Chapter Text
You see, everyone in Lyridale knows there’s something deeper going on with the four spirits, but they can’t pinpoint just what .
Lyridale– the tiniest little nook of the Orchid Kingdom, tucked away behind endless expanses of flower fields that no one bothers to walk through or fly over, known for its glorious pastries, gentle music, and tight community– is home to a few generous handfuls of commoners and a child-sized handful of spirits who made their way there from other kingdoms. Which is to say, there are only three. Many consider Aoyagi Touya from Noctyllis to be a fourth, which is simply untrue, because all he does is perform spells he learned from a book. Quite poorly, most would add, and they would even go so far as to say he escaped Noctyllis because his magic talents are so abysmal– though no one would ever say this to his face, because he is an angel.
(Figuratively speaking. As previously clarified, he is a human.)
After living in Lyridale for a while, one will start to realize that the ‘four’ spirits are all unexplainably intertwined with each other. To explain, their pasts have coincided in most unusual ways, bringing them together into this little town as very, very, very close friends.
That is all they have ever acted like in public, and that is what everyone knows they will always act like in public. The fire spirit and the pixie and the faerie and the . . . well, the human. Best friends against all odds. They bring magic and joy into the town, and they’re well-loved by everyone who lives there. There are no secrets in Lyridale, and even if there were, they’d be transcribed onto staff paper and carried away in the wind where the rest of the music goes. Lyridale is a family. Lyridale is one heart, one song.
So that’s why it’s most peculiar that the flower faerie, Azusawa Kohane of Upper Orchid, is standing in Akiyama Yuuki’s jewelry shop, studying wedding rings. Wedding rings! Since when has she even been seeing someone?
Minori is a commoner like most of Lyridale’s residents, and she takes some shame in admitting that she enjoys looking at the things she can’t afford sometimes. Oh, it’s such a lovely thought, to imagine wearing such a beautiful necklace, or a dazzling pair of earrings! So here she stands, peering through the window and watching as the blonde-pigtailed goddess of a girl peruses the silver rings, squinting as though she’s looking for something specific.
Who is she getting married to?
Yuuki is the older sister of Minori’s good friend Mizuki, so she won’t mind the eavesdropping occurring here. Minori strains her ears to listen as Yuuki starts talking:
“Finally found a special someone?”
“Yes.” Kohane sounds a little embarrassed, avoiding Yuuki’s gaze as she stands up. “I’d . . . well, I’d– I’d like to propose soon! Preferably at the Lyric Festival, but I just can’t decide on a ring design. It needs to be perfect.”
“We’ve got plenty of perfect rings. Take your time.” Yuuki seems to notice a presence at the window, and when she looks up, she catches Minori’s eye. Minori grins sheepishly, and Yuuki quickly shifts her attention back to Kohane so the faerie won’t know someone is spying.
“Hmmm . . .” Kohane sighs, wringing her hands. Her iridescent pink wings droop a little. “I’m just not sure. Is it okay if I come back again soon?”
“Yes– as I said, take all the time you need. The Festival is in three weeks, though, so . . .”
Kohane laughs nervously. “I-I know. I’ll try my hardest to get my thoughts organized so I can be prepared to do it by then. Um– thank you, Yuuki-san. It’s always a pleasure to see you.”
She curtsies politely, and Yuuki grins back at her. “No problem, Kohane.”
Minori ducks behind the shop as Kohane leaves, watching the faerie lift off the ground and fly back to her home near the edge of Lyridale, off with the flower fields. Once she’s out of sight, Minori scurries back into Yuuki’s shop and slams her hands on the counter. “The flower faerie is getting married?”
“Looks like it.” Yuuki smiles. “I, for one, am super excited to see who she’s chosen. She’s so quiet that nobody really knows all that much about her personal life.”
“So she didn’t give you any hints?” Minori hops up to sit on the counter, kicking her feet back and forth. She’s wearing the pair of shoes she got for her birthday– white, with little bedazzled butterflies on the sides. She wears them everywhere and scrubs the dirt clean each night so they look brand-new.
“Not a single hint, honest.”
Minori taps her finger on her chin. “I’ll have to think about this! I’m so curious.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t peer into Kohane’s private business,” Yuuki suggests.
“Well . . . maybe we shouldn’t, but I still sorta want to.” Minori grins back at her, batting her eyelashes hopefully. “I’d like to do a bit of investigation with Mizuki and Saki . . .”
“Just don’t get too nosy. No breaking and entering, and no obsessive stalking,” Yuuki says, gently pushing her off the counter. She lands gracefully, which is to say, she trips and falls flat on her face.
“Oh– are you– are you alright?”
