Convergence

Meeting Up

Rick met up with me the next day practically skipping. He was far more pleasant than other days and seemed eager for something. If he had a tail, it would be wagging incessantly yet he tried to remain calm while he concealed something in the hand he held behind his back.

"Hey, Princess," he said as sweetly as possible. "Sorry about yesterday."

"For the last time, I'm not a princess." I continued walking not wanting to talk to him or even breathe the same air.

He smiled and pulled out a small blue box. "Here, I got this for you."

I stopped and looked at him.

"It's an apology." He pushed it towards me again. "For the thing I broke."

I slowly took the box but didn't open it.

"Um, yeah so like I said. It was my fault so I wanted to give this to you to sort of apologize for it." He took in a nervous breath. "I mean if I had been more alert, you know, maybe...."

"Rick, stop. I get what you're trying to do, but you can't replace the irreplaceable. That's why it's called irreplaceable." I thrust it back but he refused to take it.

"I know that. This is something irreplaceable to me, a gift from my mom. She died when I was a kid. I took it from her jewelry box but I don't need it anymore."

"Well, now I really don't want it. You can't just give me something like that."

He laughed. "I have lots of mementos and pictures of her so don't sweat it. Besides, she would've been honored for you to have it."

"Why?"

"I told you yesterday. You have a very old and powerful magic from an honorable family, a family that my family has served for generations."

I reluctantly opened the box. Inside was a small crystal butterfly. The design in the wings was very detailed and the antennae looked extremely delicate. It sparkled like a diamond in the light.

"This...this is too much. I can't accept it."

The smile spread big across his face. "You can and you will. Put it on the place where you had that ceramic cat. This will protect you in its place."

"Protect me? From what?"

"More boggarts. Your family gnomes can't protect you all the time." He continued walking. I had to move quickly just to keep up with his large stride.

"What are you talking about? Before yesterday, I've never seen any type of mythical creature."

"Magical creature," he corrected. "And of course you wouldn't. Those of the magical world don't just run around exposing themselves to people with no powers."

He smiled but then hesitated. I had a sense that he needed to tell me something important but wasn't quite sure how to do it.

"Your birth mom, Aubrey Howe, died trying to defend you from some evil being when you were still very young." He stopped gauging my response.

I took in a deep breath. "Okay?"

"It's a story that I've been told for as long as I can remember." It looked like he was trying to organize his thoughts, for my benefit no doubt. "The cops saw it as some crazy car crash. Your dad had a real hard time with it. I guess it still hurts for him and maybe that's why he wouldn't let you keep your powers. Maybe he thought that he was protecting you by removing them and then brainwashing you about it. But you have to believe me, no matter what you were told in your childhood, the magic is very real."

I could barely speak and my voice came out in rasps. "How could you possibly know any of that?"

"My great aunt told me. My mom, Elaina de Jesus, died on the same day. Maybe you remember reading about it or something?"