We had to take breaks to breathe and stuff, but Poppy and I were still happily snogging when Breeze returned from her errand. “Geeze, break it up you two. It’s about damn time one of you made a move with the way you’ve been making googoo eyes at one another, but I need to talk with Lily for a bit,” they said, interrupting the bliss that I was experiencing. Then their tone turned from teasing to serious as they added, “It’s important.”

With a sigh, I let my lips leave Poppy’s and tried to look as serious as Breeze seemed to be, though that wasn’t easy with my heart threatening to burst from sheer joy. I took a deep breath to calm myself a bit and asked, “Is this about the teleporting thing?”

Breeze shook their head sadly. “No, Lily, they probably won’t get back to you about that for a day or two. There’s someone you need to see, but the other nurses and I wanted to make sure that you were strong enough to get around on your own first. I don’t think you’re strong enough yet, but I think you need this after what you’ve been through and it could be a good incentive for you to work hard on your rehab and to improve with your magic and special ability, now that you know what it is. A nurse is waiting outside to give you a ride until we get there.”

I was a little confused by what they were saying, and they didn’t seem keen on giving me any details yet. Was Breeze taking me to some kind of psychologist or something? I cast an uncertain glance toward Poppy, but from the look on the Fire Sprite’s face, she didn’t seem to know any more than I did about whatever was going on. Finally, I swallowed the lump in my throat, nodded, and replied, “Umm… sure, Breeze. I can…”

Oh crap. I almost just said that I could ride Moonlight there instead of the nurse’s shoulder. I wanted my Unicorn companion with me for morale support, given the uncertainty of what I might be heading into, and had nearly revealed her existence to both Poppy and Breeze before cutting off what I was about to say. Moonlight didn’t seem to trust most humans, other than me, and that seemed to extend to other Altered as well. She had made it very clear that she did not want anyone but me to know about her existence yet unless it was an emergency, and my life was in danger.

Thinking as quickly as I could, with both other Sprites seeming to hang off that aborted statement, I added, “I… you’ve got me a bit nervous here Breeze, so I was wondering… if I can have Poppy there too?” It came out as more of a question than I intended, but neither seemed to think there was anything more to it.

“Well, this is your business…” Breeze mumbled though they didn’t seem certain if it was a good idea or not, going by their expression and tone of voice. They looked to the Fire Sprite, who faintly smiled and nodded. “I suppose if you want her there for support, we can allow it, but this is a personal matter, and she should be ready to leave if asked. Are you certain that you want her with you, Lily?”

If this really was some sort of therapy session, as I feared, then I wouldn’t mind Poppy being in there with me. In fact, her presence might make me more comfortable. I was a little concerned about how she might react when she found out I used to be male, in body if nothing else, but it was something that I would need to tell her soon anyway since I didn’t like feeling like I was lying to her. Poppy had said there were fifty/fifty odds of me being a guy before the whole blood cocoon thing, so she knew about the possibility, but I was still a little nervous about telling her.

I guess between all the trauma before I zonked out for over three and a half years, and changing into a girl and a Water Sprite, it was pretty likely that the nurses thought it would be good for me to see someone about my issues. I didn’t feel like I was handling it too badly so far though, aside from the occasional panic attack, but I’d had those long before the Incursion that changed my life. Still, it was probably better to just get this therapy session, or whatever it was, over with.

I would sit on the big couch, talk about my feelings, carefully avoid mentioning the invisible Unicorn, and show them all that I was adjusting just fine and didn’t need a shrink. I had already gone from close to six feet tall to a little under five inches and was shorter than every other Sprite I’d met so far. I had been shrunk quite enough already, thank you very much.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” I replied to the Wind Sprite. At least, I was sure that I wanted her there until I had some clue about what was going on.

“Okay then,” Breeze reluctantly agreed. With that decided, they took flight and led us to the hospital room door. The door was one of those made with a window in it, at around head-height for the average human, but this one had no glass in it and had instead been covered in lightweight, translucent white curtains. Those curtains could be easily parted to allow Fairy Class Altered passage through the door to access either the Fairy Ward itself or the hallway outside it.

The Wind Sprite hovered to hold the curtain open for Poppy and me before motioning us through and then following us out into the hallway where a nurse, who looked like a regular human woman, waited. She tried to keep her voice quiet for our sake as she introduced herself as Janet. Then, I was encouraged to ride in the chest pocket of her scrubs, so I could rest, and I tried to get comfortable enough that I could lean over the lip of the pocket and see where we were going as she headed down the hallway toward an elevator with Poppy and Breeze flitting alongside her.

