Air Force staff returned me home around 1 am. Since we live in a quiet part of town, it doesn't take much for our neighbors to notice uniformed people unloading a disabled fairy from their van.

  Mom notices as well and rushes over to me, while I'm parked in the middle of the road."Ann!" she shouts, ignoring the fact that it is 1 am. Every dog in the neighborhood is barking, startled by her outcry. More lights in the nearby homes are switched on, and people are watching us from behind the curtains.

  First I was hugged by mom, then Rachel and both seemed exhausted, probably having waited hours for me to arrive.

  The military people quickly left us alone because I refused their further assistance. They still gave me a card with a phone number, just in case I needed any form of support. And they emphasized the word 'any.'

  Rachel pushed the wheelchair into our home after which we made ourselves, more or less, comfortable in the living room.

  Emily and her family joined us soon after, and I noticed that she was still in her PJs. Emily needed a bit more time to process the situation and we both cried for a few minutes, just to get the stress out of our systems. She put her head on my stomach and said "Ann.....I saw your attack on TV. I thought.....you died."

  So I was on TV, huh? That expins the stupid drone I saw.

  I'm gently caressing her hair. "It's okay now. I'm here....alive." No more wings, but still happy to be alive. I've had some time to process this, but I guess it's not as easy for her. Maybe I will still call that phone number, but for the both of us.

  Crying slowly evolved into ughing and after that everyone simply surrendered to fate around 3 am, when we returned to bed.

  I however slept on the couch, not wanting to risk losing my cast by becoming a tiny fairy. The bandages on my back are a bit tight, but at least I'll live.

  [ morning ]

  "Ann? Aaaaahaaaann. Good morning." Rachel's ever so gentle voice is trying to reach me all the way in dreamnd.

  "Huh? Oh...what time is it?" I'm looking around, but can't see the clock from my current position.

  "It's 8 am, time for breakfast."

  "Oh...okay. I missed you."

  "Wake up, you are still sleeping." She put a few strands of hair behind my furry ears, so that I could see more easily. I think that I may need a haircut soon.

  I yawned a few times. "Not anymore. I meant to say that I really missed trying your chocote cake."

  "Hahaha, okay. Now you're awake. You can have some right now if you want?"

  "Nah....your cake is special. I want to look forward to it, savor it with some nice fresh coffee this afternoon."

  "You and Amelia really are family, you're exactly the same." She winked.

  "Don't bme me for having a great family. That includes you."

  "Awwww." She gave me a very gentle hug. "Major Reese will be here in an hour or so. Is that okay?"

  "Yes, he told me yesterday. Or st night...whatever."

  "Do you want me to wash you?"

  "Nope... this fairy has a skill for that. Purification!"

  "Wow...you were glowing."

  "I know. I'm now freshly bathed, and my clothes are clean too."

  "Amazing. I don't think that I'll ever get used to seeing that. Alright, let's get some breakfast into your tummy."

  "You said it too!"

  "I know, I know, but only because I know that you like hearing that. But more importantly....I can do even better than that. I'll get something yummy into your tummy. How was that?" Her infectious smile makes me smile as well.

  "That was....superb!"

  "Hahahaha, you are too kind."

  "Ding-dong." The doorbell rang while we were still having breakfast.

  Major Reese entered our living room, which probably hasn't seen as many guests as tely.

  "Good morning everyone. How's our special fairy doing?" He looked at me.

  "Morning, Major. Alive and kicking. Well, something like that. My family has been a huge support and I feel much better now. I still miss my wings....and I'll need a long time to get over that. How's the fairy dust situation?"

  "Gd you asked. We loaded a sample into a Tomahawk for a long range delivery. It worked perfectly. The missile impacted the target, releasing the dust as intended. We were pleasantly surprised to see that your dust can be very destructive when paired with explosives. The creature stood no chance."

  "Nice." I gave him a thumbs up while grinning. Bye bye monsters!

  "That's one way to put it, yes." He smiled and noticed mom's desire to ask a question. "Do you wish to ask something?"

  "I do. If I remember correctly, Ann told us not to use fairy dust together with technology. How exactly did you pull that off?"

  "Good question, and one that I'm happy to answer. It's true that technology gets short circuited when exposed to the dust, but we found a very simple solution to that problem.

  We repced the missile's usual explosive warhead with a smaller version and used the gained space for the dust. The dust is stored in a container, which in turn is....shielded by grass."

  "Grass?" Mom said while frowning.

  "Yes, we already knew the effect of dust on grass, and it turned out to be a perfect insutor for the dust."

