Midnight (DISCONTINUED, INCOMPLETE)

29 || The One of Old

No, this couldn't be happening. Not after Caspian gave his everything to take Sebille down. He had buried her under rocks. How much could a fairy take?

Sebille braced against a rock and glowered.

"No." The strangled plea dragged itself from Ash's lips.

"You couldn't just stay under there?" Caspian said through gritted teeth.

Sebille glowered. "That's why you were on the ship when the pixies attacked, isn't it?"

The panic spreading through Ash faltered as confusion snuck through. Considering everything that had just happened, Sebille should have been outraged. Instead, she only sounded annoyed.

"I thought it was odd that you wouldn't join the others in retrieving the apple," Sebille continued, "especially if it's for your gift, but now I see only a fool would bring you along for battle on land."

The shaking lurched sharply. Ash yelped as she clung to Caspian for stability. Willow did the same from the other side. Sebille stumbled, but the pixies rushed to right her.

"Foolish boy! Control your emotions," Sebille snapped. "If you don't, you'll--"

Sebille was cut off as a fist sized ball was chucked at her. It collided with her shoulder, but it only made her grimace.

"Shut up!" Willow yelled. Before Ash's eyes, another ball of condensed sugar started to form in Willow's hand. "This is all because you attacked us in the first place."

Sebille stared at Willow with a frown, then slid her gaze between Willow and Caspian. Her eyebrows drew together. After a moment, she turned to Ash and studied her. Sebille's lips pulled further down.

"All three of you have been touched by magic. You," she said, eyes on Willow, "a curse of hardened sugar. A very creative fae, I suppose. You"—she moved on to Caspian— "a gift to be connected with earth. That fairy knew not what she was doing, it would seem, or simply didn't care. And you..." Sebille cocked her head as she faced Ash. "A transformative gift, and to a mermaid at that. It would require a very powerful fairy to do such a thing.

"So, which of you is the apple for?"

Ash's confusion reached its limit. "Why do you want to know?" she asked. It was hard to talk with the quake sending waves through her. "You just tried to kill us."

Sebille smiled bitterly. "I tried to get you off my island."

Willow flung her new ball. This one went wide, but it caught Sebille's attention. "You had your demented snakes and pixies attack us."

Sebille had spoken of murder before the attack, but her words now tickled a memory. When the fairies and krathons had surrounded Ash's fallen form, they hadn't attacked her. Her neck had been vulnerable. A krathon easily could have bit a chunk from her throat and killed her. Instead, they had helped the pixies move her.

More connections formed, and Ash's insides squirmed. The attack on the ship could have been a full-out strike, but only the pixies showed up. Even then, the pixies had scratched skin and pulled hair when there was more than enough there to do extreme damage. Sebille could bend trees to her will and who knew what else. She could have flattened them without taking the time to try to talk them into leaving, and when that failed, she focused on tripping them up with grass.

"She had many chances to kill us, but she didn't," Ash murmured, barely able to believe her ears.

Willow must have been just as shocked because her head jerked in her direction. "Ash, this is a fairy! They can't be trusted."