Chapter 3: Chapter 3 - Nourishing Light

A constant blush stained Harmony’s cheeks as Rhapsody sat in the sofa next to her bed and watched her get dressed. After all the things she had just done with Rhapsody, she couldn’t figure out why putting her clothes back on felt awkward. At least her lungs weren’t forgetting their job anymore. Something had clicked in her brain the previous night as Rhapsody took her body to places no mortal could imagine. The level of pleasure and bliss the other woman had induced had resulted in something getting rewired in her psyche, reducing her level of constant anxiety by an order of magnitude.

She felt like Rhapsody was a drug she just couldn’t get enough of. Four hours had disappeared far too quickly. The shapeshifting bundle of energy had been full of surprises that made Harmony blush just to think about.

“How’s Mystery doing over at the NSA?” Harmony asked Rhapsody curiously as she pulled a pair of white shorts on. The cold didn’t affect her the way it had before the initiation of her transformation.

“She’s having a rough time of it,” Rhapsody answered with a disappointed shake of her head. “Turns out the intelligence agencies are run by fundamentalists who are convinced I’m some kind of demonic entity. They locked Mystery up in a rundown apartment in an attempt to lure me over to them. They have a couple of psychics who think they can trap me Ghostbusters-style. It’s hard for me to imagine just how little these people understand the spirit realm. They’re like toddlers walking over into a corner to do something they know is wrong—while looking surreptitiously over their shoulder at you.”

“Seriously?” Harmony asked in alarm. “What are we going to do? We’re not going to leave her there, are we?”

“Of course not,” Rhapsody scoffed with an indignant scowl. “Azeban already got her out of there. She’s going to take a train ride back here. I’m hoping she can clear her head over the next week of travel. I dumped a lot of crazy information on her, and she needs time to come to terms with it.”

“What about the intelligence agencies?” Harmony asked with a frown as she pulled a white tank top over her head. Rhapsody had said she liked how the white clothing complimented Harmony’s light-blonde hair. “Are they going to cause us any trouble?”

“They’ll try to cause us trouble,” Rhapsody answered with a smirk. “But they simply lack the capacity to do so. We’re going to need to do something about them eventually, I think. They’re already discussing how to vilify us—convincing the world that we are demons. Normally, that wouldn’t matter to me because I wouldn’t interact with them. However, we have Aurora and Serenity to worry about, as well as Mystery. Until they decide to join us, they need to be able to exist out in the world with some level of normalcy.”

“What did you have in mind?” Harmony asked intently. “To deal with the fundies, I mean.”

“I was going to ask you what we should do,” Rhapsody informed her with an impish grin. “You were still human recently enough to have some ideas for dealing with these kinds of people. Just imagine that you are writing one of your novels—what would your protagonist, Rhapsody, do to deal with a secret government full of religious fundamentalists?”

Harmony snorted a laugh as she pulled her socks on. “And here I thought the half-million-year-old fairy would just come up with a brilliant plan, pulling from her enormous pool of knowledge.”

“I did come up with a brilliant plan,” Rhapsody insisted with a dimpled smile. “I plan to have you come up with a plan. So? What are we going to do to deal with their smear campaign?”

“Well...” Harmony frowned in thought as she slipped her shoes on. “I suppose we already have some positive media on our side. There are a lot of videos showing you rescuing people from human traffickers, as well as rescuing me from David. Maybe we combat their smear campaign with more heroics. They probably control most of the internet, so they might be able to shut down videos people upload and censor comments that portray us positively. I guess a lot of it depends on how much they really control.”

“Let’s assume we have a method to override their censorship,” Rhapsody suggested, her lips curving at the corners.

Harmony paused in the act of brushing her hair to stare at Rhapsody in the mirror of the large vanity. She knew Rhapsody had advanced technology, but she thought of it as some kind of magic tech, rather than computer-related. As she stared into Rhapsody’s twinkling lavender eyes, she began to doubt her assumptions.

“Okay,” Harmony said slowly. “Who has more control over the internet? You or them?”

