"Well, we're twins! One of us has to be the better one, right?" Aiki shrugged, and Eiji offered a smug grin. "Not sure why we keep doing your silly competitions when I'm obviously the superior twin." He teased. "You are not! I'm just as cool! I'm cooler than you!" Aiki insisted as he turned back to his brother.
Farah giggled as she sat back and observed their playful banter. The pair reminded her of the relationship she had with Saul. They constantly had competitions to determine who was the better soldier, but they always ended up giving in to each other or calling a tie. She smiled faintly at the memories.
Aiki and Eiji bickered a bit longer until their mother asked them to help her do the dishes. Both of them got up to do so without complaint, and soon returned to Farah. "So… what's it like in this other dimension?" Eiji asked Farah after a few seconds of considering. "Is it pretty similar to here?"
Farah seemed to perk up at the question. "Yes, the First World and the Otherworld are parallel dimensions. The only difference is the free and common use of fairy magic in the Otherworld. Typically, fairies don't exist in the First World. Well, rather, they aren't born in the First World. And the number one rule of the Otherworld is keeping it a secret from the First World. A rule I have obviously been ignoring…" She pursed her lips and arched her eyebrows as she glance knowingly at Aiki.
Eiji listened closely, nodding along. He was clearly genuinely interested in the subject; parallel dimensions and the multiverse and the like had always been something he wanted to look into. "Fascinating… well, it isn't your fault it isn't entirely secret. This idiot would've blabbed everything to me by now anyway, so." Aiki huffed a bit and crossed their arms. "I don't believe I've ever encountered a fairy aside from you. How do fairies differ from… say… a human who happens to have magic?"
"True," Farah agreed with a laugh. But at Eiji's question, her eyes widened in shock. "Wait. It's possible for humans to have magic?" she asked in disbelief.
"Well… yeah, I suppose. Most people around here do." Eiji shrugged. "Like the kid who sent Aiki to the forest is human. We're not a hundred percent sure whether or not our genetic makeup is human, but it probably is, at least primarily."
Farah's mouth hung agape. "Huh," was all she could say in response. All these years, keeping her magic under fierce control in the First World, only to discover that there were humans who practiced magic. "Incredible…" she murmured finally. "And… what powers do humans typically possess?"
Eiji shrugged again. "They're typically unique, but there are some generalized types. And they're usually genetic. Like… I got my healing power from our mom, and Aiki got their fire power from our dad. Sometimes they skip a generation, sometimes parent powers combine into some other power in their kids… it really depends."
Farah nodded. "Interesting. Fairies derive their powers from nature. I'm a mind fairy, but I've learned other elements as well. For instance…" She glanced back over to the sink where the dishes the twins had done were stacked neatly to dry. Her eyes changed, and several drops of water rose from the sink. At Farah's command, they merged to form a large pocket of water, then she lowered it back into the sink and dispersed it, and as she did so, her eyes turned brown again.
"Ah-!" Eiji and Aiki watched in unison as Farah manipulated the water, clapping a bit when she released it. "Fascinating! So you've learned multiple powers?" Eiji asked. "People here can only really use the ones we're born with… we just train those to be as strong as possible since our bodies are built specifically for that power."
"Yes," Farah replied. "Normally it would take years, but…" She looked hesitant to continue. "I don't mean to sound like a show-off, but my powers are exceptionally beyond what a," here, she gave air quotations, "'normal' fairy's powers would be. I was born a mind fairy, but I have additional control over water, fire, air, and a bit of light." She seemed embarrassed to be revealing all of this. Normally she didn't because she was afraid it would be the only reason people valued her or wanted to be friends with her, but she'd already experience a lot with Aiki, and she trusted them.
Eiji and Aiki were still listening closely, clearly fascinated, although Eiji was more enamored than Aiki. "I can see that you're very powerful, for sure." I wonder how she ended up stuck here, then…? But I'm sure it's a touchy subject, so I won't ask… "How many fairies are there?" He asked curiously.
Farah blushed and looked down at her hands folded in her lap when Eiji called her powerful. Rosalind had taught her that power was the only virtue and reason why people liked her, and as a result of that, Farah grew to be ashamed of it. She was grateful when Eiji asked another question. "Not too many. Alfea is the biggest school for fairies, and it's still much smaller than the capacities in human schools," she answered.
