|  yukino aguria

"It's been a while since I've had visitors! What's your name?"

"Yukino."

A young girl with long, wavy blonde hair, green eyes, and two small wings sprouting from the sides of her head sits on a thick tree root, smiles at me - a smile that isn't quite meeting her eyes. "Hi! I'm Mavis of Fairy Tail. I'm two-hundred and thirty-six years old. Though I do look quite young for my age, you think?" she chirps. 

I blink. "Yes. If I may, how did you -"

"I have hundreds of years of experience, I know people inside and out! Even if I haven't left this area for a few decades . . ." She smiles, motioning to the land and small cottage around her. "How's the outside world?"

"I don't really know. I've stayed in the castle grounds for as long as I remember. I just chose to run away today because my crowning is in three days," I say, sheepish. 

Mavis's eyes widen and her smile grows. She hops off the root and says, "A princess on the run? Follow me!" 

I trail behind her into the quaint little cottage. It's as small as it appears, with a fluffy pink rug at the entrance, a big bookshelf, and a couch. As we go further in, I spy a staircase beside the tall bookshelf. I'm about to climb it, but Mavis stops me. 

"There's something I need to tell you." She pulls out a book. "And it's behind this bookshelf." She takes out another on, about one row up and three books down, then switches their positions. I stare, feeling my jaw drop, as the bookshelf slides into the ground and a pathway is in its place - not to the side, like the books I've read, but into the ground. "Remember, do what I do!" 

She takes a step, and the pathway turns into a black hole.

"M-miss mavis?" I stutter, my courage from hours ago in dust. When nothing screams back, I gulp, feeling shivers run down my spine, and jump.

The fall isn't long. I land on my feet and start coughing. Then a light turns on and Mavis is in front of me, helping me dust off. 

"Sorry, I didn't think I'd get the chance to meet a civilian so soon. I clean every other year, but I might've missed a lot last clean since a soldier got me drunk."

With a little bit of light, I can see what the room contains. There's a table with a few orbs, a thick book, and a giant telescope. On the other side, is another bookshelf, this one not as large or as full as the one upstairs; the dust bunnies have plenty of room to live. A couple beer bottles packaged into one corner with a thin gold ribbon, on the surface under a window. There're chairs, but the visible splinters make them seem dreadful over the dirty, soft, rug that Mavis is sitting on.

She pats the seat beside her. I sit down beside her and stretch out my sore legs. "Miss Mavis, -"

"Mavis is fine!"

"M-mavis, what did you need to tell me?" 

Her expression hardens and her lips purse. "I think it's best if I show you something first - even if to just confirm my suspicions."