In their spare time, the mother and daughter helped out in a kind of crèche that looked after the children of the workers. There, they served free meals for young and old alike, and Talemilia even gave musical performances that were much appreciated by the community - this compensated for the blessings of the queen that did not reach them. Some even had the audacity to compare her songs to those of a herald like the queen, or even the reincarnation of a goddess, when they heard her majestic and restful voice. She was even called to funeral vigils to soothe the souls of the deceased and guide them into the afterlife. Loved by adults and children alike, her fame spread throughout the Nether until it reached the ears of the unwary.
A group of Faerie mercenaries, who had infiltrated the walls of Sylvania, heard the rumour that a fairy with a beautiful voice and sumptuous wings lived in the Nether of Sylvania. They who had come to capture the fallen descendant of the said kingdom would have to be content with that, and if she was as lovely as rumoured, they could pass her off as such to the Faerie slave traders of Vicenti or even other corners as bad as this town but which brought in much less, even for such a big catch.
Scouring the slum with the help of their informants and various gadgets that eluded the guards, they managed to find her in about two days. They then sent their best agent to woo her with fine words. At first suspicious, it was when an incredibly attractive offer was announced that Talemilia was tempted: to become a singer in a big cabaret in a big city in the north of Franca, near Paris-la-Déchue, which would allow her to get a lot of money to put all the people in the Nether out of misery. Her artichoke heart could not let such an offer pass her by, as her goal was to help all her fellow citizens in her own way. Here she had the incredible opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.
However, this was without counting that killjoy Lelelitio who arrived earlier than expected at their home and entered the discussion.
- I don't know who you are or where you come from, but Talemilia will not go with you under any circumstances.
- Yet she seemed to be willing to follow her destiny," said the stranger.
- Well, I will put myself in the way of this destiny, retorted Lelelitio, Talemilia will not leave our home to go in an unknown city with a shady guy we don't know.
- Leli!" protested Talemilia.
- No, I won't!
- As you wish, he shrugged, but if the lady wants to realize her dream and help her family, she can meet me at the Good Fairy Hotel before leaving the Nether.
And as the man left, he passed Malalalivia, who was happy to be going home. He greeted her cordially and pretended to leave before slipping his ear to the door to listen to what was being said inside.
- Who was that man?" asked the mother.
- A man who likes my voice," said Talemilia.
- Be more specific, you moron," said Lelelitio.
- Hey!
- This man wanted to take Talemilia to perform somewhere near Paris-la-Déchue, Lelelitio shouted.
- But there's nothing there," said the elf mother.
- That's the problem! And she was going to be bamboozled by that bullshitter if I hadn't intervened. She has to grow up. I don't mind her being naive, but I don't mind her trusting the first person who comes along like a human child.
- But he promised that with the money generated by my singing shows there, I could help the Nether. We could even make a decent living at last," she said enthusiastically, "in my own way, I will come close to the deeds of the hero of the legend, like him who will bring order and prosperity to the world by defeating the Evil One and rekindling the stars in the sky! I will bring order and prosperity to the Nether! Children will no longer have to rummage through the garbage for food or hunt down cockroaches and rodents to survive!
- Stop harping on that hero of legend," Lelelitio grumbled, banging on the dining room table, "he should have turned the stars back on in the sky five thousand years ago and he still hasn't done it. The damn legend is a collective illusion that has been spread around the world to keep people hopeful even in times of trouble. There's a better chance that the gods exist than this junk hero.
- Lelelitio!" shouted Malalalivia.
Without asking for help, he went to his room and isolated himself there. Malalalivia took Talemilia in her arms and caressed her hair.
- Don't blame him. He's rather on edge at the moment. The layoffs are getting worse and worse and nothing is being done to change that. All we can hope for is that the Queen gets her act together and stands up to her puppeteers. If you're lucky you might even get a place to stay at the Sanctuary, away from the filth and precariousness of this place.
- I don't mind living here.
- You should, because no one should live in such conditions. Especially not you," she said, running her tender hands through her hair, "one day you will be able to wear the name Avelilinélia again and live like all the princesses.
- Will you come and live with me if that happens?" Talemilia asked her innocently, "because if you don't come, I won't go," she pouted.
- Of course we'll come with you, because after all, we are servants of her Highness.
Her strange imitation made Talemilia laugh and feel less sad. What a joy it was to live in their company. However, this conversation had not remained private, the false promoter had heard everything and Avelilinélia's first name was not unknown to him, since it was the name of the person he was looking for.
- This did not fall on deaf ears.
And he hastened to inform his boss, who congratulated him on this valuable information gathered by his subordinate.
