bad luck.derek hale

one.

I, Lelani Romanzo (Lay-Lon-Eee Dough-Mon-Zoh) was one of those.

The damaged and scorned.

In the realm the Fairies lived in, there was a Ruler. For as long as I've been alive, that Ruler has been my Mother.

I've been alive for twenty five years.

Rulers don't pass on until another is chosen from the previous. It wasn't expected to be me.

Not until weeks ago when my Mom fell ill.

I had seven sisters; Paisley, Cheyanne, Deliliah, Isabella, Maricella, Selene, and Toriana. I was the youngest out of eight girls. Five of them, Cheyanne, Maricella, Isabella, Selene, and Paisley have died from Human Exposure in the last two years.

Human Exposure was the number one cause of death in our world.

Only Rulers or previous Rulers could go to the Human Realm without risks of Exposure.

I've never been. Obviously.

I wanted to go and venture out.

There were many Realms that were still unseen to me, but I was more interested in the Human Realm.

After a Fairy dies, their power gets channeled into the current Ruler.

So my Mom had a lot of power. I couldn't tell you all of them, every Fairy has their own special power.

I was lucky. I got two.

I had the power of Empathy- which was hard at times, but I learned to somewhat control it. And I had the power to control water- I know it's not anything special, but it was one of the powers that my Mom was born with.

So it made me feel special.

My Mother knew she was dying. Her only fear was leaving her children.

And to be honest, I was scared to death as well.

After picking out her favorite flowers from the garden, I went to visit my Mother in the Medical Wing of the Lorde.

That's what we called our home.

It was the largest in the village- what little village we had.

Delilah and Toriana walked out of the room, their eyes red and puffy.

I stopped them from rushing past me, "What is it? I-is she-"

Toriana cut me off with a sniffle, "She's still drinking her tea. She has a bit less than a week now."

Delilah pressed her lips together, "The Healer said bedrest is mandatory."

I nodded slowly, "I'll be sure to remind her." I turned around and walked into the room.

I hated seeing my Mother the way she was.

Weak.

Sick.

But it wasn't about me.

So I took a deep breath, walking fully into the room. "Hi, Mom." I said with a slight smile on my face.

She let out a weak smile, "Lelani, come. Sit."

I knew my Mother was putting on a brave face for me. But she didn't know how strong she actually was.

I sat the end of her bed, setting the flowers on her nightstand, "How are you feeling?"

My Mom swallowed a lump in her throat, "Weak." She honestly answered,

"I know the Healer told you. How much longer do I have left?" I ignored her.

I didn't want to think about the fact that my Mother wouldn't make it to the end of the week.