  "Hahaha....missiles with fairy dust and grass....it's good to be alive." I said.

  "Exactly. And on that note......I brought something special with me today. It may not be what you need right now, but it's a token of our sincere respect. Here you are, god knows you have earned it, soldier."He gave me a really expensive looking wooden box. "Do you know what it is?"

  I open it and nod. "A purple heart?"

  "Em...almost. It's a blue heart. The President has awarded it to you. It's quite the honor."

  "Blue? Ah....okay, another world, sure, why, not? The honor is especially nice when I can receive it while I'm still alive."

  "True. I see you understand the meaning."

  "Yes, I do. Thank you, but I'm not sure that I deserve this. Real soldiers do real battles, I just got caught in the bst wave. Besides, I'm not even in the military."

  "And yet, you are a real part of our armed forces. An important part and that makes you a real soldier too."

  "Wanna have more fairy dust?" I smiled.

  He grinned. "Always. But first we have to complete our deal from yesterday. The monster crystal."

  "Ahhh, I was hoping you wouldn't forget about that."

  "Gimme a minute." He leaves his chair and heads towards our front door.

  I look at mom and Rachel, and they shrug.

  A minute ter he returns with a package on wheels. He puts it in the living room and puts the brake on the wheels, then unpacks the whole contraption.

  What I see next is a crystal shaped like a ruby. And I'm not talking about a nice normal crystal, but a freaking huge one! He said that it weighs about 20 pounds. These crystals are unfortunately not suitable for crafting jewelry and such, meaning more for me! Besides, this was the deal we agreed on in exchange for my dust.

  "The Japanese have cimed ownership of the monster's body, but were more than willing to hand over the crystal to you. They hope that you will accept it as a small token of their whole nation's appreciation. I have a hunch that they will contact you some day, but there was no word of that in any of our official communications. Go ahead, enjoy your dessert!" He said.

  "Yeah.....I'm kinda stuck in a wheelchair?" I'm trying to reach for the crystal, but my arms are way too short.

  "Right....what do you want me to do?"

  "Can you lift it and put it on my p?"

  "You sure? It's heavy."

  "Yup."

  "Okay, here we go." He gently puts it on my p.

  "My god! That thing is heavy! No, it's okay, I can handle it." He was about to lift it up again, but the weight only startled me.

  I'm focusing on the crystal and feel it slowly heating up....and being absorbed into my body.Bit by bit....until it suddenly moves into my stomach like someone pushed it inside!

  "Ahhh!!!!" That hurts!

  "Ann!!!!" Mom shouted, but they couldn't even touch me. Another blue shield instantly formed around me while I saw hundreds of messages popping up all over my field of vision. It was so much that I lost consciousness. But the st message I saw was "mana overload - message repeated: 372 times."

  [ POV Mom ]

  "Aaaann!! Ouch! It zapped me!"

  "Stand back!" The Major shouted and we all waited to see what would happen.

  Ann is glowing in a silvery white color, which settles into a bright green. The light is so bright that we can't even look at her anymore.

  The light only stopped after 5 agonizing minutes, after which the shield disappeared as well.

  [ POV Ann ]

  "Ann?" I heard mom's voice and felt someone taking my pulse on my throat.

  I sit up straight in my wheelchair and have to cough a few times."What happened?"

  "You were glowing for 5 minutes after eating a crystal, and then you woke up." Rachel said matter of factly.

  They seem worried...mom, Rachel and the Major.

  "Are you okay?" Mom asked.

  "I'm fine...I think. What's that?" I pointed at the many white fragments on the floor.

  "Your cast. It just...broke into many pieces and fell off."

  "Yeah....why am I not surprised? Should we call the medic?"

  "Before we do that....honey, your wings are back."

  "WHAT?!!! No way?!!! Yes, I can feel them!

  Hahaha! I love this world! Whoever fixed me up....THANK YOU!!!!" I shouted and saw Major Reese frowning at me. Well...not my problem.

  A new message surprised me.===============You have gained a new title:Apex predator===============

  When I told them about the new title and that my stats didn't show any damage anymore, they congratuted me.

  "Incredible!" The Major said.

  "Emm.....before you ask, Major.... you can have all the dust you need, but I'm not attacking those things again!"

  "That sounds fair. How much dust do you have avaible now?"

  "Let me see. Wooooow.. I have at least 10 times as much now! All my stats are through the roof!"

  "Hahahaha, Ann, we're going to be feeding you more of those things really soon. Forget about those little crystals, they are just snacks for you now."

  I nod a few times and can't stop grinning. "How did the crystal even survive a direct assault from multiple Tomahawks?"

