Once

Chapter 3

Briar woke to the sound of birds chirping, the sun warm on her back. Wait, she thought, am I outside?  She shouldn't be outside, she fell asleep in her bed at the hotel room. When she opened her eyes, there was no recognition of where she was. The sky was an incredible blue, but more than that, Briar was in a meadow with the most yellow and pink flowers she had ever seen. The sun bounced off many white rocks along the edges of the meadow and the tall, lush trees swayed in the breeze. 

"Where am I?" She asked out loud, mostly because she still thought this was a dream. She had fallen asleep and that potion she took was making her dreams incredibly vivid, that's all it was. She was just overly tired from her trip, no big deal. Except, when she looked around the meadow, she realized something. It was the same meadow from her dream with the man. "That's impossible," she said out loud again, trying to convince herself this wasn't real. The dream only came to her on Tuesday nights, and it was Wednesday night that she had fallen asleep. So, obviously, this was not the right dream. Just then, she heard rustling in the bushes. Frantic, Briar turned her head in the direction of the noise, armed with nothing put a pink flower, ready to strike. 

"Stop bumping into me!" She heard a little voice cry from the direction of the trees and brush. "I'll tell Felicity that you're being an annoyance." A different, slightly older voice said. "Will both of you shut it, please? I am trying to concentrate." A third voice, but yet Briar could see no one. All of a sudden, three winged creatures appeared from the trees. Briar couldn't believe her eyes. They were fairies. But not like any fairies Briar had ever seen in books, no. These were less human looking and more plant-like fairies. Their wings looked to be made of translucent leaf's and their skin was tinged-- one green, one blue and one pink. Their heads seemed to have some sort of flower hat atop it, while their clothing looked more like vines draped over and around them. 

"Oh goodness, she's here earlier than I expected." The green one said, coming to a hover near Briar. Briar did not know what to say or how to act. She just stood there in stunned silence. "Ladies," the green fairy said, "looks like she need to jog Briar's memory here." The other two fairies flew over to the green fairy. "How do you know my name?" Briar asked sheepishly. "Is this...are you...what is happening? Where am I?"

"Darling Briar, this is real." The blue fairy flew right up to Briar's face. She noticed that not only was her skin blue, but her hair had little blue and turquoise streaks throughout it as well. "I'm Willow. I believe you've met my sisters Gwen and Felicity." She motioned to the green and pink fairies hovering a few feet behind her. That's when Briar recognized them--the women from Castle Curiosities. "You're the shop owner. How are you..."Briar couldn't find the right words, her head was spinning now. "How are you here? And how are you a fairy?" 

The green fairy, Felicity, flew next to Willow. "Well for starters, we are not fairies, we are nymphs." At this moment Briar had decided this was some crazy hallucinogenic trip she was on from the elixir. "And second, we do own Castle Curiosities in your realm. This is our realm, however, Aetheria, a place that you will come to remember in time." Briar's head was spinning, her legs felt weak and her hands trembled. "I think I need to sit down," Briar said, almost falling back into the grass. The three nymphs fluttered above her, looking at each other expectedly. "I think," the pink nymph, Gwen, started to say. "I think we should take you to see Rylan." Briar was confused because wasn't Rylan just a child? "How is a child going to help me?" Briar asked, her head between her knees. 

"Rylan's not a child, well, he is in your realm technically." Felicity said. 

"He acts like a child enough..." Willow huffed before getting a look from Felicity. "Rylan is not a boy, he is an eight hundred year old Troll with no patience." When Willow saw the confused look on Briar's face, she mumbled, "When you meet him you will see."

"Let us go see Rylan. He should have the answers you seek. Oh! And maybe some of his good tea." Gwen squeaked. "I do love that tea. Remember, Felicity, when he put the honey on it?" Felicity looked at Gwen then back at Briar. "Gwen, please stop being an annoyance. Briar, would you like to come with us?" Felicity reached out her tiny hand for Briar. Briar looked at the three nymphs, all with accepting looks in their eyes. She took Felicity's hand, "I guess," then Felicity snapped a finger on her other hand and they were transported through space. A ripping and pulling feeling cocooned Briar and she felt her gut want to come up her throat. 

As quickly as it started, the ripping and pulling feeling stopped and Briar stood in front of a cottage. The sun beamed down upon it, illuminating white stones that created a pathway to the door. The three nymphs looked at Briar. "Any hint of recognition?" Willow suggested, wiggling her eyebrows. Briar stared at this cottage, a weird feeling developing in the back of her head. The stones were like the ones from her dream, and, the meadow. "The stones look like the ones from my dream, from the meadow." Was all she could say. She didn't recognize the cottage, though she assumed she was supposed to. 

"That's alright, when the memories come back, you'll understand," Willow flew to the door, leaving Briar, Felicity and Gwen to look at each other. When Willow knocked on the door, Briar heard a mans voice boom from inside the cottage. "Who is it?"

"Rylan, you know very well who it is. Now let us inside. We have..." Willow hesitated. "We have the Dreamweaver with us."