"What's wrong with him?" Andrei said, meeting up with Kai and Jason. They were sitting beside Nico who was lying on the grass unconscious.

"He's fine." Kai clapped Nico's face back and forth. "Just a good night's rest and he'll be back in no time."

"He looks dead."

"Nah, he really is fine." Kai pushed himself off the grass then stood beside the fairy queen. "Atleast, that's what she said."

"I thought he was dying." Kristine said, poking at Nico's face now blush red from all of Kai's slapping. "He was gurgling to his vomit a while ago."

"Apparently Mathis likes to joke around." Kai gestured to the fairy beside him, her face at the edge of laughter. "It turned out it was just a natural body reaction to magic. She lied to Nico that he was gonna die or something."

"That's some very poor taste in humor." Jason said.

"Apparently humor's not the end of it." Kristine said as they all turned to Kai and Mathis who were standing next to each other.

"What?"

. . .

Nico opened his eyes to a shimmering green mote fluttering around. He was back in his room, the red orb inside the fireplace the only source of warmth with the cold rain pouring outside seemingly kept out by an invisible magic wall.

Unlike the still magic orbs on the ceiling and in the fireplace, the green one floating around him was much smaller and more -alive, if anything else. It fluttered left and right like a curious hummingbird.

"What is that?"

"That's your affinity mote." Saira said, surprising Nico into a jerk. She sat across from him on a wooden chair, taking a sip from a mug on a table set at the center of the room. "Congrats, you got a green one."

"I don't remember having this table in my room."

"Because this isn't yours, stupid." Saira stood from her chair then made her way to Nico, who was acting up trying to sit upright on the bed.

"Here." Saira gave him a warm mug, the smell like honey mixed with milk.

"Thanks." Nico said, staring at the lip of the mug.

"The fairy queen had servants cook you a meal since you weren't at lunch nor at dinner." She gestured at the table brimming with food.

"That's nice, but why'd you take a sip?"

"At what?"

"My milk."

"It's a tasty milk."

Nico then glanced to the table and found two other mugs empty.

"Anyways, how are you feeling?" Saira crouched and put a hand over Nico's forehead.

"I thought I'd die back there." Nico said, now recollecting his memories. "I remember the fairy saying I'd be done for."

"Mathis was just joking."

"Who?"

"The fairy queen." Saira got up and paced herself slowly back and forth. "She said it was a fairly uncommon thing, but not so serious as to cause death and all that. Two others had it too after you blacked out."

"Then she's really got some poor taste in jokes." Nico said as he glanced at the flying mote fluttering around him.

"How does this work?" He pointed at the green mote.

"Touch it."

Nico hesitated but went along, touching the green mote with his finger.

Name: Nicholas Atkins

Race: Human

Rank: Normal

Affinity: Green (Nature)

Strength: F-

Mind: F

Spirit: F

Skills: None

Shimmering green texts appeared in front of the now behaved green mote, like pixie dust arranged into a wall of text.

"Game stats?" Nico poked at the projection with his finger.

"Yeah, it's really weird." Saira plopped onto the bed beside Nico, holding out her hand, and out from it manifested a black mote.

She set it afloat on her palm then tapped it, with a similar screen to Nico's projected out however black in color.

"Here, look at mine." She showed the pixie screen to Nico.

Name: Saira Bautista

Race: Human

Rank: Normal

Affinity: Black (Dark)

Strength: F

Mind: F

Spirit: F

Skills: Marsh (F-)

"Hold on." Nico's eyes went wide.

"What?"

"Why's your strength higher than mine?"

"It's called muscles and fat, Nico." Saira grabbed his hand and waved it up and down. "You aren't exactly the strong, muscular, hot type all the ladies go for."

"And you are?" Nico eyed Saira up and down, her body and tied up brown hair perfectly in frame with the oversized tank tops and shorts she was wearing.

"I stand corrected."

Nico glanced back again to Saira's shimmering wall of text. Nico blinked, then blinked again.

"What?" She asked as she followed Nico's gaze back to her screen. "Right. You were out for a day, so of course you didn't get one."

She pushed herself off the bed and stood up, once again calling for the flying black mote floating around her afloat on her palm.

"Being of darkness, I call for you."

Black miasma swirled forth- emanating from the black mote on Saira's hand, whirling around her until they manifested into a black slime under her feet complete with hollow eyes and a mouth.

"Marsh, meet Nico." She gestured to Nico, picking up the big blob of slime. "Nico, Marsh."

"He doesn't bite does he?" Nico said, staring in awe. He eyed the gross yet strangely cute slime creature cradled in Saira's arms.

"Not if you don't bite him first."

Nico stood up and slowly moved his hand towards Marsh.

. . .

"Sit." Nico gestured to Marsh who was eyeing the food on his hand. Marsh tried to do what seemed to be a sitting position for slimes, prompting Nico to hand a piece of meat over to him. "Good boy."

"You're strangely attached." Saira said as she took a spoonful of food, taking a quick glance at the pouring rain outside with the tips and taps of droplets making a chime.

"What can I say, I'm an animal kind of guy."

"You weren't so convincing just a minute ago."

They were sharing a large table brimming with food and drinks under the light of a magic orb, though still too much for even both of them to finish.

"Marsh won't get obese won't he?" Nico said as he passed another slab of meat over to the slime.

"Probably."

"Hey listen."Nico said with a hint of worry drawn on his face. "Were you really okay this morning?"

"You're worrying about me?"

"I mean, I don't feel sick anymore." Nico patted all over his tank tops and shorts. "What about you?"

Siara paused for a bit, leaving the spoon on her hand hanging.

"I wasn't, to be honest. Having my personality and feelings laid bare like that, it was very, very, very scary." She then glanced to Marsh, patting him.

"But now, I don't know." She turned to Nico. "What did you think when you saw me like that?"

"I thought that you must've been evil or something." Nico said flatly, twirling his spoon with his fingers. "Someone manipulative, all those things."

"Harsh."

"I'm just being honest." He said, head hung towards the ceiling. "And I'm not one to judge you. I'm a self-centered douche that would grab any opportunity he can get to get away from all of his responsibilities."

He then gave Saira a determined look. "I'm going to live my life the way I want now, without conforming to anyone or anything- I want to be more selfish. I want to change myself whether that's for the better or for worse. Maybe you need a change too, whatever it is that's eating at you."