They conversed with Kevin for a while, asking questions about what Fairy science knew of essence degradation and mana inversion, trying to figure out where the soul, which the fairy was adamant was not a thing, came into the mix.

  One thing did not make sense to Niala, and she asked Kevin about it. “In our world, emptying your mana reserve regularly is apparently a way to prevent mana inversion, but wouldn't that speed up essence degradation?”

  Kevin shook her head. “No. The same technique is used in the Fairlands. The leading hypothesis is that having a lot of mana flow quickly through your essence helps cleanse it, somehow. Think of it like a pond. If the water doesn't move fast enough through it, you'll get algae and stuff growing in it, but if the water moves fast, it'll stay clear.”

  Niala nodded. “Ok, but the other thing that bothers me is that, according to David, a Fel, or a corrupted person, hasn't been seen in the kingdom for hundreds of years.”

  Kevin tilted her head. “Fel? Corrupted? What's that?”

  Niala shared a glance with David before looking back at the fairy. “When a fairy goes through mana inversion, what happens?”

  “Hmm, they just kind of... start deflating and die a few weeks later. Why? What happens to mundaneworlders?”

  Niala's ears flopped down as she leaned forward slightly. “I've never seen it, but apparently we become magivores, and eventually turn into feral beasts.”

  Kevin's droopy eyelids rose a few millimetres. “Really? That is so interesting... but, huh, you meant to ask why mana inversion doesn't happen, or as much as it did?”

  “Yes, that!”

  “Hmm, if your world followed the same kind of development as the Fairlands, then the drop in mana inversion probably coincides with widespread use of mana-powered tools,” Kevin explained.

  “That...” Niala began, her ears wiggling, as her brow furrowed. “That makes sense. David said it had been roughly 800 years ago, and mana began being used as a power about 1000 years ago, if you give time for the technology to spread... that would fit?” Her eyes shot open.

  “Wait! That may work for most places, but I know there are isolated communities that wouldn't have lots of mana tools. Why isn't mana inversion an issue there?!”

  Kevin blinked, one eye at a time. “I mean, it probably does? Don't you have unexplained diseases that make someone go feral, so much so that they have to be put down?”

  “That... might be it.” She turned toward David. “What do you think?”

  He scrunched his lips before answering. “My guess is, it is happening, and my family knows about it, but they suppress it.”

  Niala's ears flopped down with consternation. “Oh... they'd do that, wouldn't they?”

  David nodded.

  She grabbed her ears and pulled them down. “Urgh! This is too much of a puzzle, and we don't even have all the pieces!”

  Kevin looked between David and Niala. “Why are you so interested, anyway? Do you know someone who's mana-negative as well? Are they looking at mana... inversion... because they can't... get enough mana through their essence...” Her eyes widened as she connected the dots, bringing her gaze to David.

  “You have the opposite problem. You have too much mana. Oh... oh!” She tumbled out of her chair in a slothful dash toward David, getting up into his face. “Please, I need to run tests on you! To try and understand my- our conditions!”

  David gently pushed Kevin back, though her hopeful stare never left him. He sighed. “I think we can do that, but not here, not today. Totori?” He turned and addressed his agent.

  “Hmm? Yeah, boss?”

  “See if you can get a contract with a research group that focuses on the mana-negative affliction, if they'd like to run tests on someone who is mana-positive? Make sure Kevin is invited along.”

  “I'll do that, boss! I'm guessing you don't mind if we don't get paid too much?”

  David shook his head. “I'll even pay them, if it helps, but I leave that up to you.” He glanced at Niala. “Just make sure you pick a reputable group, ok?”

  Totori smiled and nodded before jumping on her pad and starting her search right away.

  The conversation wound down, and they said their goodbyes, with clear plans to meet again in the near future. David and Niala had much to discuss with Jordo, and they had a Lich that they had to punch some information out of.

  The puzzle was still vast and obscured, but there was progress, and for now, that's all that mattered.

  They left the CLAS Institute early the next day, getting onto David's private volante and further inland, to where the rolling hills gave way to vast plains.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Niala, having spent the flight to the institute glued to the window, quickly realized that they were not flying back to Fairlilly. As soon as she did, she turned an accusatory stare at David, who defended himself with a dumb smile.

  As they approached the regional airfield, and the land turned to grid-like fields and small clumps of buildings, she understood what was going on. She shot daggers at her scheming boyfriend and cursed his apparent obsession with that pit-bound drink.

  After landing, Totori rented a cariole and chauffeured them towards their destination, half a bell away, a small town whose welcome sign read “TULIPVILLE: The nicest village and fairies welcome you!”

  Totori rolled through the village, which was mostly made of one large main street lined with small shops and businesses, and pulled up to a medium-sized warehouse on the outskirts. The violet paint on it was starting to flake, and the signboard affixed to it was missing a letter, reading “Cute Bunnies Cooperative”.

  They parked near several sad-looking farm machinery in various states of disrepair, lined up against a fence that was missing a few rails.

  Despite the decrepit appearances, the few fairies they saw going about seemed in good spirits, walking with a resolute step and waving at each other.

  As they got out of the cariole, a medley of farm smells assaulted their nostrils; A strong earthy and verdant base, peppered with the tinge of manure and fertilizers, with an undertone of heavy oils and greases.

