“Sometimes it only takes a push to tumble down a mountain.”

Elaine actually believed in fairies once. Every kid probably did for some time. Not only did she believe in the stories of Santa Claus, King Arthur, and Peter Pan, she also believed that the Boogeyman would get her if she was a bad kid and other things like goblins and yokai and whatnot. But like any other kid in the world, education and real life ripped it all her fantasies apart. Because she grew up as a person of science, Elaine believed in doubt. The more she learned, the more she began to test belief. And because she had never seen a single fairy, dragon or gnome besides the garden variety even once in her life, she eventually stopped believing altogether – just like most other kids.

That didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy fantasy, not at all. In fact it was her favorite genre. Her favorite RPG was Dragon Age and her favorite tabletop game was Dungeons and Dragons. She also loved Harry Potter until the author started acting like a fanfiction writer. Though she admitted life can never contain the same magic as fantasy, it did not stop her from dreaming.

And apparently, dreams do come true.

“You can talk? English?”

The girl, ‘Alice’, simply smiled.

Was it possible Elaine simply heard things? Of course. She knew there was a chance that English might not exist in that world at all, but the girl’s words left her completely stupefied. The girl definitely spoke in her language, and not in the alien tongue she used at first.

Alice extended her hand once again. Elaine realized that she was trying to help her up. Without much thought she took the girl’s hand and winced. Her hand was extremely cold; much colder than ice. She felt her hand freeze up instantly. Alice grabbed her hand and pulled her up without effort.

“Thanks,” Elaine mumbled as she rubbed her hand.

“You’re welcome.”

Again! It wasn’t a hallucination! But did it really count as ‘speaking’ if her voice was directly entering her brain? Whatever! It was her first ‘real’ conversation with anyone in that world. And who better to hold it with than an actual, real life fairy? Wait, but was she really a fairy?

Elaine recalled the forest and all the unnatural animals she saw. While some of them looked close to the animals she was familiar with, they always had something different about them to set them apart. Even the one she met – the one made of snakes; each individual serpent differed in that some of them had small appendages, had horns, fins, frills and stuff. The same should apply to even the beings of magic, surely, including fairies.

“Umm... are you a... fairy?”

Maybe the fae of that world weren’t called fairies to begin with, but whatever.

Alice giggled, amused by the question. Even the way she did so was incredibly charming. If anime was real, Alice definitely fit the bill for one of her species.

“Not exactly.”

Her answer confused Elaine somewhat.

“’Not exactly’? What do you mean?”

The smile on Alice’s face was gentle, like a mother watching over her child.

“I am both – and neither. You?”

Alice had a presence that, despite being a full head shorter than Elaine, made her seem much bigger, larger than life. It was a mysterious feeling. Elaine had met famous people before, being able to attend autograph sessions and movie premiers, but none of them had the same ‘scale’ as the little girl in front of her.

“Oh! Sorry, my name is Elaine – Kirika Dawn. That’s my real, uhm, full name. I’m a human. I guess?”

The last part was just her stumbling with her thoughts. Of course she was human! At least she should be. Elaine could list a few isekai fantasy stories where the protagonists became something else, so that’s some precedent.

She found it hard to think straight in front of Alice. There was a quality to her that made people forget themselves. She felt lost in Alice’s shining jade green eyes, and formulating answers felt like a subconscious effort instead.

“Interesting.”

One advantage to being hyper-focused on someone was that it was easy to see small changes in their expression. Alice’s face barely budged the entire time; a feat made easy by the fact that she did not have to open her mouth to speak. But her eyes – they widened ever so slightly after hearing Elaine’s full name. Why?

And going back, what did she mean about being ‘both but neither’? Was she a half-breed or something? She had heard of those before, so it wasn’t particularly a surprise.

A short while passed in silence. Alice seemed content simply staring at Elaine’s bewildered face. Meanwhile Elaine struggled to put her thoughts together to ask her more.

“You seem to have a lot of questions. Or just one? Speak.”

“Oh! Uhh...”

She thought hard. Or maybe she didn’t? She started to think that thinking itself was a bothersome endeavour.

“Where am I?”

All she could manage was the simplest question she could think of. It was important, though. If she could get a grasp of where the mountain was located, she would be able to narrow down what she needed to do next.

“You – are in a cave.”

“...”

Okay, that slightly annoyed Elaine. Just slightly.

