'Because I asked her for a chance.'
A chance for the Tontatta Tribe, for our fairy race, to continue once more.
'Keep an eye on that withered plant, my little Arrietty. One day... one day, our race's destiny will make it brim with vitality again.'
Old Pod passed away three days later, and Arrietty's parents held a simple funeral for him.
During that time, the little girl looked around but did not see the Fate Changer the old man spoke of coming to the funeral.
Later, years passed, and she grew up year by year.
The house grew old and mottled, only to be renovated and redecorated again and again.
Tenants came and went one by one.
Arrietty even began to doubt whether Grandpa's words were true... or just his imagination?
"Of course it was his imagination!"
Homily's rough palm waved in front of Arrietty, drawing the dazed girl's attention back: "He was too old, and his head had been kicked by a rat; it hadn't worked right for a long time. He could only fool a girl like you who has never traveled far."
Pod wasn't happy about his wife speaking of his father that way, but he also agreed that those were indeed just fantasies.
The things his father had told his daughter, he had also told him.
Those magical dragons and magic, and humans who could fly;
Heroes whose eyes could fire scorching lasers that melted the earth;
Ancient ships that sailed without wind;
And wands, and old talking pointed hats... Lies! All lies!
That old fellow's brain had been ruined by a rat. Since he reappeared after being missing for twenty years, he had been crazy all day long, and even Arrietty had been 'infected' by him.
Pod deeply regretted leaving his young daughter in his father's care—
To the point that the girl was now like an illiterate; her happiest activity every day was sneaking out to pick up breadcrumbs and steal sips of water from vases.
She didn't act like a cautious member of the Tontatta Tribe.
She was more like a human... or something else.
Courage—the Tontatta Tribe didn't need courage, only to survive.
Pod sighed deeply, thinking his daughter's future was truly bleak. Perhaps his lineage would go extinct in Arrietty's hands?
"But it bloomed! It was dead, right?
It came back to life!"
Arrietty was still arguing with her mother. Pod waved his thick palms, interrupting the mother and daughter's conversation: "Arrietty, we all know that plant has withered and died.
The only reason I didn't throw it away was because you liked to climb up and nap on that diamond-shaped rhizome when you were little."
"Dead plants cannot be resurrected."
"But it really lived! Dad!"
Homily looked at her husband with worry.
She had a feeling that their long-standing, plain, and stable daily life was about to disappear because of her husband's words.
Indeed, Pod was not an unreasonable man; he nodded and made a bet with his daughter.
"Fine, fine, Arrietty. I can't convince you, just as my father could never convince me to believe his bag of tricks."
Pod said gently, "So, shall we make a bet?"
Pod gave Homily a look to soothe his wife, then reached out to stroke Arrietty's brilliant Red Hair, which was like red coral.
"Tomorrow, I'll go with you. If it's in bloom, then your mother and I..." He looked at Homily. "Your mother and I will 'tentatively' recognize you and your Grandpa's prophecy."
Having said that, Pod's tone shifted: "If it hasn't bloomed..."
Arrietty interjected, "It has bloomed!"
"But we're making a bet; you have to let me finish the other part, don't you?"
The girl crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.
Her father stated the remaining half: "If it hasn't bloomed and is still withered there, then you must promise me two things."
"First, I will bring Spiller back to live with us, and you must get along with him."
Arrietty sprang from her chair like a startled cat: "I don't like that dirty guy!"
Spiller was a year younger than Arrietty.
He had no family and lived a wild life alone.
This young Tontatta hunter's skills were arguably no less than Pod's; he had once saved Pod's life from the blades of a praying mantis.
Later, after becoming acquainted with Pod's family, this wild little man with a bow and arrow often visited, bringing fruits and leaves.
Homily and Pod both liked the Boy with the grey hair.
Of course, Arrietty was not willing to play with a dirty Boy.
Moreover, she understood what her parents were planning.
No way.
Pod spread his hands helplessly: "That's for later, a later step. Honey, listen to me, this is the first condition. If you don't agree—"
"Fine!" Arrietty held her head high, pinning her sewing needle back to her waist as if she had made up her mind, and took a deep breath: "Is there anything else?"
"Second, and last. I will 'destroy' that plant."
Pod tested the waters cautiously. As expected, at the mention of the word 'destroy,' his daughter's round eyes grew even rounder.
"You can't do that! Father!"
Pod shrugged; he had wanted to do this for a long time.
If he weren't afraid his daughter would actually stab him with the sewing needle at her waist, he wouldn't have been able to stand Arrietty obsessing over that piece of junk every day.
"Of course I can.
If you lose the bet, I don't want you spending the rest of your life fussing over that thing.
The loser has to follow the conditions, don't they?
Get married, have children—maybe five or six?
That would be the fortune of the Tontatta Tribe.
See, when the children grow up, won't you naturally become the 'Queen' of the Tontatta Tribe?"
"Since you like the word 'Queen' so much."
Pod's teasing earned him a hard pinch on his waist fat from his wife, causing the man's face to instantly crumple in pain.
The girl glanced at her mother's action, ignored the two who were constantly showing off their affection, and thought over her father's words.
If what I saw today was correct, it must have bloomed.
Should I bet? Suppose I saw wrong... No.
It's been ten years; I have to seize this chance!
Arrietty slapped the guard of her sewing needle, stood up, and tightened her belt.
"No problem! I agree! But if I win—"
Homily looked at her ambitious daughter with pity: You can't win, honey.
That plant has been withered since the day your Grandpa brought it out.
Nothing in this World can come back from the dead.
Even if the girl renting here is so beautiful she doesn't seem human... still, the Tontatta Tribe is the Tontatta Tribe.
There is no Queen, and Homily didn't believe in any prophecies.
Destroying the Universe? Planeswalker?
Why not just say you're a God?
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