I’ve been the guardian of The Mother Tree since Level 300 and that was almost 200 years ago! I’m super-duper old for a Fairy!” Tina exclaimed.

“Well,” Pel said with a smile, “You look good for your age.”

Tina laughed again, “Yep! Not a day over one day old! Each Race Evolution lets you get stronger, and modifies your specific elemental passive in some way. Without the evolution you won’t be able to keep leveling. I’m told it’s similar to the other races’ Class Evolutions. Oh, there is one more thing I need to mention about your rebirth and binding to The Mother Tree.” Her face lost it’s mirth, and she faced Pel with a serious expression. “I’m sorry Apple, but you aren’t going to like it.”

Well fuck. “What?” Pel asked. His stomach dropped, and it felt like he just got a phone call from someone who said ‘We need to talk’.

“Incidents of rebirth like yours aren’t exceptionally rare, despite what you might think. It happens from time to time, usually among the Humans. I’ve heard of several in my lifetime, and I don’t normally travel very far from the forests.” Tina placed a warm hand on his knee. “I've heard that one common factor across all of the people reborn is that after their naming they begin to lose some of their memories of their past lives.”

Pel jumped up and began gesturing sharply. “What! Why didn’t you lead with that?! I’ve already forgotten my name, does that mean I’m going to forget everything else too? My family’s names? What about their faces, or where I grew up, or my childhood friends, what about the things I learned in school or- “ He was interrupted as Tina wrapped him up in an embrace. He tried to wiggle out of it but found that her arms were like a warm vice, and he was literally powerless to do more than struggle.

“No, you won’t lose everything. Some, but not all.” A gentle breeze stirred around them, fluttering Pel’s hair. It was warm and soft, and despite his fear and anger he couldn’t help but begin to relax.

“W-what are you doing to me? I should be frantic right now,” he asked, slowing his struggles. What's happening?

“Shh, just a little bit of magic. It’s called [Calming Winds], and it calms those who feel it,” Tina replied. “I've heard that you won’t lose who you are. Your core memories and experiences, the things that make you who you are will remain, but you’ll lose a lot of the specifics. Names and faces will probably be the first to go. Sometimes you'll remember the name, but not what the name is for, or you'll remember the description or meaning of a thing but not the name. I’m sorry Errapel. Rather quickly, by the end of your first week, you’re going to be mostly adapted to life here on Enna.” The breeze continued to swirl softly around them, but Tina released her arms and gently spun Pel to face her. It was almost harder that way for him to keep a lid on his emotions seeing the sorrow for him she held in her eyes.

Pel clenched his fists. Alright, ok. Not everything, just a lot of random bits. Hopefully Tina's wrong about what "she's heard" about this whole reincarnation thing. She said it herself, she doesn't leave the forest much, and what she knows is practically hearsay. He wasn’t as angry anymore, and no longer felt like he needed to pace like a trapped animal. Yet, despite the calming effect of Tina’s magic it didn’t make him not want to cry. Magic is a given, with all I’ve seen so far I don’t even need to ask. Pel just stood there letting the wind carry off his anxiety. This is better than Ativan. But I'd still rather be able to feel the full extent of my loss. This wasn't fair of her.

By the time the breeze died down Pel was still not ok, but he was at least past the first two stages of grief. Somehow accepting that he had already died was easier than accepting that he was about to slowly develop magical Alzheimer's. Looking down at the ground between them, Pel collected himself and let out a sigh.

“I think...I’d like to put on some pants now,” Pel admitted. “Also, why don’t I feel particularly bothered about being naked?” He knew for sure that if he had been in front of thousands of people back on Earth, even an open fly would have made his soul flee his body, and curl up and die inside.

Tina smiled again and said, “It goes back to being Pure Magic, and not having sexes and genders. We don’t have anything to feel self conscious of or embarrassed about in the first place.” She took her hands off his arms and smiled even brighter. “Let's go see if we can find Clover, they’ll get you covered!” Tina walked up the rings of seats, Pel following her from the amphitheater.