Riding in Janet’s pocket, so close to her chest was weird. It was like I was leaning against the biggest and softest pillow ever, and I could practically feel her heartbeat as we traveled down the hallway. Eventually, we made our way into the elevator, where I discovered that the Fairy Ward was on the third of eleven floors, and Janet pressed the button that would take us down one level to the second floor. After leaving the elevator, and a couple turns down the hallways, Janet stopped at room 223.

What was going on? This would have looked like just another hospital room if it wasn’t for the heavy-looking door and the security lock with a keypad. I figured that if this was some psychologist’s office then there would be a nameplate on the door or something to indicate that people were in the right place too. “W-what’s going on here?” I asked tremulously.

Motioning for Janet to hold off on opening the door for a moment, Breeze hovered closer and sighed, wearing an uncertain expression. Seconds stretched on before the Wind Sprite finally admitted, “I should have told you more before bringing you here, Lily. I suppose that I should start by quickly telling you some of the background stuff.”

My mind and my heart were both racing as I wondered and worried about just what was going on here, but I managed to nod and stammered, “O-okay.”

“You know that the Titans seem to be avoiding capturing or killing anyone who might become Altered, right?” I gave another shaky nod of affirmation and that seemed to be enough for them as they continued on. “It’s like they can see who’s going to be changed before it happens, and that’s why you were left alone while the rest of your family was captured or killed. Anyway, they’ve been following that pattern for the past five years or so; not only do they not take anyone who might become Altered, but the Vanguard has also been finding people near the breaches lately, Altered, or their bodies changing to become so. People that we can’t usually identify.”

“Often, they’re young teens, along with the occasional pregnant woman. We figure that their world is full of the Wild Magic that leads to some people becoming Altered and it spills violently out into our world during the breaches. Elevated hormone levels seem to be one of the larger triggers though, so children they capture could still be at risk when going through puberty or other conditions that may cause wild fluctuations in hormone levels, so maybe their detection of the condition isn’t foolproof,” Janet interjected, and even with her being careful to keep her volume low, her voice still boomed to me, and I felt quakes where I was resting against her chest.

“Anyway,” Breeze continued, “these people that we’ve been finding, they usually aren’t able to give any information about what lies beyond the breaches, their memories are spotty after they were captured, and some have complete amnesia. We usually can’t identify them either, but sometimes, we get lucky. The Vanguard found the patient in this room near the breach that opened in Egypt four months ago, she has an implant, and by tracking its identification number, we were able to identify her as Kelly Pierce, listed as missing and presumed captured during the Montana Breach of April 22, 2038.”

“My sister.” I barely managed to get those two words to leave my lips as my heart just about stopped in my chest, and for a moment, I wasn’t sure if I should be elated or terrified. Was she okay? What had she been through during the past three and a half years while I’d been asleep? Would she even remember me? If she did, would I even be able to convince her of who I was?

“Yeah,” Breeze confirmed, awkwardly rubbing the back of their head. “We thought you deserved to know and see her once you could move around on your own properly, and that maybe you can both help one another heal. I need to warn you though, Lily, she hasn’t been in a good mental state since she was brought here. She was four months pregnant when the Vanguard found her, is likely to have a massive gap in her memories, and the stress on her body from her accelerated change into her new form caused her to lose the baby. She doesn’t talk to the nurses or the psychologist and has only become more morose since her Waking last month.”

“The day after you Sprouted, we tried telling her that you’re alive, that you were Altered and are a Sprite now, but we can’t even be sure if we were getting through to her. For all we know, she might just think it’s a deception to give her hope and keep her from trying to kill herself again, not that she could,” Janet added sadly.

No. This broken person being described to me couldn’t be my sister, the big sister who loved me and used herself as a distraction to keep me safe from the Titans. If she had been here for four months, then why hadn’t they told her about me earlier? It was a question that I didn’t need to ask though since I already had a pretty good idea why. Because I was still in my cocoon, and they weren’t sure whether I would live or not.

The day that I Sprouted, Jade had told me that not all Fairy types can escape from their cocoons by their own power. That is especially the case with Pixies since Sprites’ elemental magic is more useful for that than their illusions and stuff. Still, even some Sprites can’t Sprout on their own and need to be surgically removed from their former bodies, which isn’t an easy task, even if someone is alerted in time that we happen to be trying to break free.

Whatever substance our crystallized blood is transmuted into for our cocoons requires at least a bone saw to cut through and makes taking X-rays and most other types of scans difficult. I was lucky that they were even able to detect the implant in my former brain to identify me. Usually, the only outward sign that we’re starting to ‘Sprout’ is when our early struggles cause the cocoon to jostle.