“No I mean, where are we?”

“Under a mountain.”

“...”

Breathe deep.

“Okay, where is this mountain?”

“In the middle of a forest.”

“... Are you messing with me?”

“You need to be more direct, child.”

As they stared into each others’ eyes, Elaine noticed that their surroundings had become brighter. The firefly-like lights that lit up the entire cave had gathered around them. The sounds of laughing, teasing children softly echoed between her ears. Then, the lights started to dance around and about, seemingly at random, but always in a circle.

Alice continued to stare. Elaine felt lost in her eyes. They were like pits, deep, dark – dead. Yet like a moth to a flame she couldn’t pull her eye away. Her form grew as she stared, her one remaining eye straining to absorb the same information over and over again.

“Do you mean to ask ‘where were you thrown into’?”

“Do you mean to ask ‘where do you belong’?”

“Or do you mean to ask ‘where is your kind’?”

Each of her words had an almost physical pressure to them that seeped into Elaine’s head.

Alice’s hands reached out and caressed her face. Instead of a freezing sensation, a wave of exhausting comfort washed over her body. At that point all Elaine could see were Alice’s eyes; captivating, dangerous. It was like staring at a well of moss. But during those moments Elaine felt free from her troubles and doubts. She felt her mind clear, her heart calm. Her body felt extremely light, like a newly-oiled machine. It was as if she was replaced by a brand new version of herself.

It gave her the chance to collect her thoughts without the filter of emotions and inhibitions.

Alice’s hands left her face. Blood and dirt smeared her perfect skin due to touching Elaine’s wound. It was a travesty to her speckles appearance. But still she smiled, uncaring of the offense done to her body.

“Well?” she asked. The glowing lights spun around them, excited, waiting. They cared not for the answer as much as they did the reason.

They were endless. They were ancient. They were forever. A century to them wasn’t even a blink of an eye. So they could wait. At that moment a passing realization told Elaine that, ah, they were indeed fairies.

“... No, really, where am I?”

...

Alice’s eyes widened. The lights stopped moving. As if the air in the chamber wasn’t cold enough already, it froze up. Why? What was the matter?

Did she say something wrong? It was the same question she started with, sure, but it was the question that she wanted an answer to.

That was Elaine. She didn’t care where she was thrown into – she would find her own way.

It didn’t matter where she belonged – she would look for one.

It didn’t matter where her kind was – she knew they existed.

All she needed was a choice.

Alice suddenly bent down. Her shoulders quivered violently. Then, leaned back and laughed. She laughed and laughed and held her stomach and laughed. All the things around them laughed as well. She laughed with her own mouth and lungs, letting her melodious, angelic voice echo in the cave. It was completely different from the voice that she heard in her head. After a moment Elaine slowly started to regain her usual self.

Did she say something funny? She didn’t think so. Maybe the fae had their own humor to consider. But Elaine just wanted an answer. Being laughed at wasn’t such a big deal.

Finally, after almost fifteen entire minutes, Alice calmed down. She had to wipe tears from her eyes before facing her again. When she did, Elaine saw an entirely different person. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes looked alive. Her face finally looked human.

She smiled again; a new, toothy smile.

“You’re in a cave. I told you.”

.

Alice invited Elaine to stay in the chamber. She didn’t take no for an answer, though it wasn’t like Elaine refused in the first place. She wanted to talk with Alice anyway. Who knew she would be able to talk to an actual fairy, even if she was both and neither? If she was able to get back to her world, would people believe her? Of course not. But she was real. Her freezing touch was real. Her wings were real.

“Does walking around half naked suit your tastes or something?”

“Of course not!”

Her tactlessness was very real.

Elaine’s feet were submerged on one of the hundreds of ponds in the chamber. Alice had told her that they were simply pools of water that had formed over countless years of collecting ground and rainwater. Elaine thought there was a specific term for it but, considering she didn’t take her geology class seriously, she couldn’t remember. Anyway, Alice assured her that they weren’t sacred or anything like that. They simply glowed because they had absorbed too much of their magic. But because they were home to the Sprites around them, she asked Elaine to settle with only having her feet down.

That was more than enough. Whatever magic it sponged up, it made her entire body feel absolutely wonderful from just her feet being in it.

She wondered what it would feel like if she took a bath in it.

They talked all the while. The topics varied but there was one thing that tied all of them together; they were all about Elaine’s world.

