Jiaoying didn’t understand why tonight of all nights had to be the one where she felt her age.

Her legs were sore, her back ached, and her eyelids were so heavy that keeping them open felt like a herculean effort.

And yet, she couldn’t drift off into rest just yet. Not when she had a very curvaceous and playful dark fae straddling her.

No further intimacy was had, though, as the two seemed to still be tuckered out from their morning and afternoon sessions.

Instead, Yari had turned to her third love- research.

Jiaoying lay on her back in bed, her eyes half open but admiring Yari’s face all the same.

A subtle blush rose on her cheeks as Yari untied her nightgown and pulled it away.

The cold air of the room grazed against her exposed skin and gave her a slight chill.

Yari studied her lover’s bare form as if it were a complicated equation rather than a nude woman.

She traced her fingers over the dark lines running along her form with no idea of what she was doing to the woman underneath her.

"I think... these may be a kind of language, beloved. Though it’s hard to say exactly what kind. More primitive cultures have been known to use simpler lines as alphabets, and this very well could be..."

Yari continued analyzing her lover for several minutes, alternating between writing down notes in her journal and doing her best to find some sort of meaning within the markings.

She grazed Jiaoying’s collarbone when she noticed the beautiful knight commander staring up at her with a hard-to-read expression.

For some reason, Yari felt herself become a bit self-conscious.

"...Am I talking too much?"

"No."

"A-Am I heavy?" Yari started to get up.

"No!" Jiaoying placed her hands on her love’s waist and held her in place.

She sighed hesitantly before she pulled her love on top of her, so that their noses were nearly touching.

"You... You said something to Bear and me earlier, before we left the fae realm."

"Stop staring at my breasts?"

"No."

"I’m not kissing you again before we get home."

"No!" Jiaoying sighed. "After we woke up the first time... we were intimate for a bit, but before that you said something... pretty intense."

Yari’s cheeks turned scarlet. A wave of memories surged into her mind, ones that she had previously believed to be only dreams.

It didn’t take her long to realize exactly what words Jiaoying was referring to.

"...Did they trouble you? My words, I mean."

"N-No, no, it’s just... Did you mean them?"

A sweet smile rose on Yari’s face as she pressed her forehead against her darling’s.

"More than anything I have ever said before. And if you should need me to repeat it, I shall do so every day until I take my dying breath."

"..."

Jiaoying cried shortly afterwards. She didn’t know why. But perhaps it was that last bit of energy expenditure that finally consumed the last of her strength.

Yari held on to her lover as she slept. And Jiaoying rested in her embrace as if she were the last warm respite in a world already frozen over.

As the night turned progressively later, Yari remained wide awake.

Whatever had happened to her had spiked her energy levels something fierce.

She wanted to run around and play like a child. She wanted to sing songs, do puzzles, go to the garden to make friends, and maybe even bake.

She entertained fantasies of flying around with her lovers, laughing and smiling at each other lovingly before they had the most intimate sex possible atop the safety of the clouds.

Yari felt a bit embarrassed. At over 200 years old, she was harboring such childish fantasies that she could scarcely believe it.

*Tap, tap, tap!*

Yari lifted her head from the safety of Jiaoying’s neck.

She glanced at the window, where her sister was hovering just outside of it with a helpless smile.

Giselle pointed at her wings, then at the city behind them. It seemed Yari wasn’t the only one feeling a bit restless in bed.

Looking toward the window, then back at her sleeping lover, Yari could not deny her need for a bit of exercise.

Thanks to her favorite pair of heels, she had been able to fly for a long time. But there was something about flying with her own set of wings that was uniquely euphoric.

She gave Jiaoying a small kiss on the lips. "I will return shortly, my goddess. Please dream of me." Yari slipped out of bed quietly afterward.

She moved towards the window and opened it without waking her love.

After she jumped outside and closed the window behind her, she missed the change that occurred in the bed.

Earlier, Jiaoying had been brought to tears without understanding the reason. She never could have imagined that the answer would be something so simple to decipher.

As she rested with dreams only known to her, her spirit felt more full than ever. Her body was almost renewed. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

She began to toss and turn underneath the covers of her bed, groaning subtly. The tattoos across her body began to race into new positions.

Somehow, her body aged more than twenty years in twenty seconds. But Jiaoying did not look frail.

Her thighs and legs were thicker. Her arms too.

The tattoos along her arms went from being simple black filigree to actual designs and images.

Her abs became more defined and powerful, but her body maintained its womanly appeal. Every inch of her looked soft to the touch and as enticing as a sweet liquor.

When her lovers next laid eyes on her, they would surely be in for the shock of their lives...

-

"Should I even ask why you are awake and out at this time of the night?"

"For the same reason as you, my little sunseed. Sleep eludes me like a rational thought to the mind of a hypnotized man. Being back in this realm has placed me more on edge than I had anticipated."

After thirty minutes of flight, the sisters were now walking hand in hand on the castle rooftop.

Giselle held a very large and sugary pastry in one hand as she bellyached about the ’stench’ of the human realm.

Yari watched her sister silently, but she appeared to have a great deal on her mind. Eventually, Giselle finally seemed to take notice.

"...What? I asked you if you wanted a churro from the vendor three times, so don’t think I’ll let you have a bite of mine now!" Giselle held the food close to her chest like precious treasure.

Yari barely resisted the urge to laugh in her face.

"No, silly girl. I was just wondering... If part of your difficulty here may extend from the fact that Lioraeth isn’t present."

Giselle seemed a bit surprised. "Oh? Why would you say that?"

"Well... You spend twenty years talking with someone day after day, I’d imagine the two of you get rather close."

"Ah, that’s true. I daresay I know the woman like the back of my hand by now. I miss her, but I don’t exactly miss waking up at odd hours of the night to her orgies, or Star-Powder fueled raves... But, I suppose if it gets too bad, I can always go back to visit."

Yari nodded slowly. Her eyes took on a bit of a sad tone.

"It’s almost like... You’ve gotten yourself another sister."

Giselle froze with her sugary treat mere inches away from her mouth. Her pupils trembled like loose marbles.

"What...? Sister, You-"

"G-Giselle..!"

The sisters froze at the exact same time and looked around the roof. What they saw horrified them, but was instantly recognizable.

Eir’Vael was hunched over on both knees, their body flickering in and out of vision like a dim flame.

He looked weak. So weak that Giselle couldn’t even relish the euphoria of seeing her lost love once again. She remained too afraid to touch them, as if she believed a single graze of their skin would be the thing to shatter his existence like glass.

Eir’Vael looked up at her, their expression one of pure agony.

Black blood leaked from their lips as they delivered a solemn warning in a scratchy voice.

"Get out of here... R-Run..!"

Neither woman had a moment to adjust before masked figures leapt out of the shadows on the rooftop.

They were grabbed by as many as three at a time and pulled back into the darkness.

Everything happened before they were even given the chance to scream.

-----------------

think I’m out of my little funk now. Thank you to everyone for being patient with me. How’s three Chapters tomorrow sound?