A new day arrived.


    Unusual for her, Amelia was the first one to open her eyes.


    "HNNNNN."


    She opened her eyes slowly.


    "What time is it?"


    "..."


    Looking out of her window, the sky was still barely grey.


    "Early morning, huh?"


    Her head went left and right from the remaining drowsiness.


    "Aaah~ I remember now. Today''s a day off."


    After yawning, she placed her head back on the pillow, and stared at the ceiling.


    -


    "Orion. You take a break tomorrow."


    "What?"


    "Look at me with those eyes all you want, I don''t want to hear anything."


    "Amelia, stop joking. We don''t have any time for that."


    "When was the last time you rested? When was the last time you did something you liked? Have you taken time to entertain Sirius and Stella?"


    "I know we''ve just went to a coffee shop a few days ago, but you know how it went. Pamper us sometimes too."


    "..."


    "You know it''ll be too late at some point, right?"


    -


    ''It wasn''t easy, but I''ve managed to secure a day for us.''


    ''I don''t care about Elliott, or the end of the world. All I want is more time with him.''


    ''Why isn''t he using the time dilation of Horizon to work on things, I cannot understand.''


    Amelia was now fully awakened. She sat in bed, thinking.


    ''But even though I''ve asked for a day, what am I even supposed to do?''


    ''I don''t feel like training right now, and it''s way too early for cooking.''


    Unconsciously, she stood up from her bed, and walked to her desk.


    ''Hmm.''


    She grabbed a piece of clothing she kept nearby with her left hand, and opened her right hand.


    Her five elements changed into daggers appeared on the desk, perfectly aligned. She grabbed the first on her right, and cleaned its blade.


    "This feeling, that''s Aura."


    Without looking at the dagger, she carefully wiped the blade clean.


    "A very gentle wind, yet raging at its core. There is no sharper blade than you."


    She placed it back and picked the next one.


    "Ceres? I wouldn''t mistake that clear squeaky noise."


    "Powerful, resilient, and variable. Nothing is impossible with you."


    While looking elsewhere in her room, she switched daggers.


    "Oh, now we have Leima. I think it''s the first time you''ve been at the third spot?"


    "What a tricky blade to clean. Don''t burn the tissue this time."


    She wiped the piece of cloth on it, and it began to make sizzling sounds.


    "An immaterial blade that refuses to take a solid shape. At least you''ve left a grip, or else I wouldn''t be able to use you."


    "You can be very terrifying to use, you know that?"


    She dropped her blade and went to pick the second to last dagger.


    "I don''t even have to pick you up to know, Vesta."


    Still, she grabbed it.


    "We''ve both grown so much. I still remember when I was scared of you."


    "A raging fire that consumes everything. The fire grew yellow recently, which means it''s getting hotter if I remember Orion''s words? I wonder if I can make blue flames like the stove I''ve been using?"


    Excited, she placed Vesta back on the desk, and picked up the last dagger.


    "Same as Vesta, I can''t feel cold emanating from you, Dana."


    "You''ve completely assimilated the scale, and now you can use ice. This was pretty shocking, even for me. But now, we''re one step closer to Orion."


    Having cleaned all her daggers, she looked at them.


    "Aura, Ceres, Leima, Vesta, and Dana. I made no mistakes."


    She smiled brightly, before her weapons vanished back into her.


    The point of cleaning them wasn''t really to make them shine. It was to strengthen her bonds with her elements. This was a brand new habit she brought in her daily life.


    "Alright. Casual day, casual cloths."


    Standing up from her chair, she went to her wardrobe on the opposite wall. She walked in front of her bed, and opened the doors wide open.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    "What color is he going to wear today? White or black? Maybe grey? Hmm~"


    While pondering, Amelia skimmed through her neatly folded shirts and pants.


    "He wore black last time, so I''ll bet everything on grey today."


    She unbuttoned the shirt that she slept in, and threw it on the bed. Seconds later, her pants and underwear followed.


    ...


    "Good."


    Seeing herself in the mirror, she nodded in satisfaction.