“Let’s just say that your computers are more like punch cards compared to what I work with,” Rhapsody answered with a wink, causing Harmony’s heart to skip a beat.

Those large, expressive eyes were even more communicative than her lips. Harmony occasionally spaced out as Rhapsody’s captivating eyes and lips pulled her into a trance-like state. She could stare into those huge lavender eyes for hours. Something as simple as a wink was so much more expressive when delivered with the fairy’s large, luminous gaze.

“Hi, Harmony,” Rhapsody grinned at her with amusement in her eyes. “Are you back with me yet?”

Harmony shook her head and blinked several times, the trance breaking. She blushed furiously and looked at Rhapsody ruefully. “Sorry, I was just... I mean, I was thinking about... “

She trailed off as she got lost in Rhapsody’s beautiful eyes again. The moment stretched on before Rhapsody gently closed her eyes with a small smile.

“Are you mesmerizing me on purpose?” Harmony asked accusingly. “Or is this fairy glamour?”

“You’re just a deeply passionate person, Harmony,” Rhapsody responded with a tender smile, her eyes still closed. “It’s flattering, I’ll admit. I never imagined having someone stare at me like you are right now. Like someone seeing their first sunset.”

“Sunsets have nothing on you,” Harmony told her truthfully. “I just can’t help myself. Your eyes and lips are so intensely expressive that I lose track of everything else. I just want to admire them. It’s your fault for making yourself so perfect.”

Rhapsody threw her head back and laughed her golden laugh, filling Harmony’s insides with warmth. She cursed quietly as her alarm notified her that school was ending. She just wanted another day alone with Rhapsody. Ten at the most.

Rhapsody stood up and walked over to her. She took the brush out of Harmony’s hands and began brushing her hair with a fond smile.

“Okay, so you want to perform more heroics for the world in hopes of pushing more positive sentiment our way,” Rhapsody spoke quietly, almost in a whisper. “Now I want you to put that creative brain to work and think outside of the box. Imagine you have vast magical powers. What would you do if you had access to less conventional resources? Don’t put any boundaries on what you think is possible. I’ll tell you if it can be done after I hear your ideas.”

Harmony closed her eyes with a smile, enjoying the sensation of her hair being brushed. Rhapsody’s soft voice sent tingles rippling up and down her spine and into her head.

“If the imagination is the limit,” Harmony began in a languid voice. “I can think of a lot of things we could do to make the problem go away. I wouldn’t be able to live with most of them though. Teleporting all the troublemakers into active volcanos is probably not a good look for heroes.”

“Probably not,” Rhapsody whispered, her mouth right next to Harmony’s ear. Harmony shivered as tingles powerful enough to charge her phone shot down her neck.

“What if we made them have to speak the truth?” Harmony’s lips curved into a mischievous smile. “What if everyone on earth could only speak the truth for a week?”

Rhapsody broke the spell with her golden laughter, which filled the room and bounced off the walls like rays of sunlight. “I think that might just collapse civilization, Harmony.”

“Probably,” Harmony agreed, smiling as she imagined the fallout from cheating spouses, marketing companies, politicians, and criminals. “Okay, this next idea is pretty wild.”

Rhapsody raised an eyebrow, her lips curving in anticipation. “Go on.”

“I’ve read this new genre of fiction called LitRPG,” Harmony began, glancing into Rhapsody’s eyes in the mirror, then quickly looking away before she got lost again. “One of the common components in stories of that genre is a kind of leveling system. Everyone has an overlay that appears in their vision, showing character information like health, skills, class, and reputation. After I read one a few years ago, I thought that humans might be more proactive in making the world better if they had a similar system in real life. Something as mundane as taking the trash out would increase your cleaning skill by a certain amount. And if the leveling system were skewed to reward people far more for good deeds than bad ones, the world might just end up with more good people.”

“As far as combating a smear campaign, our reputation and character would be visible to everyone. They’d know we weren’t demons. They’d also know we were good people because our reputation would reflect our deeds—not the opinions of the easily influenced masses.”

Harmony glanced up into Rhapsody’s calculating eyes. “Pretty wild, right?”

