Chapter Text
According to the Sleep Council of Vaporezia, their extensive research has shown that the most effective treatment against wakefulness is to sleep in the arms and on the muscular pecs of a dreamy hunk. Having grown up in Vaporezia, Giacomo Fabiolo Tarassaco, a spindly bard who had recently received his Blessing of Bop from the two kings of 5hroomville, was familiar with this research and believed it would help him. And to prove that this claim was indeed inspired by evidence-based practice, Giacomo took this documentation out of his backpack and showed it to none other than Jeriko Kyu (affectionately known as "Jeri") and his witches – the people he was now living with. Unfortunately for Giacomo, if there's one thing Jeri knew about Steamed Punks, it's that they're horny 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Giacomo was no exception. But because Jeri didn't see his dear friend as a vulgar person, Jeri allowed Giacomo to sleep with him.
One of the witches, named Patricia Cake-Álvarez (affectionately known as "Patty"), wasn't convinced by this research. In fact, she felt it had a lot of bias but was unable to articulate her feelings on the matter. (But then again, Patty was a Baked Punk, and Baked Punks are usually simple country folks, unlike the more educated, city-dwelling steamed variety.) After briefly pondering for a moment, Patty said to Giacomo, "Just be honest; you just want to snuggle in Jeri's chest."
"Yes, but I really do suffer from not being able to sleep," replied Giacomo, as he eagerly hopped into bed with Jeri.
In her sly, owl-like manner, the other witch replied, "Oh really?" Her name was Georgina Silverhand (affectionately known as "Gina.”) Gina continued, "Every time I wake up to sip some water from my teacup, I can hear you snoring."
"Gina, if someone's snoring it usually means they have some sort of breathing problem, which also doesn't let them sleep well," replied Jeri, as he petted Giacomo's curly head. "The meat of the throat blocks the airway, which causes snoring. It's similar to a stuffy nose."
"I just want to sleep," sighed Giacomo. "I have to show up for work early, tomorrow."
"Goodnight," said Jeri. He clapped his hands once, which told the Mushickens and Giacomo's glowing mushroom to turn off their lights, since they were all now going to try to sleep.
Just like everyone else suspected, Giacomo only wanted to run his hands all over Jeri's beautiful and toned body. However, Jeri's naturally healing aura, strong gentle grip, and soothing heartbeat made Giacomo feel so safe and relaxed, that he immediately passed out. Even the way Giacomo lay on top of Jeri adjusted his posture and neck enough that he didn't snore at all that night.
Jeri's eyes widened when he realized that Giacomo was already fast asleep. Taking a deep breath and holding Giacomo tightly, Jeri tried to get some sleep too. After all, he was to accompany one of the monks to the big city – Lakeside City.
The next day, everyone woke up early and had breakfast together. The last couple of months had been a hectic time for Patty and Gina. But they were finally starting to feel at home in their new house. (Although the house wasn’t yet finished, as Jeri and Gina had mostly done the construction themselves, it was starting to feel like home.)
After Giacomo left for work. Jeri and Gina were both outside trying to figure out how they were going to expand the bedroom to include a chicken coop for the Mushickens or perhaps build a new room for them altogether. As for Patty, she was inside showing her new home to her grandma.
Turning to her grandma, Patty asked, “Mama Citrina, what do you think of our house?”
“It's impressive,” she nodded. After all, a proper Candy Witch took great pride in her home, not so much for the powerful enchantment that kept it safe, but for the tranquil domesticity that existed within.
“It's a shame we hadn't met Jeri sooner, so he could fix our little cottage, before it collapsed. But I don't feel like this house is as secure as our old home. The creatures that live in dreams and move in the shadows can break in without you even noticing…”
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Patty’s grandma immediately hurried to go answer it. She left so quickly, that it startled Patty. Patty immediately ran after her, crying, “Mama Citrina! Please don’t leave me!”
Patty arrived just in time to see her grandma opening the door and welcoming a pair of strange women into the house. Patty felt as if she’d seen them before but couldn’t remember where. After all, her grandma was a local folk healer and people from all over came to visit their old cottage. The taller woman appeared to be in her 40s. She was tall, with strawberry blonde hair and wore a fluffy pink coat. The younger woman seemed very familiar, as if she were a relative of someone Patty had seen before. She was a girl like Patty, of similar height. The girl had long straight black hair in two pigtails. She wore a pink and yellow coat with star-shaped patterns.
The girl looked Patty right in the eye and asked, “What’s up, Doc?”
Annoyed, the older woman interrupted and said to Patty, “Excuse me, I’ve been looking all over for you on behalf of my son’s paternal grandmother. She is in need of one of those curative messages that you know how to do.”