Standing at the top of the seats, Pel was able to fully appreciate the view he missed on the way up. For a tree, this place was beyond enormous; easily a mile in diameter. Looking up, he could vaguely see some kind of ceiling composed of densely joined branches. Glowing mushrooms and lichen created the effect of a distant starry sky. Everything was made of dark wood, even the little buildings all along the walls which looked grown instead of constructed. Some had wide brimmed mushroom balconies growing upward from below while some were only large enough to be considered a doorstep.

Looking down was intimidating. A sea of mixing colors tumbled together in revelry, pulsing luminance matching the beat of the music which was echoing from everywhere. Pel couldn’t even see the bottom, and he wasn’t sure he could even if the Fairies weren’t clogging the air.

“How many Fairies are there?” Pel asked.

“Mmm, I think you make the 83,441st Fairy in residence at this Mother Tree,” Tina replied.

“This Mother Tree? Also, how can you possibly count...that.” Pel gestured at the chaotic cloud around them.

“Yep! There are still five other Mother Trees across Enna. Also, Fairies are good at counting things! We’re pretty much the best! The higher in Level the better we get,” Tina informed him happily.

“Who’s the highest Level Fairy?” Pel asked.

“That would be the current Fairy King, Oberon Kerobi. He was at Level 650 during last decade's Fairy Moot.” Tina turned to look at Pel with a mischievous smile that set his teeth on edge. “But enough questions for now, it’s time you had your first flight lesson!”

Pel looked down through the endless expanse of air below him and took a step back. “Can’t you just take me with you like when you brought me up here?”

Tina’s evil laughter was enough for him to realize that was a ‘no’. “All you have to do is want to fly! Just think about your Fairy Wings skill, and want to fly!” With that, she shoved Pel off the edge.

Aside from rushing air, the only other thing Pel could hear was his own scream. I really want to fly, I really want to fly, I really want to fly! He kept falling. FUCK! He was flipping end over end through the air, his vision a blur of dark wood and lights that seemed to be spitefully joyful in the face of his predicament. I DON’T WANNA DIEEE!

“FAIRY WINGS!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. Instantly he felt his body halt in mid-air, causing his eyes to feel like they were going to pop right out of his face.

Pel turned his head to look over his shoulder. He really had grown wings. They were translucent just like the ones Tina and the others had. His were dark, almost black, outlined in brilliant gold. Throughout the dark interior of his wings were golden dots like uncountable specks of stardust sparkling distantly through the void of space. Sweeping lines ending in curls surrounded dark voids, empty of golden dust and seemingly waiting for something to fill them.

Tinkling laughter, growing closer approached from above. Pel spotted Tina, curled up and holding her knees and shaking with laughter descending through the air toward him.

“YOU’RE FUCKING CRAZY!” Pel shouted, heart still beating a mile a minute.

“Hehe, nope! I’m a Fairy!” she responded, wiping tears from her eyes.

“I almost shat myself!”

“You can’t shit yourself, Fairies don’t have buttholes!”

“But, then why do we have buttcheeks?” Pel asked.

Tina tapped her cheek in thought for a moment before responding.

“I dunno, Fairy stuff,” she said with a smile. “But if you’re a Wind Fairy like me, you can do this!”

Tina pointed her finger at Pel and suddenly air rumbled out from between his bare cheeks, sounding like the biggest fart he’d ever ripped in either life he’d lived so far. Pel clapped his hands over his butt with a blush.

“What the fuck was that?” he asked.

“Ha! Another spell, it’s called [Expanding Wind]. I like to call it Breaking Wind though, haha!” Tina doubled over laughing again.

“Whatever it’s called,” Pel said with narrowed eyes, “I feel violated.”

“Ok, ok. I’m sorry. What were we doing? Oh yea! Let’s go find Clover!” Tina waved at Pel and started dropping lower.

“Wait!” Pel shouted, “How do I control these things?”

“Just move with your mind!” Tina replied as she continued dropping through the air.

Move with my mind. There is no spoon. Do or do not, there is no try. Pel thought sarcastically. As he continued to watch Tina and the motes of light nearest him he simply imagined himself floating downward wanting to catch up to Tina. He released a sigh when it seemed to work, and he began to slowly fall.

It was a bit like flying in a dream, but without flapping his arms up and down. Just willing himself to move was enough to fly down, no fancy wing muscles to control. Tina looked back at Pel and smiled, increasing her speed. He smiled in return, wanting to go faster as well.

I’m fucking flying!