𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓫𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝓮𝓻 𝕂𝕖𝕖𝕗𝕖 𝕩 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣

007 𝑫𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔

As the sun in my room- or at least a clever machine designed to replicate it- rose, my eyes began to flutter open. I yawned, stretching and looking up at the wispy branches above me, littered with beautiful petals.
I smiled at the thought of yesterday- or rather the thought of the blonde elf that I had spoken to. My boyfriend- who must of left after I had fallen asleep the previous night. 

"My boyfriend." I repeated, voicing my earlier thought. 

I blushed profusely, my grin uncontrollably spreading. After years, I could finally say that out loud. 
Something about it felt off though... Wrong, somehow. I quickly racked my brain- attempting to sort out what it was. And as the adrenaline of the past night and the fuzziness of the morning wore off, I finally understood what it was. 

I immediately sat up, leaning my back against the tree for support, clutching my head. 
"How I could forget this." I whispered. Tears beginning to prick the back of my eyes, threatening to spill. "What have I done."
Hands shaking, and the only steadiness found being my determination to set what I had done right, I slowly took my imparter out from the bag I had so carelessly discarded beside me the day before. 

The thing about our world was, many of us weren't offered the same privileges the rest were. We always prided ourselves on how much better than humans we were- never discriminating against race, gender or otherwise. And yet, in a way, we were the exact same. 
Abilities. The one thing that could make or break a life here in the lost cities. And as it would so happen, something that I lacked. 

Back when I had sat with my old friends, we were all new to Foxfire, and therefore had time before we were to start manifesting. But as we drifted away, and they all began to develop their unique abilities that marked their time to start making a place for themselves in this world... I was once again left behind. 
How could Keefe and I ever be together. He was one of the most powerful and respected empaths our world had ever known, despite being but a teenager, and I was... Talentless. How could that ever work out? 

I muffled a strangled sob with my sleeve, timidly typing out a message. A message that could once again change my life. A message I wasn't even sure I wanted to send- and much less wanted to be read. 

hey we need to talk. i think it would be best to do this in person. meet at fairfield in 15? 

I quickly tucked the imparter away, haphazardly drying my tears with the back of my sleeve as I stood. I knew he'd be there. I didn't have to see his response. 
I made my way out of my room and over to the leapmaster. 

The tears I wiped away were immediately replaced with more as I stepped below beautiful dangling crystals. 
"Fairfield." I whispered, afraid if I opened my mouth any wider, I might end up full blown sobbing. 
One crystal. One crystal that would lead to a place where my life would change forever. One crystal that almost surely marked the end of a relationship that had lasted barely a couple hours. 
But it didn't matter did it. Keefe was worth more than any relationship we could've had. So even though every bone in my body was telling me not to- every muscle in my heart, I stepped into the beam, and let it carry me away. 

When I arrived at my destination, everything felt... numb. Like I had shut it all down- which quite frankly, I might unconsciously have done. So numb, I didn't react when I a tall blonde elf glittered into sight in front of me- or when he sat down beside me, or even when he wrapped his arms around me asking if I was okay. 

"Y/n? You're starting to scare me here- you good?" He teased gently, shaking me. 

I shook myself back to reality, turning to him and smiling softly. "Of course. Sorry, just zoned out." 

He grinned. "That's alright. I'm used to people blanking when they see me."

I rolled my eyes. "Sure that's what it was." It was nice being able to talk to him like this. Without him knowing the thing that set us apart. The thing that had all but confirmed we could never be together. 

"So. What did you need?" He asked, gently patting his shoulder. I smiled, resting my head on it. Deciding it would be easier not to see his face as I revealed this groundbreaking bit of information, I kept my face angled forward, staring out at the beautiful flowers around me. 

I took a deep breath. "I... Okay. Wow this is hard. Soooo... Obviously things between us now are different than they were." 

He nodded slowly. 

"And among those differences is one I doubt you are aware of." I continued.

He frowned. "And what might that be?" 

I winced. "As you know, you are past your manifesting age. And... I am closing in on that date." 

Understanding seemed to dawn in his eyes. But I couldn't let him say it. I had to say it first. That would be the only way to survive it. 

"But as of late, I have shown no signs of manifesting." I told him. "And... I don't think I'm going to."