Realities Vengeance

Chapter 5: Things Change

Grey and I walked back to the Academy after our walk, and he asked me if there was anything else I wanted to see. I told him I had seen enough for now, and thanked him for showing me around. Then I decided to head towards my grandmother's office to see if my dorm as ready. I started walking and I had to suddenly lean against the wall, overcome by pain. It lasted longer than usual, and I was gasping for breath. I heard several footsteps coming down the hall and I tried to stand up normally, as if nothing had happened. I turned to find the guy, Kase, I had met early this morning walking with several of his friends. When he spotted me, a grin spread over his face, "Are you stalking me?" he asked, as he and his three friends approached, "I was just leaving." I said, and a few of his friends snickered. He looked a little taken aback. "I'm starting to get the feeling you don't want to talk to me.", he said. I turned back to him, I had no more patience left, "Good guess." I said and he raised an eye brow, "You sure are spunky", he said. I just started to walk away. "I wouldn't tell anyone your half elf." I heard him say and I went rigid, "How do you know that?" I asked, and he wiggled his eye brows at me, "Wouldn't you like to know. But seriously if you want to have any friends at all, I wouldn't tell them anything about you elf mother. The gifted aren't exactly... fond, of the elfish people." he said, and I stared at him in shock as he walked away. It took me a few minutes to recover from the shock, and I slowly tried to walk it off as I headed toward my grandmother's office. How is it that most of the people around me know more about me than I did?

When I arrived at her door I was about to knock when I heard voices inside. My morals made me step back, but my curiosity won, and I put my ear up to the door. "The girl does not belong here." I heard a deep male voice say. "She is one of the gifted, and she needs to learn the extent of her capabilities", I heard my grandmothers voice say back in an irritated, but fierce voice. "She belong in our kingdom as well. She needs to know who she is, and her place in the elfish society." "She will fit into the elfish society better." I heard the male voice say, and I realized they must be talking about me. Was the man in there elfish? What kingdom was he talking about? What was my place? I heard them talking again, "You have introduced her into our world, and now she deserves to see the many different places she fits in." the male voice said. "She is just a girl, and she learned all of this only today. I don't think she could handle a trip to the elfish kingdom. It might be too much for her to handle right now." I heard my grandmother say. I wasn't sure which side I was rooting for. "She would be safer in the elfish kingdom anyway." I heard the male voice say very quietly. There was a moment of silence, "So you haven't introduced her to the dark side of our world yet, have you? She needs to know the extreme danger this realm holds." the male voice said, "I will tell her eventually, but for now she needs to slowly absorb all of this. She only knows of the gifted and the elfish people." her voice was quiet. "Well if you don't start telling her about the darkness, you might lead her to her doom. Ignorance in this world will only result in an ugly death, and trust me, the elfish kingdom does not want to lose a girl with such potential. The Parliament will never accept a cross between the gifted and the Elfish. The people of each side won't accept her either. But the decision is up to you I guess." the voice said, and I knew my grandmother had won the argument, but I wasn't sure for how long. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I forgot that he would be leaving, so when the handle turned I jumped back. An older Man with combed back Grey hair, and a thin face walked out. He was wearing a suit, and looked nothing how I imagined him to look. I was thinking of him as wearing a medieval cloak, and I felt a little foolish. He gave me an odd look for second, then recognition seemed to register on his face. "Ms. Spinder, how very nice to finally meet you." he said, and held out a hand. I shook his hand, and he seemed to have that same extreme elegance as my mother has. "I'm Arodon, as in noble." he said. I assumed that noble was what his name meant. "Esme, as in..... Esme." I said, and he laughed, "Actually, your full name is Esmeray, which means Dark moon." he said. I looked up in surprise, "Really?" I asked, and he nodded with a calming smile, "Your mother named you dark moon because you were born during a dark moon cycle, which in the Elfish realm is rare and is said to bring gifts to the children born during that time." he said. I couldn't help but he mesmerized by his words, "How did you know all of this?" I asked, and he smiled, "Because I was there when you were born, your mother is my daughter." he said, and I raised an eyebrow. That would make this man my grandfather. "Yes, I know it's a lot to take in, but it's better to hear the truth right away, or it will be an even bigger surprise later." he said, and I nodded, but I still hadn't processed it all. "I do have a lot to do today, farewell. I'm sure we will see each other soon." he said. Then he put his hand across his chest and nodded his head. Without thinking I did the same, and he seemed a little surprised. "The elfish kingdom is your true home" he said in a quiet voice, and with that, he walked away. I took a deep breath, then slowly walked into my grandmother's office.