Alice knew she came from another world. Somehow. When Elaine asked, she simply said:

“You do not bear the same taint as this dying world.”

She used words that struck Elaine as peculiar and... ominous. Taint? Dying? What did she mean by that? But despite being all too willing to disclose how, she never elaborated what she meant. So they continued talking about other things.

“This ‘school’ sounds boring. Is it not better to simply go out and learn from the world itself?”

Elaine could only laugh awkwardly.

They talked about her world’s schools, airplanes, cars, anything she had an interest in, even in passing. Alice simply listened, sometimes asking questions and making off-hand remarks. It was like teaching a child about the world at large, yet completely different.

Alice was particularly interested in video games. Why wouldn’t she? Due to the difficulty of explaining technology, Elaine elected to explain it as ‘playing in a different world as seen on a steel plate’. In games, people of her world were able to play as soldiers, monsters, magicians and allowed people to kill enemies without actually doing so, fight for a nation without arming their person, and even punch trees barehanded. The more she told her about games the more Alice’s eyes lit up until eventually she had exhausted all her knowledge about it.

Then came the topic of gambling, her one particularly stubborn passion. Though Alice still listened attentively, compared to their previous topics she didn’t seem as interested in it as she was in her.

“The love you have for gambling is very peculiar.”

“Is it? A lot of people like gambling in my world.”

“People like you? I very much doubt so.”

“Why?”

Alice spread her arms and leapt on the rim of the pond. Step by step she traversed the edge like a child balancing on a handrail. Then she jumped off and landed on the pond, right in front of Elaine, stopping just before her feet hit the water.

Then she leaned close to Elaine’s face and smiled childishly.

“I don’t know.”

“You’re definitely messing with me!”

Alice laughed and jumped and spun around the pond, never falling into it. The chains on her limbs and neck made a chiming sound in rhythm with her movements, providing music to her dance. She looked exactly like a child, playful, curious, and mischievous. Watching her made Elaine curious about something; it was a question she had for quite some time, actually. She was, after all, a fairy. She had the wings and the magic and all the fantasy that came with it. So she couldn’t help but ask.

“Alice? Can you... uhh... fly?”

She stopped dancing and stared at Elaine questioningly. Then she placed her finger on her mouth and stared at the ceiling.

It was a childish expression, as expected from her.

“I can’t. Not now.”

“So you can?”

“No.”

“... Huh?”

A melancholic look replaced her bright and merry face. She turned around and faced Elaine, lifting her arms to present them to her. Around them were the golden chains that wrapped around her wrist all the way to her elbows. Elaine looked down and saw the same chains on her ankles, wrapped in the same manner as her arms towards her knees. Her neck was similarly bound.

“Not anymore.”

Her voice wasn’t sad. It was more like she was resigned to it. Her wings flapped, lifting her off the ground slightly. As it did, the chains made a ringing sound, and she quickly found herself back on her feet. The sight was somehow depressing. Though Elaine knew that those thin, narrow wings wouldn’t be able to let her defy gravity physically, she had no doubt that it could. This was a magical world, after all. But regardless, the heavy atmosphere was there to stay. It looked like Elaine had touched upon quite the sensitive topic.

Alice took a seat beside Elaine. She was still cold. Just being within a few feet from her caused Elaine’s skin to prickle and shiver. But she felt she had an obligation to stay where she was.

What was she going to say? Was she going to tell her story?

“Do you eat mushrooms? That’s all we can eat here unless you’re fine with insects.”

“... As long as they aren’t poisonous, sure.”

.

“How are you so good at this?!”

“Hundreds of years of practice, that’s how.”

They were playing Ringer. How bizarre is it that she knew the game? Well not exactly; there were some minute differences but it’s still played as Ringer, essentially. The marbles weren’t really marbles either; they were using some sort of glowing spherical crystals with different colors. At least they hit like marbles.

It was a game Elaine was sort of familiar with from way back in her childhood. Among the kids in her neighborhood she was average at it, almost always breaking even when they played for keeps.

But the thing was, the score between them was four to one in favour of Alice. Centuries of practice would do that, sure, but then it begged the question of how Elaine could win even once in the first place. Alice was using a deep red marble that somehow hit everything like a bull. It made Elaine’s life difficult; even on the rare cases where her marble didn’t leave the ring, Elaine couldn’t knock it out no matter what she did.

Was that cheating? Probably. Eh...