“Never better.” Minori leaps to her feet, does a little spin in her simple dress, and skips out of the store without a care in the world, except for, of course, the investigation of Kohane and the wedding ring. That could be considered a care, certainly.
She runs down the cobblestone paths, greeting the other villagers as she passes through the town. She grabs hold of one of the fire spirit’s lampposts and spins joyously around it, heading off on the other path down to the mage’s tower. There’s a ladder built into the tower that leads to the tippy-top of the roof, and the mage doesn’t mind if anyone ever wants to climb it, so Minori and her friends have made it their little get-together point.
She finally arrives and locates the ladder at the back, clambering up the old stone wall. The mage doesn’t enjoy it here; when he came travelling into town for the first time and decided he liked Lyridale enough to stay, the townspeople all told him there was an old wizard’s tower he could live in, which he graciously accepted. The problem– well, he’s terrified of heights. The tower stretches a good fifty feet in the air, and he has never once climbed the spiral staircase to the top room. He’s told her so himself. Minori doubts he even knows what’s up there! She and her friends have speculated. Minori thinks it’s a family of frogs, and Saki thinks it’s an eternally-sleeping princess for him to awaken with a kiss. Mizuki says the mage is too much of a socially-inept, clumsy, and dense creature to ever find love if not in the form of a maiden waiting for a smooch, so the latter theory must be true, for the sake of his happiness.
While Minori is climbing the ladder, the mage pokes his head out of one of the windows. He must be working on a very intense spell, because his usually-neat split-toned blue hair is sticking up everywhere, his hat is askew, and his cheeks are flushed with exertion. “Hello, Miss Minori. How goes your day?”
“Good, Mr. Mage! Be careful!” she says, pausing her ascent. “With the window, I mean.”
He looks down and goes extraordinarily pale. “Y-yes, indeed. Er . . . I have some pastries from the baker, and you and your friends are welcome to come onto the first floor whenever you like and have some. I’m going to take a nap, but the door is unlocked; feel free to wake me if you need anything.”
He always seems to forget when he’s in a high place. Minori always makes it her job to remind him, but now that she’s thinking about it, wouldn’t it be better if he stayed unaware? “Thank you, Mr. Mage! We might take you up on those pastries. Good luck with your spell-casting! And your nap!”
Minori reaches the rooftop at last and hoists herself onto it, looking out at the entire town of Lyridale. It’s a beautiful view, and it’s such a shame Mr. Mage will never get to see it! All the little houses with their pastel-shingled roofs, tall and short and wide and narrow and every other shape in between, and all the flowers absolutely everywhere that give the place pops of bright color. There’s the magical river that trails around the town, the few trees framing the small area, and at the center of it all, the stage– where everyone comes together annually to make a song at the Lyric Festival. She can already almost picture the glorious fireworks.
She swings her feet back and forth for a moment, then pulls out her leaf-whistle; her friends will hear it and know to meet up with her. She has something very important to discuss, after all! She blows it, making a beautiful, clear sound reminiscent of the way the wind filters through the trees on a sunny spring day, then tucks it back into her satchel.
Soon enough, Mizuki and Saki come climbing up the tower. Once they reach the top, Minori pulls them onto the roof, careful not to trip and go tumbling down fifty feet of air. “You guys! Sorry for calling you out here, but we need to talk!”
“Is something wrong?” Saki asks, her cheerful expression shifting to one of concern.
“No, no, not at all!” Minori gets comfy in her usual spot on the roof, and the two other girls sit beside her. “Listen. I saw the flower faerie trying to buy a wedding ring.”
Their gasps sync perfectly.
“You’re kidding!” Mizuki exclaims. “Do you have details?! I didn’t know she was courting anyone!”
“I didn’t either,” Minori says. “That’s why we have to get to the bottom of the mystery! Who is Kohane courting?”
“It must be one of the spirits, right?” Saki asks. “They’re all friends. Trust me– I would know.” (Saki knows everything about everyone in Lyridale. She’s a bit of a gossip.)
“They kinda all act a little romantic with each other,” Mizuki says. “It can’t be Touya, though, because I’m still holding out hope that he’ll kiss that girl in the attic and they’ll live a happy life off in the countryside together.”
“But Mizuki, we are in the countryside,” Saki says.
“A happier life off in a different countryside, then.”
“Guys! Guys! Stay focused.” Minori slammed her hands down on her knees, trying to get back on track. “We should investigate! A little bit of snooping can’t possibly hurt.”
“Ooh, I like your style,” Mizuki says, twirling a lock of rose-pink hair around her finger. “Should we go now? Find the flower faerie and see who she’s hanging out with?”
