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“In what world did I ask you to polymorph her?” Lindyss asked and raised an eyebrow.
Erin glared at the cursed elf. “You told me to turn her into a skunk!” the fairy queen said before hiccoughing. “Now that I did it, you’re not even going to help me get out of trouble!”
“I know the great Erin Koller is perfectly capable of escaping a skunk by herself,” Lindyss said with a faint smile on her lips. The skunk stopped running and turned around to glare at the cursed elf. Malvie chittered and gestured wildly at Lindyss, and the cursed elf couldn’t help but smile even wider. “Don’t look at me. The fairy’s the one with the polymorph skill.”
Lindyss took a sip from her glass as she leaned back in her seat. She watched as Erin flew around the skunk, the fairy queen always a hairbreadth away from the skunk’s pouncing range. How did the so-called queen of the forest transform herself from a phoenix into a human? Why couldn’t she turn herself back after she was polymorphed into a skunk?
Lindyss furrowed her brow. Erin had always boasted about polymorphing a dragon, but from what the cursed elf knew, the fairy queen could only maintain the dragon’s transformation for a few seconds at most. Polymorphing a phoenix should’ve been almost equally as difficult, yet the fairy queen showed no signs of fatigue. It couldn’t be Erin’s power grew the drunker the fairy queen was, right?
“Ack!” There was a clanging sound as Malvie fell off the table, dragging a few plates with her as she expanded, the fur receding back into her skin. “What’s wrong with you?” Malvie asked as she got up off the floor and dusted herself off with her hands that had a layer of phoenix flames on them. “All I did was ask about your dress, why’d you have to go and turn me into a skunk?”
“The two aren’t related,” Lindyss said. “My friend here drank too much and misheard me.” She glanced at Erin, who—like a fly—had circled back and landed on the glass of reddish liquid. “At least, that’s what I think happened.”
Malvie furrowed her brow. “Well, I suppose no harm was done,” she said, glancing at the fairy queen. “That’s quite a useful pet you picked up.”
“I’m not a pet!” Erin said and pointed at Malvie. The reddish-pink-haired elf ducked to the side, avoiding the fairy queen’s finger. “I’m Erin Koller, the great fairy queen of Erde!”
Malvie’s eyes widened, and she slammed her hands on the table as she whipped her head around to look at Lindyss. “You’re from Erde!?” the disguised phoenix asked. “The great dragon and phoenix war, has it ended yet? Who won? The phoenixes must’ve won if you’re walking around like this, right?”
Lindyss raised an eyebrow. Had the phoenixes won the war? Well, considering Malvie was mistaking Lindyss for a phoenix because a certain cursed dragon had stuffed a phoenix soul inside the cursed elf, didn’t that speak for itself? More importantly…. “Are you from Erde?” Lindyss asked.
Malvie nodded. “That story I told you about how the phoenixes and dragons of the tower began their war, I was one of the four phoenixes who was brought into the tower along with the dragon because of the sudden rift that sprung up on Erde.” She sighed. “Unfortunately, my three companions were slain during the battle, and I was forced to flee to a different tower. Other than you, I’m the only phoenix from Erde within the towers now.”
Lindyss frowned. “You didn’t open a portal back to Erde?”
Malvie shook her head. “Even though dragons and phoenixes are enemies, I made an agreement with the leader of the dragons, Volearden, who also happens to be from Erde,” she said. “We decided to keep our homeland separate from the towers; the dragon and phoenix war on Erde can only be counted as a small-scale battle when compared to the fights that’ve occurred within the towers. Neither I nor Volearden wish to make the land we came from a battleground rife with destruction. There’s no point in winning a territorial war by rendering the territory uninhabitable.” The reddish-pink-haired elf crossed her arms over her chest. “Alright, I’ve shared a lot of information with you. Don’t you think it’s time you answer some of my questions as well?”
Lindyss took a sip from her glass. “Well, the dragon and phoenix war is over,” she said. “It’s hard to say who won though; dragons certainly came out on top, but the victory was a pyrrhic one. Several centuries passed, and dragons and phoenixes maintain a peaceful relationship now.”
Malvie frowned. “So, phoenixes lost?” she asked and let out a sigh as she sank into her seat. “I’ve been preparing myself for quite some time to hear that news, but for it to finally be confirmed….” The disguised phoenix let out another sigh and rolled her eyes up to glance at the cursed elf.
Lindyss held her glass forward. “Want some?” she asked and twitched her wrist, causing the surface of the wine to spin. “I can order a few more glasses.”
Malvie hesitated before disabling her isolation spell. She waved at one of the waiters. “Three more bottles of wine,” she said, turning her head towards Lindyss and Erin. She grinned at them. “One for each of us.”
Erin glanced at the bottle of wine that was already on the table. It was taller and wider than her. The fairy queen blinked before grinning and giving Malvie a thumbs-up—which the disguised phoenix avoided. “I approve!”
Malvie received the bottles from the waiters and casted the isolation spell once more. “Let us drink to fill the cracks in our souls borne by the shoulder-breaking responsibilities weighing us down and eroding our well-being!”
“That’s a lot of fancy words,” Erin said, turning her head towards Lindyss. “Did you get that?”
Lindyss nodded. “She’s just making an excuse to get wasted.”