She didn’t mind. Considering the marbles all belonged to her and the things flying around them in the first place, and despite Elaine’s naturally competitive attitude, it didn’t matter. At least they played for fair. It was a good thing that they did, too, because otherwise Elaine would have been more than bankrupt already.

She reached to her side and grabbed a reddish-pink mushroom from a pile. The bright colors made her sketchy about it, but Alice insisted they were safe for human consumption. Maybe it was safe for a human-and-fairy-but-neither like her, but not for a bonafide-human-probably like Elaine. Still, it was delicious – and she wasn’t dead or sick yet, one hour after eating them. She’d already eaten flammable fruits anyway.

“I win again!”

“Urk...”

They ended the game at Alice’s fifth win. She leapt and cheered among her peers and generally acted like her physical age suggested. It was hard to believe that she was thousands of years old as she had mentioned. Maybe mental age really does rely on one’s stage in life, and not just in raw years. There were more than a couple of times she’d shown her gravitas of course but those were just very few moments compared to hours of her acting like a child.

She lost five to one on a children’s game against what was essentially just a child. It wasn’t humiliating, just discouraging. But whatever. It was worth doing something normal for a change. But having had to crouch on what was essentially dirt and sand made her quite dirty again though. She swore to herself to go out first thing in the morning to take a bath at the lake.

She looked at Alice again. She was giving high fives to the sprites flying around her. Elaine smiled to herself. She was lucky.

She wished she had finally found a home in that world.

... Some meat for dinner would be nice though.

They spent hours playing, time that had passed before Elaine could realize it. Time really did fly when one was having fun. The worst one was a game of tag between her and everyone else in the room, including the sprites. Though they were not allowed to fly higher than Elaine was tall, she still couldn’t catch them with their ability to move in three dimensions. So she ran Alice down until she couldn’t move her legs anymore.

Tag, hide and seek, staring contests – a horrible idea to play against someone who’s basically a source of light on her own – Elaine was dragged around to play all sorts of games with Alice and her friends. Seriously, she would have preferred to sleep, but it was nice to move around without having to run from anything with sharp teeth.

Oh, and she lost in every single game they played.

Seeing the pitifully exhausted human, Alice managed to calm down enough to stop herself from starting another game. She invited Elaine to a sequestered pond near the entrance of the chamber. Unlike every other body of water in the grotto, that one didn’t glow a magical light or anything. In fact it was the only place in the chamber where the light from the sprites didn’t reach. There, the only source of light came from her softly-glowing body.

There Elaine was allowed to take a bath. The feeling of water once again embracing her tired body was heavenly. It was also much better than the water at the lake; despite the lack of a magical glow to the pond, it was still brimming with Alice’s energy. Though Elaine couldn’t directly sense it, it still created an experience worthy of wondrous stories.

“It doesn’t light up because I don’t let it absorb too much – unlike the little ones outside that tend to get carried away.”

“I see.”

No, she didn’t.

“Why don’t you come down here with me?”

She realized immediately afterwards that she had just invited someone to take a bath with her.

“I’m fine, I’ll stay here.”

According to Alice, it was her private location that not even the sprites, despite how whimsical they are, were allowed to enter. It was plainly obvious; inside Elaine could make out what looked like a chair made of rocks and even a table. There was even a basket made of hide that was filled to overflowing with mushrooms.

... Did her diet only consist of mushrooms?

She was seated on her chair, staring at Elaine while nibbling on her food. Elaine, on the other hand, was submerged to her neck in the cold water. She had removed her underwear and set them up on the rocks that lined the pond.

They spent the time in silence. It was awkward, but after almost eight hours of talking and playing in addition to the two hours she spent exploring the mountain, Elaine had exhausted herself thoroughly. If her guess was correct, then it should already be at least close to nightfall.

That meant that world had roughly forty-hour day cycles.

“Yikes.”

“What is it?”

“Nothing.”

Those were the first words spoken after half an hour of silence. Forty-hour day cycles meant each year was equivalent to, after a short session of mental gymnastics, six hundred days on Earth – and that was if the years there had the same number of days as hers. Was it because the planet was larger, or did it spin slower? She was going to have to face the consequences later on, but the immediate issue was her sleeping cycle. How that would work out for her, she wasn’t sure, but she knew it was going to be a very real problem later on.