    "Can''t go wrong with grey pants and pink sweatshirt."


    Even though she said grey, she wasn''t planning on only wearing one color. She really liked wearing pink, no concessions accepted.


    "The time is..."


    The sky had only now began to brighten, as the white stars in the sky began to transition to grey. The color of the sky was doing the same, switching the darkness of the night, to the brightness of daytime.


    "still too early."


    With a powerless smile, she walked up to her desk again. Once she sat down, she opened a drawer, and picked up a notebook from it.


    "Anyways, let''s review the recipes I''ve recently learned, maybe I can find something good for Stella."


    She skimmed through the notebook while playing with her treasured necklace.


    Amelia''s early morning began as such.


    ~


    "Nnn~"


    A blue haired scorpion lady. That was Karteira.


    She was slowly waking up from her slumber. As someone who had to be careful with her thick tail, she never slept on her back.


    So as usual, she woke up on all four. And stared blankly at her pillow.


    The light finally switched on in her brain, as one strand of saliva began to fall from her mouth.


    *Slurp*


    "Close call."


    Laughing directly after waking up prepared her for a good day. She instantly felt refreshed, as she wasn''t taking herself too seriously anyways.


    Though, she would feel embarrassed if Orion saw her like that.


    Karteira was a fairy who hated sleeping with clothes on. You would never see her wearing something else other than her underwear in bed.


    "Alright, it''s 7AM, isn''t it?"


    She glanced at the window behind her, on her right.


    The sky was white, with beautiful dark stars.


    ''I''ve gotten pretty accustomed to living here. I''ve lived in the fairy realm previously, but this house feels more like home than my birthplace.''


    ''Quite laughable, if I think of it.''


    Effortlessly dropping back on her pillow, her mind wandered.


    ''Falling in love. That wasn''t something mother forbid us to try, but we never had any need for it. I had no need for it.''


    ''I was driven by pain and rage, I had lost my eye and my mobility, and was about to lose everything I was born to protect.''


    ''But one man was enough to seize everything. Mother''s trust, the Queens'' affection, and my heart.''


    Blushing at the last one, she hid her burning face with her pillow.


    ''Well, maybe not at that moment. If I had to guess, I think it was...''


    With a brief nod, the memories returned.


    ''that training session. That''s when I learned my own feelings.''


    "And here I am, acting like a woman. Ask the past me if I would accept this, I''m sure she would burst in rage. Haa~"


    She laughed slightly as she sat on the edge of her bed.


    "Alright, time to start the day. It''s a rare day off, but that doesn''t mean I can slack off."


    Karteira slapped her own cheeks lightly, and began to do some push-ups in perfect silence. Her bones never cracked, her muscles remained free of strain, and no sweat fell from her body at all as she exercised for ten minutes.


    ...


    "This is not enough to make me heat up anymore."


    Unclasping her bra, it fell on the floor. She then walked to her wardrobe and opened the doors.


    "Nh-Nh~"


    She hummed cheerfully as she picked up two random pieces of clothing inside the wardrobe. She threw the folded clothes on her bed from afar, and picked up new underwear at the same time.


    "When is he going to take a bath? When he wakes up, or after training? Wait, is he going to train today?"


    While thinking, she put on the blue jeans she adored, and a long-sleeved grey shirt with no motif on it.


    "I''ll go on the assumption there''s no training today. I also want to talk to Stella today. She wanted to learn more about the fairies and Orion, so maybe I''ll do just that."


    With a smile, she unconsciously moved her tail left and right, or up and down.


    Before leaving her room, she brushed her long cerulean blue hair, and put on the accessory Orion bought her.


    The day began for Karteira, more relaxed than usual.


    ~


    "Oh, good morning."


    "Good morning, Karteira."


    Karteira met Amelia first thing in the morning at the kitchen.


    "Coffee?"


    "Please."


    "Wait a minute."


    These two learned to accept each other, as they were both the other''s true friend. They were worlds apart, one being a human, the other a fairy.