"Interesting… we definitely have a lot of people here. Too many, if you ask me." Eiji laughed softly. "Not that I plan on killing people or anything, of course, but it is definitely annoying to try and navigate the hallways at school… Aiki and I are sixteen, so we're in high school, and it sucks. What kind of high school did you go to?"
"Alfea," Farah replied. "I started there when I was sixteen, but… Rosalind actually found me when I was fourteen, so she brought me to the school to live and learn magic for an extra two years." As she spoke, memories of her early days at Alfea flickered through her vision. Those were the days when Rosalind was less of a strict mentor and more of a motherly figure to Farah. Maybe that was the reason Farah had such a difficult time standing up against Rosalind. She saw her as a mother, then a mentor.
Eiji and Aiki nodded a bit. "We typically start high school when we're around fifteen anyway… and we graduate when we're seventeen or eighteen, so we've still got a couple more years." Eiji yawned and stretched, his ears turning back. "Some of the people at school are annoying since they have strong powers, so they think they're better than everyone else."
"Ah. You're so young!" Farah remarked with a smile before she sighed and shook her head. "Well, there will always be people in the world who think they're better than everyone else when, in reality, they aren't. It is a sad fact of life."
Aiki and Eiji laughed softly, glancing at each other. "Luckily, our teachers are working to dock their confidence, so they should mellow out by the time we graduate hopefully." Aiki glanced over at their mother as she tied her hair up and started cleaning the kitchen. "Um… is there anything you want to do while you're here? Any questions?" Eiji asked.
"I'm not well aware of things to do in the First World," Farah admitted. "I've only been here a few times, and never… never by myself." Though she knew she was safe for the moment in the Akaume family's kitchen, Farah was still very on edge. Like she was prepared for something to attack her at any moment.
"Well… Aiki and I will have to go to school tomorrow, so… I guess you're welcome to stay here or go with us." Eiji shrugged a bit and leaned back in his chair. "We could lend you one of our older sister's old uniforms if you wanted to try and fit in. She graduated and moved out a few years ago, but she's… around your size, I'd say."
Really, what Farah wanted was to sit by the door to Aiki's closet and stare at the wood until Saul burst through to save her and bring her back home to the Otherworld. But given the current circumstances, that was neither healthy nor realistic. "I'd love to come with you. I didn't know you have a sister." She arched her eyebrows.
"Y-Yeah… like Eiji said, she moved out years ago. And she moved pretty far away, so we mostly just see her on holidays." Aiki replied, laughing softly. "She's… uh… I think she's 21 or 22 now, so she's been gone a while. But yeah, she was about your size I think, so her old uniforms should fit okay."
Farah nodded slowly. "Alright, I'll see what your First World schooling is like. Will I be allowed to come in?" A curious light showed in her eyes as she sat up a bit straighter. She was eager to explore the First World and its mysteries. Rosalind kept so much from her.
"Yeah, you should be able to come in as long as you're wearing a uniform and act normal." Aiki shrugged. "Just blend in and you should be fine. Even if you're doing schoolwork, it's probably easier than what you're used to since you're older than us. Other than history, since I doubt you know much about the history of our world…"
"No, I'm afraid I don't know much about the First World at all," Farah admitted. "Until now, I wasn't aware First Worlders and non-fairies were even able to use magic. What other kinds of schoolwork are there? Do you use your abilities?"
"Um… mostly normal subjects like math and English and stuff, but we do have a practical class where we use our powers. Sometimes we're pitted against each other. If anyone asks, we could tell them you're a foreign exchange student we're hosting. They'll probably ask you what your power is, though, so you might want to have a predetermined answer for that." Eiji hummed thoughtfully. "And if you're doing the practical lessons, you'll probably want to pick one element to use, since it's not… really possible for people here to have more than one. In most cases, anyway."
Farah listened carefully and nodded. "Well, I am a mind fairy. It's what I'm strongest in, so I suppose I'll use those abilities. But I wouldn't want to fight anyone your age. I'm afraid that would be a bit unfair."
"Well, you could go easy on them." Aiki suggested. "Some of us are actually stronger than you might think, though. There's a lot of people who could already be pretty dangerous if they wanted to be. But you should probably go easy either way. Or just say you don't want to participate because you're an exchange student or something."
“Alright. But, um…” Farah felt incredibly stupid, but she didn’t know how else to ask her question other than directly. “What exactly is an exchange student?”