“Apologies, ma'am, I don't really know how to do those massages well, but my grandma does,” replied Patty. Without turning around, she asked, “What do you say, Mama Citrina? I don’t think Jeri will mind us helping one of your customers…Mama…?” Patty turned around to see that her grandma had disappeared.
It suddenly hit her that she had been dreaming because her grandma had succumbed to her sudden illness a few months ago. Patty still wasn’t at peace with her death. However, the woman and the girl were still there with her and their presence felt very real.
Nonchalantly, the woman said, “Well, that's why I want you to help my friend, not your grandmother. My condolences for your loss.”
Since Patty could lucid dream she suddenly said to the woman, “Who are you? Show yourself in real life, so we can discuss this matter openly.”
The woman smiled and said, “Very well.”
Patty suddenly woke up, feeling somewhat startled. However, her shock only grew when she saw the girl was standing right there in the middle of the bedroom, with the woman who had transformed into a half-human, half-insectoid fairy. Patty was rendered speechless and unable to move, as she realized that her grandma’s assessment of her new home was accurate. It was as if even from beyond the grave, her grandma tried to warn her.
Fortunately, Fate had been kind to both Patty and Gina after her grandma’s death. They indeed had a new home and the pair of shadowy creatures who lived in dreams had no intentions of hurting them.
These creatures were known as "Night Fairies." Like many species of fairies, they lived in the Underdark and were a long-lived, female-only species. (To reproduce, they mated with males of other species. But all daughters were fairies, while sons were the same species as their sire.) Human/fairy hybrids were the most common mix. The daughters aged slowly, but after 150 years, they began to take on a more insectoid appearance. Due to the fact they can manipulate shadows, enter dreams, and are very pretty, they're mistaken for Succubi. However, they're not demons and their moral alignment depends on the individual.
Once Patty realized these Night Fairies meant her no harm, the sleep paralysis that gripped her slowly disappeared.
The girl crossed her arms and said, “Mom, we should’ve just disguised ourselves as moths and come over with Mama Candice.”
“No!” snapped the mother fairy. “It’d be wrong to make that poor old woman walk all this way for nothing if Doña Citrina’s granddaughter didn't live here. Her knees are in terrible pain, and you can’t even begin to imagine how much she's suffering.” Turning to Patty, the mother fairy added, "You remember Mrs. Candice, don't you?"
Patty shook her head. (But then, Patty was bad at remembering names.)
The mother fairy pulled out her wand, which she had hidden under her sleeve. She twirled the wand and tapped the water pitcher on the nightstand. It began to glow and an image of an old woman with her hair wrapped up in a scarf, wearing a simple dress, apron, and medieval clogs appeared in the water.
Patty narrowed her eyes and replied, "I remember her, but not her name." Admittedly, Patty had seen Candice the other day, when she accompanied Giacomo to the concert at the Pink Fairy Inn. However, Patty looked so different that Candice didn't recognize her as Citrina's granddaughter and couldn't tell her she needed a massage for her achy joints.
"Yes, she's the one who is in need of your help," said the mother fairy, as she tapped the pitcher again, to return it to normal. "Do you think you have time to see her? Either we bring her here, or I can mark the location of her home on your map, so you could visit her yourself."
"You can bring her over," said Patty. "I'll let my friends know beforehand." Patty had a lot to do at home the next morning.
Just then, the daughter fairy cried, "Mom! It's the Cute Pup and Jack! Look!" She stood next to Jeri's bed and observed the two youths sleeping peacefully.
The mother fairy hurried over to her daughter's side and lightly whacked her in the head with her wand.
"Ow!" cried the daughter as she rubbed her head where she was struck, with her hand.
"Diana, get away from them!" hissed the mother. "These are men. Not just any men, but the monster-slaying variety. They might attack you in self-defense. Apollo would be heartbroken if his friends hurt his twin sister like this."
Another reason Night Fairies are mistaken for Succubi is because they sometimes feed on men's dreams, leaving their victims physically, spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically drained. However, Diana had no plans to drain either one of the boys because she regularly ate normal food at her brother's house. She just wanted to greet them. Sighing, Diana walked back with her mom and stood next to Patty's bed. The mother fairy continued to discuss her plan with Patty.
Luckily for them, the only payment Patty wanted was for the fairies to enchant the house further. To protect it against malignant shadowy intruders. The mother fairy agreed and cast a protection spell around the property. Unfortunately, their spell wasn't as powerful as a Candy Witch's enchantment, so it would only last for 3 months. Diana decided to help too and sprinkled some of her fairy dust on top of Patty’s head, allowing her to sleep soundly for the rest of the night.