Trevor was there for a whole eight hours.

Between getting to know his new backpack and allowing Melvirn to poke and prod him for data, it was a mentally exhausting afternoon and evening. There was plenty of data gleaned from this experiment, however, which meant the wizard would have to take a few weeks to parse through it. That let him off the hook for a while at the very least.

Stumbling out through the front door and offering it a tired goodbye, Trevor started heading home. Out of the whole time he had been in Tosa, this was by far the worst experience he had so far. Not that it was all bad. Melvirn may have had the impulse control of a hyped up toddler, but he really did seem brilliant. In light of such facts, a little eccentricity could be afforded.

That said, this was the first night that Trevor didn’t run home.

He trundled through the streets of Tosa. Many of the houses were lit as it wasn’t too late just yet, but the roads were generally clear. He waved, nodded, and bowed to those who were still out and about, though they were few and far between.

The air wasn’t as sharp and brisk as it was before, which made him happy. It was still up in the air whether or not Adabelle was the cause, but that didn’t really matter. He helped her out, and she seemed better when he left. That was what mattered. Since the weather was nice, he pulled his coat back into his inventory. The backpack shifted, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to put it back on the same way.

“Why did he pick such a big bag?” Trevor muttered to himself. The question had eluded him at the time, but now that he was walking through town, it seemed really big.

As he was thinking about it, it suddenly became a lot heavier. Trevor paused and turned his head to better regard his backpack. The whole thing hadn’t been light to begin with having been made of thick canvas, but it was actively dragging him down now.

“I don’t know how to dismantle this wagon,” a child’s voice slowly said as Trevor’s hair was grabbed and yanked.

At first, the young man was affronted by the painful pulling, but once he heard the child’s voice he stopped himself from yelling out. He reached back and grabbed the kid’s hairy arms before pulling him off of the backpack and holding it out in front of him.

He dropped the child.

It flipped in midair and landed on its feet. What Trevor had assumed was a child because of its voice was actually a small hairy humanoid wearing leaf clothing with big hands and feet. Its eyes were hidden behind its hair, which was thicker on its head, and it almost reminded him of a miniature Bigfoot. The creature tapped Trevor’s leg with its knuckles, and the young man took a step back.

“Yeah, I can’t dismantle this,” it said again.

“Denden, you were not supposed to approach him,” came another child’s voice. This one was from above, and Trevor looked up.

Hovering over him was another small creature. Its hair was bright red and only covered the top of its head, but its body was that of a small, leathery, dragon with dragonfly wings. It was cute, in an ugly kind of way, with colors ranging from pink to green. Orange eyes locked in on his own, and it made a frantic motion with its legs as if trying to escape before flying to hide behind the miniature Bigfoot.

Trevor’s eyes widened as he pointed down. “You’re the little gremlins that have been messing things up in town,” he accused.

“Hey, that’s mean!” the winged one said. “Denden is a sprite, not a gremlin. I’m a dragon. That also happens to be a fairy. It’s complicated.”

“What’s complicated is this wagon,” Denden claimed, pointing towards Trevor’s knees. “It doesn’t have wheels, Merckle.”

“Don’t tell him my name!” the fairy dragon complained. “What if he talks?”

“How can he talk? He’s a wagon."

“I’m not a wagon, I’m a person,” Trevor said as he squatted down. Denden looked up at him as if seeing him for the first time before tilting his head in confusion. “Why do you think I’m a wagon?”

“Because you take things places,” the sprite answered. “We saw you pick up food, and goods, and things, and then take them someplace else. Like wagons. So, you’re a wagon.”

“Do you think people who deliver the mail are wagons, too?”

“Of course not, those are mailmen. Never seen you deliver letters. Just food, and goods, and things. Like a wagon,” Denden answered before looking back at Merckle. “This wagon doesn’t know much.”

“He’s not a wagon! I told you he wasn’t a wagon, and then you jumped!”

“Well, he was a wagon, what did you expect me to do about it?”

“Not jump!”

“Hey, hey, not to intrude on your arguing, but, who exactly are you two?” Trevor asked.

The two of them glanced back at the young man before Denden opened his mouth to speak. He was too slow, however, and Merckle put a clawed hand over the sprite’s mouth. “What’s it to you, old man?”

