Epione's heart sunk a little more into the dark abyss as she heard that come out of Hel, "So I will become an outcast?" But, she tried to uplift herself since this type of treatment in the future wasn't all that different from when she was younger, "It's not that different from when I was back in the human realm." Though it was two different realms with different lifestyles, cultures, and mindsets. They were also similar in the fact that they didn't like differences. Hel assisted Epione with dressing her back into her clothes before they left the cave.
Epione was soon taken out of the cave so that she could return back to Sir Oskar's side who was sitting on a tree stump that wasn't there before greeting her with a gentle smile, "All done?" He got up using his cane before waving his hand over the stump which cause the stump to disappear into the ground, "Hel, do you think you can do anything?" He turned to Hel who seem to not have great hopes for Epione's current constitution to perform a renewal of any sort. Her magic constitution was haywire and easily triggered by emotions if she were to learn magic. But, the hopes of regrowing her wings would definitely be possible if she were to learn magic after the constitution renewal ritual. They would grow along with her magical abilities which would most likely be the same size as her mothers. But, the problem was Epione had lived in the human realm for far too long that which would hinder her to progress through learning magic through their race's methods.
Hel sighed before she turned towards Epione once again, "Sweetie, I have to ask you a difficult question." She squatted down to Epione's eye level since the girl was very short for someone with high fairy blood but it was to be expected since she was a half-blood, "Would you be willing to store your memories into a memory sphere so that you can live in this realm until your wings can grow back?" Hel waited for her answer but Epione quickly nodded her head as if she wanted to get rid of her memories. After being given consent by Epione, Hel escort the two high fairies to one of the islands where there was a towering tree that looked completely dead with its trunk completely dried up and the branches were devoid of any leaves. But, surrounding the base of the tree was submerged in an entire field of flowers.
Sir Oskar turned to Hel with a dubious look as he stared at the tree, "That tree looks incredibly dead for a plant that lives in this realm." It was indeed a strange sight. Plants from all the realms besides the one from the underworld thrive off the abundant mana that is provided in this environment. Epione watched as the tree towered over her as Hel approached the tree before mumbling some sort of incantation, "Epione with your memories of your life as a human will be taken away but you will retain only the memories like who are your parents and I are." This was a chance for Epione to live as freely as possible albeit starting from a later point in her life when she is considered somewhat independent compared to peers her age.
Hel finished the incantation where the tree sucked the life out of flowers in the field around the base of the tree. Thus giving life to the seemingly dead tree which burst with invigorated energy where its dried bark fell off as new strong and resilient bark replaced the old. Leaves sprouted at astonishing speeds and flowers blossomed at every node point. Every leaf and flower was full of vitality that you wouldn't have known that it was previously a dead tree. At the center of the tree opened up a cavity where a person would fit inside, "It is ready." Hel walked up to Epione before offering a hand to her. Epione placed her hand on Hel's before her other hand hovered over her head as a bright light entered her vision before everything went black.
A small orb emerged out of the unconscious Epione before Hel swirled it around her hand before it crystallised, sending it off to Sir Oskar, "How long will this take?" Sir Oskar caught the orb with his own magic before storing it in his robe when Epione would emerge out of the magic construction ritual. Magic reconstruction magic is different that isn't quite finalised with it being either successful or unsuccessful. Most of the time it would be successful but in Epione's case is a severe case of magic deprivation. The outcome was indeterminable with the succession of the ritual in reconstructing her mana veins.
Hel shrugged her shoulder as she gingerly placed Epione into the cavity of the tree where a white light enveloped her body, "Honestly, it could take weeks, months even years before she comes out of the ritual." The light hummed gently as if it was trying to repair her body, "Don't have your hopes up too high there is a limit to what this ritual could do for your godchild's daughter." Hel could only shake her head with a desolate expression as even she didn't have hopes of the reconstruction being successful since the damage on Epione's mana vein was the worst case in decades post magic war era. The phoenix did all that she could for Epione. All they could do was wait for her to come out of the ritual unscathed and renewed to be able to control her own magic. Maybe she could even regrow her own wings so that she could fly.
Sir Oskar stared at the white cocoon surrounding Epione's unconscious body trying to fix her body, "Use my wings." He stared at his own wings. One which only has about a third of the size compared to his good wing which was completely unscathed from damaged, "I don't have much use for my wings." He attempted to rip his wings from his back however he was stopped by Hel who glared at him with a ferocious rage.
Hel smacked Sir Oskar on the head, "Have you gone mad you old moth!" This completely surprised Sir Oskar who had rarely seen Hel with such a ferocious glare which had never been directed at him beside the time he pushed her through the portal at the peak of the magic war, "Even if you have lost your ability to fly would she be appreciative of receiving your wings so that she could better her own chances to grow her wings?" Even though Epione was only a half-blood she was still part of the High Fairy so she would appreciate receiving his wings which she knew that wings were a god-given gift bestowed on the High Fairies. High Fairies were prideful in nature so they wouldn't accept another gift if it meant that they could fly together. Blessed with high altitudes for magic and a beautiful appearance they were often mistaken as messengers of God by other races.