The hospital tries to have people checking regularly on all the cocoons just in case, and hypersensitive motion detectors help, which was why Dr. Jameson was able to be on hand when I Sprouted. Still, it is never a sure thing that they’ll be able to get someone to us and open the cocoon in time if we’re struggling to escape on our own. I was alive though, and so was Kelly, and now my sister needed me.

“I… I’d like to see her,” I told the two nurses as I shook with nervousness.

“She might not be the sister you remember,” Janet cautioned. “She’s not violent though and hasn’t tried to hurt anyone other than herself. We’ll come in with you for safety but try to give you enough space to have some privacy.” Only once she had my confirmation did she press a combination to unlock and then open the door.

I rode in on Janet’s shoulder and found that the room was very white, with the walls, floor, and even ceiling covered in thick, white padding. Even the inside of the door was covered with it and the room bore no windows. “She tried to hurt herself?” I asked in horror as I looked around the room, though they had already indicated as much, and worse.

“At first, yes,” Janet whispered. “Now though, we’re more concerned with her causing damage to the room rather than herself. Recent attempts at self-harm and suicide have been completely ineffective. Her special ability seems to be some sort of passive, high-level invulnerability and she’s quite a bit stronger than she looks too.”

I glanced at the figure in the corner of the room who was hugging her knees and tightly closing her eyes, likely in an attempt to ignore her visitors. She was dressed in a simple hospital gown, the greenish garment peeking through a blanket of white that half-covered her and it was practically the only item of color in the room. Even Kelly seemed to have no color. Her skin was very pale, and her hair was long and pure white, as were the fox-like ears atop her head. Her pale face had gone through some minor changes, but she still looked like the sister that I loved.

Butterflies danced in my chest. Kelly was alive, she was here. As I flew closer to approach her, I discovered that what I had thought was a white blanket at first was actually a collection of bushy fox tails that she had wrapped around herself. They looked so soft, but there were more important things to focus on right now. “You said you’re a Healer, Moonlight, is there anything that you can do for her?” I asked the Unicorn as I looked at my sister and an unbearable weight settled upon my heart.

-This is no illness or disease of the body or mind, that I can heal,- Moonlight replied wistfully. -I wish that I could, Lily, but her heart is heavy. You have a far better chance of healing her heart than I do, my Maiden.-

It hurt so much seeing her like that, my strong, happy, and brave sister brought low by the burdens upon her heart and mind. What could I even do to help her? How could I get her to believe it was me? I choked back the tears and wiped them from my eyes as I shook my head in denial. No. I could get through to her. I would get through to her.

I landed on my Altered sister’s knee, eyes still stinging with flowing tears. Hugging them close to her chest as she was, with her head lowered, I hoped that those big floofy ears would be able to hear my voice. “Sis… Kelly… It’s me, Eli… your… brother.” Choking out the name and the B word was much harder than I would have ever thought after a week of being called Lily. My heart clenched and I could taste bile in my throat as I had to force the words out.

Her right ear twitched, the movement barely noticeable, but it was a reaction so maybe she could hear me. “I know, I don’t really look like Eli. Well, you’re not even really looking at me, but I assure you, that’s the case. Heck, I’m so small that you can probably barely even hear me. I recognize you though. You’re my sister, and it doesn’t matter what either of us looks like now, or that we’re completely different species. I will always love you. Remember what Mom and Dad always told us, Sis, family isn’t about blood, it’s about love.”

I sniffled and wiped away tears again, hardly able to make myself speak for the tightness in my throat and chest. I pushed on though, needing to prove that I really was who I said I was, for both our sakes. For almost two hours, I sat there, resting on her knee and telling her stories about our childhood, trying to add as many details as I could remember to prove myself. I kept going until my throat was sore and didn’t even stop then.

Janet, Breeze, and Poppy left the room after the first half hour, to give us privacy as I tried to get through to my sister. When I refused to leave until I made progress, Janet briefly stopped me to show me where the intercom was before they left us alone. I could use the intercom when I was ready to leave, or I could just figure out the whole teleporting thing.

Other than the occasional twitch of an ear, Kelly could have been a statue for all the reaction that I got out of her. Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore and started sobbing there on her knee. “Dammit, Kelly! You’re supposed… to be the brave one. You’re… still alive, m-maybe Mom is too. I need you to help me find her… save her. We can… bring her back together. I… don’t want to hide anymore. It… hurt… so much… when they took you away... and I just… hid. I wanted to stay with you! I wanted to protect you! Why did you make me hide?!”

Mine was the only voice in that room for so long that when I heard another, I almost didn’t believe my ears. It almost felt like I was the only voice in the world, a burden that I alone bore. The voice was raspy and harsh from long disuse, but I would recognize it anywhere. It was Kelly’s voice. “I wanted… to protect you too.”