81 Isn't She Pretty?

That 'minute' ended up lasting until dawn when Flora woke up and began to cry because she didn't know where she was and wanted her cousin. She didn't recognize Ruby on sight because her appearance was so different from her usual glamour.

She couldn't be sure what else had changed because there weren't any mirrors around but at the very least she knew that one arm looked like granite while the other was a mixture of shimmery rainbow crystal and rose quartz.

"It's me little flower," Ruby sighed heavily. "I'm right here."

Flora stopped crying immediately at the sound of a familiar voice and tilted her head. "Ruby? How come you're like a rainbow today?"

Ash decided to speak for the first time since the fairy in his lap woke up and did so in the sort of cheerful, animated voice that small children tended to respond to best. "She always looks like a rainbow under her glamour. Isn't she pretty?"

She barely managed to hold back a snort at the very notion of being considered 'pretty' but she could tell he was testing his theory about children not being judgmental until they were taught otherwise.

He ended up being right too. Flora nodded enthusiastically with a big smile on her face. "Very pretty! You're all shiny like the necklaces you make for me!"

Ruby's heart melted a little at her innocence. She wanted to go snuggle her but was still having a hard time moving. Instead she opted to open her arms so the baby fairy could come to her, which was gladly accepted.

Flora wrapped her arms tightly around her cousin's neck and gave her a big kiss on the cheek. She then blinked up at her innocently and asked, "Are we not staying in the castle anymore? But there's still a vampire here."

Ah, how to explain this? It would be strange for her having a vampire around that wasn't considered scary. Ash was about as different from their Cromwell guards as could be aside from his basic appearance.

"This is my friend Ash, Flora. We're going to go stay at his castle for a while," Ruby said gently.

Flora scrunched her face up as she examined him. Eventually she nodded, unperturbed. "He looks a lot nicer than Daciana. Does he like us?"

Ash laughed and reached out to tousle her hair. "Yes, I like you both very much."

The little fairy beamed at him. "That's good! When are we gonna go?"

"I don't feel very good right now so we have to wait until I feel a little better," Ruby explained. "For now you can play here in the forest, okay? Why don't you practice your somersaults for us?"

Flora hadn't realized the ankle weights were off yet and immediately flew up into the air. "Yay, I can fly again! Watch me, Ruby, watch me!"

"Hey, I should really get some sleep," he said tiredly as Flora continued flying around them.

Ruby had been sitting on him for hours but still wasn't quite able to get up on her own. "Do you want me to get off you?"

"No, it's fine. I do need to pull my hood over my face though. Wake me up if you are able to put your glamour back on so we can go home sooner. I would prefer that over being potentially exposed out here, even if I am tired."

She nodded and watched as he leaned his head back against the tree he was sitting in front of and pulled the hood completely over his face so not an inch of milky skin was exposed.

Ruby sighed, feeling guilty that she was holding them all up. Ash would be in a bed right now if not for her. She tried forcing herself up and putting on her glamour to no avail. She was too exhausted from last night's ordeal.

So she continued sitting on top of her friend and watching Flora happily race through the trees nearby. It was going to be a long day.

===

Ruby wasn't able to use her glamour again until nearly seven PM but the second she was able, Ash booked the first flight back to California and ran with both fairies on his back until they made it to human civilization and was forced to slow to a walk.

She wasn't terribly steady on her feet so Ash had to continue giving her a piggyback ride through the airport. People were staring at them because of that but at least they looked like normal humans acting a bit oddly.

Flora's glamour made her hair look like black cornrow braids and her mossy eyes turned brown. None of their glamours looked alike but the strangest thing about their little group was the fact that they had no luggage.

Ruby didn't have an ID on her to fly as an adult so Ash pretended that she was a minor because her glamour could technically pass for a human teenager. At least he was smart enough to bring his wallet with him.

Her purse had been left in the trunk of her car when she abandoned it in the bed and breakfast parking lot. She sincerely hoped the owner assumed she was a long-term stay guest and hadn't towed it away.

The only things that had been on her when she went in were her car keys and phone but Dorian had stolen the latter so she wouldn't be able to contact anyone. At least she still had her keys in her pocket so she could potentially get her car, fake human ID, and all of her debit cards back.