His boss was an Aberios, a race of grey humanoid amphibians with cheeks that swell with air when they accumulate air to make a second oxygen reserve beyond their lungs, with sticky fingers and flippers on their hands, extremely good swimmers. They were not known to be evil or beneficent beings, just very good swimmers. Because of their oily skin, they covered themselves with special clothes so as not to disturb any earthly interlocutors they might have by wetting their cloth clothes.
Among this race, Zajo stood out because of his reputation, which was known to all of Franca: a Fairy poacher of all the beings that populated this planet for his own profit. He was certain that he would eventually try to capture a fairy from the autarkic kingdom of Sylvania. A man with a scar on his mouth and left eye, and who loved the good fat cigars of the dwarves of the Lillester mines.
- Zajo, shall we look for her?
- But no, my dear Yarwuik, all beings in this world are manipulable. We only have to cultivate her desire so that she comes to us without moving a finger! The only rock, and not the least, that could stand in our way is the queen of this place who is known for her madness. Especially since it is never certain not to cross her path, especially when we are foreigners.
In the following days, with a little help, the brigand's words were confirmed, they fanned the flame of duty, curiosity but above all Talemilia's jealousy with a simple method: make several girls visit Yarwuik to propose the same offer, then bait all these Fairy girls by organising a singing and dancing competition to promise them glory. Then trick them and kidnap them. But the icing on the cake would be that they would get a noblewoman of royal blood! With that they would get eternal wealth - especially if it came from the self-sufficient nation of Sylvania.
Everything went as they had planned, and as they had hoped, Talemilia came to audition. All the Fairy folk invited to the audition, and also the curious ones, went to the room set up by the mercenaries for their ambush. Once they were all together, the mercenaries closed all the entrances leading to the outside and surrounded their hostages with their weapons and Sylvania mages.
- Good evening ladies," Zajo greeted them, "I am the master of ceremonies of this little party and I am delighted that so many of you have come. I'm sorry to tell you this, but I'm an indecisive man, so I decided to take you all with me! Congratulations to you all!
Understanding the deception, the Fairy girls tried to run away, but the mercenaries made them understand very quickly that if they took a wrong step, they would end up six feet under.
So they all followed their torturer to a huge dark room in the basement where there was a huge blue magic circle on the wall. None of the girls present knew what it was, except for the princess who had been educated in magic beyond the basics: they were looking at a teleportation portal. It was very rare to see one because it was very rare to find people skilled enough to make one and be able to use it without ending up teleported to another dimension - she could thank all the books Malalalivia had bought and the education she had been able to give her despite the precariousness of their daily lives and the lack of education of her adoptive mother. She remembered that unless you were very good at this kind of space magic, you had to be at least an ecapse to travel this way easily. Unfortunately, these people have disappeared.
If Avelilinélia-Talemilia didn't act, they would all end up in an unknown place, enslaved by humans. Clasping her hands together, she repeated to herself "What would the hero of the legend do?" to give herself the strength to act.
Outside, Lelelitio had gone to look for her, suspecting that she had not resigned herself to the idea of not going to see this shady faun who had crashed in their house. He questioned all the guards he could find on his way - they must have been counted on the fingers of one hand, not paid enough to deal with scum - and none of them agreed to speak to him, even snubbing him. He was completely lost, he couldn't forgive himself if anything bad happened to him. It was as if his wish from ten years ago that she would disappear was being fulfilled against his will, and he had moved on.
Running in all directions without looking ahead, he bumped into someone's chest without even seeing their face. He apologised and tried to run off to resume his search, but the man with the glittering wings grabbed his wrist and pulled him back.
- Let go of me! Let go of me!" he shouted, "I've apologised so let me go, I really don't have time to waste with you! I must find her urgently!
He was waving in all directions to get out of the iron grip of this stranger he had bumped into, but nothing could be done, this fairy was just too strong.
- Calm down, young man, said the young knight, already, according to an annoying woman I knew a long time ago, not that long ago, in the end, if I think about it, one should not apologize to oneself. A human buffoonery that stuck in my head, but above all, if I stopped you it's because I can see from your face that you look much more worried about this person you're looking for. I am on a more or less urgent matter, I can help you.
Lelelitio looked at the fairy who was facing him and saw that he was wearing a remarkably beautiful plate armour, he even seemed to recognise the coat of arms that was engraved on it, even though he did not know any of the nobles except for the royal family - the fallen one as well as the legitimate one -, armed with a sumptuous sword that seemed crystalline, probably magical, and wearing a helmet that left his face uncovered, he seemed to recognise a hero of the kingdom.
- You wouldn't be part of the royal family, would you?" asked Lelelitio, thoughtfully.
- Absolutely not!" replied the knight, "I am just a knight working in the service of the queen. But I don't think you really have time for an interrogation.