“Yes! I wanna be a detective!” Saki’s eyes are sparkling.
“First, we gotta place our bets,” Minori says in faux solemnity. “Do we think she’s getting married to Ms. Pixie, Mr. Baker, or Mr. Mage?”
“But . . . it can’t be Touya. What about the girl in the attic,” Mizuki says mournfully.
“I vote Ms. Pixie. Their tension is through the roof,” Saki says. “Good thing they can both fly.”
They blink at her, then understand her joke. Minori laughs courteously. Mizuki laughs because it’s stupid.
“Anyway, I’m not voting for Touya. I think it’s gotta be Akito. Kohane is always at the bakery.” Mizuki kicks one leg over the other and smiles proudly, confident in her prediction.
“Then that leaves me to vote for Mr. Mage.” Minori honestly hasn’t seen the two of them interact all that frequently, but she does know their friends, and who is she if she isn’t rooting for the underdog?! “They would be so very cute together.”
“Attic girl,” Mizuki says, wiping imaginary tears from her eyes.
“Hold on. Mr. Mage offers us pastries from the baker every time we come over, but he doesn’t like sweet things, right?” Saki asks. “Is he making excuses to see Mr. Baker? Curious.”
“Maybe he just really likes us,” Mizuki jokes.
“Speaking of pastries! Let’s go get some.” Minori stands up and almost topples off the roof; Mizuki quickly grabs her arm and pulls her back down, putting an arm around her waist to steady her. “Ahaha . . . thank you! After a snack break, we’ll begin our investigation!”
The three girls lie in wait behind one of the bushes outside the flower faerie’s house, right next to all the flowers. Saki keeps subtly picking ones she can reach and putting them in her long, wavy pigtails, and Mizuki has started making a flower crown. Minori thinks this is theft and will not participate in such a heinous activity!
“Why are we waiting here if she’s already at home?” Mizuki whispers. “Are we just seeing if someone’s gonna come visit her?”
“Yes! It’s bound to work. Everyone wants to visit her,” Minori whispers back.
“What if it’s just the mailman?” Saki whispers.
“Kohane doesn’t have a mailbox,” Mizuki whispers.
“Why are we whispering if she’s inside?” Saki whispers.
Minori’s gaze snaps up when she hears something, putting her finger to her lips to silence her friends. It’s whistling, and lively footsteps, like someone is skipping. She peers just barely over the bush and sees the pixie, happily jaunting along with leaves in her dark hair and scorch marks on her yellow sundress. She’s always been one to adventure, and she’s been gone for a few months now, so she’ll surely have lots of good stories to tell when Minori gets a chance to talk to her next. What is Ms. Pixie doing with Kohane, she wonders? And what’s in the seemingly very heavy wooden basket she’s holding?
Ms. Pixie arrives at the front step of Kohane’s beautiful little cottage, knocking on its round, floral-pattern-carved door. Not more than a moment later, Kohane opens it and all but jumps into Ms. Pixie’s arms, nearly knocking her over. “An!”
An drops her basket so she can hold onto Kohane, then trips and falls backwards onto the soft grass, laughing. “Kohane!”
“You’ve been gone for far too long,” Kohane says, rolling off of her and dusting off the pink dress she’s wearing. “What trouble did you get up to this time?”
As Kohane tries to brush the dirt off of An’s cheeks and examine the damage to her outfit, An says, “Well, I went and roughed up a few dragons causing trouble in the next kingdom over. Oh, and I stopped a drought in another town. Did some cliff-jumping on the coasts of Lunalis. And shopped at every cute little place from Twiale to Noctyllis. I got you souvenirs! Lots of ’em!”
“Oh, you didn’t have to,” Kohane says, cheeks coloring. “Just you being here is enough for me. I’m glad you didn’t get hurt. Dragons? Really? What happened?”
“I’ll tell you in a second.” An reaches over and retrieves the basket she’d set down, then plops it in between the two, opening the lid. “Go on. Look at everything.”
“I knew it!” Saki whisper-yells, and Mizuki and Minori quickly shush her, even though it is looking like she may be right.
Kohane pulls a candle out of the basket, and An says, “Peaches! The scent of the most authentic peaches the whole world has to offer, straight from Lunalis. I know you love those.”
“Aww,” Kohane says, bringing it up to her nose. Her eyes soften when she looks at An. “Thank you. I’ll light it tonight while I’m working on my song for the festival.”
“Okay, keep going!” An urges, pointing to the basket. This time, Kohane pulls out a bottle of perfume.
“Also peach-scented. Sorry.” An grins, and Kohane smiles radiantly back at her.
