Giovanna woke up feeling energetic. The day seemed bright, but there was something in the air. Some kind of surprise. She couldn't really tell whether it was a nice surprise or not.

  But Giovanna liked surprises. She started every day by reading tarot cards. Not only it let her get ready for the day, but also train her intuition. Tarot never tells its prophecies literally. One always needs to decode them from a set of symbols. That decoding was a lot of fun for Giovanna. She liked seeing how her interpretations matched the day. And mismatches were always funny, even if she didn't show it.

  Giovanna went through her morning routine and id down her cards. They formed an interesting combination.

  First card was the Lovers. The Hermit seemed to demand the most attention from Giovanna. And the set was finished with the Hanged Man.

  Giovanna quickly jumped to interpreting. She noticed a connection between the Lovers and the Hermit immediately. Whenever she saw the Lovers in a position that suggested they signified a person, she thought of her boyfriend, Angelo. And usually she was not wrong. And if the Hermit referred to Angelo it had to be about a long journey. Angelo was a bounty hunter, so he was usually on a mission.

  The question was what the Hermit was about. It had to describe the mission somehow. That was for sure. But how did it rete?

  Giovanna tried to find some interpretation. She jumped from one version of the story to another. Then she had an idea. The Hermit is the twelfth card of the Major Arcana. And if Giovanna remembered correctly, Angelo was just after his eleventh mission. So maybe this one single time she was supposed to interpret the card literally? Likely.

  It was definitely nice to see how Angelo was moving through the contract. Out of the thirteen missions he had to do, he was starting his second to st. Soon he would be free of the contract.

  "I have to call him when he's still here," Giovanna thought. "I wonder what he's supposed to do."

  Giovanna took out her phone and called her boyfriend. He picked up just after the second signal.

  "I'll have to be quick. I'm in a line at the boarding gate at the airport. What's up, honey?"

  That definitely took Giovanna off guard. Angelo was already at the airport. Wait, the airport? What was he supposed to do on this mission? And even more importantly, where?

  "What are you doing at the airport?" said Giovanna.

  "Ah, going to Pond for a small mission. Got some ogres arguing over territory," said Angelo.

  "That's really far away, isn't it?" said Giovanna.

  "Yeah, and of course the Brexit had to make travelling such a hassle…"

  "At least the mission sounds easy."

  "Yeah, I'll likely be done in about a day. But seeing how the airports are working I think it's safe to say I'll be back in about four days."

  "That's a long time. I hope you're getting an easy job."

  "Yeah, me too. I have to go now. It's boarding time."

  And the phone fell silent. At least Giovanna confirmed that her assumptions were correct. And, well, three days aren't that much anyway.

  At MacBeth's Giovanna met with three of her friends, just as usual. However Angelo was absent from the dinner. Instead of him there was Lily, Ursu's fairy sister. The boy's absence could not go unnoticed.

  "Angelo isn't with us today?" said Sarah.

  "No, he's on a mission abroad today," said Giovanna.

  "Another call to the fairy realm?" asked Lily.

  "No, he has something to take care of in Pond," said Giovanna.

  "I wonder what he will get into this time," said Ursu.

  "Oh, trust me I'm curious about that too," said Giovanna. "I hope he returns soon."

  Giovanna bit into her burger and thought about her lover. They were apart for just about half a day and she was already missing him. She couldn't help, but imagine all the different scenarios in which Angelo could find himself on the mission. Maybe it was just some diplomatic talk or maybe another case of silencing. She got really impatient and couldn't wait for his new story.

  "I really miss him," said Giovanna. "Hey, does any of you have some kind of interesting topic we could talk about? I want to take my mind off Angelo."

  Everybody tried to come up with some kind of an interesting topic for discussion. Including Lily. She was nibbling on a pepper she got from Ursu's burger. Of course the pepper was oversized. She remembered that she heard some news that morning. Some news from the pce she called home until recently.

  "You know, our little sabotage seems to have shaken the fairy realm," said Lily.

  "Really? What is going on there?" asked Ursu.

