Graded [Bishri City] ♡ φᾰεινός ♡ Oh, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun☆

The sylph's eyes widened when Euthalia and Calliope both affirmed her that they'd come visit whenever she felt alone. Ophenia is one such person who's quick to tears and surely she would be bawling right now, if not that she knew it would be unbecoming of her. Instead, she smiled with a soft chuckle, "Th- thank you, I feel glad to know that." She'd reply simply. Somehow, hearing those words made Ophenia feel as though a weight in her chest flew away.

Ophenia glance at the sylvari with a wide grin, "That is what I asked~" She'd chipperly reply completely oblivious to the difference between archaic and non-archaic speaking. "Didn't really sound like it... I think—" "Oh! Can you ask the spirit for their name? It feels impolite to refer to them as 'the spirit'." The sylph asked Euthalia before the frigid feeling on their fingers felt as though it grew heavy. Ophenia looked at Calliope with a subtle smile, "Are you uncomfortable?" She'd ask, "Miss... uh, if you feel as though we should stop; we can, at any time." The sylph reminded the felisian, feeling her discomfort.

Those who gazed upon the mirror would see as the woman pressed her finger upon the glass and slowly slid it on the reflection wall. The adder stone began to slowly move, creaking against the board. First, the stone moved unto the symbol of the moon staying still for a mere moment, "No?" The sylph thought out loud as she'd glance to Euthalia—the stone again began to move...


was the word that was spelt out. "What does 'Rue' mean...?" "Is that not a type of flower?" Although Ophenia's thoughts weren't incorrect, Euthalia would recognise that this particular spelling of the word meant "To regret and want undone.." if translated literally to common. In regards to Euthalia's second question, the frigid weight began to lighten before the adder stone slowly creaked unto the symbol of the sun again.

"What did you ask?" Ophenia asked, "If she was the same person from the glade, y'know... the woman in the pond." The naga would answer, as the sylph's brows would furrow in worry. "Dunno if this is insensitive, but could you ask if... she maybe has buried treasures somewhere?" Keone would say nervously, before looking to Calliope, "Hey Cali, you have anything you wanna ask?" Said she, her eyes slowly shifting to the reflection in the mirror.

---

"Well, we met her body and her daughter. In [The Glade], y'know?" Keone elaborated, "It's this... nonsense place with nonsense speaking people inside of the dreaming forest..." Keone glanced at Ophenia, "No offence—she's apparently from there," "I am indeed," Ophenia's eyes sparkled, "You should visit! It is almost time for my... for... An awful divine dance." She offered, "That... doesn't sound very good—" "But it is!" The sylph assured, her smile quite convincing despite her prior choice of words.

"Ugh, why is it... s- so... Freezing?!" Keone whined, making it audibly known that the room grew colder, and colder as the stone seemed to tug along the board, pulling along everyone else with it. Quicker and quicker it darted from letter to letter on the board, but it was a name strange and foreign to one like Euthalia—it wasn't a name that a fae would give.


"What did they say?" "Citrus... Citron... Citronelle Rue? She spelt it differently..." Indeed so was true, for in this manner it referred to the flower "Rue" which had a bitter taste and was often the kind of flower which came into bloom alongst oranges, limes and lemons. Ophenia lifted her head subtly, "I know that name—" "Hah?" "That is the name of the one who illustrated the pictures in the fairytale of 'The Four Rose Maids' by Charlotte-Rose Perr—" Before Ophenia could finish, the stone began to across the board.

Scratching as it quickly ran and ran, from letter to letter and scraping across the stone. It moved over each letter, stopping for only a moment to allow each person to process what it was trying to spell out.


"K... Kill? Kill the... east beauty? The morning star? What does..." With what Keone said, Ophenia shuddered and swiftly clattered her thumbs beneath the stone, "Hey, what—" "{Fare thee well!}" She yelled in a panic as she so flipped the adder stone over and slid it over the symbol of the star. The sylph heaved a sigh which left her like a heavy gust sd the room began to regain its heat slowly, one would notice how the mirror's apparition had seemed to fade.