The next thing she takes out is a wrapped plate of what appear to be chocolates. “Noctyllis’s specialty,” An explains. Kohane takes a moment to taste one and then offers An another, even though she tries to turn it down.
There are little wooden trinkets from Twiale, and bracelets and rings from Solia, and a new kind of eyeshadow from Lunalis. An really went all out– these presents must have cost a fortune. Kohane looks almost overwhelmed with all the thoughtful gifts, and once she’s finally reached the bottom of the basket, she says, “Thank you, An. Really. I . . . I don’t know what to say. This is all so, so lovely.”
An smiles. “I’d do anything for you, Kohane! I like making you happy.”
Kohane gently leans closer and brushes a hand through An’s hair, making several blue flowers bloom among her locks. “And I appreciate that very much.”
“But . . .” An takes the hand that’s still trailing through her hair and squeezes it lightly, then lets go and stands up. “I do actually have one more thing?”
“ An,” Kohane says, blushing again. “That’s a little excessive.”
An suddenly runs off, going fast enough that her wings instinctively lift her off the ground a little. She just goes a few feet past the bushes– she must have set something down over there– and returns a moment later with a wrapped package. She’s almost vibrating with excitement as Kohane hesitantly tears off the brown paper and . . .
Kohane lifts up a beautiful white gown, shimmering in the light with dozens of little jewels sewn into the fabric. It shines like a crystal snowfall, and Minori has never seen anything more dazzling in her entire life. It’s all she can do not to burst into tears behind the bush. Saki pats her back reassuringly.
“Oh, An,” Kohane breathes. “You didn’t have to . . . this is gorgeous.”
“I saw it and couldn’t stop thinking of you,” An says sheepishly. “I just knew you’d look absolutely beautiful in it.”
Kohane stares at it for a moment longer, then sets it carefully across the grass and gives An another tight hug that neither of them pull away from for a long while.
“I win,” Saki says.
“Try it on!” An says. “I wanna see you in it.”
“Help me with the buttons?” Kohane asks softly, and An beams, taking her hand as Kohane picks up the dress. They head to the cottage and close the door behind them, and Minori turns to the other girls and almost screams.
“That was soooooooooo cute,” she gushes. “Oh my goodness. They’re in love. They’re so in love.”
“I knew it! I knew it!” Saki exclaims. “This has to be it!”
“I’m alright with this,” Mizuki says, nodding. “They’ll be very happy together.”
“We have to stay here and see if Kohane comes back outside,” Minori says, grabbing Saki’s hand when she tries to stand up. “I wanna see her in that dress!”
The others voice their agreement, so they sit there, resuming their respective flower activities, until at last the door to Kohane’s cottage opens and the two come out.
Oh, goodness gracious bless the sun and moon, Kohane is stunning. The dress makes her absolutely ethereal. Its long, dramatic skirt falls gently around her, so light it seems to be made of real clouds, and the little snow-jewels catch in the glow of the sun and make her sparkle. The bodice is laced up with thin, glittering white string, like the webs of a star-spider, and the translucent sleeves are so delicate that they appear to almost fade away at the edges. She looks like a dream.
An takes her hand and leads her out into the flower field again, starting to dance with her. “You are so pretty I can’t even believe it.”
Kohane giggles. “You’re prettier.”
“Hello?! I’m wearing a scorched sundress and you’re wearing the finest piece of clothing in the world!” An dips her down unexpectedly, making her let out a high-pitched squeak.
“How long are you going to stay?” Kohane leans closer to her once she’s lifted back up.
“At least until the Lyric Festival. Probably a while after that.” An spins her around. “I wish I could take Akito on my next adventure. It gets a little lonely being by myself for months on end.”
“He’s really antsy at the bakery,” Kohane says. “He misses travelling. I think he’d love to go with you. As long as you don’t let him burn down any houses.”
“No promises. That sounds like a good time.” An grins. “But who would make all the delicious pastries in his absence?”
“Touya,” Kohane says, and after a brief pause, they both burst out laughing.
“He really should hire someone else to work there, though. He doesn’t have a lot of time for himself nowadays.” An frowns. “Maybe we should help find him someone.”
“Maybe we should.” Kohane thinks about this for a moment, then says, “Do you think we could go take a stroll by the river? I’d love to hear more about your latest travels.”
“Of course!” An takes her arm. “Come with me.”
The two head off, stepping lightly on the ground while their wings let them hover ever-so-slightly above the grass, and once they’re finally out of sight and earshot, Minori stands up from where she’s been crouched behind the bush. “Wow! Our investigation really paid off!”
“It’s too bad we figured out the mystery already, though,” Mizuki says. “I kinda wanted to snoop some more.”