She sighed and leaned back, letting her head rest on a rock. Her posture naturally pushed her body upwards in accordance to buoyancy. Fortunately that world still followed most of the laws of physics she was familiar with. Thinking about the future made her head hurt. She could just face new problems as it came, but planning would certainly make things easier.

Her gaze travelled from the dreary ceiling to the side, right to the small passageway that lead to where they were. Through it she saw the base of the pile of human bones she encountered in the beginning. Come to think of it, she hadn’t asked about it yet. But was it another sensitive topic?

Probably. But to Elaine, it was something she needed to know. If it turned out that Alice planned on eating her, then she at least wanted to have the time to regret staying there.

“Hey, Alice. What’s up with the tower of bones at the entrance?”

She tried to make her question sound as casual as possible to at least set the mood up. What she didn’t expect was a straight answer.

“Ah, those. Human remains.”

Duh?

“Where did they come from?”

“... From those who saw too much, too early.”

“Saw what?”

“The dungeon.”

Elaine almost parroted her words like an idiot. She managed to stop herself before realizing that she practically had no choice.

“Dungeon? What dungeon?”

The fairy thought for a while. Elaine patiently waited. After roughly five minutes of continued silence, Alice turned her head and stared into her eye. Her face looked blank, and her eyes – glassy, unfocused... familiar.

“I think it’s time for you to go.”

“What do you mean? Go? As in, away?”

The cave started to rumble. It was a steady shaking that almost felt like the tremors of an empty stomach. It rattled entire grotto, causing bones to fall from the top of the pile and rocks to break off from the ceiling. Elaine could see the sprites fly around in random as they squealed in frantic voices.

“... Can’t it wait? One more day?”

Alice walked out of the cave, speaking words to someone who wasn’t there. Elaine rushed to get out of the water and put her underwear on.

Outside, the chamber was in an uproar. The sprites were in a state of panic. The light from the ponds were pulsing, but consistently becoming dimmer. The giant crystal in the middle had already cracked after being hit by a giant rock. Elaine could barely manage to keep standing.

“Please. Just a bit more time.”

Her hands were clasped in prayer. As the mountain came down on her, she stood her ground, pleading on nothing.

A tense peace came to rule as the earth calmed itself. Alice had spent the entire time looking through the entrance of the chamber. Elaine felt the storm of emotions underneath Alice’s serene appearance.

What happened?

“Hey, Alice—!”

A high-pitched sound blasted through the dark corridors. It was a cacophony of terrible sounds. Elaine’s skin crawled. She felt the blood leave her face, and her knees buckled from terror. She held her head down and covered her ears.

That was the first time Elaine had ever heard of insects shrieking. The mountain’s fauna was in a worse state of chaos.

“What’s happening outside?!”

Alice still had her hands clasped. She was still pleading to the air. Her eyes had an unfamiliar look of sadness and desperation to it. Elaine realized that she wasn’t going to respond to her questions anytime soon, so she held her ground and endured everything.

Then, silence. It took a while but the commotion finally died.

... Or maybe it wasn’t the commotion that had died.

Elaine felt cold sweat on her forehead. Her heart beat against her chest like it was trying to get out. How could it be possible for one person to encounter four near-death experiences within one day? She looked at Alice again. She had not budged from her position since they got there half an hour ago.

An eerie silence once again took hold. Though the sprites were in an uproar, Elaine’s attention was focused solely on Alice and the darkness that stood in front of her. She waited for the fairy to speak up. She expected her to explain what happened, or what they should do.

Then, Alice’s hands fell lifelessly. Her shoulders sagged and her head hung down.

“... It has awakened.”

She started to speak to her mind again. Her words were heavy with disappointment and resignation. Elaine swallowed hard.

“Our time was cut short. I would have wanted to spend a bit more time together.”

She reached out and took something from within her skirt. It was a marble; the same red one she used to make Elaine’s life earlier a living hell.

“Ah, if only we could have met earlier.”

Those words squeezed her heart.

If her coin had landed on the other side, would they have been able to meet? But she didn’t have a way to navigate the darkness... If she had wandered into the darkness she might have gotten herself killed or lost in the process.

Ah, but the spider she met only looked at her with indifference. The giant mantis only stared warily, never actually positioning itself to strike. She had never been in immediate danger even once. Then she remembered the forest. Besides the carpet-looking mimic, none of the animals paid any attention to her – in fact most of them ran away. She thought it was because she smelled bad as a joke, but it didn’t change even after giving herself a thorough washing.

