Rachel woke up with a jerk. She couldn't belive she had fallen asleep. She already knew that this wasn't a dream. She was well aware that she was shrunk, twice, and whisked out of her comfort zone into the hands of some strange people living underground who made no sense at all to her when they talked. And with a pang it hit her: What was August doing in all this? How would she find her? Rachel scratched her legs. The red dress the lady had made her was a perfect fit, although a bit itchy.
- "Mother's dresses always were a bit itchy. Like wearing burlap the first week, but once you wash it, it'll be really nice." said a womans voice. Rachel toppled over. Just now she saw the giant face by the edge of the bed. She turned and noticed that the old lady was still asleep.
- "You speak English?" It was a stupid question, but having your guts scared out of you has a tendency to remove smarts temporarily.
- "Yes, that is why mother sent for me. However, I was on asignment so it took me some time to get here. But it seems you settled down, since you were sleeping."
- "Where am I? Why was I taken here?"
- "Um... We saved you? Don't you remember?" Rachel was stunned by this piece of information.
- "Saved? More like kidnapped!" she yelled.
- "Shh... no need to yell... mother is still asleep. Let's take a walk."

For a moment Rachel had almost forgotten that she was tiny. Just seeing the womans face had created some illusion of a face to face conversation, but when the woman rose to her full length Rachel became painfully reminded that she was in a really vulnerable position here. She was a beautiful young woman. Tall, but with a petite figure. Or maybe she wasn't that tall, it was really hard to tell from Rachels perspective. She wore a small red top and a matching loincloth. She looked a bit like a warrior in her minimal clothing. Rachel felt a bit scared still, but this woman did not radiate malice at all, and when she placed her hand beside Rachel she climbed up on it and sat down while they exited the room.

"Crap!" August thought to herself when she heard the birds singing. She knew that when the birds start to sing, there is about an hour until sunrise. She had been out all night and made no progress. She even started to think it was silly of her to think a rat would have taken Rachel. She decided to go home first and see if Rachel was there, and if she wasn't, she planned on heading over to Rachels place and look there. By now she would be big because the magic would have left her body, and nude, in the middle of the city. As soon as the sun rises her places to hide would drasticly decrease.

- "Where are we exactly?" Rachel was looking around her. They walked through corridors with doors on the sides.
- "These are our living quarters. I thought I'd take you to the gardens. We won't disturb anyone if we talk there." After a while they came to an open space. There were some patches on the ground with plants, and even things that at first looked as trees, but when Rachel looked up she saw that they were actually roots. The woman set Rachel on a rock and started inspecting the garden.
- "You are also fairys?" Rachel asked. The way the woman inspected the plants reminded her of August. And the similarity in size. August had said after all that fairys in general prefer their original sizes. However, the woman laughed at Rachels statement.
- "No heavens no... How hard did you hit your head? We are totem, just like you."
- "Totem?" Rachel didn't understand anything. The woman came and looked at Rachel.
- "You must still be confused from the poison. You got a pretty big dose by the looks of it too. I've never seen anyone so small survive before. You are lucky we got you in the fire as quickly as we did." She turned Rachel around and prodded her. She was a bit rough but it didn't hurt.
- "Poison? What poison?"
- "Dear me... Fairy magic is poison to totems."
- "But I'm not a totem! I don't even know what a totem is!"
- "If you aren't a totem, then what are you? She wouldn't do this to another fairy."
- "I'm not a fairy, I'm human." The woman looked stunned at Rachel and backed away slowly."
- "It's not possible!"
- "Yes it is." The woman was thinking hard.
- "Well, we still did you a favour then."
- "How'd you figure that?"
- "She was about to eat you! That is why she shrunk you."
- "No it wasn't. We were playing..."
- "Oh, it's all fun and games until someone gets eaten."
- "I know she wouldn't eat me."
- "How can you be so sure?" Rachel blushed
- "Because... we're... lovers..." She fixated on a spot on the ground. Suddenly the woman put a finger on Rachels head.
- "I know you're lying! If you were human, I would be able to enter you."
- "Enter me?"
- "Yeah. And I couldn't, so either you are totem or fairy. And since the magic didn't kill you I guess you are fairy."
- "Okay... Say I am a fairy, then you should take me back."
- "We can't do that. She'll punish us for taking you!"
- "So what are you going to do with me?"
- "I see no other choise than to detain you until we can gather the elders." She made a swift motion and grabbed Rachel. She couldn't move. The giant hand was squeezing her, and she couldn't see anything either. Suddenly she found herself in the old womans room again, trapped in a jar of glass, watching the young woman leave and close the door. Rachel started to cry and hit the walls, but they stayed solid, and it seemed her tiny voice wouldn't carry through the jar, since the old woman was still sleeping in her chair.