  "Omiāk and Ni?fanat escaped the capital and it got captured back by the governmental army. The country will soon be free," said Lily.

  "Wait, but they didn't catch the bosses?" asked Sarah.

  "No, they are escaping justice constantly," said Lily. "But don't worry, the surviving cells of their armies are quickly being broken out."

  "It sounds optimistic," said Giovanna.

  "But they are freeing a lot of cities," said Lily. "Hokinikem, Kyatīsi, Sīatin Kumlā, Panki Kon, Sampati…"

  "Sorry, but you're the only one who recognises any of these names," said Sarah.

  "I do recognise some," said Ursu. "But yes, I agree that it might have been a little overkill."

  "Sorry, I might have gotten a bit excited," said Lily. "You know, I can't wait to go back home."

  "Speaking of, I always wondered how it feels to be a fairy," said Sarah. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not interested in becoming a fairy myself. But I want to know how such body might feel like. Especially since you wanted to transform."

  Lily got really excited about this question. She remembered all the novel sensations from the little honeymoon she had with her new body.

  "When I ate that berry and grew my wings I felt right," said Lily. "It feels like you discover a new kind of lightness. As if you find your own wonderful air stream that can hold you in the air perfectly."

  "Oh, I remember how excited my sister was about showing me her wings," said Ursu. "It was really hard to keep up with her in the air."

  "Sorry about that. I guess it's just natural when you feel the freedom of being in your dream body," said Lily. "Oh, and I can't forget about the nguage."

  "How does the nguage get into that?" asked Sarah.

  "You know, each time people of West Moonwing Isnd were complimenting my nguage skills I felt more connected to them. I felt more like a part of a community I always wanted to belong to," said Lily. "I miss that. That kindness not bound by the fear of the mafia tyrants."

  "So how does it feel now?" asked Sarah.

  "I don't know," said Lily. "I've spend so many time not being able to appreciate being a fairy properly. I wish it could have sted a little bit longer."

  "I've heard that the levels of happiness even out after some time anyway. Something about adaptation to new conditions," said Giovanna.

  "Maybe you're right," said Lily. "But that doesn't mean I can't try. When I return home I'll try to make the best of my time as a fairy."

  "You sound really hype about it," said Sarah.

  "Now that I know how easily the days of peace can go away, it's all the more reason to make the best of them," said Lily.

  "Well, I wish you the best," said Giovanna.

  For a moment the group fell silent again. The Sarah tried to continue the talk.

  "Hey, I recently found this cool anime series. It's been a long time since I've gotten so into anything," said Sarah.

  "I'm not saying it's my cup of tea, but sure, go on," said Giovanna.

  "It's called Bang x 3," Sarah started to describe the show. "It's about this pair of friends who search for aliens and cryptids together. They get into many strange adventures, and try to solve mysteries of their city. Each episode is so action packed that you won't even notice as you bze through them."

  "Sounds interesting indeed," said Giovanna.

  "I have seen it too," said Ursu. "While the science fiction horror themes may not be to your liking, you are going to like the characters' retionships."

  "Once again we get into retionships, huh?" said Giovanna.

  "Don't worry about your boyfriend. Sometimes some time of separation is very beneficial for your love," said Lily.

  "You say?" said Giovanna.

  "Yes, of course. It allows you to remember why you love each other," said Lily. "I have to say that I only remembered that after the Iron Coup."

  "Speaking of which, I kind of wonder how your coup will be called," said Ursu.

  "We'll have to see," said Lily.

  "Hey, now I started wondering, how are your parents feeling about Lily going back?" asked Sarah.

  "Surprisingly, they seem to ignore that," said Lily. "Don't misunderstand me, they seem to kind of… live their own lives and forget about us."

  "I think it is kind of because of they are struggling in finding appropriate ways to take care of us," said Ursu. "Do you remember how taken aback they were when I was diagnosed with autism and you came out as a fairykin?"

  "You might be right, you know?" said Lily.

  The talks continued until there was no food left to eat. Overall Giovanna felt a bit better. And more patient.