“That’s why I asked you,” Rhapsody told her with satisfaction. “I knew you’d come up with something far more interesting than playing ping pong with the news media.”

“So, are either of those even possible?” Harmony asked doubtfully. She couldn’t imagine a way to force everyone on Earth to speak only the truth for a week. That still seemed more feasible than implementing a worldwide leveling system.

“They’re both totally possible,” Rhapsody assured her confidently. “The second option would require a good deal of planning, though. You’d need to define all the rules and logic for how different interactions are evaluated. If you’re just creating a reputation system to let people observe each other’s decency, that’s fairly simple. If you want people to actually gain abilities based on the leveling system, that would be more complicated—but still doable.”

“How?” Harmony asked, her voice filled with disbelief. “How could you possibly make a change that affects everyone on Earth with a system like that? We’d need nanobots augmenting our bodies, data centers constantly monitoring and adjusting people’s stats, and a way to stay connected to all of them.”

“You’re falling into the same trap that astronomers trip over when they say aliens couldn’t visit Earth because of the distance to the stars,” Rhapsody said wryly. “You’re assuming we’d be working with all the knowledge available to you, when we’ll actually be working with the knowledge available to me. There’s a great deal you don’t understand about how this reality works, so your idea of what’s possible is limiting you.”

“You’re telling me you really could make some kind of leveling system that appears in everyone’s vision?” Harmony asked, awe growing in her voice as she stared into Rhapsody’s beautiful, impossible eyes.

“Yep, I really could,” Rhapsody nodded with a sanguine smile. “And I could do it without breaking a sweat.”

“You really are somewhere above the gods, aren’t you?” Harmony breathed, seeing the small woman in a new light. “Is there anything you can’t do?”

“Uh huh,” Rhapsody confirmed with a mischievous grin. “I can’t fix stupid. Nobody has ever figured out how to do that.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Harmony dissolved into a fit of giggles as she gazed at the goddess behind her in the mirror. She still couldn’t fathom how she had ended up with someone so wonderful—someone so far out of her class. Of course, there was nobody in Rhapsody’s class. She truly was several orders above godhood.

Harmony felt a strange buzzing sound, as if a high-voltage line was buzzing inside of her bones. The sensation only lasted for a split second before it disappeared.

“Are you home, Aunt Harmony?” Serenity’s voice called from outside of her room. “And are you decent?”

Harmony sighed regretfully, looking through the mirror at Rhapsody wryly. “As decent as a politician's campaign promise, Serenity.”

“So... you’re butt naked and doing things no child should have to witness?” Serenity asked apprehensively.

“You’re too young to know so much about the reality of politics,” Harmony declared sadly as she stood up and walked over to the door. “I blame the internet.”

“At least we know what we’re getting into when we are old enough to vote,” Serenity pointed out after Harmony opened the door. “Let’s go back to the circle now, okay? I want to learn some more magic!”

“Okay, but you have to tell me how school went when we get there,” Harmony told her intently. “I’m curious how school went with the ward surrounding the two of you.”

Rhapsody took Harmony’s hand, and she suddenly felt the brief sensation of icy immersion as they teleported back to the circle. They appeared near the entrance to Yggdrasil. Her mother and Aurora were waiting for them, along with Taxti and Declan. Harmony had to hide a grin as she listened to Taxti and Declan trade barbs.

“So, Aurora,” Taxti began with a malicious smile at Declan. “Were there any reports of students’ Lucky Charms disappearing?”

“How did you know?” Aurora asked in surprise. “Did you come to the school too?”

Taxti’s malicious grin vanished. She stared between Declan and Aurora in sudden consternation, her eyes confused. “Wait... someone really did lose their Lucky Charms?”

Declan was watching Taxti with a look of supreme satisfaction on his confident face as the faun floundered.

“Yeah, Denice couldn’t find hers at lunch,” Aurora answered, giving Taxti a peculiar look. “She always brings them as a snack to eat with her lunch. How did you know that someone would lose them?”

Taxti stared at Declan disbelievingly. “You didn’t.”

