The taste of stale alcohol woke Pel from his peaceful sleep. Smacking his lips he sat up, the edge of a blanket dangling over his face. What the fuck happened last night? Where am I? Images of bottles and dancing animals made of smoke drifted through his head. What the fuck was in that drink? Digging himself out of the pile of blankets and pillows was as easy as escaping quicksand.

Standing unsteadily, he was surprised that despite whatever he had to drink last night, he didn’t have a hangover. Huzzah for Fairy metabolism! Rubbing his eyes, Pel found himself standing in the corner of a midsize rectangular room. Along the left wall were two windows letting in light which fell to the floor in lazy beams, illuminating polished wood which was carved, or grown, into the shape of floorboards. In the near right corner was a wooden basin protruding from the wall filled with clear water. A small table with two stools sat in the far corner opposite the basin beside an open doorway covered with more of the familiar strung flower curtains.

In the middle of the room was his shirt, unceremoniously strewn out from the door toward the pile of pillows and blankets. Dammit, I just got this thing. Pel thought with a grumpy frown. He picked it up and piled it gently on the table, noticing a small, rectangular wooden tag hanging horizontally from a tiny branch growing out of the wall to the right of the doorway. To his eyes, scratched into the tag, appeared to be a depiction of sound waves. To his mind, the sound waves read, “Meet me at The Naming Pool, Tina”.

“Is this another type of magic?” Pel muttered as he let the tag fall back against the wall. He walked across the room to the basin, cupping his hands full of cool water and taking several sips to wash the taste of last night's party out of his mouth. He wet his hair and dried it on a corner of one of the blankets in the bed pile, taking it over to drape on the stool to dry. Pel sniffed himself, and strangely thought he smelled a bit like balsam. Shrugging, he picked up his shirt and put it on absentmindedly while thoughts of all of yesterday's experiences and revelations washed through him.

Sudden death by vehicle was, surprisingly, the lowest shock on his totem pole. He was sad for the family he left behind rather than for himself, he wished there was a way to tell them he was ok now. His hands paused from their autopilot at the realization that he already couldn’t remember their names. He could still vaguely remember their faces, but it was like a fading dream moments after waking up. I really am going to lose them then...I just hope I can stay sad about it. Forgetting them and being happy would be too cruel.

His thoughts drifted to Tina, and everything she showed him through the course of the night. Heh, I can fly! Everyone’s number one wish!

Pel was distracted by a tiny golden ember floating in the bottom right of his vision. Turning to look at it made it retreat further to the right. Everywhere he looked, there it was. Closing his eyes revealed that it was still there, unobtrusively hovering just at the edge of his perception. I wonder...

Pel brought up his Self Help screen, and was greeted by a small note on top of his normal interface table. It congratulated him on reaching Level 2, and said that he had earned two more free Attribute Points. He remembered Tina telling him Fairy Rule number one was to put his first Level points into Vitality, and looking at the screen he saw he now had 4 available points to invest instead of 2. Somehow through the course of the evening he had Leveled, and for the life of him he couldn’t think of anything he could have done to make that happen.

Staying the original course, he followed through with last night’s intentions and assigned his first two Attribute Points into his Vitality. A strange feeling crept up on him. Pel clenched his fists a few times and rubbed his wrists. I feel...more. It was difficult to describe. It felt like being full, but instead of his stomach it was sort of everywhere. As the feeling began to fade he felt good, really good. Like he had woken up and exercised, and now he was pumped to start the day.

Pel glanced over the floating scroll again to familiarize himself with the information available, and checked the difference a single Level provided. Vitality was now at 3, while his Health had jumped to 20, and Stamina was up to 25. Huh, seems like leveling up gives a small amount of every resource. I won’t be entirely dependent on Attribute Points.

Self Help Interface Name: Errapel Class/Race: Lesser Celestial Fairy Level: 2 Free AP: 2 Health: 20 (0.23/hr) AP Used: 2 Stamina: 25 (0.28/min) Secrets Discovered: 0 Mana: 134 (2.9/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 2 3 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 (7.6 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 yea, forgot about Mote,” Pel said to himself. Thinking about activating the skill made the entire world expand. He lost all corporeal feeling as the room grew, and an omnidirectional golden light banished the shadows from the corners. His vision bubbled as if he was looking through a fisheye lense.

“Oh that’s trippy!” Pel’s metaphorical eyes widened. “OH THAT’S EVEN MORE TRIPPY!” The sensation of speaking without a mouth was almost akin to an out of body experience. Every time Pel spoke while he was in his Mote form the sound would project from all around him, like it was being broadcast directly from his thoughts through a speaker. With no mouth to move, he didn’t understand how he was still able to make sound.