"Oh, darling, the maids just finished preparing you dorm. I didn't think you would mind sharing, because that way you could make new friends." she said, and I thought about confronting her about my elvish grandfather, but I didn't have the energy after the long day. I gave her a small smile, and then the smile on her face faded as she saw the necklace around my neck. "Where do you get that?" she asked, and I retold the story of Grey showing me around the gardens and how I met the fairies. She wasn't smiling, like me, by the time the story was finished, and I had a feeling she didn't like the necklace idea. "Esme, You know how politics work, right? There is a bunch of slightly different opinions?" she asked. I almost rolled my eyes, "Every person has a different opinion, of course I understand how it works." I said, and she nodded as she looked down, "Well, in this world there are tons of different creatures, people, and animals. There are also things that are evil and dark. There are people who believe some species are better than others. All of these clashing opinions make it hard to have peace and tranquility among the different species." She looked at me to see if I was following and I nodded. "The different species knew they wouldn't be able to last if they couldn't find a way to work together, so they created the parliament. The parliament is made up of one main leader of each species, such as the elves, or the gifted. Of course little beings like the fairies didn't want much to do with this, so creatures like them are not included in parliament. Also animals without an aware brain, like the animals in your world don't participate in parliament. These unaware animals are allowed to travel in between kingdoms and domains freely. Besides that, there are strict rules about crossing territory. There are many members of parliament because there are tons of different types of species. Each species chooses one Member of Parliament in a different way. For the gifted we vote like civilized people. In the elfish community, their representative in parliament is whoever the greatest warrior is, or whoever can beat everyone else." She took a breath and I tried to catch up on everything she had said. "Of course not everyone is peaceful in resolving conflicts, and not everyone agrees on how to punish. One species had an unresolvable conflict in the past. We call these people the Styx." She seemed to shudder at the mention of the name, "They are brothers of the Elves, which means that they are practically the same species, only slightly different. The elfish people usually don't have abilities, but when they do it always nature based. The Styx are the same way, except when they get an ability it is usually pain or death related. They have barbaric ways, and they are complete savages. They believe that they are the superior species, and they seek to wipe out any species that threatens them, and sadly that would include both the elves and the gifted. This means that when they get wind of a powerful mixed blood of their top two enemies, they are going to want to get rid of that enemy... you." she said, and suddenly this new world wasn't seeming so beautiful any more. "Mixed blood?" I asked, and she nodded, "When an offspring of two different species come to be, they are called mixed bloods, and they are not well recieved. There is a constant argument in parliament on whether we should allow mixed bloods... so not everyone you meet will be friendly. In fact, there are a few extra hateful groups that go around trying to kill off mixed bloods. They don't usually waste their time on the weak mixed bloods that don't have much potential, but mixed bloods like you are hard to capture and even harder to kill. The issue with mixed bloods is that they are very unpredictable because no one really knows the result of mixing two species." she said, and I couldn't help the small shutter that ran through me. She pointed to my necklace, "That signifies that the fairies are with you. The fairies only give gifts to the elf people, and usually hate all other species. If someone here see you wearing that they will know your mixed blood, because only the gifted attend this school." she said. I automatically tucked the necklace under my shirt so no one could see it. That must have been how Kase knew I was part elf. Esme, you are a complete mystery to this world, so your presence is going to scare, mystify, and threaten all sorts of species. You need to be ready for anything, and you need to learn your potential as soon as possible." she said, and I nodded, "When do I start?" I asked, and she smiled, "Your schooling will start tomorrow, and I hope that you learn a lot and get as good of a bearing on this world as you can get." she said, and I smiled at her for caring. She handed me several pieces of paper, "Your schedule is on that paper, and I listed the room, teacher, and where the classrooms are located. I am leaving for a while, but I will make sure you're being watched over. Good luck darling." she said, and kissed my cheek as she left the room.