“Aye, that I did,” Declan nodded with a smirk at Taxti.

Taxti spluttered for a moment, seemingly at a loss for words.

Rhapsody began laughing as she watched the two of them. “That one really backfired on you, Taxti.”

The faun finally seemed to get over her shock. “I can’t believe you actually stole that girl’s Lucky Charms.”

“Really?” Declan asked derisively as he hitched his large belt buckle up. “Because the first thing you asked was if someone had lost their Lucky Charms. It seems like you could probably believe it.”

“But... I was trying to insult you,” Taxti struggled to recover her wits.

“I had a feeling you would say something stupid like that at some point,” Declan told her smugly. “As soon as I smelled the Lucky Charms, I knew it was time for a pre-emptive maneuver. Go ahead and ask her about the rainbow now.”

Taxti blinked, then narrowed her eyes as she studied Aurora and Declan suspiciously. Aurora’s lips were twitching as she fought to keep from laughing. Taxti let out a sigh of disappointment as she eyed Aurora sadly.

“You’ve joined the other side already, I see,” Taxti observed disconsolately. “I thought we had really hit it off, Aurora.”

“We did!” Aurora assured her brightly, running over and hugging Taxti. “We can play jokes on Declan too.”

Harmony smiled fondly as she felt the hug through her synesthesia. Rhapsody glanced at her with a knowing smile and a wink.

The disappointment left Taxti’s eyes as Aurora hugged her. Taxti's lips twitched as her eyes met Rhapsody’s eyes.

“I’m still curious about the rainbow part,” Harmony’s mother announced with a questioning look at Declan.

“The two of them have been around each other for hundreds of years,” Rhapsody explained dryly. “They know each other better than they know themselves. Taxti was going to ask Aurora if they had found any gold at the end of a rainbow. Something tells me that Aurora has some gold in her pocket that she was going to pull out if the conversation made it that far.”

Aurora sheepishly reached into her pocket and pulled out some heavy golden coins. “Declan said it will disappear at sunset, so it’s kind of worthless.”

“So, was there any missing Lucky Charms or not?” Harmony’s mother asked doubtfully. “Or has Aurora been practicing artistic license?”

“Sorry, Grandma,” Aurora apologized with a contrite smile.

Harmony grinned with pride as she observed her niece. “Well done, Aurora. We’ll make an author out of you yet.”

Harmony’s mother attempted to maintain a stern expression, but it was marred when she had to bite her lip to keep from smiling.

“Okay, so now that we’ve corrupted the children,” Rhapsody began with a sardonic smile. “Let’s hear about how school went today.”

“There were lots of guys in suits that looked really confused,” Serenity informed them with a giggle. “They kept getting phone calls that seemed to confuse them even more. Mr. Anderson said they were with the government but didn’t know why they were there. The principle tried to question them a few times as well, but they kept losing track of what they were saying halfway through a sentence. The principle finally called the cops and asked them to escort the government guys off the property, but they said they couldn’t force federal agents to leave. Declan started tying their shoes together so that they tripped every time they tried to move. It felt like being at a circus with all the clowns dressing up in suits.”

Even Taxti laughed as Serenity finished speaking. Harmony was happy that her nieces had someone there to watch over them. It sounded like Rhapsody’s wards were working as intended, but it was still comforting to know that someone was there to help if something went wrong.

“Thank you for going with them, Declan,” Harmony smiled gratefully at the leprechaun.

“The pleasure was all mine, lass,” Declan assured her with a roguish wink. “I haven’t had so much fun in centuries.”

“Susan invited me to her birthday party,” Serenity informed Harmony hesitantly. “I told her things were kind of crazy, so I probably couldn’t make it.”

“Of course you can go,” Harmony insisted after a quick glance at Rhapsody. The fairy had given her a firm nod. “When is it? We need to go gift shopping.”

“Really?” Serenity asked in surprise. “It’s tomorrow after school. Her mom works on weekends, so she had to do it on a weekday.”

“That’s no problem at all,” Harmony assured her with an encouraging smile. “Do you know what kind of stuff she likes? We can probably get her something generic, if not.”