"What was that?" The naga nudged Ophenia, "I said goodby—" "No, I mean, why?" Keone reiterated, as Ophenia lowered her head. "It felt... Malevolent." Said she, whilst Keone raised an eyebrow, "Malevo-what now?" "I do not believe... Miss Rue, wanted for anything at all fair. I heard... I felt deep sadness and then there was... something that felt like ripping skin, thrashing and burning." Ophenia described, "We should put this away for now." She'd say whilst pulling her face into a smile.

---

"Huh?" Ophenia tilted her head, as she leaned back a bit, before giggling like a child, "Aweful! As in, awe inspiring." She'd say, raising a hand, "I never knew it had bad meaning. I used to see the word constantly in books describing celestial phenomena. I say aweful because... Well, it is a sort of religious thing," The sylph picked up the board staring at it for a moment, the longing stare of someone gazing down a cliff's edge, as if wanting to jump. "What happens to those who die? If they are not bound to this realm after death, where do we go?" She asked, as though asking the board itself, expecting an answer.

"Do we really need answer for things like... that?" Keone would reply, "Honestly, I find it better leaving it unknown—we'll climb that wall when we come to it." She'd shrug it off, turning to Euthalia—"Jeez, if that's the case, this place needs to be warmer in the future!" She'd whine nodding to Ophenia, "Why don't you ask Mister Feathery Eyes to magic a fireplace or—" Keone's face blanked, "Oh, right." Seemingly realising that they are literally in a tree, in a forest.

Ophenia's eyes sparkled as Euthalia brought up the book's name as though she had never heard of it, "The Four Rose Maids! It is a fairytale about four roses who wish to become humans, thus for roses are her favourite children, the goddess of love gives them human bodies under the condition that they win a human's heart to attain also human souls. If not, when their heart is broken, their bodies shall wither and die. It is more so a tragic tale... I named myself after one of the rose maids." Ophenia excitedly blabbed out without taking a breath, Keone raised an eyebrow; "Ain't that a story from the Eastern Empire? Why do you know it? More importantly—" She looked to Euthalia, "Would a rose want to be... anything other but a rose?" The naga asked.

"From what I know, the Glade is made up of the gardener's memories and dreams. Reality only affects a garden as much as the gardener wants it to;" Ophenia explained as she put the board back underneath the bed. "Yet, I know one thing," She softened her tone, "Miss Rue had long been dead before she stepped within the glade," Said she. "How do you know that?" "Things cannot die in the glade, only cease as though never to exist," Ophenia added. "So, she must have passed before entering the Glade." The sylph said, her face drooping slightly.

Keone shrugged when Euthalia asked her, "If she mentioned the East then this 'Lucifier of Pearls' is likely some sort of you know what. As Ophenia said; she did apparently do the... illustrations, of the Four Rose Maids." Keone said, her brows furrowed as she mumbled under her breath; she seemed annoyed just thinking about it.

The sylph nervously chuckled at Calliope's frightened statement, "Well, they are still spirits... Although," she looked up at the ceiling, "I was told that the spirits of those who die, go to a wonderful place far beyond the stars. Yet, it seems Miss Rue was still bound to this realm." Said Ophenia, "Maybe she just didn't want to leave—she did say she regretted something." Keone commented.

As Euthalia stood, and dipped her finger in the soil of the vase, she noticed that it had a similar composition to that of the earth outside. Ophenia smiled, seeing Euthalia trying to change the subject. "Perhaps Mister Jophiel would know, he created it." Then, her smile became a slight bit devious—it was strange seeomg someone like Ophenia make such an expression. "Never have I ever thought of the soil that filled a flower pot." She giggled, "Oh are we starting with that game Euthalia mentioned?" Keone perked up, "We don't have leaves... Why not use our fingers instead? Lower a finger when we're called out." Keone suggested, raising a hand.