Flying in this form was disorienting, the extra wide field of view made judging distances more difficult as things in his periphery seemed to zoom closer when he turned. He flew toward the water basin, seeing it expand into a pond, and then a lake before he stopped upon seeing his own reflection. He quickly turned around when his own light nearly blinded him. He concentrated on the feeling of being small, tucking into himself and the light he was emitting dimmed. Thinking about unfolding, and growing brighter made his light shine like a lantern once again.

Returning to his regular self caused a quick reduction to the perceived size of his surroundings, making it feel less like Pel was growing larger but more like everything else was shrinking. It happened so quickly he was surprised there wasn’t a woosh of displaced air. Catching himself on unsteady feet he leaned against the table for support. Huh, I’m still wearing my clothes...what happened to them while I was a Mote? Pel decided to ask Tina when he met up with her. Double checking that his clothes were still in place, he stepped through the flower curtain and onto a small mushroom doorstep.

Oh, I can see the bottom from here! In the distance, perhaps eight or nine hundred feet down was the bottom of The Mother Tree. A dense tangle of wooden roots and earthen tunnels filled the interior of the giant tree. Large, glowing mushrooms stood out from the backs of roots like fire watch towers in even intervals, and creeping, luminescent mosses of various colors grew sporadically throughout the twisting, uneven field. Those mushrooms are too evenly spaced to be by accident.

Looking upward, the familiar sight of many Motes drifting through the air illuminated the interior of The Mother Tree. The distant figure of several Fairies going about their business could be seen flitting playfully between the Motes. Summoning his wings, Pel launched himself into the air. Pushing himself to his maximum speed felt far faster than 6.9 meters per second, the buildings and scenery seemed to zip right past as he ascended. Either a meter means something else in this world, or my sense of scale is all wrong…

After flying for several minutes Pel spotted Berry’s Bottle protruding from the wall. Beside the building was a large, dark hole in the wall that he hadn’t noticed last night. Looking further he could see many more similar holes leading out of the interior space of the tree. Branches maybe? Hollow branches? Emerging from the hole closest to the bottle shaped building was a flying Berry, with two wooden barrels tucked under his arms.

Spotting Pel nearby Berry smiled widely, slowing down as Pel approached from below.

“Apple! Quite the show last night! Haha! Did you like the Birthday Brandy?” Berry asked.

“What the fuck was in that stuff?” Pel asked sharply. “Also, what show? What happened last night?”

“Ha! You were dancing on the ceiling!” Berry replied through laughter. “You even managed to attract those lazy Fairies up from the hookah lounge to take a look!”

“Wait, so...those animals made from smoke were real?”

“Yep! Tina conjured some wind sprites from the smoky air downstairs to keep you company!” Berry said. “I’ve never seen some of those dance moves! The thing you did with your butt was funny!”

WHAT THING!? Pel rubbed his face. It’s probably best I never know. I don’t know if I could look anyone in the eye ever again.

“Please stop. Don’t tell me!” Pel pleaded, his face going red. Gotta change the subject. “What’s with those barrels? And where does that hole over there go?” Pel asked, gesturing toward the wall.

“These? Filled with the dew drops that collect on the leaves of The Mother Tree.” Berry hefted the barrels to get a better grip. “I have to restock every morning with how much Dewdrop Brandy everyone goes through! Those holes lead to the branches growing from The Mother Tree, but don’t go out there! Your level isn’t high enough, if anything happened you would definitely die or get eaten by something!” he warned.

“Right, don’t go outside.” Pel nodded his thanks. “Well, I have to go meet with Tina. I’ll see you tonight maybe!”

“Haha, alright! See you later Apple!” Berry turned and flew into his bottle. It’s Pel damnit! Pel thought in a huff before resuming his upward journey.

Pel flew past Clover’s Coverings, and continued straight up for several more minutes before arriving at the amphitheater that held The Naming Pool. Tina was seated beside the pool, hand extended to brush across the surface of the gently glowing liquid. The lights and ripples were much gentler than what happened last night. Pel landed quietly, walking down the rings of seats toward Tina. He took a seat on the first ring and waited several minutes for Tina to finish what she was doing.

When Tina pulled her hand from the surface of the pool, it was dry again. Huh, I wonder how that works? Pel thought as Tina walked toward him with a grin.

“Apple! So nice to see you right-side up today!” she commented, sitting down beside him. “That dance you did with your butt was so silly, you have to teach me!”

