Of Fae And Fire [#Wattys2016] √

(|] 3: meeting [|)

The next time I open my eyes, the room is bright. Farland and Ferin still aren't here, so I don't know what to do except call out. "Are you guys here?" I yell. At first, there's no answer, but then a woman comes through a door-shaped hole in the wall that I didn't notice before.

She has silver hair tied back in the same style as Ferin's. Instead of her eyes being silver, though, they are a startling green. She smiles, and the corners of her eyes crinkle. "Hello, Golden One."

"Who are you?" I ask.

"I am Fantasia, but you may know me as the Psychic Fae. I heard from Farland and Ferin that you had arrived, and I wanted to give you some advice."

I sit up and cough. "Um...I have a question?"

"Yes?" she asks, and her head cocks to the side like a bird.

"It's just...I don't want to sound rude, but...you seem old enough to be their grandmother instead of their mother, so..."

"Where did I come from?" I nod, relieved I didn't have to finish that sentence. "Well, nobody knows. Not even me. I didn't have any family, and I don't have any memories before I came here. And even then, I wasn't a child." I find this odd, but then again, I'm in a frickin' fae world. I don't ask her any more questions.

"Well, if that's all, then I have this to tell you." Fantasia's eyes start to change, the green pooling out to fill her pupils and then the whites of her eyes, until they look like emeralds implanted in her face. She begins to recite:

"The fae that fight
All through the night
They just might
Want to kill you
But remember this:
You can pull through
Just look within
Find the few
And you will win."

I glance from side to side, unsure of what to say. "Um...what exactly does that mean?"

The Psychic Fae's eyes, now back to normal, twinkle. "I'm not sure. I'm just given the prophecies, I don't translate them. That's for you to find out, Golden One." With a lift of her hand, she walks back out the way she came.

Slightly rattled from the strange prediction, I shake my head to clear my mind and call out, "Ferin? Farland? Are you there?"

With a snap, the air in front of me bends slightly, and they appear. I jump back, bumping my head against the stone wall. "Ouch! Did you guys just Apparate here or something?"

They exchange a confused glance. Tsk, tsk. They obviously haven't read Harry Potter. "Well, where were you? I was stuck here with some creepy old lady." I shiver dramatically for effect.

"Old lady?" Farland raises an eyebrow and looks at Ferin.

"You must mean the Psychic Fae. What did she say? Did she tell you how to stop the war?"

I shake my head. "No, she just gave me some weird prophecy. I can't even remember it anymore. But she didn't really give me any clues on how to stop this war." I sigh, resting my chin on my hand. "I don't know what I'm going to do."

After a moment of silence in which I fall back against the soft pillows, Farland says, "You know what? The only way to stop this war is to win it. You should join our side, and with you as a figurehead, maybe we can win." He shrugs, open for suggestions.

"I guess..." I say, looking toward Ferin for approval. She jerks a shoulder up and down and gives a slow, slight nod. "Okay, I'll do it. I'll join your side." He grins.

Ferin sends me a worried glance. Even though she seems around my age, she seems the motherly type. "Are you sure? It could be dangerous. The King and Queen are invincible, but other fae...and humans...are not."

"I'm sure. I mean, I want to go home, and if my hunch is correct, I'm stuck here for now, right?" They nod. I expected my heart to lurch at the thought, but it surprisingly stays put. I guess I need a break from the fighting at home...to put an end to the fighting down here.

"Okay, Meree. But you need to learn a little bit about the war first. Maybe we should show you around and explain, too. How's that?" Ferin asks. I get up, and they lead me out of the room I've been cooped up in for a day.

This room was part of a huge house, and after we leave, we climb up a set of stairs that gradually turns from stone to polished white marble. I step carefully, not wanted my boots to scuff the pristine floors. When I look up as the staircase ends, I gasp. This place is like a mansion. Crystal chandeliers glitter form the ceiling, the walls are gilded in gold. Fancy velvet furniture furnishes each room as we walk to the front of the house. Farland and Ferin open the cherry wood front double doors, and I get my first glimpse at the fae world.

It looks much like the human world, except there are no trees, grass, plants, or animals. When I look up, instead of seeing the sky, I see a roof of dark dirt at least a hundred feet above my head. When I scan the neighborhood again, I see that every house looks like Farland and Ferin's: huge, fancy, and expensive. No poverty here!

We walk down the paved dirt streets, the fae twins pointing out some of their neighbors and laughing at memories from their childhood. Now's the time when I usually drift away, fading into the shadows and pretending I'm not here to ruin the moment.

After a bit more walking, we reach an open clearing. "This is where most fighting takes place," Ferin says. "All the physical parts. It seems kind of silly talking about it now, how we just fight, kill, then go home in time for bed and do it again the next day. It's pointless, but it hurts and it's time for this to end." She sends me a sideways glance. "I mean, we're all family. Descendants from the same two fae. Eventually, there won't be anyone left. I hope you can end it soon."

"Yeah. Me too." We walk in silence, and the road, like the staircase in the twins' house, gradually turns to marble and a pure white substance that looks like it might be quartz.

Eventually, two houses come into view. But as we get closer, I see they are more than houses. Turrets tower into the air, looking as if they might pierce the dirt sky and send it tumbling down any moment. One is dark, and one is light, and they are separated by a huge metal wall.

"What's this place?" I ask, turning to my new friends.

The twins share another glance, and I automatically roll my eyes, but stop mid-roll when Ferin looks back at me.

"These are the castles of the King and Queen."