---

"Well, ain't that convenient." Keone would say, as she took the five leaves, creating a fan with them as though holding a deck of cards. "Thank you~" Ophenia would exclaim, smiling as though being handed food for the first time in days. She gently laid her leaves spread apart upon her palm. As Euthalia suggested using the south opals as the rocks, Keone grumbled a bit her breath as she slung up and put in everyone's hand one small opal... One could swear she'd said that she only took one.

Ophenia could sense Euthalia's curiosity and smiled upon sitting down again, "Not particularly... We all are taught that we must care for the world and guide its people. I, and those of my home, were thus taught to love all things, be forever pure and to only know joy..." She quieted, "As said she, upon the wings of the eight winds shall you spread your body, heart and soul; thus scatter upon the realm all your loveliness, purity and joy," Ophenia concurred, hugging her knees. [Insight F] Euthalia could notice that the sylph was leaving something out.

With Euthalia's statement, Keone hissed, "How unfair," She'd hissed playfully as she placed a leaf down. Ophenia, too, placed one leaf on top of another, in her hand; to show she had less. "I thought you didn't sleep either?" "I did only recently, perhaps it is due to maturing. I can still sleep if I would, although, I prefer sleeping in shallow lakes rather than beds." Ophenia whistled, and Keone shuddered at the thought. "Sounds cold..." Keone's attention then turned to the felisian,

"You've never seen the mountains before?!" Keone asked Calliope, "Lucky~ They're a big drag and way too cold." The naga said with a sigh as she placed down another leaf, whilst Ophenia followed after, continuing to stack leaves atop each other. "Speaking of cold; guess I won't be needing those blankets just yet. It seems to have gotten a bit warmer," and totally not cause the narrator couldn't be bothered to sprite Keone with a blanket 'round her. "Well anyway,..." She nodded it off, "Never have I ever had legs before." Keone snickered, waiting to watch as everyone else laid away a leaf. Now, everyone had but only a few leaves to spare. "You're up, Ophenia," Keone would say as Ophenia smiled to herself.

She pointed to her eye with her free hand, "Never have I ever had pupils before~" She grinned, her iridesce eyes glinting in hues of yellow—which brought to question how she could even see in the any case; it is a gardeniade's secret. After all, only in a nonsense place does it make sense for people not to have pupils, which is better than having no faces. "Wow! Using my own tactic 'gainst me, huh?" Keone commented with a chuckle as she placed down another leaf.

---

"I..." Ophenia started but then hesitated. "No, you have not," The sylph answered Euthalia's following question, "I am of the few, if not the only, sylph of the glade to leave the Galing Garden." She answered plainly, Keone tilted her head; "Why'd ya' leave anyway?" Keone asked with a slight tilt of the head.

Ophenia's briefly solemn expression faded into a smile, and then an off chuckle. "The galing garden is so small compared to here, from thither to hither one could stroll and reach its end. A meadow of shallow water, with pallid polyps despite where you gaze and the faces of the same person all slightly younger or older..." Her eyes shifted upward, "When you looked up, you saw nothing. An emptiness that was more yet less than black, alit not by stars or graced with the nephelae." Keone leaned a bit closer to Euthalia, "What's a [Nephelae]...?" She'd whisper, the sylvari would recognise it as the plural for the name of [Cloud Nymphs]. "I was curious of what was beyond that emptiness, so I walked in." Ophenia would say.

"You walked, In? Didn't ya say it was up?" Keone raised an eyebrow, the sylph smiled, "Yes." She didn't further elaborate. "But ho—" "Withal to say, the shallow cold waters remind me of that place. I miss it, despite the wonders—the sky, the voices and stories of all persons, the expanse of the ocean, the rustling leaves of the trees—despite the grandeur, I find myself longing for the pettiness of the Glade." She spoke of simple things which were ordinary to people like Calliope, Euthalia, Islwyn and Keone as though they were the most marvellous things. As though they were things that one would only see once in a lifetime. Whilst she mused, Keone could only think about how the Glade was anything but petty.