“I don’t know of any dancing that may, or may not have occurred last night,” Pel denied. “I don’t really remember what happened after that first cup ‘Birthday Bad-Decisions’, and I don’t want anyone to tell me! Ignorance is bliss!”

Tina shook with laughter. “It was certainly special! But I suppose I can leave it at that.”

“Thank you,” Pel said, relief evident in his voice. “Have you been waiting long? I saw your note thing when I woke up, why could I understand what those wavy lines meant? Was it some sort of magic?”

“Oh, I’ve only been here for a few minutes. Everyone gets up at the same time after all!” Tina explained. “Why wouldn’t you be able to read the note? We’re talking Fairies after all!” Tina said.

“Well yea, of course we’re talking Fairies. I’m just surprised everyone is speaking English, which is why I wanted to know how I could understand those strange lines on the note. It looked like sound waves,” Pel replied.

“English? What’s that? We’re speaking Fairies!” Tina replied in confusion.

“Yes, I understand Fairies can speak, we’re speaking right now,” Pel said, also confused. “But we’re speaking English, do you call it something else here?”

“What are you- Oh, haha! I get it now!” Tina replied, laughing like she figured out some joke. “The language we are speaking right now is Fairies!”

“Fairies? Is that both a language and a race?” Pel said, still confused.

“No, not Fairies, Fairese!” Tina replied. “Fairies speak Fairese!”

“Fair-ease?” Pel asked, changing his emphasis.

“Yea, Fairese!” Tina confirmed. “I’ve never heard of english though, say something in english!”

“Um...football,” said Pel. The word felt strange in his mouth, the sound was...chunky, and crude. Pel puffed his cheeks out and frowned. “That was strange.”

“What did you say?” Tina asked eagerly.

“I said uh, foot ball. You couldn’t understand that?” Pel replied, considering his words carefully. They felt natural, like breathing and felt as different as sighing was to screaming. “I understand them both the same, but they feel different.”

“Try focusing on english, I want to try something,” Tina asked. Looking at the ground, Pel began to think.

Um, English. Pie. Football. Apple. My name is not apple. Fairies are strange. As Pel focused on thinking things in English, he became aware of a nearby sound. Tilting his head up he glanced at Tina. Her mouth was moving and strange sounds were coming out. Metal windchimes and small bells rang out gently as the sound of leaves and reeds whispered in the wind. What the hell is this? Pel thought, slipping back into what he now understood was Fairese.

“- and then you shook your butt-”

“STOP!” Pel shouted, covering his pointed ears. “I don’t want to knooow!” he whined.

“So, did it work?” Tina asked. “Can you tell the difference now?”

“Yes!” Pel replied unhappily. “I’m just glad I was thinking in English for most of what you had to say! We sound like wind! And bells! And things that move in the wind!”

“Yep! Pretty much only the Elves can learn to speak Fairese, I’m told it’s hard to learn,” Tina said.

“Elves!” Pel exclaimed. “I’ve always wanted to meet an Elf!”

“No!” Tina said sternly. “Don’t go near the Elves! They’ll eat you!”

“W-what? Eat me?” Pel asked in shock. “Do Elves eat meat in Enna?”

“They don’t eat meat,” Tina replied. “But, Fairies aren’t made of meat, we’re made of Mana. Do you understand?”

Pel thought about that for a minute, realization coming over him slowly. We’re like...meat substitute! Vegan meat! “That’s awful! We’re people!”

“Not to most of the big races we aren’t” Tina said sadly. “It’s dangerous out there for Fairies. You won’t even be allowed out on the branches until Level 5!”

“How long will that take?” Pel asked.

“Hmm, I’d say a week or so?” Tina ventured. “It depends on how much Fairy stuff you do every day!”

“Fairy stuff?” Pel questioned. “Like what?”

“Like partying!” Tina said excitedly. “Or helping down below with watching for pest intrusions, or helping one of the older Fairies with their hobbies! Clover makes clothes, Berry makes drinks, Hugo makes food, I don’t think you’ve met him yet, and really there are a lot of people who make all sorts of stuff! Practicing Magic is also considered Fairy stuff! It’s really up to you!”

“How is practicing magic Fairy stuff?” asked Pel.

“Well, we’re made of Mana, Magic takes Mana, and using Mana over and over and over and over and over again makes Fairies level up!” Tina said. “Really, any of the Pure Magic races can level up just by using their Magic a lot.”

“What other Pure Magic races are out there?”