  "Tough bugs." He shrugged.

  "Yeah....I guess now we know why."

  "E?"

  "Yes, Rachel?"

  "Your tails are glowing blue.....and now they're back to normal again."

  "Really? Can you count them for me?"

  "Yes...stop moving!!! Okay...1..2......9? Yes, you still have 9 of them."

  "Thank heavens for that. Wait.....9 tails? Oh my god......I totally forgot. I'm basically a 9 tailed Kitsune!"

  "What is a Kitsune?" The Major asked.

  "In my world the Japanese have stories about 9 tailed spirits, which they call Kitsune. I'm basically one of those now, but with wings. According to those stories, the more powerful and more experienced the spirit becomes, the more tails it gets. 9 is the upper limit. I wonder if the rest of the story is true as well."

  "Like what?"

  "Fox fire!" Even before I said those words, 9 blue lights appeared in total on the tip of my tails. "WOOW....oops, my bad! Stop the fox fire!" And they slowly disappear.

  "Ann, tell me...what is going on?" The Major asked, looking a bit worried.

  "I checked my stats, but I don't see the word fox-fire anywhere. Still, it seems that my stingers got upgraded considerably." I think that my stingers simply react to my intention, not to the word 'stinger' or 'fox fire.'

  The Major nods and says "impressive, but are you sure that you aren't evolving into a bug?" He then smiles, only teasing me.

  "Huh? Do you still need my fairy dust or not?" I replied while giving him a serious expression.

  "Nevermind."

  "Hehehehe, good. Let's go find a few spiders! I can handle those now and I want to see what this body can do!"

  "You're not going back to fight, Ann!" Mom said in a loud voice, meaning there's no way to argue with her. And she's right, I already promised her to stop fighting monsters.

  "Awww.........okay, okay. You're right. Sorry, I just got carried away. But please keep the stones coming, Major. Small ones too. I think I now understand how these monsters get so big."

  "Cannibalism?" He asked.

  "Why not? Survival of the fittest."

  "Interesting theory. Now, if you don't mind, more dust please."

  "Hehehe, you're going to be needing many more buckets this time. Probably a truck and a trailer, just saying."

  "That....can certainly be arranged. You are our source of ammo, let's win this war!"

  "Yes, sir!"

  "Just give me an hour."

  "For what?"

  "The trailer."

  "I was kidding!!!"

  "I wasn't and judging by your expression, neither were you. So...be honest, how much are we talking about?"

  "Sheeeesh, okay...it's true. I'll need a trailer at least." I whispered that st part.

  "Did you say.....AT LEAST...a trailer?"

  "Yeah?"

  "Hahahahhah, I'll order 2! Per day that is!"

  "Sure, why not. Maybe ask for those liquid cargo trailers with an opening on top?"

  "Like those milk tank trailers?"

  "Sure. Just....the big ones, okay? Not those little tanks you can pull with a jeep."

  "Huh? Hahahahah, deal. But you will fill those, or else."

  "No worries. And you keep those crystals rolling towards me."

  "I think we can call this a deal."

  "We can." We shake hands, just for fun, while grinning broadly.

  "Creepy." Rachel said loud enough for me to hear.

  Mom then says "if the military folks would be so nice to end this conversation? I need to spoil my daughter. And the one next door is asking for Ann as well."

  "Riiiight, Emily." I said. How could I forget about her?!

  "Exactly."

  The Major nods. "Of course. And Ann, 2 trailers...this afternoon."

  I saluted. "Big crystals, and little ones as snacks."

  "Soon, I promise. More fairy dust equals more killed monsters equals more crystals."

  "No, you got it all wrong, Major. More crystals equals more dust equals bye bye monsters."

  "Now stop it you two!" Mom said and put her hand over my mouth. "First chocote cake, then Emily."

  "Hehehehe." I think I like that order of business.

  "That's not what I meant! Major! What have you done to my girl!!!!" Mom shouted but the Major just ignored us when he left our home.

  At least my stats are looking awesome now!

  ===========================================Name: Ann FinleyAge: 17Gender: female

  Family: nature spirits Race: fairyCss: Cn Defender (level 4 -final)

  Mana capacity: 230,000 / 230,000 (current / max)Venom charge: 170,000 / 170,000 (current / max)

  Racial skills:-purification-outfit-transtion-concealment-fairy dust-compass

  Css skills:-attack mode (speed/agility)-shock-stinger-burrow-shields

  Titles/achievements:-crosser of worlds-natural enemy of monsters-apex predator===========================================