Awakening and Retribution

“You’re finally awake.”

The little fairy beamed, its six gossamer wings fluttering, scattering light powder that traced its flight path through the air.

Before it could enjoy the moment, a large hand suddenly grabbed it.

Five fingers squeezed hard!

The air in the fairy’s lungs was forced out.

“Gah!” It let out a weird cry, like a squeaky toy being crushed.

“Let me go, you unfilial daughter!” The fairy’s tiny face turned purple from lack of oxygen.

“You vile thing, how dare you make me…” Noren glared, her hair standing on end, her face twisted in an unparalleled rage.

The fairy grew more uncomfortable, opened its mouth wide, revealing two rows of white teeth, and bit down hard on Noren’s finger!

Noren winced slightly and let go.

She tried to grab it with her other hand, but the fairy nimbly dodged.

“It dodged?”

She grabbed twice more, but the fairy still dodged with ease.

“Heh, pretty fast.”

Her brows lowered, her gaze sharpened. A clock chimed, and the world suddenly turned gray.

Time slowed. The fairy, which had been grinning, now froze mid-air, as if waiting to be caught.

“Gotcha.” Noren clapped her hands together, trapping the fairy between her palms.

The clock shattered, and time resumed its normal flow.

She opened one eye and peered through the gap between her hands…

The fairy was mysteriously cupping its own hands, as if hiding something inside. It peered secretly at whatever it held.

“What are you looking at?” Noren opened her hands, expressionless, and stared at the fairy sitting in her palm.

The fairy said nothing, just turned around, presenting its back to Noren.

“Let me see!” Noren yelled.

“Hmph~” The fairy lifted its chin, hugging its fists possessively.

“Pretty please, just let me see?” Somehow, Noren felt an inexplicable, fierce curiosity about what the fairy was hiding.

“Just one look, okay? One look only!” The fairy’s expression was reluctant, as if forcing itself to agree.

“Mm-hmm.” Noren nodded solemnly.

A mischievous smile curled at the fairy’s lips. “Then lean in.”

Noren leaned closer.

The fairy extended its fist to a centimeter before Noren’s big eye.

Slowly, the fist opened…

Nothing there.

“?” Noren blinked innocently.

The fairy swung its arm, and with a *bang*, punched Noren square in the eye.

“OWWWWW—!” Noren, like a kitten whose tail had been stepped on, jumped three feet high, smashing her head into the ceiling, her neck nearly driven into her chest.

She rolled on the ground in pain.

The fairy’s mad laughter echoed in her ears.

“Ha… ha… ha… ha…” The fairy was slapping its thighs, laughing so hard it could barely breathe, as if about to suffocate.

“Damn it, if I catch you, you’re in for it!” Noren forced her eyes open, green irises shot with red veins.

“Honk! Honk! Honk!” The fairy’s laughter sounded like choking. It tauntingly beckoned Noren with a finger. “Then come catch me?”

“Raaagh!” Noren felt her chest about to explode!

She had never been so humiliated.

————

————

“Huff, puff, huff, puff…” The blonde woman lay limp on the hospital bed, her chest rising and falling, her smooth, full feet dangling over the edge.

In the room, the chandelier lay shattered on the floor, the TV had a fist-sized hole with radiating glass cracks, the bedside table was completely broken apart, with wood splinters even embedded in the wall.

On the walls were wet stains from a smashed apple and the red of a watermelon.

A slipper had been thrown out the window earlier; if it hit someone, she was sorry.

“Are you done calming down?” The fairy flew onto her face, settling its little bottom on her nose bridge, its tiny feet stomping on her lips.

A faint sour smell of feet.

*Slap!* A crisp sound echoed as her palm smacked hard against her own face.

“Sss—” She inhaled sharply.

Noren picked up a piece of mirror shard from the floor and looked at herself. The imprint of five fingers was clearly stamped on her face.

A stark contrast of red and white.

“My face!” she exclaimed, brows furrowed, her face full of anger. Her teeth ground together, producing a sharp “grr-grr” sound.

“Ayi, don’t be mad~ It’s no big deal~” The fairy gently kissed her forehead, and the red bruise faded away.

In moments, her face was restored, even the bloodshot eyes cleared.

“Aren’t I amazing~” The fairy put its hands on its hips, lifting its chin and nose.

“Get rid of the swelling here too.” Noren rubbed the tiny teeth marks on her index finger, signaling the fairy to erase them.

She opened her hand and extended it to the fairy.

“I’ll just… Gah!”

The fairy fell for it; while healing the finger, Noren caught it.

The innocent fairy ultimately fell into the clutches of evil humanity.

“Hehehe…” Noren’s sinister smile was chilling.

“I told you, once you’re in my hands, I’ll exact revenge to the letter!”

Noren began her retaliation.