“Well, Dryads for one! They’re pretty nice, they don’t eat us. Some people think they’re tree elementals or something, but they’re wrong,” Tina explained. “Leprechauns too! They’re pretty mean, you shouldn’t go near them. Um, Moon Rabbits! They’re really nice! Super soft! They only come out during full moons. Just don’t pet them if they’re eating, then they get mean. The Djinn are Pure Magic also, but I’m not sure if they’re around anymore.” Tina listed off several other things that Pel had never heard of before.

“Ok, I get it. There are a bunch of Pure Magic races out there,” Pel interrupted. “Back to experience though. I got to Level 2 last night, but I don’t know how much experience I have. How do I know when my next Level is?”

“Nobody knows!” Tina said, spreading her hands wide. “It just happens. You do enough stuff and eventually you level up! Did you do anything with your Attribute Points yet?”

“Yea, I put the first two into Vitality like you said yesterday,” Pel said. “I haven’t done anything with the points from Level 2 yet, I wanted to ask you what I should do before I did anything with them.”

“Good. Vitality is good,” Tina nodded. “I would recommend alternating between Vitality and Clarity for your first six Levels or so. Vitality will make it harder for you to die and let you fly longer! Clarity will be super important after Level 5 when you start to unlock access to Racial Skills.”

“Racial Skills?”

“Yep! Pure Magic races like Fairies get access to Racial Skills. Think of them like Spells that only Fairies can have,” Tina explained. “Each type of Fairy, Celestial or Wind for example, will both get the choice of a new skill every five Levels, but the options they have to choose from will differ in some ways. Wind Fairies like myself get wind type Magic Skills to choose from, while you as a Celestial Fairy will have light or healing type skills to choose from.” Tina stood up and began pacing.

“Non-Magical races, like Elves, and Dwarves might occasionally get access to some kind of Racial Passive, but nowhere near as frequently or as strong as us Pure Magic races get. They usually have to learn their Magic the hard way,” Tina’s nose wrinkled in disgust, “by studying.”

Pel’s nose wrinkled at that too. I feel like I had more than enough school before I died. He wasn’t interested in studying at all and was suddenly rather happy that he was reborn as a Fairy.

“So, are Racial Skills stronger than regular Skills?” Pel asked. “Also, what’s the difference between Skills and Spells or Magic?”

“All Spells are Skills, but not all Skills are Spells,” Tina said. “And no, Racial Skills aren’t necessarily stronger than regular ones. In fact, Fairy Skills are considered rather weak in the beginning, as are Fairies themselves. You should know, your Health is probably still less than 25 even with your second Level and 2 points in Vitality. Our magic is tailored to Fairies, and we’re super duper weak compared to the big races. It isn’t until we level up a whole bunch that we can compare to them at all.”

Pel was suddenly less happy about being reborn as a Fairy.

“Anyway, let’s talk about why I called you up here,” Tina said. “In addition to Clarity and Vitality, Dexterity is your next most important Attribute. That’s the one that lets you run away the best! Also Charisma is good since it makes things less likely to eat you, and it also makes parties more fun! I won’t tell you how to assign all your points, but definitely focus on those four the most.”

Pel nodded. It made sense that Fairies would need to put points into the Attributes that kept them alive. Being so small and weak was certainly a disad-

“Wait, how big are we? It doesn’t feel any different than when I was Human so it’s hard to tell when everything is Fairy sized,” Pel asked.

“We’re about 14 centimeters tall!” Tina said, standing up straight.

What the fuck! But...I don’t feel that small! Pel looked down at his hands. His tiny hands. He looked around trying to judge this new frame of reference but was having trouble adjusting his perception of distance.

“Tina, how far is it from the house I was in this morning to here?” Pel questioned.

“Umm, almost 3 kilometers, why?” Tina responded.

“Because it felt like way more than that,” Pel said. “My mind is gauging distances as if I was still as big as a Human. No wonder I thought I was flying so fast. I’m used to estimating distances based on having a much larger body, but now I’m like...less than 3% the size of a Human.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it!” Tina pat Pel on the arm. “Back on topic, normally I assign every new Fairy to a mentor. Someone who has the same element, but since you’re the only Celestial Fairy we have, I don’t have anyone to pair you up with.” Tina tapped her cheek while giving Pel a considering gaze.

“For normal daily activities it won’t be an issue since we all divide the chores up anyway, but you won’t have anyone to ask about your Magic…” Tina trailed off. “I guess I could match you up with one of the Fire Fairy mentors since Celestial has some heat based skills, and maybe one of the Water mentors since they have some weak healing abilities…”

Pel waited in silence as Tina deliberated. I guess being the only one of something is going to be a bit lonely.

