Center of Attention

Out of Hand

      There was a sting in my throat, something akin to guilt that rang deeply in the vibrations as a whimper had came deep within me. I was so scared to see what they were going to do. I was so afraid to hear what they were going to say, and for once I didn't want Dad to go back to that morning before I would die. Change would never occur, I thought. The only way to get the world to do anything was by destroying the Center. Though I had sounded like I hated my father, in reality it was just my hate for the Center, and I pushed it off on him because I knew that I could. For a second, I wanted to believe that if Dad was killed that maybe there would be some kind of reset. Staring down at Smallik, I knew that my idea was just as bad as their own. Faeries would never exchange their secrets. 

      Neither would I, now that I had thought about it.

     I clutched the dirt like it was a bed easily fixable. As much as I hated being on the ground like this, I found comfort in it as the most enveloped my body despite the exposure of my skin to the elements. It started to lightly drizzle between the thick set of branches that protected us, and I felt it hit my exposed face. Mud started to form all around us. Slowly, I rose my tired head to prod Smallik to get up as well. He rose to his feet quicker than I, and he shook away the bugs that were probably crawling all over his large wings as they expanded outwards in both directions. He turned to me.
     "It's starting to rain," I said. "We should probably get going so we can get to the faeries."
He nodded, and we started our trek back out into the middle of nowhere. I was sure that Smallik knew where he was going, so I just followed him as our sluggish pace led us onward towards the place where they went. We started to talk again. It was easier despite his many apologies for trying to kill me last night, but I told him not to worry about it hundreds of times more. It was hard. He and I were completely different like Sobollum and I were. However, I wanted so desperately to make sure we were on this level of understanding about everything we were and weren't. I didn't need him coming at me with a knife again because the voice of my son was screaming at him to do so, and I just wanted us to get back home to the time we belonged before anything else.
     The journey itself had to change something. I thought that for the longest time while we were out here taking that journey, and it was interesting enough for me to consider it. Even my presence being gone had to have made something in the future change. I didn't play a big piece in the world, but removing even the slightest detail could change the picture entirety. Maybe I could change the future so much that Mavara wouldn't die. Then I wouldn't be the Center.
     Then everything would be on her to fix.
     I shook the thought away. Even if I wanted to change the future, it had been said way too many times in fiction that the world was on a definitive path that had a hard time changing despite the fact that time travel would change it. It could all just end up the same, if not worse because of the meddling. I was wiling to take that risk, and I knew from the stare in Smallik's eyes that he was, too. He was ready for everything to change.
     Smallik started to talk about his family back in Ortim. I never initiated the conversation, just listened to him as he rambled about people he considered his family, and he talked about the people he worked for like they were parents or something. He said he never had real parents. Most Faes didn't, even in 4025. I felt sort of... guilty for my cheery upbringing rather than one that he had where he hopped from different adults on the street that cared enough to feed a pink-skinned Fae with large wings that shook almost all the time. Yes, I was guilty, but now it was his turn to tell me not to worry about it. It was just my nature, however, and I knew it was his to apologize the way he was doing.
     The trees began to disappear in a clearing in the woods. There was an old stump surrounded by white butterflies that was stuck in the back, and a bench made of vines was right in the middle. A trap, I thought. It was just a trap that was going to get us hurt or killed or possibly anything else that might end up getting us in trouble. I was already too wary to even touch the bench, but Smallik had approached it and sat down as the thorns in the vines stuck to his clothes.
     "Wow, wow, wow!"
     The voice was extremely high-pitched, and I covered my ears to make sure I would get any more deaf than I already was. A small wisp of something glowing blue had landed in front of my nose like an obnoxiously bright light you couldn't turn off. From closer inspection, I could see the tiny body of a woman in a dress made from what looked like a leaf. Her body was blue and glittery, and her fingers coiled around the end of my nose as if to make sure I was there and real. She giggled. Loud.
     "A human!" she shouted. "A human, a human, a human!"
     Smallik freed himself from the bench to look intensely at the faery. She gulped as he only grew closer.
