An Angel's Wings.

Ch. 41 Oracle In Training.

As we ran, I heard the fierce clashes of battle. Angel was killing the remainder of demons. The thought that some still lived after Raven sacrificing herself made me want to go back and fight them too. But with Jessica's steal grip on my wrist, I knew I couldn't. She no longer sobbed, but tears stained her dark skin, and her face was stoic with subtle nuances of grieving. "Twelve," She said, her voice gentle. "Yeah?" I asked. Jessica looked at me, "You know everything about the Fey that Angel was saying," she looked forward again, narrowly dodging a tree root. "It's not true. Not all Fey are in it for themselves. It would be unwise to judge the many just based off one." She continued. I nodded, part of me had suspected they weren't entirely greedy. "Angel only has the word of other Halflings to understand faeries. But they're complex, just like humans. Not every faerie in the Seelie Court is evil. Just like not all politicians are corrupt, but they're coaxed into lies." Jessica explained.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked, she looked at me. "Because there's something I need to show you." Her voice was solemn. I expected her to show me an artifact or something, but that wasn't the case. Instead I heard Jessica mutter something, and then she started changing. Not like changing clothes, but her body was morphing into something else. But the process seemed seamless. Her skin turned darker, evened itself out, she grew taller and more lithe. Her hair went from a dark brown in somewhat messy braids, to an inky black, pulled back in braids that fell elegantly to her lower back, that had golden highlights in them, like bronze string was woven through her hair. Even her eyebrows turned the ebony color of her hair, but perhaps the most striking change was her eyes. They turned so light grey they almost looked white, her outer iris was gleaming gold, and, still with no pupil, the extremely light grey color inside her eyes had swirling streaks of gold that seemed to shift around. Her lips were also a pure ivory white color. Not only did her body change, but her clothes did too. She no longer wore armor, but instead a milky white dress. It was sleeveless, with an odd shawl strapped on her chest the draped backwards over her shoulders, there was a slit in the front of the dress, that allowed her, now long, legs to emerge to keep her running pace. Her shoes were like ballet shoes but more firm, with golden lace weaving up her whole leg. They looked like they'd be a pain to put on in the morning.

Now the girl, no, the woman next to me was more beautiful and poise than before. Still, the beauty didn't hide the tear stains on her face. Her devastatingly beautiful gaze shifted to me, "Twelve," her voice was calmer, but it was still her. Jessica. "What the hell?" I asked. She smiled solemnly, "I tell you not to judge the Fey, because I am one." Before I could even process the sentence fully, she pulled me into her arms. "We're here." She stated, and then she jumped down what looked like a random hole in the ground, still holding me in her arms.

Everything turned pitch black for a few seconds, and it felt like we were going down a slide, then we emerged in this cave like area. It looked like the stone was grey clay, and someone carved it out with a rounded carving tool. Somehow, it wasn't completely dark, the cave was illuminated by an eery yet calming, pervading blue light. Looking to my left, I saw a shallow pool of water that would maybe go to my waist, the water was so clear, it was like staring at rippling glass. Everything was so captivating I nearly forgot about Jessica's transformation, about what she said, but then I saw her next to me. Staring down at me gently, and so many questions appeared in my mind at once.

"Why?" It seemed to be the only word I was capable of saying. She sighed, looking down at the pool. "Many reasons Tarasynoria." She answered. Part of me, well, a lot of me was angry, "Why didn't you tell me the truth?" I demanded. She looked down at me, "You think you would've accepted the truth? I see how you treat E, you think if I appeared to you like this and told you that you were part of an ancient prophecy you'd willingly agree?" She asked, her voice was calm but demanding. Pausing, I looked into her gaze, "No. I wouldn't." The next question appeared in my mind, and I asked it without thinking.