Trevor snorted, which caused the fairy dragon’s eyes to widen in surprise before narrowing. “It’s just that you two have been causing a lot of trouble around town. I wanted to know why.”

“Well, we’re not telling you, human!”

“Boredom, mostly,” Denden said, which got him a slap on the back of the head by Merckle. “What? It’s true!”

Frowning, Trevor sat down and crossed his arms. “You’re causing pile ups on the bridge and dismantling wagons because you’re bored?”

“Don’t answer that, Denden,” Merckle demanded. “We haven’t hurt anyone, so it doesn’t matter what we do.”

“You haven’t hurt anyone yet,” Trevor corrected. “But if you keep this up, someone very easily could be. You know the guards have been searching for you, right?”

“They’ll never find us,” the dragon said with a sneer. “I’m too good at hiding.”

“Merckle’s really good at it.”

“And Denden’s really good at curses. Hit him with one, Denden.”Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

When the sprite raised his arms and then pointed at the man. Trevor wasn't sure if anything happened, but he felt a light tingle as he held up a hand. “But I’m not a wagon,” he said.

Denden paused, and the young man could almost see the math being done in the creature’s head. It took him a few seconds before he looked back at the dragon. “He’s right. He’s not a wagon. We were told not to hurt people.”

“Who told you not to hurt people?” Trevor asked.

“The-“

“No!” Merckle screamed, tackling the sprite to the ground. Attempting to, anyway; the bigger creature stood firm and the dragon simply slapped himself against its face. “Stop talking to this human! You’ll give everything away!”

“If you tell me, then I’ll give you this,” Trevor said before producing a pie from his inventory. The smell of baked apples filled the air as both of the child-like creatures focused in on it. Denden’s eyes went wide, and Merckle licked his lips. “But only if you tell me.”

The two jumped for it at once, but it disappeared back into Trevor’s inventory. They collided with the ground and looked up at him.

“You can’t bribe us, human!”

“I could be bribed, Merckle.”

“Well, yeah, but he doesn’t know that!”

“Denden, I know you can be bribed,” Trevor stated.

“I think he figured it out, Merckle.”

Trevor watched the two start to argue. They were a menace to society, but they also just seemed to be children. Mean, sure, but what kid didn’t have that streak in them? Besides, they were bored and had super powers; the young man knew that his town wouldn’t be spared his pranks if he could cause mischief without being caught.

Slowly, he brought the pie back out and set it on the ground. Both of them stared at it again. “Why don’t you tell me who told you not to hurt people, and I’ll sweeten the bribe.”

“Sweeten how?” Denden asked.

He had kept it separate due to the pie staying on the heating plate all day, but it was time. He lifted his hand. The local equivalent of whipped cream started dispensing out of his finger, which lazily circled in the air, and he smiled as their eyes got wider the taller the cream got.

“The Queen of the Feywood,” Denden blurted out.

“Denden, no!”

“Denden yes!” the sprite replied. Merckle tackled him again, but he was thrown off rather easily. The fairy dragon didn’t give up, however, and jumped on Denden’s back. “She said we could go out and play, but we couldn’t hurt anyone because then we’d have to give something up to the town because there’s a peace right now. Can I have pie?”

“Yes,” Trevor said, and Denden jumped in without a moment’s hesitation. Merckle wasn’t far behind, and the young man had to suppress a chuckle. Then, he put on his serious adult face. “I’m sorry to say it, though, but you have hurt someone.”

Denden continued to eat, but Merckle looked up. “Nuh uh!” he disagreed around a mouthful of pie. “We were very careful!”

Reaching up, Trevor knocked on the back of his head. “Denden just grabbed my hair and hurt me when he thought I was a wagon.”

That caused the sprite to pause, and he slowly looked up from the pie. His hands were covered, as was his mouth, and a look of horror was on his face. “I hurt a person?”

“Don’t worry, I’m not planning on telling on you.” Trevor watched as Denden almost immediately went back to eating, and continued. “But you have to stop playing pranks on people in the town. If that doesn’t stop, then I’m going to talk to the mayor, and the mayor is going to talk with your queen.”

“Okay,” Denden said before diving in.

“No, not okay!” Merckle argued. “He didn’t get hurt! You didn’t even grab him that hard.”

“From the sounds of it, you’re off the hook, Denden,” Trevor said quietly. “I’ll tell the messenger that only Merckle was involved.”