     "Get away!" Her voice was loud and hasty, and she tried so hard to hiss at Smallik. He backed away. "This is my human!" she continued. "This is the human that I chose, and you stupid Faes cannot take him from me."
     I grabbed her by her wings, pulling her from my nose. I stared at her with squinted eyes. "Who said I was yours?"
     "Let go of me!" She was struggling in my grip, and she squeaked like mice often do when provoked.
      "This is what we're looking for?"
     Smallik gave me a look of disdain, and I started to feel guilt at the pit of my own stomach. I let the faery go, and she clung to the end of my nose again.
     "Human!" she cried out lovingly. "I haven't seen a human in so long. What is the human's name?"
     I answered. "Firstien."
     "From the year 9127, right?" I was shocked at her answer. "I know! I'm a faery that can see the future, and I've seen yours. People like you need to be protected! Protected!"
There was a part of me that wanted to wring her neck, but I let her cling to my nose as she claimed me for her own selfishness.
     "Miss faery," Smallik said. She gave him the death glare that seemed to be as hot as the sun itself. "I'm sorry to bother you with petty questions, but can you guide us to the others of your kind? We need to speak with your leader about the world. The fate of time as we know it is in the essence."
     She laughed at him. "As long as Firstien comes. Don't be upset if Viobin ask for a private meeting with him."
     She pulled away from my nose despite the fact that I knew she wanted to only hold on tighter. Her hands had pulled themselves around the vines, and she tugged slightly. They suddenly reverted back into the ground. A rumbling occurred from within the earth, and then all of a sudden the disappeared vines shot up from the earth. They enveloped the stump that sat in the back of the clearing, until the hollow part of it was completely taken over by the thorny vines that had once created a bench earlier. In the center of the hollowed stump, the vines began to show a small passageway to another world, and you could see the vibrant colors of brush and trees.
      She pulled on my index finger for me to follow, and Smallik followed right behind me with a smirk. Oh, he was enjoying this. He was enjoying this way too much. Now I was just as mad as the faery, staring him down with the death glare. The thorns that led to the bright world scraped against me, landing cut after cut against my pale skin. I flinched a few times as old wounds from the Eldritch had started to reopen, and the faery that guided us had seemed upset that my skin was what she said, 'falling apart'. Honestly, I felt like I was.
      Every tree we passed was like passing an individual rainbow every single time. Every tree had these overly-sized leaves that had dew drops weighing them down to be touchable. I grabbed onto one for just a second, and it recoiled until it turned black. I shrieked.
     "Don't worry!" the faery had whispered. "They come back."
     I stared at the leaf until it unfolded and regained its many colors. I sighed relief, and continued on my way through the strange forest filled with trees that made no sense. She stopped as we came to a clearing. Faeries had moved back and forth through the clearing like they were having everyday life, and they barely looked at us. Were humans and Faes normal occurrences in their lives or something? The faery guiding us had seemed to make us a big deal, but they all barely noticed our presence at all.
     In the middle of them was a larger faery with a crown atop her head. Her dress was made of those leaves I touched, and it far extended her floating feet. A scepter was laid boldly in her hands with the reflection of the whole town shining in her eyes. She noticed us. Her tiny wings fluttered slowly as she approached.
     "A Fae and a human," she stated. Her voice was much deeper than the guide's. "This is very interesting, Lia."
     Lia, who was the faery that guided us, had bowed towards the larger faery. "Queen Viobin, these men have asked to talk to you. They say that the world is falling apart."
     "Well, it is." She turned to me, long black hair swinging to her side. "I can sense you two come from a different time, one where the faeries have long been gone because we can see into the future. We can help, sure, but not for free."
     "What do you want in exchange?" I asked.
     She had this creeping smile. "Stories. Stories from a human's life that is in a different time than this one. Can you comply with that, sir?"
     "Yes. I'm sure I can think of something in my life that is interesting enough to soothe your curious mind."
     She smiled, her hands enveloping around my finger in a similar fashion to Lia. "Leave the Fae."
      I took one glance at Smallik, and he waved with a smile. He knew that this was going to happen and maybe if things were still the same before we stopped in Ortim, he might've just kept me here. I was kind of glad he didn't. I was kind of glad that he was something akin to a friend, and I smiled genuinely at the thought as the faery named Viobin had led me farther and farther away from the clearing.