  Totori, sunglasses covering her face, walked up to the nearest farmhand, who watched the suited fairy approach her, before exchanging a few words and pointing to a smaller building further down the road.

  As they approached the administrative building, they heard yelling from within. Totori had to knock on the door a few times before she got through the din. A well-built fairy, red in the face and heaving, swung the door open. “What- Hi!” She exclaimed, going from frustration to forced cheerfulness instantly. “We weren't expecting you so soon, Ms. Totori!”

  “Ah, well, a private volante will do that! You know how it is!” Totori grinned.

  The large fairy's face and patched-up overall told David that no, she did not.

  A voice from inside the building shouted, with a deep fairy tone. “Who's there, Somimi? We weren't done talking about next month's budget!”

  Their greeter, Somimi, snapped her head toward the voice and shouted back. “Can it, Kumimi! Ms. Totori is here!”

  A few seconds of silence rang, followed by the sound of chairs scraping, furniture being moved, and papers being shoved.

  Somimi turned back at her guest, hard eyes over a smile. “If you'll just follow me, we can start discussing your business proposal!” She stepped aside to let them all in.

  Inside the cluttered and recently re-arranged office were two other fairies, one that could have been a lake's reflection of the fairy they had met at the door, the other a petite fairy, shorter even than Totori, that had deep-tanned skin.

  They exchanged greetings, learning that Somimi and Kumimi, the two tall and husky fairies, were indeed sisters, with the smaller one called Pumpkin, a childhood friend of the two.

  Despite having been tricked into coming here, Niala was soon happily chatting away with the fairies, curiosity winning over any halfhearted resentment she had towards David.

  David, for his part, held no fear. As soon as Niala heard the fairies' story, she would...

  Niala looked back at him, eyes gleaming with held-back tears, and her ears flopped down.

  His girlfriend was nothing if not consistently compassionate.

  He had to admit that their situation was a heart-wrencher. The two sisters were the only surviving family of a social activist fairy that had spent her entire life advocating for the less fortunate's rights, dying from a striking illness too young, leaving her teenage daughters to fend for themselves. The two young fairies had to drop out of school after their primary education, finding work as labourers on the farm of a family friend, where they met Pumpkin. After many years of saving money, the three of them had decided to start their own operation, buying out an abandoned parcel of land and refurbishing its aged infrastructure with spit, sweat, and a dream.

  Their vision was a cooperative where jobless or unfortunate fairies could come work for a fair salary and learn skills that would allow them to find employment elsewhere. They had organized outreach programs and made agreements with social programs to offer a place for the young and disenfranchised.

  In the early years, everything had worked out great. They had enough of a surplus that they had begun making donations to the many programs and organizations they worked with. The fairies that came to their farms would leave with some money and new skills, most finding a place in fairy society.

  But then, as the surrounding farmers grew older and their daughters did not take over the family farm, more and more lands were sold to agrarian corporations, who turned the sleepy, mundane farms into massive, efficiency-focused operations, and the price squeeze began.

  The Cute Bunnies Cooperative, CBC, had been on the decline for a decade now, and only a few programs still worked with them. Yet, they held strong, refused to stop the donations, and did not lower their salaries, still intent on giving fairies of all kinds a chance at a productive life.

  They had been discussing which kind of crop to focus on for next year, trying to figure out if there was some market that wasn't being cornered by the corporations...

  And David knew, as did Niala, despite her most ardent wish that it wasn't so, that they had the market to offer these kind-hearted, hard-working, honest fairies.

  The market of Old Women.

  The details were hashed out, a contract was drafted, and preliminary planning began.

  As Niala listed the plants and herbs she would need the CBC to produce, the fairies' brows creased further and further, until Somimi couldn't help herself.

  “Ms. Niala, I'm sorry but... aren't most of those basically weeds?”

  David managed to catch his laughter in time, managing a single puff, while Niala speared him with a flash of a glare, before turning her attention to the large fairy. “It's not weeds! They're perfectly useful plants that just happen to be hardy and invasive! So you should be happy! They'll be easy to produce! And!” She pointed a finger at Somimi. “Don't think you can just let the field grow by itself! All plants and herbs need tender love and care if they're to grow the best they can!”

  Somimi's eyes hardened. “Ms. Niala, don't disrespect our integrity. If you want good, strong weed, we'll give you the best, strongest weed. My sister and I might not know much, but we know how to grow plants.”

  Niala deflated, as her cheeks turned rosy. “Ah! I mean! Yes! That's not what I was saying! I'm sorry!” She turned toward David with a pleading look.

  He sighed and addressed the three fairies. “What my girlfriend meant, and which I fully support, is that the better the herbs, the better the end result, the more success this enterprise will have.”

  With feathers somewhat unruffled, the next question was from the farmer fairies. Pumpkin, with her squeaky mouse voice, asked. “Could we know what the plants and herbs will be used for?”

  Niala's head snapped toward David, but he spoke before she could stop him. “For Old Women.”

  He saw the questions in their eyes. He smiled. The best way to understand is to experience. He fished three sets of Old Woman herbs from his pouch and grinned. “Get some water boiling. It will explain all.”

  A few minutes later, all was explained. They had acquired the taste.

  It was all coming together.

  Soon, they would all acquire the taste.

  I AM running this thing into the ground, and I'm not stopping until we reach the core.