Was there something to her that animals in that world avoided?

Would she have arrived in that chamber safely if she had taken the risk and chance?

“It’s okay. Nobody’s at fault.”

That, she knew, but she couldn’t help but...

She didn’t even notice that she was hanging her head. When she looked up, Alice was in front of her, smiling the familiar smile she had shown her for the past ten odd hours.

“Today was to be my last day here anyway.”

Alice grabbed her hand, freezing it in place. She placed the marble on her palm. Then her smile disappeared. She gripped her hand with both of hers tightly.

“Listen dearly. Do not follow us out. Wait until all the lights in our homes disappear. This will lead you to safety. Keep it above your head. Pay attention to your shadow. Do not let it touch the darkness. Do not reach out with your hands. Do not take large strides. Do not lean in any direction. Do not listen to anything. Do not speak to anyone. Walk only forwards. Keep all of this in mind and you will live.”

Elaine was speechless. Her heart beat hard and fast in an attempt to pump as much blood to her brain. Alice’s words haunted her. Her skin crawled. Her imaginations ran wild, creating horrific images scenes. What kind of path will she need to walk through that merit such warnings? Then she realized something.

“What do you mean, ‘don’t follow’? How can I get out alone?”

Were they going to leave her behind?

As if to answer her question, she saw the sprites flood out of the cave in droves. As they left the lights from within the chamber became dimmer and dimmer. It wasn’t just because the light that came from them were getting scarce; the ponds and the crystal similarly started to lose their luminosity as well, just as Alice had said.

She’d been told not to follow them, at the very least not immediately. But how could she go back without any light? Her torches – they were gone. The sprites had eaten the fruits in their merrymaking.

But Alice looked at her with certainty that she would be able to find a way. Elaine almost forgot what she had said already. She held out the marble Alice had given her; it was red, shining dimly like its owner...

“... Nevermind. I got it.”

“Good. Now...”

The ground shook once again, surprising her. It was no longer the steady tremors that had disturbed the cave a few moments ago, but it was still familiar. It had rhythm, cadence, almost as if it was made by—

“What...”

Gold, as brilliant and pure as the chains that bound Alice to the earth. Her vision distorted and it slowly manifested behind Alice. Was it some sort of spell? It stood at the very least seven meters tall from its forelimbs to the top of its head. It looked like a typical western dragon aside from its wings. They were bare, lacking the membrane that should have stretched from the tip of each bone to the next. Its tail was longer than its standing height, and at the very tip, five chains grew out and—attached themselves to Alice’s limbs and neck.

It was a dragon.

It stared at her in a similar way that someone would a road sign at the opposite lane. She somehow understood that the dragon didn’t consider her as anyone worth its time.

“... This is where everything starts. I hope with all my heart we’ll see each other again. Elaine.”

She spoke with her lips once again, honouring Elaine by speaking her name by mouth. Regardless of the majesty and size of the dragon behind her, Elaine’s attention could only be focused on Alice. Her eyes strained, unfit for one with such a sculpted face. But she smiled; a smile that held no lies, beautiful in its heart and intent. Finally, she breathed deep—

“Be safe, my friend.”

–And turned around to leave. The dragon went on ahead, tugging Alice behind like a prisoner. And maybe she was; a fairy bound to the earth, a creature of myths trapped in a cave. But she wasn’t alone. Not anymore. Elaine knew for certain that they would find each other again.

Memories came flooding; of a girl shunned by her peers because of her habits. She rarely decided for herself. She rarely favored one side. She rarely answered people’s expectations. She betrayed society for a stupid rule she stubbornly stuck to. In a way, both of them were bound and given the short stick by fate in more ways than one. Only, Elaine did it out of her own free will. Maybe it was the same for Alice? She needed to find out.

Finally, an answer to her question. That was where she was – where she found herself at.

“Wait!”

They stopped. Both dragon and fairy turned to look at her, but Elaine only had eyes on the one person that mattered.

“... Did you cheat earlier?”

Their jaws dropped; even the dragon looked shocked. But Alice soon recovered, giggling. She turned back to Elaine with a smug, toothy grin.

“Perhaps I did?”

“I’ll pay you back then, ten times over. I promise.”

“Heh! Come back when you’re a few hundred years older.”

With that, they were gone. And she was left in darkness.