“Well... there was something she wanted,” Serenity began tentatively, glancing at Rhapsody and then quickly away. “She wanted to meet Rhapsody. I told her that wasn’t an option, but that maybe I could bring Aunt Harmony, and you could sign one of their books.”

Harmony groaned inwardly. She hated the very idea of signing books. It seemed so pretentious and narcissistic. However, if it was for her niece, she would just have to suck it up and deal with the indignity of it. Her nieces had suffered enough in their short lives. Harmony wanted to give them every chance to balance out the negativity they had experienced with positivity.

“I can do that,” Harmony beamed at Serenity, willing her face to look enthusiastic.

“Really? Oh, thank you Aunt Harmony!” Serenity exclaimed, running over and embracing her warmly. “I know how much you hate this stuff. I’ll do something super nice to make it up to you.”

“You don’t need to do anything to make it up to me, you goose,” Harmony chided her fondly, shivering slightly as her synesthesia played both sides of the embrace through her mind. “Seeing you happy is reward enough.”

Serenity released her and smiled up at her radiantly. “You really are the best, Aunt Harmony.”

“We have a lot of good memories to make ahead of us,” Harmony informed her firmly. “I’m glad we’ve got this chance to start making one.”

“It’s still so weird to see you and Grandma with lavender colored eyes,” Serenity told her with a wondering grin as she stared up at Harmony. “That’s definitely going to get some attention.”

“Oh yeah, I’d almost forgotten about that,” Harmony smiled ruefully. “I guess I look more fairy than human right now, don’t I?”

“All but the ears,” Serenity agreed enviously. “I can’t wait until Aurora and I can become fairies too.”

“You just focus on having as much fun experiencing the rest of your childhood as you can,” Harmony instructed her with a fond pat on the head.

“Are you two hungry for some Yuccas Fitter?” Rhapsody asked the two girls expectantly.

“So ready!” Serenity blurted excitedly.

“Yes!” Aurora chimed in energetically, bouncing on her toes.

Rhapsody snapped her fingers, and a Yuccas Fitter suddenly appeared in her hands. She twisted the stem off and offered it to the two girls. They eagerly took turns drinking from the large fruit, making ecstatic sounds of appreciation as they drank.

"I’m guessing my mom and I don’t need to keep drinking Yuccas Fitter anymore?” Harmony commented, disappointment thick in her voice. She had only had it one time, and it had been the most mind-blowing taste she had ever experienced. She hadn’t felt any kind of hunger pangs since her transformation. She was pretty sure she no longer needed to eat. She did feel just the barest hint of fatigue, so slight that it was barely noticeable.

“I’ll show you what the two of you will consume from now on for nourishment,” Rhapsody responded with a mysterious smile. “I dare say you will like it more than Yuccas Fitter.”

“Anything better than Yuccas Fitter will make me explode,” Harmony declared, and she was only exaggerating a little.

“Follow me, you two,” Rhapsody instructed them with a smile full of promise.

“Can we watch too?” Aurora asked hopefully.

“Sorry, Aurora,” Rhapsody shook her head regretfully. “It wouldn’t be safe for you. You’ll get the chance when you’re older if you decide to become a world tree.”

“Not if,” Aurora said firmly. “Just when.”

“I’m confident that will be the case too,” Rhapsody agreed with an indulgent smile over her shoulder as she led Harmony and Harmony’s mother inside the tree.

“Who’s up for a run?” Rhapsody asked them playfully. “Joline, I haven’t seen you take advantage of that new body yet. Let’s see what you’ve got, old lady.”

“Oh, that’s rich, coming from you,” Harmony laughed affectionately.

“Quiet, you,” Rhapsody ordered with a smirk. “Okay, let’s boogie!”

She took off like a missile, her legs a blur as she shot ahead of them. Harmony grinned at her mom and took off after Rhapsody. She poured all of her energy into her legs as she shot forward. Her eyes widened as she realized just how fast she was going. Her hair was flying out behind her, rippling like a banner in the wind. She had thought Rhapsody was fast when they raced by the beach a few days ago, but the fairy had clearly been holding back—a lot. Harmony reached the large room where they had originally been transformed in less than ten seconds. When they had walked the same distance the day before, it had taken fifteen minutes.