Keone was already beginning to put her leaf into the pile but stopped once Euthalia's question was heard. "Oh—" Her expression became a little bit more concerned as she stared at the sylph, Ophenia seemed as though she were about to laugh it off, but only let out a faint "Hahah..." she was still for a moment. Then, she placed another leaf atop her stack. She was down to one, she didn't speak up, seemingly awaiting Calliope's turn.

"Oi oi!" Keone spoke up, "Don't just put down a leaf and expect us to continue without sayin' nothing! What's it?! You shouldn't keep soft-soft 'bout this, what's wrong, Ophenia?" "Uhm...." "Come on, you don't need to... We're your friends; what's going on?" Keone leaned forward. A breeze gusted outside, and Ophenia sighed. She folded herself, hugging her knees and letting her hair obscure her face.

"I thought my act was okay without my resonator and yet, it seems I cannot do even that rightly," She'd murmur, "I wanted to have fun with you all, since we are friends... before I..." Her voice lacked that bubbly pop that she'd rarely be heard without. "Upon the wings of the eight winds shall you spread your body, heart and soul;" She'd repeat, "Let go of it all, to cease and become nothing but air. As though to never exist in the first place."

"I cannot bear it... everything here is so much, so wonderfull; I am not enough, I cannot do anything, I am too weak. The world cannot change with my feelings alone, and I have hurt so many people because of my naïveté, I should have stopped and gone back upon that first tear I shed. My pursuits hurt people, my songs hurt people, my magic hurts people; I hurt people by existing as I am—" Her voice would tell she was crying, but she somehow wasn't.

She raised her voice, "I am meant to love everyone and everything in this realm yet I cannot even love myself!" It cracked, Ophenia was someone you could never imagine angry or frustrated, but for the first time, it sounded as if she was sick of something to the point of disdain. "What I wished for nothing to feel, plagues me—that red ever vivid—If I cannot even love myself, how am I to truly love the world and everything and everyone of it? It would be better if I stopped existing, stopped hurting people..." She held back her tears and forced a smile as she faced the three. "When I disappear, please do forget me." With a trembling voice, Ophenia said as though it was something sure to happen.

---

"It's true, maybe you're a ditz who can't remember names 'most the time but," Keone slithered closer, "You're our friend, Ophenia. You are one of the kindest persons I've met and you don't even expect anythin' in return for that kindness. How are you anythin' bad?" She'd say. putting a hand on the sylph's shoulder.

Ophenia seemed to become still in Euthalia's hug; the sylph's tears streamed down her cheek in trails of glistening translucence. Her eyes widened, those all but too familiar words sounded different from before. When she said it, there was something about them Ophenia felt was off. Those words wanted Ophenia to feel a specific something and when that person disappeared, Ophenia truly felt alone. Euthalia's words, Calliope's words, Keone's words... They were all sincere and they weren't trying to deceive her. It was then that the sylph could realise that indeed, she had been deceived that time so long ago; yet Ophenia made excuses still. She still believed that person didn't want for aught bad, but... Her words weren't for Ophenia's sake only.

She sniffled, her face contorted as she covered her eyes and whined. Sylphid always made pleasant sounds and noises so the whining of a sad and hurt child crying; sounded rather like various oboes whistling low and then high when made by a sylph. If it was like that, then perhaps it was more akin to a squeal rather than a whine.

Keone panicked a bit, not being as able to read the meanings behind sudden bursts of tears as Ophenia and Islwyn, nor as insightful to the reason why as Euthalia. Ophenia was not crying out loud because she was sad, rather she felt at least a bit relieved hearing those words. "Wait wait, why are... Uh, why- Uhm, don't cry...! Keone slinked in close, awkwardly joining Euthalia to hug Ophenia.

