The Innkeeper

The fairies looked at each other, as if they were stuck in a great quandary. They had not seen the ferocity of the hunters which drove their ancestors into hiding, but they had seen what Lex was capable of doing with their own eyes.

They didn't want to burden him, yet at the same time he was right in stating that they did not plan on staying in the sealed domain, but had nowhere to go.

Lex, who had some experience with fairies now, got the feeling that this was going to drag on so he decided to persuade them a little more.

"Look, I am the one who gave you freedom. That makes me responsible for you. I can't, in good conscience, just leave you here to suffer. At the same time, I have a lot of work I need to do. So I would feel a lot better if you came with me to the Inn. That way you'd be safe as well, at least until you recover enough to venture out on your own if you so wish."

After a bit more prodding, the fairies finally relented. Lex was pleased, but when he asked if there were any other fairy settlements they should visit to check up on, they revealed that there were none. These few fairies were literally the last of their kind.

It was at this time that some of the fairies also proceeded to head into the final chamber, but were unable to find the remaining fairy.

Lex told them that he had passed away without elaborating. Understandably, the news saddened the fairies, but they did not dwell on it for too long, since Lex was waiting for them. They started packing up, preparing to leave.

Lex paid close attention to them, observing the way they used their wings, their body language as they flew, how they utilized their fairy dust, and even how they used their spirit energy. He implemented the changes in real time to his fairy body, and could immediately feel the difference.

One thing that he did notice, however, was that the other fairies did not produce nearly as much fairy dust as he did.

"Hey Leroy," Lex called the armored fairy, since he was the only one he was familiar with, "do you mind if I ask you some questions about fairies? I'm really intrigued by your race and history."

"It would be my honor to answer your questions," said Leroy, who immediately zipped next to Lex.

Truth be told, the sudden completion of his quest and the attainment of freedom left him feeling lost. He didn't know what he was supposed to do now, so this task, even if it was temporary, provided him with great relief.

"How come some of you produce more fairy dust than others? I hope it's not too personal a question."

"Not at all! Actually, the amount of fairy dust produced is directly proportional to how strong a fairy is! You see, the wings of a fairy are perhaps the most important part of a fairy's body, as they act as amplifiers for our control over spirit energy. So when we fly, our wings are not actually flapping through the air, but through the spirit energy around us. The fair dust that is produced are small specks of spiritual energy that are transformed and knocked loose during the process.

"Fairy dust has countless uses besides just allowing us to fly, and share our flying abilities. For example, they can also have healing properties, or even harmful properties. All we need to do is focus on the effect we want the fairy dust to take up, and the change happens on its own. Of course, it requires some practice, but it's more or less instinctual for all fairies."

"It can take on any property you wish? Don't your affinities get in the way?" Lex asked genuinely surprised. From his limited exposure to fairies, their abilities seemed incredibly powerful. He couldn't imagine how such a race could be defeated so easily. Maybe they just weren't combat oriented at all.

"Affinity? No, fairies don't have any affinities. Or rather, fairies have all affinities. Maybe. I don't know, I've never tried. But at least I've never encountered a situation where I've been unable to create any properties that I wanted."

Lex's slight smile froze. They had all affinities? They could create whatever they wanted?

Fairy Lex parked his ship on top of another tree that had been uprooted. This was too ridiculous. This was too overpowered. This couldn't be possible.

Yet his gut was telling him that Leroy wasn't lying. At least, he genuinely believed whatever he was telling Lex.

The problem was… if such a thing were true, Lex's imagination could not stretch far enough to even begin to consider how powerful just this ability alone was. Perhaps the reason fairies were cursed so long ago was because they were just too powerful, or at least had the potential to become too powerful.

Fair Lex closed his eyes and imagined something absurd - since he was testing the limits of fairy dust, there was no point in doing something simple. He imagined fairy dust that would allow a material to grow, by absorbing other, similar things, then began to flap his wings.

Maybe this was an unusual request, but he needed to test it out. After all, if fairy dust could do something that he just learned was extremely complicated, such as healing, there was no reason it couldn't do other complicated things.

When he opened his eyes, he saw the fairy dust falling on his ship. He covered all of it with his spirit sense, and began scrutinizing it. For a long time, nothing happened, but he kept on going.

Nearly an hour later, Lex noticed something happening, though it wasn't his ship that was changing. Since all his focus was on the ship, he hadn't even noticed that the tree it was sitting on began to shrink a while ago. Only now, that a significant difference had been made, did he finally notice.