[Ellie; Wedi Forest]

It has been nearly a week since Clematia became unresponsive. In that time, I’ve methodically hunted down every small creature nearby with magic to protect her. The idea was that since I’m too weak to kill the big guys, removing their prey would cause them to leave the area to hunt for more. It seems to have worked as this part of the forest has become much quieter in that time.

I miss her. When will she wake up? Such thoughts currently plague me despite my efforts to keep myself busy. At the very least, I know she still lives as I can feel the energy coming off her while in the clearing, but that doesn’t mean she’s in good condition. Not counting her amnesia and loneliness of course.

Speaking of, Clematia has trailed off a few times during our telepathic conversations, likely evident of her forgetting how to communicate for a moment. Before I came, she had no contact with anyone for at least three weeks (excluding the humans that appeared for a few minutes, but since she didn’t interact with them do they even count?). It hasn’t even been a third of that time and I’m already feeling the effects, so I can only imagine how much worse it had been for her before I came.

I understand why you specifically sent me now Lady Genedigaeth. The others wouldn’t be able to comfort her like I have. You were aware of just how often I ran off to observe people’s lives this entire time, weren’t you. And here I was thinking I was being sneaky about it.

How long ago did I realize I was different from other spirits? My best guess would be the first time I descended into the mortal realm and saw the people living there. The amount of activity from them eclipsed that of my home in the spirit realm. Granted, there were a lot more of them, but this was true even on an individual basis.

There aren’t many of us greater spirits around nowadays. Our lack of a definite lifespan and incredible tenacity means the formation of our kind is a rarity. While there may be a handful of spirits forming every year, the vast majority of them are lesser spirits acting purely on instinct. They tend to form in elementally extreme areas correlating with our element. For instance; fire spirits often form in volcanic areas, water spirits in the deep sea, and earth spirits where there are a lot of earthquakes. While some lesser spirits stay where they were created, many of them proceed to aimlessly wander the world, subsisting on mana as they go.

Us greater spirits, as the name implies, are superior in nearly every way to our lesser brethren. A greater spirit’s powers allow them the ability to take on a definite form rather than the mass of a mist-like lesser spirits are portrayed as. Our forms are based on all aspects of our mind in combination with our element. This causes many greater spirits to take animalistic forms, yet I have been told to be reminiscent of a fairy without wings. My fascination with the intelligent races in combination with my playful demeanor and nature affinity is the cause.

Visiting the mortal realm quickly became a habit of mine. My fellow spirits were just so boring in comparison, often doing little more than simply existing with the occasional light conversation mixed in. Escaping that dull reality eventually turned into my long-term goal. As such, I eventually bade the spirit realm farewell and began to spend all of my time among the mortals, even if most of them were unable to interact with me.

Several weeks into my journey, I saw an impoverished boy asleep in an alleyway. He was horribly bruised, with open sores covering his bare feet. Something within bade me to help him, so I channeled my magic to heal his visible injuries. I was unable to do anything to his internal injuries, let alone his malnourished body, but he would at least survive a bit longer thanks to me. For some reason, that didn’t help the aching feeling in my core. That was the day I learned about the dark side of the races; no, it would be more accurate to say that that was when I was forced to face it.

Doing my part to help those in need slowly turned into a core part of my travels. It was a thankless job, no thanks to the fact that most people couldn’t see me when I helped out to begin with. Still I persisted, needing no reward other than the feeling I got from helping people to begin with.

Eventually I found a young spirit mage that ended up forming a contract with me. He was without family, so I decided to take on a sort of parental role while he grew up. A set of instincts I had no idea I possessed flared up within me as I cared for him, watching over him the next few years. The kindness I showed him back then had a massive impact on how he turned out. He began to use his talents to make a better life for himself, eventually finding himself in a minor lord’s employ despite his lack of a pedigree.

His distant but helpful demeanor endeared no small amount of girls to him throughout his teenage years, with him eventually settling on one of the lord’s maids. With the lord seeing him favorably due to his years of service, he gave the pair his blessing. They were a happy couple, and their relationship was fruitful to say the least.

My reminiscent thoughts are interrupted by some rustling coming from a nearby bush. Reflexively preparing my magic, I’m relieved to see it’s nothing but a mundane rabbit which I quickly dispatch and dispose of. Afterwards I’m struck by a mental fatigue, evidence I’m almost out of mana. Knowing that continuing to push myself will likely end with me running dry in a critical moment, I fly back to the clearing Clematia resides in. I have somebody else to watch over now.

The following morning I once again begin to look for any animals in the vicinity. Finding nothing after multiple hours of searching, I let out a sigh of relief knowing that Clematia’s body is safe. Seeing as there was nothing that demanded my immediate attention, I start to play around with my magic out of boredom. I end up so engrossed in it that I manage to fail to notice the plant monster creeping up to me until it’s too late.

I am quickly grabbed by one of the beast’s many tentacle vines, instantly immobilizing me. In a panic I call out to my magic, performing erratic spellcasting in my attempts to escape its grasp. It didn’t work. Being slowly pulled towards what I can only assume to be the beast’s maw, I continue my desperate struggle in an ultimately futile effort. I just had to end up running into one of the rare monster types that can see spirits, didn’t I?

Just as I’m about to be swallowed whole, a flash of radiant light happens behind me. This causes the vine trapping me to loosen its grip enough for me to slip out and escape. I knew the odds of me winning the battle were basically nil, so from the beginning my goal was to fly away, one that I’ve now achieved. Still, that light came from the clearing. something big is happening there, I can tell. Please be okay…

Racing back to the clearing greets me with something spectacular. Clematia’s body currently has a soft glow flowing from it. Underneath it I can see bark starting to form, as well as several small leaves growing out into what will eventually be a crown. The midday sun only accentuates the soothing feeling being given off. Once I recover from the shock, I once again try to telepathically contact Clematia, hoping her consciousness has returned.

It’s a few moments before I get a response from her. She pauses for a few moments before continuing, her sleepy voice now replaced with a concerned one. I give her a minute or so to process what’s happening.

I forgo mentioning the glow for the moment, knowing that tonight’s conversation will inevitably be a long one.