A Monster Life

107 - Unlucky, or Not?

After a thorough sweep of the troll camp, the whole party joined the feiju in a small celebration of the victory over the trolls. The meal consisted of every kind of fruit, root, and edible leaf and flower that grew in the forests and on the meadows, and Diseria sat down with them after talking to a group of feiju. 'The last troll has been killed, and its carcass will be added to the pyre.'

'I read a little about your kind in a book,' said Valdys. 'although I don't know how much of it is true, but it said you plant your dead, and the flowering plants that grow from them give birth to new feiju.'

'It's true.' said the queen. 'We don't need to grieve for our dead, because they will be reborn in time. It's only those we can't plant which we mourn the loss of.'

Ulric hummed. 'That's practically eternal life. You could be of an ancient age, even though you never stop looking youthful.'

She gave him a knowing smile. 'It is an advantage for us, but it's also difficult to bring new feiju into the world. If we can't save enough of us, we will die out all the same.'

Caylais examined a slender pink fruit the length of her finger. 'I guess if it was easy for you, we'd see a lot more feiju in the world.'

'There used to be more of us, but since we need specific soil to plant in, there are only a few places we can do that. Other races gradually encroached on those lands, or invaded them, and thus this is the place we created a long time ago, where no one can't enter. Or at least, shouldn't have.'

'Oh!' said Iphigenia. 'What about those two girls? Which also brings up the question what race they are. I've not seen or heard of other races with wings.'

Diseria gestured to a servant, and she left. 'They are half feiju actually. Their mother fell in love with a human, and by some miracle, she gave birth to a daughter later. That's how they came to be larger than full blood feiju, but smaller than a human.'

'I'm not even going to speculate on how they managed that whole thing with their size difference.' said Ulric. 'Or what the birth was like.'

Diseria giggled, and Valdys realised something. 'You said a daughter, not daughters.'

Diseria smiled at her perception. 'Indeed. Tera and Lehti were born as Teralehti, one girl.'

Ulric's ears pricked up. 'So, when I saw them as a young woman, that's their true form?'

She shook her head. 'It's difficult to say that it is. They can easily become one or divide, and even we don't know how it's possible. All we can imagine is that their mother and father somehow made that unique ability possible.'

'Where are they now?' asked Kaui, who became interested in the possible causes.'

A little sadness came over Diseria. 'Many feiju condemned the two of them, and they left to live on their own. We learned that a group of demons raided the countryside they settled in, and by the time a few concerned friends checked up on them, they found him dead and her alive but in bad shape and pregnant. She died giving birth, and although we planted her in the best spot, nothing ever grew. Many regretted their views, and it was decided to raise their offspring in our midst.' She looked at Ulric. 'Although they are more rebellious and feisty compared to other feiju, they still are good at heart, so please don't think bad of them.'

Ulric gave her a nod. 'I understand. It's something else to grow up without your own parents. Maybe by the time they're adults, they'll have mellowed out.'

Diseria chuckled. 'But they are already adults.'

Ulric stared at her for a moment. 'They are? But they look like kids!?'