“We shouldn’t get too into Ms. Faerie’s business, though,” Minori says, helping the other girls to their feet. “Mizuki, your sister told me no breaking and entering, and no obsessive stalking. So this is okay!”
“Did you think we were going to break and enter somewhere?! Because that would’ve been awesome.”
“Mizuki,” Minori chides.
“Can I tell everyone?” Saki asks, her voice barely veiling her extreme excitement.
“No! Ms. Faerie wants it to be a surprise! She’s going to propose at the Lyric Festiva–” Minori puts a hand over her mouth. She wasn’t supposed to say that, either. It was supposed to be the surprise on top of the surprise.
“Oh, that’s sooooo cute!” Saki squeals, bouncing on her toes. “It’s going to be so romantic! Do you think she’ll do it while the fireworks are going?”
That would be incredibly lovely. Minori hopes so. “I dunno!”
“I guess all we can do is wait,” Mizuki says. “Race you two back to the mage’s tower!”
“And then the village leader tried to pay me for getting rid of the dragon problem. Can you believe it? I dunno if I’ve ever gotten compensated for my efforts before.” An swings her and Kohane’s hands back and forth as they casually hover a few inches above the ground, flying more than properly ‘strolling’.
“And what did you say to them?” Kohane asks, drinking in the sight of her; her beautiful dark hair that fades into blue like she dipped it in a twilight sky, her sparkling amber eyes, dancing as she recounts her journey, her glittering teal wings, the one remaining smudge of dirt on her cheek that’s too cute to rub off with her thumb.
“I, uh . . . I accepted it, actually!” She laughs, brushing a lock of hair behind her pointed ear. “There was no way I was gonna get that dress for you without some extra funds.”
Kohane feels herself get a little red. “Well, thank you. It’s the prettiest thing I’ve ever worn.”
“Anything would look amazing on you! You know that.” An leans over to give her a peck on the cheek, making Kohane giggle. “You could wear a burlap sack and still look like a divine being.”
“I don’t think that’s true.”
“Wanna bet?” She raises an eyebrow, grinning. “I’ll find you one. I’ll even dump all the potatoes out of it first.”
“So you’re going to steal a burlap sack?!” Kohane puts a hand to her heart in mock horror. “An, you’ve turned over a new leaf while you’ve been away . . .”
“I would steal a hundred potatoes for you,” An says, and this completely misses the point, so Kohane can’t help but laugh.
“What’s so funny, Kohane?! My potato conquest? You think potatoes are too measly of an item to be used as a symbol of love, huh?”
“An, what are you talking about?”
“Whatever you want, I’ll get it. If you want me to bring you all of the pastries Akito has made today, I’ll do it, although you might find my dead body tomorrow.”
“Oh, no! I couldn’t ask for that if the consequence would be death!”
“Rolling pin to the head,” An says solemnly. “Akito means business.”
“He always does.” Kohane steers her in a different direction, wanting to fly over the river. They look down at the vibrant water, shining in a hundred different colors; it has magical properties, and can be used in all sorts of potions. A swim in the Lyridale River or a quick drink from it feel as though your mind has become clear and your soul has become light. It’s a borderline spiritual experience, as An puts it. “So, An . . .”
“Yes, sweet potato pie?” An kisses her cheek again.
Kohane takes a deep breath. “While you were gone, the townspeople nominated me to write the melody for this year’s Lyric Festival.”
An’s jaw literally drops. “No way! Are you kidding?! That’s amazing, Kohane!”
“I suppose they thought it was only fair to give me a chance, since I’ve been leading the ceremony for so long. I’m worried I’m not going to write an adequate song, though.”
“Hello?! Of course you will! You’re amazing at coming up with songs.”
Though Kohane doesn’t like to admit it to herself, there is some truth to An’s words. One time years ago, while gardening with the other spirits, she invented a little ditty about worms and mud, and she still hears Akito humming it at the bakery sometimes. It’s really rather cute. “Well, if you think so . . .”
“Yes. I believe in you.” An bumps her shoulder against hers, nearly getting their wings caught up in each other by accident. She quickly moves a few more inches away. “And that belief is all you need! I’ll be rooting for you every step of the way.”
Kohane feels all of her anxiety about writing the song start to melt away. An has always just . . . sort of had that effect on her; she knows everything’s going to be alright if they’re together.
“Inspiration comes best when you’re moving around,” An says. “Come on, let’s race to that tree way off in the distance!”
Before even counting down, An zooms off, stardust from her wings trailing behind her. Kohane laughs again– An has always been so impatient– and chases after her, determined to get in the lead at least once.
As they race, that ridiculous worm song starts playing in her mind again.