“That’s… that’s not fair!” the fairy dragon stuttered. “That’s really not fair! I said you should be left alone because you’re not a wagon!”

“All you have to do is stop playing pranks on the town, and that’s it.” Shrugging, Trevor leaned back onto his hands. “I mean, it’s pretty simple, and you would have been caught soon anyway.”

“Nuh uh,” Denden said, his face buried in his hands. “Merckle is the best at hiding.”

“Well, I heard Rashie’s going to be back soon. Lady Adabelle mentioned that she’d be able to sniff you out once she was here. Seems like your reign of terror is going to come to an end soon, so why not take the victory pie and cut your losses now?”

Both of the fairies paused upon hearing this news. “Rashie’s coming back?” the sprite asked.

“Denden, we have to get out of here!” Merckle said, panic lacing his voice. “Grab the pie and book it!”

The sprite lifted what little remained of the pie off of the ground and started running. The two of them turned invisible a moment later, and all that was left of their trail were the crumbs jostling off of the plate.

“… What?” Trevor asked, scratching the back of his head.

He had not expected her name to have such an impact on them. Still confused but at least mildly okay with their scarper, he started heading back towards the Hero House.

“Quest Master, what’s a sprite?” he asked aloud.

[[A sprite is a fey creature with the shape of a small child. They’re covered in fur and innately know several curses, both harmful and helpful. The average sprite also embodies the mind of a child, and they will transform when it is time to mature. There are too many transformations to list.]]

Trevor nodded. “Okay, what about fairy dragons?”

[[Fairy dragons are fairies who are also dragons. They are smart, though immature, and love playing pranks. If properly educated, then their jokes will end up being targeted and hilarious, but they are also prone to lashing out for attention. Old fairy dragons get to be the size of a small dog, though most you see will be about the size of Mr. Tiggles.]]

“Thanks, Quest Master,” he said, but then he thought of one more question. “What’s Rashie?”

[[A menace.]]

“Great, cool. Good answer, good answer,” Trevor said before shaking his head and smiling. Now that he had a little more pep in his step, he started running to the Hero House, though he didn’t bother activating the Horn. He didn’t have that much energy.

Trevor made it home without breaking any new records, and noticed that the lights were on in the communal space. Instead of heading towards his house, he entered, expecting to finally meet Wayne and Rashie.

Instead, laying with her head down on the table, was Adabelle. She was already in her pajamas and was currently using Mr. Tiggles as a pillow. The cat looked up at Trevor as he approached. “Meow,” he said quietly.

“Not the first time, eh little buddy?” Trevor asked in amusement. Reaching down, he gently shook Adabelle’s shoulders. “Hey, lady, wake up. It’s late.”

“Is fine,” she muttered, not opening up her eyes.

“Your back won’t be if you sleep like that,” he told her, but she just mumbled again. Sighing, he looked around and saw the couch sitting next to the fireplace. There was no way he was going to get into her house, so this was the next best thing. “Please don’t hit me for this later.”

Lifting her arm around his shoulder, Trevor gently picked up Adabelle from her chair in a princess carry. Her horn bumped into his head, hurting him a little but nothing serious. Once he was sure that she wasn’t going to fall, a possibility that made him glad he had 3 Strength to compensate for, he walked over to the couch. There were throw pillows lining it, and he tried out his new Dexterity to get rid of all but the essentials with his foot. It was a tough balancing act, but he succeeded.

Gently, he laid her down. Adabelle mumbled some more things that Trevor couldn’t understand, and he made sure that her head was comfortable on the pillow. She shifted, but seemed to settle. As he tried to take a step back, he discovered her tail wrapped around his leg.

The young man couldn’t help but smile. “Come on, lady, you gotta let me go.”

If anything, that made the tail wrap a little tighter.

Trevor removed his coat and set it over her so that she was covered. She was a little bit shorter than him, but the jacket still only covered her upper half. Mr. Tiggles walked by, tail swishing high in the air, and he rubbed up against the young man’s leg before jumping onto the couch and cautiously laying on Adabelle’s stomach. Her tail let him go and rested on the cat, who began purring.

“Good night, lady,” Trevor said quietly. “And you, too, Mr. Tiggles.”

He memorized the scene in front of him before heading back home, smiling to himself at the rampant cuteness he had just witnessed.