He released the elf and Lelelitio discovered that for a fairy, he was a little taller than average.
- Tell me what you know about the person you are looking for.
- Her name is Ave... uh... Talemilia.
- Like the fallen princess who died?" asked the intrigued knight.
- A mere homonym," he dodged the question, "it sounds like it, but it's not the same thing. She was accosted by a faun that nobody knows, who promised her a life as a singer in some cabaret near Paris-la-Déchue, and this afternoon she went out even though she told me and my mother that she had nothing to do today. She wasn't the only one who was offered this, and strangely enough, they too have mysteriously disappeared, but they didn't say where they were going, those gremlins! he lost his composure.
A faun..., thought the knight, that would mean that the information we were given about the activities of a group of more than strange individuals was not unfounded as they wanted us to believe. What a bunch of bugs! What have they done?
- Do you have any idea where he might be?
- No, I don't! Most of the time I'm working on the turtle shell, so I don't really care what they're saying here, too tired. Fucking hell! If I wasn't taking naps all the time, I could have watched her! No, I should have watched her so that nothing happens to her!
- This girl, is she important to you?
Lelelitio blushed.
- Of course!" he said with conviction, "especially to my mother, she is my cousin, although my mother took her in and calls her mother. We've had our differences in the past," he said shamefully, scratching his head, "but I really care about her and I don't want anything to happen to her, especially since she's quite clumsy and naive. I'm the one who watches over her all the time so that she doesn't get taken advantage of," he said proudly, "but after all, she's quite resourceful and physically strong, and she's always managed to get out of trouble despite the trouble she's caused herself because of her overly kind heart and her deep conviction to the hero of the legend.
The fairy-knight blew her nose and smiled.
- I know one of those too.
He grabbed the elf by the shoulders and reassured him:
- I see the love you have for this Talemilia, so know that I will help you find her so that nothing happens to her.
- Is this true?
- You have the word of a knight of Her Majesty.
With the help of this mysterious knight, it was much easier to get information; tongues were loosened much more easily than when it was the scum of the lowest strata of the Nether who asked these same questions. They managed to find out where the meeting place was for all the Fairy folk who had followed the false impresario.
Once her heart was filled with courage thanks to the memories of her readings about the hero of the legend, Talemilia began to work out a plan for all of them to get out and she thought that finally one of the best moments would be to act when they found themselves on the other side since some of the mercenaries would have to pass through the portal to make sure that they were safe or that they didn't run away, she would have to be among the first to act. However, that could be completely wrong and there were people to welcome them on the other side who would take them directly to the place that would deprive them of their freedom forever, and she would have to act now to be able to save her fellow humans.
But did she have the means? Although she had mastered magic and was endowed with uncommon strength - although she hid it from Lelelitio so that he would not feel useless when he defended her or when she pretended to be unable to open or carry a box - she had never managed on her own before, doubting even her own intelligence. Malalalivia and Lelelitio were always there to have her back in case she found herself in danger or in a complex situation. But right now, there was no one to help her, she was going to end up on the other side of the country without ever seeing her family again.
I'm not good, Mum... I'm sorry I can't live up to our ancestors and tarnish our lineage.
A little fairy came up to the fairy and tugged at the sleeve of her dishevelled and faded dress, she turned to her and seeing her, in this context where their shabby daily life was about to collapse into even more despair, she realised the distress and unhealthiness of their way of life. This little girl with the beautiful curls was full of dirt and pimples, her hair greasy and her lips chapped, her eyes bleary. She was going to suffer an even more miserable life than she was now, in a place that was totally unknown to them. And this remark could be applied to all the girls present with her, all these young souls who had become accustomed to this insalubrious daily life as if it was normal to live in these conditions while others, higher up, were boasting of living a life far more luxurious than theirs.
Talemilia turned her ear to the little fairy and she asked him where they were going:
- I don't know," she whispered.
- Will there be food there?
- Surely, considering that they must maintain us alive.
- Then it must be a better place than here," she smiled.
Despite her words, her hand was shaking, she didn't believe in what she was saying, but the mere prospect of eating her fill gave her hope that their ill-fated fate would be good for her. Talemilia's heart was now filled with nothing but courage, but also with a terrible rage. She was not going to let a child believe that a life of slavery was better than being free. Their happiness was only a mile away and yet they were living as outcasts because of human concepts!
The Faeries were not so different from those they despised and hated.
She pushed the little fairy aside and prepared her plan.
- I'm sorry to have disturbed you," the little girl apologised.
- There's no need to apologise, I should rather thank you for reaffirming my convictions. You'll live free and clear, I promise you that.
Her determination was at its highest. She intended to get them all out of this dismal place.