    But that stopped neither of them. The start was pretty rough, with Karteira being the battle addict and enraged warrior she was, but mellowed down when her pain vanished thanks to Orion.


    They became more than friends as time passed, and now, they were almost inseparable. They even agreed to share the same man, though, this was still a problem with Orion remaining distant.


    "It''s rare to see you awake at this hour on a day like this. You''ve been having trouble sleeping?"


    "No, not really. I''ve simply woke up early."


    "I see."


    Amelia approached Karteira holding a cup.


    "Have you planned something for today?"


    Handing the cup to her, she asked.


    "I have, but I''m waiting for Orion before I decide on the order. Thanks for the coffee."


    Karteira sat at the dining table.


    "I''m on the same boat. Though, he has been waking up later than before recently."


    They both looked above them, which was where Orion''s room was located.


    "You were right in forcing a day to rest. He has been waking up early to do this and that, and he had yet to fully recover from everything that happened recently."


    "There''s that, but I''ll be honest with you, I''m scared."


    "Scared? Of what?"


    "He''s breaking down. You have noticed too, right?"


    Closing her eyes, one memories surfaced.


    "Since the hourglass thing, right? He''s been rushing things. That''s what you meant, right?"


    Amelia silently nodded, before sitting in front of Karteira.


    "He won''t tell anyone, but the pressure his getting to him. He said that he wasted the time his parents gave him, but I think otherwise."


    "I don''t want him to think that he wasted time. He did everything he could, but ultimately, he is only Orion. Tiohr-nam called him a ''Second Hero'' or something, but the world can shove that title where I think it should."


    An amused smile formed on Karteira''s face.


    "It''s already good enough we haven''t heard from that Remnant of Corruption since that time, but things are pilling up too fast. There''s only one Orion, but so many problems. Even with you and me at his side, only problems only he can resolve continue to pop faster and faster."


    "I still can''t believe that in a single day, he got scolded by Tiohr-nam, went to the lamia kingdom to give some insight, helped May, discovered the elementals'' hideout, survived a trial, and returned to build the second project."


    She squeezed her right hand with her left hand.


    "And yet, he still says that he isn''t tired. That''s the greatest bullshit I''ve heard."


    "It''s unusual for you to swear."


    "I just can''t accept that a hero''s fate it to constantly live on the edge of despair. Imagine for a single second a world where he fight all alone, without me, you, or even those sisters."


    Karteira''s expression looked pretty wild, as if she had returned to her former self.


    "I don''t like that idea at all."


    "Yet this keeps happening. And we can''t lift a finger to help him."


    "I''m not so sure about that last one. You''ve helped him by fighting an Apostle in his stead, right?"


    "Sure, but he still had to conquer that Apostle''s city with Nylon before that. In the end, it always involves him. Look at yesterday."


    Thinking that she was about to contradict herself, Karteira silently listened.


    "Sure, we got to avoid fighting an Apostle, but the pressure he felt expecting every citizens to be corrupted, and most of all, the massive waste of time this lead to."


    "If we knew about the riots, we wouldn''t have- what am I saying..."


    She smiled in frustration.


    "If he had learned about the riots, he would have warped as fast as possible to save as many as possible. Just like he did for the invasion at the border."


    Karteira nodded.


    "Your getting blinded by your own feelings. I''m one to talk, but be careful, it makes you miss important details."


    "I''ll keep that in mind. Let''s just keep it simple. Our work is to make his life easier, and support him as much as possible."


    They looked at each other.


    "That was plan since I''ve been following you two."


    "Not since you fell in love?"


    "You were my friend before that."


    Amelia blinked a few times, surprised.


    "Hahaha~ My bad."


    Karteira looked away, her ears slightly red, while Amelia was laughing, happy.


    "Karteira, I have a question now."


    The woman in question gulped, expecting another important conversation to begin.


    "What do you think Stella would like? A cake or ice cream?"


    Silence fell in the room, before she answered.


    "That''s a very important question indeed."


    They began to exchange opinions on the little girl''s taste until Orion woke up.