"Forgive me... I beg you, please do forgive me..." Ophenia rubbed her, "I was, I was truly to do something so, so selfish—it would only do worse, it would make everyone much more unhappy, yet I so cruelly put my heart to it..." The sylph cried with unsteady breaths which slowly came to calm as the embrace subsided. When she finally stopped whimpering and her tears dried on her white cheeks; she spoke up with a very slight smile, "Maybe, one truly can change the world with feelings alone, a song; because somehow, just with everyone's words I feel better. Knowing I am not alone and hearing that I do help, if just a little, makes me feel pathetic for having thought what I thought." She'd said with a slight chuckle.

"You're right. We're all pathetic really, we always think 'Why me'; 'How come this happens only to me'; Me, me, me, me, and me—and not noticing the people there for us, despite how they go through something similar," Keone said, looking to Ophenia, "Honestly speaking, you're better than most. 'Cause you're feeling this way simply because you care so much about everyone and everything, but you have to remember you too are part of that everything and everyone." Keone pointed out.

Perhaps it was an obvious thing to Ophenia, despite preaching of how no one has the right to decide whether a life is worth more or less than another or their own, Ophenia did not often think of herself and her own needs. What she believed she needed, was for the happiness of everything and everyone. Ophenia mustered a smile.

"Thank you so much, from here to the first star to shine... I cannot express how thankful I am to have you all as my friends. I feel so excited suddenly, for the now, for the future... I realise I am a hypocrite. I once said something like; ※ to regret the past is meaningless... And yet I still ache every time I see that vivid shade of red," Ophenia chuckled subtly. "But, I will not let it make me falter anymore. I will make the entire realm hear my songs on the wings of the wind, I will—and I will warm their hearts and melt away their worries like you all did mine." The chanteuse claimed with a smile.

"That's the spirit! We'll all cheer you on and always come to help you, okay?!" Keone said cheerfully, as she slithered back to her spot. "Now, let us finish this game!" The naga would state, as Calliope began the game again—although she clicked her tongue at the idea of having to put down ANOTHER leaf, "Oi, you officially became friends with Ophenia when ya exchanged names!" She hissed...

---

The game would soon come to an end, and it went was for another time as they continued to play games and talk into the night. The blue sky fell into orange, then purple and then a deep black-blue twinkling with thousands of shining stars. Ophenia would share a few stories of her glade and what she knew of it.

Explaining that the glade itself has a centre and in that centre is the core gardener of the glade, the creator of the first garden. Ophenia told the group the story of the Witch, an apparent person who distorted a part of the Fae See's forest— which now became the Draumer Silva—to create a world of her good memories of someone she lost. The story itself was similar to a popular cautionary tale for the fae which Euthalia had likely heard of.

A tale which only further pushed the idea that humans and beasts were no good and why all monsters must be exterminated. It had something to do with a sprightly high priestess of The King of Spirits, who fell in love with a mortal and was seduced by him to give him a portion of her long life. The man was then tricked by a demon, who consumed not only all of the man but also the portion of immortality he'd cheated from the sprightly priestess. For her sacrilege, her remaining life was turned to crimson stone and she would never be able to ascend into a true spirit. In her grief, the priestess found and tore apart the demon and used her remaining magic to create a distorted place where she could live as though she had ascended—or so the story goes.

It was honestly nothing special, as there were many more fae tales of the fae, which all the more dramatic, which all had something to do with; Humans are a blight, Beastkins are a blight, and Monsters are especially a blight.

There are other stories to tell in regards to what happened that night, what games they played; stories they told and the pranks that they all played on that one foul peafowl fae. In the end, they would all come to a stasis somehow. Keone and Calliope likely slept inside, although, Keone robbed all of the beds of their blankets and bundled up into a ball. Islwyn slept soundly and Calliope would have to sleep coldly. Euthalia would have likely taken root outside and Ophenia... Euthalia would've last seen the sylph staring at the sky from the balcony of the home, before going into a meditative trance.

---

In the morning, Ophenia would have long since disappeared, despite being the one who invited the group here, she wasn't the one seeing them off and they didn't even get to see her off. However, Euthalia would be reassured after reading the letter that Keone had found on the table after waking up.