“Alright, that’s what I’m going to do!” Tina decided. “I’ll just have you switch mentors every couple of days, that way you can ask a bunch of different people for help. Surely between everyone we can help you!”

“Sounds good to me,” Pel confirmed.

“Excellent! Let’s go meet the other young Fairies so I can introduce you. I’ll have you start off by helping them keep watch over the roots today!” Tina said, summoning her wings.

Pel ran up the rings of the amphitheater and launched himself off without summoning his wings. Plummeting downward caused his hair to whip wildly. He spread his arms and legs out, clumsily stabilizing himself in the air as he fell face down past layer after layer of buildings.

“What are you doing?” Tina asked as she caught up, flying beside him.

“I’m falling!” replied Pel.

“Yea, I can see that! But why?”

“Because it’s faster than I can fly, and also…” Pel looked over at TIna, “I’ve always wanted to do this!”

“You’ve always wanted to fall?” Tina looked at him questioningly. “You didn’t like falling earlier.”

“Yes! Jumping off something really high up on purpose was something people did back where I came from for fun!” Pel looked down again, the bottom still wasn’t more than a distant speck and the end of a long wooden tube. “Falling by getting pushed off is scary though!”

“But what about the ground?” Tina asked him.

“I’ll summon my wings and slow down before I hit it!” he said.

Tina looked at Pel for a few moments longer before unsummoning her wings as well. They both continued to fall through the air, wingless and free, their laughter swallowed up by the wind until the ground grew large enough to pose a threat.

Slowed by their wings, Tina angled their path toward the largest mushroom growing out of the roots. They all looked like ghostly, green glowing brown cap boletus mushrooms. But way, way bigger.

“You were right, Apple! That was fun!” Tina laughed.

“Until I can fly faster than I fall, I’ll probably go down that way every time,” Pel said.

“Just be careful not to land on someone!” Tina replied before pointing ahead. “The big mushroom there is where you should show up every morning. The leader of the ground defence Fairies will tell you where to go from there.”

“What am I expected to do at Level 2?” Pel asked. “I don’t have any Skills or anything for fighting.”

“Don’t worry, you won’t be asked to fight until later. Maybe not at all,” Tina said. “As a Celestial Fairy you’ll probably stay in the towers and heal the Fairies who come back any time invaders show up. You’re too valuable to send into the tunnels.”

That sounds boring. Pel looked sideways at Tina as they closed the final distance to the mushroom.

“If I can learn some kind of light beam attack or something, could I go fight sometimes?” Pel asked.

“Mmm…” Tina mused with a thoughtful expression. “Maybe when you get to a higher level. You probably won’t even have an attack option at Level 5 or 10. It’s really important that you pick a Healing skill, not only for others but also for yourself. Being able to Heal with Magic will keep you alive someday.”

As they arrived at the mushroom Pel realized that what he thought were natural spots on the mushroom cap were actually windows. Tina shrank into her Mote form and flew through one of them. Following behind her, Pel was still disoriented as everything became enormous around him. The previously mid-sized window was now a giant, cavernous opening. I wonder why the houses have doors, but not these mushrooms?

Once through the window Pel returned to his normal form. The interior was one large room with a circular, wooden table in the center. Thin, branching veins of mycelium were spread out over the top of the table, with tiny little mushrooms growing from it in an even, symmetrical pattern. A knee high ring of wood surrounded the entire room beneath the windows, and a small trap door was set into the floor on Pel’s side of the table.

“Gabby!” Tina called out, hugging one of the three Fairies present. Another muscle Fairy. Pel noted. The man was even more muscular looking than Berry, with light brown hair. He was wearing what looked like wooden, lacquered armor similar in style to...Huh, can’t remember what that place was called. Some empire back on Earth. The small wooden plates were tied and overlapped to create the armor. They were scale shaped, and the way they were connected together reminded Pel of a pinecone.

“I brought our newest member! This is Apple!” Tina continued. “I’m sure you’ve heard, but they’re a Celestial Fairy! Don’t stick them in the tunnels!”

“I wouldn’t dream of it!” Gabby replied. “We’re going to make sure they level up nice and safe. Having a real healer is a blessing and a half! Can’t go losing them to some magic termites!”

“Alright, Apple,” Tina said, turning toward him. “Listen to Gabby, make some friends, protect The Mother Tree, and stay safe! I’ll see you after the shift change to bring you to a mentor!”

Before Pel could get a word out Tina transformed back into a mote and flew out the window, leaving him alone with the intimidating, armored Fairies.