The Flower Fairy's New Home

The whirlpool formed by the rippling water deepened and widened before Luo Bin's eyes. Suddenly, he caught a trace of floral fragrance, but before he could take another sniff, the stench overwhelmed it.

At first, he thought he had imagined it. Then the fragrance returned, faintly growing stronger.

I guessed right!

Delighted, Luo Bin kept stirring with renewed vigor. Fifteen minutes later, the stench faded, and the whole dormitory filled with floral fragrance. The water in the beaker had turned from blue-green to pale pink.

It was a dreamy pink, like a ripe peach, with white threaded through the pink and pink through the white.

Luo Bin carefully poured it into a spray bottle. After clearing the table, he sprayed its surface a dozen or so times, then tilted his head until his right ear was only two centimeters above it.

He waited until his neck went stiff. Just as he was about to shift into a more comfortable position, his right ear canal began to itch.

It moved. It finally moved!

After months of effort, he could finally see a glimmer of hope.

Luo Bin slowed his breathing, afraid of startling the "timid" little creature. The maddening itch gradually moved toward the opening of his ear.

She moved slowly, but every step she took gave Luo Bin a tremendous boost of confidence.

His dark eyes stayed fixed on the tabletop mirror. His elbow ached, his neck had gone rigid, and his head buzzed, but he did not budge.

The seconds ticked by. Plip! A bead of sweat ran down his sharply defined cheek and fell onto the table.

The little creature retreated a full centimeter. A long while passed without another movement.

Well, that's ruined. I'll try again in a day or two!

Luo Bin sighed inwardly and was about to straighten his neck when his right ear canal started itching again.

The itch crept forward at an agonizing pace. After who knew how long, a tiny white hand appeared in the mirror's reflection and pushed aside the loose hair above his ear.

Then a tiny head peeked out. Eyes bright as stars darted this way and that, giving her the air of a sentry watching for the enemy.

Once she was sure the coast was clear, she gripped the edge of his ear canal with both hands and pulled. Pop! Her whole body came free.

She fluttered her wings and flew into a little box, waving her small, fair hands as she took a Jasmine Pollen Bath.

Then she flew to the saucer of honey. A long, coiled tube, shaped like a mosquito coil, emerged from her mouth, and she sipped the honey bit by bit.

Her stomach seemed far too small for her appetite. She drained the entire saucer, yet her little belly stayed flat. She gave a satisfied burp and fluttered her wings, ready to return to her old nest for a rest, only to turn and meet a pair of gloomy eyes.

Well, after holding his neck at an angle for nearly an hour, how could Luo Bin not look gloomy?

Being startled by the young wizard infuriated her. She stamped her tiny feet for a while, then flew toward his ear, her wings trembling.

When she reached his hair, she discovered that the ear canal was blocked. She tried the other ear. Bad luck—it was blocked too. Furious, she puffed out her cheeks, conjured an arrow in her empty hand, and jabbed Luo Bin's earlobe.

The jab was as tiny and light as she was. "Hey, little one, that's enough. I read in the Flower Fairy Care Manual that Flower Fairies, as nature's darlings, instinctively understand the languages of all things. Don't play dumb. I know you understand me!"

A glint flashed through the Flower Fairy's emerald eyes. She flew down to the table, planted her hands on her hips, and rattled off a long speech in Fairy Dialect.

"Speak so I can understand you," Luo Bin said coldly.

Give her an inch, and she'll take a mile, huh?

The Flower Fairy stamped her foot and launched into another stream of Fairy Dialect. When she saw he still had no reaction, she gripped her little arrow and charged.

She pricked his hand, drawing a drop of blood, then quickly bent down and sucked it up before he could hit back.

Her body gradually turned transparent. Pale green veins and organs became clearly visible as the blood, now a red thread, flowed down a slender tube and through her esophagus. At her chest, it broke through a barrier and merged with her little heart, leaving the peach-shaped organ half green and half red.

The green and red swirled together into the shape of butterfly wings, and her body gradually lost its transparency. She stamped a tiny foot, put her hands on her hips, and said with a huff, "Hey, pull out that cotton, or I'll poke you with my little arrow!"

A threat, is it?

Luo Bin waved his injured hand. Catching the fleeting guilt in the Flower Fairy's eyes, he smiled slightly. "Suppose a bug a hundred times smaller than you decided to settle down inside your ear. Wouldn't that bother you?"

The Flower Fairy rolled her eyes, then shuddered, clearly frightened by the picture she had imagined. Still, she insisted, "I'm not a bug. I'm nature's darling! You should feel honored that I chose you as my host. Now pull it out. I'm freezing!"

A black bracelet landed on the table. A pea-sized black bead sat at the center of the ring, with eight pinprick holes on its inner side.

"The book says young Flower Fairies like warmth, enclosed spaces, and their owners' scent. It makes them feel safe. This Magic Bracelet keeps itself warm, and the bead is lined with velvet, so it'll be comfortable to lie in. The holes on the inside will keep you from suffocating. I'll wear it on my wrist, so you'll have no trouble smelling me."

"Huh? You mean you want this fairy to live inside a lump of metal?"

"One pollen bath every ten days and a honey feast once a day. If you won't live in the bracelet, there you go. You can live in that instead. I'll keep a candle lit beside it all day, so it won't be too cold!"

Following his finger, she saw a miniature house.

The wooden bed, bedding, wardrobe, washbasin, and everything else were made in lifelike detail. It was more than spacious enough for a Flower Fairy the size of a mung bean. But it was cold and had none of his scent. Worse, it was far from her owner. Without that comforting fragrance, she would never fall asleep.

Her spring-clear eyes shimmered as she bargained in a petulant voice. "A pollen bath every five days and a honey feast three times a day. Agree to that, and I'll live in the metal lump."

"It's Black Obsidian, not a lump of metal. A pollen bath every seven days and a honey feast twice a day. Otherwise, you can live in the little house."

With that, he moved the house closer and opened its tiny wooden door. He looked ready to flick her straight inside if she refused.

"You... Hmph! Fine, I agree!"

She stamped her tiny feet in a fury for quite a while, then rushed up to the Black Obsidian bead and inserted her arrowhead into the lock. Click. The black bead sprang open down the middle. Once she crawled inside, Luo Bin closed it.

The bracelet was actually a toy meant for Fire Slugs. At the banquet that morning, he had traded a bucket of chocolate balls for it with a Hufflepuff student. Of course, he could not tell the Flower Fairy that, or she would plant her hands on her hips and stamp her little feet again.

Ah, it feels wonderful to be rid of a parasite!

Luo Bin pulled out the cotton, kneaded it into a little ball to vent his frustration, and tossed it neatly into the trash. Then, beaming, he put away the Awakening Perfume.

Chapter two of the Flower Fairy Care Manual said that when young Flower Fairies fell asleep, their hearing, sight, touch, and taste shut down automatically. Their sense of smell was the only one that remained, and even that became extremely dull. Waking them required a spray of intensely fragrant Awakening Potion.

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