Their innate strength made them responsible for the protection of the weaker population of the magic race as well as the maintenance of the mana reservoirs to continue supplying the magical races with mana to use their abilities. The High Fairies had the important job of protecting and maintaining the magical realm or else the magic realm would be consumed by the other realms, "I have grown old but Epione is still young." Sir Oskar stared at the ball of white light that was in the cavity of the tree, "She still has a chance." He created a stump right behind him so that he could sit down emphasising his actual age.
Hel shook her head in disbelief as she watched her longtime friend acting like his time was up, "Look even if you think your life has no meaning." Her memories of her friend's past self which had never been pushed back by life as much as this where he was willing to allow him to fall into the mania of the wingless to always taunt him, "You have someone who will need you after she comes out whether that be weeks, months or even years from now." A screech echoed through the air the call of Hel's partner. Hel turned into her phoenix form where she stared at Sir Oskar with a stare that seem to pierce through him before flying off into the sky and to the island where her husband was calling for her. Sir Oskar sighed as he remained sitting on the stump, awaiting Epione to wake up from her slumber from the reconstruction ritual.
Sir Oskar took Hel's words and began marinating the thoughts of letting him go to the afterlife who continue to stay for the sake of Epione would need someone to protect her in this new realm that demonised half-bloods. So he decided to wait for Epione, protect her and teach her magic until she could defend herself then he could be able to peacefully go. He decided to work on himself so that he could teach Epione. He would train himself from the basic foundation of magic, reteaching himself to most frustrating magic from his youth and effectively picking up martial arts with Clotilde who would wait with him. Bringing clothes, meals, and relearning magic with him since they had been out of the magical realms for a long time.
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Within the glowing cocoon, Epione was unconscious in a darkness that was quite warm. She couldn't time inside the cocoon but her mind couldn't keep up with the sleepiness so she continued to sleep inside the warm cocoon. Occasionally, she could even feel that someone was tenderly caressing the cocoon as if she was a treasure. There would also be a man who spoke in a gentle manner talking about some type of story relating to a little girl. Another was a person who was always accompanied by the sound of wings flapping as they came to where she was and left. The flapping came from wings with feathers. There was a distinct difference between the flapping of feathers and the flapping of something else. However, the cocoon soon began to fill with a liquid before a painful tear at Epione's back seared through her consciousness. The liquid filled her lung numbing everything that was painful, as she consumed the liquid that was filled up the cocoon that she was encased in.
She would be waiting in the cocoon for an unknowingly long period. Outside the cocoon, so much time has passed with a three full rotations of an entire season cycle, three years. Until the cocoon had finally weakened as its glow ceased before becoming dull. The once invigorated tree that held the cocoon should begin to rot and die as the life that it once had. That life force returned to the dead flower field that surrounded the base of the tree. The cavity within the tree began to close up pushing out the cocoon onto the ground where it bounced onto the flower field before the cocoon began to emit a different type of magic, completely new. It was coming from within the cocoon which immediately was felt by the nearby creature especially Hel of the emerging Epione.
The magic that emerged from the cocoon soon manifested itself into a jacaranda flower, blooming at its fullest before dissipating into the air. The thread that was holding the shape of the cocoon soon began to loosen and unravel as some unknown clear liquid began to ooze out. The thread soon began to disintegrate revealing a sleepy Epione who was covered in the mucus-like liquid completely in the nude, assumedly the liquid in the cocoon had dissolved her clothes. The wings on her back were a completely different colour compared to her first which sadly did not last for too long. Instead of the pale green colouration that she once had, it was replaced by an iridescent purple with an underlying blue-green tone shimmering on the surface of the wings. It was truly a beautiful sight to behold indeed.
High Fairies are naturally already beautiful so their wings were the next indicator for a potential partner. However, most high fairies were granted only one colour designated by birth and bright colours would often be more desired by the high fairies. The more complexities and depth of colour in the wings of a high fairy immediately made them more desirable amongst the community with the best-looking wings often having gradients of the same colour. Epione was maybe the only case of having multifaceted pair of wings, however, high fairies also desired their own race so they preferred a pure-blood high fairy. Despite her bloodline, she would be considered a top candidate for a potential partner in the high fairy society due to her wings, lineage, and her relatives who were also high-ranking members of their society.
Epione's appearance did also change but it was still inherently the same as before but just more beautiful. Her skin was unblemished and cleared of the majority of the scars, however, the scar that was left on her back had turned into a birthmark. Her hair had elongated itself as it pooled around her figure as she was sitting on the ground up the top of the remains of the cocoon. It was much more shiner, healthier and softer. Her ears had even changed shape with it coming to a small point that gave her more of an ethereal appearance. It wasn't as large or pointy compared to a normal high fairy since she was part human. Epione tried to wipe away the mucusy substance from her skin before a cold breeze passed through causing her to sneeze.
Her wings were still glued to her back as they were still wet from the mucus and need to dry under the sun, "Epione!" Two individuals came down from the sky before running towards her. Epione, however, seemed unfazed towards the two individuals as she stared at them dazed. Her head bobbing up and down, "Oh my! Sweetie are you cold?" The woman of the pair covered her in a cloak of sorts to warm her up. However, Epione didn't respond, leaning against the woman, and fell asleep.