Overture: Cassiopeia Lancaster and The Colliding Worlds

one

a/n: This is the first chapter. It might be a little bit boring and it's a slow start, but I'm trying to give some background on the main character, Cassiopeia. Please leave a comment and vote if you enjoyed reading it, I might update faster if people enjoyed this fic. (not sure if anyone would read but I hope at least someone does :")) Goal: 2 votes!

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Even though she has always wanted to be a fairy who keeps bad dreams away (she wasn't sure if there's such fairies, but if there were fairies whose duty is to take kids' baby teeth, then there must've been fairies whose duty was to keep bad dreams away), Cassie always knew that she was a perfectly normal child, albeit a not very lucky one. Her skin was fair, her height and weight was average, her dishwater blonde hair was straight and a little bit long, her eyes were brown—nothing makes her stand out.

Her father died when she was almost four years old, so she didn't really remember him. Her mother... well, that's a different story altogether. She didn't know anything about her, so she could be alive. However, Cassie knew that even if she was alive, it was not going to change anything. From a very young age, she had learnt that no one wants her, after all. She was taken to the orphanage a week after her father died, her suitcase was filled with the clothes her father has bought her. Other than her clothes, Cassie only owned a necklace her father gave her. Thankfully she got to keep it, unlike her books and toys.

Just like everyone in the orphanage, Cassie has always dreamed of having her own family; with parents who would love her and care for her. She has always been a soft-spoken child. She made friends easily with almost everyone so no one bothers her, not really. Sure, most of the workers didn't really care for the children; they're only there because it's their job. Fortunately, there were people like Ms. McPhee and Ms. Hadley who actually cared for them. Cassie was especially close with Ms. McPhee.

Things started to feel strange when Cassie was 6 years old. She started feeling anxious, like someone was watching her. It was the first time she felt really grateful that she was living in an orphanage where she didn't have her own bedroom; she shared it with five other girls. She thought that she wouldn't be brave enough to sleep around ever since she started feeling nervous and anxious with no apparent reason. She tried telling Ms. McPhee about how she felt. The kind woman had tried to reassure her that she was safe in the orphanage, but that only made Cassie felt like the adult wasn't taking her seriously. Who would blame her? After all, Cassie was only a silly, delusional 6-year-old.

Things only got worse from there as Cassie realized that gardens or parks are not a good place for her to be. And it saddens her because she really enjoy the Sunday mornings when Ms. McPhee and Ms. Barlow usually took them to have a picnic. She seemed to always stumble or fall whenever she went to gardens or parks, and when she turned to see what made her fall she would see vines and plants to be the reason. The ants, bees, butterflies, and even birds disturbed her sometimes. The bees would sting her whenever they can, and the ants will bite her. Strangely, the marks and pain would disappear quickly. Cassie found that other than that, the bees and ants didn't really cause anything else (she thought she would die the first time she got stung by a bee). By the time Ms. Barlow called them to help her tidy up they would be gone.

Cassie was smart, she knew that they would not believe her without proof. So rather than running back and crying, she made sure that she wore long-sleeved clothes and pants, even in summer. She would even put another layer when it was not too hot. She also avoided playing outside as much as she could. As time passed, Cassie felt like going out and participating in the weekly picnic session did nothing but stressing her, so she decided to stop participating in the activity. It wasn't as if everyone was required to participate, so they let her stayed in her room and read. Ms. McPhee would sometime tell her to stop spending time alone and join them outside though, but she managed to stay inside most of the time. Cassie came to a conclusion that she was not good with animals, that's why they were always attacking her.