Charlie

The moon made the river shimmer as silver as Nanno's tail fin. Nanno had long been in the water and let himself drift on his back. Charlie watched him and kept his feet in the cool water.

"Come in too”, Nanno finally said. "Come. Swim with me."

The little will-o’-the-wisp clapped her hands excitedly and pointed to Nanno. Charlie grimaced. "I can't swim."

The little light sighed and Nanno swam close to the shore. "The water here is still shallow. Come. We'll stay where you can stand."

"Where I can stand? How deep is the river?", asked Charlie, looking restlessly at Nanno.

The siren grinned. "Very deep. For a few meters, the river remains shallow, then comes a steep cliff. But we don't have to go there. Come."

Charlie nodded. Then he took off his clothes and followed Nanno into the cold water. Trembling, he walked as far as Nanno was. The water was still shallow enough for him to stand. But after just a few steps it reached his shoulders. Nanno smiled and hugged Charlie.

"Welcome to my world", he whispered in his ear. Charlie blushed. The little will-o’-the-wisp buzzed around them laughing and teasing them in her foreign language.

Nanno's tail fin was very close. It briefly grazed Charlie's legs and a shiver ran down his spine. Nanno rested his head on Charlie's shoulder. Astonished, Charlie wrapped his arms around him. "And now?", he asked. "What do we do now?" Charlie let his hands glide over Nanno's back and arms. He looked at the sparkling pearls Nanno adorned himself with and admired the outline of the tail fin. Nanno's skin was smooth and cool. "You are beautiful."

"You too", Nanno said quietly. "You may."

"What may I do?"

"I notice that you are staring at my fin. You may." Nanno laughed. His breath tickled Charlie's neck. Carefully, he let his hand slide over Nanno's back until he reached the smooth scales of the tail fin. He placed his other hand on Nanno's shoulder. The siren sighed contentedly as Charlie stroked his scales in fascination and pressed herself tightly against Charlie's naked body.

"Um", Charlie said nervously. Nanno just giggled.

Time seemed to stand still. Nanno kissed Charlie's shoulder and neck, and Charlie kissed his cheek. But at some point tiredness overcame him. Charlie yawned.

Nanno laughed. "I'll see you tomorrow then? Except... No. Nothing will happen!" He briefly kissed Charlie's cheek and went into hiding to disappear into the depths of the river. Smiling, Charlie got out of the river and got dressed again. His little friend flew after him giggling. But then she suddenly hid in Charlie's hair.

Molly was waiting for him. Lucas and Joris were asleep, but she was awake. "You may be the first person to return alive from a bath with a siren. Charlie? I’m sorry. Your friends don't want to harm you or us. I should’ve believed you. But after everything that's happened..." She stroked her curly hair. "I was scared." The little light chirped softly. Molly looked at the little figure curiously. "Will-o’-the-wisps are really cute", she murmured softly.

"They are. And thank you. I understand. Forgiven and forgotten. You only wanted the best for all of us."

Joris

Charlie and Molly were both unusually tired. Both. Joris wondered how long they had been awake. He hadn't noticed anything.

Lucas tried to get a campfire started. He had caught a few purple rats with a self-made trap and wanted to roast them over the fire. Molly sat by the river in her underwear and washed her clothes. She wanted to hang them up to dry later. For this, she had already attached some string between two trees.

Charlie sat lazily under a tree and stared at the river. A small stray light slept curled up on his lap. So, he had been able to save it.

"Hello, Joris!"

Startled, he looked beside him. There Ehlin floated and smiled at him. "You passed on my message. How wonderful. I heard from the fairies that they like your brother very much now."

"The fairies?", asked Joris, surprised. Lucas and Molly looked at the Sylphe with interest. Molly smiled. Charlie, on the other hand, just yawned and greeted the sudden guest with a lazy nod.

Ehlin sat down next to Joris, still slightly floating, and grabbed one of his hands. The skin of the sylph felt like a refreshing breeze. "Fairies are true gossipers. It may well be that you will soon be visited by some nymphs. Nymphs are shy, but also very curious."

"Nymphs? And you?" Joris smiled.

"Me? I’m with you!" Ehlin laughed softly. Then she looked at Charlie. "And? Have you kissed Nanno yet? Not on the cheek, no, on the mouth?"

Charlie rolled his eyes. "How about you? You could kiss Joris. On the mouth!" He stuck out his tongue at the sylph.

"What?" Joris immediately blushed and looked at Ehlin with wide eyes. Ehlin winked at him in amusement, which made Molly smile. She approaches them with her wet clothes to hang them up.

"You must be Ehlin. My name is Molly. And my husband Lucas is sitting over there", she pointed to her husband. Lucas waved, but he concentrated fully on the campfire which, as usual, was difficult to ignite.

They talked for a while until a few nymphs sneaked giggling past them, and watched them without hesitation. Charlie, polite as he was, greeted the pretty, ghostly ladies, who took this as an opportunity to invite them all to dance and party. A few fairies also flew in and brought them sweet fruit, and danced in the air.

Lucas watched the action from the campfire laughing while roasting the rats. The little will-o’-the-wisp woke up and was sitting on his shoulder now, as Charlie was dancing with four nymphs. They introduced themselves to him as Alika, Alea, Alste, and Andine, and announced that they were now best friends. This amused Charlie. The lively nymphs were funny contemporaries and they kept asking Joris to kiss Ehlin. Ehlin didn't say anything, but they smiled at Joris waitingly.

So they all spent the whole day celebrating.