The Disappearance of Ayumi Mano V

Nastia and Tammy decided to spend the night at Ayumi's place. Searching for clues was one thing - accompanying the desperate Ardis was another. It was difficult to say, which of the two tasks turned out to be the harder one.

Nastia carefully scoured the flat inch by inch. Bookshelves filled with manga and fantasy, jars and cans full of exotic tea, meticulously calligraphed monograms and other trinkets - all were carefully examined - with little to no results. Ardis' resident magic made her special 'sense' clouded, but with some concentration she was able to filter this interference out. If only she knew where to find some clues to base further reasoning on... She was so desperate, that asking Tammana to call Mari or Olive for aid seemed to be a viable solution. Those girls were nuts, but for some strange reason, their hunches and antics usually led to positive conclusions. Not until they caused an equivalent amount of chaos and trouble (as well as detonations, if Olive was to be involved), though.

In the living room, Tammana was doing her best to keep Ardis' spirits up. The fairy was getting more and more frantic, swinging from tearful breakdowns and regrets about 'not protecting Ai' to confident assurances she will find her and strangle the kidnapper. Tammana previously had only second-hand knowledge of the recent developments in their relationship, but she now had a living proof of Ardis' feelings.

"Nastia will surely find something" she poured some more tea into the tiny cup used by the fairy. "That bastard won't get away"

"I-I can't remember..." sobbed Ardis "...that feeling back in the dojo... It was so familiar... But I can't point out why... It's like... like..."

Tammana tilted her head, waiting for the fairy to contain tears.

"...like I was back home" Ardis finally concluded. "With Ma and Pa. Before the accident..."

"Accident?" Ardis' past was always somewhat mysterious to them (well, at least to her and Nastia), and curiosity forced the question out before Tammana considered the fairy's potential reaction.

"Ai never told you?" Ardis looked at Tammana surprised, tears drying off her cheeks. "I mean, about the tree. We lived in an apple tree, not too big, not too small... Pa build us a house in one of the hollows. He was good with making things, Ma was good with magic... we lived there pretty nicely, not disturbing anyone. All four of us..."

"Four?"

"Yea. Me, Ma, Pa and Sa - my sis. I was the younger of two. We lived happily, right under the wingless'... I mean, your kind's... noses. But one day the storm came"

Adris sat in silence, sobs replaced by eerie apathy.

"I was out with Sa, running some errands for the parents. We had to hide in the large house's attic because the storm caught us outside. A raging one, with lightning, thunders and hail. We saw the ice wreck the trees in the orchad. We saw the... the thunderbolt strike our tree..."

Her empty eyes looked towards Tammy, but also past her, like she was made of air, translucent.

"The tree just... just snapped in two. We flew there, against the wind and ice... and then it caught fire. Sa was the one who inspected it afterwards. She said the rip went right through Ma's lockers. The stuff spilt, mixed, ignited. We buried Ma and Pa under the roots. The wingless came soon after, we hid back in their attic..."

"Ohmygosh...!" Tammana gasped, covering her mouth. "I-I am so sorry Ardis... I didn't... I didn't know..."

"It's okay now" Ardis' flat voice and void eyes said otherwise. "I have you all. I have Ai..."

Careful not to crush the fairy, Tammana picked her up and hugged her cheek to cheek.

The closeness, the warmth and the scent of another person broke through Ardis' shell. Tears erupted again, hot against Tammy's velvet skin. Tiny hands tried to grab the Indian girl, hysterical spasms shaking Ardis' whole body.

"It'll be OK..." Tammy whispered "...I promise. We swear" she added, seeing Nastia enter the kitchen, a disturbed expression on her face.