The faerie floated just above the moss. Her wings shimmered like oil on water. Prism eyes flicked over Mini-Zephyrion once, twice. She twirled his compass between delicate fingers. The needle spun faster, as if confused by her touch.

  "A tiny technogod?" she repeated. Her voice sang like crystalline bells. "How quaint."

  Mini-Zephyrion puffed out his chest again. "Technogod? Ha! I'm Captain Mini-Zephyrion! Ruler of hearts and strata! That compass is my soul. Give it back or... or I'll... I'll court you until the end of time!"

  She laughed. Soft. Musical. Dangerous.

  "Court me?" She rose higher, her wings beating. The light from the lanterns caught in her golden hair like stars. "You can't even catch me!"

  Mini-Zephyrion jumped. Missed. Jumped again. "Challenge accepted!"

  He scrambled up the nearest mushroom stem. His tiny boots slipped on the slick cap. He scrambled to the top and then leaped to a silk bridge of sprite web. Mini-Zephyrion ran across it, arms wide for balance. The web swayed. He wobbled, but kept going.

  "Fair maiden!" he shouted. "Your eyes are prisms of perfection! Your wings could power a thousand ships! Marry me or at least let me polish your lantern!"

  She darted left. Floated backward. Laughing harder now.

  He chased her, leaping from mushroom to mushroom. He crossed another silk bridge. The he climbed a lantern chain while shouting increasingly desperate lines.

  "My heart-gear spins only for you!"

  "I'd trade every stratum for one smile!"

  "Your laughter is better than any resonance chime!"

  She perched on a higher lantern. Twirled the compass again. "Why chase me, little toy? You're not even real."

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Mini-Zephyrion stopped on a mushroom cap. Chest heaving. Tiny hands on tiny knees.

  "I'm not the big captain," he said. Voice quieter now. Sincere. "I'm just...a copy. A mistake Zephyrion left behind. A glitch in his workshop. But this..." He tapped his chest-plate. "This ache right here? It's real. And it's all yours."

  The faerie tilted her head. Her prism eyes flickered: the colors shifted: violet, gold, emerald, back to violet.

  She floated down, slow, and landed on the moss in front of him. She folded her wings and held out the compass.

  "Keep it," she said. "But if you stay, you stay forever. This pocket doesn't let things leave."

  Mini-Zephyrion stared at the compass. Then at her.

  The pocket began to fold inward. Silk webs tightened. Lanterns dimmed. Mushroom caps curled like closing fists. Faint resonance feedback echoed from far above...the ThunderCoil was moving on, continuing the sidequest.

  Mini-Zephyrion looked up. Heard the distant chime of the ship. Hesitated for one heartbeat.

  Then he looked at her again.

  "Adventure is infinite," he said. "But you...you are here...so this is where I choose to be."

  He stepped forward, climbed down from the mushroom, and crossed the moss to her. Tiny boots faced tiny bare feet.

  She smiled. Wider this time. Her wings unfolded slowly and wrapped around him like a cocoon of light.

  The pocket sealed.

  Lanterns dimmed.

  Mushroom forest glowed one last time.

  ThunderCoil plunged onward through Omnion’s Sidequest.

  No one looked back.

  No one noticed the tiny captain was gone.

  Mini-Zephyrion never came back.