Rhapsody was waiting for her near the chasm, a radiant smile dimpling her face. Harmony flushed when she saw that smile. She was glad she no longer had trouble breathing or she would have been seeing spots. Her fairy looked so beautiful. The wind had scattered Rhapsody’s scarlet hair around her, with strands trailing down her shoulders, back, and chest. She was like a... fairy tale princess. Well, just the fairy part.

Her mother arrived a few seconds later, her face beaming with exhilaration.

“I had forgotten how fun it was to just run with wild abandon,” her mother effused with a joyful laugh. “It’s been so long since I could run without pain that I had forgotten how enjoyable it is.”

“How fast were we running?” Harmony asked Rhapsody curiously. “I felt like I was running at least a hundred miles per hour.”

“Pretty close,” Rhapsody answered, slowly looking Harmony up and down with an appreciative smile. “It’s great for the mussed hair look.”

“I’ll second that,” Harmony agreed with a hungry look at Rhapsody.

“Just chill out, you two,” her mother drawled with a smirk. “I’m sure you’ll have more alone time tonight at some point.”

Harmony sighed with disappointment. It was so hard to keep her hands from roaming all over Rhapsody. The fairy was the embodiment of the word, appealing.

“Fine,” Rhapsody grumbled in a petulant voice. She took a deep breath and then gestured at the beam of light that was shooting down into the chasm. “That’s where we feed. Get ready, because it’s intense.”

Harmony raised an eyebrow at her word choice. Before she could ask any follow up questions, the shaft of light intensified, and the chasm suddenly filled up like a plug had been put into the bottom of it. An ocean of liquid light flooded over the edge of the chasm and washed over them.

Harmony gasped in shock as waves of euphoria flooded her body. The sense of fatigue she had noticed was washed away and she was charged to overflowing with vitality. She quivered with the sudden surplus of energy charging her system. Rhapsody soaked up almost all of the liquid light. Harmony stared at the fairy in awe as she witnessed just how much power the small woman was capable of consuming. Harmony and her mother had become gorged on a tiny fraction of the energy that Rhapsody consumed.

As the last of the liquid light was absorbed into Rhapsody, the chasm returned to normal, with the white beam of light continuing to shoot deep down into the planet.

“That was... something,” Harmony whispered in amazement, still overflowing with the supercharged light.

“I told you it was better than Yuccas Fitter,” Rhapsody told her brightly.

“Yeah, it definitely was,” Harmony’s mother agreed in a dazed voice. “How often do we recharge?”

“It depends on how much energy you expend,” Rhapsody answered with a contented sigh. “I usually visit once a week. The two of you will need to come every day until you have fully transformed. That feeling of being supercharged is the light stretching your meridians. They will need to continue growing until you reach maturity.”

“Oh, darn,” Harmony’s mother complained dryly. “Don’t make me do it every day, please.”

Rhapsody laughed as she watched the two of them fondly. “I know you two don’t remember me right now, but we’ve known each other for a long, long time. Thank you for coming to this world. I’ve missed you more than you can imagine.”

Harmony stared at Rhapsody curiously. She was clearly referring to their souls. She wondered how long their souls had been in contact with each other. After all, what was time to an immortal?

“Now that you’ve had your first charge up, you’ll start to feel some of the powers that are inherent to your character,” Rhapsody informed them, watching them with a warm smile. “Most of the powers you have will need to remain dormant while you grow. There are a few inherent powers that you don’t expend energy to use. The one that you will want to start practicing with is the ability to shapeshift. When the time comes to become a world tree, you will need to be able to project your own avatar. It can be difficult to master, so you will definitely want to start practicing now.”

Harmony felt her cheeks flush as she remembered the previous night. “I’m ready to learn.”

Rhapsody’s lips twitched as she stared at Harmony speculatively. “Good girl.”