All That Shimmers [Seungmin]

11

It felt strange waking up in an actual bed. Back home, I had always slept in a small cot in a room that I shared with my sisters. I missed having them here, and I hated the extra space. This bed was too big. When I had first laid down, I'd gravitated towards the center, but having so much extra room on either side made me anxious, and I had ended up huddled to the edge of the bed with a pile of pillows against my back.

I dismantled the pillow mountain before Seungmin could see it and judge me for yet another thing and headed off to explore the kitchen for food. Seungmin was already up and dressed in yet another suit when I walked in.

He handed me a mug of tea and a plate with eggs, toast, and bacon. I'd never had such a filling breakfast apart from special occasions. I didn't thank him but began to eat anyways. He bit into a bacon strip and stared at me. I was slightly unsettled but said nothing. It didn't seem like a good idea to piss him off when we'd have to go the lake today. If I behaved, I was hopeful he'd let me visit my family.

He frowned as he ate and watched me. Eventually he excused himself. I scarfed down the rest of my food and headed off to change. I found the plainest dress I could, which was still nicer than anything I'd ever owned back home, and returned to wait for him.

He walked back in the room and had removed his jacket and tie. I noticed he still had his ring on too. It made me a bit queasy to realize our rings might have something to do with one another, but I ignored the urge to vomit and stepped towards him.

"Let's go," I sighed.

He took my hand and snapped us near my house.

Immediately, I knew something was wrong. The fragrant floral smell I'd grown accustomed to was gone. Instead, something smelled of smoke. I rushed out of the edge of the forest to see that the tulip field was destroyed. All of the flowers had been incinerated and reduced to ash.

I covered my mouth in shock and fell to the ground. I instinctively knew that fire fae had done this. I whipped around and glared at Seungmin, "Did you know?" I accused him.

"Aerin," he said in surprise, "I had no idea."

I hated that I believed him. I hated that they'd destroyed something so beautiful.

I suddenly had a sinking feeling in my gut that they hadn't stopped here, and I took off running towards my house.

"Mother! Amara!" I shouted, not caring if Seungmin would be angry at me for checking on them. "Arabella!" My feet went as fast as they could until I reached the gate and collapsed.

"No! No, no, no, no, no," I cried out as I stared at the destroyed remnants of the home I once knew.

"Mother!" I shouted in a strained voice as my throat tightened. My chest ached, and I sobbed into the ashy ground.

I heard footsteps approaching and turned hoping to see my mother. When I saw Seungmin, I stood up in a rage.

"Was the glimpse a lie?" I screamed as I stood back up to shove him. He'd just shown me last night that they were fine and asleep. Had it been fake? If not, this would've had to have just happened in the early hours of the day.

"My father is dead! My home is gone! Is this what you wanted?" I cried out and pushed him again.

He didn't fight back. He let me abuse him. "Aerin, I'm so sorry," he whispered.

"No, you're not! This is your fault for taking me away. I could've helped them. I could've..." I couldn't look at him anymore. I turned around and sat on the ground, staring at what little remained.

"I'll go find a mirror. I'll make another glimpse so you can see if they're okay," he mumbled before heading towards the rubble.

I fisted the grass and pulled it out in chunks to cope. Everywhere I pulled new grass grew. My magic wouldn't even let me destroy even a blade of grass because I wasn't a selfish fairy. I was a good person who happened to have magic.

Moments later, Seungmin walked out of the house empty handed. "Come on. We should go," he urged me. He lifted my elbow to make me stand and tried to snap me away but my body instinctively fought him. I didn't have time to be proud of that. Something was wrong, and he was trying to hide it.

"What is it?"

"Aerin..." he began, and I turned and sprinted into the house.

It had all been destroyed. Most of our things were burned beyond recognition. I stepped over broken floorboards and cracked glass. I sucked back a cry when I saw the basket of biscuits crisped on the table. I stepped into what used to be my room and found that the entire wall had been taken out. My cot was gone, having been burned completely, and I crumbled to the ground when looked outside.

They'd buried my father yesterday. Several tulips sat on a fresh mound of dirt. Beside him were two smaller graves. I crawled over gasping for a breath as tears flooded my cheeks. At the head of each gravesite was a rock.

There was a D which I knew to be my father, Dorian.

And on the two smaller ones... were two little As. They were gone. My sweet little sisters were gone. My mother had lost all of us in the span of a day and all because of the fairies.

"Aerin..." I heard Seungmin behind me.

"Go away!" I shouted. I didn't want anything to do with him or any fairy right now. They'd taken everything from me like it hadn't mattered at all.

"I'm so sorry," he told me. "I didn't know that this had happened. I would've tried to shield you from it or stop it or..."

"Just leave me alone! Go find your magical lake and just let me be."

"Aerin..." he began again but I turned around and snapped my eyes to his.

I'd never been angrier or sadder in my life. "Go away," I cried out. Between the two of us, a strip of fire erupted. I looked down in a panic as I watched it circle around Seungmin and launch at his legs.

He waved his hand to get rid of it.

I was shaking in fear. How could I be capable of the same destruction as the fairies that had ruined my life? What had they done to me?

"I'll come back in an hour," he mumbled and walked away.