“A little doll.” The blonde beauty pinched it, then lifted the plastic doll’s dress.

“No, no, no!” The fairy’s cheeks flushed bright red. “If you break it, the modeler will beat you up!”

It desperately tried to pry apart the giant’s fingers, but Noren continued undeterred, unwilling to stop until she got what she wanted!

Minutes later, the little doll was broken.

A lump of silicone slowly turned to liquid.

The evil human’s claws had subjected it to “torment.”

“Ah, that feels better.” Relieved, Noren carelessly tossed away the ruined plastic doll.

*Modeler: I’m angry!*

She wiped the water stains off her pinky, then gently poked the fairy’s delicate cheek.

“Hey, who are you?”

“I’m your mother, you unfilial daughter!” The fairy swore weakly, exhausted.

Noren curled her lip.

With a swift motion, she stripped off the doll’s outer shell and threatened, “I’ll ask again: who are you.”

Her hand started moving.

“Eek—!” The fairy panicked, its jaw tight, mouth open, a vein bulging on its slender neck.

“I’ll talk, I’ll talk!”

“My name is Dís!”

‘Dís from Norse mythology?’ Noren raised an eyebrow.

That was a kind of divine creature with some power, far weaker than the demigod Valkyries.

At the very bottom of mythological beings.

“Second question: where is this?”

Noren put the dress back on the doll and smoothed out its wrinkles.

“A dream.”

“What?” She misheard?

“A dream. This is a dreamscape.” The fairy repeated.

The blonde squinted, looking around—

The fluorescent light on the ceiling was bright, a few moths fluttered around, wet shoe prints from the bathroom marked the floor, and patches of white paint had peeled off the walls.

The room was very real.

“How could this be a dream?” Noren scoffed. “Do I not know the difference between dreams and reality?”

The fairy’s red lips curved into a slight smile, two small dimples at the corners of its mouth. It looked at Noren with an ambiguous expression. “Can you really tell the difference between dreams and reality?”

Noren’s original smug smile gradually collapsed. She couldn’t laugh anymore.

“Impossible,” Noren said.

Then she pinched the soft flesh of her inner thigh.

Pulled it—

Twisted forty-five degrees!

“Ow!” The force was too strong; the pain made her yelp!

“Like hell I believe you, you little trickster!” Noren refused to believe this was a dream. The pain was so clear—was this Inception or something?

‘But if this isn’t a dream…’ Noren looked at the hospital room décor. ‘Did I get transmigrated back?’

Whatever, she would take it one step at a time.

“One more question.”

Noren released the fairy and looked at Dís as if she were a pervert.

“Do Dísir never wear underwear?”

The fairy covered its face with both hands, ears bright red.

Its wings vibrated rapidly, as if revealing its shy heart.

After taking a few deep breaths, it lowered its hands, its face returning to normal, but the tips of its ears were still crimson.

Hands on its hips, it said matter-of-factly, “The ancient Romans never wore underwear either.”

“Oh, so you’re a pervert.”

“I am not!”

“You’re a pervert.”

“No!”

“Pervert.” Art is SpongeBob SquarePants, Noren was a broken record.

Dís finally broke. She grabbed her hem and bit it with her small mouth.

Her eyes fierce: “This is the most annoying thing about Norsemen—vengeful. I’ll give you a show too!”

Norsemen?

Noren’s golden brows, even when furrowed into a “川” shape, were still beautiful. ‘If I’ve transmigrated back to the twenty-first century, why would this little thing call me a Norseman?’

It really was just a dream.

Senses can lie, but logic cannot.

“Mm mm mm…” Dís whimpered like a small animal.

Dís’s solo show was unique. If Noren’s was full of strength, Dís’s dance was like a colorful butterfly fluttering gracefully.

Reserved, aesthetic.

“Mm! Mm! Mm!” The whimpers grew urgent and forceful, each syllable squeezed out from the lungs and nose.

“Need a tool?” Noren suddenly interrupted.

“No, I, don’t!” Dís was mortified.

She was almost there, and this wicked daughter had to—!

“Hehe (*^__^*)!”

Prank successful, Noren flashed a devilish grin.

————

————

Noren looked around the room, taking in the shattered furnishings: a bed, a wall cabinet, a chair, a bedside table, a wall-mounted TV.

“Is this a mental hospital?”

“Mental hospital? What’s that?” Dís still had a cute pink tinge on her neck.

“Emm… a mental hospital is… forget it, it’s not important.”

Noren started to explain, but seeing Dís’s big, beautiful eyes, she lost the desire to elaborate.

Anyway, she wouldn’t understand.

“What now?” Noren asked.

Dís nodded her little head and said seriously, “You must leave this place. I was worried you wouldn’t wake up, but since you’re conscious, the rest is simple.”

“Simple?”

“Yes. Just fight your way out.”